Good news fans of all things Game of Thrones as HBO have announced that the popular TV series will return to US screens 1st April. Not work yet on when we’ll get it in the UK but it shouldn’t be much later than the 1st on Sky Atlantic if the previous season is anything to go by.

The news come from Variety who tell us the second season will be 10 episodes long and I am very excited about it returning.

Here’s the info:

HBO has set April 1 as the date for the 10-episode second-season premiere of ”Game of Thrones.”

Fantasy drama was a huge ratings winner for the pay cabler in its debut last year, as well as a massive profit center for the net since HBO produces the series as well. In addition to be a domestic hit, ”Thrones” drew millions of viewers around the world.

Here’s one for the ‘rumour’ or ‘maybe’ categories but sites last night were reporting that James Bond 23 which sees Daniel Craig returning for the third time as 007, could get the title Skyfall. The news comes as Fusible spotted that Sony had registered a list of domain names with Skyfall in the title. You can see the full list on the Fusible website.

In the meantime, we can keep speculating what it might be called but surely we’ll find out at some point in the near future although we still have over a year to wait until it’s release date of October 26th 2012. Sam Mendes helms the project and we can’t wait to start talking about it in much more depth!

Keep checking back for more!

Although its performance at the box office has been solid rather than stellar ($177m so far in the US, $435m so far worldwide), Marvel are happy enough with Thor to have booked in the release date for the sequel.

Obviously Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddlestone are both busy for now filming The Avengers ready for release next year, but just as with Iron Man 3 being planned for 2013, so Thor 2 is being lined up for then as well. It looks as though Marvel hope and plan to dominate the summer marketplace for a good while to come.

July 26th, 2013 is the planned release date and apparently Hemsworth is confirmed as being on board. Iron Man 3 will hit screens in May 2013 and it wouldn’t surprise me at all to see another Captain America or X-Men franchise entry slotting in there somewhere as well.

Kenneth Branagh is not going to be on board as director for the sequel, but there doesn’t seem to be any acrimony at work there, simply that he is moving on to other things. I think that’s a shame, as he brought a really keen eye to some difficult material which could have been really clunky but ended up balancing the mythological, action and comic elements to great effect. There is a update on who will be writing the script for Thor 2 as Don Payne is the man said to be returning from the first film. Previous form includes My Super Ex-Girlfriend and the second Fantastic Four film, but let’s remember that the script for Thor was an improvement and there’s no telling who else Marvel will rope in to help out with the writing.

Needless to say that leaves a vacancy in the director’s chair for someone, so we’ll see how quickly a decision is reached on that. Choose carefully Marvel. There are plenty of very capable directors out there who are just unable to turn their hands to comic book adaptations. Please refer to Green Lantern for this summer’s most glaring example of this.

Given how much I enjoyed Thor, I am more than happy to hear of more of his adventures being in the offing. As always, sequels are only annoying and derivative if they are rubbish. If they are handled well, we can all benefit.

Thank you Deadline. Love you, love your work.

Good news UK, we’re going to get the yet to be named James Bond 23 two weeks before the US. The news has come via a press release sent from Sony.

The date that we can all go and see Daniel Craig in his latest 007 adventure will be October 26th 2012. Chris goes on to tell us that the movie will open two weeks later in the US on November 9th. Sam Mendes directs and we cannot wait to see it!

Daniel Craig has been a busy man over the past year or two with both Cowboys and Aliens and The Girls with the Dragon Tattoo both out this year. Go Craigy!

More as we get it.

MGM and SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT ANNOUNCE UK RELEASE DATE FOR BOND 23

LONDON, June 2, 2011 – MGM and Sony Pictures Entertainment are delighted to announce the UK release date for the eagerly anticipated 23rd James Bond adventure will be Friday, 26TH OCTOBER, 2012 opening at the Odeon Leicester Square and in cinemas across the UK and Ireland.

The film will open in the United States on November 9, 2012.

BOND 23 will see Daniel Craig continue his role as James Bond in the iconic movie franchise, with British director Sam Mendes at the helm of the as-yet untitled 23rd James Bond adventure.  The film will be produced by Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli.

The last two films, Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace, had record-high grosses for the Bond franchise, with Casino Royale taking in $599 million in worldwide ticket sales and Quantum of Solace generating $577 million.

At SXSW this year everyone expected Mel Gibson’s new movie to be pretty poor but it turned out to be one of the best movies I saw at the conference. The Beaver is directed by Jodie Foster who also stars in the movie alongside Gibson, Anton Yelchin and Jennifer Lawrence. It tells the story of a depressed man (Gibson) who finds comfort through a stuffed hand puppet, ‘The Beaver’.

If you missed our review of the film you can check it out here.

Icon have just emailed us to let us know that the movie is set for release on 17th June and I urge you to go and see it as it’s one of the best films you’ll see this year.

The beaver will be released in the UK 17th June.

THE BEAVER

Directed by Jodie Foster

Two-time Academy Award^® winner Jodie Foster directs and co-stars with two-time Academy Award^® winner Mel Gibson in The Beaver – an emotional story about a man on a journey to re-discover his family and re-start his life.

Plagued by his own demons, Walter Black was once a successful toy executive and family man who now suffers from depression.  No matter what he tries, Walter can’t seem to get himself back on track…until a beaver hand puppet enters his life.

Also starring Anton Yelchin, Academy Award^® Nominee Jennifer Lawrence, Cherry Jones

Written by Kyle Killen

Produced by Steve Golin, Keith Redmon, Ann Ruark. Executive Producers Jeff Skoll, Mohammed Mubarak Al Mazrouei, Paul Green, Jonathan King

THE BEAVER will open in cinemas across the UK Friday 17^th June 2011

Certificate & running time TBC

Warner Bros. chairman and CEO, Barry Meyer had a busy day yesterday, releasing his studio’s upcoming schedule of movies over the course of the next 18 months. Heatvision has published a list of all the movies coming out in 2011 and we’re pleased to tell you that Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes 2 is on the list and will be released 16th December 2011.

Also on said list is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II, The Hangover 2 and Green Lantern (3D) which will be released June 17th, 2011.

Our friends over at SlashFilm have done a great job analysing the movies coming out around that time to reveal that Sherlock Holmes 2 will be going head to head with Brad Bird’s Mission Impossible IV and Steven Spielbergs’ new movie, The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn. Already 2011 is shaping up to be a big year in the film calendar and we’re not even half way through 2010 yet!

Here’s the list that Heatvision give us of other movies we can look forward to in 2011. Head over to their site for the full lowdown.

– Red Riding Hood: April 22, 2011
– The Hangover 2: May 26, 2011
– Green Lantern (3D): June 17, 2011
– Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II (3D): July 15, 2011
– Journey to the Center of the Earth 2 (3D): Sept. 23, 2011
– Happy Feet 2 (3D): Nov. 18, 2011
– New Year’s Eve: Dec. 9, 2011

Summit Entertainment have released a date for the final installment of the Twilight: Breaking Dawn. As regular readers of the site will know, we’re not massive fans of the franchise that sees Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner & Kristen Stewart running around as vampires, werewolves and muggles… (oh wait, that’s Harry Potter!) but we know many of you out there are!

The fourth book by Stephanie Meyer to be turned into the movie, Breaking Dawn will be released November 18th, 2011. We still don’t know if this movie is going to be broken in two but we expect it will to drag out the franchise as long as possible.

In the meantime, it’s not too long until Twilight: Eclipse is released so you’ll get your fix soon Twihards.

More info as we get it.

While Inception is proving to be an intriguing prospect for this summer, Nolanphiles should anoint the following date in their diaries as Warner Bros have unveiled the day that Batman 3 will be hitting big screens – July 20th, 2012.

That’s pretty much all we know about the film so far, David Goyer is kicking around the story with the Brothers Nolan, and they can’t be too far from a first draft and as one of the most anticipated movies of the next few years you can bet they’ll be speculation aplenty until details begin to emerge.

Let’s just hope there’s not a Marvelesque casting rumour sideshow for the film’s cast. I’m sure we could all do without that.

So, July 20th, 2012 is the day – it’s also my birthday, so I know what I’ll be doing to celebrate.

Harry Brown is an unassuming name for what may become an iconic character in Michael Caine’s career.

That Caine is able to embody a man of frustration and sadness whose inaction turns to violent action with fluidity and pathos is a testament to the talent of the man and the capability of the film’s director Dabiel Barber.

Make no mistake, Harry Brown is a long and hard look into the dark heart of British society, and no one can stare into it for too long without closing up into self-defeating denial or taking a stand. Complex and unafraid, this is so much more than a British Gran Torino.

Barry reviewed the film on release and you can read his take on Harry Brown here and I’m going to give my verdict here on the DVD experience.

Daniel Barber’s first feature is brutal, and sets out its play with a truly nasty opening scene utilising the device of a video shot on a mobile phone camera and instantly we are thrown into a world which, despite the Daily Mail hysterics, actually exists and one that is not often shown on screen.

I believed in the passion Barber and the assembled cast and crew had for this story, as there is an urgency and willingness to show life on the estates of London as bleak and slow and Barber’s camera begins as voyeuristic as Harry himself, standing by while the gang of kids harass, deal drugs and kill unconcerned while the police do nothing.

We follow Harry’s journey from fear, to nervous action to determined revenge and all the while our morals are kept in check the unrelenting cast of nasties who patrol the run down estate, and when the violence is handed out by Brown there is nothing we as an audience can do except watch its awful cycle play out.

And it is mesmerising, and it is uncomfortable and some people will not want to see this play out, but a stunning turn from Caine and great support from Liam Cunningham, Ben Drew and Emily Mortimer make this a raw and relevant film, with some standout scenes (the drug den is a great example, and include a line every bit as iconic as any in Caine’s career) and an inventive use of camera and location that elevates this one. It is highly recommended.

The DVD and Blu-ray extras are comprised of:

Interviews with cast and crew
Deleted Scenes
Music Video
Feature audio commentary with Sir Michael Caine, director Daniel Barber and producer Kris Thykier

And it is the commentary which provides the most enjoyment, though having the three men laugh and joke their way through such a bleak film is an unusual contrast but Caine especially is a great voice and his anecdotes about this film and others in his long career make for a very entertaining watch.

When it was announced that the excellent Swedish film Let the Right One In was to be receive the  Hollywood remake treatment it was not particularly surprising news.

The original film had been almost universally praised but not widely seen by US audiences. Since the initial announcement further information has been released, Matt Reeves signed on as the writer and director and Chloe Moretz and Kodi Smit-Mcphee as the young pairing at the centre of the story.

Nothing about Matt Reeves’ previous career excites me about his involvement in this project, I found Cloverfield  emotionally hollow, but the two actors appear to be good choices; Kodi Smit-Mcphee recently excelled in The Road and I am quite convinced that the film world is about to go nuts for Moretz following her performance in the upcoming Kick-Ass.

Further news has recently emerged that is also quite promising. Movieline has an interview with Moretz in which she talks about Let Me In and highlights some elements of her character (renamed from Eli to Abby):

What was your spin on the character?
The character of Abby…I mean, usually a lot of movies glamorize being a vampire. It’s pretty, it’s cool, you look awesome! The way we did it was that it’s not cool to be a vampire. It’s a burden that she has to carry with her, not this fun, cool, interesting thing. It’s scary, deep, and dark, this devil inside of her. The vampire is different than Abby. It’s like her alternate personality, and when it takes her over, she has no control.

Also the producer of Let Me In spoke to Cinema Blend today and revealed further details:

Frankly, [you must] not muck about the basic tenets of the story, which is important. More than anything else, stay true to the imagery and mystique and the mythology of the original, and set it in the right time as well, not update it in terms of its timing. Set it in that [early '80s] era.

If you call it a faithful remake, I think that’s true to say that’s what it is. It’s not a re-imagining; the same beats [are there]. Maybe the scares are a little bit more scary. We haven’t been able to ramp that up quite a lot, obviously, for budgetary reasons. We’ve played a little bit with some of the chronology, without giving too much away.

I can’t say I’m exactly excited about this one but as more information comes out about the film my original highly negative reaction is lessening somewhat.

What do you think? Could this remake turn out okay?

Ok. So, the last Transformers film didn’t set the critical world on fire, in fact it was one of the worst received films I can remember for a long time.

This didn’t stop the film making a huge amount of money and doing the Hollywood maths meant that another sequel rocketed into production.

High on the Michael Bay-o-meter of explosions and Hilfiger casting sessions is the expectation that many of the world’s well known landmarks may not survive the third robopocalypse, and Chicago and Moscow are in the sights of Mr Bay, as reported on his blog today.

I’m hoping the Kremlin will itself transform into a huge robot wielding a hammer and sickle and face off against Optimus Prime defending himself with an American Flag in a cold war throwback moment (with Megan Fox running through the Moscow streets of course).

We’ve watched as an amazing cast gravitates to the new film by the Coen Bros. Variety today reported Paramount’s chosen release date for the Brothers’ remake of True Grit and it’s an extra Christmas present for our US friends as the film will open in cinemas in an Oscar-friendly December 25th 2010.

Golden Globe winner for his turn in Crazy Heart Jeff Bridges will reunite with The Coens, taking on the iconic role of Rooster Cogburn, with Matt Damon and Josh Brolin expected to take their place in what promises to be another fine turn in the Coen’s road.

Following the understated, suburban malaise of A Serious Man I can’t wait to see the Coens return to the barren landscapes.

Not the most barnstorming of news articles but it’s an important one for fans of J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek.

June the 29th, 2012 is the day our American cousins will get their chance to continue boldly going on with the crew of the Enterprise and though it sounds like a long time Abrams will be kept busy with his other TV film franchise, Mission Impossible IV.

So, will we see that cameo from a certain Mr. Shatner this time around? Whatever Abrams and his team have planned the success of the first film makes this sequel one to watch.

Following Tracy’s appalling experience with the sublime Let The Right One In further nails in the coffin of the Tomas Alfredson’s haunting adaptation of John Ajvide Lindqvist’s vampire novel appeared today with the announcement of the release date for the Matt Reeves directed remake.

October the 1st is when our American cousins can choose to ignore the wonderful original film and fill the cinemas to catch the retitled remake Let Me In, and while I certainly am not going to damn the movie unseen this news only means one thing to me: If you haven’t seen the original you have just under ten months to seek it out.

In a sea of unnecessary remakes this film will benefit from the buoyancy of a compelling original tale, which could stand any number of remakes, my problem stems from the fact that its critically lauded cousin is so recent that it will more than likely be forgotten when the steamroller of the English language version is released. So the argument for these remakes, made so often, that people may be encouraged to seek out the original holds no water.

Anyway, this film will hold a special place in my heart and I implore you to seek it out before October rolls around.

The synopsis according to Overture is as follows:

An alienated 12-year-old boy befriends a mysterious young newcomer in his small New Mexico town, and discovers an unconventional path to adulthood in “Let Me In,” a haunting and provocative thriller written and directed by filmmaker Matt Reeves (“Cloverfield”).

Twelve-year old Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee) is viciously bullied by his classmates and neglected by his divorcing parents. Achingly lonely, Owen spends his days plotting revenge on his middle school tormentors and his evenings spying on the other inhabitants of his apartment complex. His only friend is his new neighbor Abby (Chloe Moretz), an eerily self-possessed young girl who lives next door with her silent father (Richard Jenkins). A frail, troubled child about Owens’s age, Abby emerges from her heavily curtained apartment only at night and always barefoot, seemingly immune to the bitter winter elements. Recognizing a fellow outcast, Owen opens up to her and before long, the two have formed a unique bond.

When a string of grisly murders puts the town on high alert, Abby’s father disappears, and the terrified girl is left to fend for herself. Still, she repeatedly rebuffs Owen’s efforts to help her and her increasingly bizarre behavior leads the imaginative Owen to suspect she’s hiding an unthinkable secret.

The gifted cast of “Let Me In” takes audiences straight to the troubled heart of adolescent longing and loneliness in an astonishing coming-of-age story based on the best-selling Swedish novel “Lat den Ratte Komma In” (“Let the Right One In”) by John Ajvide Lindqvist, and the highly-acclaimed film of the same name.

Ghostbusters 3

This news comes from the CEO of all things Ghostbusters, Egon himself, and while every interview Harold Ramis gives until Ghostbusters 3 hits our screens will be rife with questions about the long awaited sequel, you can bet that lips will be tightened as the script is finalised, and shooting begins.

HeebMagazine spent a while with Mr Ramis and covered his entire career as a director and star, it is a great read (complimented with some fantastic pictures of the man) and the inevitable Ghostbusters 3 question comes up.

Here’s what he had to say:

Something’s going to happen. Dan [Aykroyd] did write a spec GB3 screenplay a few years ago, but no one was motivated to pursue it. Now, 25 years after the original, there seems to be some willingness to proceed and apparently a substantial public appetite for a sequel. We’ll introduce some new young Ghostbusters, and all the old guys will be in it, too. Think Christopher Lloyd in Back to the Future … GB3 is progressing with plans to shoot next summer and release in 2011

I love the Doc Brown analogy, and whether or not the Bill Murray as a ghost rumours turn out to be true, the fact that the original team are taking this through is good news. All I, and I’m sure all Ghostbusters fans, want is a good film. Ghostbusters 2 wasn’t my favourite film of all time, but it proved that the characters and world created was solid enough to set new stories against.

Twenty five years is a good amount of time to wait, and like Back to the Future, this anniversary should be met with a celebration of the original films and, for Ghostbusters at least, a revisiting of our old friends seems like the perfect present.

Harry Brown is old. He lives in a tiny flat, on a run down estate. He eats jam on toast. He has a wife in the hospital, and he spends his days playing chess with his only friend in his local pub.

Harry Brown is scared. The estate where he lives is run by the out of control kids who live there. They deal drugs, are armed, and are prone to committing random acts of violence. Harry is so intimidated, when his wife takes a turn for the worse, he still takes the long way around the main road, because he doesn’t want to go down into the subway. His friend Len is also frightened, and is sick of it. He’s armed himself with an old bayonet, and is threatening to use it. Harry gets the news the next day. He has now lost everything, and despairs for the world around him.

Harry Brown is angry. The kids are getting away with murder, and the police are seemingly powerless to stop them. A chance encounter on the tow path pushes Harry to the edge. Is this what his life has come to? Harry decides to buy a gun. Is it for self defence? Or revenge? With nothing left to lose, what’s to stop ex-marine Harry from dispensing a bit of justice himself?

The early word on Harry Brown was that ‘it’s a bit like Gran Torino’. Be under no mis-conceptions, this isn’t your Hollywood fairy tale, a story of a man who learns to overcome his prejudice and love thy neighbour. This is drama. Dark, bleak, uncompromising. Filmed on a low budget, partly financed by the lottery comission, and directed by British first time director Daniel Barber, Harry Brown is a gritty exploration of the youth in revolt you might find in any working class estate, in any town in Britain.

Drugs, violence, sexual abuse, this film is at times difficult to watch. Difficult because of the nature of the violence yes, but more so because it’s all so… real.

We’d like to hide our heads in the sand, and pretend this is an extreme view of the world, and isn’t really happening. But it is. It’s happening every day, somewhere in your town. The no mans land of the subway may sound a little cliche, but that’s because it’s true. We all know that underpass, or that alley, or that park that we walk around, for we dare not enter. Daniel Barber has shot Harry Brown very well. An opening shaky-cam sequence foreshadows the chaos to come. The violence is filmed in several different ways, all very effectively. A gang attack seen from a high window, vicious with eerily muted sounds. A happy-slap style mobile phone video. Scenes are darkly lit with stark yellow streetlights, but the violence is clear as day, and menacingly real.

Director Daniel Barber also takes a real poke at the ineptitude of the police force too. Caught up with ideas of crime fighting initiatives with names like Project Lion, their ineffectiveness at grass roots level is hopelessly exposed. Never more so than in the run up to the climax, when the police attempt a handful of arrests, but arriving short-handed trigger a terrifying riot in the estate.

Michael Caine doesn’t need to work anymore. He’s worked in the business for six decades, performed in every genre, won awards, semi-retired, then done it all again. This means that when you see his name in the cast list, you expect something special. And it is a great performance from Caine. Known for being a vibrant and humorous character, it makes his convincing portrayal of a timid old man in failing health all the more remarkable.

However, as a movie, Harry Brown is deeply flawed. There is a real pacing issue, particularly in the middle part. Harry’s descent has to be a slow burn to be believable, but as he is present in every scene, it slows the movie down to a crawl. One scene in particular, as Harry sits in a squat trying to buy a gun, starts off tense, but as the sequence drags on, and you wait for the switch to flip, you’re left waiting too long, and the tension ebbs away.

The other major problem is that whilst Harry is a well rounded character, his youthful nemeses are unforgivably two dimensional. There are a couple of scenes explaining away their motivations as being a product of the abuse sustained from their paternal figures, but we see very little of their interactions with each other, no development of their personal relationships. One line in the film gives it away. Harry tells DI Frampton that at least in Northern Ireland he was fighting for something, and that these kids are just doing it for entertainment. That’s the view being expressed here, that the antagonists are just animals.

Ironically, these two major issues could have been rectified at the same time. If the story of these kids had been explored more deeply, those scenes could have been intercut with Harry’s journey, providing a more balanced account and solving the pacing problems.

Caine won’t have been paid much, and it’s obvious he took this role on because of his belief in the message the film maker is trying to put across. Before the screening, Sir Michael explained that it was a film about violence, but not a violent film. He went on to say that it was not meant to glamorize violence.

Harry Brown nearly lives up to this, until the final scene. I don’t want to give too much away, just to say that when someone is shown to have made their own life better by violence that they have perpetrated, for me that is a true glamorization of violence. Barber has tried to make both a film with an important message, and an entertaining movie. Unfortunately, he has not succeeded on either count. He has shown enough here however to suggest he can become a very good director. The problems with this film are down to inexperience and a bad script, both of which can be overcome. Harry Brown is worth watching, if only to remind you how lucky you are.

Harry Brown opens in cinemas in the UK this Wednesday 11th November. No word on a US release yet. Hey, we got Harry Brown, you got Boondock Saints 2.

Bazmann - You can now follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/baz_mann

"Ok, I want that whole town...blown to hell."

It has begun. Dark omens have foreseen its coming, and now the man in love with military sunsets has told the world when his latest assault on the senses and IQs will happen.

Transformers 3: The As Yet Untitled Sequel will land squat on our faces on the 1st of July, 2011.

That’s just 21 months to guard against its effects by watching some really good films.

The update on the MichaelBayBlog is brief, giving the release date (not 2012 as some had thought – those praying for the destruction of the world might have had a few more supporters). He mentions that he’s currently flying with the new writer on the team Ehren Kruger to meet with Mattel to discuss new characters.

We weren‘t huge fans of TF2, but we’ll be keeping eyes open for this one.