Obscurity Files - Jake Speed

Never heard of the literary hero Jake Speed? Let me tell you why...

THE BLING RING - New trailer for Sofia Coppola's latest film

She may have her detractors out there, but this is a house in which any new Sofia Coppola film is met with excitement, and so here is the new trailer for her Hollywood Hills Burglary film, The Bling Ring. Based on real events that saw celebrities such as Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan burgled when they were out of town, The Bling Ring stars Emma Watson as she continues her evolution from cutesy child actress to rebellious twenty-something.

Coppola is known for directing female actors well and has gotten some stand out performances from unexpected places (Scarlett Johannson and Elle Fanning spring to mind), so the pairing of Coppola and Watson could turn out to be a great move, particularly for Watson who is trying to move on from her schoolgirl wizard past.

It's interesting that this is coming out in the same year as Harmony Korine's Spring Breakers, as there's some clear similarities between them. Both show a generation who are willing to settle for infamy when fame isn't available and assume that they are entitled to privileges that they haven't earned. The fact that the film features burglary victim Paris Hilton as herself lends it a new level of irony that I doubt she can appreciate.

The events depicted may be fresh in the minds of a lot of people and the trailer gives away far too much to those susceptible to spoilers, but it looks stylish, hip and a lot of fun. The Bling Ring is released in the US in June and the UK in July.

The new trailer for THOR: THE DARK WORLD presented to you in graph form because I felt like it.

If you insist, here's the actual trailer for reference.

Thor: The Dark World will be arriving in cinemas this October in the UK and November in the US, and yes, I did "borrow" the basic idea for this from Total Film. Whatya gonna do, sue me*?

(*Please don't sue me.)

The Good, the Bad and the Blu-rays

Among this week's new releases we have vampires, a Knight, a Cruise, a Zombie and a Lion/Dogg.

EVIL DEAD review

Re-imagining the trip into the woods for a new generation, Evil Dead sees a whole new group forced to suffer through a terrifying ordeal in one night of madness that few will survive.

Obscurity Files - Up The Creek

Picking up where Animal House left off, here's my thoughts on the Tim Matheson led campus comedy, Up The Creek.

New Only God Forgives Cannes Poster - I love it when French people prove me right two days later.

(context)

MADE OF STONE - New trailer for Shane Meadows' documentary about The Stone Roses

The importance of the Stone Roses to legions of fans is obvious, and from this first trailer for the upcoming documentary about them, it's clear that director Shane Meadows is one of those fans. Although this documentary follows the band's 2012 re-emergence and subsequent live shows, it looks like with this film getting released and the Stone Roses related narrative feature/nostalgic love letter Spike Island arriving in a couple of months time, 2013 might be the year that their legacy is felt cinematically.

From the trailer it looks like an opportunity for Ian Brown, John Squires and company to shed some light on what caused the breakdown of the band and what prompted them to return after 20 years, as well as something of a personal journey for director Shane Meadows, here making his first documentary feature.

The Stone Roses: Made of Stone is premiering in Manchester (where else?) on 30th May before general release on June 5th.

Only God Forgives - New poster for Ryan Gosling's reunion with Nicolas Winding Refn

Derek Cianfrance's The Place Beyond the Pines isn't Ryan Gosling's only re-pairing with a director this year; he also has Only God Forgives, the follow up to Nicolas Winding Refn's Drive. The first poster has been released today, and it's suitably striking and more than a little bit ugly. But that's kind of the point for a film that will be known, at least a little bit, for its more shocking aspects.

Emblazoned with a garish neon Dragon that can be attributed to the film's Thailand setting, Only God Forgives sees Gosling star as Julien, a Bangkok drug trafficker seeking to avenge his brother's death in the criminal underworld, and as can be seen in the red band trailer, taking a few knocks along the way.

It's a poster that is certainly a talking point to generate interest in the film, but considering Gosling's current megastar status, I expect to see this poster usurped by one with his face on sometime in the near future.

Just in case I haven't persuaded you to watch Pitch Perfect yet, here's a video that should change all that.

Along with the excellent news that there will be a Pitch Perfect sequel arriving in 2015, today also saw the release of this music video for Anna Kendrick's When I'm Gone, more commonly known as Cups for reasons that will become apparent when you watch it. If they don't become apparent I don't quite know what to suggest, really.

Based on one of the most memorable scenes in the film and showing off the vocal talents of Anna Kendrick (who appears to have a music career now); I doubt it's all one shot once the cups start to move, but I sure as hell can't see the edits. Either way, it's an impressive piece of choreography that propels it beyond its current party trick status.