1-20 of 21 articles from 2009 « Prev | Next »
20 hours ago | The Guardian - Film News | See recent The Guardian - Film News news »
Peter Chelsom, 1995
Funny Bones – it's a film about being funny and about being yourself, about being funny as an expression, a definition of self. I think it's a vastly under-appreciated piece that actually manages to apologise (fully and in advance) for its co-writer and director, Peter Chelsom, having gone on to direct the otherwise inexcusable Hannah Montana: The Movie.
The general scarcity of appreciation is, of course, no surprise – Funny Bones fits into no known genre and makes no compromises about its many, many peculiarities. It nods fondly in the direction of vaudeville pieces such as Duck Soup and has the humanity, imagination and emotional range of a good screwball comedy. The plot is a law unto itself. We begin all at sea and stay there – encountering violent death, magical powder, corrupt policemen, adultery, flashbacks, theft, comedy turns, despair, classic patter and commedia dell'arte. Tommy Fawkes, the son of famous comic George Fawkes, »
- AL Kennedy
2 December 2009 7:29 AM, PST | The Guardian - TV News | See recent The Guardian - TV News news »
Drama joins TV version of John Braine's Room at the Top in season exploring love and sexuality in 20th century literature
It was responsible for one of the most memorable fight scenes ever committed to celluloid. Now Dh Lawrence's Women in Love, turned into a film by Ken Russell starring Oliver Reed and Alan Bates, is to be adapted as a TV drama for BBC4.
Women in Love and John Braine's novel Room at the Top will lead a season of programmes on the BBC digital arts and culture channel exploring love and sexuality in 20th century literature.
Russell's 1969 adaptation, for which Glenda Jackson won a best actress Oscar, made cinema history with the controversial naked wrestling contest between Reed and Bates. It remains to be seen how the BBC4 version will tackle the scene.
The new adaptation will also draw on Lawrence's The Rainbow, to which Women in Love »
- John Plunkett
18 November 2009 1:00 PM, PST | MTV Movies Blog | See recent MTV Movies Blog news »
Call them "cult classics." "Guilty pleasures." "Comfort movies." We all have a mental rolodex of flicks that may not be terribly popular but, for one reason or another, they resonate in a very special way. Maybe you saw it at the right moment. Maybe you just see gold where everyone else sees feces. Whatever the case, these are the special favorites that you keep stashed away for sick days. Here are some of ours.
My favorite superhero film of all time is called "Condorman." You've probably never heard of it. It's not an Oscar-nominated picture. It's not particularly well-liked. It isn't based on a comic book. It isn't available on DVD, at least not in the United States. Until recently, I hadn't even seen it since elementary school. To most, it's the very definition of movie theater trash.
To me, it's cinematic gold.
"Condorman" centers on comic book creator Woody Wilkins, »
- Josh Wigler
18 November 2009 | shocktillyoudrop.com | See recent shocktillyoudrop news »
Cory Goodman, screenwriter of next year's horror-actioner Priest , tells us the remake of David Cronenberg's The Brood that he is penning is alive and well. In fact, the producing team at Spyglass Entertainment has a director circling the project that he's excited about and an announcement is coming soon. Goodman added that he's taking another pass at the script which contemporizes Cronenberg's story. And, of course, it will feature malevolent tykes. In the original 1979 flick which starred Oliver Reed, Art Hindle and Samantha Eggar, a man tries to uncover an unconventional psychologist's therapy techniques on his institutionalized wife, while a series of brutal attacks committed by a brood of mutant children coincides with the husband's investigation. (It's a real sicko... »
9 November 2009 10:24 PM, PST | DreadCentral.com | See recent Dread Central news »
As we've mentioned previously, November 10th is the release date of the band Flyleaf's new CD, entitled Memento Mori, and to help celebrate the occasion, their bass player, Pat Seals, has taken time out of his hectic schedule to prepare for Dread Central readers a list of his Top Ten favorite horror films.
Nothing relieves the stress of the holidays -- or anything really -- like a good horror flick, and Pat certainly has prepared an eclectic catalog that shows he knows his shit about our genre.
Without further ado, here's Pat's list (click each image to see the full poster):
1. The Addiction (1995) - Dir. Abel Ferrara, Starring Lili Taylor
This is my favorite vampire movie. It is the best. The best. Morality and the darkness of human nature are the focus, and Lili Taylor's performance is brutal. Plus, Christopher Walken waltzes in for a philosophical cameo. The »
- The Woman In Black
4 November 2009 11:50 AM, PST | GreenCine | See recent GreenCine news »
Continuing Simon Augustine's countdown of the Most Disturbing Movies (Read Part 1 for the previous 13) [<< #12]
11. The Devils (1971) 10/7
(Still not on DVD as of publication)
A grand freak-out of religious sexual frenzy, persecution and humanist martyrdom, The Devils is probably the most censored film in history and the most accomplished film by supreme agent provocateur and English madman Ken Russell. Based on sci-fi demiurge Aldous Huxley's semi-historical novel The Devils of Loudon, it is the story of Father Grandier (Oliver Reed), the leader/priest of an outpost of Protestantism in a sixteenth-century France that Louis Xiii - prodded by corrupt Cardinal Richelieu (Christopher Logue) and his henchman - is trying to “persuade” (with theology, Christian love, and torture) to become more Catholic. »
- underdog
30 October 2009 8:33 AM, PDT | The Auteurs | See recent The Auteurs news »
Though this French poster for the 1961 Hammer horror The Curse of the Werewolf—with a lycanthropic Oliver Reed bursting through a window (and his shirt) against a garish pink sky—is terrific by itself, it is as part of a series that it is particularly memorable. Designed by French illustrator Guy Gérard Noël, who often made more than one design for each film, the posters for The Horror of Dracula, The Mummy, Kiss of the Vampire and The Evil of Frankenstein are all notable for their lurid fields of color and their dynamic yet stripped-down mise-en-scène (victim cowering in the foreground, monster looming behind).
One of the great French movie poster illustrators, Guy Gérard Noël was born in 1912 and started designing movie posters in 1943, after two years in a German prisoner-of-war camp. He worked steadily for the next 23 years producing countless posters in every genre. According to a recent book on the artist, »
23 October 2009 3:01 PM, PDT | AOL - TVSquad | See recent AOL - TVSquad news »
It's the season for scary movies - bad scary movies, good scary movies, campy scary movies, any kind of scary movie. And depending on what cable company you subscribe to, there are plenty of free offerings right now on demand.
FearNet is the obvious go-to place for freebies, although it has its detractors hanging around this blog. One of the best choices available now is Return of the Living Dead III. Unless you're a hardcore horror geek, you may not know this one. And the plot -- a young couple near a military base are torn apart when she becomes one of the living dead -- may not sound exciting. But the first zombie onscreen is convincingly freaky, and the surprise ending is actually kind of a surprise.
FearNet also has Severed Ties, in which a severed arm comes back to life as a reptilian killing machine. And who doesn't »
- Nick Zaino
9 October 2009 1:29 PM, PDT | QuietEarth.us | See recent QuietEarth news »
Year: 2009
Directors: Michael J. Bassett
Writers: Michael J. Bassett
IMDb: link
Trailer: link
Review by: rochefort
Rating: 6 out of 10
The 1600's don't get nearly enough love in cinema, and it's a real shame. The era of witch hunts, musketeers, and flintlock pistols is a ripe one, and has been the setting for such gems as "Captain Blood", "The Three Musketeers" (partial to the Oliver Reed one, of course; totally badass), and "The Conqueror Worm" (aka "Witchfinder General"). And as much money as the "Pirates of the Caribbean" films have made, their success has led more to the greenlighting of franchises based on rides and brands than any real cinematic rediscovery of the 17th century. Anyway, there's something genuinely irresistible about this time frame, at least for me.
I don't know if it's the constant specter of religious strife in the pre- and post-Cromwell era, the fact that this part of »
2 September 2009 10:18 AM, PDT | ScreenRant.com | See recent Screen Rant news »
Will anything be safe from the 3D makeover? With the way things are going, it doesn’t look like it. We learn today that Paul W.S. Anderson (Death Race, Event Horizon) will direct a new adaptation of Alexandre Dumas’ The Three Musketeers - in 3D no less. He has co-written the script with Andrew Davies (Bridget Jones’s Diary), a script which is said to “modernize” the musketeers.
Whether justified or not, “Oh dear…” is my first thought…
This new adaptation of The Three Musketeers can be assumed to have nothing to do with the one we heard about last June, which was planned at the time by Millenium Films. This one is being produced by Impact Pictures’ Jeremy Bolt and Constantin Film’s Robert Kulzer (both companies are financing the project), with Anderson himself co-producing.
There has been many-an-adaptation of The Three Musketeers over the years, with cinematic visions »
- Ross Miller
1 September 2009 9:45 PM, PDT | CinemaSpy | See recent CinemaSpy news »
Paul W. S. Anderson will bring his very modern sensibilities to The Three Musketeers, a new version of the 1844 Alexandre Dumas novel.
Anderson, whose previous films include Resident Evil, Alien vs. Predator and Death Race, will be writing the screenplay with Andrew Davies, who is known for more character-driven fare. Apparently, the two have known each other since Anderson attended the University of Warwick in England, where Davies was serving as a tutor.
Empire reports the new film will have a contemporary feel, but plans are to retain the period setting. "We are definitely modernizing The Three Musketeers without compromising the fun of shooting a period piece," said Anderson. "But in our film, corsets and feathered hats don’t take center stage. Our version is rich in eye-popping action, romance and adventure."
Anderson’s movies are known for special effects and electronic music, not so much for romance, which is another reason Davies, »
1 September 2009 4:15 PM, PDT | The Flickcast | See recent The Flickcast news »
Movies Gladiator [Blu-ray] ~ Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, and Oliver Reed (Blu-ray – 2009) Braveheart [Blu-ray] ~ Mel Gibson (Blu-ray – 2009) State of Play ~ Russell Crowe, Helen Mirren, Ben Affleck, and Rachel McAdams (DVD – 2009) Sin Nombre ~ Paulina Gaitan, Marco Antonio Aguirre, and Leonardo Alonso (DVD – 2009) M*A*S*H [Blu-ray] ~ Donald Sutherland, Elliott Gould, Sally Kellerman, and Kim Atwood (Blu-ray – 2009) Bring it On: Fight to the Finish ~ Christina Milian, David Starzyk, Nicki SooHoo, and Gabrielle Dennis (DVD – 2009) The Girl Next Door (Unrated Edition) [Blu-ray] ~ Timothy Bottoms, James Remar, Christopher Marquette, and Donna Bullock (Blu-ray – 2009) Monster (2003) [Blu-ray] ~ Charlize Theron, et al. (Blu-ray – 2009) Fire and Ice [Blu-ray] ~ Leo Gordon, Hans Howes, Alan Koss, and Cynthia Leake (Blu-ray – 2009) TCM Greatest Classic Films Collection: Science Fiction (2001 A Space Odyssey / Soylent Green / Forbidden Planet / The Time Machine 1960) ~ Keir Dullea, Charlton Heston, Walter Pidgeon, and Rod Taylor (DVD – 2009) High Crimes [Blu-ray] ~ Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd, James Caviezel, and Amanda Peet (Blu-ray – 2009) TV Supernatural: The Complete Fourth Season ~ Jared Padalecki, »
- Joe Gillis
22 August 2009 11:30 AM, PDT | Fangoria | See recent Fangoria news »
The eagerly anticipated The Wolfman is about to be unleashed in cinemas everywhere come next February. One of the film’s stars, Hugo Weaving, has graciously granted Fango an interview to answer questions about this lycanthropic masterpiece ready to bite the jugular of the movie going public…
Fangoria: Welcome to Fangoria, Mr. Weaving, and thanks for taking the time to do this interview. I understand that you’re extremely busy with the Melbourne Theatre Company’s production of “God of Carnage” at the moment, so we really appreciate you giving some of your time to talk all things horror and monsters with us here at Fango!
Hugo Weaving: It’s a pleasure. No worries. It’s a healthy mix to be doing press for theatre with “God of Carnage” as well as upcoming cinema releases that I have been lucky to be involved with; namely The Wolfman
Fango: Are »
- no-reply@fangoria.com (Lee Gambin)
13 August 2009 8:24 AM, PDT | ESplatter.com | See recent ESplatter news »
At the Aero and Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles, fans will have a rare chance to catch Ken Russell's "The Devils" on the big screen, along with a 10th anniversary screening of "The Blair Witch Project" as the 9th Annual Festival of Fantasy, Horror and Science Fiction gets underway. "The Devils," of course, was set to have a DVD release around a year ago, before Warner Bros. decided the 1971 film starring Oliver Reed and Vanessa Redgrave was way to intense for any kind of release. It now only exists as an extreme title that shows in revival houses. Any chance to see it is a major opportunity for a horror fan. This is one of the greatest horror movies ever made. Also at the festival will be the 10th Anniversary of "The Blair Witch Project" and the premiere of Daniel Myrick's new one, "The Seventh Moon." In addition, »
10 August 2009 6:28 PM, PDT | blogs.suntimes.com/ebert | See recent Roger Ebert's Blog news »
Apparently unconnected items appeared within two days of each other in the Los Angeles Times, and together confirmed my fear that American movie-going is entering into a Dark Age. The first was in a blog by Patrick Goldstein, who said: "Film critics are in the same boat as evening news anchors -- their core audience is people 50 and over, and getting older by the day. You could hire Jessica Alba to read the evening news -- or review 'G.I. Joe' for that matter -- and younger audiences still wouldn't care." The other was in a report by John Horn that despite "The Hurt Locker's" impressive box office success, "younger moviegoers are not flocking to the film, which could limit its ticket sales."
The obvious implication is, younger moviegoers don't care about reviews and have missed the news that "The Hurt Locker" is the best American film of the summer. »
- Roger Ebert
5 August 2009 10:00 PM, PDT | Fangoria | See recent Fangoria news »
Revisionist horror favorite Larry Fessenden (director of Habit, Wendigo and The Last Winter) returned to Montreal’s just-wrapped Fantasia film festival this year with two new films from his indie-horror production company Scareflix: Ti West’s incredibly atmospheric ‘80s horror tribute House Of The Devil (a smash success at Tribeca and a late but great addition to the Fantasia program; see review here) and Glenn McQuaid’s period horror-comedy tribute to British ‘60s/’70s horror classics, I Sell The Dead (another Fango rave; see here; I Sell The Dead goes into limited theatrical release this Friday and is concurrently available as a video-on-demand from IFC Films).
Fessenden was on hand with co-producer Peter Phok and first-time feature director Glenn McQuaid for their award-winning I Sell The Dead, a one-of-a-kind dark adventure film depicting the daily lives and supernatural woes of two lowlife body-snatchers, played by Fessenden himself and Dominic Monaghan »
- no-reply@fangoria.com (Kier-la Janisse)
2 July 2009 11:46 AM, PDT | FilmJunk | See recent FilmJunk news »
Behind the Lens [1] is a feature where we pose a series of short, offbeat questions to inspiring filmmakers, actors and artists in order to get to know them a little better. Moon, the debut feature film from Duncan Jones, has been getting a lot of great buzz ever since it premiered at Sundance earlier this year. With a cerebral plot and an impressive solo performance by Sam Rockwell, not to mention amazing special effects on a shoestring budget, many critics have hailed it as the return of science-fiction for the thinking man on the big screen. The film is currently playing in select theatres in the U.S., and it will premiere in Canada starting this Friday. For more info on where you can see Moon, visit the film's official website [2], or follow Duncan on Twitter [3]. Now, after the jump, check out our Q&A with writer-director Duncan Jones! What are your current addictions? »
- Sean
22 June 2009 9:57 AM, PDT | MovieWeb | See recent MovieWeb news »
You can bring another Best Picture winner home in a new Blu-ray series this September. Gladiator will be released on Blu-ray on September 1, the second title to be released in the new Sapphire Series from Paramount Home Entertainment. We don't have pricing details yet, but take a look at the special features and cover art below. The film stars Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Oliver Reed, Connie Nielsen, Derek Jacobi and Djimon Hounsou.
In the final days of Marcus Aurelius' reign, the aging emperor arouses his son Commodus' anger when he makes known his wish that Maximus be his successor. Power-hungry Commodus kills his father and orders the death of Maximus. But the latter flees and hides his identity by becoming slave and a gladiator. Eventually, Maximus journeys back to Rome to confront his arch-rival.
Special Features:
- Audio Commentary-Two separate commentaries accompany the original theatrical version and extended version of the film. »
22 May 2009 10:39 AM, PDT | Fangoria | See recent Fangoria news »
Can a lack of objectivity be a virtue? Art isn’t governed by the same rules as journalism, but the accepted wisdom is that the more adult a piece of art is, the less biased it is allowed to be. In “highbrow” cinema the assumption is that the subject or subjects should be presented in the clearest light possible.
But what about the visceral thrill of an artist letting go of his perspective and indulging emotion, holding a grudge, reveling in id? Thirty years ago, David Cronenberg made his best pure horror film and took the next great leap in his filmmaking with The Brood. The director openly acknowledged that the film was inspired by his acrimonious dissolution of his marriage, but even if he hadn’t, viewers would certainly have noticed that his vision of a divorce with a body count took a less than favorable stance on the sacred institution. »
- no-reply@fangoria.com (Jack McDonald)
28 January 2009 8:00 AM, PST | WENN | See recent WENN news »
Elizabeth Taylor once kicked legendary hellraiser Richard Harris out of her Hollywood home, after catching him drinking her expensive perfume. Harris, who died in 2002, was a famous Hollywood party animal and lifelong drinker - part of a booze-loving fraternity of British and Irish stars including Oliver Reed, Peter O'Toole and Taylor's late husband Richard Burton.
His embarrassing encounter with the glamorous actress was revealed to his actor son Jared when he worked with fellow actor Jason Flemyng on new movie The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
Jared Harris explains, "His (Flemyng's) dad and my dad were friends when they were young men in Hollywood.
"They went to a party Elizabeth Taylor was giving.
"She cut off the alcohol and kicked everyone out. She went up to bed and found Jason Flemyng's father and my father upstairs downing all the Chanel No.5." »
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