Stay At Home Edition: Bits & Pieces. Major Harry Smith (Travis Fimmel, Vikings) and his company of 108 young and inexperienced Australian and New Zealand soldiers are fighting for their lives in the Battle of Long Tan in 1967. With 2,500 battle-hardened Viet Cong soldiers closing in, their ammunition running out and casualties mounting, each man searches for the strength to triumph over an uncertain future with honour, decency and courage. Also starring Luke Bracey (Point Break), Richard Roxburgh (Van Helsing), Nicholas Hamilton (It) and Daniel Webber (Escape From Pretoria). From the writer of Collateral and Pirates of the Caribbean, Danger Close is beautifully scored by award-winning composer Caitlin Yeo.
THE PERFECT CANDIDATE premiered in competition at Venice Film Festival 2019. The film follows female doctor Maryam, as she runs in the municipal council elections, challenging the traditional patriarchal system that’s been in place since the birth of democracy in the region. The film is a bold and politically charged exploration about what it means to be a woman in Saudi Arabia today, seeking to push forward a new era of women. You can watch the trailer here.
THE HOST is a Zachary Weckstein Production and stars Emmy Award-winning Maryam Hassouni, up-and-coming Mike Beckingham (brother of Simon Pegg), first major role from McFly pop rock musician Dougie Poynter, Nigel Barber (Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, Spectre (007), Togo Igawa (Star Wars: The Last Jedi / Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, The Last Samurai), veteran actors Derek Jacobi (Gladiator, Murder on the Orient Express, Gosford Park, I, Claudius (TV series) and Jeroen Krabbé (The Fugitive, The Living Daylights, Transporter 3), Dominic Keating (Star Trek: Enterprise, Beowulf, Prison Break), Margo Stilley (The Trip, How to Lose Friends & Alienate People, 9 Songs) and Ruby Turner MBE (Love Actually, Hotel Babylon and acclaimed singer).
Always dreamed of being James Bond? Well, Moneyshake have looked into exactly what it takes to get that seriously glamourous 007 lifestyle.
Fresh off its premiere at the Monaco International Film Festival a new teaser has arrived for this Twilight Zone-esque short film. A couple checks into a vacation rental, only to find that the anonymous host likes to play games on its guests.
A time-traveling assassin finds himself on a cruise ship, where he falls for the women he’s supposed to kill, in Same Boat – coming this April from Dark Star Pictures! James is a time travelling assassin from the 28th century sent to 2018 to kill a woman, but when his intern gets sick and he loses his paperwork he has some time to kill, so to speak, while enjoying the cruise he accidentally falls in love with the woman he’s supposed to kill. Same Boat is a film about duty, love, friendship, and how kindness is more powerful than destruction.
If you live alone and you have symptoms of coronavirus illness (COVID-19), however mild, stay at home for 7 days from when your symptoms started. (The ending isolation section has more information).
Frozen 2 has a mammoth first week on the Official Film Chart – landing the second-highest opening week of digital download sales ever.
With a whopping 218,700 digital downloads, Frozen 2 is bested in first-week sales only by Avengers: Endgame, which claimed 335,400 in August 2019. Avengers: Infinity War comes in at Number 3 with 214,300 in its first chart week.
As we revisit Elsa, Anna, and Olaf, the gang sets off on a dangerous but remarkable journey to discover why Elsa was born with magical powers and save her kingdom. Idina Menzel, Kristen Bell and Josh Gad reprise their respective roles in the sequel.
Meanwhile, Le Mans ‘66 hangs on at Number 2 as Last Christmas hops five places to Number 3 following its release on DVD, Blu-ray and 4K UHD; last week’s Number 1 Midway drops to Number 5.
A second new entry enters the chart at Number 6, Knives Out; Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) is brought in to investigate the death of renowned crime novelist Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer). Can Blanc uncover the truth behind the death of the celebrated writer?
Terminator: Dark Fate drops to Number 7, Joker’s down to 8, and Maleficent slips to Number 9. Finally, the live-action remake of The Lion King holds on at Number 10.
This week’s online show features a preview of Edward Norton crime drama Motherless Brooklyn, available to Download & Keep from March 30.
Hang in there during lockdown and enjoy a movie night in with flatmates, family or online with friends. FindAnyFilm.com makes it easier than ever to find your favourite films, with a huge selection spanning everything from all-time classics to newly discovered gems to family favourites.
The topic of watching shows in Dub or Sub has been a long and controversial one. There are people that are firm believers and advocates of each one, with both of them having their own specific arguments as to which one is superior.
Indeed, there are specific times and circumstances where a Sub may be completely superior to the other, and vice versa, where Dub is much more preferred even to the original.
With that being said, there’s so much commotion around the subject, that sometimes it makes us think – where did this whole argument come from, and why do we even care so much in the first place? When did a simple preference become a point of controversy, and why are we still talking about it at all?
At the very least, if we’re to put this argument to an end, we should point out some of the benefits of both, and compare them objectively. They both have their own pros and cons, and while one may work perfectly for some people, it may not be as appealing for the others.
Arguments for the Dub
With so many people – myself included – being heavily in-favor of Subs over Dubs, I think it’d be fair to first go over the benefits of Dub, and give it a fairer fighting chance for many people who are still on the fence.
Doing other stuff in the background
A great advantage that watching in the Dub has over the sub is that it requires much less attention and focus. It’s very common for people to do other activities in the background while watching their favorite shows. According to a mass-scale study conducted by an Ottawa-based research firm, gambling is one of the activities where this is very prevalent. Apparently, a lot of people who play casino real money in Canada, with games like slot games, where it’s mostly repetitive action of just watching the spins and waiting for the result, it’s very common for people to be consuming other types of media. Dubs would be perfect here, as you won’t have to fully engage like with the subs, where you have to read attentively to understand the story. Another very common trend that’s noticed is doing stuff like chores or preparing meals while having a show running in the background.
Though this is not for everyone, and many of us may prefer to be fully engaged with the show, this is still a huge benefit for those who would prefer to save some time and do something productive while indulging in their favorite shows.
Some Dubs are actually better than the original voice overs
Though very rare, it’s still sometimes the case that the Dubbed versions sound better than the original versions, and when that’s the case, it really does make no sense to spend extra energy and effort to read the subs.
A very good example of this is the Dragonball Z Anime series, where it’s pretty much universally-accepted that Dub is better than Sub. The voice actors make a really good association with the characters, with their tonality and vocals being very fitting. This is mainly the case for the animated shows though, as it physically can’t be the case for the movies and TV series, where there are actual actors with their own voices.
Arguments for the Sub
This issue has been in the center of animated shows discussion for a very long time now. Generally-speaking, most die-hard fans will be heavily in favor of watching in subtitles, with the original voice overs. There definitely are some very strong arguments for watching subs, and indeed, as people watch these shows for longer and longer, you’ll find more people to be naturally inclined towards the Sub versions more. What are the main reasons for people willing to bother to read, when they can just listen to dubbed versions?
It helps characters maintain authenticity, and captures the spirit of the setting
Dialogue is an integral part of any show, and it holds an extremely important position for portraying the set and setting of a show. The accents, pronunciation and emotional aspects of the dialogue can sometimes be lost in the translation, which takes a lot away from the show. Sure, you’re reading the subs, but you can still understand and feel the emotion coming from the characters’ voices.
The Dubs, no matter how well-done they are, can never contain as much raw emotional and personal aspects of the characters they represent. This is even more so the case for the non-animated shows with actual actors.
Releases are usually faster
Preferences aside, an objectively true fact is that subs are available much faster than the Dubs. The reason for that is that dubbing a film or a TV episode is much more time-consuming and expensive than subbing it. There are numerous issues there that may not seem that important in the beginning but are actually crucial. With such high demand and prestige around them, finding a suitable voice actor for a character, then negotiating a price with them, then securing them for an extended period of time in case it’s a TV show. The list goes on, and the prices go up. Mainly due to this, Subs are much easier to work with than Dubs. Usually, as soon as a movie or TV show is released, Subs are available pretty much immediately. If you’re really excited about something and can barely wait till its release, then Sub is the way to go.
Ahead of Horror Channel’s UK TV premiere of VENDETTA (part of the VENGEANCE season), the Soska Sisters reflect on their life-long love of wrestling, getting revenge, and their next, long-waited original film BOB.
You’re back on Horror Channel. Excited?
Jen: Deliriously. We love the Horror Channel! It’s our favourite place to be. Thank you for having us back!
Sylvia: LOVE the Horror Channel. It feels a little odd because you guys usually are the first to show our work and Vendetta showed up late. I won’t even begin to mention the long-awaited Hellevator.
Finally, your UK fans get to see VENDETTA on British TV!
Jen: I’m so happy it VENDETTA has finally invaded British airwaves. The UK has always been so gracious and supportive of us and our work leading back to the Dead Hooker in a Trunk days. It’s only fitting to have VENDETTA follow suit. It’s no secret we love our British fans and hold a special place in our hearts for them. I’m excited for them to finally be able to enjoy what I like to call our “Punisher” movie.
Sylvia: Maybe it’s happened because the UK has been the most supportive of our work, so Vendetta is now going to be a smash hit and we can finally get to work on the sequel. See who hasn’t been horribly murdered and there’s still a vendetta to take them out. We’re pretty excited to see what the reaction to the film will be – we have a lot of fun directing action and working with these incredible stunt teams.
VENDETTA was the second film you made with WWE Studios (SEE NO EVIL 2 being the first). What made you want to step back into the ring with them?
Jen: Honestly, I’ll try anything twice.
Sylvia: It was part of Lionsgate Films’ action six-pack which was six action films. We did so well for them on See No Evil 2, they wanted us back. I’m not sure on which side, but someone asked if they wanted to hire girls for their action films and the reply was you’ve obviously never seen a film by the Soska’s before.
How on earth did you get Dean Cain to act so mean and angry? And how
challenging was it choreographing fights with WWE wrestler Paul ‘Big Show’ Wight?
Jen: Good guys play AMAZING bad guys, just no one ever gives them the opportunity. Dean Cain is such a good man. He’s a real life superhero. It’s a nice break from reality for him to be a bad guy. Mason isn’t really bad and to that point neither is Big Show (Victor Abbott). They’re both victims of their circumstances, they’re both doing what they feel is the best from some pretty bad options. Paul and Dean both trained so hard for the film. Paul is a literal giant, so we adjusted the action for him. He’s lethal.
Sylvia: I’ve never worked with a team so ready to go and push themselves in a film. That was so important to making this film because we only had 15 days to shoot it & every day there was a coordinated fight sequence for Mason, played by real life Super-man, Dean Cain. He would come to set with this great attitude, look out for everyone, kill it on camera, then head to the gym with the stunt team when we wrapped to get the fight perfect for the next day. I would work with Dean forever if I was so lucky. Paul was also a big surprise as we are huge wrestling fans, so we had been fans of his work for years, but I had no idea what an incredible actor he was. So dedicated and down to earth. When you’re the biggest guy in the room, you figure out how to put people at ease, he has this charisma and star quality. He was such a pro with the fights too.
Kimani Smith was our stunt coordinator and Dan Rizzuto was our fight coordinator, and with Vancouver’s finest stunt people, they created this very down and dirty prison style of fighting. We had so many stunt actors and actors who could do action in the roles to make sure all the violence was completely amped up.
The film has been described as an “all-male maelstrom of mayhem” and “hell in a cell”. How would you describe it?
Jen: That one summer I spent in an all-male prison, ha ha.
Sylvia: I adore ‘All-male maelstrom of mayhem’. I could call it face punch, the movie.
VENDETTA heads up Horror Channel’s VENGEANCE SEASON. Have either of you had reason to be particularly vengeful in your lives?
Jen: I work in film. I am blessed to have seen the worst of people as well as the best. Kindness can be mistaken for weakness and people will try to take advantage of you when you have a good heart. I’ve learned to be guarded, not vengeful. I’m a Catholic. I’ll wait on the wrath of God, ha ha.
Sylvia: The best advice regarding vengeance came early in my career from a very successful friend, he said the best revenge is to live a good life. The people who hurt you only win if you sink to their level to destroy them. Just do you. Be kind, treat people with respect & the whole world will open up to you.
You obviously have a great affinity with the wrestling world. Have you ever been tempted to get into the ring yourselves? After all, you are trained in stunt work and the martial arts…
Jen: Is it that obvious? We would love to step into the ring… and not just sneak in when they set up pre show, ha ha. I have a life-long love of wrestling. Working with wrestlers has only increased that love. They are so dedicated and driven. I’d love the opportunity to wrestle ourselves. I have a dream about both Sylv and I training at two different wrestling schools, coming up with gimmicks, everything, without the other knowing, and then coming together to fight each other. That would make a fun reality series.
Dean Cain & The Soska Sisters Interview
Sylvia: The only two things I promised my Dad that I wouldn’t do that I actually didn’t was get a tattoo & become a professional wrestler. That said, we would need next to no motivation to get in the ring. We wanted to wrestle the Bellas, but they are lovely mommies now and the timing never worked out. I feel we would make pretty killer manager types.
When you look back to the days when you were forced to make ‘Dead Hookers In A Trunk’ with your own money, do you still feel you’ve got that independently-spirited drive?
Jen: Absolutely. We are far from having unlimited time and budgets. Vendetta, like all our features, was made in just 15 days. You have to know what you want and be able to roll with the punches. Having an indie spirit always saves the day because your first notion is to come up with creative solutions and not burn money. How do you make an action movie like Vendetta in 15 days? Well, it helps if there are two of you.
Sylvia: I’m so grateful that we spent that money on DHIAT, never made a dime back; my family remortgaged our childhood home to be the first investors in American Mary – so we know the weight of financing probably deeper than a lot of people. We’ve yet to have the big push on our films, we’re still very much auteurs with a very loyal and somewhat niche audience.
How encouraged are you with the current mood to attract more women directors into genre film-making?
Jen: Right now I see a lot of talk and not much action. You see women being hired, but you don’t really see them being supported to having an ongoing career. It’s more like, great, we hired a women, let’s find another one. I don’t see established female directors getting as many calls as they should. Genre has always embraced women in front of and behind the camera. I’m happy to see the fans in support. I think a lot more has to change than a few women getting hired here and there but not really being supported to have on going careers, even with the same companies.
Sylvia: I used to be really sexist about it and throw my support behind any woman who wanted to have an opportunity & I found so many times, the people who were reaching out for help weren’t the ones who needed it. I think it is important to promote filmmakers of every diverse background so that we can get more perspective and grow in our ability to empathize with lives we would never live, but at the same time, we cannot fill these places with people who have no interest in the arts and are using current political themes for a seat at the table. I used to think it was cruel how comedians made newcomers prove themselves before letting them into the group, now that I’ve been doing this longer, it seems essential.
Finally, what’s next for you both?
Jen: Finally an original film, our long awaited original monster movie, BOB, which is like FIGHT CLUB meets HARVEY. And we also appeared in Glenn Danzig’s new feature, DEATH RIDER IN THE HOUSE OF VAMPIRES which was so much fun to shoot. I can’t wait for everyone to see it.
Sylvia: It’s been almost ten years since we’ve made an original film, so making Bob is surreal. There’s a project that did not come from us that we are very excited about, hopefully we can announce that soon and it will premiere in the UK!
VENDETTA, which kicks off the VENGEANCE season, is broadcast on Horror Channel, Saturday 4 April at 9pm.
War epic Midway storms to Number 1 on the Official Film Chart, sinking the competition following its release on DVD, Blu-ray and 4K UHD.
The film, telling the true-life stories from the points of view of the leaders and sailors who fought the Battle of Midway, knocks last week’s chart-topper Terminator: Dark Fate to Number 3.
The highest new entry on this week’s chart is Le Mans ‘66 – alternatively named Ford V Ferrari – starring Matt Damon and Christian Bale. Based upon a true story, American car designer Carroll Shelby enlists driver Ken Miles to build and race a revolutionary race car for Ford to attempt to defeat Ferrari at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1966.
Following its release on disc, Doctor Sleep jumps five places to Number 4 – a new peak and the film’s first stint in the Top 5. Joker’s down to Number 5, Downton Abbey hangs on to Number 6 and Maleficent slips to 7.
Our second brand new entry is festive rom-com Last Christmas starring Emilia Clarke, Henry Golding and Emma Thompson, featuring music from George Michael and Wham!.
Finally, two massive Film Chart hits from Disney both leap ten spots to return to the Top 10: Toy Story (9) and The Lion King (10).
This week’s online show features a clip of Charlie’s Angels, with a star-studded cast that includes Kristen Stewart, Elizabeth Banks and Patrick Stewart. It’s available to Download & Keep from March 23 across your digital store of choice.
With FindAnyFilm.com, it’s easier than ever to enjoy your favourite films to keep you connected. Organise a movie night with your friends via video chat, or tweet along together while you watch your favourite film. With more home movie-watching firmly on the horizon, FindAnyFilm is a one-stop resource to find a huge selection of movies, from all time classics, to new discovered gems or your family favourites.
