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Latest News:
The Kid Detective
The sleuth is slipping
Starring The OC's Adam Brody, dark comedy noir THE KID DETECTIVE is available to Download and Keep on March 15 and to Rent on Digital from March 29 courtesy of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.
This smart, tragic and sharply funny crime drama is directed by Evan Morgan (A Pretty Funny Story) and also stars Sophie Nélisse (The Book Thief), Tzi Ma (Mulan, The Farewell) with Wendy Crewson (Air Force One) and Sarah Sutherland (TV's Veep).
A once-celebrated kid detective (Adam Brody) now 31, continues to solve the same trivial mysteries between hangovers and bouts of self-pity. Until a naïve client (Sophie Nélisse) brings him his first adult case - to find out who brutally murdered her boyfriend.
THE KID DETECTIVE has a run time of approximately 100 minutes and is rated 15.
Graeme Clark
[18 Jan 2021 at 10:40]
The Last Vermeer
The art of the steal
Starring Claes Bang (TV's Dracula, The Burnt Orange Heresy) and Guy Pearce (TV's A Christmas Carol, Mary Queen of Scotts, Memento), artwork thriller THE LAST VERMEER is available to Download and Keep and to Rent on Digital on March 1.
Based on the book The Man Who Made Vermeers by Jonathan Lopez and directed by Dan Friedkin, THE LAST VERMEER is produced by Ryan Friedkin, Danny Friedkin and Bradley Thomas and its executive producers are Ridley Scott, Peter Heslop and Gino Falsetto.
THE LAST VERMEER tells the intriguing true story of Han van Meegeren (Guy Pearce), a Dutch painter, art dealer and enigma who became famous for selling a rare Vermeer to Hitler's second in command, Hermann Göring. This act led Meegeren to be tried in 1945 as a war criminal. Captain Joseph Piller, (Claes Bang), is the former Dutch Resistance officer who believes Meegeren's innocence, helping and defending him in court. Dan Friedkin's directorial debut delivers a fascinating thriller while offering instruction on the art of Johannes Vermeer.
Artsploitation Films has announced the acquisition of Sheep Without a Shepherd, a 2019 film that grossed over $192,000,000 in it theatrical Chinese release.
Malaysian director Sam Quah's debut feature film is a big budget noirish thriller and a remake of the 2013 Indian film, Drishyam. The film follows family man and self-described movie-geek who is thrown into a battle of wits with the law after his daughter accidentally kills a fellow student who was blackmailing her. The dead boy's mother (Twin Peaks' Joan Chen) is the morally "flexible" police chief determined to find her son's killer.
This inventive tale of blackmail, murder and corruption and justice will be released on US DVD and Streaming March 23rd. Watch the trailer at the link above.
Elijah Wood's SpectreVision, the studio behind sensational hits Mandy and Color Out of Space, delivers another slice of genre excellence, in conjunction with Legion M (the first fan-owned film company), with a fantastically colourful and entertaining blend of epic superhero mythology and modern noir, recalling Sin City, Hancock and Watchmen, from writer director Adam Egypt Mortimer, the red hot talent behind 2019's acclaimed psychological horror Daniel Isn't Real.
A gritty and moody masterwork of urban mayhem featuring, "Outstanding performances, and stunning set-pieces" (Starburst) ARCHENEMY is a truly original superhero story for the 21st century. Featuring a throbbing synth score (from composer Umberto) and stylish visuals that mix in striking animated sequences, the film features a host of remarkable performances from a truly diverse cast - including True Blood's Joe Manganiello as the mysterious Max Fist, Zolee Griggs (Wu-Tang: An American Saga), Skylan Brooks (TV's Empire), Jessica Allain (from the forthcoming Texas Chainsaw Massacre) - and unexpectedly nasty, against-the-grain appearances from comedy superstars Paul Scheer (The League) and Glenn Howerton (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia). Watch the trailer at the link above.
Graeme Clark
[18 Jan 2021 at 00:39]
Dead Pigs
Utter swine
MUBI, the global streaming service and theatrical distributor, is pleased to announce that Cathy Yan's (dir. Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)) bold directorial debut DEAD PIGS will be released exclusively on MUBI from 12 February 2021.
A masterful first feature from exciting filmmaker Cathy Yan, DEAD PIGS is a bitingly humorous social satire about the trials and tribulations connecting a disparate group of characters, as thousands of dead pigs mysteriously float down the river towards a rapidly modernising Shanghai. Based on remarkable true events, the film tells a universal human story set against the backdrop of globalisation, drastic social change and increasing wealth inequality, and stars a brilliant international ensemble cast including Vivian Wu (Away, The Last Emperor, The Joy Luck Club), Mason Lee (Lucy, The Hangover Pt II), Zazie Beetz (Atlanta, Nine Days), Meng Li (The Bad Kids, The Guillotines, Young Love Lost), Haoyu Yang (The Wandering Earth), and David Rysdahl (The Family, Nine Days).
DEAD PIGS premiered to critical acclaim at Sundance Film Festival in 2018, where it won a Special Jury Award for Ensemble Acting. A bold, unique vision, the film speaks to our universal struggle with identity in the age of globalisation, its diverse voices reflecting the future of American cinema - as it deals with prescient and timely conversations around equality, capitalism, and basic human connection in an increasingly divided world.
Graeme Clark
[18 Jan 2021 at 00:35]
Looted on DVD and digital
Cars and girls
Released on DVD & Digital from Monday 25th January.
Rob (Charley Palmer Rothwell - Legend), loves driving and stealing cars, living his life at a hundred miles an hour in the cash-starved port town he calls home. He shares a house with his dying father (Tom Fisher - The Young Victoria) who thinks he's out job hunting. Rob manages to keep his two worlds perfectly separated until best mate Leo (Thomas Turgoose - This Is England), gets him involved in a bigger, riskier job which goes terribly wrong. With his relationship with his distant father in shreds and betrayed by his best mate, unexpected hope comes from Leo's girlfriend Kasia (Morgane Polanski - Vikings).
SPECIAL FEATURES: 'JACKED' - BIFA-winning short film from Rene van Pannevis starring Charley Palmer Rothwell and Thomas Turgoose (15 mins)
Eureka Entertainment to release VIY, the ground-breaking gothic folktale made in Russia during the Soviet era, presented as a Limited Two-Disc Blu-ray Edition (3000 Copies Only) as a part of The Masters of Cinema Series from 15 March 2021. The Limited-Edition will feature a Bonus Disc containing A Holy Place (1990, dir. Djordje Kadijevic) and an exclusive O-Card Slipcase.
Bursting with startling imagery and stunning practical effects courtesy of directors Konstantin Yershov, Georgi Kropachyov, and perhaps most notably, artistic director Aleksandr Ptushko (the legendary special effects artist whose spectacular stop-motion effects and innovative colour cinematography has seen him referred to as the Soviet equivalent of Willis O'Brien, Ray Harryhausen, and even Mario Bava), VIY has influenced generations of directors for more than half a century.
In 19th century Russia, a seminary student is forced to spend three nights with the corpse of a beautiful young witch. But when she rises from the dead to seduce him, it will summon a nightmare of fear, desire, and the ultimate demonic mayhem.
The Masters of Cinema series is proud to present VIY in its UK debut on Blu-ray from a HD restoration of the original film elements. Try the trailer at the link.
For decades, the British cinemagoing experience was dominated by the double bill. You could enjoy two films, sometimes in the most eclectic pairing, for the price of one with the interesting bit in the middle. Network's DOUBLE BILL range replicates this retro viewing experience with some classic films, contemporary adverts, trailers and more.
Seance on a Wet Afternoon/Ring of Spies:
Kim Stanley and Richard Attenborough give outstanding performances in this classy British thriller, with Attenborough winning a BAFTA for Best British Actor and Stanley scoring an Oscar nomination. It was written and directed by Bryan Forbes - who also won a Writers Guild award, an Edgar and a BAFTA nomination.
Myra Savage, a highly-strung spiritual medium, convinces her weak-willed husband to fake a child kidnapping so she can offer her services to the parents when all seems lost. Though horrified at the prospect, he reluctantly goes along with the plan - but becomes more convinced than ever that Myra is losing her grip on reality.
There have always been spies - men and women who have pried for patriotism, for religion, for love... or for money. This tense drama is based on the true story of the Portland spy ring - an unlikely Soviet operation that took place in southern England during the late 1950s/early '60s. Directed by Robert Tronson, Ring of Spies stars Bernard Lee, William Sylvester, Margaret Tyzack and David Kossoff.
An antiquarian bookseller and his wife; a disgruntled, hard-drinking naval clerk and the lonely secretary he recruits; a polished Soviet agent who assumes the identity of a dead Canadian citizen... the players in a familiar Cold War duel between Soviet intelligence and British counter-espionage - and a trade in deadly secrets directed from a bungalow in suburban Ruislip, hidden for years from unsuspecting neighbours and British spycatchers.
Hawk the Slayer/The Medusa Touch:
An undoubted pop culture classic, Hawk the Slayer continues to amaze viewers with its fearless combination of swords and sorcery, bloodthirsty revenge and brotherly violence - all topped off with a disco-style soundtrack! This classic fantasy stars Jack Palance, John Terry and a host of British character actors!
When his father is mortally wounded at the hands of his brother - the evil wizard Voltan - Hawk is bequeathed a magical sword which responds to his thoughts. Swearing vengeance on his brother, he gathers together a trusty band of giants, dwarves, elves and witches - together these warriors will end Voltan's reign of terror forever, or die trying.
Directed by Jack Gold from a script by Oscar winner John Briley, The Medusa Touch is a star-studded, fast-paced thriller with a spectacular, spine-chilling climax, and stars Richard Burton in what author and critic Kim Newman calls his "best screen work of the 1970s".
John Morlar, a well-known novelist, is savagely attacked in his London flat. Barely alive, he is taken to hospital, and Brunel, a French detective currently based in the capital, is assigned to the case. His investigations lead him to Morlar's psychiatrist, who discloses that her patient is obsessed: Morlar feels he bears an awesome telekinetic power - the capacity to "will" destruction and death by making airplanes crash and buildings crumble, start raging fires and unleash mighty floods. Preposterous though it seems, Morlar's power is sickeningly real - he is able to wreak havoc at will and seemingly can't be stopped!
