News

"It's showtime, Daily Deaders, Betelgeuse, here. You know what you could do for me, well, besides saying my name three times, is, uh, check out these photos of my Cavity Colors shirt at the top of this Horror Highlights thing." Okay, that was weird... seems like Betelgeuse somehow took over for a hot second. We're all good now! Readers can also look forward to details on the Demons 2 screening in NYC and Film4 and All 4's Fright Bites short films.

Cavity Colors' Beetlejuice-Inspired Bio-Exorcist Shirts: From Cavity Colors: "Our newest *limited edition* clothing release arrives! We've teamed up with artist Kyle Hotz (@kylehotzcomics) to re-create everyone's favorite cartoon Bio-Exorcist, but in a gloriously grotesque and spooky manner for Halloween! I did the colors, and he did the linework. Set those reminders! These are limited to 300 only, on T-shirts, Tanktops, and Crewneck Sweatshirts! Once it's gone, it's gone forever!"

To...

Developer for the Castlevania: Lords Of Shadow series, MercurySteam, have begun teasing their next big game, with a full reveal due in April. A countdown clock has appeared on the studio’s website to mark the announcement, which will reach zero on April 15, so we’re still a few weeks away from finding out what it is exactly that they’re working on. However, you can pretty much rule out a sequel to Castlevania: Lords Of Shadow 2, the concept art for the as-yet-unannounced title exudes a much different atmosphere to the aforementioned, vampire-centric series.

Besides the above teaser image of what is potentially a new protagonist, details on the developer’s “next Aaa hit” are painfully slim. However, its been discovered by VideoGamer.com that Dave Cox – despite having left partner company Konami after the completion of LoS 2 – is on board as an external producer and consultant for MercurySteam’s current project.

Is David Fincher’s new film misogynist agit-prop or a message of empowerment? Emine Saner weighs up the arguments that have greeted the big-screen adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s controversial novel

David Cox: Gone Girl revamps gender stereotypes for the worseDiscuss the movie’s ending and changes to the bookWarning: contains spoilers

It wasn’t as if the last week’s think-pieces, roughly summed up as “Is Gone Girl a feminist masterpiece or supremely damaging to all women, everywhere?”, sprung out of nowhere. When Gillian Flynn’s novel was published in 2012, and became a bestseller, the Us writer found herself accused of a “deep animosity towards women”. Her gripping, if ludicrous story – be warned that the whole plot is coming – of Amy Dunne, a wealthy and beautiful psychopath whose revenge on her cheating husband involves framing him for her “murder”, making up rape allegations against men (one of whom...

When Alfonso Cuarón presumably lifts the Best Director Oscar on Sunday, it'll be a deserved individual win, but it'll also be past-due recognition for one of the most versatile and adventurous stylists of the modern cinema. Beyond his name, what connects "A Little Princess" to "Y tu Mama Tambien" to "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" to "Gravity?" In a lovely essay, Michael Joseph Gross has a go at explaining: "All of Cuarón’s films are road movies, to greater and lesser extents. On the road, travelers are challenged to become themselves by transcending themselves, to restructure their perspective by empathizing with the people they encounter; and this act, by its nature, constantly creates new narrative understandings." [Vanity Fair] David Cox wonders if only a British director could have made "12 Years a Slave." [The Guardian] Logan Hill on how "Her" reveals the midlife crisis of the "Reality Bites" generation. [Esquire] Melena Ryzik on the...

The star of Saving Mr Banks talks to David Cox about the rocky relationship between Pl Travers - the author of Mary Poppins - and Walt Disney. Meanwhile her co-star, Colin Farrell, explains how Travers's father's alcohol addiction caused Travers to idealise her parent, while director John Lee Hancock explains how Disney the businessman saw money in the Mary Poppins story Continue reading...

Down with Dom or better off with the Butler? We have the answers – plus what's coming up on the site today

What should you watch over the weekend?

In the UK? Lined up for your delectation: a glass of Dom Hemmingway, a dose of Don Jon, a serving of The Butler, or a session with The Counselor. Also up for the watching: In Fear, Utopia, Future My Love and Ram-Leela.

In the Us? Take your pick from The Best Man Holiday, Charlie Countryman, Faust and Nebraska.

In the paper today

• Peter's full compliment of reviews

• An interview with Robert De Niro by Xan Brooks

• A piece of the fallacy of historical accuracy by David Cox

• A feature on the JFK assassination on film by Steve Rose

On the site today

• Andrew Pulver profiles Sandra Bullock

• We've top 10 adaptations

• And Hadley Freeman meets Oprah Winfrey, Forest Whitaker and Lee Daniels on...

The first developer diary for Konami's Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 has arrived. Go behind the scenes and learn more about the creation of the game's main character, Dracula.

In the developer diary you'll meet Konami producer Dave Cox and MercurySteam producer Enric Alvarez. Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 is heading to PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Windows PC on February 25, 2014, in the Us and February 27 in Europe.

Related Story: #Sdcc 2013: Hands-On with Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 marks the first appearance of the iconic character in the series' universe. Within the diary Cox and Alvarez discuss their decision to use the world's most famous vampire as its central figure and delve into details about the design choices they faced, how they addressed the look, feel, and motivation of the iconic character, and the affect he has on the overall story. The pair also discuss how award-winning voice actor Robert Carlyle...

Forget what you've read about cinema's dominance over the small screen. Television has plenty to teach the movies about characterisation, storytelling and breaking new talent

• Read 10 reasons today's movies trump TV

Have you heard the news? The golden age of television is over. It's true. David Cox said so himself this week, in an article listing all the different ways that film is better than TV now.

Now, I love film. As far as I'm concerned, all film – good and bad – has some level of intrinsic worth. I like David Cox, too. I've met him and he seems like a perfectly decent man. But he's catastrophically wrong here. I write about both film and television but, if I had to pick sides, I'd go with television every single time. Television, especially the television that's being produced now, is wiping the floor with film. It's kicking film's arse. Here's why.

1. Longform storytelling

When applied correctly,...

Today's film news is an 80s revival all by itself

In the news today

• Tim Burton to direct Beetlejuice 2

• China plans animated Mao Zedong propaganda flick

• Homeland's Damian Lewis joins Werner Herzog's Queen of the desert

• Marvel reveals Doctor Strange movie

• Jason Statham to make comedy with Melissa McCarthy

Coming up elsewhere on the site

• Cine-files is wending its way to the Watershed in Bristol

• Film quiz sinks its teeth into vampire movies

• Why I love ... the 'Captain, I cannot concur' scene in Crimson Tide

• A world exclusive trailer for John Pilger's new documentary Utopia

You may have missed

• Top 10 arthouse movies

• David Cox: 10 reasons today's movies trump TV

• Hollywood report: Gravity still on a high as The Fifth Estate leaks momentum

• Ben Whishaw wanted for Freddie Mercury movie, says Roger Taylor

• Grace of Monaco director calls Harvey Weinstein re-edit a 'pile of shit'

• John Patterson...

It was raining cats and dogs over the weekend. So what did you catch at the cinema?

So - what did you see?

Whether it was big screen or small, trashy or flashy, we want to know what you watched over the weekend. Did you head out to see Captain Phillips, Enough Said or Like Father, Like Son? then maybe post your take in the thread beneath last Friday's Guardian Film Show …

Other films out last week included:

In the UK … apart from aforementioned Captain Phillips, Enough Said and Like Father, Like Son, there was Love, Marilyn, Prince Avalanche, Turbo, Very Extremely Dangerous, Walesa: Man of Hope, The Lebanese Rocket Society, The Epic of Everest and The Broken Circle Breakdown.

In the Us … 12 Years a Slave, Carrie, The Fifth Estate, Escape Plan, All is Lost, Kill Your Darlings

In the headlines

• Grace of Monaco director attacks Harvey Weinstein's "pile...

Finally a rom-com for adults about love after divorce that's actually funny and romantic

• Interview: Julia Louis-Dreyfus

• Enough Said: watch the trailer

• David Cox: Is Enough Said about the dangers of obesity?

As Etta James might say: at last. A romantic comedy that is romantic and funny and not simply an insult to the intelligence of all carbon-based life forms. Nicole Holofcener's Enough Said is a step up for this director, in whose previous work I have sometimes heard a few false notes – inaudible, I should however confess, to many others. She has created a thoroughly likable and genuinely funny film and its stars, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and the late James Gandolfini, are a revelation, singly and together. Like their director, they unassumingly but decidedly took it to the next level on this movie. The fact that Gandolfini still had so much to offer as an actor is desperately sad.

Today's film news is not a hearts and flowers kind of guy

In the news today

• Alexander Skarsgard and Jamie Dorman tipped for Fifty Shades of Grey as replacement sought for Charlie Hunnam

• Joseph Gordon Levitt and Paul Rudd frontrunners for Edgar Wright's Ant Man

• Brad Dourif claims to have been Tim Burton's first choice for The Joker

• Gravity cleared for release in China

• Iron Man 3 kid lands lead in Jurassic World

Coming up elsewhere on the site

• An exclusive clip of the restored print of the classic 1959 Hammer horror, The Mummy, starring Christopher Lee

• A quiz on those spooky Stephen King adaptations

• Cine-files offers a paean to the Filmhuis Den Haag

• We'll have a first look review of the New York film festival hot ticket, the Ben Stiller-directed remake of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

More first look reviews, this time from the London...

Rounding up the weekend in film, plus what's coming up today

What did you watch this weekend – and how did you rate it?

Rejoicing through the cinema chains of Britain over the weekend on account of the horrible weather. When the reports come in, we're expecting bumper attendance. So what did you see, and what did you reckon to it? If it was The Fifth Estate, Le Week-End or Which Way is the Front Line From Here? The Life and Time of Tim Hetherington, why not chip in the comment thread beneath last Friday's comment thread.

You can find the full complement of Mark Kermode's reviews from Sunday here, plus Peter Bradshaw's here, as well as Philip French on a classic reissue (The Mummy) and Guy Lodge on a new DVD release (Behind the Candelabra).

You may have missed

As well as Mark et al's reviews, you might...

Today's film news, crushed mercilessly down to the size of one article

On the site today

Here's what's in the news ...

- Mamma Mia! (sorry): Joseph Gordon-Levitt faces criticism over his 'racist' portrayal of Italian-Americans in Don Jon.

- Saoirse Ronan has said she has auditioned for Star Wars VII, "but so has everyone else".

- Orc to be good: Duncan Jones' World of Warcraft movie will be released in 2015.

- Director Mark Basseley Youssef, the man behind the Youtube video that was blamed of inciting the Benghazi attack, has a new film on the way.

- Angelina Jolie will shoot Unbroken down under.

- Here no gore: Eli Roth's Las Vegas haunted house has shut its (creaky) doors.

And elsewhere on the site ...

- Nell Frizzell will tell us why she loves how Rambo took down a helicopter with a rock.

- Ben Child takes a...

As Barry Norman compares today's cinema audiences to fruit flies, we bring you a bite-sized precis of the day's news and more

Coming up today

In the headlines, we've news that …

• Brian Epstein biopic is to be first to use original Beatles songs and Paul McCartney's High in the Clouds to be a movie.

• James McAvoy "would play Jimmy Savile on film," says Irvine Welsh, as Filth is reported widespread in Scotland.

• Diana poster removed from site of fatal car crash

• Ben Affleck's Batcave "cost £50,000"

• Blockbuster audiences have "attention of fruit flies", says Barry Norman

• Waterworld director to document resurrection of Jesus

• Residents of Oxfordshire village told to ignore explosions from Brad Pitt film

Also on the site today …

• We did a swapsie on Why I Love, so we'll have Why I Love … watching movies on VHS today instead.

• Test your lightsaber know-how with our Star Wars weaponry quiz.

Your daily movie bulletin bringing you the lowdown on 17 September

Coming up today

In G2, there's an interview with Metro Manilla director Sean Ellis, plus Cine-files pays a visit to the Savoy in Heaton Moor.

And in the headlines …

• Shine on: Jack Nicholson denies retiring

• After Hoovering, Leonardo DiCaprio is to play Woodrow Wilson

• Luke Skyjogger: Mark Hamill "getting fit" for Star Wars

You may have missed

• Yesterday on the site we had not one but two world exclusive trailers, for Clio Barnard's The Selfish Giant, and for royal biopic Grace of Monaco, starring Nicole Kidman.

• David Cox on 12 Years a Slave: heroic, yes. But necessary? Definitely?

• Colin Firth is to voice Paddington Bear.

• Jeremy Kay told us five things we learned from the Us box office, including the skinny on Insiduous 2.

• Wadjda, Saudi Arabia's first female film, is country's Oscar entry

• Star Wars spinoff films to feature 'origins...

MercurySteam’s Castlevania: Lords of Shadow series will come to a close in February, with the release of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Windows PC. This news is in line with the winter timeframe that was previously mentioned by publisher Konami.

The third part of the modern, action/adventure-filled narrative, which also includes Castlevania: Lords of Shadow and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – Mirror of Fate, Lords of Shadow 2 is said to be “bigger, more epic and more challenging” than its predecessors.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 will whip its way into North America on February 25. European releases will then follow later in the same week.

Dracula Rises in February

Konami dates Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 for Us, Europe and UK

Konami Digital Entertainment B.V. has used the annual gamescom event to announce that its heralded Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 will be released for PlayStation®3, Xbox 360® and Windows...

MercurySteam's 3Ds platformer is coming to the Xbox 360 and the PS3, according to the publisher.

After the visually-impressive "Lords of Shadow" and years of excellent 2D "Castlvania" platformers, I can see how the 3Ds version of "Mirror of Fate" could be considered a letdown. Well, developer MercurySteam has a chance to remedy that perception with an HD release of the sequel to 2010's "Castlevania: Lords of Shadow" when it gets an HD upgrade on October 31st.

"Mirror of Fate HD" will be available as download-only release for Psn and Xbox Live. MercurySteam boss Dave Cox has stated that they're looking into a PC version but that fans shouldn't expect a Ps Vita port.

Konami also confirmed that "Mirror of Fate HD" would be released as part of the recently-surfaced "Lords of Shadow Collection" which will include 2010's "Lords of Shadow" and its Dlc. Both releases will include a demo for...

The top-line on the big news stories in cinema today – plus a preview of what's coming up on the site

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News headlines

Ender's Game writer Orson Scott Card, the man who so endeared himself with his thoughts on gay marriage, has written a 3,000 word essay comparing Obama to Hitler.

We've had romzoms. We've had romzomcoms. And now stand by for the first bolzom, as classic Romero flick Night of the Living Dead gets a Bollywood remake.

A Thai anti-censorship documentary nobody thought would be passed by the censors has in fact been passed by Thai censors.

The writer/producer of The Innocence of Muslims has been released from prison.

In a statement just begging to get tested, Idris Elba says he'd do anything to be in the Inbetweeners movie sequel.

Universal Studios has launched a fellowship for aspiring writers.

Denmark has submitted...

Spike TV is returning to E3 this year as the exclusive broadcast partner, and they have a huge line-up of gaming coverage slated over the course of the first two days of the show. From interviews with industry heavy-hitters like Nintendo’s Reggie Fils-Amie and Shigeru Miyamoto, Peter Molyneux, and Microsoft’s Phil Spencer to exclusive game previews for hotly anticipated games like “Call of Duty: Ghosts,” “Killzone: Shadows Fall,” and “Assassins Creed IV.” Plus stick around for press conferences from Microsoft, EA, Ubisoft, and Sony.

Hit the jump for the full schedule, and to watch the live stream, hosted by Gttv’s Geoff Keighley, starting today at noon.

Monday, June 10

11:50 Am Et / 8:50 Am Pt - Xbox Pre-show With Exclusive Reveals!

E3 stars early on Spike and Gt as we kick off our coverage from our new studio at L.A. Live in Los Angeles. Our countdown to...

Check out this amusing fan made Portal and Half Life crossover film. YouTuber mikeNgary and his team created this comedic take on the games, which they call "Gordon and Chell Go on a Date." The story is exactly what the title says it is. Neither of the characters talk, which I thought was charming. Here's a synopsis and some background info on the short,

While at Black Mesa or City 17 Gordon Freeman battles Head crabs, Barnacles, and G-Man Chell struggles against Aperture Turrets, test chambers, Wheatly and GLaDOS. Through adverse conditions these two heros are worthy of being Valve's best. But what would happen if these two silent protagonist met? Better yet, what if they went on a date? No matter what each brings to the table no crow bar or Portal gun will prepare you for what happens next. 

This is a project several months in the making. After...

"It's a top-down action-adventure emotional experience" explains Starbreeze's Josef Fares, who provides a two-minute walkthrough for this downloadable game coming to the 360 and PS3 this spring. "Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons" kind of slipped under my radar over the last few months, and I've been curious what Starbreeze was up to post-"Syndicate" reboot.

Their new title has you controlling two brothers as they search for a cure for their father's life-threatening illness, with independent control of each brother assigned to the thumbsticks and varied interactions with the world based on which brother's doing the interacting. So there's a cooperative element to the game in as much as you can consider cooperating with yourself "cooperation."

From the official synopsis:

Guide two brothers on an epic fairy tale journey from visionary Swedish film director, Josef Fares and top-tier developer Starbreeze Studios. Control both brothers at once as you experience co-op play in single player mode,...

When I reviewed "Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate" earlier this week, I warned fans of the side-scrolling "Castlevania" games of recent years that they shouldn't come in expecting the huge amount of exploration found in post-"Symphony of the Night" 2D titles in the franchise. That was deliberate, MercurySteam boss and "Mirror of Fate" producer Dave Cox told me, citing "Dracula's Curse" as his team's main point of influence.

MercurySteam have their heads down now developing "Lords of Shadow 2"--what Cox promises will be the U.K. studio's last "Castlevania game, so we talked a bit about shepherding the franchise through a new continuity, going back in time over and over with Trevor, Simon, and Alucard, and the next-gen ambitions of "Lords of Shadow 2."

MTV Multiplayer: Why tell this story on a 3Ds instead of a console version?

Dave Cox: We wanted to do a game...

The movie is produced and directed by a Spanish crew, and it is also based on Spanish characters, so why didn't the Oscar nominated film “The Impossible” cast Hispanics for its lead roles?

Directed by Juan Antonio Bayona, "The Impossible" describes the tragedy lived by a Spanish family of five during their 2004 Holiday vacation to Thailand, the day an Indian Ocean tsunami swept in and killed at least 227,898 people and devastated more than 14 countries.

However, despite the fact that the Alvarez-Belon family, composed by Quique and Maria Alvararez, and their sons Lucas, Tomas and Simon, were clearly of Spanish descent, the movie's main characters, Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor, speak in a very strong British accent, do not look alike and never reveal their nationality. It is not until the film ends and the audience gets a glimpse of who the real survivors were, that they finally discover the family’s strong cultural background.

Guardian reader Simon Jenkins was in Thailand when the 2004 tsunami struck. Here he responds to criticisms leveled at The Impossible, which suggested the film overlooked the majority of the disaster's victims

Simon Jenkins, 24, is from Portsmouth, works as a social media specialist at Red Rocket Media, and posts on Twitter as @simonjenkins09. He was present in Thailand during the 2004 tsunami, his experiences mirroring those portrayed in the film The Impossible. When the Guardian's David Cox wrote about the film this week, highlighting its "whitewashing" of events (as did Alex von Tunzelmann's Reel History blog), Simon took issue with some of the points raised, posting them in this comment. We asked him to expand.

I must admit that when I heard a film about the Asian tsunami was being made, I was hesitant about going to see it.

I was on holiday in Khao Lak, Thailand, in 2004 with a group...

Guardian reader Simon Jenkins was in Thailand when the 2004 tsunami struck. Here he responds to criticisms leveled at The Impossible, which suggested the film overlooked the majority of the disaster's victims

Simon Jenkins, 24, is from Portsmouth, works as a social media specialist at Red Rocket Media, and posts on Twitter as @simonjenkins09. He was present in Thailand during the 2004 tsunami, his experiences mirroring those portrayed in the film The Impossible. When the Guardian's David Cox wrote about the film this week, highlighting its "whitewashing" of events (as did Alex von Tunzelmann's Reel History blog), Simon took issue with some of the points raised, posting them in this comment. We asked him to expand.

I must admit that when I heard a film about the Asian tsunami was being made, I was hesitant about going to see it.

Continue reading...

Guardian reader Simon Jenkins was in Thailand when the 2004 tsunami struck. Here he responds to criticisms leveled at The Impossible, which suggested the film overlooked the majority of the disaster's victims

Simon Jenkins, 24, is from Portsmouth, works as a social media specialist at Red Rocket Media, and posts on Twitter as @simonjenkins09. He was present in Thailand during the 2004 tsunami, his experiences mirroring those portrayed in the film The Impossible. When the Guardian's David Cox wrote about the film this week, highlighting its "whitewashing" of events (as did Alex von Tunzelmann's Reel History blog), Simon took issue with some of the points raised, posting them in this comment. We asked him to expand.

I must admit that when I heard a film about the Asian tsunami was being made, I was hesitant about going to see it.

Continue reading...

Catch up with the last seven days in the world of film

The big story

For a horrible moment, it looked like Skyfall would be the big story three weeks in a row. After it, it whomped every other 007 film at the box office, got the Vatican on its side, and even got a seal of approval (sort of) from the Guardian's Women's

desk.

But – and I can safely say this particular combination of words will never be mentioned again – thank God for George Lucas. The sale of his Star Wars production company Lucasfilm to Disney sparked an immediate frenzy of speculation, analysis and debate – much of it reflecting on the fact that Lucas had managed to piss on the oceans of goodwill his initial three Star Wars films had created, and made the prospect of Episodes 7, 8 and 9 something to dread.

The response varied from cautious optimism that Disney could...

Dave White, our resident film critic, doesn't just have opinions on new movies coming out; he's got plenty to say about older movies too. Each month he'll be bringing a past movie to light as it relates to current movies and movie-related issues. Enjoy! I believe in the presence of an exclusive, frozen room in the Hot Place Where Bad People Go. And I believe it's reserved for film writers who make a special point of wholesale trashing an entire genre of filmmaking. One of those people recently penned a piece for the U.K.'s Guardian newspaper, petulantly titled: "Stop admiring Frankenweenie! Why stop-motion doesn't move me." The writer, David Cox, reasons that stop-motion requires too much effort to produce, is aesthetically inferior to digital...

Read More...

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate will release for the Nintendo 3Ds in 2013. At the year's Pax Prime we got a chance to secure a ton of new images for the upcoming title. Read on to check out these glorious screenshots!

Konami Digital Entertainment announced that the action adventure title Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate will be available in early 2013 exclusively for the Nintendo 3Ds system.

"It's been two years since the enormous success of Castlevania Lords of Shadow, and with this next installment, we want to take the necessary time needed to give fans a handheld title unlike any other," said Dave Cox, Producer of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 and Head of Product Planning and Development for Konami Digital Entertainment GmbH. "Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate will bridge the storyline to Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2, also planned to release in 2013. Both...

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 is set to release for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC in 2013. The new game will feature an all-new storyline, a huge open world and much more! Read on to learn more.

From the Press Release

Konami Digital Entertainment GmbH has announced that it will release a Windows PC version of its stunning Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 alongside the versions for PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system and the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft.

The Windows PC version of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 is being simultaneously developed by Madrid-based Mercury Steam, and builds on its critically acclaimed predecessor in every way. The new game features an all-new storyline, a larger cast of characters, huge open world environments and breath-taking visuals delivered via a much more powerful, brand new in house game engine called Mercury Engine 2.

Whereas the first game detailed the origin of Dracula and his legendary connection with the Belmonts,...

Lots of Castlevania news dropping today. First on the docket is the revelation that the next main game in the series, Lords of Shadow 2, has been slated for a 2013 release, and will be hitting a platform that the Castlevania franchise has actually never been on.

Konami has released a press release (below) about the announcement of a PC version that shows the 2013 release window.

More interesting is the announcement itself, that the game will ship day and date on the PC as well as consoles, marking the first time that the series has appeared on the PC.

You can get into the nitty-gritty details with the press release below, but we’ve given you the cliffnotes.

Konami Digital Entertainment GmbH has announced that it will release a Windows PC version of

its stunning Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 alongside the versions for PlayStation®3 computer

entertainment system and the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft.

When a game is set to launch now, the developers usually prepare for post-launch content by beginning development on future Dlc. Unfortunately, MercurySteam had nothing in the works to support Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, after it launched to great popularity among gamers. This lack of preparation was evident in the Dlc add-ons “Reverie and Resurrection”.

The producer for Lords of Shadow, Dave Cox, recently explained his thoughts on the content for Gameranx:

“Neither were planned-they were rushed, due to the game’s unexpected success. We never planned to do Dlc, so we ended up doing Dlc after the fact and in hindsight it was a mistake. It was rushed. We had to rush it to market. The problem was that the game’s success caught everyone by surprise. It caught senior management by surprise and they wanted us to do Dlc. When you have success there’s pressure on you...

The folks at Mercury Steam, the team behind Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, arguably one of the greatest franchise reboots in gaming history, has a new idea when they get tired of Castlevania. Speaking in an interview with VG247, Dave Cox, who’s been working on the franchise since Symphony of the Night, has some new ideas in mind.

Cox says that he “doesn’t want to become Mr. Castlevania.” After the release of both games in development, Lords of Shadow 2 and Lords of Shadow – Mirror of Fate, he wants to leave the Castlevania franchise.

“Well, I think it’s about wanting to leave a legacy. And I don’t want to be in charge of a series that perhaps over a certain time is going to decline. I’d rather go out with a bang and leave that as our legacy in the Castlevania universe. If the game is sucessful...

Tree of Life actor says he was trying to figure out what role he played in Terrence Malick's Palme d'Or-winning film, while Christian Bale signs on for a new Malick project

The big story

"Mother ... Father ... Always you wrestle inside of me. Always you will. Oh ... and what's going on again?"

This week it emerged that Sean Penn seems to have been as mystified by The Tree of Life as the rest of us. "The screenplay is the most magnificent one that I've ever read but I couldn't find that same emotion on screen," said the actor of Terrence Malick's graceful meditation on the meaning of life / unnaturally long ode to self-involvement.

"A clearer and more conventional narrative would have helped the film without, in my opinion, lessening its beauty and its impact," said Penn. "Frankly, I'm still trying to figure out what I'm doing there and what...

There's a big part of the video game industry that a lot of gamers either don't know, or don't care to think about, and it's the time and effort that go into making videos. As a developer it's a very daunting task, and opportunities can slip through your fingers at a moment's notice, for reasons completely unbeknownst to you. These are all things that "Castlevania: Lords of Shadow" Producer David Cox knows all too well, because two and a half years ago, he had to fight to keep his game alive.

"Castlevania: Lords of Shadow" wasn't always the hulking 50 level reboot of a beloved franchise; everything needs to begin somewhere, and most games start as proposals and sketches. Early on in the development stage of "Lords of Shadow," when it was mostly just a concept of a "more adult, gritty, much more mature" direction for a "Castlevania" game, Cox and...

The film has been gaining awards but audiences have been losing their lunch. David Cox talks to its Dutch director, Tom Six

What kind of retirement project might appeal to a surgeon used to separating conjoined twins? He could always apply his expertise in reverse, and try joining some of his fellow humans into a single entity. If he were to stitch them together, mouth-to-anus, they would get a shared digestive system and become a kind of human arthropod. Then he could entertain himself by ordering his creation around like a gigantically over-extended dachshund. Such is the fancy realised by Dr Heiter, the anti-hero of The Human Centipede (First Sequence), the horror film that has been arousing equal amounts of revulsion and admiration from genre fans.

Last year the film picked up Best Picture awards at both America's Screamfest and Italy's Nightmare festivals. Its trailer has clocked up more than 5m YouTube hits.

It's funny, skilful and charming, but this affectionate hymn to 1970s violence and narcissism may help to sustain harmful attitudes

Anne Billson isn't alone in finding Black Dynamite pointless. Nonetheless, many have found it enthralling. So, on one level or another it must be delivering something. What might that be?

The film is a brilliantly executed parody of one strand of the blaxploitation films of the 1970s. Still, you could make a spoof of anything. To succeed as a parodist, you've got to pick a subject that holds some significance for your audience. A decades-old movie sub-genre wouldn't in itself be a sure-fire target. Interest in this one surely depends on a feature of its subject matter that remains of enduring fascination – the potency of the black male.

Blaxploitation hymned violence, sexual incontinence and narcissistic posturing as the black man's route to self-realisation. In the 1970s this may have been...

Given that "Castelvania: Lords of Shadow" will be a major release from a well-known franchise for Konami when it comes out later this year, a decision to orphan the title without some kind of premium edition would be surprising. Amazon.com posted an image of just such a special edition, however, and then promptly took it down. Konami hasn't made the offering official yet, but a representative has stated on the record that the Art of "Castlevania: Lords of Shadow" book and soundtrack shown on Amazon only represent a mock-up of the type of special edition we may eventually see.

"The images of the special edition leaked onto the net are mock ups and Not final," the game's producer David Cox told Joystiq. He called out Amazon for jumping the the gun, even if he didn't verify which items will be available.

A real chain-whip with a mace on the end would be nice,...

Castlevania: Lords Of Shadow will come on two discs for its Xbox 360 release. The title will ship with a disc for installation and another for exclusively playing the game, while the PS3 version will come on a single Blu-ray. MercurySteam producer Dave Cox said that storage issues is something developers are facing more on the platform. "Microsoft actually sent their tech guys to the studio to see the game and look at [how we're] compressing it, but they said: 'Okay, it's good. You're doing all you can'," (more)...

Forget Inception; Leonardo DiCaprio's previous film, Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island, confused just as many cinemagoers. David Cox investigates the curious history behind one of the more troubling conclusions in recent cinema

Warning: beyond this point, spoilers reign

Shutter Island is no impenetrable art-house enigma: it's an old-fashioned noirish thriller that ends with a massive plot twist. As such, you might have thought it would have been easy to understand. In fact, since the film was released in March, the blogosphere's been awash with debate about what actually happens in the final scene.

Martin Scorsese's film is based on a best-selling novel by Dennis Lehane. The book's protagonist, Teddy Daniels, who's apparently a Us marshal, turns out to be Andrew Laeddis, a demented killer. He's a patient in a mental hospital who's been encouraged by his psychiatrist to act out his delusion in the hope that this will dispel it.

Forget Inception; Leonardo DiCaprio's previous film, Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island, confused just as many cinemagoers. David Cox investigates the curious history behind one of the more troubling conclusions in recent cinema

Warning: beyond this point, spoilers reign

Shutter Island is no impenetrable art-house enigma: it's an old-fashioned noirish thriller that ends with a massive plot twist. As such, you might have thought it would have been easy to understand. In fact, since the film was released in March, the blogosphere's been awash with debate about what actually happens in the final scene.

Continue reading...

Forget Inception; Leonardo DiCaprio's previous film, Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island, confused just as many cinemagoers. David Cox investigates the curious history behind one of the more troubling conclusions in recent cinema

Warning: beyond this point, spoilers reign

Shutter Island is no impenetrable art-house enigma: it's an old-fashioned noirish thriller that ends with a massive plot twist. As such, you might have thought it would have been easy to understand. In fact, since the film was released in March, the blogosphere's been awash with debate about what actually happens in the final scene.

Continue reading...

A news story about a famous photograph reminded me of something from summer's bread-and-butter romcom, Letters to Juliet. Bread and butter can be tasty

A little news item from yesterday, "Nurse being kissed in iconic wartime picture dies, aged 91" led me to re-evaluate Letters to Juliet, the memorably forgettable romcom currently on release. As David Cox pointed out quite rightly on this very blog, Letters to Juliet, while sweetly enjoyable enough, is corny as Kansas, and hopelessly predictable.

But the sight of that "iconic photo" brought to mind the first scene of the film, in which we learn that our heroine, Sophie, is a diligent fact-checker for the New Yorker, trawling the phone book in her lunch hour to track down the sailor in the background (the one not kissing the nurse). Her mission is to ask him whether, as an eyewitness, he can confirm that the kiss is genuine,...

Hollywood deceives the young by promising that their dreams will always come true – and this apparently innocuous bit of fluff starring The Rock is no exception

These days, teachers dishing out careers advice have to be careful. Recommend hairdressing or bus driving and they could find themselves branded as betrayers of the young. How scandalous to inculcate such poverty of aspiration! (Sorry, hairdressers and bus drivers.) If only we raised the horizons of our youngsters and convinced them they could be winners, they'd achieve so much more.

Maybe some would. Things being what they are, however, many more wouldn't. If the losers could accept their failure with a cheery shrug and the rapid realignment of their expectations, all might be well. Sadly, disappointment at denial of perceived entitlement is already a powerful engine of contemporary misery.

It's easy to encourage ambition; less easy to urge an accompanying plan B. After all,...

Most of us in North America won’t see Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time until Thursday-midnight screenings begin -- and I won’t see it till then either, because Disney is still refusing to acknowledge my existence. But the film opened last week in the U.K. to a pathetic £1.37 million, and didn’t even win the top spot: that went to the independent British film StreetDance 3D, which earned almost twice as much though it was on 50 fewer screens. And Prince’s figure was only slightly more than Robin Hood’s £1.36 million, over its second weekend. Doh. British critics aren’t impressed with the film -- it’s at 55 percent Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, with most U.K. press checking in so far. David Cox at the Guardian’s Film blog opens his review with a long diatribe against the videogame movie in general; a few choice...

Greedy one-upmanship turns out to be a tougher target for satire than might be expected

In its first reel, The Joneses looks set to deliver a biting satire on competitive consumption. No other purpose seems capable of justifying its zany central conceit. The eponymous Joneses are a fake family of stealth-marketers who succeed in luring their neighbours into acquisitive excess. Over-eagerness to keep up with the Joneses, both literally and proverbially, brings the community to its knees. Surely this ought to provide us with at least an attempt at a witty and incisive homily on greed, envy and one-upmanship. Yet nothing of the kind ensues.

Instead of pursuing the theme embodied in its title, the film tries to find pathos in its disruptive family's problems, rather than humour in the folly of their victims. Since the Joneses' own situation is a synthesised absurdity, the emotional issues it generates aren't too engaging.

I finally saw Kick-Ass on Thursday and it's a wild ride to be certain and is a film I have a feeling fans are going to be running back to see three and four times. As a non-comic book reader I was unfamiliar with the source material and I typically look at online fanboy excitement as a sign of something that won't necessarily speak to me and having avoided the red band trailers and only saw the first MPAA-approved teaser I still wasn't sold. Perhaps that's because Kick-Ass is merely an avenue to introduce 11-year-old Chloe Moretz as the true star of the movie... the gun-toting master of the double-edged blade known as Hit Girl.

Dave Itzkoff has just published a new interview piece at the New York Times on Moretz and her performance as the young, foul-mouthed and violent masked vigilante and there are some choice quotes and a...

Hideo Kojima broke out "Castlevania: Lords of Shadow" last year at E3 as a reboot of the franchise, but the game reportedly began as something much more like the "Castlevania the Adventure" remake that became "Castlevania the Adventure Rebirth." In fact, had things turned out differently, "Lords of Shadow" could have been a level-for-level 3-D re-mastering of Simon Belmont's first quest on the Nes.

"The original concept was to remake the original, classic 8-bit game in 3D," MercurySteam producer David Cox told Joystiq. "That was our original pitch, funny enough — with Simon Belmont and everything."

That's particularly fascinating, considering the game was first announced in Leipzig without the Castlevania brand attached at all. "Lords of Shadow" now comes with the series' name, as well as a hero named Gabriel Belmont who will be voiced by Robert Carlyle.

It also comes with the voicing talents of Patrick Stewart, though, which immediately...

We know a few solid facts about Scream 4. One, Wes Craven is officially attached to direct. Two, the franchise’s original stars, Neve Campbell, David Cox, and Courtney Cox-Arquette, are scheduled to reprise their roles from the original film. Three, the fourth film in the popular horror franchise will begin shooting this spring, with an expected release date of April 15th, 2011.

For most casual fans, that’s probably enough information to get you interested in seeing the movie. If you’re a die-hard Scream fan, however, you might be jonesing for a bit more info. If that’s the case, then you can get your fix by checking out some new script sides from Showfax. The sides, which you can purchase for a few bucks each, span eight different scenes.

Because we can’t reprint the sides here, you’ll have to download them yourselves to learn a bit...