My Soul To Take - DVD Review

'if it was made in 1995 then it could have been a decent little genre flick. In 2011 however, audiences have a right to demand more from their horror films'

Sometimes it can be rather difficult to understand how certain films get made. Recently, Guillermo Del Toro failed to receive the greenlight for his At The Mountains Of Madness project, largely down to the fact that, as explained here, 18-rated (R-rated in the US) horror films just don't make the sort of money necessary to justify an $150million budget.

Although significantly less expensive, at a cost of $25million, My Soul To Take is one of those films where a large return on investment was hard to imagine from the off. An 18-rated film which deals with a group of sixteen year-old high school students, the Wes Craven written and directed slasher plays out like a cross between Clueless, Urban Legends and The X-Files. As such, a third of the target audience (surely the characters and setting will only appeal to 13-16 year olds) are prevented from seeing the picture, whilst the other two thirds will be annoyed, frustrated or alienated by the high school drama with all its cliques, cheerleaders and quarterbacks.

To be fair to Craven's film, if it was made in 1995 then it could have been a decent little genre flick. In 2011 however, audiences have a right to demand more from their horror films than a stock group of characters being picked off one by one by an anonymous killer. More than that in fact, in 2011 audiences have a right to watch a teenage-orientated film by someone who understands 21st century teenagers. Craven clearly doesn't. The film opens with a large group of them collecting in the woods to mark their birthdays with a Pagan-esque ceremony. Really? They wouldn't be playing on their Xboxes then? Or drinking stolen booze somewhere? Apparently not. Craven thinks its perfectly normal for high school teens to indulge in the occult in sparse woodlands next to a river supposedly haunted by the spirit of the Riverton Ripper, My Soul To Take's supernatural antagonist.

The plot surrounding The Ripper is as nonsensical as the fact that the film exists at all. Relying far too much on an initial piece of coincidence - that seven of the teenagers were born on the same day The Ripper died - Craven blends in convenience after convenience. A late one in particular, which reveals that practically the whole town have kept a secret from one of the characters for sixteen years, being particularly hard to swallow.

Of course, none of this really matters, certainly not to Craven. All he's looking for is a couple of flimsy excuses to flash some blood and kill some screaming teens. He manages it but only just and the only kills horror hounds will be treated to are re-hashes of tired old moves from Scream and its ilk. Sadly, the analysis extends to the film as a whole with Emily Meade's second-half performance, as the headstrong sister of the protagonist, arguably the only bright spot on offer.

My Soul To Take is released in the UK on DVD and Blu-ray on 4th April 2011.

Look further...

'[Craven] doesn’t make movies as much as he takes Nightmare on Elm Street and runs it through different molds on his movie-sized Play-Doh Fun Factory, just the same flick in a different shape, until he pinches them off like turds' - Altered Realities Radio, 0.5/5

Why Isn't This A Film? - The Infant Of Prague

What have we got here then?

The Infant Of Prague is a 1987 novel from American thriller writer Bill Granger, one of the many in his The November Man series of books.

OK fine. What’s it about?

Devereaux, code name 'November', is a US spy on the fringes of the security establishment, attached to a secret bureau called R Section. Called in from a period of inactivity, Devereaux is assigned the apparently simple job of escorting Czech defector Miki from Brussels to the States. But why is the job important enough to call Devereaux in? And what exactly does Section want with Miki?

Interesting. Is there something more?

At the same time as one defector is being escorted by Devereaux, another switches sides live on TV in Chicago, after apparently having witnessed a miracle. Were the two defections timed? And how does the fact that both Czechs are involved in the movie industry fit into things?

Save me the trouble then – is it any good?

Despite the rather hackneyed sounding plot synopsis, Granger's novel is actually a very tautly plotted Cold War-era spy drama. Whilst the subject may have aged, the John le Carré-esque thrills still hit home and the book rattles by at just a touch over 250 pages with frequent chapter breaks. Granger's cast of supporting characters are varied, his plot machinations satisfying and his villains a mixture of the diabolical and genuinely scary. Devereaux's world weariness is pleasant rather than cumbersome and the whole thing ends up as a nicely under-played international spy drama.

But…

In 250 pages, Granger attempts a hell of a lot and at times the large cast of characters can get confusing. There's Czech agents in Prague, Czech agents in Belgium, Section agents everywhere, a disgraced Colonel, a Movie producer, a Movie star, a Movie 'fixer' and more than one employee of a TV station. Whilst the plot does 'work', the feeling of 'where the hell are we now?' at the start of the novel is frequent and distracting. As the plot suggests it can also veer into spy-hokum territory on occasion, not that that's a problem if you like that sort of thing.

What are its chances of being made as a film?

In 2005, Variety reported that The November Man would be one of new studio Wildflower Entertainment's first films and that it already had Pierce Brosnan attached to return to the spy genre. Several other sites picked up on the report and at the time, it seemed a sure thing that the series would be coming to screens imminently. An article on another site in 2010 placed Granger's series in the 'Should Be Made' category but as yet, no-one has picked up the now defunct idea and ran with it. The topical nature of Granger's Cold War-set novels now makes the property a long shot to secure a release but Hollywood has returned to the period before and if one or two future spy thrillers become big hits then don't bet against producers starting to scour the market for properties exactly like this one.

But who'd star in it?

Brosnan was a good choice for Devereaux in 2006 but is arguably an even better choice for him now. Continuing to age gracefully (as the above shot from new film Salvation Boulevard shows), the former Bond would provide a marketable presence in the lead as a spy who is probably in to his fifties in the novel. George Clooney would provide a similarly-aged and similarly-marketable presence whilst the outside bets could be anyone from Eric Bana to Ciarán Hinds.

Devereaux's love interest, Rita, is a strong presence in the book and would suit an actor perhaps a bit younger than the lead. Kate Winslet would be a solid choice and it would also be nice to see Julia Roberts attempt something serious for a change. Naomi Watts is now surely an obvious call for spy-related stuff.

Will it be any good?

There are the ingredients here to make this work. The novel is short enough to adapt almost verbatim and the intricacies of the book naturally lend themselves to being portrayed visually. The difficulty is in making Cold War era spy games applicable today and for that reason, the film might struggle to find an audience.

Anything else I should know about it?

Although dealing with Mossad agents, The Debt, a Sam Worthington vehicle due out at some point this year, returns to a similar period of espionage and conspiracy and looks well worth looking in to.

Why Isn't This A Film? is a regular Film Intel feature which takes a book (you know... one of those things with pages in, doesn't project on to a screen, makes small rustling noises), comic, video game or graphic novel and assesses its adaptation prospects. One day this feature will get something right and we will win something major and valuable. Possibly.

Classic Intel: Lethal Weapon 4 - DVD Review

'a massive amount of pyrotechnics, a load of silly stunts and a whip smart script'

Remember when Rene Russo was on cinema screens all the time? And when no-one knew quite how mad, Mad Mel was? And when Danny Glover didn't have to do this sort of stuff to get a decent pay check?

The time you're thinking of may well have been 1998, a year which saw Lethal Weapon 4 shooting on to cinema screens with a massive amount of pyrotechnics, a load of silly stunts and a whip smart script which featured much of the wisecracking now associated with series creator Shane Black, even if he is only listed with a 'characters' credit on this occasion.

The actual scriptwriter, Channing Gibson, keeps the tone that Lethal Weapon 3 had established; this is a loud and proud buddy comedy with a large helping of action and very little of the darkness present in both the second and, in particular, the first entry in the franchise. The very first scene, which has a great filming location and is evocatively lit at night by a massive flamethrower, sets the tone well and provides stupid action in conjunction with cleverly scripted jokes and Danny Glover in a pair of boxer shorts.

Setting a film up with a huge set piece would leave other productions floundering for material later on but director Richard Donner follows memorable moment with memorable moment. A chase through Chinatown has some of the script's best lines ('you have the right to remain silent, so shut the f**k up!'), whilst a fist battle at Murtaugh's (Glover) house shows off the skills of Donner's ace-in-the-hole, Jet Li.

Li, now a familiar face and name in Hollywood, was appearing in his first Western production and shows off skills reminiscent of contemporaries Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee. To an audience with very little knowledge of him, Li was an effective villain, menacing, near-silent and highly skilled and he helps Lethal Weapon 4 to move along satisfactorily, never looking like the pushover-style villain present in so many 1990s action films.

In and amongst the great fights and hilarious dialogue, there's an awful jazz-inflected score which makes the film sound like a 1970s porno. In fact, the more technical aspects of Donner's film are its main downfall - on several occasions the editing is way off, most notably at the end of the house fight scene, where Wah Sing Ku (Li) kicking the pregnant Lorna (Russo) was obviously deemed too shocking to show and is edited out in a 'we hope they don't notice' kind of way.

For an action-comedy though, this does its job in a similarly effective way to the Shane Black written/directed Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and going back to see Gibson and Glover on top form is a joy.

Look further...

'When Li is center screen, the ooofs and arggghs of Gibson and Glover add about as much to the ambiance as the hoked-up grunts of professional wrestlers' - Entertainment Weekly (1998), C

The Hunter - DVD Review

'tense and gripping, the final part pulls the viewer towards a stunning conclusion which satisfactorily makes its point'

Rafi Pitts has spoken many times in the last few weeks about the circumstances surrounding his decision to star in his own film. Pitts seems eager to point out that the choice was not one of hubris but came rather out of necessity. Faced with a lead actor 'unfit' to fulfil the role and tight Iranian filming laws which would delay the shoot should a new cast member be required, Pitts stepped in to the breach. He needn't have worried.

A first time actor, Pitts has presence in front of the camera. Brooding and isolated, he paints a picture of a man despairing of the world he lives in. An ex-con in a dead end job, his character Ali gets joy from hunting in the woods and spending time with his young family.

Whilst many synopses go further than this (including IMDb's own) to do so would be to spoil the direction the film takes. Equally though, it's understandable to see more expansive descriptions because The Hunter is a film where nothing much happens until the half way point where Ali, finding events conspiring against him, takes a dramatic choice.

This choice leads to the film's final third. Magnificently set up in a foggy scene involving some fantastic camera shots by cinematographer Mohammad Davudi, the tone and dynamic of Pitts' film completely changes. Tense and gripping, the final part pulls the viewer towards a stunning conclusion which satisfactorily makes its point in a calm and collected way which recalls the claustrophobia and gently, gently horror of some of the more obvious single location thrillers available.

The problem is everything that goes before. Whilst Pitts might have presence he's also incredibly one-dimensional. Ashen-faced no matter what the situation, he hardly proves magnetic in segments which require a whole bunch of nothing to happen beyond mundane relationship development. The Hunter finds itself with the age old problem of needing to establish relationships which are crucial for its ace-in-the-hole finale but not having any great or interesting way of doing it. Near silent scenes at Ali's place of work are monotonous, the obligatory trip to the funfair with his family, unimaginative.

As a piece of political expression, The Hunter functions well but it does so in the dourest way possible, dutifully lecturing where it should be wilfully inspiring.

Look further...

'Pitts the director handles [the film] with enormous feeling for mood, while Pitts the thespian delivers a tour-de-force of near silent acting' - Lost In The Multiplex

Trailer Of The Week - Week #13

Released in the UK a couple of weeks ago but likely to find a bigger audience when it arrives here on DVD in May, Benda Bilili! is a well-reviewed documentary about a group of disabled and homeless musicians from the streets of The Democratic Republic Of Congo. The French-made documentary tells the apparently amazing story of how the band went from their hard-up roots to underdog stars, eventually recording an album and playing shows in Europe. The trailer mixes in some of the band's inspiring music and hints that this may well be an early shout for one of the best documentaries of the year.

Trailer Of The Week is a regular Film Intel feature which picks a different tasty trailer of delectable goodness every week and presents it on Sunday for your viewing pleasure. Sometimes old, sometimes new, sometimes major, sometimes independent, sometimes brilliant, sometimes a load of old bobbins: always guaranteed to entertain. If you want to make a suggestion for Trailer Of The Week, see the contact us page.

Film Intel's Final Word

What happened this week and why you shouldn't care.



The Hobbit Begins. A Bit Like Batman Begins. Only Not.

Story: Screen Rant

This particularly made me laugh this week with several websites proclaiming that the 'Official Synopsis' had been released. Erm... hasn't that been available here since, like, 1937?



The Last Joe Johnston Film To Suffer Reshoots Was The Wolfman. This Time It's Cap'

Story: Den Of Geek

I applaud Den Of Geek for taking a measured stance on this but I'm slightly worried. The Wolfman (although in my opinion, not as bad a film as many people thought) was blighted by reshoots, studio orders and general dissatisfaction from everyone involved. Imagine the same but with a Marvel property. Oh dear.



In 'None News' This Week: Akira Shortlist Doesn't Make Sense, Contains The Usual Suspects, Probably Won't Happen Anyway.

Story: Slash Film

Sigh.

The Illusionist - DVD Review

'the conclusion is as profound as it needs to be, hinting at hope but overtly offering cynicism'

Sylvain Chomet's Oscar-nominated animation about an old-fashioned magician struggling to find a place in an increasingly cynical world, has both a surface level charm and an unexpected depth which largely overcomes the somewhat whimsical nature of its tale-telling. Looking beautifully similar to the Broken Sword videogames, Chomet and his animators imbue every frame in The Illusionist with immense detail, developing a world which has real character, borne out in some fantastic locations.

The problem with the film though is that in these fantastic locations, there often seems to be nothing happening. In an elongated scene covering our hapless illusionist washing a car there are few laughs and little drama. But we still spend a good few minutes with him. Washing a car.

Side characters flit in and out. Occasionally to make a point, occasionally to liven up proceedings, never to stay around for long enough to be developed in any meaningful way. They are artifices of the now crumbling world the protagonist lives in but they're never there for long enough to fill the void in The Illusionist's frothy centre.

What does go some way to filling that void is Chomet's reverence to cinema, performance and drama as an art form in general or - as it is often presented here - a distraction. The moral, when it finally comes, seems to nod back cleverly to the film's own medium but also to the wider world, now thoroughly explored by the two main characters who have experienced heartbreak and joy along the way. A messy and sentimental pre-ending moment with the illusionist's long-time collaborator is trotted out to pull at the heart strings. It's not needed. Chomet's real end is as profound as it needs to be, hinting at hope but overtly offering cynicism.

If the plot itself could just have been woven with a few more interesting moments it would be a whole heap easier to recommend this. The decision to make the film near-silent (a few grunts and groans and the occasional word in French are all the dialogue we get) is a brave one but it leaves another gaping hole which the inventive score can't quite fill. It's still particularly lovely and the visuals alone are a reason to watch but Chomet's theorising deserved a meatier narrative.

Look further...

'The Illusionist is a film that seems constructed almost entirely out of remorse. One made with the acute sensation of how much has been lost' - Things That Don't Suck

Another Year - DVD Review

'in Leigh's quest to replicate 'real' conversations and 'real' life he occasionally tries too hard, creating artifice not through intent but through over-reaching realism'

Like the first fifteen minutes of The Social Network, the first fifteen minutes of Another Year are spent tuning your ears in to the very unique dialogue. Where other films would have conversations written (designed, even) to lead somewhere specific, Mike Leigh's creation process is much more fluid than that, with actors and crew having direct input on the script and where they see it leading. Overtly concerned with 'realism', the results are conversations which meander to nowhere in particular, skirting around specific points. A number of lines in to an early conversation with the enigmatic Mary (Lesley Manville), for example, Tom (Jim Broadbent) breaks off to mention that 'you're looking well'. It's the kind of throwaway, small talk which often crops up in every day parlance when a period of silence needs to be filled but, crucially, it's not the sort of line which normally makes it into a film's script.

The constant effect of this sort of dialogue thrown in at random moments can be jarring. In Leigh's quest to replicate 'real' conversations and 'real' life he occasionally tries too hard, creating artifice not through intent but through over-reaching realism. Names are used near constantly, as opposed to substituted personal pronouns, much commoner in the average conversation. Think how many times a day you actually call your mate John by his full name.

If you can get over the dialogue though, there's a warm and funny drama to explore here. Leigh talks extensively in the interview extras about being both a tragedian and a comedian because 'life is full of both'. He's entirely right and in Mary, Leigh finds a character that can represent both sides. Inherently entertaining, Mary is also a dim-witted, occasionally insensitive, drunk. Hopelessly flirting with Tom and Gerri's (Ruth Sheen) son Joe (Oliver Maltman), she provides entertainment and cringe-worthy annoyance in equal measure, darting into darker and more insensitive territory later on.

The problem with Mary is that Leigh falls in love with her. At the expense of every other character (including the incredibly interesting Ken (Peter Wight) and near-silent Ronnie (David Bradley)), Mary becomes the focus of Another Year. Although everything revolves around Tom and Gerri, Leigh has found his point of focus; his personification of the tragi-comedic.

Like the dialogue though, if you can accept that we're going to follow Mary, Another Year is a lovely success. Each character is deliberately and effectively developed, with a substantial imagined back story which seeps subtly on to the screen. Leigh's direction is fluid but focused and the seasonal progression, although not visually distinct, provides a pleasantly regular structure to a beautiful drama.

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'It’s magnificent, brilliant in the final fade out to silence and black, yet at times enough to make you scream' - Wonders In The Dark

Battle: Los Angeles - Cinema Review

'there's 'ooh-rahs' by the bucket-load, patriotic speeches by the shed-load and propaganda for the US Marine Corps by the platoon-load'

In a World where the greatest threat appears to be from an over-saturation of science-fiction blockbusters, Battle: Los Angeles has had its fair share of negative press. It's hardly deserved. The trappings of the genre are all here; there's 'ooh-rahs' by the bucket-load, patriotic speeches by the shed-load and propaganda for the US Marine Corps by the platoon-load. If you think you're going to have a problem seeing past all that then no, you're not going to enjoy the film, which is unapologetically US-orientated and distinctly more action-packed than your common or garden variety cinema release.

If you can cope with all the accepted negatives - and they really should be 'accepted', there's no point in going in to this if you don't like lots of action in your alien flicks - then there's fun to be had in Jonathan Liebesman's film. Aaron Eckhart as protagonist Nantz is likable and more than adequate, proving that as an actor he can do pretty much anything; from indie-drama husband in Rabbit Hole, to nemesis in The Dark Knight, to hero here. The other 'names' in the film, Michael Peña and Michelle Rodriguez, are under-used and in Peña's case miss-cast (he surely should have been one of the squad members), but their presence is welcome and Rodriguez in particular shows more depth and vulnerability than her standard 'tough-but-sexy' character archetype.

The rest of Nantz's squad largely merge in to one. There are a couple who stand out come the end but if you can remember their names at the final whistle then you've done a better job than I. The fact that this is the case despite the ridiculous opening, which introduces each squad member individually with added subtitles to make doubly sure, is symptomatic of the fact that to the film makers, it really doesn't matter. This is a film about Marines doing good and who those Marines are individually is really beside the point, not that that helps an audience to connect with the characters on any real level.

Equally, the script doesn't do Liebesman any favours in selling this to the sceptical crowd. Christopher Bertolini, whose last major film was the similarly patriotic The General's Daughter, occasionally grinds in to full on exposition gear and when the dialogue isn't doing that, it's clunking along in near meaningless Marine-speak.

So, that's a not-great script, non-distinct characters and only one hero you can really root for then? Despite this though, on a really base level, watching people in fraught situations, shooting aliens with big guns is still fun. It might not have the brain power of a Moon or the humour of an Independence Day but it does look great, sound great and on more than one occasion it delivers great action goods of the highest pedigree.

Look further...

'There is nothing worse than watching a blockbuster that seems to reaching for something greater only to descend into brainless violence and ineffective thrills... Battle: Los Angeles rapidly becomes an exercise that is neither smart nor entertaining' - Movie Reviews By Tom Clift

Classic Intel: The X-Files: I Want To Believe - TV Review

'faith becomes so dominant thematically that precious little else gets room to breathe'

Fans of the television series will no doubt be familiar with The X-Files predilection (pre-occupation even) with faith. Never has this worldly theme been more apparent though than in the second big screen outing for the franchise, The X-Files: I Want To Believe, in which director and series creator Chris Carter even manipulates the title to display his designs outright.

What this results in is a film where faith becomes so dominant thematically that precious little else - certainly not the plot - gets room to breathe. Paedophile priest Father Joe (Billy Connolly) has faith that prayer will redeem him. Mulder (David Duchovny) still has faith in the paranormal and that Father Joe's visions can save a couple of missing people. Scully (a devout catholic throughout the series) experiences a wavering of faith and is constantly looking for signs that validate it.

There's more. Amanda Peet and Xzibit are bought in as FBI agents. Peet's agent has faith in Mulder, Xzibit's doesn't. Everything about the film revolves around whether people believe or don't and whether what they believe in is valid or illusory. As a mantra, its stifling.

When Carter does escape his hammer-heavy thematic wandering, there's some good work here to craft a decent mystery. Peet and Xzibit are brave casting choices and although they lack chemistry as a partnership individually they work rather well, with Peet's character in particular taken down an interesting direction. Their framing of the story of missing FBI agents is effective and provides a good board off of which to launch a standard Mulder and Scully investigation, where one half of the duo pursues the mystery from one angle and the other from a different one entirely.

What Carter doesn't have though is any sort of satisfying conclusion to speak of. Mulder, who rightly emerges as protagonist, moves forwards through the plot by way of happenstance and short of a few nods to fans of the series (pencils in the ceiling, sunflower seeds and a brief appearance by Skinner) the plot lacks the compulsion and clever plotting of the better forty-five minute long episodes. In a final third which gets completely bogged down in unbelievable science fiction, little of interest emerges and it's all too easy to entirely forget this entry in the X-Files mythology.

The X-Files: I Want To Believe was showing on Film4 in the UK.

Look further...

'Some of the complication comes from the script–Carter and co-writer Frank Spotnitz take most of the movie to reveal the basic ground situation between Duchovny and Anderson, probably because it works so well' - The Stop Button

Nowhere Boy - Blu-ray Review

'works dramatically, rather than functioning on the sole basis that we are seeing behind a curtain shrouded in Beatles mythology'

Essentially a narrow-focus biography covering John Lennon's teenage years, Nowhere Boy functions regardless of your interest in its subject or knowledge of his music. Whilst late appearances by Paul (McCarthy, played by Thomas Brodie-Sangster) and George (Harrison, played by Sam Bell) will send Beatles fans into raptures of delight, the joy of Sam Taylor-Wood's film is similar to that of the familial interactions and coming-of-age histrionics present in last year's Oscar-nominated An Education.

Aaron Johnson as Lennon shows a range which hints that his starring turn in Kick-Ass might not have been down to mere fluke. Confident and cocky, Johnson presents Lennon as angry at both himself and his family simultaneously, developing the realistic persona of soon-to-be maverick rockstar trapped in the unsuccessful guise of a teenager. The supporting turns of Lennon's childhood friends mirror his own inner-conflicts, creating the feeling of a childhood in turmoil, apexing, as it does, at the joining of a heady couple of decades.

Whilst Taylor-Wood and Johnson get Lennon nailed down in a very attractive way, the superstar's family represent the main dramatic interest of Nowhere Boy. Trapped between a mother with a destructive joie de vivre (Anne-Marie Duff) and a dour but kind-hearted guardian (Kristin Scott Thomas), Lennon's problems at home seem to increasingly drown out his problems at school as the film progresses. For a man who wrote fairly little of his internal or external conflicts into his music, the insight into a life plagued by loss and in-fighting is revelatory. Crucially though, it also works dramatically, rather than functioning on the sole basis that we are seeing behind a curtain shrouded in Beatles mythology.

If there's criticism here it's that none of Lennon's relationships (save those of his family) are developed with any meaningful depth. The charming Ophelia Lovibond is present as a love interest but quickly disappears. Perhaps this is, strictly speaking, a matter of fact, but the handsome Lennon must have had relationships of one sort or another. Anything of a romantic nature here is presented casually to force the focus back to the family unit and (although presenting Lennon as slightly cold might have been the point) the film loses warmth because of it.

That said, Taylor-Wood's direction rarely hits faults. Nowhere Boy moves at a deliberate pace and, accompanied by a lovely score and well-chosen rock'n'roll pieces, this is a delightfully low-key drama with oodles of talent who will surely go on to even better things.

Look further...

'an emotional and gripping story that is very well acted out' - Geek Boy Movie News, A-

Trailer Of The Week - Week #12

With the recent release of the first image from the forthcoming Silent Hill sequel, Revelations, which began filming this month in Toronto, now seemed an appropriate time to revisit the original film. The videogame adaptation that it's OK to like, Silent Hill did what all other adaptations have failed to do; taking the mechanics, the plot and the look and feel of the game and crafting them into something which functioned as a believable cinema experience, rather than as simple fanboy eye-candy. In the lead role, Radha Mitchell added steel, believability and weight to the project, perfectly cast as heroine Rose. The town of Silent Hill, so crucial to the atmosphere of the game, was also very well realised, with great photography from Dan Laustsen, even if the effects work occasionally let him down. Here's hoping the sequel proves to be a worthy addition to the Silent Hill universe.

Trailer Of The Week is a regular Film Intel feature which picks a different tasty trailer of delectable goodness every week and presents it on Sunday for your viewing pleasure. Sometimes old, sometimes new, sometimes major, sometimes independent, sometimes brilliant, sometimes a load of old bobbins: always guaranteed to entertain. If you want to make a suggestion for Trailer Of The Week, see the contact us page.

From The Files Of... Caption Competition Win

All hail Films From The Supermassive Blackhole for this tiny piece of genius.

How To Train Your Dragon - Blu-ray Review

'like Bigfoot And The Hendersons, it does nothing new or unpredictable within the mini-genre of 'Inconvenient Pet Movie''

Remember Bigfoot And The Hendersons? Probably not. A quick re-cap for those who didn't have the pleasure of experiencing that film: The Hendersons (Father Henderson played by John Lithgow) find themselves custodians of Harry, a Bigfoot who wrecks their home and threatens their existence yet, as they get to know him, appears to be a gentle giant who loves the family members as much as they love each other.

In How To Train Your Dragon, a creature-feature in all but the fact that it's an animation, the plot is innately similar. Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) befriends dragon Toothless, apparently mortal enemy of his village but really a misunderstood gentle giant, and proceeds to try to tame him in a bid to gain the acceptance of his Viking tribe. Toothless is unwieldy, large; categorically trouble, but nevertheless, Hiccup plods ahead with his scheme. What could possibly go wrong? Might this be the source of some semi-hilarious hi-jinx as the film progresses?

And therein lies the problem with HTTYD. It's not that its not charming (it is), nor that it doesn't feature gorgeous visuals (it does), nor even that it doesn't have one or two great set pieces (it has them too). It's just that, like Bigfoot And The Hendersons, it does nothing new or unpredictable within the mini-genre of 'Inconvenient Pet Movie'.

Hiccup has a love interest (Astrid, voiced by Ugly Betty's America Ferrera), might Toothless help/hinder his relationship with her? Hiccup has a Father (Gerard Butler), might Toothless help/hinder his relationship with him? There's a lot of adhering to formula here, worse than that, at times it feels more like going through the motions.

On the plus side though, it's hard to not like a film such as this. The creature creation and character design is excellent, the jokes were occasionally snort-inducing and the stellar voice cast (from Butler to Jonah Hill) perform admirably.

Despite that though, the over-whelming preference at the end is to trot out the 'one for the kids' line. It lacked the sparkle of Pixar, the madcap randomness and invention of Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs, the attempted pop culture relevance of the early Shrek films. It's fluff and very base comedy in the same way that all 'Inconvenient Pet Films' are. Not that that makes a bad movie. It just certainly doesn't make a great one.

Look further...

'impresses with its great story, that has effective emotional depth, and enchanting visuals' - Dan The Man's Movie Reviews, 8.5/10

The BIG Question: The Home Viewing Experience

What's the state of the home entertainment industry? Has Blu-ray been a success or a failure? What does this button on the remote control do? Just some of the questions we didn't ask you. Instead, we asked about your own home viewing experience; from surround sound to VHS to watching films online. Here are the results of our very non-scientific survey of the current trends in home cinema.

cyberschizoid - 'I HATE watching films online so usually NEVER do this. Blu-ray? No thanks...a waste of money'

TerilynnS - 'I own most DVDs of stuff I like. I haven't rented or streamed anything (yet.) We have blu-ray and love it. My next purchase? I dunno - Probably Toy Story 3'

Univarn - 'sometimes I'll watch [films] on my laptop, other times on my parent's 42inch TV. Either way, reclining chair = requirement'

jebutlin - 'I have close to 400 DVDs, maybe more now... I tend not to watch films online, I can't keep my concentration solely on a film if I'm on my laptop'

truedesertpunk - 'mostly use netflix, and i watch on my computer with headphones. no fancy surround sound stuff. I like using netflix streaming. My next film related would probably not be dvds but rather something like BOXEE'

Hypnogoria - 'Not made the move to Blu Ray just yet but as the DVD is getting a little elderly, that move will be happening soon! Next purchase? Quite probably Blake's & Series 3, though no doubt some little gem will leap out of a bargain bin before then!'

jamieneish - 'I do have a very large collection of DVD's at home, around 300 I'd imagine... I plan on purchasing Another Year, Easy A and The Social Network as soon as possible'

TheMike31 - 'I'm a devoted collector. Updated to Blu-ray over the last year, and have around 3300 DVDs & 200 Blus'

isavedlatin89 - 'I have a relatively large collection, but have a rather small set up. As far as my next purchase goes, that's a very good question. One of the upcoming March Criterion releases more than likely.'

JCP55 - 'I HATE watching films online, but I do have Netflix, which I'm slavishly addicted to'


The Verdict: The Blu-ray debate rumbles on: there's as many people vehemently opposed to it as there are happy with their investment. The most interesting result of this BIG question was in terms of online film watching. A few people said that this was their main way of receiving films but many more said that they hated watching films on their small-screen laptops. Perhaps the increase in Internet TVs and devices which can stream films to TVs will change opinion in the coming months. Also interesting was the amount of people who said they still added to large collections despite renting extensively, thus suggesting that the thriving rental market doesn't harm the studios, with avid collectors purchasing regardless.


Film Intel use Formspring as a way of gauging your reactions to current happenings in the film world and posing questions about you and your taste in films. If you want to take part and share your opinions with us then just make sure we're friends on the site - the choicest quotes from the best responses will be posted in articles we run right here. You can also take part via our Twitter page where all questions will also be posted.

Film Intel's Fight Club - Independence Day vs The Matrix

With Science-Fiction blockbuster Battle: Los Angeles in cinemas now and Science-Fiction non-blockbuster Skyline just out on DVD, today seemed an appropriate day for the Fight Club to pit two Goliaths of the genre against one another. Hits in 1996 and 1999 respectively, Independence Day and The Matrix ruled the world of late-nineties Science-Fiction blockbusters. But which comes out on top? There's only one way to find out. Keanu's Ray-Bans, ready? Fresh Prince's cigar, ready? Fight!

First Google Image Result (above)

You can't claim it's a great start for Independence Day (ID), which ends up with a poorly photoshopped poster for a fictional third entry in the franchise. Still, at least it is kind of representative of the film in question. The Matrix' (TM) effort is a difficult one to call. In very literal terms it is, of course, a picture of 'the matrix'. Fair enough.

ID: 4/10
TM: 6/10

Best Piece Of Parental Guidance On IMDb

A good effort from ID as barely concealed homophobia leaks out under 'Sex and Nudity' with the fact that 'David's boss hugs and kisses him'. The guide fails to list any other 'hugs and kisses' during the film. Strange Comparison Of The Day goes to TM which is described as being 'not much worse than "The Incredibles" violence'.

ID: 7/10
TM: 6/10

Best Character Name

ID's best efforts are the eponymous 'Redneck' and the barmy 'Elvis Fanatic', neither of which I can really remember but then, that's probably kind of the point. TM is full of silly Science-Fiction hacker aliases (Cypher, Trinity, etc.) but 'Spoon Boy' beats them all for pure childish hilarity.

ID: 4/10
TM: 5/10

Best Quote

ID has some decent one-liners, most of them from Will Smith with 'Welcome to Earth' the obvious highlight. Once upon a time though, TM was highly quotable. 'Whoa' remains its most obvious touchstone but extended pieces of theoretical rambling such as the trailer-friendly 'Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself' also stand the test of time.

ID: 6/10
TM: 8/10

Best Comparison

Good effort for ID with this site describing it as 'like a St. Bernard: huge, clumsy, inclined to drool, a little stupid, and lovable'. Parody website Uncyclopedia falsified a Keanu Reeves quote claiming that 'The Matrix is like a bowl of cereal. I'm like the milk', which is sadly all too believable.

ID: 7/10
TM: 6/10

Best Tweet

Fairly easy one for ID with @KyleBrandt34's recent tweet claiming that he was hearing 'that Battle:LA is "Independence Day" meets "Blackhawk Down". To me it looks more like "Bargain" meets "Bin"'. TM's winner is a tweet from @openculture which linked to this amazing image from the brilliant MovieBarcode website featured in Monday's article.

ID: 7/10
TM: 9/10

Best Rotten Tomatoes Review

In discussing ID, Rita Kempley of the The Washington Post pondered whether 'the moviemakers' mission was to boldly go where everyone in Hollywood has gone before: the bank' in a sublime bit of cynicism which is hard to refute, whatever your thoughts on the film itself. The benefit of hindsight may have benefited Ron Wells of Film Threat who proclaimed that 'if you're curious where the next generation of auteurs is coming from, look in the art houses and look in The Matrix'. A shame that rather than become 'auteurs', The Wachowskis elected to make sequels.

ID: 8/10
TM: 7/10

Best Piece Of IMDb Trivia

Not that it's a major role but if Matthew Perry had indeed followed through on his apparent commitment to play Jimmy 'Raven' Wilder in ID then I would not like to imagine the consequences. TM's best piece of trivia is the now infamous list of actors considered for the role of Neo; from Nicholas Cage to Ewan McGregor, the trivia page is a veritable list of actors who would have managed to mess the thing up.

ID: 5/10
TM: 5/10

The Matrix takes Independence Day down with a Bruce Lee-inspired chop to the throat and a score of 52/80 to 48/80 in a high scoring match up of sci-fi greats. The first film to cross the 50-point threshold, The Matrix takes the Fight Club lead whilst Independence Day joins last week's winner True Grit in joint second.

Film Intel's Fight Club: where two films get pushed head-to-head over such irreverent issues as 'first Google image result' and 'best IMDb parental guidance entry'. All films are marked out of ten on each topic with a possible maximum score of 80 - it won't tell you anything about the quality of the film (or will it?) but it might give you a few giggles. Or it might not. We'll see.

Skyline - DVD Review

'for all its shiny presentation, it just doesn't deliver a plot worth caring about. At some points, it doesn't even deliver shiny presentation worth caring about'

Skyline had a great marketing campaign on its initial cinema release. A tasty trailer with lots of bright blue lights. Decent poster work. An reasonably evocative title. Hell, even the directors got in on the act; re-naming yourselves 'The Brothers Strause' is a hell of a lot cooler and more marketable than simply going with 'A Colin And Greg Film'.

The problem with Skyline is that for all its shiny presentation, it just doesn't deliver a plot worth caring about. At some points, it doesn't even deliver shiny presentation worth caring about. Cunningly edited around in the trailer, most of the film takes place in Terry's (Donald Faison) luxury apartment. Really, Skyline is a single-location thriller with more expensive visual trickery than your average single-location thriller. What this immediately gives the film is the same level of 'why should I care about these people?' that every other microcosm hitherto known to man has had to contend with. Colin and Greg attempt to get round this by flashing back to the night-before-the-terrible-morning-after but by doing so all they manage to create is a series of annoying and twee character moments, which alienate the cast rather than endear them.

The rest of the film becomes a veritable tick box exercise in alien invasion tropes, as the directors scramble for ways to keep their location interesting and their visual cleverness on show. Obvious touchstones include Independence Day, Close Encounters Of The Third Kind and Spielberg's War Of The Worlds, from which one scene appears directly lifted. This scene in particular, in an elderly resident's kitchen, shows how mundane Skyline is and how brilliant Spielberg is at making otherwise stock action sequences incredibly exciting. In Spielberg's hands, the scene was an elongated chase around a maze-like basement. In Colin and Greg's hands, its an alien. In a kitchen.

Some scenes do stand out above the otherwise mundane material on offer here. Any 'sweeping vista' shot, particularly those of night-time LA, is beautifully lit and captured by cinematographer Michael Watson, creating a sense of urbanisation, interrupted, which adds to the air of isolation The Brothers Strause try to create. Some of the scenes outside the apartment too are decent, if not revelatory, with an attempted escape through the car park only ruined because we saw part of what happens in the reveal-happy trailer.

Then, the film ends. Do what you will with audiences for the rest of the runtime but if you give them a lame ending, they'll never forgive you. Skyline has both an awful end and an awful coda, the latter of which undermines the great visual effects work that had gone on previously. It again looks to War Of The Worlds for help in revealing the alien's intentions and again completely misses the point in terms of why what worked for that film, doesn't work for this one. A sequel doesn't look as inevitable as it once did, given this film's poor reception but if it was to start from the very end of Skyline then it might well find its way to bargain bins before it goes anywhere near a cinema screen.

Skyline is released in the UK on DVD and Blu-ray on 21st March 2011.

Look further...

'after sitting through an hour of rehashed sci-fi, chances are you won’t even care about the very little they were able to get right' - The Movie Cynics, 3/10

Easy A - DVD Review

'charming and confident... with a clever reverence to its genre which never comes of as smug'

Will Gluck's much-praised teen comedy, Easy A is like the too-smart-for-their-own-good kid in school who has a clever answer for any criticism you might level at it. Don't like teen comedies? That's fine, this one has a strong moral compass at its centre and asks real questions about relationships in high school. Can't really stand watching these hot young things flounce around? No problem, the supporting cast includes Stanley Tucci, Thomas Haden Church, Patricia Clarkson, Lisa Kudrow and Malcolm McDowell. Annoyed by films that feature a voiceover as narration? Well, Easy A has got a clever modern-day answer for that one as well.

Unlike the too-smart-for-their-own-good kid though, Gluck's film does all this with clever reverence to its genre which never comes of as smug and a smile that never disappears behind all the serious stuff. Much of this is down to Emma Stone who takes the lead as Olive. Charming and confident, Stone delivers lines with authority and passion. Occasionally, screenwriter Bert Royal hands her a segment you just shouldn't believe should come out of a teenager's mouth but, committed to a fault, Stone works hard to make sure Olive comes off as 'real' and for much of the time she's eminently successful.

That said, there is a tension in the plot between how much of the story you believe is convenient happenstance and how much of it you believe is down to Olive being too nice for her own good. The character seems too smart to be caught in the schemes and situations she finds herself in and the believability of the story is tested during the more significant plot turns where Olive conveniently fails to see the problems that will lie ahead.

Believability is also the key word when considering the adult presences in the film. 'The Adult' in teen dramas is a key presence. Think back to Mean Girls (which Easy A obviously looks to) and how important the parents (Ana Gasteyer and Neil Flynn), the teacher (Tina Fey) and the headteacher (Tim Meadows) were. Easy A follows a similar trend where each adult is a watered down version of the last slightly unbelievable persona. Parents Tucci and Clarkson are quasi-hippies with a wicked sense of humour and a barely believable liberal attitude to their kids. Teacher Hayden Church is a repressed hippie with a slightly less liberal/more believable attitude to his job and students. McDowell as the headteacher is the straight shooter. They're well worn archetypes but ones that - believability aside - work nonetheless and Tucci and Clarkson in particular steal some of the film's best laughs.

The plot nearly falls over itself on several occasions but ignore the almost-holes and questions about Olive's naivety and this becomes a warm and funny comedy with a cine-literate heart and a semi-serious musing on both the on and off-screen versions of romance.

Look further...

'took what I expected to be a formulaic high school film and laced it with a dry, witty and at times acerbic sense of humour' - Slacker Cinema, 4/5

Trailer Of The Week - Week #11

Sleepers is a film that's all too easy to forget. Nearly all of the stellar cast have done better work, it didn't win any notable awards and like many nineties thrillers it quickly disappeared from most people's radar. In a few days though, it makes its way on to Blu-ray and gives a whole new audience the chance to experience the harrowing plot and compelling turns from several recognisable faces. The trailer shows some of the, at times, difficult-to-watch, non-chronological story, weaving prison drama, mob thriller and coming of age tale into a well worked narrative which is well worth at least a rental on 21st March.

Trailer Of The Week is a regular Film Intel feature which picks a different tasty trailer of delectable goodness every week and presents it on Sunday for your viewing pleasure. Sometimes old, sometimes new, sometimes major, sometimes independent, sometimes brilliant, sometimes a load of old bobbins: always guaranteed to entertain. If you want to make a suggestion for Trailer Of The Week, see the contact us page.

From The Files Of... Awesome T-Shirts

I'm not sure if Ript offer a service to go back and buy a previous day's t-shirt at a higher price. If they don't, you might want to start scouring eBay.

US states, each one represented by a film related to that state, on one awesomely designed t-shirt.

Colour In Film: A Definitive Analysis?

Listening to the imitable Dr Mark Kermode discussing The Adjustment Bureau I was struck by his claim that the film was full of 'pastel' shades, creating a 'colourful' and lively effect. This, to me, seemed odd.

On my watch of the film I was struck by its greyness. By its lack of colour. By the way the red-flecked posters seem designed to bring out how dull the main visage of the city is.

It's almost as if the makers of the film wanted the whole thing to look like it was made, or at least patrolled, by a group of men who don't really care about colour. Or love. Or other such frivolous distractions.

Perhaps though, there's a way of settling the correct visual interpretation of The Adjustment Bureau's colouring.

Ultra clever website MovieBarcode takes stills from films, compresses them in to thin, stick-like, images and makes a visual representation of the film in question. A 'Movie Barcode', if you will. To illustrate the point, here's one which represents Babel.

Actually, that's not very good is it? It appears Movie Barcoding isn't an exact science. Browsing the site you can find a lot films which just look like a dull collection of blue and grey hues, similar to the Babel effort above, which doesn't really look anything like the colour tones I remember being present in the film.

But then again, there's some great ones. Take the below example which represents Hero.

Hero is a film which - like fellow Yimou Zhang-directed effort House Of The Flying Daggers - revels in creating individual scenes which can be represented by a single colour, a fact clearly expressed by its barcode. A less dramatic, but nevertheless entirely accurate, example can be found in The Social Network's barcode.

Anyone familiar with David Fincher's Oscar-nominated film will recognise the director's palette of beige, ever-present from the opening trot through the Harvard campus to Zuckerberg's lawyer's dowdy office. Similar tones are present in A Single Man's barcode...

... although this shows how director Tom Ford uses colour to tell the story, progressing his main character from depressing greys at the film's opening to warmer tones as Colin Firth's heart and eyes are opened by his friends.

Despite the odd fairly useless effort (like Babel and Raging Bull which, surprise, is all blacks and whites) the site is an incredibly useful tool to help analyse the overall colour tone of a film. More than that, it's a veritable artist's gallery and prints are selling at a reasonable price.

A unique method of film interpretation that's both useful and aesthetically pleasing? I'm sold. But please make one for The Adjustment Bureau, hey?


With thanks to Flowing Data for drawing attention to the site.

Why Isn't This A Film? - Killing Floor

What have we got here then?

Killing Floor was published in 1997 as the debut novel of then-unheard of writer Lee Child. Now fourteen years down the line, it is part of the successful Jack Reacher series of novels; loosely related thrillers all featuring Child's fictional hero.

OK fine. What’s it about?

Reacher, a drifter having been shuffled out of the military police, arrives in Margrave, Georgia at exactly the same time as the town's first murder in a number of years is perpetrated. Singled out as a guilty new arrival, Reacher is hauled off to jail and looks certain to be convicted of a crime he did not commit.

Interesting. Is there something more?

Although Margrave seems like an idyllic small town in the American South, it appears to harbour a dark secret. Reacher must get to the bottom of it to save the innocent townsfolk and clear his name.

Save me the trouble then – is it any good?

It is pure pulp. Pulp of the pulpiest kind. In the first few chapters of the book, there's barely a sentence that runs to over five or six words and the 'strong and silent drifter' archetype is played upon numerous times. That said, there's a lot of fun here for a straight up thriller with rough edges. The deaths are harsh, the women are beautiful, the men are square-jawed. It's not revolutionary by any means but the plot keeps you interested and Child's writing is easy to wile away the hours to.

But…

At times, the simplicity of it all is distracting, rather than comforting. There's a fairly big twist at the end of the first act which seems far too reliant on coincidence and two or three of the directions which the plot takes just don't ring true. It's also far too long and Child takes a huge amount of time in both the setup and the middle third, leaving few pages for his big conclusion. It's enjoyable but full of cliché and plenty of the signs of a first-time writer are present.

What are its chances of being made as a film?

The novel series is hugely popular, the character would suit the big screen and the novel's style is completely in-keeping with your typical cinematic thriller. The only shock with this series is that it hasn't happened sooner. All signs point to the fact that the first Reacher novel to be adapted will actually be the ninth in the series, One Shot, which started its journey to the screen in 2008, hit the news columns again last year and is currently slated for a 2013 release.

But who'd star in it?

Reacher's CV, which Child includes at the front of the novel, cunningly misses off his age but seeing as his career in the military lasted a number of years, I assumed that he was perhaps older than your average action hero - maybe in his late thirties to early fifties. For whatever reason, I thought of James Badge Dale (above) whilst reading Killing Floor, most recognisable as Chase Edmunds in Day 3 of 24 but an actor who has also featured in The Pacific and who had a role in The Departed. The next two years will see him included in the cast of a couple of bigger releases. The star of one of those releases, The Grey, is Liam Neeson, an actor who recently only seems to have done pulpy stuff like the Reacher novels and who would fit the character if they wanted to make him slightly older. Hugh Jackman was rumoured early on and fans have also pointed to Dominic Purcell or Jason Statham as viable choices.

Reacher's love interest during his stay in Margrave, Roscoe, is a feisty female police office with a sense of duty and love for the town. The just-cast-in-Superman, Diane Lane might suit depending on the age of the actor playing Reacher. Halle Berry would also be a great choice for the role. Reacher's other ally in Margrave, Finlay, completely fits Keith David. I couldn't actually see a different actor filling the role.

Will it be any good?

This sort of thing is hit and miss but with a visionary director in the lead it could work and go on to establish a successful franchise. Reacher is a fearsome character and the book has the tone of a neo-Western, something which seems quite popular these days. Alternatively, someone could prime it as an action vehicle for Statham and shoot firmly for the mediocre.

Anything else I should know about it?

There are fifteen Jack Reacher books, making the series potentially lucrative for studios who love spin-offs, sequels and prequels. The most recent novel, Worth Dying For, was released in September 2010.

Why Isn't This A Film? is a regular Film Intel feature which takes a book (you know... one of those things with pages in, doesn't project on to a screen, makes small rustling noises), comic, video game or graphic novel and assesses its adaptation prospects. One day this feature will get something right and we will win something major and valuable. Possibly.

The Adjustment Bureau - Cinema Review

'even when Nolfi's film dips in the final third, Blunt and Damon are still solidly charming and eminently endearing'

In Matt Damon and Emily Blunt, George Nolfi's The Adjustment Bureau hits solid gold pay dirt almost straight away. Rarely in recent memory have an on-screen couple had such an easy-going, natural chemistry and even when Nolfi's film dips in the final third, Blunt and Damon are still solidly charming and eminently endearing.

Damon and Blunt's chemistry being successful is arguably the most important element to The Adjustment Bureau. Presented as a science-fiction romp (the film is based on a Phillip K. Dick short story), Nolfi's tale is actually much more a forbidden love romance. Prevented by the agents of fate from being together, David (Damon) and Elise (Blunt) battle an anonymous higher power to forge a relationship when all around them seems to want to prevent such a union from occurring. Broken down to its bare bones, the story has been told a thousand times before but in Nolfi's hands, it's seamlessly interwoven with science-fiction, as agent after agent from the shadowy bureau tries to convince David that he shouldn't pursue Elise if he values his future.

More than a straight romance though, Nolfi includes an anthropological element which considers politics and free will. It's significant that David is a politician running for senate. The small choices he makes - considered at length in an early speech detailing the amount David's campaign spends researching how shiny his shoes should be - impacts the small choices we make. In turn, the small choices we make influence his political future. But how much choice do we really have in those decisions? Early backing for David from an entire Union hints that maybe, these decisions are more the product of mass consciousness, rather than of the individual. The film is a carousel of questions and theories and whilst Nolfi doesn't attempt to suggest answers for any of them, his consideration of fatalism alongside topics such as politics adds gravitas to his film and interest during the first and second act, both of which are compelling.

The 'but' comes in the shape of Nolfi's final third. Driven towards an inevitable escape-and-pursuit conclusion, the director abandons all of the subtleties of the film's earlier segments, blundering into action-thriller territory with a nod to the mechanics of an Inception-like, malleable, world and addressing the more obvious themes with near-nauseating directness. Gone are the subtle considerations of fate and destiny, gone are the quiet and intelligent conversations with Anthony Mackie's Harry or Terence Stamp's Thompson; in their place, direct and unreserved allegory. It's by no means awful, but given the good work that had gone on previously it could have been much better and a saccharine and upfront finish to an otherwise cynical and reserved film rings false.

Look further...

'Stamp tells Damon that he never actually had free will – he only had the illusion of free will. Well, in this film, the illusion of intelligent entertainment is all we get' - Film Babble Blog