News

HBO has announced who will be portraying two key players in its new Harry Potter TV series. Paul Whitehouse will play cantankerous caretaker Argus Filch, and Luke Thallon will play mysterious professor Quirinus Quirrell. The network also confirmed the casting of the series' other stars who have previously been reported. That includes John Lithgowas Albus Dumbledore; Janet McTeeras Minerva McGonagall; Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape; and Nick Frostas Rubeus Hagrid.

Whitehouse is a Welsh comedian and actor best known for his performances in films like Corpse Bride, The Death of Stalin, and The Personal History of David Copperfield, while Thallon is a relative newcomer. They both join the hotly anticipated series, which will faithfully adapt J.K. Rowling's seven Harry Potter novels; each of its seven proposed seasons will adapt one of the books; they will recur in the series, while Lithgow, McTeer, Essiedu, and Frost will star. With the series' primary adult characters cast,...

Get ready to meet The Beatles. The four stars of Sam Mendes' ambitious The Beatles – A Four-Film Cinematic Event were unveiled at CinemaCon tonight, and they are Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney, Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr, and Joseph Quinn as George Harrison. Not only do we now have the cast for the four interlinked movies, but we now know they'll have a uniquely audacious release strategy. You might have to hit the theater eight days a week because Sony Pictures will release all four movies in April 2028.

The cast were all on hand for the crowd of theatrical exhibitors and journalists, including Collider's Britta DeVore, in Las Vegas, making their first public appearance to a crowd only slightly less enthusiastic than the throngs of Beatlemaniacs who greeted the real deal on The Ed Sullivan Show. Mendes was on hand as well and declared the...

“Words of War,” the upcoming political thriller based on the life of murdered Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya and a film that boasts Senn Penn among its exec producers, has been acquired for a number of international territories.

The film — starring a trio of BAFTA nominees in Maxine Peake, Ciarán Hinds and Jason Isaacs — has been bought for the U.K. and Ireland by Signature Entertainment, with plans a theatrical release. Meanwhile, it’s been picked up by Eagle Pictures for Italy, Divisa Films for Spain, Dimeo Films for Poland, and Front Row Entertainment for the Middle East. The film is being released theatrically in the U.S. by Rolling Pictures.

Directed by James Strong (“Broadchurch”) from a script by Eric Poppen (“Cyberjack”), “Words of War” is based on a true story and follows world-renowned journalist and human rights activist Politkovskaya on her brave crusade, fighting to be an independent voice...

Anna Sawai, star of FX's award-winning historical drama Shōgun, has responded to rumors she's attached to play Yoko Ono in a series of four Beatles biopics directed by Sam Mendes. The actress told reporters at the Screen Actor's Guild Awards following her winning outstanding performance by an actress in a drama series, "I think a rumor is just a rumor." So we likely won't be seeing Sawai as Ono anytime soon.

As far as what her next project might be, Sawai says she is still looking. "I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do, so I'm reading a lot of scripts. I'm also doing a lot of meetings and I just want to make sure that what I’m choosing is the right thing. So it might take time for me to find the right project, but I'm trying to be selective so that I can...

“Words of War,” the political thriller executive produced by Sean Penn, will be released in theaters on May 2.

Rolling Pictures and Decal announced the release date along with an official poster. Directed by James Strong, the film is also executive produced by Representative Eric Swalwell (CA-14).

“Words of War” is based on a true story and follows world-renowned journalist and human rights activist Anna Politkovskaya on her brave crusade, fighting to be an independent voice of truth for the Russian people, putting her own life in jeopardy despite numerous acts of intimidation and violence. While Politkovskaya was ultimately silenced, her legacy lives on and her story serves as a reminder of the dangers that journalists face and the importance of protecting their right to report the news, without fear of death or reprisal.

Said Penn, “’Words of War’ is a tribute to Anna Politkovskaya and journalists around the world, whose...

Almost anyone who grew up with the Beatles knows a few key things about their manager, Brian Epstein, the subject of the new biopic “Midas Man.” You might know that he ran a popular record store in Liverpool when he first saw the Beatles perform at the Cavern Club and realized that it was his destiny to manage them. You almost surely know that it was Epstein who made over the Beatles’ image, taking four scruffy working-class rockers in black leather jackets, dressing them in collarless gray suits and giving them those fabled moptop haircuts — the look that launched a thousand screams. Or the visionary way he spearheaded the Beatles’ international career, cutting the deal for them to appear on “The Ed Sullivan Show.” Or the fact that Epstein was gay, something he kept well-hidden.

If you’ve ever seen footage of Brian Epstein, you also know the most resonant and,...

Joseph Quinn has been tapped to play George Harrison in a series of Beatles biopics directed by Sam Mendes. The lives of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and Harrison will be explored and told from each members point of view across four movies. According to multiple reports, Femme star Harris Dickinson will play John Lennon, Paul Mescal (Gladiator II) will portray Paul McCartney, Barry Keoghan (Saltburn) is Ringo Starr and Charlie Rowe (Rocketman) was allegedly set to play Harrison, but The Sun reports that Mendes personally selected Quinn for the role.

Joe is an incredible actor, one insider said, adding, "Its a massive role, but Sam is delighted to have him on board. The 30-year-old British star won over the hearts of scores of fan girls for his guitar-playing hero character Eddie Munson in the Netflix sci-fi horror hit Stranger Things. The breakout performance garnered Quinn major film roles...

As I’m sure you wonderful gore-hounds know by now, we love every weird and wonderful sub genre the twisted world of horror has thrown our way over the years. Sit this particular horror fan down to watch the latest splatterfest, zombie massacre, creature feature or slasher flick, to name but a few, and I’d be happy as a pig in shit. Happier in fact. Folk horror and witchcraft is one subgenre that I’ve grown to increasingly appreciate over the years, and most recently the work of Robert Eggers, for example, has had me enthralled. It was his 2015 folk horror, The Witch, that first introduced me to his nuanced, macabre yet beautifully crafted movies, and everything he’s produced since has been a must see. The trailer for his take on Nosferatu has just dropped at the time of writing this video and it looks immense. However, with...

Days after Paramount’s Bob Marley: One Love overperformed in its opening weekend at the box office, Sony Pictures chief Tom Rothman stole a bit of the spotlight Feb. 20 in unveiling not one but four intersecting feature films from Sam Mendes about The Beatles, each focusing on one member of the Fab Four: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.

“You have to match the boldness of the idea with a bold release strategy,” Rothman tells The Hollywood Reporter about the project that earned the Oscar-winning director a coveted signoff from the group’s selective label Apple Corps. “There hasn’t been an enterprise like this before, and you can’t think about it in traditional releasing terms.”

Sony hopes the films, which don’t yet have writers on board, will begin shooting in the U.K. in mid-2025 to make the planned 2027 release for all four titles,...

If you told me there was a plan in place to make four Beatles biopics — one each about John, Paul, George, and Ringo — and that they were going to be directed by Richard Linklater, I’d be suffused with curiosity and excitement. If you told me that those same four movies were going to be directed by Martin Scorsese, I’d be suffused with curiosity and excitement. If you told me that a quartet of Beatles biopics were going to be directed (one apiece) by Linklater, Scorsese, Greta Gerwig, and Todd Haynes, I’d be suffused with curiosity and excitement — and, in fact, that last option would make a beautiful kind of sense. When you think about it, why would anyone — even Scorsese, the poet of rock-operatic drama — want to direct all four Beatles biopics? Talk about hogging the spoils.

But Sam Mendes does. According to a master plan handed down on stone tablets by…...

Pop music phenoms come and go, fall in and out of favor and sometimes fade into total obscurity. Very few remain relevant a decade removed from their initial success, and you can count on maybe two hands the number of artists who can knock out a new song or reissue and top the Billboard charts 50-plus years after their debut.

And then there's The Beatles.

From the moment they scored their first number one hit in the U.K. with 1963's "From Me to You," The Beatles drew on their multitude of musical influences — blues, country, rockabilly, and the sui generis soul sounds pulsating out of Motown — to create perfectly constructed, infectiously catchy singles that earwormed their way into the fabric of your being. Within three years of breaking big in the U.S., they released the pioneering folk-rock LP "Rubber Soul," flirted with psychedelia and raga on the expansive "Revolver,...

“American Beauty” Oscar winner and “Skyfall” director Sam Mendes is taking on the most ambitious project of his career thus far. The “1917” filmmaker is setting up a quartet of Beatles biopics with Sony Pictures Entertainment, Deadline first reported.

The project will feature four theatrically released films, with one told from each member of the Fab Four’s point of view. It will be the first time the Beatles’ company, Apple Corps Ltd., and the members of the Beatles or their estates have granted full life and music rights for a scripted film, according to Deadline.

Mendes will direct all four interconnected films, which are slated for a 2027 release. Writers are in the process of being hired, and a release schedule will be announced at a later date. Mendes will produce through his Neal Street Productions banner alongside his partner Pippa Harris and Julie Pastor. Jeff Jones will executive produce for Apple Corps Ltd.

Podcast producer Glisten+ (a portmanteau of “great” and “listen”) launched Tuesday with two initial programs, part of a larger slate of scripted fare that it plans to roll out in the coming months.

The first original series include the young adult-geared “Can’t Relax,” about a relaxation app that secretly places murderous messages into the brains of its teen listeners. The supernatural thriller features Olivia Trujillo (“For All Mankind”), Andre Robinson (“Cheaper by the Dozen”) and Patrick Labyorteaux (“NCIS”).

The other show is fantasy adventure “League of Wonder,” which follows a Yorkshire terrier who teams up with a rag-tag group of animal heroes to rescue Dorothy Gale and a pair of magical slippers. The show stars Donovan Patton (“Blue’s Clues), Makgotso M (“The Woman King”), Eric Petersen (“Kevin Can F**k Himself”) and Robbie Jarvis (“Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”).

“We are so proud of the ever-growing...

Saban Films has taken global rights to the John Travolta and Stephen Dorff feature, American Metal.

Writer and first-time feature director Nicholas Maggio’s film tells the story of a desperate and struggling family man who robs a pill mill. However, when the theft turns violent, he finds himself hunted by both the police and the Dixieland mafia. Filming just wrapped in Georgia with Saban Films looking at a 2023 release.

Shiloh Fernandez (Evil Dead) Ashley Benson (Spring Breakers) and Kevin Dillon also star.

The pic was produced by 308 Entertainment’s Corey Large and Bernie Gewissler in association with Bondit Media Capital.

The feature reps the second film with Travolta and Dorff for 308 Entertainment’s Large, following the upcoming Saban release Paradise City.

Travolta received two Best Actor Oscar nominations for 1977’s Saturday Night Fever and 1994’s Pulp Fiction.

Jason Isaacs, Colin Morgan and Jess Barden attached to star.

Sony Pictures International Productions has acquired UK and Ireland rights to Iain Softley’s dark comedy thriller The Dead Spit Of Kelly, which worldwide sales agent Myriad Pictures will continue to discuss with buyers at the virtual EFM next week.

Jason Isaacs, Colin Morgan and Jess Barden are attached to star for Grand Pictures and Forthcoming Films.

Softley will direct the UK-Ireland dark comedy from a screenplay by Johnny Ferguson set in turn-of-the-century Dublin where a diligent taxidermist Murphy (Morgan) is tormented by his boss, the vile and volatile Kelly...

Astrid Kirchherr, the German-born photographer who first captured the Beatles, has died at the age of 81.

German newspaper Die Zeit confirmed Kirchherr’s death, noting the photographer died of a “short, serious illness.”

“Intelligent, inspirational, innovative, daring, artistic, awake, aware, beautiful, smart, loving and uplifting friend to many,” Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn tweeted (via NME). “Her gift to the Beatles was immeasurable. She died in Hamburg on Wednesday, a few days before turning 82.”

After attending performances by the Beatles — then John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, drummer Pete Best, and...

Actors, producer and former Pact head of diversity among those honoured.

Source: Paul Grover

Nik Powell

Game Of Thrones actor James Cosmo and former producer and Nfts director Nik Powell were among screen industry professionals awarded titles in the Queen’s 2018 New Year’s Honours list.

Veteran Scottish actor Cosmo, known for playing Jeor Mormont in Game of Thrones and films including Braveheart, Trainspotting and Highlander, was honoured with an MBE.

Powell, who received an OBE, stepped down from his position as director of the National Film and Television School in 2017 after 14 years in the role. In the early 1970s he set up Virgin Records with Richard Branson and in 1982 he partnered with fellow-producer Stephen Woolley to form the Palace companies, where he served as executive producer on titles including Company Of Wolves, Mona Lisa, Scandal and The Crying Game. He went on to produce films such as Backbeat, The Neon Bible,...

Actors, producer and former Pact head of diversity among those honoured.

Source: Paul Grover

Nik Powell

Game Of Thrones actor James Cosmo and former producer and Nfts director Nik Powell were among screen industry professionals awarded titles in the Queen’s 2018 New Year’s Honours list.

Veteran Scottish actor Cosmo, known for playing Jeor Mormont in Game of Thrones and films including Braveheart, Trainspotting and Highlander, was honoured with an MBE.

Powell, who received an OBE, stepped down from his position as director of the National Film and Television School in 2017 after 14 years in the role. In the early 1970s he set up Virgin Records with Richard Branson and in 1982 he partnered with fellow-producer Stephen Woolley to form the Palace companies, where he served as executive producer on titles including Company Of Wolves, Mona Lisa, Scandal and The Crying Game. He went on to produce films such as Backbeat, The Neon Bible, Last Orders and [link=tt...

Former film producer and Virgin Records co-founder steps down after 14 years.

The National Film and Television School has confirmed today that its director Nik Powell is to step down at the end of July after 14 years at the helm.

Under Powell’s stewardship the school has firmly cemented its place as one of the major film institutions in the world.

Powell recently oversaw the delivery of two new teaching buildings covering more than 20,000 square feet and a 4K digital television studio.

The school has evolved to offer Ma, diploma, certificate and short courses in film, television and the games industries and it has become a Higher Education Institution accredited by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (Hefce).

Recent graduates include Yann Demange, Anthony Chen, Ralitza Petrova and Michael Lennox. In 2013/14 Nfts graduates were nominated for a total 31 BAFTAs and won 10.

Former graduates of the school include David Yates, Lynne Ramsay, Terence Davies, [link...

Actor Stephen Dorff is allegedly in financial hot water.

The Backbeat star, his production company La Costa Productions and Fredonick, LLC are being sued by City National Bank, a commercial bank that operates in Los Angeles, for allegedly breaching a personal line of credit agreement, according to legal documents obtained by People.

According to the documents, as of Feb. 28, $805,963.23 is due and owed, which consists of the principal balance, along with interest and late charges. Dorff had entered into his first Personal Line of Credit Agreement (Plca) “on or about Oct. 1, 2015,” according to papers. The papers also allege Dorff entered...

The new docudrama “Wheeler” follows an aspiring musician from Kaufman, Texas who travels to Nashville with dreams of becoming an outlaw country music star. Here’s the catch: Wheeler isn’t a real person, but rather actor Stephen Dorff under heavy prosthetic make up who successfully infiltrated the Music City to embark on the authentic singer-songwriter journey. In the film, the Wheeler character converses with real people in real locations and performs every musical number live, eventually interacting with real musicians like Travis Meadows, Audrey Spillman and the legendary Kris Kristofferson, Wheeler’s hero. Watch an exclusive clip from the film below.

Read More: Ebertfest Adds Stephen Dorff Tribute, Seymour Bernstein Master Class and More

Dorff is best known for playing vampire overlord Deacon Frost opposite Wesley Snipes in the first “Blade” film, as well as the existentially lost actor Johnny Marco in Sofia Coppola’s 2010 film “Somewhere.” He also...

Stars: Julianne Hough, Teddy Sears, Madalyn Horcher, Penelope Mitchell, Drew Rausch | Written by Kimberly Lofstrom Johnson, Lee Patterson | Directed by Iain Softley

If I wanted to watch The Hitcher, I’d watch The Hitcher. If I wanted to watch 127 Hours, I’d watch 127 Hours. If I wanted to watch Buried, I’d watch Buried. I certainly wouldn’t sit through Curve again.

Another mediocre movie from the Blumhouse production line, Curve is also the latest film from director Iain Softley, whose directorial career consists of one good movie, Backbeat; one cult movie, Hackers; and a whole heap of decidely average ones. Apparently he got the gig directing this film thanks to his 2005 effort The Skeleton Key which, like this film, is another example of the generic, housewife-friendly horror that tend to get on my very last nerve…

Curve follows bride-to-be Mallory, who is driving to Denver for her wedding when...

Kirsten Howard Rob Leane Jan 17, 2018

Godless star Scoot McNairy will be entering the Ozarks in True Detective season 3, it's been announced...

True Detective season 3 is officially a go at HBO. Creator and writer Nic Pizzolatto is set to be the sole writer on all of the new episodes, except part 4, which he has apparently written with Deadwood's David Milch. Jeremy Saulnier (Green Room, Blue Ruin) will be in the director's chair this time around.

See related Ash Vs Evil Dead renewed for season 3 Bruce Campbell interview: Ash Vs Evil Dead

Scoot McNairy will be going from Godless country to the devil’s backyard. The actor has signed on for True Detective season 3, according to Deadline. The upcoming third season of HBO’s polarising hit is set in the Ozarks and revolves around a macabre crime that, like the first season, takes place over multiple time periods.

McNairy will play Tom,...

Stars: Julianne Hough, Teddy Sears, Madalyn Horcher, Penelope Mitchell, Drew Rausch | Written by Kimberly Lofstrom Johnson, Lee Patterson | Directed by Iain Softley

If I wanted to watch The Hitcher, I’d watch The Hitcher. If I wanted to watch 127 Hours, I’d watch 127 Hours. If I wanted to watch Buried, I’d watch Buried. I certainly wouldn’t sit through Curve again.

Another movie from the Blumhouse production line, Curve is the latest film from director Iain Softley, whose directorial career consists of one good movie, Backbeat; one cult movie, Hackers; and a whole heap of decidely average ones. Apparently he got the gig directing this film thanks to his 2005 effort The Skeleton Key which, like this film, is another example of the generic, housewife-friendly horror that is not made for the type of crowd that attend Frightfest each and every year. Which makes it all the more odd that...

Kevin Spacey, Steven Seagal and, erm, Kangaroo Jack: they all nabbed the box office top spot last decade...

By the end of the 2000s, getting number one at the American box office was a valuable marketing commodity. As such, studios pumped more and more money into making sure they at least had a great opening weekend for their product.

The consequence of this was that it was harder and harder for smaller and quirkier films to take a brief spot in the sun. Certainly towards the second half of the decade, it seems that the number one movie each week was pre-ordinained in a marketing meeting somewhere.

Still, there were some films that have since fallen out of public view that clawed their way to number one. How many of these do you remember?

Eye Of The Beholder

January 2000, one week

Based on Marc Behm's book of the same name,...

Exclusive: Actor Stephen Dorff has signed with Paradigm. Last year he moved to Resolution from Gersh to return to longtime agent David Unger, but the agency folded in October. Dorff started his career with films like The Power Of One, Judgment Night, and Backbeat in the ’90s — around the time he famously had Alicia Silverstone cryin’ in an Aerosmith music video. He has appeared steadily onscreen since, with credits ranging from vampire actioner Blade to John Waters’ Cecil B. DeMented, Lee Daniels’ Shadowboxer, Sofia Coppola’s Somewhere, Michael Mann’s Public Enemies, and Oliver Stone’s World Trade Center.

Dorff starred in recent indie Zaytoun and The Motel Life opposite Emile Hirsch and Dakota Fanning, which premiered at the Rome Film Festival and won the Audience Award for Best Film. Forthcoming films include the recently-wrapped American Hero opposite Eddie Griffin for director Nick Love, drama Oliver’s Deal from exec producer Christine Vachon,...

The long-awaited Jimi Hendrix biopic All By My Side opens in cinemas today (October 24).

Andre '3000' Benjamin plays the iconic musician in the movie, which depicts Jimi's humble beginnings to becoming possibly the world's greatest guitarist.

This has inspired us to compile our own list of the greatest portrayals of musicians in rock 'n' roll biopics, often going above and beyond mere physical transformation:

1. Andy Serkis as Ian Dury

Andy Serkis was BAFTA nominated for his critically-acclaimed role - played to perfection - as charismatic '70s punk rock singer and songwriter Ian Dury in Mat Whitecross's 2010 biopic Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll.

To portray Dury's physical condition - he contracted polio as a child - Serkis lost two stone and built up the muscle mass on the right-hand side of his body so the other side was weaker.

He added: "I had a body wax. It's the most...

Oscar-winning editor Martin Walsh to receive lifetime honour at the cinematography festival in Poland.

British editor Martin Walsh is to receive a lifetime achievement award at cinematography festival Camerimage (Nov 15-22) in Bydgoszcz, Poland.

Walsh, who won an Academy Award for Best Film Editing in 2003 for Chicago, will be honoured with the Award to an Editor with Unique Visual Sensitivity.

After making his first foray into feature film editing on Sacred Heart (1985), The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (1989) and gangster drama The Krays (1990), he worked with director Iain Softley on Beatles drama Backbeat and Hackers, starring Angelina Jolie.

Films he has edited over the last 15 years include Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001), Chicago (2002), V For Vendetta (2005) and most recently Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014).

After working with director Kenneth Branagh on Jack Ryan, he is now editing Disney’s Cinderella, also directed by Branagh, due for release spring 2015.

Two weeks of costume stories.

Sheena Napier

Dtsft cover this prolific costume designer’s chat at the V&A. And if you’ve not heard of Ms Napier we’ll just say: Backbeat, Poirot, Enchanted April.

Sandy Powell

Nice rundown of Ms. Powell’s Young Victoria event at the Getty Center. Lauren Fonville guest posts for Frocktalk.

Wendy Benstead

The costumer for stage and screen talks to Guise about her career so far, from sewing on her old Bernina to dressing Paloma Faith. We’ve met Wendy and she’s lovely.

Debbie Reynolds Auction

The Finale. Still time to sell your car, house, spouse.

14 Worst Movie Trainers

Actually like most of these.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Costume notes from the frankly obsessed mind of Hello Tailor.

Mean Girls

Mary Jane Fort on what a Plastics reunion might look like today.

Ghandi

Oscar winning costume designer Bhanu Athaiya turns 85. And...

Chicago – Every year, the movie stars, actor/actresses and filmmakers come knocking, and HollywoodChicago.com is there to answer. Film Critics Brian Tallerico and Patrick McDonald have combined their best-of interviews for 2013, and it’s an intriguing and eclectic mix.

With so many promotional tours, conventions and shows coming through Chicago, the opportunity to get a wide range of celebrities, filmmakers and up-and-comers is one of the privileges of covering TV and film here. The following interviews – enhanced (except for two interviews) by the photography of Joe Arce – were significant for their background stories, promotional circumstance and memorable quotes.

Sheryl Lee of “Twin Peaks”

Sheryl Lee at Wizard World Chicago Comic Con

Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

Interviewer: Patrick McDonald

Opening Note: Before getting started, there are so many arresting interviews I participated in during 2013, and if you plug these names in the search engine,...

Odd List Ryan Lambie Simon Brew 16 Jan 2014 - 06:20

Another 25 unsung greats come under the spotlight, as we provide our pick of the underappreciated films of 2005...

It's underappreciated films time again, and this week, we delve deep into the year 2005 - a collection of months dominated by the likes of Star Wars: Episode III, another Harry Potter, Steven Spielberg's War Of The Worlds, Peter Jackson's King Kong, and CG family movie Madagascar.

It was also the year Pierce Brosnan formally bowed out of his role as James Bond, and Martin Scorsese's The Aviator was hyped to win the director his first Oscar, but didn't. Still, the contents of this list received nothing like the acclaim of The Aviator, nor the financial pickings of a Star Wars or Harry Potter. As ever, we've focused on 25 films which we think deserve a bit more love.

So with apologies to...

Memory and identity are two of the more familiar themes filmmakers like to explore, and both rise to the surface in the upcoming British thriller "Trap For Cinderella," which finds two best friends brought together by nostalgia and torn apart by tragedy. Directed by Iain Softley ("Backbeat," "Hackers"), the film stars Tuppence Middleton, Alexandra Roach and Kerry Fox and tells the story of Mickey and Do, a photographer and bank clerk respectively and former childhood friends, who get reacquainted and return to the tranquil French villa where they spent so many happy summers together. But when a fire leaves Do dead and Micky badly burnt and blighted by amnesia, everything gets turned upside down. And as you'll see in this exclusive clip, past and present eerily overlap. "Trap For Cinderalla" opens in select theaters and will also be available to watch on Cable VOD, SundanceNOW and other digital outlets on Friday,...

Den Of Geek Sep 16, 2016

We get the chance to interview famous people every now and them. We ask them their favourite Statham movie. Here's what happens...

Jason Statham. Since the dawn of Den Of Geek, he has been our muse. Our mayor. Our driving force. So much so, that we ask lots of people that we meet just what their favourite Statham movie is (including the man himself). Here, we've gathered together lots of the responses we've had in one document.

And so here it is:

Jason Segel: "I guess it would have to be… oh man, there are so many. I’m going to go with The Transporter!"

Seth Rogen: "Crank. And then Crank 2."

Evan Goldberg: "It was him in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, right? That’s the best one."

Alice Lowe: "I've never seen any of his films..... Oh I did!

Feature Den Of Geek 5 Dec 2013 - 10:34

We get the chance to interview famous people every now and them. We ask them their favourite Statham movie. Here's what happens...

With The Statham heading back to UK cinemas this week with Homefront, we finally got the chance to ask the man himself the question we've been asking lots of people for years: 'what's your favourite Jason Statham movie?'

Now that he's answered it, we've gathered together lots of the responses we've had in one document. And so here it is:

Jason Segel: "I guess it would have to be… oh man, there are so many. I’m going to go with The Transporter!"

Seth Rogen: "Crank. And then Crank 2."

Evan Goldberg: "It was him in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, right? That’s the best one."

Alice Lowe: "I've never seen any of his films.

Odd List Ryan Lambie Simon Brew 17 Oct 2013 - 06:29

Here are 25 more great, unsung films - this time, from the year 1994...

Yes, 1994. The year cinemas were dominated by such whimsical wonders as The Lion King, Forrest Gump, The Mask and, erm, True Lies. It was also the year Gump dominated the Academy Awards, and Four Weddings And A Funeral loomed large at the Baftas.

As ever, there was so much more to the year's cinematic landscape than Tom Hanks' park bench ramblings or Hugh Grant mithering from beneath his gorgously crafted hair. To prove it, here's a list of 25 films that, in our estimation, are among its most underappreciated. There's much horror, drama, tears and laughter, plus a couple of classic documentaries, too.

25. Phantasm III: Lord Of The Dead

The Phantasm series was quite unusual, in that writer and director Don Coscarelli made all four of them. This means that,...

ABC is adding a little more international flavor to "Marvel's Agents of Shield."

British actor Ian Hart has been cast in a recurring part as a scientist on the highly anticipated series, EW reports. That's all the description available right now, though -- as with most things "Shield," Marvel and the network are keeping details very close to the vest.

Hart joins fellow Brits Iain de Caestecker and Elizabeth Henstridge in the cast. Coincidentally (or not? It's anyone's guess at this point), they play the scientific support team for Shield agents Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg), Grant Ward (Brett Dalton) and Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen).

Hart most recently appeared on the DirecTV series "Rogue." His other U.S. TV credits include "Luck," "Dirt" and "Bates Motel." He has also played John Lennon on three separate occasions -- in the feature films "The Hours and Times" and "Backbeat" and in an episode...

With a series of major Hollywood productions to his name, starring some of the biggest names in the industry such as Angelina Jolie and Kevin Spacey, director Iain Softley has returned to his roots somewhat with his latest picture Trap for Cinderella, and we were fortunate enough to speak to the filmmaker ahead of the films July 12 release.

The man behind the likes of K-pax, Inkheart and Hackers returns to his hometown of London, directing his first contemporary picture in the capital. He discusses the joys of working on a more modest sized production, and how important it is for a director to get casting right – having taken a risk with relative newcomers Tuppence Middleton and Alexandra taking on the lead roles. He also tells us of the importance is going in to Trap for Cinderella with as little knowledge as possible, while likening the role of film director to...

Feature Sarah Dobbs 12 Jul 2013 - 05:39

With his latest film, Trap For Cinderella, out in UK cinemas now, director Iain Softley talks about film locations, Hackers and more...

Iain Softley is a filmmaker who’s hard to categorise. His career is pretty fascinating, because it’s almost impossible to predict what kind of film he’ll make next. His first film was a drama about the early career of the Beatles, which he followed with an unconventional action movie about computer hackers. Then he made a period drama. Then a weird sci-fi movie set in a mental hospital. Then a spooky horror film, and followed it up with a fantasy movie for kids. How many directors can you name who’ve made a series of films that diverse?

His new film, Trap For Cinderella, is yet another different kind of movie, and maybe one of the most difficult to categorise...

Stephen Dorff mans up for the World's Craggiest Face award, battling Michelle Monaghan and Willem Dafoe. What a plot

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Tomorrow You're Gone looks likely to completely pass the world by. It has a generic title which – on the movie poster, at least – appears in the sort of font you'd normally find embossed onto the cover of a bad airport thriller novel. It stars people whose sense of quality control has wilted since the height of their fame. It's being released in cinemas and on iTunes on the same day. This could possibly be the most you're ever going to hear of it.

So the least that I can do is give you a taste of the plot, as laid out by the trailer. This way, if anyone ever asks you if you've seen Tomorrow You're Gone, you can use this information to...

Feature Michael Leader 19 Mar 2013 - 07:00

Michael revisits the 1996 incarnation of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, a magical BBC series that was ahead of its time...

Spoiler warning: While this article is about a 17-year old TV programme, it inevitably discusses plot points that are also present in the currently-broadcasting radio drama remake.

“Let me tell you a story. No, wait, one’s not enough. I’ll begin again...”

So reads the back-cover blurb of Neil Gaiman’s 2006 short story anthology Fragile Things, but it’s as apt a beginning as any for an expedition back through the knotted overgrowths of time to the author’s 1996 foray into television: the six-part miniseries Neverwhere.

Now, let’s get this out of the way first: there is no single, true ‘Neverwhere’. Like its signature setting, a semi-mythological, hidden version of London that exists below the streets of Britain’s capital, Neverwhere is a...

Another film-to-stage adaptation, this time from Iain Softley’s 1994 debut feature starring Stephen Dorff and Ian Hart, Backbeat presents the Beatles as archetypal mythic figures, which indeed they have become, undergoing a Joseph Campbell-styled coming-of-age saga as a band. The tragic protagonist is the brooding and talented painter Stuart Sutcliffe (Nick Blood). He is press-ganged by his domineering classmate John Lennon (Andrew Knott) into his band The Quarrymen, promptly redubbed "The Beatals" (sic) by the too-cool-for-school Sutcliffe. The early scene where Lennon tutors Sutcliffe in how to play three strings on the

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Chicago – The hot rumor this week in the TV industry is that “Twin Peaks” show creators David Lynch and Mark Frost were talking up a revival of that unforgettable cult TV show of the early 1990s. Will Sheryl Lee (Laura Palmer) and Sherilyn Fenn (Audrey Horne) possibly participate?

Both actresses were at the Wizard World Chicago Comic Con last summer and talked to HollywoodChicago.com, and posed for the lens of photographer Joe Arce. The next Wizard World Chicago Comic Con will take place August 8th-11th, 2013, at the Donald E. Stephens Center in Rosemont, Illinois.

Sheryl Lee, Laura Palmer in “Twin Peaks,” “Backbeat”

“She’s dead, wrapped in plastic” introduced the icon character Laura Palmer to the culture in the TV show “Twin Peaks” (1990-91). She was portrayed with unerring skill by Sheryl Lee, who also managed in the series to portray Laura’s twin cousin, Maddy Ferguson. She...

Back in July, Screenterrier announced the casting of a new comedy drama coming to E4 based on the novel  by Rae Earl, My Fat Mad Teenage Diary. Here's a first look at the new series, My Mad Fat Diary which will launch on E4 in January 2013.

Set in the mid-90s at the height of cool Britannia, My Mad Fat Diary takes a hilarious and honest look at teenage life from the perspective of Rae - a funny, music-mad 16-year-old who, despite an eccentric mother and her own body image and mental health issues, has a huge lust for life, love and trying to get laid.

Sharon Rooney, in her first major TV role, leads the cast as Rae, and is joined by a raft of fresh young talent for the six hour long episode series. Rae's friendship group includes best friend and popular girl Chloe played by Jodie Comer,...

While I do think it’s really coming, the “breakout” phase of Sam Riley‘s career has taken a little while to actually commence — a great performance notwithstanding, I’m afraid biopics of Ian Curtis just don’t have the widest appeal — though, for his own good, the right people are taking attention. 2012 alone will bring Walter Salles’ On the Road and (most likely) Neil Jordan‘s Byzantium; plus, in a couple of years, he’ll be seen alongside Angelina Jolie in Maleficent. All are bound to reach a wider audience than Control, Brighton Rock, or that silly 13 Tzameti remake.

Now, ScreenDaily tell us Riley is signed and ready to lead an adaptation of Sir Walter Scott‘s classic novel, Ivanhoe, for which he’ll collaborate with director Iain Softley (K-Pax, Backbeat). Unless they’ve decided to deviate from the esteemed source novel — which, of course, the “esteemed” aspect has...

Ever since transitioning from a music career with indie band 10,000 Things, Brit actor Sam Riley has carved out a fairly interesting CV which originated with an outstanding debut in Anton Corbijn's acclaimed Ian Curtis biography "Control" that lead to a run of flops that included sci-fier "Franklyn," action remake "13" and literary adaptation "Brighton Rock." He appears to be heading back in the right direction this year, though, starring as Sal Paradise in Walter Salles' long developing "On The Road" as well as working with Neil Jordan on mother-daughter vampire tale "Byzantium" and starring opposite Angelina Jolie in Disney's "Maleficent." Riley has now also lined up an upcoming teaming with Iain Softley ("Backbeat," "K-pax") for an adaptation of Sir Walter Scott's classic historical novel "Ivanhoe," in which he'll play the titular character....

I first heard about this project years ago – on a now-defunct and long-forgotten FX show called Sound F/X – which featured Orlando Jones, of all people. Lawrence Fishburne was once set to play Jimi Hendrix, but it never happened. A 2010 attempt to film the rock star’s life – to be directed by Paul Greengrass and backed by Legendary Pictures – was also thwarted when the famously protective Hendrix family denied any access to the man’s iconic music.

Now after some earlir rumors, Deadline reports that one half of OutKast (the fun half, some might say), Andre 3000 (Aka Andre Benjamin) is confirmed to play Jimi Hendrix in a biopic called All Is By My Side, to be directed by Three Kings screenwriter John Ridley, based on his original script. The kicker: it will take a sort of prequel approach, depicting the singer-guitarist in his years before he became the psychedelic guitar god we know and love.

As part of our coverage of the DVD release of Hard Boiled Sweets (see our review here), we were able to interview actor Scot Williams, who plays the key role of Johnny in David Hughes’ feature-length directorial debut. We started off asking him how he came to the project…

Scot Williams: I got a call out of the blue and was offered a role, which is very rare. Usually I have to audition, but on this occasion my agent sent me a disc for the short film A Girl & A Gun, which had Paul Freeman and Ian Hart in it. I was drawn to it and because I’d worked with Ian in Backbeat I called him up and asked him if he would recommend I work on it and he said “absolutely”. The script was fabulous and the other actor attached were excellent – I wouldn’t have agreed...

A whole host of gangsters, pimps, low-lifes, call-girls, ex-cons and bent cops move in and out of each other’s lives during a couple of busy days in Southend-on-Sea in Essex. Jimmy The Gent (Peter Wight) is up from London to see local big man Shrewd Eddie (Paul Freeman) and has a big wedge of cash on him, which seemingly everyone has a plan to lay hold of. But who will be left sitting pretty?

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The story of how this film came to the big (and now smaller) screen is labyrinthine but impressive. Writer and Director David Hughes had written a script for the short film that preceded it (A Girl and A Gun) and a music composer that he knew from his day job in film advertising offered to try to pass it to actor Ian Hart (Backbeat, Harry Potter, Enemy of the State), who he saw in the...

Hollywood has long had a love affair with sword-and-sandal epics. The issue is that while stories set in Rome are more accessible for modern audiences, tales of ancient Greece are less so, mostly because so many of the tales have been mythologized over the centuries. Modern film-goers don’t seem to be able – or are unwilling to – accept a story where Ancient Gods interfere with the lives of mortals. And while these stories are brilliant and beautiful, writers have gone out of their way to try to take the mythology out of these tales in order to make them more believable for the modern viewer. In recent years we’ve seen films like Alexander, Troy and others that try to tell a very human story of ancient Greece, but fail in that it feels like there’s only half of the story there.

So how do you make a movie...

Movie star Stephen Dorff is taking a crash course in Hebrew for a new film he is shooting in Israel.

The Backbeat star, whose father is Jewish, is set to spend much of the spring in the Middle East filming Zaytoun and he's beginning to wish he had paid more attention to his studies when he was younger.

He tells BlogTalkRadio.com, "I went to Israel for the first time two weeks ago for some rehearsals and I will be there for a couple of months. I have some cousins there because my dad is Jewish, so it should be an interesting part.

"For this movie I do have (to speak) some Hebrew, so I wish I had learned when I was younger. I have a good dialect guy over there, so I will do more of an Israeli sound like the actors did in the movie Munich.

"I play an Israeli pilot in the air force in 1982 - before the war in Beirut - and it's a drama about this pilot and this 12 year-old Palestinian boy; two unlikely people who become very close friends through this journey they have to make from Beirut back to Israel... I actually get into a problem with my plane and have to parachute (out) and that's how I land in Beirut, which is not the best place for an Israeli pilot to land in 1982."...