I know a lot of my fellow Brits were really bummed out when the Weinsteins yanked the original theatrical back-to-back cut of Grindhouse from U.K. cinema’s, only to then release Death Proof and Planet Terror singularly and without all the cool extra’s (trailers, scratchy reels, etc) some six months later.

And with the lackluster region 2 dvd release and the ultra and ridiculously priced Japanese boxset (which is the only way you will see the original cut at home), I’m aware that many of you have still yet to taste the greatness that was the Grindhouse experience or even the films by themselves.

Well I have some good news for you even if it has come one year too late.

Grindhouse in it’s original form is touring virtually all parts of the U.K. for special night showings. There’s not much excuse now because there is bound to be a cinema near you.

How many of you are going to see this.? I know I am, especially if it stays priced the same as a normal theatre ticket.

I am not kidding when I saw watching Grindhouse was one of the top movie going experiences of my life…

Curzon Soho Midnight Movies - Friday 28 March SOLD OUT
Prince Charles Cinema London - From Saturday 29 March
Ritzy Brixton - From Friday 28 March
Everyman Hampstead - 30 March
Grosvenor Glasgow - 28 & 29 March
Cinema City Norwich - 28-30 March & 3 April
Odeon Manchester Printworks - From Friday 28 March
Odeon Basingstoke - 28 & 29 March
Odeon Cardiff - 28 & 29 March
Odeon Dundee - 28 & 29 March
Odeon Dunfermline - 28 & 29 March
Odeon Kingston - 28 & 29 March
Odeon Lee Valley - 28 & 29 March
Odeon Leicester - 28 & 29 March
Odeon Norwich - 28 & 29 March
Odeon Southampton - 28 & 29 March
Odeon Surrey Quays - 28 & 29 March
Vue Acton - 28 & 29 March
Vue Birmingham Star City - 28 & 29 March
Vue Bristol Cribbs - 28 & 29 March
Vue Cheshire Oaks - 28 & 29 March
Vue Croydon Purley Way - 28 & 29 March
Vue Finchley North - 28 & 29 March
Vue Finchley Road - 28 & 29 March
Vue Fulham - 28 & 29 March
Vue Greenwich - 28 & 29 March
Vue Islington - 28 & 29 March
Vue Leeds Light - 28 & 29 March
Vue Leicester - 28 & 29 March
Vue Plymouth - 28 & 29 March
Vue Portsmouth - 28 & 29 March
Vue Reading - 28 & 29 March
Vue Romford - 28 & 29 March
Vue Shepherds Bush - 28 & 29 March
Vue Swansea - 28 & 29 March
Empire Basildon - 28 & 29 March
Empire Newcastle - 28 & 29 March
Showcase Bristol - From Friday 28 March
Showcase Manchester - From Friday 28 March
Filmhouse Edinburgh - 5 April
Picturehouse Clapham - 6 April
City Screen York - 6 April
Glasgow Film Theatre - 6 April
Campus West Welwyn Garden City - 10 April
Picturehouse Greenwich - 9, 13 & 14 April
Fact Liverpool - 12 & 13 April
Duke of Yorks Brighton - 12 & 13 April
Cameo Edinburgh - 13 April
IFI Dublin - 18 & 19 April
Cornerhouse Manchester - 18-21 April
Dukes Lancaster - 18 & 19 April
Ritz Belper - 18 & 19 April
Odeon Beckenham - Tuesday 22 April
Odeon Cardiff - Tuesday 22 April
Odeon Chatham - Tuesday 22 April
Odeon Derby - Tuesday 22 April
Odeon Guildford - Tuesday 22 April
Odeon Kilmarnock - Tuesday 22 April
Odeon Warrington - Tuesday 22 April
Odeon Wrexham - Tuesday 22 April
Electric Birmingham - 26 & 27 April
Odeon Brighton - Tuesday 29 April
Odeon Harrogate - Tuesday 29 April
Odeon Hatfield - Tuesday 29 April
Odeon Kettering - Tuesday 29 April
Odeon Preston - Tuesday 29 April
Odeon Salisbury - Tuesday 29 April
Odeon Telford - Tuesday 29 April
Odeon Worcester - Tuesday 29 April
Aberystwyth Arts Centre - 2nd May
Odeon Basingstoke - Tuesday 6 May
Odeon Birmingham - Tuesday 6 May
Odeon Chelmsford - Tuesday 6 May
Odeon Holloway - Tuesday 6 May
Odeon Hull - Tuesday 6 May
Odeon Manchester - Trafford Tuesday 6 May
Odeon Newcastle Silverlinks - Tuesday 6 May
Odeon Swansea - Tuesday 6 May
Odeon Blackpool - Tuesday 13 May
Odeon Braehead - Tuesday 13 May
Odeon Coventry - Tuesday 13 May
Odeon Kingston - Tuesday 13 May
Odeon Leicester - Tuesday 13 May
Odeon Maidstone - Tuesday 13 May
Odeon Southampton - Tuesday 13 May
Odeon Taunton - Tuesday 13 May
Eden Court Inverness - 17-19 May
Picturehouse Hyde Park Leeds - 19 & 20 May
Odeon Bridgend - Tuesday 20 May
Odeon Bromborough - Tuesday 20 May
Odeon Dudley - Tuesday 20 May
Odeon Dundee - Tuesday 20 May
Odeon Lincoln - Tuesday 20 May
Odeon Norwich - Tuesday 20 May
Odeon Streatham - Tuesday 20 May
Odeon Tunbridge Wells - Tuesday 20 May
Odeon Bath - Tuesday 27 May
Odeon Bracknell - Tuesday 27 May
Odeon Dunfermline - Tuesday 27 May
Odeon Huddersfield - Tuesday 27 May
Odeon Liverpool - Tuesday 27 May
Odeon Oxford - Tuesday 27 May
Odeon Port Solent - Tuesday 27 May
Odeon Uxbridge - Tuesday 27 May
Odeon Aylesbury - Tuesday 3 June
Odeon Bournemouth - Tuesday 3 June
Odeon East Kilbride - Tuesday 3 June
Odeon Liverpool Switch Island - Tuesday 3 June
Odeon Manchester Printworks - Tuesday 3 June
Odeon Sheffield - Tuesday 3 June
Odeon Southend - Tuesday 3 June
Odeon Wimbledon - Tuesday 3 June
New Park Chichester - Saturday 7 June
Odeon Colchester - Tuesday 10 June
Odeon Epsom - Tuesday 10 June
Odeon Glasgow Quay - Tuesday 10 June
Odeon Maidenhead - Tuesday 10 June
Odeon Rochdale - Tuesday 10 June
Odeon Stoke - Tuesday 10 June
Odeon Tamworth - Tuesday 10 June

source - filmstalker

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You know yesterday when we said Clint Eastwood was pushing through a secret movie titled Gran Torino which many believed had already begun production without word of the cast, crew or even the plot making it out in the trades, or elsewhere?

Well the truth is out there now and it’s the last thing I would ever have thought of.

A reader has sent AICN the scoop that it’s going to be a new Dirty Harry movie…

Can it be true? Here’s that letter to AICN…

Nobody seems to know – not even the trades – what Clint Eastwood’s new movie, Gran Torino, is…. So I’ll tell you.

I recently advertised my 1974 ford grand torino classic original for sale in the local here, and within 24 hours had someone from Village Roadshow Pictures interested in having a look at it. He came. He wasn’t interested for numerous reasons (probably the modifications). He told me they were looking for the right car for a new Clint Eastwood movie.

He said it was a thriller about a killer that drives a certain torino. His 1972 Ford Gran Torino is the only thing the police have on him. A retired police lieutenant, one Harry Callahan, makes it his mission to track down the culprit when two young police officers, one Callahan’s grandson, are shot and killed by the guy.

So there you have it.

Hope that helps.

On with the show,

Kurt, North Hollywood.

Clint Eastwood hasn’t done a Dirty Harry movie for twenty years, his last movie as the popular dirty cop was in 1988 with The Dead Pool which as far as 5th movies in a cinematic franchise go it wasn’t all bad. It’s better and more respectful to the character for example than Rocky V or A Nightmare on Elm Street 5.

Though Eastwood was looking old in 1988. He’s frikkin’ 78 in May. And he looks it too, even if he has kept himself in shape.

Having said that of course, the Dirty Harry character could be a fascinating character to see in this modern age. If this is true, it’s reminiscent of John Wayne and his last movie The Shootist (which was always seen as Wayne’s version of Harry - after he was the original choice for the role of Harry Callaghan but he turned them down).

One thing that immediately comes to mind is Unforgiven, Clint Eastwood’s revisionist Western movie of the early 90’s which found so much power and gravitas in a darker take on The Man With No Name which Eastwood made a phenomenon in the 60’s with Sergio Leone.

Is Eastwood going to do this kind of thing with Harry? Is this going to be a dark, brooding, revisionist… very much Paul Haggis style, Dirty Harry movie?

Certainly his last movies Million Dollar Baby and his two Iwo Jima movies AND Unforgiven would fit this.

Stallone’s done it (twice), Willis, Murphy is wanting to do it, Indy of course. Everyone is doing it. Maybe it’s just human nature for Eastwood to be attempting this.

Though I wouldn’t take this story as verbatim just yet. It’s kinda hard to believe that a Hollywood studio would let the cat out of the bag so easily to a guy selling them a damn car but hey, stranger things have happened.

But then everything seems like it fits. Eastwood’s last movies have been moving towards this, as have the actors from the 70’s and 80’s era. The title fits, the secrecy fits, the studio (WB) fits. So Dirty Harry 6 in December, can you believe it?

It’s looking more and more likely that Marvel are beginning to balk at Thor (see this Article) and are maybe getting cold feet over the hardly easily adaptable superhero. Add to that the fact that Stardust ended up being such a box office disaster and you can see where they are coming from.

AICN are running the exclusive today that Vaughn is working in collaboration with John Romita Jr and Mark Millar to write and direct a movie version of their brand new Marvel comic Kick-Ass whose first issue hit the stands last month. Is this going to be Vaughn’s test at Marvel before they will go ahead with Thor?

From Marvel.com

Have you ever wanted to be a super hero? Dreamed of donning a mask and just heading outside to some kick-ass? Well, this is the book for you–the comic that starts where other super hero books draw the line. KICK-ASS is realistic super heroes taken to the next level.

Yes it would seem the book is about an ordinary guy who becomes a superhero to fight crime in the real world. From the looks of things it’s Spider-Man but with the 100% realistic tone of something like Unbreakable and without the special powers that went through both flicks.

It’s basic premise is if YOU became a superhero tomorrow. (He buys his costume of eBay).

It’s said to be a very tongue in cheek but importantly wholly realistic.

AICN suggest that the project may only make it’s way to shoot if the adapted Mark Millar comic Wanted finds an audience this summer.

Although I’ve been dying to see what Vaughn would cook up with Thor this project could be interesting and if it’s his way to show Marvel that he is very much capable of adapting one of their books into a Kick-Ass (pun intended) and profitable flick, then so be it.

William Monahan (The Departed, Kingdom of Heaven) who must have invented a way to avoid sleep, has added yet another project to his ever growing schedule.

Monahan has been hired by Paramount to write a screenplay out of this incredible story…

The son of a police chief, Keene fell from grace after he was caught dealing drugs. As an alternative to a 10 years-to-life sentence, he was allowed to cozy up to a man authorities believed murdered 25 young women. Only the prison psychiatrist knew Keene was undercover, plus a visiting “girlfriend” who was actually an FBI agent.

So it’s shares many of the undercover themes Monahan wrote for The Departed and also has a bit of Silence of the Lambs tension built in and maybe some One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (think they will actually hint at the police chief being insane?). How cool does this movie sound?

The incredible true story is set to be published in Playboy later this year.

source - variety

Just over a week ago we told you that director Neil Marshall, whose latest film Doomsday is in the theatres right now and is being described as a cluttered fuckfest of insanity, was set to direct a Horror movie set in the Old Wild West.

Now Variety have word of another deal the Newcastle born director has secured and for the first time it’s a big studio project, setup at Universal!

He is set to direct an adaptation of James Sallis novel Drive. Hugh Jackman will star as long as scheduling permits…

The script comes from Hossein Amini, the writer of The Four Feathers.

Set mostly in Arizona and L.A., the story is, according to Sallis, “…about a guy who does stunt driving for movies by day and drives for criminals at night. In classic noir fashion, he is double-crossed and, though before he has never participated in the violence (’I drive. That’s all.’), he goes after the ones who doublecrossed and tried to kill him.”

Marshall says the project appealed to him because of the three “amazing” car chases in the story and for his chance to direct a different kind of film noir concept. He hopes to begin filming in the summer.

Ask me what my three favourite car movies are. I would give you…

Duel

Two Lane Blacktop

Death Proof

All assured directed movies. Can Marshall add a fourth to that list? The material sure sounds decent enough (I love serial killer car flicks!) let’s hope he keeps Jackman on board.

Gary Oldman, whose career is predictable for doing the unpredictable (i.e, he’s doing a horror/thriller for David Goyer which maybe you would say was a little beneath him, perhaps?) has joined the cast of the Japanese-set thriller Rain Fall.

The movie will be the second directorial effort for writer/director Max Mannix (Dance of the Dragon) and will shoot next month with only 15% English dialogue (presumably everything involving Oldman)…

Adapted from a novel by best- selling American author Barry Eisler, pic is story of a hit man who is forced to protect the daughter of one of his victims against assassination by the CIA. Shiina Kippei (“Shinobi”) and Akiho Hasegawa star.

The film is being financed in part by Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan and is budgeted at over $7 million with the help of completion Bond, the first time a Japanese movie has used such a distinciton.

Lord knows so many Japanese actors make the journey to the U.S. to star in Hollywood movies, I would like to see more actors from this part of the world make the journey over there more often.

And really, who better than Oldman to fly the flag for us Brits?

source - variety

Directed by: Tim Burton

Written by: Caroline Thompson (screenplay & story), Tim Burton (story)

Starring: Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder, Dianne West, Anthony Michael Hall, Kathy Baker, Alan Arkin, Vincent Price

Distributed by 20th Century Fox

Film was released December 7th, 1989.

Review by Ray DeRousse

By 1990, a 32 year-old Tim Burton had established himself as Hollywood’s quirky, eccentric cash cow with his three previous smash hits.

His feature film debut, a colorful and idiotic masterpiece starring man-child Pee Wee Herman, defied all expectations and became a cult hit in the summer of 1985. Burton followed that in 1988 with Beetlejuice, a zesty and bizarre tale of the afterlife. Then, Burton crafted a gothically art-deco rendition of Batman that became a worldwide phenomenon in 1989.

Burton’s first three films revealed his gift for visual imagination and creative shot composition. Each film had indelible imagery and editing: the kitchen sequence in Pee Wee’s Big Adventure … the haunted dinner sequence in Beetlejuice … the museum sequence in Batman.

However, all three films also illustrated Burton’s inability to connect with his material beyond the visual elements. While all three suffered from poorly-constructed scripts, Burton never attempted to look past the next whiz-bang technical exercise and into the deeper aspects of the story. In other words, his first three films were pretty and shallow.

With Edward Scissorhands, Burton attempted to create a heartfelt story that he could connect with emotionally as well as visually. With similar shocks of black hair - and reclusive personalities to match - Edward was the cinematic equivalent of Burton himself. In essence, Edward Scissorhands was to Burton what E.T. The Extraterrestrial was to a young Steven Spielberg.

As most film geeks know, Edward Scissorhands follows the story of a leather-clad robot (?) named Edward, who was created by a kindly and eccentric inventor played by Vincent Price. When the inventor dies, Edward is left alone in the enormous castle on a hill for an untold amount of time before being discovered by an Avon lady named Peg from the surrounding neighborhood below. A warm-hearted woman, Peg takes Edward with her into middle class suburban America in order to “help him.” This sets up Edward’s clash with a society that cannot understand him, and results in his ultimate rejection by the end of the film. Along the way, however, Edward discovers true love, and helps others to re-engage their sense of wonder.

Unsurprisingly, the film is a visual marvel. From the shadows of the ruined attic, to the enormous, elongated staircases, to the poppy, sixties kitsch of suburbia, Edward Scissorhands zings along with colorful settings, moody lighting, and inventive camera angles.

The script, a labor of love between Burton and early collaborator Caroline Thompson, revisits familiar Burton territory. Like all of Burton’s previous protagonists - Pee Wee, Adam, Barbara, and Lydia from Beetlejuice, and Batman himself - Edward is an outsider who longs to be accepted by others in “normal” society. However, the inclusion of a teenaged love story in Scissorhands strengthened this theme and provides it with an emotional heft lacking in his previous efforts.

Once again, Burton shows a knack for perfect casting. His primary stroke of genius was the inclusion of Johnny Depp as the title character. Depp, who was fresh from a long and successful stint as a teen heartthrob on 21 Jump Street, seemed unlikely to handle the bizarre trappings of this character. However, Depp turns in a powerful, commanding performance as Edward. As Burton guessed, Depp’s flawless face and soulful eyes sells the character’s inherent goodness and naivete, while Depp reveals perfect timing in a role that requires physical precision. This was the beginning of a long - and somewhat ill-fated - partnership between Burton and Depp, one that may have actually ruined potential projects like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Sweeney Todd … depending on your point of view.

The rest of the cast, with a few exceptions, turn in note-perfect performances. Dianne Weist is magnificent as Peg, her squinty eyes and warm smile radiating love and and tenderness. Alan Arkin, always just under the acting radar, exemplifies the aloof, cliche-spouting suburban Dad with perfect comic timing. Other standouts include Kathy Baker as an oversexed, polyester-clad neighbor, and O-Lan Jones as religious nutcase Esmerelda. And as the final masterstroke, Burton managed to bring legendary Vincent Price into the movie as the creative inventor. Filmed just months prior to his death, Price brings a classic, fairy-tale air to the film. Try to imagine anyone else reading a story to Edward, and you suddenly realize what Price brings to his small role, and to the film as a whole.

The weaker elements of the film begin with two terrible performances. Winona Ryder, already a Burton veteran from her supporting role in Beetlejuice, turns in a bland, lifeless performance as Kim, the Homecoming Queen-turned-Edward-love-interest. Ryder, armed with blond hair almost as incomprehensible as her mumbling whine, quickly becomes intolerable. As it turns out, it is easy to see why she would be attracted to the film’s central antagonist Jim, played horribly by Anthony Michael Hall. The character is shoddily written, and Hall portrays him with the subtlety of a derailed train. As he has shown in other films, Burton has control problems with the actors playing the villains in his films. All too often, he allows his actors to overact in these roles; like Hall, we have seen Jack Nicholson overact shamelessly in Batman, and Tim Roth overact in Planet of the Apes. However, most of Burton’s films lack a definitive villain - perhaps wisely - but this only weakens Burton’s flimsy grasp of dramatic structure. Here, the inclusion of a villain distracts and disrupts the careful tone of the first half of the movie.

Even with a strong emotional subject and a dynamic lead performance, Burton fails to dig deeper than the surface for emotional impact. Time and again, Burton fixates on quirky comedic moments or the occasional mocking of contemporary society rather than the penetrating love story at the heart of the film. While Burton gets the correct tone for Edward’s feeling of alienation, he rarely manages to build a believable romance that fuels the second half of the film.

It is this second half that ultimately reduces the power of Edward Scissorhands. Rather than carefully craft a meaningful third act, Burton and Thompson instead rely on clumsy plot contrivances - Jim using Edward to break into his Dad’s house, the townspeople chasing Edward to the castle, and the final confrontation - that are completely out-of-touch with the rest of the film. In particular, Edward’s killing of Jim is reprehensible considering what has been previously established, and is a cop-out at best. Burton here shows a weakness that has plagued many of his films; his inability to navigate a story through to a satisfying conclusion has, in my mind, ruined films like Mars Attacks, Planet of the Apes, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Much of the emotional weight that helps rectify these problems comes from a masterful score by composer Danny Elfman. The former leader of pop group Oingo Boingo, a frequent Burton collaborator, here produces his finest score to date. Tender, pensive, and romantic, Elfman provides a lush, yearning soundtrack that perfectly captures the emotions Burton strives for in his images. Even during the uneven third act, Elfman glosses over many problems with his operatic choruses and plucky strings.

Despite its shallowness and major third-act troubles, Edward Scissorhands has continued to resonate with audiences in the years since its release. Much of this can be attributed to Depp’s sensitive lead performance, Elfman’s grandiose themes, and Burton’s keen visual eye. However, like many of Burton’s films, Scissorhands remains a visual delight - and an emotionally detached experience. Much like Edward himself, we are left wide-eyed in wonder … and unable to touch a thing.

This is the third of our long running Spotlight on Tim Burton series. Next up will be Paul W.J. Martin’s take on the creative labor of love that was A Nightmare Before Christmas.

You can read Matt Holmes’ article on Batman by clicking HERE.

You can read Chris Daniels’ article on Beetlejuice by clicking HERE.

I’ve never been big into Japanese animation which is probably why my anticipation for the straight to DVD movie Batman: Gotham Knight has been kept fairly reserved up to now.

Still, I can’t help but get a little giddy when I hear the news that Bat legend Kevin Conroy will return to voice the character he totally owns when it comes to an animated Batman.

My absolute favourite incarnation of the character outside of comics was the animated t.v. show of the 90’s. I think the character has huge potential in the medium. I’ve heard very slight rumors that if movies like this and of course the recent release of Justice League: The New Frontier do well at the box office then it might see such stories as Batman: The Long Halloween and The Dark Knight Returns adapted in the same way.

Here’s some new shots from Batman: Gotham Knight which will be released just a few weeks before The Dark Knight’s theatrical run in July. Can’t frikkin wait…

source - aicn

Love it.

Benicio del Toro is The Wolf Man!

I haven’t been this excited over a classic 50’s style horror movie since Van Helsing, a movie which of course featured a really crappy and lame version of this legendary character.

That kind of crap would never have ventured into a Mark Romanek movie. But now he’s gone, let’s hope new helmer Joe Johnston has the same mentality.

Unfortunately, it’s still over a year to go before this guy see’s the light of day…

source - aicn, entertainment weekly

The extremely recognisable and constantly in demand character actor Neal McDonough (Minority Report, Flags of our Fathers) has been cast in the role of Bison for Hyde Park Entertainment’s Street Fighter movie.

As we’ve said before, very strangely the movie will follow the rather uninteresting character of Chun-Li (Smallville’s Kristen Kreuk) and it’s a complete restart with no connections to the 1995 Jean Claude Van Damme/Kylie Minogue disaster.

The rest of the boring cast includes…

Michael Clarke Duncan…. BALROG

Taboo (from the Black Eyed Peas)… VEGA

Chris Klein… NASH

Rick Yune… GEN

Moon Bloodgood, Edmund Chen and Cheng Pei Pei in unknown roles.

Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li will be directed by Andrzej Bartkowiak, who translated the equally popular video game Doom into a crappy movie three years ago.

Justin Marks, who we are going to hear an awful lot more from in the coming years as he has wrote the screenplays for the huge movies Voltron, Masters of the Universe and Super Max (the Green Arrow movie) is credited with writing the screenplay.

Marks’ sudden rise in the industry is the only think keeping me going for this movie at this point. And at worse, it can’t be any worse than the last attempt to make this one dimensional video game into a movie… right?

source - coming soon