Fans of J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle-Earth will be breathing a sigh of relief this weekend with the news that the financially beleaguered MGM have finally reached a deal with New Line and Warner Bros. to cover the estimated $500m needed to bring The Hobbit to the big-screen, as reported by TheWrap last night. The […]

Tom Jolliffe selects his Five Essential Sylvester Stallone films… From the moment he brought us Rocky, through to giving us Rambo, until his most recent gift, The Expendables, Sly Stallone has been a hero to many a red blooded male. Be it the bygone days of childhood, sneaking Stallone viewings from the video collection of […]

Africa United, 2010. Directed by Debs Gardner-Paterson. Starring Eriya Ndayambaje, Roger Nsengiyumva and Sanyu Joanita Kintu. SYNOPSIS: Three Rwandan children set out on an extraordinary journey across seven countries to achieve their ultimate dream of taking part in the 2010 Football World Cup opening ceremony. Africa United has been dubbed this year’s Slumdog Millionaire and […]

Let Me In, 2010. Directed by Matt Reeves. Starring Kodi Smit-McPhee, Chloë Moretz, Richard Jenkins, Elias Koteas and Cara Buono. SYNOPSIS: A lonely twelve-year old boy befriends his new neighbour and soon has to confront the reality that the seemingly innocent young girl is actually a savage vampire responsible for a string of murders in […]

Another Year, 2010. Directed by Mike Leigh. Starring Jim Broadbent, Lesley Manville, Ruth Sheen, Peter Wright, Oliver Maltman and Imelda Staunton. SYNOPSIS: An intimate portrait of a year in the lives of an aging but happily-married couple and their dysfunctional friends. Another Year is Mike Leigh’s eleventh feature film, an interesting multi character drama doused […]

James Ellis on the unsung heroes of film… Most people don’t realise what goes into making the films we love and adore. There is pre-production – all the writing of scripts and getting everything and everybody together. Then there is the production – all the shooting and explosions and arty bits. Finally there is the […]

With his latest film The Social Network in cinemas this month, Trevor Hogg profiles the career of director David Fincher in the third of a three part feature… read parts one and two. “When it became apparent that I wasn’t going to be involved in Black Dahlia [2006],” stated director David Fincher, “I didn’t go, […]

It’s Kind of a Funny Story, 2010. Directed by Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck. Starring Keir Gilchrist, Zach Galifianakis & Emma Roberts. SYNOPSIS: Sixteen year-old Craig (Keir Gilchrist), after dreaming of one too many suicide attempts, checks himself into hospital for depression. However, the child wing is being renovated so he finds himself in the […]

Harry Brown, 2009. Directed by Daniel Barber. Starring Michael Caine, Emily Mortimer, Ben Drew, Charlie Creed-Miles, David Bradley, Jack O’Connell and Liam Cunningham. SYNOPSIS: A retired Royal Marine takes matters into his own hands when his friend is murdered by a gang of young hoodlums. It’s difficult to precisely pinpoint the moment I fully embraced […]

Cherokee Summer selects her Five Essential Natalie Portman Films… With ear-deafening reviews flooding out of the festival circuit, praising Natalie Portman’s performance in Darren Aronofsky’s (The Wrestler) trippy, psychological thriller Black Swan (arriving on UK shores for its UK premiere at The London Film Festival in a few weeks), we take a look at Natalie […]