Trevor Hogg profiles the career of Japanese animated filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki in the first of a five part feature… “I was an overly self-conscious boy and I had a hard time holding my own in fights with others,” recalled renowned Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki, “but my classmates eventually accepted me because I was good at […]

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call – New Orleans, 2009. Directed by Werner Herzog. Starring Nicholas Cage, Eva Mendes and Val Kilmer. SYNOPSIS: After suffering a spinal injury in the line of work, newly-promoted Lieutenant Terence McDonagh (Nicholas Cage) spirals into drug abuse and corruption. There’s a piece of modern movie-industry jargon that I cringe whenever […]

Robin Hood, 2010. Directed by Ridley Scott. Starring Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett, Matthew Macfadyen, Mark Strong, William Hurt and Max von Sydow. SYNOPSIS: At the end of the 12th century, common archer Robin Hood makes his way back to England from fighting in King Richard’s crusades in France, only to become involved in another battle, […]

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back, Gary Collinson selects his five essential movie sequels that improve on the original… These days if a film isn’t a remake, then there’s a pretty good chance it’s going to be a sequel. In fact, it seems to have become […]

Trevor Hogg profiles the career of filmmaker Ridley Scott in the final installment of a five part feature… read parts one, two, three and four. Reuniting with Russell Crowe (A Beautiful Mind), Ridley Scott produced A Good Year (2006). “I like to work with Russell,” said the British filmmaker, “we get on very well and […]

Four Lions, 2010. Directed by Chris Morris. Starring Riz Ahmed, Kayvan Novak, Nigel Lindsay, Adeel Akhtar, Archer Ali and Preeya Kalidas. SYNOPSIS: After accidentally killing his own men at a training camp in Pakistan, Omar (Ahmed) returns to England to form a suicide terrorist cell with ideas of blowing up a major British target. Unfortunately […]

Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus, 2009. Directed by Jack Perez (as Ace Hannah). Starring Deborah Gibson, Lorenzo Lamas, Vic Chao, Sean Lawlor and Jay Beyers. SYNOPSIS: When two enormous prehistoric creatures contend for supremacy of the sea, the California coast becomes the setting for a showdown that’s been centuries in the making. When you give […]

Lebanon, 2009. Written & Directed by Samuel Maoz. Starring Yoav Donat, Zohar Shtrauss, Oshri Cohen. SYNOPSIS: It’s 1982, and the First Lebanon War has just begun. New gunner Shmulik (Yoav Donat) is assigned to a tank team led by Assi (Itay Tiran) along with Hertzel (Oshri Cohen) the shell loader and Yigal (Michael Moshonov) the […]

Trevor Hogg profiles the career of filmmaker Ridley Scott in the fourth of a five part feature… read parts one, two and three. Producing an historic epic about a disgraced Roman general who seeks to reclaim his honour by becoming a Coliseum fighter was not originally Ridley Scott’s idea. “I was approached by Walter Parkes […]