MAGGIE review

When his daughter Maggie is infected with a mysterious virus that is spreading across America, Wade Vogel (Schwarzenegger) takes her back to the family farm to care for her. But soon her condition begins to deteriorate and Wade may not be able to control the changes Maggie is starting to go through.

SHEFFIELD DOCFEST 2015 review

In what has become an annual tradition, I once again returned to Sheffield for its documentary festival, better known as Doc/Fest.

A GIRL WALKS HOME ALONE AT NIGHT review

Well received at the 2014 London Film Festival and other international festivals late last year, the striking A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night arrives in cinemas this week. When his beloved car is taken by a local drug dealer as payment for his father's increasing debt, Arash seeks to regain what is rightfully his and keep his father out of trouble. But when he encounters a mysterious girl dressed in black leaving the dealer's apartment, his priorities quickly shift to learning more about her.

AUSTIN TO BOSTON - BFI LONDON FILM FESTIVAL review

Charting the journey of a group of bands on the Communion record label as they embark on a cross country tour, Austin to Boston was screened as part of the 2014 BFI London Film Festival's Sonic strand.

Sheffield Doc/Fest 2014 Review

Here we are again. It's June, it's sunny, so that can mean only one thing... it's time to return to Sheffield and sit inside a bunch of dark cinema screens for the annual Documentary Festival, better known as Doc/Fest.

CREEPSHOW Blu-ray review

Newly released on high definition format, Stephen King and George A. Romero's Creepshow is a cult classic just waiting to be discovered.

London Film Festival: THE BOUNCEBACK review

Shown at this month's London Film Festival, here's my review of the Austin, Texas set romantic comedy, The Bounceback.

9 reasons why Duffy: The Talking Cat should be the most talked about film of the year.

1) It stars the voice of Eric Roberts, who sounds like he has literally phoned his role in.

2) If the quotes listed on IMDb are anything to go by, the dialogue will be amazing.

3) The director of this family friendly comedy started off directing porn films starring Ron Jeremy.

4) Although David DeCoteau is the director's real name, he has also been credited as David McCabe, Julian Breen, Joseph Tennant, Richard Chasen, Jack Reed, Martin Tate and in a curious case of gender confusion, Ellen Cabot, Victoria Sloan and Mary Crawford.

5) DeCoteau has an impressive eight films due for release this year.

6) Three of those films have !?! in the title.

7) I'm not sure that the positive quote on the cover is from a reputable source.

8) The cat on the cover looks like this...

Whereas the cat in the actual film looks like this...

9) The special effects for the talking cat are rubbish.

Duffy: The Talking Cat is released on DVD on 15th July. 

Here's the full trailer for your enjoyment.

I GIVE IT A YEAR - How to sell a romantic comedy to foreign audiences

Did you know that studio marketing departments often have to make major cosmetic changes to a film's poster in order to promote it effectively in other countries? Take I Give It A Year, for example...

Did you know that Jason Flemyng was removed from the Australian version of the poster due to an incident at a party in Sydney where he went around making everyone tell him that he was their favourite Jason to appear in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels?

Or that Belgian audiences find an abundance of unused white space to be more entertaining than Stephen Merchant's gangly frame and have always had a dislike of Minnie Driver ever since they found out that she actually prefers to drive a Volvo?

How about the fact that audiences in Germany also carry a dislike of Jason Flemyng stemming from a different incident, but are big fans of exclamation points and anachronistic, poorly hidden sofa bombs?

Well now you know. Or maybe some international marketing departments like messing about with posters just for the sake of it.

I hope you're paying attention, Kevin Bacon. This is how pre-film announcements should be made.

Starring Before Midnight's Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke, this new public service announcement for the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, Texas sees the delightfully snooty pair (notice Hawke name-dropping Tolstoy with great ease) lambast a member of the audience for using their phone while they are talking.

It's a fun little short that serves as a nice warm up for Before Midnight, and as a reminder that The Alamo Drafthouse knows how to expertly belittle people into behaving in their screens. Seriously, imagine how peaceful it would be if a major cinema chain was brave enough to show a video like the following one before each film? The campaign starts here.