Picturenose

So, it becomes reality. The production I was whining on about in an earlier article has finally hit the trailers scene. The completely unnecessary remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) is almost upon us.

Read more »

News reaches me that Sienna Miller is to star as Maid Marian in the upcoming re-jig of the Robin Hood story. Huh? A Robin Hood remake, surely not? Speaking to the BBC she gushed: “It’s happening. I just found out. It’s the most exciting news in the world.” She has obviously never won a Nobel Peace Prize. The new thing (also alleged to be starring Russell Crowe) will have the angle of sympathy for the Sheriff of Nottingham, facing a not-so-kind Hood. Well, I suppose they had to make it different somehow…

Read more »

I don’t like musicals. Really, I don’t. Many people seem to find this in some way strange, or an attempt to try to appear mildly controversial. Let’s face it, if I were trying to be contrary, I could certainly come up with something a little more hard-hitting than that. Nope, I just find them boring and nonsensical. As I am writing this for probably the best film site in the entire known universe, it’d be a good bet I like films - I do. I also like music in many of its shapes and forms. Put them together and I’d sooner stick knitting needles in my face than watch the result.

Read more »

It’s been quite a decade or two for Philip K. Dick - it’s a pity he’s not still around to enjoy all the success his books have had when given the Hollywood treatment. I was a bit of a sci-fi fan in my youth, and always had a soft spot for Dick’s work. Admittedly, I spent an awful lot of time re-reading parts of his books that just didn’t make any sense, but I persevered and am very glad I did. Of course, our Phil has had many of his books or short stories turned into films - Total Recall (1990), Minority Report (2002), A Scanner Darkly (2006) and some little-known cult hit called Blade Runner (1982). It is with great pleasure I learn that production will soon begin on UBIK, possibly my favourite (and certainly one of the strangest) of Dick’s stories. I’m really not sure how they’ll shoehorn the outrageous concepts onto celluloid, but I’m certainly looking forward to the finished product. You can read the press release here.

Read more »

Normally, a 65-year-old man touting a bullwhip would be the kind of thing to make me swear off eating cheese before bedtime, but I am of course referring to the latest offering in the incredibly popular Indiana Jones series of movies. James has now seen Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - read his review here.

Read more »

Shit and run

It really must have seemed like a great idea at the time. Quentin Tarantino teamed up with Sin City director Robert Rodriguez for a 70s sleaze-fest double bill, Grindhouse, which combines Rodriguez’s zombie-schlock-splatter extravaganza Planet Terror (2007) with Tarantino’s offering, Death Proof, plus several fake 70s-style trailers.

Read more »

Sing-along-a-Bond?
Do you want the good news or the bad news first? The bad? OK. Amy (’Look at me! Look at me!’) Winehouse was reported by the BBC to be involved in the production of the latest Bond outing Quantum of Solace. The good news? A couple of days later, her producer, Mark Ronson, was quoted as saying that Ms Ooh-Aren’t-I-Controversial is “not ready to make music”. Hardly surprising, really. My theory is that she’s either being a bit heavy-handed with the Columbian marching powder, or she simply can’t think of anything that rhymes with ’solace’. Let’s face it, she’s no Sheena Easton, is she?

Read more »

I heard there was a new trailer out for M. Night Shyamalan’s new thing, The Happening. Starring Mark Wahlberg, it is - somewhat astoundingly - a supernatural thriller. His last commercial effort, The Lady in the Water, was critically acclaimed. Critically acclaimed as being complete rubbish, in fact.

Read more »