Yes, all you observant folk have already recognized the men in the picture as being three quarters of the brilliant League of Gentlemen but, alas, I’ll have to ask you to ignore the tall man in the middle because Mark Gatiss in not involved in what I’m about to talk about.  Too busy writing novels and other shows, I suppose ... anyway ...

Two of the founding members of the League - Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith - have been hard at work on a new show for BBC2 for a good while now.  Titled Psychoville it’s finally ready to go into production and they’ve just announced the full cast:  Dawn French, Christopher Biggins, Dame Eileen Atkins and Nicholas Le Prevost will be joining the two former League-ers.  French should need no introduction, really, as is the case for anyone with ‘Dame’ in front of their name, while Biggins is a long time veteran of British television and appeared in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, while Nicholas Le Prevost has racked up sixty screen credits in a career going back to the late seventies.  So clearly the originating duo went out looking to add some experience to their cast and came back having landed some rather large fish. 

A recent article in the UK’s Guardian outlines some of the plot points for this new one, which sounds every bit as odd and brilliant as the League ...

One very good reason to see Agnes Merlet’s chilling new possession film Dorothy:  young first time actress Jenn Murray in the title role.  To step into a lead role your first time out is a challenge no matter what the role is but to step into a role like this - a role with serious physical, mental and emotional demands - is entirely another.  And Murray, to be blunt, absolutely nails it with a stunningly charismatic performance.  This girl is going to be a serious, serious star and will soon be scooping up the sort of roles that generally go to Samantha Morton these days.  I guarantee it.  The entire cast is very strong, actually, and the film has a beautifully constructed air of menace to it which makes one very badly cliched character and an ultimately unsatisfying ending all that much more disappointing.

Continue Reading "Sitges 2008:  DOROTHY Review"...

Thai martial arts flick, and much mulled-over Twitch favourite, Chocolate is coming to ‘selected’ cinemas in the UK on the 24th October. Realistically this will be a handful of art house theatres in London and, if we’re lucky, a smattering elsewhere. The female led action from the director of Ong Bak (Prachya Pinkaew) is also coming to our lovely island courtesy of Cine Asia on DVD and Blu-Ray from the 3rd November.

Special features on the DVD will include: Breaking The Mould featurette; Step By Step featurette; A Star Is Born featurette; Fighting Talent featurette; The Stars Of Chocolate featurette; Real Fighters featurette; Deleted Scenes; Outtakes and Highlights; Training Workshop; Power Moves (Easter Eggs); TV spots; Trailer Gallery.

Neil Thompson’s Clubbed is the epitome of what’s wrong with British cinema today. A post Guy Ritchie, Shane Meadows wannabe, with neither the soul, imagination or insight of either director. Danny (Mel Raido) is a down-trodden factory worker in an un-named midlands town (in reality it was filmed in Birmingham) during the 80s whom we first meet at the gates of a prison as a voice over asks the rhetorical question of what it’s like to spend 12 years behind bars. Cue flashback.  Danny’s life is crap; his estranged wife thinks he’s a loser, he’s beaten up by the local thugs (whilst his daughters watch) and he’s in a dead-end job. Just when things couldn’t get much worse, amiable doorman and sometime boxer, Louis (Colin Salmon) comes to the rescue. Offering a host of helpful tips on how to fight and then avoid actually fighting (apparently read The Art of War for more info…) he takes Danny under his wing, aided by fellow bouncers Rob and Sparky. Danny starts to regain some self respect and things are looking up, just in time for flaky, unhinged Sparky (Scot Williams) to ruin the party for everyone.

Continue Reading "Raindance Film Festival Review: Clubbed"...

** UPDATE **
In a very brief email from the powers that be on this film I am told that any rumor of Paul Andrew Williams’ involvement in 28 Months Later is “totally untrue”.  Here the update ends, with the original post below for reference’ sake.

It seems that Russia-set three-quel 28 Months Later... has settled on a director.  And that fellow is The Cottage director Paul Andrew Williams.  Now this franchise is one of those rare ones where the sequel outdoes the original.  Much like the Alien franchise the change in directors (Danny Boyle, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo) over entry has been a benefit.  The question is whether or not the franchise is malleable enough to find a third entry.  Probably. Likely. And the smart thing to do is the develop the world rather than shoe-horn in the recurring characters from entry to entry.  If only more franchises would understand this very simple concept.

There are a number of us around here who were big fans of Sean Ellis‘ directorial debut Cashback.  A solid balance of the romantic, mundane and humourous that made ample use of Ellis‘ photographer skills in creating a rich visual palette for, of all things, a supermarket.  It looks like those visual skills are going to be tossed into the horror film arena with the follow-up.  That would be The Brøken, for which you will find clips and the trailer below the break).  Now the girl in the bathtub is hardly a new or original image in the genre, it is notable that a Glazer/Kubrick vibe is (to me anyway) visible amongst the images.  With a cast like the fabulously underused Lena Heady (who easily has the best performance in 300 and has done solid work in under appreciated gems like Ripley’s Game, Merlin and Aberdeen.  Is anyone watching the Sarah Connor Chronicles? That’s her as Ms. Connor), as well as Richard Jenkins (fresh off Burn After Reading) and mighty Dane, Ulrich Thompson (and actor who always cuts a fine performance).  Am I looking forward to this one?  Hell yea.

On a busy street in London, Gina thinks she sees herself drive past in her own car. Stunned by this strange event, Gina follows the mystery woman up to her apartment. From here, events take an eerie turn for the worse until Gina’s awareness slides from solid reality into a world that will haunt more than just her nightmares.

Continue Reading "Sean Ellis’ THE BRøKEN Trailer and Clips"...

Risa Morimoto’s feature documentary attempts to examine the truth behind the notorious kamikaze (divine wind) pilots who sacrificed their lives in the final months of Japan’s involvement in World War 2. Through interviews with surviving Tokkotai (the Japanese name for these Special Attack Units) and the US naval servicemen from one of the sunken battleships, the USS Drexler, Wings of Defeat is a fresh take on a little understood part of military history.

Continue Reading "Raindance Film Festival Review: Wings of Defeat"...

Acolytes is a hard-edged, stylish horror film from Australia that cleverly plays with genre formulas. In this film, a trio of teens, including two boys and a girl, stumble across what they believe to be the resolution of a classmate’s disappearance. An ex-convict and a strange fellow in a S.U.V. are part of the story the kids weave to explain the mystery. Instead of talking to the police, however, the boys naively try to leverage the situation to their own advantage. As the scheme inevitably falls apart, perceptions of who are the antagonists and protagonists shift until almost all of the characters are compromised.

Continue Reading "Fantastic Fest 2008: Jon Hewitt’s ACOLYTES"...

At first Flick feels like a role call of British TV actors - Michelle Ryan, Liz Smith, Mark Benton, John Woodvine are all here. Then, joy of joys, no less than Bonnie Parker herself - Faye Dunaway – appears as a one armed detective from Memphis. First time director David Howard and producer Rik Hall have done an admirable job in uniting a wonderfully characterful cast to populate their trippy, nostalgic, comic book horror.

Continue Reading "Raindance Film Festival Review: Flick"...

There are many things I learned from Joseph Campbell as a young man, not the least of which was his understanding of compassion as “a joyful participation in the sorrows of the world.” Rarely has such joyous sentience been expressed cinematically as in Sally Hawkin’s remarkable performance as “Poppy” in Mike Leigh’s duefully celebrated Happy-Go-Lucky.  If watching films can be thought of as moments of lived experience, then watching Happy-Go-Lucky is a truly positive experience.  I loved this movie’s life-affirming, anti-miserabilist stance, veined throughout with heartfelt compassion.  How wonderful to know great cinema can make you leave a theater smiling and feeling better off than when you went in.

Mike Leigh was a guest of the 51st San Francisco International Film Festival earlier this year where he was the recipient of the 2008 Directors Award.  In his introduction, Graham Leggat recalled that Leigh had remarked during an interview, “It’s entirely possible for a filmmaker to go around and listen to the world and sense the world and savor the world and experience the joy and pain of the world and express it in a completely pure, honest, interesting and very cinematic way.” Noting that Leigh was specifically citing such works as Satyajit Ray’s Pather Panchali (1955) and Luis Buñuel’s Los Olvidados (1950), Leggat qualified that these films—not unlike Leigh’s own—were shot “not with magical realism but the magic of realism.”

Continue Reading "2008 MVFF31—Happy-Go-Lucky"...

Earlier today I had the chance to speak with Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn over the phone about his upcoming film projects Valhalla Rising and Bronson.  The films make an intriguing duo, one - the true crime picture in keeping with the bulk of his filmography up until this point - actually being the first feature he has ever directed on a for-hire basis, while the period epic seemingly at total odds with the urban grit of his previous work is the passion project years in the making.  As fate would have it Refn prepared both features simultaneously and shot them back to back and was more than happy to share his thoughts on both. 

For organizational purposes - and also because the batteries on my recorder are dying and need to be replaced - I’m breaking the interview into two parts.  The first part covers Bronson while the second - to come later - will cover Refn’s thoughts on Valhalla Rising.

Continue Reading "Nicolas Winding Refn Talks BRONSON!"...

There’s a line of text in the closing moments of Matteo Garrone’s Gomorrah (Gomorra in Italian) that states the Camorra crime families depicted in the film have contributed funds to the rebuilding of the twin towers in New York. This revelation alone provokes a greater emotional response than anything in the preceding two hours of criminal activities.

Continue Reading "Gomorrah (Gomorra) Review"...

Some may remember director Chee Keong Cheung from his work on independent and fiercely low budget fight flick Underground which hit DVD last year and won a good amount of attention for what Cheung and company managed to accomplish on a tiny budget.  Underground certainly wasn’t breaking any new ground and it had some significant weaknesses but there was clearly some talent at play there and a good amount of promise for the future.  Well, the future is now and we’ve just been passed the brand new trailer for Cheung’s new film - the martial arts drama Bodyguard: A New Beginning.

‘A New Beginning’ focuses around the story of Leung, the bodyguard of a Chinese Triad boss, Wong, to whom his loyalty is unrivaled. Living in Hong Kong, Wong requests that his bodyguard travel to the UK to protect a young British woman, whose true identity is known only by Wong himself. Even his own errant son, Yuen, is kept in the dark, which leads to a betrayal that threatens to destroy the family and all that his father has worked hard to protect.

Fight fans are going to recognize a few familiar faces in there and the fight work is obviously very good but what’s really going to stand out are the huge strides forward in story telling and cinematography.  There has obviously been more attention paid to story this time out and DPs Matthew Beecroft and Henry Chung obviously know what they’re doing behind the camera.  This thing looks absolutely gorgeous.  Very, very nice.  Check it out below the break in the Twitch Player.

Continue Reading "A Trailer For Chee Keong Cheung’s BODYGUARD: A NEW BEGINNING"...

Su-chang Kong’s The Guard Post gets a UK DVD release from Cine Asia on the 13th October. A gory mystery/shocker/war movie hybrid from Korea, the film centres on the discovery of a more than slightly distressing massacre at a border guard post:

When communications with a secret guard post situated on the North-South Korean border unexpectedly fall silent, an army platoon headed by a military investigator is dispatched overnight to re-establish contact with their fellow soldiers, one of whom is the son of the army’s Chief of Staff. On arrival at GP506 they discover the aftermath of a gruesome bloodbath and one lonely survivor who they hope can provide the answer to the mystery behind the massacre. Shocked by the horror of the event and eager to cover up the incident, the top brass at Army HQ order the incineration of the guard post and the destruction of any evidence relating the incident. With just hours to go before the order is due to be executed, the investigative team finds itself in a race against time to uncover the truth, which they believe must be hidden somewhere within the remote outpost and its maze of underground tunnels. But the countdown to dawn proves to be the least of their concerns when it becomes apparent that the deadly effects of the terror lurking within the guard post have only just begin.

Special Features include: The Briefing Room (behind the scenes); The Barracks (set design); Guard Post Head Office (special effects and make-up); storyboards; trailer gallery.

A pleasingly not-safe-for-work trailer can be found below the break.

Continue Reading "The Guard Post (aka GP506) UK Region 2 DVD: New Trailer"...

Depending on where you are in the world HBO’s Little Britain USA - featuring Matt Lucas and David Walliams and all of their demented Little Britain creations transplanted on to US soil - may very well premiere today, but for those of us on this continent the magic day is tomorrow, tomorrow being Sunday.  Yes, we have been big fans of this one all the way along and the new series is cause for celebration in our books, a feeling stoked by the series of clips from the show HBO has been lobbing out way.  And, look!  Here comes another one now, this one featuring returning character Sebastian Love.  We’ve got eleven clips in all now and you’ll find them all below the break in the Twitch Player.

Continue Reading "It’s The Britainest LITTLE BRITAIN USA Update Yet!"...