It's not a superhero movie. It's a Shane Black movie with superheroes in it. And that makes it awesome.
Reviews and interviews from the 2013 Sundance London film festival
Would cinema be better if we all spoke like gangstas? Damn straight, yo.
A fascinating look at the rise of digital cinema
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 Director: Sam Mendes Skyfall has already been described by several excitable people as the best Bond movie of all time. It’s not. But that’s partly because it’s not a Bond movie – it’s a movie about Bond. And that’s something very special indeed. There's nothing like a bit of Great Expectations to round off Charles Dickens' bicentenary. And Mike Newell knows it, bringing his own adaptation of the novel to the screen just in time for the London Film Festival. Some may take issue with the obvious casting of Helena Bonham Carter as Miss Havisham. Others may complain that we've had enough films based on Great Expectations already. Me? I'm just bothered by the fact that the Great Expectations trailer calls it Dickens' "best-loved story". Nothing can rival my love of A Christmas Carol - thank you, Muppets - except for maybe Sally Hawkins. Luckily, she's in Newell's movie too. Here's the trailer:
Great Expectations is in UK cinemas on Friday 30th November.
"The two survivors... this is what she made us."
After a week of pointless teasers for trailers, the full Skyfall international trailer is finally here – and by Ben Whishaw’s specs, it’s spectacular. It builds on the teaser trailer with some surprising details: the opening few shots alone are enough to make you rewind and start again. But then it settles down into a confident rhythm, introducing Javier Bardem’s blonde villain (he’s a better brunette), Ralph Fiennes’ MI6 official and, perhaps most importantly, a hint of what Skyfall might be. Missing hard drives, encoded lists, murdered secret agents, chases on trains. Think 1995’s Mission: Impossible, but with YouTube instead of floppy disks. (Judging by the hit count on the leaked vide, floppy disks are far less secure.) Then add in Ben Whishaw as an anorak-wearing Q (don't worry: he gets lots of sarcastic laughs in the not-yet-online Skyfall IMAX trailer), a liberal splash of Judi Dench and Roger Deakins’ stunning cinematography (check out those silhouettes again), and you have a cracking bit of espionage that looks as low-key as Spooks and as ridiculous as The World Is Not Enough. *straightens cuffs* Read on for the Skyfall international trailer. And keep an ear out for Thomas Newman’s late reworking of Monty Norman’s Bond riff, a machine gunning rhythm that takes the signature notes offbeat – very different to the drum arrangement from the first Skyfall trailer, which is a promising sign for the composer’s first Bond score. He’s also got a taste for the choral, by the sounds of it, which feels very similar to the music for Casino Royale’s trailer. Colour my eardrums - and the rest of me - interested.
The Skyfall teaser trailer arrived this morning - and it was just a little bit ruddy fantastic. But because Roger Deakins' visuals were so stunning and the whole thing was so short, I found myself replaying the video in slow-motion just to get a closer look at it all. So here's a full breakdown of the Skyfall teaser trailer in HD screencaps. Because sometimes a two-second picture of giant blue jellyfish just isn't enough.
"Some men are coming to kill us. We're going to kill them first." That's the sound of Bond going bad-ass in the Skyfall teaser trailer. That other noise? The high-pitched squealing? That's me geeking out over Bond going bad-ass in the Skyfall teaser trailer. There's barely anything to the video, but what's on show is fantastic. The framing and composition are gorgeous and the lighting suitably moody. Guns, explosions, word association, it's all good. As for Daniel Craig, he's never looked more licensed to kill. Now all we need is some more Naomie Harris and a bit of Ben Whishaw to go with Judi Dench and all those coffins. Read on for the full Skyfall teaser trailer - if this is what 84 seconds of a Sam Mendes Bond film is like, imagine it going on for two hours.  The Wrath of the Titans trailer has been unleashed - and it's got loads of loud noises and CGI, which should please fans of the first one. (Were there any fans of the first one?) Sweet Dreams are made of this? Slow-motion action sequences? Colossal beasties being slain with a sword? Yep, Jonathan Liebesman's sequel is shaping up to be 2012's Sucker Punch. Read on for the full Wrath of the Titans trailer. I'm prepared to give the franchise another chance on a (very) dumb level. I'm not sure I really FEEL THE WRATH... although I do feel something around the 59 second mark, when things certainly start to look a lot more interesting. (Damn you, Rosamund Pike.)  Tyrannosaur stomped all over the competition at tonight's BIFA awards. The British Independent Film Awards, which were streamed live on the internet, saw Paddy Considine's superb film pick up three awards, including Best Debut Director, Best Actress (Olivia Colman) and Best British Independent Film. All of them were well deserved - as you can see from their lovely happy faces (image via @PaulPopplewell). Fellow lead nominee Shame picked up Best Actor for Michael Fassbender, while Carey Mulligan was pipped to the Best Supporting Actress post by Coriolanus' Vanessa Redgrave. The other pleasant surprise was Michael Smiley winning Best Supporting Actor for Kill List - an announcement met by cheers from the audience, much like Weekend's two wins for Best Production and Most Promising Newcomer, which went to the wonderful Tom Cullen. Whoops also went out to Chris O'Dowd's drunken hosting. He started the evening off lightly sloshed, then quickly escalated to off his tits. And got funnier as he went along. Until the end, when he could barely speak in words, let alone sentences.
BIFA's Top 5 Drunk Chris O'Dowd Quotes
Other highlights of the evening included Ralph Fiennes picking up the Richard Harris award for outstanding contribution to British film, which he accepted while the in-house BIFA band played the theme from The Avengers, after being introduced by the hilarious Tom Hollander: "I thought I would be tossed aside like the unwanted exfoliant from a gift bag... in Voldemort, I have found my truest friend.") Massive credit should also go to Richard Ayaode for winning Best Screenplay for Submarine, the Oscar-snubbed Senna claiming Best Documentary, and also to Maria Djurkovic for taking home Best Production Design for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. All the right films got a mention somewhere - even Lynne Ramsay bagged Best Director for We Need to Talk About Kevin. Oh, and Kenneth Branagh popped up to collect The Variety Award.
And that's BIFA 2011. The whole thing was a brilliant success for three reasons. Firstly, it was a celebration of a ridiculously impressive year for British indie productions (look at just how many are heavyweights at bigger ceremonies). Secondly, it was proof that awards can be streamed online - and streamed well. This evening has done wonders for the profile of BIFA, which will only keep getting bigger from now on. And finally, it introduced the internet to drunk Chris O'Dowd. Which we've all wanted to see for a long time. Read on for the full list of winners - and then head over here to read our five-star Tyrannosaur review and our interview with Paddy Considine. (Also, follow @AuntieNubbins on Twitter because he dutifully screen-capped the whole thing and I stole a couple of his images.)
This morning, a James Bond Facebook page and a 007 Twitter account appeared in my inbox. Why? Because, of course, today is a big day for the James Bond franchise. Yes, it's 50 years ago today that Sean Connery was announced as the first actor to play James Bond in Dr. No.
 But it was also the day that Bond 23's title was announced. As everyone expected, it's called Skyfall. A slight let-down, but it's not the end of the world. (Unless Chicken Licken is in it, in which case it definitely is.) In between the endless (and equally dreadful) Skyfall jokes flying around on t'internet (I was still hoping it would be called 23nal Destination), the following details came out about Bond 23. It's directed by Sam Mendes (we already knew that), stars Daniel Craig in his last contractually-obliged Bond film (we knew that too), as well as Judi Dench as M, Javier Bardem as the bad guy, Naomie Harris as a field agent called Eve and Bérénice Marlohe as a Bond girl. Other cast members include Ralph Fiennes, Albert Finney and (most exciting of all) Ben Whishaw (hopefully as Q). Ben Whishaw in a Bond film? Now all we need is Romola Garai as Moneypenny.
As well as all that stuff, we finally found out the plot for Bond 23. Here it is: Bond's loyalty to M is tested as her past comes back to haunt her. As MI6 comes under attack. 007 must track down and destroy the threat, no matter how personal the cost. A shady back story for the security chief? Personal costs and old enemies? The Skyfall synopsis sounds a lot like Spooks to me. And that's no bad thing. Now someone get Harry Pearce involved, dammit. Here's the whole Skyfall family looking chirpy in London:
As the excitment dies down - and people start spreading rumours that Moneypenny's first name might be Eve after all, or that Ralph Fiennes is returning as Blofeld after Craig's comment that Skyfall is "Bond with a capital B" - it's time to continue counting down to the film's release next October the only way we know how... by watching one Bond film a month. Here's our latest BlogalongaBond entry: How to Be a Bond Henchman.
 Ralph Fiennes has been wowing audiences with his directorial debut Coriolanus - including us. Taking Shakespeare's Rome and replacing it with Serbia, screenwriter John Logan has kept the play's themes of war and betrayal firmly relevant to the modern day. So what's the secret to updating Shakespeare? And was Jon Snow the most talented newsreader on set? Here are five things we learned from the Coriolanus LFF press conference:
You may have heard by now that Ralph Fiennes' adaptation of Shakespeare's Coriolanus boasts a stellar supporting role from one Channel 4 news presenter (cleverly taking on the Messenger lines in the play), a casting choice which prompted a major title change in my mind:
Given this excellent use of the multi-coloured-tie-wearing broadcasting legend, which you can see for yourself tonight at the London Film Festival, here are some other newsreaders that we want to see tackle Shakespeare... |
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