Universal Studios have give us this fantastic exclusive featurette to coincide with the Blu-ray release of the greatest dinosaur movie ever made, Jurassic Park. The Blu-ray is released in the UK 24th October. Jurassic Park for me is an all-time classic and I love everything about it. It was ground-breaking on so many levels and I’m so pleased it’s making its way to Blu-ray packed to the rafters with special features (all of which are listed below).

One of those special features is this featurette focusing on the music in Jurassic Park with the title ‘A Whole New Level’. John Williams provides the score for the film and in the featurette, all the sound effects have been stripped to let you see simply the score that plays during a few select scenes. One of those scenes is the raptor kitchen scene which is on the list for one of the most intense scenes ever devised in my opinion! The feature has interviews with John Williams and Joseph Mazzello who both talk about the intensity of the score in the movie. Scroll down and have a watch!

The Jurassic Park Ultimate Trilogy is released on Blu-ray from 24^th October and you can pre-order your copy here.

 Jurassic Park: A multimillionaire (Richard Attenborough) unveils a new theme park where visitors can observe dinosaurs cloned using advanced DNA technology. But when an employee tampers with the security system, the dinosaurs escape, forcing the visitors to fight for their survival. Sam Neill, Jeff Goldblum and Laura Dern star in this thrilling, action-packed blockbuster from acclaimed director Steven Spielberg and based on the novel by Michael Crichton.

The Lost World: Jurassic Park: Four years after Jurassic Park’s genetically bred dinosaurs ran amok, multimillionaire John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) shocks chaos theorist Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) by revealing that Hammond has been breeding more beasties at a secret location. Malcolm, his paleontologist ladylove (Julianne Moore) and a wildlife videographer (Vince Vaughn) join an expedition to document the lethal lizards’ natural behavior in this action-packed thriller.

Jurassic Park III: In need of funds for research, Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) accepts a large sum of money to accompany Paul and Amanda Kirby (William H. Macy and Tea Leoni) on an aerial tour of the infamous Isla Sorna. It isn’t long before all hell breaks loose and the stranded wayfarers must fight for survival as a host of new — and even more deadly — dinosaurs try to make snacks of them. Laura Dern, Michael Jeter, Alessandro Nivola and Trevor Morgan co-star.

Special Features:

• New to Blu-ray – ‘Return to Jurassic Park’ – this six-part documentary features all-new interviews with the many of the cast members from all three films, the filmmakers and Steven Spielberg.
• Dawn of a New Era
• Making Pre-history
• The Next Step in Evolution
• Finding The Lost World
• Something Survived
• The Third Adventure

Also:

• The Making of Jurassic Park
• The Making of The Lost World: Jurassic Park
• The Making of Jurassic Park III
• Steven Spielberg Directs Jurassic Park
• Early Pre-Production Meetings
• The World of Jurassic Park
• The Magic of Industrial Light & Magic
• Location Scouting
• Phil Tippett Animatics: Raptors In The Kitchen
• The Jurassic Park Phenomenon: A Discussion with Author Michael Crichton
• Industrial Light & Magic and Jurassic Park: Before and After The Visual Effects
• Industrial Light & Magic and The Lost World: Jurassic Park Before & After
• The Industrial Light & Magic Press Reel
• A Visit to Industrial Light & Magic
• Hurricane in Kauai Featurette
• Dinosaur Turntables
• The Dinosaurs of Jurassic Park III
• Montana: Finding New Dinosaurs
• Animatics: T-Rex Attack
• The Special Effects of Jurassic Park III
• The Sounds of Jurassic Park III
• The Art of Jurassic Park III
• Tour of Stan Winston Studio
• Feature Commentary with Special Effects Team
• Production Archives: Storyboards, Models, Photographs, Design Sketches and Conceptual Drawings
• Deleted Scenes
• Theatrical Trailers

Taylor Lautner is risen to the accolade of ‘Hollywood megastar’ after playing Jacob in the Twilight franchise and subsequently rocking to stardom.

The good news for Twihards is that there are still two more movies to look forward to but in the meantime Taylor has been a very busy man and has somehow found time to make this new movie, Abduction with Lionsgate which is out in UK cinemas now.

We got to catch up with him in a very swanky hotel in London earlier in the week and the interview is embedded below.

In the interview, we talk about how Taylor has adapted to becoming a leading man after working so closely with such a huge cast in the Twilight movies, we talk stunts and how they were carried out, how certain scenes in the movie were shot and we get a little insight into what you can expect when you go and see Abduction at the cinema.

For the rest of our Abduction coverage, click here.

Point Blank hits UK cinemas 10th June and from everything we’ve seen, it looks absolutely awesome! The trailer for the movie can be see here. It looks like a French version of a Jason Bourne movie but in all the best ways possible. Check out this intense clip below and make sure you watch the trailer.

Point Blanks stars Elena Anaya, Gerard Lanvinx, Gilles Lellouche, Roschdy Zem and is directed by Fred Cavayé.

Everything is going well for Samuel (Gilles Lellouche; Tell Know One/ Sherlock Holmes/ Mesrine/ Little White Lies) and Nadia (Elana Anaya; The Skin I Live In/ Sex and Lucia/ Van Helsing/ Talk to Her/ Mesrine), his beautiful wife. He is studying to become a registered nurse and she is expecting their first child. But everything changes when Nadia is kidnapped right in front of Samuel, who is knocked out cold, trying to stop the kidnapper. When he comes to, his phone is ringing; he has just three hours to get Startet (Roschdy Zem; Just Like a Woman/ The Cold Light of Day), a man who is under police surveillance, out of the hospital. Samuel’s destiny, now lays in the hands of Startet, a man who is not only wanted by the police! If Samuel wants to see his wife again, he has to act fast.

Black Death came out in the UK back in June but this new poster for the US release of the movies was a little too tempting not to put up!

The movie is directed by Christopher Smith and stars Sean Bean, Eddie Redmayne, Carice van Houten, David Warner, Kimberley Nixon and John Lynch.

Synopsis: Plague-ridden medieval England: Bodies lie scattered in their hundreds, the country is in turmoil. One hope remains, rumours of a village that is unaffected by the deadly disease. As God’s ambassador, young monk Osmund (Eddie Redmayne) is tasked  in leading the fearsome knight Ulrich (Sean Bean) and his group of mercenaries to the remote village. Their quest is to hunt down a necromancer – someone able to bring the dead back to life.

Their journey is treacherous and filled with danger; encountering deadly bandits and vicious witch-burnings that will put their faith to the ultimate test. Though it’s upon entering the village that their true horror begins…

From Christopher Smith, director of cult hits Creep, Severance and Triangle, comes a brutal and terrifying epic that guarantees to chill the blood and stir the soul.

If you’re in the UK, it’s available to buy here.

Poster via IMPA.

You may remember last year that I paid a visit to the Robin Hood set in Surrey and I managed to get rather a lot of footage of the village and Castle. After seeing the 4 images that The Media Club posted earlier today, I thought it was only right that I go off and visit the ‘Frostbite’ (aka Captain America: The First Avenger) set and collect some photos and footage.

Unfortunately filming of Joe Johnston’s latest took place last week on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Much of what was there has been dismantled and taken away. What remained was one Sherman tank, around 30 Army tents, a Band Stand with USO written above it, which suggests the plot point described by director Joe Johnston that Steve Rogers is forced into the USO circuit has made it into the final film.

Hidden on stage, for the keen eyed viewer, was the American Army seal (at least I think that’s what it is!), which if you look closely you can see in my video below.

After chatting with a security guard we managed to find out that during filming there were at least 2 Sherman tanks, multiple jeeps, loads of old fashioned cars and various other armoured personnel carriers.

We took this video (if you’re in the US, use the video below the YouTube version) and quite a number of photos before being moved on! Hope you enjoy the video, click the photos to enlarge.

If you’re in the US and can’t see the video above, try this version:

We’re gearing up to the release of The Last Seven, which got its 18 certificate from the BBFC today. A London based post-apocalyptic thriller dealing with the last seven people alive.

The film stars Tamer Hassan, Simon Phillips, Danny Dyer, Sebastian Street and Rita Ramnani and was directed by Imran Naqvi.

So far we’ve seen a great trailer and got to chat briefly with the Angel of Death himself Danny Dyer, you can see both of those clips here. There is also a recently released image, whch gives a good indication of what’s in store.

Dave and I were on set earlier in the year and we’ll be bringing our report as soon as we can, in the meantime check out this exclusive look at the UK poster. Click on it to see it in its full glory.

The premise, and what we’ve seen so far in the trailer, points an intriguing and atmospheric thriller. Can’t wait.

Well folks, it’s finally here and open to the public. Christopher Nolan’s latest movie, Inception has been anticipated to be one of the biggest and best movies of the year so far but did it live up to your expectations?

Jon saw the movie a couple of weeks ago and you can read his review here. We also have itnerviews with director Christopher Nolan and the cast including, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Page and Joseph Gordon Levitt, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy and Ken Watanabe plus footage from the press conference which was held before the world premiere of the movie in London’s Leicester Square last week.

I got to see the movie today at it blew my little mind. It was everything I wanted it to be and more. If you’re not sure what to go and watch this weekend, I highly recommend seeing this one.

BUT, if you’ve already seen it, tell us what you thought in the comments section below. Did you love it? Did you hate it? Tell us all!

It’s been a pretty amazing lead up to the eagerly awaited Inception and the early reviews (you can read ours here) and last week we attended the London press conference to hear more from the cast and crew.

The actors all talked about how crucial director Christopher Nolan was in their personal understanding, not only of the film’s relatively complex plot, but also their own characters, and Nolan spoke at length about his own eight year journey to get Inception to the big screen.

You can hear more in our exclusive interview with the director here and we’ve embedded some footage from the press conference below.

Thanks to our great friends at Upbeat for this footage.

OK, so this review may be late, since the film was released in the UK in April, but with the Odeon’s Director’s Chair selection electing to show the film I wanted to spread the word on this beautiful film.

Written and directed by Luca Guadaginio, I Am Love follows Emma Recchi (Tilda Swinton) as she slowly develops a relationship with her son’s friend and the family chef, Antonio Biscaglia (Edoardo Gabbriellini), against the backdrop of deeper family troubles.

Using this simple premise shows how the Russian-born Recchi is struggling to find new excitement and adventure outside her strict, controlling and wealthy Italian family, all the while she is slowly falling in love with the young and less-wealthier Biscaglia.

Although this is a very good story and really shows the main character in a good light despite having this secret relationship away from her family, the story was too long during the second half and I found this disappointing as the screenplay Guadaginio wrote in the first half was really good and more engaging than I expected.

The big selling point that this film has is that Tilda Swinton manages to pull off the Italian language really well and as she has a lot of speaking parts, she really shows that she can really act in different roles; her overall performance in the film was brilliant and I would like to see her in more leading roles.  Although I am not familiar with the other cast members that starred in the film, they all do really good work as well and were very engaging to watch all the way through.

Cinematographer Yorick Le Saux deserves to be mentioned in this review, because this is without doubt one of the best shot films that I have seen in a really long time. Saux’s cinematography really matches with the low and high key lighting used within the film, as well as the gorgeous locations and getting the most out of the entire cast’s performances. There was barely any problems with the way that it was framed or shot and for that alone, it really is truly one of the most beautiful films I have seen so far this year.

With original music from John Adams, used sparingly throughout the film but when it does come to the fore it truly is remarkable, with themes aligning themselves to each character.

Beautifully directed and with a very engaging protagonist played really well by Tilda Swinton, this is a really good film that only just falls from the top from the very slow-paced second half.

This evening, London’s Leicester Square saw the World Premiere of one of the most anticipated movies of the year so far.

All the stars from Christopher Nolan’s Inception were in attendance including Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Ken Watanabe, Tom Hardy, Michael Caine and Leonardo DiCaprio.

Our friends at Upbeat have provided us with this awesome footage from the premiere which you can see embedded below. If you missed it, you can see Jon’s review of the movie here or click here to enter our Inception merchandise competition.

Here’s the footage.

It seems we’ve gone a bit Inception nuts today. Jon got to see the movie this morning, and attend the press conference this afternoon. His review has gone up online here and you can see our exclusive interview with the director of the movie, Christopher Nolan here.

Rope of Silicon have Four new clips from the movie which I’ve embedded below.

Inception stars Ellen Page, Marion Cotillard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ken Watanabe, Leonardo DiCaprio, Michael Caine, Tom Berenger, Cillian Murphy, Tom Hardy and Talulah Riley and is released next Friday 16th July.

Inception has come to us under a cloak of secrecy. It is unusual for a major blockbuster to keep it’s cards so close to its chest but it allows the punch, or the film’s Prestige if you will, to deliver it’s punch all the more effectively.

Visually the film is inventive and rich in detail, it is a film of ideas rather than echoes and emblems of a property steeped in popular culture. Inception is not the second coming as some have predicted but it doesn’t need to be. It is a simple story transported to a world familiar to us all, but until now has rarely been so effectively rendered on screen.

You could accuse the marketing department, showing the images of Paris enfolding and streets exploding in the trailers, of ruining the spectacle. But these are mere hints of what is in store. In common with The Matrix, a film which is easily an influence, conscious or not, you cannot be told what Inception is, you do have to see it for yourself. Yes, it shares ideas (and some direct images) with this film and others like Satoshi Kon’s Paprika but it grounds itself in a reality far from the colourful dreamscapes of Kon’s film and with less cartoon like elasticity of the world of Neo.

There are breathtaking moments, shadows of Escher appear while we are lead through the malleable world of dreams and tight restrictions are introduced which conspire to deliver the tension which Nolan ramps up right to the very last twist of the knife.

The celebrated trailer shots of suspended bodies and zero gravity fights appear and deliver the film’s action points, but there is a tightly controlled and contrived plot behind it all and it earns the emotional points it scores.

Christopher Nolan described the film as a heist movie and this is the foundation of the narrative drive but the path is strewn with trap doors and shifting sands and the rabbit hole goes deeper and deeper as the film progresses, resulting in four stories on four levels of reality; it’s like the set of Rear Window populated by the James Stewart and Grace Kelly as every couple.

The ideas behind the film are relatively unusual for a summer blockbuster and Inception cannot escape the slow start in which the audience is introduced to the ideas at play, but Nolan peppers the interplay with hints to a greater understanding rather than explaining it outright. The mystery escapes the muddle with an impeccable cast and a script which does as much to control the potential chaos of the ideas in play without ever feeling cheap.

Nolan has spoken of his influences (see our Exclusive interview with Nolan here) for the film, alluding to Escher (whose work we see stunningly adapted in its rendering here) and the labyrinths of Borges and the film needs a strong hand to guide you through its intricacies and Nolan and DiCaprio conspire to bring the wandering heroes of Borges to life here, with confusion and a worrying surrealism on one side and oblivion on the other.

DiCaprio and Joseph Gordon-Levitt spark off of each other and Nolan newcomer Ellen Page does well with what is, at its essence, a cipher for the audience and her role is lost a little in the ensuing reality warp. Tom Hardy is easily the most exciting talent on offer here and makes the most of his character’s careless charm.

But it is Nolan as the puppet master who is the key to unlocking the puzzle of Inception. It’s a good, strong film, original and full of ideas and does what every good heist movie should and delivers tension, danger, strong and engaging characters as well as showing us things we’ve not seen on screen before. The decision to move away from CG and stick with as many practical visual effects as possible work wonders. The helicopter shots of chases through real cities do much to draw on the notion of cities as labyrinths and the IMAX friendly establishing shots offer a visual clue to the maze we are following Nolan through. The emotional heart of the movie between DiCaprio and an amazing, although sadly short, performance by Marion Cottilard works because this is their story, unravelled and unreliably told and at journey’s end we too are left standing after the madness and chaos with the credits offering us the film’s oblivion with a sense of wonder, and of potential of what is next for Nolan and for the summer blockbuster.

Inception is released in UK Cinemas July 16th. You can view all our coverage of the movie here.

We have a very special treat for you today as we get to bring you our exclusive interview with Christopher Nolan ahead of his brand new movie, Inception which hits UK cinemas 16th July. Inception is one of the most anticipated movies of the year, mainly because it’s been written and directed by Nolan who was responsible for Batman Begins and The Dark Knight which was, until James Cameron’s Avatar came along, the highest grossing movie of all time.

In our interview, we ask Nolan about where his artisitic inflences come from, how creating and shifting realiting affects the action scenes, and he also tells us the key rules from the world of Inception.

Inception stars Ellen Page, Marion Cotillard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ken Watanabe, Leonardo DiCaprio, Michael Caine, Tom Berenger, Cillian Murphy, Tom Hardy and Talulah Riley. As you read this we’re currently in the UK Press Conference for the movie. We saw it this morning and you can staty tuned for our review which will be on HeyUGuys in the near futue.

Yesterday I put up our interview with the Director of new British movie Beyond the Pole, David L. Williams and today we get to hear from not only one of the stars of the movie but also it’s Executive Producer, Helen Baxendale. Helen is probably most famous for her role as Ross’ English girlfriend in Friends and also starred in long running British drama, Cold Feet alongside James Nesbitt. She took some time to answer some questions for us which you can view below.

Thanks to Helen for her time and for also providing the two photos used in the post exclusively to us. Beyond the Pole is released on DVD and Blu ray this coming Monday 5th July. You can pre-order it here and don’t forget to you can enter click here to enter our competition to win the Blu Ray.

————————

You obviously had your Executive Producer hat on for this movie as well as starring in it, how did Shooting Pictures find this gem of a movie?

David works with lots of writers and Neil Warhurst is a big favourite of ours.  He’s funny and generous and we go back a long way now.   It’s always fun when we get together and brainstorm ideas.

David is the motor of the whole thing and he’ll bring me in at crucial points where I can be just one step removed from the daily hurly burly of things and he’ll turn round and say I think this is great.  Is it great or is it absolute nonsense?!  Our production company, Shooting Pictures has been going 10 years now and it seems to work.  I think our relationship is such that we can be frank with each other and guide projects away from cul de sacs.  But developing scripts is a long drawn out process.  There’s no quick route and from films I’ve seen if they say they wrote it in 3 months I think you can usually tell!

So in answer to your question, we didn’t really find the movie.  We work with people we like and develop it, and then try and make it happen.  It comes about over time, q. slowly really, and hopefully grows into a finished film.  Thankfully this one did but I would never put anything into production that wasn’t 100% ready.  That would be too depressing on premier night.  Luckily as Shooting Pictures works all the time in the commercial environment we don’t have to rely on handouts from public bodies, or on production fees which means we don’t have to push a script into production before it’s ready.  This is crucial if you want to ensure quality work.

Although you’re not on screen during the North Pole scenes, did you get to visit Greenland during shooting and if so, how did you find filming in the middle of nowhere?

No, I didn’t go.  David sorted out the arctic co-producers (Arctic First) who were wonderful, and they helped us immeasurably with locations, logistics, safety etc . We really couldn’t have done it without them, particularly Kristjan Fridrikson and Vilborg Einarsdottir.  Also we simply had to keep things extremely tight financially and I am afraid for the arctic leg we both took the view I was surplus to requirements!  Another small matter is we have 3 children and we don’t have nannies or anything so it was just not an option anyway.

The reactions to the movie have been deservedly brilliant! How does it feel to such a well-received movie especially for such a new Production company?

We’re not new but thankyou!  Making a film, and getting it out there is a long old process particularly in indie land where this film lives!  It feels wonderful of course and I’m so pleased for everyone who gave so much to make it happen.  But really anyone will tell you that David has been like a dog with a bone with this film.  Every film needs its champion and Beyond the Pole has always been his baby.  Even when we thought we had another script that might go first he fought for this one and I’m glad for him.  It was a huge gamble and it’s paid off.

David L Williams and Helen Baxendale and the Premiere of Beyond the Pole

What’s next for Shooting Pictures?

Well, the DVD release is hugely important for us.  In commercial terms this is the test because it’s still DVD’s where the profit and loss of a film will be decided.  We’ll be watching the figures closely and it’s also very exciting to see just how the word of mouth will work with this film.  For our future projects we are looking at a couple of things and I hope also to get something with my sister going who is a wonderful writer and I know David has a couple of very nice things up his sleeve too.  We are also being approached by a number of agents and writers who are keen to work with us.  We’ll see.  It’s a difficult time to raise money right now but we have the right backers and we just have to tickle their fancy!

You started your career in front of the camera. Will we be seeing you in anything else going forward or will we see your name as a Producer from now on?

I love producing and working with David and I love acting too.  To be involved in both sides is a very creative, enjoyable process and of course it’s also very fulfilling too to see it all come together.  I’ve just finished a series for ITV and also my first blockbuster, Anonymous, with Rhys Ifans about Shakespeare not actually having written his plays so with luck and a following wind I’ll be kept fairly busy this year.

————————–

Beyond the Pole is released on DVD & Blu Ray this Monday (Pre-Order here), 5th July and I urge you to check it out!

Beyond the Pole is a new British movie which I watched yesterday and really enjoyed (my review will come soon) and is scheduled for release on Blu Ray and DVD this coming Monday. We were given the chance to interview a few of the people involved in the movie and the interview for your viewing pleasure is the director, David L. Williams.

If you haven’t already, click here to enter our competition to win Beyond the Pole on Blu Ray.

Did you always want to adapt the radio show to the big screen or did the idea come as a surprise?

Well I loved the radio series and was amazed when I heard the BBC hadn’t optioned it. I jumped in immediately as I knew the writers well, had worked with them many times, and was confident that we could make it work. I was also probably excited by many of the things that turned the BBC off: the extreme environment, the dangers on floating sea ice, the difficulty of turning a 6 x 15 minute episodes into a 90 minute feature. I consider myself very fortunate that the BBC overlooked it and although there were lots of things to overcome on the way it’s a piece of work I am very proud of.

Was it difficult transferring the idea across to a different audience who may not have heard the radio show before seeing the movie?

Well the real difficulty was turning a radio series that worked in one medium into a feature film that could work for cinema. The radio series was a cult hit with “cult” being the operative word. As good as it was, very few people had actually heard of it so the challenge was less about pleasing a pre-existing audience than finding a new one. Knowing this was tremendously helpful because it allowed us to change all kinds of things without being beholden to what had gone before. What surprised Neil (the writer) and I was just how much we had to jettison to make it work. As much as I loved the radio series it’s tone/world was often very silly and unreal. This was fine for radio and the world it created for that medium, but fell foul of one of my golden rules in that the drama had to at all times be real and believable or the comedy just would not work. So it was difficult, although for different reasons, but I think comedy is perhaps the hardest to get right anyway so it was a process I was ready for.

You have a wonderful cast in the movie, did you always know who you wanted to play the different parts or did you go through a long casting process?

We were blessed with the cast we got, and although I thought a long time about it we didn’t actually have auditions as I just drew up a list of the actors I admired and then made offers. The result is we have 3 wonderful double acts in Stephen Mangan and Rhys Thomas; Rosie Cavaliero and Mark Benton; and Alexander Skarsgard and Lars Arentz Hansen and each of them is absolutely crucial to the success of the movie.

That’ the short answer, this is the longer one (please use some if you can!)…

WE CAN!

I loved Stephen in Green Wing and Helen had worked with him in Adrian Mole so we were both set on him. A couple of years previously I was casting a pilot and was looking for comedy talent that could improvise. I saw Rhys Thomas’s reel and despite going with Russell Brand for the pilot always knew that I wanted to work with Rhys. He was so funny and warm and fresh, I just knew we’d get him for something. When I first approached their agents I just said it’s an offer as long as there’s chemistry between these two. So our “audition” was actually a rehearsal where I went right through the script, filmed it, cut it and they were absolutely magic together. Everything just works. Visually, their timing, their ability to go with whatever eachother are doing and make something new. Really, as a director, if you get the casting right, it makes the job MUCH easier as you can largely just run behind these talents picking up their comedy diamonds as you go. These two are huge talents and I really hope they get recognised by BAFTA for their work on this film. Bloody should do – they nearly died!

Our cocky gay Norwegians were recast on the back of an iceberg as due to a last minute clash of dates our original choices weren’t going to work and we were already on the ice! I picked Alexander Skarsgard, who has become this huge US star due to True Blood, because he had been voted Sweden’s sexiest man 5 times so we were sure we could get a sale in Sweden and although he was terrific in Zoolander the Gods were clearly smiling upon us that day. Lars then became our new tough guy (who also proved wonderfully deadpan) and I thought they could believably fancy eachother.

Rosie Cavaliero is absolutely gorgeous and funny and I had watched her career for a long time. We could have changed her performance a thousand times because each and every one of her takes was beautiful, subtle, real and very funny. I love everything she does but the phone sex scene is so rubbish and so great. Really, she’s wonderful. I am sure she’s going to be the next Brenda Blethyn. Pairing her with Mark Benton’s CB radio enthusiast was just a gift as they look great together crammed into their caravan on a hill full of broken old radios and antennae.

Basically these actors are at the top of their game, have been absolutely committed every step of the way to helping this movie being everything it can and to getting it out there, and if the industry doesn’t sit up and beg to hire these actors non-stop for the rest of their lives they are bonkers!

How did you find shooting in the freezing conditions of Greenland?

Tough and incredibly wonderful. There wasn’t a day when I didn’t thank my lucky stars for getting the opportunity to be there. But it was mad. I mean there were practical day to day difficulties that caused…ummm…let’s say pressures. Everything’s frozen so there’s no plumbing for example. So instead of toilets we shared a bucket (some did not but that’s another story..). Days were also very long as we couldn’t afford to be there very long so had to cram a lot in. Luckily it was April and the days were getting longer by half an hour each day so as director/producer I made sure I never wore a watch and we just ploughed on and made sure we finished. I’m proud to say we did not have a single pick up or reshoot from the movie. That’s an incredible testament to the ability of everyone involved. But day to day it was incredibly intense work. You’re working on floating sea ice, at minus 20 and you’re in polar bear country. There’s a great shot in the film after an ice quake of the boys on ice flows floating in different directions with the sea steaming all around them. More than a few times I was aware of how ridiculous the whole thing was as I told the actors we’d go for one more take and I’d watch as they set about their work whilst floating off into the arctic circle!

Obviously the movie is very comical as well as having a serious topic. Where do you stand on the issues of global warming and do you think the movie has helped to get across some of the green ideas?

Honestly, I don’t think we’ve made the slightest bit of difference but I think it’s a drip drip thing and sooner or later, the more of us who try and do something to influence events the sooner we’ll get to a tipping point when politicians will take their balls in their hand and actually stand up and act without needing the approval of a focus group and without one eye on the on whether or not this will help them to get re-elected. I really think half the battle is just putting to one side the overwhelming feeling of impotence and just getting on with it. Global warming is what it says – global. But my belief is we have to act locally first and unfortunately this is a very difficult thing to do because there is the inherent impossibility of seeing the impact of ones contribution to the overall problem. But we just have to break this inertia and crack on. It requires us to overcome pretty much all our evolutionary instincts but I suppose we have to prove ourselves to be more longsighted than neanderthals. Fingers crossed!

The best children’s book of all time, The Lorax, said all this many years ago. But we forget, and ignore and avoid. I loved the Lorax and gave it to Stephen and Rhys when they had their children (with different parners!). The Lorax was my guiding light for this film. It was funny and moving and spoke to it’s audience on a very personal level. And at the end it demanded action in a very lovely, haunting way. I hope our film does the same thing. It’s funny, dark, dramatic, hopeless – it really is an amazing adventure/disaster comedy movie which stands on its own as a drama/comedy in the vein of The Office and Withnail and I and Touching the Void. But it has something to say. I suppose in the end I made it for my children. I hope they will see the spirit in which it was made and not condemn me too much for not doing something more practical with my time!

Did you have any idea the movie would be received so well, and especially be nominated for so many awards at the film festivals?

Listen any filmmaker who says they never expected recognition or awards is a goddam liar! Noone sets out to make a film without thinking that it is the Best Thing Ever! We were just the same except we also believed we were also going to save the planet! Clearly insane but what else is going to carry you through all the heartache and the endless nights and the sheer underpaid poverty that one has to go through to make a film and get it out there. It’s gruelling I promise you and thank god for any morsels we’ve had so far because they are crumbs that keep you going. For better or worse! But let me say there’s nothing like hearing a full cinema laugh and cry at your film. It’ll be interesting to see how the whole dvd release feels. I hope it goes down a storm …but you never know!

What’s next for you?

A good lie down! No, we’ve got a couple of things and I’ve now gone a bit LA and have a manager there and an agent in London so we’ll see where that leads. Helen and I also run Shooting Pictures together and we’re developing a couple of things with writers and investors etc etc It’s really a case of getting interesting people together and seeing if something catches fire. I’ll keep you posted!

Thanks to David for answering all our questions. Beyond the Pole is released on DVD & Blu Ray this Monday, 5th July and I urge you to check it out!

There’s only a week to go until we get our look at the latest 80s franchise update to tear through the nostalgia barrier and arrive with the Nimrod Antal directed/Robert Rodriguez produced Predators, and in amongst the sheer tonnage of marketing there are still new sights to see.

There’s two new clips around today which have Adrien Brody, Alice Braga and friends working out where (and why) they are. In the first clip, the team have an interesting encounter with someone who is not what he seems, check that out below…

This one is a ShockTillYouDrop exclusive, show them some linky love.

Then there is another nicely chosen clip to set the film up – it gives away the basic premise of the film, so keep out of the way if you want to be untrampled by the spoiler bus, but it’s very clear what Adrien Brody and his team of militarised misfits are doing in the jungle.

The clip is an exclusive to JoBlo and it’s well worth your time before the 8th of July hits and the Predators eat our eyeballs for popcorn.

Please Give will very likely be placed in competition with its UK box office companion, Noah Baumbach’s Greenberg, and may suffer the same reduction that film did – here we have a film concerning wealthy white people looking inwardly for validation, with not much actually happening.

It’s an unfair reduction, but one which writer/director Nicole Holofcener must be getting used to. And to my mind there’s nothing wrong with using this as a basis as long as you have a good story to tell and  you create interesting characters to do so.

Please Give is a witty, intelligent bleak comedy which has those inevitabilities, death and taxes (or money), at its heart. Holofcener regular Catherine Keener and Oliver Platt are modern day, legitimised grave robbers, hired by surviving relatives to scour the apartments of their recently deceased family members in order to buy up furniture and items of value to sell on in their trendy store.

Guilt ridden and dependent on this line of work, Keener and Platt’s marriage and partnership is further affected by their ninety one year old neighbour (whose adjoining apartment they have already bought) and her two chalk and cheese granddaughters played by Rebecca Hall and Amanda Peet. Their uneasy relationship develops as they couple and break away through love, lust and momentary bonding through soul searching dialogues before walking away.

There are moments of broad, trailer-friendly comedy but for the most part this ensemble character study takes in themes of fear and self-loathing in New York, class guilt and the notion of value, both financial and human, and sprinkles epiphanies along the way and Holofcener wisely allows her characters to find those moments – or walk by without noticing them, and this is part of the film’s success.

The cast is uniformly excellent, each adding their own twist to their character, allowing a  third dimension to come out. The script ebbs and flows with a rich, caustic wit, every moment helped by Holofcener’s camera which does great work in keeping a voyeuristic distance and maintaining the rhythms of conversation despite some hectic editing.

Rebecca Hall stands out in this female lead comedy, as far from the Sex and the City foursome as can be. The stark, often unattractive look at relationships and life doesn’t dole out answers as you exit the cinema, and the moments of quiet reflection within the crackling tension of the strained couplings are where the film pays off.

Please Give is out in the UK now.

Sony Pictures Classics have been kind enough to give us a brand new and exclusive trailer for their new movie, Please Give which has some lovely new footage in it. The movie is directed by Nicole Holofcener and stars Rebecca Hall, Elizabeth Keener, Elise Ivy, Catherine Keener, Josh Pais, Amanda Peet and Oliver Platt.

Synopsis: Kate (Catherine Keener) and Alex (Oliver Platt), a married couple who run a successful business reselling estate-sale furniture, live in Manhattan with their teenage daughter, Abby. Wanting to expand their two-bedroom apartment, they buy the unit next door, planning to knock the walls out. However, before doing so, they have to wait for the occupant, Andra, a cranky elderly woman, to die. The wait becomes complicated when the family develops relationships with Andra and her two grown granddaughters.

Please Give is released in UK cinemas tomorrow, 18th June and keep your eyes peeled for Jon’s review which is also going up tomorrow.

Yesterday I brought you the first batch of exclusive concept art that I gathered while I was on my fabulous Pixar trip back in March and today is what you’ve all been waiting for, Part 2!

The lovely people from Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar Animation Studios invited me over to San Francisco to not only meet those involved in making their latest movie, Toy Story 3, but also to see it! While there,  myself and a few other bloggers and YuoTubers also got to meet the archivists who showed us loads of concept images from Toy Story 3 and let us take photos and video (which you’ll see in future posts) of it all.

Toy Story 3 is released in US cinemas this comiong weekend and I thought now would be the best time to show you some of the images that were drawn well before the movie was put into it’s now digital state. You’ll notice that some of the images have been signed and dated around December 2008 so yuo can really see how long ago they are drawn. Just think what’s being created in Pixar Animation Studios right now for two years time!

One thing I would say is that if you know nothing about Toy Story 3 and want to remain that way, then you probably don’t want to look at these images as there are a few things that you’ll get out of them that you may not have known before unless you’ve seen the latest trailers and featurettes and then I think it’s pretty clear.

Here in the UK, we don’t get Toy Story 3 until 19th July but I can tell you now that you’re going to absolutely love it. It’s directed by Lee Unkrich, produced by Darla K. Anderson and has a voice cast which includes Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Don Rickles, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Estelle Harris, John Morris, Laurie Metcalf, R. Lee Ermey, Jodi Benson, Ned Beatty, Bonnie Hunt, Timothy Dalton, Jeff Garlin, Whoopi Goldberg and Michael Keaton.

Toy Story 3 is released in UK Cinemas July 19th so a while to wait but you can enter our competition to win tickets to see it this Sunday here!

Click the images to enlarge…..

You may remember that back in March, the lovely people from Walt Disney Pictures invited over to San Francisco to not only meet those involved in making their latest movie, Toy Story 3, but also to see it along with a select group of other bloggers and YouTubers from around the world! While we were there, we also go to meet the archivists who showed us loads of concept images from Toy Story 3. I have decided that today and tomorrow are the days I have chosen to share them them all with you.

Toy Story 3 is released in US cinemas this weekend and I thought now would be the best time to show you some of the images that were drawn well before the movie was put into it’s now digital state. You’ll notice that some of the images have been signed and dated around December 2008 so you can really see how long ago they are drawn. Just think what’s being created in Pixar Animation Studios right now for two years time!

One thing I would say is that if you know nothing about Toy Story 3 and want to remain that way, then you probably don’t want to look at these images as there are a few things that you’ll get out of them that you may not have known before unless you’ve seen the latest trailers and featurettes and then I think it’s pretty clear.

Here in the UK, we don’t get Toy Story 3 until 19th July but I can tell you now that you’re going to absolutely love it. It’s directed by Lee Unkrich, produced by Darla K. Anderson and has a voice cast which includes Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Don Rickles, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Estelle Harris, John Morris, Laurie Metcalf, R. Lee Ermey, Jodi Benson, Ned Beatty, Bonnie Hunt, Timothy Dalton, Jeff Garlin, Whoopi Goldberg and Michael Keaton.

Toy Story 3 is released in UK Cinemas July 19th so a while to wait but you can enter our competition to win tickets to see it this Sunday here!

Click the images to enlarge and if you like this little lot, check back tomorrow for a load more!