Film Review - Paddington (2014)

LIFF 2014 - The Imitation Game (2014)

Win The Horror Vault World Cinema DVD Bundle

Blu-ray Review - The Piano (1993)

Win Blood Glacier aka The Station on DVD

Splicing its way onto DVD this winter, comes the blood chilling creature feature – BLOOD GLACIER (aka The Station). With giant insects and crazed cross breeds galore, what’s not to get excited about in this perfect hybrid of horror and science gone wrong. Blood Glacier is the body horror we have been waiting for since John Carpenter’s The Thing.

To celebrate the release of Marvin Kren's Blood Glacier, we have a copy on DVD to give away! Coming to DVD on Monday 27th January from StudioCanal.

Working in a remote outpost of the German Alps, technician Janek and a cohort of scientists are stunned to discover a bleeding blood glacier parked high up in the mountain range. As the gory infected berg melts the blood attracts the local wildlife only to transform them into hellish hybrids and monstrous mutations.

As this fusion of nightmarish creatures evolves in the life-giving mountain air, a second group including Janek’s ex-girlfriend advance towards the base in what will become a showdown of humans vs. nature upended into giant wood lice, beetle-foxes, crossbreed flying predators and much, much worse.

Imagine every creature that makes you shiver fused into one and meet your ultimate fears up at… Blood Glacier!

To win a copy of Blood Glacier aka The Station please answer the following question...

Q.What alphabetic horror anthology sequel is Blood Glacier director ,Marvin Kren currently filming a segment for?

Deadline is 16th February 2014 (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 18 or older to enter.

1.The competition is not opened to employees, family, friends of  Cinehouse, The Peoples Movies, Studiocanal 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(23:59pm)16th February 2014  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.

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The Kings Of Summer Review

Rating: 15
Release date:23rd August 2013 (UK)
Director: Jordan Vogt-Roberts
Cast: Nick Offerman, Moises Arias, Nick Robinson, Alison Brie
Oh for a teenage summer. Those long months that roll on forever, answering to no teacher, endlessly outside and bargaining new bedtimes. Remember those? Director Jordan Vogt-Roberts certainly does, and hopes you do too, recalling them with the misty-eyed nostalgia inflected in his coming-of-age comedy The Kings of Summer.

Set in the midst of a hazy summer holiday, his debut feature focuses on Joe Toy (Nick Robinson) – a high-school student dogged by parental rules and longing for the freedom adulthood brings. He’s not alone, best friend Patrick (The Big C’s Gabriel Baso) is similarly plagued by the incessant nagging and banal conversation a life under the parental home can bring. Breaking point is reached when Joe’s bitingly snarky dad, Frank (Nick Offerman) humiliates and grounds him (those two cardinal sins of teenage-hood) for the final time. With little persuading he enlists the help of Patrick, he too convinced an escape from the nonsensical questions from clueless parents is needed. A plan is hatched, an old-fashioned breakout. Not just any breakout though, theirs holds loftier ambitions.

Utilising their suspect DT skills, the pair set about building a house of their own, tucked away in the woods where, crucially, “nobody will find them”. A rule-free summer is on the cards with nothing to answer to other than their own whims.

Joining them is stock kook Biaggio – a bug-eyed curiosity the two are unable to shake off. Heavily indebted to Zach Galifianakis’ role in the Hangover films, his off-the-wall, zany oddball is plastered on a bit too thick and heightens the somewhat uneasy tone of the film. Is Vogt-Roberts going for laughs, or something a little deeper? There is of course nothing wrong with aiming for both but here there’s a distinct mismatch. Dreamy, Mallick inspired shots of nature sit uncomfortably side-by-side with strained, random one-liners thrown in at will and jarring with any established lightness of touch.

The coming-of-age film isn’t complete without a fight and we get one here, emerging over quarrels of the heart, with shared affection for female interest Kelly (Erin Moriarty). The ensuing tension gets twisted with the odd pacing of the film, characters changing drastically and far quicker than anything attributed to teenage hormones, with Joe suddenly resembling a Colonel Kurtz-esque wild man of the land.

True to adolescence, parents are an after-thought but the majority of sharp lines are saved for Offerman as the Parks and Recreation actor steals much of the limelight from the younger co-stars and box-ticking characters around him.

The criticism to be found lies with the pacing and tone, switching from one to another too quickly, leaving an at times somewhat confused effect, begging the question of what Vogt-Roberts was reaching for. Whatever it is, and despite moments of genuine promise, Kings of Summer falls just short.

★★½☆☆

Matthew Walsh

This is a repost of our Sundance London Film Festival review

Blancanieves Blu-Ray Review

Rating: 12
DVD/BD Release Date:
5th August 2013 (UK)
Director:
Pablo Berger
Cast:
Maribel Verdú, Daniel Giménez Cacho, Ángela Molina
Buy Blancanieves:
Blancanieves - Collector's Edition [DVD]

Somewhat unfairly lumbered alongside The Artist as a Spanish retort to Michel Hazanavicius’ neo-silent award-guzzler, Blancanieves is proof that merely appearing in black and white does not a mimic make. This year alone sees a host of new features, from Noah Baumbach’s Frances Ha, through Ben Wheatley’s A Field in England to the upcoming Alexander Payne feature Nebraska that revel in the majesty of monochrome to tell a host of tales, ranging wildly in both style and story. Director Pablo Berger’s feature utilises the format to bring us an inventive and incredibly stylish take on the Brothers Grimm classic Snow White – the title being the literal Spanish translation and the name given to our heroine by her accompanying dwarves.

Turning the familiar fairytale on its head Berger relocates the tale of fair-skinned beauty to the home of a more sun-kissed disposition, setting the film in Spain at the heart of its cultural tapestry– the bullfighting ring. Born the daughter of the renowned matador Antonio Villalta, Carmencita is forced to live with her grandmother after her mother dies during childbirth and the subsequent heartache forces her paralyzed father (gorged in the ring at the hands of a ferocious bull) to reject the newborn. Before long her famed father remarries the conniving money-grabbing nurse who manipulatively aided his recovery. Their lavish lifestyle is light-years away from the humble yet happy existence she carves out in the rural countryside until her doting grandmother suffers a sudden and fatal heart attack, forcing the young Carmencita to become the unwanted house guest at her father’s vast new marital home.

Ably pulling off a tonal shift, Berger transports our young lead from warm, jovial, sun-drenched villas and plunges her into a Dickensian, chore-laden life under long shadows and dark surroundings. It’s one of the many impressive visual touches pulled off by Berger and his cinematographer who manage to seamlessly sit handheld close-ups comfortably alongside long range, held shots of sweeping vista’s, rolling Iberian countryside and quaint villas. Taking their lead from the greats of cinematic history the pair create a nuanced and knowing visual display, even recollecting the matchstick men communities of Lowry in the communal procession to the dominating bullfighting coliseums.

Eventually Carmencita inadvertedly finds herself on the strictly out-of-bounds second floor of the palatial pad where she chances upon her father for the very first time – his wheelchair bound slumped figure contrasting greatly to the powerful image in the grand foyer painting. The two bond instantly and secretly, away from the prying eyes of Encarna and before long Carmencita learns the ways of the matador under the expert tutelage of her esteemed father.

Years pass and Encarna’s disdain for her adoptive child grows, hatching a plan to rid her of this burden for good, a plan that, once thwarted, leads Carmencita to her six (not seven) minutely proportioned saviours, travelling Toledo’s who entertain the crowds at ramshackle bullfighting outposts battling against the less fearsome, but equally sized, calves.

Berger directs with a trained eye on the classic tale and another firmly on the stylistic touches of film-makers down the years. The dreaded apple is presented with knowing significance, brandished like a gun while elsewhere shadows and score create suspense akin to Hitchcock. Not that everything on show trawls through the past. The returning theme of fame trickles through the film with each of the leads having their own, ultimately doomed, brush with the limelight suggesting Berger has as much to say on this modern obsession as he does it’s genesis. One particular public mourning resembles a disturbing scene at Madame Tussards and there’s a nod too to the prized cover-shoot of Hello-like magazines thrown in for good measure while the freak show ending signals a bleak parallel with what we view as entertainment and those who peddle it.

So no, not merely a reactionary piece jumping aboard the Artist bandwagon (although there are similarities - for Uggie the dog, see Pepe the chicken) but Blancanieves has more up its sleeve to be written off so easily. A silent triumph in its own right.

★★★★☆

Matthew Walsh

Dr. Who and the Daleks/Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. Blu-Ray Review

In this the fiftieth anniversary year of Dr Who, one of the world's most successful television creations, it's inevitable that talk of the show will be everywhere. Despite all the 'Who-ha' however, there seems little if any mention of the film spin-offs made shortly after the Doctor first appeared on the small screen during the early 1960's. So it's timely that STUDIOCANAL have seen fit to release what is surprisingly, considering the Doctor's cult-like status, his only big screen adventures to date.

Dr Who (Peter Cushing) comes up against the mighty force of his most diabolical foe the Daleks, firstly on their home planet of Skaro in Dr. Who and the Daleks (1965) and then on a devastated, futuristic Earth in Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D.(1966)  Aided by his granddaughter Susan (Roberta Tovey) and various hapless innocents who inadvertently get taken along for the ride, the Doctor must face his biggest fears in order to save the human race yet again.

In the same way that David Niven's outing as 007 in the original film treatment of Casino Royale (1967) is frequently overlooked when discussing the celluloid history of Ian Fleming's super-spy, so too is Peter Cushing's camp though endearingly batty big screen interpretation of the ageless Timelord. Made by Amicus Studios on the back of the BBC series' success, the two films are remarkably similar to the television show at the time, from the age of the Doctor (portrayed as an eccentric, fatherly figure), to him being accompanied by his granddaughter (played in both films by the precocious child star Tovey). On reflection this is hardly surprising considering that Terry Nation, the writer of the television series and creator of the Daleks, was also co-writer of the films along with Amicus supremo Milton Subotsky.

Nation's involvement likely influenced the choice of the Daleks as the enemies in the film adventures. Watching them now the Doctor's most famous adversaries (who really resemble nothing more scary than giant salt cellars on casters), seem created with the big screen in mind. Though it would be several years before the Doctor appeared in colour on television, here he jumps from the screen in vibrant Technicolor as a velvet jacketed nutty professor, whilst the Daleks themselves are given a new vibrancy in acid yellow and neon red as well as the more familiar neutral silver.

Like the television show which suffered when restricted to indoor sets but came alive in later years with the use of outdoor locations, Dr. Who and the Daleks, though undoubtedly fun with its kitsch air of 1960's psychedelia, is pale in comparison to the following year's sequel. Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. makes marvellous use of an atmospherically war torn London, when the the Doctor and his companions land the Tardis in a post apocalyptic future. This setting also provides not only the film but perhaps the whole Dr Who mythology with one of its most iconic images - namely the vision of a Dalek emerging from the River Thames, which once seen will remain indelibly etched in the viewer's mind. It is the second film which also introduces a certain risqué'ness in the form of the Dalek's latex clad human slaves - a 'kinky' touch they would likely not have got away with on television during the 1960's.

Apart from the locations, Daleks and a marvellous supporting cast including Roy Castle and Bernard Cribbens, it is undoubtedly Cushing who makes the films comes alive. An actor who was at the height of his fame during the mid 1960's, Cushing had made mad scientists his forte and hence was perfectly suited for the big screen version of Dr Who. Indeed, watching the films now, it is puzzling why he was never asked to take on the role on television as he would undoubtedly have brought a unique zest to the part. A tantalising option fans were unfortunately never to see.

Dr. Who and the Daleks and Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. were released on digitally remastered DVD and Blu-ray on 27th May, 2013. Both versions come with a host of extras including audio commentary, cast interviews, still galleries and trailers.

Cleaver Patterson

Dr. Who and the Daleks

★★☆☆☆

Rating: U
DVD/BD Release Date: 27th May 2013 (UK)
Director: Gordon Flemyng
Cast: Peter Cushing, Roy Castle, Jennie Linden
Buy: Doctor Who And The Daleks [Blu-ray]



Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D.

★★★½☆

Rating: U
DVD/BD Release Date: 27th May 2013(UK)
Director: Gordon Flemyng
Cast: Peter Cushing, Bernard Cribbins, Ray Brooks

Buy: Daleks - Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. [Blu-ray]

Studio Ghibli's Kiki's Delivery Service / Grave Of Fireflies To be Released on Doubleplay July

Studiocanal have announced this July will see them release Studio Ghibli's latest Double Play on Blu Ray, Kiki's Delivery Service and Grave Of The Fireflies

The re-releases of the classic animes is to coincide with upgrading the great films to blu ray and you can add this upcoming release from 1st July.

KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE out on Double Play on July 1st
It’s witch meets world, as teenage Kiki chooses to live on her own in a new town, using her magical powers to get by. But Kiki is poor with potions and second-rate at spells- instead, she sets up a courier service, using her broomstick to deliver everything from pies to pets. At first with only her sarcastic cat Jiji for company, she soon discovers that she has more friends than she ever thought possible.

Adapted by Hayao Miyazaki from the children’s book by Eiko Kadono, KIKI’S DELIVERY SERVICE is one of the best-loved animated features in Japan and elsewhere.

Featuring the voices of Kirsten Dunst, Janeane Garofalo and Debbie Reynolds, Kiki’s Delivery Service is superb entertainment from start to finish.

Extras: Complete Feature Length Storyboards / Ursula’s Painting / Creating Kiki’s Delivery Service (new!) / Kiki & Jiji (new!) / Flying with Kiki & Beyond (new!) / Producer’s Perspective: Collaborating with Miyazaki (new!) / The Locations of Kiki (new!) / Beyond the Microphone (new!) / Original Japanese Theatrical Trailers / Studio Ghibli Trailer Reel



GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES out on Double Play on July 1st
Set in Japan during World War II, the film focuses on Seita and his little sister Setsuko. After their mother is killed in an air raid and with their father serving in the navy, they are forced to fight for survival in the devastated Japanese countryside. Food and shelter are scarce, and even their own relatives are too concerned with their own survival. Allthey have is each other and their belief that life must carry on.
Takahata and his team, including character animator Yoshifumi Kondo (who has subsequently worked on other acclaimed Ghibli films from director Hayao Miyazaki) have created a visually stunning and emotionally powerful film and that meditates on the devastating consequences of war and has rightly earned a reputation as an anime classic.

Featuring the voices of J Robert Spencer, Rhoda Chrosite, Veronica Taylor and Amy Jones.

Extras: Interview with Director Isao Takahata / Japanese Release Promo Featuring Interview with Director Isao Takahata and Writer Akiyuki Nosaka / Deleted Scenes Storyboards (some new!) / Interview with Film Critic Roger Ebert / Historical Perspective Documentary / Trailers



We will be reviewing the films closer to the time, stay tuned for that review

My Neighbor Totoro and Grave of the Fireflies to get a 25th anniversary cinema release

In celebration of the 25th anniversary of the release of Studio Ghibli’s acclaimed masterpieces GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES and MY NEIGHBOUR TOTORO, STUDIOCANAL are delighted to announce a nationwide theatrical release with a chance to experience a recreation of the original Japanese double-bill feature that first launched these anime classics. An arresting combination from Studio Ghibli’s founding fathers: Hayao Miyazaki’s MY NEIGHBOUR TOTORO, a lyrical fantasy about benevolent forest spirits and Isao Takahata’s GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES, the heartbreaking tale of two children’s struggle to survive their firebombed city in World War 2, were launched together in 1988, showcasing the breadth of the anime powerhouse’s range of vision. Seemingly almost polar opposites in subject matter, Miyazaki’s gentle fable and Takahata’s grittier wartime adaptation both perfectly encapsulate the studio’s signature motif: its evocation of the wonder and innocence of childhood with their leading young protagonists, and showcase perfectly its defining style impressionistic imagery.

GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES
Set in Japan during World War II, GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES focuses on Seita and his little sister Setsuko. After their mother I skilled in an air raid, and with their father serving in the navy, they are forced to fight for survival in the devastated Japanese countryside. Food and shelter are scarce, and even their own relatives are too concerned with their own survival. All they have is each other and their belief that life must carry on. Takahata and his team, including character animator Yoshifumi Kondo, have created a visually stunning and emotionally powerful meditation on the devastating consequences of war.


MY NEIGHBOUR TOTORO [read our blu-ray review]
While their mother recovers from an illness, Satsuki and her little sister Mei get away from it all in an idyllic rural retreat. Far from the bustle of the city, they discover a mysterious place of spirits and magic, and the friendship of the Totoro woodland creatures. Conceived as a family film devoid of conflict and suffused with the joy of country living, MY NEIGHBOUR TOTOR is a masterpiece for the whole family, uniting the unique vision of Hayao Miyazaki with a feel-good tale of childlike wonder and true originality



Grave Of The Fireflies and My Neighbour Totoro will be released in UK cinemas from next Friday 24th May.

Win Maximum Conviction On Blu-Ray

Maximum Conviction, the action bonanza that marks the triumphant return of the all round American action hero Steven Seagal arrives on DVD and Blu-ray through Studio Canal on 18th March 2013.

Maximum Conviction proves that Steven Seagal is still a serious contender for the crown of the King of Action. He still brings the kind of unadulterated, high-octane thrills and spills to the screen that make you grin like a giddy girl! A real-life Aikido genius, Seagal is a true American action hero and it's our maximum conviction that no one delivers a moody chopdown better than ‘The Great One’!

To celebrate the release of Maximum Conviction, we’re giving away a copy on Blu-ray!

Synopsis

As one final mission before their retirement, former Black Ops soldier Cross (Steven Seagal) and his partner Manning (Steve Austin) are assigned the task of decommissioning an old military prison and safely transport all the detainees to a different site. Before doing so, they must firstly oversee the mysterious arrival of two high-security female prisoners that pose a potential risk to the safe-running of the operation.
Before long an elite force of mercenaries’ descend into the prison in search of the new arrivals and Cross suddenly finds himself thrown into a frenzied fight for survival. A man of strong values who adheres to the completion of all missions he is assigned, Cross assembles a hard-knock team of experts to take down the mercenaries before they get to the female arrivals.
Plagued with the additional threat of the extremely dangerous prisoners that roam the corridors, Cross must utilise the skills he gained during the Special Forces and take down the guerrilla soldiers before it costs him his life. As the true identities of the women are revealed though, Cross realizes he's caught in the middle of something far bigger than he had imagined.

To win Maximum Conviction on Blu Ray please answer the following question:

Q.Steven Austin was known for many years as Stone Cold Steve Austin in WWE what other nickname was he known as?

A.The Viper
B.The Rattlesnake
C.Brahma Bull

Send your answer, name, address, postcode (No Telephone Numbers) winatcinehouseuk@gmail.com
Must be 18 years or older to enter. Deadline is 7th April 2013 (23:59pm)
Double your chances follow us at Facebook! (you will get double entry every contest)

Terms & Conditions:1.This prize is non transferable.No cash alternatives apply.UK &Irish entries only.2.The Peoples Movies, Cinehouse and  Studiocanal have the right to alter, delay or cancel this competition without any notice 3.The competition is not opened to employees, family, friends of The Peoples Movies, Cinehouse,  Studiocanal employees 4.This competition is promoted on behalf of  Studiocanal  5. If this prize becomes unavailable we have the right to offer an alternative prize instead 6.To enter this competition you must send in your answer, name, address only, Deadline 7th April 2013 (2359hrs)7.Will only accept entries sent to the correct email (win [at] thepeoplesmovies [dot] com), any other entry via any other email will be void.8.If the above form fails please send the information required from the form email it to win [at] thepeoplesmovies [dot] com (label the bay) If any info required from the form is not sent in the email your entry will be void 9.automated entries are not allowed and will be disqualified, which could result you been banned.10.If you are friend or like us at facebook for every competition you enter you get double entry, but you must stay stay friend/like us all the time,or future entries maybe considered one entry.11.The Peoples Movies, Cinehouse takes no responsibility for delayed, lost, stolen prizes 12.Prizes may take from days to a few months for delivery which is out of our control13.The competition is opened to Aged 15 and over.14. Majority of the prizes on offer will come from representatives of the distributor, no The People’s Movies &Cinehouse, when we do have the prizes we will inform you.15. Unless Stated Please Do Not Include Telephone Numbers, we don’t need them and if you include your telephone number Cinehouse and The People’s Movies are not responsible for the security of the number 16.The winning entries will be picked at random and contacted by email or announced via facebook, sometimes we are unable to confirm winners.17.This competition is bound by the rules of Scotland,England & Wales, Northern Ireland, Ireland.18.By sending your entry for this competition you are confirming you have read and agreed to these Terms & Conditions.

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Fully Restored Army Of Shadows To Make Blu-Ray Premier This April

StudioCanal have announced that Jean Pierre Melville's critically acclaimed classic, ARMY OF SHADOWS will make its digitally restored blu-ray debut on, 8th April 2013.

The controversial French resistance epic originally released in 1969, was heavily criticised upon its release in France for its particular form of glorification of the Resistance. At the time, it appeared to be running against the tide of history, as attitudes to the war were about to take a U-turn, with a nation split between collaborationists and resisters.

American film-programmers took their cue from the French critics and on this basis, decided not to give it a US release. It was not until over 35 years later in 2006, that it was finally released in the US and was granted its due acclaim, including winning the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

Starring Jean-Pierre Cassell, Lino Ventura, Paul Meurisse and Simone Signoret, the blu-ray premiere also includes a brand new one hour documentary extra 'Army of Shadows – The Hidden Side of the Story.'

Pre-order/Buy: Army of Shadows [Blu-ray] [1969]

Dingly Dells, National Trust And Daily Mail Readers, Sightseers Coming This March

Dingly Dells, National Trust, Tins of Pasta sauce and Non Humans better known as Daily Mail readers it could only mean Ben Wheatley's Black comedy Sightseers! Studiocanal have announced the follow up film to Kill List will be released in UK&Ireland this March!

Synopsis: Chris (Steve Oram) wants to show Tina (Alice Lowe) his world and he wants to do it his way - on a journey through the British Isles in his beloved Abbey Oxford Caravan. Tina's led a sheltered life and there are things that Chris needs her to see - the Crich Tramway Museum, the Ribblehead Viaduct, the Keswick Pencil Museum and the rolling countryside that accompanies these wonders in his life. But it doesn't take long for the dream to fade. Litterbugs, noisy teenagers and pre-booked caravan sites, not to mention Tina's meddling mother, soon conspire to shatter Chris's dreams and send him, and anyone who rubs him up the wrong way, over a very jagged edge...

Extras:
Behind The Scenes
Outtakes
Trailer
Cast commentary: Alice Lowe, Steve Oram, Richard Glover and Ben Wheatley
Technical commentary: Laurie Rose & Ben Wheatley

Pre-Order/ Buy Sightseers : Blu-ray / DVD

Stay tuned for a new review and a competition which we will launch in March over at The Peoples movies

Sightseers will be released by Studiocanal on 25th March 2013 on DVD and Blu-ray

Valley Of Song DVD Review

Valley of Song, though a classic example of British cinematic whimsy, is at times hard to watch due in main to the sheer simplicity of its storyline. Directed by Gilbert Gunn, and starring Clifford Evans, Mervyn Johns and Maureen Swanson, this film perfectly encapsulates a period when the pace of life, and everything else, seemed to be just that little bit slower, and often none-the-worse for that.

Returning to his Welsh hometown after living for five years in London Geraint Llewellyn (Evans) is, to many people's surprise and not least his, made choirmaster at the local church. His initial excitement is soon forgotten however after he picks Mrs Davies (Betty Cooper) over her rival Mrs Lloyd (Rachel Thomas) for the lead in the new production of Handel's Messiah. Petty differences and age old emotions amongst the close-knit community boil over with comic results, before everything comes to a harmonious and not totally unexpected conclusion.

The premise behind Valley of Song is almost as simple as the everyday lives of the characters around which it centres. Whether concerning the well-meaning if hapless Geraint (lent a marvellous air of undisclosed panic by Evans) as he becomes stuck within the feuding factions of the extended Davies and Lloyd clans, or the unrequited love between Mrs Davies' daughter Olwen (Swanson) and Mrs Lloyd's son Cliff (John Fraser), the eventual culmination of which acts a catalyst for reconciliation amongst the townsfolk, the storyline is hardly complex.

Though this said simple approach may make the film appear slow when viewed now (it plays out in the main like an extended episode of some sunday evening television drama), it is also what gives the film it's appeal as a perfect example of the era in which it was produced. Everything about the small town to which Geraint returns after his sojourns in London (which is as alien to the inhabitants of the town as the moon would be to the rest of us) is quaint - from Bessie Lewis (Rachel Roberts), the local gossip who drives her milk cart around the town as though the devil himself were after her, to the one train a day which serves the town (miss it and you're stuck there for the duration) - making this film as interesting as a snapshot of a lost way of life as for anything which actually takes place in the story.

Featuring star supporting turns from a host of British stalwarts including Mervyn Johns and Kenneth Williams in his pre-Carry On days, Valley of Song is guaranteed to brighten the greyest of days even if only for its relatively short duration.

Cleaver Patterson

★★★☆☆

Rating:U
DVD Release Date: 18th February 2013 (UK)
Directed By: Gilbert Gunn
Cast:  Mervyn Johns, Clifford Evans, Maureen Swanson
Buy:Valley Of Song [DVD] [1953]

GFF 2013 - Watch The UK Trailer For Neil Jordan's Byzantium

Neil Jordan returns to the vampire genre for his next film but instead of interviews with vampires its vampires on the run with Byzantium and we have the new UK Trailer.

Byzantium stars Gemma Arterton, Saorise Ronan play Eleanor and Clara Webb 2 mysterious women who seek refuge in a run-down coastal resort. Struggling to make ends meet thanks to a lonely man called Noel the find refuge in the deserted Byzantium guesthouse. As they start to befriend the local its not long until their deadly secret is out, there vampires and the past they have been running from suddenly catches up with them with deathly consequence.

The vampire genre is in dire need of  TLC especially after a certain tween franchise made the sub genre very unpopular, Byzantium may just be that film to help the creatures of the night become a little more popular  once again. Oscar winning Neil Jordan knows how how deliver something a little bit different  and Byzantium does look a unique take on the vampire myth.With its grandoise visuals, opulent in nature, most of all chilling, atmospheric and melancholic something that you find throughout Jordan's work

Byzantium made it's world premier at Toronto Film Festival in 2012 leaving with some great positive reviews and later this month on 22nd February the film will make it's UK Premier at Glasgow Film Festival in the Film4 Frightfest strand with Jordan, Arterton and Ronan all confirmed to attend.

Studiocanal are releasing Byzantium in UK&Ireland with the film due to be released on 3rd May 2013, IFC will deal with the American release but no date has been confirmed yet. The film also stars Jonny Lee Miller, Caleb Landry Jones, and Sam Riley.

Take This Waltz DVD Review

I wasn't sure what to expect from Sarah Polley's Take This Waltz. I only knew her as the lead in Zack Snyder's surprisingly not crap 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead. I haven't seen her previous film: Away From Her, but by all accounts it's a powerful and moving piece. I'm always up for a bit of cine-brain food so I sat down and carefully placed the disc in the player. 20 minutes in and I brought up the timer to see how long I had left to go. Not a good sign.

Michelle Williams plays Margot, an aspiring writer who is married to Lou (Seth Rogen), a chef compiling a chicken cookbook. Whilst on an excursion, Margot meets Daniel (Luke Kirby). Sparks fly and there's an instant mutual attraction. After finding out Daniel lives very close by, Margot's temptation to stray from her safe, dependable marriage becomes stronger and stronger and the film deals with her being caught between the two men. Whilst it stars some really great actors, I really got a disingenuous feeling from it all. Michelle Williams' Margot is meant to be quirkier than a hat on a lamb, but ends up coming across as a cynical approximation of a quirky lass. It's not her fault as I'm sure this is how she was directed. She's been fantastic in other films. It's just all so insultingly twee and precious. There's a scene early on where she and Daniel are both in the back of a cab, blowing some kind of hanging tassel back and forth. I'm sure this is meant to be charming, but I kept thinking “You're both fucking adults! What the hell!?” I know adults act like childish dicks all the time (I'd like to think I specialise in it), but it just seemed so laboured and staged.

It's hard to express the sort of reaction I had to this film. For nearly all of the runtime, it's an indier-than-thou bullshit romance. It's the sort of film destined to have monochromatic .gifs of key scenes made of it and plastered all over Tumblr. The dialogue is that special breed of pretentious and whimsical, containing “deep” metaphors. In their first proper meeting, Margot confides in Daniel that she's been fraudulently using airport wheelchair facilities to make sure she doesn't miss her connecting flights. She confesses she's afraid of being afraid of missing connections. Overlooking the appalling misuse of disabled facilities, it doesn't take a genius to work out that this works as a handy plot metaphor too. It's really not as clever as it thinks it is. As soon as the lines were said, I had flagged them up as narrative signposts, rather than just two people talking. The whole film's like this and I had a tough time sticking with it.

I think the characters are my main problem. We're not meant to unequivocally love Margot, but I don't think you're meant to dislike her as much as I did. She's an air-headed, silly little girl who I just didn't have any time for. Cardboard lothario Daniel, played by Kirby and looking like The Walking Dead's Andrew Lincoln run through the “hipster dreamboat” filter a few times, is a struggling bohemian artist type who makes ends meet working as a rickshaw driver around Toronto. If you just let out anything resembling a snort of derision at that character description, this film won't be for you. Seth Rogen's Lou is just a nice, average guy and is therefore (intentionally) pretty boring. The only one with some “oomph” about them is Sarah Silverman's recovering alcoholic Geraldine, who gets a fantastic scene towards the end and gets to say a few things to Margot that I found to be very cathartic.

Look, it isn't all bad. It's undeniably a well-made film. Some of the shots and locations are truly beautiful. The film also has quite a candid approach to things which gives an air of reality to proceedings. It's a compelling illusion until somebody opens their gob and more whimsical crap dollops out. The actors are occasionally allowed to act like real people and Seth Rogen gets some really nice moments. I know I'm not the target demographic for this. There is an audience out there who will love it for what it is- I just don't want to know them. Had the film stayed on the course it was on for 90% of the total time, it would have been one of the most irritating films I'd ever seen. As it stands, the ending makes up for a bit, but not nearly enough. The very last bit spoils it though. Just even suggesting that Margot can retreat back into her little fantasy land and not learn anything from everything that's happened was truly maddening.

Take This Waltz is a pretentious, “grass is greener” story that wants to play with romantic conventions, but ends up as an annoying air-headed fantasy with delusions of depth. I've only just unclenched my fists to type this review. It pissed me off. Stick that on the DVD cover.

Ben Browne

★★☆☆☆

Rating: 15
UK Release Date: 7^th January 2013
Cast: Michelle Williams, Seth Rogan, Luke Kirby, Sarah Silverman
Directed by: Sarah Polley

Watch The Exquisite UK Trailer For Terrence Malick’s To The Wonder

Last Year's Tree Of Life divided opinions at The People's Movies and Cinehouse but one thing we all agreed on was the visual aesthetics of the film were sublime.If you were expecting the reclusive film maker to wait another few years before he makes the follow up you will be amazed to know in exactly 2 months time To The Wonder will be released and this afternoon we have the first official trailer.

The Guardian have the pleasure of introducing the world exclusive of To The Wonder's UK trailer which made it's world première at this year's Venice Film Festival and like the director's previous film received an hostile reception, why we don't know.This is a powerful strong first look at the film with plenty of trademark Terrence Malick styling's on show to admire, sweeping shots with the beautiful cinematography shot by the ultra-talented Emmanuel Lubezki. It's bleak, wonderfully chosen score and the typical Malick voiceover coming from Javier Bardem who plays the priest who questions his faith.

To The Wonder is an romantic drama of Neil an man (Ben Affleck) who moves back to USA from France bringing with him his new love Marina (Olga Kurylenko). Once back home in Oklahoma he renews his ties with old school flame Jane (Rachel McAdams) sparking off a love triangle. The film will like any of previous Malick films will have fans and critics debating the pros as well as cons of To The Wonder but whatever your views on the film maker it will be a rare visual treat that has no CGI or ridiculous stunts just something intelligent to enjoy.

To The Wonder will arrive in UK&Ireland 22nd February 2013 with USA release 12th April 2013.

TO THE WONDER, written and directed by Terrence Malick, is a romantic drama centered on Neil, a man who is torn between two loves: Marina, the European woman who came to United States to be with him, and Jane, the old flame he reconnects with from his hometown. In TO THE WONDER, Malick explores how love and its many phases and seasons passion, sympathy, obligation, sorrow, indecision can transform, destroy, and reinvent lives.

source:Thepeoplesmovies

Take This Waltz Set For UK January Home Release

TAKE THIS WALTZ, written and directed by Sarah Polley and starring Michelle Williams, Seth Rogen, Luke Kirby and Sarah Silverman. TAKE THIS WALTZ is out to own on JANUARY 7th, 2013 and the summertime setting of Toronto will surely thaw any January blues!

Following the success of her Academy Award nominated film Away From Her, Sarah Polley weaves another intelligent, sensitive drama in TAKE THIS WALTZ.
When Margot (Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine), meets Daniel (Luke Kirby, The Samaritan) on a business trip, their chemistry is intense and immediate. Margot suppresses her sudden attraction as she is happily married to Lou (Seth Rogen, Green Hornet), a cookbook writer. When Margot learns that Daniel lives across the street from them, the certainty about her domestic life shatters. She and Daniel steal moments throughout the steaming Toronto summer, their eroticism heightened by their restraint.
Filled with colours, TAKE THIS WALTZ leads us, laughing, through the familiar, but uncharted question of what long-term relationships do to love, sex, and our images of ourselves.

DVD & Blu-ray Extras: Taking the Waltz / Trailer



Pre-Order:Take This Waltz [Blu-ray] / DVD

Dingly Dells, National Trust & Pasta Sauce. Watch New Sightseers Clips

Caravaning will never be the same when Ben Wheatley's dark comedy horror Sightseers is released in UK&Ireland next Friday 30th November. If you ever had the idea holidays in our fine lands was dull, boring thanks to our anti heros Chris and Tina (Chris Oram & Alice Lowe) you may now think twice in jumping a plane over to Benidorm or Torremolinos. Tonight our friends over at Studiocanal  have sent us over a brand new clip entitled 'Dingly Dell' which sees our protagonists roam the countryside for an ideal pitch for the caravan, Alice writes a postcard for her mother telling her about Chris and  the availability of her pasta sauce packets in Yorkshire! But as Chris finds an ideal spot to park he might have someone else determined to get that elusive caravan spot! Just below the new we have another new clip called 'National Trust' plus a quick tv spot that slipped under the radar last week.

Here at The People's Movies & Cinehouse The Kill List unfortunately didn't go down too well, more frustration than total resentment for the film.A couple weeks ago we had 2 reviewers (1 for each site, reviews online next week) and though both reviewers had different opinions on the film but the outcome is Sightseers looks the better film. What we do love is Chris' (Oram) 'their not human, their Daily Mail readers' which went down well, I'm really looking forward to seeing Sightseers as the cinema I volunteer at there is a few 'non-humans' there!

Sightseers will be released in UK&Ireland 30th November, 2013 USA.

Chris (Steve Oram) wants to show Tina (Alice Lowe) his world and he wants to do it his way – on a journey through the British Isles in his beloved Abbey Oxford Caravan. Tina’s led a sheltered life and there are things that Chris needs her to see – the Crich Tramway Museum, the Ribblehead Viaduct, the Keswick Pencil Museum and the rolling countryside that accompanies these wonders in his life.But it doesn’t take long for the dream to fade. Litterbugs, noisy teenagers and pre-booked caravan sites, not to mention Tina’s meddling mother, soon conspire to shatter Chris’s dreams and send him, and anyone who rubs him up the wrong way, over a very jagged edge…

tv spot

The Man In The White Suit DVD Review (1951)

In celebration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Ealing virtuoso Alexander Mackendrick, The Man in the White Suit finds itself on the receiving end of a restoration and re-release.

Mackendrick’s amusingly sardonic tale, based on his cousin Roger McDougall’s play, gives Alec Guinness a chance to shine as the stubborn genius, Sidney Stratton. Following a dismissal from his previous bout of employment, Sidney finds himself working in the research laboratory of a textile factory in a non-descript corner of the North. Stratton’s zealous obsession with bloody-minded progress leads to him inventing a revolutionary type of fabric that never gets dirty and is impossible to damage. Unfortunately for Stratton, his invention is met with hostility from both the factory owners and the unionised labour, who perceive the invention as a threat to repeat business and job security respectively.

As a resourceful and strident dissection of the state of (at the time) modern British institutions, The Man in the White Suit is ferocious. It’s a frequently angry film, and it has no qualms about taking a pretty fierce swipe at all its constituent factions; none of whom with which you can ever completely sympathise. The grasping mill owners are, aspiring but greedy, and singularly fail to see anything but the worst in the potential and brilliance of Stratton’s work, so concerned are they with filling their own coffers. While the militant factory workers also baulk at Stratton’s indestructible suit; they’ve fought hard enough for their tea break, they’ll be damned if they lose their jobs in the name of science.

Strangely enough, Stratton isn’t whiter than white himself. His pig-headed determination to see progress, almost for the sake of it, seems generous, but there’s an almost complete lack of consideration for the consequences. You’re left with the feeling that the film is perhaps looking to warn against the dangers accompanying modernisation post-war, but can’t quite work out at whom to lay the bulk of the blame. Perhaps we’re all as bad as each other.

It’s tempered by a playful, ironic sense of humour that sees Stratton’s early experiments going explosively wrong, to the bouncy accompanying noise of his tubes and pipes bubbling and whistling away. The desperate finale sees Stratton tearing through the dimly lit alleys of industrial Britain, clad in his infernal invention, like a man possessed.
Mackendrick’s peculiarly engrossing comedy feels like a bit of a mismatch at times, but it’s a combination of frustration, fear and wit which is neatly glued together by the gravitas of Guinness’s naively endearing man in his white suit.

Chris Banks (@Chris_in_2D)

★★★★☆

Rating: PG
Directed By:Alexander Mackendrick
Cast: Alec Guinness, Joan Greenwood , Cecil Parker
Buy The Man In The White Suit:DVD/ Blu-ray