Following on from "Red", the popular action-comedy, "Red 2" stars Bruce Willis, the retired black-ops CIA agent Frank Moses, who reunites with his unlikely team of elite operatives for a global quest to track down a missing portable nuclear device. Directed by Dean Parisot ("Galaxy Quest"),it promises action, fast cars and great comedy! "Red 2" is released on August 2nd 2013.
"The Look Of Love" (18) Director: Michael Winterbottom. Cast: Steve Coogan, Anna Friel, Tamsin Egerton, Imogen Poots. Rated 18 for: Strong sexualised nudity, sex and hard drug use. Michael Winterbottom and Steve Coogan re-unite for the fourth time in 'The Look Of Love', a biopic of Paul Raymond, the self-proclaimed "King of Soho" and one-time "Richest Man In Britain". Not bad, as Raymond says several times throughout, for a lad who got off the boat from Liverpool with a fiver in his pocket. And the catalyst for his huge wealth and empire? Well, it was the realisation that men like to look at beautiful women who happen to be nude. Scripted by Matt Greenhalgh, who previously did sterling work on the Ian Curtis biopic 'Control', the movie looks at the changing attitudes to nudity from the stuffy '50's to the swinging '60's and beyond, but the main focus of the film is his relationship with the three most important women in his life - his wife (Friel), his lover (Egerton) and his daughter Debbie (Poots), the true love of his life and intended heir to his throne.
The central performances are excellent throughout. Steve Coogan appears to be having a whale of a time playing Raymond in all his excessive, long-haired, tacky glory, and only occasionally slips into Partridge-isms. Anna Friel does well with a role that could have easily become shrill and annoying in the hands of a less gifted actress, Tamsin Egerton is revelatory as Raymond's beautiful and put-upon mistress, and Imogen Poots confirms her growing status as one of England's finest young actresses with a moving, poignant portrayal as a girl with too much money and no one to say "no" to her. However, it all feels a bit empty. Michael Winterbottom makes the decision to try and lens the proceedings as a casual observer, with zero objectivity or bias. While the intention is, of course, for the viewer to make up their own minds about how they feel about Raymond, his morals and his business, it actually makes for a curiously detached and lightweight viewing experience.
One suspects that Greenhalgh's script may have probed deeper, but the film lets off Raymond very lightly for his actions, particularly his terrible and fatal over-indulgence of his child, and isn't sure whether it wants to be a snappy comedy, a serious drama, or both. This is typified by a scene where Paul Raymond meets his teen-aged son from a previous relationship for the first time - it's obviously a very emotional moment for both characters, but Winterbottom seems unsure of the tone that's needed for it. Even the array of British comedy actors and stand-ups in supporting parts add to the overall frothy, insubstantial feel. Michael Winterbottom is one of Britain's most eclectic and hardest-working directors. At one point he was averaging a film a year, and he has tackled nearly every genre imaginable. Verdict His previous films with Steve Coogan ('24 Hour Party People', 'A Cock And Bull Story' and 'The Trip') have all been uniformly excellent. 'The Look Of Love', sadly, just falls short. As well acted and handsomely shot as it is, what it needed was a more incisive approach, and ultimately, like a Big Mac, as fun and attractive as it seems while it lasts, it's not particularly satisfying or memorable, and you'll be craving something more, not long after it's finished. Three Stars out of five. Written By Dani Walsh.
It has been a busy year for Nicholas David Lean, first he wrote and Directed the superbly made feature Film "Dead End", starring Jamie Foreman and is now working on four new projects. Nicholas is currently working on two short features; but it`s the two main Films that have caught my eye. Nicholas will travelling back into the realms of Horror, to Direct "Mind Heist", a `Heist` movie with a twist and "Payback"; an adrenaline fuelled thrill ride set in Juarez, Mexico.
On Thursday the 25th of April two thousand and thirteen, I spoke to Nicholas on his life and the contributions he has made to the British Film industry. Scott: Good Afternoon Nicholas, many congratulations on "Dead End"! I understand you are starting some new projects at the moment? Nicholas: Yeah, I'm producing two short Films and pushing forward two Films as well. I'm also producing a short Film for a close friend.
Scott: I have heard quite a bit about one feature called "Payback", Is that one of your upcoming features? If so, what is the story behind it? Nicholas: Yes, it is. "Payback" follows an unassuming legal secretary who is given one hour to find $250 000, and prevent the execution of her husband and child, at the hands of her ex-lover. Scott: It sounds exciting! What certificate are you aiming for? Nicholas: Exciting is a great word to describe it, "Payback" will be along the lines of Films such as "Man On Fire" and "Taken". When it comes to the age certificate, I think it will probably get an 18 rating. Scott: What is the other project? Nicholas: Well, the other project is called "Mind Heist", which is more along the lines of Horror. Scott: Please tell me more about "Mind Heist"! Nicholas: So, "Mind Heist" is a `Heist-Thriller`subversion into the Horror Genre. A five man S019 Specialist FirearmsTeam from the Metropolitan Police pursue the survivors of a botched Bank raid into the subterranean world of the city`s drainage and sewer system, only to discover several people have been killed and horribly mutilated. Realizing that their lives too are threatened by something in the darkness, the Unit race to escape the cavernous underworld. Scott: That is definitely my type of Film! Where do you think you will be Filming these productions?
Nicholas: "Mind Heist" will be set in London, it is written specifically for that location. Although, if finance insists on `elsewhere` it could be shot anywhere! "Payback" is set in the city of Juarez, Mexico. Scott: The locations seem perfect for the productions. Could you tell me a bit about where you grew up and how you made the transition into Film Directing? Nicholas: I originated from West London, but I moved to South Wales at a very young age. There, I lived on a Farm with my family; which has been in our family for generations. For the majority of my youth, I lived in Portsmouth, on the South Coast, but I left home at a young age. I've had many careers, including the Army, Police, Close Protection industries and Health clubs all over the world. In nineteen ninety seven, I began writing scripts for fun, and I gradually developed my scripts, time and time again. In two-thousand and eight, I got the idea to become a Director after a trip to Cannes.Since that time, I have amassed over 13 features and short Film scripts. Scott: Is it right that you nearly died in a car accident? Nicholas: Yeah, on the M1, I had an engine disintegration and my car blew up! I wasn`t injured as I moved out of the way just in time! Scott: Will you be having any famous names for the productions? Nicholas: It`s hard to say at this time. The London project`s cast hasn`t been set in stone or anything; but we are aiming for some large targets. It really all comes down to budget, and if we can secure the four-million pounds needed! Scott: Would you say that you have a good relationship with the cast and crew members on set? Nicholas: I like to think so, I try to treat everyone as an equally important team player whether it be the Director of Photograph or the guy who makes everyone coffee! Scott: Do you have a favourite Film? Nicholas: That`s a tough decision. I don`t really have a top favourite but I have a top three; "Lawrence Of Arabia", "Alien" and "Man On Fire". Scott: Many thanks for your time Nicholas. Nicholas: My pleasure! To follow Nicholas on his adventures in Film-Making click on the links below, for Twitter and Facebook! Written by Scott Gentry. With thanks to Nicholas David Lean https://twitter.com/Rasbenek http://www.facebook.com/nicholas.d.lean
Written by Scott Gentry, with thanks to Nicholas David Lean.
Cast: Jane Levy, Shiloh Fernandez, Lou Taylor Pucci, Jessica Lucas
Rated 18 for: Strong bloody violence, gory horror and very strong language
Plot: Five friends go to an abandoned cabin in the woods. Horrible
things ensue. Stop me if you've heard this one before.
If any horror remake was going to buck the trend of being uniformly
awful, the smart money would have been on Evil Dead. With the unholy trinity of
Sam Raimi, Bruce Campbell and Robert Tapert (the original writer/director,
star, and producer respectively) overseeing the project, a director hand-picked
off of the back of his impressive short film, 'Panic Attack', and a
phenomenally good red-band trailer released earlier in the year, the signs were
that this act of sacrilege could actually turn out to be, y'know, whisper it...
good.
Let's preface this by saying that Sam Raimi's 'The Evil Dead',
genre classic though it might be, is far from a perfect film. Raimi himself
pretty much realised this when he effectively remade it as 'Evil Dead 2: Dead
By Dawn'. Any remake/reboot/re-whatever would have pretty big boots to fill,
but there are plenty of opportunities for improvement.
One of the areas that was bound to be improved upon were the visual effects and
make-up, and here Alvarez and his crew excel themselves. Wisely deciding to
keep the SFX as practical as possible, the gore really is the star of Evil Dead
2013, and will no doubt elicit yelps of glee and disgust, depending on which
kind of movie goer you are. Sadly, it's pretty much the only thing
that this mediocre rehash has going for it.
Part of the ghoulish, roller-coaster ride fun of Raimi's original
was it's ability to successfully mix horror and comedy. Alvarez and his writing
team (including an uncredited Diablo Cody (Juno) on script-polish duties)
dispense with any comedic aspects from page one of their screenplay, making
'Evil Dead' a grim, dour affair. It's a noble intention to want to purely scare
the Bejesus out of your audience, but all this does is invite the audience to
howl in derision at one of the most uninspired scripts in recent horror memory. Gaping plot-holes, characters so unmemorable that you could be forgiven for
forgetting they're even there, and snort-inducingly bad dialogue all rattle
around for the film's mercifully short 91 minutes. There's the nugget of an
interesting idea sown by making the film's chief protagonist Mia (Jane Levy) a
recovering drug-addict, suggesting that this could all be part of her
cold-turkey comedown, but it's dismissed so quickly you wonder why they
bothered at all.
Sam Raimi's swirling, demonic camera-work is also sadly absent,
excepting a brief nod to "THAT scene" from the original. The grimy,
dour nature of the film extends to the cinematography and set design, which
makes the film, if anything, more comparable to recent torture-porn offerings
such as Hostel and Saw. Oh, and that 'The Most Terrifying Film You Will Ever
Experience' tagline? Not even close. Apart from a few jumps from the school of
Anchorman's Brick Tamland ("LOOOOOUUUUUDDDD NOOOOIIIIISSSEEEES!!!"),
it's not a particularly scary film. As violent and bloody as it is, neither can
it hold a candle to such recent endurance tests as 'Martyrs' or 'Inside'.
After Drew Goddard's excellent, Joss Whedon-scripted 'The Cabin In
The Woods', which de constructed the horror genre even as it lovingly
tipped its hat to it, this kind of movie was always going to have to work hard
to justify itself. The cast, particularly Levy, gamely try to lend the whole
thing some dramatic heft, Alvarez is clearly a gifted director who knows his
way around a set piece, and the last 10 minutes has a delirious glee about it -
it's just that after the preceding 80 minutes, you'll struggle to care. 'The
Evil Dead', that horror classic from 1981, was a film to fall in love with. You
could see the pain-staking effort that every single person involved in the
process had made to make it as good as humanly possible, and as wonky as some
of the effects may look now, it still holds up pretty damn well. 'Evil Dead' is
just another soulless, braindead horror remake that will be forgotten the
minute the credits have rolled. And for a movie preoccupied with the possession
of souls, "soulless" is just about the worst thing you could hope
for.
"Writers and Serial Killers are very similar. They're practically brothers." Crispin Mills' "A Fantastic Fear of Everything"(2012)has received generally negative reviews. I'm here to tell you that those people should be shot a little bit. I saw the movie on TV tonight, and I honestly think this is the best film I have seen since The Hobbit.
The film follows Jack (Simon Pegg), a children's writer turned true crime novelist, who had been researching gruesome Victorian murders for his new book. Unfortunately, this has made him a nervous paranoid agoraphobic cynic. He's not changed his clothes or left his flat in three weeks, and has been carrying around a knife just in case for all this time.
His agent contacts him with the offer he's been waiting for: A publisher wants to buy his book! He just has to confront his biggest fear: Laundromats. Will he manage to travel through Hackney, wash his clothes and meet his publisher in time without being murdered? Oh, and his knife is glued to his hand.
This was a truly hilarious movie from start to finish. The jokes were funny and original, and I really liked the strange cut-aways that Jack experiences in his mind, which were in the style of Fantastic Mr. Fox. Clare: Oh, Jack, go back to Children's Books. Whatever happened to Harold the Hedgehog, who was scared to cross the road? Jack: I hate that c**t. That f**ker ruined my marriage.
The chronicles of Jack were very entertaining, and a trick I use to gauge how good a film is is to see whether or not I really care if the protagonist reaches their goal. And I can honestly say I really wanted Jack to get his book published when we paused halfway through.
From a literary point of view, the film is extremely well written. The humor was scrupulous and well thought-out, and there was a large undertone of Freudian psychology in the origin of fear and our psychological make-up. Jack [Narrating]: Wait, American? Must be a mobster. Wait wait wait... [Goes to drawer and fishes out a tape] Jack: Aha! The very same Mix-tape I used to woo Nancy! [Puts it into a boombox and presses play] Tape: Word-up M****r f******g c**t f****rs Jack: Oh, the songs of angels!
I heartily reccomend this one to anyone. Forget the other reviews, I was in fits. You'll really enjoy it and It's defiantly the funniest movie I've seen this year.
Starring: Tom Cruise, Morgan Freeman and Andrea Risebourough.
Out Now in Uk Cinemas
Rated 12A for: Infrequent strong language, moderate violence and threat.
It is the year 2017, Earth has been invaded by an alien race called Scavs. The remaining humans fled Earth, and traveled to a space station called Titan. The only people who remain are Jack and Victoria Harper (Tom Cruise and Andrea Risebourough); a husband and wife team who are tasked with protecting and maintaining robot drones who`s mission is to harvest the minerals left on Earth. One day, (whilst on patrol) Jack comes across a crashed ship and a woman from his dreams; but little does Jack know, this encounter could change the fabric of humanities survival.
It was Wednesday the 10th of April, and I had decided to (with a group of good friends) watch the latest Tom Cruise offering; named "Oblivion". The Director, (Joseph Kosinki) had previously made his enter to Sci-Fi, with the reboot of "Tron" which was superb. So, my expectations were fairly high. The screening was packed, making it nearly impossible to find a decent seat. When I finally found a seat, I looked around t
o see that after all these years; a Tom Cruise movie still pulls in the crowds.
The Film has a strong opening, wasting no time on explaining the detailed and confusing plot line of how the Earth went to war. The set pieces are lavish; as most of the Film was shot on location in Iceland. As Iceland (in parts) is fairly deserted; it was a brilliant spot to film "Oblivion" as it ties in with the apocalyptic themes.
The acting is fairly shallow, even for Tom Cruise; his character could be referred to as an `average Joe` type; who inexplicably ends up fighting to save the world. If you want, you could call him a later version of Mad Max.
Andrea Risebourough is impressive in a role which is constantly questionable.
The special effects are quite remarkable; in fact, the CGI castle in the sky (on which Jack and Victoria lives) is wonderfully designed. Could that be how we live in the future? I hope so!
In conclusion, "Oblivion" is a stunning Sci-Fi epic, that is capable of much more; but still satisfies my taste for intelligent Science Fiction.
Following on from "Red", the popular action-comedy, "Red 2" stars Bruce Willis, the retired black-ops CIA agent Frank Moses, who reunites with his unlikely team of elite operatives for a global quest to track down a missing portable nuclear device. 
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