American Honey Review

American Honey played at the 2016 London Film Festival and was released into UK cinemas in October. My full review of American Honey is at Starburst Magazine here. Here's the synopsis:

The film follows Star who  first jumps into a minibus full of carefree scruffy white kids who love nothing more than blasting out hip hop, having a good time, and making some money selling magazine subscriptions. Entrepreneur Krystal runs the show keeping her crew of kids working hard, along with her sidekick and best seller Jake (Shia Labeouf). Star jumps at the chance to get in on the action, living the wild life on the road and falling for Jake along the way.

 
American Honey’s motley crew roll around the affluent neighbourhoods of America, attempting to sell their wares by any means necessary, but the focus is always on Star and Jake as he trains her in the art of the hard sell. It's an episodic structure with no real goal in sight. It's telling that two characters are asked what their dreams are and both reply that they have never been asked that question before. These kids don't get to have dreams. Their minibus is a cocoon of angry hip hop, where they all get to spout repetitive brain-washing capitalist messages about getting rich. Their chemistry comes from sing-alongs and snatches of clearly improvised dialogue. Their single-minded little community lives only to make enough money to buy food, drink and drugs.

Read more of my American Honey review here.

Watch the trailer:

Fast and Furious 7 Teaser Posters Arrive

The countdown is on until the first Fast and Furious 7 teaser trailer screeches onto the net. To mark the last seven days before we get some quality footage, Universal is releasing something special each day for fans.

So here it is: the first real poster for Fast and Furious 7, thankfully with the 'Fast and' intact after yesterday's banner (below) that only read 'Furious 7'.

Seeing as how Fast Five was called Fast Five and most people just referred to the sixth as Fast Six, it would be a bit weird to have to start calling it the 'Furious' franchise suddenly. On the other hand, I suppose the Furious is in keeping with the idea of vengeance which apparently, according to this poster, is about to hit home.

Lest we forget, this will be our last chance to see Paul Walker doing his thing in these films. It is only a month until the first anniversary of his death and I'm sure this film will give him a fitting send off. RIP.

I'm also hoping for big things from this film as Saw director James Wan took the wheel for this installment. Let's hope he steers the franchise in a thrilling direction with newbies Jason Statham and Kurt Russell on board!

Like the posters or had enough of this franchise?

Much more Fast and Furious 7 news at Yahoo
Trailers at I Love That Film
More on Fast and Furious 7 at I Love That Film
Reviews at I Love That Film

Paul Thomas Anderson Lightens Up with Inherent Vice Teaser Trailer

Was it really just me or was The Master a bit of a drag? Paul Thomas Anderson has had an incredible career as a director so far. First coming to my attention with Boogie Nights in 1997, he then baffled me with Magnolia, startled me with Adam Sandler in Punch Drunk Love and mesmerised me with There Will Be Blood.

But despite all the critical adoration heaped upon it, The Master left me cold and as far as I'm concerned, Boogie Nights is still by far Anderson's best film. It had a chaotic, cool vibe that was funny, poignant and had one of my favourite ever performances from the late, great Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Now Anderson seems to have settled on 'ex-rapper' Joaquin Phoenix as his go-to-guy of choice after working with him on The Master. Anderson has often talked about his love of comedy and his ambitions to make one, and Inherent Vice looks like it could get hysterical from the teaser trailer.

Joaquin Phoenix plays a shambling drug-fueled private detective who gets involved in a dangerous game of kidnapping among the incredibly wealthy, after his ex-girlfriend comes to him with the story. It's got a jam packed cast including Josh Brolin, Reese Witherspoon, Benicio del Toro, Owen Wilson and Eric Roberts but best of all, it seems that Josh Brolin may actually be having fun in this movie. It's been a while. Here's the trailer:



Did it get you?

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The Maze Runner Poster and Trailer

The next YA adaptation is on its way with Will Poulter starring in The Maze Runner. Check out the new trailer below. It looks promisingly much more like Hunger Games than Twilight. The Maze Runner is about a group of boys who are trapped in a place called 'The Glade' with no memory of their past lives before they were brought in. They are surrounded by a maze that could lead them to escape but it is filled with slug like spiked monsters that can kill them. Dystopia, danger and the constant threat of death; it sounds like the kind of story I would have loved when I was a teen.

There are two more books in the series already so Fox will undoubtedly be hoping for a big hit. It is coming hot on the heels of Hunger Games, Twilight and Divergent so The Maze Runner will have to be good to compete in that kind of market place.

The new trailer and poster are below:

Transformers 4 teaser trailer is long but promising

Aren't teaser trailers supposed to be short, mysterious, and well... teaser-y? The Transformers: Age of Extinction teaser clocks in at a whopping 2 minutes and 33 seconds, begging the question: how the hell long is the theatrical trailer going to be? Will it be 6 minutes of Baysplosions, Nicola Peltz being ridiculously good looking and Wahlberg doing an admirable job of adding some gravity to proceedings? 

I went into this trailer expecting the worst. The Superbowl snippet left me completely underwhelmed. The inclusion of the Dinobots doesn't excite me and the focus on the effects and big action scenes just didn't make my jaw drop the way it did the first time I saw Bay's Transformers. After the two robotic and head pounding sequels, I was ready to give Age of Extinction a miss. I always liked the comedy that Shia brought to it too so the thought of Mark Wahlberg getting all serious with the franchise wasn't too appealing.

But this teaser actually brought me back from the brink. It might not strictly be much of a tease, looking like it reveals a hell of a lot more than it should but at least there is some sense of the characters and the new story that will bring the Transformers back to life. There are also hints that it will not ignore the events of past Transformers movies which is kind of cool. Though Nicola Peltz looks like a very typical Michael Bay hand picked 'hot girl' in need of rescue, Wahlberg and his mechanic character and father looks like he might be interesting enough to keep us all engaged beyond the promise of explosions and giant robots beating the shit out of each other.

Teaser Trailer



Superbowl spot



There's also three new posters that declare that 'the rules have changed'. I don't know what rules they are on about but at least we get a good look at the three main characters.

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Mr 50 Shades of Grey will see to you now: New Poster

Oops! I'm sorry did I just mis-read the brand spanking new poster for 50 Shades of Grey. Bruce Wayne looks out over Seattle.. a mystery in a grey suit... his handsome face turned away from us... a phallic symbol visible in the distance... oh my! Take me to the Bat-cave/red room of pain already!

In case you didn't know I'm writing for Yahoo about the 50 Shades trilogy and its film adaptations so the neat new teaser poster is really just an excuse to throw in some links to my recent writing over at Yahoo.

50 Shades of Grey film to be even more boring than the book? 
As a man who has read 50 Shades of Grey’ I was expecting the film to focus more on the romance than the nookie. The producer of the film has now officially confirmed that the silver screen version will not be as explicit. Really? No shit Sherlock!

Should 50 Shades of Grey book trilogy be only one film? 
Reports have emerged that the ‘50 Shades of Grey’ trilogy of books could be condensed into a single film to be released in 2015. Though these reports have been denied, there are a great deal of reasons for the trilogy to be reduced into a single film. For a start... it goes on foreveeeeeeeer!

Why Jamie Dornan must go full frontal in 50 Shades of Grey 

Rumours are circling that '50 Shades of Grey' star Jamie Dornan will go full frontal in the movie's countless sex scenes when he finally hits screens as Christian Grey. Should Dornan go all the way to keep the fans happy? Surely there will have to be abundant nudity from both parties!

Will 50 Shades of Grey lingerie make a kinky killing at Christmas? 

'50 Shades of Grey' has become a bestseller, made its author very rich and is now on its way to becoming a big Hollywood movie. Things could get even more exciting for readers with the '50 Shades of Grey' inspired range of luxury ladies underwear.

Do women really love 50 Shades of Grey's Christian Grey?   

After finishing the '50 Shade of Grey' trilogy, I was taken aback by how many women had stuck it out for three books. Are they really all in love with Christian Grey or is there another reason for reading the erotic novels? He's a controlling monster goddamit! I'd rather go out with Bruce Wayne!

How much sex can 50 Shades of Grey movie get away with? 

The movie adaptation of the '50 Shades of Grey' trilogy of erotic novels will have an incredibly delicate balancing act to perform when it is released in 2015. How far will the sex scenes go and will they appeal to the target audience?

Why aren't more men reading 50 Shades of Grey?   

All we ever hear about is why women everywhere have been falling in love with '50 Shades of Grey'. I read the trilogy shortly after my wife and cannot believe more men have not been seduced by its many raunchiness!

 

What do you think of the new poster?

Noah Begins: First Trailer for Biblical Epic with Russell Crowe

Russel Crowe is about to get biblical on the ass of Ray Winstone in the new trailer for Darren Aronofsky's Noah. The brand new trailer sees a storm brewing in ye olden days as Crowe's Noah gathers his family around him in order to build an ark. If you don't know the story then you obviously missed Sunday School. God tells Noah he is about to cleanse the Earth of sin by sending a huge flood to drown the planet. Only those on Noah's ark will be saved so the the animals start to arrive two by two and he hastily builds the thing before the rain comes and washes everything away.

Darren Aronofsky is a long, long way from the early days of his career making low budget dramas like Pi and Requiem for a Dream and though he has dabbled in the waters of the mainstream with critically lauded works such as The Wrestler and Black Swan, this will be easily his biggest budget and most epic undertaking to date. Requiem for a Dream is one of my favourite films of all time but Noah looks a million miles away from that stylish and brutally bleak moralistic tale of drug addiction and despair.

The trailer looks pretty spectacular with Russel Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Ray Winstone, Anthony Hopkins, Emma Watson and Logan Lerman all taking centre stage. Its a heavy hitting cast and Aronofsky looks set to spice things up with plenty of action and epic special effects. It should wash away the remnants of any memories of Evan Almighty anyway. Let's hope with all the tools at his disposal, Aronofsky does not turn this into a biblical version of Roland Emmerich's 2012 though.

Russel Crowe might be more action man than dedicated God follower and his Noah is likely to take on the hordes outside led by Ray Winstone (Noah you slaaaaaaag) with a dash of Maximus and a sprinkle of Robin Hood. There are two versions of the trailer, one for the US and one for the UK. Either one you choose, this is definitely just the beginning of a marketing campaign that will likely flood our brains right up until its March 2014 release. Both trailers are below:

US version



UK version



What do you think?

New Hunger Games: Catching Fire and Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug Posters, Banners and Trailer

Christmas is definitely coming early with the biggest of blockbusters being displayed like bright lights on the particularly large house that is the internet. The studios behind The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug will be keen to capitalise on the successes of the first in each film series and long ago started the marketing ball rolling with stills, posters and trailers. Expect the marketing machines to go into over drive as we get closer to the November and December release dates.

For now, some lovely new banners have been released for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and also a brand spanking new poster for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. The Desolation of Smaug banners are all the usually sumptuous range of imagery and really reminded me of the marketing of The Lord of the Rings and the weight of expectation that each new poster or trailer for that trilogy carried every Christmas.

The first banner focuses on Bilbo and the team of dwarves battling their way through what is likely the darkness of Mirkwood. Then there are separate banners for Elf-King and Legolas Dad Thranduil and finally Luke Evan's new addition Bard the Bowman. There are no more signs of Smaug but Peter Jackson is undoubtedly saving the big final reveal of the dragon until December 13 when the film is released. Enjoy the banners below:

If that hasn't tickled your fancy, perhaps a further slice of Katniss might do the job. Ahead of the November 22nd release date, Lionsgate have unleashed another fiery image from the Hunger Games sequel. Katniss is still determined to maintain her archery skills but despite being thrown back into an arena to fight for her life against former winners, is also being encouraged to 'remember who the enemy is'. The real enemy of course is President Snow and the system that imprisons Katniss and her fellow captive tributes but we will have to wait until Mockingjay Parts 1 and 2 to see Jennifer Lawrence and co rage against the real machine. For now, enjoy the poster:

Liking the look of these posters and banners? If none of that whets your appetite, why not try the brand new Desolation of Smaug trailer:

Get ready for Pacific Rim!

Everything you need to know about Guillermo del Toro's latest, Pacific Rim:

The auteur has not directed a film since comic book sequel Hellboy II in 2008.

His version of The Hobbit failed to emerge due to scheduling conflicts and then his long-awaited passion project At the Mountains of Madness was refused a green light by a nervous studio.

He has completed his trilogy of vampire horror novels The Strain with Chuck Hogan which will now be turned into a series of TV movies.

Synopsis

When a portal beneath the sea opens unleashing mega-monsters (known as Kaiju) from other dimensions, the human race must fight back by building 250 foot tall mecha-titans, known as Jaegers. Two human pilots control these giant robots as they get strapped into circuitry suits, each controlling a hemisphere (left or right) of the mechanical beasts.

Set in the not too distant future, the Kaiju that have emerged from the portal have devastated earth leading to masses of destruction and millions dead and the fight back has dwindled human resources leading to a sense of desperation. Charlie Hunnam’s former pilot is forced to team up with an untested trainee to ‘cancel the apocalypse’ in the words of Idris Elba’s commanding officer.

Inception

Travis Beacham, writer of The Clash of the Titans remake wrote a 25 page script treatment back in 2010 which was immediately purchased by Legendary Pictures. Del Toro then came on board developing the screenplay with Beacham for two years before principal photography began on the 103 day Toronto shoot in November 2011.

Inspired by the Fransisco Goya painting The Colossus that also inspired video game Shadow of the Colossus, the initial idea of Pacific Rim was to go back to the earliest tales of monsters that mankind would tell around campfires.  

Casting

Taking a risk, del Toro managed to secure the cast he wanted without any of the huge star names that usually hold up a tent pole movie of this size. Legendary Pictures backed his decision, arguing it is the creation of the world and the concept that will be the main attraction to audiences.

Idris Elba is the commanding officer Sensi who will go head to head with the Kaiju. It was a role originally developed for Tom Cruise who had reportedly shown an interest. Charlie Hunnam from TV’s Sons of Anarchy takes the washed up Jaeger pilot role as hero Raleigh.

Monsters

Steering away from the archetypal monsters of mythology, anime and previous Kaiju movies, the completely original designs have been at the forefront of del Toro’s mind since the beginning. 

3D?

Del Toro resisted the pressure to shoot in 3D because he felt that the 3D effects would miniaturize the robots and monsters and audiences would not get the full sense of the scale and awe he intended.

Then came the shocking news that del Toro had agreed to a dreaded 3D post-conversion. Del Toro supervised the process, taking 40 weeks to do the conversion where it normally only takes a few weeks to complete on previous movies.

The latest trailer

Could this trailer be any bigger?

 The teaser

The poster

Excited yet?

News stories for Starburst: Byzantium, Star Trek Into Darkness

I've just had my first and second news stories for Starburst Magazine published on the new Byzantium poster and trailer and the new Star Trek Into Darkness character posters. I'm looking forward to contributing more to the site and keeping readers up to date with horror and science fiction news. I hope you will go and check out the Byzantium news story, especially if you are a vampire, horror or Gemma Arterton fan! You can also watch the new trailer there. It all looks pretty vamp-tastic is you ask me!

And here is my second news story on the Star Trek Into Darkness character posters.

And third on Michael Bay and the TMNT reboot and Transformers 4

Fast and Furious Director Articles at Yahoo Movies

I've just had my first two stories for Yahoo Movies published on who will take over directing the Fast and Furious movies now that Justin Lin has departed.

The first article is all about the three directors that were rumoured to be on the short list to take on Fast and Furious 7. Who will direct the next installment in the Fast and Furious franchise? All three names are interesting if not terribly exciting but the article is worth a look to see the three names that looked likely according to early reports.

Then another name was thrown into the mix. The second article works on the assumption that James Wan, the director of Saw and Insidious, might be the director tasked with taking on the next film in the Fast and Furious franchise. This really excited me as later in the year I will be doing a director retrospective for Filmoria on James Wan ahead of the release of the Insidious sequel. This article looks at why James Wan is an excellent choice for being the Fast and Furious 7 director.

Now I guess fans of the franchise just have to hope the producers are not being overly optimistic and that the sixth one actually lives up to some of its hype and that it makes a killing at the box office. The trailer does look pretty good to me. I'm all for less of the street racing and more of the 'vehicular warfare' and seven is supposed to start shooting this summer!



Anyone up for this? All these posters with the characters facing away are pretty cool too don't you think?

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Victory Tour Poster

Let the Victory Tour commence… The Hunger Games: Catching Fire recently unveiled a poster featuring stars Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson all dressed in white and ready for their victory tour around the districts of Panem.

The eye catching poster appears as less an advertisement for the film and more a promotion for the victory tour that will take up much of the early parts of the newest entry in The Hunger Games franchise.

With Katniss and Peeta defying the Capitol and the evil President Snow, and both managing to survive and win the 74^th Hunger Games in the previous film, the stage is set for rebellion to catch fire on a wider scale, especially with the ill-fated ‘lovers’ travelling around the districts on the annual victory tour.

The poster shows Panem’s hottest couple all glossed up like a couple of plastic dolls, ready to dazzle the districts with their death defying story but also to convince the ordinary folk that they are indeed as in love as they claim to be. Their stern faces say it all about how happy they are to be together and to be targets of the threatened President Snow.

If the roses, white clothes and floating petals are anything to go by, their relationship looks set to go to the next level but will it be for love or is it a ruse to keep the people of Panem from revolting?

Shooting continues on Catching Fire after a short break while Lawrence captured the hearts of seemingly everyone with her stair stumbling and kooky acceptance speech as she won the best actress Oscar for her turn in Silver Linings Playbook. Set pictures have shown the new arena featuring Katniss surrounded by water and in a figure hugging wetsuit.

Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson are again joined by Donald Sutherland as President Snow and new additions to the cast include Oscar winner Philip Symour Hoffman and Amanda Plummer and Jeffrey Wright. Hoffman is taking the role of new Head Gamemaker Plutarch Heavensbee but Katniss and Peeta will also be joined in the new arena by Jena Malone as Johanna Mason and Sam Claflin as Finnick Odair.

Catching Fire promises more fighting to the death and a whole new level of threat to the young innocents pictured in the new poster. There will, no doubt, be blood when it is released on November 22^nd, 2013.

More Film News at Filmoria

News stories are fun, quick and a real test of your ability to come up with something fresh to say about a poster, trailer or a new still from a film when you know that other sites have already had a pop at the story.

Film news changes and updates rapidly. In the age of Twitter, any news story can break and be all around the web in seconds. It seems ‘news’ can also be a good way to keep in the good books of PR companies who have the power to giveth and taketh away access to preview screenings. If you help promote their films in the run up to release, I guess you might be more likely to get access to the stars and the screenings.

I started a post ages ago for keeping track of my news stories but I think it’s time for a new one so please find below continuously updated links to any news stories I have published over at Filmoria with the newest link always at the top:

RIP Roger Ebert
World War Z Poster
Made of Stone Poster
Rebellion Poster and Images
Rebellion Trailer
Spring Breakers Posters
Saoirse Ronan Joins How to Catch a Monster
Die Hard 6 Looks Likely
Entourage Movie Green Lit
The Sweeney Publicity Stunt
Before Midnight New Stills
New Warm Bodies Poster
Gremlins Reboot Rumours
A Good Day to Die Hard R rated
The Last Exorcism Part 2 Poster
Berberian Sound Studio Wins at BIFA's
Filmoria on the Radio
Rise of the Guardians Magical Funland
New The Impossible TV Spot
Star Wars: Episode VII Director
More Dark Knight Rises Bonus Material
The Dark Knight Rises Bonus Features
Independence Day 3D
Wayne's World 3 Script
Star Trek Into Darkness Preview
One Direction Documentary Director
Django Unchained Poster

Keep an eye out for more news stories at Filmoria.

You're Next Trailer Offers a Perfect Day

The trailer for upcoming horror You're Next features the second best use of Lou Reed's Perfect Day I've ever enjoyed. The use of the song is arguably more appropriate in Trainspotting, particularly as the scene it is used in when Renton overdoses on heroin actually takes place during the day. However it seems to complement this thrilling new trailer with the same kind of irony that Lou Reed hopefully intended of the lyrics that many suggest were about his own addiction.

So the perfect day featured in the You're Next trailer looks like a family reunion rudely interrupted by animal mask wearing hunter types, intent on killing their prey. Crossbows, axes, knives and all manner of weaponry look to be doled out in an excruciating horror that may not look overly original but still seems to have plenty of gore and thrills to offer. Check out the trailer below:



It reminds me of Switchblade Romance (aka High Tension), the French film that is possibly the last film to have genuinely scared me. That opened with a family under attack from a ruthless killer in a rural, isolated setting. The animal masks also remind me of the recent episode of Black Mirror called White Bear that is one of my favourite bits of TV ever. Whether You're Next can live up to the expectations created by these comparisons will remain to be seen. It isn't out until August in the UK, despite being screened at the Toronto Film Festival in 2011. All signs look good with many critics describing it as a superior home invasion horror.

Just for fun, I though I'd post this snippet of Trainspotting that featured Lou Reed's Perfect Day accompanying Renton's descent into over dose. It's also a nice timely reminder that plans are afoot for the follw-up to Trainspotting, based on Irvine Welsh's book Porno. Let's hope Danny Boyle and the team can bottle lightning once again.

First Stars on a Film Poster: Rebellion

I've just learned that my four star review for Filmoria is being used on the poster for Mathieu Kassovitz's Rebellion. It's not a big beautiful quote or snippet of my review but the four stars are definitely up there on the poster with Filmoria written proudly beneath them.

Filmoria have had a lot of exposure through film posters and trailers over the last year with our stars popping up on the Sightseers poster and even a quote from Chris Haydon's review being used in the Rust and Bone trailer.

I wish I could say that this was all down to my wonderful reviewing skills but of course this is more to do with the increasing profile of Filmoria which must be becoming a more and more recognizable name and can therefore feature on posters alongside Time Out, Cinevue and Empire magazine.

It’s a great, great honour to not only be writing for Filmoria but also to get my first stars on the poster for a film I am so very happy to be recommending. Rebellion is from the French filmmaker Mathieu Kassovitz whose La Haine I have banged on about endlessly on this blog and ever since I first saw it back in 1996.

Rebellion isn’t out until April 19^th so my review will be online at Filmoria from around April 12^th. I hope you might be tempted to go check it out! My editors at Filmoria are also in talks to get an interview with the man Mathieu Kassovitz himself which I have been offered if it happens and I am available when it gets scheduled.

Needless to say if this interview happens, I’m going to, for want of better words, slightly lose my shit. Not only will I get to meet the director of one of my top three films of all time but I’ll also get to question him all about Rebellion and hopefully manage to throw at least one question in about La Haine.

Please cross your fingers that I get to interview Kassovitz! I'll owe you one if I do!