An adaptation of Bill Willingham’s popular Fables comic book series has been in the works for quite some time now, but never really gained traction. Today, however, the film’s producer offered up an intriguing and encouraging update. We learned back in June of 2013 that A Royal Affair helmer Nikolaj Arcel (who was once on the shortlist for Marvel’s Doctor Strange) […]
Movie Review – The Queen Of Hollywood Blvd (2017)
The Queen Of Hollywood Blvd. 2017 Directed by Orson Oblowitz Starring Rosemary Hoschschild, Ana Mulvoy Ten, Michael Parks, Roger Guenveur Smith and Ella Thomas. SYNOPSIS: On her 60th birthday, the proud owner of a Los Angeles strip club, finds herself in hot water over a twenty-five year old debt to the mob, leading her on a […]
The Importance of Film Archives and Curated Selections
Tom Jolliffe looks at the importance of archiving seminal films, and giving new life to forgotten classics and cult titles…. Cinema history is etched with key figures. Mould breakers, revolutionaries, and visionaries. Fritz Lang, leading the German expressionist era. Orson Welles breaking tradition and Hollywood protocols. Maybe Brando thundering an arrow through the conventions of […]
Are the days of the big name headliners disappearing?
Tom Jolliffe looks at whether the days of the superstar headliner are disappearing with audiences more drawn to franchises or film concepts than the stars attached… You could say it started in Hollywood’s classic era. The movie star. The big name. They were in some ways manufactured, or at least their image was. Rock Hudson […]
Sugar Coating Hollywood-Style
Tom Jolliffe on when real life stories are sugar coated in film… A good biopic can be fascinating. There are characters, through TV and print media, biographies, documentaries and more, that we learn the most fascinating things about. Documentaries of course have the goal of showing us (when done right) both sides of a personality, […]
Filmmaking With No Money and Big Ideas
Tom Jolliffe offers an insight into no budget film-making, and why you should aim as high as those means can reach… I won’t claim to be Steven Spielberg (or even Steven Spielbergo) but aspiring film-makers can learn a lot from not just the industry masters of past and present, but from each other. I’ve spoken […]
Movie Review – Josie (2017)
Josie, 2017. Directed by Eric England. Starring Sophie Turner, Dylan McDermott, Kurt Fuller, Jack Kilmer and Robin Bartlett. SYNOPSIS: Hank, a solitary man living a dull existence in the sleepy, Southern town raises eyebrows when he develops a questionable relationship with Josie, a recently transplanted high school student. Occasionally a film opens in a way that […]
A dose of Venom for the worldwide box office and an end to blaming critics for failure?
Tom Jolliffe takes a look at the surprising worldwide commercial success of Venom… Earlier in the year the first trailer for Venom dropped. It looked pretty awful, not least about 15 years out of date (particularly the initial trailer’s CGI polish). A few more trailers followed and fanfare seemed fairly low. Then came the reviews. […]
Why Maniac Cop is the remake you didn’t know you needed
Tom Jolliffe looks at the long rumoured remake of Maniac Cop… Hands up who’s seen Maniac Cop… Okay, a fair few cult movie enthusiasts of a certain age. Bruce Campbell and Tom Atkins facing off against a vengeful, presumed dead ex-cop, played by the late, most granite jawed actor in history, Robert Z’Dar. It’s pure […]
The 30th Anniversary of the Ultimate Christmas Film: Die Hard
Tom Jolliffe celebrates Die Hard on its 30th anniversary… When a film hits a significant anniversary, say 30 years old, there are two things that happen. In one, for those who were but wee blighters when they first saw the film, it will make you feel old. I first saw Die Hard on video, a […]
