William Turnbull is a painter and sculptor, now approaching his 90th birthday, whose life and work is evaluated in this documentary by his son, Alex. Narration by Jude Law.

*****

Documentaries have always had an important place in the world of film and although there are plenty of high quality examples of the genre going back over the decades, in recent years their profile and success have grown and grown, to the point where films such as Hoop Dreams, Farenheit 9/11 and An Inconvenient Truth garner critical and commercial acclaim and box office success measured in nine figures. Lately the format has found a real niche in the area of alarming polemics about the environment, financial markets and nuclear weapons (Enron, Inside Job, Countdown to Zero, An Inconvenient Truth) and has also given us thrilling drama through TT: Closer to the Edge and Senna.

Sadly, Beyond time gives us no thrills and nothing much especially engaging either. Needless to say, the director has a great deal of love for the subject of his documentary, but coming in at 62 minutes it is difficult to see why the film wasn’t simply greenlit for an hour long slot on BBC4 as part of a series on art and culture, rather than being shoe-horned into press screenings and the like. Of course a documentary about the life and work of a painter and sculptor is not going to have the same dramatic heft and compelling arc as, say, Senna, but the film is still unforgivably turgid and lacking in vigor.

Although I am pretty much a novice when it comes to evaluating the artistic merits of Turnbull’s work, a documentary about him should be more compelling, more engaging than this is. It should stimulate the desire to look further into his work, be accessible to those not au fait with him, rather than leave the viewer looking at his watch, waiting for it all to be over. He is clearly a gifted artist and the assorted contributions to this documentary make his place in 20th century art clear, but nothing on show here draws you into an unfamiliar world and piques your curiosity. The content is presented in a highly staid and unimaginative manner and where the best biopic docs leave you wanting to know more, this just induces a shrug.

Not very successful at all and not one that can be easily (or honestly) recommended. You can find out more about Turnbull at his website, here and view the trailer below.

*½~~~ (1.5/5)

Beyond Time – Trailer from Turnbull Studio on Vimeo.

The development in recent months of The Side Effects has been an interesting one that’s been great to follow so far. Penned by Scott Z. Burns, Steven Soderbergh’s collaborator on Contagion, the writer was set to return behind the camera to direct the project himself.

After Soderbergh passed on directing The Man From U.N.C.L.E., however, word soon came that he would be returning to work with Burns on The Side Effects, which seemed to have changed its name to The Bitter Pill, with Burns stepping down as director to allow Soderbergh on board.

So far, so good.

Then earlier this month, we got more brilliant news when word surfaced that Blake Lively, Jude Law, and Channing Tatum were all in talks to join the project in the three leading roles, taking up the three parts of the love-triangle (or love-angle, considering Law and Tatum don’t have a tie between them, but you know what I mean).

Collider have been looking at three separate and consecutive reports from Variety, Deadline, and then The Playlist, and it seems that the development of the project currently has a bit of a question mark over its head.

They note that Variety report that the film’s financers, Annapurna Pictures (Megan Ellison’s production company), have backed out of the project, throwing into question the involvement of the three stars in talks to join. However, Open Road signed on last week to distribute it in the States and partner with Annapurna, and according to an Open Road spokesman, the deal is still on:

“The Open Road deal to release the picture is in place.”

So that’s a bit of good news, even if Annapurna are pulling out. And Variety also refer to the project as ‘Side Effects’,  omitting the ‘The’, but that could be a simple case of contraction; obviously there are plenty of films beginning with ‘The’ that get referred to without.

Moving on, Deadline then released a report saying that Catherine Zeta-Jones was boarding the project too, that production for the $30m. film was scheduled to start in April in New York, and that Annapurna would be financing. This last point could well have been an assumption based on the original financing plans.

A report from The Playlist would seem to suggest so, backing up Variety’s report that Annapurna are backing out, saying that sources have told them that the reason for doing so was Lively’s involvement in the lead of

“a troubled young woman who develops a dangerous love triangle between her doctor (Law) and her newly paroled husband (Tatum).”

If that’s true, I personally think that’s really unfair, because Lively has been doing really well outside of Gossip Girl, and her role particularly in Ben Affleck’s The Town was well received.

The Playlist also note that Zeta-Jones would be playing another of the lead female’s doctors, and that despite Annapurna dropping out, the project is still looking to move forward soon and replace its financing without much trouble:

“[D]espite the setback, financing should be locked back into place shortly, foreign sales are already taken care of, and an April start date in New York City is still a go.”

That’s definitely good news in my books, because I’ve been looking forward to this quite a bit since news first emerged of it.

The Playlist note, however, that there remains a question of whether Lively will still want to be involved with the project once financing is newly secured, and note that sources have thrown up a few names in case she doesn’t, including Rooney Mara, Michelle Williams, Emily Blunt, and Imogen Poots. Personally, I’m hoping that Lively will remain on board, because I’d love to see her taking on more leading roles in feature films, particularly ones with great directors and opposite a great cast.

Essentially, it seems as though things are a little up in the air at the moment, but the last report certainly suggests that, if like me you’ve been looking forward to this, then you shouldn’t have too much to worry about. Soderbergh is naturally a very well-respected director, and hopefully he’ll be able to secure financing elsewhere soon.

The film is set to be his penultimate before he retires, at least temporarily, from filmmaking, with his summer shooting schedule set to be filled by his biopic of Liberace, with frequent collaborator Michael Douglas in the lead, and Matt Damon starring opposite him. Both these films should be a tremendous (hopefully temporary) end to what has been a brilliant career to date, and if he should choose to take his final bow with them, I think he’d have the satisfaction of burning out, not fading away. More news on (The) Side Effects/The Bitter Pill as we get it (which will hopefully be very soon, and hopefully be good news).

When Oscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh exited the director’s chair on Warner Bros.’ upcoming The Man From U.N.C.L.E. back in November, this news was swiftly followed up by word that he would instead be filling his spring schedule this year with The Side Effects, penned by his Contagion and The Informant! scribe, Scott Z. Burns.

Casting on the project has been underway since the end of last year, and it looks as though we’re getting close to confirming the leading roles. The Playlist report that, whilst nothing’s official yet, Blake Lively, Jude Law, and Channing Tatum are all close to finalising their deals to lead the film, which I think sounds brilliant.

Lively, best known for her role as Serena van der Woodsen on The CW’s Gossip Girl, will be starring in the lead as Emily Watkins,

“a woman who turns to prescription meds to cope with the anxiety of the upcoming release from prison of her husband.”

Tatum, who’s worked with Soderbergh on the director’s next two films (Haywire and Magic Mike), will be playing the role of the husband, whilst Law will be playing Lively’s new psychiatrist, having loved working with Soderbergh on his last film, Contagion.

Though some might perhaps be sceptical of Lively in the film’s lead – I’m aware that not everyone enjoys Gossip Girl – I’d recommend you reconsider her roles in films like The Town and Green Lantern, which demonstrate that she’s more than proven her significant talents on the big screen. Along with Reynolds, of course, I thought Lively was pretty much the only saving grace of what should have been a brilliant superhero film last year.

Soderbergh announced early last year that he would be retiring from directing, at least temporarily (I’m hoping it’ll be a hiatus/short break), after making two more films – The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and his Liberace biopic. The Side Effects will be replacing the former, with plans to start shooting in April, before Soderbergh moves on to the latter later this year.

The director’s next film, Haywire, is due in cinemas in just over a week, released next Friday on 18th January, and you can catch up on all our coverage of Haywire right here. It looks like it’s going to be awesome. I can’t wait, for all of his four upcoming films. This new news of Lively, Law, and Tatum in the leads on The Side Effects sounds so good.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle might be turning in his grave at the use of his work but if he had a sense of humour he might appreciate Guy Ritchie’s more contemporary, humorous interpretation of his British sleuth, Sherlock Holmes, and certainly admire Robert Downey Jr’s eccentric turn as the infamous detective again.

What is certain is Ritchie gets to play out his love of Cockney bromance once more, while taking a European action-packed tour, Orient Express style this time around.

Holmes (Downey Jr) turns sulky schoolboy when his right-hand man, Dr Watson (Jude Law), decides to give up bachelorhood and get hitched, leaving his detecting days behind. After taking over his stag do, ‘Best Man’ Holmes sabotages the happy couple’s honeymoon to Brighton, after discovering his arch nemesis, the brilliant mathematician Professor Moriarty (Jared Harris), has hatched a bombing plan to set off a war in Europe, in order to peddle his arms wares. With ample action set-pieces and Matrix-style manoeuvres, plus the help of tag-a-long gypsy beauty Simza (Noomi Rapace), who is searching for her long-lost brother, the ‘brothers-in-clues’ set off on one finale adventure.

Downey Jr and Law have perfected their quick-fire, dry exchange and camp rebuffs in the second film with the finesse and the ease of a comedy duo with years of live performance experience. Downey Jr’s portrayal of Holmes’s borderline insanity is heightened in this film by a touch of transsexual tomfoolery that is inoffensive and relevant to the plot. With the delightful addition of the witty gentleman’s gentleman, Stephen Fry as Mycroft Holmes, Sherlock’s equally absurd, ‘naturist’ brother in the mix, there has never been such a display of English idiosyncrasy on-screen in a long time to revel in, and although Downey Jr is always a tonic, Fry steals the scenes they share with aplomb.

Ritchie ramps up the action tenfold, with full slow-mo, sharp-angled purpose to extract every Holmes clue and acute observation while turning parts into impressive cat-and-mouse, war chase scenes that fuel your enthusiasm and adrenaline. The waterfall finale that encompasses a meeting of brilliant minds over a deadly chess match is breathtakingly honed for full effect, leaving us – and even Conan Doyle – wondering on the actual fate of the UK’s most notorious fictional detective; this might leave some Sherlock Holmes fans perplexed, even perturbed.

However, the film has its flaws. First and foremost is its padded length that although punctuated by the impressive action sequences has a lot of lag to it. All the sharp dialogue and subsequent action suffers when it could have been a more succinct viewing experience. For example, the brief appearance of Holmes’s love, Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams), at the start is merely present for the benefit of giving Holmes’s mission a deep-felt purpose and to pour salt on the wound that his best pal, Watson, has found happiness in true love.

In addition, although Rapace as Simza is a mysterious beauty to have along on the ride, apart from being there to offload Watson’s trademark knitted scarf and to detect her brother’s presence – which she fails to, is sorely underused and underdeveloped and merely part of a gypsy resistance group that those with historical knowledge on the World Wars might find interesting as a persecuted people still in the news today. Even the snatched sideways glances between Simza and Watson are left lingering in the ether. Thankfully, the climax does make up for any tedious areas, with Downey Jr opposite Harris’s devilish and equally insane villainy in a wonderful sporting standoff of sheer intellectual prowess that befits Conan Doyle’s exceptional literature.

A Game of Shadows is pure period action drama with a delicious camp twist (cross-dressing aside) that demonstrates Downey Jr has made Holmes as much a part of his nature, as Captain Jack Sparrow is to Depp’s. This alone will keep fans more than occupied throughout Ritchie’s second sleuthing romp – inflated run-time aside.

***½~ (3.5/5)

This evening, London plays host to the European Premiere of Guy Ritchie’s new movie, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows which stars Robert Downey Jr​, Jude Law​, Noomi Rapace​, Jared Harris, Stephen Fry​ and Eddie Marsan​. Many of the main cast will be there including Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law, Director Guy Ritchie and Producer Joel Silver but if you can’t be there in person, fear not as we have the live stream of the event for you right here!

The lovely Edith Bowman will be hosting the event and interviewing the stars as they arrive. They’ll also be a gypsy band performing to open the evening who are featured in the movie. It’s amazing what you can learn while they’re doing the live sync test!

The stars should be arriving on the carpet from 17:45 so go and get a cuppa and come back to watch it all as it unfolds! Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows is in UK cinemas 16th December. While you’re waiting, you can see our extensive Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows coverage including trailers and posters here.

Twelve days separate us from catching up with Guy Ritchie’s latest fidgeting with Conan Doyle’s greatest creation with Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows unleashed into cinemas.

Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law return as Messrs. Holmes and Watson for another round of quick wits and fisticuffs, with a few new cast members along for the ride. Jared Harris enters as Professor Moriarty while Stephen Fry lends himself rather well to the role of the elder Holmes brother Mycroft with Noomi Rapace cast as a gypsy fortune teller who is dragged into the mysterious game of shadows.

Collider have nine clips from the film and present them here as one large chunk. Highlights include out first decent looks at Moriarty and Mycroft as well as Rachel McAdams returning as Irene Adler.

Here’s your eight minutes of Shadowy Games,

And the latest Photoshoppery has Holmes and Watson drawing guns while a train journey goes awry. I think that’s enough posters now, don’t you? As always, Click=big.

It’s been a long time since we threw our collective voices into the podcasting arena but the Mouth Off Podcast is back with a revised format, some very special guests and an excellent film to get us back on track as we talk about Martin Scorsese’s forthcoming 3D extravanganza Hugo.

We are joined by Cassam Looch from Movie Vortex, Simon Thompson from 5USA’s Inside Hollywood and Matthew Turner from View London  to discuss the merits of Scorsese’s foray into the third dimension and if the film, billed as a family friendly adventure, is as enchanting as we had hoped.

You can read my review of the film here and if you do then you’ll see where I’m coming from but there’s a good amount of discussion on the film’s successes and failures to be had; such a divisive film deserves to be delved into and delve we do.

We hope to do as many of these as possible in the future so if you listen and you like do let us know and we’ll tame this podcasting beast once and for all.

Listen below or subscribe in iTunes here.

 HeyUGuys Mouth Off Drop-In: Hugo by heyuguysblog

Hugo is an intriguing premise for a film, with Martin Scorsese’s love for the showmen and pioneers of early cinema aligning perfectly with one of the integral elements of Brian Selznick’s book The Invention of Hugo Cabret. Add to this the fact that this is a Martin Scorsese film ostensibly aimed at children and his first film shot in 3D and we have a project which we’ve had our eye on for some time and one which arrives with high expectations.

It arrives in cinemas on the 2nd of December and there are thrilling elements to this often charming adventure story, with a fine cast and a wonderfully evocative visual design, but there’s more beneath this impressive surface to bring to light.

There are spoilers here, but scroll down to the final paragraph for my final word which won’t spoil the plot details for you.

Asa Butterfield is Hugo Cabret, an orphan whose life lies within the walls of a Parisian train station as he hurries himself through the building winding the clocks and trying desperately to scavenge enough spare mechanical parts to complete the building of an automaton he was renovating with his father before his tragic death. Hugo’s belief is that when completed the mechanical man will go through the motions dictated by his clockwork mechanics and convey a message from beyond the grave. Struggling to survive without his father and determined to find some escape from this existence Hugo watches the station come to life every day and spies a toy shop, whose workshop may yield the essential parts his needs to complete his project and conjure the spirit of his father one last time.

Ben Kingsley is a triumphant presence as the cantankerous Toy shop owner Papa Georges whose identity is revealed to be the legendary, and now forgotten, cinematic master Georges Méliès and Kingsley teases out every nuance of the anger and sadness of the loss of his former life, his reason to be. Scorsese clearly revels in the chance to show his two young stars pouring over the newly discovered works of Méliès and there’s a real, and unexpected, treat for fans of the director towards the end of the film. For this is his story, and Hugo’s discovery which forms this initial part of the film fades quickly into the background and never engages us again, though there is some incredibly overt metaphors brought to life in his disturbed dreams and some jarring and unsubtle moments of dialogue which betray any trust for the audience to make connections and feel the narrative and emotional echoes on a visceral level.

Chloe Moretz continues to impress and she is given the best lines early on in the film, with a literate and precocious quality to her which means that she, thanks to her unwavering ability to breathe a fresh and charming air into her characters, is the one who draws us in to Hugo’s mystery as well as revealing the true identity of her Godfather, Papa Georges. Sacha Baron Cohen’s Station Inspector is a wildly uneven character only made bearable by the actor’s talent for grounding the more cartoonish and slapstick moments with a trace of pathos and he works very well as Hugo’s nemesis, the man who snatches vagrant children and sends them off to the orphanage. Note must be made here of Kevin Eldon’s far too brief cameo which was pitch perfect and far more effective than some of the other, more prominent members of the supporting cast who circle the film without ever being given the chance to engage the audience.

Howard Shore’s rich and jaunty score is given prominence in the first ten minutes of the film which introduces us to Hugo, the station and the clockwork labyrinth which constitutes his world in the walls of the Parisian station and yet there’s very little held back; it, like the emotional message of the entire film, is writ large and loud. What does work is the production design which renders Paris and the central station beautifully though a little anonymously but there are a few breathtaking sweeps across the snow covered cityscapes – though I could easily do without the crossfade of the mechanics of a watch overlaid onto the streets of Paris (which is a great image and works perfectly as just that – there was no need for the metaphor to be explained). Much of the film was made at Pinewood and something of the legendary studio’s history plays in well with the themes of the film and it has a sumptuous quality without ever looking ostentatious or like ‘Tourist Paris’.

The film has been hailed many, many times as Scorsese’s love letter to cinema, and there’s no doubt his genuine affection for the evolution of the artform and the feelings the most potent directors can conjure but Hugo lacks the vital component which inspires us. Despite a glorious opening scene the narrative runs wayward in the vital first half an hour and the story of Hugo’s discovery of the automaton’s purpose is drained of the emotional impact it needs to engage us in the ongoing adventure of the story and when the story finds its feet (or slots nicely into the rails to use an appropriate image) it’s a bumpy road rather than a smooth voyage of discovery.

The 3D worked very well in most parts, and was among the most impressive I’ve seen for a long time. Seeing the city of Paris miles below from the vantage we are given through the clock tower windows induced the requisite vertigo and awe in equal measure and there were moments, particularly during the scenes in Hugo’s ‘lair’ behind the walls which made great use of 3D to convey the space very well indeed. Rather surprisingly the 3D was among the more subtle of the elements in play here.

Thanks to a number of sledgehammered metaphors and emotions so aggressively conveyed it was as if a director’s commentary was used instead of a script and there was very little discovery to be had here. I remember discovering Méliès as a kid watching documentaries on Star Wars and the evolution of special effects and then later on from Terry Gilliam’s own long forgotten TV series The Last Machine and I was enthralled by the invention and the wit of the early masters. I would have liked to have seen that illumination and discovery present in Hugo and I believe that was the original spark of the project from both Brian Selznick and then Scorsese himself.

It’s a handsome film with Chloe Moretz’s charming performance standing out along with Ben Kingsley’s savage and vulnerable man recapturing the spirit of his life but ultimately the heart of the film is more mechanical than magical.

**½~~ (2.5/5)

Martin Scorsese seems unlikely as the next director to try his hand at 3D. He has given us plenty of visual spectacle in his films, but 3D always seemed like the sort of gimmick that would go against his artistic sensibilities. Well, like it or not, a director with credentials as impeccable as Scorsese’s has now gone over to the dark side and we will see the fruit of his labours before too long.

With the release date fast approaching, Howard Shore, composing for Scorsese for the umpteenth time (they collaborated on The Aviator, Gangs of New York and The Departed most recently) sat down with Variety to discuss how this score came together. The opening 10 minutes of the film is apparently virtually dialogue free, leaving Shore’s score very much front and centre:-

“The score uses a lot of themes and motifs and variations,” says Shore, “It’s written in an older style. In the first reel of the film, the first 10 minutes, you hear seven main themes of the film. It’s a very through-composed piece. … The score is about an hour and 45 minutes — a really extensive score for one of Marty’s films.”

Shore adds that he was greatly assisted by the copiously illustrated 2007 issue of the source book, “The Invention of Hugo Cabret” and sought to work with instruments that would have featured in the time period – turn of the (20th) century France:-

“Not only is the writing very good, but the illustrations and the design of the book are wonderful. So it brought me into the story very early, in a very vivid way. The Ondes Martenot (an early electronic keyboard from the late ’20s) was used. Other solo instruments included guitars and percussion from the late ’20s/early ’30s. Piano was also used very specifically for a sound from the late ’20s … (I also used) musette, a French accordion. Symphony orchestra was the primary instrument used, and then there’s a sextet, a small group, that was really part of the orchestra, and they became the soloists that you hear through the film.”

With his work on Hugo now done, Shore has returned to Peter Jackson, with whom he successfully worked on the Lord of the Rings films, to score the two-part adaptation of The Hobbit.

Source: Variety.

Martin Scorsese’s next film, Hugo, is just a couple of weeks away from its highly anticipated release now, and if you’ve missed out on our coverage of the film so far, you can catch up on it all right here.

Based on the novel, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, by Brian Selznick, the film has been penned by the brilliant John Logan, with whom Scorsese has previously worked on The Aviator, earning both its writer and director an Academy Award nomination.

We’ve now got a new clip to share with you, courtesy of Yahoo Movies, entitled, ‘Big Machine’, as well as five great new international character posters from the film, via IMP Awards.

“Synopsis: Adapted from the Caldecott-winning Brian Selznick​ novel “The Invention of Hugo Cabret​,” Hugo is the story of a resourceful boy who lives in a train station and teams up with a spirited young girl to solve a mystery that is based in his past and affects both of their futures.”

The film stars Asa Butterfield as the eponymous Hugo, with a terrific supporting cast that includes Chloë Grace Moretz, Sir Ben Kingsley, Jude Law, Sacha Baron Cohen, Christopher Lee, Emily Mortimer, Ray Winstone, and Helen McCrory.

Hugo will be with us in just under two weeks, coming out on 2^nd December, and it’s expected to do fantastically. Early reviews have been singing its praises, so I’m naturally more than a little excited that it’s only a short time until it hits the big screen. Without further ado, here’s the new clip from the film, followed by the five character posters. As usual with the latter, click to enlarge.

And if you’re reading this before midday on Wednesday 23rd November, then you can click here to enter our competition to win a pair of tickets to the Royal Film Performance of Hugo in London on 28th November. Good luck!

A new clip and over 50 images of Martin Scorsese’s first 3D film, Hugo, have been released this week.

The images consist mainly of stills from leads Chloe Grace Moretz and Hugo himself, Asa Butterfield, but also some of the characters we are yet to see from the trailers, including Sacha Baron Cohen, Richard Griffiths, and Emily Mortimer as well. There is also an image of Scorsese directing and one of him on-camera in a cameo. These pictures bring a whole new understanding to the film, highlight the magical ‘30s Paris, some wonderful costumes, and a general care to details that Scorsese puts into his films.

Based on Brian Selznick‘s award-winning best-seller, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Hugo is a young orphan boy, living a secret life in the walls of a Paris train station in the 1930s. The story follows him on a magical adventure involving his late father and an automaton to unlock a secret that will transform his life and reveal a place he can call home.

The film also stars Ben Kingsley, Jude Law, Ray Winstone, Christopher Lee, and Michael Stuhlbarg, and is set to be released in UK cinemas on 2nd December and next week (23rd November) in the US.

Here’s the new clip, courtesy of CinemaBlend:

And here are some of the images, and you cansee the entire gallery here:

It seems the Korean Warner Bros. Marketing department have decided that going with the scary looking posters are the way forward as we have one here of Rachel McAdams from her new movie, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows and I think the word ‘scary’ is the most apt. Not sure what happened in Photoshop but anyway, here we are!

Sherlock Holmes is the second movie in the franchise directed by Guy Ritchie and starring Robert Downey Jr, Jude Law, Noomi Rapace, Jared Harris, Stephen Fry, Eddie Marsan. From what we’ve heard, McAdams only has a small cameo in this sequel but I guess time will tell. It’s set for release on Boxing Day, 26th December here in the UK and we can’t wait to see it!

Robert Downey Jr. reprises his role as the world’s most famous detective, Sherlock Holmes, and Jude Law returns as his formidable colleague, Dr. Watson​, in “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.” Sherlock Holmes has always been the smartest man in the room…until now. There is a new criminal mastermind at large–Professor Moriarty​ (Jared Harris)–and not only is he Holmes’ intellectual equal, but his capacity for evil, coupled with a complete lack of conscience, may actually give him an advantage over the renowned detective.

We’re hoping to have lots of Sherlock fun in the run up to release so keep your eyes peeled.

Click the poster below to enlarge.

Source: Cine1

To celebrate the release of Martin Scorsese’s HUGO, in cinemas December 2nd we have a pair of tickets to the Royal Film Performance™ to give away. The event is black tie and will be  taking place on Monday 28th November in Central London.

We’re truly excited about Martin Scorsese’s first foray into the third dimension and the trailers we’ve seen so far have looked spectacular.

Here’s a little more about the film and look below for your chance to win.

Throughout his extraordinary career, Academy Award-wining director Martin Scorsese has brought his unique vision and dazzling gifts to life in a series of unforgettable films. The legendary storyteller invites you to join him on a thrilling journey to a magical world with his first-ever 3D film, based on the award-winning New York Times best-seller, “The Invention of Hugo Cabret.”

HUGO is the astonishing adventure of a wily and resourceful orphan boy whose quest to unlock a secret left to him by his father will transform Hugo and all those around him.

The film’s amazing all-star cast includes Ben Kingsley, Sacha Baron Cohen, Asa Butterfield, Chloe Grace Moretz, Ray Winstone, Emily Mortimer with Jude Law.

All you need to do is answer the following simple question in the form below,

Who wrote the book, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, on which the film is based?

COMPETITION NOW CLOSED

Competition specific T&Cs follow:

•    Closing date is Wednesday 23rd November at midday.
•    This competition is not open to employees of, or writers for HeyUGuys, Entertainment Film Distributors, their agents or anyone else associated with this promotion.
•    The competition is open to UK residents.  If the winner is under 18 years of age they must take a parent or guardian as their guest.
•    Normal film certificate restrictions apply.
•    The first prize is 2 tickets (1 pair) to the Royal Film Performance™ on the evening of Monday 28th November 2011 in central London.
•    The event is black tie.
•    Travel and any accommodation is the responsibility of the winner.
•    The first prize winner will be notified by phone on Wednesday 23rd November to check their availability and if they cannot attend or be reached within 24 hours another name will be drawn. We will make all reasonable efforts to notify the winner. If the winner cannot be contacted within this time we reserve the right to draw an alternative winner.
•    The promoter reserves the right to substitute the prize for one of greater or equal value. The decision of the promoter in all matters is final and binding.
•    The judge’s decision is final and no correspondence shall be entered into. Entertainment Film Distributors (EFD) cannot be held responsible if the event is cancelled or details changed due to unforeseen circumstances which are beyond their control. In this event the winner will receive tickets to another EFD premiere happening in 2011/12 which will be specified by EFD.
•    Tickets are non-transferable.
•    All prizes are subject to availability.
•    Details are accurate at time of publication.

www.entertainmentfilms.co.uk

MOTION PICTURE © 2011 GK FILMS, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes has a second cinematic outing in a few weeks time with leads Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law returning to lead us through the titular Game of Shadows.

Yahoo have a nice new featurette which has Ritchie and his leads waxing lyrical about the film and what a lot of fun it was, and last year’s film managed to enjoy itself without seeming too indulgent. While the detecting duo have already shown their hand there are a few new faces in the mix, not least Jared Harris as Moriarty and Noomi Rapace who joins in the hijinks.

Feast your eyes on this synopsis before diving in.

“Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) has always been the smartest man in the room… until now. There is a new criminal mastermind at large—Professor Moriarty (Jared Harris)—and not only is he Holmes’ intellectual equal, but his capacity for evil, coupled with a complete lack of conscience, may actually give him an advantage over the renowned detective. When the Crown Prince of Austria is found dead, the evidence, as construed by Inspector Lestrade (Eddie Marsan), points to suicide. But Sherlock Holmes deduces that the prince has been the victim of murder—a murder that is only one piece of a larger and much more portentous puzzle, designed by Professor Moriarty. The cunning Moriarty is always one step ahead of Holmes as he spins a web of death and destruction—all part of a greater plan that, if he succeeds, will change the course of history.”

The film is out next month and if it does well then we can expect another case from the team, as it’s certain that Warners enticed Ritchie with a boatload of cash to take another turn with Holmes and Watson and it’s not done his career any harm, has it?

We’ve been getting a pretty great look so far at Guy Ritchie’s upcoming sequel to his brilliant first Sherlock Holmes film, entitled Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, and it’s all looking likely that he’ll be repeating the great success he found with the first film.

If you’ve missed it, you can catch up on the full trailer here, which landed last month, and most recently the three TV spots that surfaced just a few days ago.

We’ve now got six brilliant new character posters to share with you, courtesy of ComingSoon.net, which follow in the same footsteps visually as the first two sets of posters we saw back in July and last month.

The film will of course see the return of Robert Downey, Jr. in the titular role, with Jude Law naturally reprising his role as Watson, Rachel McAdams returning for a small reprisal of Irene Adler, and Eddie Marsan returning as Inspector Lestrade, and they’ll be joined by Jared Harris as Professor Moriarty, Stephen Fry as Holmes’ brother Mycroft, and Noomi Rapace as the gypsy woman Sim, whose full name on the posters is revealed as Simza.

“Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) has always been the smartest man in the room… until now. There is a new criminal mastermind at large—Professor Moriarty (Jared Harris)—and not only is he Holmes’ intellectual equal, but his capacity for evil, coupled with a complete lack of conscience, may actually give him an advantage over the renowned detective. When the Crown Prince of Austria is found dead, the evidence, as construed by Inspector Lestrade (Eddie Marsan), points to suicide. But Sherlock Holmes deduces that the prince has been the victim of murder—a murder that is only one piece of a larger and much more portentous puzzle, designed by Professor Moriarty. The cunning Moriarty is always one step ahead of Holmes as he spins a web of death and destruction—all part of a greater plan that, if he succeeds, will change the course of history.”

A Game of Shadows is due to hit cinemas on 16th December, just over a month away, which is a date I can’t wait for. Expect this to be awesome. Until then, here are the great new character posters to enjoy; two each for Moriarty and Simza, and one each for Watson and Holmes. As usual, click to enlarge.

More Holmes to welcome in the week, and there’s the requsite fast paced fists and quick wits on show here in Guy Ritchie’s sequel which has own favourite literary detective duo coming face to face with Professor Moriarty in the titular shadowy game.

Stephen Fry and Noomi Rapace are two of the new faces in the film and there is a surprising amount to live up to as the first film was so well received that this follow up was fast tracked into production and we have only a few short weeks until the film flies into cinemas on the 16th of December.

The Movie Box (via ComingSoon) have a trio of tasty TV spots to tease and tantalise.

Wow. These sequels are getting greenlit, lined up and into pre-production faster and faster. I remember a time (he wistfully notes) when you used to have to wait and see if a film was both good and commercially successful before you started cracking on with sequels. Those times are long gone. With Marvel setting the pace with their fearless timetable for Thor, Iron Man, Spidey and Avengers sequels, WB are getting in on the act, clearly having decided that they are happy enough with what they have seen of Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock sequel to give the go ahead to more.

Certainly the trailer we’ve seen for Sherlock 2 looks impressive enough, with plenty of style, quips, intrigue and bombast and equally certainly, WB must be convinced that they have more on their hands than just 2.5 minutes of good trailer material. Drew Pearce, creator of UK superhero satire series No Heroics and currently scribbling away on Iron Man 3, has been tasked with the script for the threequel, which THR rightly note follows the formula with the greenlighting of SH2 and the appointing of Michele and Kieran Mulroney as writers before part 1 had yet seen the light of day, back in late 2009.

Given how most studios handle their key properties, it seems likely that RDJ and Jude Law will both be tied into three picture deals. RDJ in particular is looking like becoming utterly absorbed with franchises (Iron Man, Avengers and Holmes) though it is hoped that he will be able to find time for other projects as well. As excellent as his work is on those franchises and as much as he is entitled to make his money from those while the opportunity is there, it would be a shame to not see him in less conventional material like Zodiac, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and A Scanner Darkly.

As for Drew Pearce, he is rising and rising and rightly so. Sherlock Holmes will be his first departure from his comfort zone of superheroes and their ilk since his work on the 2006 TV series Lip Service, but one would think that a good writer is a good writer and no doubt Pearce will turn his hand as confidently and capably to Holmes as to anything else.

Source: THR.

Here’s another new poster for Martin Scorsese’s new movie, Hugo. I do like this poster but it has to be said that it looks just like the Robert Zemeckis movies, The Polar Express and A Christmas Carol but it’s quite possible the same designer was responsible for all three.

I’ve just done a bit of research and it would actually that BLT & Associates were responsible for creating both the Christmas Carol and Hugo posters while The Cimarron Group were responsible for The Polar Express poster. I guess it’s the trademark of a company to create similar looking posters but when I look at this new Hugo poster, I really do just see the Christmas Carol marketing campaign. Check out all three posters below and see what you think.

Hugo stars Chloe Moretz​, Jude Law​, Richard Griffiths​, Ben Kingsley​, Christopher Lee​, Sacha Baron Cohen​, Emily Mortimer​, Helen McCrory, Ray Winstone​ and should be with us 2nd December this year.

Synopsis: Adapted from the Caldecott-winning Brian Selznick​ novel “The Invention of Hugo Cabret,” Hugo is the story of a resourceful boy who lives in a train station and teams up with a spirited young girl to solve a mystery that is based in his past and affects both of their futures.

Source: IMPA

Entertainment Films have sent us this new 90 second UK trailer for Martin Scorsese’s new movie, Hugo which is set for release 2nd December 2011. I’ve called it a trailer but it’s more of a featurette with Scorsese giving information on what the story is about throughout it but it’s a really nice way in which they’ve done it. Scroll down to have a watch and I’ll get the HD version up here as soon as I can get it uploaded.

The movie stars Chloe Moretz​, Jude Law​, Richard Griffiths​, Ben Kingsley​, Christopher Lee​, Sacha Baron Cohen​, Emily Mortimer​, Helen McCrory, Ray Winstone​ and should be with us 2nd December this year.

Synopsis: Throughout his extraordinary career, Academy Award-wining director Martin Scorsese has brought his unique vision and dazzling gifts to life in a series of unforgettable films. The legendary storyteller invites you to join him on a thrilling journey to a magical world with his first-ever 3-D film, based on Brian Selznick’s award-winning, imaginative New York Times best-seller, “The Invention of Hugo Cabret.”

HUGO is the astonishing adventure of a wily and resourceful orphan boy whose quest to unlock a secret left to him by his father will transform Hugo and all those around him.

You can catch the rest of our Hugo coverage here.

Contagion hits UK cinemas today and we’re very excited about it. Jon’s review went up earlier today and he rather enjoyed it. Our friends from Upbeat were lucky enough to sit down and chat with the legends that are, Matt Damon & Laurence Fishburne to chat about the movie which also stars Marion Cotillard, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, John Hawkes and is directed by Steven Soderbergh.

In the interview, we get to hear about what we can expect from the movie and also get to see Damon sporting a rather nice new hairstyle which I can only assume is for a new film role.

“Contagion” follows the rapid progress of a lethal airborne virus that kills within days.  As the fast-moving epidemic grows, the worldwide medical community races to find a cure and control the panic that spreads faster than the virus itself.  At the same time, ordinary people struggle to survive in a society coming apart.

Contagion is released in UK cinemas today, 21st October.