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Jess disappears and Nicole is left stranded.

Middle of nowhere? No phone signal? Teenagers alone? Deserted building? Sounds quite a common theme doesn’t it? The premise is somewhat cliched, although the effects are pretty gruesome. Strangely in this kind of film, the set pieces are way too slow, and very predictable. The suspense doesn’t build, it’s low during a set piece and then just ends on a semi-high.

The whole film is transformed into a comedic mess before it had even got half way. Saying this, the effects are suitably gruesome, making teeth and buttocks alike clench. Most are better, up a few notches. from Saw. The added aspect of the supernatural adds to the story early on.

Interestingly, when Nicole meets another abductee (Tracey Kress) in the Rest Stop’s bathroom, Tracey tells her she wanted to see the Rolling Stones play in Tucson. Later Nicole finds out that Tracey went missing in 1971. The Stones didn’t play in Tucson, Arizona until June 14th, 1972.

The real downer in the film is that the leads character just doesn’t have her head screwed on. She is just so thick. There’s a police man injured, the maniac is attacking them with his truck. She just kneels there watching as the truck rolls over his legs. Now, c’mon, but wouldn’t she have grabbed the police man’s gun and started shooting? Ok, the gun is used further on in the story, and you could say she was in shock, but when I was watching it with an audience, they were shouting, “The gun! Take the gun! Use the gun!”… And she has a few more opportunities to take and use it, before the police man actually says to her to take it, and she ends up using it.

Worth watching for the effects, but apart from that, steer clear as it’s a big disappointment.

The DVD viewed also contains special features.

Three horrific alternate endings.
Shocking crime Scene photos.
Scotty’s family album.
Rest Stop Trailer.

All in all, not a really bad film, it’s just that the pace of the film is too slow, and the dumbness of the main character is just infuriating.

In this overly ambitious spoof of Star Wars Empire Strikes Back, in which Luke Skywalker (Chris), Han Solo (Peter) and Princess Leia (Lois) join forces against Darth Vader (Stewie). Also included are Landon Carlissian (Mort Goldman), Yoda (Carl, Chris’ boss) and the Boba Fett (the Giant Chicken).

Stewie as Darth Vader is the best character by far (as he is in Family Guy), just his appearance and accent suit the spoofy arch villain completely.

The animation surpasses the Family Guy series, most noticeably with the spaceship scenes and some of the ground attack scenes with the AT-ATs.

Storywise, it stays failthful to the original print of Empire Strikes Back, rather than the remodelled one. There isn’t the girlie scream when Skywalker gets his hand chopped off by Darth for example. It’s interesting to know that it took longer for this to be signed off by George Lucas because of the content, primarily the swearing.

Unfortunately, the jokes, on the whole, don’t really work. A few sniggers are abound, but it’s not really laugh out loud material. Some of the more memorable jokes are when Han lets Leia know how she speaks, and that to hear it day in day out is such a drag, when Han goes into one of the Large Camels and sees a baby camel and remarks that she’s pregnant.

Most of the time I was just MMmming.

It’s really recommended only for people who will get Family Guy and Star Wars jokes. You really need to know how they both operate to see the funny side.

And now that we’re in a Family Guy Spoof mood, here’s some…

Ideas for Family Guy spoofs:
The Original Scooby Doo
The Saw series
Wedding Singer
Somthing, something, something
Debbie Does Dallas (only joking)

Do you have any other ideas for a Family Guy spoof? I’m sure there’s loads we’ve missed!

View the Family Guy Empire Strikes Back Trailer here.

Written By And Featuring Infamous Eurovision Winning Monster Hard Rock Band LORDI

Synopsis
Sarah is an autistic little girl whose father is worried about her health. Concerned for her, the father sees her removal from the hospital by force as the only option. An elevator breakdown prevents a smooth exit and leaves them trapped with a group of others.

Yet the incident is only the beginning of a descent into nightmare. As the doors open the hospital appears mysteriously deserted. When mutilated bodies are found, creatures from a dark world start a frightening attack. It soon becomes clear that the survival of the group may rest solely on the little girl.

In the same vein as The Ruins, The Devil’s Rejects and Resident Evil, Dark Floors is set to be the one of the most terrifyingly bloody monster horror films of our time.

Special Features

Behind The Scenes of Dark Floors

Cast & Crew Interviews

Dark Floors World Premiere featurette including:

Q&A with Lordi

Cast and Crew and live Lordi performance

DVD & Blu Ray Release date: 20th April 2009
Running time: 81 minutes
DVD RRP: £12.99
Cert: 18

Interviewed By: Johanna Juntunen

Q: With this being your first English language film you seem to redefine the laws of physics. It seems to happen a lot in this film?

TB: Yes. Physics is part of our imagination. The world is as it is because we think about it and then everything becomes possible, because if you can imagine things, it will happen.

Q: So do you spent a lot of time in pre-production, because it seems like you have these very imaginative shots and your visual style is very different from anybody else’s?

TB: Everybody’s style is different. Everybody is unique. That’s what I really believe. Sometimes we don’t remember this. Sometimes we’re trying to copy or to follow the rules, but if you will listen to yourself, then you will be unique. It takes time, years, but it is the most interesting part of the process. For me, what is interesting is dreaming. There are no obligations or responsibilities. Then it gets difficult, the five months of shooting, but it’s a great process and even greater when you are editing and finishing things. I like the beginning and the end.

Q: Is it like the script - that the most interesting part is the beginning and the end, and then you have to put something in the middle? That’s what I hear.

TB: Yeah.

Q: So were you very involved in the screenplay as well?

TB: Yes. I was involved from the beginning. I received the script and we started to change it and it became a long process. If you change one thing it unravels questions to which you have to find answers. It took about a year, the whole development process of the script.

Q: The cast is great.

TB: Yes. We had great actors.

Q: Was James McAvoy your first choice?

TB: Yeah, he was the first actor I picked. Everybody understood what kind of movie we were making when I picked James. The studio and Producer all understood what kind of movie this would be.

Q: What about Angelina?

TB: She was the last, we didn’t have a Fox three months before we began shooting. We were in pre-production and we still didn’t have a fox, it was difficult to cast. There was no other actress in the world that can play this role. It’s only her. Only Angelina could do it.

Q: Did the actors go through a tough training regime?

TB: Yes. James had two or three months, maybe. He was trained in London to become an assassin.

Q: What are your thoughts on CGI visual effects?

TB: CGI supports the action. It can create drama. A lot of CGI effects in this movie have nothing to do with the action. Instead they are used as visual attractions to enhance the storytelling.

Q: In this movie you had to use them, do you consider yourself a perfectionist?

TB: No. I just consider myself as an organic, I think everything has to be organic because to make it perfect, sometimes you can over work something and kill and destroy it. Perfection is organic when it grows itself.

Q: So what interested you most about the themes and the philosophy of the movie?

TB: The idea of the fraternity to kill one to save thousands, it’s a serious idea. It’s an important question and interesting to think about alongside the characters. When you are making a movie, you use your characters to find what interests you. Is it appropriate to kill if you know that you can save lives? Is it right to kill one person if you can save millions?

Q: What about when people start to abuse that power?

TB: I guess. How do you know that everything isn’t a lie?

Q: Do you think there is ever a justification for violence?

TB: No. No, no, no. I don’t think so. I think the case, this case, does not represent the whole idea. Maybe the next movie, if there is another movie there’ll be real assassins with real problems and we’ll need Wesley because he is the only one who’s right.

Q: But repressing your anger is definitely not good. That’s what we learn from this.

TB: Yes, exactly.

Starring: Tony Curran (Red Road, Underworld: Evolution and Blade II)

Released on DVD 4th May 2009

“GET ON BOARD FOR THE MOST TERRIFYING NIGHT OF YOUR LIFE!”

When Mel and Jules return from a girls’ weekend vacation, they find themselves stranded at the airport, late on a rain-drenched night. Wanting nothing more than to get home safe and sound, they board an airport shuttle with a helpful Driver and a trio of other passengers. But what begins as a short ride home slowly descends into darkness after a detour into a seedy neighborhood leads to a series of terrifying events.

As the night wears on, the Driver forces each passenger in turn to perform simple, yet strange tasks, and Mel begins to suspect there is something more sinister at work than a simple robbery. It is only in the final shocking conclusion that Mel and Jules discover the Driver’s true intentions and must summon all their wits to save themselves.


DVD Details
Extras: not finalised
CAT No.: MTB5453
Barcode: 5055002554537
Running Time: 106 mins
Audio: 5.1 Dolby Digital
Format: 16:9
Certificate: 18
Distributor: Metrodome

Published: 6th April 2009

Billed as ‘the perfect one-stop guide to classic low budget films, such as Flash Gordon to the slick CGI-realised world of The Matrix.’, 101SF certainly covers a lot of science fiction films.

Starting in the early 1900s all the way through to the current decade, it chronicles the highlights (and argueably the lowlights) of this movie genre.

Picking only 101 films is not an easy job. What makes a good scifi film? What makes one stand out? Well, it seems that in the case of this book, it means films which either break the mold, and advance the genre, or are intelligent films.

Each film takes four pages; the first page being the film poster, second and third being information on the film (including a quote in larger letters in the centre of the third page) and the fourth being a still from the film. There is also some fascinating facts in the ‘border’ of the text pages which relate to the film.

This book is a gem. Even though I like to think I’m into pretty heavily into scifi, there were about twenty films I’d never heard of, and about ten which I’d heard of but never bothered to watch (simply because I thought they were too old). For example, I’d heard of When Worlds Collide and Metropolis, but never thought to watch them. But after reading the write up of the films in 101SF, I will, indeed check them out.

The thirty three contributors come from far and wide, from film forum moderators to film scholars to professional writers. Each entry has their initials against it, which can be looked up at the back, to see exactly who wrote it (and pretty much how to contact them).

The only real gripe about the book is that precious spaces are filled up with Return Of The Jedi, Empire Strikes Back and Flash Gordon. Personally, Star Wars was the only film which should have been mentioned out of the series, and Flash Gordon is just crap; but, hey, that’s personal preference, and even the entries for these had interesting facts relating to the two films.

I’m going to be cheeky and list some of my favourites included in the book, and then include some of my favourites which should have been included in the book, and then list the ones I will be checking out for the first time.

Faves Of Mine Which Are Included
Primer
PI
2001: A Space Odyssey
Blade Runner
Star Wars
Time After Time
The Invisible Man (1933)
Videodrome
Westworld
Tron

Faves Of Mine Which Should Have Been Included
Cube (not Empire Strikes Back)
The Nines (not Return Of The Jedi)
Identity (not Forbidden Planet)
The Forgotten (not Flash Gordon)
(One probably isn’t scifi, but my definition of scifi is broader than most.)

To Be Checked Out
Voyage To The Moon (1902)
Solaris (1972)
Slaughterhouse-Five
Scanners
Stalker (1979)
Dark Star (1974)
Who Killed Jessie? (1966)

It being a pocket-sized book shouldn’t put you off, it’s crammed full of interesting facts and crisp photo stills. Recommended for either the hard-core scifi fan, or the casual reader to show what they’re missing.

Do you agree with the above lists?

Offering audiences two essential Watchmen background stories, experience the exclusive and dramatic origin – essential to the Watchmen experience – as the comic-within-the-comic and Night Owl’s autobiography are brought to life when Paramount Home Entertainment releases Watchmen: Tales Of The Black Freighter, featuring Under The Hood on DVD & Blu-ray on April 6 2009.

THE BLACK FREIGHTER
The story within the highly anticipated Watchmen series features the voices of Gerard Butler (300) and Jared Harris (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button). Executively produced by Watchmen director Zack Snyder, the feature is directed by Daniel DelPurgatorio and Mike Smith.

It brings to strikingly animated life the graphic novel’s richly layered story. Within the graphic novel, Watchmen: Tales Of The Black Freighter, appears as a comic book read by a young man in New York City while the city is being destroyed.

This daring pirate saga chronicles a sailor’s journey home from being marooned. During his journey, the young seaman is “forced by the urgency of his mission to shed one inhibition after another” and experience horrible events along the way. The turbulent events the sailor endures seem to mirror those in the Watchmen’s world.

UNDER THE HOOD
Hollis Mason’s tell-all autobiography, Under The Hood, chronicles the events in Hollis Mason’s life that led to him becoming the masked avenger Nite Owl and discusses how the Minutemen were formed. It features the original Sally Spectre, the Comedian, Moloch the Mystic, along with Hollis Mason, the original Nite Owl.

Under The Hood is directed by Eric Matthies and also stars Carla Gugino, Matt Frewer, Stephen McHattie and Jeffrey Dean Morgan appear as their characters from the theatrical Watchmen film in this live-action documentary-style special.

DVD Technical Details
Title: Watchmen: Tales of the Black Freighter, featuring Under The Hood
Release Date: April 6 2009
Discs: 1 Disc Set
RRP: £9.99
Cert: 18 TBC
Sound: Dolby Digital English 5.1 surround
Running time (main feature): Approx. 25 minutes
Running time (special features): Approx. 84 minutes

Special features
- Under the Hood
- Story Within a Story: The Books of Watchmen
- Watchmen Motion Comics: Chapter 1
- A First Look at the Green Lantern

BLU-RAY Technical Details
Title Watchmen: Tales of the Black Freighter, featuring Under The Hood
Release Date: April 6 2009
Discs: 1 Disc Set
RRP: £14.99
Cert: 18 TBC
Sound: 1080p High Definition with English 5.1 Dolby True HD
Running time (main feature): Approx. 25 minutes
Running time (special features): Approx. 84 minutes

Special Features
- Under the Hood
- Story Within a Story: The Books of Watchmen
- Watchmen Motion Comics: Chapter 1
- A First Look at the Green Lantern

Arriving April 27, the collection includes restored and remastered films in HD, along with
all-new bonus features and exclusive BD-Live content.

Go where no fan has gone before when Paramount Home Entertainment debuts the Star Trek: Original Motion Picture Collection on Blu-ray and DVD on April 27, 2009.

Available for the first time in high definition, these classic films launched the beloved Star Trek characters onto the big screen.

The Star Trek: Original Motion Picture Collection includes six discs featuring the first six Star Trek films, which have been digitally remastered in high definition (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan has been fully restored) with new 7.1 Dolby TrueHD audio and over 14 hours of special features, including 2 ½ hours of all-new material.

The collection also includes a bonus disc entitled “Star Trek: The Captains’ Summit” that features a 70-minute exclusive round table discussion hosted by Whoopi Goldberg in which William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Patrick Stewart and Jonathan Frakes share candid moments and intimate details about life on the set.

The collection will be available on Blu-ray and DVD. Each film in the collection includes multiple commentary tracks and a bonus BD-Live Star Trek IQ feature.

All Blu-ray discs are presented in 1080p high definition with English 7.1 Dolby TrueHD, French 2.0 Dolby Surround and Spanish Mono and English, English SDH, French, Spanish & Portuguese subtitles. The DVD collections are presented in widescreen enhanced for 16:9 televisions with Dolby Digital English 5.1 Surround EX, French 2.0 Dolby Surround, Spanish Mono and Portuguese Mono and English, French, Spanish and Portuguese subtitles, and include all new special features.

The Blu-ray discs contain all new special features plus interactive content and previously released material.

DVD Technical Details
Title: Star Trek: Original Motion Picture Collection
Release Date: April 27, 2009
DISCS: 7 disc set
RRP : £99.99
Cert: 12
Sound: Dolby TrueHD audio 7.1
Running Time: Approx. 11 hours 40 minutes

Films
• Star Trek: The Motion Picture
• Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
• Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
• Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
• Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
• Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

Special Features
• The Captains’ Summit

The Star Trek phenomenon is boldly going where no man has gone before – to Alternate Realities! The release of the Alternate Realities Fan Collective box set allows Star Trek fans to add to their ever-growing collection of DVD’s!

Following on from the hugely successful Q & Klingon Fan Collectives and the Time Travel Fan Collective, Paramount Home Entertainment presents the brand new Star Trek: Alternate Realities DVD Collection making it possible for fans to watch William Shatner and Patrick Stewart at their absolute best!

The Alternate Realities Fan Collective is the 6th entry to the collective series. Boasting 5 discs and 20 episodes, this is a must have for all Star Trekers! It can only be described as an “all rounder” featuring classic episodes enabling Star Trek fans to see their favourite characters in some of the most bizarre and strange situations!

Voted for by visitors to www.startrek.com, this collection includes the top 20 most popular alternate reality themed episodes, including those from The Next Generation, The Original Series, Voyager and Enterprise.

Disc 1 features 6 episodes from “Mirror Universe”. Star Trek fans can watch crew members become their psychological opposite!

Disc 2 features episodes from “Parallel Dimensions” allowing fans to see Original Series episodes including “The Alternative Factor” where Kirk meets two different versions of Lazarus.

Disc 3 titled “Twisted Realities” witnesses two different versions of Kirk in “The Enemy Within”, a real treat for devoted Star Trek fans! Disc 4, “Frame of Mind” sees Riker jumping from the ship to the mental hospital in a hugely popular episode from “The Next Generation”.

In Disc 5, Chakotay experiences a number of stages of “Voyager’s” past.

The final disc, Disc 6 “Alternate Lives” has the most installments, a combination of episodes from “The Next Generation” and “Voyager”.

DVD Technical Details

TITLE: Star Trek: Alternate Realities Fan Collective
RELEASE DATE: 6th April 2009
RRP: £39.99
CERT: 15
SOUND: DOLBY DIGITAL 5.1 SURROUND and ENGLISH 2.0 SURROUND
RUNNING TIME: 15 Hours 30 minutes

Episodes And Special Features

Disc One:
• Mirror, Mirror
• Crossover
• Through the Looking Glass
• Shattered Mirror
• Mirror Universe featurette (Part 1)

Disc Two:
• In A Mirror Darkly (Part 1)
• In A Mirror Darkly (Part 2)
• The Alternative Factor
• Parallels
• Mirror Universe featurette (Part 2)
• Parallel Dimensions featurette

Disc Three:
• The Enemy Within
• Turnabout Intruder
• Frame of Mind
• Shattered
• Twisted Realities featurette

Disc Four:
• Yesterday’s Enterprise
• The Inner Light
• The Visitor
• Before and After
• Alternate Lives (Part 1)

Disc Five:
• Timeless
• Course: Oblivion
• E2
• Twighlight
• Alternative Lives (Part 2)

Allow yourself to be transported back to some of the most memorable Star Trek moments and explore all possibilities with Star Trek: Alternate Realities– an essential for all Star Trek fans!

The hilarious, slap stick western horror, with a little bit of romance and lots of zombie carnage, is available to own and rent on DVD from 13th April 2009.

The hilarious and side-splitting horror movie Undead Or Alive, combines gun-slinging cowboys, corrupt sheriffs, Apache warriors and Native American ancient curses resulting in a zombified slapstick Old West comedy - a Zomedy! Hurry to get yours on DVD from 13th April 2009 - before the Zombies come after your brains!

Elmer Winslow is a soldier on the run from the Union Army and local cowboy Luke Budd is nursing a broken heart. After a scuffle, the misfits find themselves locked up the local clink by the towns corrupt and evil Sheriff Claypool. When they manage to escape the lockup, rob the Sheriff and flee the town they have no idea that a plague of Zombies are sweeping through the country.


They are joined in the desert by the smart and beautiful Apache warrior, Sue, who is seeking revenge for her decimated people. They team up but their plans soon become complicated….they discover an Apache curse, put on the white man which has turned all the people of the surrounding areas into zombies!

Sue is their only chance of surviving this Zombie epidemic, and breaking the mysterious curse. Will romance between Luke and Sue blossom or will the undead permanently keep them apart?

Directed by Glasgow Phillips (writer of South Park) and starring James Denton (Desperate Housewives) as Elmer, Chris Kattan (Saturday Night Live) as Luke and Navi Rawat (The O.C) as Sue this slapstick Zombie old western horror is one like no other!

Undead Or Alive is available to own and rent on DVD from 13th April 2009.

Lionsgate is the premier independent producer and distributor of motion pictures, television programming, home entertainment, family entertainment and video-on-demand content.

DVD Technical Information
Release Date: 13th April 2009
Copyright: © 2007 UOA, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. © Lions Gate Home Entertainment UK Ltd. All Rights Reserves
RRP: £12.99
Running Time: 88 Minutes Approx.
Rating: 15
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround

Special Features
Featurettes From South Park To The Wild Wild West & Geronimonsters!
The Zombies That walked The West Audio Commentary with Director Glasgow Phillips

“Utterly Entertaining” GoreZone

“Blood, gore and Zombie Cowboys - genius!” GoreZone

A taught thriller in the tradition of the great Akira Kurosawa’s Rashômon, Jennifer Lynch’s Surveillance marks a long awaited return to the big screen for this definitive, and often surprising, filmmaker. Borrowing a page from the Japanese master, Lynch has crafted a stunningly detailed story told from the perspectives of three witnesses. In pure Lynch fashion, however, nothing is as it seems—even at the final moment.

“At its core,” explains Lynch about her film and its genesis, “I’m fascinated by the idea of what it is that an individual sees: primarily what it is to have your life and to see something specifically through your eyes. It’s a completely different experience than anyone else has.

“So, in this story, we have a road between point A and point B. Three different groups find themselves on that road. Certain things happen to all of them. All are forced into one ultimately unfortunate situation where they are obligated to retell what happened.

“Each is a liar and each holds a truth,” continues Lynch. “But the shame that each feels and the reason each one is lying is at the heart of their character. So as we go back in time we realize they are lying, but at the same time we get to know them more deeply.”

The three main groups of characters couldn’t be more disparate. Officers Jack Bennett and Jim Conrad are the fanatic cops who Lynch once described as the kind of men who might watch COPS while drinking a beer and stroking their guns. These officers always wanted to be heroes, but have made certain dark decisions in their lives. Dark decisions that have turned into dark secrets meant to be hidden.

Fun loving drug addicts Bobbi and Johnny are pretty much as one would expect them, yet Bobbi’s testimony reveals the kind of girl who will forgive anyone anything, except herself. And anything that’s happened to her she’s decided she must have deserved to have happened, especially anything negative.

Little Stephanie has the eyes and the soul of a child; she’s not judgmental the way adults are. Stephanie sees the child in Bobbi, and in turn she is seen by Bobbi as hope. There is something in the idea of rescuing Stephanie that Bobbi sees as saving herself, so there is a special bond between these two.

“Everyone’s a liar, everyone’s an open wound,” explains Lynch. “It’s pretty much the kid who allows them all to see what they need to see. These perspectives are all about how someone felt when they encountered someone else. And really we’ve stop listening to the child inside ourselves. To the children who tend to see things that we’ve forgotten are important. We’re in our ego and kids are in the details.”

Surveillance is the first feature film Lynch has directed in over a decade, coming after her lauded-and oft criticized-feature film directorial debut, Boxing Helena.

“I wanted Surveillance to be the next project because I love the characters, I love the insanity of it,” said Lynch. “There is goodness and wholesomeness in it, an investigation of human kind that intrigues me.

“Kent Harper, who’d I produced some short films with, originally had a script that was supernatural and in our discussion about his script, other ideas were born. However, our first draft was still supernatural along with what it was to watch other people, to be very voyeuristic.

“Then it occurred to me, if you’re dealing with people who kill each other, and are dead themselves because they are hurt, isn’t more interesting to deal with why we do things instead of what it looks like when we do things?

“Surveillance is a scary movie because we’re all just a few bad decisions away from this, a few incidents away from hurting ourselves and others. So like an onion, we peeled the layers and let the story found its voice. A big voice. A loud voice. Especially the ending.

“I love the ending. We have this darkness and light thing going on. Darkness and light is one thing, evil is another. Surprisingly, what I found as dark my dad (filmmaker David Lynch) found as evil. In fact he challenged me on it completely. Called me up late one night to tell me I couldn’t do that at the end of my script!! But of course I can. It’s the right ending to the story.

“It all comes down to one question: will telling the truth save your life?”

Shooting the low-budget film on a tight schedule on the plains of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, Lynch says “Shooting fast—yes that’s how I like to work. I want to keep it going. It’s about moving forward. Some days take more than others, but there’s a rhythm and it’s almost laughable to make a schedule. I grid my way through it. Everyone is valued and a part of it. We’ve been plowing through it against the wind, the ticks, and the rain. The insanity.”

Lynch also worked closely with producing partner, Marco Mehlitz whose credits have included Undiscovered, The Final Cut, and Bowling for Columbine among many others.

“Marco Mehlitz is incredible,” said Lynch of her producer. “He’s not only, intellectually and in terms of skill, one of the finest producers I’ve ever encountered, but he’s the most accessible and, if you’ll forgive the term, human producer.

“There is something to be said for someone who continues to listen even at points where he’s making the hard decisions. He doesn’t just speak to you, he hears you which is incredibly valuable. When he comes on set and says here’s the situation, he’s already gone to the end to figure out what’s happening. It’s a gift. It allows me to feel safe and gives me focus. He’s had an incredibly good career with interesting choices, and has a real eye for story as well as a gift for bringing people together. I owe many of my favorite moments to Marco’s magnetic personality and skill.

“This is an incredibly vital relationship. I wish I could say I picked Marco, but I think Marco picked the project and I just happened to be involved with the project! I’m not sure I want to ever work with anyone else! Even at the most difficult times I’ve been grateful to look across the table and see Marco on my side.”

Mehlitz, who has long been a production executive and co-production specialist, is the CEO/Managing Director and founding partner of Lago Films with offices located in Berlin and Studio Babelsberg, Germany. His North American film company, See Films, is located in Los Angeles, California.

It was Mehlitz who first suggested the flat landscape of Saskatchewan, Canada as an ideal location for Lynch, and it was Mehlitz who helped craft a uniquely American film with global creative participation.

“We funded the project entirely out of the US, so it is an American independent project,” explained Mehlitz, “and creatively our team includes a producer from Germany, crew from Canada, actors from the UK. Jen’s a distinctly American filmmaking voice, yet she’s crafting a story that tracks to the human condition. I’m very proud of our multi-national team.

“Jen and I have done everything together. It’s great. We are a team. On set, it’s the crew and actors that make up the entire team, and we encourage all to contribute at any point. This is the way I like to work, and so too does Jen. We came out to Canada as a team, and looked for partners on the project when we interviewed for crew positions. It started with us being very close and then extended when we invited everyone else to do the same thing.”

The camaraderie of the set extended to the actors as well as the crew, as noted by Julia Ormond, who plays FBI agent Elizabeth Anderson, the very first day she arrived.

“You can feel Jen’s energy,’ explained Ormond, “you can tell it from the crew and it ends up on set. It has a mystical quality that ends up on screen. She has something about her that is so strong, she has the energy of a phoenix rising. This is a woman who got mangled by a fickle industry, an industry ready to misinterpret and mash her down.

“She’s taken a long time, but I feel this is somehow her response to that. It’s taken a while, but I think we all feel she’s going to explode through this film and we’re all just holding on for the ride. She’s not your usual lady behind the camera. She’s not cerebral; she’s “in her animal” as she likes to say. We care less about the commercial aspects of the film and more about creating something great out of the story she wants to tell. I’m more excited about this piece than I have been about a project for a long time.”

Lynch assembled a remarkable cast including famed actors Bill Pullman and Ormond, revered character actor Michael Ironside, brilliant comic actors French Stewart and Cheri Oteri, and newcomers Ryan Simpkins and her co-writer, Kent Harper.

“The actors and the crew,” sighed Lynch, “I’m so unbelievable lucky to be in their company. You imagine something and then it’s born into this gigantic thing and at least ten times a day I turn around and say to myself, I can’t believe this is my life. I turn around in the road and look at everyone and I’m just grinning, inside and out, at how great it is.”

Working with the cast was really a matter of inviting them into the creative process for Lynch, who often encouraged improvisation as a tool for character development.

“It’s all about observation,” said Lynch, “both in the movie and in working with actors. Watching others watching you. Monitoring your behavior and others behavior. Altering your behavior for others ears, which is a natural defense. It’s fascinating to me.

“Having created these characters, at a certain point the ones who’ve come in to create them know more than you do. So I have a lot to learn from them as they put on their characters skin. You ultimately need to be a kill switch as a director, but some of what’s come out of an actor’s mind for the character has been priceless.

“Julia Ormond, who is such a joy and surprise, is also such a lady and a woman and so very human. There are places she’s going in this film that are a real treat for me, she’s so good. She has a skill inside her she hasn’t tapped into yet. Certainly behaving like certain characters is easier for some people but this stretch is something she’s yearned for. Where she’s going with it is a gift to the production.

“Bill Pullman. I’m a huge fan. He is one of the most excruciatingly talented actors out there. He’s going some pretty amazing places too, he’s traveling hard you might want to say. We almost worked together on Boxing Helena and I’m so proud he came onto this film.

“Pell James, who I’d had seen and heard about, has completely unveiled herself here. From the first day we met, when she sat with her new baby on her chest and we talked about the role, Pell has shone.

“Ryan Simpkins who is so genuinely a kid, which is a rarity in our business now, was perfect as Stephanie. Ryan’s a kid, and she’s a kid who can act. She’s innately perfectly brave and perfectly innocent which is what her character had to express. In her innocence is a wisdom which isn’t in adults who have let their ego take hold. Our innocence lost is also the bravest part of us. Stephanie represents the child in all of us that’s been thrown aside and so she is also the bravest.

“Cheri Oteri. Cheri Oteri. Wow. We were driving home from set the other day and we happened to be in the same car. It was a great chance for me to tell her she’d done something in her performance that was so universally true that I found myself completely in moment, completely woven into what she was doing what her emotion. So completely into it that someone had to nudge me to get me to yell “cut”. I told her what a huge thing she’d just done. This is an actress with huge talent. I’m glad she’s knocking down the wall. Is she funny? Yes. Is she an actress showing stuff no one’s seen yet? Yes.

“My god, French Stewart. French Stewart is the cop. Obviously when I met with him he was one of the cops, this was his role. I knew he could do it, but also there’s something in there that he uses to just create a pearl from every day. He’s so enjoyable to have around. Anything I say to him he absorbs and takes to a tenth degree. I hope he’s as proud of himself as I am to have been in his company.

“Some people might be surprised by the choice of comic actors in these roles,” admitted Lynch, “but I liken it to when I gave birth: It was excruciating pain but I laughed all the time. It’s where I go when I’m in pain. I think it’ frees you up to do things.

“And it’s an effort to challenge myself, because I don’t know everything. I know what I want to feel from the character or story. And these actors seemed the best collaborators. That’s what they are, not puppets, collaborators who have brought something to the story that elevates it. There is something about someone who is funny that is so real and so sad at the same time: so human. The urge to make people laugh and please others is incredibly potent to me. It’s true. We’d all like to be the person telling the truth but the truth is funny.”

“I love the set,’ adds Lynch. “I’m more comfortable on the set than probably anywhere else in my life. You know we wake up in our beds in the morning and by the time we get back to them at night we’ve created something that didn’t exist before. And it’s collaborative. And it’s magical. And make believe. Yet, still the greatest hard work.

“It reminds me of my childhood, and dreams I’ve had from my life. To get to tell a story and make it tangible in this way bring something to fruition. There’s something about being around creative people, it’s the greatest thing in the world.

“It is everybody. Everybody is a piece of the watch and if they don’t all work together we don’t have the right time. And this thing runs like a perfect watch.”

At the end of the day, when Lynch speaks about her audience, she speaks with an experience borne of struggle and respect.

“I definitely make films for myself.” Lynch admits. “I have learned, before anything else about filmmaking, that it’s in the process and on the set that is the best part about filmmaking. It is about what you want to make and what you want to create with these other people. That’s where the joy is.

“When I think about the audience I have to start from the way I’d like to be spoken to about a film. It can’t be a co-dependent process, and I don’t want to speak down to them either. People are smart, they aren’t idiots so if you’re going to tell them a story, tell them the way it deserves to be told: to a smart audience.

“You have to speak to them with integrity. Like you’re telling your lover a scary story at night when you’re both in bed and your eyes are closed. If I had to lay out the details of this story for the audience then I don’t think any of the things I love about this story would be in there. That’s the risk you take.

“Especially with a film, because the minute it’s done and you say “here it is”, it starts to be judged. That’s a real dangerous spot to be in. When I think about the audience I think “I hope they see what I’m giving them in a way that pleases them”. But I can’t go beyond that. If someone showed Surveillance to me, I’d dig it. But I’m grateful for the opportunity even if people aren’t digging it.

“It’s a movie, it’s a roller coaster. We’re not curing cancer here. Buy the popcorn, get the soda, choose your favorite candy, have a seat. Go to the dark places you don’t usually allow yourself to go; have a laugh at the funny places, because that’s just life. There’s some stuff that happens in this picture that you just, whoa, don’t see coming!

“That’s why I wanted to make this movie,” finishes Lynch with a smile. “In its inception and throughout its evolution, I couldn’t think of anything more fun to bring to life.”

Jennifer Lynch, Co-Writer and Director
Jennifer Lynch was only nineteen when she wrote the screenplay for Boxing Helena. She became a published novelist at age twenty-two when she wrote The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer. Her book was on the New York Times Best-Seller List for 15 weeks. In 1993 at the age of twenty-four, she added the distinction of being the youngest woman in American film history to direct a feature film, directing her screenplay, Boxing Helena which was nominated for a Grand Jury prize at Sundance the same year.

As a woman filmmaker:
“Do I think it make a difference that I’m a woman working on this picture? Sure I do. There are things you’ve seen as a mother because of your child; it’s a second chance at seeing things as miracles. It’s also a second chance at being non-judgmental, and to be unconditional loving of things.

“In a strange way I don’t recall the echo of not having a child, and since I’ve always being a girl or a woman that’s just my voice. So I don’t know if I’d make a different picture not being my daughter’s mother, or my mother’s daughter.

“The strength of humankind is eyes through a child, and there are women in this film that are much stronger than women characters we’ve seen in a long time. This isn’t what your mother does when she’s not baking…well, maybe it is. It’s what my daughter’s mom does when she’s not baking!”

A filmmaker of strong convictions, Lynch has recently produced a number of short films, including Some of an Equation and Handicap City. She was cast in the short film, Slumming. She also directed Joe Bob’s Drive-In Theater: Quadriplegia, Nymphomania, and HIV-Positive Night (1995 TV episode) and has written episodes for Friday the 13th television series.

Moments that jump:
“In the same way that I’d love people to find themselves in these awkward moments saying to themselves ‘eh, I really shouldn’t be enjoying this’; I have felt that way during some of my scenes. Is it polite or appropriate that I enjoy blowing up heads? Maybe! Objectively, probably not. But in my heart, it’s a fun part of the story.

“Some of the long days on the highway, in the extreme weather, with the camaraderie of the team, and the tireless effort and so much love and heart in this, those moments I will talk about the most.

“Beautiful road, skies that went from smoky blue to white clouds to storm clouds and rain, 100km winds, frogs chiming in this really bizarre cricket like voice, trucks, crews, crashed cars, people being tortured in a way…everything the characters went through the crew went through too in a different way, dolled out by mother nature! Tragedy brings you together though right? The bad days make the best friends!!”

Observation:
“I don’t know what I look like when I direct, I don’t know what it’s like to observe me because I’m joyfully in that moment and the least self conscious of any place I’ve ever been. So I don’t know what it’s like for others to observe my process.

“But it’s interesting to me to think about when I watch DVD’s and observe other directors; I hope it’s helpful and enjoyable to know that there is no ‘right’ way to do this process. It’s all about your way. There are certain rules that apply to make it work out but it’s how you do it. If there is something interesting about how I do it for you, great.

“I’m not a video village person. I’m interested in the frame but I can see that at the monitor. I can see no reason to be distanced from the actors. It just makes it harder. I find incredible value and insight to be as near the actors as possible. Hopefully that translates into the picture.”

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and raised in Los Angeles, California, Lynch attended the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan. She also gained an invaluable education while working closely with her father, David Lynch, on his films Blue Velvet and Dune, among others.

Tales in perspective:
“Technically, keeping perspectives straight was the tricky part. At the most base level, three people are telling the same story but it’s different to each of them. What does each story look like? What’s the color of it? What’s missing? What’s relevant to the kid versus the drug addict who misses it because she’s too high? Or the cop who happens to be looking somewhere else?

“In each scene, with each perspective, and that disturbing and difficult ballet of telling the story their way, each character has one part of the story to tell that has to get across clearly and then has all the rest of their perspective of the story to convey.

“Planning the schedule, I said just schedule it in order for the actors. Every actor has to be lying about what has happened. So not only are they acting about lying, let’s make them really lie. It shows in the face. And when the FBI is questioning you, there are things that happen in the face, “tells” if you will, that only happen if you are lying. So that was the only caveat in scheduling. It was important that we started with night one and move through in that order.”

Lynch currently lives in Los Angeles, CA with her daughter Sydney.

The nauseatingly gore filled horrors of SCAR will be available in petrifying 3D for a limited time only from 2nd March 2009. Grab your copy, which includes 2 pairs of free 3D glasses, and get ready to experience a truly scarring horror-fest.

In the small town of Ovid, Colorado, Joan Burrows (Angela Bettis) manages to escape from the evil clutches of Ernie Bishop, the local undertaker who had a penchant for the torture, mutilation and murder of teenage girls. As the sole survivor of Bishop’s sadistic reign of terror Joan becomes the local hero.

Sixteen years later, still carrying the scars of her ordeal, Joan returns to her hometown for the first time to see her niece, Olympia (Kirby Bliss Blanton), crowned Prom Queen. Soon after her arrival, strange murders begin to take place, with teenagers - specifically Olympia’s friends - being abducted and gory ‘clues’ are being left behind. At first, Joan fears that Bishop has somehow returned from the grave and fears for her own sanity.

This vicious and unrelenting serial killer goads one victim into ordering the torture and execution of another in order to reduce their own suffering. Packed with gruesome and blood chilling torture methods, as teeth are wrenched out and tongues removed, the victims are subject to both physical and mental agony. As the police begin to piece together the bloody clues, Olympia suddenly disappears and Joan is forced to confront her deepest fears and once again go after this brutal and barbaric maniac herself.

Major studios and star directors are embracing the fully immersive format of 3D to create multi-dimensional rollercoaster rides of terror on a never-before-seen scale. Be the first to witness the latest trend in full tilt action with Director Jed Weintrob’s gore-in-your-face slasher, SCAR. Using cutting edge technology, SCAR launches the audience into a stunning 3D visual experience.

SCAR will be available in gruesome 3D for a limited time only so be quick, it is a true horror experience not to be missed by fans of bloodlust and gore.

Eyeball-popping, blood-spurting, scalpel-waving chills leap from the screen as you experience the bloody three dimensional thrills and spills of SCAR, yours to rent and own on DVD from 2nd March 2009. For the most terrorising 3D experience, view on a LCD or Plasma screen - you won’t want to believe your eyes…

Cast
Angela Bettis as Joan Burrows
Kirby Bliss Blanton as Olympia Burrows
Devon Graye as Paul Watts
Ben Cotton as Bishop
Directored by Jed Weintrob

DVD Technical Information
Release date: 2nd March
Copyright: ©2007 The Scar Company LLC – All Rights Reserved © The Works UK distribution LTD
RRP: £17.99
Running Time: 3D 1 hr 21 mins, 2D 1 hr 19mins
Rating: 18
Aspect Ratio: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78:1
Audio: English 5.1 Surround. Dolby Digital
Warning: Contains very strong bloody violence, gore and sustained terrorisation

Review Picks
“Eyeball-popping, blood-spurting, scalpel-waving chills leap from the screen in petrifying 3D” Filmy Frightfest

“If Hostel-style violence is your bag, then this nasty little horror number is just for you.” The Mirror.co.uk

“Sensational torture scenarios (tongue removal, teeth bashing, embalming) in startling, pristine depth and clarity” Fangoria

Scifi UK Review will review it just as soon as we get our hands on it!

The Incredible Hulk: The All Action Super Hero Adventure Is Unleashed On DVD And Blu-Ray HD: Monday 13th October, 2008.

Introduction

Welcome to the explosive new chapter in the Super Hero franchise that’s captivated the world for more than 40 years. Universal Pictures and Marvel Studios bring the action-packed epic motion picture of one of the most captivating heroes of all time to a world that’s been anxiously awaiting it—The Incredible Hulk.

For decades, the brute strength and touching vulnerability of this character have captured the imagination in all of us who are unsure of how to manage the passions that lie buried within. While we try to keep our tensions in check, there is a creature that embraces the pure rage and limitless aggression—living inside one brilliant man who finds his alter ego more and more impossible to suppress.
And you wouldn’t like him when he’s angry.

We find scientist Bruce Banner (two-time Oscar® nominee Edward Norton, American History X, Primal Fear) desperately hunting for a cure to the gamma radiation that poisoned his cells and unleashes the unbridled force of rage within him: The Hulk.

Banner has been living in the shadows—cut off from a life and the woman he loves, Dr. Elizabeth “Betty” Ross (Liv Tyler, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Strangers). Living as a fugitive to avoid the obsessive pursuit of his nemesis, General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross (Oscar® winner William Hurt, Into the Wild, A History of Violence), he knows that a military machine seeking to capture him and brutally exploit his power is always only a few steps behind him.

As all three grapple with the secrets that led to The Hulk’s creation, they are confronted with a vicious new adversary known as The Abomination, a monstrosity whose destructive strength exceeds even The Hulk’s own. Portraying the human incarnation of this powerful creature is noted Academy Award® nominee Tim Roth (Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs). As Emil Blonsky, Roth imagines a Super Soldier whose lust for power manifests itself in The Abomination.
And to defeat this nemesis, one scientist must make an agonizing final choice: accept a peaceful life as Bruce Banner or find heroism in the creature he holds inside—The Incredible Hulk.

Joining Norton, Tyler, Hurt and Roth for the film is an accomplished cast including Ty Burrell (National Treasure: Book of Secrets, Dawn of the Dead), who portrays Leonard, a man competing for Betty Ross’ affections, and Tim Blake Nelson (Syriana, Holes), who takes on the role of Professor Samuel Sterns, a cellular biologist who quite possibly holds the key to Banner’s quest for a cure.

The behind-the-scenes team of The Incredible Hulk is led by a seasoned group of Super Hero and action film veterans, including producers Avi Arad (Spider-Man series, X-Men series, Fantastic Four series), Gale Anne Hurd (Terminator series, Armageddon, Aliens) and Kevin Feige (Iron Man, Fantastic Four series, X-Men series). The associate producer is Stephen Broussard. The screen story and screenplay for The Incredible Hulk are by Zak Penn (X2, X-Men: The Last Stand).

The film is directed by noted action filmmaker Louis Leterrier (The Transporter series, Unleashed). The Incredible Hulk’s production designer is Kirk M. Petruccelli (Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Lara Croft series); the director of photography is Peter Menzies, JR. (Shooter, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider). The Incredible Hulk’s editors are two-time-Oscar®-nominated filmmaker John Wright (X-Men, The Passion of the Christ), Rick Shaine (Pitch Black, television’s Rome) and Vincent Tabaillon (Transporter 2, Finale Sentence). Music for the action-thriller is composed by Craig Armstrong (Ray, World Trade Center) and supervised by Dave Jordan (Transformers, Iron Man); the visual effects supervisor is Kurt Williams (Fantastic Four, Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas, X-Men: The Last Stand).

The Incredible Hulk is executive produced by the legendary Stan Lee (Iron Man, Spider-Man series, X-Men series), David Maisel (Iron Man) and Jim Van Wyck (Timeline, Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events).

The Incredible Hulk, one of the all-time most popular Marvel Super Heroes has made a huge impact on cinema audiences worldwide. The film has earned £8.1m in the UK. Now fans can enjoy a whole new movie experience with a host of bonus features that take viewers deeper into the content, including Universal’s exclusive signature U-Control application and interactive features via BD-Live.

Simon Philips, President of Marvel Entertainment International & Worldwide Head of Animation, Gaming & Wireless said: “We are pleased to unleash the explosive and action-packed The Incredible Hulk, one of Marvel Studio’s two blockbuster summer 2008 movies, into homes around the world on the Blu-ray format. Hulk fans are sure to marvel at the bonus features and depth of content provided in this release.”

Bonus Features

Special Edition DVD And Blu-Ray Hi-Def:
- The Making of The Incredible Hulk
- Becoming The Hulk
- Becoming The Abomination
- Anatomy of a Hulk Out:
- Hulking Out in the Bottling Plant
- Hulking Out on Campus
- Hulking Out in Harlem
- From Comic Book to Screen
- Feature Commentary With Director Louis
- Leterrier And Tim Roth

Exclusive To Blu-Ray Hi-Def:
U Control:
- Thunderbolt Files
- Scene Explorer
- Comic Book Gallery
- Picture in Picture
- Alternate Opening
- Deleted Scenes

BD-Live Features:
- My Chat – Just plug your player into your internet connection and connect to BD Live to chat with friends while watching the movie
- My Scenes Sharing – Share your favourite clips with your buddies through the BD Live internet connection

Synopsis
Believe the impossible, witness the unstoppable, and expect the incredible in this explosive, action-packed epic tale of one of the most popular Super Heroes of all-time: TThe Incredible Hulk!

Academy Award®-nominee Edward Norton (Best Actor in a Leading Role for American History X) stars as scientist Bruce Banner, a man who has been living in shadows, scouring the planet for an antidote to the unbridled force of rage within him: The Hulk. But when the military masterminds who dream of exploiting his powers force him back to civilization, he finds himself coming face to face with his most formidable foe: The Abomination - a nightmarish beast of pure aggression whose powers match The Hulk’s own!

Also starring Academy Award®-winning actor William Hurt (Best Actor in a Leading Role for Kiss of the Spider Woman) and Academy Award®-nominated actor Tim Roth (Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Rob Roy), and Liv Tyler, The Incredible Hulk delivers a mind-blowing final showdown that can only be summed up with one word… INCREDIBLE!

Q: What was it about Wanted that made you want to be a part of it?

A: I received the script and I liked my character and the story. And I didn’t know that director, but he had a good rep.

Q: What is director Timur Bekmambetov like, to work with?

A: He is very easy to work with. At first he takes some getting used to, because he is very “hands on,” but he always has such a sweet disposition. Somebody who was familiar with Russian directors asked me if he cursed a lot; but the truth is that he doesn’t –I don’t work with directors who curse a lot.

Q: And with Wanted he proves to be very creative…

A: Oh yes, the proof of the pudding is in the eating, and the proof of his creativity is up on the screen.

Q: Is it hard to find an action film with a good story?


A: Yes, and you see it in the script. I think I have been very fortunate so far in my choices to be able to see the story – maybe not in every case, but at least in enough of them to survive the bad ones.

Q: So, how do you see Sloan, your character?

A: I see him as a man who likes to be in control. He likes power, and I find myself gravitating towards these kinds of “power parts” –I enjoy them. It’s a good role in an exciting movie.

Q: And he is the mentor of Wesley, the lead character in the story…

A: Yes, Sloan is his mentor and teacher, but primarily because this kid is necessary in his scheme of things. Sloan won’t be able to accomplish his goals without him – he is an absolute necessity.

Q: What do you think young Scottish actor James McAvoy brings to the role of Wesley?

A: I first saw him in The Last King of Scotland and he pulled that off with much aplomb, as it were. He comes off younger than he is, but he has old chops, knows what he is doing and gives it his all.

Q: Wanted is also about his evolution and discovery of who he really is…

A: To realize that your life for a long time has been a disaster area, because you are in the wrong section of it, is something that happens. People have done that and gone through a long period of time without knowing their basic talent was in a completely different place.

Q: Did that happen to you in your career? Did you take time to figure out who you were and what you wanted?

A: I kind of knew at an early age that I wanted to be in movies; but I suffered from the romanticism of cinema, because there is also real life. So, I joined the military thinking I would live it out, but I realized almost immediately that it wasn’t for me and I went back to my dream.

Q: You have always chosen your roles very carefully, and it seems you like to do different things.

A: I do! I think there are those among us, as actors, that get off on eclecticism. I like to do a wide range of things – even wider than what I am doing.

Q: Is that why you are on Broadway now?

A: Yes, and because I am playing a completely different kind of character. But, in any case, I am only acting. The difference between the stage and movies is large. In movies, for one thing, you almost never have to raise your voice. I remember when Kurt Russell was playing this character called Snake -or something like that- and he talked to someone who was two blocks away, but spoke very softly. On stage you have to reach the back of the house and speak loud enough for them to hear you, and that takes a certain kind of training. So, they are different disciplines, but it’s still only acting.

Q: Had you worked with Angelina Jolie before?

A: No, I hadn’t, but if I ever get the chance to do it again I will leap at it. She is just wonderful! Angelina is a total professional and obviously very good at what she does, and she has history before this to prove it.

Q: What was the shoot in Prague like?

A: Prague is warm and lovely, and I really enjoyed it. And when I wasn’t shooting I could play golf up there. It was a very nice experience.

Q: And was it hard work on set?

A: Hard work is work you don’t particularly like doing. And let’s be honest: the people that work hard on a set are the crew, not the pampered actors.

Q: So, you consider your profession a blessing…

A: Oh heavens, absolutely! Being able to work in it is a blessing. And it is what I was meant to do.

Q: Wanted is based on Mark Millar’s graphic novel. Isn’t it interesting how comics and graphic novels have become an inspiration for Hollywood?

A: Yes, but it doesn’t surprise me. I remember how the first two Supermans became major strikes, and the minute Hollywood sees a niche they leap in with all four feet. And the evolution of computer graphics has helped too, because now we have the technology to do them.

Q: How comfortable are you working with computer graphics?

A: Very comfortable. It is all make-believe.

Q: Speaking of the first two Supermans, one of the main villains in these movies was portrayed by British actor Terence Stamp, who you get to work with now in this film.

A: Terence is a great actor. I met him in Dubai and then we had dinner in Los Angeles. I loved him in The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. He was so on it!

Q: Guns also play an important role in Wanted. Are you good with them?

A: I am comfortable around them. I have guns in the country, were there are critters you have to deal with from time to time, like beavers or armadillos. So, it is good to have something to scare them off, but I don’t know about having them in the city. In Wanted the guns are very cool and stylized.

Angelina Jolie makes a sensational return to the action thriller genre in Timur Bekmambetov’s Wanted. Jolie plays Fox, a heavily tattooed, deadly assassin who has to train a new recruit to the shadowy organisation known as The Fraternity.

Jolie joins a stellar cast including James McAvoy, Morgan Freeman and Thomas Kretschmann the ground-breaking screen version based on Mark Millar’s comic books.

Wes Gibson (McAvoy) hates his life – with good reason. He’s working as a lowly accountant in a dead end job and his best friend is sleeping with his girlfriend. And what’s worse, he doesn’t care. He has no money and no prospects and he’s suffering panic attacks when his bully of a boss shouts at him. And then it all changes.

Wes is going about his mundane life when Fox (Jolie) literally bursts on to the scene with guns blazing to inform him that the father he never knew has just been killed – and the murderer is now out to target him.

Reluctantly, Wes is dragged into the inner sanctum of The Fraternity, led by the enigmatic Sloan (Freeman) an organisation that targets criminals and assassinates them for the greater good. He learns that his father was the deadliest of them all and that it’s now time for him to follow in his massive footsteps. But as Wes turns from deadbeat into deadly killer he begins to realise that the organisation might not be exactly as noble as it claims to be.

The daughter of French actress Marcheline Betrand and Oscar winning actor Jon Voight, Jolie, 33, first started acting as a child and later studied at the Lee Strasberg Institute in New York and at New York University.

She won international recognition in the mid 1990s with films including Hackers and Foxfire. She earned both Golden Globe and Emmy nominations for her role in the made-for-TV movie George Wallace and again for her remarkable performance as drug addicted model in Gia. In 1999 she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in Girl, Interrupted.

Throughout her career, Jolie has enjoyed switching genres from action – playing the popular computer game heroine in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and it’s sequel Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, an assassin in Mr and Mrs Smith and animation roles in Shark Tale and Kung Fu Panda – to more serious drama including Beyond Borders and, more recently, the highly acclaimed A Mighty Heart in which she played the widow of murdered journalist Daniel Pearl. Later this year she will be seen starring in the Clint Eastwood directed period thriller, Changeling.

Her work as a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations High Commission For Refugees started after first visiting Cambodia where she partly filmed the first Tomb Raider. Since then, she has travelled to more than 30 countries, including many dangerous regions, highlighting the plight of refugees. She has also funded several humanitarian projects in Asia and Africa.

Jolie and her partner Brad Pitt have four children – Maddox, 7, Pax, 4, Zahara, 3, and two year old Shiloh.

Q: There’s a key scene in Wanted where the killer is chasing you and James’ character and you are hanging out of a car firing back at him. It looks incredible and frankly, highly dangerous. What was that like to film?

A: Oh good (laughs)! We did a little bit of everything. So I am actually driving for some of the time and I am actually on the hood for a big chunk of the time. We did some in the studio when I’m on the hood, and that was mostly for close ups of like heels on necks (laughs) and then most of it was on the streets of Chicago. It was fun, actually.

Q: Do you like doing those kinds of risky stunts?

A: I do, yes. It’s an adrenaline rush and it’s fun. I mean, it’s very much in our family. Brad and I met doing that kind of thing - we met on Mr and Mrs Smith. And we have that in common so it’s kind of what we shared before we met - with him doing those films and me doing those films so we have a good healthy competition in the house for craziness and things like that.

Q: It’s a very physical role in Wanted. Did that involve a lot of gym time for you?

A: Yes, a lot of gym and then each stunt requires it’s own preparation. With the car there’s nothing you can kind of train for – you know, for flipping around the car. But you do have to get on it and off it and hold the guns and figure out the choreography and practice it all. It involves so many different guns and leaning over the side of the car and the big stunt with the bus. So you kind of break it down into component parts. And then there is a physical fight that James and I have which took a lot of planning. I do get to kick his ass, though! (laughs) It’s always fun.

Q: You’ve done action films before but this was James’ first time. Was he was well prepared for the stunts?

A: He is very physical and I don’t know whether that’s from being properly trained. A lot of us in the States do a few acting classes and in Europe they train properly for years - they do a lot of stage fights and physical training and he’s done all of that and you can see it. He’s actually great. And you can see his transformation in the film. The film is really his character’s journey from this nerdy guy into one of us in The Fraternity. James was great.

Q: Were you a physical kid?

A: I was kind of a punk but I didn’t get picked on. I was more the one that people left alone because I was a bit of a loner. I would get into fights on behalf of other people but usually they’d remain verbal. I just really wasn’t somebody who was in other people’s face, I went my own way but I also wasn’t a pushover so I wasn’t the one that was targeted.

Q: Did you know Morgan Freeman before you worked with him on Wanted?

A: Brad had worked with him on Se7en and told me what a lovely guy he is and he is, he’s like Clint (Eastwood) who I worked with recently on a film called Changeling. He is a lot like Clint, I can see how they are good friends. He also flies a plane – and so does Clint - and if you sit next to him he starts speaking in French, then he’s singing and he sings beautifully and then he talks about flying airplanes and he talks about cooking. He’s a nice man but he is also such a liver of life. He’s younger than the young men on set and he’s just ready to take on anything! These guys are remarkable and there’s a lot we can learn from them. You put these guys, these alpha males, who are capable of anything and excited about life and have a great sense of humour and a good sense of fun about themselves, next to a new young guy who is probably brooding and moody! (laughs). Morgan and Clint are just great.

Q: And tell me about working with Timur…

A: He was good. The reason I decided to do the film was because I had seen one of his films and I had met him and I thought no matter how this turns out, there’s no way it’s going to be an average action movie.’ I knew that this man would bring some very interesting textures to it that are from ancient Russian story-telling, a European sensibility and from his time at art school. And he’s a real artist and I knew that it wasn’t just going to be that flashy summer cheap thing with Wanted. I knew that he would do something neat with everything and push things. And he did. I remember being on set and thinking ‘this is so weird’ with some of the things we did, some of the sets we had, and it was so crazy, but you know these things can be too cool sometimes but there is something very original about this.

Man From Earth is said to have been completed by Jerome Bixby on his deathbed. He is probably best know for either of two things: a writer on the original Star Trek series, or the Twilight Zone episode (It’s A Good Life), which was adapted by Rod Serling.

This film is a narrative based on a Professor John Oldman (David Less Smith) who unexpectedly resigns from the local university. As is with a close knit community, his friends and colleagues go around to his house to get an explanation of his sudden decision to resign. They are perturbed as to why he didn’t let them know sooner and as to why there is no ‘leaving get-together’. So, loaded with food and beer, they turn up and start the friendly ‘interrogation’.


The film based almost entirely on dialogue, a group of people sitting on sofas, chairs, the hearth and the floor. The film stars Tony Todd (Dan), John Billingsley (Harry), Ellen Crawford (Edith), Annika Peterson (Sandy), William Katt (Art), Alexis Thorpe (Linda Murphy) and Richard Riehle (Dr. Will Gruber).

As the story unfolds, furniture is removed from Oldman’s living room, and that’s about as much action as you get. The conversation changes to a ‘what-if’ game, in which Oldman says what if he is a prehistoric man, and that he has lived for many years, he would surely have to move every ten years. People would age around him, whereas he himself would never age. The visitors attempt to pick holes in his story, but it soon becomes futile, in that his tale is as impossible to prove and verify as it is to disprove.

The film depends entirely on dialogue and story. It is a seriously engaging film, argueably a work of art - I was glued to the screen all the way through. Man From Earth is a thinking person’s film. So if you fancy a change from million mile an hour paced films, you should put this on your list.

A nod to Richard Shenkman for taking this project on and believing in it.

To pseudo quote: “It brings back dignity to science fiction.”

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Southland Tales

From Richard Kelly, creator of (one of my favourite films) Donnie Darko.

“HAVE A NICE APOCALYPSE!” or “THIS IS THE WAY THE WORLD ENDS, NOT WITH A WHIMPER BUT WITH A BANG!”

I watched the checkdisk, my brain went to mush. And I could quite easily imagine that is where the above quotes come from, the mushing and/exploding of the brain. As Richard Kelly apparently said, “You need to watch it twice to unlock its mysteries”. Yeah, no brainer really, it’s like a weird comic with so many strands and freaky things all at once it makes me think maybe he made it for his own amusement - a lets see how many ideas and effects and storylines and actors and other such things we can have in a large viewing timeframe-, and forgot there were people who were looking forward to it, to having to pay to watch it, to at least get some semblence of a cohesive story from watching it.

I’ll be putting myself through 2 hrs 25 minutes in the next day or so, and hopefully will be able to work out what the heck was going on.

By the way, the above doesn’t mean I dislike it, it’s just a lot for the five senses to take in. I think two of mine shutdown after about an hour and a half, so, once they’re bolstered up and recovered, I’ll re examine the film.

Until then, here’s some info to whet your appetite…

DEBUTS ON DVD 31 MARCH 2008

Universal Pictures (UK) will release Richard Kelly’s Southland Tales to own and rent on DVD 31 March 2008. The highly anticipated follow up feature to cult favourite Donnie Darko stars Dwayne Johnson, Seann William Scott, Sarah Michelle Geller, Justin Timberlake, Mandy Moore and Miranda Richardson.

Writer and director Richard Kelly’s debut feature film Donnie Darko grew from cult status into a phenomenal smash hit when released on DVD. And DVD is the perfect way to experience his new film, as its multi-layered story demands repeat viewings and the crystal clear picture and awesome sound quality will further heighten the impact of the outstanding special effects and excellent soundtrack that includes music specially composed for the film by Moby. The film will be accompanied by the insightful documentary that runs for over 30 minutes, USIdent TV – Survielling the Southland (The Making of Southland Tales).

Similar to Kelly’s groundbreaking, unconventional debut feature, Southland Tales is a multilayered vision which defies categorisation. A visceral experience, with stunning production values, special effects and a heavy nod to pop culture, the film is part dark comedy, part sci-fi, part thriller, part fairy tale, and even part musical and it is the singular vision of one man.

Los Angeles, 2008: The city stands on the brink of social, economic and environmental disaster. Southland Tales is an epic story narrated by Iraq veteran Private Pilot Abilene (Justin Timberlake) and is set over the course of three days centered in Los Angeles that culminate in an apocalyptic 4th July climax. Together with Abilene (Timberlake), the large ensemble cast of characters includes Boxer Santaros (Dwayne Johnson), an action star stricken with amnesia, Krysta Now (Sarah Michelle Gellar), an adult film star developing her own reality television project, and Roland Taverner (Seann William Scott), a Hermosa Beach police officer who holds the key to a vast conspiracy.

Richard Kelly comments, “What is it all about in the end? I think it’s about where our country is going, our current dilemma when you’re talking about alternative fuel, terrorism, our civil liberties being taken away from us, and the potential effects of environmental degradation on human behaviour, neurological responses, global warming. You know, there’s a lot going on here.”

Product Information
Release Date: 31 March 2008
Release Type: Retail and Rental DVD
Copyright: Film © 2006 MHF Zweite Academy Film GMBH & Co. KG. All Rights Reserved. Artwork and Packaging Design © 2008 Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved.
Certificate: 15
Genre: Drama / Sci-fi
Price: £19.99 RRP
Extras: USIdent TV – Survielling the Southland (The Making of Southland Tales)
Running Time: 145 mins approx
Audio: English 5.1
Website: http://www.southlandtales.com

Fraser Coull at Silly Wee Films are to release the episodes of Night Is Day as a feature length edit.

The sci-fi/drama series follows the life of Jason Mackenzie, a young Glaswegian who is bestowed with the power of ancient lightening demi-gods, allowing him the power of foresight whenever he touches another human being.

However when he does, a charge of electrical energy transfers from his body into the person he touches. This can be fatal to both Jason and anyone he comes into contact with.

The feature length DVD is due for release in January. It will include a 50 minute behind the scenes documentary, outtakes from all 6 episodes, cast interviews, a photo gallery, promotional trailers and a music video for Transaudio’s “Frequencies” which is the official theme tune to the series.

Seeing the outcome of the editing will be interesting: will it be edited straight off as it is, sequentially, or will it be edited (as much as can be) across episodes…

You can get upto the minute information from the newly designed nightisday.com.

Watch episodes of Night Is Day.

Read other articles/reviews/background on Night Is Day.

Near the start of its development, we reviewed episode one and episode two of BloodSpell.

It has now been edited together, and the entire story has been released as a feature film, available for free download.

BloodSpell has been four years (and one month) in the making. It’s a “punk fantasy” adventure
story, about a world where some people are infected with magic in their blood. When that blood is spilled, the magic comes out, to harm or heal.

These people have been forced into slums and magical hiding places by the Church of the Angels, who believes they must hunt the “Blooded” down and bring them to their Angelic master to be “cleansed”. The story starts when a young warrior monk in training with the Church discovers that he has magic in his blood, and has to flee into the world of the Blooded…

“Bloodspell”, says Hugh Hancock, the guy behind it, “contains epic battles across clifftops, gladiatorial fights with enormous monsters, cockney guardian demons, love, family and all that good stuff.”

After episode two I realised that this wasn’t really my kind of thing, although I do appreciate the technicalities involved, so I didn’t watch the remainder of the episodes.

Hugh also mentions that they’ve had great press - bbc.co.uk and the BBC World Service, Suicide Girls, USA Today, The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, BoingBoing, SFX magazine, and loads more places.

BloodSpell runs 84 minutes long. It’s available for download or streaming from http://www.bloodspell.com/film/list/, and was made in Neverwinter Nights.

Day Watch (Dnevnoy dozor) is the sequel to Night Watch (Nochnoy dozor) and is due to be released October 5th 2007. It is directed by Timur Bekmambetov, produced by Konstantin Ernst and Anatoly Maximov, with the screenplay by Segei Lukyanenko, Timur Bakmambetov and Alexander Talal.

Starring Maria Porishina, Vladimir Menshov, Galina Tyunina, Victor Verzhbitskiy, Zhanna Friske, Dima Martyniv, Valeriy Zolothukhin and Aleksey Chadov.

To show you what the visual effects, sound effects and overall essence of the film will be, we’ve been given an exclusive clip of Day Watch for you to look at. If you’re into fantasy with some neat, but not over the top, effects, then have a look at this.

It’s not too long and will give you a nice taste of the film.

Day Watch Exclusive Clip:

Quicktime

High : Medium : Low

Realplayer

High : Medium : Low

Windows Media Player

High : Medium : Low

All Posts For NightWatch / DayWatch (Interviews, images, trailers).
Part 1: NightWatch To DayWatch (Dnevnoi Dozor) Introduction
Part 2: Inside The Film’s Origin: DayWatch (Dnevnoi Dozor)
Part 3: Casting Of The Dark And Light Ones: DayWatch (Dnevnoi Dozor)

In production from Pulsemedia situated in Reggio Nell’ Emilia, Italy, this enticing fantasy follows a small nine year old boy on his journey and destiny.

It is directed by Lazzaro M. Ferrari, written and produced by Tara Thomson and the executive producer is Roberto Ruini, founder of Pulsemedia. Director of photography is Tobia Sempi. It was shot on state of the art HD equipment and is currently about 12 minutes long.

The story is based on a Native American Legend, where an old man has stolen the night and placed it in a vase. The villagers bake under the sun all day and cannot sleep nor dream because night never comes. The boy goes on a journey with the horse and discovers his destiny/curse restoring the balance. The imagery is modern and surreal.

A Vase Of Darkness will have two versions; one all in Italian and one with English narration and English subtitles. It will be very easy to follow as there is very little dialogue.

In process is the cutting of the back stage interviews with the director, writer and other people involved in the project. Including the animal trainer who supplied the ‘fable like’ white snow pony that is used for a major part of the film, and the head of one of the largest and oldest factories in Europe, bombed for manufacturing war planes. The village looks like an abandoned village from the past and creates an ideal backdrop for the story. A scene includes a shot in the warehouse space which holds an enormous furnace which was used to melt metals.

The soundtrack was done by Massimo Zamboni of the former CCCP and CSI. The final publicity shot selection and captions will be finalized soon and I will put them up then.

Pulsemedia are a few weeks away from the final cut and final soundtrack, hoping to meet the deadline of August 31st ready for the Torino Film Festival (if they decide to enter). Eventually they hope to submit it to top Film Festivals around the world.