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Come, sit, and hear sad stories of what it was like to be a young British millennial nerd. The nineties were, in many ways, a dark age for British science fiction. Doctor Who was gone, apart from one Children in Need crossover with EastEnders – Dimensions in Time in 1993 – and an American co-produced movie simply called “Doctor Who” (which we would all pretend to hate while treasuring our VHS recording and commemorative Radio Times issue).

Over the pond, TV sci-fi was in the middle of a golden age, with three Star Trek series, Babylon 5, Farscape, The X-Files and Stargate Sg-1 only marking the tip of a science fictional iceberg. But British fans could only watch these episodes months or even years after the fact, particularly if they had only access to terrestrial television, and were forced to paw through magazines and websites for reviews and plot summaries to sate their hunger.

Although Russian director Aleksey German Jr.’s incisive, nuanced new feature House Arrest (Delo) takes place almost entirely in one cluttered if spacious apartment, its thematic scope spreads wide, well beyond this story of a middle-aged academic David (Merab Ninidze) who is falsely accused of embezzlement.

Openly critical of the endemic corruption and state-sponsored violence that’s metastasized throughout Russia, this international co-production will resonate with anyone aware of how harshly people are treated who speak out throughout that country. Compared to German’s oblique and rigorously arthouse previous films, starting with such austere period dramas as The Last Train and ...

Although Russian director Aleksey German Jr.’s incisive, nuanced new feature House Arrest (Delo) takes place almost entirely in one cluttered if spacious apartment, its thematic scope spreads wide, well beyond this story of a middle-aged academic David (Merab Ninidze) who is falsely accused of embezzlement.

Openly critical of the endemic corruption and state-sponsored violence that’s metastasized throughout Russia, this international co-production will resonate with anyone aware of how harshly people are treated who speak out throughout that country. Compared to German’s oblique and rigorously arthouse previous films, starting with such austere period dramas as The Last Train and ...

New York Women in Film & Television and The Writers Lab co-founders Elizabeth Kaiden and Nitza Wilon have revealed the 12 screenwriters to participate in The Writers Lab, which celebrates its fifth year. The program has also unveiled their roster of mentors.

The Writers Lab launched in 2015 and is the only lab in the world devoted exclusively to script development for women writers over the age of 40. It creates a springboard to the next stage of production and expands the boundaries of today’s commercial narrative film. Many past participants have seen their scripts optioned and/or are actively working in writers’ rooms.

The program, which is presented in collaboration with the Writers Guild of America, East, is supported by Oscar-winning actresses and Big Little Lies stars Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman.

“I am so proud The Writers Lab has thrived and grown in these five years, and has functioned as a...

19th edition of the South Korean event announces a record 246 films in its programme.

In South Korea, the 19th Jeonju International Film Festival (Jiff) has announced a record 246 films in its selection, up from 229 last year.

Running May 3-12, the fest will open with the world premiere of Chong Wishing’s Japanese film Yakiniku Dragon, based on his award-winning stage play about Korean villagers in Japan around the time of the 1970 Osaka Expo with their shared trauma, love and strife.

The fest will close with Wes Anderson’s Isle Of Dogs, which opened this year’s Berlinale and picked up...

Russia 2017. The world could be on the verge of a great war. People are anxious that things could fall apart. Revolving around an unfinished building, a diverse group of outsiders struggle to find their place in this rapidly changing society. The award-winning director of “The Last Train," Alexey German explores Russian culture and politics by reaching deeply into the soul of the human spirit in his latest film "Under Electric Clouds."

The film is being handled by Films Boutique

Here is the official long synopsis:

Russia 2017. The world could be on the verge of a great war. People are anxious that things could fall apart. Revolving around an unfinished building, a diverse group of outsiders struggle to find their place in this rapidly changing society, making up the mosaic of existence that is life itself… With sophisticated visuals and wit, writer-director Alexey German Jr. boldly pursues his exploration of Russian culture and politics by reaching deep into the soul of the human spirit.

A Kyrgyz construction worker arrives in Russia, finding himself almost on a different planet due to language problems and prejudice. His problems worsen when he discovers that the construction site has been shut down…

A brother and sister return from abroad to inherit their deceased father’s large estate. They have no plans to remain and complete their adored father’s ambitious architectural project. They are rejected by his close friends and they are pressured about the unfinished building…

A real estate lawyer and his haunting dreams about the past begin to push away the present, as if he is living some other life, not his own…

A museum guide has been working on the same art dissertation for years. His museum is now in danger of closing due to the progressive new building under construction. He must choose whether to protect his museum or move on…

A war refugee who lost his entire family attempts to save a young girl held hostage near the abandoned construction site…

The 40-something architect of that unfinished building simply refuses to grow up. When he falls in love with a woman many years younger, he tries to find a common language. Soviet Russia is still a part of him, but for her those were medieval times.

"Under Electric Clouds" will screen at the festival on the following dates

-Feb 10th at 09:00 at Berlinale Palast (Press) (directly followed by photo call & press conference at the press center/Hotel Hyatt) at 15:00 at Berlinale Palast (Red Carpet Gala)

-Feb 11th at 12:00 & at 15:00 at Friedrichstadt Palast at 22:30 at International

-Feb 14th at 09:30 at Haus der Berliner Festspiele...

A few weeks ago I was reading through the archives of Whatculture articles and came across Baz Greenland’s article 15 Hidden Gems Of British TV You Probably Missed and whilst searching through for something to get into I came across number 7 on the list; The Last Train. Having never heard of this ITV classic that aired between the 7th of April 1999 and the 6th of May, I watched the series in a single sitting and lets just say it was a great piece of post-apocalyptic drama, with mystery and thriller elements that resonate throughout.

The story resolves around a group who survive an apocalyptic asteroid wiping out most of humanity through the accidental intervention of a device that enables them to become cryogenically frozen, despite they do not know this to begin with. The group consists of different sets of individuals; different in age, gender, profession and even their drive to survive.

Brendan Gleeson, The Guard The Guard, Glenn Close, Ryan Gosling Win: Irish Film Awards 2012 Film Categories Best Film Albert Nobbs, Alan Moloney, Bonnie Curtis, Julie Lynn, Glenn Close Charlie Casanova, Terry McMahon Stella Days, Jackie Larkin, Leslie McKimm * The Guard, Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe, Chris Cark, Flora Fernandez Marengo Best Director Rebecca Daly, The Other Side of Sleep * John Michael McDonagh, The Guard Terry McMahon, Charlie Casanova Thaddeus O'Sullivan, Stella Days Best Screenplay John Banville, Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs * John Michael McDonagh, The Guard Terry McMahon, Charlie Casanova Antoine O'Flaherta, Stella Days Best Actor * Michael Fassbender, Shame Brendan Gleeson, The Guard Ciarán Hinds, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy Martin Sheen, Stella Days Best Actress Aoife Duffin, Behold the Lamb Antonia Campbell Hughes, The Other Side of Sleep Marcella Plunkett, Stella Days * Saoirse Ronan, Hanna Best Supporting Actor Liam Cunningham, The Guard Brendan Gleeson, Albert Nobbs Ciarán Hinds, The Debt * Chris O'Dowd,...

Flora Moreno de Thompson Train-time

It began with a Tweet.

In mid-May, Jerome Lim, photographer and fountain of all knowledge about the history of train travel in Singapore, reminded his Twitter followers that all trains would cease to operate at Tanjong Pagar Railway Station, the then-terminus in Singapore for all trains to and from Malaysia and beyond, on June 30. Clarissa Tan, a journalist and dear friend immediately tweeted back: “When [are] you booking…? Maybe I’ll do [the] same. We can have a train party!

Star Wars Celebration V is set to kick off on August 12th and promises more goodies from a far away galaxy than you can shake a lightsaber at. However, if the thought of panels, photo ops, and other attractions with your favorite characters from George Lucas' films wasn't enough, maybe this will seal the deal.

On August 14th, Disney's Hollywood Studios will play host to The Last Train to Endor -- a one-night only after hours event that will merge Star Wars, Disney, and a certain someone from another Lucas property. The show title kinda spoils the surprise -- Raider of the Lost Jedi Temple of Doom: A Fan Film of Epic Proportions. That's right, the show script will feature two fledgling filmmakers shooting a project at Disney -- and since they can't agree on whether Star Wars or Raiders is cooler (hey, we've been there, done that), there's...

Yesterday, movie peeps were buzzing with the news that James Cameron's long-time collaborator Charles Pellegrino was in some pretty big non-fiction hot water. Variety reports that publication of the book The Last Train from Hiroshima* was halted by numerous questions of the book's facts.

It all started with the revelation that he was misled by one interviewee who claimed to have been in one of the planes flying with the Enola Gay (the plane that dropped the bomb on Hiroshima), but then more doubts surfaced about a Father Mattias, and publisher Henry Holt and Company said: "Unfortunately, Mr. Pellegrino was not able to answer the additional questions that have arisen about his book to our satisfaction." No more copies will be made, and those who have purchased the book may get their money back if they wish.

Beyond the questions of his facts (compounded by questions about his claimed...

In the last few months, in the stream of post-Avatar money and praise, James Cameron has repeatedly hinted at a handful of projects that might be his next-- Avatar 2, of course, plus the long-in-gestation Battle Angel Alita, and a project based on the nonfiction book The Last Train from Hiroshima, about the atomic bomb attack on Japan in 1945. Now we know that one, at least, is almost definitely off the table. The Associated Press reports that the publisher has pulled the book from their lineup, following a series of investigations into its veracity. Author Charles Pellegrino has acknowledged that one of his interview subjects lied about being on the Enola Gay, which dropped the bomb, and now the publisher has been unable to confirm the existence of two people mentioned in the book. Even Pellegrino himself may not be what he claims-- he's said he has a Ph. D...

Avatar might still be riding high on both sides of the Atlantic, but James Cameron’s next project is looking increasingly unlikely to happen. Cameron wrote the introduction to Dr Charles Pellegrino’s historical account, The Last Train From Hiroshima, and had announced plans to adapt it for the big screen. However, some digging from the Associated Press revealed that some of Pellegrino’s sources may have been fabricated, with one of his interviewees having falsely claimed to have been present on the Enola Gay...

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The sequel to James Cameron's Avatar is set to move forward much more quickly now that his next movie project has collapsed.

Cameron was planning to make a film based on Charles Pellegrino's The Last Train from Hiroshima, which was published on January 19 and claimed to be a factual account of survivors of the 1945 atomic bomb.

Henry Holt and Company has now stopped all further printing of the book after the author was unable to verify details.

The publisher has been unable to find records of whether two men in the book existed: a Father Mattias, who supposedly lived in Hiroshima at the time of the bombing, and John MacQuitty, said to be a Jesuit scholar presiding over Mattias's funeral.

Pellegrino last week also admitted he had been misled by one person interviewed for the book - Joseph Fuoco - who falsely claimed to be on board one...

It looks like James Cameron might have to start the search again for the next project to get him a hat trick at the top of the box office list - his plans to adapt Charles Pellegrino's historical tome The Last Train From Hiroshima for the big screen look bleak now that Pellegrino's book has been pulled from publication after questions arising as to the veracity of the novel.

Although the book has seen healthy early sales and has garnered good reviews, Pellegrino's publishers, Henry Holt, have halted the book's run after the Associated Press raised concerns about one of his interview subjects, who falsely claimed to have been on board the Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. It also now appears that the problems may run deeper, as the book's two key figures - Father Mattias, who allegedly lived in the city at...

Publication of Charles Pellegrino's non-fiction tome "The Last Train from Hiroshima", which had been optioned for a possible film by "Avatar" director James Cameron, has been halted over concerns of its accuracy reports The Associated Press.

Publisher Henry Holt and Company said in a statement yesterday that Pellegrino wasn't able to answer questions on the text including whether two men mentioned within it even existed.

The author has come under scrutiny which complicates things for Cameron as Pellegrino served as an advisor on "Avatar". The 'Hiroshima' film deal now looks to be on shaky ground.

James Cameron's movie about the Hiroshima bombing will be axed following disputes over the accuracy of the book it is based on. Henry Holt and Company has halted publication on Charles Pellegrino's non-fiction work The Last Train From Hiroshima after it emerged that two men mentioned in the book may not have existed. The publisher has been unable to find records of a Father Mattia, who lived in Hiroshima at the time of the bombing, and Jesuit scholar John MacQuitty. In a statement released through The AP, Holt announced its "deep regret" at not being able to "print, correct or ship copies" of Pellegrino's book. Pellegrino admitted last week that one of his interviewees had falsely claimed to be on the Enola Gay, the (more)...

With Avatar having conquered the world so thoroughly, you’d be forgiven in thinking everybody had gone mad. Sure, it had amazing special effects (what Cameron film doesn’t?), but it’s story was utter rubbish…it was, come on, be honest. Anyway, since December, Cameron has touted a movie based on a book entitled The Last Train From Hiroshima. It’s a historical non-fiction tome…or so people thought.

According to Variety, the writer Charles Pellegrino has been telling tales taller than James Cameron’s sci-fi epic. The Last Train To Hiroshima has been pulled by its publishing company after Associated Press did some digging around…you know, looking for facts. In a statement, the company said:

“It is easy to understand how even the most diligent author could be duped by a source, but we also understand that opens that book to very detailed scrutiny. The author of...

Bad news for those interested in the idea of James Cameron directing a film about the Hiroshima bombing: The project may be scrapped, due to controversy over potential inaccuracies in the non-fiction book upon which it’s based.

According to Charles Pellegrino, the author of "The Last Train From Hiroshima", one of his interviewees apparently falsely claimed to be on the Enola Gay, the U.S. plane which dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima in 1945.

Meanwhile, publisher Henry Holt and Company has been unable to find records of two characters in the book: Father Mattia, who lived in Hiroshima during the bombing; and a Jesuit scholar named John MacQuitty.

There have also been questions raised about whether Pellegrino received a Ph.D. from Victoria University of Wellington, as he had claimed.

"It is easy to understand how even the most diligent author could be duped by a source, but we...

Back in January, we reported that James Cameron had not only optioned the rights to Charles Pellegrino's book, The Last Train from Hiroshima, but also flown over to Japan to meet with now deceased Tsutomi Yamaguchi, the once lone survivor of both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings. Many believed this would in fact be Cameron's next film... but probably not anymore. The AP is reporting that publisher Henry Holt and Company is halting publication of the novel because author Pelligrino was...

Fate has just chucked a rather large spanner in the works of James Cameron’s future plans, not to mention the past associations he’s had with author Charles Pellegrino. What’s the problem? Pellegrino’s historical tome The Last Train From Hiroshima is now being seriously disputed - and yanked from publication.Despite gathering great reviews and healthy early sales, Pellegrino’s publishers, Henry Holt, have decided to halt the book’s run after questions were raised by the Associated Press about one of his interview subjects, who falsely claimed to have been on board the Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the atomic weapon on Hiroshima. That has led to a deeper investigation into the two main figures in the book, Father Mattias, who allegedly lived in the city at the time of the bombing and John MacQuitty, who oversaw his funeral.Plus, doubts are beginning to arise over Pellegrino’s own veracity,...

There was some news recently that James Cameron might be producing or even potentially directing a film about Hiroshima. He'd optioned a book called The Last Train From Hiroshima, by Charles Pellegrino, a friend of the director. Now publication of the book is being halted, because publisher Henry Holt and Company "was not able to answer" questions about the veracity of some of Pellegrino's facts. Some of the people mentioned in the purportedly factual book may not exist. Oops! Probably won't see a movie from Cameron any time soon. Yahoo reports that the publisher released a statement that says, "It is with deep regret that Henry Holt and Company announces that we will not print, correct or ship copies of Charles Pellegrino's `The Last Train from Hiroshima." A week ago, Pellegrino admitted that one person he interviewed had made false claims about being on one of the planes that...

The Associated Press reports that Charles Pellegrino's book "The Last Train from Hiroshima," which James Cameron had optioned for a possible film ( see original story ), has been pulled by publisher Henry Holt and Company. The report says: "It is with deep regret that Henry Holt and Company announces that we will not print, correct or ship copies of Charles Pellegrino's `The Last Train from Hiroshima,'" the publisher said in a statement issued to the AP. Doubts were first raised about the book a week ago after Pellegrino acknowledged that one of his interview subjects had falsely claimed to be on one of the planes accompanying the Enola Gay, from which an atom bomb was dropped by the United States on Hiroshima in 1945. Holt had initially promised to send...

James Cameron, whose Avatar is doing incredible business worldwide, recently bought the film rights to Charles Pellegrino’s The Last Train from Hiroshima, a book recounting stories from survivors of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, which killed 70,000 people. Pellegrino’s tome also includes remembrances from Us military personnel involved in the bombing. One problem: according to William J. Broad’s New York Times article "Doubts Raised on Book’s Tale of Atom Bomb," crucial elements found in The Last Train from Hiroshima have as a source recollections by Joseph Fuoco, who has been denounced as an impostor by veterans, historians, and scientists. In The Last Train from Hiroshima, Fuoco is featured as a man who, as a last-minute replacement, flew [...]...

• Avatar director Cameron has film rights to book

• Veteran's account of flight dismissed as inaccurate

There can be few more exciting prospects for a non-fiction author than to have James Cameron take out an option on a book. The director recently broke his own record by amassing $2bn in world box-office takings for Avatar, making the film the highest grossing in history.

Cameron has now bought the film rights to a book of survivors' stories from the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, prompting speculation that his next blockbuster will focus on one of the seminal tales of 20th-century destruction.

The Last Train from Hiroshima, by science writer Charles Pellegrino, takes place over two days and weaves together the stories of Japanese survivors with the memories of Us air force personnel who accompanied the bomb, dubbed Little Boy, on its journey to kill 70,000 people.

The potential transition from book to Cameron movie has hit a glitch,...

The Bad Boy mogul's son, Justin Combs, passes his father's $10,000 present on to Wyclef's Yele Haiti organization.

By Jayson Rodriguez

Diddy with son Justin Combs at his 16th birthday party on Saturday

Photo: Johnny Nunez/WireImage

Diddy claims to have invented the remix, but his son proved adept at putting his own twist on things over the weekend at M2 Ultra Lounge in New York, where he celebrated his sweet 16.

On Saturday, Justin Combs held court at a themed party titled "I Am Prince," a nod to his father's "I Am King" fragrance campaign.

The younger Combs was even decked out in a white tuxedo — just like his father in the ad for the scent — and entered the party with Lil Wayne protégé Nicki Minaj on his arm.

Minaj later performed a medley of tracks, as did Trey Songz. Diddy and Lil Kim led the crowd in singing "Happy Birthday" to Justin.

Once Avatar started setting box office records, it was inevitable talk of a sequel would emerge. The science fiction epic is up to $1.4 billion worldwide (just $400 million shy of Titanic), and this weekend it will pass Star Wars to become the third highest-grossing movie of all-time at the domestic box office.

Rumors of a second adventure on Pandora circulated until James Cameron himself attended a Variety-hosted screening and Q&A in Hollywood. The director confirmed “there’ll be another” and said the plan was always to make a trilogy of films, according to an account on Ain’t It Cool News.

The new issue of Entertainment Weekly confirmed the trilogy concept with a quote from Cameron. “I’ve had a storyline in mind from the start — there are even scenes in Avatar that I kept in because they lead to the sequel,” Cameron said. “It just makes sense to think...

It’s easy to go on about how much money Avatar is making at the box office. However, a more interesting result of the film’s success is the possibility that it proved 3-D can be far more than just a gimmick. Instead of having objects fly out at the audience James Cameron used the technology to pull viewers into the environment. It was such a simple twist on 3-D I’m surprised nobody thought of it before now.

However, with Avatar’s explosion in popularity, and everyone it seems hoping on the 3-D bandwagon, Cameron may have unintentionally become the “3-D guy”. Any projects he takes on moving forward people are going to anticipate some kind of 3D component, which may not necessarily be the case.

As such, I (along with everyone else writing about this story) have to assume that Cameron could have 3-D plans in mind for...

Although Avatar is still in theaters, Variety reports that James Cameron is already planning a future project about the WWII bombings in Japan. In fact, while in Japan promoting Avatar last month, Cameron took some time to visit with Tsutomu Yamaguchi, who was the last survivor of both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings until he passed away on Monday at the age of 93.

Cameron has also picked up the rights to Charles Pellegrino's upcoming book The Last Train From Hiroshima: The Survivors Look Back, which involves stories from American pilots and Japanese civilians. Pellegrino, who has a PhD in zoology, was also a technical consultant on Avatar.

Although the project is not officially green-lit yet, it shouldn't be too much trouble for Cameron to get it off the ground, given his clout and his sizable personal funds. Avatar is already the second-highest grossing movie in history, which means that...

“Avatar” director James Cameron has has optioned the rights to Charles Pellegrino’s upcoming nonfiction book “The Last Train From Hiroshima: The Survivors Look Back” for a big-screen adaptation. Cameron obtained the rights with his own personal funds to Pellegrino’s book. Hitting bookstores January 19th, the book takes place over a period of two days and is about eyewitness accounts of the Japanese civilians and American pilots who experienced the atomic explosions during World War 2. No other information about the production has been released so far. Stay tuned for more on “The Last Train From Hiroshima” right here at Shockya.com. By Costa Koutsoutis (Source: Variety)...

James Cameron can do pretty much anything he wants now. Or, he can do nothing at all; I think he'll be able to live off interest just fine. But he's swooping back into action by optioning Charles Pellegrino's The Last Train from Hiroshima: The Survivors Look Back, which he acquired using some of his considerable loonies and twonies.

According to Variety, "Advance reviews have been glowing for the title, which takes place over two days and weaves together eyewitness accounts of the Japanese civilians and American pilots who experienced the atomic explosions firsthand." Around 30 citizens who made it out of Hiroshima just in time had the misfortune of arriving in Nagasaki just in time for the second A-bomb.

So that's a fascinating piece of history, and Cameron's connection gets even deeper. Last month, while in Japan promoting his new movie - which I believe is Old Dogs - The...

Earlier today, we brought you word of Cameron’s rumblings about an Avatar sequel and possible trilogy. Well, that may not be the next project that Jc uses to further his position as “King of the World.” Instead, he may be going back to history, dramatizing another major event. Cameron has optioned Charles Pellegrino’s upcoming nonfiction novel “The Last Train From Hiroshima: The Survivors Look Back.”

Read more on James Cameron options story of Hiroshima bombings…...

While "Avatar" continues to clean up at the box office, James Cameron may have signaled his next move as a director this week by buying the rights to "The Last Train From Hiroshima: The Survivors Look Back," an upcoming non-fiction book by Charles Pellegrino, the Guardian reports. This news follows on the heels of reports that Cameron visited with Tsutomu Yamaguchi, who was identified last March as the first certified survivor of both U.S. atomic bombings of Japan during World War II, about a possible film project while in Japan last month doing promotion for "Avatar." Yamaguchi died this week at the age of 93, and is still the only person recognized as a survivor of both attacks. He was remembered by the mayor of Nagasaki as a "precious storyteller." More info about Yamaguchi's incredible story from the AP: Yamaguchi was...

He brought the sinking of the Titanic to life, and, now, it appears writer/director/game changer James Cameron will soon be showing us the Hiroshima bombing. According to Variety, Cameron has optioned the upcoming, nonfiction book, The Last Train From Hiroshima: The Survivors Look Back, written by Charles R. Pellegrino.

Pellegrino’s book coves the bombing both from the viewpoint of Japanese survivors on the ground and American airmen in the planes above. It is scheduled to hit bookstores on January 19th.

Evidently, while in Japan promoting Avatar, Cameron asked 20th Century Fox if he could visit with Tsutomu Yamaguchi, who, as it would happen, passed away this, past Monday. Yamaguchi was not only one of the last, surviving people who experienced the bombing in Hiroshima, he is the only, officially recognized person to have survived the Hiroshima bombing only to flee to Nagasaki and survive that bombing, as well,...

James Cameron is the "king of the world" yet again as Avatar keeps climbing the box office charts, just recently surpassing Lord of the Rings: Return of the King as the second highest grossing film of all time. Although Cameron has confirmed that there will be a sequel to the revolutionary blockbuster, it looks like his next project could potentially move into the real world as Variety reports he has used his own funding to option Charles Pellegrino's upcoming nonfiction book The Last Train from Hiroshima: The Survivors Look Back, a compilation of real life accounts from survivors of the two infamous WWII nuclear bombings. While Variety says he's definitely eyeing this as a potential directing gig, I'm not so sure that this could turn out to be another narrative film. After all, Cameron is no stranger to documentaries, having produced several about the Titanic as well as nature's underwater marvels.

At the 1997 Academy Awards, after Titanic won Best Picture, James Cameron famously proclaimed “I’m the king of the world!” If Avatar wins at this year’s awards, he might just be able to declare himself king of the universe. Avatar has just passed The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King to obtain the number two slot on the all time worldwide box office with an astounding $1.13 billion. Meanwhile AICN reports that Cameron has officially affirmed that an Avatar sequel is in the works and Variety confirms that the director has optioned The Last Train From Hiroshima: The Survivors Look Back with his own funds. Hit the jump to learn more about Cameron’s plan for world domination, one movie at a time.

Avatar has raced through box office records in its 20 days of release; it’s well ahead of where Titanic was at this point and...

It was reported recently that James Cameron visited Hiroshima survivor Tsutomu Yamaguchi in December, and now we know why, as Variety says the Avatar director has optioned the The Last Train From Hiroshima: The Survivors Look Back using his own cash. The Charles Pellegrino book charts the double bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki from both sides of the experience, and will hopefully give Cameron a whole other era of intentionally dated slang to play with. [Variety]...

Avatar director (and now record holder of the two highest-grossing movies of all-time worldwide) James Cameron has optioned the screen rights to The Last Train From Hiroshima: The Survivors Look Back, an upcoming non-fiction book written by Charles Pellegrino. There's some evidence that Cameron could conceivably decide that he wants to make this his next film.

According to Variety, while on the Japanese leg of his Avatar promotional tour, the filmmaker met with a survivor of both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bomb explosions, 93-year-old Tsutomo Yamaguchi. Yamaguchi was one of around 30 people that survived the American atomic bomb explosion in Hiroshima in August 1945 and then, as fate would have, went to the city of Nagasaki for shelter only to face the horror of the second bomb a few days later. Incredibly Yamaguchi survived both explosions. He passed away on Monday this week.

Last decade Cameron gave a positive cover...

James Cameron declared himself King of the World when Titanic won 11 Oscars in 1998.

With that film at No 1 in the all-time global box office chart and his new sci-fi epic Avatar now at No 2, the title seems more fitting than ever.

Avatar has to date made $1.13billion in just three weeks, pushing it past The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Titanic holds the top spot - for now - with $1.84billion. The big question is whether Avatar can sink Titanic in its remaining time on release.

Earlier this month, Avatar became the fastest film to make a billion dollars at the box office, with revenue boosted by the higher cost of IMAX 3D tickets.

Cameron has admitted he has a trilogy planned out, and has hinted at the directions that future stories might take.

It's also been revealed that the Canadian filmmaker has bought the rights...

James Cameron is living down his reputation as the "slow" director, as it appears he's invented all the technology he needs to start making all his future films, and is now hoovering up projects left and right. His latest? He’s optioned the rights to Charles Pellegrino’s book, "The Last Train to Hiroshima," which weaves together accounts of Japanese and Americans who witnessed the atomic bombs of WWII. This explains why a little while back, Cameron...

That Supreme Being that we little folk know simply as James Cameron has optioned a book entitled The Last Train From Hiroshima: The Survivors Look Back. The yet to be published book has been written by Charles Pellegrino and set two days during the devastating atomic bomb attack on Japan. It is not known at this time whether Cameron will be growing his director’s beard for the project. Will this be Titanic 2?

Using eyewitness accounts from Japanese locals as well as American pilots, Cameron can obviously smell a golden opportunity for a film. It’s a project that he seems to be taking very seriously as during promotional work on Avatar he took some time off to talk to Tsutomo Yamaguchi. Yamaguchi survived both the attacks on Hiroshima as well as the second attack on the city of Nagasaki. Unfortunately Yamaguchi died on Monday at the ripe old age...

Director buys film rights to The Last Train to Hiroshima, Charles Pellegrino's non-fiction account of the 1945 atomic bomb blasts

When Tsutomu Yamaguchi, a survivor of the 1945 atomic bomb blasts that brought the second world war to an end, died on Monday at the age of 93, the mayor of Nagasaki said that his death marked the loss of "a precious storyteller". Now, however, it appears that Yamaguchi's story may yet reach a whole new audience – courtesy of a big-budget film by Avatar director James Cameron.

Cameron is believed to have met with Yamaguchi on 22 December during a brief promotional trip to Japan. Today, Variety reports that Cameron has bought the film rights to The Last Train to Hiroshima: The Survivors Look Back, a non-fiction book by Charles Pellegrino which is published in the Us on 19 January.

Pundits are speculating that the film-maker could be eyeing it as a potential directorial project for himself.

Far from sitting back on his laurels in the wake of overwhelming success for his latest epic Avatar (the film now stands as the number 2 film of all time), James Cameron is busy getting going with his next project and has optioned Charles Pellegrino's upcoming nonfiction novel The Last Train From Hiroshima: The Survivors Look Back.

Last December, Cameron visited Tsutomu Yamaguchi, one of the last survivors of the World War 2 U.S. bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, during the promo tour in Japan for Avatar. Yamaguchi died on Monday at the age of 93.

See below for a description of the book:

Drawing on the voices of atomic-bomb survivors and the new science of forensic archaeology, Charles Pellegrino describes the events and aftermath of two days in August when nuclear devices detonated over Japan changed life on Earth forever

Last Train from Hiroshima offers readers a stunning "you are there" time capsule,...

Not content with savaging the locals' eco-home on Pandora in Avatar, James Cameron is also setting his sights on a real-life piece of devastating military action, optioning a nonfiction book about the attack on Hiroshima.Yes, in his second news story of the day, Cameron has bought up the rights to Charles Pellegrino's soon-to-be published tome The Last Train From Hiroshima: The Survivors Look Back. Pellegrino's title chronicles two days during an after the atomic bomb drops, using eyewitness accounts from Japanese civilians and American pilots who survived the experience. Cameron has yet to set the film up as a project, but he's already been doing some research - he took a day out of his Avatar promotional tour of Japan last month to visit Tsutomo Yamaguchi, who fled the destruction of the city for the relative safety of Nagasaki. And he managed to survive once more when that...

It seems like every other week, James Cameron’s name is attached to a new project. But I guess that’s what happens when your latest film threatens to unseat the highest-grossing movie of all time.

This time around, different sources link Cameron to a possible Avatar sequel, which should hardly be surprising. However, he is also being connected to Charles Pellegrino’s upcoming non-fiction book about the detonation of the atomic bomb in Japan during World War II.

Ain’t It Cool News broke the story about the Avatar sequel. According to one of their sources, during a Variety Screening Series’ Q&A with Cameron in Hollywood, the subject came up in a question about visual effects.

"One of the artists mentioned that they'll never again do this for the first time, meaning that everything they did in the making of Avatar was just a lot of instinctive grasping in the dark.

According to Monsters And Critics, James Cameron visited a 93-year-old man named Tsutomu Yamaguchi on December 22nd. Yamaguchi, who died of stomach cancer on Monday, is most famous as the only official survivor of both the atomic bombs dropped on Japan at the end of World War II. Cameron reportedly visited Yamaguchi with Charles Pellegrino, the author of The Last Train from Hiroshima: The Survivors Look Back, to discuss a possible future film about nuclear weaponry. For more details on the visit and what could potentially be Cameron’s follow-up to Avatar, hit the jump.

Yamaguchi says that Cameron told him he was interested in making a film so that he could pass on the tragic story of suffering through two atomic blasts on to future generations, promising that the film would be “uncompromising”. Cameron also told Yamaguchi that the fear of nuclear war has been on his mind since...

Update: Sad news. Tsutomi Yamaguchi has died. A tragic reminder of how important Cameron's promise to honour the victims of this tragic moment in history actually is. Here's the Guardian's report. After years and years of slaving away over Avatar - though most definitely, I think we're agreed, not in vain - what is James Cameron doing now? It would seem he's already plunged straight back into hard work. According to reports, Cameron paid a visit to Nagasaki, Japan, on the 22nd of December. He was there to visit Tsutomu Yamaguchi, one of the few survivors of the American Atomic bomb attacks on Japan in the second World War. Cameron made the visit to a hospital, where Yamaguchi is staying, being treated for cancer. He was accompanied by Charles Pellegrino, who has written a new book about the attrocities called The Last Train from Hiroshima: The Survivors Look Back. Where...

Avatar director James Cameron has met with a Japanese atomic bomb survivor to discuss making a film about nuclear weapons. The filmmaker - whose latest 3D blockbuster has grossed more than $1billion worldwide - met with 93-year-old Tsutomu Yamaguchi in Nagasaki on December 22. Yamaguchi is one of the few people to have survived both of the 1945 bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Cameron visited Yamaguchi, who is fighting cancer, in a hospital in Nagasaki. The Titanic director was accompanied by author Charles Pellegrino, whose book about the bombings titled The Last Train from Hiroshima: The Survivors Look Back will be released January 19. 'I think it's Cameron's and Pellegrino's destiny to make a film...

Year: 2008

Directors: Simeon Halligan

Writers: Simeon Halligan & Mat Archer & Stephen Trimingham

IMDb: link

Trailer: link

Review by: projectcyclops

Rating: 6 out of 10

One of headlining films at GrimmUpNorth was festival director Simeon Halligan's first feature: Splintered. The GrimmUpNorth horror festival itself was somewhat based around the release of this film, as the producers rented screens at the Printworks Odeon in Manchester as a means to publicise the film, while gathering other various titles to create a one-off festival that managed, as far as I'm concerned, to be a great success. Splintered screened on Saturday evening with a packed-out cinema of eager horror fans, and after a slight technical hitch the film played to great applause. The plot centers around a somewhat emo-ish teenager called Sophie (Holly Weston), who organises a trip to North Wales with her friends, and they drive off in search of a local legend.

The film begins with a young girl,...

Amulet Book Two: The Stonekeeper’s Castle

By Kazu Kibuishi

Scholastic/Graphix, 220 pages, $21.99 (hardcover) $9.99 (paperback)

Kazu Kibuishi is a talented animator and comic artist who has produced several graphic novel series, including Flight, Daisy Kutter: The Last Train, and now Amulet. The first volume came out over a year ago and now Scholastic has released the second book in the run. This book could have benefitted from a previously page for new readers.

The story is familiar as Emily Hayes discovers a necklace and amulet with magical powers. In the first volume, she and her younger brother Navin have adjusted to living in their great-grandfather’s home with their recently widowed mother. The amulet speaks to her, warning of impending danger which immediately results in a ghastly creature swallowing their mother. The chase is on to rescue her and book one achieves that goal, but she is gravely ill.

Book...