YOUR GUIDE TO FALL TV 2011 (PART THREE)

PAN AM:

WATCH IT - ‘Pan Am’ is definitely the most beautiful TV show to premiere this fall. The sets, the music, the costumes, and the characters are all beautiful to say the least. Yet, beauty is one thing, is there any depth? So far the groundwork has been done for what will probably make from some interesting and entertaining viewing. Honestly to me the best thing about ‘Pan Am’ is to see Christina Ricci working in something of quality again. I am curious to see where ‘Pan Am’ goes but so far, it’s taking off in the right direction.

YOUR GUIDE TO FALL TV 2011 (PART TWO)

• SKIP IT - Not worth giving your time to.
• JUST GO WITH IT - Not a great start, but here’s hoping it picks up later on.
• WATCH IT - Good stuff, definitely worth following it.
• LOVE IT - This really is great and probably will be getting better and better!

NEW GIRL:
LOVE IT - It looks like a traditional sitcom but it’s lack of canned laughter, forced humor, and cardboard cut out characters really makes New Girl something special. Zooey Deschanel as the strangely bubbly and off-putting enthusiastic Jess really captures your attention from the moment she appears on screen. The men characters are all likable and each one of them really have something to share with us. All the ingredients are right for this to be a great show. I am loving it and I hope to keep doing so.

YOUR GUIDE TO FALL TV 2011 (PART ONE)

Sometimes I have to stop and really take in how amazing television has gotten. There simply some TV shows that have effected and changed my life, such as The Wire, Six Feet Under, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, The Shield and so many more. So, looking at the new shows coming out for Fall 2011, will any of them be able to join the list or at least make an impact? What is worth watching? My usual rule is “Give it Three Episodes”, if it doesn’t impress by the end of episode three, then it probably wont be getting any better. Their have been a few big exceptions to this rule of mine, namely Fringe and Hung, which was due to my friends begging me to keep going because of how good they got later in the first season (both shows are awesome by the way.) Yet, due to time, I will confine it to one episode and rate it thus:

A Nightmare On Elm Street 2010

I neglected to include the reboot, reimagining, or remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street in my dissection of the series on the whole because 1. I hadn’t seen the film at the time (nor had I planned to.) And 2. Because I hold the original film to such a high regard and have such love for the Englund based series of films on the whole (no matter how dumb some of them were) that I couldn’t bring myself to watch the ‘2.0’ version.

Needless to say, boredom, availability and my sadistic impulse to see JUST how bad some movies are, often gets the best of me (say hello Snakes on a Train!)…

Classic Scene: Revenge Of The Sith (2005)

"The Dark Side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be.. unnatural."

SETTING THE SCENE : Supreme Chancellor Palpatine (creepily played by Ian McDiarmid) slowly begins to turn Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) into the most powerful of all Sith Lords - Darth Vader. Some of the strongest dialogue George Lucas wrote for his epic six part Star Wars saga is in this one particular scene...

TRAILER TALK: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

The original 2009 Swedish film of the same name directed by Niels Arden Oplev was the first five out five film since The Dark Knight for me. I watched it and it was a perfect movie watching experience. Everything about it was mind blowing. In my review on Flixster I summed it up by demanding “Go-see-this-movie-now! This is exactly how suspenseful mystery films are meant to be made. This wonderful Swedish film carries you into a dark and twisted world where you don't know who to trust and you don't know what to expect. It focuses on two very different characters, both as interesting as each other and explores some of the darker sides of humanity, such as murder, spying, & rape. Some of it's scenes are intensely shocking but you can't turn away. It's gripping, compelling, scary, confronting, and best of all haunting. One of the best crime mystery thrillers I have seen in years.”

Submarine, A Review Of

Richard Ayoade directorial debut’s premise pretty much encapsulates every man that had to drag themselves through puberty. The outline is as simple as the 15 year old’s we once were’s agenda in life. Oliver Tate (Welcoming Craig Roberts to celluloid) wants to lose his virginity before his 16th birthday. He also wants to stop his mother from having a sexual encounter with Paddy Considine’s new age mystic and destroying his parents relationship, which admittedly may not be as relatable to the teenager inside you.

Cannibal Trailer

Max, an agoraphobic golfing enthusiast with a murky past, leads a secluded life in the remote Belgian countryside. While out in the woods practising his swing, he stumbles across an unconscious young woman covered in dirt and blood and takes her home to clean her up and take care of her. Despite not fully trusting the stranger, whom he decides to call Bianca, Max begins to develop an attraction towards this mysterious beauty.

Guilty Pleasures: The Avengers

In 1998 there was one film alone that I was really excited about seeing on the big screen, it wasn't apocalyptic Bay-hem in Armageddon, nor was it Pixar's follow-up to Toy Story; A Bug's Life, size definitely didn't matter to me and Godzilla wasn't my popcorn pick, Gibson and Glover were too old for this shit, so Lethal Weapon 4 didn't pique my interest, and as far as TV shows adapted to the big screen Lost In Space was not the one I cared for...


The film I was most excited about was The Avengers.

A Better Life: Dominic Rai Review

Dominic Rai is a writer and director, working with new technologies.  He saw A Better Life at Chapter Arts in Cardiff.  Here is his thoughts.

“This country is a land of dreams it can be a hard place, a cruel place; but it's where I work and I dream of a better life for my son”.

The charm of A Better Life is seeing a difficult relationship of hardworking illegal immigrant and his 14 year old son in present day East LA.

Escapee

This looks pretty good...

The Raid Red Band Trailer

My word...

Kill Keith Poster

This November some of Britain’s most loved TV personalities hit the big screen in this tongue-in-cheek comedy horror film; Kill Keith is at cinemas from 11^th November 2011.

Banter Of The Week : Dirty Harry (1971)

Callahan: Well, when an adult male is chasing a female with intent to commit rape, I shoot the bastard. That's my policy.

The Mayor: Intent ? How did you establish that ?

Callahan: When a naked man is chasing a woman through an alley with a butcher's knife and a hard-on, I figure he isn't out collecting for the Red Cross !

Inspector Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood) lets The Mayor of San Francisco (John Vernon) bluntly know he does whatever he likes - despite the law book.

Don Siegel's classic shows Eastwood at the height of his macho persona, which saw the birth of 'Dirty Harry'.

Sawako Decides

Now this looks like a treat from director Yuya Ishii.

Sawako has lived in Tokyo for five years, is working her fifth office job, and is dating her fifth boyfriend, who is also her boss at the office. Her life with Kenichi, her boyfriend, and his daughter from a previous marriage, Kayoko, feels like a "compromise," and she endures each day feeling distressed about her career and love life.

Atrocious

Ranking alongside “REC” and “Paranormal Activity” as one of the most impressive and chillingly effective entries in the “found footage” horror genre, writer-director Fernando Barredo Luna’s remarkable debut feature Atrocious has already attracted critical acclaim hailing it as “brilliant… absolutely terrifying” (David Hayles, The Times Review), “powerful” (Todd Brown, Twitchfilm.net) and “appreciably creepy” (Scott Weinberg, FearNET).

Influential Japanese Group Set to Rock London’s Raindance Film Festival 2011

Hokkaido’s hottest new talent, Galileo Galilei, prepares for success in Britain as a film inspired by their music gets its European premiere at London’s Raindance Film Festival 2011 on 9 October.



The four-piece indie-rock group blasted into the mainstream after dominating Japan’s ‘Senkou Riot’ teenage talent festival. Since then, their debut single has surpassed one million download sales and their first major label album gained top five success in the country’s Weekly Oricon Album chart.

Blood Runs Cold Trailer

Here is the trailer for a new horror title called Blood Runs Cold. It is out to buy on DVD from the 3rd October.  It's the debut feature from director Sonny Laguna, the low-budget Swedish horror flick takes the classic slasher template set down by John Carpenter with Halloween and gives it a Scandinavian make-over that chills to the bone.


Review soon...

Retreat Trailer

What do you think about this film, based on the trailer?  Comments below please...

14 Movies Every French Major Must See

Here's one of them...

8 Femmes

This musical/comedy/murder mystery is based on a play by Robert Thomas called Huit Femmes. Set in the French countryside during the 1950s, the story follows a family and their servants as they prepare for Christmas dinner. When the master of the house turns up dead, the heat is on to discover which of the eight women in the house did the deed. With an amazing cast and a lot of twists and turns, it’s an entertaining way to improve your French.


The rest are here, thanks to Tim!

THE WORLD’S GREATEST SECRET AGENT TURNS 30!

To celebrate the 30th birthday of the greatest secret agent the world has ever known and one of Britain’s best loved animated characters, Danger Mouse, FremantleMedia Enterprises is releasing Danger Mouse – The Complete Collection 30th Anniversary Edition as a 10-disc DVD set featuring every single episode of Danger Mouse and, for the first time ever, in the correct screening order. The collection also comes with a brand new extra feature exclusive to this release, the never-seen-before featurette “Danger Mouse And Friends”.

Five Films You (Probably) Haven’t Seen... But Really Should!

I love films. Not only do I love seeing them, reviewing them, studying them, and criticizing them, I really love recommending and talking about them. To my friends, I am their “movie guy”. This is both an affectionate term and a warning. It’s nice because they know I see more movies in about a month then some of them will see in a year. A lot of the time, they respect me opinion and trust my judgement. However, on the other hand, they know I can become emotional, and at times, irrational when it comes to movies I love and movies I loathe.

13 Assassins Comp!! EDIT - We Have A Winner!

13 Assassins sees director Takashi Miike, the man behind such uncompromising and unforgettable movies as “Audition” and “Ichi The Killer”, indelibly stamping his trademark style on the Samurai genre with an ultra-violent, all-action, blood-spattered epic that is now out on DVD and Blu-ray.

Explore a world of clips, images, review links and much more at the official fanhub: http://www.cult-labs.com/13-assassins/

What you won't get there though is the chance to win our money-can't-buy prize of a 13 Assassins sword (ok it's a letter opener sword but it comes in a natty box!) and a copy of the film on Blu-ray.

First person to email us WINS.  Easy.

BUMPF - Competition closes as soon as. UK residents only. Winners will be informed by e-mail after the closing date. 

EDIT - WINNER - Neill Milton from Birmingham.  Well done!

Quirky Guys And Gals

Quirky Guys And Gals ties together four stories of people searching for a spark in their lives. Yosuke Fujita leads off with “Cheer Girls,” an entertaining tale of a woman whose passion is to lead cheers—though not for sports teams. Rather, she finds common people and creates anthems to encourage them in everyday life. Tomoko Matsunashi’s “Boy? Meets Girl,” is a Tootsie remake in a high-school setting.

THE ELEPHANT MAN (1980) Review

This was a courageous film for it’s time. The year was 1980, it was the year of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back and The Blues Brothers, and before that, Apocalypse Now, Moonraker, and Alien. The budgets for films were getting bigger and bigger, special effects were improving at an unbelievable rate, and more young and up coming directors were surpassing exceptions. People were going to the movies for cheap thrills and kicks, big budgets and high special effects. Then came along, Raging Bull by Martin Scorsese, and later David Lynch’s The Elephant Man. Two films that proved that you make a masterpiece on a shoe-string budget with the art of film making and the power of performances. Today, I will be focusing on Lynch’s The Elephant Man.

Kill Keith

Kill Keith: Vol 1.   - a comedy-horror in 2D.


Keith ‘Cheggers’ Chegwin is a household name and has been at the top of his game for nearly 40 years. He’s an all round entertainer and has lived with us via our TV screens on Swap Shop as kids through to GMTV as parents. He is undoubtedly a national treasure, and for nearly four decades has been much loved by viewers young and old. But now it’s time to Kill Keith.

The London Korean Film Festival

The 6th annual London Korean Film Festival (LKFF) returns 3 - 17 November 2011 showcasing the very best Korean films, UK premieres and events, ranging from the traditional gritty thrillers and skin crawling films, to family animation films new to the Korean film scene.


The diverse programme this year includes a North & South Korean film strand, a Ryoo Seung Retrospective, a light hearted comedy films section, an Animation day and Mise en scene short films, all taking place in London at the Cineworld Haymarket, Apollo and ICA cinemas, and on tour nationally in Sheffield, Cambridge and Newcastle.

The Tapes

THREE TEENAGERS… TWO CAMERAS… ONE TERRIFYING NIGHT.

DVD Review - 13 Assassins

13 Assassins

Dir: Takashi Miike

Scr: Daisuke Tengan, story by Shoichiro Ikemiya

Starring: Koji Yakusho, Takayuki Yamada, Yusuke Iseya, Goro Inagaki

2010, Japan, 126 mins

Japan in the 1830s, the former Shogun's son Lord Matsudaira Naritsugu treats the world as his play toy. Unfortunately young Naritsugu considers playtime to be raping and killing at will. After he kills a man and slices his wife's limbs off a local dignitary decides that enough is enough and approaches Shinzaemon, an old samurai to deal with the young Lord.

Film Review: Post Mortem

This is the third outing of the Chilean director Pablo Larrain. He has returned to the screen accompanied by the same team, and lead actor, that brought us his previous film, Tony Manero.

Post Mortem lays out a story of a loner, Mario Cornejo (played by Alfredo Castro), in front of the close-cropped backdrop of Chile’s military coup of 1973. Mario, a morgue employee who types up autopsy reports leads a lonely and monotonous life, seemingly overlooked and ignored by the world around him. This is until he develops an obsession with a washed-up burlesque dancer who lives across the road, and is unwittingly pulled to the centre-stage of the events of the coup that the film is inspired by.

WHAT IF: Darren Aronofsky’s Unmade Batman Movie

A match that would never be, Darren Aronofsky and The Dark Knight.

Soon Christopher Nolan's Batman Trilogy will come to it’s epic conclusion. For the first time in comic book movie history, a franchise has not only been allowed a beginning, middle and end, but has been successful in doing so. With Nolan succeeds with The Dark Knight Rises, the circle will be complete and his film series will be immortalized. Looking back, it was certainly a gamble. After the finical and critical disaster of Joel Schumacher’s Batman and Robin (1997), Warner Bros. and the world were weary about anything coming from the Caped Crusader for quite some time. The film had left a bad taste in people’s mouths, and even worse, a very big hole in people’s pockets. Of course, Batman had made Warner Bros. too much money in the past for the franchise to be completely abandoned. Batman would return to the silver screen in due time, but if he was going to do so it was clear that a radically different direction was going to be needed to restore people’s faith.

Enter director Darren Aronofsky and comic book author Frank Miller.

Win A Limited Edition Insidious T-Shirt & Blu-ray (EDIT - We Have A WINNER!)

Are you ready to get scared all over again - but this time in your home? The smash-hit horror movie Insidious is coming out on DVD and Blu-ray on 12th September. You can get into the spirit by swapping spooky stories on the Insidious UK Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/InsidiousUK where you'll also be able to report sightings of the black Insidious Routemaster bus as it terrorises London streets for the week of release!

ANNIE HALL (1977) Review

It’s been described by world famous film critic Robert Ebert "just about everyone's favorite Woody Allen movie". It was the winner of five Academy Awards in 1977 including Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Picture (beating Star Wars) as well as being nominated for several Golden Globes. It currently holds a 98% rating on the Tomatometer and is easily one of the most influential romantic-comedies ever made. I am of course speaking of Woody Allen’s 1977 classic, “Annie Hall”.

The Woman Poster

Director Lucky McKee’s harrowing study of the darkness of human nature, The Woman, wowed horror fans at this year’s five-day Film4 Frightfest and proved to be one of the most talked about and enthusiastically received films of the entire festival.

Following its UK Premiere screening at the Empire Cinema in London’s Leicester Square on Saturday 27^th August, The Woman was voted Best Film of the Day (beating both Troll Hunter and Fright Night) by fans attending Frightfest and received Total Film’s Frightfest Awards for Best Actress (Pollyanna McIntosh) and for the Third Best Film of the Festival.

Soul Surfer

Buena Vista International presents the powerful true story Soul Surfer at cinemas everywhere on 23^rd September 2011.

The Change Up Trailer & Poster

Ryan Reynolds and Jason Bateman star in The Change-Up, from director David Dobkin (Wedding Crashers), writers Jon Lucas & Scott Moore (The Hangover) and producer Neal Moritz (Fast & Furious, Click).  The R-rated comedy takes the traditional body-switching movie, ties it up tightly and throws it off a cliff.

DVD Review - Eaters: Rise Of The Dead

Dir: Luca Boni & Marco Ristori

Scr: Germano Tarricone & Marco Ristori

Starring: Guglielmo Favilla, Ricardo Floris, Rosella Elmi

Italy, 2010, 90 mins

If there was one thing that filled my trousers with unrelenting dread before I even put Eaters in my DVD player it was the threat sprawled across the cover. 'Presented by Uwe Boll'.

Some find a space in their hearts for the nutty professor. The gusto with which he delves into each exciting new attempt to shit all over cinema whilst simultaneously kicking over a puppy's birthday cake and sticking two fingers up to your mum is something that has to marvelled at. If you enjoy his work Godspeed, I for one find most of his films guilty of being just... plain... boring. Anyway this mini-rant is pretty much a moot point as the good doctor fortunately had no hand in the production of the film. I just felt you should no where we're coming from since it's felt to be a selling point to have his name adorn the case.

MurderDrome: INTERVIEW

Here is our chat with Daniel Armstrong, Director of Strongman Pictures Entertainment.


So, tell me about Roller Derby Slasher, MurderDrome.  What's it all about?

Well, in a nutshell the story revolves around a Roller Derby girl called Cherry Skye, she loves skating and Roller Derby with a passion - and she's unbelievably good at it. Everything else in life - relationships, diet, housework, not being hunted by the vengeful spirit of a mass murderer - she does less well. She also has a deeply repressed dark side, and is haunted by violent nightmares about a place she's never heard of called The MurderDrome.

She's found herself in a tricky love triangle that brings her to blows with one of her derby competitors and, in the process, manages to unleash the soul of a long dead murderer which brings on night full of meat hooks and mayhem for Skye and her team mates. Whilst doing all she can to stay alive, and prevent the demon sucking her soul into hell in it's place, she comes face to face with her own dark past.