After leaving their son Kevin (Macaulay Culkin) behind the previous Christmas, the McCallister family are determined to make sure that he comes on holiday with them this time. They all make it to the airport, but being in a hurry, they are split up and Kevin follows a different man with a very similar coat to that of his father.

The McCallisters head for Paris and Kevin finds himself in big bad New York, where the Wet Bandits (now renamed the Sticky Bandits) are on the loose, having escaped from prison. They have set their sights on a big toy store, which is holding a load of cash ready for a donation to a local orphanage. Can Kevin stop them, keep himself safe and inflict yet more damage on the increasingly injured and hapless Harry and Marv?

*****

“Like before, only more so” would tend to be the watch-word for Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. Kevin finds himself all alone in the Big Apple and after a brief stay at a lovely hotel (courtesy of his father’s credit card), he bumps into Harry and Marv and lures them to the townhouse of a relative, who is away while renovations are carried out, leaving loads of building materials to hand and even more in the way of opportunities for face-smashing action.

In all honesty, if it isn’t broke, don’t try to fix it. Yes, it is a little implausible that Kevin, Marv and Harry would all find themselves in the same place, with a conveniently placed house for a final showdown, but this was never supposed to be Ken Loach. This is Home Alone 2. Macaulay Culkin has grown up a little, but the set-up and relationships with his family and the Sticky Bandits still work just fine. He is still just as inventive, still making erroneous assumptions about kindly but slightly off-beat elderly strangers and still very good at booby trapping houses for maximum carnage. Harry and Marv are of course far too stupid to be real, but they were never intended to be convincing portrayals of criminals, rather they are there to suffer and suffer they do.

Let’s consider the roll-call of pain:-

• Slipping on beads on the sidewalk
• Bricks to the face
• A bag of cement to the head
• Slipping on a load of paint, into a shelf of paint
• Electrocution from an arc welder
• Slipping from a greased ladder
• Spanners and wrenches onto the head
• Head on fire
• Kerosene in the toilet
• Falling through a hole in the floor
• Steel bollard to the face
• Tool chest impact to the chest and face
• Burning rope
• Varnish – tarred and feathered

I’m sure I’ve missed a few, but you get the gist. It is genuinely laugh out loud funny, but as with the first film, this has the good sense to lace the mayhem with a story of protecting the money for the orphans and the lavish rewards that Kevin and his family enjoy in return at the hotel on Christmas morning. After all of the tomfoolery at the townhouse, Kevin being reunited with his mother in front of the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Plaza is genuinely touching and moving and brings matters to a warm conclusion just as the violence and destruction had reached fever pitch.

Culkin would never reach these heights again and neither would this franchise. Episodes 3 and 4 were desperately bad and sacrificed all of the charm of the first two. Partly that was down to the loss of all of the significant talent, partly down to lazy film-making. Thankfully, the reputations of the first two remain intact and rightly so. Enjoy being a kid again and laugh your socks off.

Due to a mix-up caused by his banishment to the loft and the family oversleeping on the morning of their departure on holiday, Kevin McCallister is left alone at home while the rest of his family jet off to Paris. A pair of burglars, the self-styled “Wet Bandits” are working their way through the neighbourhood and see the McCallister house as the crown jewel. Can Kevin overcome his fears and protect his home against Harry and Marv?

*****

The above synopsis seems redundant, so seemingly deeply entrenched in the collective psyche is this film. Macaulay Culkin, long since departed from our screens, was at the time the hottest child actor on the planet, for the most part off the back of the appeal and success of this and its first sequel.

In this, he was perfectly cast. Self-assured but not precocious, a trouble-maker but inventive and industrious with it and fundamentally a good (if far from perfect) kid, Kevin is an ideal character for kids to warm to and side with as they discover this festive treat for the first time. It helps of course that this film gives us a number of other elements that get the kids cheering Kevin on at every turn – a seemingly helpless kid up against mean grown-ups, comic-book violence inflicted on crooks, a misunderstood and ultimately very helpful scary old man and a genuine sense of wonder at Christmas.

The film is greatly aided by its impressive adult cast, indeed it shows a key way to help this sort of film succeed. Just look at Home Alone 3 and 4 – anonymous and talentless grown-ups and a charisma-free star-moppett. Instead in this (and to a lesser extent in the sequel) you get the best people you can get for the supporting roles and it helps carry the thing through – Joe Pesci, John Heard, John Candy, the desperately frantic and utterly lovely Catherine O’Hara. It all works really well.

Key to the film’s success then and its enduring appeal now is the pain inflicted on Harry and Marv as they attempt to get into the McCallister home. Let’s tick off the checklist:-

• Ice on the front and back steps
• Red hot door handle
• Air rifle through the cat-flap
• Tar and a nail on the basement steps
• Glass baubles inside the living room window
• Blowtorch inside the kitchen door
• Superglue and feathers
• Toy cars at the bottom of the stairs
• Paint tins on the stairs
• Trip wire on the landing
• Cut rope to the tree house
• Spider on the face

That’s quite a lot by anyone’s reckoning and the way it is all set-up and then executed is frankly superb. The mayhem and physical punishment build and build and yet the film ends with a sense of the enjoyment of Christmas, rather than just damage for its own sake.

A fantastic blend of laughs and tenderness and a firm favourite for the Christmas season.

Reviewing this box set when it is out in stores and in all probability snapped up by eager Star Wars fans seems a little unnecessary. The promise of a shiny high def transfer and the long awaited deleted scenes from the Original Trilogy conspire to tempt you to part with your cash once more, to enjoy the long time ago all over again.

But there’s a problem. A wave of negative reaction to some of the changes made by Lucas for this box set became clear a few weeks prior to the release as rumours of some important scenes ruined by needless additions and more handy work by the CG Replacement Bureau. Then video clips were uploaded to confirm the changes and boycotts were threatened and those unhappy with the Special Editions and 2004 DVD ‘improvements’ found new voice and dusted off their VHS copies and chided those who had their pre-orders booked.

So, who’s right? Are the changes too much for those who loved the originals, or is the HD transfer and wealth of extras enough to make the purchase worthwhile? As with many things, both are right, from a certain point of view.

We’ve already looked back over the films this past week in our Video Vault series, so if you’re looking to find out more about Episodes I to VI then click here to read them; there is an assumption that you’re not going in totally blind here. If you’ve never seen the films at all and can spare the cash then this box set is an instant recommendation – just make sure you watch them in the order they were made, don’t be tempted to start your journey to the dark side and out again with The Phantom Menace.

The more pertinent question is perhaps asked of those who already own the DVD set (and probably the VHS copies as well): Do I need to buy this set too?

The HD transfer is most obvious in Episodes IV to VI, and what I found strange were the additions for the 1997 Special Editions and how they showed their age. The advancement of computer technology is so rapid and is  noticeable when some of the visual effects which impressed in the late nineties now look very out of place. The additions to Mos Eisley are not as polished as the 1977 footage, with some very messy compositing of the newer elements over the old and some problems with the focus in certain shots. It surprised me as the original footage looks incredibly sharp for the most part, occasionally there is a very muddy shot in between the crystal clear original footage which itself isn’t completely free from problems.

Looking on the positive side there are moments when I saw things I had never seen before, and I’ve watched these films a lot. In truth I’ve never seen the sparks that fly off the colliding lightsabers in the duel between Vader and Kenobi. At first it looks a little like CGI sweat and it may have always been in there but this was new to me. Obi-Wan Kenobi’s new scream to scare off the Sandpeople is a strange addition to those of us who have known the original but isn’t a huge offence overall. It was a genuine thrill to see the detail and the dirt of the first film in particular, not least in contrast to the clinical green-screenery of the prequels; the forests on the moon of Endor look lush and verdant and the ice planet of Hoth is so sharp you could shave a Wookie with it. The occasional transfer quirks aside this is the most beautiful version of the films we’ve seen and when I first saw the discs at the Big Screen event I was sold.

The additions will irk some, and infuriate others. I’m sure a lot of people may not even notice the newly CGI Yoda in The Phantom Menace or question Vader’s new, and controversial, cry of ‘Noooooooo.’ just before he saves Luke from the Emperor’s final attack, but you’ll know which applies to you. In all honesty the films remain some of the most exciting science fiction films we have and they have never looked better. I’d question the need to buy this new set if you already have the DVDs and aren’t too fussed about the HD, but as we’ll see there is a reason to keep your old copies around even if you do.

The menu system on the main discs are simple and won’t blow your mind but they are a vast improvement over those found on the three discs of extras which invite you to select a film, then a location (Tattooine, Hoth, Bespin etc) and then to select a category (interviews, deleted scenes etc) and then a further click to play them. It’s not fun to navigate this menu every time you want to see a particular special feature. The interviews to introduce each film’s extras are short and drawn from cast and crew and are a nice addition. The deleted scenes are a lot of fun, with the early scenes of Luke and Biggs on Tattooine being the most substantial. The scene with Han and a female companion in the Cantina is here, as is an extended scene in the land speeder with Luke and C3PO searching for R2D2 and while most of these have been seen before on various multimedia releases it’s good to have them all in one place.

What I alluded to earlier about keeping the DVDs handy is one of the more puzzling elements of this collection as the deleted scenes for the Prequel Trilogy do not include those found on the DVD releases. This is a strange omission and a real shame, nice though it is to see a brief cameo by Dominic West as a Naboo guard pushing over a defeated Battle Droid there were some substantial scenes excised from the original cut that would have fitted alongside the new scenes perfectly. Maybe there’s a definitive box set coming our way – maybe when the 3D version are put out…

When I was a kid the only way you could have Star Wars in your own home was as part of the documentaries made and televised at the time of release of the Original Trilogy films. These are included on the final disc of extras and proved a highlight for me as I was hit by a wave of nostalgia. Also included, and perhaps the most intriguing extra, on the disc was The Masters – a discussion of the making of The Empire Strikes Back with the late Irvin Kershner proving a wonderful guide through the difficult second movie.

So in the end I was won over by the new transfer and the decent, if limited, set of extras. If you have the DVDs and are annoyed at the constant tinkering by Lucas then be warned – this won’t light your saber. If you’re a fan and want to see Star Wars in the best way possible then the choice is clear. The galaxy far, far away has never looked better.

We’ve had a brilliant week filled with Star Wars-related goodness (which you can catch up on here) celebrating the release of Star Wars on Blu-Ray for the first time on Monday.

Now that we’ve had our week, it’s time for America to have theirs, with the box set coming out there today, and Collider report that Lucasfilm have released a “Use the Force for Good” cancer benefit video filled with stars re-enacting highlights from the films.

And it’s pretty great. We get to see, in surname alphabetical order, the likes of Aziz Ansari (30 Minutes Or Less), Zach Galifianakis (The Hangover), Bill Hader (Superbad), Ed Helms (The Hangover), Ken Jeong (The Hangover), Jaime King (My Name Is Earl), Seth Rogen (Pineapple Express), Andy Samberg (Hot Rod), and Emma Stone (Zombieland). And Samuel L. Jackson (Star Wars), who gets his own sentence for being so damn awesome, and being in the films himself.

Along with the video, there’s also going to be a week of eBay auctions to help raise money for Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C), including a one-of-a-kind Star Wars 2012 Volkswagen Passat, hundreds of rare collectibles, and a dinner with George Lucas, Chris Columbus, Francis Ford Coppola, Philip Kaufman, and John Lasseter. Pretty much any cinephile’s dinner guests of honour dream-team.

Naturally, it’s aimed at America, so if they will ship them to the UK (and I’m not sure if they will), then you may well incur a bit of a shipping/customs fee to get it sent here if you’d like to take part and Use the Force for Good.

At the very least, we can enjoy the video full of fantastic Star Wars moments from some brilliant actors and actresses. Fantastic stuff.

On the fifteenth of July, 2011, the highest grossing film franchise of all time will finally come to an end. Spanning ten years, eight movies, four directors and a worldwide box-office gross of over six billion dollars – the Harry Potter film franchise will open at the close with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, as Harry prepares to face off against He Who Must Not Be Named for the very last time.

Billed as The Motion Picture Event of a Generation, we at HeyUGuys wouldn’t want anybody to miss out. As such, here’s our recap of first film in the franchise, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.

So, without further ado, previously on Harry Potter…

You’re a wizard, Harry.

Back in 2001 – or 1991 according to the books – Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) was just a normal boy, albeit one who weird things happened to. Having unwittingly unleashed a Burmese Python on the visitors to London Zoo during his cousin Dudley’s (Harry Melling) eleventh birthday, and even going so far as to converse with it, Harry is soon the recipient of a never-ending barrage of letters, each promptly intercepted by his exasperated Uncle Vernon (Richard Griffiths) and Aunt Petunia (Fiona Shaw). Tracked down to an isolated island sanctuary on his own eleventh birthday, Harry is liberated from his cupboard under the stairs and invited to enroll at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry by part-giant gamekeeper Hagrid (Robbie Coltraine).

Arriving at Hogwarts with pet owl Hedwig, Harry is soon sorted into Gryffindor house where he is introduced to Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint), Hermione Granger (Emma Watson), Neville Longbottom (Matthew Lewis) and budding arch nemesis Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton). Having witnessed Hagrid remove a strange package from Gringotts, the wizarding bank, at the same time as he was withdrawing funds from his parents’ vault, Harry begins to uncover a sinister plot to steal the Philosophers stone from its new hiding place in the school grounds.

Suspecting potions professor Severus Snape (Alan Rickman) to be behind it, Harry is soon confronted with the man responsible for his parents’ death, and the mysterious scar which occupies his own forehead, Lord Voldermort. Maintaining his role as The Boy Who Lived, besting He Who Must Not Be Named for the second time in his short life, Harry discovers from venerable headmaster Albus Dumbledore (Richard Harris) that it was his mothers sacrifice which saved him from both of Voldermort’s attacks.

Chris Columbus’ first film in the franchise is often derided for its lack of creative license with the source material. With Steve Kloves’ faithful script and Columbus’ often pedestrian direction, Philosophers Stone goes to great lengths to pack as much of J. K. Rowling’s original book into the movie as possible  - often at the expense of character development and narrative momentum. Indeed, with very few scenes sacrificed to rein in the running time the first act in particular boarders on montage as the prologue is awkwardly squeezed in and Harry unceremoniously rushed to Hogwarts.

If Philosopher’s Stone isn’t as adventurous as later films in the franchise – there is nothing even approaching Alfonso Cuarón’s visual flair – it is also thoroughly enchanting in its by-the-numbers sincerity. It is a genuinely magical introduction to the exquisitely realised magical world, with a host of impressive CGI and note-perfect casting lending proceedings a timeless quality. Complete with a reliably iconic score courtesy of John Williams, this is family entertainment at its most accomplished; stalwart foundations carefully set without which the more creative flourishes of later installments would not have been possible.

With Rowling keeping a relatively close eye on filming, it is really quite impressive how little Philosopher’s Stone curtails the later movies. With a number of the novels yet to be written, it is testament to the author’s planning and vision that so little is in need of retconning ten years down the line. It is this integrity, and the astonishing degree of casting continuity, that affords the film its biggest accomplishment. When Alan Rickman greases his way on screen for the first time, it is as though he is entirely aware of the iconic nature of his truly astounding performance as the enigmatic Severus Snape.

Lumos: Although ultimately lost in the transition from book to film, Harry’s green eyes and Hermione’s buck teeth are noticeable in the film’s final scene. Resulting in an allergic reaction and needless discomfort respectively, however, both character traits were eventually dropped.

Homenum Revelio: Perpetual Young One Rick Mayall, though cast in the role of Peeves the poltergeist, never appears on screen.

Check back on Friday for our look at the second film, when Harry and Co. venture into the Chamber of Secrets.

 Check up with the other films so far in the Harry Potter Retrospective here.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows^TM – Part 2 is in cinemas now

Harry Potter Years 1-7: Part 1 Box Set is available on Blu-ray and DVD now

Having successfully stolen the lightening in last year’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians, there’s been little movement on the Jackson front since.

Not that this has been particularly unexpected; although entertaining and likeable functional – it was directed by Christopher Columbus – it was no more entertaining or functional than the countless other Potter-lite adaptations that have flirted with cinema screens in the past few years, and none of them have made it to the difficult second movie. Until now, that is.

The LA Times are reporting that a sequel, based on Rick Riordan’s second book ”The Sea of Monsters” but likely taking elements from other books in the series is currently in the works, with Logan Lerman once again locked to star and Thor (well he was hardly going to find work as the God of Thunder, was he?) Freudenthal picking up the reins.

Centring on the mythical Golden Fleece, for which out heroes will be searching, The Sea of Monsters will return us to the first film’s world inhabited by demigods. Son of the Greek god Poseidon, Percy will embark on a new adventure in order to rescue a friend trapped at sea.

Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski are on script duty while Lerman worries about “the age question” and his steadily maturing fan base, the rumoured 2012 release date looming suddenly near.

More details sure to follow.

Writer/director and the creator of the phrase from whence we took our name, Chris Columbus, will follow up last year’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief with a remake of Korean film Hello Ghost.

Variety is reporting that the director will also produce the film (which centres on a young man who begins to see ghosts, following a failed suicide attempt) through his production company, 1492.

This will be Columbus’ first foray into the genre, although his 1999 feature, Bicentennial Man, was a horror of sorts.

It’s difficult to imagine at this late stage in Harry Potter’s cinematic saga, but once upon a time in a galaxy not that far away Steven Spielberg had some very different plans for the franchise.

The L. A. Times’ Hero Complex is reporting that Spielberg – whose Dreamworks Pictures were initially considered as financial partners for Warner Bros. after they latter secured the film rights to the first four books – had his own priorities for adapting the franchise, some of which proved more attractive than others to the studio’s President and COO, Alan Horn.

“I did think it would be worthwhile for Steven Spielberg to direct. We offered it to him. But one of the notions of Dreamworks’ and Steven’s was, ‘Let’s combine a couple of the books, let’s make it animated,’ and that was because of the [visual effects and] Pixar had demonstrated that animated movies could be extremely successful. Because of the wizardry involved, they were very effects-laden. So I don’t blame them. But I did not want to combine the movies, and I wanted it to be live action.”

Other than the fact that we’d most likely be done by now, the franchise would have also suffered the loss of some truly inspired performances. With the odd exception, the Potter franchise has benefiting from some of the best actor-character continuity in movie history. Having the characters age at a similar rate to audiences and maintaining outstanding internal consistency – there will have been eight movies by franchise’s end – has added an extra dimension to the series, going some way towards making the upcoming Deathly Hallows the ‘Motion Picture Event Of A Generation’ that the promotional campaign is advertising.

Although Christopher Columbus was by no means the best thing to happen to the Harry Potter franchise, he did at least lay the seeds for Alfonso Cuaron, Mike Newell and David Yates to cultivate. Had J. K. Rowling not fought for a British cast and remained as involved in the filmmaking process as she has, it is quite possible that the upcoming releases of Part I and Part II respectively wouldn’t be as anticipated, or the series as revered, as it has been.

With Christopher Nolan’s Inception unfolding onto an all-too-suspecting audience over the next two weeks rumours abound concerning one of his forthcoming producing gigs – the next throw of the die for Warner Brother’s Superman.

At yesterday’s Inception press conference there were no questions for Nolan about Batman or Superman and this came as a blessed relief to the assembled press as there was so much in Inception to discuss, but the questions will start flying now as there’s a rumour going around tonight about who will be stepping behind the camera to direct.

SupermanHomepage claim the following,

A source inside the studio has revealed to the Superman Homepage that an offer has been sent out to Chris Columbus to direct the 3D Superman reboot for December 2012.

Columbus’s last film was the can of mythological worms that was the first film in the Percy Jackson series.

The site goes on to give more details,

David Goyer really wanted to direct but nobody from either studio think he’s good in that arena…He’s great at coming up with story and ideas, like George Lucas. It’s his execution where he’s weak which is why people like Chris and Jonathan Nolan and Guillermo Del Toro have had the best results with his scripts.

If only George Lucas showed such restraint. But is a Columbus directed Superman what WB are looking for? His work on Harry Potter and Percy Jackson shows a proficiency for effects heavy movies, and he is a far cry from Bryan Singer, so perhaps that is exactly what they are aiming for.

Typically a dozen names will get bandied around for this gig, and Columbus may never have even been on the shortlist for the job, but until Sony announced Marc Webb as the director for their high school based reboot of Spider-Man we had no real idea of what Sony were thinking, and every name that is linked to this Superman project will invariably spark off different imagined variations of the film to be.

I wonder what Columbus would do with Superman? Maybe, just maybe, we’ll actually find out.

Twentieth Century Fox have given us this special exclusive look at one of the new featurettes which will appear on the Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief Dvd & Blu ray when it’s released in the UK 5th July. The featurette is called Inside Camp Half Blood and features interviews with director, Chris Columbus and stars of the movie, Logan Lerman, Brandon T. Jackson who talk about how they had to learn to sword fight against one another.

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief is based on the book by Rick Riordan and also stars Alexandra Daddario, Jake Abel, Sean Bean, Kevin McKidd, Pierce Brosnan, Steve Coogan and Rosario Dawson.

Keep your eyes peeled for your chance to win Percy Jackson on DVD which will be up on HeyUGuys next week. If you’ve not already seen it, check out the Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief Foosball game here.

I’ve placed the new clip beneath these new character banners of the Gods who feature in the movie. Scroll down to view.

Zeus

Poseidon

Persephone

Medusa

Hades

Chiron

Athena

We’ve got a great competition for all you fans of Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief (or any of the Percy Jackson genere actually!). The guys over at Smart Pop Books have been on contact with us and offered us the chance for two lucky readers of HeyUGuys to win a copy of their book ‘Demigods and Monsters: Your Favorite Authors on Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series’. The book has been edited by Rick Riordan who is the author of the the Percy Jackson series.

The difference with this competition to our usual ones is that we’ve opened it to the entire globe! That’s right, it doesn’t matter where you are in the world, we want you to enter!

So, to be in with a chance of winning this great book, just answer the following question:

Which former James Bond plays Mr. Brunner / Chiron in the movie, Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief?

Use the form below to enter.

The small print:.

• Only one entry per household will be counted.
• The competition will close Friday 12th March at 23.59 GMT.
• The winners will be picked at random from entries received.

The usual T&Cs can be found here.

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief is out now in cinemas around the world and you can follow all our coverage here.

Last week HeyUGuys were lucky enough to get invited along to the press conference for Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief. I was there armed with my video camera and you can watch the entire press conference in full here. After the press conference, along with a group of my fellow bloggers and journalists, I was able to interview Kevin McKidd and Steve Coogan (here), Alex Daddario and Brandon T. Jackson (interview here) and Percy Jackson himself, Logan Lerman and director, Chris Columbus (below).

This interview is the third and final interviews. Check out the time codes below to skip to the relevant part of the interview that interested you most:

• How does it feel travelling around the world (00:00)
• Did they have a nice time on their touring day? (00:16)
• Chris talks Percy Jackson vs. Harry Potter – Was he trying to avoid a comparison? (00:54)
• How did Chris go through the transition between no CGI in movies to complete CGI and how did Logan find working on a green screen? (02:47)
• How did Chris feel about his cast and working with British actors (06:00)
• What was it like for Logan o work with these big names (07:17)
• Working as the younger version of someone (08:14)
• Has Logan be recognised yet? (08:37)
• Does Logan worry about girl adoration? (09:23)
• Is there a way to avoid teen adoration? (09:59)
• Talk with the creator of the Goonies about HeyUGuys.co.uk! – This was a surreal but super cool moment!!
• Working with child actors / actresses – why does Chris keep coming back to that genre? (11:16)
• Chris just thought The Goonies was ‘OK’ (12:41)
• Is Chris the expert of pushing kids movies to their riske limits? How does he get away with it? (13:07)
• Comparing Clash of the Titans with Percy Jackson (14:23)
• Did Chris compare notes with Louis Leterrier from Clash of the Titans?

[gplayer href="http://www.heyuguys.co.uk/audio/percy_jackson/logan_chris.mp3"] Interview with Logan lerman and Chris Columbus: [/gplayer]

It’s only a few days away now that we get to see Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief hit the big screen. Our coverage for the movie that everyone seems very excited to see if vast and wide. We have the full UK press conference which you can watch in lovely high definition here which had most the stars of the movie there including Logan Lerman, Alexandra Daddario, Brandon T. Jackson, Pierce Brosnan, Kevin McKidd and Steve Coogan alongside director Chris Columbus. We also have our review of the movie and every day this week we have new interviews with the cast of the movie going up. The interview with Kevin McKidd and Steve Coogan went live today which you can watch here. Tomorrow we have interviews with Alexandra Daddario and Bransdon T. Jackson going live so keep checking back.

And if all that still isn’t enough, we have this lovely new French trailer for the movie embedded below. Think of us as your one stop shop for all things Percy Jackson! You can see all our coverage here.

Percy Jackson is released this Friday, 12th February.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians is a series of five books written by Rick Riordan. Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief is the first of the book and sets the scene for both us, the audience and for Percy himself. After the Harry Potter series, kids seem to be in need of another fix of something mysterious and wonderful and it seems that Percy Jackson is where it’s at. It’s not so big in the UK yet but after the release of the new movie with a mix of all star cast and semi-newcomers, will the films start a wave of Percy Jackson here in the UK? Hopefully my review of the film might help you decide!

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief is directed by Chris Columbus. His name may not be one you’ve heard but if I tell you that he directed Mrs Doubtfire, Home Alone, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, you’ll no doubt have seen one or more of his movies. He’s also very well known for his writing. He wrote Gremlins, Young Sherlock Holmes and some movie that you might have heard of called The Goonies that inspired this very website. He really is a legend in cinema and when you see his name billed on a movie you go in expecting good things.

Here’s the brief synopsis to give you a bit more of an idea about what the movie is about:

Synopsis: Trouble-prone Percy Jackson is having problems in high school – but that’s the least of his challenges. It’s the 21st century, but the gods of Mount Olympus seem to have walked out of the pages of Percy’s Greek mythology texts and into his life. Percy has learned that his real father is Poseidon, god of the sea, which means Percy is a demigod – half human, half god. At the same time, the powerful gods on Olympus are feuding, which could launch a war enveloping our entire planet.

I went into the screening of Percy Jackson not really knowing anything about it. I’d seen the trailers and read the synopsis and production notes but that didn’t really prepare me for what I was about to see. The movie opens with a gigantic Kevin McKidd (Poseidon) walking out of the sea with a huge trident tattooed on his arm. Poseidon soon comes to meet Zeus, his brother played by Sean Bean who tells him that someone has stolen his master lightening bolt, the source of all lightning across the world and lays down a gauntlet that if he doesn’t have it returned to him a war amongst the gods would begin. Zeus believes that Poseiden’s son, Percy Jackson has stolen it – the issue is that Percy doesn’t even know that he’s a demi god (half human, half god) but he has always felt different to all the other kids at school and had a love of spending time in water.

After a series of events, Percy finds out his heritage and meets characters Chiron (Pierce Brosnan) who he thought was just his school teacher but is in fact half-horse and realises that his best friend, Grover Underwood (Brandon T. Jackson) is actually a satyr! Now, what is a satyr I hear you ask. Well, if you think back to your early high school days, you probably studied this sort of thing. I’m pretty sure I did anyway and watching this movie, I started remembering all the mythological creates that I had learnt about 16 years ago. You don’t need to know anything about Greek mythology to watch this film but I guarantee, when you come out of it, you’ll want to find out more about it. The effects that are used in this movie to create these wonderful characters are simply wonderful and very clever although after interviewing Brandon T. Jackson last week, I found out that wearing blue tights to create the effect afterwards isn’t as fun as we might think it is!

Other creatures used in the movie include the Hydra (clip here), and Medusa, played by Uma Thurman who, as you’ll see in this image, has snakes in her hair, but, whatever you do don’t look into her eyes or you’ll turn to stone! I’m not sure I’ve ever seen product placement in a film like this with the iPhone. Credit to Apple / Chris Columbus there! The CGI used to create these snakes is absolutely fantastic with the multitude of snakes attached to her having their own personality yet still being in touch with and linked to Medusa’s thoughts and persona. Massive credit to the guys who created the special effects for this movie because they are simply brilliant. Full list of cast and crew on IMDb here.

The other main leads in the movie include Alexandra Daddario who plays Annabeth Chase, the best swordsman (woman) of all the demi-gods. She’s a little perturbed when Percy turns up as the new kid on the block but their friendship grows stronger throughout the movie as she, Percy and Grover all depart on a question find who stole the Lightning bolt so that they can return it to Zeus before the epic war erupts. From here, Percy and his friends embark on a mission to discover the true thief of the lightning bolt. The issue for them is that Hades (the devil and another Greek god played excellently by Steve Coogan with his assistant played by Rosario Dawson) is on the hunt for Percy as well as with the lightning bolt, he can overthrow his brother Zeus. Percy decides the best cause of action is to go and meet Hades in Hell and try and talk things through.

Chris Columbus is a genius of the child genre of movie as he’s able to tell a story that is both intense, adult enough for people like me to enjoy it but child-like enough that a 12 year old can come out of the cinema and ask their parents if they can go straight back in to watch it again. Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief is no exception. The story is clever and Columbus adds comedy to parts but also huge tension and draws you into the story. As I said earlier, the effects are amazing. Just watch this clip of the Hydra and you’ll see what I mean. Columbus saves the big cgi for one of the final scenes though and I won’t spoil it for you but the CGI is so well done.

The three main leads are very believable and if there were a sequel (which I’m sure there will be) I would go and see it. There is one scene in particular which i think the movie lost it’s focus on being a movie for kids. The cast end up in a hotel where basically they are drugged to keep them there with women surrounding Grover. I’m sure it was wonderful for him to film but is this the sort of message to be sending to kids? I’m probably being over the top and you can tell me once you’ve seen it what you thought.

All in all, Percy Jackson was a well made movie with so many Hollywood stars playing cameos, it was hard to keep up but all of them were so well cast and it was wonderful to see them in a movie where they could all have a lot of fun making. It’s also nice to know that if you want to be a Greek god, you have to be British! Roll on the sequel!

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief is released this Friday 12th February.

Last week, almost all of the cast of Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief descended on London to promote their new movie. Chris Columbus, the man who brought us Gremlins, Home Alone, Mrs Doubtfire, the first two Harry Potter movies and some film called The Goonies was with them and proved himself to be the legend that we all knew he was.

Logan Lerman, Alexandra Daddario, Brandon T. Jackson, Pierce Brosnan, Kevin McKidd and Steve Coogan were all in attendance and all spent 40 minutes talking about the new movie and how they loved making it. Well you lucky Percy Jackson fans, we have a special treat for you as we filmed the entire event in lovely HD for you and you can watch the whole thing below.
Uma Thurman unfortunately wast able to be there but there wasn’t any more room round the table which must be why she wasn’t there!

After the press conference, I got to interview all the above names except for former James Bond, Pierce Brosnan and over the next three days, we’ll bring you audio interviews from each of them so keep coming back to HeyUGuys for your Percy Jackson cast fix.

So get comfy and enjoy the whole thing below and make sure you pass onto any other Percy Jackson fans out there. We know there are an awful lot of you!

With news breaking that Logan Lerman may be the new Spider-Man, it may detract us from remembering the movie that he’s currently travelling the globe to promote, that of Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief. I was lucky enough to meet Logan, his director Chris Columbus and his fellow cast members, Alexandra Daddario Brandon, T. Jackson, Steve Coogan and Kevin McKidd earlier in the week at the press conference for the movie. All the footage and audio for those will be up next week but in the meantime, 20th Century Fox have released these super high resolution images that all look fantastic.

Synopsis: Trouble-prone Percy Jackson is having problems in high school – but that’s the least of his challenges. It’s the 21st century, but the gods of Mount Olympus seem to have walked out of the pages of Percy’s Greek mythology texts and into his life. Percy has learned that his real father is Poseidon, god of the sea, which means Percy is a demigod – half human, half god. At the same time, the powerful gods on Olympus are feuding, which could launch a war enveloping our entire planet.

Check out these images below and click each of them to see the super hi res version. Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief is released next Friday, 12th February and keep your eyes peeled over the next week as we’ll be going Percy Jackson crazy.

To celebrate the release of Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief which is in cinemas 12th February we are giving away some great merchandise goodies!

Synopsis:  Trouble-prone teen Percy Jackson is about to be kicked out school – but that’s the least of his problems.  The gods of Mount Olympus and assorted monsters seem to have walked out of the pages of Percy’s Greek mythology texts and into his life – and they’re not happy.  Zeus’ lightning bolt has been stolen, and Percy is the prime suspect.  Now, Percy and his friends must embark on a cross-country adventure to catch the true thief, save Percy’s family, and unravel a mystery more powerful than the gods themselves.

We have the chance for five lucky readers to win 1 of each of the following:

• A t-shirt
• A bag
• A pair of retractable headphones
• A pen
• A bouncy ball

The first 2 winner lucky winners will also receive the fantastic Nintendo DSTM Percy Jackson And The Lightning Thief game which is also released on February 12^th!

To be in with a chance of winning this prize, all you need to do is tell us the answer to the following:

What was the name of the classic 1985 movie that Chris Columbus wrote which was set in Astoria, Oregan?

Send your answer to: percy@heyuguys.co.uk

Please include your address so that we can send you the goodies should you win.

All the usual T&Cs apply, and you can view those here.

The small print:

* This competition is open to the UK only.

* Only one entry per household will be counted.

* The competition will close Friday 12th February (Release Date) at 23.59 GMT.

* The winners will be picked at random from entries received.

Good Luck!

We’ve got a special treat for you early on this Friday morning. At 7:25AM GMT (9.30am Greece time), we have the live digital junket for Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief live overlooking The Acropolis in Athens, Greece right here.

The main cast of the movie which includes Logan Lerman (“3:10 to Yuma”), Brandon T. Jackson (“Tropic Thunder”), Alexandra Daddario (“Bereavement”), and Jake Abel (“The Lovely Bones”) will all be beamed, live around the world from Athens and all you have to do to watch it is open your browser right here at HeyUGuys. Not only that but after the interviews, viewers will get the chance to see a brand new exclusive clip. After the conference, we’ll be updating this post with the video interviews and the exclusive clip so if 7.25am GMT is too early or late for you, you can check it all out later on when you wake up.

You can also interact with other people around the world using the chat feature which we have also embedded below. I was lucky enough to see the movie yesterday and my review will follow within the next couple of weeks. Percy Jackson is directed by Chris Columbus and is released 12th February in the UK. So, sit back, relax and enjoy the show live from Greece and make sure you tell your friends.

Next week and the following, we’re going to be going rather mad on Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief. Not only does it have one of the best 80s / 90s / 00s directors in Chris Columbus, it also has a steller cast whcih includes Logan Lerman, Brandon T. Jackson, Alexandra Daddario, Sean Bean, Pierce Brosnan, Steve Coogan, Rosario Dawson, Catherine Keener, Kevin McKidd, Joe Pantoliano, Uma Thurman and Ray Winstone. These new posters tie in nicely with the previous character posters that we gave you a few weeks ago.

Next week, HeyUGuys will be taking part in a live round-table interview with the cast who will be in Athens. The following week we’ll be face to face with them to discuss the movie in even more detail and, if all goes well, we’ll be brining you the video from the press conference here in London.

In the meantime, check out these new posters below and click them to enlarge. Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief is released 12th February.

Synopsis: Trouble-prone teen Percy Jackson is about to be kicked out school – but that’s the least of his problems.  The gods of Mount Olympus and assorted monsters seem to have walked out of the pages of Percy’s Greek mythology texts and into his life – and they’re not happy.  Zeus’ lightning bolt has been stolen, and Percy is the prime suspect.  Now, Percy and his friends must embark on a cross-country adventure to catch the true thief, save Percy’s family, and unravel a mystery more powerful than the gods themselves.

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief has gone poster crazy! Last week we had 6 characters posters and today, 3 more posters have been released and they look too good not to post! I found them over at Latino Review but I’ve embedded them below (click to enlarge). We’ll hopefully be attending some interview sessions and the press conference in the next couple of weeks so hopefully lots more Percy Goodness to come. The movie stars Joe Pantoliano, Kevin McKidd, Uma Thurman, Sean Bean, Pierce Brosnan and is directed by Chris Columbus.

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief is out 12th February.