Actor Corey Haim, who shot to fame in the eighties but struggled with his career subsequently, has been found dead of a suspected drugs overdose; he was 38. A string of teen roles ensured his heartthrob status in such movies as Silver Bullet, Murphy's Romance, Lucas, The Lost Boys (his most famous role), License to Drive (pairing him with frequent co-star Corey Feldman), Watchers and Prayer of the Rollerboys. Later, his fame took its toll on his personal life and he was relegated to lower profile movies, although he made a minor comeback last year in Crank: High Voltage.
Graeme Clark
[10 Mar 2010 at 20:57]
Bunny & The Bull on DVD and Blu-ray
Surreal comedy
BUNNY & THE BULL is released on DVD & Blu-ray March 29.
Directed by Paul King, Boosh director, and featuring cameos from regulars Noel Fielding and Julian Barratt, it’s a road movie set entirely inside a flat. Obsessive-compulsive Stephen Turnbull (Ed Hogg), shaken out of his self imposed isolation by a plague of mice that threaten to drive him outsider, reimagines the life changing journey he took with best friend Bunny across Europe the summer before. Featuring stunning handcrafted visuals that have earned the film comparisons with the best of Gondry and Gilliam, it’s a bold and bittersweet buddy movie.
Graeme Clark
[10 Mar 2010 at 20:45]
Seraphine
French biopic
Based on the true life events of Seraphine De Senlis. In a little town north of Paris in 1912, Séraphine Louis works as a maid for Madame Duphot who rents an apartment to a German art critic and dealer, Wilhelm Uhde, an enthusiastic advocate of modern and “primitive” artists. In her spare time, Séraphine paints with everything that comes to hand (wine, mud, fruits & flowers mixture).
When Wilhelm comes across a small painting that she brought over a few days previously, he’s mesmerized, snaps it up and insists that Séraphine show him the rest of her work. It is the beginning of a nurturing relationship which will eventually get Séraphine’s work to be exposed all over the world. But as Séraphine paints her most inspired canvas, the grace of her work leads her into the realms of madness.
DVD Release date: 29th March 2010. DVD RRP: £15.99.
Graeme Clark
[2 Mar 2010 at 22:48]
The First Day of the Rest of Your Life on DVD
French comedy
Nominated for NINE French Academy Awards and a box office smash hit, THE FIRST DAY OF THE REST OF YOUR LIFE is an uproarious, uplifting saga which shows you a family that’s just like any other…but in the most unexpected ways you can imagine.
Marie-Jeanne and Robert have three children: Albert, Raphaël and Fleur. Over the course of twelve eventful years, we see five key days as seen through the eyes of each one of these characters. Five days are crucial in these lonely, vibrant, frustrated, elated and triumphant lives. Five days whose consequences reverberate through this eccentric family like the thunder and lightening of a gathering storm.
These five days are more important than any other day. After you’ve experienced them, nothing will ever be the same again.
DVD Release date: 22nd March 2010. DVD RRP: £15.99.
Lionel Jeffries, the much loved character actor who turned director late in his career, has died. Trained at RADA, he started his screen career with a bit part in Hitchcock's Stage Fright, and never looked back as his distinctive bald head graced The Colditz Story, The Quatermass Xperiment, Lust for Life, The Revenge of Frankenstein, The Nun's Story, Two Way Stretch (showing his gift for comedy), Tarzan the Magnificent, The Wrong Arm of the Law, The Long Ships, Harryhausen sci-fi The First Men in the Moon, You Must Be Joking, musical Camelot, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (possibly his most famous role, singing "POSH"), Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? and Royal Flash. He became a director with The Railway Children, a genuine and enduring masterpiece which he followed up with the cult children's film The Amazing Mr Blunden, and the lesser Wombling Free and The Water Babies. His last screen credit was on an episode of cult sci-fi series Lexx.
Prepare yourself for a racy riot of buxom brawling babes, ballistic bedlam, crazed catfights and gratuitous sapphic romps in Bitch Slap, a sassy celebration and post-modern parody of 1950s, 60s and 70s exploitation movies.
Imagine ‘Sin City’ produced by Roger Corman, directed by Russ Meyer – and shot in glorious Technicolor rather than dull monochrome! – and you’ll have some idea of what Bitch Slap is all about.
Directed by Corman protégé Rick Jacobson, starring a trio of titillating temptresses in the form of Julia Voth (Love Hurts), Erin Cummings (Dollhouse; Dante’s Cove) and America Olivo(Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen; Friday the 13th; Iron Man), and co-starring ‘Xena/Hercules’ alumni Michael Hurst, Kevin Sorbo, Lucy Lawless and Renee O’Connor, along with Quentin Tarantino’s stunt woman of choice Zoe Bell (Inglourious Basterds; Death Proof; Kill Bill), this is pure, sexy, mindless cinematic joy from sensational start to explosive finish.
Bitch Slap (cert.18 will be released on DVD (£15.99) by Momentum Pictures on 19th April 2010. Click on the link above for the trailer.
Graeme Clark
[19 Feb 2010 at 19:23]
News from Film24
New show has Kill Bill exclusive
Bill’s been killed but the franchise isn’t dead yet according to Daryl Hannah, who exclusively announced on Film24 that her character Elle Driver is likely to return in a third Kill Bill movie.
By the end of Kill Bill: Vol. 2, the statuesque assassin had both her eyes plucked out - but it appears even that won’t stop her seeking revenge in the next installment.
“There’s always been a tradition of blind Samurais and you never actually saw her (Elle Driver) expire in the second movie. Quentin always wanted it to be a trilogy,” said the Splash star.
Hannah was speaking to Film24’s Tim Fornara for the first episode of Film Xtra Uncut (FXU) – the channel’s new no-holes-barred movie review show – broadcasting at 10.55pm on Friday, February 12 on Sky channel 157.
The exciting first episode features the exclusive interview with Hannah, who was in the UK to promote new thriller A Closed Book, as well as interviews with The Terminator’s Linda Hamilton, and the cast of fun fantasy series Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief.
Festival Artistic Director Sandra Hebron announced today that The 54th BFI London Film Festival will take place from Wednesday 13 October through Thursday 28 October 2010.
The BFI London Film Festival champions creativity, originality, vision and imagination by annually showcasing the best of contemporary world cinema, documentaries, shorts, animation and experimental film. The Festival is a highly regarded and anticipated event in Europe's cultural calendar, attracting leading international filmmakers, industry professionals and the media together with large public audiences to London for a two week showcase of the best in contemporary world cinema.
Last year’s Festival hosted 193 feature films and 113 short films from 46 countries including 15 world premieres. There were 515 screenings and 553 filmmakers in attendance, drawing the highest ever audience attendance of over 130,000 filmgoers. The Festival opened with the World Premiere of FANTASTIC MR. FOX and closed with the World Premiere of NOWHERE BOY.
The BFI London Film Festival is now accepting submissions for 2010 and the full programme for 2010 will be announced in September.
