Director: Ridley Scott
Cast: Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron, Logan Marshall-Green
Certificate: 15
Trailer

From the opening credits, gliding over the surface of an Earth-like planet, you can tell that Prometheus is a very different kind of Alien.

Ridley Scott’s return to the genre that he mastered – twice – has been trumpeted as the prequel to the series. The one that explains the beginnings of H.R. Giger’s beasties. But when we see our first E.T., it's clear that the director's thinking bigger than that: he doesn’t want to explain where the Space Jockey on LV-246 came from. He wants to explain where EVERYONE came from.

Yes, Prometheus has another viral video. And yes, it's rather interesting.

Titled "Quiet Eye", it teases us with details of the Yutani corp, as well as showing scientist Elizabeth Shaw's determination to join forces with Weyland to discover life, the universe and whatnot.

The freaky part? The software that's constantly analysing her face. No, I don't know either. Still, it's nice to see Noomi Rapace given something more interesting to do than Token Gypsy Woman in Sherlock Holmes 2. Loving the multi-national accent too. 

 

 

For more Prometheus stuff, head this way - or just watch that Michael Fassbender David video again. 

 

 

The full Prometheus trailer has parked its shiny bum on the internet - and as far as teasers go, it's pretty damn teasing.

We still don't know that much about Ridley Scott's prequel-but-not-a-prequel-but-still-connected-to-the-Alien-franchise-but-not-really mystery film. The official synopsis reads something like: "A team of explorers find a clue to the origins of man on Earth, leading them on a journey to the darkest corners of the universe... There, they must fight a terrifying battle to save the future of the human race."

We seem to be looking at what happened in the lead up to the events on LV-426 in the first Alien film. But Ridley's been pretty adamant that this isn't a directly linking prequel.

Yet everything about this screams Alien. The pods littering the ground around Michael Fassbender's character. The familiar outline of the infamous space jockey's ship. The way the titles appear in the same gradual procession of vertical and horizontal bars. 

So what's it all about? Like all the best teasers, Prometheus' trailer doesn't answer any of our questions - it just asks a load more. When Ridley Scott does answer them in 2012, it should be something very special. As long as you forget that this is the director who also made Robin Hood and A Good Year.

Read on for the full Prometheus trailer. Then get very excited.

Director: David Fincher
Cast: Rooney Mara, Daniel Craig, Stellan Skarsgard  
Certificate: 18
Trailer

David Fincher’s Dragon Tattoo was always going to have a lot to live up to – because of the guy at the helm, rather than Niels Arden Oplev’s previous film version of Stieg Larsson’s popular books. But Fincher announces his intention straight away, with an explosive opening credits sequence full of black liquid, computer keyboards and shattered female silhouettes.

It screams James Bond in an angry, foreign voice, establishing the titular Girl as the franchise’s lead figure. After Benjamin Button and The Social Network, this feels like Fincher back in Se7en territory. Grizzled, haunting and beautiful.

"When two objects collide... there is always damage..."

So speaks Jared Harris in the Sherlock Holmes 2 "special content" trailer. What's special about it? Mostly the vox pops they've dumped in the middle of the other footage. But if the other footage includes Lane Pryce from Mad Men twirling his moustache, I'm more than happy to watch it.

Guy Ritchie's Sherlock sequel may not look like a classic (indeed, neither was the fun first one) but Moriarty could be brilliant. Did I mention it was Lane Pryce from Mad Men?

 

 

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows is out on Friday 16th December.

 

 

Last night, @007 announced two new cast members for Bond 23, Skyfall: Helen McCrory and Ola Rapace.

 

Here are some exciting facts about each:

 

Ola Rapace is Swedish. This makes him 700% more awesome.

Helen McCrory was once in Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking. This is not a porn film.

Ola Rapace was married to Noomi Rapace. This also makes him 700% even more awesome.

Helen McCrory played a vampire in Dr Who. But it turned out she was actually a big fish.

"Rapace" means BIRD OF PREY in Italian. Oh yeah. 

Helen McCrory played Cherie Blair in The Queen and Narcissa Malfoy in Harry Potter. No-one can tell the difference. 

Old Rapace is an anagram of A Coral Ape. 

Helen McCrory is an anagram of Lyncher Comer.

Helen McCrory is married to Damian Lewis. This makes her 700% even more awesome.

 

Here ends today's token Bond 23 update.

 

Well, it's pretty much what everyone expected. 14 nominations for The King's Speech - including Best Actor and Best Film - but Black Swan is next with a total of 12 nominations, which is fantastic to see. Inception is up for 9 overall, including Best Director (but not Best Film), so it's largely panned out as predicted.

The few surprises are dotted all over the categories: no Best Score nod for Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross with The Social Network and no Melissa Leo in the Supporting Actress race (she's replaced by the more British choice of Lesley Manville). It's sad that Inception isn't up for Best Film, but True Grit is a deserving candidate - the big awards are all correctly chosen.

The weirdest omission? The complete lack of Never Let Me Go in any single category. I thought Carey Mulligan and the screenplay would at least get a mention. I've no idea what happened there - unless someone insulted Colin Firth's mum. There's a similar absence of Blue Valentine and Winter's Bone, which is sad because you'd perhaps expect the BAFTAs to include some quieter indie releases.

There are two very happy surprises, though, both in the acting categories. Firstly, Best Actress includes the usuals (Bening, Moore, Portman) but features not just Hailee Steinfeld but Noomi Rapace. Yes, Lisbeth Salander has graduated from potential Rising Star to full-on Swedish-bum-rape contender for a big one. On the other side of the draw, Pete Postlethwaite has got a posthumous nod for his role in The Town - a touching tribute to the late actor, who passed away during the week of nominations.

Otherwise, it's all about The King's Speech. It's up for Best Film, Best Director, Best British Film (it better not beat Four Lions there), Best Screenplay, Best Actor, Best Score... It's a wonder it isn't competing with Toy Story 3 for Best Animated Film as well. Taking up almost every single category, Tom Hooper's period drama is the film to beat. A real shocker, that.

Perhaps, for once, the interesting battle will be in the costume and make-up category, where Colin Firth's royal outfits are up against Made in Dagenham and Black Swan.

The BAFTAs are awarded on Sunday 13th February and will be presented by Jonathan Ross. Read on for the full list of nominees.

It's been a busy week for fans of franchises, remakes, spiders and Swedish bum rape. Yes, the first pictures of Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander (in W Magazine) and Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man have been officially released. And what with the trial by rape auditions and the backpack stolen off some poor kid, the photos show an interesting direction for each character:

 

Director: Daniel Alfredson
Cast: Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace
Certificate: 15

It's not easy trying to bury an axe in your dad's brain. Especially when he's a defected Russian agent and your brother's a psychotic blondey who feels no pain. Not to mention the fact that you're the country's most wanted murder suspect. Which is why Lisbeth Salander (Rapace) is now in hospital. It sounds like a TV movie and it is. Just not a great one.

These days it’s hard to tell the difference between the big and small screen. TVs are getting larger and larger. Series are getting longer and longer. For those who survived the LFF Carlos (a five and a half hour marathon), Carlos is a cinematic production that puts Lost out in limbo.

Now available on DVD featuring both the theatrical and TV versions, Olivier Assayas’ story was made simultaneously for each format. But it’s not the first TV-cinema crossover to blur the line between Mad Men and Maid in Manhattan. And with Ron Howard aiming for an epic adaptation of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower, it won’t be the last. Here are some of the best fence-sitting films that crossed cinema with your Cathode Ray.