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  • Pacific Rim Looks Amazing! EDIT: New Trailer!

    Pacific Rim Looks Amazing! EDIT: New Trailer!

    When legions of monstrous creatures, known as Kaiju, started rising from the sea, a war began that would take millions of lives and consume humanity’s resources for years on end. To combat the giant Kaiju, a special type of weapon was devised: massive robots, called Jaegers, which are controlled simultaneously by two pilots whose minds are locked in a neural bridge. But even the Jaegers are proving nearly defenseless in the face of the relentless Kaiju. On the verge of defeat, the forces defending mankind have no choice but to turn to two unlikely heroes – a washed up former pilot (Charlie Hunnam) and an untested trainee (Rinko Kikuchi) – who are teamed to drive a legendary but seemingly obsolete Jaeger from the past. Together, they stand as mankind’s last hope against the mounting apocalypse.

    Released nationwide 12th July 2013 (Warner Bros Entertainment)

    We’ll find out more on facebook and twitter.

    EDIT – New Trailer!

  • Flying Blind

    Flying Blind

    Frankie is part of the war-machine, a successful aerospace engineer designing drones for the military. Then she meets Kahil, a French-Algerian student. They embark on a passionate affair and for the first time in her life Frankie utterly, thrillingly, loses control. One morning at work, she’s detained by the security services and told that Kahil may not be quite what he seems. She finds that she has crossed a line into a nightmare world of suspicion and accusation. Realising how little she knows of this man, Frankie determines to find out the truth, only to discover to her cost that betrayal always comes from those closest to us.

    Flying Blind is the first feature film by young Polish director Katarzyna Klimkiewicz, whose short film, Hanoi-Warsaw, won the 2010 European Film Award for Best Short. A multinational cast includes Helen McCrory (Hugo, Skyfall, Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince), French-Algerian Najib Oudghiri (Rendition, The Wedding Song), Kenneth Cranham (Hot Fuzz, Valkyrie) and Tristan Gemmell (Casualty). The screenplay credit is shared by Naomi Wallace (Lawn Dogs, The War Boys), Bruce McLeod (The War Boys), and Bristol-based writer Caroline Harrington. Behind the camera is Polish Director of Photography Andrzej Wojciechowski, Klimkiewicz’s long time collaborator, and DoP on Hanoi-Warsaw.

    Flying Blind will tour through key cities in the UK throughout April including London, Bristol, Cardiff, York, Cambridge, Oxford, Nottingham, Sheffield, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester and Brighton. Each event will be followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers and/or cast TBC.

    Regional tour dates:
    Thursday 11th April – Barbican, London (Additional screenings 12th – 18th April)
    Saturday 13th April – Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff
    Sunday 14th April – Watershed, Bristol (Additional screenings 12th – 18th April)
    Tuesday 16th April – Greenwich Picturehouse
    Wednesday 17th April – York Picturehouse
    Saturday 20th April – Cambridge Picturehouse
    Monday 22nd April – Ritzy Picturehouse, Brixton
    Tuesday 23rd April – Ultimate Picture Palace, Oxford
    Wednesday 24th April, Hackney Picturehouse, London
    Thursday 25th April – Nottingham Broadway (Additional screenings 26th April – 2nd May)
    Friday 26th April – Sheffield Showroom
    Saturday 27th April – Edinburgh Filmhouse
    Sunday 28th April – Glasgow Film Theatre
    Tuesday 30th April – Manchester Cornerhouse
    Thursday 2nd May – Brighton Komedia

    For a full list of tour dates and tickets go to http://www.flyingblindfilm.com/

  • Billy Liar Is 50!

    Billy Liar Is 50!

    Tom Courtenay delivers a star-making turn as William Terrence Fisher (‘Billy Liar’) in one of the most memorable and universally acclaimed films of the 60s.

    Running from an unsympathetic working-class family, a pair of demanding fiancées and an insecure job at an undertakers, Billy escapes, Walter Mitty-like, into a world of fantasy where he can realize his dream ambitions. As work and family pressures build to new intolerable levels, Liz (an early, charismatic turn from Julie Christie), enters his drab life and offers Billy the one real chance he’ll ever get to leave the past behind.

    Scripted by Keith Waterhouse from his own novel, and sensitively directed by John Schlesinger (Midnight Cowboy), Billy Liar is one of the few comedies of the British ‘New Wave’, marrying visual and verbal wit with a rather poignant rumination on the futility of dreams.

    Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the screen adaptation of Billy Liar, the British Library will hold an exclusive London screening of the digitally restored DVD, introduced by close friend of Keith Waterhouse, Sir Michael Parkinson, on Friday 26 April. The archive of Keith Waterhouse was donated to the British Library last year and this April the Library will publish two new Waterhouse titles.

    The newly restored version of Billy Liar will also screen as part of this year’s Bradford International Film Festival, hosted by Bradford UNESCO City of Film on Sunday 14 April.

    David Wilson, Director of Bradford UNESCO City of Film said, ‘Billy Liar is a key component within Bradford’s rich film heritage and formed part of our bid to become the world’s first UNESCO City of Film. It is still an important reference within film studies and I am really pleased that the 50th Anniversary edition on DVD/ BLU-RAY will bring the film to whole new audience.’

    On Saturday 13 April Tom Courtenay will also be the festival’s guest of honour where he will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award.

  • The Croods – Stonehenge Timelapse Vids

    The Croods – Stonehenge Timelapse Vids

    There might still be a chill in the air, but the Spring Equinox is here for 2013. Dawn celebrations at Stonehenge this year have an unusual addition: a giant monument for The Croods!

    The Spring Solstice or ‘Vernal Equinox’ recognises the first day of spring and each year sees druids and pagans gather at Stonehenge early in the morning to watch the sun rise above the prehistoric stones. The area’s local Scouts were on hand to help roll the colossal The Croods construction into place, marking the first time a modern structure has EVER been allowed on this historic site!

    Check out the three vids below!

  • Gettin’ Some: It’s Taken Some Time

    Gettin’ Some: It’s Taken Some Time

    There are two kinds of movies in this world: ones that stink and ones that don’t. Well, that’s not entirely true, but it is one of the quirky dialogue inclusions, amongst others, in low-budget, ambition driven Gettin’ Some.

    Directed by Luther Bhogal-Jones, this inspired feature took an unbelievable 14 years to make. What adds even more to the work’s character, as well as its ongoing production time, is the fact that it was made on nearly no budget. What originally started as a short Bhogal-Jones’ compares with 1996 comedy Swingers, turned into a series of clips in aim to prove that a film without funds could be done capably.

    The history of the making and Bhogal-Jones’ continuing motivation is nothing short of admirable, but it also pushes the bar higher than most independently funded movies. However, this could lead to disappointment so what’s important to remember when watching this film is that it was not solely made to stand out as a cinematic masterpiece. Instead, Bhogal-Jones wanted to make a light-hearted comedy with a well-written plot without all of the money that is usually put into production. In correlation with this, Bhogal-Jones was disappointed with Shane Meadows release of Smalltime, under the same premise and he wanted to do it better. And with this idea in mind he has fulfilled his criteria and created an entertaining full-length feature.

    There’s no denying that the film itself is a tad stuck in its era. The cinematic quality alone is definitely true to the 90s and the whole sequence looks as if it was filmed on a home camcorder. In addition, during a beginning scene one of the characters is shown seeking out a VHS porno from a dealer, the woes of man pre-Internet.

    The rawness of the filming may be a little shoddy, however the movie itself proved an amusing watch and Bhogal-Jones interlocked the characters and their lives well. The plot follows various groups of twenty-somethings, in their love and lives, including a young guy and his break-up, an infidelity and a woman who is constantly on the dating battlefield in relation to her shortened name ‘Alex’. There are some clever little traits incorporated into the storyline, with the film occasionally sidelining with intermissions such as the video shop owner’s rant on house music, reminiscent of scenes such as ‘spliff politics’ in Human Traffic. Another of these idiosyncrasies involves a puppet used as a character, which I am almost completely sure is nothing to do with the low budget, and some shrewd dialogue repetitions.

    Although Gettin’ Some may never make it to the DVD shelves, I think it stands as a triumph and an example of what can be done with a lot of clout and ongoing motivation. As Bhogal-Jones says, “what does remain is a dream of ambition, a fast paced entertaining film with a large ensemble cast filmed over a variety of locations, a film to hopefully inspire a next generation of film makers at what can be achieved with no money but energy and endless determination.” Whether you enjoy the film or think it’s a waste of time, you can’t help but admire Bhogal-Jones for his ultimate drive and if you yourself are a struggling filmmaker then a little sympathy is in order. Check out the film on www.vimeo.com/fasterproductions.