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Watch Pan's Labyrinth Video Essay on 'Disobedient Fairy Tale'

The Battle Has Begun In The Trailer For Fire City: End Of Days

Win Ragnarok - The Viking Apocalypse On DVD

To celebrate the release of Ragnarok The Viking Apocalypse, the fast-paced throwback to the kind of old-school Spielberg action we all grew up on - coming to DVD 2nd February 2015 - we have a copy to giveaway courtesy of Studiocanal.

Think the Goonies meets Jurassic Park, or Indiana Jones with a Lord Of The Rings twist.

Fast-paced, gripping but most of all fun, Ragnarok is ridiculously entertaining. And, as a bonus extra, it’ll help Marvel fans swot up on viking mythology ahead of Thor: Ragnarok. So, exciting AND educational, what more could movie fans want?

“Ragnarok is the closest you're going to get to a new Steven Spielberg movie in the manner of Jurassic Park or Raiders of the Lost Ark” Sound on Sight

Available to order on Amazon today: http://amzn.to/1tDgPgv

Archaeologist Sigurd Svendsen has for years been obsessed with the Oseberg Viking ship. The only inscription found on the ship is the enigmatic ‘man knows little’ written in runes. Sigurd is sure that the Oseberg ship contains the answer to the mystery of Ragnarok, the end of days in Norse mythology. When his friend Allan finds similar runes on a stone from the north of Norway, Sigurd becomes convinced that the runes are in fact a treasure map. Together they mount an expedition group and their adventure leads to “No man’s Land” between Norway and Russia, which has been deserted for decades. Here Sigurd learns the true meaning of the runes – a secret more terrifying than he could possibly imagine.



To Win a copy of Ragnarok The Viking Apocalypse, please answer the following question...

Q.Name the 'Viking'Film directed By Nicholas Winding Refn starring a near dialogue free Mads Mikklesen?

Deadline is Sunday 8th February 2015 (23:59pm),If you haven’t done already Like us and stay with us at our Facebook page (if you are already liking us just share this post on twitter and facebook). Must be 13  or older to enter.

1.The competition is not opened to employees, family, friends of The Peoples Movies, Arrow Films .13 years or older to enter 3.Failure to include any information required to enter could result in your entry been void.  4.automated entries are not allowed and will be disqualified, which could result you been banned, DO NOT INCLUDE telephone numbers as for security reason your entry will be deleted.5.If you are friend or like us at facebook for every competition you enter you get double entry, but you must stay friend/like us all the time,or future entries maybe considered one entry if you are liking us share the post on facebook and re-tweet the post.6.The Peoples Movies, Cinehouse takes no responsibility for delayed, lost, stolen prizes 7.Prizes may take from days to a few months for delivery which is out of our control so please do not complain 8.The winning entries will be picked at random and contacted by email for postal details and will be announced via facebook, sometimes we are unable to confirm winners. Uk & Irish entries only

UK Competitions and Prize Draws at UKwins
Loquax Competitions
Free Competitions
ThePrizeFinder – UK Competitions

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

DVD Review - Master Of The World (1961)

Blu-Ray Review - Big Trouble In Little China (1986)

Genre:
Fantasy, adventure, comedy
Distributor:
Arrow Video
Rating:
12
BD Release Date:
16th December 2013
Director:
John Carpenter
Cast:
Kurt Russell, Kim Cattrall, Dennis Dun, James hong
Buy Big Trouble In Little China: Steelbook Blu-ray or Blu-ray [Amazon]
Big Trouble in Little China was made John Carpenter when some Hollywood success had came his way with Christine and Starman. Carpenter had redeemed himself in the eyes of Hollywood after the financial disaster of the now acknowledged modern classic The Thing. Carpenter was allowed to make the mad cap Big Trouble and in many ways he paid for it. It was dumbed by the studio in question 20th Century Fox and was a flop but as usual with Carpenter has became something of a cult classic in the following years.

Big Trouble stars Carpenter’s alter ego Kurt Russell as Jack Burton, a sort of an absurdist John Wayne type character. He meets old friend Wang and wins a card match against him. Wang doesn’t have the money and needs to pick him his fiancée from the airport but she is kidnapped for her green eyes and is selected to be a Chinese sorcerer David Lo Pan who is over thousand years old. They must rescue her before it’s too late.

It’s one of Carpenter’s most bizarre films, which is partly due to W. D. Richter’s re-write who was the director of the equally madcap The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension. It was originally a western set in 1880s but Richter totally rewrote it only using the original idea of the sorcerer. It’s just truly ridiculous from the beginning to the end and that’s a lot of the appeal. It’s not trying to be serious and knows it’s stupid and ridiculous but that’s what appealed to Russell and Carpenter in the first place.

It’s a really fun film but John Carpenter would follow it with his anarchist masterpiece They Live! which becomes more and more relevant as the years pass. Kurt Russell gives a very fine almost screwball comedy esq. performance in the vein of Cary Grant in Howard Hawks’ films. The real star however is Dennis Dun as Wang who carries the film.

As usual with Arrow Video it boosts a fantastic transfer along with new interviews with Carpenter, Russell along with the cinematographer, producer Larry Franco and even a stuntman. It also includes the commentary, vintage featurette, deleted scenes and music video that were on the previous release.

★★★★☆

Ian Schultz

TIFF 2013 Review - Horns

Rating:
15
TIFF Release Date:
6th & 8th September
Director:
Alexandre Aja
Cast:
Juno Temple, Max Minghella, Joe Anderson, Heather Graham, David Morse
Based on the bestselling novel by Joe Hill (that’s horror maestro Stephen King’s son), Horns is a spellbinding gothic fairy tale that tackles lost love and the pits of human nature to deliver one of the most enjoyable horror flicks in some time. This was one of the highlights of this year's Toronto International Film Festival.

Ig Perrish (Daniel Radcliffe) wakes up one day to find he has grown a set of horns that grant him strange abilities. Haunted by the brutal murder of his girlfriend (Juno temple) and hounded by the people of his town who blame him, he decides to use those abilities to help exact his brtal revenge on the true killer.

As Ig quickly unravels the conspiracy, people can’t help confiding in him- and more often than not acting out- their most primal desires. So matter where he goes he leaves a trail of destruction, at times shamelessly depraved (see Heather Graham’s role as a sadistic waitress) at others touching. The humour is transferred seamlessly from book to screen, encapsulating the most realistic aspects of Ig’s condition and wrapping them with such charm and glee that there are more than just a few laugh-out-loud moments.

It’s not all black comedy though; Alexandre Aja (Switchblade Romance, The Hills Have Eyes 2006) understands the most important aspect of this story: at its heart, under the sharp, devilish humour and zany plot points, Horns is a romance. His attentions towards Ig and Merrin’s relationship, the heart-breaking fate of it and the superb casting of Radcliffe-Temple provides a believable base from which all other facets of the plot can grow from. Radcliffe has here stepped into full fruition as an actor, removing doubts of his post-Potter significance by seizing the down-and-out lover and relaying him with such torment and tenderness that the film often pulls at heartstrings whilst making you laugh and cower at the brutality of its more visceral scenes.

One of the few gripes with the film would be its bombastic and- at points -choppy music choice and editing which shake you out of Aja’s near-masterpiece. When the rest of the film has such a unity of vision, it’s a shame some of those soundtrack choices hit a gimmicky note, but it’s a small gripe in the face of such an enjoyable film. Similarly, the finale gets a bit stretched, but it’s difficult to talk realism on the subject of the Devil.

Consistently brilliant, horrific, and hilarious, Horns flaunts Radcliffe’s best performance to date and the claim to be one of the most touching horror films of recent years. This is a fantastic piece of filmmaking and a great addition to Aja’s repertoire.

★★★★☆

Scott Clark

Win Escape On DVD

To celebrate the arrival of the stunning thriller ‘Escape’ - out on DVD 29th July through Entertainment One - we have a copy to give away to one lucky winner!

From the talented makers of the ‘Cold Prey’ horror trilogy and starring the utterly sublime Ingrid Bolsø Berdal, ‘Escape’ is a fast-paced rollercoaster action-thriller which follows the death-defying journey of a young girl who must escape a pack of bandits, led by the vicious and beautiful Dagmar (Berdal) before they take her to a fate much worse than death.

Ten years after the Black Plague ravaged their country, a poor family sets out on a journey for a new home. On a remote mountain pass, they are attacked by a band of merciless killers led by the vicious Dagmar (Ingrid Bolsø Berdal) and the only one spared is young Signe (Isabel Christine Andreasen), who is taken hostage. At the gang’s camp she meets fellow kidnap victim Frigg (Milla Olin) and learns that a terrible fate awaits her. There is nothing for it but to escape, but Dagmar will not let Signe go that easily…

We have a copy of Escape on DVD to give away and to win it please answer the following question:



Deadline to enter this competition is Sunday 12th August 2013 (11;59pm) and you must be 15 or older to enter

If you haven’t done already Like us and stay with us at our Facebook page (if you are already liking us just share this post)

Terms&Conditions:
1.The competition is not opened to employees, family, friends of The Peoples Movies, Cinehouse, Entertainment One employees who have the right to alter, change or offer alternative prize without any notice.2.All The Peoples Movies entries must be done via contact form. deadline Sunday 12th August 2013 (23:59pm) 15 years or older to enter 3.Failure to include any information required to enter could result in your entry been void.  4.automated entries are not allowed and will be disqualified, which could result you been banned, DO NOT INCLUDE telephone numbers as for security reason your entry will be deleted.5.If you are friend or like us at facebook for every competition you enter you get double entry, but you must stay friend/like us all the time,or future entries maybe considered one entry if you are liking us share the post on facebook and re-tweet the post.6.The Peoples Movies, Cinehouse takes no responsibility for delayed, lost, stolen prizes 7.Prizes may take from days to a few months for delivery which is out of our control so please do not complain 8.The winning entries will be picked at random and contacted by email for postal details and will be announced via facebook, sometimes we are unable to confirm winners. Uk & Irish entries only.

UK Competitions and Prize Draws at UKwins
Loquax Competitions
Free Competitions
ThePrizeFinder – UK Competitions

Watch Terry Gilliam's Short The Wholly Family

Missing something? A big gap in your cinematic life anything to do with a certain one Terry Gilliam? Probably. whilst we wait for The Zero Theorem to arrive later this year or early next year the ex-Monty Python member back in 2011 had been busy making a 20 minute short called The Wholly Family for Italian pasta company Garofalo. Set in the company's home town of Naples the short film is part of an annual series to promote the city starring Cristiana Capotondi, Douglas Dean, Nicolas Connolly and Sergio Solli. The film is full of Gilliam's trademark, visual, fantastical storytelling  but most of humor, the film has been playing at various European film festivals with best short film at European Film Awards and now the film is available online in its full glory.

BlizzardKid Shorts Award 2012 - The Wholly Family from BlizzardKid on Vimeo.

A crowded street in Naples city center, plenty of shops selling presepi. A wealthy American couple and Jake, their 10 years-old child, try to push their way through the crowd. While husband and wife argue which street to take, the boy is unwillingly separated from them.

source:ThePlaylist

Not All Fairytale Ending In Short The Little Mermaid

When you mention The Little Mermaid you automatically think of  The Disney animated film but like many literature classics they get adapted over and over again. In Nicholas Humpries short film he takes the classic Hans Christian Anderson fairytale twisted the imagery into something captivating,unsettling as the mermaid struggles for freedom.

The Little Mermaid is part Vancouver Film School’s “Compendium” series, enjoy the full short visually brilliant.

Deep in a barren, fantastical wasteland lays a dilapidated circus tent. Inside, an ominous ringmaster forces his prized act, a real live mermaid to perform for a group of grimy, working class spectators. The mermaid, though frightening, is but a lovesick, caged animal praying for release from her endless torture. Unwilling to surrender his meal ticket, the ringmaster rejects her pleas for compassion and continues to confine the mermaid to her stagnant holding tank. With nowhere to escape to, the mermaid must make the choice between holding on to the hope of freedom and putting an end to her abuse.
Produced by Samantha Jewell, Lindsey Mann, Justin Simon and Aliya Tarmo through the VFS Compendium series and Directed by Nicholas Humphries (Riese: Kingdom Falling), The Little Mermaid is a twisted reimagining of the classic Hans Christian Anderson tale.

source:Quietearth 

Watch UK Trailer For Beasts Of The Southern Wind

Since its debut away back at this years Sundance film festival, Beasts Of The Southern Winds has been a hit at every festival its been too, sweeping the awards that's been nominated for.  Featuring an awards-touted performance from it's 8-year old star Quvenzhane Wallis, it glows with an irrepressible and life-affirming power that has enchanted audiences and critics at worldwide.

To celebrate the Beasts of The Southern Wind UK release this October Studiocanal today have sent us the UK trailer. 

In a forgotten but defiant bayou community cut off from the world by a sprawling levee, six year-old Hushpuppy exists on the brink of orphanhood. Her mother long gone, and her father Wink a wildman on a perpetual spree, Hushpuppy is left to her own devices on an isolated compound filled with semi-feral animals. She perceives the natural world to be a fragile web of living, breathing, squirting things, in which the entire universe depends on everything fitting together just right. So when a hundred year storm raises the waters around her town, her daddy is suddenly stricken with illness, and fierce pre-historic creatures awaken from their frozen graves to come charging across the planet, Hushpuppy sees the natural order of everything she holds dear collapsing around her. Desperate to repair the structure of her world in order to save her ailing father and sinking home, this tiny hero must learn to survive an unstoppable catastrophe of epic proportions.

Waters gonna rise up, wild animals gonna re-run from the grave, and everything south of the levee is goin' under, in this tale of a six year-old named Hushpuppy, who lives with her daddy at the edge of the world.

Like the Raid I've tried my best to avoid the press, any previous footage to make sure the film is coming to UK, saving my enjoyment for the release and has helped me climb onboard the buzz for film .Beasts of The Southern Wind  is finally coming to UK&Ireland October 19th thanks to Studiocanal and don't be surprised when February comes it will be picking up at least a Oscar award especially it's bright young star who is only 8 years old!. The film also stars Dwight Henry, Levi Easterly, and Gina Montana.

Watch The Children's Dark Fantasy Short Lost For Words

The world can be a magical place to a child but it's also be a dangerous one which was a theme that kids fantasy films used to play however things ave changed. Every seems to be a little dull too squeeky clean, over stylised predictable however Canadian filmmaker Sean Wainsteim  remembers when we embraced the dark elements in his superb 10 minute short Lost For Words, a short film love-letter to the libraries I grew up in and the stories and illustrations that found me there. An unusual girl leads a naive lost little boy through an eerie fairy-tale land filled with fantastic creatures and powerful words.

enjoy....

Lost For Words from Sean Wainsteim on Vimeo.

source: Twitch