Mark Harrison Sep 20, 2017
American Assassin and mother! are both 18-certificate films that landed in UK cinemas the same week. This is not common at all...
This feature is rated 18 for discussion of strong language, sex and violence, and minor spoilers for Black Swan, Logan, John Wick Chapter 2 and American Assassin. There are no spoilers for Mother!.
You know how it is. You wait ages for one film with an 18 certificate and then two of them arrive in UK cinemas in the same week. American Assassin, an action thriller adapted from Vince Flynn's Mitch Rapp novels, and Mother!, the new drama from Darrren Aronofsky, both landed in the uppermost BBFC category for 'strong violence'.
It's comparatively rare to see the 18 certificate before films these days, when they used to pop up on all manner of films, from raunchy comedies to sci-fi actioners. In the case of many older films that...
American Assassin and mother! are both 18-certificate films that landed in UK cinemas the same week. This is not common at all...
This feature is rated 18 for discussion of strong language, sex and violence, and minor spoilers for Black Swan, Logan, John Wick Chapter 2 and American Assassin. There are no spoilers for Mother!.
You know how it is. You wait ages for one film with an 18 certificate and then two of them arrive in UK cinemas in the same week. American Assassin, an action thriller adapted from Vince Flynn's Mitch Rapp novels, and Mother!, the new drama from Darrren Aronofsky, both landed in the uppermost BBFC category for 'strong violence'.
It's comparatively rare to see the 18 certificate before films these days, when they used to pop up on all manner of films, from raunchy comedies to sci-fi actioners. In the case of many older films that...
- 9/17/2017
- Den of Geek
Mark Harrison Aug 24, 2017
When have tabloid rumours been spot on about Doctor Who, and when have they been, er, less accurate?
“Look Who's the Doc's new assistant!” On Tuesday, the Mirror's front page trumpeted an exclusive reveal that Bradley Walsh would be Jodie Whittaker's companion in the new series of Doctor Who.
See related Game Of Thrones season 7 episode 6 questions answered Game Of Thrones season 7 episode 7 review: The Dragon And The Wolf
The one-time Sarah Jane Adventures guest star would be the first companion actor to have hosted a quiz show with the same name as a 1960s serial, but beyond trivia, the report has been fairly well received as far as we can see – Walsh is a decent actor, who's worked with incoming executive producer Chris Chibnall before on Law & Order UK, and a fun screen presence. But given the source, might it all be a load of bobbins?...
When have tabloid rumours been spot on about Doctor Who, and when have they been, er, less accurate?
“Look Who's the Doc's new assistant!” On Tuesday, the Mirror's front page trumpeted an exclusive reveal that Bradley Walsh would be Jodie Whittaker's companion in the new series of Doctor Who.
See related Game Of Thrones season 7 episode 6 questions answered Game Of Thrones season 7 episode 7 review: The Dragon And The Wolf
The one-time Sarah Jane Adventures guest star would be the first companion actor to have hosted a quiz show with the same name as a 1960s serial, but beyond trivia, the report has been fairly well received as far as we can see – Walsh is a decent actor, who's worked with incoming executive producer Chris Chibnall before on Law & Order UK, and a fun screen presence. But given the source, might it all be a load of bobbins?...
- 8/23/2017
- Den of Geek
Mark Harrison Aug 1, 2017
Bored with massive films and special effects? Then here are 10 smaller movies well worth your consideration...
It's that time of year when we usually give you a list of films playing in cinemas during August, as the summer blockbuster season winds down, that will help cleanse your palate after all the tentpoles and sequels that have proliferated throughout the year so far. But to be honest, this summer has been so good to us, we're more refreshed than usual.
Even aside from originals like Edgar Wright's Baby Driver and Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk, this year's blockbusters have been of an unusually high standard. Wonder Woman pulled the Dceu out of its critical nosedive, War For The Planet Of The Apes is a gorgeous and emotional conclusion to the reboot trilogy, Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 and Spider-Man: Homecoming proved that Marvel's ever expanding continuity is still going strong.
Bored with massive films and special effects? Then here are 10 smaller movies well worth your consideration...
It's that time of year when we usually give you a list of films playing in cinemas during August, as the summer blockbuster season winds down, that will help cleanse your palate after all the tentpoles and sequels that have proliferated throughout the year so far. But to be honest, this summer has been so good to us, we're more refreshed than usual.
Even aside from originals like Edgar Wright's Baby Driver and Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk, this year's blockbusters have been of an unusually high standard. Wonder Woman pulled the Dceu out of its critical nosedive, War For The Planet Of The Apes is a gorgeous and emotional conclusion to the reboot trilogy, Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 and Spider-Man: Homecoming proved that Marvel's ever expanding continuity is still going strong.
- 7/31/2017
- Den of Geek
Mark Harrison May 18, 2017
For a family-friendly film, Toy Story 3 is steeped in horror. With spoilers, we take a look...
This article contains spoilers for Toy Story 3.
In August 2010, a couple of months after Toy Story 3 was released in Us cinemas, the chair of the MPAA Classification and Ratings Administration admitted that they might have made a mistake in giving the film a G rating.
Speaking on industry podcast The Business, Joan Graves said that based on feedback they had received from parents since the film's release, Toy Story 3 should have been given a PG rating “at least”, because of a climactic scene in which Woody, Buzz and friends find themselves sinking into an incinerator like rubbish. Graves went on to say that the film changed their approach to animated family films, and that they would no longer give these movies “the benefit of the doubt” in...
For a family-friendly film, Toy Story 3 is steeped in horror. With spoilers, we take a look...
This article contains spoilers for Toy Story 3.
In August 2010, a couple of months after Toy Story 3 was released in Us cinemas, the chair of the MPAA Classification and Ratings Administration admitted that they might have made a mistake in giving the film a G rating.
Speaking on industry podcast The Business, Joan Graves said that based on feedback they had received from parents since the film's release, Toy Story 3 should have been given a PG rating “at least”, because of a climactic scene in which Woody, Buzz and friends find themselves sinking into an incinerator like rubbish. Graves went on to say that the film changed their approach to animated family films, and that they would no longer give these movies “the benefit of the doubt” in...
- 5/10/2017
- Den of Geek
Mark Harrison Mar 7, 2017
Logan spoilers ahead, as we look back on Hugh Jackman's time as Wolverine...
This article contains minor spoilers for Logan.
Along with his Logan co-star Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman is the joint longest-serving superhero actor in movie history. He's played Logan, aka Wolverine, in nine out of ten X-Men films since the turn of the century. Jackman was even referenced in the tenth one that he wasn't in, last year's Deadpool, when our hero used a magazine photo of him as a makeshift mask.
But with Logan, a sad and violent drama that posits all of the character's previous adventures were sanitised Hollywood takes on a sad and violent life, Jackman is hanging up his vest and adamantium skeleton, and it's hard to know how the X-Men franchise will get on without him. Up until now, he's been a permanent fixture in a comic book movie...
Logan spoilers ahead, as we look back on Hugh Jackman's time as Wolverine...
This article contains minor spoilers for Logan.
Along with his Logan co-star Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman is the joint longest-serving superhero actor in movie history. He's played Logan, aka Wolverine, in nine out of ten X-Men films since the turn of the century. Jackman was even referenced in the tenth one that he wasn't in, last year's Deadpool, when our hero used a magazine photo of him as a makeshift mask.
But with Logan, a sad and violent drama that posits all of the character's previous adventures were sanitised Hollywood takes on a sad and violent life, Jackman is hanging up his vest and adamantium skeleton, and it's hard to know how the X-Men franchise will get on without him. Up until now, he's been a permanent fixture in a comic book movie...
- 3/6/2017
- Den of Geek
Mark Harrison Mar 15, 2017
The Lego Batman Movie and Return Of The Caped Crusaders have brought the light back to big screen Batman...
This article contains mild spoilers for The Lego Batman Movie and Batman: Return Of The Caped Crusaders.
Batman & Robin has a lot to answer for. Almost 20 years after its release, Joel Schumacher's brightly-coloured art nouveau confection is widely acknowledge as the nadir of the cinematic Bat-canon, even though that canon has very recently incorporated the DC Extended Universe entries, Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice and the Academy Award-winning* Suicide Squad.
But two decades on, it sometimes feels like the films have wound up going too far the other way. Warner Bros rightly ran in the opposite direction with the Dark Knight trilogy, which began eight years later with Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins. However, they haven't replicated the success of those films by doubling down on...
The Lego Batman Movie and Return Of The Caped Crusaders have brought the light back to big screen Batman...
This article contains mild spoilers for The Lego Batman Movie and Batman: Return Of The Caped Crusaders.
Batman & Robin has a lot to answer for. Almost 20 years after its release, Joel Schumacher's brightly-coloured art nouveau confection is widely acknowledge as the nadir of the cinematic Bat-canon, even though that canon has very recently incorporated the DC Extended Universe entries, Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice and the Academy Award-winning* Suicide Squad.
But two decades on, it sometimes feels like the films have wound up going too far the other way. Warner Bros rightly ran in the opposite direction with the Dark Knight trilogy, which began eight years later with Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins. However, they haven't replicated the success of those films by doubling down on...
- 3/5/2017
- Den of Geek
Zach Galifianakis, Isla Fisher, Gal Gadot and Jon Hamm lead a comedy straight from the 80s and 90s...
This review contains a spoiler for True Lies.
See related Supergirl season 2 episode 2 review: The Last Children Of Krypton Supergirl season 2 episode 1 review: The Adventures Of Supergirl Supergirl season 2: episode 4 trailer teases alien fight club A geeky guide to TV musical episodes
We have to handle Keeping Up With The Joneses carefully, because it's something of an antique. Except for a couple of jokes about waterboarding and Siri, we're convinced that the script must have been hanging around since at least 1986. This film looks as if someone walked into an office at Fox and pitched 'The Burbs meets The In-Laws' a long time ago and they literally never looked back.
At the start of the film, Jeff Gaffney (Zach Galifianakis) and his wife Karen (Isla Fisher) fretfully send their two kids off to summer camp.
This review contains a spoiler for True Lies.
See related Supergirl season 2 episode 2 review: The Last Children Of Krypton Supergirl season 2 episode 1 review: The Adventures Of Supergirl Supergirl season 2: episode 4 trailer teases alien fight club A geeky guide to TV musical episodes
We have to handle Keeping Up With The Joneses carefully, because it's something of an antique. Except for a couple of jokes about waterboarding and Siri, we're convinced that the script must have been hanging around since at least 1986. This film looks as if someone walked into an office at Fox and pitched 'The Burbs meets The In-Laws' a long time ago and they literally never looked back.
At the start of the film, Jeff Gaffney (Zach Galifianakis) and his wife Karen (Isla Fisher) fretfully send their two kids off to summer camp.
- 10/23/2016
- Den of Geek
Mark Harrison Published Date Friday, October 14, 2016 - 05:57
Going by the trailers alone, Storks might look like a bit of an anachronism in 2016, taking its comedic kick start from the folkloric image of the white stork delivering babies to expectant parents that was popularised by Hans Christian Anderson and latterly in Disney's Dumbo. Happily, writer and co-director Nicholas Stoller has thought this through more than we have.
In Warner Animation Group's second feature, storks delivered infants from their baby factory on Stork Mountain in the past, but a pioneering boss has changed all of that, “because there are lots of other ways to get a baby.” Now the mountain is crowned with a great big warehouse from which Amazon-a-like online retailer Cornerstore.com dispatches electrical goods and other doo-dads so that storks don't have to deal with the hassle of carrying newborns any more.
One weekend, top flier Junior (voiced...
Going by the trailers alone, Storks might look like a bit of an anachronism in 2016, taking its comedic kick start from the folkloric image of the white stork delivering babies to expectant parents that was popularised by Hans Christian Anderson and latterly in Disney's Dumbo. Happily, writer and co-director Nicholas Stoller has thought this through more than we have.
In Warner Animation Group's second feature, storks delivered infants from their baby factory on Stork Mountain in the past, but a pioneering boss has changed all of that, “because there are lots of other ways to get a baby.” Now the mountain is crowned with a great big warehouse from which Amazon-a-like online retailer Cornerstore.com dispatches electrical goods and other doo-dads so that storks don't have to deal with the hassle of carrying newborns any more.
One weekend, top flier Junior (voiced...
- 10/11/2016
- Den of Geek
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With news that a Black Widow movie may finally be moving, we look at 11 Marvel films stuck in development...
When the next Avengers movie hits cinemas, it will have been ten years since Marvel Studios came onto the scene since Iron Man. At the time of writing, they've already released 13 movies and so far (touch wood), there hasn't really been a single clunker among them, and certainly no box office bombs.
The studio also has dates staked out for the next 11 movies, including sequels to Thor, Guardians Of The Galaxy and Ant-Man, along with films based around Doctor Strange, Spider-Man, Black Panther and Captain Marvel, in the run-up to a two part Avengers movie that will tie off a lot of the franchise's over-arcing storyline. They've got plenty to be getting on with, but there have been a few projects along the way that didn't quite get the green light.
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With news that a Black Widow movie may finally be moving, we look at 11 Marvel films stuck in development...
When the next Avengers movie hits cinemas, it will have been ten years since Marvel Studios came onto the scene since Iron Man. At the time of writing, they've already released 13 movies and so far (touch wood), there hasn't really been a single clunker among them, and certainly no box office bombs.
The studio also has dates staked out for the next 11 movies, including sequels to Thor, Guardians Of The Galaxy and Ant-Man, along with films based around Doctor Strange, Spider-Man, Black Panther and Captain Marvel, in the run-up to a two part Avengers movie that will tie off a lot of the franchise's over-arcing storyline. They've got plenty to be getting on with, but there have been a few projects along the way that didn't quite get the green light.
- 5/5/2016
- Den of Geek
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What happens when your surprise film isn't Star Wars or Deadpool? People simply get up and leave, it seems....
Since 2013, Cineworld Cinemas have ran exclusive advance screenings for its Unlimited cardholders, giving them the chance to see a film a week or so before release. In the main, these films are advertised in advance and have recently included the likes of Goosebumps, The Finest Hours and Pride & Prejudice & Zombies.
Five times in the last three years, the chain has taken bookings for secret Unlimited screenings, whereby the audience won't know what film they're going to see in advance or at any point before the BBFC certificate appears on screen. Going by social media, this tends to drive people absolutely bananas, particularly in the case of the most recent screenings.
The first two films that were screened for unsuspecting punters were Now You See Me and The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty,...
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What happens when your surprise film isn't Star Wars or Deadpool? People simply get up and leave, it seems....
Since 2013, Cineworld Cinemas have ran exclusive advance screenings for its Unlimited cardholders, giving them the chance to see a film a week or so before release. In the main, these films are advertised in advance and have recently included the likes of Goosebumps, The Finest Hours and Pride & Prejudice & Zombies.
Five times in the last three years, the chain has taken bookings for secret Unlimited screenings, whereby the audience won't know what film they're going to see in advance or at any point before the BBFC certificate appears on screen. Going by social media, this tends to drive people absolutely bananas, particularly in the case of the most recent screenings.
The first two films that were screened for unsuspecting punters were Now You See Me and The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty,...
- 2/29/2016
- by simonbrew
- Den of Geek
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Brie Larson stars in the superb Room. Here's our review of one of the best films of the last few years...
It's funny how a number of this year's Oscar favourites have namesakes in very dissimilar from previous years. Inside Out is also a British thriller in which Telly Savalas and Robert Culp try to recover Nazi gold, The Revenant is also a dark comedy about a zombie-vampire hybrid, and one must hope that somewhere, Tommy Wiseau is dusting off his tux and his football, confused but vindicated by how his legendary cult classic The Room is finally getting some buzz.
Meanwhile, on a far more serious note, Room has scooped a number of Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director for Lenny Abrahamson and Best Actress for Brie Larson. It's definitely not to be confused with anything that has gone before and it's hard to think...
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Brie Larson stars in the superb Room. Here's our review of one of the best films of the last few years...
It's funny how a number of this year's Oscar favourites have namesakes in very dissimilar from previous years. Inside Out is also a British thriller in which Telly Savalas and Robert Culp try to recover Nazi gold, The Revenant is also a dark comedy about a zombie-vampire hybrid, and one must hope that somewhere, Tommy Wiseau is dusting off his tux and his football, confused but vindicated by how his legendary cult classic The Room is finally getting some buzz.
Meanwhile, on a far more serious note, Room has scooped a number of Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director for Lenny Abrahamson and Best Actress for Brie Larson. It's definitely not to be confused with anything that has gone before and it's hard to think...
- 1/17/2016
- by simonbrew
- Den of Geek
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Rosario Dawson, Hugh Jackman and Blake Lively lead our look at 2015's best under the radar acting performances in film...
This article contains mild spoilers for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2. We've kept these as vague as possible, but if you haven't seen the film yet, you might wish to skip the entry pertaining to that.
2015 was a particularly exemplary year for all kinds of movies, but particularly in genre and blockbuster cinema. When there's so much to talk about, it's inevitable that some of the really good stuff gets lost in the mix of awards season chatter, but that's especially true when there's still some residual stigma about movies outside of the 'worthy' release schedule that will arrive in UK cinemas between now and the Academy Awards ceremony in February.
There are a couple of likely breakthrough geek movies for this year's Oscars, in the...
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Rosario Dawson, Hugh Jackman and Blake Lively lead our look at 2015's best under the radar acting performances in film...
This article contains mild spoilers for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2. We've kept these as vague as possible, but if you haven't seen the film yet, you might wish to skip the entry pertaining to that.
2015 was a particularly exemplary year for all kinds of movies, but particularly in genre and blockbuster cinema. When there's so much to talk about, it's inevitable that some of the really good stuff gets lost in the mix of awards season chatter, but that's especially true when there's still some residual stigma about movies outside of the 'worthy' release schedule that will arrive in UK cinemas between now and the Academy Awards ceremony in February.
There are a couple of likely breakthrough geek movies for this year's Oscars, in the...
- 12/30/2015
- by simonbrew
- Den of Geek
Mark Harrison Dec 24, 2016
A Christmas treat from 1995: but does anyone else remember The Forgotten Toys?
Over the years, British animation has given us a few good television specials in the Christmas season, including classic cartoons like The Snowman, stop-motion treats like Wallace & Gromit and more recent CG-animated Julia Donaldson adaptations like The Gruffalo and the upcoming Stick Man.
See related Sherlock: Benedict Cumberbatch plays down talk of show ending Sherlock series 3: 111 things we learned from the special edition DVDs Sherlock: The Abominable Bride review
A lot of these specials enjoy annual exposure in the Christmas telly schedules, winning over different generations of viewers. Ironically, a less remembered special is The Forgotten Toys, which first aired on Children's ITV on Boxing Day in 1995. Directed by Graham Ralph, the original half-hour special is adapted from James Stevenson's The Night After Christmas, starting with two toys waking up...
A Christmas treat from 1995: but does anyone else remember The Forgotten Toys?
Over the years, British animation has given us a few good television specials in the Christmas season, including classic cartoons like The Snowman, stop-motion treats like Wallace & Gromit and more recent CG-animated Julia Donaldson adaptations like The Gruffalo and the upcoming Stick Man.
See related Sherlock: Benedict Cumberbatch plays down talk of show ending Sherlock series 3: 111 things we learned from the special edition DVDs Sherlock: The Abominable Bride review
A lot of these specials enjoy annual exposure in the Christmas telly schedules, winning over different generations of viewers. Ironically, a less remembered special is The Forgotten Toys, which first aired on Children's ITV on Boxing Day in 1995. Directed by Graham Ralph, the original half-hour special is adapted from James Stevenson's The Night After Christmas, starting with two toys waking up...
- 12/9/2015
- Den of Geek
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As Bob Odenkirk and David Cross reunite for Netflix's W/Bob & David, we revisit the pair's original comedy series, Mr. Show...
“Hey, everybody! It's Bob and David!”
This Friday, Netflix will release four episodes of W/Bob & David, a new sketch show that reunites the cast of HBO's ground-breaking comedy series Mr. Show With Bob & David. For comedy fans of all stripes, this is unspeakably good news.
Mr. Show ran for 30 episodes (plus two clip show specials) between 1995 and 1998. It didn't set the world alight in terms of audience figures, but its weird and wonderful stylings mark it as a forerunner to shows like The Sarah Silverman Show, Portlandia, Key & Peele, Inside Amy Schumer and Tim & Eric Awesome Show! Great Job. To many of the alternative comedians currently working and coming up, Mr. Show is nothing short of the American answer to Monty Python's Flying Circus.
In...
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As Bob Odenkirk and David Cross reunite for Netflix's W/Bob & David, we revisit the pair's original comedy series, Mr. Show...
“Hey, everybody! It's Bob and David!”
This Friday, Netflix will release four episodes of W/Bob & David, a new sketch show that reunites the cast of HBO's ground-breaking comedy series Mr. Show With Bob & David. For comedy fans of all stripes, this is unspeakably good news.
Mr. Show ran for 30 episodes (plus two clip show specials) between 1995 and 1998. It didn't set the world alight in terms of audience figures, but its weird and wonderful stylings mark it as a forerunner to shows like The Sarah Silverman Show, Portlandia, Key & Peele, Inside Amy Schumer and Tim & Eric Awesome Show! Great Job. To many of the alternative comedians currently working and coming up, Mr. Show is nothing short of the American answer to Monty Python's Flying Circus.
In...
- 11/11/2015
- by simonbrew
- Den of Geek
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Bradley Cooper and Sienna Miller star in Burnt - but it's a sizeable misfire...
Let me tell you something about Adam Jones.
Adam Jones is the protagonist of Burnt, the new movie starring Bradley Cooper. Burnt has been a long time in the works, having been around at least as long as Chef, the Jon Favreau movie about a chef who loses everything and starts over again, which usurped the title of this project. Burnt has a very similar premise, though unlike Favreau's film, it is unfortunately centred around a character as inherently unlikeable as Adam Jones.
Adam Jones (Cooper) is a chef who was disgraced after tanking his Parisian restaurant and getting lost in a spiral of drug abuse. Two years on, he manipulates his former business partner Tony (Daniel Brühl) into giving him control over another restaurant as he attempts a comeback. He's off drugs now,...
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Bradley Cooper and Sienna Miller star in Burnt - but it's a sizeable misfire...
Let me tell you something about Adam Jones.
Adam Jones is the protagonist of Burnt, the new movie starring Bradley Cooper. Burnt has been a long time in the works, having been around at least as long as Chef, the Jon Favreau movie about a chef who loses everything and starts over again, which usurped the title of this project. Burnt has a very similar premise, though unlike Favreau's film, it is unfortunately centred around a character as inherently unlikeable as Adam Jones.
Adam Jones (Cooper) is a chef who was disgraced after tanking his Parisian restaurant and getting lost in a spiral of drug abuse. Two years on, he manipulates his former business partner Tony (Daniel Brühl) into giving him control over another restaurant as he attempts a comeback. He's off drugs now,...
- 11/9/2015
- by simonbrew
- Den of Geek
From Monty Python's Terry Jones comes Absolutely Anything, starring Simon Pegg. The late Robin Williams steals the show, though...
Absolutely Anything has been on comedy fans' radars for a long time. Terry Jones' first directorial effort since 1996's The Wind In The Willows is touted as a zany sci-fi comedy with shades of Douglas Adams and Monty Python's Flying Circus, with a cast that includes Jones' fellow Pythons, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle and Michael Palin, alongside other comedy stars like Simon Pegg, Eddie Izzard, Joanna Lumley and Robin Williams.
Alas, the material doesn't live up to the star calibre, nor the literally limitless potential suggested by the title. Loosely based on H.G. Wells' fantastical comedy short story The Man Who Could Work Miracles, the film begins when a group of power-crazed aliens (voiced by the Pythons) discover a probe with information on Earth's culture and decide...
Absolutely Anything has been on comedy fans' radars for a long time. Terry Jones' first directorial effort since 1996's The Wind In The Willows is touted as a zany sci-fi comedy with shades of Douglas Adams and Monty Python's Flying Circus, with a cast that includes Jones' fellow Pythons, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle and Michael Palin, alongside other comedy stars like Simon Pegg, Eddie Izzard, Joanna Lumley and Robin Williams.
Alas, the material doesn't live up to the star calibre, nor the literally limitless potential suggested by the title. Loosely based on H.G. Wells' fantastical comedy short story The Man Who Could Work Miracles, the film begins when a group of power-crazed aliens (voiced by the Pythons) discover a probe with information on Earth's culture and decide...
- 8/16/2015
- by simonbrew
- Den of Geek
Josh Trank's reboot of the Fantastic Four takes a few gambles, but not all of them pay off...
There's a long-standing snarky line amongst comic book movie fans that Pixar's The Incredibles is the honorary best screen adaptation of the Fantastic Four. Writer-director Brad Bird may have invented his Parrs from a radicalised version of Marvel Comics' beloved First Family, but the gag is that they've been in three real movies of their own, none of which are seen to have got the characters quite right.
The first, 1994's The Fantastic Four, was an unreleased Roger Corman production that was famously churned out on a low budget in order to meet a contractual deadline on their option for the property. The second and third, starring Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans and Michael Chiklis, were produced by 20th Century Fox a decade ago and made over $600m between them.
There's a long-standing snarky line amongst comic book movie fans that Pixar's The Incredibles is the honorary best screen adaptation of the Fantastic Four. Writer-director Brad Bird may have invented his Parrs from a radicalised version of Marvel Comics' beloved First Family, but the gag is that they've been in three real movies of their own, none of which are seen to have got the characters quite right.
The first, 1994's The Fantastic Four, was an unreleased Roger Corman production that was famously churned out on a low budget in order to meet a contractual deadline on their option for the property. The second and third, starring Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans and Michael Chiklis, were produced by 20th Century Fox a decade ago and made over $600m between them.
- 8/5/2015
- by simonbrew
- Den of Geek
Hyena is a gritty, brutal crime drama, but sadly, not one that really works.
Gerald Johnson's London crime drama Hyena stretches the definition of 'good copper' by some distance. Our anti-hero, Michael Logan, is not morally upstanding as much as he is competent and the film is open about that from the very beginning.
Michael (Peter Ferdinando) is the corrupt, substance abusing leader of a corrupt, substance abusing task force in a corrupt, mostly substance abusing Met. After he sees a contact murdered in front of him by a pair of Albanian brothers called the Kabashis, (Orli Shuka and Gjevat Kelmendi) who have designs on the London drug trade, his chickens all come home to roost at once.
Aside from being reassigned to the command of former partner David Knight (Stephen Graham) and having Internal Affairs' Taylor (Richard Dormer) breathing down his neck, Michael realises that the Albanians are also trafficking people,...
Gerald Johnson's London crime drama Hyena stretches the definition of 'good copper' by some distance. Our anti-hero, Michael Logan, is not morally upstanding as much as he is competent and the film is open about that from the very beginning.
Michael (Peter Ferdinando) is the corrupt, substance abusing leader of a corrupt, substance abusing task force in a corrupt, mostly substance abusing Met. After he sees a contact murdered in front of him by a pair of Albanian brothers called the Kabashis, (Orli Shuka and Gjevat Kelmendi) who have designs on the London drug trade, his chickens all come home to roost at once.
Aside from being reassigned to the command of former partner David Knight (Stephen Graham) and having Internal Affairs' Taylor (Richard Dormer) breathing down his neck, Michael realises that the Albanians are also trafficking people,...
- 3/5/2015
- by simonbrew
- Den of Geek
From Batman to Birdman and everything in between, we take a look at Michael Keaton's top 10 most memorable roles...
Sometimes, the Oscars have a tendency of giving out awards to actors who are seen to have paid their dues, perhaps not for the best performance of that year or even for the particular actor's own best performance, but to recognise past work. Michael Keaton is not the most likely of these, but this could be why some speculated that he was an early favourite for this year's Best Actor award, for his performance in Birdman.
The later frontrunner Eddie Redmayne rightfully and very graciously wound up taking it home for his work as Stephen Hawking in The Theory Of Everything, though Birdman went on to take home the main prize for Best Picture and a number of other major awards.
It would hardly have been a major upset if...
Sometimes, the Oscars have a tendency of giving out awards to actors who are seen to have paid their dues, perhaps not for the best performance of that year or even for the particular actor's own best performance, but to recognise past work. Michael Keaton is not the most likely of these, but this could be why some speculated that he was an early favourite for this year's Best Actor award, for his performance in Birdman.
The later frontrunner Eddie Redmayne rightfully and very graciously wound up taking it home for his work as Stephen Hawking in The Theory Of Everything, though Birdman went on to take home the main prize for Best Picture and a number of other major awards.
It would hardly have been a major upset if...
- 2/24/2015
- by simonbrew
- Den of Geek
From the Pudsey The Dog movie to Joe Cornish and Roger Ebert, what happens when critics make films themselves?
Arts critics tend to get a rough time of it in the movies. Even looking at this year's awards season hopefuls, Birdman casts a wonderfully scabrous Lindsay Duncan as a theatre critic who is determined to kill the hero's play, and Mr. Turner presents John Ruskin as a lisping, pretentious fop, a representation that has led some to take mild umbrage.
To look even further back, at Ratatouille's sneering Anton Ego, or Lady In The Water's film-savvy 'straw critic', or Theatre Of Blood's gleefully murderous tract, there's not a whole lot of love for critics in film. Any of this might give way to the preconception that critics, especially film critics, don't actually like films and that they're out of touch with both the filmmakers whose works they...
Arts critics tend to get a rough time of it in the movies. Even looking at this year's awards season hopefuls, Birdman casts a wonderfully scabrous Lindsay Duncan as a theatre critic who is determined to kill the hero's play, and Mr. Turner presents John Ruskin as a lisping, pretentious fop, a representation that has led some to take mild umbrage.
To look even further back, at Ratatouille's sneering Anton Ego, or Lady In The Water's film-savvy 'straw critic', or Theatre Of Blood's gleefully murderous tract, there's not a whole lot of love for critics in film. Any of this might give way to the preconception that critics, especially film critics, don't actually like films and that they're out of touch with both the filmmakers whose works they...
- 1/22/2015
- by simonbrew
- Den of Geek
Can the post-Toy Story 3 shorts tell us anything about the upcoming direction of Pixar's Toy Story 4?
This article contains spoilers for Toy Story 3.
It seems to have become surprisingly tough to keep an open mind about Toy Story 4. Pixar have a mostly excellent track record in these things, especially when it comes to the Toy Story series. We struggle to think of a more consistently brilliant trilogy of films, so why were so many upset about the very real possibility of a fourth, also brilliant instalment, when it was announced last year?
Although some would cite the Cars films, or the impossible and yet still disappointing expectation that Monsters University would live up to Monsters Inc, it doesn't come down to anything so jaded. In all of the ways that Toy Story 3 is an excellent film, it's mostly because it feels like a near unimprovable conclusion to the series.
This article contains spoilers for Toy Story 3.
It seems to have become surprisingly tough to keep an open mind about Toy Story 4. Pixar have a mostly excellent track record in these things, especially when it comes to the Toy Story series. We struggle to think of a more consistently brilliant trilogy of films, so why were so many upset about the very real possibility of a fourth, also brilliant instalment, when it was announced last year?
Although some would cite the Cars films, or the impossible and yet still disappointing expectation that Monsters University would live up to Monsters Inc, it doesn't come down to anything so jaded. In all of the ways that Toy Story 3 is an excellent film, it's mostly because it feels like a near unimprovable conclusion to the series.
- 1/13/2015
- by simonbrew
- Den of Geek
Michael Keaton and Alejandro Inarritu deliver excellent work with Birdman. But then so does the lesser-known Chris Haarhoff...
“A thing is a thing, not what is said of that thing.”
Whatever you think of Alejandro G Iñárritu’s Birdman (Or The Unexpected Virtue Of Ignorance), it's destined to be one of the year's most talked things. Arriving in UK cinemas on New Year's day, it could have played merry hell with most critics' end-of-year lists if it had been released even a few hours earlier, but it's bound to linger in the memory for the next 12 months.
In the film, Riggan Thomson (Michael Keaton) is a washed-up movie star who has privately and publicly disintegrated since his infamous turn in the Birdman trilogy. Now, he's trying to be a triple threat, by writing, directing and starring in a Broadway adaptation of Raymond Carver's What We Talk About When We Talk About Love.
“A thing is a thing, not what is said of that thing.”
Whatever you think of Alejandro G Iñárritu’s Birdman (Or The Unexpected Virtue Of Ignorance), it's destined to be one of the year's most talked things. Arriving in UK cinemas on New Year's day, it could have played merry hell with most critics' end-of-year lists if it had been released even a few hours earlier, but it's bound to linger in the memory for the next 12 months.
In the film, Riggan Thomson (Michael Keaton) is a washed-up movie star who has privately and publicly disintegrated since his infamous turn in the Birdman trilogy. Now, he's trying to be a triple threat, by writing, directing and starring in a Broadway adaptation of Raymond Carver's What We Talk About When We Talk About Love.
- 1/5/2015
- by simonbrew
- Den of Geek
Looking for a good family film this Christmas? See Paddington. Or if you've seen that, you could try Get Santa
This is a film where Santa goes Awol on Christmas Eve, leading to a race against time to make sure the kids of the world get their presents on time. There are many like it, but this one is called Get Santa.
More than that, however, the film revolves around ex-con Steve Anderson, (Rafe Spall) a getaway driver who's been released from prison on parole, just in time for Christmas. Looking forward to spending December 24th with his son Tom, (Kit Connor) he's dismayed when a stranded Santa (Jim Broadbent) hijacks their day together by insisting that only Steve and his son can save Christmas.
Santa then gets himself in worse trouble while trying to recover his reindeer from Battersea Dogs Home (yep, really) and lands himself in the same...
This is a film where Santa goes Awol on Christmas Eve, leading to a race against time to make sure the kids of the world get their presents on time. There are many like it, but this one is called Get Santa.
More than that, however, the film revolves around ex-con Steve Anderson, (Rafe Spall) a getaway driver who's been released from prison on parole, just in time for Christmas. Looking forward to spending December 24th with his son Tom, (Kit Connor) he's dismayed when a stranded Santa (Jim Broadbent) hijacks their day together by insisting that only Steve and his son can save Christmas.
Santa then gets himself in worse trouble while trying to recover his reindeer from Battersea Dogs Home (yep, really) and lands himself in the same...
- 12/8/2014
- by sarahd
- Den of Geek
A contender for film of the year? Not even if you hadn't seen anything else, says Mark...
Stop searching - there's only a few weeks left of this year, but we've found the 2014 recipient of the Rick Deckard Award for Worst, Most Pointless Voiceover in a Motion Picture. The winner, by some distance, is Emma Thompson's omniscient chorus in Men, Women & Children.
Originally titled Pale Blue Dot, this relationship drama opens with a confounding galactic vista that looks more like something from Interstellar than the film promised by the trailers (and we'll get to those) as Thompson's narrator recounts how the Voyager space probe was loaded up with music, pictures and greetings from Earth when it was launched in 1977, and quotes Carl Sagan's Pale Blue Dot while referring to our planet.
The film then refers back to the satellite's progress through space throughout, while also juggling the stories...
Stop searching - there's only a few weeks left of this year, but we've found the 2014 recipient of the Rick Deckard Award for Worst, Most Pointless Voiceover in a Motion Picture. The winner, by some distance, is Emma Thompson's omniscient chorus in Men, Women & Children.
Originally titled Pale Blue Dot, this relationship drama opens with a confounding galactic vista that looks more like something from Interstellar than the film promised by the trailers (and we'll get to those) as Thompson's narrator recounts how the Voyager space probe was loaded up with music, pictures and greetings from Earth when it was launched in 1977, and quotes Carl Sagan's Pale Blue Dot while referring to our planet.
The film then refers back to the satellite's progress through space throughout, while also juggling the stories...
- 12/8/2014
- by sarahd
- Den of Geek
Watching James Brown biopic Get On Up has Mark pining for Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story...
“James Brown needs to think about his entire life before he plays.”
That's not how Get On Up opens, but it's close enough to the first line from 2007's Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, a woefully under-appreciated comedy that should really be required viewing as a “What Not To Do” guide for anyone attempting a biopic of a musician. Alas, this film about Godfather of Soul James Brown walks into every cliché lampooned in the Apatow spoof one by one, although not necessarily in the right order.
It starts with that Cox-style pre-gig remembrance, with lines of dialogue we'll hear in the next two hours echoing around as Brown (Chadwick Boseman) walks down a long corridor to the stage. Then for mystifying reasons, we cut to 1989, to an utterly random and anecdotal...
“James Brown needs to think about his entire life before he plays.”
That's not how Get On Up opens, but it's close enough to the first line from 2007's Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, a woefully under-appreciated comedy that should really be required viewing as a “What Not To Do” guide for anyone attempting a biopic of a musician. Alas, this film about Godfather of Soul James Brown walks into every cliché lampooned in the Apatow spoof one by one, although not necessarily in the right order.
It starts with that Cox-style pre-gig remembrance, with lines of dialogue we'll hear in the next two hours echoing around as Brown (Chadwick Boseman) walks down a long corridor to the stage. Then for mystifying reasons, we cut to 1989, to an utterly random and anecdotal...
- 11/24/2014
- by simonbrew
- Den of Geek
We know how superhero stories start: normal person gets powers, gets reluctant, becomes heroic. But why does it have to be like that?
Feature
An alien baby is evacuated from a dying home planet and grows up to discover that he can use his immense power on Earth and the values instilled by his adoptive parents to protect the world. A young boy’s parents are gunned down in front of him and he dedicates his whole life to making sure if never happens to anyone in his city again. A teenager gains exhilarating powers and is then taught the responsibility that comes with that power by the tragic death of his uncle.
These are all great examples of iconic and interesting origin stories, which shape the respective superheroes to which they relate. But in a world of reboots and endless franchise mileage, do they necessarily have to be the...
Feature
An alien baby is evacuated from a dying home planet and grows up to discover that he can use his immense power on Earth and the values instilled by his adoptive parents to protect the world. A young boy’s parents are gunned down in front of him and he dedicates his whole life to making sure if never happens to anyone in his city again. A teenager gains exhilarating powers and is then taught the responsibility that comes with that power by the tragic death of his uncle.
These are all great examples of iconic and interesting origin stories, which shape the respective superheroes to which they relate. But in a world of reboots and endless franchise mileage, do they necessarily have to be the...
- 7/8/2014
- by sarahd
- Den of Geek
Jon Favreau directs and stars in a more personal, palate cleansing film with Chef. Here's our review.
To paraphrase The Simpsons' Ralph Wiggum, “the food truck symbolises obviousness” in Chef. Jon Favreau's first film since 2011's Cowboys & Aliens is a back-to-basics personal comedy film that probably cost about as much as the catering budget of that film or either of his Iron Man efforts.
What a coincidence then, that it also stars Favreau as the lead character. Chef Carl Casper was once the next big thing in cuisine, but has since settled into a creative rut at a restaurant owned by Riva (Dustin Hoffman). He's been serving his boss' menu for five years, but finally loses his tether when he gets a very public critical drubbing from acerbic food writer Ramsey Michel (Oliver Platt).
Courtesy of a less-than-ideal introduction to the world of social media, Carl's subsequent flame...
To paraphrase The Simpsons' Ralph Wiggum, “the food truck symbolises obviousness” in Chef. Jon Favreau's first film since 2011's Cowboys & Aliens is a back-to-basics personal comedy film that probably cost about as much as the catering budget of that film or either of his Iron Man efforts.
What a coincidence then, that it also stars Favreau as the lead character. Chef Carl Casper was once the next big thing in cuisine, but has since settled into a creative rut at a restaurant owned by Riva (Dustin Hoffman). He's been serving his boss' menu for five years, but finally loses his tether when he gets a very public critical drubbing from acerbic food writer Ramsey Michel (Oliver Platt).
Courtesy of a less-than-ideal introduction to the world of social media, Carl's subsequent flame...
- 6/27/2014
- by simonbrew
- Den of Geek
Feature Mark Harrison 22 Apr 2014 - 06:46
Alan Moore always said his graphic novel was unfilmable, and for a while, that almost looked true. Mark looks at attempts to adapt Watchmen
It's now been just over five years since Zack Snyder brought Watchmen, the acclaimed comic series by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, to the big screen. Whatever you think of the final film, you could hardly say that the source material was easy to adapt.
Moore's thought-provoking script and Gibbons' detailed artwork came together to make one of the most acclaimed comic series ever created- frequently referred to as comics' answer to The Godfather. Some argue that the comic book movie genre got its Godfather with The Dark Knight in 2008, but studios were trying to adapt Watchmen long before that.
In fact, Hollywood's flirtations with the material date all the way back to the period when Tim Burton's Batman became a huge hit,...
Alan Moore always said his graphic novel was unfilmable, and for a while, that almost looked true. Mark looks at attempts to adapt Watchmen
It's now been just over five years since Zack Snyder brought Watchmen, the acclaimed comic series by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, to the big screen. Whatever you think of the final film, you could hardly say that the source material was easy to adapt.
Moore's thought-provoking script and Gibbons' detailed artwork came together to make one of the most acclaimed comic series ever created- frequently referred to as comics' answer to The Godfather. Some argue that the comic book movie genre got its Godfather with The Dark Knight in 2008, but studios were trying to adapt Watchmen long before that.
In fact, Hollywood's flirtations with the material date all the way back to the period when Tim Burton's Batman became a huge hit,...
- 4/17/2014
- by sarahd
- Den of Geek
Mark Harrison Sep 13, 2016
From James Bond to Willy Wonka, Matilda to The Witches, we chart the big screen work of Roald Dahl...
Roald Dahl has often been referred to as one of the greatest storytellers for children in the 20th century. His books have delighted children for generations, with their dark and inventive sense of humour and their eccentric, dastardly adult characters.
Likewise, his written work for adults has just as much wit and creativity, and over the years, he also worked as a screenwriter on a number of projects, including TV work on Alfred Hitchcock Presents and his own anthology series, Roald Dahl's Tales Of The Unexpected.
Given how it doesn't even take the likes of J.K. Rowling and Stephanie Meyer five years to have their popular works adapted by Hollywood, there has inevitably been an extensive crossover between Dahl's written work and the big screen. His work...
From James Bond to Willy Wonka, Matilda to The Witches, we chart the big screen work of Roald Dahl...
Roald Dahl has often been referred to as one of the greatest storytellers for children in the 20th century. His books have delighted children for generations, with their dark and inventive sense of humour and their eccentric, dastardly adult characters.
Likewise, his written work for adults has just as much wit and creativity, and over the years, he also worked as a screenwriter on a number of projects, including TV work on Alfred Hitchcock Presents and his own anthology series, Roald Dahl's Tales Of The Unexpected.
Given how it doesn't even take the likes of J.K. Rowling and Stephanie Meyer five years to have their popular works adapted by Hollywood, there has inevitably been an extensive crossover between Dahl's written work and the big screen. His work...
- 3/1/2014
- Den of Geek
Feature Mark Harrison 3 Mar 2014 - 07:02
From James Bond to Willy Wonka, Matilda to The Witches, we chart the big screen work of Roald Dahl...
Roald Dahl has often been referred to as one of the greatest storytellers for children in the 20th century. His books have delighted children for generations, with their dark and inventive sense of humour and their eccentric, dastardly adult characters.
Likewise, his written work for adults has just as much wit and creativity, and over the years, he also worked as a screenwriter on a number of projects, including TV work on Alfred Hitchcock Presents and his own anthology series, Roald Dahl's Tales Of The Unexpected.
Given how it doesn't even take the likes of J.K. Rowling and Stephanie Meyer five years to have their popular works adapted by Hollywood, there has inevitably been an extensive crossover between Dahl's written work and the big screen.
From James Bond to Willy Wonka, Matilda to The Witches, we chart the big screen work of Roald Dahl...
Roald Dahl has often been referred to as one of the greatest storytellers for children in the 20th century. His books have delighted children for generations, with their dark and inventive sense of humour and their eccentric, dastardly adult characters.
Likewise, his written work for adults has just as much wit and creativity, and over the years, he also worked as a screenwriter on a number of projects, including TV work on Alfred Hitchcock Presents and his own anthology series, Roald Dahl's Tales Of The Unexpected.
Given how it doesn't even take the likes of J.K. Rowling and Stephanie Meyer five years to have their popular works adapted by Hollywood, there has inevitably been an extensive crossover between Dahl's written work and the big screen.
- 3/1/2014
- by sarahd
- Den of Geek
Review Mark Harrison 18 Oct 2013 - 07:41
Mark takes a spoiler-free look at Pixar's Toy Story Of Terror!, airing on Sky Movies in the UK on the 27th of October...
While rumours abound that a fourth Toy Story feature is still on the cards, Pixar Animation Studios has found another, very successful outlet for their most beloved characters. 2010's Toy Story 3 wrapped up a pretty much perfect trilogy, but Woody, Buzz and the rest of Bonnie's toys have carried on in a series of hugely enjoyable Toy Story Toons.
Now, just in time for Halloween, they're the stars of Pixar's first TV special, Toy Story Of Terror! Bonnie and her mother are forced to stop off in the SleepWell motel during an overnight drive, while the toys are kept awake by a horror movie, and by Mr Pricklepants' disturbingly accurate comparisons between their situation and the classic dramatic structure of that genre.
Mark takes a spoiler-free look at Pixar's Toy Story Of Terror!, airing on Sky Movies in the UK on the 27th of October...
While rumours abound that a fourth Toy Story feature is still on the cards, Pixar Animation Studios has found another, very successful outlet for their most beloved characters. 2010's Toy Story 3 wrapped up a pretty much perfect trilogy, but Woody, Buzz and the rest of Bonnie's toys have carried on in a series of hugely enjoyable Toy Story Toons.
Now, just in time for Halloween, they're the stars of Pixar's first TV special, Toy Story Of Terror! Bonnie and her mother are forced to stop off in the SleepWell motel during an overnight drive, while the toys are kept awake by a horror movie, and by Mr Pricklepants' disturbingly accurate comparisons between their situation and the classic dramatic structure of that genre.
- 10/18/2013
- by louisamellor
- Den of Geek
Review Mark Harrison 6 Aug 2013 - 19:24
The Newsroom's second season delivers its best episode so far, as we learn what befell Maggie in Uganda...
This review contains spoilers.
2.4 Unintended Consequences
“We are going to dispel, or dismiss, or expunge the notion that I am damaged.”
Marcia Gay Harden returns as Acn lawyer Rebecca Halliday in this fourth episode of The Newsroom's second season, as we go back to the deposition room flash-forward seen in the season premiere. It's Maggie's turn to testify, and with her newly cropped hair, we're about to find out what happened to her in Africa.
Flashing back to the newsroom, as well as Maggie's ordeal of the previous year, Neal's Occupy Wall Street comes to a head, when the promised coverage of the movement turns into our lead anchor and all-around good egg Will McAvoy verbally demolishing Neal's mate Shelly, to her face, live on television.
The Newsroom's second season delivers its best episode so far, as we learn what befell Maggie in Uganda...
This review contains spoilers.
2.4 Unintended Consequences
“We are going to dispel, or dismiss, or expunge the notion that I am damaged.”
Marcia Gay Harden returns as Acn lawyer Rebecca Halliday in this fourth episode of The Newsroom's second season, as we go back to the deposition room flash-forward seen in the season premiere. It's Maggie's turn to testify, and with her newly cropped hair, we're about to find out what happened to her in Africa.
Flashing back to the newsroom, as well as Maggie's ordeal of the previous year, Neal's Occupy Wall Street comes to a head, when the promised coverage of the movement turns into our lead anchor and all-around good egg Will McAvoy verbally demolishing Neal's mate Shelly, to her face, live on television.
- 8/12/2013
- by louisamellor
- Den of Geek
Top 10 Mark Harrison 5 Aug 2013 - 07:12
Weary from the explosions and effects of the blockbuster season? Then Mark has 10 perfect alternative movies for you...
August is usually considerably less busy for summer blockbusters, especially since Hollywood has increasingly moved the start of the season to earlier and earlier dates. This year, Iron Man 3 kicked things off in the UK on April 25th, and the cavalcade of superhero films and action movies has continued right through May, June and July.
There's a sense that by August, audiences will be a little worn out by the noise, the spectacle and the crashy-bangy. In a summer this overcrowded, with big tentpole pictures under-performing at the box office every other week, that's especially true. At this point, we have about the same appetite for explosions as Mr Creosote does for wafer mints in Monty Python's The Meaning Of Life: just one more and we would,...
Weary from the explosions and effects of the blockbuster season? Then Mark has 10 perfect alternative movies for you...
August is usually considerably less busy for summer blockbusters, especially since Hollywood has increasingly moved the start of the season to earlier and earlier dates. This year, Iron Man 3 kicked things off in the UK on April 25th, and the cavalcade of superhero films and action movies has continued right through May, June and July.
There's a sense that by August, audiences will be a little worn out by the noise, the spectacle and the crashy-bangy. In a summer this overcrowded, with big tentpole pictures under-performing at the box office every other week, that's especially true. At this point, we have about the same appetite for explosions as Mr Creosote does for wafer mints in Monty Python's The Meaning Of Life: just one more and we would,...
- 8/2/2013
- by ryanlambie
- Den of Geek
Feature Mark Harrison 9 Apr 2013 - 07:15
Does the success of The Hunger Games, and the recent arrival of The Host, hint at the rise of the female-led blockbuster, Mark wonders...
The Host arrived in cinemas recently, and joined a number of female-led movies of recent years. As ever, it owes some of its success to the Twilight films, as it's based on an earlier novel by author Stephenie Meyer, but the real legacy of those films has been to emphasise the influence of female audiences, and to popularise female leads in big movies.
If we go by the most popular example of her work, Meyer hasn't exactly created the strongest female characters in the past. But on the surface, The Host appears to centre around a girl called Melanie, whose will is strong enough to bust through the influence of alien body-snatchers, who have effectively taken over the world, as well as her body.
Does the success of The Hunger Games, and the recent arrival of The Host, hint at the rise of the female-led blockbuster, Mark wonders...
The Host arrived in cinemas recently, and joined a number of female-led movies of recent years. As ever, it owes some of its success to the Twilight films, as it's based on an earlier novel by author Stephenie Meyer, but the real legacy of those films has been to emphasise the influence of female audiences, and to popularise female leads in big movies.
If we go by the most popular example of her work, Meyer hasn't exactly created the strongest female characters in the past. But on the surface, The Host appears to centre around a girl called Melanie, whose will is strong enough to bust through the influence of alien body-snatchers, who have effectively taken over the world, as well as her body.
- 4/8/2013
- by ryanlambie
- Den of Geek
Feature Mark Harrison Feb 15, 2013
As Judd Apatow's ad-lib-heavy This Is 40 hits UK cinemas, Mark wonders what effect improv has had on comedy cinema...
Once DVD really overtook the home entertainment market, there was an increased trend towards extended cuts of comedy movies once they reached shiny discs. Whether it's an 'Extreme Edition', or it has 'Gags You Didn't See', or it’s simply 'Uncut', it's hardly the same as releasing extended cuts of movies that suit the director's vision - in the case of Judd Apatow's school of comedy production, it only means that you film absolutely everything, and most of the footage makes it into the film anyway.
Apatow-produced films like Bridesmaids, Funny People, Get Him To The Greek and this week’s This Is 40 tend to give their actors lots of room for improvisation. You also get the impression that they're still coming up...
As Judd Apatow's ad-lib-heavy This Is 40 hits UK cinemas, Mark wonders what effect improv has had on comedy cinema...
Once DVD really overtook the home entertainment market, there was an increased trend towards extended cuts of comedy movies once they reached shiny discs. Whether it's an 'Extreme Edition', or it has 'Gags You Didn't See', or it’s simply 'Uncut', it's hardly the same as releasing extended cuts of movies that suit the director's vision - in the case of Judd Apatow's school of comedy production, it only means that you film absolutely everything, and most of the footage makes it into the film anyway.
Apatow-produced films like Bridesmaids, Funny People, Get Him To The Greek and this week’s This Is 40 tend to give their actors lots of room for improvisation. You also get the impression that they're still coming up...
- 2/14/2013
- by ryanlambie
- Den of Geek
Mark Harrison Nov 17, 2016
It’s the fourth Harry Potter movie, and the darkest yet. Mark looks back at Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire…
Even more than the final book, Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire is the most densely packed story in Jk Rowling's series. Between the release of the first film and this film's November 2005 release date, Rowling's literary saga-in-progress had seen two more novels published, The Order Of The Phoenix in 2003, and The Half-Blood Prince in July 2005 and both took the boy wizard into dark new territory.
Rowling had occasionally intervened in the adaptations in order to point to elements that were essential to the as-yet incomplete story so that the filmmakers didn't cut characters they would need later on, but here was a story with a dozen new characters who were specifically important to this story, which spanned a whopping 600 pages in print.
It’s the fourth Harry Potter movie, and the darkest yet. Mark looks back at Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire…
Even more than the final book, Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire is the most densely packed story in Jk Rowling's series. Between the release of the first film and this film's November 2005 release date, Rowling's literary saga-in-progress had seen two more novels published, The Order Of The Phoenix in 2003, and The Half-Blood Prince in July 2005 and both took the boy wizard into dark new territory.
Rowling had occasionally intervened in the adaptations in order to point to elements that were essential to the as-yet incomplete story so that the filmmakers didn't cut characters they would need later on, but here was a story with a dozen new characters who were specifically important to this story, which spanned a whopping 600 pages in print.
- 7/12/2011
- Den of Geek
Sex And The City. Mamma Mia. Beaches. The first Harry Potter. Our writers have been watching the movies they’d otherwise had crossed the street to avoid…
We set our writers a challenge. We're all likely to have films that we turn our nose up at every time we come to watch a movie. The task our writers faced was this: locate that movie, watch it, and see if it was as scary as you feared. Obviously, the choice of film was a personal one - some of us would leap at Timecop, for instance - but every film here has been avoided by the writer concerned for one reason or another. And now it was time to face those fears head on.
Here's how they got on...
Mamma Mia
Duncan Bowles
I'm really not a fan of Abba. The closest contact I have with their music is normally at work Christmas parties,...
We set our writers a challenge. We're all likely to have films that we turn our nose up at every time we come to watch a movie. The task our writers faced was this: locate that movie, watch it, and see if it was as scary as you feared. Obviously, the choice of film was a personal one - some of us would leap at Timecop, for instance - but every film here has been avoided by the writer concerned for one reason or another. And now it was time to face those fears head on.
Here's how they got on...
Mamma Mia
Duncan Bowles
I'm really not a fan of Abba. The closest contact I have with their music is normally at work Christmas parties,...
- 3/25/2010
- Den of Geek
Actress Bonnie Wright partook in a photo shoot and short interview with Luxx magazine, which can be found here (http://www.snitchseeker.com/harry-potter-news/new-bonnie-wright-feature-luxx-magazine-68027/?highlight=luxx). Outtakes of Bonnie's shoot, taken by photographer Mark Harrison (http://www.markharrisonphotography.com/), have been released online, courtesy of So-Bonnie (http://so-bonnie.net/photogenic/thumbnails.php?album=200), and can be viewed below (http://www.snitchseeker.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=886). Image: http://www.snitchseeker.com/gallery/albums/userpics/84186/o002.jpg Image: http://www.snitchseeker.com/gallery/albums/userpics/84186/o003.jpg Image: http://www.snitchseeker.com/gallery/albums/userpics/84186/o004.jpg...
- 11/7/2009
- by masterofmystery
- Snitchseeker.com
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