Raymond Bernard’s WOODEN CROSSES [LES CROIX DE BOIS], To Get Masters Of Cinema Release

Eureka! Entertainment have announced the release of WOODEN CROSSES [LES CROIX DE BOIS], from Raymond Bernard, the director of the epic and definitive French screen adaptation of Les misérables. Alongside All Quiet on the Western Front and Paths of Glory, Wooden Crosses is perhaps the greatest depiction of World War I ever put on screen. Presented from a dazzling new restoration carried out by Pathé in 2014 to mark the 100 years since the start of the war, Wooden Crosses is released in a Dual Format (Blu-ray and DVD edition) as part of the Masters of Cinema Series on 30 March 2015.




The film that most firmly established the talent of French director Raymond Bernard before his epic adaptation of Victor Hugo’s Les misérables, Wooden Crosses [Le croix de bois] was widely hailed at

the time of its release in 1932 for its searing depiction of the horrors of the European front during World War I; subsequently, Bernard was named soldier of honour of the 39th Infantry Division.

Adapted from a novel by Roland Dorgelès (a former corporal of the 39th), Wooden Crosses offers a kaleidoscope of cinematographic technique to present a visceral, enveloping recreation of one regiment’s experience of battlefield hell. (Its entire cast is comprised of war veterans.) It is an epic tapestry that rivals John Ford’s Four Sons and Lewis Milestone’s All Quiet on the Western Front in both its poetry of trauma and steadfastness of conviction that war must be held in contempt.

From a gorgeous new Pathé restoration carried out for the centenary for the start of the Great War, Raymond Bernard’s Wooden Crosses retains a ferocity that continues to reverberate across generations. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present this new restoration of the film in a special Dual Format (Blu-ray + DVD) edition.

SPECIAL DUAL FORMAT (BLU-RAY + DVD) EDITION:

• New HD 1080p presentation of the film from Pathé’s astonishing 2014 restoration
• Optional English subtitles
• Video interview with historian Marc Ferro and film historian Laurent Veray
• A short documentary on the new restoration
• Wooden Crosses: A Sonic Adventure, documentary exploring early sound design
• Archival interview with Roland Dorgelès
• Archival interview with Raymond Bernard
• Vintage 1914 newsreels
• Documentary piece on early 20th century poster artist Adrien Barrère
• The Absent Battle, the Omnipresent War, a collection of photography from WWI taken by André Schnellbach who served with Dorgelès in the 39th
• Booklet featuring a new and exclusive interview by film critic Emmanuel Burdeau, and rare archival material.

We hope to review this great film closer to release  which is 23rd March pre-order/order Wooden Crosses [Les Croix de Bois] (1932) [Masters of Cinema] Dual Format (Blu-ray & DVD)

Glasgow Film Festival Unveil Their 2015 Line Up With Noah Baumbach's While We're Young

The programme for the eleventh edition of Glasgow Film Festival was announced today, with an exciting, innovative, audience-focused festival packed with UK, European and World premieres, and the festival’s trademark pop-up cinema events making new use of some of the city’s most unusual venues. GFF15, which is supported by Glasgow City Marketing Bureau, EventScotland, Creative Scotland and BFI, will open with the European Premiere of Noah Baumbach’s While We’re Young, and close with the UK Premiere of Ruben Östlund’s Force Majeure. This year’s programme also offers an exciting new platform for early-career feature film directors, pays tribute to Ingrid Bergman as an early feminist icon and celebrates Glasgow as a city hooked on the silver screen.

In a major step forward, GFF has introduced a feature film award for the first time. The brand new Audience Award, which asks the ticket-buying public to vote on a selection of ten films by first and second-time directors, has been designed to showcase some exceptional early career talents creating pioneering and brilliant work, often on shoestring budgets without the backing and marketing power of major studios. The winner of the Audience Award will be announced at the Closing Gala. All film critics accredited for the festival are also offered the chance to vote on their favourite films from across the programme, and a Glasgow Film Festival Critics’ Choice list will be published after the festival.

Major UK premieres this year include Wim Wenders’ Oscar®-nominated documentary Salt of the

Earth and Still Alice, for which Julianne Moore is tipped to win the Best Actress Oscar®.It would'nt be a film festival without a Juliet Binoche film and Oliver Assayas' Clouds Of Sils Maria which also stars Chloe Grace Moretz and Kirsten Stewart an uncomfortable reflection of an actress agrees to take part in a play that launched her career.Dustin Hoffman is a choirmaster  who adopts an young boy to help develop his creative talents in Boychoir. Roy Andersson’s masterful reflection on the human condition unfolds in thirty nine meticulously composed tableaux vivants with A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence.Marshland,is a richly-textured Spanish murder mystery, like True Detective set in the Andaluz swamps.The Dark Horse a richly textured biopic of chess champion Gen Potini, featuring the performance of a lifetime by Once Were Warriors’ and soon to be lead in The Walking Dead Spin-off Cliff Curtis.

The magic of Film festivals is bringing the best of films from around the world to a screen near you and Glasgow Film Festival deliver that promise for those hoping to attend. In the 16 strands the festival has the Window On The World & Cinemasters strands delivering most distinctive films from around the globe with a big focus on China and Japan.Some of the fantastic highlights include a Danny Boyle's homage to Californian/Japan noir with Man From Reno, Berlin Golden Bear winner Black Coal, Thin Ice a broody atmospheric murder mystery set in 1999 Northern China. Zhang Zimou's look at national impact of the cultural revolution with Coming Home.Daihachi Yoshida's award winning Pale Moon and Uzumasa Limelight an utterly charming salute to the art of the background actor, by Ken Ochiai makes its European Premiere.

If you adore old classic films 'Here's Looking At You Kid' will celebrate the career of Golden age icon Ingrid Bergman with great selection of her films. From Casablanca, Notorious, Murder On The Orient Express to Spellbound are some of the classics on show all for £5 a ticket. Remember its not all about the films, Glasgow Film Festival has gained a great reputations for its film related events, The Glasgow Youth Film Festival  which will open with sci-fi thriller The Signal starring Laurence Fisburne , If horror is your thing Film Frighfest will be in attendance for it's 10th Anniversary selection of the best horror from around the world.

Head over to the website www.glasgowfilm.org/festival for full line up


OPENING GALA: While We’re Young **EUROPEAN PREMIERE**
,
“As acute and timely as they come... an almost perfect 90-minute hit of confident and inspired comedic commentary.” ★★★★★ Catherine Shoard, The Guardian
Growing older but feeling younger has rarely seemed as bittersweet as it does in the latest cautionary comedy from Frances Ha director Noah Baumbach. There are moments here to make everyone squirm with recognition and rock with laughter as Baumbach mines wry comic gold from an unexpected meeting of the generations. Filmmaker Josh (Ben Stiller) and his wife Cornelia (Naomi Watts) are settled in marriage and cosily stalled careers, while the rest of their forty-something pals are buried under babies and domesticity. Into their lives blast the twenty-something, fedora-wearing, aggressively urban hipsters Jamie (Adam Driver) and Darby (Amanda Seyfried), and the older couple are flattered and attracted by their attention and idealism. Offered a second chance at youth, who wouldn’t grab it? However, as their new best friends turn out to have a hidden agenda, the breezy comic tone deepens and darkens into something more profound. While We’re Young was a huge hit at Toronto International Film Festival, and we’re delighted to be able to introduce European audiences to the film.

Wednesday 18 February (19.00) | repeated Thursday 19 February (13.00, 15.30) | GFT

CLOSING GALA: Force Majeure **UK PREMIERE**

Winner: Best Foreign Language Film, Critics Choice Movie Awards

One single moment can change everything in a relationship, and that’s exactly what happens in Force Majeure, a brilliant, Cannes Jury Prize-winner destined to leave you debating long after the final credits. A happy family are on a skiing vacation in the French Alps when an avalanche heads inexorably towards their mountaintop restaurant. Tomas (Johannes Bah Kuhnke) grabs his mobile and runs, leaving his wife Ebba (Lisa Loven Kongsli) and their children to fend for themselves. His instinct for self-preservation is the spark for a scalpel-sharp examination of love, guilt and devotion that may be even more destructive than the avalanche. By creating the circumstances in which everything we take for granted is torn away, writer/director Ruben Östlund has found an ingenious way to explore the flaws and cracks in a marriage. Is there just an unbridgeable gap between the way men and women view the world? Prepare to battle for the moral high ground at the UK premiere of one of the year’s most audacious and gripping films.

Sunday 1 March (20.00) | GFT

Tickets for the main festival programme are on sale from 10am on Monday 26 January. Passes for FrightFest, GFF’s horror festival-within-the-festival, go on sale at 10am Thursday 22 January. The brochure will be available online from 19.15 on Wednesday 21 January at www.glasgowfilm.org/festival

Aussie Zombies To Spanish Zombies - Film4 Frightfest Unveil Their 10th Anniversary 2015 Glasgow Line-up

Kicking off with a special screening on Thurs 26 Feb and hosting eleven films on Fri Feb 27 and Sat 28 Feb, the UK’s favourite horror fantasy festival celebrates ten ‘gore-ious’ years at its second home at the Glasgow Film Festival with an all-exclusive slate of the freshest new horror films around.

The shocktacular line-up starts on Thurs 26 Feb in sumptuous Hammer-style with the UK premiere of the Edgar Allan Poe based ELIZA GRAVES featuring an all-star Hollywood cast, including Kate Beckinsale, Ben Kingsley, Jim Sturgess and Michael Caine.

Friday’s fearsome line-up kicks off with the European premiere of THE ATTICUS INSTITUTE, the paranormal activity shockumentary of the year, written and directed by Chris Sparling, who wrote ‘Buried’. This is followed by the World Premiere of THE HOARDER, starring an on-form Mischa Barton who uncovers the worst horrors in the dank depths of a storage unit facility. Next up is the riotous WYRMWOOD, the zombie black comedy full of catastrophic carnage and over-the-top 88, a glorious, gory and fast-paced homage to cult exploitation revenge thrillers. This is the World Premiere for April Mullen’s most graphic film to date, starring American Mary herself, Katharine Isabelle. Rounding off the evening in terrifying style is the European Premiere of THE ASYLUM (BACKMASK) – in which Marcus Nispel, director of ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ and ‘Friday The 13th’ remakes. takes us through a rampant landscape of sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll possession.

splatter. From Australian brothers Kiah and Tristan Roache-Turner, it’s the deadpan bloodbath everybody is talking about. The 9pm slot goes to

Getting the Saturday programme off to a nerve-jangling start is the UK premiere of the much anticipated and very disturbing CLOWN, produced by Eli Roth. This is followed by FrightFest’s popular retrospective slot which this year is Mario Bava’s BLOOD AND BLACK LACE, one of the most influential genre movies of all time. Next up is the World Premiere of THE WOODS MOVIE – a behind-the-scenes exclusive reveal to everything you ever needed to know about how ‘The Blair Witch Project’ was produced, shot and marketed to become a groundbreaking blockbusting classic. This has been directed, edited and scripted by Russell Gomm, who is a long-serving member of the FrightFest TV crew.

Saturday evening unfolds in gut-wrenching style. Mo Hayder is one of Britain’s most acclaimed crime authors, but it took the Flemish Film Industry to turn her bestseller THE TREATMENT into a smash Euro success and FrightFest is pleased to present the UK Premiere of this harrowing serial killer thriller. This is followed by a real treat…FrightFest unleashed the Spanish sensation [REC] onto unsuspecting audiences in Glasgow 2008 and the organisers are delighted to host the UK Premiere of Jaume Balagueró’s [REC]: APOCALYPSE, the shattering visceral conclusion to the global horror phenomenon. And to end the FrightFest carnival of carnage is the UK premiere of the creepy, brain-freezing THERE ARE MONSTERS, an instant cult classic and one of the scariest ‘under the radar’ movies of the year.

Alan Jones, co-director, said today: "It’s been a decade of the decayed. The Glasgow Film Festival has been an instrumental part of FrightFest’s ever-increasing success story in becoming the UK’s leading horror fantasy brand and we wanted to do something extra special to celebrate our prestigious tenth milestone. So it was important to us to showcase a whole range of brand new titles, many of which will not have entered the genre conscious yet, and have never been seen on UK shores before. Because our Scottish audiences have always admired FrightFest for its cutting edge quirkiness, and our 2015 line-up reflects that approach to the horror hilt".

With special guests, surprises on screen and off, new short films showcase surprises and the festival’s unique community feeling, FrightFest at GFF has now become a must-attend occasion on the horror fantasy fan's calendar.

The festival’s guest line-up will be announced shortly,

To book tickets:
+44 (0)141 332 6535 / boxoffice@glasgowfilm.org / www.glasgowfilm.org/festival

Please note that FrightFest passes go on sale Thurs 22 from 10am. Price: £70. This covers all films on 27 & 28 Feb only.
Tickets for ‘Eliza Graves’ and the Fri/Sat films will go on sale Mon 26 Jan from 10am. Prices: £9, £7 (concession).

Check out the specially made 2015 Film 4 Frightfest Glasgow Showreel

THURSDAY 26 FEBRUARY – GFT Screen 2

21:00 ELIZA GRAVES (UK Premiere)

Synopsis: When young Doctor Edward Newgate (Jim Sturgess) arrives at Stonehearst Asylum in search of an apprenticeship he is warmly welcomed by superintendent Doctor Lamb (Ben Kingsley). At first, intrigued by Lamb’s modern methods of treating the insane, a series of events and warnings from the stunningly beautiful Eliza Graves (Kate Beckinsale) lead him to make a shocking discovery. It’s a revelation that exposes Lamb’s medical utopia and pushes Edward to the limits of his conscience. Nobody is who or what they appear to be. Based on the Edgar Allan Poe story ‘The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether’.

Director: Brad Anderson Screenwriter: Joe Gangemi 112 mins USA 2014
Cast: Kate Beckinsale, Ben Kingsley, Jim Sturgess, Michael Caine

FRIDAY 27 FEBRUARY – GFT Screen 1



13:00: THE ATTICUS INSTITUTE (European Premiere)

Synopsis: Dr. Henry West (William Mapother) founded The Atticus Institute in the 1970s to study telekinesis, clairvoyance E.S.P. and other unexplained psi-related phenomena. Thousands of subjects were tested using scientific methods many of whom showed abilities defying explanation by known physical laws. But just after West published the promising results of their research work, the small facility was mysteriously shut down in November 1976 by a concerned US Government. The reason? They met Judith Winstead (Rya Kihlstedt) whose supernatural abilities tested far beyond anything ever before witnessed.

Director: Chris Sparling Writer: Chris Sparling 92 mins USA 2015
Cast: William Mapother, Rya Kihlstedt, Rob Kerkovich

16:00 THE HOARDER (World Premiere)
Synopsis: When Ella (Mischa Barton) discovers her Wall Street banker boyfriend is renting a secret storage unit, she suspects he’s using it to hide an affair. Enlisting the help of her best friend Molly (Emily Atack) she breaks into the facility only to discover something more terrifying instead. Now trapped in a darkened building with a group of neurotic strangers who start disappearing one by one, Ella soon uncovers even worse horror in the dank depths. Her life or death battle to escape eternal enslavement is about to begin….

Director: Matt Winn Screenwriters: James Handel, Matt Winn, Chris Denne 84 mins UK 2015
Cast: Mischa Barton, Robert Knepper, Charlotte Salt

18:30 WYRMWOOD (UK Premiere)

Synopsis: A post-apocalyptic zombie invasion, caused by a wayward comet, turns personal for Barry, an Oz mechanic (Jay Gallagher) when his sister Brooke (Bianca Bradey) is abducted by a sinister team of gas-masked soldiers for flesh-eating experiments by a mad scientist. Sporting MAD MAX-style designs, a glorious sense of humour, energetic execution, new and outrageous zombie lore and KC and the Sunshine Band, this super-fresh spin on a favourite genre is a raucous riot of black comedy, catastrophic carnage and over-the-top splatter.

Director: Kiah Roache-Turner Screenwriters: Kiah Roache-Turner, Tristan Roache-Turner
98 mins Australia 2014
Cast: Jay Gallagher, Bianca Bradey, Leon Burchill

21:00 88 (World Premiere)

Synopsis: Gwen (Katharine Isabelle) arrives disheveled at a mysterious roadside diner. But who is she really because she has no idea where she is or how she got there in such an anguished state. Split between two timelines, Gwen gets taken on a violence-fuelled journey into death and destruction and becomes the most wanted woman in Tennessee seeking out the person responsible for her lover's murder.

Director: April Mullen Screenwriters: Tom Doiron, April Mullen 88 mins Canada 2015
Cast: Katharine Isabelle, Christopher Lloyd, Michael Ironside

23:15 THE ASYLUM (BACKMASK) (European Premiere)

Synopsis: Six teens throw a party in a rundown building and find a vintage record. Talk turns to ‘backmasking’ - subliminal messages recorded onto a music groove heard only when the track is played backwards – and they play the vinyl for a giggle. Soon a seemingly malevolent entity has infiltrated the group, wreaking havoc. However the spirit is actually trying to convey a message and the real source of horror is something - or someone - much closer to home.

Director: Marcus Nispel Screenwriters, Marcus Nispel, Kirsten Elms 90 mins USA 2015
Cast: Stephen Lang, Brett Dier, Brittany Curran

SATURDAY 28 FEBRUARY – GFT Screen 1



11.00 CLOWN (UK Premiere)

Synopsis: When the entertainer hired for his son’s sixth birthday party is a no-show, doting father Kent dons a clown outfit himself. But after the festivities, he finds he can’t take it off – the bulbous nose is stuck to his face, the frizzy wig glued to his hair and the make-up permanently etched on his features. Too late he learns the costume is the skin of an ancient demon and his family must race to break the curse before the transformation into a homicidal killer with outsize shoes is complete.

Director: John Watts Screenwriters: Christopher D. Ford, John Watts 102 mins USA / Canada 2014
Cast: Peter Stormare, Eli Roth, Laura Allen

13:30 BLOOD AND BLACK LACE (Retrospective Premiere)

Synopsis: Six models at Contessa Cristina Como’s chic Rome fashion house are tortured and violently murdered by a ghost-like masked psychopath for a telltale diary containing incriminating scandal. A chiller way ahead of its time and considered the main evolutionary starting point for the entire giallo genre that would inspire Dario Argento, this key masterpiece of menace is presented here in all its restored glory.

Director: Mario Bava Screenwriters: Mario Bava, Giuseppe Barilla, Marcello Fondato 88 mins Italy 1964 (Subtitled)
Cast: Cameron Mitchell, Eva Bartok, Lea Lander

16:00 THE WOODS MOVIE (World Premiere)
Synopsis: In October 1997, a group of filmmakers ventured into the Maryland woods to produce a low budget independent horror movie. THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT would become a global phenomenon and began the ‘found footage’ genre that remains a potent force today. Now for the first time you can see how that record-breaking groundbreaker came into being. From never-before-seen recordings of pre-production meetings, audition tapes and test footage to the actual shooting, first preview screenings and marketing at the Sundance Film Festival, all the key personnel guide you through the discussions and decisions that minted a shock sensation classic.

Director: Russell Gomm Screenwriter: Russell Gomm 84 mins USA 2015
Cast: Edward Sanchez, Daniel Myrick, Gregg Hale

18:30 THE TREATMENT/DE BEHANDELING (UK Premiere)

Synopsis: Nordic Noir turns frighteningly Flemish in Belgium’s top-grossing film of 2014 based on the serial-killer chiller by acclaimed British author Mo Hayder. Inspector Nick Cafmeyer (Geert Van Rampelberg) is haunted by the unsolved disappearance of his younger brother. A known sex offender was questioned but quickly released who now takes fiendish pleasure in tormenting Nick. Now another similar case comes to disturbing light involving a missing juvenile and Nick’s real nightmare begins…

Director: Hans Herbots Screenwriters: Mo Hayder, Carl Joos 125 mins Belgium 2014 (Subtitled)
Cast: Geert Van Rampelberg, Ina Geerts, Johan van Assche

21:30 [REC]: APOCALYPSE (UK Premiere)

Synopsis: Picking up the intense action immediately after [REC] 2 - expanding on the mythos from all three predecessors, plus referencing cult genre classics - TV reporter Ángela Vidal (Manuela Velasco) is extracted from the cursed apartment building and taken to a high-security quarantine facility aboard an oil tanker. There, in the bowels of the dark and desolate ship, Dr. Ricarte (Héctor Colomé) is experimenting with the infectious virus to find a cure before another living dead outbreak occurs.

Director: Jaume Balagueró Screenwriters: Jaume Balagueró and Manu Diez Spain 2014 96 mins
Cast: Manuela Velasco, Paco Manzenado, Héctor Colomé

23:30 THERE ARE MONSTERS (UK Premiere)
Synopsis: Monsters are taking over the world, slowly, quietly and efficiently, but you won’t see them coming until it’s far too late! Four film students embark on a road trip to obtain promotional interviews for their college. However en route they witness a series of odd events, strange behaviour, shocking actions and what seems to be surplus of twins. Their well-ordered universe literally changes before their camera lenses uncovering a terrifying secret lurking just under the seemingly calm urban landscape.

Director: Jay Dahl Screenwriter: Jay Dahl Canada 2014 96 mins
Cast: Matthew Amyotte, Jason Daley, Michael Ray Fox

Stanley Kubrick's The Killing To Get Arrow Academy February Blu-ray Release

BFI To Release Feng Xiaogang's Back To 1942 Starring Adrien Brody, Tim Robbins, Watch UK Trailer

From acclaimed director Feng Xiaogang (Aftershock, Assembly) comes this breathtaking war epic which revisits one of the most catastrophic periods of 20th-century Chinese history – the famine in Back to 1942 will be released by the BFI on 23 February 2014 on both DVD and Blu-ray with additional special features.

Henan Province during the 1942 Sino-Japanese War. Previously unavailable in the UK,

Zhang Guoli stars as Master Fan, a wealthy landlord who loses everything when he and his family flee their famine-stricken hometown. Academy Award-winner Adrien Brody (The Pianist) co-stars as a courageous American journalist who encounters the horrors of the famine first-hand and endeavours to enlist relief-aid from the Chinese government and expose the plight of the Henan refugees.

Awe-inspiring action and intelligent characterisation combine to masterful effect in this explosive blockbuster.

Back to 1942 was screened at BFI Southbank last February, attended by director Feng Xiaogang, ahead of the major BFI season A Century of Chinese Cinema.



Back To 1942 will arrive in UK on DVD&Blu-ray on 23rd February and we hope to review this closer to release. The film Guoli Zhang, Hanyu Zhang, Wei Fan and of course Hollywood Stars Adrien Brody, Tim Robbins.

Pre-Order/Buy Back To 1942 (Blu-ray Edition which comes a host of extras  which include original trailers, promoreel, a couple of short features. The blu-ray also exclusively have 2 extra features which give a running time of  80 minutes  between them.

Film Review - The Gambler (2014)

Genre:
Crime, Drama, Thriller
Distributor;
Paramount Pictures
Release Date:
23rd January 2015 (UK)
Rating: 15
Director:
Ruper Wyatt
Cast:
Mark Whalberg, John Goodman, Jessica Lange, Brie Larsson, Michael Kenneth Williams, Gordon Kennedy
Rupert Wyatt’s remake of the 1974 drama, The Gambler serves up little justification for its existence beyond a few decent all-or-nothing moments of gambling insanity. Occasionally fun, often embarrassing, this stalled-then-revived Scorsese pet project gets bogged down with inane dialogue and the questionable casting of its leading man.

Jim Bennett (Mark Wahlberg) lands himself in a whole heap of debt after blowing his wad in a casino owned by a Korean gang. His plan to extricate himself from his financial mess involves borrowing even more money and gambling that in a double-or-quits spin of the roulette wheel. He loses and ends up owing over $300,000 with 7 days to pay or be whacked.

There’s certainly some joy to be had watching Walhberg’s laissez-fare, addict attempt to gamble his way out of debt, grinding himself further into the ground and slowly towards his apparent doom. Despite the sleazy giddiness of the gambling scenes though, there’s a fundamental problem with this daft betting drama.

If your protagonist is a self-destructive gambling addict then, yes, by all means cast Mark Wahlberg in that role. If your protagonist is also an author and associate professor of English literature at a university, then for God’s sake don’t hand that role to a former rapper and underwear model. Wahlberg’s performance in this provides no real evidence to suggest that he has ever read a book, never mind written one. As he blathers on about Shakespeare and the source of genius, you start to seriously doubt the wisdom of any college dean who would place Wahlberg’s remote, depressed and wildly idiotic lecturer in charge of the sculpting of young literary minds.

There are laudable supporting performances from Jessica Lange, John Goodman and Michael K Williams, but these too are often hamstrung by moments of incredulity. An expletive-laden conversation between Goodman and Walhberg about the joys of saying “fuck you” to your enemies seems to veer into Lynchian moments of arch-surrealism. Williams, in a moment of baffling,

childlike optimism, proudly boasts his intention to quit the crime racket, go straight and establish an avocado farm. It’s exchanges like those which draw attention to the vein of absurdity running through the whole film and mark it out as a bit of a busted flush.

★★
Chris Banks

Kodi Smit-McPhee Is All Grown Up Full Of Angst In All The Wilderness Trailer

It's been a long time since we first met Kodi Smit-McPhee and since The Road and Let Me In he's done a lot of growing up and in his latest film he's once again unleashing his teen angst, watch the official  trailer for All The Wilderness.

In The Road as The Boy his childhood was stolen from him thanks to an apocalyptic event, In Let Me In bullying destroyed him and in All The Wilderness he's a young man struggling to cope with the death of his father. He attends counselling meeting a psychiatrist (Danny Devito) who through his visit meets Val (Isabelle Fuhrman) another patient who introduces him to a whole new world that changes his life.

On paper this looks like it maybe another generic coming of age story but reading reviews from it's festivl runs it looks like its better executed than other entries. The film also further shows the talent that Smit-McPhee is becoming too, Beautifully shot and with a film soundtrack  which has the likes of Sigur Ros on it should see this film get some form of release in UK&Ireland.

All The Wilderness is due for a limited/VOD Release in USA on 20th February co-starring Virigina Marsden and Evan Moss.

Synopsis
James (Kodi-Smit-McPhee) has shut himself off from his surroundings, falling into a world of imagination and darkness. Visits with his psychiatrist (Danny Devito) have proven unhelpful – though he takes a liking to fellow patient, Val (Isabelle Fuhrman). As James begins to rebel against his single mother (Virginia Madsen), he ventures into the night where he meets a mysterious kid (Evan Ross) who welcomes him into an eccentric city. Relationships are put to the test as James navigates unfamiliar territory, wrestling with the reality of his own personal wilderness.

source: Apple

Blu-ray Review - The Thief of Bagdad (1940)

Genre
Adventure, Fantasy
Distributor:
Network
Release Date:
26th January 2015
Rating: U
Director:
Michael Powell, Ludwig Berger, Tim Whelan
Cast: Conrad Veidt, Sabu, John Justin, June Duprez
Buy: Blu-ray The Thief of Bagdad
The Thief of Bagdad is one of the benchmarks of fantasy cinema. It is a remake of the earlier silent version with Douglas Fairbanks, even though both are very different. It also happens to be one of the first major films directed by Michael Powell, however like The Wizard of Oz, there were many directors: 3 credited and 3 uncredited. With that being said, the film certainly has Powell’s stamp on it.

Admad (John Justin) is imprisoned by the evil warlock Grand Vizier Jaffar (Conrad Veidt), despite being the rightful heir to the throne of Bagdad. With the help of the thief Abu (Sabu), Admad escapes, and together they go on a fantastical adventure. Admad, now blinded, tries to win back the Princess (June Deprez) and in doing so, must defeat the evil Jaffar.

The film’s greatest strengths are the special effects and cinematography. The film is the first major picture to use extensive blue-screen. Due to the primitive nature of effects at the time, it is visible, yet it is still used in breath-taking ways. The film has two centrepieces: the encounter with Djinn the genie, and even more impressive spider web sequence. The spider sequence terrified a young Terry Gilliam so much so that he would, “wake up in the middle of the night trapped in that spider web, all my bedclothes wrapped around me.” The special effects naturally won the Oscar as did the art direction and cinematography.

The cinematography is as lush and colourful as you would expect from Michael Powell. It was shot by the French cinematographer George Perinal who Powell must have enjoyed working with, as he did so again on The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp. Powell would also work with him again on his later film Honeymoon, however Jack Cardiff, or his former camera operator Christopher Challis, shot many of the classic Powell and Pressburger films.

The Thief of Bagdad should be re-discovered, and hopefully thanks to the new Blu-ray release by Network it will. It has influenced directors as diverse as Terry Gilliam, Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola. The only real shame in the release is that it’s bonus features are limited to the original theatrical trailer and image galleries.

★★★★
Ian Schultz