Maggie Levin: Celebs Rumors

In this week’s episode of The Discourse, host Mike DeAngelo pops in a tape to discuss “V/H/S/85” with director Scott Derrickson (“Doctor Strange,” “Sinister,” “The Black Phone”). The sixth installment of the beloved horror anthology series follows five sinister found footage tales that delve into the grim underbelly of 1980s America.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer Meredith Stiehm will seek a second two-year term as president of WGA West in the fall election, and the other top officials of the guild will also seek reelection. Justine Bateman, the writer-director and former “Family Ties” star, is running for a spot on the WGA West board. Bateman has become outspoken on the need for tight regulation of artificial intelligence. The guild announced its preliminary list of nominees on Wednesday. Stiehm, who has been active in both the agency campaign and the current strike, will run against challenger Rich Talarico, a “Key and Peele” writer who has faulted the guild for not doing more to fight back against the release of free clips of the show on YouTube.

The Writers Guild of America West is holding officer and board elections in the middle of its ongoing strike, which is now in its 51st day. Incumbent president Meredith Stiehm is seeking reelection and will face off against Rich Talarico – both of whom were selected by the guild’s nominating committee.

Back in 2012, “V/H/S” premiered at the Sundance Film Festival to give “Paranormal Activity” and the rest of the found footage horror sub-genre a run for its money. And now, after three sequels, a spin-off, and a Snapchat miniseries, the fifth installment of the series is upon us, “V/H/S/99.”   Fresh off its world premiere in the Midnight section of TIFF last month, the latest anthology film in the series features segments from Johannes Roberts, Vanessa & Joseph Winter, Maggie Levin, Tyler MacIntyre, and Flying Lotus.   READ MORE: ‘V/H/S/99’ Review: The Decaying Found Footage Horror Anthology Injects Much-Needed Humor [TIFF] Here’s an official synopsis of the film, courtesy of Shudder: V/H/S/99 harkens back to the final punk rock analog days of VHS, while taking one giant leap forward into the hellish new millennium.

Ready for another dose of gory nostalgia? The V/H/S franchise satisfies found footage fanatics with its latest entry, “V/H/S/99.” Set at the end of the ’90s, this new project captures a period full of fears (real and imagined) about a new millennium. The changing times also mean an entry playing by its own rules.

Dennis Harvey Film Critic The odds are not good for “V/H/S” — which is to say it’s the even-numbered entries in this horror omnibus franchise that have been by far the best to date. As No. 5, “V/H/S/99” unfortunately maintains that pattern, providing an uninspired extension of the series that had rebounded after a seven-year lull with last fall’s “V/H/S/94.”  That installment was typically uneven, but the better segments were terrific. Here, nothing stands out: The best episodes are merely good enough, and the worst just tiresome. Nonetheless, this brand has proven viewer appeal for genre streaming platform Shudder, where it should do well when launched in various territories on Oct. 20. Set in 1999 — the tail of the titular format’s commercial reign, since DVDs were introduced two years prior — the film is unlikely to be the series’ last.

MIDNIGHT MADNESSWeird: The Al Yankovic Story – Eric Appel | USAWorld PremiereThe Blackening – Tim Story | USAWorld PremierePearl – Ti West | USANorth American PremiereThe People’s Joker – Vera Drew | USAWorld PremiereProject Wolf Hunting – Kim Hongsun | South KoreaWorld PremiereSick – John Hyams | USAWorld PremiereSisu – Jalmari Helander | FinlandWorld PremiereVenus – Jaume Balagueró | SpainWorld PremiereV/H/S 99 – Flying Lotus, Johannes Roberts, Maggie Levin, Tyler MacIntyre, Vanessa & Joseph Winter | USAWorld PremiereLeonor Will Never Die – Martika Ramirez Escobar | PhilippinesCanadian PremiereWAVELENGTHSFeaturesConcrete Valley – Antoine Bourges | Canada World PremiereDe Humani Corporis Fabrica – Véréna Paravel, Lucien Castaing-Taylor | France, SwitzerlandNorth American PremiereDry Ground Burning (Mato Seco em Chamas) – Joana Pimenta, Adirley Queirós | Portugal, BrazilNorth American PremiereHorse Opera – Moyra Davey | USAFestival PremierePacifiction – Albert Serra | France, Spain, Germany, PortugalNorth American PremiereQueens of the Qing Dynasty – Ashley McKenzie | Canada North American PremiereUnrest (Unrueh) – Cyril Schäublin | SwitzerlandNorth American PremiereWill-o’-the-Wisp (Fogo-Fátuo) – João Pedro Rodrigues | Portugal, FranceNorth American PremiereShortsAfter Work – Céline Condorelli, Ben Rivers | United KingdomNorth American PremiereBigger on the Inside – Angelo Madsen Minax | USAWorld PremiereEVENTIDE – Sharon Lockhart | USAWorld PremiereF1ghting Looks Different 2 Me Now – Fox Maxy | Mesa Grande Reservation/USAFestival PremiereFata Morgana – Tacita Dean | United Kingdom, USAFestival PremiereHors-titre – Wiame Haddad | FranceNorth American PremiereI Thought the World of You – Kurt Walker | Canada North

EXCLUSIVE: Shudder, AMC Networks’ premium streaming service for horror, thriller and the supernatural, announces the return of Studio71’s hit found footage anthology franchise, V/H/S, with an all-new installment, V/H/S/99.

EXCLUSIVE: Maggie Levin is currently writing an adaptation of Elsie Chapman’s young adult novel Caster for Paramount. We understand that this deal closed before the announced departure of Paramount Chairman & CEO Jim Gianopulos and the project is in very early development.

Scott Derrickson recently stepped away from one high-profile sequel, “Doctor Strange Into the Multiverse of Madness,’ and has found his way to another. Except for this time, the filmmaker is trading in superheroes for muppets, for a sequel to “Labyrinth.” READ MORE: The Movies That Changed My Life: ‘Doctor Strange’ And ‘Bermuda’ Director Scott Derrickson According to Deadline, Derrickson has signed on to direct a sequel to Jim Henson’s “Labyrinth,” written by Maggie Levin.

Director Scott Derrickson may have dropped out of , but he's now set to helm another fantasy follow-up: the sequel.

By Mike Fleming Jr