Category Archives: Film

Cameron Diaz & Jason Segel In Hilarious Sex Tape Trailer

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We laughed all the way through the trailer for Sex Tape, the new film from Cameron Diaz and Jason Segel. Beware of the cloud, that’s all we’re saying.

“It went up to the cloud!” “And you can’t get it down from the cloud?” “Nobody understands the cloud! It’s a f—ing mystery!”

The Bad Teacher co-stars have reunited in this raunchy summer comedy, about a married couple whose spice up their sex life by making a sex tape and then accidentally share it via the cloud.

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Sex Tape is in cinemas July 25.

What do you think?

Danny Dyer “I’m Held Back Because I’m Working Class”

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Danny_Dyer_at_Upton_Park,_02_Oct_2010Danny Dyer has spoken out about the classism in the acting industry in an interview with Woman, stating that being working class, and playing working class characters, has held him back.

The Eastenders actor said “You’ve got actors like Benedict Cumberbatch – a great actor, but he’s a posh boy playing posh boys. He does it well, and he doesn’t get mocked for that.

“I play working class people, and I get mocked for it. I’m stereotyped, he’s not. I’ve done plays at the National Theatre, come off stage and gone into the bar and I ain’t got nothing in common with those people.”

He went on: “When it comes to playing the game, I’m rubbish. The middle-class actors are better prepped at working the system, because they’ve got more in common with the decision makers.”

What do you think? Do you agree?

 

 

Ricky Tomlinson To Star In New Mike Bassett Film

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Ricky TomlinsonEngland’s most notorious football manager Mike Bassett is heading back to the big screens with a sequel to the cult classic comedy planned for production later this year.

Director/Producer Steve Barron will return for the sequel, titled, Mike Bassett: Interim Manager, with Ricky Tomlinson as the foul-mouthed Bassett. This time Bassett is brought in to the England camp as number two to the tactically brilliant German coach Jorgen Mannstein who has the England team playing like a dream. Not for long!

Steve Barron said: “Bassett was the last England manager to take the national team to Brazil. We reached the semi’s then, who knows what we could achieve this time? I’m very excited to be back with the team including football legend Andy Ansah who cut his teeth on the first film. As the years have gone by Bassett seems to have dug deeper into football folklore. There is hardly a manager in the game that hasn’t been compared to him. Usually at a low point. Sometimes a very low point.”

The movies development at London-based Riley Productions has been funded again through the BFI. Newly launched Goldfinch Pictures, headed by Harrigan producer Kirsty Bell, has been appointed to raise £2.5m from EIS investors to help fund the film. The original Mike Bassett was the highest grossing film at the UK box office, grossing £3.5m, in it’s original 2001 year of release.

Mike Bassett: Interim Manager sees the return of writing duet Rob Sprackling and John R Smith, who penned the first film and also co-wrote Disney blockbuster Gnomeo and Juliet.

 

Third Contact Film Review

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A permanent sense of dread and the unknown hangs over this impressive low budget British psychological thriller from debut writer and director Si Horrocks. Filmed on location in London for a shoestring budget and on a single handheld camera, the film has benefited enormously from a successful Kickstarter campaign, pulling in independent funds to secure an international screening tour both at festivals and local venues. It’s another brilliant inspirational example of filmmakers marshalling their own resources and bringing their own unique vision to a broad audience.

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Private psychiatrist David Wright (Tim Scott-Walker) is in utter despair; he is hounded by memories of his long lost love and the guilt over a patient’s recent and seemingly pointless suicide. At his nadir and contemplating his own suicide, David is contacted by the patient’s sister Erika (Jannica Olin) who is seeking answers to her brother’s death. United by their grief and loss, the pair investigate the suicide further and soon uncover a mysterious and sinister agenda that defies both their expectations.

Early in the drama of the film, one of David’s patients relates to him the theory behind ‘quantum suicide’, a concept that theorizes that the universe can be split open at the firing of a gun into two states: one of life and the other of death. It’s a lofty, ambitious concept to hit your audience with moments out of the start gate of your movie. Yet that’s all the more credit to Third Contact, a thriller that avoids the cliches and conventions of other projects made under similar circumstances. Writer and director Horrocks discards tired indie Brit cliches of gangsters and banal romance for cerebral science fiction, with a fine eye for minute detail and delivering in a fresh, fractured narrative style. Shot on a relatively inexpensive handheld camera, Horrocks has worked wonders with the films visual look. Filmed in a bleak and stark monochrome, the portrait of urban London comes to a vibrant and urgent life whilst remaining disconcertingly alien and hauntingly lonely. It reminded me somewhat of Christopher Nolan’s debut feature Following, also filmed for pennies and looking spectacular. This is matched by the eerie and otherworldly soundscape where sound and score seem to bleed into each other and become indistinguishable, not unlike the work of David Lynch.

Horrocks has taken on a one man band approach with the project but has still surrounded himself great talent to round out the project. Tim Scott-Walker is pretty terrific in central role, successfully convincing David’s fraying mental state and anguish and his increasingly fraught encounters with those he meets. It’s a world where no one can be fully trusted and supporting players are very effective at portraying characters whose allegiances are uncertain. That this team have managed to come up with such a well constructed project with minimal resources is nothing short of remarkable as is the films unique and dogged release strategy. On the basis of this, the concept of the writer/director with a larger budget is very enticing indeed.

Raindance Film Festival Presents The Independent Filmmaker’s Ball

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7:30pm, April 30th, Café de Paris, London

The Raindance Film Festival has announced their inaugural Independent Filmmaker’s Ball, will take place at the Café de Paris in Leicester Square, London, on the 30th April 2014. raindance

The ball is an opportunity to celebrate independent film and filmmakers and to bring the indie film community under one roof for an exciting night of partying, prizes, music and networking. Raindance and British Independent Film Award founder Elliot Grove said: “It might be all sunshine, bikinis and martinis for the Hollywood set, but British indie filmmakers work unbelievably hard in horrible weather to get their work made and seen. They deserve a night of celebration and some great raffle prizes to boot: bring on the Independent Filmmaker’s Ball!”

 

The event also doubles as a fundraiser for the Independent Film Trust (IFT), which teaches disadvantaged adults and children filmmaking skills. Neil McCartney, chairman of the IFT, said: “We’re so pleased to be able to work with both established filmmakers and complete beginners to promote filmmaking as an art form for everyone. This event will help us raise awareness for our cause, and the funds will enable us to carry on improving and extending the reach of our workshops.”

 

Raindance is planning a fantastic night of entertainment with a classy venue, great indie music and the filmmaker’s dream raffle. Music will be provided by soul band ‘The Indies’, a group made up of working professionals from the UK film industry. The raffle draw is being supported by some amazing Raindance partners and features an awesome array of prizes, including:

  • Canon EOS C100 camera & 18-135mm lens
  • Blackmagic camera hire & DCP package from the Post Factory
  • Screening room hire from Motion Picture Solutions
  • Hundreds of pounds worth of vouchers for stock footage from Pond 5
  • Two annual passes from Vue Cinemas
  • A spa treatment day for two with champagne afternoon tea from the May Fair Hotel

…and many more!

 

Tickets are now on sale, visit the website or call Raindance to enquire and book tickets:

Website:  http://www.raindance.org/independent-filmmakers-ball/

Number: 0207 930 3412

Captain America: The Winter Soldier Review

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There was an air of excitement at the Odean, Leicester Square in London as we waited to watch the new Captain America Film, Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

After the excellent trailers for Guardians of The Universe and Maleficent the film started and we all put on our 3D glasses. The film starts well, set after the cataclysmic events in New York with The Avengers, Steve Rogers, aka Captain America, is living quietly in Washington, D.C. and adjusting to a modern world. He is treated like a hero but remains modest and decent, despite being able to jump out of a plane without a parachute.

At the beginning of the film Captain America, along with the Black Widow, rescue some S.H.I.E.L.D colleagues from a hostage situation, but it is the start of something bigger. Captain America is forced to join forces with the Black Widow and new character, The Falcon, as a terrible conspiracy comes to light. Something Nick Fury (a brilliant character and as excellent as ever) has had suspicions about. To top it all off they have a hardcore assassin on their tail: the Winter Soldier. He has had thousands of kills and always finishes his mission. Will the Captain and his team break his winning streak?

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This film is my favourite Marvel film. Quite a recommendation considering I love a good Hollywood blockbuster. The action scenes- and in particular a car chase that I don’t want to give anything away about- are just stunning and imaginative. This film really brings something new to the game, and ups the stakes while it’s at it. The script is amazing, the actions scenes are great. In fact, the film just fires on all cylinders.

The characters are equally brilliant and I love the decency and genuineness of Captain America. He is a superhero and a good person to boot.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is a brilliant movie. I really enjoyed it and want to see it again. Can’t wait for the next installment either. I would give this film a full five stars. Great entertainment.

Directors: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
Running time: 136 minutes

In cinemas March 26

Welcome To The Cinema of Childhood | Film News

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Filmhouse, Edinburgh has announced a UK-wide film season, Cinema of Childhood, curated by filmmaker Mark Cousins and inspired by his latest feature documentary, A STORY OF CHILDREN AND FILM, released in cinemas April 4th (Dogwoof).

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The Cinema Of Childhood season will launch April 11th at Filmhouse, BFI Southbank, and other key venues across the UK. The season, which will tour the UK for a year, includes 17 brilliant films from 12 countries, spanning 7 decades. Most have rarely been seen in the UK – some are totally new to UK audiences.

“These are some of the best films you’ve never had a chance to see,” Cousins says. “Films about childhood take us on fantastic voyages. E.T.: THE EXTRA TERRESTRIAL was a magical bike ride across the moon. THE JUNGLE BOOK showed us the bare necessities.  A boy in THE RED BALLOON stole our hearts.  But beyond these mainstream and arthouse classics, there’s a world of great cinema about kids which is hardly known, but just as brilliant.  Welcome to that world.  Jump into it.”

“Fly to the moon on gossamer wings with the little boy in Astrid Henning-Jensen’s PALLE ALONE IN THE WORLD from 1949.  Get close to the flame of life with Renko, in Shinji Somai’s 1993 masterpiece, MOVING.  Body-swerve the bullies in Karel Kachyna’s Czech cinematic wonder, LONG LIVE THE REPUBLIC, from 1965. See LITTLE FUGITIVE, the American film from 1953 which helped inspire the French New Wave. Discover the work of one of the world’s greatest movie-makers,
Mohammad-Ali Talebi from Iran with three of his best films – THE BOOT, BAG OF RICE, and his poetic masterpiece WILLOW AND WIND.” Mohammad-Ali Talebi will visit the UK for the first time in April, as a guest of the British Council to launch the season with Mark Cousins at BFI Southbank, Filmhouse and other venues to be announced.

Most of the titles in the season are featured in Mark’s documentary A STORY OF CHILDREN AND FILM, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival last year to 5-star reviews, and has since been acclaimed at many other major festivals worldwide, including Edinburgh, Karlovy Vary, Telluride, Toronto, Stockholm and Dubai.

The season opens up a world of wonder for audiences of all ages who are keen to explore beyond Hollywood’s idea of childhood. The films are both specific to their own time and culture, but also universal in their depiction of childhood emotions, hopes and fears. Children everywhere have so much in common – only the worlds they inhabit are different.

Emotionally engaging with audiences from 8 to 80, Cinema of Childhood invites filmgoers to go on a global adventure with Mark, to discover previously unknown movie masterpieces and to see the world anew through young eyes. Uplifting and exhilarating, these are films to brighten your day.

 

The season is managed by Filmhouse, which has licensed the films for a year, and is creating new digital materials where necessary to make the films available to the widest possible range of cinema venues.   Filmhouse has also licensed the VoD rights for many of the titles, enabling audiences to watch these titles at their own convenience from home or on the move via Filmhouse Player.

The project is backed by the BFI’s Programming Development Fund, awarding funds from the National Lottery. The producer of the season is Adam Dawtrey, who also produced (with Mary Bell) A STORY OF CHILDREN AND FILM.
Filmhouse (Edinburgh) and BFI Southbank (London) will programme the entire season from April to June. Other venues already confirmed to host Cinema of Childhood include Queen’s Theatre (Belfast), Chapter Arts Centre (Cardiff), Broadway (Nottingham), Dundee Contemporary Arts, Glasgow Film Theatre, Eden Court Theatre (Inverness), the Roses Theatre (Tewkesbury), Duke of York’s (Brighton), Watershed (Bristol), Cornerhouse (Manchester) and Showroom (Sheffield),along with selected Picturehouse and Curzon cinemas nationwide. Films from the season will also screen at special festival events, including the Glasgow Youth Film Festival screening ofThe White Balloon on 9th February, Zoom International Youth Film Festival and WoW Festival in March, and the Brighton Festival in May.
Further venues will be announced in due course.

In addition there are plans to screen films from Cinema of Childhood in partnership with several organisations concerned with child welfare. These screenings, which will be targeted at a mixed audience of childcare experts and the general public, will explore representations of childhood from a professional perspective, looking at issues from different cultural and global viewpoints.

 

The full list of titles screening in the Cinema of Childhood season are:
• “Willow and Wind” (Bid-o Baad). Iran, Japan, 1999. D. Mohammad-Ali Talebi. 77 mins. A boy breaks a school window, and must mend it himself before he’s allowed back in class.

• “Bag of Rice” (Kiseye Berendje). Iran, Japan, 1998. D. Mohammad-Ali Talebi. 80 mins. A little girl and an old blind lady decide to carry a sack of rice across Tehran.

• “The Boot” (Chakmeh). Iran 1993. D. Mohammad-Ali Talebi. 60 mins. A little girl craves a new pair of red wellies – but then loses one.

• “The Little Girl Who Sold the Sun” (La petite vendeuse de soleil). Senegal, Switzerland, France, Germany 1999. D. Djibril Diop Mambety. 45 min. A feisty crippled girl tries to improve her life by selling newspapers on the streets of Dakar.

• “Hugo and Josephine” (Hugo och Josefin). Sweden, 1967. D. Kjell Grede. 82 mins. The lonely daughter of a rural pastor makes friends with a wild boy who lives in the woods.

• “The King of Masks” (Bian Lian) China, Hong Kong, 1997. D. Wu Tian-Ming. 91 mins. An old illusionist buys a young boy to become his apprentice – but the boy isn’t quite what he seems.

• “The White Balloon” (Badkonake sefid) Iran 1995. D. Jafar Panahi. 85 mins. A stubborn little girl wants a new goldfish, and won’t let anything get in her way.

• “Tomka and his Friends” (Tomka dhe shokët e tij) Albania, 1977. D. Xhanfise Keko. 78 mins. A gang of Albanian boys in WW2 become secret agents for the Resistance when German troops occupy their village.

• “Palle Alone in the World” (Palle alene i verden). Denmark 1949. D. Astrid Henning-Jensen. 25 min. A boy wakes up to find Copenhagen deserted, and it becomes his giant playground.

• “Ten Minutes Older”. (Par desmit minutem vecaks). Latvia 1978. D. Herz Frank. 10 mins. One close-up, 10 minutes long, of a small boy’s face as he watches a thrilling puppet show.

• “Long Live the Republic” (At’ zije republika) Czechoslovakia, 1965. D. Karel Kachyna, 134 mins. A bullied boy tries to survive in a Czech village as the Germans retreat and the Russians advance.

•  “Moving” (Ohikkoshi) Japan, 1993. D. Shinji Sômai. 124 mins. A girl struggles to come to terms with her parents’ divorce.

• “Forbidden Games” (Jeux interdits). France, 1952. D. René Clément. 86 mins. A boy and a girl retreat into a fantasy world to escape the horrors of WW2.

• “Crows” (Wrony). Poland, 1994. D. Dorota KÄdzierzawska. 63 mins. A neglected girl steals a younger girl to become her surrogate mother.

• “Little Fugitive”. USA 1953. Dir Morris Engel, Ray Ashley, Ruth Orkin. 80 mins. A 7-year-old boy runs away to Coney Island when he thinks he’s killed his older brother.

• “Children in the Wind” (Kaze no naka no kodomo) Japan, 1937. D. Hiroshi Shimizu. 88 mins. The idyllic village life of a Japanese boy falls apart when his father is falsely imprisoned.

• “The Unseen” (NespatÅené). Czech Republic, 1997. D. Miroslav Janek. 53 mins. Documentary about Czech blind kids with remarkable talents, including taking photos.