Monday, January 31, 2011

Teaser trailer for independent horror Down the Road

Down the Road posterUp-and-coming writer-director Jason Christopher (The Pendant) has just finished shooting his second feature, a throwback slasher entitled Down the Road that pays homage to iconic genre classics such as Friday the 13th and Halloween. Featuring veteran character actor Clint Howard (Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, Apollo 13, The Water Boy) and with script mentoring from Friday the 13th scribe Victor Miller, Down the Road is currently in post-production for a release later in the year.

Check out the synopsis and official teaser trailer...

"A father, Hunter Isth, is rocked by a tragic accident in his life. He flees town and is no longer seen. Partying teenagers fall victim to a town lunatic. Through out the years the stories become urban legends and more than likely, myths. In present day we meet Jenn, a tough and beautiful girl, who has just been released from an extensive stay at the hospital. When her parents bring her home she barely has time to rest as her friends come over and drag her out camping for the weekend. Seven friends venture out to the woods but as each friend starts dissapearing one by one they each try to survive the wrath of a true mad man."


You can check out an interview with Clint Howard over at FEARnet, who will also be interviewing director Jason Christopher and producer Deven Lobascio later this month for a feature entitled "Film Makers to Watch in 2011", hosted by Saw creators James Wan and Leigh Whannell.

Black Swan, The Fighter, The King's Speech and Boardwalk Empire rule the SAG Awards

With awards season it full swing it seems a day doesn't go by without another ceremony to honour the very best in film from the past twelve months, and this weekend was no different as the 17th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards were presented on Sunday night from the Los Angeles Shrine Exposition Centre. The King's Speech star Colin Firth was honoured with the award for Outstanding Performance for a Male Actor in a Leading Role, while Black Swan leading lady Natalie Portman took home the award for Female Actor. Christian Bale and Melissa Leo received both supporting actor gongs for David O. Russell's The Fighter, while The King's Speech received the award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture and Boardwalk Empire enjoyed success in the television field.

Check out the complete list of winners...

THEATRICAL MOTION PICTURES

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
Colin Firth (The King's Speech)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Natalie Portman (Black Swan)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Christian Bale (The Fighter)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
Melissa Leo (The Fighter)

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
Anthony Andrews, Helena Bonham Carter, Jennifer Ehle, Colin Firth, Michael Gambon, Derek Jacobi, Guy Pearce, Geoffrey Rush and Timothy Spall (The King's Speech)

PRIMETIME TELEVISION

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
Al Pacino (You Don't Know Jack)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
Claire Danes (Temple Grandin)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
Steve Buscemi (Boardwalk Empire)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series
Julianna Marguiles (The Good Wife)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series
Alec Baldwin (30 Rock)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
Betty White (Hot in Cleveland)

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
Greg Antonacci, Steve Buscemi, Dabney Coleman, Paz de la Heurta, Stephen Graham, Gretchen Mol, Aleksa Palladino, Vincent Piazza, Michael Pitt, Michael Shannon, Paul Sparks, Michael Stuhlbarg, Shea Whigham (Boardwalk Empire)

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
Julie Bowen, Ty Burrell, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Nolan Gould, Sarah Hyland, Ed O'Neill, Rico Rodriguez, Eric Stonestreet, Sofia VErgara, Ariel Winter (Modern Family)

SAG HONORS FOR STUNT ENSEMBLES

Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture
Inception

Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series
True Blood

LIFE ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Screen Actors Guild Awards 47th Annual Life Achievement Award
Ernest Borgnine

The Screen Actor's Guild Awards are known to have an Oscar prediction rate of around 75%, and in terms of the four big acting awards I think they'll be 100% spot on this year. We'll find out when the Academy Awards are presented on February 27th.

Like Crazy and How to Die in Oregon take Grand Jury Prizes at Sundance

2011 Sundance Film Festival Winners...

Long distance love story Like Crazy wins the grand jury prize for best drama on Saturday's penultimate day of the festival, with How to die in Oregon – which follows the real-life decisions of terminally ill women to end their lives, picking up the best documentary award.

Like Crazy stars Anton Yelchin and Felicity Jones and was directed by Drake Doremus. Jones is the British student who falls for Yelchin's American 'Jacob' but, after overstaying her visa, is kept apart from her new found love by beauracracy and they must strive to somehow find a way back to each other. Felicity Jones has also scooped the special jury prize for her work in the film.

Best documentary winner How to die in Oregon has been collecting praise for it's unflinching and sensitive capturing of a difficult, heartfelt subject. Beginning with a scene of a terminally ill cancer patient's last moments after a barbituate overdose (Oregon legalised assisted suicide in 1994 for those diagnosed with less than six months to live), the film has won over the audiences and judges at Sundance with it's gentle and understanding approach. Director Peter Richardson and his crew followed multiple women as they wrangled with the decision to end their own lives.

Winners of the main awards...

Grand Jury Prize Documentary: How to Die in Oregon, dir. Peter Richardson.
Grand Jury Prize Drama: Like Crazy, dir. Drake Doremus.
World Cinema Jury Prize Documentary: Hell and Back Again, dir. Danfung Dennis.
World Cinema Jury Prize Drama: Happy, Happy, dir. Anne Sewitsky.
Special Jury Prize Drama: Another Earth, dir Mike Cahill.
Special Jury Prize Documentary: Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey, dir. Constance Marks.
World Cinema Special Jury Prize Drama: Tyrannosaur, dir. Paddy Considine.
World Cinema Special Jury Prize Documentary: Position Among The Stars, dir. Leonard Retel Helmrich.

DVD Review - Brotherhood (2010)

Brotherhood, 2010.



Directed by Will Canon.

Starring Trevor Morgan, Jon Foster, Lou Taylor Pucci, Arlen Escarpeta, Jesse Steccato and Jennifer Sipes.



Brotherhood

SYNOPSIS:



When an initiation prank goes horribly wrong the members of a college fraternity desperately try to suppress the truth and take ever more desperate steps to cover their tracks, forcing one pledge to make a stand in order to save the life of a friend.



Brotherhood

Maybe I’ve seen National Lampoon’s Animal House too many times, but to me there’s always been something idiotic about American college fraternities. Grown men engaging in homoerotic initiation rituals that typically involve the paddling of bare bottoms and such like all seems a bit odd quite frankly. However, while my understanding of the ‘frat house’ concept has mainly been formed by the aforementioned comedy classic, I can now add another film to that list, Will Canon’s feature debut Brotherhood. Going against the usual comedy grain to deliver a straight-up thriller, Brotherhood revolves around a fraternity initiation gone bad and really confirms the moronic nature of the whole subculture.



The film begins as two pledges, Adam (Trevor Morgan) and Kevin (Lou Taylor Pucci), prepare to complete the final phase of their initiation. Spurred on by alpha male Frank (Jon Foster) they are to jump out from a van and hold up a nearby convenience store for the princely sum of $19.10, a tribute to the year of the fraternity’s establishment. Only this being a ‘hazing’, the idea isn’t to commit a crime, but rather to test their devotion to the ‘brotherhood’ of Sigma Zeta Chi; someone is waiting outside to prevent them from entering the store and while everything goes smoothly for Adam, a mix-up results in Kevin taking a bullet to the shoulder as he attempts to hold-up cashier Mike (Arlen Escarpeta), a former high-school classmate.



Bleeding profusely, Kevin is in desperate need of medical attention but rather than facing up to the consequences of their foolish actions, Frank and his jock buddies opt to take him back to the frat house where a party is in full swing. Despite protests from Adam and medical student Bean (Jesse Steccato), Frank refuses to take Kevin to a hospital and puts into action plans to cover up the robbery at any cost, with each action digging them further into the mire. In their desperation to avoid jail they abduct Mike and tie him up in the basement, and it soon becomes a race against time to prevent things spiralling completely beyond their control.



Discussing the influences on his debut feature, director Canon pointed to the work of Joe Carnahan and Michael Mann, while a review from Inside Pulse likened Brotherhood to “an extended episode of The Shield”, a description which I feel is entirely appropriate. Running at just under 80 minutes, Brotherhood moves at a blistering, breakneck pace; from opening scene we are thrust right into the action and not a moment is wasted as each passing scene cranks up the tension, which is further enhanced by effective use of ‘shakycam’ and strong, believable performances from its cast (particularly Morgan, who has enjoyed quite an impressive career to date with roles in the likes of The Sixth Sense, Jurassic Park III and Mean Creek).



Brotherhood had quite a successful run on the festival circuit last year, picking up Audience Awards at SXSW and the Dallas International Film Festival, along with a Gotham Award nomination, losing out to eventual winner Waiting for Superman. Having enjoyed a limited theatrical run here in the UK earlier this month, Brotherhood now arrives on DVD (complete with filmmaker’s commentary, making of documentary and Roslyn, Canon’s 8-minute student short that inspired the feature) and is certainly worth checking out. It’s not earth-shattering by any means, but a capable debut from a promising talent.





Brotherhood is released on DVD in the UK today and will receive a limited theatrical run in the US from February 18th.



Gary Collinson



Movie Review Archive

R.I.P. John Barry (1933-2011)

Academy Award winning composer John Barry has passed away after suffering a fatal heart attack, aged 77. Born in York in 1933, Barry began performing as a musician during his National Service and formed The John Barry Seven before going on to work for the BBC on the likes of Juke Box Jury and Drumbeat. Barry made the step into motion pictures when he composed the soundtrack to the British youth drama Beat Girl (1960) starring Adam Faith and Christopher Lee, which became the first soundtrack album to be released on LP in the UK, and after working for EMI between 1959-1962 Barry was hired by the producers of Dr. No (1962) to rework a theme tune by Monty Norman, which led to the creation of the signature 'James Bond Theme'.

With Dr. No giving Barry his breakthrough, he went on to become one of film's most recognised composers, scoring a further eleven Bond movies (From Russia with Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Diamonds Are Forever, The Man With The Golden Gun, Moonraker, Octopussy, A View to a Kill and The Living Daylights), while his extensive work outside of the Bond franchise led to five Academy Award wins (two for Born Free, and one each for The Lion in Winter, Out of Africa and Dances with Wolves). Barry's other notable film credits include The Ipcress File, Midnight Cowboy, Mary, Queen of Scots, King Kong, The Deep, Body Heat, The Cotton Club, Howard the Duck, Peggy Sue Got Married, Chaplin, Indecent Proposal and Enigma.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Zack Snyder to make you believe Henry Cavill can fly in Superman: Man of Steel

Henry Cavill Superman Man of SteelRising British actor Henry Cavill has been cast as Superman in Zack Snyder's upcoming reboot Man of Steel, with the director releasing a statement today to confirm the news. Cavill is best known for his work on the television period drama The Tudors, while his feature credits include The Count of Monte Cristo (2002, dir. Kevin Reynolds), Hellraiser: Hellworld (2005, dir. Rick Bota), Tristan + Isolde (2006, dir. Kevin Reynolds), Stardust (2007, dir. Matthew Vaughn), Blood Creek (2009, dir. Joel Schumacher), Whatever Works (2009, dir. Woody Allen) and the upcoming action fantasy Immortals (2011, dir. Tarsem Singh). Cavill has a prior history with Superman; he was under consideration for the role when McG and Brett Ratner were attached to Superman Returns (2006), losing out to Brandon Routh when Bryan Singer came on board, while he was also a contender for franchise reboots Batman Begins (2005) and Casino Royale (2006).

In his statement, Snyder said: "In the pantheon of superheroes, Superman is the most recognized and revered character of all time, and I am honored to be a part of his return to the big screen. I also join Warner Bros., Legendary and the producers in saying how excited we are about the casting of Henry. He is the perfect choice to don the cape and S shield.” The film is gearing up for production in Vancouver, Canada with a likely summer start date and a hefty budget of $175m. Christopher Nolan produces from a screenplay by Jonathan Nolan and David S. Goyer, all of whom are set to have a busy couple of years with Snyder's Superman: Man of Steel and The Dark Kight Rises occupying their slate.

Superman is set to hit the skies once again when Man of Steel arrives in December 2012. Meanwhile /Film have already received a rather impressive mock-up of Cavill in the red and blue which you can check out here.

Tom Hooper wins the DGA Award for The King's Speech

The Director's Guild of America announced the recipients of their awards last night, with English filmmaker Tom Hooper taking home the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for his work on the acclaimed period drama The King's Speech.

It was believed that The Social Network's David Fincher was a strong favourite to receive the accolade, particularly after his success at the Golden Globes earlier this month, while Hooper also fended off competition from fellow nominees Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan), Christopher Nolan (Inception) and David O. Russell (The Fighter).

It is very rare that the winner of the DGA's top prize doesn't go on to claim the Best Director gong at the Academy Awards (in fact, it's only happened on six occasions to date), and Hooper must now be considered favourite to collect the Oscar. The King's Speech received the most nominations with twelve including Best Picture, and February 27th is starting to look like it could be a very successful night indeed for the British film.

Check out the full list of winners from last night's DGA Awards evening...

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film
Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary
Charles Ferguson (Inside Job)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television and Mini-Series
Mick Jackson (Temple Grandin, HBO)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Series
Martin Scorsese (Boardwalk Empire, HBO)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy Series
Michael Spiller (Modern Family, “Halloween”, ABC)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Musical Variety
Glenn Weiss (64th Annual Tony Awards, CBS)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Reality Programs
Eytan Keller (The Next Iron Chef, “Episode #301”, Food Network)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Daytime Serials
Larry Carpenter (One Life to Live, “Episode #10,687”, ABC)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Children’s Programs
Eric Bross (The Boy Who Cried Werewolf, Nickelodeon)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Commercials
Stacy Wall (Imperial Woodpecker, Nike)

We are currently running an in-depth tw-part filmmaker's profile on the career of Tom Hooper, which you can read here.

Movie Review - Life in a Day (2011)

Life in a Day, 2011.

Directed by Kevin Macdonald.
Produced by Ridley Scott.

Life in a Day
SYNOPSIS:

A documentary compiled from thousands of hours of footage by YouTube users that tells the story of a single day on earth.

Life in a Day
Life in a Day is the result of director Kevin MacDonald's plea to the YouTube community to record one day of their lives – July 24th, 2010 - with the ultimate aim of patching them all together. The call was heard, and 80,000 videos were submitted for selection, totalling 4,500 hours of raw footage. At this point it is compulsory to give mad props to the editor – Joe Walker.

The footage was eventually cut down to the 90 minute feature that is garnering raves from reviewers and audiences for it's moving and poignant scenes harnessed from everyday life, by everyday people. Encompassing the most mundane daily activities to the most exhilirating and saddest experiences, the film operates with a kind of rhythm that can change mood on a dime, and can elicit a broad smile as quickly as it can have the viewer choking back the tears.

The film is broken up by a few, scattered segments that take acts such as making breakfast or washing into the realm of universal experience and identification. These segments work beautifully to ground the film as a shared experience whilst also showcasing the individuality of each person and their contribution. It offers a reminder that the world is always turning and is home to billions of stories and aspirations. Every video has a different motivation, story and meaning which all tie together to represent the countless moods and hopes that make up any person.

Life in a Day does not attempt, however, to foster a sense of awe and union without showing life in it's entirety which, oftentimes, can be cruel, bigoted and numbing. A man, when asked what he feared the most, replied 'Homosexuality. It is a disease.' Whilst others chose, amongst other things; growing up, losing the world to global warming, god, politics, not returning home safely, not having a child, going bald, themselves, loneliness, death and god not existing. And, when asked what they loved the most, the replies included (among the obvious); football, a horse, god again, a refrigerator and a cat.

The film perfectly frames and crystallises moments that would have been mundane, were it not for the express intent of filming them in order to show the true marvel of life in action. There are plenty of moments of brutality that shock the viewer back into realising the fragility of life and our influence on other life on the planet.

One particularly distressing scene sees a cow about to be put to death with a bolt gun. It is hard to watch as the tool is lifted and the cow flops to the floor, taking a long time to die. It is a powerful image of life as a commodity and an example of how its intrinsic value is too often forgotten and marginalised. As well as underlining the fact that we sometimes forget that we are part of life, not a force above it, it also allows for reflection alongside the more uplifting moments and brings home the contradictory, confusing nature of life itself.

The last segment is perhaps one of the most touching of the film. A young woman sits in her car and expresses fears that would resonate with any person on the planet. She remarks that she had been waiting all day for something amazing to happen but instead she has had to work and now finds herself alone, a few minutes before midnight, to make her submission:

“All day I was waiting for something amazing to happen but the truth is – it doesn't always happen. I want people to know that I'm here. I don't want to cease to exist. I think I'm a normal girl, normal life, with nothing interesting to know about, but I want to be. Although nothing great happened today, I feel tonight that something great happened.”

With her lonely admission, as one amongst 80,000, this girl admitted the deepest of human fears and submitted what her day had been for all to see. Whilst she was crying alone in her car, a man was cycling around the world to try and unite Korea, a baby giraffe was born, hundreds of Chinese lanterns were released, a couple were being married in Vegas by Elvis and billions and billions of other lives were unfolding, starting and ending. And this film only captured one day of it.

Life in a Day premiered at Sundance 2011 and was simultaneously broadcast around the world on YouTube. It hits North American cinemas on July 24th with a UK release to be confirmed.

Alex Williams

Saturday, January 29, 2011

The Week in Spandex - Forget The Dark Knight Rises, Spider-Man and The Avengers… it's the return of Ghost Rider!

Presenting our weekly round-up of the biggest news stories from the world of movie superheroes…

Over the past few weeks we’ve enjoyed plenty of juicy superhero headlines, from the first reveal of Chris Evans in costume as Captain America: The First Avenger, Andrew Garfield in the Untitled Spider-Man Reboot and the cast of Matthew Vaughn’s upcoming X-Men: First Class, to the announcement last week that Anne Hathaway and Tom Hardy would be portraying Selina Kyle and Bane in The Dark Knight Rises. Well, after all that excitement things were bound to slow down sooner or later and sure enough that’s been the case, so while this week's column includes a sprinkling of X-Men, a touch of Spider-Man and little more than a passing mention of The Avengers, it’s time for the A-list heavyweights to step aside and let some of their costumed compatriots enjoy a moment in the spotlight.

Ghost RiderIf the Mayan calendar is to be believed, 2012 may herald the end of the world but it’s also going to be a phenomenal year for superhero movies, with Marvel bringing together Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Captain America and Thor for Joss Whedon’s The Avengers, along with the release of Marc Webb’s Spider-Man and Christopher Nolan’s hugely anticipated sequel to Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. Now we can add another film to that list with the news that the first leg of filming has wrapped on… wait for it… Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance! Yes, Nicolas Cage will return as stunt motorcyclist-turned-demon vigilante Johnny Blaze in the sequel to the Mark Steven Johnson’s mostly forgettable 2007 effort, which somehow managed to bank an astonishing $228m world-wide (I guess Ghost Rider super-fan Cage really enjoyed watching himself up there on the big screen).

Joining the cast for Spirit of Vengeance are Ciarán Hinds (There Will Be Blood), Violante Placido (The American) and Idris Elba (Takers), along with a rumoured appearance by Connor MacLeod himself, Christopher Lambert. Meanwhile filmmaking duo Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor take over directorial duties, and given that their last gig was scripting the atrocious Jonah Hex I think we can safely assume that Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance will be destroyed both critically and commercially by its rivals. One positive though is that American Beauty star Wes Bentley won’t be back to stink up the screen even further as Blackheart, so perhaps we should be thankful for small mercies. If you’re remotely interested, Marvel Movies! posted a whole load of set pictures including a couple of shots of the Hellcycle that looks… well, shit, quite frankly.

Wonder WomanMoving on, if you’re at all familiar with Warner Bros.’ handling of their DC stable of superheroes, you’ll know that term ‘development hell’ is a pretty apt description. It took five years to get Richard Donner’s Superman off the ground (and nineteen years to reboot with Superman Returns), while Batman hung around for a decade before Tim Burton finally brought the Caped Crusader to cinemas in 1989. So, it comes as little surprise that they’ve been trying to get their Amazon Princess Wonder Woman up and running since the late ‘90s, with the likes of Joel Silver, Lauren Shuler Donner, Joss Whedon and David S. Goyer all linked to a feature adaptation. However, it now looks as though there could be light at the end of the tunnel, albeit in the guise of a live-action television series, with the announcement this week that NBC has ordered a pilot episode from a pitch by David E. Kelley.

The creator of popular US shows such as Chicago Hope, Ally McBeal and Boston Legal, Kelley has written a script that’s said to incorporate iconic elements such as the Invisible Plane and Lasso of Truth and is described as “a serious, non-campy take on the character”, while TVLine.com suggest that Charlie's Angels and Terminator Salvation helmer McG is odds-on favourite to direct. As to who’ll be stepping into Lynda Carter’s knee-highs, a host of actresses have been linked to the part over the past decade such as Jessica Biel, Sandra Bullock, Megan Fox, Angelina Jolie and Catherine Zeta-Jones, but I’d be very surprised if they go with an established Hollywood name. Nevertheless, with the pilot set to arrive around April or May, expect an announcement very soon.

Magneto Michael FassbenderIn other superhero-related goodness, Inside Movies spoke to X-Men: First Class director Matthew Vaughn earlier this week about his upcoming prequel. Describing the tone as “X-Men meets Bond, with a little bit of Thirteen Days thrown in”, Vaughn said that the plot will see Xavier (James McAvoy) and Magneto (Michael Fassbender) teaming up with the CIA to prevent mutant Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon) from starting World War III. The interview went some way to perking up my interest after last week’s disappointment, but I’m still on the fence with this one until we get to feast our eyes on some footage. Meanwhile Thor star Chris Hemsworth dropped a few tidbits about The Avengers in a chat with MTV, and AICN got their hands on more spy pics from the Spider-Man shoot that gives us a pretty good look at the webslinger’s revamped costume. Oh, and this very morning brought rumblings that Robin Williams is in talks to battle Christian Bale in The Dark Knight Rises as Professor Hugo Strange, the villain that was linked by many to Tom Hardy before he was announced as Bane. Whether there's any substance to the rumour remains to be seen...

That’s about it for this week, but on a final note we’d just like to pay our respects to The Human Torch, who bought the farm earlier this week and left the Fantastic Four in desperate need of a re-branding. Of course, expect his resurrection in a month or so.

Gary Collinson

007's first lady Judy Dench to return for Bond 23

Judi Dench James BondJudi Dench has confirmed to reporters at the South Bank Sky Arts Awards, where she bagged an award, that Daniel Craig’s James Bond will be getting his number one girl back in the forthcoming adventure. She confirmed her involvement after the film was officially announced earlier this month. Pressed for any inside news at all about the production, the chief of MI6 remained characteristically secretive. All she would say was how excited she was to be working with Daniel Craig again, and Sam Mendes, who has directed her in theatre.

This will be Dench’s seventh Bond film as his severe, disapproving boss, M. Prior to her appointment for Pierce Brosnan’s 1995 debut, Goldeneye, M had always been a man. Producers, writers and directors all grappled with the idea of M as a woman. Perhaps ultimately the decision was made because no man could live up to the figure of Bernard Lee, who simply became the embodiment of Fleming’s creation of M in the first eleven Bond movies.

Since her first moments on screen, reprimanding Bond’s bravado and warning she’ll only use the 00 section sparingly, Dench appears to have justified the filmmaker’s decision and won over fans. Producer Barbara Broccoli, daughter of Cubby, said of Dench’s casting: “Our instinct was if we were going to cast M as a woman, we needed to find an actress who could be totally believable and not cartoonish. Our fear was that it would be laughable and the big thing was to get someone of the calibre of Judi Dench to play the role. And because M is the only authoritative figure in Bond’s life, the casting of a woman as M gave the relationship a whole new dimension.”

Dench’s opening scene with Brosnan in Goldeneye left the audience in no doubt that a female M was not laughable, at least in itself. The script was wise not to gloss over the fact as if nothing had happened, with Bond’s teasing lines humorously, but brutally knocked back by M: “If you think for one moment I don’t have the balls to send a man out to die, your instincts are dead wrong”. She also tells Bond he’s a “relic of the Cold War”.

Judi Dench Daniel Craig James BondDirector Martin Campbell was aware of the pros of having Dench as M. He was told by studio head John Calley prior to Goldeneye, after floating the prospect of a female M, that “You need a star! You need someone with incredible screen presence, how about Judi Dench?” Campbell was so impressed with her performance in his first film that there was no question of dropping her, despite the complete reboot of the franchise, when he helmed Daniel Craig’s first outing Casino Royale in 2006. Costume designer for that film, Lindy Hemming, hailed Dench as a “brilliant piece of casting” and reveals in The Art of Bond by Laurent Bouzereau, that they made M’s costume “a bit more sexy” for Craig’s first film. Bond changes with the times and by this stage, not only was it modern for women to be in positions of power, but it was the norm for them to be expressive and natural in these roles.

What more can be done with Dench’s character though? Even Daniel Craig is slowly outgrowing the franchise, so surely Dench cannot stay in the role indefinitely? This could even be her last film. Glowing comments about her performances as M, like those above, make it difficult to consider replacing her though. Would M become a man again, played by an actor of similar clout? In The World is Not Enough, Pierce Brosnan, according to director Michael Apted, repeatedly asked for M’s role to be “beefed up” to give him more screen time with Judi. This led to the ambitious plot of M being kidnapped by terrorist Renard, played by Robert Carlyle. If M were to leave, she’d need a suitably huge story.

The Man With The Golden Gun Ian FlemingBond needs a proper adventure and challenge anyway, after the gap between the disappointing Quantum of Solace and the as yet untitled, Bond 23, due to start filming later this year for a 2012 release. Casino Royale made it clear the best stories come when built upon Fleming’s original tales in a modern context. One tantalising, but difficult to execute, story never realised by filmmakers is a brainwashed Bond attempting to assassinate M. This comes from Fleming’s final Bond book, The Man with The Golden Gun, and was never used in the drastically altered film of the same name. This set-piece in the novel is the highlight of an otherwise disappointing final bow for the literary 007. It would need revamping, rooted as it is in the Cold War era of Soviet mind tricks, but you get the feeling a gritty, deluded Bond storyline would suit Daniel Craig’s hungrier acting abilities down to the ground if properly set-up. It could also be fantastic and bold on film. But the problem for the franchise would be how could Bond continue as 007 after being demoralised and duped into trying to kill his own boss?

Whatever the script writers Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and John Logan come up with, the trend has been more and more M in recent years. I look forward to some frosty and prickly dialogue in Bond 23.

Related:

Five Essential James Bond Films
James Bond will (finally) return as Daniel Craig renews his licence to kill

Liam Trim

Friday, January 28, 2011

Five Essential... James Bond Films

Simon Moore selects his Five Essential James Bond Films...

Picture this. It’s Saturday night. The TV schedule has failed you, yet again, on a Bank Holiday weekend, no less. Then a title jumps out at you from the onscreen menu. Ah... there’s a Bond film on...

It doesn’t matter what title, it doesn’t matter when it was made, a Bond title just clicks with everyone. It’s the ultimate shorthand for runaway thrills, face-melting puns and a consistently entertaining hour and a half. By now, we ought to know them by heart. And yet...they never get old. We forgive Moonraker’s dodgy sci-fi ambitions; we can time Roger Moore’s eyebrow twitches to the second; and every man on earth, without exception, automatically affects that pose when they put on a tuxedo.

007 is a tradition, a stalwart, and an icon. He’s survived nearly 50 years, 6 actors and 22 films. No, Never Say Toupée Again doesn’t count. Nobody’s saying they were all good, but by great Connery’s ghost, we’re gonna count down the best of the bunch...

Licence to Kill5. Licence To Kill (1989, dir. John Glen)

Nope, Casino Royale is not on this list. Great story, but Daniel Craig’s screen presence utterly fails to capture the audience’s imagination the way Timothy Dalton does here. By far the best Bond of the ‘80s, Licence To Kill sees Bond seeking revenge on Sanchez (Robert Davi), a vicious drug lord who feeds his friends to sharks on their wedding day.

Dalton’s second outing as 007 is stark, savvy and brutal; a young Benicio Del Toro is torn to pieces in a heroin processing plant, shrieking for mercy. Licence To Kill brought the Bond series back to the forefront of innovation, after an embarrassing decade of puffing and wheezing behind the rest like a chubby autograph hunter. The show-stopping Gladys Knight song doesn’t hurt its reputation, either.


The Spy Who Loved Me4. The Spy Who Loved Me (1977, dir. Lewis Gilbert)

This is Roger Moore in his prime, partnered with sassy Soviet agent Anya (Barbara Bach), better known as Agent Triple X. He’s a flamboyant, chauvinistic improviser; she’s a cold, methodical romantic. Will they see past their differences, save the world from a fish-loving fop and get it together in a velvet-lined escape pod? That’s a lot of confusing questions. Best to let the film answer them.

The cheeky parachuting and the submarine dock set pieces speak for themselves; the true centre of this Bond is the constant one-upmanship between Bond and Triple X. At times hilarious, at others disastrously misguided, their quirky, chaotic relationship lies at the heart of what makes The Spy Who Loved Me Roger Moore’s best Bond film.


Goldfinger3. Goldfinger (1964, dir. Guy Hamilton)

“Do you expect me to talk, Goldfinger?”
“No, Mr Bond. I expect you to die.”

One of the series’ greatest strengths lies in its delightfully quotable scripts, and Goldfinger is bursting at the seams with Bond’s trademark banter, his wry punchlines, and of course that priceless set-up for Goldfinger.

Auric Goldfinger loves gold. He loves it so much he wants to irradiate Fort Knox’s reserves, so his own will skyrocket in value. Goldfinger is a masterpiece in pure entertainment, effortlessly switching between inspired comedy, exhilarating escapes and tense, breathtaking action sequences. What other film can you think of that involves deadly cross-dressing, a razor-tipped bowler hat and killing somebody with a bucket of gold paint?


Goldeneye2. Goldeneye (1995, dir. Martin Campbell)

Pierce Brosnan’s first and finest outing in the tux, Goldeneye is rife with strange, potent imagery. He’s practically haunted by the arrogance and excesses of his long career, especially in the form of Alec Trevelyan (Sean Bean). Once a brother in arms, now the deadly enemy who knows Bond better than himself. Everyone around him remarks that he’s outdated, outgunned, or, as M puts it, “a sexist, misogynist dinosaur.” Oof.

Amply motivated, Her Majesty’s Loyal Terrier spends the next two hours avoiding asphyxiation by sweaty thighs, demolishing St Petersburg and still finding time to straighten his tie when he’s done. Indispensible.




From Russia With Love1. From Russia With Love (1963, dir. Terence Young)

The quintessential spy thriller, Bond’s first sequel is fast, fresh and not short of a laugh or two to ease high tensions and sly twists. Sean Connery dominates the screen, whether slinking around like a panther through the catacombs of Istanbul or throwing a beefy Robert Shaw around a train cabin. Like no other actor has before or since, Connery’s performance embodies Bond’s effortless charm, his natural athleticism and his characteristic sang-froid.

Young delivers on the breathless action, but he doesn’t skimp on the stakes either. Wisely, he sticks close to Ian Fleming’s original best-selling plot, ensuring that From Russia With Love is never less than brimming with cruel betrayals, gypsy shoot-outs and the deadliest shoe in the world.


Honourable Mentions...

Dr. No (1962) - of course, for starting it all.
You Only Live Twice (1967) - perhaps the battiest Bond story ever put on film, with ninjas, man-eating piranhas, rockets that eat other rockets, and Donald Pleasance stroking a big white pussy.
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969) - without this film’s climactic siege on a mountain-top fortress, Inception would never have been the same.
The World Is Not Enough (1999) - not as comedic as other outing, but it boasts solid performances from Sophie Marceau and Robert Carlyle. Just pretend Denise Richards isn’t in it. It’s not hard.

...and Dishonourable Discharges

Octopussy (1983) - as bad as it sounds. Turns the stomach at its mere mention.
Die Another Day (2002) - Madonna’s in it. Sums it all up, really.
Quantum of Shoelace (2008) - there’s a whole set of Jason Bourne films already made, Marc Forster.
Casino Royale (2006) - nah, just winding you up.

Agree? Disagree? We'd love to hear your comments on the list...

Simon Moore is a budding screenwriter, passionate about films both current and classic. He has a strong comedy leaning with an inexplicable affection for 80s montages and movies that you can’t quite work out on the first viewing.

Essentials Archive

First trailer for Lincoln assassination drama The Conspirator online

The Conspirator James McAvoyRobert Redford helms the James McAvoy starrer The Conspirator, which follows the arrest and trial of Mary Surratt (Robin Wright) after her involvement as a co-conspirator in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

Premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival back in September 2010, The Conspirator is scheduled to hit cinemas in the Spring and also features Justin Long (Jeepers Creepers), Evan Rachel Wood (The Wrestler), Jonathan Groff (Glee), Tom Wilkinson (Batman Begins), Alexis Bledel (Sin City), Kevin Kline (A Fish Called Wanda), Danny Huston (X-Men Origins: Wolverine) and Toby Kebbell (Dead Man’s Shoes).

Check out the trailer…


The approach is an interesting one as it focuses on the aftermath and personal repercussions of Lincoln's death as well as the wider concerns.

The next couple of years will be Abe heavy with Spielberg's Lincoln starring Daniel Day-Lewis and Timur Bekmambetov’s Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter - with Benjamin Walker (Flags of our Fathers) announced today as the beefcake President - both set for release in 2012.

UK fans to decide Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Blu-ray cover art

The penultimate movie adaptation of J. K. Rowling's blockbuster Harry Potter series is still hanging around the UK box office top ten almost eleven weeks into its run, and with over £52m in the bank its sure to become one of the year's biggest home releases when it arrives on DVD and Blu-ray later this year. To mark the release Warner UK are giving loyal fans the chance to help decide the cover art for the Triple Play Blu-Ray edition of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows; Part 1 via an online poll. You're pretty much limited to a choice between a wide shot and close-up of Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson), but if you'd like to take part then head over to the Harry Potter Facebook page and cast your vote before the poll closes at midnight this Sunday.

Of course 2011 is set to be a huge year for Potter fans as the saga draws to a close after a ten year spell that has pulled in almost $6.5b in worldwide receipts. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 hits cinemas for a 3D release on July 15th and must be a strong contender for the highest grossing movie of the year. David Yates continues in the director's chair while the film’s huge ensemble cast includes Helena Bonham Carter, Robbie Coltrane, Ralph Fiennes, Michael Gambon, Brendan Gleeson, Richard Griffiths, Ciarán Hinds, John Hurt, Jason Isaacs, Bill Nighy, Alan Rickman, Timothy Spall, Imelda Staunton, David Thewlis, Julie Walters and Bonnie Wright, along with returning series regulars Jim Broadbent, Miriam Margolyes, Gary Oldman, Maggie Smith and Emma Thompson.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Casting round-up: The Dark Tower, Snow White and the Huntsman and more!

Javier Bardem for Dark Tower franchise?

Reports indicate that Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men) has been offered the role of Roland Deschain, the lead in Stephen King's opus The Dark Tower, which is being developed as three films and a TV series by director Ron Howard and writer Akiva Goldsman. Some news sources were reporting that Christian Bale had come into the running for the part but it emerged over the last day that Bardem has the role if he wants it. The films are to be backed by Universal Pictures, with NBC handling the television series.

Jon Bon Jovi returns to the screen

Jon Bon Jovi, or JBJ, has joined the cast of Gary Marshall's multi-character, inter-locking tale New Year's Eve. JBJ will be alongside a sizeable cast including Robert De Niro, Halle Berry, Jessica Alba, Ashton Kutcher, Michelle Pfeiffer, Hilary Swank and Zack Efron. Bon Jovi will play an ageing rocker who once jilted Berry's character. Details are still scarce aside from the name of Kutcher's character 'Reed Bennet', and a succinct plot summary: 'The lives of several couples and singles in New York intertwine over the course of New Year's Eve.' The big cast and festive setting seem to mark this out as a potential US stab at the tone set by 2003's Love Actually. No release date has yet been set, but I think we can guess.

Stewart and Mortensen for Snow White and the Huntsman?

Kristen Stewart is being heavily tipped to star opposite Viggo Mortensen and Charlize Theron in a new telling of the Snow White tale. Numerous actresses have screen tested for the role, including Emily Browning and Riley Keough, but Twilight star Stewart is thought to be the preferred choice. The film will bring Mortensen's Huntsman to the fore and make him a mentor and guardian to Snow White, whilst Theron will play the role of the Evil Queen.

Rise of the Guardians...

Alec Baldwin, Hugh Jackman and Jude Law are all set to contribute their voices to this 3D animated film from Dreamworks. The film follows Santa Claus (Baldwin) and the Easter Bunny (Jackman) as well as a host of other imaginary childhood characters, with Law voicing 'Pitch', an evil spirit. The film's source material is an upcoming series of books, The Guardians of Childhood, written by William Joyce who will also co-direct. With Guillermo Del Toro set as an executive producer, this could be a bit title in 2012.

John Travolta to play Gotti?

John Travolta is being heavily linked with the role of John 'The Teflon Don' Gotti in Nick Cassevetes upcoming film. Travolta is already signed to the project as executive producer and recently had dinner with John Gotti, Jr. to seek his approval of the project. Gotti, Jr. had this to say; “He's a tremendous actor and he'll feel the part. He nails every single one and he can do this too, I'm totally confident.” Meanwhile James Franco is also being touted a possibility for the role of John Gotti, Jr.

Alex Williams

Sundance walkouts for The Son of No One as I Melt With You also gets divisive reactions

Son of No OneReports emerged this morning that The Son of No One, starring Al Pacino, Channing Tatum and Katie Holmes, was the subject of a mass walkout at a Monday screening at the Sundance Film Festival. Film industry insiders and regular filmgoers alike allegedly streamed though the exit before the film had even finished. This comes with The Son of No One already scheduled as the closing film of the festival.

The Sundance website details the plot:

'Two men in post-9/11 New York are forced to relive two murders they committed as young boys. Their lives start to unravel by the threat of the revelation of these shocking and personal secrets.'

Cassian Elwes, one of the film's producers (and brother of Cary Elwes), has jumped to the film's defence, asserting that a technical error had led to the walkouts and that the film was already garnering interest from several studios: "We've already received three offers on the film. We're 100 percent behind her and the entire cast's performances in this film."

One source stated that a lone audience member attempted to start a round of applause at the film's end but was met with a wall of silence from those that remained. Whether or not this lonesome clapper was Cassian Elwes has not been confirmed.

Meanwhile director Mark Pellington (Arlington Road, The Mothman Prophecies) fielded questions in the aftermath of the first showing of his latest film I Melt With You. Pellington took to the stage afterwards and congratulated the remaining audience for sticking it out; "My hats off to you for staying for this," the director said. "Fifty people didn't walk out."

Jeremy Piven, Thomas Jane, Rob Lowe and Christian McKay star as four college friends who meet every year to get loaded and remember the good times. The film takes a darker route when the four friends indulge in a drug-frenzy, reveal their darker selves to each other and one of them ends up dead. Pornographic actress Sasha Grey also features. The film has been picked up by magnolia with a statement reading:

“Mark Pellington has made a maverick, stylish and powerful film that resonates for days after viewing,” said Magnolia SVP Tom Quinn. “Thomas Jane, Rob Lowe, Jeremy Piven and Christian McKay give some of the best performances of their entire careers and attention must be paid.”

Alex Williams

Sci-Fi London celebrates 10 years of fantastic film

The UK's leading science fiction festival Sci-Fi London (a.ka. The London International Festival of Science Fiction and Fantastic Film) celebrates its tenth anniversary this spring and the organisers have just released some juicy information about the upcoming event, which will run from April 23rd to May 2nd at London's BFI Southbank and BFI Imax.


The festival will play host to a number of film screenings, special events, celebrations and workshops, and in addition to the core film programme highlights include...

- '48 Hour Film Challenge', with Edgar Wright (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) and Gareth Edwards (Monsters) serving on the jury. First prize is a rather fabulous feature development deal with Vertigo Films.

- An all-nighter on the eve of Prince William's marriage to Kate Middleton, featuring five black-and-white classics including Bride of Frankenstein, Bride of Dracula and I Married a Witch.

- Manga UK's twentieth anniversary with an HD screening of Akira and the premiere of a brand new animé feature entitled Eden of the East.

- A free 'Fantasy Easter Parade' along the Southbank on Easter Sunday, featuring zombies, superheroes, stormtroopers and more.

For more information be sure to visit the official site.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

DVD Review - The Thin Red Line (1964)

The Thin Red Line, 1964.

Directed by Andrew Marton.
Starring Keir Dullea, Jack Warden, James Philbrook, Kieron Moore, Ray Daley and Bob Kanter.

The Thin Red Line 1964 poster
SYNOPSIS:

A private and his sergeant clash during the heat of battle as American G.I.’s fight the Japanese in the Guadalcanal Campaign of World War II.

The Thin Red Line 1964
In 1998 acclaimed filmmaker Terrence Malick returned to the silver screen after a self-enforced twenty year absence to adapt James Jones' classic World War II novel The Thin Red Line, producing a sprawling, star-studded and philosophical epic that explored the paradox of nature as both beautiful and cruel, as told through the eyes of a group of American soldiers in the Pacific theatre of war. However, Malick’s interpretation was not the first time that Jones’ source material was brought to the screen; in 1964 director Andrew Marton delivered a mostly-forgotten low-budget black-and-white title of the same name, which is now looking to reintroduce itself to a new audience with a long-overdue DVD release.

As with Malick’s effort, Marton’s The Thin Red Line is a loose adaptation of Jones’ novel and focuses on the American assault on Guadalcanal, a small island whose occupation was crucial to halting the Japanese advance into the Western Pacific. Marton – who is perhaps best known for his second-unit work on classics such as Ben Hur (1959) and Cleopatra (1963), as well as being one of the directors responsible for Darryl F. Zanuck’s ambitious war film The Longest Day (1962) – opts to narrow this setting by concentrating on two contrasting characters – the battle-hardened Sgt. Welsh (two-time Academy Award nominee Jack Warden) and Private Doll (Keir Dullea, star of 2001: A Space Odyssey), a young soldier whose innocence is gradually stripped away by the brutality of war.

The relationship between Welsh and Doll plays out pretty much how you’d expect as the pair clash due to their differing values, with Welsh giving the younger man a hard time as he tries to instil discipline and teach him to obey orders, which just might help to save a man’s life in the harsh insanity of battle. Naturally this relationship progresses as the soldiers march on towards their final destination and the psychological effects of death and destruction – the thin red line between sanity and madness - begins to take hold, turning the young Private from a reluctant conscript to a ruthless killing machine. Running alongside this narrative are a number of intriguing subplots and supporting characters, the most interesting of which comes in the form of Captain Stone (Ray Daley), an officer whose concern for the safety of his men puts him at odds with his superiors, and indeed the very nature of combat.

Of course as with any good war film, The Thin Red Line contains more than its fair share of action sequences and while they pale in comparison to modern and ‘realistic’ depictions of battle such as the gruesome scenes of Saving Private Ryan, the film does stand out amongst its contemporaries in terms of violence. There are several genuinely harrowing scenes, such as the painfully slow death of a G.I. caught in an explosion, his death assisted by repeated doses of morphine, and Private Doll repeatedly slamming the head of a Japanese soldier to the ground to earn his first kill. Meanwhile the action set-pieces include the soldiers navigating a minefield flanked with heavily fortified machine gun nests, attacking a village held by the Japanese and engaging in hand-to-hand combat within a network of caves, all of which are well-realised given the filmmaking constraints of the time.

I would imagine that the majority of people who purchase this DVD will fall into two camps – those with a fondness for classic war movies and those who are drawn to it because it shares the same title as Malick’s 1998 release. The former will undoubtedly find much to enjoy with Marton’s take on the material while the latter may also be pleasantly surprised, if they can take the film at face value and manage to avoid comparisons between this and Malick’s poetic - and far superior - update.

The Thin Red Line is released on DVD on January 31st.

Gary Collinson

Movie Review Archive

Ascension: A Tom Hooper Profile (Part 1)

Following his Academy Award nomination for Best Director on The King's Speech, Trevor Hogg profiles the career of British filmmaker Tom Hooper in the first of a two-part feature...

Tom Hooper“I fell in love with directing at the age of twelve, at prep school in Highgate,” stated British filmmaker Tom Hooper who as a student came across the book How to Make Film and Television. His career ambitions were fueled further when an uncle gave the London native a cast-off clockwork 16mm Bolex camera which allowed him to make his debut effort, a short film called Runaway Dog. Later, during the year between Westminster and Oxford University, Hooper produced a fifteen minute project about a painting that terrorizes its creator (Philip Rosch). Costing $16,000, Painted Faces (1992) was broadcast on Channel 4’s First Frame and received extra financial support from commercial director Paul Weiland which allowed it to be screened at the 35th London Film Festival.

Studying English, the undergrad joined the Oxford University Dramatic Society. “I directed my first play at Oxford, A View from the Bridge with Kate Beckinsale (Underworld), who was genius,” recalled Tom Hooper who also collaborated with actress Emily Mortimer (Dear Frankie) in an Oxford Playhouse production of The Trial. The aspiring filmmaker tried to emulate British director Ridley Scott who honed his craft producing television commercials before breaking into the movie industry. Hooper directed a series of ads including one for Sega featuring Right Said Fred; however, he found himself being drawn to television productions. Introduced to BBC producer Matthew Robinson by his father, an English media businessman, Tom Hooper helmed a series of TV episodes for Quayside, Byker Grove, and EastEnders. “The thing that fascinates me is that the way I came to film and television is extinct,” observed Tom Hooper whose small screen style was influenced by ER, NYPD Blue and Homicide: Life on the Street. “Then there were gatekeepers; it was prohibitively expensive to make a film. To be a director you had to be an entrepreneur to raise money. Now with my $300 digital camera, I can film and use editing software on the computer. There’s been a complete democratization. The barrier to entry is so much lower, it is interesting to see how that affects directing.”

Love in a Cold Climate Tom HooperWith his growing reputation, the young director was given the responsibility of producing two episodes of Granada Television’s Cold Feet. “Christine [Langan] was one of the first people to give me a step up to bigger budget television,” remarked Tom Hooper of the producer of the comedy-drama series. Next up for Hooper was a BBC and PBS Masterpiece Theatre miniseries Love in a Cold Climate (2001) which was based on the book of the same title by Nancy Mitford, as well as another novel of hers, The Pursuit of Love. The story revolves around the Post-WWI adventures of two young women (Elisabeth Dermot Walsh and Megan Dodds) who are on a quest to find love. Along with Dermot-Walsh (Falling for a Dancer) and Dodds (EverAfter) other cast members in the romantic drama include Rosamund Pike (An Education) and Javier Alcina (Simon: An English Legionnaire). A year later Tom Hooper made a second BBC and Masterpiece Theatre production, a small screen series adaptation of Daniel Deronda (2002) by author George Eliot. Hugh Dancy (Adam) plays the title character who tries to get away from his family while living in eighteenth century London. “The thing I like about this tale is that it’s not at all your conventional costume drama,” observed Hooper who worked with a cast that features Romola Garai (Amazing Grace), Hugh Bonneville (Mansfield Park), and Jodhi May (The Last of the Mohicans). “It’s far more complex and looks at aspects of love, loss and religion.” Shot over a course of eleven weeks in England, Scotland and Malta, the three-part tale won Best Drama Series or Serial at the Broadcasting Press Guild Awards and the Banff Rockie Award for Best Miniseries.

An opportunity presented itself allowing Tom Hooper to collaborate with an Oscar-winning actress on a TV movie called Prime Suspect 6: The Last Witness (2003). “I was very anti the idea, it was number 6,” confessed the director. “I felt it was tired so I turned it down. Andy Harris reeled in Helen [Mirren], I rolled over. It was not a very difficult conquest. In retrospect it was a brilliant thing to do. Thank God, I did do it.” The investigation into the murder of a Bosnian refuge leads Detective Superintendent Jane Tennison (Helen Mirren) to suspected Serbian war criminals. Acting alongside Mirren (Excalibur) in the Granada Television and ITV production are Oleg Menshikov (Burnt by the Sun), Ben Miles (V for Vendetta), Robert Pugh (Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World), Mark Strong (The Way Back), Clare Holman (Blood Diamond), Liam Cunningham (Clash of the Titans)and Velibor Topic (London Boulevard). In the New Statesman, Andrew Billen wrote, “Tom Hooper [himself to be] proved an outstanding director, imposing a bleak, over-lit hyper-realism on the search for a killer in a hospital, isolating Mirren in rows of empty chairs and playing on the eyewitness/ optical visual metaphors.” Prime Suspect 6: The Last Witness was nominated for Best Drama Serial – Television at the BAFTAs and competed for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special.

Red Dust Tom HooperRiding on the wave of critical success, Tom Hooper decided to make a cinematic adaptation of the novel Red Dust (2004) by Gillian Slovo. A young black politician (Chiwetel Ejiofor) opposes the applications of his former Apartheid torturers for amnesty from the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission. “It’s rare to come across a script like this,” said the director of the project which stars Hilary Swank (Insomnia), Jamie Bartlett (Prey), Ian Roberts (Tsotsi), Hlomla Dandala (Lord of War), James Ngcobo (Man to Man), Glen Gabela (Beat the Drum), and Connie Mfuku (Soweto Green). “I was very cautious about the choice of my first theatrical feature. I needed to be passionate, and this material was so powerful, dealing with a big issue – that there is another way of dealing with conflict besides going to war and killing each other.” Hooper added, “When you have a long running tension within communities, one generation has to opt out of revenge in order to achieve reconciliation, to move on.” Addressing the story itself, the filmmaker stated, “Principally, it is the drama of the court hearing, and the drama between the two protagonists, Sarah and Alex, that makes the plot as interesting and complicated as possible. It has the feel of a good thriller.” Revelations that British and American soldiers were torturing Iraqi War prisoners had a ripple effect on the commercial appeal of the production. “The film became a lot more uncomfortable for the very audiences it was designed to target. I have learned sadly that the theatrical audience does not run to see films that are openly issue-bled.” However, Red Dust was not ignored critically as the Bangkok International Film Festival nominated the picture for the Golden Kinnaree Award – Best Film and so did the BAFTAs for Best Single Drama “production team” – Television. International Film Festival of India lauded the debut effort by Tom Hooper with the Special Jury Award “for the film’s efficient use of cinematic language in narrating a story of disturbing political unrest.”

Elizabeth I Helen Mirren“She said to me very early on, ‘I’d like you to do Elizabeth I [2005],’ It was all her choice,” remarked Tom Hooper who impressed Helen Mirren so much with their collaboration on Prime Suspect 6: The Last Witness that she wanted to work with him again. “I thought it was such a good idea as a piece of casting, Helen was so good for it.” The two-part TV miniseries chronicling the later years of the private and public life of Queen Elizabeth I (Helen Mirren) originally aired on Channel 4 in the U.K. and was subsequently broadcast in the U.S. on HBO. Performing with Mirren are Hugh Dancy, Toby Jones (Infamous), Patrick Malahide (The Long Kiss Goodnight), Ian McDiarmid (Sleepy Hollow), and fellow Academy Award-winner Jeremy Irons (Reversal of Fortune). In the movie industry publication Variety, Brian Lowery wrote, “Tom Hooper, who previously directed Helen Mirren in Prime Suspect 6, indulges in [Nigel] Williams’ penchant for long, theatrical monologues, which require some getting used to in the slow early going. Gradually, however, as with the best British costume drama, the narrative becomes absorbing.”

The second collaboration between Helen Mirren and Tom Hooper became an awards sensation as it won at BAFTAs for Best Original Television Music and received nominations for Best Costume Design, Best Makeup and Hair Design, and Best Production Design. The American Cinema Editors nominated the period tale for Best Edited Miniseries or Motion Picture for Noncommercial Television, while the Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards presented it with the Critics Choice Award for Best Picture Made for Television. At the Emmy Awards Elizabeth I won Outstanding Art Direction for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special, Outstanding Casting for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special, Outstanding Costumes for a Miniseries or Movie or a Special, Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special, Outstanding Hairstyling for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie (Helen Mirren), Outstanding Miniseries, Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Miniseries or a Movie, and Outstanding Supporting Acting in a Miniseries or a Movie (Jeremy Irons); it also competed for Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Miniseries or a Movie, Outstanding Single-Camera Sound Mixing for a Miniseries or a Movie, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie (Hugh Dancy), and Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special. The Golden Globes lauded the production with Best Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television, Best Performance of an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television (Jeremy Irons) and Best Performance of an Actress in a Miniseries, or a Motion Picture Made for Television (Helen Mirren). Amongst their peers, Helen Mirren and Jeremy Irons were respectively given the Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries and Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries.

Longford Tom Hooper“[Longford] is a film about an aging, aristocratic, loony, slightly mad lawyer and his relationship with a serial killer whom no one knows in the U.S.,” stated Tom Hooper of his 2006 project which stars Oscar-winner Jim Broadbent (Iris) as the controversial Lord Longford; he campaigns for the release of a woman (Samantha Morton) who was convicted along with her boyfriend (Andy Serkis) for a number of child murders. The historical TV movie was produced by Granada Television and aired on Channel 4 as well as HBO. The filmmaker was drawn to the story as he wanted to “direct a film in which the language of forgiveness was to the fore – rather than the ideas of retaliation and revenge.” Peter Morgan (The Queen) composed the screenplay for the small screen production which features Lee Boardman (Being Sold), Tam Dean Burn (Local Hero), Lindsay Duncan (Alice in Wonderland), Kate Miles (The Payback), Sarah Crowden (Brideshead Revisited), Robert Pugh and Caroline Clegg. Seb Morton-Clark of the Financial Times wrote, “Morgan and director Tom Hooper wove a seamless narrative about obsession – and not just that of the misguided philanthropist for the incarceration of Hindley or even that that existed between the sadistic lovers themselves. More significantly, by using chunks of original television footage, they painted a stark picture of the zealotry of a vengeful nation and its press over the supposed embodiment of evil.”

Longford won BAFTA Awards for Best Actor (Jim Broadbent), Best Editing – Fiction or Entertainment, and Best Writer and received nominations for Best Actor (Andy Serkis), Best Actress (Samantha Morton), Best Director, Best Photography and Lighting – Fiction or Entertainment, Best Production Design, and Best Single Drama; the Broadcast Press Guild Awards lauded it with Best Actor (Jim Broadbent), and Best Single Drama. At the Emmy Awards, the drama contended for Outstanding Costumes for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie (Jim Broadbent), Outstanding Made for Television Movie, Outstanding Music Composition for a Miniseries, Movie or Special, and Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie (Samantha Morton). The Golden Globes lauded Longford with Best Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television, Best Performance by an Actor in a Miniseries or a Motion Picture Made for Television (Jim Broadbent), and Best Performance by an Actress in a Miniseries or a Motion Picture Made for Television (Samantha Morton) along with a nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Miniseries or a Motion Picture Made for Television (Andy Serkis).

“I certainly feel like English TV drama isn’t necessarily taking as many risks as it perhaps once did and there’s tremendous pressure to come up with the new detective story and... hospital drama,” stated Tom Hooper. “Ironically, it’s HBO who are at the moment fulfilling this role of old-fashioned public service broadcaster.” The American specialty channel was equally enamored with Hooper entrusting him with a $100 million production spearheaded by two-time Academy Award-winning actor Tom Hanks (Forrest Gump).

Continue to part two.

Visit the official website of The King's Speech, and read our review here.

Trevor Hogg is a freelance video editor and writer who currently resides in Canada.

R.I.P. Bernd Eichinger (1949-2011)

Bernd EichingerBernd Eichinger, producer of The Neverending Story, Perfume and Downfall, has passed away in Los Angeles at the age of 61. The legendary producer suffered a heart attack in his home whilst eating with family and is survived by his wife and daughter. Eichinger, as well as his work on independent features, produced the first three Resident Evil films and both installments of the Fantastic Four franchise.

It is, however, for his fierce dedication to bringing difficult subject matter to the screen that he will be remembered. As well as producing, Eichinger also wrote and directed. He provided the screenplay for Downfall and co-wrote the screenplay for Perfume, to high regard.

Having produced 96 films in a career spanning nearly four decades, Eichinger was widely held as Germany's most influential film producer.

The Berlin Film Festival, which is set to begin on the tenth of February, has already said it will be honouring Eichinger by showing A Girl Called Rosemarie, which he both produced and directed.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Road to the Oscars: 83rd Academy Awards nominations revealed

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have today released the nominations for the 83rd Academy Awards. Honouring the very best in film from 2010, the contenders are led by British period drama The King’s Speech with nominations in twelve categories overall, closely followed by the Coen brothers’ Western remake True Grit with ten. In truth there are few surprises, although Christopher Nolan’s exclusion from the Best Director category may have raised a few eyebrows, along with Andrew Garfield’s failure to land a nomination in the Best Supporting Actor category for his work on The Social Network.

Anyway, without further ado, here are the nominees in full…

Best Picture
The Kids Are All Right (dir. Lisa Cholodenko)
Toy Story 3 (dir. Lee Unkrich)
The Social Network (dir. David Fincher)
The King’s Speech (dir. Tom Hooper)
Inception (dir. Christopher Nolan)
The Fighter (dir. David O. Russell)
Black Swan (dir. Darren Aronofsky)
127 Hours (dir. Danny Boyle)
True Grit (dir. Joel Coen and Ethan Coen)
Winter’s Bone (dir. Debra Granik)

Best Director
David Fincher (The Social Network)
Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech)
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen (True Grit)
Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan)
David O. Russell (The Fighter)

Best Actor
Colin Firth (The King’s Speech)
James Franco (127 Hours)
Jeff Bridges (True Grit)
Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network)
Javier Bardem (Biutiful)

Best Actress
Annette Bening (The Kids Are All Right)
Jennifer Lawrence (Winter’s Bone)
Natalie Portman (Black Swan)
Michelle Williams (Blue Valentine)
Nicole Kidman (Rabbit Hole)

Best Supporting Actor
Christian Bale (The Fighter)
Geoffrey Rush (The King’s Speech)
Mark Ruffalo (The Kids Are All Right)
John Hawkes (Winter’s Bone)
Jeremy Renner (The Town)

Best Supporting Actress
Helena Bonham Carter (The King’s Speech)
Melissa Leo (The Fighter)
Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit)
Amy Adams (The Fighter)
Jackie Weaver (Animal Kingdom)

Best Animated Feature
The Illusionist (dir. Sylvain Chomet)
Toy Story 3 (dir. Lee Unkrich)
How To Train Your Dragon (dir. Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders)

Best Original Screenplay
Inception (Christopher Nolan)
The King’s Speech (David Seidler)
The Kids Are All Right (Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg)
The Fighter (Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy and Eric Johnson)
Another Year (Mike Leigh)

Best Adapted Screenplay
The Social Network (Aaron Sorkin)
True Grit (Joel Coen and Ethan Coen)
127 Hours (Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy)
Toy Story 3 (Michael Arndt)
Winter’s Bone (Debra Granik and Anne Roselini)

Best Foreign Film
Dogtooth (Greece, dir. Giorgos Lanthimos)
Biutiful (Mexico, dir. Alejandro González Iñárritu)
Incendies (Canada, dir. Denis Villeneuve)
In a Better World (Denmark, dir. Susanne Bier)
Outside the Law (Algeria, dir. Rachid Bouchareb)

Best Documentary
Exit Through the Gift Shop (dir. Banksy)
Gasland (dir. Josh Fox)
Restrepo (dir. Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger)
Wasteland (dir. Lucy Walker and Karen Harley)
Inside Job (dir. Charles Ferguson)

Art Direction
Alice in Wonderland (Robert Stromberg, Karen O’Hara)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Stuart Craig, Stephenie McMillan)
Inception (Guy Hendrix Dyas, Larry Dias and Doug Mowat)
The King’s Speech (Eve Stewart, Judy Farr)
True Grit (Jess Gonchor, Nancy Haigh)

Cinematography
Black Swan (Matthew Libatique)
Inception (Wally Pfister)
The King’s Speech (Danny Cohen)
The Social Network (Jeff Cronenweth)
True Grit (Roger Deakins)

Costume Design
Alice in Wonderland (Colleen Atwood)
I Am Love (Antonella Cannarozzi)
The King’s Speech (Jenny Beavan)
The Tempest (Sandy Powell)
True Grit (Mary Zophres)

Film Editing
Black Swan (Andrew Weisblum)
The Fighter (Pamela Martin)
The King’s Speech (Tariq Anwar)
127 Hours (Jon Harris)
The Social Network (Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter)

Makeup
Barney’s Version (Adrien Morot)
The Way Back (Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng)
The Wolfman (Rick Baker and Dave Elsey)

Original Score
How to Train Your Dragon (John Powell)
Inception (Hans Zimmer)
The King’s Speech (Alexandre Desplat)
127 Hours (A.R. Rahman)
The Social Network (Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross)

Original Song
“Coming Home” from Country Strong
“I See the Light” from Tangled
“If I Rise” from 127 Hours
“We Belong Together” from Toy Story 3

Sound Editing
Inception (Richard King)
Toy Story 3 (Tom Myers and Michael Silvers)
Tron: Legacy (Gwendolyn Yates Whittle and Addison Teague)
True Grit (Skip Lievsay and Craig Berkey)
Unstoppable (Mark P. Stoeckinger)

Sound Mixing
Inception (Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo and Ed Novick)
The King’s Speech (Paul Hamblin, Martin Jensen and John Midgley)
Salt (Jeffrey J. Haboush, Greg P. Russell, Scott Millan and William Sarokin)
The Social Network (Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick and Mark Weingarten)
True Grit (Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland)

Visual Effects
Alice in Wonderland (Ken Ralston, David Schaub, Carey Villegas and Sean Phillips)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Tim Burke, John Richardson, Christian Manz and Nicolas Aithadi)
Hereafter (Michael Owens, Bryan Grill, Stephan Trojanski and Joe Farrell)
Inception (Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb)
Iron Man 2 (Janek Sirrs, Ben Snow, Ged Wright and Daniel Sudick)

Best Animated Short Film
Day & Night
The Gruffalo
Let’s Pollute
The Lost Thing
Madagascar, carnet de voyage

Best Live Action Short Film
The Confession
The Crush
God of Love
Na Wewe
Wish 143

Best Documentary Short Subject
Killing in the Name
Poster Girl
Strangers No More
Sun Come Up
The Warriors of Qiugang

The winners will of course be revealed at a star-studded ceremony hosted by Anne Hathaway and Best Actor nominee James Franco in Hollywood’s Kodak Theatre on February 27th.