Trevor Hogg chats with visual effects supervisors Michael Owens, Geoffrey Hancock and Ollie Rankin about the making of Clint Eastwood’s latest, J. Edgar… “At first I thought it was a biopic but really what it is a human character study,” admits Visual Effects Supervisor Michael Owens when discussing J. Edgar (2011) which chronicles the half […]

D.J. Haza presents the next entry in his series of films to watch before you die… Sexy Beast, 2001. Directed by Jonathan Glazer. Starring Ray Winstone, Ben Kingsley, Ian McShane and Amanda Redman. Sexy Beast is a British-Spanish crime film about the coming out of retirement of criminal and expert safecracker, Gal (Winstone). Enjoying his […]

Simon Moore selects his Five Essential Hollywood Remakes… Remakes are easy targets. Anyone who wants to make Tim Burton cry, for instance, need only whisper ‘Planet of the Apes’ in his pale, elfin ear. Even seeing Conan the Barbarian rehashed with an Easter Island statue in the title role gets film buffs nostalgic for Arnie’s […]

D.J. Haza presents the next entry in his series of films to watch before you die… Donnie Darko, 2001. Directed by Richard Kelly. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Drew Barrymore and Patrick Swayze. Donnie Darko is a psychological thriller that sees its main character, Donnie (Jake Gyllenhaal), trying to figure out the significance […]

Commenting on the critics with Simon Columb… Charles Saatchi wrote for The Guardian on Orson Welles and the tragic bulk of cinema that was ignored by the Oscars… “A quick glance at the history of Oscar winners and nominations throws up many outstanding films that were passed over as Oscar finalists, with more mundane products […]

Things I Don’t Understand, 2011. Written and Directed by David Spaltro. Starring Molly Ryman, Aaron Mathias, Grace Folsom, Lisa Eichhorn, Hugo Dillon, Meissa Hampton and Eleanor Wilson. SYNOPSIS: A detached graduate student forms a cathartic bond with a terminally ill girl and a damaged bartender as she and her artist roommates face eviction from their […]

Whisper of the Heart (Japan: Mimi wo sumaseba), 1995. Directed by Yoshifumi Kondô. Featuring the voice talents of Brittany Snow, David Gallagher, Ashley Tisdale, Martin Spanjers and Cary Elwes. SYNOPSIS: A young girl discovers that every book she chooses in the library has been checked out by the same boy and sets out to meet […]

D.J. Haza presents the next entry in his series of films to watch before you die… Se7en, 1995. Directed by David Fincher. Starring Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow and Kevin Spacey. Se7en is the dark and chilling tale of two Police detectives, David Mills (Pitt) and William Somerset (Freeman), who take on a series […]

Seconds out… welcome the 4th annual Superhero Showdown! LAST TIME OUT… As always, we begin with a recap of 2011, which saw Marvel Studios continuing down the road to The Avengers with Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger, Fox opening up the newest chapter of their X-Men franchise with the prequel X-Men: First Class, […]

As the curtain falls on 2011, it’s that time again when we reflect on the past twelve months to deliver our selection of the very best films to arrive on screens over the past year. As with 2010 – which saw Christopher Nolan’s mind-bending thriller Inception snatching victory from Pixar’s heart-warming sequel Toy Story 3 […]