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One of the most underrated British actors of his generation, Christopher Eccleston's addition to any ensemble guarantees quality. First catching attention with his portrayal of Derek Bentley in the 1991 Peter Medak movie, Let Him Have It, Eccleston's career was seemingly destined for greatness, with his ability to convey deep, emotional stories through just one striking look making him a cinematographer's dream.

October’s here and it’s time to get spooked. After last year’s superb “’70s Horror” lineup, the Criterion Channel commemorates October with a couple series: “Universal Horror,” which does what it says on the tin (with special notice to the Spanish-language Dracula), and “Home Invasion,” which runs the gamut from Romero to Oshima with Polanski and Haneke in the mix. Lest we disregard the programming of Cindy Sherman’s one feature, Office Killer, and Jennifer’s Body, whose lifespan has gone from gimmick to forgotten to Criterion Channel. And if you want to stretch ideas of genre just a hair, their “True Crime” selection gets at darker shades of human nature.

It’s not all chills and thrills, mind. October also boasts a Kirk Douglas repertoire, movies by Doris Wishman and Wayne Wang, plus Manoel de Oliveira’s rarely screened Porto of My Childhood. And Edgar Wright gets the “Adventures in Moviegoing” treatment,...

The director of Palmer helps us kick off our new season by walking us through some of his favorite movies.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Bloodhounds Of Broadway (1989)

Salvador (1986)

True Believer (1989)

Palmer (2021)

Wonder Wheel (2017)

A Face In The Crowd (1957)

On The Waterfront (1954)

No Time For Sergeants (1958)

The Confidence Man (2018)

Lolita (1962)

Dr. Strangelove (1964)

The Ghost Of Peter Sellers (2018)

The Marrying Man (1991)

The Ruling Class (1972)

The Krays (1990)

Let Him Have It (1991)

The Changeling (1980)

On The Border (1998)

Murder By Decree (1979)

Bigger Than Life (1956)

The Night of the Iguana (1964)

Fat City (1972)

Angel (1984)

Animal House (1978)

My Science Project (1985)

Lucía (1968)

Paper Moon (1973)

Sullivan’s Travels (1941)

The Great McGinty (1940)

I Married A Witch (1942)

Do The Right Thing (1989)

Raging Bull (1980)

Once Upon A Time In America (1984)

The Rider (2017)

The Mustang (2019)

Nomadland (2020)

Murmur of the Heart (1971)

Sweet Smell Of Success (1957)

Mr. Smith Goes To Washington (1939)

Apocalypse Now (1979)

The Conversation (1974)

The Godfather (1972)

The Godfather Part III (1990)

The Magnificent Ambersons...

He’s mean, he’s nasty, he carries a razor and he’s dating your sister! Cosh Boy was front & center in 1953 debates about ‘what’s wrong with the British cinema.’ It holds up well, if not as PC social comment, then as solid exploitation fare, with our verminous hero putting the moves on tough-but-vulnerable local girl Joan Collins. The entire cast will want to stand in line to get revenge against Roy Walsh, the punk who steals from his own mum and lets his criminal gang do the dirty work. Take it from me, he’s a dirty rat.

The Slasher (Cosh Boy)

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1953 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 75 min. / Street Date January 7, 2019 / available through Kino Lorber / 19.95

Starring: James Kenney, Joan Collins, Betty Ann Davies, Robert Ayres, Hermione Baddeley, Hermione Gingold, Nancy Roberts, Laurence Naismith, Ian Whittaker, Stanley Escane, Michael McKeag, Sean Lynch, Johnny Briggs, Nosher Powell.

Kevin Spacey can do a killer Jack Lemmon impression. He can even do a killer Jack Lemmon impression in conversation with a killer Walter Matthau impression, which can be really fun when Spacey inserts himself into the story. Obviously, Spacey and Lemmon worked together on “Glengarry Glen Ross,” which is not only why this hypothetical conversation makes sense, but why it’s got the added benefit of feeling like a privileged peek behind the curtain — a glimpse at what these three legends might have talked about.

And suddenly, you’re thinking about Kevin Spacey in “Glengarry.” Even though Spacey is there — at the Netflix FYSee space in Los Angeles — to discuss the new season of his Netflix series, “House of Cards,” the audience of TV Academy voters are hearing stories about Lemmon, Matthau, and Peter O’Toole (who came to “nearly every” performance Spacey gave at the Old Vic).

Read...

By Todd Garbarini

The Royal Theatre in Los Angeles will be presenting a 45th anniversary DVD screening of Peter Medak’s 1972 film The Ruling Class. The 154-minute film, which stars Alastair Sim, Arthur Lowe, Caroline Seymour, Coral Browne, Harry Andrews, and Peter O'Toole, will be screened on DVD on Tuesday, April 25, 2017 at 7:00 pm.

Please Note: At press time, director Peter Medak is scheduled to appear in person for a discussion about the film following the screening.

From the press release:

Part of our Anniversary Classics series. For details, visit: laemmle.com/ac.

The Ruling Class (1972)

45th Anniversary Screening

Tuesday, April 25, at 7 Pm at the Royal Theatre

Followed by Q & A with Director Peter Medak

Presented on DVD

This biting black comedy, in the tradition of such British classics as Kind Hearts and Coronets, focuses on a fierce battle for succession within an aristocratic family. Peter O’Toole plays a...

Director Peter Medak fled Hungary during the 1956 revolution and his best work, like The Ruling Class and Let Him Have It, usually expressed a strong socio-political bent. The Changeling, his 1979 ghost story is no different, mixing supernatural thrills and political intrigue. An eerie and elegant film with haunting overtones of 1944’s The Uninvited, it stars George C. Scott and Melvyn Douglas who bring welcome gravitas to the proceedings.

Christopher Eccleston has been talking more about why he did Doctor Who, and why he left the programme so soon...

Christopher Eccleston's stint in the Tardis lasted just 13 episodes back in 2005, when the actor quit the role, in turn making way for David Tennant. He's talked in the past about not wanted to be seen in just one role, and that he has no plans to reprise the role of the Doctor.

Now, in two new interviews to promote the ITV show Safe House, he's revealed more about why he quit Doctor Who so soon.

"I'd had enough", he told the Daily Record. "I wanted to do it my way, they wanted something else. We were never going to compromise, so it was best to be straight about it and just go".

"It's very easy to stay in one job and make that your comfort zone", he added, "and...

Director Peter Medak fled Hungary during the 1956 revolution and his best work, like "The Ruling Class" and "Let Him Have It," usually expressed a strong socio-political bent. "The Changeling," his 1979 ghost story is no different, mixing supernatural thrills and political intrigue. An eerie and elegant film with haunting overtones of 1944’s "The Uninvited," it stars George C. Scott and Melvyn Douglas who bring welcome gravitas to the proceedings.

With last week's news about a federal judge in California declaring the state's death penalty "cruel and unusual punishment" and therefore unconstitutional along with this week's horror story about a bungled execution in Arizona, Brian Trenchard-Smith's recent trio of capital punishment-themed films proved particularly prescient.

With that, we'd like to re-introduce Brian's commentaries, ripped, as they say, from today's headlines.

Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5siEehBQPjM

Let Him Have It

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKC4X5CEAic

Dance With a Stranger

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQCEpTPciOw

The post Revisiting a Cruel and Unusual Punishment appeared first on Trailers From Hell.

Today on Trailers from Hell, Brian Trenchard-Smith rediscovers another dark Brit drama about the death penalty, "Let Him Have It," starring Christopher Eccleston as the real-life murderer of a policeman. The hangman Albert Pierrepoint (of "Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman") makes a small but important appearance in Peter Medek’s 1991 film about the controversial 1953 execution of Derek Bentley for the murder of a policeman (even though Bentley merely egged on the actual shooter with the phrase, “Let him have it.”) The film stars Christopher Eccleston as the doomed Bentley, Tom Courtenay as his father and a supporting cast featuring a who’s who of British character actors including Edward Hardwicke (Watson of BBC’s "Sherlock Holmes"), Michael Gough ("Horror of Dracula") and Clive Revill ("The Legend of Hell House") as the executioner Pierrepoint. Even though Bentley’s words "Let him have it ” were ambiguous when the policeman...

The hangman Albert Pierrepoint (of Pierrepoint - The Last Hangman) makes a small but important appearance in Peter Medek's 1991 film about the controversial 1953 execution of Derek Bentley for the murder of a policeman (even though Bentley merely egged on the actual shooter with the phrase, "Let him have it.") The film stars Christopher Eccleston as the doomed Bentley, Tom Courtenay as his father and a supporting cast featuring a who's who of British character actors including Edward Hardwicke (Watson of BBC's Sherlock Holmes), Michael Gough (Horror of Dracula) and Clive Revill (The Legend of Hell House) as the executioner Pierrepoint. Even though Bentley's words " Let him have it " were ambiguous when the policeman demanded the shooter hand over the gun, the jury, under prejudicial instruction from the judge, decided the words meant "Shoot him!"

The post Let Him Have It appeared first on Trailers From Hell.

Jimmy McGovern’s new one-off BBC drama, Common, seeks to highlight the controversies of the Joint Enterprise doctrine…

Feature

In 1846, two men named John Swindall and James Osborne engaged in a cart race on a public road that caused the death of a pedestrian. Only one vehicle had killed the victim, but as both had encouraged the other to drive dangerously, Swindall and Osborne were judged to be acting on a common intention and were both charged with manslaughter. The case ushered in the Joint Enterprise doctrine in English law, whereby two or more people who agree to commit a crime together are liable for the criminal actions of other members of their group.

Joint Enterprise. It sounds like a judicious scheme. Why should members of a group who set out with the common goal of murder evade justice only because they didn’t - or it couldn’t be...

Interview Simon Brew 28 Oct 2013 - 06:32

We chat to Christopher Eccleston about sci-fi, Thor, 28 Days Later, Let Him Have It, Star Trek, Blade Runner and more...

"I'm Chris", says Christopher Eccleston as I walk into the room, standing up to shake my hand. It's a warm welcome, and the prelude to an interesting chat where we took in his breakthrough role in Let Him Have It, and went through Blade Runner, Thor: The Dark World, Alan Taylor, cut scenes, Anthony Hopkins and what he's up to next.

Here's how we got on...

Can we start with Let Him Have It? I was in my later teens when I stumbled into a cinema to see the film, which of course was the story of Derek Bentley, who was hung on what's since been desribed as 'highly suspect evidence' for murder. What struck me about the film was that was quite an un-British film at the time.

Odd List Simon Brew Ryan Lambie 26 Sep 2013 - 07:09

The year 1991 is the focus for our latest underappreciated films list, which includes dramas, thrillers, and a smattering of horror...

Ah, 1991. The year Robert Patrick ran after cars in Terminator 2: Judgement Day, and Kevin Costner grew a spectacular mullet for Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves. But outside the top ten blockbuster list, there lies an entire world of other, less celebrated films to discover.

Some of the movies on this list have been included because they were overlooked in theatres, while others have been added because they were unfairly dismissed by critics. One or two others were modest successes, but (whisper it) we decided to include them anyway because we really, really like them.

So here, for your delectation, is our pick of 25 underappreciated films from 1991.

25. Deceived

You think Goldie Hawn, you tend to think comedy, or her Oscar-nominated turn in Private Benjamin.

For Christopher Eccleston, small is always beautiful, whether it be TV thriller Blackout or Greek tragedy Antigone on the stage. He reveals why making films just doesn't compare

He strides across the polished tiled floor, past imposing columns and heavy, intricately carved doors. Outside, the Manchester winds are furiously buffeting the redbrick walls of this grand, turn-of-the-last-century university hall. There seems nowhere more appropriate to meet Christopher Eccleston: he has a face to fit buildings like this, an on-screen intensity that is the match of the architecture. But even so, his latest TV role looks set to stretch him: an unflinching, uncomfortable, three-hour examination of addiction and corruption, in which Eccleston goes from rock bottom to hero, as Manchester politician Daniel Demoys.

Written by Bill Gallagher, who adapted Lark Rise to Candleford for the small screen, Blackout puts alcoholism under the microscope in the course of its three episodes.

In my adopted home, the Us, capital punishment is still the norm in many states. After Troy Davis' execution, I had to take a stand

In the UK, it's the human rights violation that it's still socially acceptable to support: the death penalty. You can be pro-capital punishment and not get ejected from a dinner party. It's probably not going to cause outrage if a social gathering throws out a "we need a strong deterrent" line, or if someone says "it's what they deserve, an eye for eye."

Which, in a sense, is slightly strange. It's nearly 50 years since there was capital punishment in Britain and knowledge of it is increasingly filtered mainly through films like Let Him Have It, or Pierrepoint, or 10 Rillington Place. As it happens, these films, plus others like Dead Man Walking, hardly present an unproblematic view of the penalty, so why do people – quite a few,...

Last weekend Young Adult opened on 8 screens with a solid $40k per screen average. Today it expands to theaters nationwide. I recently attended a press junket for the film written by Diablo Cody & directed by Jason Reitman. Below are the highlights from the press conference with Diablo Cody, Charlize Therom & Patton Oswalt. (Check out highlights from the Jason Reitman press conference right Here)

Diablo Cody on Ya novels: Well, I.ve been an avid consumer of young adult literature since I was one. And I think some people leave that stuff behind when they become old adults, but I never did. And I was always interested in the fantasy world created in those novels, and that I think is the kind of thing we see reflected in pop culture more now than ever, with reality shows and these weird, fully made-up people living these fake fairytale lives on camera. And...

#5

Season 2, Episode 6: Peekaboo

Directed by Peter Medak

Written by Vince Gilligan & J. Roberts

Directed by Peter Medak, known for such hidden gems as Let Him Have It, Romeo Is Bleeding and The Krays, ‘Peekaboo’ is technically my favourite episode. This episode is all about family, and not just Walt’s family, but Jesse’s family and a third family: that of Spooge, his woman and their kid, introduced for the first and probably only time. It’s interesting to see the opposite ends of the spectrum and the in-between. On one side you have Walt cooking the meth that gets distributed by Jesse to Spooge and his woman. Walt lives the good life, with a house, two kids, two cars, a white picket fence and is a respected, supposedly law-abiding citizen. Than you have Jesse, whose parents turn their back on him, leaving him to find his own method of survival,...

Oh, Scott Disick. You, who single handedly insure Brylcreem stays in business. You, of pointless fame. You, who thinks you’re the biggest baller this side of the planet. This is Scott filming a segment of Kim And Kourtney Take New York. Behold his lavender jacket, his icy blue tie and the shoe minus the socks — because he’s European like that. We’re going to try and not influence your judgement on this outfit. Because we’re giggling too hard! Let him have it, ladies and gents. By that we mean, please vote and tell us what you think, of course.

[Photo: Splash News Online]...

Top 10 Episodes #4

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Season 2, Episode 6: ‘Peekaboo’

Directed by Peter Medak

Written by Vince Gilligan & J. Roberts

Directed by Peter Medak, known for such hidden gems as Let Him Have It, Romeo Is Bleeding and The Krays, ‘Peekaboo’ is technically my favourite episode. This episode is all about family, and not just Walt’s family, but Jesse’s family and a third family: that of Spooge, his woman and their kid, introduced for the first and probably only time. It’s interesting to see the opposite ends of the spectrum and the in-between. On one side you have Walt cooking the meth that gets distributed by Jesse to Spooge and his woman. Walt lives the good life, with a house, two kids, two cars, a white picket fence and is a respected, supposedly law-abiding citizen. Than you have Jesse, whose parents turn their back on him, leaving him to find his own method of survival,...

True Blood! Spiral! Channel 4's new comedy, Campus! And lots and lots of movies on UK TV in the coming days...!

The third season of vampires, werewolves and shapeshifters in the Deep South comes to a finish with Evil Is Going On, the finale of this season of True Blood, tonight, Friday, April 1st at 10:00pm on FX. Friends and foes part company, some solemnly, some violently and some are left standing in the dust as the pickup drives away. But it does leave a lot to wonder about until season 4 arrives, as fairies join the citizens and denizens of Bon Temp. You can leave your thoughts on the season's close here, see a few season 4 trailers here , and we'll bring you news of the show's return to the UK when we learn of it.

On Saturday, April 2nd at 9:00pm, the French police series, Spiral, begins a third series,...

Spaced repeats from episode one, and there's a bit of Harry Hill. Fortunately, there are also lots and lots of great movies on UK TV this coming week...

Well, we hope you're a movie fan, because there aren't many TV shows to highlight. In fact, all we can point to is some overflow from last week's abundant new starts and returning series.

We missed telling you that the newest series of the prop explosion Harry Hill's TV Burp returned for an eleventh go at its neighbours on the telly schedules. But, not to worry, as it's often repeated and you can catch the first episode when it shows again tonight, Friday, February 11th at 8:30pm, or Saturday, February 12th at 6:50pm. Our hope is that the Heather-look-a-likey has been retired, but we never tire of the Knitted Character, or any pals it wants to bring along to the new series.

Primeval ends, Outcasts starts, Bedlam kicks off, Bob's Burgers arrives, Arrested Development goes back to the start, there's Mad Dogs. And lots and lots of movies...

In a busier seven days than we've seen in the last couple of weeks, the schedules wave both hello and goodbye to a number of shows. Some return to proven praise. Others have the hard task of earning it over the next six or so weeks.

Saturday, February 5th brings the end of the fourth series of Primeval at 7:30pm on ITV1. The series has seen the return of a familiar face just recently. Is there room for one more? If you're a fan of the show, tune in and have a squawk about it when the finale review goes live early Monday morning.

New sci-fi show, Outcasts, breaks onto screens in two consecutive episodes over two nights, starting Monday, February 7th at...

Hollywood's tales of wrongful convictions – such as the case of Kenny Waters – should provoke real-life action as well as tears

The big screen feeds greedily on miscarriages of justice, and it doesn't have to invent its instances. On top of the myriad wrongful convictions that it's contrived, it's made merry with the real thing in films ranging from The Wrong Man, Papillon and The Hurricane to Let Him Have It and In the Name of the Father.

The uncomplicated emotions that are usually evoked bathe characters, film-makers and audiences in a warm glow of righteousness. Conviction invites us to identify for a couple of hours with a tireless, selfless saint. Hilary Swank's Betty Anne busts a gut to spring her falsely convicted brother; in the end, she prevails. That's more or less it. This inspirational and comforting tale may leave us cheered, but ought that to be enough?

The...

The Wrap are reporting that Stephen Dorff (Public Enemies) is in advanced talks to join Maria Bello (Downloading Nancy) in the indie-thriller Carjacked. Bello’s publicist has already confirmed her involvement.

Carjacked was penned by Michael and Sherry Compton, with Peter Medak, whose recent work has been mainly in Us TV, but has UK films The Krays and Let Him Have It as well as Species II under this belt, is attached to direct.

Carjacked centers a single mother and her child who are carjacked by a thief who has no intention of letting them go.

Gold Rush Entertainment and Mass Hysteria Entertainment will co-produce the film, with filming expected to commence next month in Louisiana.

Stephen Dorff, who’s currently on a career-comeback, will next be seen in Sofia Coppola’s Somewhere, while Maria Bello can be seen in Shawn Ku’s Beautiful Boy. Both of which are due...

… but the Shallow Grave actor is considering a move into comedy after primal scream soul-baring of Lennon Naked

Back in 1994, when Christopher Eccleston was playing a psychotic chartered accountant in Shallow Grave, he spent the best part of a day in a working mortuary pretending to be dead. There wasn't enough money to recreate the mortuary in a studio and, anyway, director Danny Boyle wanted to keep it real. So Eccleston, then 30 and best known for playing Derek Bentley in Let Him Have It three years earlier, was put in a drawer with a Glaswegian member of the crew.

"I was stark bollock naked and the Glaswegian, who was dressed in a parka, Doc Martens and jeans, kept saying, 'Are we finished? 'Cos I'm fucking freezing, by the way.' And all this time, I'm lying not only naked but next to a head that had recently been fished out of the River Clyde.