He changed horror forever when he made the classic Night of the Living Dead back in 1968, and now the world has lost one of grandfathers of modern genre cinema. That's right, George A. Romero has died. Word dropped earlier today that Romero, 77, passed away after a brief battle with lung cancer.

Another day, another bit of remake news. At least this one offers a glimmer of promise. An update of John Carpenter's sci-fi/action flick Escape From New York has been talked about for years, with Gerard Butler and Timothy Olyphant previously attached to the role made iconic by Kurt Russell -- eye-patch wearin' Snake Plissken. Now Bloody Disgusting and JoBlo.com are saying Renner, who rocked it in The Hurt Locker, is in early talks for the role. The dude could do it. He's a great actor and actually has a similar look as Russell. He'd also add some street cred to a project that could suck donkey balls. The New Line redo will be directed by Breck "The Crazies" Eisner and was written by Allen Loeb. It's described as a Plissken origin story married with the plot of Carpenter's original.

A solid genre outing with the right balance of smarts, gore and suspense. This remake of the 1973 chiller is unlike almost every horror remake out there in one key way -- it's actually pretty good! The film's strength lies in allowing us to get to know, and therefor care, about the characters. It also acts as a cynical social commentary, believing the government would rather nuke a town out of existence than admit to its mistakes. I, for one, don't doubt that for a minute, which makes The Crazies all the scarier. A slick little thriller, earning a Good review from The Basement.