American Zoetrope have released the first official trailer for Twixt, which – at over three minutes – provides a decent insight into the upcoming horror-thriller.

Directed by Francis Ford Coppola (Apocalypse Now), Twixt stars Val Kilmer, Bruce Dern, Elle Fanning, Ben Chaplin, Joanne Whalley, David Paymer and Ryan Simpkins.

Synopsis: A writer with a declining career arrives in a small town as part of his book tour and gets caught up in a murder mystery involving a young girl. That night in a dream, he is approached by a mysterious young ghost named V. He’s unsure of her connection to the murder in the town, but is grateful for the story being handed to him. Ultimately he is led to the truth of the story, surprised to find that the ending has more to do with his own life than he could ever have anticipated.

Twixt is scheduled to premiere at the 36th annual Toronto International Film Festival next month, and is likely to hit UK cinema screens early next year once a distributor has been found.

Check out the official trailer below, courtesy of the Toronto International Film Festival website:

American Zoetrope have released four blood-drenched promo posters for their upcoming horror-thriller Twixt.

Written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola (Apocalypse Now), Twixt stars Elle Fanning, Val Kilmer, Bruce Dern, Ben Chaplin, Joanne Whalley, David Paymer, Alden Ehrenreich, Don Novello and Ryan Simpkins.

Synopsis: A writer with a declining career arrives in a small town as part of his book tour and gets caught up in a murder mystery involving a young girl. That night in a dream, he is approached by a mysterious young ghost named V. He’s unsure of her connection to the murder in the town, but is grateful for the story being handed to him. Ultimately he is led to the truth of the story, surprised to find that the ending has more to do with his own life than he could ever have anticipated.

Twixt is set to receive its world premiere at the 36th annual Toronto International Film Festival.

Check out the posters below:

Source: The Playlist

Fresh out of prison, a young man named Mitchell (a greying and older-looking Colin Farrell) is sought out by his former associates who want to see him back to his old, unlawful way of life. Unsure of committing, Mitchell also has his sights set on taking on the potential role of bodyguard to a reclusive, burned-out big-screen star (Keira Knightley). A personal quest for justice over a brutal gangland killing of an old father-figure brings him into the same orbit as an immaculately-dressed, sexually-ambiguous gangster played by Ray Winstone (whose signing on for the part appears to have inspired the makers to up the script’s c-word quota by tenfold). Matters are further complicated as Mitchell’s flaky old friend (Ben Chapman) insists on draws him back into a world of violence, landing him in hot water with Winstone.

On paper, London Boulevard looks like it has the potential to deliver great things. Director William Monahan (making his debut behind the camera) penned the scripts for such reassuringly pulpy features like The Departed and Body of Lies. Long-time Scorsese producer Graham King is also on board, and the film offers an embarrassment of riches in terms of the sheer volume of talented and respected UK performers, all of whom must have been drawn to the material under the pretence that they were appearing in a film which would result in a big hit. Sadly that trace of quality which permeates though the cast and crew is missing entirely from the finished result.

For starters, it manages to completely waste the talents of its fantastic cast. Farrell’s performance is completely handicapped as his struggles with a South London accent, and strangely, actually sounds like an actor who has come from over the pond to play an Englishman. Completely straight-jacketed by this, he gives a one-note performance. Comparing Farrell here to his incredibly funny and endearing role in the recent In Bruges, and it’s almost like there are two different actors at work under the same person.

Chapman (long AWOL from cinema screens) plays the country’s least threatening debt collector, and Knightley (second-billed, but with a total screen time that amounts to around 15 minutes at the most) is given very little to do, and sits around looking pensive and sad, presumably due to her self-imposed hermitic lifestyle. She has zero chemistry with Farrell, although the script’s shortcomings are probably the main cause of this. Their relationship suffers from the Anakin Skywalker/Padmé curse in that by placing the characters together in a solitary environment where they share a private scene or two together, we’re suddenly asked to believe that love has blossomed between them. Even usually study supporting actors Stephen Graham and Eddie Marsden are given nothing to do, and end up as shamefully wasted window dressing alongside the other names. Only David Thewlis, playing Knightley’s campy, ex-thesp protector (whose looks appear to have been modeled on the good lord himself) seems to be aware of the ridiculousness of it all, and is the only one having any fun here.

Just as fellow yank Woody Allen failed to paint a realistic portrayal of the London upper class in his England-set films, Monahan has no feel for the sensibilities and milieu of the UK’s criminal underworld. From the very start, scenes never really come to life, and his grip on pacing and character continuity is widely off the mark too. The film is a muddled mess, and given that it’s been adapted by an Oscar-winning scriptwriter, the dialogue is often confusing and delivered in a weirdly off-key way.

The film is also crammed with loads of (mostly) British rocks song, inspired by, or hailing from the swinging sixties – a time and era the film tries desperately to evoke the spirit of. Unfortunately, their inclusion only helps to illustrate how off the mark London Boulevard is. Having Farrell drive around the streets of Lambeth in a classic motor, while the likes of The Yardbirds are playing on the soundtrack, is clearly not enough to create the impression of a fun and reverential homage.

Given the mockney posturing on display, this is the type of film which would usually find a welcoming home on the small screen at least (there are a number of scenes when you half expecting DTV king Danny Dyer to stick his head round the corner and holler “what’s goin’ on, you caaaants?”). However, where those Brit gangster films made almost exclusively for the DVD market usually have an inherent awfulness to them which can sometimes translate to a evening of guilty pleasure viewing, London Boulevard’s far-reaching idea that it’s some kind of grandiose crime yarn (complete with the now clichéd ironically-tragic ending) puts to bed any notion of even a remotely entertaining time, and instead offers 90-plus head-scratching minutes which amount to a criminally boring viewing experience. Avoid.

*~~~~ (1/5)

When London Boulevard’s Mitchel is released from a three year stretch at Pentonville he fully intends to do the right thing.  To turn his back on his underworld past and shake off the ties that bind him to the tower blocks and petty crime of a London he left behind.

Reclusive movie star Charlotte is a prisoner in her Holland Park mansion, trapped by the paparazzi and the ghosts of her own past.  The two are drawn to one another and dare to imagine a future beyond the London they have grown to despise.  Finding comfort in stolen moments together they tentatively take the first steps towards a new life.   Mob boss Gant despises the thought of losing Mitchel to the straight and narrow – he’d rather see him dead than redeemed.  Despite himself Mitchel is seduced by the prospect of battle, he has no intention of going down without a fight and when first blood is drawn he steps up to the front line prepared to take the fight all the way to the top.  Damn it feels good to be a gangster!

London Boulevard pairs prettily pouting powerhouses Colin Farrell and Keira Knightly in a loose reworking of the Sunset Boulevard story written and directed by The Departed’s William Monaghan based upon Ken Bruen’s noir crime novel.  Their supporting cast boast equal star power with David Thewlis, Stephen Graham and Anna Friel joining Ray Winstone’s Gant in the gangland love story.  Rather than fear the encroaching grip of age, in this particular Boulevard Charlotte is terrified of the price she has paid for her fame.  She has one true friend in druggie luvvie Jordan (David Thewlis) who, though a failure as an actor, has been a greater success as her companion and protector.  But Jordan is quick to recognise that he needs a helping hand and he brings Mitchel into their home and their lives setting in motion a chain reaction that dominoes destruction through the lives of anyone Mitchel has ever known.

I will open on a positive note by saying that David Thewlis’s performance in London Boulevard was an absolute delight.  That man gives good sharp-witted stoner!  Sadly though it is here we must bid a fond farewell to positive thought as every other thing I have to say about London Boulevard is well…not so good.  You will doubtless hear numerous accounts and re-enactments of Colin’s comedy cockney accent this week.  It would be cruel of me to dwell on it further here and tacky to make even passing reference to Dick Van Dyke.  So I shan’t.  I will, however, point out that Ben Chaplin’s accent is equally preposterous and just as worthy of the world’s derision.  And as for Mr Winstone…

It’s a shame about Ray, a sad, sad, shame.  He should never have been allowed within a hundred feet of this script and I’d advise him to re-enact a little Gant-vengeance on anyone who failed to tear the pen from his brawny fist when he signed on the dotted line.  I’m as big a fan of angry swearing Ray as the next girl when the C-words are spewing from Nil by Mouth or Sexy Beast yet onscreen here the profanity was gratuitous, lazy and dull and that is inexcusable.

I’m sorry to say I wasn’t very impressed by London Boulevard.  I found the premise implausible and the film ultimately rather unpleasant.  The talented cast were thrust aside by a convoluted and lazy story which flounced onscreen with yob bravado, pogoed aimlessly for 104 minutes and shuffled off without troubling its viewers with anything like original content or the will to care.  I suspect William Monaghan’s provenance has given what is a rather puerile picture ideas, and pull, above its station – were Danny Dyer and his ilk to be found leering from the poster one would at least know what to expect.  Lacking originality and heart, this nasty little number is a step back in time and talent for the principle players and a waste of time for anyone with the misfortune to shell out their hard-earned.  Avoid.

London Boulevard opens across the UK on November 26th

Here’s an interesting short video that I wasn’t really sure which category to put it under on HeyUGuys. The title of the short documentary is ‘How Far Would You Go?’ and it features short interviews with directors, producers and actors and is inspired by Sony Playstation 3′s new game, Heavy Rain. The game focuses around fate and what happens if…. and is a real bridge between real life and gaming.

The short 7 minute documentary is directed by the acclaimed filmmaker Neil LaBute, and was filmed in London, LA & Paris and asks leading luminaries, ‘How far would you go to save someone you love?’ Respondents to the question include: Nic Roeg, Hanif Kureishi, Nicholas Hoult, Samuel L Jackson, Stephen Frears, Peter Bogdanovich, Jean Marc Barr, Chris Weitz & Ben Chaplin.

The documentary has been commissioned to explore the ever-converging worlds of film and gaming and to highlight the processes that storytellers go through to imbue emotions through their respective mediums.

Example questions that have been posed include:

• How does emotion inform your work?
• Are you braver in your work than in your life?
• Would you inflict pain on another to achieve true love?
• Can anger be used creatively?
• Looking back over your life thus far would you say you fall in love easily, or not so easily?

Heavy Rain’s Writer & Director David Cage states ‘In Heavy Rain you don’t watch the story, you play it with unprecedented responsibility over the fate of the game’s characters the whole DNA of the game has been created to provide an emotional experience unlike any other. It dares you to tackle subject matter and themes rarely touched upon in video games’

Some of their replies are really interesting and although this doesn’t really cover any film that is coming out and more a computer game, I thought it was still worth highlighting on the site. I’ve embedded the bio below so have a watch and let us know what you think in the comments below. How Far Would you go for Love?

Heavy Rain is available on PS3 now and you can purchase it here.

You can read a review of the game on Pixel Fury.

Here are some excellent interviews giving us a great insight into the movie, ‘Me and Orson Welles’ which stars Ben Chaplin, Claire Danes, Zac Efron, Zoe Kazan, Eddie Marsan and Christian McKay.

Our friend, James Kleinmann was able to interview the three leads from the movie and also director, Richard Linklater (The School of Rock, Before Sunset) asking him about what had drawn him to Robert Kaplow’s novel.

[gplayer href="http://www.heyuguys.co.uk/audio/me_and_orson_welles/efron_mono.mp3"] Interview with Zac Efron: [/gplayer]

[gplayer href="http://www.heyuguys.co.uk/audio/me_and_orson_welles/danes_mono.mp3"] Interview with Claire Danes: [/gplayer]

[gplayer href="http://www.heyuguys.co.uk/audio/me_and_orson_welles/mckay_mono.mp3"] Interview with Christian McKay (Orson Welles): [/gplayer]

[gplayer href="http://www.heyuguys.co.uk/audio/me_and_orson_welles/efron_mono.mp3"] Interview with Richard Linklater (Director): [/gplayer]

Me and Orson Welles is released 4th December and if you haven’t already seen it, you can see the trailer here.

Here’s a new poster for Zac Efron’s latest movie, Me and Orson Welles courtesy of Cinematical.

Richard Linklater (who has previously brought us A Scanner Darkly, Before Sunset and The School of Rock) directs a great cast which, as well as Efron includes Ben Chaplin, Kelly Reilly, Eddie Marsan and the fabulous Claire Danes. I posted the trailer a few weeks ago and it actually looks like it might be a movie where we get to see Efron playing a good acting part which makes a change from his High School Musical days.

If you’ve not seen the trailer, head on over here. Me and Orson Welles is out for release 25th November in the US. I’ve not found a release date for the UK as yet.

Proof that Zac Efron can actually act has arisen in the form of the trailer for Me and Orson Welles! The movie is directed by Richard Linklater (The School of Rock and Before Sunset) and also stars Ben Chaplin, Christian McKay, Claire Danes, Kelly Reilly. It’s scheduled for release at the end of the year in the US (no UK release date as yet.

I’ve embedded the trailer below. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below. I don’t think this is going to be anything High School Musical or 17 Again I’m afraid Efron lovers!

Synopsis: In a whirlwind week in 1937 in New York City, a young aspiring actor named Richard is thrown into the middle of Orson Welles Mercury Theatre Company on the eve of the opening of Welles historic staging of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. During this week he will find romance with a worldly older woman, becomes immersed in a creative experience few are afforded and learn the downside of crossing the imperious, brilliant Welles. Richard is about to grow up fast.