Week of « Prev | Next »
1-20 of 35 items « Prev | Next »
Victoria Wood has died, aged 62
22 hours ago
google+
Very sad news: comedian Victoria Wood has died following a battle with cancer...
Some extremely sad news. Writer, musician, actor and comedy hero Victoria Wood has died following a short battle with cancer.
The news was confirmed this afternoon by her publicist.
One of the most gifted writers and performers in UK comedy, and an inspiration to so many who followed her into the profession, her loss will be deeply, deeply felt.
Wood's writing, performing and composing career began almost forty years ago and her success made her a familiar face on television since the 1980s. From Victoria Wood: As Seen On TV to her many collaborations with Julie Walters, to nineties comedy series Dinnerladies to 2014 comedy drama screenplay That Day We Sang, to everything in between, her work was guaranteed to combine sharp wit, warmth and laughter.
Our thoughts are with her family and friends at »
The Magnificent Seven: first trailer
20 April 2016 3:42 AM, PDT
google+
Denzel Washington and Chris Pratt star in the remake of The Magnificent Seven. Here's the first trailer...
Just to prove that remakes are nothing new, John Sturges' The Magnificent Seven was a remake of Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai - and in a rare alignment of creativity, they're both brilliant.
Training Day and The Equalizer director Antoine Fuqua's behind the new remake of Sturges' western, which places Chris Pratt, Denzel Washingtonin the saddle as a group of gunmen defending a village from vicious bandits. Fuqua will have to work hard to reach the classic heights of the original, but it has to be said that Washington looks very cool with his sideburns and hat.
Here's the first trailer, which really plays up the gunsmokin' action.
The Magnificent Seven is out in UK cinemas on the 23rd September.
Check out Den of Geek »
Gotham season 2 episode 18 review: Pinewood
20 April 2016 2:22 AM, PDT
google+
It’s great that Bruce Wayne is using his detective skills, but is Gotham is racing through material too quickly?
This review contains spoilers
2.18: Pinewood
Holy chipolatas for breakfast, Batman! Now that Jim Gordon has cleared his name with impressive speed, he’s decided to press ahead with his Wayne murders investigation. And with Thomas Wayne’s old computer finally waking up, Bruce Wayne, Alfred and Lucius Fox are helping out as well. Of all of the Gotham episodes we’ve seen so far, this is probably the one that has felt most like a Batman story.
Bruce is in the thick of the action this week, picking locks using his ‘morally neutral’ skillset, sneaking off while Alfred is turned the other way, and gradually coaxing information out of the scaly-handed Karen Jennings (who isn’t a character from the comics, as much as I wanted »
The Girl On The Train: the first trailer
20 April 2016 1:55 AM, PDT
google+
Emily Blunt stars in the movie of The Girl On The Train. Here's the first trailer...
Paula Hawkins' book, The Girl On The Train, has been a huge bestseller, that's stayed in the charts for some time. It's an impressive piece of work, too, and it didn't take long for the movie rights to be snapped up.
The film arrives in cinemas later this year, with Emily Blunt taking on the lead role. Joining her in the cast are Luke Evans, Rebecca Ferguson, Edgar Ramirez, Allison Janney and Haley Bennett. Erin Cressida Wilson has adapted the novel for the screen, and The Help's Tate Taylor is directing.
The first trailer for The Girl On The Train has just landed too, with the film set to land in UK cinemas on October 7th 2016. And without further ado, here it is...
Check out Den of Geek T-Shirts »
Captain America: Civil War review
20 April 2016 1:39 AM, PDT
google+
Heroes clash in the latest film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Captain America: Civil War. Here's our spoiler-free verdict...
You have to hand it to Marvel: there aren’t many movie franchises that can cut from a bruising fight to a superhero contemplating whether or not to put paprika in the meal they’re preparing. That superhero happens to be Paul Bettany’s Vision, a character capable of displaying godlike powers in battle, yet happily sports a dapper white shirt and black sweater ensemble when he’s cooking up a storm in the kitchen.
Such is the elasticity of the Marvel brand in the hands of the right directors; in this instance, it’s the Russo brothers, back in the saddle following Captain America: The Winter Soldier, a thoroughly satisfying mix of conspiracy thriller and CGI action banquet. Civil War is more of the same, yet this instalment feels, »
Power Rangers: first look at Elizabeth Banks as Rita Repulsa
19 April 2016 10:32 PM, PDT
google+
A new image from the upcoming Power Rangers reboot, with Elizabeth Banks as Rita Repulsa...
Currently filming in Vancouver is the brand new Power Rangers, that's set to reboot the movie series and potentially kick off a new collection of films. Dean Israelite, of Project Almanac vintage, is directing this one, from a screenplay by John Gatins, Buck Sharpless, Matt Sazama, Zack Stentz, Max Landis and Ashley Miller.
Arguably the highest profile piece of casting for the new movie was the inclusions of Elizabeth Banks, who is playing villain Rita Repulsa. And the first image of Banks in the part has now been released. She also revealed that "it's definitely a modern and edgy reimagining of the original Rita Repulsa. We wanted to give her a backstory that connects her to the new Rangers".
The new Power Rangers movie lands on March 24th 2017, and you can see »
Doctor Strange: trailer is "definition of a teaser"
19 April 2016 10:28 PM, PDT
google+
Doctor Strange co-screenwriter C Robert Cargill has been talking about Marvel's upcoming movie...
The co-writer of Marvel's Doctor Strange movie, C Robert Cargill, has been chatting a little bit more about the project, and about the teaser trailer for the film that was released last week.
"This teaser is, it’s the definition of a teaser", Cargill told The Sunday Service podcast. "You are only getting a like a small taste of just how crazy this movie gets".
"We have only just the slightest hints of magic in there", he added. "There are major characters you don’t even glimpse in that trailer, there is so much stuff going on, that this thing is just nutty, the stuff they let us do, I can’t believe they let us do it".
Examples? "Kevin Feige and other producers like Stephen Broussard would be ‘how can we make it crazier? »
Justice League: Willem Dafoe joins the cast
19 April 2016 10:22 PM, PDT
google+
Zack Snyder adds one-time Spider-Man villain Willem Defoe to the Justice League: Part One cast...
Willem Defoe is the latest to move from Sam Raimi's trilogy of Spider-Man films, to the DC movie universe.
Dafoe, who played the Green Goblin in the Spider-Man movies, is following J K Simmons (who played, of course, J Jonah Jameson in those films) to the set of Zack Snyder's Justice League: Part One.
Defoe's exact character is being kept under wraps at the moment, but it's being reported that he's joining Justice League as a "good guy". We wait to see just who that good guy is.
Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot, Jason Momoa, Ezra Miller and Ray Fisher lead the collection of heroes in Justice League: Part One, that starts filming this month. It's due for release on November 17th 2017.
THR.
Check out Den »
17 movie sequels that are stuck in development hell
19 April 2016 1:51 PM, PDT
google+
Meet the films sequels that might not be dead, but are certainly stuck in some kind of limbo...
Every now and then, a sequel that appears to have been in the cooker for a while – Zoolander 2, Dumb And Dumber To, Anchorman 2 – finally escapes into the wild. But the journey to the screen can be a very lengthy one, and this little lot are still trying to find their way to your local multiplex…
Disney gambled hard on bringing Dick Tracy to the screen in the summer of 1990, backing the vision of director and star Warren Beatty, and hoping to ape the success that Warner Bros had enjoyed the summer before with Batman. Yet whilst Dick Tracy hit, it didn’t hit too hard. The studio adjusted its-then blockbuster strategy accordingly, and it wouldn’t really be until it got to the likes of »
Vinyl episode 10 review: Alibi
19 April 2016 8:59 AM, PDT
google+
Vinyl has much to improve when it returns for season 2, and judging by this solid-enough finale, it's heading in the right direction...
This review contains spoilers.
1.10 Alibi
Taken as a whole, Vinyl is structured around the premise that the behind-the-scenes operation of the music business (encompassing, among other things, dealmaking, artist development, public relations and financing) is just as interesting as the soul shaking, life-affirming product that this bloated industry sells. The premise is correct and there is much to say about men like Richie Finestra and Maury Gold and the companies that they lead. At its best, Vinyl has done a good job of balancing the two elements, never taking its eye off the ball with the music and only rarely doing so with the business side of things. Its missteps have mostly emerged from the moments during which the plot and characters wandered too far »
Don Cheadle interview: Miles Ahead, directing and more
19 April 2016 8:37 AM, PDT
google+
Don Cheadle, before Captain America: Civil War, is bringing the story of Miles Davis to the screen. He's been telling us about it.
Don Cheadle makes his feature directorial debut with Miles Ahead this Friday, a biopic of Miles Davies. We got the chance to sit down with him, and talk about the project.
Here's how it went...
I know you described it as Miles Davis as a gangster, how many sort of different stories did you experiment with before you happened upon that take?
None.
Really?!
This was it. You know we, we figured it out and we wrote it in this way. The family was on board with what we pitched and were just kind of like being from Missouri and were like, “show me” and we came up with this narrative and they said, “okay, great.”
It’s been your baby all the way »
Friend Request review
19 April 2016 7:46 AM, PDT
google+
Social media and horror cinema meet again, in Friend Request. Here's our review...
It is my understanding that young people today think Facebook is rubbish and favour apps like Snapchat to exchange misspelled insults and pictures of their sexual organs, so here’s a timely bit of techno-horror to crack the 'millennial' market. In fairness, Friend Request doesn’t mention Facebook once, but it does use every bit of terminology we associate with it, along with its fonts, layout and colour scheme. This illustrates just how embedded into everyday life Facebook’s verbal and visual grammar is, and Friend Request even finds time to be a bit scary every now and then.
There’s still a part of me that can’t watch characters using the internet or smartphones on film without wincing a little. It still feels like a cheat to me when used as a plot device, »
The People v. O.J. Simpson. and dramatising history
19 April 2016 6:10 AM, PDT
google+
American Crime Story concluded a compelling first series in the UK this week. If you didn't watch, here's what you missed out on...
On October 3rd, 1995, O. J. Simpson was acquitted of the murder of his former wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ron Goldman. Over a year of obsessive media attention and prurient speculation culminated in a polarising verdict. Most such crimes eventually pass from the public imagination, replaced by newer horrors. The Simpson trial, however, continues to fascinate, repel and confound in equal measure.
The many disturbing facets of this hugely complex case – domestic violence, racism, police brutality, the power of celebrity – remain all too relevant almost twenty years on. Any dramatised retelling of this familiar episode in American history must contend with the layers of ingrained assumptions and prejudices that have accumulated in the years since the trial. Handling these issues with appropriate sensitivity is no easy task. »
Batman V Superman cut originally weighed in at four hours
19 April 2016 3:41 AM, PDT
google+
Editor David Brenner reveals that an initial cut of Batman V Superman weighed in at a startling four hours long...
Nb: The following contains very minor spoilers for Batman V Superman
Whether you agreed with the icy critical reception given to Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice or not, one thing was for sure: you got an awful lot of superhero film for your money. The theatrical cut weighed in at a hefty 2 hours 33 minutes, while this summer's Ultimate Edition home release will break the three hour mark.
In a new interview with Pro Video Coalition, however, editor David Brenner reveals that an early cut of Batman V Superman came to almost four hours in length. Part of the reason, Benner explains, is down to the sheer number of intersecting storylines the movie switches between.
"Generally, BvS was a unique challenge in that we had not one but two protagonists, »
Report: Sony to release upgraded, 4K-ready PlayStation 4
19 April 2016 1:45 AM, PDT
google+
Sony is set to release a faster, 4K-ready PlayStation 4 codenamed Neo, new reports suggest...
The PlayStation 4 celebrates its third birthday this November, which means that it's about half-way through its life-cycle if the previous generation's anything to go by. In recent weeks, however, rumours have circulated that Sony plans to release an upgraded version of the PlayStation 4 which, while being backwards compatible, will offer a higher resolution output for 4K television screens.
Those rumours have been given a little extra weight by a report published over at Giant Bomb, which goes into some convincing-sounding detail about the system's improved hardware. The new PS4 is currently codenamed Neo, the story goes, and will feature a 2.1 GHz Cpu (uprated from the standard system's 1.6 GHz), an improved Gpu for 4K output and higher bandwidth memory.
Sony's keen to avoid splitting its user base, though, so Neo won't have games produced specifically for it. »
Better Call Saul season 2 episode 10 review: Klick
19 April 2016 12:01 AM, PDT
google+
Better Call Saul's season two finale closes one chapter while setting the stage for more pain, and excellent television, to come...
This review contains spoilers.
2.10 Klick
One year ago, Jimmy McGill told Mike Ehrmantraut that he knew what had stopped him from taking an easy payday and, that would never stop him again. He was done doing ‘the right thing’ for the sake of it, done being what other people wanted him to be. And as much as he cares what Kim thinks, he has spent this second season being exactly the person he wants to be, the opinions of others be damned. Without his craving for Chuck’s approval he had no reason to stick out his job at Davis and Main, no reason to try and live his life in any way other than the way he wants to.
But when his ad plays in the hospital room, »
Avatar sequels "like doing all three Godfather films at the same time"
18 April 2016 10:36 PM, PDT
google+
James Cameron has been chatting about his plans to make four Avatar movies at pretty much the same time...
James Cameron confirmed last week that his plans for his Avatar sequels have expanded further, with the news that the number of follow-ups he's making is now up to four. Avatar 2 is due in cinemas at the end of 2018, whilst Avatar 5 will be wish us in 2023.
Cameron has expanded on what he's up to, and how he's going to be shooting the movies. "It's not back-to-back", he explained to Famous Monsters Of Filmland. "It's really all one big production. It's more the way you would shoot a miniseries".
As such, he'll be filming all of his Avatar scripts simultaneously.
"Monday I might be doing a scene from movie four, and Tuesday I’m doing a scene from movie one", he said. "We’re working across, essentially, »
Jurassic World 2: director confirmed
18 April 2016 10:31 PM, PDT
google+
J A Bayona is confirmed as the director of the next Jurassic Park movie...
Director J A Bayona is currently putting the finishing touches to his adaptation of Patrick Ness' A Monster Calls. And after that? There's the small matter of making the sequel to one of the biggest movies of all time.
Bayona has, as was rumoured at the start of the year, has landed the job of directing Jurassic World 2. He's previously directed The Impossible, and The Orphanage.
The news of his Jurassic World hiring was confirmed on Twitter by producer Frank Marshall...
Thrilled to announce Ja Bayona is on board to direct JW2. Welcome to the team @FilmBayona!
— Frank Marshall (@LeDoctor) April 18, 2016
Colin Trevorrow and Derek Connolly have returned to put together the screenplay for Jurassic World 2, and the new movie - which will star Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard again - »
Joss Whedon on his Avengers: Age Of Ultron comments
18 April 2016 10:27 PM, PDT
google+
Joss Whedon has revisited his Avengers: Age Of Ultron thoughts, and affirmed that he's "very proud" of the movie.
A year after the release of Avengers: Age Of Ultron, Joss Whedon has been chatting at the Tribeca Film Festival with Mark Ruffalo. And as he teased that he's got a new project he's writing that "super good" and "a definite departure", he's also looked back on his bump Avengers sequel.
"Ultron, I’m very proud of", he said. "There were things that did not meet my expectations of myself and then I was so beaten down by the process".
"Some of that was conflicting with Marvel, which is inevitable and a lot of that was about my own work and I was also exhausted, and we right away went and did publicity", he added. "I created the narrative - wherein I’m not quite accomplished at - »
Now You See Me 3 lands its director
18 April 2016 10:24 PM, PDT
google+
Jon M Chu is returning to direct the third Now You See Me movie...
Lionsgate has no shortage of confidence in its upcoming sequel, Now You See Me 2. The new movie, which stars Jesse Eisenberg, Dave Franco, Woody Harrelson, Mark Ruffalo, Lizzy Caplan, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine and Daniel Radcliffe, is due in cinemas in June. But ahead of its release, the studio - as had been previously promised - is moving ahead on Now You See Me 3.
Furthermore, Lionsgate has re-hired Jon M Chu to direct the next movie. Chu has helmed the second film (Louis Leterrier made the first), and it sounds as if he'll be getting down to work on Now You See Me 3 shortly.
Inevitably, there's no plot news or release date information on it yet. We'll pass that on as we get it.
Variety.
Check out Den of Geek T-Shirts Here »
1-20 of 35 items « Prev | Next »