Oscar-nominated writer-director Oren Moverman returns behind the camera for Rampart, a fantastic second film that sees him to return to work with Woody Harrelson and Ben Foster from his debut, The Messengers.

This time around, Harrelson is front and centre in the corrupt L.A. crime drama, and it’s a role that has been deservedly described as the performance of his career. I saw the film at the London Film Festival late last year (you can read my review of the film here), and it was by far one of the best corrupt cop dramas I’ve seen in years.

“Los Angeles, 1999. Officer Dave Brown is a Vietnam vet and a Rampart Precinct cop, dedicated to doing “the people’s dirty work” and asserting his own code of justice, often blurring the lines between right and wrong to maintain his action-hero state of mind. When he gets caught on tape beating a suspect, he finds himself in a personal and emotional downward spiral as the consequences of his past sins and his refusal to change his ways in light of a department-wide corruption scandal seal his fate. Brown internalizes his fear, anguish and paranoia as his world, complete with two ex-wives who are sisters, two daughters, an aging mentor dispensing bad advice, investigators galore, and a series of seemingly random women, starts making less and less sense. In the end, what is left is a human being stripped of all his pretense, machismo, chauvinism, arrogance, sexism, homophobia, racism, aggression, misanthropy; but is it enough to redeem him as a man?”

To whet our appetites for the film, Millennium Entertainment have now made the first five minutes available to watch online through Yahoo Movies, and if you weren’t interested in seeing this movie already, I highly recommend you watch the clip below to get excited for its release at the end of the month.

James Ellroy, heralded as one of the best crime novelists in America, co-wrote the script with Moverman, and along with Harrelson and Foster, the cast includes terrific performances from Ice Cube, Robin Wright, Brie Larson, Ned Beatty, Anne Heche, Sigourney Weaver, Cynthia Nixon, and another collaboration with Steve Buscemi, who took a role in Moverman’s first film too.

Rampart will be released here in the UK on 24^th February, which will see it opening against Katherine Heigl’s One for the Money and Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds’ Safe House. If you’re heading to the cinema that weekend, I’d definitely recommend choosing Rampart as your film of choice. Harrelson deserves every bit of the recognition he’s been getting for his role, and Moverman shows that the Oscar-nominated The Messengers was clearly no fluke. I’m already excited to see what the writer-director brings us next. For now, here’s the great opening of Rampart, which will be with us in full in less than two weeks. Enjoy.

Nathan (Taylor Lautner) is a relatively regular kid, about to finish high school, a bit of a thrill-seeker and seeing a therapist due to ill-defined anger management issues from his early teens. He is paired up with his friend and neighbour Karen (Lily Collins) for a school project, through which they find themselves scanning through a website detailing children who have disappeared. Nathan notices an uncanny resemblance between himself and one of those children, which serves as a catalyst for the murder of the people he believed to be his parents, sending him on the run with the CIA and a Serbian secret agent on his tail, while he tries to figure out who he really is and what has become of his real parents.

*****

To get the obvious out of the way first thing, Taylor Lautner is no great shakes as an actor. His relative youth was a serviceable excuse for Sharkboy & Lava Girl, but by the time we now get four films into the Twilight saga, it is starting to show glaringly. He can scowl, smile and (we now discover) kick and punch with the best of them, but his line delivery and conveying of emotional weight remain lacking.

Having said that, his limitations do not really present much of a problem in relation to the overall impact of this film, the latest in a long line of illustrations that director John Singleton really has gone a long, long way downhill since Boyz N The Hood, his searing 1991 debut. Singleton at least has the good sense to pack the film out with impressive actors (Alfred Molina, Sigourney Weaver, Jason Isaacs, Maria Bello, Michael Nyqvist), who take care of the heavy-lifting, while Lautner frowns, runs, punches and looks good on a motorcycle. The script is pure bunkum (Nathan’s real father stole a list of secret agents from the aforementioned Serbian who wants it back), but remains believably conveyed without too much ham-fisted exposition and it cannot be questioned that Lautner is more than a match for the physical requirements of the film, holding his own in fight scenes with bigger, older and more accomplished men on the basis of an apparently impressive background in martial arts. Although Lautner does not have much range, the role does not require too much of him and he acquits himself well with limited material.

Aside from Lautner, everyone does their part. Weaver, Molina et al could do this stuff in their sleep, but to their credit they do not phone their performances in and give good value for the most part. As by the numbers as the film is, there is no sense of anyone having ideas above their station in terms of their aspirations for the film and no-one does the film the disservice of sleep-walking through their scenes. All concerned seem to appreciate that the film is what it is, a serviceable action thriller, built on and playing to the appeal of Lautner and not trying to be anything more than that. The running time is fine, knocking around the 100min mark and although the plot takes a little longer to kick into gear than it should, once Nathan and Karen are on the run the pacing is excellent, alternating between action sequences and moments of rest and plot development, which whilst far from emotionally affecting, do at least keep you interested to the end.

There are a number of good set pieces, some involving Lautner, others bringing in Bello and Isaacs for some welcome ass-kicking and they help to keep our attention when the admittedly unsurprising narrative begins to become formulaic. This is nothing that will convert those uninterested in Lautner’s tight abs, nor will it deter those who adore him and it seems likely that with the right choices Lautner can carve out a decent career for himself. You can catch it here from 13th February.

**½~~ (2.5/5)

Extras: Lautner comes across as surprisingly and pleasantly enthusiastic, realistic, grounded and focussed in the raft of extras which inevitably focus on him. He waxes eloquent about working with the rest of the impressive cast and seems to understand how fortunate he is to find himself where he is, career-wise. Everyone has genuinely nice things to say about his physical ability and commitment to the performance, whether in the brief making of doc, or the featurette that looks at fighting training. We also get a slightly longer featurette that takes us through the shooting schedule and Lautner’s recollections of and reflections on each phase. It is quite interesting to see the shooting sequence and how much time is given to each element of the film and to see Lautner’s self-effacing nature come through. Finally, there is a run of the mill gag reel.

**½~~ (2.5/5)

To mark the release of Abduction starring Taylor Lautner on DVD and Blu-ray 13th February, Lions Gate Home Entertainment have given three copies of the movie to give away on Blu-ray. Abduction is directed by John Singleton and also stars Lily Collins, Alfred Molina, Jason Isaacs, Maria Bello, Michael Nyqvist and Sigourney Weaver.

TAYLOR LAUTNER (The Twilight Saga) stars as a young man whose secret past is set to collide with a dangerous reality. ABDUCTION, also stars SIGOURNEY WEAVER (Avatar) and LILY COLLINS (Priest, Mirror Mirror) and will be available to download, and to rent and buy on DVD and Blu-ray from 13^th February 2012.

For as long as he can remember, Nathan Harper (Lautner) has had the uneasy feeling that he’s living someone else’s life. When he discovers an image of himself as a young boy on a missing persons website, all of Nathan’s darkest fears come true – his life has been a carefully fabricated lie which hides something more dangerous than he could have ever imagined. Before his ‘parents’ can explain they are murdered and Nathan finds himself on the run.

Propelled on a lethal, no-holds barred mission to learn the truth, every second counts as Nathan and his friend Karen (Collins), aided by an undercover agent (Weaver), race to evade an army of assassins and federal operatives. But as his opponents close in, Nathan realizes that the only way to survive is to stop running and take matters into his own hands.

Click next to be taken to the competition question and entry form:

Best known for his last film, Buried, which trapped Ryan Reynolds’ character in a box for essentially the entirety of the ninety-minute film, Rodrigo Cortés next film, Red Lights, debuted at Sundance to a good reception and was picked up for US distribution by Millennium Entertainment.

Following the acquisition, the first international trailer for the film was released, which looked impressive even without being able to understand the dubbing. We’ve now got the first English-language trailer to share with you, via Dutch FilmWorks and Collider, which is pretty much identical to that first trailer, with the obvious exception in that it’s in the original English.

The cast is pretty impressive, headed up by Robert De Niro, Cillian Murphy, Sigourney Weaver, and the rising Sundance-favourite Elizabeth Olsen, with a plot that looks a little like this:

“A psychological thriller which explores the human brain’s perception mechanisms and the diffuse frontiers between belief and science, RED LIGHTS starts out from the experiences of two rationalist scientists who dissect phenomena from the metapsychic world, and the clash of forces with a world famous psychic they bring about. The past and the present of each the protagonists contain still unrevealed shadows, setting in train a dark story of growing tension, full of unexpected twists and turns.”

No word yet on a release date, but it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to suppose that Millennium might want to put this out around Halloween. Paranormal Activity is due out on 19^th October, so whether Millennium will want to avoid the competition by releasing it before or after, or even go up against it, remains to be seen. We can no doubt look forward to seeing more from the film in the coming months, and this first trailer is a promising start to the campaign following its acquisition. You can catch up on everything else we’ve already seen for the film here, after enjoying this first English-language trailer.

Elizabeth Olsen’s critically acclaimed Martha Marcy May Marlene will be arriving in UK cinemas this Friday, 3^rd February, and you can read our interview with writer-director Sean Durkin and Olsen’s co-star John Hawkes right here. Be sure to check back in tomorrow when we put up our review for what is set to be a powerful film, and a remarkable feature debut for Olsen here in the UK.

Elizabeth Olsen’s critically-acclaimed Martha Marcy May Marlene will be arriving in UK cinemas this Friday, 3

Written and directed by Rodrigo Cortés, the man who impressively trapped Ryan Reynolds in a box in Buried for the entirety of the ninety-minute film, we got our first look at Robert De Niro in the film back in April last year, followed by an intriguing and mysterious teaser trailer and poster in September.

Following the film’s debut at Sundance, and ahead of its release in Spain in March, we’ve now got a great new Spanish trailer and poster to share with you, courtesy of Antena 3, via The Playlist, and IMP Awards, respectively.

De Niro is supported by an impressive cast that includes Sigourney Weaver, Cillian Murphy, and the ever-rising Elizabeth Olsen, and the plot looks a little like this:

“[T]he film tells the story of a psychologist (Weaver) and her assistant (Murphy) whose study of paranormal activity leads them to investigate a world-renowned psychic (De Niro). The psychologist attempts to debunk the psychic’s work after he steps back into the limelight after 30 years.”

Variety report that Millenium Entertainment have picked up the film after watching it at Sundance, with the CEO, Bill Lee, having this to say in relation to the acquisition:

“We are thrilled with ‘Red Lights’ and excited to distribute the film,” said Lee. “This definitely has theatrical potential and we plan to give it a standard theatrical platform release, with ancillaries coming 90-100 days later. We came to Sundance with the intention of buying ‘Red Lights’ if it was good, and we thought Rodrigo did a fabulous job with the film. UTA was teriffic to deal with, and we’re both thrilled and proud to distribute the film.”

Encouraging words, to be sure. I was a big fan of Cortés’ English language debut with Buried, and am looking forward to seeing what he brings us next. And interestingly, the film has a running length just shy of two hours, which I’m hoping is an indication that it’s got a solid plot developed throughout, and isn’t just a substance-less play on the paranormal genre.

No word yet on a release date here or in the States, but as The Playlist suggest, sometime around Halloween weekend this year would probably make sense. So be sure to look out for more from the film in the coming months. With a bit of luck, we’ll have a trailer to bring you in English soon. For now, if (like me) you don’t understand Spanish, there are plenty of visuals in the film that are easily accessible, as you’d expect from a supernatural thriller. Enjoy. And as usual with the poster, you can click to enlarge.

Más vídeos en Antena3

Here’s the first UK poster for Woody Harrelson’s new movie, Rampart which is due here 24th February. Studio Canal have sent over the poster for the movie which boasts an awesome cast which includes Woody Harrelson, Ned Beatty, Ben Foster, Anne Heche, Ice Cube, Cynthia Nixon, Sigourney Weaver, Robin Wright, Steve Buscemi with Oren Moverman at the helm as director. I’ll let the synopsis do the talking but if you missed the trailer that came out back in November, have a watch here.

From a screenplay by James Ellroy (“L.A. Confidential”) and director Oren Moverman (Oscar-nominated “The Messenger”), comes Rampart. Veteran police officer Dave Brown (Woody Harrelson), dedicated to doing “the people’s dirty work” and asserting his own code of justice, is the last of the renegade cops in the LAPD. When he gets caught on tape beating a suspect, he finds himself in a personal and emotional downward spiral as he struggles to take care of his family, and fight for his own survival. With an all star cast including Robin Wright, Sigourney Weaver, Ben Foster and Steve Buscemi, this high octane cop thriller has been labelled “a film to file alongside the great LA noir masterpieces of the 1970s – dazzling, stunning and unique”.

Click the poster and watch it GROW!

For Rampart, writer-director Oren Moverman has reteamed with Woody Harrelson and Ben Foster, the stars of his Oscar-nominated debut, The Messenger, and he’s made what I think is the best cop crime drama since L.A. Confidential. I got to see the film at its UK premiere at the BFI London Film Festival back in October, and I absolutely loved it; it deserved every one of the 5 stars I gave it in my review (which you can read here).

Since then, we’ve seen the release of the film’s terrific first poster, along with an immense first trailer that really whets the appetite – and makes me want to see it again so much – and ComingSoon.net have now got a great new extended clip to share with us from the film.

Co-written by James Ellroy, often heralded as one of the greatest crime novelists in America, Rampart is led by Harrelson in what is being described as the best performance of his career, supported by a cast that includes Foster, Ice Cube, Robin Wright, Ned Beatty, Brie Larson, Anne Heche, Sigourney Weaver, Steve Buscemi, and Cynthia Nixon.

“Los Angeles, 1999. Officer Dave Brown (two-time Academy Award nominee Woody Harrelson) is a Vietnam vet and a Rampart Precinct cop, dedicated to doing “the people’s dirty work” and asserting his own code of justice, often blurring the lines between right and wrong to maintain his action-hero state of mind. When he gets caught on tape beating a suspect, he finds himself in a personal and emotional downward spiral as the consequences of his past sins and his refusal to change his ways in light of a department-wide corruption scandal seal his fate. Brown internalizes his fear, anguish and paranoia as his world, complete with two ex-wives who are sisters, two daughters, an aging mentor dispensing bad advice, investigators galore, and a series of seemingly random women, starts making less and less sense. In the end, what is left is a human being stripped of all his pretense, machismo, chauvinism, arrogance, sexism, homophobia, racism, aggression, misanthropy; but is it enough to redeem him as a man?”

In this new clip, we get to see Harrelson at the head of his dysfunctional family, involved with two sisters, each of whom has mothered one of his two daughters, and we see him here as a terrible father, a terrible partner, a terrible human. It’s an incredible performance from him, and I am truly hoping that it will be recognised when the nominations are announced for the Academy Awards in January, and again when the winners are announced at the end of February.

Rampart has had its Oscar-qualifying run in the US and will be opening wide there on 27^th January, and will be coming to the UK very shortly after on 10^th February. I can’t tell you how excited I am to see it again.

John Carpenter may well be the master of horror filmmaking, but that’s not to say that someone else can’t tackle his esteemed previous work. In fact, Dutch filmmaker Matthijs van Heijningen Jr’s 2011 version of The Thing could be argued as a brave career choice, considering the 1982 film’s cult following. Not to be confused as a remake of the first, but a prequel – both based on John W. Campbell Jr.’s 1938 novella Who Goes There?, whichever way you look at it, van Heijningen Jr’s new film is certain to spark similar debate over its genetics ideas.

Just to confuse matters, this prequel is set in 1982, and sees American paleontologist Kate Lloyd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) recruited by scientists Dr. Sander Halvorson (Ulrich Thomsen) and assistant Adam Finch (Eric Christian Olsen) to join a Norwegian scientific team that has stumbled across a crashed extraterrestrial spaceship buried beneath the ice of Antarctica. Its passenger, an alien creature frozen in a block of ice, is taken back to their base, Thule Station, where Dr. Halvorson decides to drill into the ice to take a tissue sample, despite Kate’s protests. In turn, this frees the thing from the ice and triggers a frightening chain of events. The mystery parasite suddenly mimics everything it touches, spurning paranoia among Thule’s inhabitants as to who is infected in the struggle to survive.

The 2011 film certainly feels like a remake, down to the room that contains the frozen alien life form and the endless corridors and exits of Thule Station that could signal danger at any moment. However the suicide at the outpost and the fleeing Alaskan Malamute at the end and suggest otherwise, supposedly matching up events to the start of Carpenter’s film. The unforgiving Antarctic setting still brings the required chills and sense of complete isolation, which Carpenter’s film did so well to enhance the characters’ paranoia.

However, what is missing is the terrifying and unnerving feeling of anybody at the outpost being infected by the virus or a clone of themselves, after van Heijningen Jr makes Kate the ‘trusted’ protagonist in his film who is supposedly ‘clean’. In doing so, the paranoia felt this time around is naturally lessened, making it an altogether different film. Hence, it’s more like Kate’s personal witch-hunt to find the next victim/culprit and contain the thing, rather than the complete fear of the unknown and subsequent chaos of Carpenter’s film. As much as Winstead is compelling as the smart and courageous young paleontologist, it could be argued why does a Norwegian scientific team need an inexperienced American graduate to do the job, which is when new plot holes form.

The bemusing original concept of a virus that mimics a person is given some screen-time thought for fans – but it’s still not clear enough. In the first film we know the thing absorbs and imitates cells, but it still doesn’t answer just how a person becomes infected in the first place – short of the obvious one-on-one contact where the thing penetrates its victim. Is it airborne too: There seems to be a lack of consistency, considering who gets sick and who doesn’t. In van Heijningen Jr’s defence, he does flag the issue of how the inorganic material can’t be replicated, but how does this explain the clones being fully dressed or fully functional as the people they imitate? Is it a lazy way out to say, “Well, that’s the mystery of sci-fi”?

This film favours a mixture of CGI and old-fashioned effects to recreate the thing that don’t always marry in parts and seem a little effects-heavy in others. However, the design of the tentacled biomass with its ‘vaginal denata’, morphing into all kinds of body shapes is still fascinating to witness, if less scary than the original after exposure to many Alien-styled films. There are also obvious, strong references to the latter, even down to shots of Winstead peering around a corner – strikingly similar to Sigourney Weaver as Ripley.

Indeed, we get a look at the vast expanse of the buried alien spacecraft in this film that mirrors many other sci-fi films in design, and short of being the place where a brief battle takes, and to possibly trigger post-viewing debate about how the frozen alien suffered the same fate as the humans, detracts from Carpenter’s authentic claustrophobia and paranoia, plus adds very little to the mystery of the virus. It merely feels like a muse for van Heijningen Jr and writing team to pay homage to their sci-fi legends, rather than adding anything new to this prequel’s narrative to enhance our prior knowledge.

That said, and without necessarily having seen Carpenter’s 1982 version, van Heijningen Jr’s The Thing still works as a perfectly watchable contemporary sci-fi thriller on the surface by creating enough entertaining scares, and with its strong-willed protagonist at the helm trying to stop the bloody body count – even if it loses out on cult-classic status. Considering the success of other recent Scandanaivan horror films like TrollHunter (Trolljegeren), Rare Exports and Let The Right One In (Låt den rätte komma in), van Heijningen Jr could have angled for that distinct European, non-Hollywood edge by making a totally Norwegian-language film that ties in with the narrative of the sequel, and gives an even greater sense of entrapment by language barrier, as well as by the actual menace. If nothing else, such films suggest audiences are more than willing to invest in subtitled films to gain a real feeling of disorienting terror.

***~~ (3/5)

Oscar-nominated writer-director Oren Moverman’s return to the director’s chair for his second film, Rampart, is absolutely brilliant. I was lucky enough to catch the film at the London Film Festival back in October and thought it was utterly flawless.

The film sees Moverman collaborating once more with the stars of his first film, The Messenger, Woody Harrelson and Ben Foster, having co-written the script with none other than James Ellroy, heralded as one of America’s finest crime novelists, writer of the original L.A. Confidential book upon which the 1997 film is based.

Apple have now put out an immense first trailer for Rampart, and it gives a brilliant glimpse at Harrelson’s tour de force performance throughout.

“Los Angeles, 1999. Officer Dave Brown (two-time Academy Award(R) nominee Woody Harrelson) is a Vietnam vet and a Rampart Precinct cop, dedicated to doing “the people’s dirty work” and asserting his own code of justice, often blurring the lines between right and wrong to maintain his action-hero state of mind. When he gets caught on tape beating a suspect, he finds himself in a personal and emotional downward spiral as the consequences of his past sins and his refusal to change his ways in light of a department-wide corruption scandal seal his fate. Brown internalizes his fear, anguish and paranoia as his world, complete with two ex-wives who are sisters, two daughters, an aging mentor dispensing bad advice, investigators galore, and a series of seemingly random women, starts making less and less sense. In the end, what is left is a human being stripped of all his pretense, machismo, chauvinism, arrogance, sexism, homophobia, racism, aggression, misanthropy; but is it enough to redeem him as a man?”

Along with Harrelson and Foster, the film also stars Ice Cube, Sigourney Weaver, Steve Buscemi, Robin Wright, Anne Heche, Brie Larson, Ned Beatty, and Cynthia Nixon.

Having seen the film already (you can read our 5-star review of it here), I know just how good it is, and I can’t recommend it to you enough. The film’s been screened at a number of festivals already, and the response has been very similar to ours, with such respect for Harrelson’s performance especially, deservedly described as the best in his career.

Rampart will be getting an Oscar-qualifying run in the States before the end of the year, and after that it will then go on wide release at the end of January there. Unfortunately, the UK’s yet to have its release date scheduled, but I remain hopeful that it won’t be much longer after the US get to see it. I think the film stands a real chance of taking a number of nominations at the Oscars early next year, and with any luck, the UK will get to see it before the awards ceremony in February. I can’t wait to see it again; it really is absolutely brilliant. Without further ado, here’s the terrific first trailer. And you can head on over to Apple if you’d like to see it in stunning HD.

The brilliant first clips for Oren Moverman’s return to the director’s chair in Rampart surfaced back in September, giving us a great look at the upcoming film in which Moverman collaborates once more with Woody Harrelson and Ben Foster, following their Oscar-nominated work on 2009’s The Messenger.

We’ve now got a great first poster for the film to share with you, courtesy of IMP Awards, with the focus directly thrust upon Woody Harrelson, just as it is in the film.

“The last of the renegade cops, LAPD officer Dave Brown (Harrelson) is caught on tape “doing the people’s dirty work” and finds himself at the center of a vicious scandal. The days of being above the law are over. Now a poster boy for police corruption, Dave learns he’s been targeted by cop killers looking for revenge. Nothing is what it seems as Dave descends into the L.A. underworld and exacts his own brand of justice.”

I got to see Rampart at the London Film Festival last month, and it was utterly awesome. (You can read my five-star review of the film here.) Moverman shows his adept capabilities as a director, moving on to tackle something new in his follow-up to The Messenger, in an incredibly impressive second feature film behind the camera.

Harrelson has a terrific supporting cast behind him, including the likes of Ben Foster, Ned Beatty, Ice Cube, Anne Heche, Sigourney Weaver, Robin Wright, Cynthia Nixon, and Steve Buscemi, and they all enhance what is very much the focus on Harrelson’s Dave Brown in the film. His performance is remarkable, the best I’ve ever seen him give, and it thoroughly deserves the push that Millennium Entertainment are giving the film in the run-up to the Oscars. Moverman and co-writer James Ellroy (author of L.A. Confidential and heralded as one of America’s finest crime writers) came up with a brilliant script, and Moverman did an immense job with the cast and crew of bringing it alive.

Rampart is yet to secure a UK release date, but I’m really hoping that it will be out early next year, because I can’t wait to see it again. You can see from the poster that Harrelson’s dental work has been altered, which is visually ever evident throughout the film, strengthening the impression we get of him as a man who’s had his fair share of brawls. And the shot bathes him in sunlight, directly contrasting the corruption he is immersed in, wearing those iconic shades that don’t even give you a glimpse of his eyes.

When it does come out, I cannot recommend enough how much you should go see it. Without further ado, here’s the great first poster of the film to enjoy. As usual, click to enlarge.

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

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

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

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

For the rest of our Abduction coverage, click here.

Monday night in a very wet London held the European premiere of Abduction. It was absolutely pouring with rain but that didn’t stop the Twilight fans flocking their in their droves to get a glimpse of Taylor Lautner and his co-star in the movie, Lily Collins (daughter of singer Phil Collins) on the red carpet at the BFI.

Our friends from Upbeat were there to brave the rain and got interviews with both the young actors who told them what it was like filming the movie. We got to chat with Taylor at the junket on the same day and our interview will hopefully be going live tomorrow or Friday.

Abduction is directed by John Singleton​​ and stars Taylor Lautner, Lily Collins​, Alfred Molina​​, Jason Isaacs​​, Maria Bello​​, Michael Nyqvist​​ and Sigourney Weaver​​. If you’ve missed the trailers for it, you can catch up here.

What would you do if you found your own picture on a missing persons website?  Teen Nathan Harper (Taylor Lautner) finds himself facing this very dilemma. Setting out to uncover his real identity, Nathan quickly learns his parents are far from who they say they are. When the police, government agents and shadowy figures start to pursue him, Nathan’s quest for the truth erupts into a full-blown “Bourne”-like man-on-the-run thriller.

We got the first image and on set video for Red Lights, Rodrigo Cortés’ anticipated follow-up to the Ryan Reynolds-starrer, Buried, back in April, and whilst they didn’t give us much to go on, they did give us a look at Robert De Niro looking pretty damn cool in a black suit and shades.

Then a couple of weeks ago we got the film’s first teaser trailer and poster, and again, they didn’t do much to give us a better insight, but that doesn’t mean they haven’t sparked our interest.

Bloody Digusting now have a new international poster for the film, which is fairly similar to the poster we got a couple of weeks ago, but with some pretty great changes. First off, it inverts the background from white to black, and I must say, I think it looks pretty sweet against a black background. The fifth symbol, the red circle, has also been illuminated, and it looks more than a little bit awesome now, especially against the black. And finally, within that fifth symbol, the words on the first poster read, ‘Is Anybody There?’, but now they read (in Spanish, as roughly translated by Google Translate), ‘The Truth Is The Most Dangerous Of Illusions’.

In my opinion, this new international poster is better than ours by quite a bit. Subtle changes, sure, but important ones. Red Lights stars De Niro, Sigourney Weaver, Cillian Murphy, and the rising young star Elizabeth Olsen, and is both written and directed by the talented Cortés. Still no word on a release date here yet, but I remain hopeful that we’ll get to see it sometime next year. Without further ado, here’s the great new poster. As usual, click to enlarge.

Back in May, we got the terrific first look at Woody Harrelson in his next upcoming film, Rampart, along with the official full synopsis, and right from the get-go it looked and sounded brilliant.

Earlier this month, we then got the first three clips from the film, just after it had its world premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, where it was very much well received.

Now comes the fantastic news that Millennium Entertainment have acquired the US rights to the film for $2m., Deadline report, and they have their eye on taking a shot at the Oscars early next year. They are currently planning on releasing the film in twenty cities across America, and since the Academy’s rules for eligibility state that the film must have at least a week-long run, specifically in Los Angeles County, within the calendar year (Rule 2.2 c., d., and f.), we can be pretty sure that at the very least, LA will be lucky enough to see Rampart before the end of the year.

“The last of the renegade cops, LAPD officer Dave Brown (Harrelson) is caught on tape “doing the people’s dirty work” and finds himself at the center of a vicious scandal. The days of being above the law are over. Now a poster boy for police corruption, Dave learns he’s been targeted by cop killers looking for revenge. Nothing is what it seems as Dave descends into the L.A. underworld and exacts his own brand of justice.”

Millennium are planning on campaigning for Harrelson on the Best Actor front for the Academy Awards, and for writer-director Oren Moverman for both Best Picture and Best Screenplay. Since famed American crime author James Ellroy (L.A. Confidential) co-wrote the script with Moverman, this would be the writer’s first nomination if he and Moverman do get a nod for Best Screenplay.

Neither Harrelson nor Moverman are rookies when it comes to the awards. Both received tremendous praise for their work together on 2009’s The Messenger, which earned Harrelson a Best Supporting Actor nomination and Moverman a Best Screenplay nomination with his co-writer, Allesandro Camon.

Having not yet seen Rampart, I of course can’t say for sure how Oscar-worthy the film is. But everything about it suggests it deserves a shot at the awards. With an Oscar-nominated writer-director with a twice-nominated leading man, and a terrific support cast that includes Ben Foster, Steve Buscemi, Sigourney Weaver, Anne Heche, Brie Larson, Ice Cube, and Robin Wright, there’s really no way that this film won’t be incredible. There’s no word yet on when the release date will be, either here or in the States, but Deadline do note that the majority of the film’s international rights have been sold already, so let’s all keep our fingers tightly crossed that the UK is included, and that Rampart will get a release here before the end of the year too. I cannot wait.

Everyone’s favourite alien-bashing action heroine Sigourney Weaver has spoken out about two forthcoming blockbuster sequels she’s attached to. Depending on how cynical you’re feeling, the news that she’ll be returning to the verdant CGI jungles of Pandora for the two Avatar sequels should come as no surprise, despite the fact that her character Dr. Grace Augustine (I’d say spoiler alert here, but seriously, who hasn’t seen Avatar?!) died in the first film.

“Don’t worry, I will be back. Jim [Cameron] says no one ever dies in science fiction. He’s told me the stories for the next two movies and I have to say that they’re absolutely wonderful and there’s a real treat in store. Now we just have to make them.”

The sequels will reportedly be shot back-to-back beginning next year, with the first targeting a December 2014 release and the next film following a year later.

Somewhat less encouraging is what Weaver had to say about the highly anticipated Ghostbusters 3, in which it is hoped she will reprise her roll as Dana Barrett.

“I have yet to read the script. I’ve had a couple of calls and I know they’re rewriting and all I said was that I hope my son, Oscar, has grown up to be a Ghostbuster and Ivan Reitman said yes. Beyond that, I have no idea. I hope it comes together, but we already did two wonderful films and, if we have to let this one go, that’s fine.”

The main stumbling block for Ghostbusters 3 appears to be whether Bill Murray will be involved in the project. The actor has previously said that he does have a copy of the script but has yet to read it, while Dan Aykroyd recently announced that it’s looking likely the film will go before cameras in spring 2012 with or without Murray.

(via Coming Soon)

In a couple of weeks, I think I’m going to get interview time with Taylor Lautner for his new movie, Abduction which comes out in the UK 28th September. Until then however, we’ll have to make do with the US premiere to get our weekend Lautner fix. Earlier this week, all the stars of the movie were at the US premiere in Hollywood and Lionsgate have created this interview featurette.

Abduction is directed by John Singleton​​ and stars Taylor Lautner, Lily Collins​, Alfred Molina​​, Jason Isaacs​​, Maria Bello​​, Michael Nyqvist​​ and Sigourney Weaver​​. If you’ve missed the trailers for it, you can catch up here.

What would you do if you found your own picture on a missing persons website?  Teen Nathan Harper (Taylor Lautner) finds himself facing this very dilemma. Setting out to uncover his real identity, Nathan quickly learns his parents are far from who they say they are. When the police, government agents and shadowy figures start to pursue him, Nathan’s quest for the truth erupts into a full-blown “Bourne”-like man-on-the-run thriller.

Writer-director Rodrigo Cortés put himself on the map last year with Buried, trapping Ryan Reynolds in a box for ninety minutes and managing to keep it utterly engrossing from start to finish, and making almost $20m. at the box office from less than a $2m. budget.

His new film, Red Lights, has a sense of mystery and intrigue surrounding it that has been heightened by its first teaser trailer and poster, courtesy of Latino Review.

“’Red Lights’ stars Sigourney Weaver as a psychologist investigating paranormal activity and the possibility that a famous psychic (Robert De Niro) is in fact a fraud.”

That basic premise doesn’t give us much to go on, and neither the poster nor the teaser trailer do much to help in that respect, but they do both add to the intriguing nature of the project, which goes to show that you really can do a lot with a little, something Cortés has proven himself more than capable of with Buried.

Buried was a brilliant film, and I’m really looking forward to seeing the director’s follow-up, only his second English language film. Red Lights also stars Cillian Murphy (Inception) and the rising star Elizabeth Olsen (the upcoming Martha Marcy May Marlene), and will hopefully be coming out sometime next year. Without further ado, here’s the teaser trailer, followed by the poster.

It seems to be the way things are going now but to be honest, I can’t really blame the studios for re-releasing classic movies back into cinemas. After seeing Back to the Future earlier in the year, and it becoming one of my all-time best cinematic experiences, I am well up for them putting movies that I’ve loved for so long back into the cinemas – especially ones that I missed as I was too young to see them the first time round!

I’ve mentioned BTTF above, next up we have Jurassic Park then only yesterday found out that Top Gun was coming back to the cinema and now we hear via a press release from Park Circus Films that Ghostbusters is set to get a remastered re-release in October over the Halloween period. Ghostbusters was released in 1984 and again my parents weren’t up for taking their four year old son along to see such a great movie but in 2011, I will get my chance!

Ghostbusters stars Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis, Annie Potts, Rick Moranis and is directed by Ivan Reitman.

The press release is below and I’ve also placed the original trailer for your viewing pleasure!

In an all-new Digital Cinema Presentation, 80′s cult classic GHOSTBUSTERS is back to save the world this Halloween.

Directed by Ivan Reitman and starring Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Sigourney Weaver, the film is about a trio of university parapsychologists in New York, who lose their research grant and decide to open their own business, ‘Ghostbusters’. They are soon summoned to investigate strange happenings in a Central Park West flat and discover that all of Manhattan is being besieged by other worldly demons. But will they manage to capture all the ghosts and save the Big Apple in time?

As well as boasting an impressive cast list, this much-loved sci-fi comedy is remembered for its selection of imaginative ghost effects – in particular ‘Slimer’ and the ‘Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man’.

On its original release in 1984, the film was a hit with both audiences and critics. It won a BAFTA Award (Best Original Song) for Ray Parker Jr.’s theme tune and was also nominated for two Academy Awards (Best Effects – Visual Effects, Best Music – Original Song).

GHOSTBUSTERS will be back in cinemas worldwide this October.

This is a film that I truly cannot wait for.

Directed and co-written by Oren Moverman (The Messenger), and co-written by the celebrated US crime novelist James Ellroy (L.A. Confidential), the film has just had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Moverman first started making a name for himself back in 2007 as co-writer on I’m Not There., the Bob Dylan biopic starring the likes of Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Richard Gere, and Heath Ledger. He then earned himself an Oscar nomination with his 2009 directorial debut, The Messenger, starring Woody Harrelson, Ben Foster, and Jena Malone.

For Rampart, he’s working together with Harrelson and Foster again, after proving so successful first time around, for his highly anticipated follow-up to The Messenger, and I can’t wait to see his next film. Based on the real-life Rampart scandal of the late 1990s, which saw the investigation of the corruption within the Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums (CRASH) anti-gang section of the LAPD,

“Its central protagonist is Officer Dave Brown (Harrelson), a Vietnam vet and a Rampart Precinct cop who operates by his own rules within the Los Angeles Police Department. A bit of an eccentric character to begin with — he has fathered children with two sisters (Anne Heche and Cynthia Nixon), each of whom he intermittently lives with — he also marches to his own beat and plays by his own rules on the job… that is, until he is caught on tape beating a suspect and is subsequently scapegoated by his own Rampart division when it falls under a corruption investigation. Haunted by his past actions and the implications that they have had on both others and himself, he begins to mentally unravel.”

Harrelson and Foster aren’t the only two talented stars Moverman has enlisted for this project, with Rampart also starring Steve Buscemi, Sigourney Weaver, Robin Wright, Anne Heche, Ice Cube, Brie Larson, and Cynthia Nixon, and by all accounts, that’s a cast capable of a lot.

These first three clips from the film, combined into one video, come courtesy of THR via The Playlist, and they are a brilliant first look at the film that show how amazing we can expect it to be. The pictures we’ve seen from it have been so great, and this video just compounds that.

If you’re going to the BFI London Film Festival next month, then you can count me sincerely jealous, because Rampart is one of the many great films that have been announced as getting their UK premiere there. The film is still seeking distribution both here and in the States, so no word yet on an expected release date, but I really hope that it won’t be too long a wait now. I can only assume how brilliantly it’s done at Toronto, being one of the most anticipated films playing the festival, and how terrifically it should do at the London Film Festival next month, so hopefully it will get snapped up very soon.

To mark the release of Cedar Rapids on DVD and Blu-ray 19th September, 20th Century Fox have given us three copies to give away on DVD.

Worldly innocent Tim Lippe (Ed Helms) is an insurance salesman, in a tiny firm, situated in the even tinier Wisconsin town of Brown Valley which he has never left his entire life.  So cocooned Tim is with his surroundings, the only womanly interest in his life is Macy Vanderhei (Sigourney Weaver) who conveniently happens to be his 7^th grade teacher.

When his firm’s top salesman suddenly dies on the eve of the annual insurance convention, Tim is packed off to represent his company at the Cedar Rapid event.  Having never been on a plane or hired a car before, the unbelievably naive Tim arrives like a fish-out-of-water at the convention ready to put his best foot forward.

To be in with a chance of winning the movie, simply answer the following question using the form below:

Who directed the movie Cedar Rapids?

COMPETITION NOW CLOSED

The small print:

• Open to UK residents only
• Only one entry per household will be counted
• The competition will close 26th September at 23.59 GMT
• The winner will be picked at random from entries received
• No cash alternative is available

The usual T&Cs can be found here. Good Luck!