Watch UK Trailer Antonio Campos' SIMON KILLER

Eureka Entertainment announced today the theatrical release of Simon Killer , a deeply disturbing character study of a ‘post-graduation summer’ in Paris, by a handsome sociopath in the making, from Director Antonio Campos, the Writer and Director of the critically acclaimed feature film Afterschool.

Brady Corbet plays Simon, a recent college graduate full of promise and potential, who goes to Paris to begin a trip around Europe after a bad break-up with his long-time girlfriend. Although he’s leaving behind a bad memory, he can’t manage to shake off his feelings of loss. Like many young people living overseas and away from home for the first time, he’s both an adventurer and an outsider in a very strange land. When Simon falls in love with a young, mysterious prostitute (Mati Diop), their fateful journey begins.

Emotionally compelling and visually stunning, Simon Killer is a film of casual brutality and profane sexuality, all cut to a killer soundtrack starring Brady Corbet (Melancholia, Thirteen, Martha Marcy May Marlene),Mati Diop, (35 Shots of Rum), Constance Rousseau, and Solo.

 SIMON KILLER will be released in the UK in cinemas nationwide from 12 April 2013, followed by a DVD &Blu-ray in the UK and Eire on 10 June 2013.

Dance Your Sorrows Away In First Trailer for Noah Baumbach's Frances Ha

 If you look back at American independent films over the last 20 years or so there's always going to be a few  directors names who will always pop due to their distinctive style, vision of film making; Wes Anderson, Jim Jarmusch and you have to also say Noah Baumbach. Since Summer 2012 on the festival circuit Baumbach's Frances Ha has been gathering some critical acclaim on it's travels and now it's time for the film to go theatrical and tonight we have the film's first trailer.

Frances Ha  sees Baumbach co-write the film with the film's main star Greta Gerwig who plays Frances a young New York woman who yearns to get more from life and relationships. Apart from the classic Modern  Love by David Bowie the film is delivered in black and white  to me is quint essential American independent. Frances Ha proves once again Greta Gerwig qualities in indie films rather than mainstream (Arthur remake) and Baumbach certainly knows how to get the best out of his leading lady lady. Visually this reminds me of Woody Allen's Manhattan with the tone and dialogue of Len Dunham's Girls, Frances Ha maybe sliding into that 20 something in crisis type film which we've seen a millions times but Noah Baumbach seems to deliver something more engaging and panache.

No word on a UK release so the film may creep into some UK based film festivals this year, Frances Ha will get a 17th May U.S limited release. The film co-stars Mickey Sumner, Adam Driver, Michael Zegen and Patrick Heusinger.



source:The Playlist

Win Tickets To See London Italian Film Festival Closing Film NiNA

Cinema Made in Italy 2013 kicks off on 6 March at the Ciné Lumière in South Kensington, celebrating the third edition of London’s Italian film festival. The event, which has become an annual rendezvous, is organised by the Filmitalia Department of Istituto Luce Cinecittà in Rome and the Italian Cultural Institute in London. It offers cinemagoers in the capital a five day showcase of the best recent Italian productions, never before screened in the UK.

The festival’s five day programme includes ten new Italian films: a selection of eight titles made by Gianni Canova, Italian film critic, Professor of Cinema History and Dean of IULM University in Milan, and a special choice of two films by Adrian Wootton, CEO of Film London. The screenings will be followed by Q&A sessions with directors and actors. This is a unique chance for both the public and UK distributors to see Italian films that have not yet had exposure in the UK and a rare opportunity to catch up with brand new, cutting edge Italian cinema. The festival will highlight the work of established talent such as Ferzan Ozpetek, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Marco Tullio Giordana and Luigi Lo Cascio, as well as introducing a raft of new names to audiences here. This year’s event also includes a special children’s screening of a new animated version of the classic Italian fairytale PINOCCHIO, screening on Sunday 10 March at the family friendly time of 5.00pm. For a full list of titles please see below.

To celebrate this festival we have a pair of tickets to the festival's closing Film NiNA directed by Elisa Fuksas who will also do an Q&A after the film. The date is Sunday 10th March and to enter please answer the following question:

Q.How many years has The London Italian Film Festival now been running?

To enter Please go to our main site The People's Movies and enter there 

Deadline for this competition is Friday 8th March 12 noon
Winner will be contacted shortly after deadline to arrange for collection of prize
You must be 15 years or older to enter

For full list of films or to book tickets at London Italian Film Festival please check out their website.

Atonioni's La Notte To Get The Masters Of Cinema Blu-Ray Treatment This April

Eureka Entertainment have announced that they will be releasing LA NOTTE on Blu-ray for the first time anywhere in the world on 22 April 2013. One of the most famous international films of the 1960s, directed by the master filmmaker Michelangelo Antonioni (L'avventura, Red Desert, Blow Up, Il grido, Le amiche, Zabriskie Point), LA NOTTE stars two of the biggest stars of the European cinema: Marcello Mastroianni (La dolce vita, 8-1/2) and Jeanne Moreau (Jules et Jim, Bay of Angels)

One of the masterworks of 1960s cinema, La notte [The Night] marked yet another development in the continuous stylistic evolution of its director, Michelangelo Antonioni — even as it solidified his reputation as one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. La notte is Antonioni’s "Twilight of the Gods", but composed in cinematic terms. Examined from a crane-shot, it’s a sprawling study of Italy’s upper middle-class; seen in close-up, it’s an x-ray of modern man’s psychic desolation.

Two of the giants of film-acting come together as a married couple living in crisis: Marcello Mastroianni (La dolce vita, 8-1/2) and Jeanne Moreau (Jules et Jim, Bay of Angels). He is a renowned author and "public intellectual"; she is "the wife". Over the course of one day and the night into which it inevitably bleeds, the pair will come to re-examine their emotional bonds, and grapple with the question of whether love and communication are even possible in a world built out of profligate idylls and sexual hysteria.

Photographed in rapturous black-and-white by the great Gianni di Venanzo (8-1/2, Giulietta degli spiriti), La notte presents the beauty of seduction, then asks: "When did this occur — this seduction of Beauty?" The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present Michelangelo Antonioni’s haunted odyssey for the first time ever on Blu-ray.



SPECIAL BLU-RAY EDITION FEATURES:

• New 1080p presentation of the film in its original 1.66:1 aspect ratio with previously censored sequences restored for the first time

• New and improved English subtitles

• Original Italian theatrical trailer

• 56-page booklet with an essay by film-critic and scholar Brad Stevens, and the transcript of a lengthy Q&A conducted in 1961 with Antonioni upon the film’s release.

Pre-order / Buy: LA NOTTE [THE NIGHT] (Masters of Cinema) (Blu-ray)

Love is Bittersweet In Slamdance Turtles Short

Love is a bittersweet affair but in Ian Wittenber's Turtles Short it's also an funny absurd might just make a heart broken person smile. Back in January the short film played in front of Grand Dury Prize Winner The Dirties, a story delivered in the style of a mock documentary which you could say love works in mysterious ways most of all absurd ways. Its a charming little film which will only take up 8 minutes of your life, not much to say about it apart from watch and enjoy!


source:Twitch

From Stage To Screen And Back Again (Broken Feature)

This Friday will see the release of Rufus Norris Award winning British Independent drama Broken will hit the UK Cinemas.the UK indie which boasts a strong cast of Tim Roth, Cillian Murphy as well a fantastic debut performance from Eloise Laurence in a film thats looks like it’ll deliver on the dramatics with hints of something very dark lurking under the serene face British suburbia.To celebrate the release of Broken we have a feature called From Stage To Screen (And Back Again) which sees some great directors who have started their careers on the stage went to direct and went back to the stage once again.

Rufus Norris

Rufus Norris, whose film debut Broken hits cinemas on the 8th March, trained as an actor before turning his attentions to directing. Winning the Evening Standard award for Most Promising Newcomer in 2001 led to future success in productions such as Festen and Death and the King’s Horseman, which played in the Olivier theatre. The soundtrack of Broken is composed by Electric Wave Bureau, which features Blur front-man Damon Albarn, who collaborated with Norris on his production of Doctor Dee in 2011.

Orson Welles

Before the illustrious film career began, Orson Welles directed a number of high-profile productions; these included an innovative take on Shakespeare’s Macbeth (1936) - which became known as Voodoo Macbeth due to setting the play in Haiti (the Three Sisters became the Three Voodoo Witch Doctors.) He went on to co-found the Mercury Theatre, regularly casting actor Joseph Cotton in productions – Welles went on to cast Cotton in his film debut, Citizen Kane (1941,) deemed to be the greatest film ever made.

Laurence Olivier

Arguably one of the most famous actors of all time, Laurence Olivier was the first artistic director of the National Theatre (the main stage is now named in his honour,) and went on to the Old Vic in 1963 where he oversaw a production of Hamlet. He directed nine productions in total, appearing in most of them, and making names out of John Gielgud, Maggie Smith, Derek Jacobi and Anthony Hopkins to name a few. Previous to this, Olivierhad carved himself out as the leading purveyor of Shakespeare in film. Star and director of Hamlet (1944), Othello (1948) and Richard III (1955,) Olivier was a screen legend. In September 2007, the National Theatre marked the centenary of his birth.

Bob Fosse

Bob Fosse was a director of musical theatre, who moved to New York with the aspirations of becoming the next Fred Astaire. Choreographing several productions, including How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1961,) Fosse began directing theatre with notable productions including Sweet Charity (1966) – a film version of which he directed three years later - and Chicago (1975.) Fosse won an Oscar for directing Cabaret in 1972, famously beating Francis Ford Coppola’s work on The Godfather in the process.

Mike Nichols German-born American director Mike Nichols found his way to directing stage through his comedy duo routines with director and actress Elaine May (Nichols and May,) overseeing – and winning numerous Tony awards for – Broadway productions of Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple (1965) and Plaza Suite (1968.) 1966 saw his film directorial debut in the form of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and in 1968, he won an Oscar for directing The Graduate. He has remained a film and theatre director ever since, winning another Tony in 2012 for his production of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman.

Julie Taymor

American film and theatre director Julie Taymor is most renowned for becoming the first woman to win a Best Director Tony award for her production of stage musical The Lion King (1997.) She had formally proved her talent by directing Shakespeare plays, including The Tempest and The Taming of the Shrew in 1984. She has also received acclaim for her directing career, her debut of which was Titus in 1999 (she produced a stage version in 1994,) and includes Frida (2002,) Across the Universe (2007,) a love story set to the music of The Beatles, and a screen-version of The Tempest in 2010. Her last stage production was a broadway musical version of Spider-Man in 2007, which broke records – but caused controversy when she departed the production over creative differences.

Mike Leigh

British filmmaker Mike Leigh studied theatre at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art kick-starting his career in the mid-60s. He worked as assistant director at the Royal Shakespeare Company alongside director’s Peter Hall and Trevor Nunn. After directing some small-scale improvised plays, heturned his attention to playwriting for television – his most famous of which, Abigail’s Party, has been devised on-stage several times. He soon moved to theatrical ‘kitchen-sink’ filmmaking, with High Hopes (1988) and Life Is Sweet (1990.) He has directed three plays since his film career began, and regularly receives praise for every new film – the last of which was 2010’s Another Year.

Sam Mendes

Sam Mendes began theatre directing during his years at Cambridge - and by 24 had directed a version of Chekhov’s The Cherry Tree starring Judi Dench. 1990 saw Mendes appointed artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse (situated in Covent Garden,) which is now deemed a notable theatre venue. Countless talent has appeared in acclaimed productions ever since. In 1994, he staged a production of Oliver! and made his film directorial debut with 1999’s Oscar-winning American Beauty. Road to Perdition (2002) followed, and most recently, Mendes was the man responsible for directing what has become one of the most popular Bond films ever, Skyfall (2012.) In 2003, he established film, television and theatre production company Neal Street Productions, most recently responsible for the funding of BBC1’s Call the Midwife.

Danny Boyle

Upon leaving school, Danny Boyle joined the Joint Stock Theatre Company in London, before moving to the Royal Court in 1982. Five productions at the Royal Shakespeare Company later, and Boyle turned his attentions to filmmaking; 1995 saw his debut Shallow Grave, and countless other hits have followed: Trainspotting (1996,) 28 Days Later... (2002,) the Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire (2008) and 127 Hours (2010.) He returned to theatre in 2011, directing a version of Frankenstein for the National Theatre which was broadcast to cinemas live. He received unanimous praise recently for his artisitic directing duties on the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics. His new film Trance is set for release this month.

Joe Wright

Joe Wright began his career working at his parents’ puppet theatre, and attended the Anna Scher Theatre School. He made the move to directing television and film after receiving a scholarship to make an award-winning short film for the BBC, sparking off a film career that has included Atonement (2007,) Hanna (2010) and most recently Anna Karenina (2012.) This year has seen him make his West End stage directorial debut, comedy Trelawny of the Wells at the Donmar Warehouse; it opened to positive reviews.

Broken will be released in UK Cinemas from Friday (8th March)

Stitches DVD Review

Though Stitches (2012) may not be to everyone's taste, director / writer Conor McMahon's new horror comedy is the perfect film debut for edgy comedian Ross Noble making a pleasant surprise in a gross-out schoolboy fashion. The similarities between it and that other anarchic jester jape Funny Man (1994) are clear. However, where that slice of infantile hokum was nauseating pure and simple, Stitches will leave you doubled up with laughter.

'Stitches' (Noble) is a down on his luck clown, making a living performing magic tricks at rich kid's birthday parties. Unfortunately at one such shindig 'Stitches' meets a gruesome end, after his show is literally cut short by the spoilt brats he has been paid to entertain.

Several years pass. The same kids - now all responsible teenagers (yeah, right) - are celebrating the birthday of one of their number with a typically raucous get-together. With the party in full swing they don't notice it has been gatecrashed by an old 'friend' with some particularly nasty tricks up his sleeve, and who is determined to make this a night to dismember for the birthday boy and his hapless guests.

Forget subtlety. The in-your-face, over-the-top crassness of Stitches doesn't even bother attempting anything remotely sophisticated. It is because of this approach however that it works. Where some modern horrors try to hide their schlocky viscerals behind a social message and deeper meaning, those like Stitches and the other recent gorefest Cockneys Vs Zombies (2011), wallow in their un pc'ness and full-on comedy carnage. The tone the film is aiming for is clear from the start as, before the opening credits have even begun, Noble's character in full clown mode is seen 'entertaining' a lady friend in his caravan. It's downhill from then on with virtually no one escaping 'Stitches' brand of cutting edge humour, though few live to hear the punchline as he makes short work of the sex mad, drugged up teens.

The roles of party-loving teenagers come naturally to the cast led by Tommy Knight and Gemma-Leagh Devereux - though this admittedly wouldn't be a push for most young people - whilst Noble seems born to play the potty-mouthed, wisecracking freak, a part again unlikely to stretch his abilities as an actor. It's the inventive murders however which really are the stars of the show, from ice-cream scooped brains to a guy having his intestines manipulated like a modelling balloon.

After watching this film you may understand why so many people suffer from coulrophobia, whilst clowns leave the rest of us in stitches!

Cleaver Patterson

★★★★☆

Rating:18
DVD/BD Release Date:4th March 2013 (UK)
Director: Conor McMahon
Cast: Ross Noble, Tommy Knight, Eoghan McQuinn, Gemma-Leah Devereux
Buy Stitches On: Blu-Ray / DVD
Win Stitches On DVD: Enter Here

GFF 2013 - Sleep Tight (Mientras Duermes) DVD Review

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]

Watch Trailer For Murder Comedy Kankin Tantei

The official trailer for Japanese Murder Comedy Kankin Tantei has been released online. The movie is based on an adaptation of the Manga by mystery writer Takemaru Abiko  tells the story of Ryota (Muira) who stumbles across a mysterious girl Akane (Natsuna) in an apartment of a who was stabbed to death. Unsure who she is or why she is doing here Ryota handcuffs the girl to the bed until he can solve the murder but Akane says she can solve it. Cane Ryota trust her? Why was Ryota on the murder scene? Can They trust each other to solve the murder?

I think since I watch 44inch Chest  a few years back I've noticed an increase of films set mostly in one location (in an apartment) like here in Kankin Tantei which suggests the faith that the film's story is strong and entertaining enough to merit the film. The film looks to emphasise the power of the internet as we get glimpses of the pair investigating via internet, social media, images, etc....

Kankin Tantei stars Takahiro Miura , Natsuna directed by Takuro Oikawa with the film arriving in Japan on 1st June 2013.


source:Nipponcinema