To mark the release of Vanishing on 7th Street on DVD February 20th, Momentum Pictures have given us two copies of the movie to give away. The movie stars Hayden Christensen, John Leguizamo, Thandie Newton, Jacob Latimore and is directed by Brad Anderson.

When Detroit is suddenly plunged into darkness, airplanes crash to earth, vehicles and anything electrical ceases to work and the sun rises to reveal only a handful of survivors battling to stay in the light.

From the producers of Casino Royale and director Brad Anderson (The Machinist, Transsiberian), VANISHING ON 7^TH STREET fuses apocalyptic thriller and horror together to bring us one of winter’s most haunting and genuinely scary films. This race to stay in the light stars an award-winning cast in Golden Globe^® nominee Hayden Christensen (Star Wars: Episodes I-III, Jumper), Emmy^® Award winner John Leguizamo (Moulin Rouge!, Carlito’s Way, Romeo + Juliet, Ice Age), BAFTA^® Award winner Thandie Newton (Mission Impossible II, 2012, Crash) and up-and-coming teenage R&B sensation Jacob Latimore (One Tree Hill), as the handful of survivors.

A disparate group of individuals find themselves alone; the entire city’s population has vanished into thin air, leaving behind heaps of empty clothes, abandoned cars and lengthening shadows. Soon the daylight begins to disappear completely.  As the survivors gather in an abandoned tavern they realise darkness is out to descend. But as their light fades, how long can they survive before the shadows devour them?

VANISHING ON 7^TH STREET combines the old-age phobia of the dark with a striking cinematic experience. Director Anderson skillfully executes this subtly disturbing film to target our dread of what happens when the light goes out…

To enter the competition, simply click next to be taken to the question and entry form…

Cillian Murphy must be high on the list of any director so it’s testament to the project that first time director Carl Tibbets convinced he actor to join Thandie Newton and Jamie Bell in leading his first film.

If the DVD tagline from our friends at BestforFilm is accurate then Carl Tibbets’ new film Retreat has Murphy returning to 28 Days Later territory as a couple are terrorised by an unwated visitor in their remote country holiday destination.

We have an exclusive interview with the actor who talks about the attraction to the film, his character and the benefits of the indepent film over it’s blockbusting cousin,

How would you describe the character of Martin?
He’s in his mid-30s, he’s an architect, an upwardly-mobile, middle-class professional type who lives in a nice house in London with his beautiful wife [Thandie Newton as Kate]. But, for various different reasons, their relationship is not in a great place so they come to this retreat to try and patch things up, then this crazy thing happens with this other character and everything is turned on its head. I liked that Martin is sort of a normal guy, perhaps lacking in certain areas, and I liked seeing what this external character [Jamie Bell as Jack] does to their relationship as well as to him as an individual.

How did making Retreat compare to a big-budget Hollywood movie?
We did six-day weeks and the script was pretty intense, but I love that – you’re in it all the time, you know? For an actor it’s great.

Was it the script that hooked you?
Yes, definitely. Actors love these claustrophobic dramas because they’re very psychological, very character-driven. Retreat is all about the dynamic between the three characters, which is very appealing to any actor.

You hadn’t worked with Thandie Newton or Jamie Bell before…
No I hadn’t, and that was another attraction. I got to work with people whose work I’ve admired for a long time. It was a real thrill and they were both fantastic.

And how was it working with first-time director Carl Tibbetts?
Great. His instincts were bang-on and it’s always great to have the writer and the director as one and the same person. He knew the script so intimately and that’s always helpful when you’re discussing character stuff, background and all that because the writer has lived with it for so long. Also, it’s a very smart thing to do your first film in just a house, just the one location. Moving the unit and all that stuff is not an issue when you’re stuck in the one location and it means you can get straight into the work.

Did he panic?
Not at all. He was very calm and I think that’s a very good trait to have as a director – not to be ruffled easily, and Carl certainly wasn’t that. You could go to him with any question and he had an answer for it. He was brilliant at problem solving, which was a result of having written the script, but he also had the right temperament for directing – which is not to lose your head.

Do you prefer making small or big movies?
They’re both appealing in different ways. I have done a lot of low-budget films that are like this one, a six-day week. What happens is you get into a rhythm or you get what I call ‘movie fit’ which means it’s all ‘work, bed, work, bed’. You’re in the character the whole time and real life just kind of stops. That adds an extra dimension to the quality of the work, I think. And then there are the big films where the key is trying to keep that level of intensity during your ten-day break when you’re not on set. It’s trickier and a different type of challenge. With a small film like Retreat you’re trying to keep the energy levels up because you’re exhausted all the time. You can do it for four weeks but you couldn’t do it for 12, but the compressed nature of it does appeal to me.

Is it conscious decision to flit between the two or is about whatever you’re offered at the time?
It’s the latter. I go purely on the script and the budget is irrelevant really. I go by the quality of the script, the director and whoever else is involved, and whether it’s a big budget or a small budget doesn’t have an effect on my choices. It’s the same with different genres. I never read a script and go ‘Hmm, this is that genre so I’ll do it’. It’s purely based on what I can do with the character and what sort of challenges it offers to me as an actor. What I like about Retreat is that the first part of the movie is an adult, sophisticated relationship drama – the relationship between me and Thandie as husband and wife is very well-observed – and then it morphs into something entirely different. So as I say I don’t look at things in terms of genre, I look at the material and what it offers

When a shoot is so intense are you able to shake off the character between takes or when you go home at night?
In terms of my method, I don’t stay in character or any of that stuff. Retrospectively, when you’ve finished a job and you look back on it a month or two down the line you go ‘Right, I was behaving in such a way that was hugely influenced by the character I was playing’ or ‘The way I was interacting with people or how I was spending my spare time was influenced by the character and his situation’. It’s not a conscious thing but by osmosis you can’t help having it affect your life.

Retreat is now available on Blu-ray and DVD, courtesy of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

Martin and Kate (Cillian Murphy and Thandie Newton) are a thirty-something couple holidaying on a tiny remote island off the coast of the west coast of Scotland. A destination they’ve visiting in the past to escape their busy London lives, this trip represents an attempt to heal a broken marriage, caused partially by the loss of their child at birth.

At first their idyllic rented cottage offers the possibilities of that secure and intimate sanctuary they long for (even if the generator in the basement proves to be a little haphazard), but within a day of two, their peace is shattered in the form of an injured military man (Jamie Bell) named Jack. He appears to have rowed over from the mainland all by himself and alarms them with news that something terrible has happened back in civilisation, and they must do everything they can to bombard themselves from it.

With zero opportunity to make outside contact with anyone (their mobile phones has no signal and the CB radio communication is unable to pick up any sources) do they swallow Jack’s convincingly-told, if implausible tale, or worst still, do they have any choice if they don’t?

Retreat is a sometimes gripping, sometimes logic-skirting, tense three-hander. Possessing a “Dead Calm on an island” vibe, it doesn’t quite have the same sexual tension which permeates throughout Philip Noyce’s 1989 suspense feature, but it does feature solid performances by its three leads (Newton hasn’t been this good in a long time), who strive to inject a believability and nervy atmosphere into their predicament. It doesn’t help that they’re constantly at odds with an overwrought and imposing score which threatens to tip things into melodramatic territory, but the actors do their best to keep things together until the decidedly bleak ending.

Murphy is his usually reliable self (nice to see him juggling his work in big Hollywood fare with smaller stuff like this) but it’s the almost unrecognisable Bell who steals for film here as the domineering and steadfast squaddie, who may (or may not) be everything he professes to be. The script does at times threaten to undo some of his good work by throwing in a number of character inconsistencies, but Bell’s strength as a performer (this is a world away from his forthcoming role as the globe-trotting, do-gooder Tintin) help smooth over those issues.

Debut feature director Carl Tibbetts also works well with what is clearly a low budget. The crisp digital imagery looks fantastic, particularly during the opening shots of the island as the couple make their way over, and as the film progresses, the once picturesque interior of the island hideaway begins to resemble that of a house lifted straight out of a horror film, as the director effectively captures his character’s increasingly fragile mental states through their dark, boarded-up surroundings.

Out in cinemas in a ridiculously short time window before it receives a home video release, Retreat should find a good home on the small screen, but it’s just as well suited for those looking for an absorbing evening at the local multiplex too.

***~~ (3/5)

To mark the release of Retreat on DVD and Blu-ray 17th October, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment have given us three copies of the movie to give away on Blu-ray. The movie stars Cillian Murphy (The Dark Knight, 28 Days Later), Thandie Newton (2012, Crash) and Jamie Bell (The Adventures of Tintin, The Eagle) and is directed by Carl Tibbetts..

Taking an isolated break on an uninhabited island Martin (Murphy) and Kate (Newton) are about to find that their island retreat is about to become a stone prison of unimaginable terror. When a blood soaked stranger (Bell), stumbles through their door with an apocalyptic story of a virus sweeping across Europe decimating all in its path, their lives are turned upside down as they face the end of everything they know. Using all means necessary, they must fight to escape the approaching threat. But escape is only the beginning of their terrifying fight for survival…

In a series of tense twists, the captive couple are forced to use their ingenuity to outwit the equally volatile and charismatic Jack in an attempt to unravel the real truth.  Loyalties divide and merge and paranoia sets in, culminating in a violent and shocking conclusion.

RETREAT was written by Janice Hallett and Carl Tibbetts and is directed also by Carl Tibbetts.

You could also grab yourself a Sony Bravia TV at the Retreat Facebook page [link to: www.facebook.com/RetreatMovie] too, all you need to do is Like the page for a chance to win.

Retreat is available on Blu-ray and DVD from 17 October, courtesy of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

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

Who directed the movie, Retreat?

COMPETITION NOW CLOSED

The small print:

• Open to UK residents only
• Only one entry per household will be counted
• The competition will close 17th October 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!

Vertigo have sent over the first trailer, poster and images from new movie, Retreat which stars Thandie Newton, Cillian Murphy & Jamie Bell. The film is directed by Carl Tibbetts who also wrote the movie. Not too long to wait for this one either folks as it’s released in the UK 14th October and in the US on the 20th. The trailer is intense and is below for your viewing pleasure.

I’ll let the synopsis do the talking but I’ve placed the trailer below along with the poster and images which you can click to enlarge.

In a last-ditch attempt to save their failing marriage after the stillbirth of their first child, Kate (Thandie Newton), a journalist and Martin (Cillian Murphy), an architect, escape London for a retreat to the beautiful, yet remote and unpopulated Blackholme Island, which is off the west coast of Scotland.  Fairweather Cottage is a place where they once shared a romantic holiday and the island holds fond memories of happier times.

Kate and Martin arrive by boat, it’s autumn and the rocky barren moors are blown by freezing winds and the before they’ve even settled in, the generator and CB radio communication start to fail.  Their relationship is already fragile and anxieties are pushed higher when they lose all contact with the mainland and after a heavy storm, an injured man is washed up on the shore. Dressed in military fatigues and carrying a gun, the mysterious stranger regains consciousness and identifies himself as a British soldier called Private Jack Corman and he soon reveals that he carries a deadly message – an airborne virus is sweeping Europe and all their lives are under threat unless they take drastic action.  He insists that the only way to avoid the fatal disease is to seal themselves in the cottage.

In a series of tense twists, the captive couple are forced to use their ingenuity to outwit the equally volatile and charismatic Jack in an attempt to unravel the real truth.  Loyalties divide and merge and paranoia sets in, culminating in a violent and shocking conclusion.

To mark the release of Huge on DVD 3rd October, Independent have given us three copies of the movie to give away. In his “promising debut as a filmmaker” (The Observer), comedian Ben Miller (The Armstrong & Miller Show, Johnny English, Comic Relief) takes us on a hilarious and heartfelt journey to the dark side of stand-up comedy. BAFTA-winning actor Noel Clarke (Adulthood, 4.3.2.1) and BAFTA-nominated Johnny Harris (This Is England ’86, London To Brighton) are joined by BAFTA-winning actress Thandie Newton (Run Fat Boy Run, Crash), Michelle Ryan (Bionic Woman) and comedy’s finest names: Eddie Izzard, David Baddiel, Jo Brand, Jack Dee, Harry Hill and many more. Russell Tovey (Being Human) and Tamsin Egerton (St Trinian’s) also co-star.

Feuding comedy duo Warren & Clark (played by Johnny Harris and Noel Clarke) dream of making it HUGE. As they gig around the comedy clubs of London they discover an unforgiving, cut-throat comedy circuit that is incredibly difficult to break into. When Warren betrays Clark, stealing their material to go solo, everything they have worked for is thrown into jeopardy. In a world that wants to deny their destiny, Warren and Clark must find a way to stick together if they are to have a chance at success.

HUGE will be released on DVD (£12.99) by Independent Distribution on 3rd October 2011. Special Features include a live Q&A with Noel Clarke and Johnny Harris.

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

Who directed the movie, Huge?

COMPETITION NOW CLOSED

The small print:

• Open to UK residents only
• Only one entry per household will be counted
• The competition will close 3rd October 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!

Paul (John Leguizamo) is a cinema projectionist. One night the cinema goes black during a seeming power cut, but when the lights come up the auditorium is empty, save for a series of sets of crumpled clothes. Luke (Hayden Christensen) wakes up one morning and finds similarly empty sets of clothes where the receptionist usually sits. Outside in the street, empty crashed cars and sets of clothes littering the pavement tell the same story. But what is the story? Alien abduction? The Rapture? Paul, Luke and a couple of other survivors gather in a bar to try to survive and make sense of what is happening.

*****

Earlier this year, Harold Camping predicted that the Rapture spoken of in the book of Revelation would take place on May 21st, 2011. It was unclear why he felt so convinced, though he assured his surprisingly ample community of followers that it had all been very carefully worked out. As it turned out, Jesus saying “no man knows the hour” trumped Camping’s diligently prepared calculations and we all stayed put. But the notion of a Rapture caught people’s attention. Websites, where you could pay someone to look after your pets once you were raptured (http://www.aftertherapturepetcare.com/, http://postrapturepetcare.com/) sprung up and even though pretty much everyone dismissed Camping as a false prophet, the idea of what it might be like if everyone were suddenly whisked away was intriguing.

Although Vanishing On 7th Street can’t claim to have been geared up to play into that intrigue, its timing is nonetheless prescient. Although its fascinating premise is never properly explained, Luke does at least acknowledge the Rapture as an issue when he says he doesn’t want to hear “a Left Behind sermon” (referencing a popular set of novels centred around events following the Rapture). We are presented with the now familiar scenes of deserted city streets (see Vanilla Sky, 28 Days Later, I Am Legend), though with explanations considerably harder to come by. No-one has the inside track on these cataclysmic events, although it is clear that to survive, you have to stay in the light. The days are getting shorter and batteries and power supplies across the city of Detroit are gradually running down.

As noted above, the premise is an interesting one, which makes it all the more frustrating that director Brad Anderson (The Machinist) and scripter Antony Jaswinski don;t seem to want to or know how to develop it intelligently. Why has the darkness developed a life of its own? Why do naked flames protect the carriers of them? When Luke says he is alive because he wills it, is he right? If so, is that the answer? When the film begins to build a bit of pace and excitement to add to the slow burn of the initial development of the story, it suddenly fizzles out, not seeming sure where to go. It may be an attempt at open-ended ambiguity, but it comes across as nothing of the sort, unfortunately.

In so far as it relates to the interaction between the principals in the bar where most of the film unfolds, the script and acting are pretty good. There is an effective sense of danger, building fear and unpredictability, with shifts between reality, dreams, memories and hallucinations interwoven effectively. Christensen, Leguizamo and Thandie Newton’s characters are not brilliantly fleshed out, however they are at least believable, their lines delivered with feeling.

Most of the reviews out there are pretty scathing of Vanishing… but I think that is unfair. It is clearly a film not without flaws and shortcomings, but at least in its central premise it has a strong idea and some sort of determination to develop it, even if it falls short of being fully-formed. An intriguing film then, one with enough talent and quality to sustain its 80 minute running time, but likely to leave you a bit annoyed that more wasn’t made of it.

Vanishing On 7th Street is coming soon on DVD and you could do worse. Much, much worse.

**½~~ (2.5/5)

Lions Gate Home Entertainment have given us five copies of their new movie, For Colored Girls to give away to our readers. The film stars Thandie Newton, Janet Jackson, Whoopi Goldberg, Macy Gray, Kerry Washington, Kimberley Elise, Phylicia Rashad and is directed by Tyler Perry. It’s released on the 4th April.

An incredible all star cast unite for Tyler Perry’s adaptation of a landmark 1970’s choropoem and award-winning Broadway smash. FOR COLORED GIRLS stars THANDIE NEWTON, JANET JACKSON, WHOOPI GOLDBERG, MACY GRAY, KERRY WASHINGTON, KIMBERLEY ELISE and PHYLICIA RASHAD and will be available to own on DVD full of extra special features, from 4^th April 2011 (RRP £15.99).

Ntozake Shange’s celebrated choreopoem ‘For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow Is Enuf’ became a Tony Award-winning hit on Broadway in the 1970’s. This complex piece draws 20 different but complimentary stories together all on the theme of being a woman of colour in today’s world.

FOR COLORED GIRLS is a powerful story, weaving together the lives and issues of many different women as they move in and out of each other’s existences. Some are known to each other, some are strangers but heartbreak, crisis, crime and love will ultimately bring them together.

DVD Special Features:

• Span of the Rainbow
• Prism of Poems
• Transformation: Movie Magic
• Music for Colored Girls
• Marketing Archive

To be in with a chance of winning a copy of For Colored Girls, simply answer the following question using the form below:

Who plays the character Crystal in the movie, For Colored Girls?

COMPETITION NOW CLOSED

The small print:

• Open to UK residents only
• Only one entry per household will be counted
• The competition will close 4th April 23.59 GMT
• The winner will be picked at random from entries received

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

A new poster has been released today for Brad Anderson’s latest, Vanishing on 7th Street, a Twilight Zone affair which deals with the sudden disappearance of almost everyone on Earth following a huge blackout.

The film had its premiere at TIFF 2010, and stars  Thandie Newton, Hayden Christensen, John Leguizamo, Taylor Groothuis and Jordan Trovillion.

We’ve covered this one pretty extensively on HeyUGuys, and hopefully we’ll hear more about a UK release pretty soon – the US is getting it on VOD and in cinemas next month.

Here’s the poster from IMPA,

Brad Anderson’s Vanishing on 7th Street’s hook is a simple one – a huge blackout appears to cause almost everyone in the world to disappear, leaving behind only their clothes and a lot of answered questions.

I say almost everyone because there are a few survivors who spend the rest of the film working out what went wrong. Is is the Rapture? Or a big screen version of Doctor Who’s Silence in the Library? Hayden Christensen, Thandie Newton and John Leguizamo are on hand to answer that question, and there’s a new clip just released.

We saw the film at Toronto and you can read our review here, it appears that an intriguing premise and a couple of effective scares are let down by a slightly flat script but you’ll soon get the chance to judge for yourselves. Opening in the US in a limited run on the 18th of February and appearing on Video On Demand a little earlier, no word on when we’ll see it this side of the pond, but I’m a sucker for trips to any kind of Twilight Zone, so I’ll be certain to check this out as soon as I can.

Here’s the clip,

In case the watermark doesn’t make it obvious – this clip came from Bloody Disgusting

Confining his turn as Darth Vader to the shadows this new film from Brad Anderson puts Hayden Christensen front and centre in this tale of a vanished world and the darkness that is left behind.

We’ve already seen a trailer from Brad Anderson’s film, which teased the film for those awaiting its premiere at the Toronto Film Festival a few months ago. We had the chance to see if the film made good on its intriguing promise, and you can read our take here.

Here’s the trailer,

A new poster for Brad Anderson’s latest film, Vanishing on 7th Street, has just been released and it’s dark, chilling and almost apocalyptic in nature.   The film, which premiered at TIFF 2010, stars  Thandie Newton, Hayden Christensen, John Leguizamo, Taylor Groothuis and Jordan Trovillion.

Below you will find the synopsis for the film along with the new poster provided by IMP Awards

Synopsis: Vanishing on 7th Street focuses on a group of survivors who wake up to find their community has completely disappeared after a global blackout. They hole up in a bar to defend themselves from a dark menace.

Lionsgate have just sent us the brand new UK trailer for their new movie, For Colored Girls. The movie is based on the award winning play, ‘For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf’ and has been adapted for the screen, Produced and Directed by Tyler Perry.

The cast is rather exceptional and includes Thandie Newton, Whoopi Goldberg, Omari Hardwick, Kerry Washington, Anika Noni Rose, Janet Jackson, Loretta Devine. The movie is released in the UK 10th December and I’ve embedded the trailer below the synopsis or click the poster to enlarge:

Adapted for the screen from Ntozake Shange’s Obie Award-winning play ‘For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf’, this adaptation for screen is a poetic exploration of what it is to be of colour and female in this world. The story, a milestone in American Theatre, speaks as powerfully today as when it was first performed in New York in 1975. Through this remarkable adaptation we are taught about existence and hardship from the perspective of 20 black women. Exploring themes of love, abandonment, rape and abortion the film’s outstanding ensemble cast deliver visceral and intense performances; including BAFTA winner Thandie Newton (Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Crash) Janet  Jackson, Macy Gray and Oscar winner Whoopi Goldberg (Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Ghost). And featuring a song from Leona Lewis.

Acting as both writer and director for his latest film, Tyler Perry’s new poetic drama, For Colored Girls, has just released its latest poster.

The film is an adaptation of the play, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf, and features an excellent female ensemble including Janet Jackson, Loretta Devine, Kimberly Elise, Macy Gray, Thandie Newton, Phylicia Rashad, Anika Noni Rose, Tessa Thompson, Kerry Washington, and Whoopi Goldberg.

Below you will find the poster for the upcoming film due out on November 5th.

Last night, I got to spend an evening at the BFI surrounded by dozens of amateur film-makers, all buzzing with excitement at making the shortlist for the 2010 Virgin Media Shorts Awards. In an auditorium packed with 450 cast, crew, journalists and judges, we got to see the 12  finalist entries all desperate to find out who would be crowed the 2010 champion.

The awards were hosted by Danny Wallace who did a wonderful job at keeping the audience entertained in between all of the 12 short movies that were shown on the giant screen in the BFI to rapturous applause. The 12 shorts were picked out of a massive 1600 entries by the judges of the competition which included Actress, Thandie Newton, Directors, Duncan Jones and Mike Newell, Film Critic James King, Executive Director of Digital Entertainment at Virgin Media, Cindy Rose, the Senior Production Executive at the UK Film Council, Chris Collins and finally, the VIP Judge, Ebun Soyinka who won a competition to be on the judging panel.

All of the finalists had fantastic stories to tell and it was amazing and inspiring to see how they did such a great job in a maximum of two minutes and twenty seconds!

My personal favourites were:

Probably directed by Kate Anderson – Synopsis: Mike didn’t know how his life would turn out. He just didn’t expect to end up… here.

Sign Language directed by Oscar Sharpe – Synopsis: Meet Ben – he holds a sign for a living, and he loves his job more than almost anything. But today is his last day.

The Gathering directed by James Cooper – Synopsis: A postman with a very important message to deliver, attempts to organise a mass gathering. But what has he got to say, and will anyone show up?

Audiobook directed by James Spinney – Synopsis: Notoriously short-tempered film actor Chris Ford is preparing to record the audiobook version of his autobiography, leaving young sound engineer Stuart Taylor struggling with uncomfortable frequencies

——————————–

Onto the winners! The judges must have had a torrid time trying to pick one out of the awesome bunch of twelve finalists. The one they didn’t have to worry about was the ‘People’s Choice Award’ which was voted for by over 10 000 people on the Virgin Media Shorts website. The winner of the people’s award and £2000 of filming equipment goes to:

Bus Baby directed by Gino Evans and Jason Wingard – Synopsis: Britain has the largest teen pregnancy rate in Europe. Bus baby tackles the issues facing teenage mothers head on and asks some difficult questions. It is hard hitting yet humorous film.

The overall winner who takes the grand prize of £30 000 to invest in their next project is (my favourite from the evening too)…….

Sign Language directed by Oscar Sharpe – Synopsis: Meet Ben – he holds a sign for a living, and he loves his job more than almost anything. But today is his last day.

I was rather pleased when Sign Language was called out. It was an awesome story that pulled me in from the minute it began and I have to admit I may have shed a tear or two at the ending. Loved it and this made for a very special end to a wonderful night.

Congrats to everyone involved in this wonderful project and roll on 2011! Check out all of the finalists on the Virgin Media Shorts website here.

Lionsgate have published a new poster for Tyler Perry’s For Colored Girls, an adaptation of Ntozake Shange’s play For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf.

For Colored Girls is an ensemble drama highlighting the different issues that impact women in general, in particular those of color, and features a cast including Janet Jackon, Thandie Newton, Whoopi Goldberg, Kerry Washington and Anika Noni.

Lionsgate plan to release For Colored Girls in time for Oscar consideration.

Check out the new poster below:

Movieline reported this.

The latest from director Brad Anderson (The Machinist, Transsiberian) is a mediocre horror entry that has more in common with the murky hokiness of M. Night Shymalan than the body horror of David Cronenberg or David Lynch.

Despite the best efforts of the excellent cast, who emote mightily, the very slight script doesn’t give them much to work with, and the film subsequently doesn’t reward the viewer with any sort of remotely satisfying resolution in exchange for his patience.

AMC projectionist Paul (John Leguizamo) discovers that all of the patrons in his cinema have vanished after a power failure, leaving only their clothes behind. TV journalist Luke (Hayden Christensen) awakens one morning after what appears to have been a moderately boozy evening to discover that his girlfriend never turned up at his flat as promised….and that the entire population of the city seems to have disappeared in an instant, leaving the usual sort of urban post-apocalyptic detritus behind them (the aforementioned clothing, crashed cars, abandoned hot dog carts, etc).

Flashing forward three days, Luke is seen stumbling around the darkened city searching for a car with a live battery, when he stumbles upon a neighbourhood bar called Sonny’s that has power. When Luke seeks sanctuary there he is challenged by a frightened young boy (Jacob Lattimore) brandishing a shotgun, and the two are then joined by an anguished young woman named Rosemary (Thandie Newton) who is desperately trying to find her vanished infant son. As they ponder what has happened and what the best course of action for escape and survival is, they hear cries for help from somewhere outside the bar from the seriously injured Paul, which Rosemary is determined to investigate.

At this point, it appears that we have been set up for an Assault on Precinct 13 (or perhaps a less jokey Feast) type siege story, with the four characters holed up in the bar as they are assaulted by mysterious supernatural assailants, while the origin and purpose of the assailants is slowly revealed.

Sadly however, that’s not the case, and might have made for a fun if unremarkable genre film; instead, we are treated to a frankly boring narrative involving a (very little) bit of backstory for the characters and their increasingly frenetic attempts to ‘remain in light’ and ward off the irritatingly shadowy forms that come closer and closer to snatching them up.

Without spoiling the ending, I have to say I was simply annoyed by the resolution, or lack thereof. I think Anderson and the screenwriter were trying to make some sort of Biblical analogy, and my lack of deep knowledge of the Bible may be contributing to my lack of comprehension of what they were doing – but maybe not.

It may just be that the ending is intended as nothing more than what we literally see, and if so that is even more disappointing. The story and how it plays out is simply too tedious to excuse the complete and utter lack of explanation as to the who, what, where and why of the shadowy creatures that are at the heart of the story.

Entertainment Weekly have released another image from the upcoming horror film, Vanishing on 7th Street.

Directed by Brad Anderson, the movie stars Hayden Christensen, who recently revealed details regarding the status of Jumper 2, Thandie Newton, and John Leguizamo, the film will première at the Toronto Film Festival next month.

The plot sees a small band of survivors form after a mysterious and seemingly global blackout and the disappearance of everyone else, save for their clothes and belongings. Holed up in a dimly lit pub on 7th Street, the last remaining humans defend themselves from a dark menace.

To see the trailer which was released earlier this week you can click here, otherwise you can see the image below.

ShockTillYouDrop have posted the exclusive first trailer for Vanishing on 7th Street.

Vanishing on 7th Street has been directed by Brad Anderson, from a script written by Anthony Jaswinski. It features a strong cast, including Thandie Newton (RocknRolla), Hayden Christensen (Jumper), John Leguizamo (Repo Men), Taylor Groothuis (Flipped) and Jordan Trovillion (The Genesis Code).

Synopsis: Vanishing on 7th Street focuses on a group of survivors who wake up to find their community has completely disappeared after a global blackout. They hole up in a bar to defend themselves from a dark menace.

The trailer certainly arouses a certain level of curiosity. Anderson is best known for directing episodes of TV series such as Fringe, The Wire and HBO’s upcoming Boardwalk Empire, so it’ll be interesting to see how he adapts his vision and style to suit a feature length film.

Check out the trailer below:

Vanishing on 7th Street will premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September.

Jamie Bell (Hallam Foe / Billy Elliott) has been added to the cast of psychological virus thriller, The Retreat.

The film, which was initially announced in February, will also star Thandie Newton (Crash) and Cillian Murphy (Inception).

The Retreat centers on a husband and wife who rent a remote island cottage while trying to repair their marriage. One day they find a biohazard-suited soldier washed up on the beach, who warns them that everybody on the mainland has been killed by an airborne virus. That’s when the psychological fun-and-games begin…

Carl Tibbets will make his directing debut with the film that’s been described as a cross between Knife In the Water and Dead Calm.

The Retreat has gone from being a nondescript thriller stuck in development limbo, into a film with huge potential, mainly due to the solid cast it’s attracted.

Shooting is due to commence next month on location in Wales.

The Playlist reported this one.