Author: Alton Williams

  • Hocus Pocus Magics Its Way To Number 1

    Hocus Pocus Magics Its Way To Number 1

    Hocus Pocus tops the Official Film Chart for the first time as it rises to Number 1 following the weekend’s Halloween festivities.

    This week’s Official Film Chart takes a remarkably terrifying turn as spooky films flood the Top 20; with families and flat mates across the UK prevented from the usual parties and trick-or-treating due to lockdown measures, film fans took to their sofas for a ghostly movie night.

    In total, 12 films in the Top 20 were spooky titles, varying from classic horrors including Scream and Halloween, to more family-friendly entries like Casper and SCOOB!.

    Hocus Pocus flies up three to take its place at Number 1, just ahead of Tim Burton classic The Nightmare Before Christmas which also rises three to Number 2 – knocking both Onward (4) and Frozen 2 (5) down three places each from last week. Scoob! holds on at Number 3.

    Ghostbusters (1984) enters the Official Film Chart for the first time this spooky season, landing at Number 6 just ahead of Casper at 7, which rockets 17 places. Thanks to a recent remake, the original 1990 film adaptation of Roald Dahl’s The Witches soars 20 places to Number 8, and The Invisible Man creeps up four to Number 9. IT: Chapter Two rounds things off at Number 10, floating up seven.

    Other seasonal entries in the Top 20 include The House With A Clock In Its Walls (13), The Rocky Horror Picture Show (15), Beetlejuice (16), Halloween (17) and Scream (20).

    Finally this week’s Official Film Chart, features a sneak peek at 1955 Ealing Studios comedy caper The Ladykillers, which is being re-released on 4k to buy from November 9.

    Now, as well as OfficialCharts.com, the Official Film Chart can also be found on FindAnyFilm.com – the ultimate site for Film and TV fans to discover all the legal ways to buy the entertainment they want on disc and digital formats. Make sure to keep an eye out for all of these great titles over the next few months.

    The Official Film Chart Top 10 – 4th November 2020

    LWPosTitleLabel
    41HOCUS POCUSWALT DISNEY
    52THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMASTOUCHSTONE
    33SCOOBWARNER HOME VIDEO
    14ONWARDWALT DISNEY
    25FROZEN 2WALT DISNEY
    NEW6GHOSTBUSTERS (1984)SONY PICTURES HE
    247CASPERUNIVERSAL PICTURES
    288THE WITCHESWARNER HOME VIDEO
    139THE INVISIBLE MANUNIVERSAL PICTURES
    1710IT – CHAPTER TWOWARNER HOME VIDEO

    © Official Charts Company 2020

    VIEW THE FULL TOP 40 https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/film-chart/

  • Dundalk Edition: Bits & Pieces

    Dundalk Edition: Bits & Pieces

    Directed by Rodney Ascher and David Lawrence, with interviews directed by Ryan Sexton, The El Duce Tapes is a unique, outrageous portrait of the self-styled “King of Sleaze”, described on American national television as a ‘disgusting pervert’, a hugely divisive, troubled figure who was a skilled musician and prescient provocateur, with a very interesting background, who also claimed he was asked to kill Kurt Cobain for $50,000.

    OLEANDER, 17, is the star and sole creator of her own provocative, sex-positive YouTube channel. She is also an unwilling student at a Christian abstinence program, led by the poised and charismatic ALISSA, 50s. When Alissa demands that Oleander issue an on-camera apology for mocking her abstinence program online, a fierce battle of wills ensues. Alissa is aided by KIM, 30s, a filmmaker-for-hire who has no allegiance other than to serve her client. Oleander fights desperately for her voice and her beliefs, but will her anti slut-shaming message be able to stand up against the manipulative power of the two adults who seek to suppress her?

    Tensions and temperatures rise over the course of an afternoon recording session in 1920s Chicago as a band of musicians await trailblazing performer, the legendary “Mother of the Blues,” Ma Rainey (Academy Award® winner Viola Davis). Late to the session, the fearless, fiery Ma engages in a battle of wills with her white manager and producer over control of her music. As the band waits in the studio’s claustrophobic rehearsal room, ambitious trumpeter Levee (Chadwick Boseman) — who has an eye for Ma’s girlfriend and is determined to stake his own claim on the music industry — spurs his fellow musicians into an eruption of stories revealing truths that will forever change the course of their lives.

    From the visionary mind of writer director Brandon Cronenberg (Antiviral), Possessor is a game-changing sci-fi thriller about elite, corporate assassin Tasya Vos (Andrea Riseborough, Mandy). 

    A Christmas Carol, a brand new retelling of the classic family Christmas tale, will be coming to both cinemas and select theatres nationwide from November 20th, as Scrooge looks to help save Christmas.

    Audrey Hepburn won her first Academy Award at the age of 24 and went on to become one of the world’s greatest cultural icons: a once-in-a-generation beauty, and legendary star of Hollywood’s Golden Age, whose style and pioneering collaboration with Hubert de Givenchy continues to inspire. But who was the real Audrey Hepburn?

    Sarah (Eva Green) is a French astronaut training at the European Space Agency in Cologne. She is the only woman in the arduous program. She lives alone with Stella, her seven-year-old daughter. Sarah feels guilty that she cannot spend more time with her child. Her love is overpowering, unsettling. When Sarah is chosen to be part of the crew of a year-long space mission called ‘Proxima,’ it creates chaos in the mother-daughter relationship. 

    Following its launch at Grimmfest (where it won the “Best Screenplay” award) and Sitges last week, Rent-A-Pal arrives across all digital download platforms from November 16 and on DVD from January 11.

    HOST, the critically acclaimed British horror sensation, is released in UK and Irish cinemas and on digital platforms on 4th December, courtesy of Vertigo Releasing.

    Allison Williams (Get Out; Girls) and Alexander Dreymon (The Last Kingdom; American Horror Story) star in edge-of-your-seat action thriller HORIZON LINE, released in cinemas nationwide on 6th November 2020.

    Enter the surreal dystopian prophecy of 2020: Greatland, a world where boys are married to trees, cats and dogs run for President and the Virus has become a new religion. An acid roller coaster ride into the future after Covid-19, on a mission to debunk 2020!

    An idealistic engineer builds his own island off the Italian coast and declares it a nation, drawing the world’s attention. Values are tested when the Italian Government declares him an enemy, but to change the world risks must be taken.

    Inspired by true events, COUNTY LINES is the highly acclaimed and hugely topical feature from writer and director Henry Blake. The film is a vivid and moving coming-of-age film about a struggling mum (Ashley Madekwe) and her 14-year-old son Tyler (Conrad Khan) who is groomed and recruited by Simon (Harris Dickinson) into a lethal drug-selling network – a ‘county line’ that exploits vulnerable children and puts them to work nationwide.

  • Back To The Future: The Nation’s Favourite

    Back To The Future: The Nation’s Favourite

    A poll conducted by the Official Charts Company and FindAnyFilm.com to celebrate Must See Movies 80s, part of the National Album Day celebrations, has found that Back To The Future as the nation’s favourite 80s movie.

    The poll was launched to mark Must See Movies 80s, a promotion that saw participating stores including Amazon, ASDAHMV, Morrisons, and Tesco celebrate the very best of the decade with exclusive collections on DVD. Fans voted in the Official Charts Company poll across the month of October, allocating votes to their top three choices, with the 80s sci-fi classic coming out on top.

    Released in 1985 and starring Michael J. Fox & Christopher Lloyd – Back To The Future sees Marty McFly, a teenager accidentally sent back in time to 1955 in a time-traveling DeLorean built by his eccentric scientist friend “Doc” Brown. With its iconic soundtrack and 1980s fashion, the film has stood the test of time as a must-see for any film fan.

    Looking across the rest of the top 10 – festive-action classic Die Hard comes second, followed closely by iconic sci-fi Blade Runner. Coming in at joint fourth in the poll is adventure-comedy The Goonies and James Cameron’s acclaimed sequel, Aliens. Three more sci-fi titles come in at six, seven and eight in the form of The Empire Strikes BackE.T. & The Terminator. Completing the top 10 is horror The Shining at nine and romantic comedy classic, When Harry Met Sally at number ten.

    The Top 10 Movies Of The 80s, as voted by followers of the Official Charts Company & FindAnyFilm.com, are: 

    1Back To The Future (1985)
    2Die Hard (1988)
    3Blade Runner (1982)
    4Aliens (Joint) [1986]
    4The Goonies (Joint) [1985]
    6Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
    7E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
    8The Terminator (1984)
    9The Shining (1980)
    10When Harry Met Sally (1989)

    For more information on the ‘Must See 80s Movies’ campaign visit – https://mustseemovies.co.uk/

  • Onward Earns A Second Week

    Onward Earns A Second Week

    Onward holds on to its place at the top of the Official Film Chart, as competition from classic Halloween films begins to claw their way into the Top 10 ahead of this weekend.

    The heartfelt Pixar adventure makes it a second week at Number 1 with 90% of its sales coming from DVD & Blu-ray copies of the film. It finishes just ahead of Frozen 2 (2) and Scoob! (3).

    Bringing in the spooky season at Number 4, Hocus Pocus starring Bette Midler and Sarah Jessica Parker reaches a new peak after flying 20 places, bettering its previous placing of Number 7 in the 2019 post-Halloween chart. Close behind is another huge Halloween favourite as Tim Burton’s 1993 animated musical The Nightmare Before Christmas, soars back into the chart to reach a new peak at Number 5 following a surge in sales this week.

    This week’s highest new entry comes from crime-drama The Tax Collector starring Bobby Soto and Shia LaBeouf, debuting at Number 6 on digital downloads only. Next up it’s Sonic The Hedgehog (7), Trolls World Tour (8) and The Greatest Showman (9) just ahead of the return of 1917 which rises four to Number 10.

    This week’s Official Film Chart features a preview of Black Water: Abyss, an Australian killer croc thriller which is available to Download & Keep from November 2.

    Now, as well as OfficialCharts.com, the Official Film Chart can also be found on FindAnyFilm.com – the ultimate site for Film and TV fans to discover all the legal ways to buy the entertainment they want on disc and digital formats. Make sure to keep an eye out for all of these great titles over the next few months.

    The Official Film Chart Top 10 – 28th October 2020

    LWPosTitleLabel
    11ONWARDWALT DISNEY
    32FROZEN 2WALT DISNEY
    23SCOOBWARNER HOME VIDEO
    244HOCUS POCUSWALT DISNEY
    RE5THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMASTOUCHSTONE
    NEW6THE TAX COLLECTORUNIVERSAL PICTURES
    107SONIC THE HEDGEHOGPARAMOUNT
    78TROLLS WORLD TOURDREAMWORKS ANIMATION
    69THE GREATEST SHOWMAN20TH CENTURY FOX HE
    14101917ENTERTAINMENT ONE

    © Official Charts Company 2020

    VIEW THE FULL TOP 40 – https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/film-chart/

  • Onward Clinches Number 1

    Onward Clinches Number 1

    Onward reaches Number 1 on the Official Film Chart for the first time.

    After five months and four stints at its Number 2 peak, the Disney Pixar animated adventure lifts one place to the top of the Official Film Chart. The animated fantasy adventure stars Tom Holland and Chris Pratt as brother elves Ian and Barley Lightfoot, who set off on a quest to reunite with their late father for one day.

    Onward pushes four-week chart topper Scoob! to Number 2, as Frozen 2 holds at 3. Star Wars: Revenge Of The Sith enters for the first time at Number 4 thanks to its limited edition Steelbook release.

    Papillon starring Rami Malek and Charlie Hunnam drops one place to Number 5, The Greatest Showman holds at Number 6 and record-breaking former chart topper Trolls World Tour drops to Number 7.

    Blumhouse horror You Should Have Left, starring Kevin Bacon and Amanda Seyfried, debuts at Number 8 this week. In the film a former banker (Bacon) and his actress wife (Seyfried) book a holiday in the remote Welsh countryside with their daughter (Avery Essex). The perfect retreat turns into a terrible nightmare when banker Theo loses his grasp on reality, and suspects a sinister force is within the house.

    Finally, glittering Elton John biopic Rocketman zooms up eight places to Number 9, and Sonic The Hedgehog is knocked to Number 10.

    On this week’s Official Film Chart catch a preview of Michael Jordan documentary One Man And His Shoes, the story of the phenomenon of Air Jordan sneakers showing their social, cultural and racial significance and how ground-breaking marketing strategies created a multi-billion-dollar business. Available to Download & Keep from October 26.

    Now, as well as OfficialCharts.com, the Official Film Chart can also be found on FindAnyFilm.com – the ultimate site for Film and TV fans to discover all the legal ways to buy the entertainment they want on disc and digital formats. Make sure to keep an eye out for all of these great titles over the next few months.

    The Official Film Chart Top 10 – 21st October 2020

    LWPosTitleLabel
    21ONWARDWALT DISNEY
    12SCOOBWARNER HOME VIDEO
    33FROZEN 2WALT DISNEY
    NEW4STAR WARS III – REVENGE OF THE SITHWALT DISNEY
    45PAPILLONSIGNATURE ENTERTAINMENT
    66THE GREATEST SHOWMAN20TH CENTURY FOX HE
    57TROLLS WORLD TOURDREAMWORKS ANIMATION
    NEW8YOU SHOULD HAVE LEFTUNIVERSAL PICTURES
    179ROCKETMANPARAMOUNT
    710SONIC THE HEDGEHOGPARAMOUNT

    © Official Charts Company 2020

    VIEW THE FULL TOP 40 – https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/film-chart/