DVD News - Clash of the Titans (2010)

Warner Home Video has announced DVD and Blu-ray releases of Clash of the Titans (2010) for the 27th July. The only extra material on the DVD release will be additional scenes. The Blu-ray release will include the additional scenes, along with an exclusive alternate ending, a Sam Worthington: An Action Hero for the Ages featurette, and a Maximum Movie Mode with enhanced scene breakdowns, enhanced VFX breakdowns, on-the-spot vignettes, and more.

Movie News - Tony Jaa is finished

At one point Tony Jaa was the most exciting martial arts star on the planet. Then he became a big weird joke. And now he's done. Twitchfilm is reporting that Tony Jaa has quit filmmaking and become a monk in Thailand.

This doesn't necessarily mean his career is at an end, though. Twitch points out that it's not uncommon in Thai culture to take some time to join a monastery, and Jaa could eventually leave the religious life and return to kicking ass in movies, but it's unlikely that this will happen any time soon.

Jaa's career has been on a downward spiral; after demanding directorial control on Ong Bak 2 he got it, and turned in a movie with good action but really shitty everything else. I haven't seen Ong Bak 3 but hear that it's terrible - according to Twitch it's essentially a failure in Thailand.

Movie News - Guillermo Del Toro Leaves The Hobbit

Sad, sad news. I think everyone was very excited to see what Del Toro would bring to the table. Lets hope Jackson picks up the reigns...
Anyway, here is the press release.

“In light of ongoing delays in the setting of a start date for filming “The Hobbit,” I am faced with the hardest decision of my life”, says Guillermo. “After nearly two years of living, breathing and designing a world as rich as Tolkien’s Middle Earth, I must, with great regret, take leave from helming these wonderful pictures. I remain grateful to Peter, Fran and Philippa Boyens, New Line and Warner Brothers and to all my crew in New Zealand. I’ve been privileged to work in one of the greatest countries on earth with some of the best people ever in our craft and my life will be forever changed. The blessings have been plenty, but the mounting pressures of conflicting schedules have overwhelmed the time slot originally allocated for the project. Both as a co-writer and as a director, I wlsh the production nothing but the very best of luck and I will be first in line to see the finished product. I remain an ally to it and its makers, present and future, and fully support a smooth transition to a new director”.

“We feel very sad to see Guillermo leave the Hobbit, but he has kept us fully in the loop and we understand how the protracted development time on these two films, due to reasons beyond anyone’s control – has compromised his commitment to other long term projects”, says Executive Producer Peter Jackson. “The bottom line is that Guillermo just didn’t feel he could commit six years to living in New Zealand, exclusively making these films, when his original commitment was for three years. Guillermo is one of the most remarkable creative spirits I’ve ever encountered and it has been a complete joy working with him. Guillermo’s strong vision is engrained into the scripts and designs of these two films, which are extremely fortunate to be blessed with his creative DNA”.

“Guillermo is co-writing the Hobbit screenplays with Philippa Boyens, Fran Walsh and myself, and happily our writing partnership will continue for several more months, until the scripts are fine tuned and polished” says Jackson. “New Line and Warner Bros will sit down with us this week, to ensure a smooth and uneventful transition, as we secure a new director for the Hobbit. We do not anticipate any delay or disruption to ongoing pre-production work”.

I'm sure it wont be long before we see a few names thrown around...

Movie News - Conan : The Unseen!

This pic of Conan is one of the most amazing pieces of make up and costume design I've seen for the character. This was a make up test done by Warner bros. a while ago. Yes this is an actual pic, not a painting. It makes me sad when I see the on set pics of Conan currently filming, a nice pretty and clean Conan. not a grizzled and scared Conan like this bad ass to the right here. How could this of been over looked when it came time to sign off on the look of Conan???
I'm sad now.

Movie News - Judge Dredd

We've known for a while that work on a new JUDGE DREDD movie was underway - we've even gotten a glimpse at purported concept art from the project (HERE). But there were some key pieces missing...that're now starting to fall into place.

Mike Fleming says The Powers That Be have successfully financed the film, which has also found a director. Presumably, all of this is coming about in anticipation of pimping the project at Cannes over the next week or two.

Andrew Macdonald’s DNA Films has made a deal with India-based Reliance Big Entertainment and IM Global to finance Judge Dredd, a 3D film that was scripted by Alex Garland, and will be directed by Pete Travis,

..says Deadline HERE.

Scripter Alex Garland wrote 28 DAYS LATER, SUNSHINE, and that HALO movie which never got made. Pete Travis directed VANTAGE POINT (with Dennis Quaid, Matthew Fox, Forrest Whitaker and Sigourney Weaver).

They're evidently going back to the comic source material (HERE) as opposed to cannibalizing Stallone's 1995 movie...

DVD Review - Let the Right One In (R4)

Vampire films have captured the hearts and minds of cinemagoers since the advent of the medium, sparked by Max Schrek's iconic turn in F.W Murnau's 1922 feature Nosferatu in the first film adaptation of Bram Stoker's archetypal horror novel "Dracula". Over the years, the face, flavour and tone of the Dracula story has changed through countless iterations, from Tod Browning's 1930 version starring Bela Lugosi, to Francis Ford Coppola's 1993 feature starring Gary Oldman, and including comic, modern and action versions - Dracula Dead and Loving It, Dracula 2000, and Van Helsing respectively - however the mass appeal has remained. Indeed, the wider vampire legend has been heartily embraced by the film and television community in general, firmly entrenching the genre staple into popular consciousness through popular TV programs (some witty like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, some paint-by-numbers like Moonlight, some racy and fresh like True Blood), male-oriented action features (the three Blade films, the Underworld trilogy, 30 Days of Night, Daybreakers), period dramas (Interview With The Vampire), teen fare (The Lost Boys, the Buffy the Vampire Slayer film), shlock-horrors (From Dusk Til Dawn) and derivative romances (the Twilight saga, of course), and cementing the vampire as a cultural phenomenon.

Not to discount the appeal of the mass market fare, along the way a few truly unique offerings were crafted outside the popular vampire molud. Films such as George A Romero's Martin, Kathryn Bigelow's Near Dark, Guillermo del Toro's Cronos and Park Chan-wook's Thirst presented a different take on the age-old story, and each reinvented the genre as a result. With all things vampire back in flavour thanks to the current pre-teen obsession cultivated by Stephenie Meyer's inane books, thankfully innovation is still inherent in the vampire universe as illustrated by Swedish feature and instant classic, Let The Right One In (Låt den rätte komma in). The latest and greatest in the alternative vamp school of cinema, presenting an adolescent story with adult sensibilities populated with a cast of unknowns (no Robert Pattinson in sight), Let The Right One In is a critically applauded, culturally relevant, cult-status film that deservedly ranks amongst the best in the genre.

Whilst gazing out his bedroom window into the snowy night sky, twelve-year-old Oskar (Kåre Hedebrant, in his first film role) witnesses the arrival of a young girl and a man he assumes is her father. The next day they meet in person in the playground adjoining their apartment complex, with Oskar hopeful of befriending Eli (Lina Leandersson, again a newcomer to the silver screen) to fill the void left by his oft-working yet over-protective mother, weekend-only father, and school peers who torment him for being different. Though it is immediately apparent that Eli is not like other girls - disturbingly pale and malnourished, with a dark glint in her eyes, a supernatural grace to her movements, and a tendency to appear only at night - Oskar is able to see past these strange traits through his generousity, innocence and sole-minded quest for companionship. Bonding over a shared puzzle (a Rubik's cube infact, one of the only details to belie the film's early 1980's setting) Oskar and Eli forge an unlikely friendship - but when Eli's natural thirst threatens to destroy their bond (and their suburban community) Oskar is forced to confront the nature of their connection, and the life and death consequences possible as a result.

Preceding the current Swedish pop culture phenomenon (the novel-to-film translations of Steig Larsson's crime trilogy The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire and The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest) seasoned director Tomas Alfredson's translation of John Ajvide Lindqvist's best-selling novel of the same name is complex, engaging and rewarding. Perfectly capturing the isolation, melancholy and innate cultural specificity of the literary source material despite the small but significant variations in narrative and lack of background depth transposed to the screen (by Lindqvist himself), it is more quiet, hopeful and romantic than the book with less of a traditional horror bent, but retains an unmistakable vampire essence nonetheless. Further, the child characters inject a sense of humanity in what is, at the most basic level, a very human story of connecting and finding one's place in the world. As much a moral as an emotional journey, the juxtapositions of violence and nature, survival and love, and sacrifice and acceptance, are subtle but richly-layered, infusing the narrative with depths beyond the standard vampire fare. Similarly, the director's stylistic choice to favour vivid imagery over rapid-fire dialogue ensures a level of restraint, reflection and even beauty not normally associated with the content, creating a finished product akin to an artistic masterpiece.

With the Hollywood remake Let Me In scheduled for a cinematic release later in 2010, directed by Cloverfield helmer Matt Reeves and starring Chloe Moretz (Kick Ass, (500) Days of Summer) and Australian Kodi Smit-McPhee (The Road, Romulus, My Father) in the lead roles, time is running out to discover this original, haunting and insightful coming-of-age vampire film before it forever lurks in the shadow of the mainstream copy. Truly a vampire film like no other, Let The Right One In is genre-breaking, poetically-framed, disturbingly and surprisingly sweet horror, and completely essential viewing.

The FilmMasons Interview - Ian Westley

The FilmMasons: First off let me thank you Ian for taking the time out of your busy schedule to do this interview.

Ian Westley: Thanks for asking me!


TFM: You have had a huge stage career, before we touch upon some of them, for you, what was the highlight?

IW: I have had many highlights, but I guess the top of the list would be winning Best Actor, Best Director, Best Original Script and Best Production for the first play I wrote (and first play I directed) at the Central Queensland Drama Festival in 2008. This play has since been made into a short film which will be completed later this year.


TFM: Most people know Allo Allo from repeats on television. How does such a long running series translate to stage, does it play like a lost episode, or is it a condensed version of the series?

IW:  It was actually a stage version which was first produced in Britain in 1986 and has toured the world. The stage version manages to incorporate all of the key characters from the TV series usual story line of Rene trying to hide a knockwurst sausage containing the portrait of the fallen Madonna with the big boobies. We managed to stay pretty true to the characters and were lucky enough to have a Gordon Kaye look a like in the role of Rene. I played Lt Gruber who we “camped up” more than usual for this production.


TFM: How did you approach Are you normal, Mr. Norman?

IW: That was an interesting one as I was originally cast in the role of the Dentist and changed just before rehearsals began. In reality I try and avoid dentists at all costs, so getting into character for the role was not difficult! The part where Norman goes insane was helped by my fellow actors. They were so believable they made the transition from terror to insanity easy.


TFM: How the West was Warped was a musical, are you as comfortable on stage with singing as you are with drama and comedy?

IW: Luckily for me (and the audience) I only had one small solo with the music so loud they could not here my voice! No, I am not as comfortable singing in stage, but it was such a fun role I soon overcame my anxieties and enjoyed every second of it.


TFM: Revelations (A choice of faith), was that your first film? How did you make the move from stage to screen?

IW: Actually Revelations was my fourth film. The Oxford Scholar was first. I mate wanted to shoot an idea he had come up with years ago and we did the whole thing in a few hours. My second short film was A choice of DUTY. I was back stage, prior to a performance, one night and one of the other actors said he knew a bloke who was doing a short film for his uni degree and needed an ugly bald biker for a role and would I be interested. After thinking about it for a split second I agreed. After that it was a matter of networking with the people involved in the local industry.


TFM: The Sharkmen is an Australian independent film, what can you tell about your involvement in the production.

IW: I had heard about the production and contacted Jason Gibson (the writer, director and producer) to see if there was any way I could get involved. Jason then cast me in a short film called Prelude, which is a kind of back story to Sharkmen. Jason then called me a month or so later and asked me if I would play the role of Gary Kurtzmann, the crime boss.


TFM: What is a typical day on the set of Sharkmen like?

IW: Because the whole movie was produced on a small budget and over a very short time frame (fourteen days) we had a very tough schedule. A typical day for me was arriving on location at 6:00, straight into make up then shoot all day until we lost the light (around 18:30 in Queensland). They were tough days but very rewarding. However, for me the days didn’t end there. I was also rehearsing How the West was Warped and a Charity Christmas Pantomime at the same time. So as soon as I wrapped for the day I was off to one rehearsal or the other.


TFM: Just Like U is currently filming, another independent production. Do you think productions such as these are the life blood of Australian cinema?

IW: Most definitely. If it wasn’t for these independent productions we would not have an industry. Independent productions allow actors, directors, producers, writers, DoP’s etc to showcase their talents, and do what they love doing, for an audience that would otherwise never see or hear of them.


TFM: If you had to choose, would you pick the screen or the stage?

IW: This is a question that I get asked a lot. I love the stage because of the instant feedback from the audience and the thrill of walking out into the lights. However, the screen does give you a wider range to do things that can’t be done on stage and you have the opportunity to be seen by a far bigger audience. You also have the DVD that will be with you (good or bad) for ever. I guess, if I really had to make a choice it would be screen, as I really don’t feel I have put my best performance on film yet and I am striving for that point of perfection (that will probably never come!)


TFM: What is your biggest piece of advice you can give someone starting out in the industry?

IW: Have a dream, set your goals, but be realistic. There are thousands of very talented actors out there, all striving for the same dream. The thing that I have learned is to network. As the old saying goes, it’s not what you know, but who you know and in this industry that is so true! Also, be reliable and honest. It’s a small industry and people will soon get to hear if you bullshit people or are unreliable. If you say you will do something, do it!


TFM: Do you have any projects lined up you can tell us about?

IW: I have just finished Just Like U and a play called Apollo Pacific. Next up is a short film I have written called Stupid, which we start shooting in a few weeks. I am also talking to a few people about a couple of features, but nothing concrete right now.


TFM: Ian Westley, thank you so much for your time.

IW: My pleasure.