News

In today’s Global Bulletin, Raindance will premiere 11 National Youth Film Academy short films, Panorama Studios appoints Rajat Goswami, Sky Kids announces the return of legendary Aardman character Morph, Potboiler Productions starts development on “Augustown,” BBC Two’s “Danny Boy” starts shooting and announces casting, Beyond Rights hires Fox vet Connie Hodson and Okre launches digital roundtable series.

Festivals – Exclusive

Raindance Film Festival will premiere 11 short films shot remotely by students of the National Youth Film Academy who worked together throughout the Covid-19 pandemic as part of the Set Ready course initiative. The films will screen in Raindance’s Off-Competition section Oct. 28 – Nov. 4.

Each of the shorts will screen at the Odeon Greenwich with in-person crowds of invited friends, family and crowdfund donors. Four additional films from National Youth Film Academy students will also premiere in the Off-Competition section, selected at the Emerging Brits Industry Showcase in February earlier this year.

The surviving members of the Beach Boys have been touring in two competing camps since the bitter conclusion of their 50th-anniversary tour in 2012, but Mike Love told Rolling Stone he is open to the idea of another reunion — this time for the 60th anniversary. “I’m not against anything like that,” he said. “Anything that’s creative and done for positive reasons is good with me. We will continue thinking about stuff like that and see what we can do.”

Next year would mark the 60th anniversary of the formation of the group.

The Irish have put up with a lot of bullshit over the years. There’s England. The Troubles. The kittening of the Celtic Tiger. Enya. It’s not been an easy history. And black people, those living in mostly white countries anyway, they’ve put up with a whole bunch of bullshit, too. So if we pretend there’s an iota of depressing truth being bandied about when, in Roddy Doyle’s novel The Commitments, the irrepressible yet wee bit naïve protagonist Jimmy says that the Irish are the blacks of Europe,...

Millions in Ireland, Northern Ireland and throughout the world celebrate St. Patrick’s Day on March 17th, commemorating the death some 1,556 years ago of the patron saint of Ireland. While much is still unknown about St. Patrick, who wasn’t actually born in Ireland but in what was at the time Roman Britain, Ireland’s influence on American culture (green beer and corned beef and cabbage notwithstanding) is undeniable, especially when it comes to music.

Throughout his lifetime, Arkansas-born Johnny Cash was obsessed with his ancestry. His family’s roots...

The Rent 20th Anniversary Tour, the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning landmark rock musical written by Jonathan Larson, will be led by Danny Kornfeld as 'Mark Cohen,' Kaleb Wells as 'Roger Davis,' Skyler Volpe as 'Mimi Marquez,' AaRon Harrington as 'Tom Collins,' David Merino as 'Angel Dumott Schunard,' Katie Lamark as 'Maureen Johnson,' Jasmine Easler as 'Joanne Jefferson, and Christian Thompson as 'Benny Coffin III.'...

Warner Bros. Pictures have announced the award winning and much loved historical epic Michael Collins will be back in Irish cinemas for a limited period in a new digital format from March 18th. The film will be screened in 60 cinemas across Ireland. Michael Collins tells the powerful, turbulent story of one of Ireland's most controversial patriots and revolutionary heroes, known as ‘The Lion Of Ireland’, who leads his countrymen in their fight for independence. Set in the early 20th Century, when a monumental history of oppression and bloodshed had divided Ireland and its people, the film covers the bloody 1916 Easter Uprising, when Irish revolutionaries surrendered to the overwhelming military power of the British forces and Collins was arrested. Upon his release, he takes leadership of the Irish independence movement and strives to create a free and peaceful country.

The Oscar®* and BAFTA nominated film is directed by Neil Jordan (The Crying Game,...

The 1980s were a quiet period for British auteur Ken Loach, at least as far as film features were concerned. Though he directed six documentaries during the decade (nearly all of them for television), he’d only complete three narratives, none of which were as celebrated as his early works or the prolific period which would follow through the 1990s and 2000s. As the insert essay on this re-release from Julie Kirgo points out, this was a direct result of Thatcher’s government shutting down avenues for Loach to maintain funding for his features. Of the items he managed to get off the ground, his first and only foray (to date) into European filmmaking is 1986’s Fatherland (aka Singing the Blues in Red), a film about an East German musician defecting to the West to escape the political repression of his music. Written by Trevor Griffiths (best known for writing Warren Beatty’s Reds,...

Twilight Time presents Irish auteur Neil Jordan’s 1982 directorial debut Angel (aka Danny Boy) on Blu-ray, an obscurely regarded gem from the great filmmaker. A visually vibrant examination of the entrenched malaise infecting a region in the midst of what’s been referred to as “the troubles” (or the Northern Ireland Conflict, a decades spanning political issue concerning the constitutional status of Ireland in the UK vs. a United Ireland, informed also by religious views and ethnic background), this melancholy revenge drama showcases Jordan’s enduring muse Stephen Rea, as well as themes he’d continue to enhance in subsequent features. Hampered by a lack of developing tension, mostly due to a dramatic catalyst granted more weight than it could possibly wield, it’s certainly a solemn precursor to Jordan’s later masterpiece that decade, Mona Lisa (1986).

Danny (Rea) is a talented saxophonist traveling around with his band to different gigs around Northern Ireland.

Oscar-winning cinematographer worked on Kes, The Killing Fields and The Reader among others.

British cinematographer Chris Menges is to receive a lifetime achievement award at Camerimage (Nov 14-21), the International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography.

Menges will attend the 23rd edition of Camerimage in the Polish city of Bydgoszcz to accept the award, introduce screenings of his films and will meet with the festival’s audience.

Across a 50-year career, Menges has won two Academy Awards for Roland Joffé’s The Killing Fields in 1985, for which he also won a BAFTA, and The Mission in 1987.

More recently, he was Oscar-nominated (with Roger Deakins) for his work on Stephen Daldry’s The Reader in 2010.

Menges began his career in the 1960s as camera operator for documentaries by Adrian Cowell and for films like Poor Cow by Ken Loach and If… by Lindsay Anderson.

He returned to work with Loach on Kes, which marked...

It’s almost August and that means Netflix is about to give their content a refresh. Some of the notable titles leaving include: Family Ties: Season 1-7, Unbreakable, and Titanic. So if you haven’t seen some of these titles, plan your nights accordingly. We of course can look forward more than a few new titles including The Hurt Locker, White God (pictured above), and Girl Meets World season 1.

Available August 1

Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein (1999)

In this animated adventure, Alvin, Simon, and Theodore revel in their new gig at a movie theme park by wandering the grounds after hours. Among the attractions is the spooky Frankenstein’s Castle, where a real mad scientist is bringing the monster to life. But when the boys cross paths with the creature (Frank Welker), they soon learn that appearances can be deceiving, and Frankenstein is more misunderstood than malevolent.

Asylum (2005)

A...

Trouble in Mind: Onah’s Homage to Neo Noir an Indie Echo of Device

In development for the past five years since it was initially announced, director Julius Onah’s directorial debut The Girl is in Trouble at last reaches a theatrical release. Impressive as a first feature, Onah’s homage to vintage New York noir looks to explore modern examples of urban fugue in the fluctuating metropolis. In several regards, this is a refreshing example of tried and true tropes, focusing on the perspective of a black character (an uncommon element in noir) and conveying Onah’s familiarity with his inspirations. However, like many of the titles it invokes, style can’t compensate entirely for substance, and third act inevitabilities find the film’s initial energy plummeting before the end credits.

August (Columbus Short) is a down-on-his-luck DJ, desperately in need of a job after a series of...

The release of Sin City: A Dame To Kill For inspires James to look back at its film noir roots, and some classic examples of the genre...

"Things go dark. I don't mind much. It's okay." John Hartigan, Sin City.

We're at the shadowy back-end of the summer blockbuster season and darkness is entering the frame. Here comes ultraviolence, sleaze, crime and death, all beautifully shot in macabre high-contrast monochrome. Just when you thought you'd got yourself clean and were all peppy after some upbeat family-friendly popcorn thrills, here's Sin City: A Dame To Kill For to darken up the doorways. (And it will light up a cigarette in those doorways and spit out some tough dialogue from between its bloodstained teeth while it's lingering there.)

We're back in the Basin City of Frank Miller's graphic novels again, once more brought to vivid screen life by the comics creator...

 

It's a relatively light weekend for new releases, with most area theaters stacking up screens for the multiple formats of the new Hobbit adventure. In the weeks ahead, things should pick up considerably as we sail full-steam ahead into year-end prestige titles for awards season. 

If you're looking for holiday classics, the Paramount has 35mm screenings of White Christmas and Meet Me In St. Louis playing on Sunday and Monday. The Austin Film Society has a much darker holiday offering at the Marchesa with Zach Clark's White Reindeer on Saturday night. This new release from IFC Films won raves at SXSW earlier this year and lead actress Anna Margaret Hollyman will be in attendance for a Q&A.

Speaking of dark, Afs also is bringing the new film from Claire Denis to town this weekend. Bastards (pictured above) is an unsettling story of betrayal and sexual intrigue with a...

In his fine-looking new fable, Neil Jordan deals with two themes that have recurred in his work since Angel, the brilliant thriller about the Troubles with which he made his auspicious debut 31 years ago. One concerns the position of people who find themselves simultaneously pursuer and pursued; the other is about someone who takes on weighty responsibilities for the safety and welfare of others.

In this case, they are a mother and daughter, the ruthless, beautiful, unscrupulous Clara (Gemma Arterton) and the kind, principled, vulnerable Eleanor (Saoirse Ronan). Both have been vampires since the early 19th century when Clara was raped and abandoned by the naval officer who fathered Eleanor. During this time, they've been pursuing their own bloody agendas while in flight from a different, less forgiving group of the undead. Currently, they've escaped their latest killings and found refuge in a deserted art nouveau hotel in a run-down seaside resort (in reality Hastings,...

Neil Jordan is the man behind such classics as Company of Wolves, Interview with the Vampire, Michael Collins, Angel and many more. As his new film, Byzantium, sinks its teeth into cinema crowds, he answers your questions

You're in Hastings. You meet friendly holidaymakers Saoirse Ronan and Gemma Arterton. Nothing nicer, right? Wrong: this pair may look pretty, but they're actually 200 years old and survive on human blood.

Neil Jordan's new film, Byzantium, opens this Friday in the UK and to mark the occasion we're offering you the chance to put your questions to the legendary director of the likes of The Crying Game, Mona Lisa, The Butcher's Boy, Michael Collins , The End of the Affair and - of course - Interview with the Vampire.

He's also an acclaimed novelist and his an unusually luxy study. Post your questions below! Neil will be in the thread from 11.45am GMT on Tuesday 28 May.

Neil Jordan is best known recently for his worthy dramas along the lines of Breakfast on Pluto or Michael Collins but the man is quite hard to pin down in terms of a specific favoured genre because looking at his filmography he has made some strange choices.

After the low-budget and gritty Angel in 1982, Jordan went for a bizarre horror cum fairy tale story which was financed by the soon to be defunct Palace Pictures. Based on the short story writing of Angela Carter and co-written by her and Jordan, The Company of Wolves is a strange Chinese box of a movie which just about holds up in these modern times.

Starting in present day (well 1984) we meet a girl (Sara Patterson) who is very much trapped in her own world and spends all day in bed much to her parents and sister’s chagrin. The girl dreams back to...

Concert organizers estimate that over 25,000 crammed into the area of College Green by Trinity College to see the concert prepared for President Barack Obama entitled "Is Féidir Linn" ("Yes we can!") Compare, Rte Radio and TV host, Ryan Turbridy opened the show introducing a performance from Sharon Shannon and the Saw Doctors. Brendan Gleeson gave a rousing and emotional speech about the 1845 visit by Fredrick Douglass, Obama's hero. He was followed by Ryan Sheridan singing "Jigsaw". Stephen Rea then took to the stage reciting the WB Yeats poem "I am Ireland". He dedicated it to all the Irish people who had been forced to emigrate over the years. He said "We hope it will not be too long before these people, or their children, return to dance with us in Ireland". Dubliner Imelda May then took the stage with her hit song "Johnny Got a Boom Boom" before sports commentator...

Wayne Brady, who plays Neil Patrick Harris' brother James on "How I Met Your Mother," is joining the cast of "Rent" at the Hollywood Bowl Aug. 6-8, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Brady will play the role of Tom Collins, a gay philosophy professor with AIDS who moves in with young drag queen Angel. Other cast members include Vanessa Hudgens as Mimi, three Broadway "Rent" cast members Tracie Thoms, Telly Leung and Gwen Stewart and other actors Aaron Tveit, Skylar Astin and Collins Pennie.

Neil Patrick Harris has been announced as the director of the popular musical. He originated the role of Mark Cohen for the North American tour of "Rent." Tickets for the Hollywood Bowl 2010 season, which includes this production of "Rent," go on sale Sunday, May 2 at 10 am Pt, so be sure to get your tickets if you want to go!

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Greetings Fango Fiends! Psycho Bunny here with another look back at the past seven days of deliciously blood-drenched horror goodness. While many of you will be plopped in front of the tele later today soaking your livers in alcohol, munching cheap snacks like a glutton on holiday, watching men fight over the inflatable pigskin, Pb will be enjoying Black Sunday instead. No, not the 1960 Mario Bava classic, but John Frankenheimer's 1977 film about an attack on the Superbowl. Sure it was Miami as opposed to Tampa Bay, but who cares about logistics? That said, let's delve into a look back at the past week in horror, broken down by category into easy to digest little nuggets of death!

Fangoria Entertainment Updates

-Splinter director Toby Wilkins doin’ Chicago Fango con

-You’re Uninvited to Fangoria Radio!

-A trip to the Underworld with a Baghead on the Fangoria Podcast!

Weekly Chopping...

Neil Gaiman appeared on this morning’s Today Show to discuss Coraline, as well as his newly Newberry winning The Graveyard Book. Shortly before he went on air, Gaiman twittered that he had been given the go ahead to reveal who was set to write and direct a big screen adaptation of The Graveyard Book and once he was in the hot seat, he was good to his word.

Rather fantastically, the name he gave was none other than Neil Jordan.

Gaiman apparently confirmed on the show that Framestore, from here in good old Blighty, would be handling the FX. We already knew they were producing the film with the author, since an MTV interview of last year.

Much of Jordan’s work in, or at the cusp of, the fantasy genre shows a very distinct sensibility that still seems compatible with Gaiman’s, from The Company of Wolves to...