With the San Diego Comic Con whetting the appetite for geeks and freaks all over the world, Lewis Swift runs down the top 5 moments from this years convention.
5) The first picture from Cowboys and Aliens!
Whilst Scott Mitchell Rosenberg’s graphic novel series retains a relatively cult status for now, chances are, when the film adaptation is released this time next year copies of the genre bending romp will be flying off the shelves. The man in charge of further lining Rosenberg’s pockets is none other than John Favreau, the man who made Iron Man into a phenomenon. Whilst initially rumoured to be another project for The Fav and his go to guy Robert Downey Jr, scheduling issues forced Fav to look further from home, finally settling on none other than Daniel Craig for the lead.
I love you. I also love KFC. But this isn’t about my easy gratitude to readers of this site for giving me affirmation on my life or the amazing Colonel and his wonderful chicken, grease, salt combination, this is about the UK Film Council and it’s sad, premature demise.
Some of you may not know what the UKFC does. Some of you may know but not care. Some will be glad to see the back of, what some considered, an overly bureaucratic way of making movies. Some will already know and care deeply enough to have joined the Save The UKFC site) and filled in the petition.
For those that do not know, I’ll try to explain. For those that don’t care, I’ll try and persuade you that you should. For those glad it’s gone, maybe I can flip your opinion. For those signed up, well I’m preaching to the choir. But I do like to preach.
How do you find Will Smith in the snow? Look for Fresh Prints. Hahahahahahhahahhahahha!
Okay, okay, it’s not really a short film but if this doesn’t cheer you up on a Wednesday then you’re probably going a bit head-mental from constant vuvuzela abuse.
I wish I could actually name-check the young chap doing this but alas my googling abilities came up short. But not only props to the kid for a pitch perfect Ian impression but also being a snappy tie-wearing motherfucker. A tie! On Youtube! Fresh indeed.
Got any tips for movie related tiny videos. Get in touch and we’ll stick ‘em up.
“What are they gonna say about him? What are they gonna say? That he was a kind man? That he was a wise man? That he had plans, man? That he had wisdom? Bullshit, man. What are they gonna do when he’s gone?”
Dennis Hopper died at 9am local time at his home in Venice, California yesterday after losing his battle with prostate cancer he was 74.
He was born in Dodge City Kansas on 17th May 1936 and showed interest in acting from a young age. He began his acting career with several TV performances but his first movie role was in Rebel Without a Cause (1955) and it was during the making of this film that he met James Dean, their meeting had a huge influence on Hopper and went a long way to transforming him into the great career actor he has become in the staggering five and a half decades since.
There’s a lot to do in Cannes. Watch movies, laugh at Russell Crowes accent, watch movies, watch topless women sunbathing, watch movies, etc, etc. But where’s the fun in just watching a movie when you can film one?
The age old question which is better Cats or Dogs gets an outing 100 million times better than The Revenge Of Kitty Galore (that’s a new kids film not some smut I found late at night). Two friends pit Pooch Vs Pussy in a verbal battle to prove the perfect pet. A twist in the tail makes for an unlikely champion.
Over the years Saturday Night Live has been responsible for numerous Hollywood feature films. Yet for every Wayne’s World there’s a Night at the Roxbury, for every Blue Brother’s there’s a Blues Brothers 2000. This is not to say that SNL is a dying concept. Stars like Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Jimmy Fallon and the brilliant Bill Hader all cut their teeth on the long running skecth show. Whilst the noughties has been kind to SNL’s stars the show’s writers have not faired so well. There has been a noticeable lack of SNL spawned features over the last decade, 2000’s avoidable The Ladies Man being the most recent. That is until now!
Those of you fortunate enough to have been born and raised in the 80’s will remember the enduring pleasure of Saturday TV. Back when there were only four channels, no remotes and channel hopping was merely a twinkle in Rupert Murdoch’s eye it was completely conceivable that a prepubescent boy could spend almost one hundred percent of his day basking in the comforting glow of a cathode ray.
The afternoon, pre Noel’s House Party slot was arguably the most lucrative slot of all, often filled by such transatlantic delights as Air Wolf, Knight Rider and Bay Watch. Whilst all the aforementioned shows have a certain kitsch, retro cool about them it is another show which has managed to ingratiate itself into the collective memory of an entire generation. Perhaps this is why it is The A-team who has made the tricky transition to the big screen ahead of its Saturday afternoon contemporaries.
Last week, in the curious but somewhat apt setting of The Jesus Centre, London, ThisfilmisON sat down with directors Matt Harlock and Paul Thomas to discuss their cracking new documentray American:The Bill Hicks Story and all things Hicksian.
THISFILMISON: You could have any documentary subject in the world, so why Bill Hicks?
MATT HARLOCK: I think Bill was someone who was seen as, especially in the UK, culturally significant. For some reason there had never been a full length feature about his life. There had been one documentary made just after his death…
TFIO: Just a ride…
MH: Yeah but that was only about 35 minutes long and didn’t include much of who the real Hicks was. It was just clips of him performing and a brief overview of his career, so the attraction to the story was the amazing biographical details of his life. A struggle with drugs and alcohol, getting clean, coming from a religious family, trying to break through, (SPOILER ALERT) getting terminal cancer at the age of 32, seeing how much he achieved. These were all attractive elements deserving of wider cultural recognition, something we felt deserved exploring. Didn’t like his comedy much…(laughter)
For a large portion of the twentieth century the Western Genre was king, making icons out of stars like John Wayne and Clint Eastwood. Then, in 1977 a little movie came along called Star Wars and all of a sudden Cowboys were no longer cool enough. Science fiction was the new box office bread winner and the Old West was once again condemned to the pages of history. Fitting then that it was in that the very same year, bit part, comic book anti hero, cowboy Jonah Hex was given his own self titled series.
In celebration of Four Lions hitting cinemas this Friday we’ve gone stiff cocked and panty soppingly wet for all things Chris Morris. We’re starting with a re-watch of his BAFTA winning short film My Wrongs #8245–8249 & 117. A film as mental as a cat tied to a stick, that’s driven into frozen winter shit.
