EIFF 2013 - Shooting Bigfoot Review

Morgan Matthews' Shooting Bigfoot is likely to be a firm fan favourite of this year's Edinburgh International Film Festival. Matthews' feature is an amusing and occasionally dark look into the world of 'bigfoot hunting' with enough originality and fun to become an instant cult classic.

Matthews' journey sees him shadow a variety of bigfoot obsessives and study the skills they use in their attempts to capture the elusive sasquatch. This is not so much a documentary on bigfoot (obviously, because it doesn't exist) but on the eccentric men who devote their life to finding the creature.

Shooting Bigfoot does not set out to exploit these men and their beliefs in any way with Matthews taking an admirable agnostic approach towards the existence of bigfoot. The bigfoot hunters however, do not take such an approach - they seem to be split into two defined categories, those that hold a genuine believe in the creature and those that seek to exploit the concept of bigfoot for some quick cash. Those in the former are Dallas and Wayne, two working class elderly men who dub themselves 'bigfoot researchers'. Both men seem convinced at the existence of the creature - with Wayne continually howling into the woods and Dallas believing every shadow is the mysterious sasquatch.

However, it is the more morally ambiguous bigfoot hunters who make the most fascinating subjects in Matthews' film. Rick Dyer, a man who attempted to hoax the Bigfoot equivalent of the 1990's alien autopsy - is one of these. Dyer notes he 'has no friends' which is unsurprising from his intimidating behaviour and facetious opinions. Shooting Bigfoot even turns into a terrifying Southern Comfort/Hills Have Eyes style horror when showcasing Matthews' hunting trip with Dyer who conveys a slightly darker side to his personality - resulting in a nerve-shreddingly tense and unsettling conclusion. An encounter with a shifty knife-wielding homeless man and his mysteriously injured dog on the same trip alludes to more terrifying behaviour than anything that a sasquatch could perpetrate.

Many will be most impressed by Matthews' shadowing of Tom Biscardi - a man who could only be described as a dream candidate for anyone wanting to make an amusing documentary. Biscardi is a man with a staggering sense of self-importance (after all he made Bigfoot Lives 2) who leads a ragtag band of hunters including Youngblood - an overzealous tracker and Chico - a bewildered former veteran and fall guy to Biscardi's own stupidity. Highlights include Biscardi conducting an interview with a bigfoot victim who does not want to be named - yet Biscardi uses his name in every sentence - it's Rocky by the way. However, it's the slick hunter's frequent demands and insults that had me in hysterics - such as "Get me a snapple!"and "You ask him for the time and he makes you a damn watch!"

Shooting Bigfoot is a terrifically charming and inherently amusing watch thanks to the host of eccentrics that fill Matthews' stellar feature. The film's sinister undercurrent and genuinely terrifying conclusion also provides a dark edge to the tale, resulting in the feature feeling like a rather substantial watch. Now god damn it, someone get me a snapple!

★★★★☆

Andrew McArthur

Director: Morgan Matthews
Release: EIFF 21/22 June 2013

EIFF 2013 - Before You Know It Review

Despite all the big arrivals at the Edinburgh International Film Festival (we've had The Bling Ring, Monsters University, The East etc.), this year's standout features have all been relatively low key documentaries. Whilst these documentaries may not have the star-power or budgets of this Hollywood fare, the impact and heart of the stories they tell could not be paralleled in any fictional work. Before You Know It is just one of these staggeringly powerful documentaries that will leave viewers thinking well after watching the film.

PJ Raval's Before You Know It looks at the lives of three separate gay seniors living in the USA. Each man has lived a very different life and faced their own challenges, yet all are connected through the strength and guts they fearlessly share.

The film opens with widowed Dennis Creamer, who was long married and lives in the conservative South. Before You Know It details Dennis' move to a gay-friendly Oregon nursing-home and the senior's alternative persona, Dee. The least confident of the three men, Dennis's story is a melancholic one as he discusses his thoughts about suicide, detachment from his relatives and his lonely lifestyle. However, there is also a huge element of warmth and likeability to Dennis - seeing him boast the guts to walk down busy streets in drag (even boarding a Pride float in Dee drag) or embark solo on a youth-heavy gay cruise capture how truly brave this former-veteran is. Raval is an unimposing figure, with Dennis and the film's other subjects always appearing at ease and comforted under the lens.

The second of the seniors is Ty Martin an African-American gay activist for SAGE (Services & Advocacy for GLBT Elders) living in traditionally homophobic Harlem. We learn how AIDS/HIV killed many of Ty's friends and follow him through the passing of New York's same-sex marriage bill. Ty's story is slightly more upbeat than Dennis's as it showcases changing attitudes to GLBT citizens in Harlem, where we see the activist set a sidewalk stand to promote SAGE and even see him act as best man in his best friend's same-sex wedding.

The third of these inspiring elders is Robert Mainor, proprietor of trashy Galveston gay bar Robert LaFitte's. Robert claims he was "always out" and provides a lot the humour in Before You Know It, especially in sequences showing the camp senior going hunting for Hawaiian shirts at garage sales or bantering with the dragged up staff performing in his bar. Robert's tale is also a sad one - Paval documents how he lost his partners and takes a lesser role in the bar as a result of continual health problems. However, Robert's tale does remain inspiring - seeing how his bar unites the Texas gay community is heart-warming, as is seeing the love between the staff, clients and Robert.

Before You Know It is reminds us that these seniors have and still continue to pave the way for new generations of LGBT youths and the courage they display shows no bounds. These are touching stories packed with warmth, sadness, fun, and most importantly, strength.

★★★★☆

Andrew McArthur

Director: P J Raval
Release: 29-30th June 2013 (EIFF)

Jack Hill's Foxy Brown / Spider Baby BluRay Review

The fantastic Arrow Video has released 2 films by Jack Hill films Spider-Baby and Foxy Brown on blu-ray. Jack Hill has been by called “The Howard Hawks of exploitation filmmaking” by Quentin Tarantino. Jack Hill like many directors of his generation worked for Roger Corman in the 1960s he made such films for Roger as Pit Stop, The Big Doll House and the notorious The Terror (which Francis Ford Coppola directed bits of as well as Monte Hellman and even Jack Nicholson). Spider-Baby however was Jack Hill’s first real film but wasn’t released for years and was never properly released till the 80s/90s.

Spider-Baby is a rare slice of “California Gothic”, very few films are with only Psycho and some of Tim Burton’s films. The film is about these 3 children in puberty who are regressing the evolutionary ladder if you will; a backwards Darwinism if you will. They have a chauffeur Bruno played by Lon Chaney Jr. (the one who played The Wolf Man). The title Spider-Baby refers to Virginia because she is obsessed with Spider and hunts and bills bugs and her spider like movements. The film starts with them killing off an innocent postman. Bruno has mean able to keep the dark family secrets hidden all these years but when some cousins Emily and her brother Peter with their lawyer come it is all revealed over a grotesque dinner.

The film is a predecessor to something like Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which it’s depicted of inbred cannibalistic family even though the cannibalism is all implied. It’s a very strange film with a dinner scene reminiscent of the one in Eraserhead. It’s shot in glorious black and white, which really adds to the gothic weirdness of the whole thing. The film starts a hilarious parody of the Monster Mash sung by Lon Chaney. The film also has an early role for Sid Haig as one of the inbred kids. It has in recent years even been adapted into a musical.

Foxy Brown is a very different film to Spider-Baby. It’s a quintessential piece of Blaxploitation and it stars the queen of Blaxploitation Pam Grier as its title character. Jack Hill is known for many things but probably most for discovering Pam Grier with his film The Big Doll House (which like Lon Chaney sang the title song in that film). Pam’s star making role was in the classic Coffy that Jack Hill also directed.

Foxy Brown was originally meant to be a sequel to Coffy due to its surprise success but American-International Pictures at the last minute decided they didn’t want a sequel. The film is some ways is rewrite the Coffy. Pam Grier plays a foxy mama who seeks revenge on some criminals on what they did to her loved one; in Coffy it was her sister. Foxy Brown it’s her boyfriend who is witness protection (he has had cosmetic surgery) who is shot down by a drug syndicate. She poses as a prostitute to infiltrate the organization. She helps one of the prostitute from a life drugs and sexual exploitation. The rest of the film is all revenge themed set pieces including one of castrating.

The film as expecting is a total hoot from start to finish with Pam Grier killing everyone; she literally hides a gun into her Afro in the climax. It’s normal case the soundtrack for Blaxploitation films to have a great soundtrack and it’s certainly the case this time with music by Willie Hutch who also did the score for the pimpin’ classic The Mack. The film is certainly on par with its predecessor Coffy, it may not quite reach the dizzy heights of that film but it’s a blast. The film like Spider-Baby and Coffy also features a supporting role by Sid Haig who Jack Hill knew since his student days. Tarantino famously adapted the title for his masterpiece Jackie Brown that of course stars Pam Grier.

Arrow Video has put lots of love and care into these releases which a wealth of bonus material with a doc on Blaxploitation, a doc on Spider Baby, interviews with Sid Haig, commentaries by Jack Hil on both films, one of Jack Hill’s short films. Arrow is rapidly becoming one of the best home video companies in the UK and look out for more by them in recent months and maybe some day they can release Coffy.

★★★★☆

Ian Schultz

Spiderbaby (1968)
Rating: 18
BluRay Release Date: 24th June 2013(UK)
Director: Jack Hill
Cast: Lon Chaney Jr., Carol Ohmart,Quinn K. Redeker,Sid Haig
Buy Spider Baby: Blu-ray




Foxy Brown (1974)
Rating: 18
BluRay Release Date: 24th June 2013(UK)
Director: Jack Hill
Cast:  Pam Grier, Antonio Fargas, Peter Brown
Buy Foxy Brown: Blu-ray / SteelBook [Blu-ray]

Spike Island Review

This one could not have come along at a better time. The Stone Roses' return to the music scene last year, followed up by gigs in London a little over a week ago, and Shane Meadows' eulogizing love letter-cum-documentary, has seen interest in the band at its highest in decades.

Not since they signed off with a Reading festival set so dire that it has since assumed the status of arguably the worst live performance of any Manchester band, have The Roses been so bloody prevalent. There's a palpable wave of goodwill for Spike Island to surf, which can only help its chance of finding an audience beyond devotes of the baggy quartet.

Mat Whitecross' tale of youthful abandon centres around The Roses' 1990 gig at Spike Island (near Widnes), a show which may even have attained an even greater mythical standing than the aforementioned palava, and a young band's desperate attempts to ensure they are involved in the fun and games.

Young Tits (Elliott Tittensor) and his bands mates, the venerable Shadowcastre, are having a right time of it kicking about their Manchester estate. School's a drag and life at home ain't much better for the gang, a preposterously named bunch of mononymous toe-rags, sporting monikers that wouldn't sound out of place amongst the well-thumbed pages of The Beano; Dodge is on rhythm guitar and Zippy the drums, leaving Penfold to assume the role of poor-man's Bez.

The boys idolise the The Stone Roses and will stop at nothing to crash their upcoming gig and make forge a reputation for themselves.

It's a coming-of-age, right-of-passage tale which certainly packs enough youthful energy to keep the show rolling along, even if it times it feels as if the script may have been cribbed from a copy of the Mancunian Book of Cliches.

The dialogue frequently descends into extended bursts of Manc patois but it's a good-as-gold tale of working class, northern ecentricity and music. Which in itself is no bad thing, but all this swaggering and floppy hair might not translate south of Crewe.

At times the the drudgery and domestic strife feels laboured and unwelcome, but at it's heart it's a film about the music; a story with a rock and roll sentiment, which should render it palatable for anyone with anything approaching an interest in great British music.

★★★☆☆

Chris Banks

Rating: 15
Release Date: 21st June 2013 (UK)
Director: Mat Whitecross
Cast:  Elliott Tittensor, Nico Mirallegro, Jordan Murphy, Emilia Clarke

EIFF 2013 - What Maisie Knew Review

Taking a classic piece of late-nineteenth century literature and adapting it in a contemporary fashion is a risky move that few filmmakers could convincingly pull off. However, Scott McGehee and David Siegel are two of the directors up to such a task as showcased in their delicately understated and truly touching adaption of Henry James's What Maisie Knew.

Maisie (Onata Aprile) is the child of pushy rock star Susanna (Julianne Moore) and distracted art-dealer Beale (Steve Coogan) - a couple who are in the middle of a bitter divorce. Maisie is pushed to-and-fro between her mother and new boyfriend Lincoln (Alexander Skarsgard) and her father and his fiancé Margo (Joanna Vanderham), Maisie's former nanny.

Nancy Doyne and Carroll Cartwright's delicate, slow-building screenplay captures the challenging effects that divorce can have on a child, especially those whose parents are so career-driven that their parenting style can only be described as negligent. Fiery performances from Moore and Coogan capture this at full force, but both actors display a welcome range in respective scenes which see them bond with Maisie. Doyne and Cartwright slowly build up the heart-wrenching emotional weight that this erratic behaviour has on Maisie, whilst also reflecting a truly warming kindness that she receives from initial outsiders, Lincoln and Margo. Maisie remains relatively contained, yet it is clear the weight and strain of the actions of those around her does begin to challenge the young child.

This is flawlessly showcased in one scene which sees Maisie's mother abandon her to go on tour. The young Maisie is temporarily taken in by strangers where we see the child's fear and heartbreak gradually break through in one understated shot where the young girl lets out a single stray tear. The scene is an agonising watch and represents the delicate directorial style of McGehee and Siegel, where a floodgate of gradual pain is masterfully showcased in one single tear.

Of course, the emotional impact of What Maisie Knew would be sorely less effective if not for young actress Onata Aprile. Aprile is a revelation - presenting a performance so authentically contained and controlled, yet packing such an emotional weight that it truly grounds the feature.

Whilst capturing the challenging nature of relationships, McGehee and Siegel also display the warmth and excitement of new romances through the ever-growing relationship between Lincoln and Margo. This is presented with such a natural tenderness and class that it is a challenge not to warmed - whilst must of this should also be credited to beautifully understated performances from Vanderham and Skarsgard.

What Maisie Knew's slow building screenplay packs a heart-wrenching emotional weight showcased through delicately understated direction and staggeringly authentic performances from Aprile, Vanderham, and their co-stars.

★★★★☆

Andrew McArthur

Stars: Onata Aprile, Julianne Moore, Steve Coogan, Joanna Vanderham , Alexander Skarsgard
Directors: Scott McGehee and David Siegel
Release: 20th June - 22nd June 2013 (EIFF) 23rd August 2013 (UK Cinema)

EIFF 2013 - The East Review

You would think a film like The East that details the work of anarchic environmental activists would make a thrilling watch, but unfortunately Zal Batmanglij's film squanders its original and simple premise through a series of crippling misfires.

With a screenplay from lead-actress Brit Marling and Batmanglij, The East details an operative (Marling) from an elite intelligence firm infiltrating an anarchist group who are targeting large corporations. However, her allegiances are challenged as she grows closer to this group of eco-terrorists who call themselves The East.

The East opens with a chilling sequence of crude oil pouring through the vents of a CEO's luxurious home after it's revealed he disposed of thousands of litres of the stuff in American waters. Batmanglij suggests that this will be a dark, subversive piece that sets out to readdress the balance between corporations and those that their greed hurts. Unfortunately excluding one other set piece (when The East elaborately poison executives with their own deadly painkiller) - we rarely see this happen. Instead Batmanglij's screenplay focuses on operative Sarah's growing relationship with the anarchists.

Despite this focus on relationships within The East, we never feel truly intimate or engaged by Sarah or the group. Instead the anarchists feel glazed over caricatures of eco-hipsters - they raid trash cans, feed each other, and jig to folk music, and there is little more to them than that. The screenplay is packed with a variety of inconsistencies like how Sarah could so easily be accepted in a well-established anarchist group or how a corporation could legally sell a drug that damages of the functions of everyone who takes it.

As for the implausible scenes involving the take-down of these corporations, they lack the excitement and drive that this film so sorely needed to kick it up a gear. The pace of Batmanglij's film remains slow, verging on downright tedious - episodes of ABC's Revenge showcase far more originality and tension whilst tackling the similar theme of corrupt corporation takedown (fans may remember Emily's take down of Bill Harmon's investment firm in the first season). This is particularly disappointing as The East boasts such a fantastic initial premise.

The performances also feel equally uneven with Brit Marling faring the worst. Despite previously shining in Arbitrage, Marling's performance feels flat here with the actress failing to display the range that this part needs. Sarah's draw towards The East despite her loyalty to her employers should have showcased an emotional struggle for the character, but Sarah simply seems impartial and unengaged by all of the events that surround her. The equally talented Ellen Page also appears squandered in a role that can simply be described as a whining brat.

On the positive side, both Alexander Skarsgard and Patricia Clarkson are excellent. Skarsgard displays a natural charisma and magnetism, whilst Clarkson packs an icy bite into the role of intelligence honcho Sharon.

Despite initially promising an exciting and subversive concept, The East is simply a flat and tedious look at the lives of unlikeable eco-hipsters that fails to showcase the readdressing of the balance of power between the social classes. It appears greed really is good.

★★☆☆☆

Andrew McArthur

Stars: Brit Marling, Alexander Skarsgard , Patricia Clarkson, Toby Kebbell, Shiloh Fernandez
Director: Zal Batmanglij
Release: 20th June, 23rd June 2013 (EIFF),28th June 2013 (UK Cinema)
Rating: 15

Watch The Intense UK Trailer For Daniel Espinola's Easy Money aka Snabba Cash

There’s no such thing as ‘easy money’ in Stockholm’s dark underworld. There’s a price to pay for everything.It's been a long time coming but finally Daniel Espinola's Easy Money finally coming to UK, check out the film's official UK trailer.

Back in 2010 when the Swedish crime thriller was released in it's homeland Daniel Espinola was unknown but since then he has made his Hollywood debut with Safe House (Denzil Washington) and now it's time to see why Hollywood snapped the director up.

Easy Money (or Snabba Cash it's original name) tells the tale of a poor student living amongst the elite in Stockholm funding the wealthy lifestyle by selling cocaine. This 'Easy Money' becomes a gateway to the city's dark underworld of organised crime when he crosses paths with another dealer Jorge (Matias Padin Varela) who is on the run only to find himself also on the run been tracked by Mrado (Dragomir Mrsic).

The film has made a few appearances in UK film Festival most notably Glasgow Film Festival where it made it's UK debut along with Easy Money 2 (yes there's a sequel!) and more recently Nordic Noir in London Last Month. If your familiar with many of the Nordic TV Shows(original The Killing) you recognise Easy Money's lead if not you will soon as he's playing the new Robocop (released 2014), Joel Kinnaman. Easy money deliver the dark tension,violence and great storytelling so what better time to unleash the film on UK cinephiles. The film has been compared to a Swedish Goodfellas and how ironic Martin Scorsese (Goodfellas director) was a executive producer, enough said!

Easy Money arrives in UK&Irish cinema from Icon and Lionsgate UK on 19th July.

synopsis

JW (Joel Kinnaman) is a poor student living a double life among the wealthy elite in Stockholm. Using increasingly illicit means to fund his exclusive lifestyle, he hits on a chance to score ‘easy money’ through selling cocaine. As JW enters the dark world of organised crime, his fate entwines with that of Jorge (Matias Padin Varela), a drug dealer on the run, and Mrado (Dragomir Mrsic), a mob hitman tasked with tracking Jorge down.

J Is For July Release Of The ABCs Of Death In UK on DVD, BluRay

Monster Pictures announced today the full list of extras that will be included on the UK DVD and Blu-ray release of The ABCs of Death.

The ABCs of Death is perhaps the most ambitious anthology film ever conceived with productions spanning fifteen countries and featuring segments directed by over two dozen of the world's leading talents in contemporary genre film, including the directors of House of the Devil, Hobo with a Shotgun, A Serbian Film, Tokyo Gore Police, You’re Next & four British Directors - Ben Wheatley (Sightseers), Simon Rumley (Red, White & Blue), Jake West (Doghouse) & Leeds based Lee Hardcastle, who with his claymation short, won a competition to be the final Director. Inspired by children’s educational books, the motion picture is comprised of twenty-six individual chapters; each helmed by a different director assigned a letter of the alphabet. The directors were then given free rein in choosing a word to create a story involving death. Provocative, shocking, funny and ultimately confrontational, The ABCs of Death is the definitive vision of modern horror diversity.

This alphabetical arsenal of destruction orchestrated by what has been described as "a stunning roll call of some of the most exciting names in horror across the world." is one of the most hotly anticipated releases for 2013, and will be released on DVD & Blu-ray on 22 July 2013.

The DVD & Blu-ray extras are as follows:

- Filmmaker Commentary
- A Is for Apocalypse - Oil Burns Visual Effects
- B Is for Bigfoot - Making of
- C Is for Cycle - Deleted Scenes
- D Is for Dogfight - Making of
- F Is for Fart - Behind the Scenes
- H Is for Hydro-Electric Diffusion – Behind the Scenes, The Making of Bertie the Bulldog & Frau Scheisse and Finished Short vs. Behind the Scenes
- I Is for Ingrown - Making of
- J Is for Jidai-Geki - Behind the Scenes
- P Is for Pressure - Interviews with Writer/Director Simon Rumley and Producer/Director of Photography Milton Cam
- R Is for Removed - Behind the Scenes Photo Gallery
- T Is for Toilet - Behind the Scenes
- V Is for Vagitus - Deleted Scene, Behind the Scenes and Animatics.
- W Is for WTF! - Behind the Scenes, Bonus Flubs! and Star-Beast Outtakes
- Z Is for Zetsumetsu (Extinction) - Behind the Scenes
- AXS TV: A Look at The ABCs of Death
- Do You Know Your ABCs Trailer
- Redband Trailer

- Greenband Trailer


THE SHORTS
Apocalypse by Nacho Vigalondo (TimeCrimes), Spain
Bigfoot by Adrían Garcia Bogliano (Cold Sweat), Mexico
Cycle by Ernesto Díaz Espinoza (Mirageman; Mandrill), Chile
Dogfight by Marcel Sarmiento (Deadgirl), USA
Exterminate by Angela Bettis (Roman), USA
Fart by Noburu Iguchi, (Robo Geisha), Japan
Gravity by Andrew Traucki (The Reef), Australia
Hydro-Electric Diffusion by Thomas Malling (Norwegian Ninja), Norway
Ingrown by Jorge Michel Grau (We Are What We Are), Mexico
Jidai-Geki by Yudai Yamaguchi (Yakuza Weapon), Japan
Klutz by Anders Morgenthaler (Princess), Denmark
Libido by Timo Tjahjanto (Macabre), Indonesia
Miscarriage by Ti West (House of the Devil; The Innkeepers), USA
Nuptials by Banjong Pisathanakun (Shutter), Thailand
Orgasm by Bruno Forzani & Héléne Cattet (Amer), Belgium
Pressure by Simon Rumley (Red, White & Blue), UK
Quack by Adam Wingard (A Horrible Way to Die), USA
Removed by Srdjan Spasojevic (A Serbian Film), Serbia
Speed by Jake West (Doghouse), UK
Toilet by Lee Hardcastle (T is For Toilet), UK
Unearthed by Ben Wheatley (Kill List), UK
Vagitus by Kaare Andrews (Altitude), USA
WTF! by Jon Schnepp (Metalocalypse; The Venture Bros.), USA
XXL by Xavier Gens (Frontiers; Hitman), France
Youngbuck by Jason Eisener (Hobo With A Shotgun), Canada
Zetsumetsu by Yoshihiro Nishimura (Tokyo Gore Police), Japan

Buy The ABCs Of Death:DVD / BLU-RAY

BFI To Release A London Trilogy: The Films of Saint Etienne (2003-2007) On DVD In July

On 15 July the BFI will release A London Trilogy: The Films of Saint Etienne 2003-2007, bringing Finisterre, What Have You Done Today Mervyn Day? and This is Tomorrow together on one DVD for the first time. The trilogy is accompanied by a selection of rare and previously unavailable short films.

From a beautifully conceived film-poem and an imaginative exploration of the Lower Lea Valley to an uplifting documentary on a London landmark, the collaborations between electronic indie trio Saint Etienne and filmmaker Paul Kelly (Lawrence of Belgravia) document London's ever-changing environment and landscapes with music by the band.

Finisterre (2003), directed by Paul Kelly and Kieran Evans, is a homage to London featuring a host of well-known voices including Mark Perry, Julian Opie, Vic Godard and Lawrence who’ve made the capital their own, soundtracked by songs from the Saint Etienne album of the same name.

What Have You Done Today Mervyn Day? (2005) follows paperboy Mervyn Day on his round, tracing the fascinating hidden history of East London’s Lower Lea Valley in the years before it was redeveloped to become the Olympic Park. Guest voices include David Essex and Linda Robson.

Commissioned by the Royal Festival Hall to mark its renovation and grand reopening, This is Tomorrow (2007) lovingly records the immense labour and attention to detail that went into the refurbishment of one of London’s most distinguished concert venues.

The additional short films are:

• Today’s Special (2004): three shorts about London’s disappearing cafés
• Banksy in London (2003): outtakes from Finisterre documenting the artist’s work, some of which is no longer in situ
• Monty the Lamb (2006): a day in the life of Monty, mascot for North London’s Hendon FC
• Seven Summers (2012): Sarah Cracknell narrates this follow up to What Have You Done Today Mervyn Day?
• The Other South Bank (2008): a look at Teeside’s South Bank. 

Pre-order/Buy:A London Trilogy: The Films of Saint Etienne 2003-2007 [DVD]


Also included in a 32-page illustrated booklet with an introduction by Paul Kelly and new essays by Bob Stanley, Sukhdev Sandhu, Owen Hatherley and Tom Dyckhoff.

The DVD will be a launched with a BFI &Caught by the River screening event and Q&A attended by the band, at Rough Trade East, Brick Lane, E1 on Friday 12 July at 6.30pm which is free and open to all. More details here: Rough Trade

Hitchcock DVD Review

To fans, admirers he is Alfred Hitchcock but to his friends, colleagues to them you called him 'Hitch' hold the cock. Based on Stephen Rebello's Alfred Hitchcock And The Making Of Psycho, Sacha Gervasi's Hitchcock attempts to deliver the master of suspense at crossroads whilst creating his horror masterpiece Psycho. A film that has a rare insight into the relationship with the only woman to steal his heart and most of all his confidant, his co-collaborator Alma Reville (Helen Mirren) his wife.

Hitchcock starts at the premier of the 1959 North By Northwest, Alfred Hitchcock (Anthony Hopkins) is unnearved by a reporter who questions his ability at 60 to still produce the goods. With a new wave of filmmakers emerging could he still handle the pressure? Why not quit when he's ahead? Determined not to be pigeonholed  and not to become 'television show' Hitchcock searches high and low for that piece of magic to recapture his past glories delivering something fresh most of all something different.

It is thanks to the discovery of Robert Bloch's dark twisted Psycho Hitch finds himself a magical source, a novel based on the life of the infamous serial killer Ed Gein , but who'll support him?As ever Hitchcock's faithful agent Lew Wasserman but his support ended here as Paramount, the usual private investors all refused to support him forcing him to find the $800,000 needed to make the film in 30 days.

It's ironic you look at the relationship cinema has with Television now, the stigma of the reporter's TV comment  wouldn't raise an eyebrow when you see the likes of Steven Soderbergh's Behind The Candelabra only getting a TV S creening compared to cinema elsewhere. Even the likes of online with Netflix, Lovefilm, seeing someone like JJ Abrams, David Fincher direct tv amongst the cinema blockbusters wouldn't have been thought of in Hitch's time and now days the stress, pressure between the media are vitually the same.

Hitchcock is a film that really doesn't know what it really wants to be. Is it a Biopic? Soap style drama or comedy?If anything at times it's more like an extended Terry & June episode plenty of drama with a lot of comedy moments or was director Sacha Gervasi pulling off a McGuffin? What this film does do is capture a period of Hitch's career (Psycho era) rather than all his career and attempts to underline his fascination with Ed Gein. Hitchcock may not be a dark film tonely but it dips its fingers into that world nearly controlling his every move blurring reality  driving him into paranoia making him believe his nearest and dearest  was having an affair though we do see she was tempted on several occasions.

Anthony Hopkins may sound like the man nor a carbon copy lookalike of Hitchcock but what he does do well is capturing his personality, mannerisms, posture even his humour is near spot on too. The lack of delving into his past will frustrate some, even when they do in the briefest of moments to showcase his childlike, creepy voyeuristic tendancies is disappointing. In those scenes his fascination for blondes is touched going further into watching them from his peephole, a regular trait but not addressing the source which will annoy those thinking this is a 'biopic'.

Helen Mirren is personally the star of the show as Hitchcock's long suffering wife Alama. She is Hitch's rock, confidant, mother to his childlike traits most of all the driving force behind 99.9% her husband's success. Unaccredited but most of all deserving of the right to share in her husbands success which the film tries to attempt to fix, sort off. The fantastic chemistry between Hopkins and Mirren is one of the film's big selling points, compelling, funny and a distraction (in a positive way) as Hitchcock's family estate refused to show any of Psycho footage. This is also probably the reason why we see very little of James D'arcy who uncannily looks like a Anthony Perkins spitting image, Scarlett Johansson delivers a good astute performance as leading lady Janet Leigh.

Hitchcock may not be the perfect film nor totally satisfy the purists. At times it feels clumsy as if your been pulled in 2 different directions, so when it veneers one way just as the scene nears a conclusion it heads into something new making scenes feel incomplete. . As much as we've criticised the film, Hitchcock is still a highly entertaining film which captures the era very well, creating a stylish film. So when you have Hitch 'conducting' the screams of the people at the Psycho premier from behind the cinema doors, its certainly worth a look.

★★★☆☆

Paul Devine


Rating: 15
DVD/BD Release Date: 17th June 2013 (UK)
Directed by: Sacha Gervasi
Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren, Scarlett Johansson, Danny Huston
Buy Hitchcock: DVD / Blu-ray (+ UV Copy)

Win Hitchcock on Bluray (ends 7th July - opens to a thepeoplesmovies.com page)