Medical science tells us that there's a portion of the brain called the R-complex that, nestled low and close to the spinal cord, governs simple, automatic brain functions like respiration and reflex and heart rate; other outlying, larger brain structures cover language, culture, memory and art. I mention this because Death Race, writer-director Paul W.S. Anderson's re-visitation of the 1975 trash-classic Death Race 2000, is wholly, entirely and perfectly designed to appeal to the R-complex portion of your brain. Death Race roars, rages and races down the track, all velocity and visceral violence, unencumbered by logic, sense, reason or dignity. My more evolved brain structures kept objecting to Death Race's more ludicrous contortions as it whipped around its curves, but my R-complex didn't want to hear the high-pitched whining voice of logic and reason; it simply grunted, settled into a soft cushion of popcorn topping and said "Shut up, bigger brain; bald man who talk cool killing now."

Perhaps the best thing about Kung Fu Panda is that it's an action comedy that doesn't skimp on the action. Dreamworks Animation's latest effort may stick out a little on the Red Carpet at Cannes -- where it's screening out of competition -- but it's certainly a well-made kid's film that earns high points for how directors John Stevenson and Mark Osborne clearly crafted and contemplated its look and feel with ambition and style. Anyone can make a computer-animated cartoon with fuzzy animals doing kung fu; you have to be at least a little inspired to make a computer-animated cartoon featuring fuzzy animals doing kung fu in widescreen Cinemascope. ...

Kung Fu Panda opens with a rousing, stylish action sequence, as a narrator (Jack Black, in full-on Tenacious D exposition mode) explains how "Legend tells of a legendary kung fu warrior whose kung fu skills were legendary. ..." But then, the heroic panda we've seen unleashing paws of power on the big screen ... wakes up; it was just a dream. Then Po the panda (Black), whose dreams of kung fu glory are the counterpoint to his unsatisfying life, gets ready for his day of helping his father Mr. Ping (James Wong) sell noodles to the people of the Valley of Peace.

Sorry, Jason Statham fans. He's not going to be your "Real American Hero." Statham had been rumored as the likely choice to play Action Man in the upcoming G.I. Joe flick, but Statham insists he has nothing to do with the film. "The old Internet can be quite misleading at times," he tell MTV Movies Blog. "I don't know where that came from." Statham is keeping busy without Joe though, bro. The Bank Job is due out in 2008, and he's currently on the set of Death Race with a surprisingly excellent cast that includes Ian McShane and Joan Allen. That film is being directed by Paul W.S. Anderson (the terrible Soldier and the almost-terrible Alien Vs. Predator). I always wondered why that guy didn't change his name. You'd think years of people being disappointed when he's not Paul Thomas Anderson would get to the guy.

In addition to those projects, the ass-kicking Statham is lining up some sequels that will bring him back to some of his more popular roles. For starters, there's Crank 2, which Statham promises will be "effing ridiculous." "If you thought the first one was crazy, this is ridiculous. It's mad," he says. "I couldn't resist working with those chaps again. It gives me a chance to go wild in the aisles." For more on the Crank sequel, check Scott's report here. And yet another Statham sequel is in the works -- Transporter 3. "I have a massive yearning to do Part 3 with Luc (Besson). I think it will happen (soon)," says Statham. I haven't seen the Transporter films, though I hear great things. I do happen to think Crank is one of the finest pure action films in years. I'm dying for a sequel, if only to see how they make up for the fact that it sure looked like Statham's character -- spoiler warning -- died in the original. Oh, and bring Dwight Yoakam back! Man, I love that guy.

Chicago Tribune television critic Maureen Ryan has done a follow-up piece on Cinematical's story about the decision of HBO to scrap the series-ending Deadwood movies it promised fans after the show's abrupt termination. Ryan, crediting Cinematical as a source in her article, contacted representatives at the network about the move and got a long-winded response. Here's the relevant portion: "There are no current plans to make the movies," the HBO publicist admits, before adding a never-say-never caveat. "The dismantling of the 1878 set is irrelevant because Milch has indicated that the story for a Deadwood movie would resume after the Deadwood floods and fires, which changed the face of the first settlement." As Hugo Jarry would say, the statement continues ... "HBO has renewed its deal with David Milch, who is currently developing another series for the network. It's a drama set in the New York police department during the 1970s, when the Knapp Commission was formed to ferret out corruption in the force."

In other words, 'please stop thinking about Deadwood and start thinking about Milch's new show'. And if you're holding on to that sliver of hope they tossed out, I've got a bridge to sell you. I would consider it unlikely in the extreme that, having dismantled the old show sets, HBO would shell out for new ones for any reason, although that's just a layman's speculation. In conclusion, I'll repeat what I said earlier: at this point, it's a Deadwood theatrical film or bust. If Sex and the City can get a theatrical film, why in the world wouldn't a show that's actually good get one?

If I were going to pitch Susan Cooper's kid-lit fantasy series, The Dark is Rising, to a room full of studio execs, I'd proceed as follows: "Listen, guys. I'm not gonna lie. This is gonna be a real challenge. These books are not only noticeably dated from a sci-fi/fantasy fan's perspective, but also remarkably insular and plotty, and not even the good kind of plotty. They aren't 'every chapter is a new adventure' plotty, but more like a catalog of meaningless busywork-tasks the hero has to perform. The books remind me of a third-rate Atari 2600 game, in which the hero has some Arthurian pedigree that's spelled out in the booklet, but on-screen he's just a bland avatar who has to collect six out of nine sacred talismans and place them in the right spots on the map, in order to thwart the 'forces of darkness.' That's all this series amounts to, but I wouldn't be pitching this to you if I didn't see some ways we can get around that stuff. So allow me to proceed.

We're going to adapt the second book in the series, for two reasons: first, because it's called The Dark is Rising, which will make a cool title, but also because it contains an intriguing substrata. The main character, Will Stanton, is a 14 year-old wizard who is struggling with puberty just as he's discovering his wizarding ways. The bad guys know this, so they send a witch to tempt him, in the form of a hot, older girl. In the book, this is hardly more than a footnote and most of the plot is given over to the young wizard learning his craft from an old wizard, but that's just bo-ring. We're going to downsize that angle considerably and make the witch subplot the A-story. I'm envisioning a tragic first-love saga between this kid who doesn't know any better, and this more experienced girl who is allied with the forces of evil, but isn't totally evil to the core. There's a sort of Anakin Skywalker quality to her, which a good script will heighten. With me so far? Good.

You never know quite what you're going to get with Ian McShane, interview-wise. Sometimes he's playfully grumpy, as he was with some journalists who visited the set of The Seeker: The Dark is Rising earlier this year. "What made you want to do this film?" they asked. "The check," he replied. Other times, he's relaxed and jovial, as he was back in 2006 when I sat in on his roundtables for Woody Allen's Scoop. He always comes across as a straight-shooter, and I don't think it would be tough to get him to go off-message, but mostly he just wants to be in and out of press situations with little fuss, it seems. That was the case when he agreed to speak with Cinematical late last week about his role as Merriman Lyon in Seeker. When the time came for our appointment, I got a call from McShane's handler, telling me the big guy had decided to put off our call in favor of a quick lunch, so when he finally called a half-hour later, it seemed like the place to start.

Cinematical: So, how was lunch? What'd you have?

IM: Ha! I don't know what it was. I ordered some artichoke and it came up ... it's very good if you put it across pasta ... and buffalo wings, which were so hot I must have put a pound of vinegar on them, God knows what. Anyway! Enough of lunch. I'm fine. I've just had some melon and I'm having a coffee and I'm talking to you. How are you?

Cinematical: I'm good, thanks. So it's all press for you today, then?

IM: Yeah, I've done the junket. So far, we've done all the TV stuff. Now I'm doing the online, and some telephone stuff, and I'll be through by about five.

Cinematical: I have to start by asking you about the status of the Deadwood movies. I wish I could think of a fresh way to ask, but there it is. Has that ship sailed?

IM: You might be onto a thing there. I just got a call on Friday from ... a dear friend of mine, who told me that they're packing up the ranch. They're dismantling the ranch and taking the stuff out. That ship is gonna sail. I think with the uncertainty of the future, because of this possible strike next year, the writers and the actors, there was no chance of doing it before next May or June anyway, because I'm committed to other things. So I think it's ... Bonsoir, Deadwood.

Two days after Cinematical broke the news of HBO discarding plans for a pair of TV movies to send the popular Deadwood series off in style, the series regulars have started to get wind of the move, and no surprise, they aren't happy about it. Jim Beaver, who played the luckless prospector Ellsworth on the show, spoke with Remote Access and had this to say: "I saw the McShane quote. I don't doubt it. I have no insight or special knowledge, but my sense of things is that it's over ... My gut tells me that if the movies or a fourth season were going to be made, the announcement would have already been made. That's just my gut. But Ian's remarks don't surprise me in the least."

Remote Access also got in touch with W. Earl Brown, who played Dan Dority, Al Swearengen's sidekick for three seasons, and he had this to say: "I called Ian, it seems that it's true -- the sets are being dismantled ... I guess the horse is dead." He went on to say that the timing makes sense, because HBO's lease for the sets is about to expire anyway, but nevertheless, he wants his props back. "I called both producers this morning about getting the Dority hat, knife and gun belt," Brown said. "I haven't heard back from either. Once I talk to either of them, I'll know where things stand. But I'm figuring that it's over." He also compared the Deadwood ending to the way The Sopranos went out, saying that the latter was "either great or awful (depending on one's interpretation of it) but at least it got people talking. Deadwood -- it just stopped. Just stopped. It's like never finding out that 'Rosebud' was his sled or that Darth was Luke's father. F*ck."

Oh, well -- as McShane said, that ship is sailing, and nothing can be done about it. However, given the way 3:10 to Yuma and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford have been positively received by critics and the public, is a theatrical film out of the question? I can't imagine why it would be.

Yeah, I'm not happy about it either. Earlier today, I got a call from Ian McShane to talk about his new family fantasy movie, The Dark is Rising, and I asked him the big question Deadwood fans have been wanting to know for a while now -- was HBO just blowing smoke with its promise to wrap up the series with a couple of made-for-TV movies? Well, the answer is yes, McShane revealed to us. "I just got a call on Friday from ... a dear friend of mine, who told me that they're packing up the ranch," McShane said. "They're dismantling the ranch and taking the stuff out. That ship is gonna sail. Bonsoir, Deadwood." He went on to say that even if the movies were happening, there would be the strike to consider, and on top of that, he's committed to a filming schedule that would prevent him from doing them anytime before late next year anyway.

I told McShane that as a fan, I felt completely cheated by this move on HBO's part. "You feel cheated? Imagine how I feel!" he replied. "We all do. We all do. It was one of those one-off jobs that you do which has got an extraordinary creative brain behind it, and it kept getting better, and the actors were great. It was a fabulous place to be and work. It was a workshop cum theater cum film. It was an extraordinary time. But everything has to come to an end, babe." So, there you have it.

It's been a while since I've seen Paul Bartel's Death Race 2000, but I do remember that it's the movie that created the whole "hit that pedestrian with your automobile and you get 15 points" joke that people still (somehow) think is funny -- plus I remember it being a whole lot of grungy, campy, R-rated fun. (Most people seem to think mega-producer Roger Corman directed this particular flick, but nope. It was actually the admirably weird actor / filmmaker Paul Bartel, who'd also go on to direct Eating Raoul, Lust in the Dust and Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills. So credit where it's due.)

Plus it's probably the only movie you'll ever see that has characters named Frankenstein, Calamity Jane, Matilda the Hun, Nero the Hero and Machine Gun Joe Viterbo. The futuristic action satire is about a cross-country car race that awards points for pedestrians slaughtered. Fun stuff indeed, but did you know that "fan favorite" filmmaker Paul W.S. Anderson is about to start shooting a remake for Universal? (Well, you should if you're a regular reader. Previous reports on this project can be enjoyed here, here and here.)

Jason Statham has been cast in the lead of Death Race for a little while now, but The Hollywood Reporter indicates that a few cool names have joined the fray. In addition to the also-previously-announced Tyrese Gibson, the producers will now cut paychecks for not only the fantastic Joan Allen, but also the perpetually amusing Ian McShane. (Unless I'm insane, IGN Movies broke the Allen news at Comic Con last week.) Ms. Allen will play an evil warden; Statham the reluctant prisoner forced to participate in the race; McShane a racing coach; and Gibson will play "Machine Gun," the role originally played by Sly Stallone in the 1975 original.

As you're no doubt aware, Paul W.S. Anderson is the man who brought you Shopping, Mortal Kombat, Event Horizon, Soldier, Resident Evil and Alien vs. Predator. Some movie fans see this guy as the ruiner of all things potentially cool, but I see a guy who's directed six films -- two of which I really enjoy watching. In baseball that batting average gets you a new contract. (Can you guess which two flicks they are?)

The Dark is Rising towards a big release on October 5, and after releasing some pictures back in May, a trailer for the film has finally come out. While I can't comment on how well the novel world has translated to the movies, it looks to be the standard kid-hero fantasy fare with a great supporting cast, funky effects and lots of adventure. There's Ian McShane leading the pack as Merriman Lyon, Frances Conroy (almost looking like Maggie Smith's* McGonagall in disguise) as Miss Greythorne and Christopher Eccleston pulling off a creepy Rider. This trailer also has one of the best uses of those cheesy, bigger-than-life voice-overs. While it's groan-worthy at first, they've used it to only illustrate Will's adolescent innocence. Wait it out because when Will discovers his powers, the voice disappears and the creepy music begins.

For those that aren't familiar with the series of books, The Dark is Rising is a series from the 60's and 70's that deals with the struggle between the good (The Light), and the bad (The Dark). Will Stanton (Alexander Ludwig) is a young kid who finds out on his eleventh birthday that he has special powers and must stop the Dark, while collecting the Signs of the Light. According to Wikipedia, there are some big diversions from the books -- Will is a 14-year-old American in the movie, and apparently they give one of his brothers a bit of a twist (look here to see what that is, if you're not worried about possible spoilers).

*Thanks to roadkillbuddha for catching that Maggie Grace is not the same as Maggie Smith, even if my fingers always want to believe otherwise. MB