Editor of FILMdetail
The new A-Team movie is currently filming in Vancouver and the main cast includes Quinton Jackson (as BA Baracus), Bradley Cooper (as Face), Liam Neeson (as Hannibal), Sharlto Copley (Murdock) and Jessica Biel (in a new role of an army general and former lover of Face).
The Daily Mail have been busy collecting all the paparazzi photos of the set (in addition to misspelling Sharlto Copley’s name).
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[Link via Buzzfeed and The Daily Mail]
A fascinating 75 minute interview with Stanley Kubrick conducted by Jeremy Bernstein in 1966.
Stanley Kubrick interview with Jeremy Bernstein, 1966 from vvL on Vimeo.
These audio recordings were used to assist in the writing of Bernstein’s long-form profile of Kubrick, published in the November 12, 1966 issue of The New Yorker.
If the above video doesn’t work, listen to it here:
[audio:http://filmdetail.receptionmedia.com/Stanley_Kubrick_Interview_1966.mp3]Danny Boyle‘s 2002 horror film 28 Days Later re-enacted in one take that lasts exactly 1 minute.
A marvellous feat of compression.
[Link via Buzzfeed]
DVD & BLU-RAY PICKS
The New World – Extended Cut (EIV): New Line and UK distributors Entertainment have finally got around to releasing the extended cut of Terrence Malick‘s wonderful 2005 version of the Pocahontas story on DVD and Blu-ray.
The story is set during the founding of the Jamestown, Virginia settlement in the early 1600s, inspired by the historical figures Captain John Smith (Colin Farrell) and Pocahontas (Q’Orianka Kilcher).
The cast also includes Christopher Plummer, Christian Bale, whilst other notable contributions come from cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, production designer Jack Fisk, and editor Richard Chew.
Whilst some critical reaction to the film was mixed, it is a stunning technical achievement with a hypnotic quality that lingers longer after the final credits.
Perhaps the sprawling narrative put off some of the pickier critics who seemed determined to shoot Malick down from his lofty perch as American cinema’s mercurial poet-in-residence, but if you go with it, this is a film of many riches.
The performances from Farrell, Plummer and Bale are nicely restrained, whilst Kilcher is terrific, bringing an impressive depth of feeling to her role.
James Horner’s score, alongside some judicious use of Wagner, is probably the greatest he’s ever written with a thrilling use of strings and melody.
When the film premiered in late 2005 in New York and Los Angeles with a running time of somewhere around 2 hour 30 minutes, Malick decided to cut it down by about 15 minutes for the wider release.
I remember going to a BAFTA screening in November 2005 and I caught the longer cut and when I saw the initial DVD release in 2006, it seemed a little cut down, although it isn’t the kind of film where the cuts were immediately apparent.
The ‘Extended Cut’ on the Blu-ray is the same the DVD released at October 14, 2008 which is almost 22 minutes longer than the original extended cut.
This is the kind of film that could have been made to highlight the Blu-ray format because the stunning cinematography )all shot on Steadicam using natural light) is a key element in the film’s power.
The new Blu-ray is a 1080P transfer the sharpens everything up in terms of colour and resolution.
DVD Beaver has posted some screen captures comparing the DVD and Blu-ray versions and they also note that grain is not as prevalent as expected and note that the audio is a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track at 1437 kbps.
The extras on the Blu-ray Disc include:
Ran (Optimum): Akira Kurosawa’s classic 1985 drama is a loose re-imagining of the legends of the daimyo MĆri Motonari and Shakespeare’s King Lear.
This new Blu-ray release follows an aging Sengoku-era warlord (Tatsuya Nakadai) who decides to abdicate as ruler in favour of his three sons and the subsequent chaos that is unleashed on his kingdom.
Returning to the Shakespearean themes he had previously explored in Throne of Blood, this was Kurosawa’s last major epic and silenced doubters who felt he couldn’t work in colour.
After a glittering career as one of world cinema’s most acclaimed directors, by the late 1970s Kurosawa had been struggling with numerous personal and professional problems which saw him have difficulty in getting financing for his films.
That changed with Kagemusha (1980), the story of a man passed off as a medieval Japanese lord, and it was financed with the help of the director’s most famous admirers, George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola.
Ran explored similar aspects of medieval Japan but was bigger and more ambitious in scope, to the point that he spent nearly a decade planning it and trying to obtain funding.
With the help of French producer Serge Silberman, he finally managed to get it in production and the result was a stunning epic filled with memorable compositions and haunting performances.
For the Blu-ray Disc the specs and extras include:
The Deer Hunter (Optimum): The winner of Best Picture at the 1978 Oscars still remains a powerful and moving drama about the effects of war on a tightly-knit community.
Written and directed by Michael Cimino, it focuses on a trio of Russian American steel worker friends in Clairton, Pennsylvania and their infantry service in the Vietnam War.
Starring Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, Meryl Streep, John Savage, John Cazale, George Dzundza and Chuck Aspegren, all of whom are terrific, it met with instant acclaim, winning five Oscars and establishing itself as a classic of the 1970s.
However, the film has always had a noisy band of critics from the ludicrous gang of socialist delegates at the 1979 Berlin film festival who protested against the screening of the film – feeling obliged to voice their solidarity with the âheroic people of Vietnamâ.
After Cimino’s epic fall from grace with Heaven’s Gate (1980), the knives came out as revisionists attacked the film: the Russian roulette sequence was historically inaccurate; the lead characters were too old; and of course the hoary old critique – beloved of contrarians apparently grasping at profundity – that it was somehow racist in its depiction of the North Vietnamese.
Some of these criticisms can be refuted by the fact that it is a work of imagination, not documentary, and that it isn’t actually about the politics of the Vietnam War.
Given the lies and political deceptions that created and prolonged the conflict, it is perhaps understandable that justifiable anger would spill out into discourse about the first major film to feature it as a backdrop.
But it isn’t a defence of US involvement in South East Asis and, if anything, is something of a cautionary tale of how innocence and idealism – very American virtues after World War II – can be devoured by the horrors of war.
If a film like The Green Berets (1968) was a deluded depiction of what some Americans actually thought was going on in Vietnam, The Deer Hunter represents the painful cultural hangover the nation felt at losing their first war.
Over thirty years on from its release, there is still a powerful sense of existential dread within the film which has probably been felt by any community scarred by sending its people off to war, be it Vietnam, Iraq or Afghanistan.
Rather than being a sentimental celebration of fallen soldiers, it remains a haunting portrayal of patriotic ignorance being slowly crushed by the reality of armed conflict.
With a running time just over three hours, it is a slow and meditative epic filled with memorable images that were superbly shot by Vilmos Zsigmond and the Blu-ray does real justice to his visuals.
Some of the extras have appeared on previous versions by Warner and Optimum but for the Blu-ray Disc some new ones have been added.
The most interesting of these is a French documentary about the Vietnam War called ‘Unknown Images’ which is gives valuable context to what they describe as an ‘abominable war’.
The specs and full list of extras include:
An American Werewolf in London (Universal): A fully remastered re-release on Blu-ray for John Landis’ 1981 werewolf horror is most welcome, especially as it has a new set of extras including a feature-length documentary âBeware the Moonâ and a featurette ‘I Walked With a Werewolf’.
The plot involves two US tourists named David and Jack (David Naughton and Griffin Dunne) who are attacked by a werewolf on the Yorkshire Moors. Jack dies but David survives and is taken to London where he falls in love with a nurse (Jenny Agutter). However, after dark dreams and visions he slowly realises he has become a creature of the night, wreaking havoc on the British capital.
Interestingly 1981 was the year of two other werewolf films (The Howling and Wolfen) but this one has accumulated a particular cult following due to its killer blend of scary horror (watch out for the curtains) and humour which is often at its best when you are least expecting it.
The other aspect of the film that is notable is the groundbreaking use of makeup and visual effects by Rick Baker. The famous transformation sequence was actually a major factor in makeup and industry technological contributions being recognized at the Academy Awards in 1981 as Baker won the first ever Oscar to be awarded to a special effects artist.
Landis has been effusive about the quality of the transfer to Blu-ray as he revealed in this interview with /Film at FrightFest last month in London:
DVD Beaver has posted some screen shots from the disc and they say fans of the movie ‘should be very happy with this transfer.
The specs and extras on the Blu-ray Disc are:
Belle De Jour (Optimum): Another classic gets re-rleased by Optimum this week and this 1967 drama from director Luis Bunuel still exudes a classy eroticism.
Catherine Deneuve plays a frigid housewife whose sexual fantasies come true when she opts to become the high class call girl of the title during the day and a loyal housewife at night.
From the famous opening scene to the later stages, Bunuel creates a telling portrait of a suffocating bourgeois life (aided by the magnificent cinematography by Sacha Vierny) but also subverts many of the audience assumptions in the surrealist fashion distinctive of his other work.
Deneuve gives an immaculate performance in what is probably her most iconic role, her icy beauty sometimes overshadowing the subtleties of what is arguably her finest performance.
It is a film that repays repeated viewings, not only for the little enigmas that are peppered throughout (such as that mysterious box) but for the questions it raises about desire and fantasy which retain a lasting power.
The Blu-ray transfer is impressive and the specs and extra features are:
The Prisoner (Network): Network have announced the release of the complete series of The Prisoner on Blu-ray Disc. This iconic cult series starring Patrick McGoohan as a former spy taken prisoner in a mysterious village, marks Networkâs first foray into the Blu-ray market.
The 6-disc limited edition box set is priced at ÂŁ59.99 RRP and this is the first Blu-ray version of the series anywhere in the world and is the only home entertainment edition of the series to be officially endorsed by McGoohan.
Containing all seventeen episodes, extras on the set are as follows:
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ALSO OUT
Amsterdamned (Nouveaux)
Blood (O Sangue) (Second Run DVD)
Death Note: The Complete Series (Manga)
Dying Breed (DNC Entertainment)
Everlasting Moments (Icon)
Fighting (Universal)
Fireflies in the Garden (Universal)
Friday (Director’s Cut) (EIV)
Fringe Season 1 (Warner)
Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (EIV)
Gigantic (Universal)
Gossip Girl Complete Season 2 (Warner)
Kitaro (Manga)
Menace II Society (Director’s Cut) (EIV)
Negima Series 2 Part 2 (Manga)
Observe and Report (Warner)
Robot Chicken Season 2 (Revolver)
Robot Chicken Seasons 1-3 (Revolver)
Swing Vote (Anchor Bay)
Swoon (Palisades Tartan)
Telstar (Momentum)
The Simpsons Season 12 (Fox)
The Two Ronnies Series 6 (2 Entertain)
Tony Manero (Network)
Tormented (Pathe)
Wasting Away (Kaleidoscope)
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> Browse more DVD Releases at Amazon UK and Play
> Check the latest DVD prices at DVD Price Check
> Take a look at the current UK cinema releases (W/C Friday 25th September)
Director Roman Polanski has been arrested in Zurich and faces possible extradition to the US for having sex with a 13-year-old girl in 1977.
The 76 year old was detained on Saturday as he travelled from France to the Zurich Film Festival, where he was to collect a lifetime achievement award.
The Swiss ministry spokesman Guido Balmer told the Associated Press that U.S. authorities have been seeking Polanski’s arrest since 2005:
“There was a valid arrest request and we knew when he was coming. That’s why he was taken into custody.”
Polanski is currently being held under ‘provisional detention for extradition’, but won’t be transferred to U.S. authorities until all the procedural boxes have been ticked and the director can contest his detention and any possible extradition in the Swiss courts.
The original case dates back to the late 1970s when the director was involved in a scandal involving a 13-year old girl named Samantha Gailey, now known as Samantha Geimer.
According to Geimer, Polanski asked her mother if he could take photos of the young girl for French Vogue, which the director had been asked to guest edit and her mother allowed a private photo shoot.
She then agreed to a second session on March 10th, 1977 which took place at the home of Polanski’s friend Jack Nicholson in the Mulholland area of Los Angeles.
Later Geimer testified that at this Polanski performed various sexual acts on her, after giving her a combination of champagne and Quaaludes.
In a 2003 article for the LA Times Geimer described what happened:
I met Roman Polanski in 1977, when I was 13 years old. I was in ninth grade that year, when he told my mother that he wanted to shoot pictures of me for a French magazine.
That’s what he said, but instead, after shooting pictures of me at Jack Nicholson’s house on Mulholland Drive, he did something quite different. He gave me champagne and a piece of a Quaalude. And then he took advantage of me.
It was not consensual sex by any means. I said no, repeatedly, but he wouldn’t take no for an answer. I was alone and I didn’t know what to do. It was scary and, looking back, very creepy.
Those may sound like kindergarten words, but that’s the way it feels to me. It was a very long time ago, and it is hard to remember exactly the way everything happened. But I’ve had to repeat the story so many times, I know it by heart.
The original charges against Polanski when he was arrested in March 1977 were: giving Quaaludes to a minor; child molestation; unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor; rape by use of drugs; oral copulation and sodomy.
Polanski never denied the charges, but in the legal negotiations that followed they were dismissed under the terms of a plea bargain by which he pleaded guilty to unlawful sex with a minor.
After 42 days’ in prison over the winter of 1977-78, Polanski was passed as fit to stand trial and reportedly expected that he would be freed under a deal with the presiding judge, Laurence J. Rittenband.
Geimer also recounted in her 2003 piece that this deal – agreed between the defence, prosecution and judge – was reneged upon at the last minute:
We pressed charges, and he pleaded guilty. A plea bargain was agreed to by his lawyer, my lawyer and the district attorney, and it was approved by the judge. But to our amazement, at the last minute the judge went back on his word and refused to honor the deal.
Worried that he was going to have to spend 50 years in prison — rather than just time already served — Mr. Polanski fled the country. He’s never been back, and I haven’t seen him or spoken to him since.
Looking back, there can be no question that he did something awful. It was a terrible thing to do to a young girl. But it was also 25 years ago — 26 years next month. And, honestly, the publicity surrounding it was so traumatic that what he did to me seemed to pale in comparison.
It was when Polanski got wind that Rittenband was ready to break the agreement â allegedly due to fears of a public backlash – he flew to London in February 1978 and a day later fled to France.
To this day he has never returned to the US for fear of arrest or travelled to certain countries with extradition treaties.
He subsequently moved to France, where he has lived ever since and currently holds citizenship, protected by their limited extradition policies with US.
Since then he has made all his films in Europe, which have included Tess (1978), Pirates (1986), Frantic (1988), Bitter Moon (1992), Death and the Maiden (1994) and The Pianist (2002).
When he won Best Director for The Pianist at the Oscars in March 2003, Harrison Ford collected the award on his behalf and there was even a standing ovation.
That response is reflective of many in Hollywood, who still revere him as one of the great post-war directors: the Polish refugee who overcame Nazi and Communist oppression to direct such landmark films as Repulsion (1965), Rosemary’s Baby (1968) and Chinatown (1974).
Many there – although they don’t always openly admit it – feel that Polanski was a great artist who had been through the double trauma of having his mother murdered by the Nazis at Auschwitz in 1942 and then his wife Sharon Tate brutally killed by the Manson gang in 1969.
Given where the 1977 incident happened, I’m sure that some stars and directors of that era who engaged in certain, illicit activities may well think that it could have easily been them in Polanski’s position.
If we go back even further, the history of Hollywood is one riven with dark secrets which would occasionally bubble up to the surface in the cases of Fatty Arbuckle, William Desmond Taylor or, more recently, Robert Blake.
And this doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of what was going on in the 1970s when hedonism amongst some members of the showbiz community reached new heights – or lows, depending on your view – of excess.
Polanski’s arrest probably functioned as a sobering wake up call to others in Hollywood, but it remains a polarising case.
Within the industry he is still enormously respected by his peers and colleagues. Two widely read blogs within Hollywood are reflective of opinion within Hollywood: Nikki Finke of Deadline reports that Polanski was ‘double crossed by the Swiss‘, whilst Jeffrey Wells of Hollywood Elsewhere dismisses the case as being about ‘largely discredited, over-and-done-with 1977 charge‘.
However, a quick glance at the comments section on these websites will provide you with angry blasts of outrage at the fact that Polanski committed a crime and evaded justice for many years.
Defenders point out that the 2008 documentary Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired, directed by Marina Zenovich, explored the case and highlighted “a pattern of misconduct and improper communications” between the district attorney’s office and Judge Rittenband back in 1977.
Polanski’s US lawyer wanted to use the evidence of judicial misconduct presented in the film in order to get the case dismissed and in a filing they said that the judge (now dead) violated the original plea bargain with communicating about the case with a deputy district attorney who was not involved.
The general picture painted by the film was that Polanski was unlucky to face a judge more interested in his own publicity than the rule of law, although detractors could argue that a bad judge doesn’t absolve Polanski from the crime he comitted.
To make things even muddier, the Los Angeles County Superior Court alleged that the documentary contained an error when it screened on HBO:
The Los Angeles Superior Court is aware of a documentary on film director Roman Polanski scheduled to air tonight on HBO.
The documentary makes an assertion that a Los Angeles Superior Court judge attempted to impose a condition on a reported sentencing agreement in 1997 under which Polanski would have had to agree to his sentencing being televised.
This assertion concerning televising of the sentencing hearing is a complete fabrication, entirely without any basis in fact and completely unsupported by the court record.
No such condition was ever suggested or proposed by the judge in question, either in 1997 or at any other time.
The Los Angeles Superior Court has made HBO aware of this egregious error and believes the network intends to rectify this misstatement of fact later today.
Back in January of this year, Polanski’s lawyer filed a further request to have the case dismissed, and to have it moved out of Los Angeles, as the courts there require him to be present there before any sentencing or dismissal.
In February 2009, Polanski’s request was denied by Judge Peter Espinoza, who said that he would rule if Polanski appeared in court before him.
In addition to publicly forgiving him Samantha Geimer has called for the charges against him to be dismissed from court, saying that decades of publicity as well as the prosecutor’s focus on lurid details (which The Smoking Gun published) continues to traumatize her and her family.
Now living in Hawaii, she even turned up at the US premiere of Wanted and Desired back in 2008.
In addition the French establishment are outraged at the arrest and possible extradition of the director with Culture Minister FrĂ©dĂ©ric Mitterrand saying that that he was ‘stupefied’:
âI strongly regret that a new ordeal is being inflicted on someone who has already experienced so many of them.â
Even President Sarkozy called for a ‘rapid solution’ to the situation, which could be seen as a coded way of saying send him back to France as soon as possible.
But why was he arrested now? The LA Times reports that the LA County district attorneyâs office learned last week that Polanski was planning to travel to Zurich and they sent a provisional arrest warrant to the U.S. Justice Department, which then presented it to Swiss authorities.
He is being held under a 2005 international alert issued by the US and although he has been to Switzerland before, this time US authorities apparently knew of his trip in advance.
That gave them time to issue a provisional warrant for his arrest and send it to Swiss authorities.
It is still unsure whether he had had not known about Switzerlandâs extradition treaty with the US, or had assumed that the country’s officials would turn a blind eye when he arrived in Zurich to receive an award for his work.
His agent Jeff Berg told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the arrest was “surprising because Roman for the last 12, 15 years has lived in Switzerland, he has a home, he travels there, he works there”.
Mr Mitterand also told France-Inter radio that he and his Polish counterpart Radek Sikorski have written to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and said there could be a decision as early as Monday if a Swiss court accepts bail.
British novelist Robert Harris, who was set to work with the director on an adaptation of his novel The Ghost, described the arrest as “disgusting treatment” and said the production team were “reeling from the news”.
The organisers of the festival, Nadja Schildknecht and Karl Spoerri, issued a statement saying they were shocked at the arrest of âone of the most extraordinary film-makers of our timesâ.
If extradited Polanski could face a sentence of between 18 months and three years although his lawyer, Georges Kiejman, said he planned to challenge his client’s arrest.
> BBC News report on his arrest in Zurich
> Peter Bradshaw and David Thomson of The Guardian analyse the story
> The Wikipedia page for Roman Polanski, which has been locked due to an edit war, still has useful references and links
> The Smoking Gun have the transcript of the grand jury minutes from 1977
> Lorenzo Semple (who worked with Polanski) and Marcia Nastir discuss Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired
Michael Moore was recently on ABC’s Good Morning America to discuss his new film Capitalism: A Love Story and towards the end makes some interesting comments about the TV workers (or ‘permalancers‘) he met backstage.
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NATIONAL RELEASES
The Soloist (Universal): An LA Times journalist (Robert Downey Jnr) comes across a schizophrenic, homeless musician (Jamie Foxx) in Los Angeles and as he writes about him in his column, they gradually affect each other in different ways. Although the studio brass at DreamWorks must have been salivating about possible Oscars when this film went into production last year, trouble was afoot when its Autumn release date was postponed in favour of a spring release.
Although the performances are fine (if a little too mannered in places) the film suffers from being a little too earnest and preachy – especially in its depiction of the homeless – and the central relationship never really catch fire. There are some striking moments and tasteful lensing by Seamus McGarvey but director Joe Wright doesn’t really bring the story to life. Universal are releasing the film in the UK and will be expecting so-so box office given the lack of buzz after its relatively quiet Stateside release back in April. [Empire Leicester Square & Nationwide / Cert 12A]
Surrogates (Walt Disney): A sci-fi action drama set in a futuristic world where humans live in isolation and interact through surrogate robots, sees a cop (Bruce Willis) forced to leave his home for the first time in years in order to investigate the murders of othersâ surrogates.
It is the first film Jonathan Mostow has directed since Terminator 3 and Elizabeth Banks is a producer (who originated the project with Max Handelman), but whether or not Bruce Willis has the box office mojo he once had is debatable. Credit to Disney though, as the trailer for this film has been omnipresent at multiplexes for the last two months (along with that annoying Martin Freeman piracy spot) and it could do decent business if audience word of mouth is good. [C’worlds Fulham Rd., Hammersmith, Odeon Leicester Sq. & Nationwide / Cert 12A]
Creation (Icon):  A period drama which explores the life and discoveries of Charles Darwin (Paul Bettany) and the relationship with his wife, Emma (Jennifer Connelly). Directed by Jon Amiel, it is was adapted for the screen by John Collee, based on Randal Keynes‘s biography of Darwin, Annie’s Box.
It was the opening film at this year’s Toronto Film Festival, although the tepid critical reaction is probably the reason it didn’t provoke a bidding war rather than the fact that Darwin is a taboo figure in the US, as producer Jeremy Thomas seemed to suggest in a recent interview. Icon will be hoping costume drama lovers or the curious will be up for this but they face an uphill task given the lack of buzz.  [Cineworld Haymarket, Curzon Mayfair & Nationwide / PG]
The Crimson Wing (Walt Disney): Another documentary to be released by Walt Disney under the Disneynature label explores the birth, life and death of a million crimson-winged flamingos in northern Tanzania. Directed by Matthew Aeberhard and Leander Ward. [Cineworlds Haymarket, Shaftesbury Ave. & Nationwide / Cert PG]
Fame (Entertainment): A loose remake of the 1980 film for the HSM generation, this follows a group of dancers, singers, actors, and artists over four years at the New York City High School of Performing Arts – today known as Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts. Directed by Kevin Tancharoen, it stars Asher Book, Paul McGill, Naturi Naughton and Paul Iacono. Entertainment will be hoping young tweens and teenagers will be getting excited for this, although it seems likely that it will find a better audience on DVD. [Nationwide / PG]
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IN LIMITED RELEASE
The Godfather (Park Circus): A re-release for Francis Ford Coppola’s classic 1972 crime drama which has been digitally restored frame by frame, resulting in a sparkling version. [Apollo Piccadilly Circus, BFI Southbank, Odeon Covent Gdn. & Key Cities / Cert 15]
Heart Of Fire (Metrodome): The true story of a young female soldier who comes of age during the Eritrean civil war. Directed by Luigi Falorni, it stars Letekidan Micael, Solomie Micael, Seble Tilahun and Daniel Seyoum. [ICA Cinema]
Management (Metrodome): A comedy about a traveling art saleswoman (Jennifer Aniston) who tries to shake off a flaky motel manager (Steve Zahn) who falls for her and won’t leave her alone. Originally released at the 2008 Toronto film festival, this looks like it will be forgotten soon. [Apollo Piccadilly Circus / Cert 15]
Born In 68 (Peccadillo Pictures): A French drama about two young lovers who change their lives drastically after the 1968 revolt. Starring Laetitia Casta and Yannick Renier, it was directed by Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau. [Renoir & selected Key Cities / Previews 24 Sep / Cert 15]
White Lightnin (Momentum Pictures): An ‘imaginary biopic’ based on the true story of hard-living, Appalachian tap dance legend Jesco White. Directed by Dominic Murphy. [ICA Cinema, Rich Mix & selected Key Cities / Cert 18]
Jack Said (Optimum Releasing): A British crime drama starring Danny Dyer which is getting a quick release in London before coming out on DVD in a couple of weeks. [Apollo Piccadilly Circus / Cert 18]
> UK cinema releases for September 2009
> DVD & Blu-ray picks for this week including Five Minutes of Heaven, In This World and Sunrise (W/C Monday 21st September 2009)
Karl Pilkington gets together with Ricky Gervais to give his thoughts on Gervais’ latest film, The Invention of Lying, which is out on Friday 2nd October.
Director Sally Potter‘s new film Rage is getting an interesting release this week.
The film will be having a premiere at the BFI in London this Thursday (September 24th) which will be satellite broadcast to over 35 screens across the UK and Ireland, followed by the release on DVD next Monday.
Using a narrative structure focused on individual performances, it is a series of interviews from a New York fashion show, filmed from the perspective of a schoolboy on his mobile phone.
Fourteen characters each have a role in the show, the designer (Simon Abkarian) and his models (Lily Cole and Jude Law), the fashion critic (Judi Dench) and photographer (Steve Buscemi), the financier (Eddie Izzard) and his bodyguard (John Leguizamo).
Audience members can be part of the satellite broadcast of the Q&A after the film, sending questions by Skype and SMS direct to Sally and members of the cast at the BFI.
You can also submit them via Twitter at www.twitter.com/ragemovie
In addition Babelgum will premiere the film on mobile phones and internet at the same time as the cinema and DVD release.
Apparently it is the world’s first feature film to debut on mobile phones, although I wonder what David Lynch would make of this.
Rocketboom’s Know Your Meme series explains the evolution of the Christian Bale rant.
DVD & BLU-RAY PICKS
Five Minutes of Heaven (Element Pictures): Although UK audiences may have already seen it earlier this year on BBC2, this powerful drama about a perpetrator and victim of violence during the Troubles meeting decades later is worth catching on DVD, especially as it didn’t have the publicity push here that a theatrical release provides (although IFC did distribute it in the US).
Inspired by true events, it begins with the murder of teenager in October 1975, witnessed by the victim’s younger brother, and it sees the killer go to jail for 10 years.
Flashing forward to the future it then explores the imagined encounter between the killer (Liam Neeson) and the victim’s brother (James Nesbitt), when they eventually meet for a television documentary 33 years after the murder.
Directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel, it features two excellent performances from Neeson and Nesbit and a script by Guy Hibbert that skilfully avoids many of the pitfalls involved in bringing episodes of The Troubles to the screen.
The title comes from Hibbert’s research, which involved three years of interviews with the actual Alistair Little and Joe Griffin, which resulted in details of what might happen if they ever met in real life (which is unlikely). Griffin has said he’d probably kill Little, something he feels would provide “five minutes of heaven.”
Although the subject matter is going to be a turn off to some viewers wanting an easy night in, the film represents another intelligent exploration of the dark and tortuous history of The Troubles, following such films as Hunger, Omagh and Bloody Sunday.
It is available on DVD and the features include:
In This World (ICA):Â Michael Winterbottom’s 2002 docu-drama follows the journey of two young Afghan refugees, Jamal Udin Torabi and Enayatullah, as they travel from a camp in Pakistan for a better life in London.
The film does an impressive job of showing how difficult and fraught with danger the journey immigrants take and the fluid, hand-held style gives it an extra jolt of realism. Added to this is the clever use of non-professional actors who play fictionalised versions of themselves.
Although it played well at film festivals in 2002, even winning the Golden Bear at Berlin in 2003, the subject matter and style meant that it didn’t set the box office alight. However, this re-issue on DVD by the ICA is well worth checking out.
Incidentally writer Tony Grisoni told me earlier this year that this was one of the best film experiences he ever had.
The feature is presented in Anamorphic widescreen with stereo sound and the extras include:
Sunrise (Eureka/Masters of Cinema): F. W. Murnau‘s classic 1927 film is often a regular in lists of ‘the greatest films ever made‘ and has long been considered to be the finest silent film produced by a Hollywood studio.
Based on the Hermann Sudermann novel ‘A Trip to Tilsit’, it is the tale of a peasant couple (George O’Brien and Janet Gaynor) threatened by a Machiavellian seductress from the city (Margaret Livingston).
A milestone of film expressionism, it was made in the twilight of the silent era and became something of a swan song for the vanishing medium.
It was met with instant acclaim and won three Oscars for Best Actress (Gaynor), Cinematography, and a never-repeated award for “Unique and Artistic Picture” (although Best Picture went out to the more financially successful Wings).
This reissue of Sunrise contains two versions of the film: the previously released Movietone version, and an alternate silent version of the film recently discovered in the Czech Republic. The Blu-ray edition includes both versions in 1080P and DVD Beaver has more technical details and screenshots here.
Priced at ÂŁ22.99 RRP on DVD (2-Disc Special Edition) and ÂŁ24.99 RRP on Blu-ray Disc, and the features are:
The new cover-design is based on the original 1927 art-deco poster design.
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ALSO OUT
Awaydays (Optimum)
Banana Splits Season 1 (Warner)
Battlestar Galactica: The Complete Series (Universal Playback)
Big Man Japan (Revolver)
Blue Dragon Volumes 5 & 6 (Manga)
Bring It On: Fight to the Finish (Universal)
Chéri (Pathe)
Death of a Ghost Hunter (Brain Damage Films)
Desperate Romantics (2 Entertain)
Doctor Who: The Keys of Marinus (2 Entertain)
ER Season 15 (Warner)
Fast & Furious (Universal)
Goddess (Devi)
Goth: Love of Death (4 Digital Asia)
Guyver: The Bioboosted Armor Collection (Manga)
La TĂȘte contre les murs (Eureka/Masters of Cinema)
Messengers 2: The Scarecrow (Icon)
Portrait of a Miner: National Coal Board Collection Volume 1 (BFI)
Prey for the Beast (Brain Damage Films)
Secrets of the Clown (Brain Damage Films)
Serum (Brain Damage Films)
Sick Nurses (Revolver)
Silent Bloodnight (Brain Damage Films)
Star Wars: Clone Wars Volume 2 (Warner)
State of Play (Universal)
Supernatural Season 4 Part 2 (Warner)
The Man Without A Past (ICA)
The Paul Newman Collection Volume 2 (Warner)
The September Issue (Momentum)
Torture Me No More (Brain Damage Films)
Two Daughters (Mr. Bongo)
Unarmed But Dangerous (Anchor Bay)
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> Browse more DVD Releases at Amazon UK and Play
> Check the latest DVD prices at DVD Price Check
> Take a look at the current UK cinema releases (W/C Friday 18th September)
What exactly is Shirley MacLaine talking about here?
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NATIONAL RELEASES
Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs 3D (Sony Pictures): An animated film about a young scientist who invents a a weather machine that turns water into food, which results in food falling on to his town. Based on the children’s book of the same name by Judi Barrett and Ron Barrett, it features the voices of Bill Hader, Anna Faris, James Caan and Mr. T.
Directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, it is an engaging tale filled with some surreal sequences in which it rains hamburgers, hot dogs and all manner of sugar laden food.
The story is kind of a prequel to the book and although it doesn’t arrive on a wave of buzz, it could find a grateful family audience as it is accessible and charming, with some delightful animation which makes good use of the 3-D.
Sometimes animated films outside of the Pixar and DreamWorks stables can be underestimated at the box office (just look at the massive grosses of Ice Age 3) and Sony might be pleasantly surprised at how well this one does both in the US and UK box office. [Nationwide / Cert U]
Gamer (Entertainment): A sci-fi action thriller set in a future-world where humans can control each other in mass-scale, multi-player online gaming environments, it sees a star player (Gerard Butler) from a game called “Slayers” looks to regain his independence while taking down the game’s mastermind.
Directed by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, it looks set to be another piece of genre pulp from Lionsgate who will be expecting males to turn out on force, especially those who love violent action mixed up with some computer game references. [Empire Leicester Square & Nationwide / Cert 18]
Away We Go (E1 Entertainment): A comedy-drama about a couple (John Krazinski and Maya Rudolph) expecting their first child who end up travelling around the U.S. in order to find a perfect place to start their new family.
Directed by Sam Mendes from a script by the husband-and-wife team of Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida, it marks a change of pace it received mixed reviews in the US and doesn’t look set to be a big grosser there or here.
E1 Films will be hoping that art-house and indie-orientated audiences will be up for this, although it could struggle to make an impact despite the pedigree of the director, for whom this makes an interesting change of pace. [Vue West End & Nationwide / Cert 15]
The Firm (Warner Bros.): A remake of the Alan Clarke film, directed by Nick Love which sees football hooligans (who would’ve thought it eh?) organising themselves into firms that represent their favorite team. Like most of Love’s films it is more likely to find an audience on DVD. [C’World Shaftesbury Ave., Vues Finchley Road, West End & Nationwide / Cert 18]
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IN LIMITED RELEASE
Birdwatchers (Artificial Eye): An Italian drama about a tribe of indigenous Guarani Indians who attempt to re-inhabit their ancestral land, which lies on the border of a wealthy landowner’s fields, causing tensions to escalate. [Curzon Soho & Key Cities / Previews Sept 17th / Cert 15)
Blind Dating (The Works): A 2006 comedy (yes, it is three years old)starring a pre-Star Trek Chris Pine, as a handsome young man who also happens to be blind. [Apollo Piccadilly Circus / Cert 15]
Chevolution (ICA Films): A documentary on the iconography of Che Guevara, as chronicled by filmmaker and Guggenheim scholar Trisha Ziff. [ICA Cinema & Key Cities / Cert 15]
Je Veux Voir (Soda Pictures): A cinematic visualisation of the horrific toll being paid for the recent war in Southern Lebanon. [Cine Lumiere, Renoir & Key Cities]
31 North 62 East (DFTEnterprises): A psychological thriller about how an elite SAS unit’s position is revealed by the British Prime Minister to ensure an arms deal goes ahead and to secure his re-election. [Empire Leicester Square & Key Cities]
The Agent (Pinter And Martin): An adaptation of Martin Wagner’s stage play. [BFI Southbank / Edinburgh F’House / Glasgow Film Theatre / Sept 27th]
> UK cinema releases for September 2009
> DVD & Blu-ray picks for this week including Beyond the Clouds, Is Anybody There? and Leon (W/C Monday 14th September 2009)
The Simpsons have spoofed the opening title sequence of Mad Men.
Matt Damon was recently on Letterman, where he discussed the back story of that bizarre press conference at the Venice film festival where a journalist stripped for George Clooney.
Creation is a new film which explores the life and discoveries of Charles Darwin (Paul Bettany) and the relationship with his wife, Emma (Jennifer Connelly).
Directed by Jon Amiel, it is was adapted for the screen by John Collee, based on Randal Keynes‘s biography of Darwin, Annie’s Box.
I recently spoke with Jon Amiel about the film and you can listen to the interview here:
[audio:http://filmdetail.receptionmedia.com/Jon_Amiel_on_Creation.mp3]You can download this interview as a podcast via iTunes by clicking here
Creation is out at UK cinemas from Friday 25th September
> Download the interview as an MP3 file
> Official site for Creation
> Jon Amiel at the IMDb
> Find out more about Charles Darwin at Wikipedia
The trailer for The Cove, a documentary that explores the annual killing of more than 2,500 dolphins in Japan.
It won the U.S. Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival back in January 2009 and is set for a UK release on Friday 23rd October
Patrick Swayze has passed away at the age of 57.
Although someone at BBC News missed out the ‘Y’ in his name (see above), the AP report:
Patrick Swayze, the hunky actor who danced his way into viewers’ hearts with “Dirty Dancing” and then broke them with “Ghost,” died Monday after a battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 57.
“Patrick Swayze passed away peacefully today with family at his side after facing the challenges of his illness for the last 20 months,” said a statement released Monday evening by his publicist, Annett Wolf.
No other details were given.
Fans of the actor were saddened to learn in March 2008 that Swayze was suffering from a particularly deadly form of cancer.
He had kept working despite the diagnosis, putting together a memoir with his wife and shooting “The Beast,” an A&E drama series for which he had already made the pilot. It drew a respectable 1.3 million viewers when the 13 episodes ran in 2009, but A&E said it had reluctantly decided not to renew it for a second season.
Swayze said he opted not to use painkilling drugs while making “The Beast” because they would have taken the edge off his performance. He acknowledged that time might be running out given the grim nature of the disease.
Swayze came to prominence in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1983 adaptation of S.E. Hinton’s novel The Outsiders alongside Rob Lowe, Tom Cruise, Matt Dillon, Ralph Macchio, Emilio Estevez and Diane Lane. In the mid-80s he also starred in Red Dawn, Grandview U.S.A. and Youngblood.
But he really found worldwide fame in 1987 with his performance as Johnny Castle in Dirty Dancing. As the son of a choreographer with a background in musical theatre, the role was tailor made for him.
The coming-of-age romance also starred Jennifer Grey as a young woman on holiday with her family who falls for Swayze’s dance instructor.
It became an unexpected hit in the summer of 1987, spawning an Oscar-winning hit song in “(I’ve Had) the Time of My Life” and eventually becoming the most rented film of 1988 and the first video to sell over a million copies.
A major crowd pleaser, especially amongst female audiences, it went on to be an enduring cult phenomenon with reissues and stage musicals being performed well into this decade.
Swayze followed that up with the 1989 action film Road House in which he played a bouncer at a rowdy bar alongside Sam Elliott.
But it was his performance in 1990’s Ghost that showed a more vulnerable side, as a murdered man trying to contact with his fiancĂ©e (Demi Moore) with the help of a psychic (Whoopi Goldberg).
He originally had to fight for the role (as director Jerry Zucker originally wanted Kevin Kline) but it went on to become the sleeper hit that summer at the US box office and it led to The Righteous Brothers’ ‘Unchained Melody’ becoming a hit again (and forever being associated with a pottery wheel) as well as an Oscar for Goldberg.
In his career Swayze earned three Golden Globe nominations, for Dirty Dancing, Ghost and 1995’s To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar.
In the ’90s, he starred in Point Break (1991) as a bank robbing surfer, but his career would tail off from the highs he reached in the 1980s, with a period in rehab for alcohol abuse.
In 2001, he appeared in the cult classic Donnie Darko, and in 2003 he returned to musical theatre in New York with Chicago; whilst in 2006 was in the London production of Guys and Dolls.
Swayze was married since 1975 to Niemi, a fellow dancer who took lessons with his mother; they met when he was 19 and she was 15.
According to People magazine Niemi is a licensed pilot who would fly her husband from Los Angeles to Northern California for treatment at Stanford University Medical Center.
DVD & BLU-RAY PICKS
Beyond the Clouds (Second Sight): Near the end of his professional career in 1995, Michelangelo Antonioni embarked on this co-project with Wim Wenders, an erotic drama based on his own short stories, which includes four tales linked by a director (John Malkovich) in search of his next picture.
Taking place in Ferrara, Portofino, Aix en Provence and Paris, each story features a woman at the centre of the story and the cast features Sophie Marceau, Irene Jacob, Fanny Ardant, Jean Reno, Vincent Perez, Peter Weller, Marcello Mastroianni and Jeanne Moreau.
Included on this release is âTo Make A Film Is To Be Aliveâ a 52 minute documentary and an audio essay by Seymour Chatman (author of Antonioni: The Complete Films), along with a with production stills gallery.
Although not in the same league as Antonioni’s very best work, it is a fascinating project with some marvellous visuals, aided by an evocative score featuring memorable contributions from Brian Eno and U2 (aka Passengers).
Is Anybody There? (Optimum):Â Set in a sleepy British seaside town in the 1980s, this drama tells the story of a morbid, bookish 10-year-old boy Edward (Bill Milner) who becomes increasingly obsessed with the afterlives of the residents of the old peoplesâ home which his parents run, until he is distracted by the arrival of ‘The Amazing’ Clarence (Michael Caine), an anarchic retired magician and grieving widower who is determined to age disgracefully.
Available on DVD and Blu-ray, the extras include:
Leon (Optimum): The Blu-ray release for Luc Besson‘s 1994 thriller is part of a bunch of releases for the French director. Given the lacklustre quality of his recent output, it is worth revisiting this sharply written tale of a French hitman (Jean Reno) in New York befriending a young girl (Natalie Portman), whose family have been killed by corrupt cops (led by a splendidly nutty Gary Oldman).
Although the HD transfer has got mixed to negative reviews, the quality of the film makes it worth buying as it probably won’t get a re-release for a while.
The extras and technical specs are:
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ALSO OUT
Angels & Demons (Sony)
Bundy: A Legacy of Evil (Lionsgate)
Crank 2: High Voltage (Lionsgate)
Diary for My Children (Second Run)
Entourage Season 5 (HBO)
Knight Rider (2008) Season 1 (Universal Playback)
La Belle Captive (Second Sight)
Lie to Me Season 1 (Fox)
Massive (2 Entertain)
Sexy Killer (Momentum)
Splinter (Anchor Bay)
That Sinking Feeling (2 Entertain)
The Butterfly Effect 3: Revelations (Icon)
Two Pints of Lager and A Packet of Crisps Series 8 (2 Entertain)
> Browse more DVD Releases at Amazon UK and Play
> Check the latest DVD prices at DVD Price Check
> Take a look at the current UK cinema releases (W/C Friday 11th September)
The Israeli war film Lebanon has won the Golden Lion at the 66th Venice Film Festival.
Directed by Samuel Maoz, it was shot almost entirely inside an Israeli tank and is set against the backdrop of the 1982 invasion of Lebanon.
In the other big awards Best Director went to Shirin Neshat for Women Without Men, whilst Colin Firth won Best Actor for A Single Man, the adaptation of Christopher Isherwood’s novel.
Here are the other winners in full:
VENEZIA 66
ORIZZONTI
CONTROCAMPO ITALIANO
CORTO CORTISSIMO
Luigi De Laurentiis Award for a Debut Film
Persol 3-D Award for the Best 3-D Stereoscopic Film of the Year
The trailer for Up in the Air, the new film based on the Walter Kim novel, starring George Clooney and directed by Jason Reitman.
> Official site
> Early reviews at Variety, /Film, Cinematical and Hollywood Elsewhere
This Australian poster for Lars Von Trier’s Antichrist by Jeremy Saunders is really quite striking.
Provocative, stylish, and with a killer font, it is actually more impressive than the film itself.
[Via The Auteurs]
We have 3 copies of Is Anybody There? to give away on DVD or Blu-ray courtesy of Optimum.
Set in a sleepy British seaside town in the 1980s, it tells the story of a morbid, bookish 10-year-old boy Edward (Bill Milner) who becomes increasingly obsessed with the afterlives of the residents of the old peoplesâ home which his parents run, until he is distracted by the arrival of âThe Amazingâ Clarence (Michael Caine), an anarchic retired magician and grieving widower who is determined to age disgracefully.
As an unlikely friendship blossoms between them, the old man comes to terms with his past, the child masters his fear of the future, and both learn to seize the day.
Extras include:
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To stand a chance of winning a copy just answer this question:
Which 2008 film starred Michael Caine alongside Christian Bale?
Just email your answers and postal address to [email protected]
The competition closes when we run out of DVDs, so that means the first 3 correct answers get a DVD. Simple as that.
Is Anybody There? is out on DVD & Blu-ray on Monday 14th September from Optimum
> Is Anybody There? at the IMDb
> Find out more about the Blu-ray Disc at DVD Times
September 11th, 2001 is still a date that looms over our world, eight years on from the attacks on New York and Washington.
The events that day not only saw the death of thousands of innocent people but were also a catalyst for the political and religious turmoil that has engulfed the first decade of this century.
There have been mainstream films about that day (the best being United 93) and some outstanding documentaries such as 9/11:  The Falling Man and HBO’s In Memoriam: New York City 09/11/01.
But earlier this week Channel 4 screened the most compelling documentary about the events of September 11th that I have seen.
Entitled 102 Minutes That Changed America, it was produced by The History Channel and consisted of footage shot on the day in (almost) real time without any framing, voice-over or overt editorialising.
It contained a lot that I hadn’t seen before and the editing of raw video gave it a haunting and visceral impact, which this footage shot from the dorms of NYU gives you a flavour of.
Some of it was graphic and upsetting, but it is a film I would urge people to see and the History Channel’s website has an interactive map with more information and interviews with the people who turned on their cameras that day.
UK viewers can watch it again on 40D whilst US viewers can watch it on the History Channel tonight at 9pm or watch selected clips here.
Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps has started filming in New York and the Daily Mail has got some paparazzi pictures (courtesy of Splash) of Michael Douglas, a sockless Shia LeBeouf, Frank Langella and director Oliver Stone filming on location.
The plot is the modern-day story of Gordon Gekko, who has recently been sprung from prison and re-emerges into the current chaos of the financial markets, whilst trying to rebuild a relationship with his estranged daughter (Carey Mulligan).
Meanwhile Shia LaBeouf plays a young trader and Frank Langella stars as his mentor, whilst Josh Brolin has a key supporting role as a hedge fund manager.
Check out the pictures here.
[Images are from Splash / © 2009]
Ben Stiller demonstrates his familiarity with the internet.
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NATIONAL RELEASES
Julie & Julia (Sony Pictures): Nora Ephron‘s comedy-drama juxtaposes the lives of US chef Julia Child (Meryl Streep), as she falls in love with French cooking during the 1950s, and Julie Powell (Amy Adams), a blogger who attempts to cook all 524 recipes from Child’s cookbook many years later.
Although the tone is relatively light throughout, the film is an enjoyable confection with Streep on especially fine form as a middle aged woman who finds her true calling in life whilst abroad. Adams, understandably, lacks the gravitas of her co-star but she still manages to make her character engaging as she struggles to find her way in life (and the kitchen).
The production design by Mark Ricker and costumes by Ann Roth capture the different time periods with aplomb and watching this digitally projected was at times a mouthwatering experience. It never reaches the food porn levels of something like Babette’s Feast but is still likely to have foodies drooling due to it featuring a lot of cooking and discussion about what we eat.
Sony will be hoping that female audiences will be turning out in force for this one, especially after Meryl Streep has become an unlikely box office draw in the wake of Mamma Mia! and it is likely to do good business despite being a very crowded week at UK cinemas. [Nationwide / Cert 12A / Previews from Sept 9th]
Dorian Gray (Momentum Pictures): An adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s classic novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, this version is directed by Oliver Parker and stars Ben Barnes in the title role, with Colin Firth as Lord Henry Wotton and Rebecca Hall as Emily Wotton.
Momentum will be hoping fans of the book will be up for this but it may struggle to find a decent sized audience in such a crowded week. [Odeon Leicester Square & Nationwide / Cert 15 / Opened on Weds 9th]
Sorority Row (E1 Entertainment): Teen-themed horror about a group of sorority sisters try to cover up the death of their house-sister after a prank gone wrong, only to find themselves stalked by a serial killer.
Directed by Stewart Hendler, it fatures a cast of unknowns such as Briana Evigan, Leah Pipes, Rumer Willis, Jamie Chung, Margo Harshman and Audrina Patridge. Horror can still be profitable but I feel this may struggle to do big box office mainly because UK audiences have no idea what the word “sorority” means. [Empire Leicester Square & Nationwide / Cert15 / Opened on Weds 9th]
Adventureland (Walt Disney): A comedy set in the summer of 1987 which revolves around a recent college graduate (Jesse Eisenberg) who takes a job at his local amusement park, only to find it’s the perfect course to get him prepared for the real world.
Directed by Greg Mottola (who made Superbad in 2007), it co-stars Kristen Stewart, Ryan Reynolds, Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig. Despite getting very positive reviews in the US it didn’t make a huge impact at the box office. It could do OK here, but I suspect it will find more appreciation and love on DVD. [Cineworld Shaftesbury Ave., & Nationwide / Cert 15]
Whiteout (Optimum Releasing): Based on the 1998 comic book of the same name, the plot involves a U.S. deputy marshal (Kate Beckinsale) assigned to Antarctica, where she must solve a murder three days before the antarctic winter begins.
Directed by Dominic Sena, it was produced by Joel Silver but appears to be dead-on-arrival with zero buzz and expectation. [C’World Shaftesbury Ave., Vue West End & Nationwide / 12A]
Miss March: Generation Penetration (Fox):Â A comedy about a young man who awakens from a four-year coma to hear that his high-school sweetheart has since become a centerfold in one of the world’s most famous men’s magazines.
He and his sex-crazed best friend decide to take a cross-country road trip in order to crash a party at the magazine’s legendary mansion headquarters and win back the girl. Another film lacking in buzz that would appear to be straight to DVD fodder were it not actually being shown in cinemas. The pitiful score of 7 (yes, seven) on Metacritic would suggest that it all is not well with this film. [Nationwide / Cert 15]
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IN LIMITED RELEASE
Fish Tank (Artificial Eye): The latest film from director Andrea Arnold is the tale of a young teenager (Katie Jarvis) who’s life begins to change when her mother brings home a new boyfriend (Michael Fassbender).
It won the Jury prize at Cannes back in May and Artificial Eye will be hoping for decent arthouse business after the mostly positive critical buzz it has got since then. The bleak setting may put off more mainstream audiences but this looks likely to find an audience and cement Arnold’s reputation futher. [Chelsea Cinema, Curzon Soho, Renoir, Richmond P’House & Nationwide / Cert 15]
The September Issue (Momentum Pictures): A documentary chronicling Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour’s preparations for the 2008 fall-fashion issue. Momentum might be surprised at how well this does given the amount of press it has got, so look out for a good per-screen-average and a decent chunk of business on DVD. [Curzon Mayfair & Key Cities / Cert 12A]
Morning Light (Walt Disney): A documentary about fifteen young sailors. [Odeon Southampton / Cert PG / Selected Key Cities from Sept 18th) Reckoning Day (Revolver Entertainment) [Key Cities / Cert 18]
Shank (Parasol Pictures): Low budget drama about a romance between a self-hating hoodie (Wayne Virgo) and a flighty French student Olivier (Marc Laurent) which explores such issues as class and criminal violence. [Greenwich P’House & selected Key Cities (Previews Bristol 18 July)
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> UK cinema releases for September 2009
> DVD & Blu-ray picks for this week including This is Spinal Tap, Fifty Dead Men Walking and Gladiator (W/C Monday 7th September 2009)
This long form advert for Johnnie Walker whisky with Robert Carlyle is a pretty incredible piece of filmmaking.
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Entitled The Man Who Walked Around The World, it features Carlyle walking and talking to camera, discussing the history of the famous Scottish beverage.
It was directed by Jamie Rafn and the copy was written by Justin Moore of BBH.
Rafn explains in this interview with Shots that:
N.B If the YouTube video gets pulled then you can watch it on the official Johnnie Walker website.
The official lineup for this year’s London Film Festival has been announced.
Featuring 191 features and 113 shorts from almost 50 countries, it takes place next month from 14th-29th October.
The big news angle is that George Clooney stars in three of the major films, including: the world premiere of Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox (as the voice of the title character); The Men Who Stare at Goats as a self-proclaimed “Jedi warrior” leading paranormal experiments for the U.S. military, and as a management consultant addicted to air travel in Jason Reitman’s Up in the Air.
The festival’s artistic director Sandra Hebron said that Clooney provided the closest thing there is to a theme at the 53rd annual festival.
“There are three George Clooney films and four films with nuns in them. That’s about it”.
On a more serious note she said that if there was a trend to be gleaned from this year’s selection of films, it would be “the return of the auteur”, which was also what some commentators felt about Cannes this year.
Some of the biggest names in world cinema are in a lineup that includes Austrian director Michael Haneke’s The White Ribbon which won the Palme d’Or at Cannes; the acclamed prison drama A Prophet from France’s Jacques Audiard; Jane Campion’s John Keats biopic Bright Star; Steven Soderbergh’s whistle-blower saga The Informant; Ang Lee’s Taking Woodstock; Joel and Ethan Coen’s A Serious Man; and Lone Scherfig’s An Education the Nick Hornby-scripted adaptation of Lynn Barber’s memoir about coming of age in the 1960s.
Among the stars coming over to attend screenings are the aforementioned Clooney, Meryl Streep, Bill Murray, Julianne Moore and Emma Thompson.
For the first time, the festival will give out a best-picture award and Amanda Nevill, director of festival organizer the BFI, said her goal was “to take the (London) film festival into the top tier.”
British films in the schedule include Lucy Bailey’s documentary Mugabe and the White African; Julien Temple’s documentary Oil City Confidential; and Sam Taylor-Wood’s biopic about the young John Lennon Nowhere Boy, which closes the festival.
Here are the lineups for the two major strands of the festival:
GALA & SPECIAL SCREENINGS
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FILM ON THE SQUARE
These are the other notable films from around the world that will be screening in cinemas in Leicester Square during the festival.
For a full list of films showing at the festival, including the New British Cinema, French Revolutions, Cinema Europa, World Cinema, Experimenta, Treasures from the Archives and Short Cuts and Animation strands go to the official LFF website.
> The Times report on this yearâs lineup
> Official LFF website
> Check out our LFF reports from last year
Between Two Ferns is a spoof talk show hosted by Zach Galifianakis and the latest episode features Charlize Theron.
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DVD & BLU-RAY PICKS
This Is Spinal Tap – Up To 11 Edition (Optimum): A re-release for the classic 1984Â spoof music documentary which stars Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer as the three members of fictional heavy-metal/hard rock band Spinal Tap.
Directed by Rob Reiner it remains a brilliantly observed look at the pretentious glory of rock and roll and fully justifies it’s hallowed status amongst audiences the world over.
Optimum are releasing three versions in the UK, a 3 DVD box-set (ÂŁ19.99 RRP), a Blu-ray (ÂŁ24.99 RRP) and a limited edition Marshall Amp edition (ÂŁ69.99 RRP).
The Marshall amp edition includes:
Extras on the Blu-ray Disc (all on a single-disc with the film) and the 3 DVD box-set include:
Disc 1:
Disc 2:
Disc 3:
DVD Specs:
Blu-ray Specs:
Perhaps the highlight of the new package is the Outtakes which include many scenes which didn’t make the final cut including:
Fifty Dead Men Walking (Metrodome): A gripping adaptation of Martin McGartlandâs 1997 autobiography, about his time as an informant within the Provisional IRA from 1988 til 1991. It stars Jim Sturgess as McGartland, Ben Kingsley as his British handler and was directed by Kari Scogland.
Although some changes to the actual events reduce the film’s overall impact the performances and direction make this a fairly substantial drama. It isn’t in the same league as ‘Bloody Sunday’ or ‘Hunger’ but remains a compelling portrait of one particular episode within the Troubles.
Available on DVD (ÂŁ15.99 RRP) and Blu-ray Disc (ÂŁ19.99 RRP), it contains the following extras:
* Listen to my interview with director Kari Scogland *
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Gladiator (Universal): The Blu-ray release for Ridley Scott’s Oscar-winning Roman epic has arguably been one of the most anticipated releases of the new format.
Russell Crowe stars as Maximus, a Roman general who is betrayed, has his family killed and is sold into to slavery by a corrupt prince, before eventually returning to Rome as a gladiator seeking revenge.
There has been a big debate on various Blu-ray and Hi-def sites about the quality of the transfer used for this release with some suggesting that it is good, whilst others are critical of Paramount (who own the film after acquiring DreamWorks in 2005, even though Universal is releasing it in the UK), accusing them of cutting corners in the process.
However, it is likely to be a big seller, not least because of the wealth of extras, which are as follows.
Tech Details
Disc One
Disc Two
Amazon are also offering a Limited Edition Steelbook set.
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ALSO OUT
Are You Being Served Series 8 (2 Entertain)
Butterfly Kiss (Second Sight)
Chan is Missing (Drakes Avenue Pictures)
Doctor Who: The Twin Dilemma (2 Entertain)
Dollhouse Season 1 (Fox)
Dororo (MVM)
Face to Face Box Set (2 Entertain)
Far Cry (High Fliers)
Fermat’s Room (Revolver)
Hamlet 2 (Momentum)
Hannah Montana: The Movie (Disney)
Helen (New Wave Films)
Infestation (Icon)
Louis Theroux Law & Disorder (2 Entertain)
Paul Merton in India (2 Entertain)
The Boat That Rocked (Universal)
The Girl Cut in Two (Artificial Eye)
The Inner Life of Martin Frost (Axiom Films)
The Thirties in Colour (2 Entertain)
The Wonderful World of Albert Khan (2 Entertain)
Time Regained (Second Sight)
Tobruk (High Fliers)
Waveriders (Element Pictures)
Wuthering Heights (ITV DVD)
> Browse more DVD Releases at Amazon UK and Play
> Check the latest DVD prices at DVD Price Check
>Â Take a look at the current UK cinema releases (W/C Friday 4th September)
Keep a look out every Friday for a breakdown of the weekly releases with more detail on each film.
If you have any questions about this monthâs cinema releases or any upcoming titles then just email me or leave a comment below.
> Get local showtimes via Google Movies (just enter your postcode)
> Find out about films showing near you at MyFilmsa
This is footage from an Errol Morris project that didn’t work out in which Donald Trump discusses Citizen Kane.
According to Morris the project (entitled The Movie Movie) was based on the idea of taking Donald Trump, Mikhail Gorbachev and others and putting them in the movies they most admire.
As Morris says:
Isn’t it possible that in an alternative universe Donald Trump actually starred in Citizen Kane?
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NATIONAL RELEASES
District 9 (Sony Pictures): One of the surprise films of the summer is this sci-fi action film directed by Neil Blomkamp and produced by Peter Jackson. The premise is Independence Day in Johannesburg with a twist – here the government and military are oppressing visiting aliens (dubbed ‘prawns’) who are herded into refugee camps.
Based on a short film Blomkamp had previously made, it starts as a mock-documentary following a government supervisor (Sharlto Copley) as he tries to move the aliens out of their camps but soon turns into something else after things take an unexpected turn.
A clever and engaging premise is helped by a convincing central performance by Copley and some marvellous visual effects by WETA which really bring the aliens to life, especially in the daytime sequences. Although the transition between the faux-documentary approach and shoot-em-up actioner isn’t always successful there is enough energy and thought here to make this one of the best films of its type in the last couple of years.
Made a comparatively modest for $30 million, the project came about after Jackson’s plans for Halo film with Blomkamp fell through and they chose to expand his 2005 short film Alive in Joburg and film it in South Africa. QED International fully financed the production, underwriting the negative cost, and Sony acquired the distribution rights (under the TriStar Pictures banner) for the US, UK and other key territories.
After screening at Comic-Con, the buzz began to build in earnest and a savvy marketing campaign (along with a certain ‘ooh, what’s this?’ factor) meant that the film hit the top spot at the US box office. Sony can expect similar box office returns here and it would be a shock if it didn’t get to number 1 this week. [London & Nationwide / Cert 15]
(500) Days of Summer (Fox): An indie romantic comedy directed by Marc Webb about a woman (Zooey Deschanel) who doesn’t believe true love exists and a young man (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) who falls for her.
The narrative is presented out of sequence, with each scene being introduced by which of the 500 days it is. The film got mostly positive reviews when it opened in the US back in July and although more naturally sour UK critics will be less embracing it could do decent business amongst audiences not fancying District 9.
Fox Searchlight did a decent job releasing it Stateside (where it grossed $25 million on a production budget of $7.5m) and Fox here can expect decent returns despite the lack of major star power. [Odeon West End & Nationwide / Cert 12A]
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IN LIMITED RELEASE
Big River Man (Revolver Entertainment): A documentary that follows the Slovenian ultra marathon swimmner Martin Strel, as he attempts to cover 3,375 miles in what is being billed as the world’s longest swim. Strel previously completed record swims in the Danube, Mississippi and Yangzte rivers and holds several Guinness World Records. [London & Key Cities / Cert 15]
Bustin’ Down The Door (Metrodome): Surfing documentary directed by Jeremy Gosch which chronicles the rise of professional surfing in the early 70s. [BFI Imax London / Cert 15]
Passchendaele (High Fliers Films): A Canadian war film written, directed by and starring Paul Gross which focuses on the experiences of his grandfather, Michael Dunne, a soldier who served in the 10th Battalion, CEF in the First World War at the Battle of Passchendaele (also known as the Third Battle of Ypres). [Odeon Panton Street / Cert 15]
Red Baron (Showbox Entertainment): A German biopic about the legendary World War I fighter pilot Manfred von Richthofen (Matthias Schweighöfer), directed by Nikolai MĂŒllerschön. [Apollo Piccadilly Circus / Cert 12A]
Tricks (New Wave Films): Polandâs entry for this yearâs Oscar for Best Foreign Film is a drama about a family in a sleepy provincial town from director Andrzej Jakimowski. [Key Cities / Cert 12A]
Greek Pete (Peccadillo Pictures): A semi-improvised drama about a group of London rent boys, directed by Andrew Haigh. [Shortwave Cinema (SE1) & Key Cities / Cert 18]
> UK Cinema Releases for September 2009
> DVD & Blu-ray picks for this week including Encounters at the End of the World, Battle of Algiers and The Damned United (W/C Monday 31st August 2009)
We have 5 copies of Fifty Dead Men Walking to give away courtesy of Metrodome.
An adaptation of Martin McGartland‘s 1997 autobiography of the same name, about his time as an informant within the Provisional IRA from 1988 til 1991.
It stars Jim Sturgess as McGartland, Ben Kingsley as his British handler and was directed by Kari Scogland.
Extras include:
To stand a chance of winning a copy just answer this question:
Which 2008 film starred Jim Sturgess alongside Kate Bosworth and Kevin Spacey?
Just email your answers and postal address to [email protected]
The competition closes when we run out of DVDs, so that means the first 5 correct answers get a DVD. Simple as that.
Fifty Dead Men Walking is out on DVD & Blu-ray on Monday 7th September from Metrodome
> Fifty Dead Men Walking at the IMDb
> Listen to our interview with director Kari Scogland about the film
> Find out more about Martin McGartland at Wikipedia
The Damned United is the film adaptation of David Peace‘s bestselling novel about football manager Brian Clough and his turbulent spell in charge of Leeds United during the 1970s.
It stars Michael Sheen as Clough, Timothy Spall as Peter Taylor, Colm Meaney as Don Revie and Jim Broadbent as Sam Longson.
Adapted by Peter Morgan and directed Tom Hooper (best known for his TV miniseries work on Longford and John Adams) it is out this week on DVD and Blu-ray in the UK and gets its North American premiere at the upcoming Toronto Film Festival.
I spoke with Tom recently about the film and you can listen to the interview here:
[audio:http://filmdetail.receptionmedia.com/Tom_Hooper_on_The_Damned_United.mp3]You can download this interview as a podcast via iTunes by clicking here
> Download this interview as an MP3 file
> Buy The Damned United on DVD or Blu-ray Disc at Amazon UK
> Tom Hooper at the IMDb
> Official UK site
> Find out more about Brian Clough and David Peace’s novel at Wikipedia
> Check out our other DVD picks for this week (W/C Monday 31st August)
[Photo taken by Laurie Sparham © Courtesy of Sony Pictures, All Rights Reserved]
The first proper trailer for Fantastic Mr Fox, which is directed by Wes Anderson and features the voices of George Clooney and Meryl Streep.
Fantastic Mr Fox opens in the UK on October 23rd and the US on November 13th
Director Edgar Wright has a Flickr account and has been posting a lot of photos of late, including ones from the set of his latest film Scott Pilgrim vs. the World which stars Michael Cera and Mary Elisabeth Wanstead.
Here is a slide show of his ‘Edgar’s Photo A Day 2009’ collection:
He also has a blog and a MySpace page.
If you still haven’t seen Spaced (and I’m still surprised by the amount of people that haven’t) then you can buy it on DVD here.
Could this video trailing the new At the Movies presenters (A.O. Scott of the New York Times and Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune) be any more of a calculated ‘f*** you’ to the previous lineup of Ben Lyons and Ben Mankiewicz?
After Roger Ebert was unable to do the show after illness, someone at Disney’s AMC Media Productions felt it would be a good idea to replace him and co-host Richard Roeper with two – how shall we put this? – lesser lights (although to be fair to Mankiewicz, it appeared to be Lyons who was well out of his depth).
The format originally found fame with Gene Siskel and Ebert in the late 1970s and a big archive of the show can be seen here.