Film

The Internet’s Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz (2014)

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The Internet’s Own Boy tells the tale of programming genius and privacy/information activist Aaron Swartz who is known for his involvement in development of web technologies such as RSS & Creative Commons as well as co-founding the website Reddit. Often labelled as a ‘hacktivist’ his political activities and campaigning garnered him many enemies as well as supporters. He was heavily involved in campaigning to stop the SOPA(Stop Online Piracy Act) bill. In the age of the internet these issues are increasingly important and no clearer for most individuals to understand. Continue reading →

Score – A Film Music Documentary

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Coming soon from production company Epicleff Media and Director/Producer Matt Schrader is the much anticipated film ‘SCORE: A Film Music Documentary’.

scoreSo much attention is paid in the media to Actors & Directors; but very little notice is given to the production team behind the scenes that help bring the film together and take very little of the credit for the end result. One such group of un-sung heroes is Composers and this is who this documentary focuses on.

A good or bad score can make or break a film and in some genres is crucial to support the action and/or emotion of the piece. This is no simple task; the composer must shape their score around the director’s vision and work within the constantly evolving nature of a film in production. Continue reading →

Review: Chastity Bites – Horror/Black Comedy

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Written by Ben Gummery & Lewis Mainwaring

Chastity Bites is a 2013 black comedy/teen horror film written by Lotti Pharriss Knowles and directed by John V. Knowles. (See our interview with John here)

image5Notorious serial killer Elizabeth Bathory (Louise Griffiths) believed that bathing in virgin blood would keep her young and beautiful forever. Still alive in present day America she’s found a perfect hunting ground promoting celibacy in the young girls at San Griento High School under the banner of the V.A.G. society.

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DVD Review: Dolphin Tale 2 (2014) – Out 16th Feb

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Dolphin Tale 2 is the sequel to the 2011 Dolphin Tale which was loosely based on the true story of bottlenose dolphin ‘Winter‘ that was rescued from the Florida coast and taken to the Clearwater Marine Park (which is also used in the film) who sadly lost her tail and had to be fitted on a prosthetic. This film centred on the friendship between Winter and 11-year-old Sawyer Nelson (Nathan Gamble).

dolphin1The film stars Harry Connick Jr., Ashley Judd, Nathan Gamble, Kris Kristofferson, Cozi Zuehlsdorff & Morgan Freeman; all of whom returned from Dolphin Tale. Writer/Director Charles Martin Smith also returns. Continue reading →

Blu-Ray Review: Toy Soldiers (1991) – Out 2nd Feb

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The 1991 thriller Toy Soldiers is being released for the first time on Blu-Ray on the 2nd June by 101 Films as part of their ‘Cult Film Collection’. It is probably arguable however whether this film deserves cult status. It fits in with the typical action/military films of the late 80s/early 90’s; but this is no WarGames.

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This was the directorial debut of Writer/Director Daniel Petire Jr.  who is better known for his comedic writing on films such as Beverly Hills Cop an Turner & Hooch. Some of that humour is also seen here but is not nearly as effective as his other works. The cast includes Sean Astin(The Goonies, Lord of the Rings), Wil Wheaton (Stand By Me), Louis Gossett, Jr. (An Officer and a Gentlemen), Andrew Divoff (Air Force One), Mason Adams (Lou Grant) and Denholm Elliott (Indiana Jones).

 

toy1Regis High School, an exclusive prep school for delinquent teens becomes the target of a terrorist hostage-taking when Columbian drug lord and terrorist Luis Cali (Divoff) travels to the US to negotiate the release of his father and it is left to a group of student pranksters (Astin, Wheaton etc.) to outsmart the terrorists.

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The Turning (2013) starring Cate Blanchett – In cinemas 6th Feb

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The Turning is based on the best-selling book of short stories by Australian author Tim Winton.This big-screen adaptation is a collaboration between many writers and directors; each working on one the books segments.  The film stars Cate Blanchett (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), Hugo Weaving (The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies) and Rose Byrne (X-Men First Class).

The Turning

Compilations like this run the risk of feeling disjointed however this film seems mostly to avoid that as the various tales intertwine and cover the whole range of the human experience from relationships to death. Continue reading →

Interview: Daphne Ashbrook

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Written by Lewis Mainwaring

Daphne Ashbrook is known for both her comic timing and deeply complex emotional portrayals on both the big and small screen. One of her best known roles (and my personal favourite) is that of Dr Grace Holloway in the Doctor Who TV Movie (1996). We recently caught up with her for an interview about her life both on and off screen.

IMG_0093-794x800“I love, love, love getting lost in a character’s reality. Quite fun leaving my own boring life at the door. Ha!”

 

 

 

 

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Atari: Game Over (TV Documentary – 2014)

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atari_game_overThis documentary (a joint venture between Fuel Entertainment and Xbox Presents) explores one of the great urban myths in video gaming, the dumping of around 700,000 copies of the Atari game ‘E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,’ for the classic Atari 2600 console at a dumping site in Alamogordo, New Mexico. This game has often been referred to as one of the worst games in history and blamed for the ultimate financial failure of Atari.  This propels the stereotype we still have today that video games based on films are invariably terrible.

Typically at the time Atari would spend many months developing a game but after making a multi-million dollar deal with Steven Spielberg (who approved the game himself) for the E.T. game gave the company just 12 weeks to get the game to market in time for Christmas. Following the games release the companies finances took a turn for the worst and it went on to lose $536 million. Continue reading →

Review: Before I Go To Sleep (2014) – Out now on DVD & BluRay

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Pre-release review thanks to distributor StudioCanal.

beforeigotosleep Based on the best-selling novel by S.J. Watson. The film rights were initially acquired by Ridley Scott; who then brought Rowan Joffé on board as Director (he also wrote the screenplay).

Before I Go To Sleep tells the story of Christine (Nicole Kidman); who suffers from anterograde amnesia and wakes every day with no knowledge of her surroundings and how she came to be the way she is. She goes through life haunted by a past she can’t recall and a present she cannot fathom.

She lives with husband Ben (Colin Firth) who helps her to deal with her condition but we discover she has also been secretly seeing Dr. Nasch (Mark Strong) who is helping her to recover her memory through a video log. With his help she begins to piece together the pieces of her life; sometimes contrary to what she has been told. Continue reading →

BluRay Review: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (Limited Edition – 2013)

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Written by Lewis Mainwaring

This Limited Edition (Nov 2013) release by Arrow Films (10,000 copies) of the 1986 horror classic The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 is the sequel to the 1974 iconic movie The Texas chainsaw Massacre.IMG_2332

Tagged lined ‘The Buzz is Back’ this second installment of the franchise sees the Sawyer clan relocated from their family home and on a killing spree in an abandoned amusement park.

The original film poster is a parody of the 1985 film The Breakfast Club.

Chainsaw-wielding maniac Leatherface (Bill Johnson) is up to his cannibalistic ways once again, along with the rest of his twisted clan, including the equally disturbed Chop-Top (Bill Moseley). This time, the masked serial killer has set his sights on pretty disc jockey Vanita “Stretch” Brock (Caroline Williams), who teams up with Texas law-man Lefty Enright (Dennis Hopper) to battle the psychopath and his family deep within their lair.
 Continue reading →