I’m looking forward to John Carter more and more with every passing day. After getting a brilliant new TV spot for the film during the Super Bowl at the weekend, followed by a great set of new images yesterday, we’ve now got another epic new TV spot to share with you, along with a new international poster.

This new minute-long TV spot, courtesy of ComingSoon.net, adds to all of the awesome things we’ve seen from Disney’s upcoming blockbuster already, showing a terrific array of special effects, with all kinds of great alien creatures, explosions, and more.

“Synopsis: From Academy Award(R)-winning filmmaker Andrew Stanton comes “John Carter”–a sweeping action-adventure set on the mysterious and exotic planet of Barsoom (Mars). “John Carter” is based on a classic novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs , whose highly imaginative adventures served as inspiration for many filmmakers, both past and present. The film tells the story of war-weary, former military captain John Carter (Taylor Kitsch), who is inexplicably transported to Mars where he becomes reluctantly embroiled in a conflict of epic proportions amongst the inhabitants of the planet, including Tars Tarkas (Willem Dafoe) and the captivating Princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins). In a world on the brink of collapse, Carter rediscovers his humanity when he realizes that the survival of Barsoom and its people rests in his hands.”

Led by Taylor Kitsch in the titular lead role, the film also stars Lynn Collins as the warrior Princess lead female, Mark Strong, Bryan Cranston, Dominic West, Samantha Morton, Willem Dafoe, Ciarán Hinds, and James Purefoy. Andrew Stanton, best known for his Oscar-winning direction of Finding Nemo and WALL-E, will be making his debut with live-action, and it looks like an immense debut at that.

John Carter will be with us in 3D on 9^th March, so literally just over one month before we get to see this epic film unfold before us on the big screen. I can’t wait. Until then, here’s the brand new TV spot and Israeli poster, via IMP Awards, to feast your eyes on. And the music in the new spot is suitably more than a little bit epic, so plenty for your ears to enjoy too.

We got another awesome look yesterday at John Carter, the upcoming Disney live-action film, with a brand new TV Spot hitting during the Super Bowl, giving us one more reason to look forward to its release next month.

We can now add to that, along with all the other excellent things we’ve seen so far, a new batch of seven images from the film, taking a closer look at Lynn Collins playing the warrior Princess, Taylor Kitsch as the eponymous John Carter, some awesome alien creatures, and a stunning look at the futuristic cities and life on Mars.

“Synopsis: From Academy Award(R)-winning filmmaker Andrew Stanton comes “John Carter”–a sweeping action-adventure set on the mysterious and exotic planet of Barsoom (Mars). “John Carter” is based on a classic novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs , whose highly imaginative adventures served as inspiration for many filmmakers, both past and present. The film tells the story of war-weary, former military captain John Carter (Taylor Kitsch), who is inexplicably transported to Mars where he becomes reluctantly embroiled in a conflict of epic proportions amongst the inhabitants of the planet, including Tars Tarkas (Willem Dafoe) and the captivating Princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins). In a world on the brink of collapse, Carter rediscovers his humanity when he realizes that the survival of Barsoom and its people rests in his hands.”

Along with Kitsch in the lead and Collins as the lead female, the film also stars Mark Strong, Bryan Cranston, Dominic West, Samantha Morton, Willem Dafoe, Ciarán Hinds, and James Purefoy.

Director Andrew Stanton’s credits already has two Oscars to his name, with his credits including Finding Nemo and WALL-E, so there’s every reason to expect great things from John Carter as he ventures into his live-action debut.

Previously titled John Carter of Mars, John Carter will be with us in 3D here in the UK on 9th March, which means we’re only just over a month away from getting to see it on the big screen, and no doubt having our jaws dropped from what look to be very impressive effects. And here are the great new images to prove it. As usual, you can click to enlarge.

Source: CineHeroes via Collider.

I don’t really get American Football but I do understand that the Superbowl is kind of a big deal, not least for movie fans who get to see all the summer blockbusters teased and pointed in their general direction.

Here’s Disney Next Big Thing – John Carter, of Mars don’t you know? This is a pretty nifty spot for the film which sees the mighty Andrew Stanton doing the whole ‘live action’ thing. And he’s great so it’s bound to be pretty good right?

The cast is certainly large and has Taylor Kitsch​ leading Lynn Collins​, Samantha Morton​ , Mark Strong​, Ciaran Hinds​, Dominic West, James Purefoy​, Daryl Sabara​, Polly Walker, Bryan Cranston​, Thomas Hayden Church​, Willem Dafoe​. Blimey.

Here’s a synopsis,

From Academy Award(R)-winning filmmaker Andrew Stanton comes “John Carter”–a sweeping action-adventure set on the mysterious and exotic planet of Barsoom (Mars). “John Carter” is based on a classic novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs​ , whose highly imaginative adventures served as inspiration for many filmmakers, both past and present. The film tells the story of war-weary, former military captain John Carter (Taylor Kitsch), who is inexplicably transported to Mars where he becomes reluctantly embroiled in a conflict of epic proportions amongst the inhabitants of the planet, including Tars Tarkas​ (Willem Dafoe) and the captivating Princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins). In a world on the brink of collapse, Carter rediscovers his humanity when he realizes that the survival of Barsoom and its people rests in his hands.

and here’s the video,

With rumours of another film from the series in the air and a well-deserved Oscar nod for Gary Oldman now is a good time to revisit Tomas Alfredson’s adaptation of John LeCarre’s Tinker Tailor Solider Spy.

The story is no stranger to the small screen with the Alec Guinness fronted BBC series being, until now, the definitive version. Alfredson’s film is a meticulously crafted and intriguing thriller, taut in execution and bold in its refusal to sex up its dossier.

This is a superficially complex story of deceit and betrayal, told with confidence and benefitting from an exceptional cast and in revisiting the film there is a real sense of the depth of emotion in this collection of lonely men who are fighting what seems like an endless war against an oncoming network of internal and external enemies. If you want a more in-depth look at the film you can check out my review from last year.

Oldman’s Smiley is a masterclass of the understated leading man and watching the film for the second time you become aware of the delicacy of his movements and the deep well of emotions which briefly break the surface (two clear examples are the Christmas party and the arrogance of a high ranking MP) and it is a powerful performance which rewards further viewings.

A key indicator of the well told nature of le Carre’s story is the enjoyment to be had even though you know from the beginning who the mole is. Partially this is because everyone, even Smiley, knows in their hearts who the man at the centre of the betrayal but also because the mystery is so well revealed that you hang on every slight development.

Maria Djurkovic’s evocative production design, itself something of an awards magnet, is a treat on the Blu-ray, with its plethora of detail every bit as important in immersing us in this world as Jacqueline Durran’s costume work or Hoyte Van Hoytema’s cinematography. The world is so dutifully created, with great skill, that it fades into the background as the story takes hold though without the explicit attention to period detail the film wouldn’t work nearly as well.

It’s rare that a cast is as uniformly this good, particularly with such a sizeable ensemble, with Benedict Cumberbatch and Tom Hardy impressing in particular, and each subsequent viewing is a rewarding experience. In taking us back in time once again Alfredson’s maturation as a director is evident in his ability to inspire his actors to surrender any sense of ego to the story. Despite the complex nature of the plot there’s a wealth of character here and it is their revelation, as much as that of the spy within, that is the film’s triumph.

****~ (4/5)

Extras:

It’s a well stocked affair with the usual back-slapping interviews giving a genuine sense of affection for the film and the people involved. There are a number of small featurettes focusing on a character or the institutions but the real meat is to be found in the sections devoted to le Carre and the interviews with the main cast. Each redoubles the enjoyment of the film and what comes across is partly where the film is at its best – that there is a great deal of unseen and necessary depth to the film.

***~~ (3/5)

To mark the release of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy on DVD and Blu-ray this Monday, 30th January, Studio Canal have given us five copies to give away on Blu-ray Double-Play.

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy finds George Smiley (Gary Oldman), a recently retired MI6 agent, doing his best to adjust to a life outside the secret service. However, when a disgraced agent reappears with information concerning a mole at the heart of the service, Smiley is drawn back into the murky field of espionage. Tasked with investigating which of his trusted former colleagues has chosen to betray him and their country, Smiley narrows his search to four suspects – all experienced, skilled and successful agents – but past histories, rivalries and friendships make it far from easy to pinpoint the man who is eating away at the heart of the British establishment.

An acting masterclass from the crème de la crème of British film (Colin Firth (The King’s Speech), Tom Hardy (Inception), Mark Strong (Kick Ass), Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock) and inspired direction from Let the Right One In’s Tomas Alfredson make this gripping and tense adaptation of John le Carré’s classic spy novel essential viewing.

DVD Extras: Commentary with Gary Oldman & director Tomas Alfredson / John Le Carré interview / deleted scenes

Blu-Ray extras: Commentary with Gary Oldman & director Tomas Alfredson / John Le Carré interview / deleted scenes / Smiley featurette / ‘Inside The Circus’ featurette / Shadow World featurette / Interview with Gary Oldman / Interview with Colin Firth / Interview with Tom Hardy / Interview with Director Tomas Alfredson & screenwriter Peter Straughan / UK premiere featurette / Sky Movies featurette / Photo gallery / Trailers

To be in with a chance of winning the prize, simply head to the next page to answer the question using the form.

A new UK trailer has been released for Jean-Jacques Annaud’s latest film Black Gold which lands on UK shores on the 24th of February.

Tahar Rahim, star of A Prophet, leads the cast which includes Mark Strong, Frieda Pinto, Antonio Banderas and Riz Ahmed, it received its world premiere at the Doha Tribeca Film Festival last October where we reviewed it.

Here’s a synopsis for you,

Under the unforgiving desert sky, two warring leaders come face to face. The bodies of their warriors litter the battlefield. The victorious Nesib, Emir of Hobeika (ANTONIO BANDERAS), lays down his peace terms to his rival Amar, Sultan of Salmaah (MARK STRONG). The two men agree that neither may lay claim to the area of no man’s land between them called The Yellow Belt. In return and according to the tribal customs of the time, Nesib will “adopt”- or take hostage- Amar’s two boys Saleeh (AKIN GAZI) and Auda (TAHAR RAHIM); a guarantee that neither man can invade the other. Years later, Saleeh and Auda have grown into young men. Saleeh, the warrior, itches to escape his gilded cage and return to his father’s land. Auda cares only for books and the pursuit of knowledge. One day, their adopted father Nesib is visited by an American oil man from Texas (COREY JOHNSON). He tells the Emir that his land is blessed with oil and promises him riches beyond his imagination.

Here’s a nice new Spanish poster for Disney new movie, John Carter. Now I said in the title that it is very ‘Disney’ and that is no surprise since after-all, it is a Disney movie! But that said, the posters they’ve used up to now have been more like Clash of the Titans or even Tron Legacy with the look logos and close up shots of the characters from the movie, this one is more about the journey!

John Carter is based on the books by Edgar Rice Burrows. Andrew Stanton​ who previously directed Finding Nemo​ and WALL·E and this time ventures into live action.

The movie stars Taylor Kitsch​ , Lynn Collins​, Samantha Morton​ , Mark Strong​, Ciaran Hinds​, Dominic West, James Purefoy​, Daryl Sabara​, Polly Walker, Bryan Cranston​, Thomas Hayden Church​, Willem Dafoe​.

Synopsis: From Academy Award(R)-winning filmmaker Andrew Stanton comes “John Carter”–a sweeping action-adventure set on the mysterious and exotic planet of Barsoom (Mars). “John Carter” is based on a classic novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs​ , whose highly imaginative adventures served as inspiration for many filmmakers, both past and present. The film tells the story of war-weary, former military captain John Carter (Taylor Kitsch), who is inexplicably transported to Mars where he becomes reluctantly embroiled in a conflict of epic proportions amongst the inhabitants of the planet, including Tars Tarkas​ (Willem Dafoe) and the captivating Princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins). In a world on the brink of collapse, Carter rediscovers his humanity when he realizes that the survival of Barsoom and its people rests in his hands.

All our John Cater coverage can be seen here.

Source: AndromedaHigh via Coming Soon

Having won two Oscars for her last film, The Hurt Locker, as well as a slew of other nominations and wins, we first heard back in May of what Bigelow had settled on for her next project: an as-yet-untitled film surrounding the hunt for Osama bin Laden, which ultimately led in real life to his death earlier this year.

Joel Edgerton has been circling the project for some time, as he was considering taking on the lead for the 300 prequel, 300: Battle of Artemisia. Having now passed on that, Variety are reporting that Edgerton has officially boarded Bigelow’s project, joining his upcoming The Great Gatsby co-star, Jason Clarke. Deadline are also reporting that Jessica Chastain, Mark Strong, and Édgar Ramirez are also in talks to star, which sounds like a very promising line-up.

The project has been in development since 2008, so is not necessarily the kind of ‘jumping-on-the-current-affairs-political-bandwagon’ that we’ve sometimes seen in the past. The project is also under scrutiny, however,

“amid allegations that the Obama administration has given preferential treatment to some Oscar-winning filmmakers.

The chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security announced Thursday that the Dept. of Defense and the CIA were investigating whether classified information about the killing of bin Laden was released to Bigelow and Boal. Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) released a letter from the Office of the Inspector General at Defense saying they are conducting an investigation. Also released was a letter from the office of the CIA’s inspector general saying that it is developing “a written policy to create a single point of reference that will govern future interactions with the entertainment industry.””

Sony first announced that it was intending to release the film in October, which would see it come just weeks before the American elections in November, leading to some controversy, and the release date has since been pushed back to 19^th December in the States.

Production is expected to begin next month, so hopefully we’ll be hearing more casting updates on the project soon, including that of a female reporter embedded within the Navy SEAL 6 team.

The script comes from the Oscar-winning Mark Boal, who wrote and produced The Hurt Locker with Bigelow, which took quite a few people by surprise when it took the Best Director, Best Picture, and Best Original Screenplay Oscars two years ago in competition with James Cameron’s Avatar.

Edgerton has been a rising star in the past few years, showing off his brilliance last year opposite Tom Hardy in Warrior, which is one of the many contenders in the current awards season. He’ll also be starring in The Great Gatsby at the end of the year for Baz Luhrmann, which is set to be released on 25^th December in the States, meaning he’ll be starring in at least two Oscar hopefuls by this time next year. It should be another great year for the actor.

In the past month, we’ve seen some terrific things from Disney’s upcoming John Carter. At the very end of last month, we saw the film’s first full-length trailer, and it gave us such an impressive new look at the film.

Since then, we’ve seen a great set of posters, two brilliant TV spots, a new image of Lynn Collins as the Princess, and most recently a fantastic new Japanese trailer for the film. We’ve now got an excellent set of concept artwork made up of a dozen images, courtesy of FilmoFilia.

The film is led by Taylor Kitsch in the lead as John Carter himself, with a great supporting cast headed up by Lynn Collins, Mark Strong, Bryan Cranston, Dominic West, Samantha Morton, Willem Dafoe, Ciarán Hinds, and James Purefoy,

“Synopsis: From Academy Award(R)-winning filmmaker Andrew Stanton comes “John Carter”–a sweeping action-adventure set on the mysterious and exotic planet of Barsoom (Mars). “John Carter” is based on a classic novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs , whose highly imaginative adventures served as inspiration for many filmmakers, both past and present. The film tells the story of war-weary, former military captain John Carter (Taylor Kitsch), who is inexplicably transported to Mars where he becomes reluctantly embroiled in a conflict of epic proportions amongst the inhabitants of the planet, including Tars Tarkas (Willem Dafoe) and the captivating Princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins). In a world on the brink of collapse, Carter rediscovers his humanity when he realizes that the survival of Barsoom and its people rests in his hands.”

Director Stanton already has two Oscars under his belt, with his directing credits including Finding Nemo and WALL-E, and he’ll be making his live-action debut with John Carter. Everything we’ve seen so far suggests he’s done a terrific job, making a seamless transition, naturally bringing his knowledge of CGI into play for what look to be incredible special effects. John Carter will be released in 3D here on 9th March next year, which is definitely a date to mark down in your calendars. Until then, here are the great concept art images to enjoy. As usual, click to enlarge.

The first full-length trailer for John Carter, previously titled John Carter of Mars, was released at the end of last month, and if this wasn’t already a film you were looking forward to next year, it should be now. I’ve said it before, and will no doubt say it again, but it looks to be everything we hoped Green Lantern would be this year.

The film gives Taylor Kitsch his first chance to lead a blockbuster film of this size, and I can’t wait to see him do it. Disney took a chance on Garrett Hedlund this time last year in TRON: Legacy, and I was so glad they did, because he did such a good job despite not yet being a household name. And I think Kitsch is going to do the same with this.

“Synopsis: From Academy Award(R)-winning filmmaker Andrew Stanton comes “John Carter”–a sweeping action-adventure set on the mysterious and exotic planet of Barsoom (Mars). “John Carter” is based on a classic novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs , whose highly imaginative adventures served as inspiration for many filmmakers, both past and present. The film tells the story of war-weary, former military captain John Carter (Taylor Kitsch), who is inexplicably transported to Mars where he becomes reluctantly embroiled in a conflict of epic proportions amongst the inhabitants of the planet, including Tars Tarkas (Willem Dafoe) and the captivating Princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins). In a world on the brink of collapse, Carter rediscovers his humanity when he realizes that the survival of Barsoom and its people rests in his hands.”

We’ve now got a brilliant new Japanese trailer for the film to share with you, via Addictomovie and ComingSoon.net, and it shows us some awesome new footage from the film. When we first got the teaser trailer in the summer, we got a little bit of back story and plenty of action. Then when the full-length trailer hit last month, we got plenty of story from after Carter arrives on Mars to go alongside plenty of action.

This time around, this new trailer introduces more back story, more of the story on Mars, and plenty more action to boot too. It’s good to see that this clearly isn’t a plotless film that’s just got legs to stand on because of its effects. The effects, of course, look mind-blowingly impressive. But it’s nice to see that they’re also backing that up with some solid story as well.

Along with Kitsch, John Carter stars Lynn Collins, Mark Strong, Bryan Cranston, Dominic West, Samantha Morton, Willem Dafoe, Ciarán Hinds, and James Purefoy, and will be released in 3D here on 9^th March next year, which is definitely a date to mark down in your calendars. This is going to be awesome, and here’s the great new trailer to prove it.

John Carter – International Trailer #1 [VOJP|HD] by cinemakervideo

Taylor Kitsch’s name is one that I think we’re going to become really familiar with in the next few years. Along with Garrett Hedlund, who led Disney’s TRON: Legacy and is set to co-lead the upcoming Akira remake, Kitsch is one of the most promising rising stars and is already making a name for himself in the fantasy/action genre.

We got the awesome first full-length trailer for Kitsch’s next film, John Carter, at the end of last month, and it gave us a lot to look forward to when it hits next year. We’ve now got a great new image of Kitsch’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine co-star, Lynn Collins, to share with you, scanned from Movie Magazine’s preview of the film, via ComicBookMovie.com.

“From Academy Award(R)-winning filmmaker Andrew Stanton comes “John Carter”–a sweeping action-adventure set on the mysterious and exotic planet of Barsoom (Mars). “John Carter” is based on a classic novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs , whose highly imaginative adventures served as inspiration for many filmmakers, both past and present. The film tells the story of war-weary, former military captain John Carter (Taylor Kitsch), who is inexplicably transported to Mars where he becomes reluctantly embroiled in a conflict of epic proportions amongst the inhabitants of the planet, including Tars Tarkas (Willem Dafoe) and the captivating Princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins). In a world on the brink of collapse, Carter rediscovers his humanity when he realizes that the survival of Barsoom and its people rests in his hands.”

Like Kitsch, Collins was brilliant in Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine spin-off in the X-Men franchise, and I’m really looking forward to seeing them reunited on the screen for this. (Granted, they didn’t share any screen time in Wolverine, to the best of my recollection, but still.) Along with Kitsch and Collins, the film will star Willem Dafoe, Mark Strong, Bryan Cranston, Dominic West, James Purefoy, Thomas Haden Church, and Ciarán Hinds.

John Carter is set to be with us in 3D on 9^th March next year, which means we’ve got less than three months before we see this all unfold on the big screen. I have a feeling it’s going to be pretty epic. Without further ado, here’s the great new image of Collins dressed up for the Princess part, followed by the full-length trailer beneath it, just in case you missed it last month. Enjoy, and as usual with the image, click to enlarge.

In case you missed it, the first trailer for Disney’s upcoming John Carter, previously titled John Carter of Mars, hit the net a couple of weeks back, and it was ridiculously good. In short, it looks like it’s going to be everything we wished this year’s Green Lantern could have been.

We’ve now got two great new thirty-second TV spots to share with you, courtesy of Yahoo Movies, and the film really does continue to look awesome. Writer-director Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo, Wall-E) will be making his live-action feature debut with John Carter, with a plot line that looks a little like this:

“Synopsis: From Academy Award(R)-winning filmmaker Andrew Stanton comes “John Carter”–a sweeping action-adventure set on the mysterious and exotic planet of Barsoom (Mars). “John Carter” is based on a classic novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs , whose highly imaginative adventures served as inspiration for many filmmakers, both past and present. The film tells the story of war-weary, former military captain John Carter (Taylor Kitsch), who is inexplicably transported to Mars where he becomes reluctantly embroiled in a conflict of epic proportions amongst the inhabitants of the planet, including Tars Tarkas (Willem Dafoe) and the captivating Princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins). In a world on the brink of collapse, Carter rediscovers his humanity when he realizes that the survival of Barsoom and its people rests in his hands.”

The film stars Taylor Kitsch as the eponymous John Carter, with a great supporting cast that includes Mark Strong, Lynn Collins, Bryan Cranston, Dominic West, Willem Dafoe, Ciarán Hinds, and James Purefoy.

It’ll be our first time seeing Kitsch leading a film as big as this, and after seeing his talents as Gambit in X-Men Origins: Wolverine a couple of years back, I’m really looking forward to watching him lead a film of his own. John Carter will be released here in 3D on 9th March next year. Mark your calendars, and catch up on all our coverage of the film so far here.

Following an amazing theatrical trailer for John Carter, Apple have released these three fantastic new high resolution banners for the movie which is released 9th March 20112. What do you think? I like a lot! Tell me in the comments below and scroll down to click to enlarge them.

John Carter is based on the books by Edgar Rice Burrows. Andrew Stanton who previously directed Finding Nemo and WALL·E and this time ventures into live action.

The movie stars Taylor Kitsch , Lynn Collins, Samantha Morton , Mark Strong, Ciaran Hinds, Dominic West, James Purefoy, Daryl Sabara, Polly Walker, Bryan Cranston, Thomas Hayden Church, Willem Dafoe.

Synopsis: From Academy Award(R)-winning filmmaker Andrew Stanton comes “John Carter”–a sweeping action-adventure set on the mysterious and exotic planet of Barsoom (Mars). “John Carter” is based on a classic novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs , whose highly imaginative adventures served as inspiration for many filmmakers, both past and present. The film tells the story of war-weary, former military captain John Carter (Taylor Kitsch), who is inexplicably transported to Mars where he becomes reluctantly embroiled in a conflict of epic proportions amongst the inhabitants of the planet, including Tars Tarkas (Willem Dafoe) and the captivating Princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins). In a world on the brink of collapse, Carter rediscovers his humanity when he realizes that the survival of Barsoom and its people rests in his hands.

Click the banners below to enlarge in all their high resolution glory!

Yesterday we had a nice new poster (see left!) for Andrew Stanton’s new movie, John Carter which had my hopes up that there would be a new trailer and today I got my wish! We’ve seen quite a bit from the movie in preview screenings and tonight you get a nice new look at some never before seen footage. This is the second trailer for the movie with the teaser here.

John Carter is based on the books by Edgar Rice Burrows. Andrew Stanton who previously directed Finding Nemo and WALL·E and this time ventures into live action.

The movie stars Taylor Kitsch , Lynn Collins, Samantha Morton , Mark Strong, Ciaran Hinds, Dominic West, James Purefoy, Daryl Sabara, Polly Walker, Bryan Cranston, Thomas Hayden Church, Willem Dafoe.

Synopsis: From Academy Award(R)-winning filmmaker Andrew Stanton comes “John Carter”–a sweeping action-adventure set on the mysterious and exotic planet of Barsoom (Mars). “John Carter” is based on a classic novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs , whose highly imaginative adventures served as inspiration for many filmmakers, both past and present. The film tells the story of war-weary, former military captain John Carter (Taylor Kitsch), who is inexplicably transported to Mars where he becomes reluctantly embroiled in a conflict of epic proportions amongst the inhabitants of the planet, including Tars Tarkas (Willem Dafoe) and the captivating Princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins). In a world on the brink of collapse, Carter rediscovers his humanity when he realizes that the survival of Barsoom and its people rests in his hands.

John Carter will be released 9th March 2012.

The ever beneficient people at Apple have delivered a new poster for Disney’s long awaited adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ John Cater (of Mars but don’t tell anyone).

Further details of Andrew Stanton’s film have been unveiled recently, most notably some excellent new artwork, and slowly but surely Disney have started to let us in on the whole John Carter thing.

We’ve seen a few trailers and Dave went along to Disney to see twenty minutes of the finished film introduced by Stanton himself who, like fellow Pixarian Brad Bird, has a lot of expectation for his forthcoming live action feature.

Here’s the new poster for the film which, while being a striking design, seems to suit a cover design for the inevitable movie-tie in novel.  Nice new tag-line though.

Here’s the poster,

Pixar are responsible for most of the top-drawer animation coming into the market place these days. How To Train Your Dragon and Kung Fu Panda have shown that Dreamworks are gradually upping their game and of course Studio Ghibli remains a formidable force.

What is now becoming increasingly evident is that the directors of Pixar’s animation films are as adept with live action as they are with CG work. With the promotional material for Brad Bird (The Iron Giant, The Incredibles, Ratatouille)’s live action debut Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol looking promising indeed, Andrew Stanton (A Bug’s Life, Finding Nemo, Wall•E) is hard at work on John Carter and what we are starting to see at the very least gives evidence of imaginative and creative set and alien design and should make us cautiously optimistic of the quality and immersive detail of the final film.

SFX have a wonderful gallery of landscapes, flying craft and alien critters and we’ve got them all for you below. Taking into account the weird white gorilla thing we showed you last week, this is shaping up very nicely indeed.

Source: SFX Magazine.

Last month the third annual Doha Tribeca Film Festival took over the Katara Cultural Village in Qatar, showcasing the best in Arab and international cinema.

The festival opened with the world premiere of Jean-Jacques Annaud’s epic Black Gold, an adaptation of Hans Ruesch’s classic novel ‘The Great Thirst’ and its stars were out in force to champion this film which opens here in the UK on the 24th of February next year.

Our good friends over at Cinémoi have produced this video compilation of premiere interviews and festival highlights including Mark Strong and Jean-Jacques Annuad discussing Black Gold, Antonio Banderas waxing lyrical about the Shrek spin-off Puss in Boots and Michelle Yeoh and Luc Besson (sporting a magnificently unsubtle t-shirt) talking about The Lady.

You can find out more about the festival and see the award winners here at the festival’s homepage.

You can expect there to be a fairly massive push for this film in the early months of 2012 with hopes pinned high on Disney’s live action adaptation of John Carter (of Mars, but don’t tell anyone).

Entertainment Weekly have a new image of Mr. Carter facing one of the more terrifying alien foes in the film and they asked director Andrew Stanton to explain them,

[T]hey’re sort of an oversized gorilla in the books, and they’re kind of ubiquitous. They’re littered everywhere through at least the first several novels. They were always cool, just from a visceral standpoint, [but] they don’t really have a narrative function in the first book. So what we did is we made the White Apes a formidable creature that you kind of hear about throughout the movie…

We needed a scene where Carter was going have to get out of his execution sentence in order to move the story forward, and we thought what better than having to go up against this formidable creature?

Read more at EW and the link above.

Our man Taylor Kitsch​ is John Carter and he is joined by the multifarious talents of  Lynn Collins​, Samantha Morton​, our (other) man Mark Strong​, Ciaran Hinds​, Dominic West, James Purefoy​, Daryl Sabara​, Polly Walker, Bryan Cranston​, Thomas Hayden Church​, and Willem Dafoe​ so there’s plenty to look forward to as long as the script is enough to keep the scope of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ world.

If you’re in the dark about this whole John Carter of Wha… shenanigans here’s a modest, yet very helpful, synopsis. Go!

The film tells the story of war-weary, former military captain John Carter (Taylor Kitsch), who is inexplicably transported to Mars where he becomes reluctantly embroiled in a conflict of epic proportions amongst the inhabitants of the planet, including Tars Tarkas​ (Willem Dafoe​) and the captivating Princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins). In a world on the brink of collapse, Carter rediscovers his humanity when he realizes that the survival of Barsoom and its people rests in his hands.

Image follows. Click if the mood takes you.

We got the first trailer for Jean-Jacques Annaud’s upcoming film, Black Gold, last month and it gave us a pretty brilliant look at what we can expect from it. In short, great things.

The film opened the Doha Tribeca Film Festival last month, and in conjunction with Cinémoi, you can read our review of the film here. With a strong cast that boasts the likes of Antonio Banderas, Mark Strong, Freida Pinto, and Tahar Rahim, we should be in store for something pretty excellent.

We’ve now got the film’s first poster to share with you, courtesy of FilmoFilia, which gives us a look at the main cast, as well as some of the dramatic and visually powerful imagery in the film.

“An adaptation of Hans Reusch’s novel The Great Thirst, Jean-Jacques Annaud’s epic adventure film is set in the 1930s Arab states at the dawn of the oil boom, the story centers on a young Arab prince torn between allegiance to his conservative father and modern, liberal father-in-law.”

The setting of the film is one that I’ve not seen on the big screen before, and it’s one that I’m definitely interested in seeing next year. The film hits the UK on 24th February next year, so we’ve got three months to wait, to the day. Without further ado, here’s the great first poster for the film. As usual, click to enlarge.

HeyUGuys is very proud to be partnering with Cinémoi for our coverage of the Doha Tribeca Film Festival.

Jean-Jacques Annaud’s Black Gold had its world premiere at the festival and Julien Planté brings us his review.

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Rather prophetically, Black Gold opens with the line “Tears are a waste of water”; a great quote for a film that opens a festival in a country concerned about its resources. Only in this film, set in Qatar, the most important and fought over resource is oil.

The 3rd edition of Doha Tribeca Film Festival (DTFF 2011) opened with the world premiere of the ‘Arabian’ film Black Gold amid much fanfare on Tuesday. And what a perfect choice it was to open the festival. Directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud (The Name of the Rose, The Lover, Enemy at the Gates), Black Gold is an epic film set in the desert during the 1920s. Concerned with the rivalry between Arab clans in the Middle East caused by oil exploitation, or should we say the deliberate non-exploitation of oil as a refusal to the ‘devilry’ of modernity, the film is predominantly about the age-old conflict between tradition and progress.

Themes about power and control permeate through Black Gold, with many of the characters willing to die for a land that was just thought to be a worthless desert. As the hero, Tahar Rahim (A Prophet) plays a prince torn between two fathers; his biological father played by Mark Strong (as incredible as it seems, he is a great Arab actor) and Amar, the man who raised him as one of his. Antonio Banderas is the star of the film playing the devilish Sultan Amar in a way that could remind you of the villain Jafar in Disney’s Aladdin. And of course, in the middle of this violent world there is a beautiful desert flower; a princess played by Freida Pinto.

One can’t help referring to the David Lean’s desert-classic Lawrence of Arabia because the film has a grandeur feel to it thanks to expansive landscapes, rollicking musical accompaniment, conflicting human values and large-scale action scenes. But really the film resonates with a more modern vision of the Arab world, rather than any particular British angle or reference to colonialism. The issue here, or rather the core of the fight, is the ‘gold’ that is oil and the battle between Arab and Arab (the only ‘western’ presence in the film is an American from a Texan oil company who is only a passive witness).

It’s a story that will have an impact for the audience today and could potentially change the perception of the Arab world in some western minds. Black Gold is even more contemporary since the emergence of the ‘Arab Spring’, which started during the shooting of this film. In fact, one key scene was actually shot in Tunisia the very day where Ben Ali flew from his country and as producer Tarak Ben Ammar puts it, “the magic of cinema started on the set, even before its symbolic premiere at the DTFF”.

****~ (4/5)