V/H/S DVD Review

If I’ve said it once I’ve said it a thousand times; found footage horror is a dry well. Once a potent concept that had us all quaking in our boots with genre highlights like The Blair Witch Project and even things like Paranormal Activity, the shaky cam low-res high-tension thing has inevitably worn thin thanks to a myriad of badly sculpted films out to make big bucks on small money. Of late there’s been an outcry from the horror audience, the word is out and it’s getting pasted here there and everywhere, V/H/S has arrived to save the day and pull the handheld cam back into respectability and give us all a good reason to take up insomnia. The general opinion ain’t that far off the truth. When a film pops up written and directed by such an eclectic mix: Adam Wingard (A Horrible Way To Die), Ti West (House of the Devil), David Bruckner(The Signal), Glenn McQuaid (I Sell the Dead), Joe Swanberg (Hannah Takes the Stairs), and the directing quartet known as Radio Silence, you can’t help but get interested.

Following the format of an old-school anthology horror, V/H/S reveals the dire doings of a group of social misfits hired by a shadowy employer to break into a house and steal a video tape, a tape they are told they will know on sight. Arriving at the deserted household the group find a dead body slumped in an armchair facing a few TV’s and a stack of video cassettes. As the group split up to search for the tape, watching them one by one, it becomes evident that something isn’t right. The tapes document bizarre, brutal, and terrifying events but that’s not the only thing the hapless group have to fear.

The great thing about V/H/S is that there’s something for everyone. The short segments are all weird and wonderfully horrific, but as with anything some ideas don’t quite take off. Through all the segments there winds the careful writing of obvious horror fans combined with the sometimes gentle and creepy/sometimes visceral direction of guys who know their stuff. For horror aficionados there’s enough role reversal and unanswered questions to fill a hundred film theory essays. Female roles seem to be toyed with with glee, male roles get dragged through the muck, every segment is balanced with reality and heart against fantasy and gore. Problems show up in some of the films when there’s no one to relate to, no real hero or heroine to guide us, just a large group of very weird/silly/stupid/horrific human beings and “other”. In fact V/H/S could probably be renamed something like “How Boisterous Jocks in Motels Cause Hell”, or “She’s Not What You Think”. It’s that clever reliance on horror tropes  that puts the film above others since it then pulls the other way just to teach you for thinking you were smart.

Amateur Night is horror 101: jocks try to take advantage of girls, everything goes horribly wrong. Tuesday 17^th is essentially a slasher with a pretty fantastic idea for a villain that genuinely scares. The Sick Thing That Happened to Emily When She Was Younger is polarising since it features possibly the best scare out the lot, but has some wobbly moments of overexposure and an ending that could leave you disappointed. 10/31/98 is a real gem; essentially a haunted house story with an initially clueless group of guys stumbling into what they think is a well-set-up house of Halloween horror. The imagery here is stupendous, macabre in a Clive Barker’s Lord of Illusions kind of way, flaunting some really intense sequences and a killer finale. The frame structure of the break-in denies us answers no matter how hard you think then gives us shit-in-pants scares for our troubles.

A key strong-point of the piece is the relentless curiosity it inspires. A failure to Ta-da a reveal in all sequences results in a more engaging experience overall, though some viewers will no-doubt find it infuriating/ disappointing before rewarding. Too often, explanations cock-up an otherwise riveting affair so here the guys have reserved outlandish reasoning just to screw with our heads. I don’t doubt there’s a possible and awesome plot behind each piece; I just don’t think we need it.

Though, the found footage thing does at points get tiresome and the stories at times flit between fantastic and meh, there’s still fun to be had in this mixed bag. It’s still well written, at times genius, and definitely worth a watch, this is a must-see for horror fans and a welcome surprise to the found footage sub-genre.

— Scott Clark

★★★★☆

Rating: 18
UK DVD/BD Release: 28th January 2013
Stars: Calvin Reeder, Joe Swanberg ,Jas Sams
Directors: Adam Wingard, David Bruckner, Ti West, Glenn McQuaid, Joe Swanberg

Buy V/H/S: DVD / Blu-ray

Much A Do About Something! Glasgow Film Festival Launches 2013 Programme

On the day the first major film festival of the year Sundance opens in USA, the first official major film festival Glasgow Film Festival launches its 2013 programme which is nothing but exceptional.

Love will be in the air as the the 9th edition of the festival as the festival will open with 2 romantically  themed film with the opening film Régis Roinsard’s Populaire starring French heart throb Romain Duris , The Artist's Bérénice Bejo and Déborah François.If you ever wondered what Joss Whedon did after Avengers Assemble  its making the closing gala film Much A do About Something. A contemporary reworking of William Shakespeare's classic Play created in 12 days with a bunch of friends which include the likes of  Amy Acker , Alexis Denisof, Fran Kranz, Clark Gregg, this is Whedon's foray into arthouse cinema. Populaire will open the festival on Valentine's Day 14 February, Much A Do About Nothing closing the festival on 24th February Oscars night, both films are UK premiere's.

In between these two great films this is where Glasgow Film Festival show their progression, strength with other 50 screenings many of them UK, European some cases World Premieres. Fans of Blue Valentine will be eager to see Derek Cianfrance's follow up The Place Beyond The Pines (UK première)starring Ryan Gosling,  Eren Creevy’s Welcome To The Punch starring James McAvoy, Mark Strong will deliver some UK action. 2013 seems to be the year Korea's finest film makers try take over Hollywood  when  Park Chan-Wook's anticipated chiller Stoker starring Mia Wasikowska, Nicole Kidman will take over Glasgow. Fans of Nicole Kidman will be delighted to see the actress will be making a second appearance t Glasgow Film Festival as you can catch in Lee Daniel's The Paperboy which stars Matthew McConaughey, Zac Efron. Richard Geer 's Arbitrage,Broken starring Tim Roth, Michael Winterbottom's The Look Of Love with Steve Coogan, Guillermo Del Toro's Mama, Sundance & London Film Favourite Robot & Frank starring Frank Langella all will make an appearance at the festival too. The Wachowski's Cloud Atlas will make its first British Appearance at the festival,how fitting as one of the film's scenes (with Halle Berry) was filmed only minutes from the festivals main venue Glasgow Film Theatre (GFT).

With over 368 screenings, events, discussion panels, workshops happening in various venues across Glasgow there's bound to be something from everyone.From from Calamity Jane Barn Dance, secret screening within the city's famous clockwork orange , watch Jaws on a Tall Ship or even watch a screening of the silent movie masterpiece The Passion of Jean D'Arc at Glasgow Cathedral.If your not a big fan of contemporary cinema the annual Retrospective will be in force and this year's classic star is James Cagney with a selection of his best films been screened such as Angels With Dirty Faces,Yankee Doodle Dandy and White Heat.

We must n't forget the whole of February is given upto film festival with festivals within festivals with Glasgow Youth Film Festival kicking things off  with Scottish premier of Disney's Oscar nominated Wreck It-Ralph starring the voice of John C Reilly, the festival closing film Michael Gondry's The We And I.Scotland's leading short film festival Glasgow Short Film Festival (7-10 February) bigger and better packed with over 60 of the best short films not just from Scotland, rest of UK but the world. Glasgow Music And Film Festival returns with another pack schedule with music related films, rockumentaries, watch classic films with live scores and off course live performances with the one and only Jane Birkin making a rare live performance in the city. The highlight for myself is the annual horror fest Film4 Frightfest , the london based premier horror festival heads north for its annual mix of gore, monsters and  blood now in it's 8th year and around 930am we will reveal the line up, trust me love horror  you wont be disappointed!

As Glasgow Film Festival is the local film festival for The People's Movies and Cinehouse we will do our best to cover the even to the best we can. Some fantastic films but what I really like is finally now Glasgow looks now to be getting the credit it deserves and if everything goes well, Glasgow film festival will become BFI London Film Festival's strongest rival. I'm fortunate to say I work at GFT the festival's main venue I will be there as reviewer but also working if you know me, do say hello and if your heading to Frightfest I will see you there too!

For more information, book tickets which go on sale from 9.30am today head to www.glasgowfilm.org/festival

Here is the very detailed Press Release on the Glasgow Film Festival:

Love is in the air as Glasgow Film Festival announces biggest-ever programme.
Film lovers, rejoice! Glasgow Film Festival today announced its most ambitious programme yet: bookended by two very different romantic comedies, kicking off on Valentine’s Day and ending on the night of the 85th Academy Awards.

Supported by Glasgow City Marketing Bureau, Creative Scotland and EventScotland, with 368 screenings, panel discussions, live performances and special events, this is the most extensive Glasgow Film Festival programme to date. It truly is a festival for the whole city, too, spreading out further than ever before into twenty six venues – everywhere from the stately surroundings of Glasgow Cathedral to a secret location somewhere in the depths of the Subway system. There are a record number of UK premieres amongst this year’s films, and GFF’s unique programme of special events celebrating the joy of cinema gets even more innovative in 2013, with contributions from comedians, musicians, comic book legends, fashion designers and even Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond. It’s a programme that wears its love of film – and of the cinema-going experience in all its forms – very prominently on its sleeve.

Opening Gala: Populaire   **UK PREMIERE**
On Valentine’s Day, movie lovers will walk down the red carpet for the UK premiere of sparkling French romantic comedy Populaire, starring Déborah François, Roman Duris and The Artist’s Běrénice Bejo. With the retro appeal of Mad Men and the glossy allure of a Doris Day/Rock Hudson tussle, this gorgeous, candy-coated romance between the fastest typist in the world and her handsome, commitment-phobic boss will melt hearts (and inspire wardrobes).

Thursday 14 February (19.30 & 20.15)

Closing Gala: Joss Whedon’s Much Ado About Nothing  **UK PREMIERE**
What do you do when you’ve just made the most successful superhero blockbuster ever? In the case of Avengers Assemble writer/directorJoss Whedon, you invite a group of actor friends to your home for a fortnight and shoot an inspired, inventive version of Shakespeare’s classic battle of the sexes. Stuffed with familiar faces from Whedon’s cult oeuvre (look out for actors from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dollhouse and Firefly giving their best hey nonny noes), this Much Ado About Nothing is a warm, witty and accessible take on one of the original rom coms.
Sunday 24 February (20.15)

We are delighted to announce that the Sponsors of our Opening and Closing Galas, Link-Tel Communications have received a New Arts Sponsorship grant supported by the Scottish Government in conjunction with Arts & Business Scotland, as first time Sponsors of the arts.

SEE OVER FOR SPECIAL EVENTS, UK PREMIERES, NEW STRANDS, AND MUCH MORE…

Allan Hunter, Co-Director of Glasgow Film Festival, said: ‘Glasgow Film Festival has grown into a massive celebration of every aspect of the moving image. We all spend part of our lives watching films, playing games or catching up with television but there is still nothing to match sharing the experience with fellow enthusiasts, meeting the filmmakers and finding fresh inspiration. We are extremely proud of an ambitious 2013 programme that promises unforgettable moments in venues all across the city.’

SPECIAL EVENTS
Catwalk shows. Live video gaming. DJ sets. GFF’s events programme has always made the festival particularly unique, and this year we celebrate cinema with almost fifty different events from panel discussions to comedy, some embracing the cinematic in television and computer games, some tracing the relationships between film and fashion or music. Highlights include:

• Entre chien et loup, a series of new commissioned works by some of Scotland’s best artist filmmakers, curated by Henry Coombes and premiering at a fabulous grand ball.
• The first ever film screening in Glasgow Cathedral will be the 1928 silent classic The Passion of Joan of Arc, with a brand new live score for organ and soprano.
• Legendary Scottish actor James Cosmo in conversation about his life and career
• A secret film screening in a hidden location in the depths of Glasgow Subway.
• Comedian Simon Munnery’s new show, Fylm-Makker.
• A panel of actors from HBO’s award winning television epic Game of Thrones introduce an episode screening and launch Season Three.
• The Calamity Jane Barn Dance, at Glasgow’s legendary country and western club, Grand Ole Opry
• Scary watery movies Jaws and Dead Calm screened – comfortingly enough – on board The Tall Ship.
• Comic book legends John Wagner (creator of Judge Dredd), our Kapow!@GFF curator Mark Millar (Kick-Ass), and Steve Niles (creator of 30 Days of Night) discuss their work.
• Hop on board our samba bus and be whisked off to a proper Brazilian Carnival.
• Live music performances from Jane Birkin, Auricle Ensemble and Lau.
• Celebrate fifty years of Doctor Who with members of the cast and series writer Tom McRae.
• DCI Caroline Goode, who led the investigation into the death of young British-Kurdish woman Banaz Mahmod, joins us for a discussion on honour killings.
• Fashion label Obscure Couture launch their next season collection with an outrageous live catwalk/film extravagana.
• Detroit techno icon Jeff Mills headlines our day-long Sonic Cineplex, where DJs and musicians create new soundtracks to old film footage.
• First Minister Alex Salmond reveals his nerdy side, introducing his favourite geek cinema classic.
• Computer game experts compare highly anticipated game Aliens: Colonial Marines to the original 70mm Aliens, both on the big screen.
• Dress up like your favourite cult character and walk the red carpet at our Cosplay Gala.

INNOVATIONS AND PREMIERES, OVER

SELECTED UK PREMIERES

This year, fifty-seven of our films are UK premieres,  including:

• Stoker, starring Mia Wasikowska and Nicole Kidman.
• The Place Beyond the Pines, which reunites Ryan Gosling with Blue Valentine director Derek Cianfrance.
• Neil Jordan’s dark vampire thriller Byzantium, with Saoirse Ronan and Gemma Arterton,
• Arbitrage, with a bravura performance by Richard Gere.
• The Look of Love, Michael Winterbottom’s stylish look at the life of Paul Raymond (played by Steve Coogan).
• Mama, starring Jessica Chastain.
• The Paperboy, with a Golden Globe-nominated performance by Nicole Kidman alongside Matthew McConaughey.
• James McAvoy, Peter Mullan and Mark Strong team up for the sleek, powerful thriller Welcome to the Punch.

Glasgow Film Festival is also delighted to host the first public UK screening of the eagerly-anticipated Cloud Atlas, which was partially shot in Glasgow.

SELECTED WORLD PREMIERES

• Kevin Cameron’s Alasdair Gray: A Life in Progress, a film as entertaining and multi-faceted as the man himself, featuring Liz Lochhead and the late Edwin Morgan.
• A Tale of Two Syrias: award-winning documentary filmmaker Yasmin Fedda’s unique, personal take on recent events in Syria.
• Created especially for GFF with CCA and Stills Gallery, feature film Staande! Debout! is based on true events, examining the aftermath of a strike on a workforce.
• Outwork, by the internationally-renowned artist filmmaker Stephen Sutcliffe, is the third annual Margaret Tait Award project.
• The Devil’s Plantation, based on May Miles Thomas’ BAFTA-winning website, is an innovative look at Glasgow’s secret geometery, narrated by Kate Dickie and Gary Lewis.
• We Are Northern Lights, a film created from submissions across Scotland.

NEW FOR 2013
Three new programming strands for this year’s Festival were announced in November 2012.

• Buena Onda: New Brazilian Cinema: As Brazil begins to take its place on the world stage, both as an emerging superpower and as the next host nation of the Olympics, we examine some of the great new work coming out of the country. It’s also a great excuse to throw a traditional Brazilian Carnival party, with a samba bus to take you to a secret location, and a special screening of 1970s classic Black Orpheus.
• James Cagney: Top of the World, Ma! Our retrospective this year takes a long, loving look at the career of the Oscar-winning Hollywood tough guy, from the young street rat–turned gangster of Angels With Dirty Faces, to the menacing obsessive lover of Love Me or Leave Me.
• Game Cats Go Miaow!: Robert Florence, star of the BBC comedy series Burnistoun, curates a look at the cross-over between cinema and video gaming. A panel of gaming experts review the hotly-anticipated Aliens: Colonial Marines on the big screen, followed by a comparison screening of Aliens itself. A whole host of comedians pack themselves in for Rab’s Video Game Empty, a quiz show with a difference, and we take a searing look at epic game Dark Souls and the whole of the dark fantasy genre.

Our brand new Festival Club takes over CCA’s Terrace Bar every day and night for the duration of the Festival. Rub shoulders with filmmakers and visiting guests, ask the GFF team for advice planning your schedule, take part in a daily programme of debates and discussions and then dance the night away with a great selection of DJs and live acts. Festival Club listings will be online at www.glasgowfilm.org/festivalclub and posted daily in the GFT foyer.

FESTIVALS WITHIN THE FESTIVAL, OVER

FESTIVALS WITHIN THE FESTIVAL
Glasgow Short Film Festival: 7–10 February
Scotland’s leading short film festival returns with a packed programme of screenings, workshops and parties. This year sixty films compete for the Bill Douglas Award for International Short Film and the Scottish Short Film Award. The 2013 programme pays tribute to the behemoth of underground cinema George Kuchar, forecasts tomorrow’s US indie darlings with a showcase of filmmaking from Columbia University graduates, celebrates the groundbreaking work of Caroline Sascha Cogez and assembles heavyweight panels to ask ‘why can’t women make feature films?’ across a series of discussions during the weekend. www.glasgowfilm.org/gsff

Glasgow Youth Film Festival: 3–13 February
The only film event in the UK curated entirely by 15—18-year-olds presents international film premieres, workshops and events for child, teenage and young adult audiences.  Highlights include premieres of Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph and Michel Gondry’s hilarious comedy The We and the I, plus anime previews and a cosplay parade! GYFF will also be turning the banks of the Clyde into a pop-up cinema and dance space, screening recent dance classic Girl Walk // All Day, and the cast and crew of Channel 4’s Fresh Meat stop by for a masterclass. GYFF also offers a range of practical workshops to aspiring screenwriters and filmmakers. www.glasgowfilm.org/gyff

Glasgow Music and Film Festival (dates as Glasgow Film Festival; Jane Birkin on 29 January)
Curated by the GFF team and long term partners-in-crime The Arches, this year’s GMFF embraces local artists and global greats alike, with live performances from Jane Birkin, techno legend Jeff Mills, gold star folkers Lau, Alasdair Roberts, and Auricle Ensemble. Witness some intriguing new live soundtracks created to old classics – in particular Irene Buckley’s spine-tingling new score for The Passion of Joan of Arc, for soprano, electronics and organ, in the very atmospheric setting of Glasgow Cathedral. Accompanied by a jam-packed programme of excellent rockumentaries and biopics.

Film4 FrightFest: 22—23 February
Our special horror Fest-within-a-Festival may now be in its eighth year at GFF, but there’s still no let up to that heady mix of mirth, menace, monsters and mayhem that characterises the Film4 FrightFest Glasgow experience

You've Been Framed For Death In First Trailer For S-VHS

With the original critically acclaimed horror anthology V/H/S only days away from it's UK cinema release tommorrow over in USA at Sundance film festival the sequel S-VHS is about to make it's world premier and we have the film's first trailer.

Shot once again in a typical 1980's style video analogue style once again in the short film style with a fresh bunch of talented horror film makers lining up to make sure horror fans worldwide will be scream, hide, cringe most of enjoy the anthology wanna be  franchise. This film's new blood includes Gareth Evans (The Raid) co-directing with Timo Tjahjanto (Macabre); Eduardo Sanchez (The Blair Witch Project) Greg Hale; Jason Eisener (Hobo With A Shotgun) with Adam Wingard(You’re Next) and writer Simon Barrett(a horribe way to die) returning for a second round.

Perfect place to show off film 2 at Sundance the festival that loved the film , so its certain S-VHS (super Vhs) will go down a storm. As for the trailer itself its tricky to decipher on what's exactly going on but that's not a negative but more of a positive as it teases you with great precision. But what we are looking forward to is the Cabin In The Woods style child's birthday though an old school zombie attack always goes down well amongst the horror fans at The People's Movies HQ. We enjoyed V/H/S at last year's Edinburgh Film Festival you can find out how much by reading our review.

Nothing as in distribution rights have been sorted for S-VHS but don't be surprise after the festival things will be sorted. For UK&Irish fans V/H/S will have a limited cinema release on 18th January then been released on 28th January on DVD, Blu-Ray.

source: Rope Of Silicon

Beasts of the Southern Wild Coming Home This February

Following a theatrical opening to tremendous national and international acclaim, and winner of a multitude of prestigious awards including the coveted Sutherland Award at the London Film Festival for most original and imaginative feature debut, BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD set the world alight with its heart-tugging, emotionally charged magic, and will finally be available to own on DVD/Blu-ray from February 11th, 2013.

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 wild-man 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.

Including an exciting host of extra bonus features, experience the magic at home with the captivating and charismatic Hushpuppy, who lives with her daddy at the edge of the world.

DVD/ Blu-Ray extras:

• Making Of, 
• Casting, 
• Deleted Scenes with Director’s Commentary, 
• Award-Winning Short Film Glory at Sea, 
• Trailer

DVD Tech specs: Cert: 12 / Feature Running Time: 90 min approx / Region 2 / Feature Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 / Colour PAL / Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1 & Stereo 2.0 / English language /

BLU-RAY Tech specs: Cert: 12 / Feature Running Time: 93 min approx / Region B / Audio: 2.0 LPCM / Feature Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 / Colour / Audio: DTS HD master / English language /



Pre-order/Buy Beasts Of Southern Wild: DVD / Blu-ray

The Girl DVD Review

The Girl is one of 2 Alfred Hitchcock biopics coming out in soon succession of each other, the other being the simply titled Hitchcock.Toby Jones stars as Hitch in The Girl, who has portrayed a famous dead
person before. He played Truman Capote in Infamous and like The Girl, which had a competing biopic as well Capote.

The Girl’s story is about Tippi Hedren (played by Sienna Miller). Tippi was a very successful model in the early 50s to 60s, Hitchcock was looking for a new Grace Kelly (who starred in a handful of Hitch’s earlier film, including the masterful Rear Window) and found Tippi. He cast her as the lead in his film The Birds. The Birds is often considered the last great Hitchcock film (even though this reviewer who put a case up for the later Frenzy) and was one of the most successful of his entire career. Tippi is tortured throughout The Birds by Hitchcock which climaxes with him lying they were gonna use artificial birds but in reality he choose to use real birds and made her shoot the bird attacking scene for 3 days.

Tippi becoming an overnight sensation because of The Birds. She was under contact to Hitch, who had already made sexual advances to her during the making of The Birds. Despite this due to the nature of the contract, she makes another film with Hitch called Marnie however isn’t as good as The Birds even though it’s certainly the more interesting film. It’s sorta like Hitchcock’s Masterpiece Vertigo’s little sister. It deals with a young woman who is a chronic liar and thief and has some serious psychological issues, which date back to her childhood. After the troubled filming of Marnie, she wants out of her contract from Hitchcock who continually made advances to her during the filming. However he made sure she couldn’t work again till
Charlie Chaplin’s last film and lost out a role for a François Truffaut film.

The Girl is a very mixed bag. It has 2 very fine performances by Sienna Miller and Toby Jones (which is the superior performance).However the film is very much a tv film and that’s fine but it barely cracks the surface level of their relationship and paints Hitch clearly as the villain (which he certainly was). You don’t get any
sort of emotion from Hitch or why he does such horrible things to Tippi. The film also suffers from a low budget film problem that a lot of film posters in Hitch’s room are mock posters for his great films and not the real ones, which probably do to copyright. The other film which is very annoying is Marnie starred Sean Connery and you never see Tippi or Hitchcock interact with Sean during the making of Marnie, there is stand in but you never see his face, this is very distracting. Overall it’s worth seeing on iplayer or renting for the performances but some things are very annoying. It also ends with the laughable appendix that claims “Marnie is now considered Hitchcock’s last masterpiece”.

Ian Schultz

★★★☆☆

Rating: 15
Release Date:26th December 2012 (UK BBC2 ) 7th January 2013 (UK,DVD)
Directed By: Julian Jarrold
Cast: Sienna Miller, Toby Jones and Penelope Wilton

Eli Roth Earthquake Horror Aftershock Gets First Trailer

It's been a while since we've had anything from Eli Roth and his latest horror project Aftershock has it's first official trailer. The American filmmaker this time is producing but of all starring in the ecological disaster come horror survival flick about a group of American tourist who go on holiday to Chile decide to have an wild night at a local night club. Things go bad to worse whilst in the club an devastating earthquake hits and when the group thinks the escape from the club was the worse of their worries as chaos runs wild  outside. This one should please fans of Roth as you'll as the trailer progresses into a typical Roth Style horror ala Hostel, though some may question if he should just stick what he does better direct. Have a look decide for yourselves.

Aftershock is the American feature debut of Nicolas Lopez and also stars Andrea Osvart, Ariel Levy, and Selena Gomez.


source: IGN

Watch The Mesmerizing Trailer For Vanishing Waves

Kristina Buozyte's festival award winning Vanishing Waves has released a new international trailer showing off the films intelligent, artistic approach to science fiction genre. It's good to be different is a moto I like to use a lot and it's a moto that Cinehouse & The People's Movies is based around, Vanishing Waves is certainly different. The film does seem to have a big 1970's feel to it especially Russian film and Solaris been the first name that comes to mind and when it's done well be it arthouse or mainstream, it's always worth a look especially one that's bagged Melies d'Or as the best European genre film of the year at Sitges and best feature, script, director and actress nods at Fantastic Fest.

No word on a possible UK release but the film will be heading to USA sometime in 2013. This is thw Lithuanian trailer the homeland of the director and where the films theatrical run starts.

Have you ever dreamed of being inside the head of another person - a beloved one or your rival ? Have you ever wished to experience the ideal relationship, where two minds come into total fusion? "Vanishing waves" - a sci-fi melodrama. Following solid scientific experiment, based on the neural transfer, a young inhibited man will live an astonishing journey in the comatose woman anonymous mind. This contemporary tale is exploring the nature of desire by exposing links and contradictions between the human body and the mind.

source:Twitch

Official Trailer to Zero Dark Thirty

Currently enjoying its fair share of critical praise and controversy here and across the pond, Zero Dark Thirty heads to UK cinemas on the 25th of January, and Universal has just released a new trailer to tide us over in the mean time.

In it we're introduced via brusque and chilly voiceover to Jason Clarke's character, simply named 'Dan', who appears to be addressing a terrorism detainee in a cell. "I am bad news. I am not your friend. I'm not gonna help you. I'm gonna break you. Any questions?" we hear him say, presumably foreshadowing one of the film's more controversial plot elements: systematic and US government approved torture.

Indeed, there has been a bit of a hubbub brewing over the film's handling of this sensitive subject, with some critics arguing that the film inadvertently validates the use of torture through its results-getting depiction, though just as many others have been quick to rise to the film's defence, reinforcing Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal's dense, detailed and thrilling approach to the material.

Heated moral debate around the film always seemed a given, considering the immense severity of the subject matter. Opening with reconstructed emergency calls from 9/11 and charting the ensuing investigative hunt that led to Bin Laden's cathartic demise, Zero Dark Thirty seeks to be a comprehensive document of a tumultuous and generation-defining time in American history, and as such is unavoidably emotionally charged. We'll report back with our full review of the film come January, but until then check out the new trailer below:

The hunt for Osama bin Laden preoccupied the world and two American presidential administrations for more than a decade. But in the end, it took a small, brilliant team of CIA operatives to track him down. Every aspect of their mission was shrouded in secrecy. Though some of the details have since been made public, many of the most significant parts of the intelligence operation-including the central role played by that team-are brought to the screen for the first time in a gripping new film by the Oscar®-winning creative duo of Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal.

Their account of bin Laden's pursuit and capture, vivid yet faithful to the facts, takes the viewer inside the hubs of power and to the front lines of this historic mission, culminating in the special operations assault on a mysterious, suburban Pakistani compound.

Love Crime (Crime d'amour) Review

The final film of late French filmmaker, Alain Corneau receives a posthumous British cinematic release this month. Love Crime (Crime D'amour) remains a testament to the high quality of Corneau's work.

Christine, a controlling business executive (Kristin Scott Thomas), leads a young associate, Isabelle, (Ludvine Sagnier) into a controlling game of manipulation and domination. After embarrassing her at a staff function, Isabelle vows deadly revenge on Christine.

Love Crime boasts a near Hitchcockian narrative, proving to be a completely unpredictable ride. Corneau's film opens with a meeting between Christine and Isabelle,  which verges on seduction - we see the young associate drawn to magnetic persona of Christine.  As this character dynamic builds we gradually see this idolisation turn into a passionate contempt between both women, as Christine continually toys with Isabelle's emotions - this cat and mouse relationship makes Love Crime a truly absorbing watch. We see the tension build between the pair until Isabelle  reaches breaking point in a twist that completely overturns the narrative of the whole film. This twist creates dozens of questions and mysteries throughout the remainder of the film, which gradually get unravelled in Corneau and Nathalie Carter's sharp script. The pair pay a strong attention to detail, with meticulous answers to any plot-hole or inconsistency, a viewer may attempt to pick. However, one small flaw lies in Love Crime's ending which feels too outlandish and contrived to be wholly satisfying, yet is unlikely to spoil your enjoyment of Cournea's film.

Corneau is a master of crafting intrigue and suspense, allowing us to empathise with Isabelle but keeping us distanced from her motivations, gradually unravelling them by the conclusion of Love Crime.  This allows for a magnificent performance from Sagnier as we see the character turn from vulnerable underdog to a more-than-fitting opponent of Christine.  The actress is equally convincing as both victim and challenger, boasting her finest performance since Francois Ozon's Swimming Pool.  Kristin Scott-Thomas brings a cold, self-satisfying presence to the role of Christine, truly commanding the screen.

Love Crime may not cover any new ground to a traditional euro-thriller, but proves engaging, sharp and fast paced enough to  prove completely enjoyable, particularly thanks to performances from Sagnier and Scott Thomas.

Andrew McArthur

★★★★☆

Stars: Ludvine Sagnier, Kristin Scott Thomas,;Patrick Mille
Director: Alain Corneau
Release: 14th December 2012
Certificate: 15 (UK)

Chasing Ice Review

Climate Change has become an alarmingly polarising topic. Arguments and counter arguments, denials and debates feature heavily across news channels and a montage of these, complete with Fox News’ raging lune Glenn Beck open the cinematic documentary Chasing Ice.

There’s no mistaking the leanings of director Jeff Orlowski’s cast here who set out to prove, in the most tangible way they can, the existence of, and the damaging effect that Global Warming is having on our planet. Focussing on the work of photographer and former scientist James Balog the film we see his creation of the Extreme Ice Survey and its intention to photograph decaying glaciers around the world.

Initially a sceptic of global warming Balog had his views altered dramatically when he saw first hand the effect it was having across the globe. On photographic shoots and work with National Geographic he realised the severity of the situation and became determined to share this with as many people as he could. An article for National Geographic saw him photograph the changing landscape of the Antarctic and the shocking rate of calving (the term for glaciers breaking off into the Ocean) quickly becoming the magazine’s most read feature and paving the way for this feature length documentary in an attempt to capture a wider audience.

Knowing the answer lay in the changing ice, Balog went about documenting the change in these great colossal structures in a way that could be simply acknowledged and understood en masse. The film introduces the rest of his ensemble, rounding up the crew as if in an Oceans film or, more suitably, Philippe Petit’s bunch of daring sidekicks in Man on Wire. Between the engineers, photographers, scientists and science geeks they manage to create cameras that would survive such harsh conditions and go about setting them up in spots in Alaska, Montana, Iceland and Greenland where we meet the closest a glacier will get to celebrity status having been the one to send out the iceberg that sank the Titanic.

Capturing these images is no mean feat (one effort sees Balog and a young assistant literally hanging over a bottomless pit) and the excursions begin to take their toll on the intrepid photographer, in particular his already dodgy knee. This is an opportunity to show the action man nature of Balog as he heroically soldiers on over the icy mountains with nothing but a pair of sticks to hold up his amputated stump of a leg - a grand exaggeration but there’s an element of Chasing Ice that plays up to one mans relentless pursuit of change at all costs. We see him break down in tears at one point and there are fleeting moments spent with his family as even they understand the noble quest of our protagonist.

A large amount of the film’s success rides on the images and the impact they have. It’s packed with powerful, provoking visuals of these dying giants and interspersed with Balog’s photography highlighting the magical, other worldly qualities of the architectural marvels and white canvases. The film’s payoffs are the shots they were able to capture from the stationed cameras and when at the end they are shown the results are staggering. We see the largest ever glacier calve recorded on camera, the size of Manhattan and 3 times the height of the Empire State Building and time-lapse footage of the glaciers receding at a rate far greater than at any point in history. These images are, says Balog, key to realising the dangers of climate change. Despite the relatively small temperature change, the altered atmosphere and change this has on the air itself is far more significant with these glaciers acting as a canary in a coalmine alerting us to significant danger.

Much like Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth, Chasing Ice may be met with acclaim among those who believe whole-heartedly in the perils of the topic but equally with a general sigh of ambivalence by an unwilling majority. The recent hype around the Kony 2012 project showed that passion projects can be seen in large numbers and while those featured here are unlikely to come under the levels of scrutiny Invisible Children did, they may miss out too on the amount of coverage it they received.

We are not patronised or offered a quick fix scheme as Balog realises it will not come from a film but hopes this offers enough definitive evidence to enough people to demand some kind of reaction as he takes his finding higher up the government hierarchy. Orlowski has certainly helped his cause whose cinematic portraits fittingly elevate Chasing Ice into more than just science lectures for the screen.

Matthew Walsh

★★★☆☆

Rating: NC
Director: Jeff Orlowski
Release Date: 14th December 2012 (UK)

Cast: James Balog, Svavar Jonatansson, Adam LeWinter

Sightseers Review

Ever get the impression that you were watching a different film from everyone else? I'm not sure what I was missing with Sightseers (2012), the new film from director Ben Wheatley and written by and starring Steve Oram and Elizabeth Sladen lookalike Alice Lowe, all three of whom were involved with the recent cult hit Kill List (2011), but half way in I was praying for the end to come mostly as a result of boredom and disgust. Marketed as a comedy, the film attempts to leaven this with a liberal dose of horror, failing dismally to achieve either satisfactorily.

In order to escape from her overpowering mother, Tina (Lowe) agrees to go on a caravan trip with her new boyfriend Chris (Oram). However what starts off as a sightseeing trip of North Yorkshire soon becomes the road trip from hell after Chris's true psychotic tendencies come to the fore, following a misunderstanding at a local tourist attraction, with murderous results for all involved.

Like the caravan holiday that forms the basis around which its story is built Sightseers swiftly looses its appeal. Its real problem, as with much of what currently passes itself off as humorous particularly in Britain, is that it tries too hard. As with most 'laddish' fun, the laughs here are more as a result of embarrassment than anything genuinely amusing.

Neither does it work particularly well from a horror point-of-view either. Comedians often see the field of horror as an ideal entry into the world of films. However they frequently make the mistake which many people do, of not taking the genre seriously. By it's very nature horror often lays itself wide open for parody, providing prime material for people to send up. However study them closely and you will discover that those horror films which are successful approach it with a degree of reverence, even when it's being poked fun at.

Those who understand the secret of real horror grasp the concept that less is more. The audience's imagination is always much stronger than anything filmmakers can depict on the screen, with most good horror films cutting away before you see anything at all - The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) had a degree of black humour, but the secret of its longevity was that everyone believed they saw more than they actually did. The current crop of films from mainland Europe such as the upcoming Spanish chiller Sleep Tight (2011) succeed by taking this subtle approach, whilst the American hit Scream (1996), which marketed itself as neither a comedy or a horror film (though it was quite clearly both) worked by doing the whole thing quasi seriously. Much modern British horror on the other hand, like Sightseers and the recent crass monstrosity Inbred (2011), doesn't know when to stop, showing vivid violence and gore in nauseating close-up.

In its defence the film looks beautiful - the English backdrop against which the shenanigans play out is breathtaking. Unfortunately this does little to compensate for an otherwise lurid and inept attempt at offbeat wit. I know my opinion is likely to meet with universal disagreement, in which case please do fill me in on what I was missing.

Cleaver Patterson

★★☆☆☆

Rating: 15
Release Date: 30th November 2012 (UK)
Directed By: Ben Wheatley
Cast: Alice Lowe, Steve Oram, Eileen Davies

Watch The Action Packed Sci-Fi Short Memorize

Whilst we may not always give the credit CGI deserves, Jimmy Eriksson and Eric Ramberg's action packed sci-fi short Memorize proves the technology has a few beneficial tricks up it's sleeve. If your opposed Identity cards with chips in them containing everything you need to know about yourself (good & bad) , in Memorize 15 years from now we'll all have chips embedded into our necks!

In 2027 The SSU - Special Surveillance Unit track all our moves to make sure no crime is committed, Earth is simply a Police state. When a SSU agent attempts  track down an suspected killer that perfect system to prevent crime show the agent it has 'problems'. As we slowly move towards becoming a 'Police State' I'm sure the Police force of today would love to get their hands on some of those gadgets and control those among us  who love to be on the wrong side of the law. Memorize is a very slick looking film with nice CGI touches and with a big doze of Minority Report thrown in, just remember don't think about things that could be construed as 'criminal' or you'll have The SSU breathing down your back!


Memorize - Short Film from Jimmy Eriksson on Vimeo.
source:Vimeo

She's Coming! American Mary Gets UK Release

The Soska Sisters (aka The Twisted Twins), co-creators of the award winning, cult indie smash hit Dead Hooker In A Trunk make an awe-inspiring return with their second feature AMERICAN MARY, a stylish, sexy, disturbing and darkly comic “body-mod” horror-thriller that many critics are hailing as the best and most genuinely original horror movie of the year.

Co-written and co-directed by Jen and Sylvia Soska (Dead Hooker In A Trunk) and featuring an outstanding, career-best lead performance by Katharine Isabelle (Being Human; Freddie vs. Jason; Ginger Snaps) in the title role, AMERICAN MARY has been wowing audiences at international film festivals (including London’s Film4 Frightfest) throughout 2012 and has been receiving 4/5 star reviews from critics, websites worldwide making American Mary a film Horror Fans should be checking out.

A provocative and thought-provoking combination of the horrors of a feminist “Frankenstein” with a fetishist twist and the visceral thrills of the “female revenge” genre, the film boasts a strikingly original script, laced throughout with a wicked sense of humour and a darkly erotic charge, that admirably takes the horror genre in a fresh and new direction. Simultaneously beautiful, repulsive, shocking and endearing, AMERICAN MARY is an unmissable experience that firmly establishes the Soska Sisters as two of the hottest new talents working in cinema today

Struggling to make financial ends meet while studying to be a surgeon, talented medical student Mary Mason (Katharine Isabelle) finds herself reduced to applying for work at a local strip joint in order to pay off her mounting debts. During her interview, she is unexpectedly called upon to perform some illegal emergency surgery on one of the club’s clients and is instantly rewarded with a significant cash payment.

Word of Mary’s scalpel-work soon reaches one of the club’s dancers, Beatress Johnson (Tristan Risk), who approaches her offering to pay handsomely for some off-the-books, extreme body-modification work on a friend. The ensuing surgery is a huge success and Mary’s skills soon attract the attention of an underground network of high-paying clientele, all looking for someone to administer procedures and body-mod work unavailable through the usual legal channels.

However, the allure of the easy money and the increasingly bizarre work she is commissioned to perform begins to leave a mark on Mary, and when an incident involving the established surgeons she once idolized leaves her traumatised, “Bloody Mary”, as she has come to be known, responds in the only way she knows how.

We will hopefully bring you a review nearer the time and when is that time? American Mary will be released in UK&Ireland on DVD and Blu-Ray 21st January 2013.

Pre-Order/Buy American Mary: DVD / Blu-ray

Watch The UK Trailer For BIFA Nominated Broken Starring Tim Roth

When you receive 9 nominations from the British Independent Film Awards for your debut feature, Rufus Norris' Broken is certainly a film we should take notice off especially  at the early festival preview to go by. Tonight we have a new trailer for the UK indie which boasts a strong cast of Tim Roth, Cillian Murphy a film looks like it'll deliver on the dramatics with hints of something very dark lurking under the serene  face British suburbia.

Broken set in North London when young man Robert 'Broken' Buckley is at the wrong end of a brutal beating from neighbour Mr Oswald whose daughter makes a false accusation. As Robert struggles with what's just happened to him next door neighbour Archie (Roth), a Lawyer whose 11year old daughter Skunk may have witnessed Robert her neighbour get the beating.

Broken looks an intense little character drama instead of the usual generic gritty London style drama we do seem to see unfortunately more off. Eloise Laurence  who plays Skunk, as well as the film's narrator delivers a really good debut performance and in the trailer it does suggest her own home things might not be as hunky dory as they seem. Not saying this trailer is fantastic nor poor but what it is, it's effective hinting on some dark truths maybe lurking under the carpet but never revealing to much to spoil things.

Broken is set for a Spring 2013 UK Release and also stars  Rory Kinnear, Robert Emms.

Watch The Haunting Sci-Fi Short In The Pines

Who says Science Fiction has to be UFO's and Aliens? Zeek Earl and Chris Caldwell's short film In The Pines is a fine example of that theory, maybe even a debate to weather it should be called a sci-fi. What this film is atmospheric in the minimalistic way, compelling and very haunting visually I do get a Martha Marcy, May Marlene feel to it, minus the religious cult part.

Check it out for yourself below...

A young woman, convinced she has experienced an encounter with the extraterrestrial, becomes fixated on re-establishing contact in this striking study of the paranormal and the human psyche

source:Vimeo

Feature - Evolution of Michelle Williams

Michelle Williams most recently seen in My Week with Marilyn, opposite Eddie Redymane became known for her role as Jen Lindley in Dawson’s Creek and has since become one of the biggest actresses of our time.

To celebrate the release of Take this Waltz out next month The People’s Movies decided to take a look back on the career of Michelle Williams.

From her role in Dawson’s Creek Michelle went on to star in films including Perfume, Me without You, Provac Nation, The United States of Leland and The Station Agent.

Michelle is mainly famous for starring in Indie films such as Brockback Mountain a story of a forbidden relationship between two cowboys.

She also starred opposite Laura Linney in The Hottest State, I`m not There with Christian Bale and Cate Blanchett and Deception with Ewan McGregor.

Continuing with the indie genre, in 2008 Michelle starred in Wendy and Lucy a story of a women and her dog aswell as Mamoth in which she played Ellen Vidales a tale of a successful businessman and his wife and daughter in New York.

Michelle most recently starred as Cindy in Blue Valentine about a married couple over the years opposite Ryan Gosling.

Michelle also starred in Shutter Island opposite Leonardo Dicaprio and Meeks Cutoff in which she played Emily Tetheran with Bruce Greenwood.

Fans of Michelle will be looking forward to her latest role in Take this Waltz in which she stars as Margot, a happily married woman who falls for her neighbour opposite Seth Rogan.

Take this Waltz is in cinemas 17th August 2012

Emily Pontin

Feature - Money’s Too Tight To Mention

Jo Nesbo’s Jackpot tells the story of a bunch of criminals who go four ways on a winning lottery ticket, leaving them to share 1,739,361 kroner that they struggle to divide into four equal pay-outs. When we say 'struggle', it’s not just that they can’t do the maths, but rather that Jackpot unravels into a crime caper that divides more body parts than it does winnings.

What happens is  Oscar Svendsen wakes up, terrified and bloodied; a shotgun in his hands, in what was once a respectable strip joint near Svinesund, Sweden. He is surrounded by eight bodies, and police detective Solør has a gun aimed at his chest. Solør is convinced of his guilt, but Oscar persistently denies any wrongdoing.

Reluctantly Oscar starts relating the incredible story of four men who won top prize in a soccer pool and suddenly found themselves 1,739,361 kroner richer. But it turned out to be difficult to divide the money by four.

Jackpot is an exciting, playful and bloody comedy from the producer of Cold Prey. It is based on a story by Norway's leading crime writer, Jo Nesbø. We meet a group of scruffy young men, all of them with a criminal background. Oscar (Kyrre Hellum), Thor (Mads Ousdal), Billy (Arthur Berning) and Tresko (Andreas Cappelen). They work at a factory in the middle of nowhere that makes plastic Christmas trees. And they bet on soccer…

To celebrate the film’s release in cinemas across the UK on friday. August 10th, we’re looking back at five other movies where the principal protagonists come into a princely sum of money overnight...

It Could Happen To You
There’s a theory on the internet that Nicholas Cage has never starred in a bad movie, and It Could Happen To You is no exception to that rule. Also featuring Rosie Perez and Bridget Fonda on top form, the movie tells the story of a cop who gives his lottery ticket to a waitress as her tip, promising half if it turns out to be a winning ticket (which, of course, it does). In a stranger than fiction twist, the plot is actually based on real-life events, making for a heart-warming tale of money’s trappings, its pitfalls, and how it really can’t buy you love.
Lucky Numbers
Lucky Numbers is another true story inspired lottery flick, but this one’s certainly not of the heart-warming variety. John Travolta plays the role of a weatherman with money troubles who attempts to rig the lottery with his wife (played by Lisa Kudrow), who’s the beautiful assistant on the state lottery draw. Both possess somewhat psychopathic personality traits – a complete lack of empathy or guilt alongside their superficial charm – and this kind of character-play is where much of the film’s comedy emerges from. Lucky Numbers is also noteworthy for featuring Michael Moore in one of his rare acting appearances on film.
Waking Ned
When Ned Devine dies of shock after winning the lottery, his fellow inhabitants of a tiny Irish village do their best to fool a lottery representative that Ned is still alive and well, and therefore the lottery money can be paid in full. The Tullymore villagers manage to convince themselves that this plan of action is for the greater good – as Tullymore is in dire need of a bob or two anyway – and what ensues from here on out is a warm and life-affirming comedy. Writer and Director, Kirk Jones received a BAFTA nomination for his work on the film, and widespread favourable reviews to boot.
Shallow Grave
Before the London Olympic Games opening ceremony, Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours, 28 Days Later, and Trainspotting came the first theatrical movie that Danny Boyle directed back in 1994, Shallow Grave. Also starring Ewan McGregor, who would accompany Boyle on his first three directorial ventures, the movie spins a yarn about a group of housemates who take on a new tenant that promptly dies of a drug overdose. When a huge stash of money is discovered in the departed’s suitcase, and the housemates decide whether to inform the authorities or conceal the death (and keep the money), the film’s ominous title comes into play.
Mr Deeds
He’s been an unlikely golfing talent, a water boy turned linebacker, the son of Beelzebub, an Israeli counter-terrorist agent turned hairdresser, and a reluctant father figure. In most of his movies, however, Adam Sandler seems to maintain a lot of himself in a character, and that’s never been truer than of Mr Deeds. When Longfellow Deeds (Sandler) comes into a fortune, he buys Corvettes for the inhabitants of his small-town American home; when Sandler finished production of Grown-Ups in 2010, he bought $250,000 Maserattis for the rest of the cast. And that’s really the point of Mr Deeds: regardless of the fortune you find yourself to be the unlikely heir of overnight, the money by itself doesn’t mean a thing.
Jackpot is in cinemas, Friday August 10th.

Feature - Top Ten Movie Dressing Gowns

Studio Canal and the ICO are very pleased to announce that they will be bringing back to the big screen the underrated and long unseen WOMAN IN A DRESSING GOWN, a powerful and progressive drama that follows the turmoil caused when a husband of 20 years tells his wife he is leaving her for a younger woman.

In a new feature to celebrate the film's recent limited re-release we have this cool little feature celebrating the lost classic of British social cinema, the dressing gown here represents the...
Yvonne Mitchell in WOMAN IN A DRESSING GOWN (1957)

Jeff Bridges in THE BIG LEBOWSKI (1998)
No-one has ever made the dressing gown look so comfortable outside of the home as The Dude in The Big Lebowski. Accessorize ideally with a pint of milk.

Sylvester Stallone in ROCKY (1976)
OK, so not strictly speaking a dressing gown, but since Sly immortalized the silk number in Rocky, they do a healthy trade on Ebay reinvented as a man’s dressing gown….

Catherine Deneuve in BELLE DE JOUR (1967)
In comparison with Woman in a Dressing Gown, Deneuve’s lonely housewife finds liberation in her dressing gown as she leads a double life as a classy prostitute in Bunuel’s masterpiece, with costumes designed by Yves Saint Laurent.

Marlene Dietrich in DESIRE (1936)
This outrageous fur-lined dressing gown, designed by Travis Branton would never be countenanced today for the sheer number of furry animals that must have died for it to exist… Sheer 1930s glamour.

Brad Pitt in FIGHT CLUB (1999)
How can anyone in a teapot dressing gown, wearing red shades with a fag dangling from their mouth, look this good?

Lauren Bacall in THE BIG SLEEP (1946)
This beautiful silk dressing gown was just one of a series of fabulous costumes Bacall wears in the classic film noir that reunited her onscreen with her now-husband Humphrey Bogart.

Bill Murray in LOST IN TRANSLATION (2003)
Director Sophia Coppola thought it would be funny to see Bill Murray in a tiny Japanese kimono**, and the outfit subsequently graced the movie poster. **Admittedly, not really a dressing gown

 Dennis Price in KIND HEARTS & CORONETS (1949)
In the classic Ealing comedy, this sumptuous “house coat” is worn by the ultimate social-climber, Louis Mazzini, and leaves us in no doubt that he dresses like a Duke, even if he has to kill to actual become one…
Robert Downey Jr in SHERLOCK HOLMES (2009)
A more recent addition to the pantheon of movie dressing gowns, an interesting creation, as sported by the world’s most popular detective

Woman In Dressing Gown will be released on DVD for The First Time On August 13th, Woman In A Dressing Gown On DVD [1957]

Feature - Oscar Winning Combinations

Many Oscar winners return to work with the directors that helped them win their Oscar, to try and rekindle that winning combination. Rachel Weisz won an Oscar in 2006 for her role in The Constant Gardener, which was directed by Fernando Meirelles. Six years later she is back working with Fernando on his new film: 360. Ahead of 360’s August 10th release, we’ve decided to look at other actors and directors that have worked together again after winning an Oscar. ROBERT DE NIRO AND MARTIN SCORSESE This pair first worked together on the film Mean Streets in 1973 and then went on to make eight films together. De Niro won an Oscar from their film Raging Bull, which was the forth movie they made as a team. After winning the Oscar they made 4 more films, the last being Casino in 1995. There are rumours that Scorsese and De Niro might team up again in the future.

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Raging Bull Trailer Published via LongTail.tv

MERYL STREEP AND ROBERT BENTON In 1979 Meryl Streep won her first Oscar for her role as Joanna Kramer in Kramer vs. Kramer, directed by Robert Benton, as was Still of the Night which came out 3 years later in 1982. Meryl Streep had the leading role in this film too but unfortunately did not win another Oscar. She would have to wait until the next year and Sophie’s Choice to win again.

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Sophie's Choice | "The Choice" Published via LongTail.tv

JEAN DUJARDIN AND MICHEL HAZANAVICIUS Last year both Jean and Michel shot to fame with the hugely successful film The Artist. It took 5 Oscars at the 2012 Academy Awards including best actor for Jean Dujardin. The pair have recently released another film together, The Players. Who knows how many more awards this popular pair can pull in.

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The Artist #6 Movie CLIP - Tap Dancing to the Top (2011) HD Published via LongTail.tv

JACK NICHOLSON AND JAMES L. BROOKS The triple Oscar winner Jack Nicholson won two of his three Oscars with the same director, James L. Brooks. He won one for Terms of Endearment in 1983 and then another for As Good As It Gets in 1998. Recently the pair worked together again in How Do You Know. These two work extremely well together – fingers crossed there may be another collaboration on the cards.

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Terms Of Endearment Trailer Published via LongTail.tv

360 arrives in cinemas August 10th.

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360 Official UK trailer - In Cinemas August 10 Published via LongTail.tv

Feature: Music Documentaries

Music documentaries are a genre unto their own - sometimes they give you a glimpse behind the scenes of your favourite band, and sometimes they're about someone you've never heeard about who become your favourite band.

Following great acclaim at Sundance and festivals around the world, Searching For Sugar Man comes to UK cinemas this month and definitely falls into the former category. You've probably never heard of Sixto Rodriguez - he was meant to be the new Bob Dylan, but he quickly disappeared back into obscurity. Yet not in South Africa - where he went on to be bigger Elvis. All this success went completely unknown to Rodriguez himself, and Searching For Sugar Man is the remarkable story of two South African fans trying to find out what happened to their hero.

To mark its release, let's have a look down some of the best music docs of all time.

Anvil! The Story Of Anvil
An opening of Heavy Metal icons such Slash, Lemmy and Lars Ulrich singing the praises of a band you've never heard of makes you think it's all just a Spinal Tap style spoof. But no, after never quite hitting the big time in the early 80s, Canadian Metal band Anvil have still been plugging away despite the lack of success - at the beginning of the film frontman Steve "Lips" Kudlow is having to make a living delivering school dinners in Toronto! It's a heart-warming underdog tale of never giving up your dream.

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Anvil! The Story of Anvil - Official Trailer Published via LongTail.tv

Dig!
It doesn't matter if you've never heard of The Dandy Warhols (who you might remember from a Vodafone advert a few years back) or The Brian Jonestown Massacre - the rivalry between them is a fascinating story of delusion and self-destruction. The small modicum of success the Warhols receive turns them into insufferable prima-donnas, and Massacre's frontman Anton Newcombe seems to sabotage every opportunity his band gets.

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Dig! (trailer) Published via LongTail.tv

Gimme Shelter
The film of the Rolling Stones infamous 1969 Altamont show is not only a great music doc but also an important historical document. The free show was intended to be the next Woodstock, but when a riot broken out and one of Hells Angles providing security stabbed a fan to death, it symbolised the death of the 60s peace and love dream.

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Gimme Shelter movie trailer Published via LongTail.tv

Some Kind Of Monster
Intended to be a fluffy behind the scenes piece on the making of Metallica's new album, Some Kind Of Monster turned into a sort of real life Spinal Tap when the band almost split up and ended up in group therapy. It starts off hilarious and ends up genuinely uplifting.

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Metallica-some kind of monster (trailer) Published via LongTail.tv

Don't Look Back
Warts-and-all, fly-on-the-wall docs following around musicians are now ten a penny - they take up about half off ITV2's schedule. But in 1967 this Cinéma vérité style film following Bob Dylan's UK tour was revolutionary. The opening scene, with Dylan holding big cue cards for the lyrics to Subterranean Homesick Blues has also become iconic in its own right.

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Bob Dylan: Dont Look Back - Clip Published via LongTail.tv

Marley
Last King Of Scotland director Kevin MacDonald won an Oscar for One Day In September, his documentary about the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre, and was selected to produce the definitive record of the life of reggae megastar Bob Marley. The epic two-and-a-half-hour running time leaves no stone unturned.

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Official Trailer: Marley Published via LongTail.tv

The Devil And Daniel Johnson
Cult singer-songwriter Daniel Johnson was beloved by Kurt Cobain, and has battled with schizophrenia and manic depression throughout his life. This sensitive documentary tells his fascinating story and is riveting viewing.

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The Devil and Daniel Johnston - older trailer Published via LongTail.tv

Kurt And Courtney
Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain's suicide in 1994 send shockwaves around the music world. Veteran documentary maker Nick Broomfield set out to investigate the claims that Cobain's wife Courtney Love was involved in his death, and found himself in a legal minefeild and a cobweb of deception.

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Beats, Rhymes And Life: The Travels OF A Tribe Called Quest
Hip-hop is a musical genre that really rather poorly represented in terms of good documentaries, but this biography of alternative rap legends A Tribe Called Quest goes a long way to rectifying this. Directed by Michael Rapaport (best known for playing Phoebe's brother on Friends), the film tells the long complicated story of the band's history.

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Beats Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest (2011) - Official Trailer [HD] Published via LongTail.tv

Searching For Sugar Man
In the early 1970s, Detroit singer-songwriter Sixto Rodriguez was tipped to be the new Bob Dylan - but both his albums bombed and he went back to working in construction. Yet somehow - and no one really knows how - the record got bootlegged to South Africa and became the soundtrack to the anti-Apartheid movement, outselling the Rolling Stones and Elvis. The film follows two South African fans on the trail of their idol (who rumour has it committed suicide on stage) and their story is one so incredible you couldn't make it up.

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Searching for Sugar Man - Official UK Trailer Published via LongTail.tv

Searching For Sugar Man is in cinemas 26 July.