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Stars: Brian Austin Green, Danny Trejo, Vinnie Jones, C. Thomas Howell, Michael Clarke Duncan, Patrick Durham, Tom Sizemore, Lori Heuring, Tim Abell, André Gordon | Written and Directed by Patrick Durham

It’s hard to believe that 2011 superhero movie Cross made enough money, or had enough of a fanbase to warrant a sequel, but here we are 6 years after the original, back in action with most of the same cast. Where as the first film, and it’s green Celtic power-providing amulet, was timed to cash-in on that other “green” superhero movie starring Ryan Reynolds, this time round however there’s no similar superhero movie to cash in on. And this time round the genre has had [much] more than it’s fair share of good, bad and Very bad movies.

I wonder which category Cross Wars falls into? If you have to guess, well…

Cross Wars continues the story of Callan...

Danny Trejo knows how to be a bad guy.

In Cross Wars, it is an offbeat, action-packed sequel that will be available tomorrow on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital Download from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

The superhero adventure stars Brian Austin Green, Vinnie Jones, Danny Trejo and Tom Sizemore.

Here’s the synopsis:

Straight from the comics to the mean streets of Los Angeles…armed with a powerful ancient Cross amulet, Callan (Brian Austin Green) and his team of weapons experts battle local thugs and heinous criminals. When a ruthless villain named Muerte (Danny Trejo) threatens to kill Callan’s crew, he and his team join forces with an all-girl crime-fighting squad led by Riley -- who has an ancient amulet of her own! But Muerte is not working alone. He has resurrected the evil immortal Gunnar (Vinnie Jones) who has a plan more sinister than anyone can imagine. Can Callan...

Friday’s latest plot twist in this year’s Presidential campaign – the announcement that the FBI was reopening its investigation into Hillary’s e-mails based on some suspicious correspondence found on Anthony Weiner’s computer – had all of us spinning our heads like Linda Blair in The Exorcist…sans pea soup vomit, I hope.

Well, none of us knows yet the results of the election – now only eight days away, as the media would say in its annoyingly obsessive countdown – but one more immediate result was that it had me thinking about great fictional plot twists that none of us, or at least most of us, didn’t see coming, the ones that made go Whoa, Nellie!!!!

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

Darth Vader: “Obi-wan never told you what happened to your father.”

Luke: “He told me enough. He told me you killed him.

Darth Vader: “No. I am your father.

1. “BoJack Horseman” Season 3 (available July 22)

Why Should I Watch It? “BoJack Horseman” is a literal and figurative treasure trove of joy, insight and harsh truths. On the literal side, so many small moments pop up throughout the 30-minute episodes it takes repeat viewings to appreciate them all — from the .gif-worthy transitionary bits to the heavy-hitting quips. Yet figuratively, “BoJack” offers up a distinct, strong viewpoint that isn’t afraid to take questions to an existential level, which creates deeper subjective realizations each time you watch (and re-watch, and re-watch, and re-watch…). This is as “must-see” as TV gets — every time.

Best Episode: We wouldn’t dare spoil the new season — not even by telling you what episode to look forward to — and we’ve already covered Season 2. (After much deliberation, we chose “Escape From L.A.” as the best episode.) So let’s just set this time aside to honor the...

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Wondering what you’ll watch when The Hunger Games franchise is over? We’ve got some ideas…

As well as sequels, remakes, and comic book adaptations, there’s one kind of movie you can feel fairly sure is going to keep popping up at a cinema near you: young adult adaptations. Stories about teenagers are still doing big business in the book trade, and thanks to Harry Potter, Twilight, and The Hunger Games, Hollywood is convinced of the genre’s appeal, too.

A couple of new franchises have already been kicked off – there’s still at least another Divergent sequel on the way, and another Maze Runner sequel – but what’s more interesting is the list of Ya novels that have been optioned and may soon be taking over the box office. Now, not all of the adaptations on this list will see the light of day,...

Jake Gittes: How much are you worth?

Noah Cross: I have no idea. How much do you want?

Jake Gittes: I just wanna know what you’re worth. More than 10 million?

Noah Cross: Oh my, yes!

Jake Gittes: Why are you doing it? How much better can you eat? What could you buy that you can’t already afford?

Noah Cross: The future, Mr. Gittes! The future. Now, where’s the girl? I want the only daughter I’ve got left. As you found out, Evelyn was lost to me a long time ago.

Jake Gittes: Who do you blame for that? Her?

Noah Cross: I don’t blame myself. You see, Mr. Gittes, most people never have to face the fact that at the right time and the right place, they’re capable of anything.

Chinatown. Robert Towne, script. Roman Polanski, director.

Chinatown is a masterpiece,...

Well, we're done. Another Oscar ceremony ends, and with it, another awards season and another year of Tech Support here at In Contention. On the whole, "The Grand Budapest Hotel" came out the big winner, taking four of the 10 crafts categories. "Whiplash" came up with two more while "Birdman," "Interstellar," "Selma" and "American Sniper" got in on the love-sharing with one apiece. Crafts category shut-outs for "Mr. Turner," "Unbroken" and "The Imitation Game," despite their impressive nomination counts, were unsurprising. It was also a year of repeat victors. Winners in Best Cinematography, Costume Design, Makeup and Hairstyling, Sound Editing and Visual Effects had all won previously. There was one big first-timer, though, in Alexandre Desplat – more on him in a moment. Others are still waiting for their first wins, alas. Cinematographer Roger Deakins, songwriter Diane Warren and sound mixer Frank Montaño immediately jump to mind. Emmanuel Lubezki's triumph in...

The festival’s 25th edition will feature a contribution from Ai Weiwei and competition titles including Whiplash, Nightcrawler and Foxcatcher.

The Stockholm International Film Festival (Nov 5-16) is to present its Achievement Award to Us actress Uma Thurman.

The Kill Bill star will will visit Stockholm to receive the prestigious Bronze Horse and meet the audience during an exclusive “Face2Face”.

Thurman will also take part in the inauguration ceremony, which will include the unveiling of an ice sculpture by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei.

Weiwei was a Stockholm jury member last year but since he wasn’t allowed to leave China, he sent an empty chair named ”The Chair for Non-attendance” as symbol of his absence.

He is still not allowed to leave China so will send a design that will be portrayed in the form of a large ice sculpture symbolising this years’ Spotlight theme - Hope.

Brazil

The festival will focus this year on Brazil...

Adi Spektor, Polish-born actor (“Cross”) and 2014 iPhone Film Festival juror, has made his mark as a first-time director with his award-winning comedy horror short film “How to Rob a House.” To go along with Spektor’s love of the iPhone, the film was created solely on an iPhone 5s mobile device. The film, which was written and directed by Spektor, has received amazing reviews and became one of the top two finalists at the 4th Olleh International Smartphone Film Festival in South Korea. The latest accolade the film has garnered is the Best Script Award at the 3rd edition of the Cinephone International Film Festival in Barcelona. “It is really [ Read More ]

The post Exclusive: First Look at Adi Spektor’s How to Rob a House appeared first on Shockya.com.

Thanks to the successful crop of television shows she’s created and produced, Shonda Rhimes has set the bar for addicting TV drama in the last 10 years. We’ve loved watching powerhouse female characters Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington), Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), and Addison Montgomery (Kate Walsh) strive to take over the world while trying to fix their messy personal lives. Viola Davis is the newest addition to the fold (as How To Get Away with Murder‘s Annalise Keating), playing a high-powered defense attorney with troubles of her own.

Over the years, these shows have a established a few familiar tropes. You know you’re watching a Shonda show when major ish goes down unexpectedly, like plane crash or a bomb going off where it’s not supposed to, causing us to say farewell to some of our favorite characters. In honor of tonight’s return of Scandal and Grey’s Anatomy,...

Thanks to the successful crop of television shows she’s created and produced, Shonda Rhimes has set the bar for addicting TV drama in the last 10 years. We’ve loved watching powerhouse female characters Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington), Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), and Addison Montgomery (Kate Walsh) strive to take over the world while trying to fix their messy personal lives. Viola Davis is the newest addition to the fold (as How To Get Away with Murder‘s Annalise Keating), playing a high-powered defense attorney with troubles of her own.

Over the years, these shows have a established a few familiar tropes. You know you’re watching a Shonda show when major ish goes down unexpectedly, like plane crash or a bomb going off where it’s not supposed to, causing us to say farewell to some of our favorite characters. In honor of tonight’s return of Scandal and Grey’s Anatomy,...

The end of the road. The scripts that should be studied, dissected, and taught for their quality, their timeliness, and their impact on the film industry as a whole. Some were perfect for their time and place. Some were ahead of their time. Some defined their generation. And one still rules all, forty years after it was written.

courtesy of hollywood.com

10. Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

Written by David Newman, Robert Benton, and Robert Towne (uncredited)

You’re just like your brother. Ignorant, uneducated hillbilly, except the only special thing about you is your peculiar ideas about love-making, which is no love-making at all.

Nothing spices up a movie theater better than a little sex and violence; Arthur Penn’s 1967 film broke new ground on that front. Fictionalizing the partnership of famous gangsters Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, the film starred Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty as the title criminals, while...

We’re back with another edition of the Indie Spotlight, highlighting recent independent horror news sent our way. Today’s feature includes details on the Lethal Ladies of Horror Film Festival, House of Monsters concept art, a Chainsaw Sally: The Animated Series casting update, multiple trailers, reviews, and much more:

Lethal Ladies of Horror Film Festival Details: “You can’t keep a lethal lady down. Flicks for Fans and Arrow in the Head, the team behind last year’s Evil Dead Fest, are proud to present the resurrection of the all new Lethal Ladies of Horror Film Festival Saturday, March 29th, 2014 at the famed art deco-themed 1940’s built Crest Theatre in Westwood, CA. This will be an amazing event for all film fans and those with an appreciation for strong roles by women in horror. As always Flicks for Fans will have much for fans who attend the fest including great concession specials,...

Magic in the Moonlight

Comedy is one of the longest-running genres in cinema, producing numerous screen legends from The Marx Brothers to Madeline Kahn, as well as numerous classics, from The Gold Rush to Hot Fuzz. Fans of the genre thus look forward every year to the new crop of films, eager to see what they may bring, and this year is no different. Here are ten comedic features we’re looking forward to seeing in 2014, in alphabetical order.

1) Bad Words

Much of Jason Bateman’s career resurrection has centred around his ability to successfully play the comic foil. While his ability to do is deservedly lauded, as shows like Arrested Development would not work without his presence, it often leads to the actor garnering the less colourful roles in any given project, ending up as more of a reactive presence. Bad Words, however, seems poised to put Bateman on the other side,...

The cast of "Scandal" may be one of the most social media-savvy set of TV actors around. After the ABC series grew to a bona fide hit during its second season, thanks in part to the fervent Gladiators on Twitter spreading word about their beloved show (also because the show is, you know, Awesome), Kerry Washington and Co. began live-tweeting every episode while fans are watching.

Joining Washington for each East Coast and West Coast airing are her fellow Gladiators Scott Foley, Guillermo Diaz, Katie Lowes, Bellamy Young, Joshua Malina, Darby Stanchfield, Jeff Perry, Tony Goldwyn and Columbus Short. On Thursday (Dec. 12), recurring guest stars Dan Bucatinsky and Joe Morton joined in on the fun as well. If you're not following all of them on Twitter and following along week to week, well, you're doing it wrong.

For those of you not on the "Scandal" Twitter train yet, behold: The...

He’s been busy doing all kinds of unexpected promotional bits for “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues,” and Will Ferrell just released his “Ride Like the Wind” duet with Robin Thicke.

Posing as he character Ron Burgundy, the “Old School” actor interjects little side notes while the “Blurred Lines” crooner handles the actual singing on the Christopher Cross cover.

When Thicke sings “I was born the son of a lawless man,” Burgundy inquires, “You mean Alan Thicke?!” Ron also declares, “Feel that draft up your skirt? It’s me!”

The Burgundy/Thicke version of “Ride Like the Wind” is included on the “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues” soundtrack, as is the original Cross recording that featured Michael McDonald on backing vocals.

“Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues” hits theaters December 18th!

Will Ferrell (in character as Ron Burgundy) and Robin Thicke offer a novel approach to the duet format in their cover of Christopher Cross' "Ride Like the Wind" for the Anchorman 2 soundtrack. While Thicke handles most of the vocal work (aside from Burgundy's echo, heavy on the vibrato, of the refrain "such a long way to goooo"), the news anchor serves as a sort of inept hype-man, with exclamations such as "It's a hot wind!" and "Feel that draft up your skirt ladies? That's me."

Ron Burgundy Uncensored:...

Tonight at 10/9c, FX invites you to broach The Bridge, a new thriller that surveys tensions on the U.S.-Mexico border when a murdered American, anti-immigration judge (or a part of her) is found smack dab in the middle of the causeway that connects El Paso, Texas and Juarez, Mexico.

Related | Eye on Emmy: American Horror Story: Asylum‘s Lily Rabe Reveals How She Became a Heavenly Hellraiser

The series stars Diane Kruger (Inglourious Basterds) as El Paso police detective Sonya Cross, while Demián Bichir (Oscar-nominated for A Better Life) plays her Chihuahua State Police counterpart, Marco Ruiz. While both highly capable,...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has revealed its 276-member-strong class of 2013.

The list, published by The Hollywood Reporter, includes actors, cinematographers, designers, directors, documentarians, executives, film editors, makeup artists and hairstylists, "members-at-large," musicians, producers, PR folks, short filmmakers and animators, sound technicians, visual effects artists, and writers.

Jason Bateman, Rosario Dawson, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Milla Jovovich, Lucy Liu, Jennifer Lopez, Emily Mortimer, Sandra Oh, Jason Schwartzman, and Michael Peña are among the roster of actors, while "The Heat" and "Bridesmaids" helmer Paul Feig made the directors' cut.

"We did not change our criteria at all," says Academy president Hawk Koch of this year's larger-than-usual class. "Yes, this year there is a tremendous amount of women, a tremendous amount of people of color, people from all walks of life. This year, we asked the branches to look at everybody who wasn't in the Academy but who deserved to be.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced today the 276 members of the entertainment industry invited to join organization. The list includes actors, directors, documentarians, executives, film editors, producers and more. Of those listed below, those who accept the invitations will be the only additions to the Academy's membership in 2013. "These individuals are among the best filmmakers working in the industry today," said Academy President Hawk Koch in a press release. "Their talent and creativity have captured the imagination of audiences worldwide, and I am proud to welcome each of them to the Academy." Koch also told Variety, "In the past eight or nine years, each branch could only bring in X amount of members. There were people each branch would have liked to get in but couldn't. We asked them to be more inclusive of the best of the best, and each branch was excited, because they got...

The Academy just added 276 Oscar voters.

That’s 100 more than last year, and part of an easing of a longstanding cap on the number of new members allowed to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences each year.

AMPAS usually adds between 130 and 180 new members, replacing those who have quit or passed away. The membership now stands around 6,000.

Jason Bateman, Jennifer Lopez, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Emmanuelle Riva, and Chris Tucker are among the actors who have been invited to join, the organization announced today.

Other interesting additions: the musician Prince, Girls and Tiny Furniture writer/director/actress Lena Dunham,...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is extending invitations to join the organization to 276 artists and executives who have distinguished themselves by their contributions to theatrical motion pictures. Those who accept the invitations will be the only additions to the Academy’s membership in 2013.

“These individuals are among the best filmmakers working in the industry today,” said Academy President Hawk Koch. “Their talent and creativity have captured the imagination of audiences worldwide, and I am proud to welcome each of them to the Academy.”

The 2013 invitees are:

Actors

Jason Bateman – “Up in the Air,” “Juno”

Miriam Colon – “City of Hope,” “Scarface”

Rosario Dawson – “Rent,” “Frank Miller’s Sin City”

Kimberly Elise – “For Colored Girls,” “Beloved”

Joseph Gordon-Levitt – “Lincoln,” “The Dark Knight Rises”

Charles Grodin – “Midnight Run,” “The Heartbreak Kid”

Rebecca Hall – “Iron Man 3,” “The Town”

Lance Henriksen – “Aliens,” “The Terminator”

Jack Huston – “Not Fade Away,” “Factory Girl”

Milla Jovovich – “Resident Evil,...

Chinatown

Directed by Roman Polanski

Written by Robert Towne

1974, USA

Film noir comes full circle in Roman Polanski’s Chinatown (1974). Thirty years before its release, crime dramas saw the birth of a fundamental character – the noir hero. From Dashiell Hammett to Raymond Chandler, The Maltese Falcon (1941) to The Big Sleep (1946), the noir hero inhabits a world of hopelessness and dark tragedy. The Maltese Falcon saw Humphrey Bogart’s inaugural portrayal of this amoral anti-hero and began film noir as we know it. It also happens to have been directed by John Huston who in Chinatown brings to life the character of scheming millionaire Noah Cross. And so, years after spear-heading the genre, Huston returns in what is possibly the best neo-noir to beguile another tortured noir hero, Jake Gittes (Jack Nicholson).

Private investigator J.J. “Jake” Gittes finds himself agreeing to take on an adultery case. A woman claiming to...

Java Heat's title refers not to hot coffee but to the Indonesian island, though caffeine is certainly recommended to make it through this tepid buddy-cop action flick. In Java, American Jake Travers (Kellan Lutz) is questioned about the bombing death of the nation's sultana by local officer Hashim (Ario Bayu), who quickly deduces that self-professed teaching assistant Jake is in fact a covert spy. When not trading tiresome barbs—many about militaristic Americans, replete with both men quoting Rambo—the duo discover that the sultana isn't dead; rather, she's the prisoner of a globe-trotting psychopath named Malik (Mickey Rourke), who plans faux-terrorist bombings as distractions for his jewel and art heists. Cross-cultural understanding is achieved as the heroes...

Charleston, W.Va. — As hundreds of tearful friends and fans filed past two closed coffins Sunday, a slideshow of family photos showed the simple country life that "Buckwild" reality TV star Shain Gandee lived long before the cameras started rolling.

Set to country music were snapshots of the 21-year-old before his 15 minutes of televised fame: as a uniformed pee wee football player, in a tuxedo for prom, graduating from high school, kissing a bride and holding babies. In some, he wore hunting camouflage, holding a slain buck by its antlers and displaying a batch of gray squirrels.

Gandee, his 48-year-old uncle, David Gandee, and 27-year-old friend Donald Robert Myers were found dead April 1 in a sport utility vehicle that was partially submerged in a deep mud pit near Sissonville. They had been missing after being seen leaving a bar at 3 a.m.

Autopsies determined that all three died of carbon monoxide poisoning,...

The ‘Shameless’ star was the epitome of retro glamour at the Jeffrey Fashion Cares event in New York City on April 2. We chatted with makeup artist Jake Bailey, who created the look, Exclusively for his expert tips!

Emmy Rossum rocked mod-inspired hair and makeup for the event, where she wore a stunning, flapper-esque black and gold Naeem Khan Resort 2013 dress. Makeup artist Jake Bailey, who has worked with Kristen Stewart, Taylor Swift and Emmy in the past, spilled on how to get Emmy’s look and his favorite drugstore picks below!

Emmy Rossum At Jeffrey Fashion Cares — The Inspiration

“She was wearing a sexy black and gold dress that had a flapper-y vibe but the shape was very 60’s, so we went with something mod inspired, especially with the eye and the nude lip. It was best for her hair to be sleek, sophisticated and simple. It was mod themed but modernized,...

Feature Matt Edwards 27 Mar 2013 - 07:10

Steven Seagal and Steve Austin star in the straight-to-video action flick, Maximum Conviction. Here are a few things Matt's found in it...

The conviction of newly released straight-to-video action movie fight-fest Maximum Conviction was never in doubt. The film is set in a prison, after all. But its maximumness? That’s raised a few questions. I’m in the question answering business, so I sat down to watch the film to see just how maximum it was. The answer is that it was surprisingly maximum. In fact, it was so maximum that I felt compelled to list the 10 most maximum things about it. Why 10? Because it’s the maximum the editors would allow me.

Maximum Steven

How many violent Stevens can one action film handle? I’ve always assumed the answer to be one, but Maximum Conviction brings us both ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin and ‘Stone Colder’ Steven Seagal.

Here's the complete list of winners; for winners/nominees of other award-giving bodies, click here:

44th Annual NAACP Image Awards

Motion Picture

Motion Picture

.Beasts of the Southern Wild. (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

.Django Unchained. (The Weinstein Company)

.Flight. (Paramount Pictures)

.Red Tails. (Lucasfilm) . Winner

.Tyler Perry.s Good Deeds. (Lionsgate)

Actor in a Motion Picture

Denzel Washington . .Flight. (Paramount Pictures) . Winner

Jamie Foxx . .Django Unchained. (The Weinstein Company)

Morgan Freeman . .The Magic of Belle Isle. (Magnolia Pictures)

Suraj Sharma . .Life of Pi. (20th Century Fox)

Tyler Perry . .Alex Cross. (Summit Entertainment)

Actress in a Motion Picture

Emayatzy Corinealdi . .Middle of Nowhere. (Aafrm)

Halle Berry . .Cloud Atlas. (Warner Bros. Pictures)

Loretta Devine . .In The Hive. (Eone Entertainment)

Quvenzhané Wallis . .Beasts of the Southern Wild. (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Viola Davis . .Won.t Back Down. (20th Century Fox) - Winner

Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture

David Oyelowo . .Middle of Nowhere. (Affrm)

Don Cheadle...

The 2012 RopeofSilicon Movie Awards 2012 was a curious year for movies. To look at a year in movies at a glance we often turn straight to blockbusters and in the case of 2012 it may seem as if it really wasn't that great a year. Then you begin to drill down deeper and even films that divided the audience created large amounts of discussions, and beyond blockbusters there were plenty of middle ground to small-budget indie features that were quite powerful. As far as discussion pieces go, here on RopeofSilicon a lot of time was dedicated to divisive films as The Grey, Prometheus and Looper. A conversation involving the ending of The Grey was quite popular, I posed theories on Looper's theme more than once, the Zero Dark Thirty torture controversy was annoying, but necessary and the movie that probably generated the most conversation was Prometheus, of which I wrote a massive six-page exploratory article.

Odd List Ryan Lambie Jan 8, 2013

As Werner Herzog lights up the screen as the villain in Jack Reacher, we look at a few other directors who've turned evil for the movies...

It takes a certain kind of actor to bring a truly great villain to life. They need to be able to reach into the darkest recesses of their psyche, certainly, but they also need to bring a touch of something extra, too. They need to convince us not only that they're cruel, but that they're also human beings - after all, the best movie villains are often seductive and magnetic as well as unspeakably amoral.

While the finest antagonists are usually played by actors, there have been occasions where directors have stepped in front of the camera to indulge their inner demon. The list that follows attempts to deal exclusively with performances from people known primarily as directors first,...

Time has lessened our sense that this superlative 1974 film is simply a pastiche of the classic 30s gumshoe thrillers – it now looks like a straightforward classic

"Politicians, ugly buildings and whores all get respectable if they last long enough," says John Huston's crooked construction magnate Noah Cross in this remarkable neo-noir by Roman Polanski, now nationally rereleased in cinemas (like Repulsion) in connection with a retrospective at London's BFI Southbank. What the passage of time has done for this superlative 1974 film is progressively lessen our sense of its being simply a modern pastiche of the classic 30s gumshoe thrillers. The time-gap has narrowed, and it now looks like a classic in a direct line of succession to those earlier pictures.

Jack Nicholson has the Bogartian role of Jake Gittes, the La private investigator who sticks his nose into a corrupt conspiracy in the state's Department of Water and Power.

American actor best known for his film role as the gentle giant in The Green Mile

Every character actor who has ever been typecast dreams of a role that will transcend the cliches of his image. For Michael Clarke Duncan, who has died aged 54 of complications from a heart attack suffered in July, that breakout role also drew on the hidden truth of his own personality, and the results were spectacular.

Duncan was nominated for an Oscar as best supporting actor in The Green Mile (1999), the film of the Stephen King story in which he plays John Coffey, a gentle giant with extraordinary powers, on death row for raping and killing two young girls. The film's climax, when Coffey, innocent of the crimes but having punished the real killer and an evil guard, goes to the electric chair telling Tom Hanks not to put a hood over his head because...

Capcom

Capcom were the first conference shown at the event, delivering a selection of trailers for upcoming titles on current consoles. The headline of the show was the newly announced IP, Remember Me. Developed by Dontnod Entertainment, the trailer tells the story of Nilin, an amnesiac memory hunter in the Orwellian dystopian future of 2084. The game introduces Memory Mixing mechanics which allow the player to distort and remove memories of selected targets. However Nilin discovers that her former employer Memoryeyes has erased her own memories, and she must discover the truth behind the conspiracy. The city of Neo-Paris has an impressive cyberpunk theme with spectacular design. Overall it seems like an intriguing game to look out for next year.

Next up was DmC: Devil May Cry, the reboot of the popular Devil May Cry series. Although somewhat controversial due to character redesign, the game actually shows quite a lot of...

Is there such a thing as a perfect film? Perhaps. You could certainly argue that personal taste plays into the question of perfection too much -- one man's triumph is another's disaster. And even so, there are so many possible things that can go wrong with a film -- one duff performance, one ill-conceived shot, one poorly-written scene -- that it's almost an impossible task. But dammit if we don't consider "Chinatown" to be as close as you can get to being perfect.

Starting with a devilishly complex, yet brilliantly simple script from Robert Towne, still one of the finest ever written, it displays top class at every level, from Roman Polanski directing at his peak (in his last American film), to ace performances from Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway and Walter Huston, to Jerry Goldsmith's all-time-great score. It's hard to ask for much more from a film. "Chinatown" was...

"Show me a man or a woman alone and I'll show you a saint. Give me two and they'll fall in love. Give me three and they'll invent the charming thing we call 'society'. Give me four and they'll build a pyramid. Give me five and they'll make one an outcast."

"Give me six and they'll reinvent prejudice. Give me seven and in seven years they'll reinvent warfare. Man may have been made in the image of God, but human society was made in the image of His opposite number, and is always trying to get back home." - The Stand

"The beauty of religious mania is that it has the power to explain everything. Once God (or Satan) is accepted as the first cause of everything which happens in the mortal world, nothing is left to chance...logic can be happily tossed out the window.” — The Stand

"The Man...

DVD Playhouse—February 2012

By Allen Gardner

To Kill A Mockingbird 50th Anniversary Edition (Universal) Robert Mulligan’s film of Harper Lee’s landmark novel pits a liberal-minded lawyer (Gregory Peck) against a small Southern town’s racism when defending a black man (Brock Peters) on trumped-up rape charges. One of the 1960s’ first landmark films, a truly stirring human drama that hits all the right notes and isn’t dated a bit. Robert Duvall makes his screen debut (sans dialogue) as the enigmatic Boo Radley. DVD and Blu-ray double edition. Bonuses: Two feature-length documentaries: Fearful Symmetry and A Conversation with Gregory Peck; Featurettes; Excerpts and film clips from Gregory Peck’s Oscar acceptance speech and AFI Lifetime Achievement Award; Commentary by Mulligan and producer Alan J. Pakula; Trailer. Widescreen. Dolby and DTS 2.0 mono.

Outrage: Way Of The Yakuza (Magnolia) After a brief hiatus from his signature oeuvre of Japanese gangster flicks,...

Blu-ray Review

A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas

Directed by: Todd Strauss-Schulson

Cast: John Cho, Kal Penn, Neil Patrick Harris, Thomas Lennon, Danny Trejo

Running Time: 1 hr 30 mins

Rating: R

Due Out: Buy it 2.7.12 on Blu-ray Combo Pack with UltraViolet Digital Copy and Download to Own

Plot: Former friends Harold & Kumar (Cho & Penn) try to replace the Christmas tree belonging to Harold’s father-in-law (Trejo) after it is burned down by a magical marijuana joint.

Who’S It For? Familiarity with Harold & Kumar is not important, nor is having a particular taste for drug humor. This movie is just plainly entertaining. If you’re looking for the most unsuspecting way to get into the Christmas spirit (no matter what time of year), celebrate with Harold & Kumar.

Movie:

For a while, I’ve been under the impression that I’d like to see more Christmas movies from Hollywood (or holiday movies in...

Paul Macinnes continues our writer's favourite film series with the movie that left him chilled and overwhelmed – Roman Polanski's detective tale that exploded the genre conventions

Does this review do the film justice, or is it case dismissed? File your own report here or join in the comments section below

Chinatown is a detective story. It's set in Los Angeles, like many of the best are, and at first glance you could even mistake it for a tribute to the city. Roman Polanski's film escorts you around it, encourages you to bathe in the rich Californian light and take in the lush vistas. It's only at the end you realise the tour has been slowly, almost casually, ushering you into a room containing the most depraved human wickedness imaginable. Chinatown is definitely my favourite film.

Growing up, I spent a lot of time with private detectives. After teething on the Hardy Boys,...

Puss In Boots

Directed by: Chris Miller

Cast: (voices of) Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Zach Galifianakis

Running Time: 1 hr 30 mins

Rating: PG

Release Date: October 28, 2011

Plot: Puss in Boots (Banderas) is a sword-fighting cat. He and Humpty Dumpty (Galifianakis) are in pursuit of a golden goose, in order to clear their names. This adventure takes place before meeting the ogre Shrek.

Who’S It For? Anyone who has enjoyed Puss in Boots in the Shrek films will be pleased with this spin-off. Many of the cute moments will be enhanced if you’re a cat person.

Expectations: I pretty much thought this was a take it or leave it kind of situation. I didn’t feel the need for this movie, but the majority of Shrek films have been good.

Scorecard (0-10)

Actors:

Antonio Banderas as Puss in Boots: This cat is suave. And yes, I’m calling Banderas...

Marcia Cross has said that she wants all Bree Van de Kamp's former love interests to return for the final season of Desperate Housewives. Last month, creator Marc Cherry confirmed that the ABC show will end with its upcoming eighth run. Speaking to Patch, Cross revealed that she had submitted some ideas for how to wrap up her character's story. "Well, I didn't want to say too much because I'd like to pitch a few ideas to Marc," she said when asked how she would like to see the show come to a close. "Although I'm sure he's already figured it out. "But the other thing is I definitely want to see all my men again. I've had a lot of men. There's a lot of fabulous men. I want them to come back. Everyone. There's just so many of them. Steven Culp to Kyle [MacLachlan] and Brian Austin Green...

One of the greatest short films of 2009 was The Cat Piano, narrated by Nick Cave, which was shortlisted for an Academy Award. Written and directed by Ari Gibson and Eddie White, The Cat Piano did the viral rounds on the interwebs, fuelled by festival wins and great word of mouth. One of the people clearly wowed by it was Wally De Backer, a musician from Australia who trades under the name Gotye. For his previous music videos Gotye had collaborated with a range of animators, from Brendan Cook on 'Hearts A Mess', to Shannon Cross on 'Learnalilgivinanlovin', not to mention his longtime visual colloborator Jake Simkin. With a new album coinciding with headline Sydney Opera House gigs at the Graphic Festival this weekend, we can see that...

Stunt men and women are the go-to team for risk-taking. But is this school of hard knocks doing it tough in the industry. Georgina Pearson reports.

As humans, we have a natural fascination with danger. Since Buster Keaton emerged unscathed from a house collapsing around him (Steamboat Bill Jr) we have been unable to tear ourselves from a thrilling action sequence, or a daring gunfight.

However, with each actor comes a stunt double and despite their relatively low-profile these gutsy professionals put their bodies on the line for their craft – and in turn are vital to the success of the films they represent. But as we move into an age of increased CGI and VFX, the fundamentals of post-production are rapidly shifting. Not only do we now have the ability to digitally change the way an entire scene is shaped – but we can actually create the physical characters within that scene.

Cross wants so badly to cash in on the current superhero film craze that it fatally neglects all of the elements needed to make a movie: writing, acting, editing, and direction. Perhaps the film’s failings can be attributed to Patrick Durham who pulls triple duty as the film’s writer, director, and as an actor, but does none of them particularly well. He managed to take a cast littered with recognizable faces, and even some really talented actors, and churn out a film devoid of humor, adrenaline, or wit. Cross is quite simply a trainwreck so awful that it’s too bad to be funny and so poorly constructed that it can’t even be used as a cautionary tale. Cross should be avoided by anyone who has an appreciation for action, comedy, or film as a medium of expression because it has nothing to say.

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Trailers are an under-appreciated art form insofar that many times they’re seen as vehicles for showing footage, explaining films away, or showing their hand about what moviegoers can expect. Foreign, domestic, independent, big budget: I celebrate all levels of trailers and hopefully this column will satisfactorily give you a baseline of what beta wave I’m operating on, because what better way to hone your skills as a thoughtful moviegoer than by deconstructing these little pieces of advertising? Some of the best authors will tell you that writing a short story is a lot harder than writing a long one, that you have to weigh every sentence. What better medium to see how this theory plays itself out beyond that than with movie trailers? PressPausePlayTrailer If there are creative nerds out there, and I know there are dozens of you who are more adept than I with knowing how...

Remember when Brian Austin Green was badass as a freedom fighter from the future in “The Sarah Connor Chronicles”? Yeah, just keep remembering him in that one, and try to forget this one. And yes, this is an honest to goodness trailer for an honest to goodness upcoming direct-to-dvd release from Sony Pictures starring Brian Austin Green as a superhero vigilante. The film also boasts Michael Clarke Duncan, Jake Busey, Tom Sizemore, and Vinnie Jones in the cast. It’s, wow, it’s pretty bad. But don’t take my word for it. Behold: “Cross”! When beautiful, young women start disappearing from the streets of L.A., it’s time for good-guy Callan (a.k.a. Cross) and his crew of weapons experts to kick into high gear and take out the trash. Granted incredible power by his ancient Celtic cross, Callan must fight to stop an immortal Viking from...

10. Stephen Root -- Asking Rate: $11,0001 (Contract stipulates that he always make $1 more than J.K. Simmons)

Credits Include: "Justified," Rango, Cedar Rapids and Red State.

9. J.K. Simmons: Asking Rate: $11,000 per appearance.

2011 Credits Include: The Music Never Stopped, Geezer, Young Adult and "Raising Hope."

8. Barry Bostwick & Christopher McDonald: $7,500 (or both in a package deal for $12,000!).

Credits Include: Some Guy Who Kills People, Home Run Showdown, Grassroots and Balls to the Wall.

7. Kevin Sorbo: Asking Rate: $7,000 (will deduct $500 if he's allowed to wear a Vote for Tim Pawlenty Political Button in every scene)

Credits Include: Fdr: American Badass, Flesh Wounds, SoBe Real, Poolboy: Drowning Out the Fury, Avarice and Sam Steele and the Crystal Chalice

6. Danny Trejo -- Asking Rate: $6,000 per picture (add $1,000 if the roles calls for facial expressions that do not fall under the many variations of "scowl."

Credits Include: You name it.

5. 50 Cent -- Asking Rate: $5,000 per...

The aim here is not to nitpick or criticize. It is simply to indulge in affectionate thought experiments and tangents related to movies that I have enjoyed over the years. What are the unspoken motivations, the unexplored avenues, and the seemingly insignificant details that lie between the frames? Oh, and if you have not seen the movies I write about in this column, you are a little behind the times, but I offer a spoiler warning regardless.

Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade

"That belongs in a museum!"

Per Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, this was a mantra and fervently held sentiment for cinema icon Indiana Jones from a very young age. If we are to take Indy's beliefs based on presented actions, archaeological artifacts belong in spaces where they are available for public viewing, appreciation, and education. I can only assume that this was a value instilled by his father,...

The Inspiration Behind Japan Calls

By Tanya Meyers and Michelle "Moey" Mariano

After the travesties that hit Japan earlier this month, many were left wondering what they could do. Texting 90999 to the Red Cross was one way, or donating to a separate charity or even flying out to help directly… But for a lot of us, there wasn’ t much money to give, and anything more direct was near impossible, so all there was left to do was brainstorm.

Thus the idea for Japan Calls came about.

It started out as a very simple idea, inspired greatly by TwitChange. But many entertainers weren't on Twitter, or were already more accessible than huge names like Eva Longoria and Justin Bieber. So what more could celebrities give that people would be willing to donate toward? What would be a step above a simple text on the screen of an individual’ s computer?...

On May 31st, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment will release director Patrick Durham's Cross on DVD. We have the exclusive trailer for this action flick starring Brian Austin Green, Vinnie Jones and Tom Sizemore. To get your first look at Cross, click on the player below.

Click to watch Exclusive: Cross Trailer!

Directed by Patrick Durham, Cross was written by Patrick Durham and Jonathan Sachar and Tanner Wiley. The movie was produced by Jonathan Sachar, Patrick Durham and Judy Durham and executive produced by Rocky Scapellati, Tanner Wiley, Stuart Cameron, Stu Higton, Constantine Brancov, Robert Lamey, Anne O'Shea and Robbin Wood.

Bonus Features Include:

Director's Commentary

Deleted Scenes

Alternate Ending

Animatic...

Brian Austin Green (TV's Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Desperate Housewives) and Vinnie Jones (The Cape, Year One, X-Men: The Last Stand) star in Cross, the explosive, comic book-style, super-hero adventure debuting on DVD May 31st from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. Tom Sizemore (Black Hawk Down), Academy Award nominee Michael Clarke Duncan (Best Supporting Actor, The Green Mile, 1999), Lori Heuring (8Mm 2, Wicked Little Things, Prom Night) and Jake Busey (Identity, Road House 2, Starship Troopers) also star in this zany story of a misfit band of mercenaries who fight urban crime. Bonus features include director's commentary, deleted scenes, an alternate ending, and more. Cross will be available on DVD for $24.96 Srp.

When beautiful, young women start disappearing from the streets of L.A., it's time for good-guy Callan (a.k.a. Cross) and his crew of weapons experts to kick into high gear and take out the trash. Granted incredible...