News and opinion from the world of film.
With its rock-bottom prices, spectacular scenery and mesmerising medieval villages, US movie producers are flocking to make movies in Romania… Until recently, Romania was known to the world mainly as home to the legend of Count Dracula, whose birthplace is said to have been in the province of Transylvania. But the country’s recent willingness to […]
Continue ReadingJust what is Hollywood’s problem with artificial intelligence? One reporter investigates why filmakers are so sceptical about our future alongside technology… John Stuart Mill – the most influential thinker of the Victorian age – would be turning in his grave if he knew that highbrow philosophical thinking was to be, by the early 21st Century, […]
Continue ReadingMichael Moore’s latest documentary shoots fish in a barrel. It’s just a pity the big fry escape through the holes in the bottom… Some documentaries set out to record historic happenings for posterity, to provide background and understanding so future generations can appreciate the events of the time. Films at the forefront of the genre […]
Continue ReadingDid the Matrix’s grand finale have any revolutionary surprises after all? Technically brilliant, the much-hyped movie fails to deliver on plot and substance. In The Matrix: Revolutions, the Zionists must do or die to protect themselves against a death blow from the future world’s all-powerful electronic ruler. Agent Smith is becoming ever more powerful and […]
Continue ReadingJust as the re-make arrives, the original Italian Job has been voted the best British film of all time. The classic caper film starring Michael Caine and Noel Coward got more than a quarter of the votes in an online poll by the UK chain store Woolworths. Second place went to Four Weddings and a […]
Continue ReadingThe long search for a new actor to play Batman in the next feature film about the caped crusader is finally over. English director Christopher Nolan has spent a long time deciding but has chosen 29-year old Welshman Christian Bale to portray the dark knight. Bale beat a number of other young hopefuls to the […]
Continue ReadingShould the digitally-enhanced sword be mightier than the pen in the creation of good cinema? Claire Munro considers… For a film to be successful, it is necessary that it has an indefinable ingredient, like Coca-Cola, which will make it appealing to a large cross section of people looking to be entertained. While the film industry, […]
Continue ReadingThe official launch of the 57th Edinburgh International Film Festival didn’t go off quite as smoothly as was planned… Artistic director, Shane Danielson, and managing director, Ginnie Atkinson, were meant to stand outside The Filmhouse cinema in Edinburgh and pull on separate cords to officially unveil the festival. As Danielson shouted: "Are we going to […]
Continue ReadingThe ratio of lazy sequels to masterpiece originals seems to be grow year on year, but thankfully this film is not just louder explosions and prettier effects… Filmmakers seem to believe that by taking their original successful formula, keeping it vaguely the same, but having "More, More, More" of it on screen they can paper […]
Continue ReadingThe concept of 28 Days Later, not to mention its top-ranking production team should have guaranteed a cracking watch, but product placement overkill, poor direction and unwarranted gore ruined it for this reviewer… If ever you needed advice on midnight munchies, 28 Days Later could supply you with a whole menu. Pepsi, Mars, Nestle, and […]
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