We had ourselves a nice new poster for the latest slice of Mission: Impossible a couple of days ago and today a trailer is unleashed on a not unsuspecting world.

Two things make this fourthquel* worth waiting for and those are 1) Brad and 2) Bird.

Certainly it’ll be fun to see Tom Cruise hanging off of another building by a slither of dental floss, and Ethan Hunt is Cruise’s most enduring character for some time, but it’s the man behind the camera who is the draw for me.

One of Pixar’s finest taking on an all out actioner is too good a chance to miss and this trailer does it job well, with the series showing no signs of slowing.

Enough of my yakking, click below and enjoy.

This fourth movie stars Tom Cruise, Simon Pegg, Jeremy Renner, Paula Patton, Léa Seydoux, Michael Nyqvist, Anil Kapoor, Ving Rhames, Tom Wilkinson and is released Boxing Day, 26th December.

*Yes – fourthquel…

It’s another poster for the Brad Bird directed installment of the ongoing Mission: Impossible series and instead of a fiery background to Tom Cruise’s hoodie moment there’s a good look at the cast who join Cruise’s Ethan Hunt for another outing for the IMF team.

Yahoo had this poster first and it lines Simon Pegg up alongside Jeremy Renner and Paul Paton which perhaps hints at a larger role in the series, but the pull of the series has always been the excellent and eclectic casts dancing around Tom Cruise’s maypole (if you’ll pardon a strange bout of imagery here) and the mix of new and old blood gives each new film the opportunity to surprise.

So here’s the poster. I’m looking forward to it. It’s easily one of Cruise’s most satisfying roles and hiring Brad Bird looks to be a very smart move indeed. Can’t wait.

On 14th April 1865, John Wilkes Booth walked up behind Abraham Lincoln in his box at Ford’s Theatre and shot him. As this film’s tagline testifies however, although one man shot Lincoln, more than one man killed him. Booth and his accomplices were pursued and for the most part found and arrested, though Booth himself was shot rather than being brought in to stand trial. Booth and many of his co-conspirators met on occasion before the assassination at a guest house owned and run by Mary Surratt (Robin Wright). Her son John is nowhere to be found and so she is tried by a military court as a conspirator in the assassination. Frederick Aiken (James McAvoy), a lawyer and soldier who fought for the Union in the US Civil War is assigned to Mary’s defence and despite his initial reluctance to defend her, eventually comes to see the unconstitutional manner in which the trial is being conducted and resolves to defend Mary to the best of his ability.

*****

Despite the seemingly hint-laden title, this film is not really about conspiracies or outlandish conspiracy theories at all. There are none of the JFK-style attempts to peel back the layers of corruption and complicity, rather a fairly straight telling of an altogether compelling story about justice, the rule of law and the US constitution, with a clear and no doubt utterly intentional resonance with recent events in relation to terror-suspects, Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo. As the conflicted defence attorney, James McAvoy does an excellent job of transitioning through the gears from disgust and indifference, through vehemence and indignation to desperation and even heroism. He quickly realises that whatever Mary Surratt might or might not be guilty of, she deserves but is patently not receiving a fair trial. His antipathy towards her grows convincingly into staunch advocacy for her rights, picking holes in contradictory and unconvincing prosecution evidence, despite his objections and best efforts being thwarted at every turn by the ridiculously biased (but no doubt historically accurate) David Hunter, who presided over the trial of a civilian in full military regalia.

At one point, driven incandescent with frustration at the injustice of the proceedings, Aiken bellows at the court, “it’s not enough is it?” Every witness has been cajoled, threatened and intimidated, every objection by him dismissed, every objection by the prosecutor upheld. It is to McAvoy’s credit that it does not feel like an explosion out of nothing, rather a simmering fury that builds to the point of eruption.

Kevin Kline and Tom Wilkinson make welcome appearances as Secretary of War Edwin Stanton and US Senator Reverdy Johnson respectively, butting heads constantly over the importance of a fair trial versus the crucial point of maintaining the peace and the fragile integrity of the only-just United States. As Stanton says (and with particular post-9/11 resonance), “the world has changed”, to which Johnson retorts, “but the Constitution must not be sacrificed”. Director Robert Redford subtly, but deftly draws attention to the manifold ways in which civil liberties and constitutional principles have been sacrificed on the altar of the “war on terror” and how our desperation to preserve our way of life can cause us to cast aside some of our hitherto most cherished principles. Stanton is not cast as the villain of the piece by any means – the film wisely portrays its various characters in realistic shades of grey – showing him instead to be a desperate and driven man, but not a malevolent one, merely as conflicted and flawed as any of us.

As the many excellent features show, a lot of care and thought has gone into recreating the era of the trial, with lighting, street scenes, clothing and cityscapes all thoroughly up to scratch. Redford was clearly operating on a modest budget, but the film never looks or feels cheap or half-baked. Instead, something fascinating, informative, intellectually stimulating and politically relevant and resonant has been crafted and it is a considerable shame that the film found less of an audience ($11.5m in the US to date against a $25m budget) and received less of a warm critical reception when it first hit the screens (at least here in the UK) that it seems to have deserved.

Despite the grand, sweeping themes, the running time is relatively tight, coming in at just under two hours (though a few more minutes off that would have helped the film feel a little brisker) and as alluded to earlier, the parallels drawn within James D Solomon and Gregory Bernstein’s script between the events portrayed and those of the past decade are tactfully handled rather than being hammered home.

This is well worth a watch and perhaps is better suited to and will find more of a home on the small(er) screen. You can buy it on DVD or Bluray here.

****~ (4/5)

Extras:

• Short featurettes by the American Film Society titled “Witness History” on everything from production design, to the defendant’s Catholic beliefs, costume design, props, military trials and a couple of the main characters from the story. Informative.
• Making Of Documentary with contributions from Robert Redford. Brief but interesting
• Director’s Commentary. At times Redford has much to say about the quality of the cast, the apparent ease with which British actors find US accents and the challenges of creating an authentic period feel for the film. At other times he falls silent for minutes at a time when it would be nice to hear a bit more from him. Perhaps a two- or three-hander would have helped fill that empty space a little?
• Photo Gallery

**½~~ (2.5/5)

Additional Bluray Extras (not available for review)

• Picture-in-Picture commentary
• Plot to kill Lincoln documentary
• Theatrical Trailer

Robert Redford’s Lincoln assassination drama The Conspirator is out on DVD and Blu-ray on the 24th of October and we’ve been given a clip from the film to share with you.

Redford has assembled an excellent cast for the film, which had a decent, if a little short lived, theatrical release earlier in the year and the extras on the home entertainment formats include a commentary from the director as well as some historical accompaniaments to give you a little of the back story to the film.

James McAvoy​ and Robin Wright lead the cast, telling a story of the fallout of the assassinatin of Abraham Lincoln. Justin Long​, Evan Rachel Wood , Tom Wilkinson , Alexis Bledel , Johnny Simmons, Toby Kebbell , Kevin Kline and Danny Huston​ are in support.

Here’s a synopsis to further advise,

In the wake of Abraham Lincoln ’s assassination, seven men and one woman are arrested and charged with conspiring to kill the President, Vice-President, and Secretary of State. The lone woman charged, Mary Surratt (Wright), 42, owns a boarding house where John Wilkes Booth and others met and planned the simultaneous attacks. Against the ominous back-drop of post-Civil War Washington, newly-minted lawyer, Frederick Aiken (McAvoy), a 28-year-old Union war-hero, reluctantly agrees to defend Surratt before a military tribunal. Aiken realizes his client may be innocent and that she is being used as bait and hostage in order to capture the only conspirator to have escaped a massive manhunt: her own son, John (Simmons).

Here’s the clip, check back tomorrow for our review of the film.

To mark the release of The Conspirator on DVD and Blu-ray 24th October, Universal Studios have given us five copies of the movie to give away on DVD. The ovie stars James McAvoy, Robin Wright, Kevin Kline, Tom Wilkinson, Justin Long, Danny Huston, Evan Rachel Wood and is directed by Robert Redford.

Esteemed British actor and Golden Globe® nominee* James McAvoy (X-Men: First Class) leads a stellar cast including Kevin Kline (Wild Wild West) Robin Wright (Unbreakable) and Tom Wilkinson (Shakespeare in Love)in Robert Redford’s compelling drama. Based on the true story and dramatic real life trial of those accused of the assassination of US President Abraham Lincoln, audiences will be gripped by this fascinating and tragic period in American history.

Stunning cinematography and a haunting score are amplified by state-of-the-art Blu-ray^™ and DVD technology which evoke the steely atmosphere of the American courtroom in 1865 perfectly.

McAvoy stars as Fred Aiken, an eager, newly qualified Yankee lawyer in this dramatic film, set within the ominous backdrop of post Civil War Washington. Aiken is convinced by his mentor Reverdy Johnson (Tom Wilkinson) to act as defense lawyer for Mary Surratt (Robin Wright), the only female accused of being involved in Lincoln’s assassination, and the focus of a tense struggle between justice and duty.

The Conspirator features incredible bonus content which will transport you back to 1865 America, including an audio commentary from Robert Redford himself, a behind-the-scenes making-of feature and a series of specially created ‘Witness History’ featurettes, which give an in-depth insight into this fascinating story – from both in front of and behind the cameras. The Blu-ray^™ also features an absorbing 66 minute featurette on the plot to kill President Abraham Lincoln.

Capturing the tone and mood of the era wonderfully, The Conspirator will provoke you to consider the fragility of human rights in desperate circumstances.

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, The Conspirator?

COMPETITION NOW CLOSED

The small print:

• Open to UK residents only
• Only one entry per household will be counted
• The competition will close 24th 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!

Film ©2010 Universal Studios.  All Rights Reserved.

I’m not sure what the consensus is these days regarding the M:I franchise. I loved the first and third films, thought the second was a bit duff and am thoroughly looking forward to Brad Bird’s live-action debut for Ghost Protocol. What does everyone else think? Sure, the whole hanging off a high building thing has been done to death in the franchise already, but Jeremy Renner has bags of charisma, Simon Pegg improves every film he appears in and Cruise himself is clearly no slouch.

With late December’s worldwide release date fast approaching, we now have another poster and TV spot, this time from Japan. The poster, as might have been expected, makes much of Cruise and nothing much of anyone else (unless those characters down the side read, “forget Cruise, Pegg is in this one”), though the TV spot does contain perhaps a couple of new beats. Frankly, it all comes rushing past so fast it can be hard to make sense of it. One can only hope that the film is edited a little more compassionately.

Thanks to Coming Soon.

Paramount have taken the unusual step of making Tom Cruise  look like another of their movie assets, Justin Bieber in this new image for Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol or the slightly easier title, Mission Impossible 4! As you’ll see in our photo analysis, the legendary (yes legendary!) actor has decided to take the unusual step of mimicking the 17 year old heartthrob! Never Say Neverrrr!

The fourth installment of the movie sees Tom Cruise back as Ethan Hunt in the Brad Bird directed movie alongside a cast including Simon Pegg, Jeremy Renner, Paula Patton, Léa Seydoux, Michael Nyqvist, Anil Kapoor, Ving Rhames and Tom Wilkinson.

If you missed the trailer for the movie, you can see it here. Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol is released December 2nd.

Source: Yahoo

The Debt is a gripping political thriller, that uses a fantastic cast and great script, to bring to life the story of three Mossad agents and their mission to find a Nazi war criminal.  The story jumps between 1997 and 1965, and uses the thriller genre as a shell for the film’s narrative which, makes for a story that feels like one continuous piece, even with the two different time-periods.  It is a tale of how people live up to the legends they make for themselves and how a nation can buy into that legend without knowing the whole story.  For most of the film, it all works together very well, however, at times loses steam when it should be gaining speed, which makes for moments that most will see coming and the ones that don’t, will disappoint.

The film, directed by John Madden, is a remake of a 2007 film of the same name and starts in 1997, with ex-agent’s Rachel (Helen Mirren) and Stefan (Tom Wilkinson) learning of the fate of their colleague, David (Ciaran Hinds).  After a book is penned about the three agents and their mission, we flash-back to 1965 where young Rachel (Jessica Chastain) meets up with young David (Sam Worthington) and young Stefan (Marton Csokas).  This is where the majority of the story takes place and for much of the film it works very well.  Chastain’s performance is restrained and works well off of the often quiet performance by Worthington.  The flash-back story is where most of the weighty drama occurs in the story, however, these quieter moments are peppered with some great high-stakes sequences.  Where the movie shines is in the “present” day scenes, simply because Helen Mirren is in them.  Mirren’s performance is strong, and her presence in the movie dwarfs all the other actors and only enhances the story, which at times is flat when it should be kicking.  The script, by Peter Straughan, Jane Goldman and Matthew Vaughn, hooks you in and gives you the info without giving anything away, the problem is when the big reveals come, there a tad predictable.  Some parts of the story feel out of place and the second act of the film drags into the climax that most will see coming before it needs to be seen.  Madden, who is best know for directing Shakespeare in Love, establishes a tense atmosphere in the 1965 part of the film and knows the presence of Mirren in the 1997 part is the driving force, which makes Madden’s job all that much easier.

These days, the thriller in general is losing it’s thrill, for lack of a better term, and for that fact, it’s hard to nitpick the film too much.  The political-thriller is even more down in the dumps, and with The Debt, the intelligence of the story paired with the performances make for a refreshing running time.  Helen Mirren is icing on the cake and overall, the film is quite good and will play very well if you are a fan of the genre.  The already delayed film is set for a fall release, and most that had the film on their radar a year-ago are more than likely over the film completely, which will make it all that much better when they actually get to see it.  All and all, this is a solid thriller that at times is thought-provoking and more often than not, is actually very entertaining.

***½~ (3.5/5)

Robert Redford’s Lincoln assassination drama The Conspirator is now out in the UK, although without a huge amount of fanfare so let’s get everyone in the mood with a new poster, shall we?

We’ve seen a few images and had ourselves a trailer and anything with James McAvoy will stir a certain section of the UK audience and there’s a decent cast with Robin Wright, Justin Long, Evan Rachel Wood , Tom Wilkinson , Alexis Bledel , Johnny Simmons, Toby Kebbell , Kevin Kline and Danny Huston alongside McAvoy.

In the wake of Abraham Lincoln ’s assassination, seven men and one woman are arrested and charged with conspiring to kill the President, Vice-President, and Secretary of State. The lone woman charged, Mary Surratt (Wright), 42, owns a boarding house where John Wilkes Booth and others met and planned the simultaneous attacks. Against the ominous back-drop of post-Civil War Washington, newly-minted lawyer, Frederick Aiken (McAvoy), a 28-year-old Union war-hero, reluctantly agrees to defend Surratt before a military tribunal. Aiken realizes his client may be innocent and that she is being used as bait and hostage in order to capture the only conspirator to have escaped a massive manhunt: her own son, John (Simmons).

Here’s your poster,

Start clapping like impressed sea-lions at the people from IMPA

Focus Features have released a brand new poster for their new thriller, The Deby which stars Sam Worthington, Ciarán Hinds, Helen Mirren, Tom Wilkinson, Jessica Chastain, Jesper Christensen, Adar Beck and is directed by John Madden. It’s released in the UK 30th September and as the poster suggests, August 29th in the US.

Synopsis: In 1965, three young Israeli Mossad agents on a secret mission capture and kill a notorious Nazi war criminal. Now, thirty years later, a man claiming to be the Nazi has surfaced in Ukraine and one of the former agents must go back undercover to seek out the truth.

Trailer: Click here to view.

Source: ComingSoon

I am not the natural audience for The Green Hornet.  I was not the audience envisioned when the concept of this film was approved, scripted, cast and all the way to when the publicists sat about planning their campaign and subsequently sent me the Blu-ray.

This is not a bad thing necessarily because, while there are some classic films that I count in my top 500, there are also some clangers.  I enjoy eclectic films to the same degree as I consume romance and action adventure, although clearly not in the same way.  So while there are many a times when I hanker after some quality comic book violence The Green Hornet will not feature in my must-watch list because frankly I found it a little dull.

Admittedly, I am not a die hard fan of the original radio or comic book incarnations of the eponymous hero, but I considered myself sufficiently game to enjoy it and sadly I was left thinking that this was two hours of my life that I could never get back.

We enter the world of The Green Hornet amidst ongoing parental criticism directed at a prepubescent Britt Reid (AKA The Green Hornet, but not yet..) for being a failure.  Tom Wilkinson is a hard nosed newspaper editor and father, whose patience and emotion cannot stretch to support a son who is not meeting his expectations.  Zoom to the present and Britt is living in his father’s pool house, spending loads of cash on partying and women and his father ism naturally, still disappointed.  When he dies unexpectedly in suspicious circumstances Britt does not attempt to revenge him, but during a drunken night with the only man who can make a good cup of coffee, Kato, he attempts to deface his father’s grave by stealing the head of his statue and stumbles across a gang with evil intentions towards an innocent couple.  A latent sense of morality sets in and with Kato at his side he kicks some bad guy ass.  This is to be the beginning of a crime fighting partnership with a twist, but as the story develops it fails to deliver, much less sustain, the punch.

My belief is that you have to have a sense of interest and engagement with your hero to care about what happens to him/her and what motivates his actions.  This is not something that was in any way nurtured in this film by Seth Rogen, who plays the same version of himself we saw in Knocked Up with even less grace.  Jay Chou as Kato cannot fail to be more compelling and sophisticated by comparison and while it seems as though that may be the point, it  remains a challenge not to root for the excellent Christoph Waltz who hams it up superbly as the bad guy Chudnofsky.  This is an odd choice of film for Michel Gondry, whose tolerance for the schlub heroes of the noughties, such as Rogen and Jack Black is much higher than expected.  Overall the script is flat and the acting muffled by a storyline that feels forced and disconnected, or maybe I just was not drinking enough.

There are some highlights that may compel you to add this Blu-ray to your collection: Gondry’s ‘Kato’ vision, the use of slow motion and tactics before the fight sequences is rather cool and worth a repeated look; in among a film that feels like a bit of a mess I actually found myself liking Cameron Diaz’s performance which I felt had a degree of presence lacking from Rogen and Chou; the cars are amazing and the DVD allows you the chance to pause and enjoy. A missed opportunity with flashes of something brighter hiding in plain sight, blink and you’ll miss them.

**~~~ (2/5)

DVD Special Features:

Filmmakers’ Commentary
“Awesoom”-Gag Reel
Writing The Green Hornet
The Black Beauty: Rebirth of Cool

BluRay Special Features:

Jay Chou Audition
Double Barrel
movieIQ
The Green Hornet Cutting Room
Filmmakers’ Commentary
“Awesoom”-Gag Reel
“Trust Me” -Director Michel Gondry
Writing The Green Hornet
The Black Beauty: Rebirth of Cool
The Stunt Family Armstrong
Finding Kato
The Art of Destruction

The Green Hornet is out on Blu-ray and DVD today and available to rent here.

MTV have released a nice new batch of images of upcoming movies this summer and we’ll show you each one in a series of posts over the next few days.

Title: The Debt

Director: John Madden

Cast: Sam Worthington, Ciarán Hinds, Helen Mirren, Tom Wilkinson, Jessica Chastain, Jesper Christensen, Adar Beck

Synopsis: In 1965, three young Israeli Mossad agents on a secret mission capture and kill a notorious Nazi war criminal. Now, thirty years later, a man claiming to be the Nazi has surfaced in Ukraine and one of the former agents must go back undercover to seek out the truth.

UK Release date: 30th September

Trailer: Click here to view

The Green Hornet had a great cast and a visionary director on board and with Michel Gondry’s film out on Blu-ray and DVD next Monday we’ve been sent this fine clip to entice you to part with your money.

Of course, you’ll want to read Craig’s review first. Done that? Right, onto the vid.

The clip is entitled ‘You’re the Mastermind’so expect sycophancy and arcobatic fighting to go hand in hand with this one and if you held off from catching it at the cinema then this gives a fairly good idea of the hijinx on display in Gondry’s films.

Now that 3D TVs are out there’s a new category to delineate and I’ve included s the full whack of extras and features present out on the 3D Blu-ray, Blu-ray and DVD below the clip.

Here’s your clip,

Extras.

Blu-ray 3D Bonus Material

• Feature Film in 3d
• 3D Animated Storyboard Comparisons (exclusive to the 3D Blu-ray)
• Filmmakers’ Commentary

Blu-ray Bonus Material

• Feature Film in 2D
• The Green Hornet Cutting Room (exclusive to the Blu-ray)
• Deleted Scenes
• “Awesoom” -Gag Reel
• Filmmakers’ Commentary
• “Trust Me” –Director Michel Gondry featurette
• Writing The Green Hornet featurette
• The Black Beauty: Rebirth of Cool featurette
• The Stunt Family Armstrong featurette
• Finding Kato featurette
• The Art of Destruction featurette
• movieIQ
• Jay Chou Audition (Easter Egg)
• Double Barrel (Easter Egg)

DVD Bonus Material

• “Awesoom” –Gag Reel
• Filmmakers’ Commentary
• Writing The Green Hornet featurette
• The Black Beauty: Rebirth of Cool featurette

We showed you a poster a few days back for “The Debt”, the latest film from John Madden (Shakespeare in Love, Mrs Brown), all about three Israeli Mossad agents who venture into East Berlin looking for the Surgeon of Birkenau, a notorious Nazi who had experimented on people during the Holocaust. The film matches the 1965 pursuit of the Surgeon with the more present day struggles of the now more aged Israelis, as they continue to try to come to terms with all that unfolded during that mission.

The trailer is suitably atmospheric and portentous, giving us lots of very earnest seeming performances and plenty of heft to all of the emoting. It looks like this might be a highly engaging piece and (as is so often the case), here’s to hoping it can keep up with expectations.

Enjoy the trailer below – The Debt is due out in the US late in August 2011.

When the screener for the first two episodes of The Kennedys arrived I was honestly excited, for here sits a person whose university dissertation was entitled ‘Goodbye Norma Jean’ and focussed on that period of US history which the Kennedy family led America and gave hope to the world.

For me and for many others, the Kennedys have an enduring appeal, as much for their expressed political values as for their imperfections and I have found them compelling despite these.  This is pretty much the mindset that one needs to apply to this series.  The series begins on The History Channel tonight after a reportedly chequered journey to the screen, already denounced by the family it depicts and much maligned crtiically as a poor version of a very good story.  Despite all this I quite liked it.

This TV bound series, part family biopic, part political drama, part history play can more readily be defined by what it is not.  It is in no way shocking, ground breaking or epic.  The main actors (Greg Kinnear as Jack, Barry Pepper as Bobby, Tom Wilkinson as Joe and, of course, Katie Homes as Jackie) seem uncertain of themselves, like children caught playing dress-up in mummy’s room.  There is much chin scratching, many hands wrung and determined, desperate looks given but there is a disconnect.  The actors look like the characters they have been cast as, sounds like them, but there is no punch to their performances.  This is a family that has been well documented in film, was among the first to be captured in the press and is much loved around the world, so the look and feel is very important and although the production values are high, nothing here seems lovingly done.

Stephen Kronish’s script struggles to maintain pace while some of the most beautifully crafted sentences ever written in modern politics (“Ask not what your country can do for you” for instance) are delivered without build up and fall rather limply at the audience waiting for us to fill in the blanks of scenes that could have made this a joined up, well told story, but sadly must have perished on the cutting room floor.   Above all the series seems confused as to the focus and does not seem to make the connections between telling the story of Joe’s relationships with his sons and family, Jack’s presidency or his philandering, or Boddy’s morality.  It has been put together in such a way that had I known better I would have been surprised that Jack was interested in politics at all, or going through the motions to please his dad.  If my knowledge of the family was derived from this series alone, I doubt I would have much cared.

The series receives a 8.4/10 scoring on iMBD and having seen only the first four episodes I can only assume it improves as it goes on.  As the episodes that follow cover JFK’s and RFK’s deaths, it cannot fail to be compelling.  Bobby’s speech, in which he quotes the Greek poet Aeschylus, after the assassination of Martin Luther King can still give me goosebumps: “Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart until, in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God.”  With a tale so sad and such potential and hope quashed who can fail but tune in?  I know I will be watching, for the story it is telling rather than for the success with which tells it.

Been a while since we saw anything new for Helen Mirren’s new movie, The Debt so I thought I’d take the opportunity to place this new poster. The Debt is directed by John Madden and also stars Sam Worthington, Tom Wilkinson, Ciarán Hinds, Jessica Chastain and Marton Csokas.

Synopsis: In 1965, three young Israeli Mossad agents on a secret mission capture and kill a notorious Nazi war criminal. Now, thirty years later, a man claiming to be the Nazi has surfaced in Ukraine and one of the former agents must go back undercover to seek out the truth.

We’ve had a trailer for The Debt a while ago which shows Sam Worthington with a rather dodgy hair cut. You can have a watch here or scroll down to view the new poster.

Source: IMPA

**Read all the posts in our ‘Love Theatrically’ series here**

#1 – “ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF

THE SPOTLESS MIND” (2004)

Directed by Michel Gondry

Whether we’re simply trying to remember where we put last night’s lottery ticket or desperately trying to forget an unsuccessful past romance our memories can, and always will, be the most fragile of friends. For where one may suddenly ignite in an incandescent display of clarity another may equally fade into half remembered shadows and stubbornly refuse to budge. So imagine then if we were offered the opportunity to erase our unwanted memories and simply drag and drop them into a kind of cerebral trash bin.

It’s this very premise that Charlie Kaufman so memorably explores with his superb screenplay for “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”, a film that fuses Kaufman’s exemplary grasp of screenwriting with Michel Gondry’s divine display of directorial panache before mixing in career best performances from Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet and serving us a film that more than earns it’s place atop my list of all time favourite romantic movies.

As mind-bogglingly confusing and deliriously inventive as it is heartbreakingly poignant and bewitchingly romantic it’s a testament to both cast and crew that the film never falls apart amidst its labyrinthine narrative.

Setting the majority of the film inside the head of Joel Barish affords Gondry the opportunity to both amaze and delight with an array of awe-inspiring visual techniques that he gleefully employs in order to represent the gradual disintegration of Joel’s fondest memories.

Eclipsing even his standout turn in Peter Weir’s “The Truman Show” Carrey delivers a delicately layered performance as Joel that eschews his usual pantomime theatrics in favour of a far more restrained and subtle performance that pulses with pain, regret, sadness, fragility, hope, loss and, of course, love. For as Joel’s memories slowly begin to crumble so too does he begin to experience the unmistakable rush of romance all over again as he relives past moments in his time with the seemingly unforgettable Clementine and discovers that whilst not all his memories are necessarily blissfully happy ones there are still a great deal that just might be worth holding onto after all.

And with Joel’s object of affection, his darling Clementine, played by the divine Kate Winslet the film soars to even greater heights with Winslet delivering what, for me, is one of her greatest roles to date as a true free spirit, an untamed heart and a girl as wildly colourful as her ever changing hairstyle. It’s Winslet that ultimately provides the film with its true heart and lends the film a beautifully nuanced core round which to stage the action.

As the film progresses ever further into memory the audience will surely be rooting for Joel to hold onto these last few precious memories and whilst the conclusion may not offer up the archetypal happy ending it does, however, end on a note of hopeful ambiguity that acts as the perfect counterbalance to the preceding events.

Praise should also be afforded to the wonderful supporting cast that includes Kirsten Dunst, Elijah Wood, Mark Ruffalo and Tom Wilkinson. And whilst a subplot involving Dunst and Wilkinson may appear somewhat unnecessary and superfluous amidst the chaos the film certainly never suffers as a result.

“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” is, quite simply, a bona-fide masterpiece and a film I will never cease to be amazed by. Brimming with creativity, visual flair, consummate acting and a stunning screenplay it resonates with the kind of warmth, passion, energy, charm, spirit and heart that only a truly great romantic movie can possibly possess. That it does so whilst simultaneously sending my brain into paroxysms of delight with its superbly structured screenplay is but another reason why I recommend it so enthusiastically, so fervently and so damn passionately. It’s a film about an unforgettable love that truly reminds me why I love films themselves and for this reason alone deserves to be seen by everyone.

“You can erase someone from your mind”, quotes the movie tagline, “Getting them out of  your heart is another story” Similarly “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” is certain to find a place in yours. Quite simply unforgettable …

“How happy is the blameless vestal’s lot! / The world forgetting, by the world forgot /Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind! / Each pray’r accepted, and each wish resign’d.”

Track #14 – “EVERYBODY’S GOTTA LEARN SOMETIME”

Written by James Warren

(Performed by Beck)

And so it is that we reach the end of this most passionate of pilgrimages and take time to reflect upon the past two weeks. You’ll no doubt agree it’s been quite the fantastic voyage and one that has seen us travel the world Tokyo to Vienna, Wisconsin to Wyoming, Hawaii to New Jersey, New Zealand to Minnesota and Montmartre to Montauk before being flung back in time to the 16th Century and forwards again to the distant future. It’s seen us  journey inside both our memories and our wildest dreams not to mention our darkest desires and witness love in a multitude of forms including unrequited, unexpected, unchronological, forbidden, forgotten and fleeting. And, lest we forget, it’s also allowed us to spend time with fourteen truly memorable couples.

And so, on that note,  it leaves me only to wish everyone out there a most glorious Valentine’s Day from Barry and Lena, Jarrod and Lily, Stéphane and Stéphanie, Ennis and Jack, Lars and Bianca, Amélie and Nino, Lee and Edward, Holden and Alyssa, Juno and Paulie, Tommy and Izzi, Tom and Summer, Jesse and Celine, Bob and Charlotte and Joel and Clementine …

… oh, and of course from ‘lil ‘ole me!

*****

“The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return.”

MOULIN ROUGE (2001)

Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions, via Yahoo! Movies, have released the first official trailer for political thriller The Conspirator.

Directed by Robert Redford, The Conspirator stars Robin Wright, James McAvoy, Justin Long, Evan Rachel Wood, Tom Wilkinson, Alexis Bledel, Johnny Simmons, Toby Kebbell, Kevin Kline and Danny Huston.

In the wake of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, seven men and one woman are arrested and charged with conspiring to kill the President, Vice-President, and Secretary of State. The lone woman charged, Mary Surratt (Wright), 42, owns a boarding house where John Wilkes Booth and others met and planned the simultaneous attacks. Against the ominous back-drop of post-Civil War Washington, newly-minted lawyer, Frederick Aiken (McAvoy), a 28-year-old Union war-hero, reluctantly agrees to defend Surratt before a military tribunal. Aiken realizes his client may be innocent and that she is being used as bait and hostage in order to capture the only conspirator to have escaped a massive manhunt: her own son, John (Simmons).

The Conspirator will be released in the US in April. A UK release date is not yet known.

To celebrate last week’s release of The Green Hornet, Sony have given us four of these rather Green Hornet branded mugs to give away! Let me sell it to you…. They’re eco-friendly (“green”, terrible pun but great relevance), re-usable and just generally quite unique! How was that?!

The Green Hornet is directed by Michel Gondry and stars Seth Rogen, Cameron Diaz, Christoph Waltz, Edward Furlong, Edward James Olmos, Tom Wilkinson and Jay Chou will play the part originally made famous by Bruce Lee, Kato. You can read our review of the movie here.

Synopsis: Britt Reid (Seth Rogen), son and heir to Los Angeles’ largest newspaper fortune, is a rich, spoiled playboy who has been happy to maintain a direction-less existence. When his father James Reid (Tom Wilkinson) dies, Britt meets an impressive and resourceful company employee, Kato (Jay Chou). They realize that they have the resources to do something worthwhile with their lives and finally step out of James Reid’s shadow. Kato builds the ultimate weapon, The Black Beauty, an indestructible car with every weapon imaginable and Britt decides that in order to be heroes, they will pose as villains. With the help of Britt’s new secretary, Lenore Case (Cameron Diaz), they learn that the chief criminal in the city is named Benjamin Chudnofsky (Christoph Waltz). He has united all the gangs under his power, and he quickly sees that the Green Hornet is a direct threat to the prosperous criminal underworld he controls.

We’ve also got a couple of nice new featurettes for you, one focusing on Black Beauty and the other on Kato.

Now, back to the competition! To win one of these rather nice mugs, all you have to do is answer the following question using the form below:

Which martial arts legend played the character, Kato, in the 1966 TV series, The Green Hornet?

The small print:

• The competition is open to UK residents only
• Only one entry per household will be counted
• The competition will close January 28th at 23.59 GMT
• The winner will be picked at random from entries received

COMPETITION NOW CLOSED

HeyUGuys are giving you the chance to win a copy of the 2010 comedy Jackboots on Whitehall, the other film in which Timothy Spall plays Winston Churchill. And Hitler’s in a dress. It’s madcap. You know the sort of thing.

Here’s a synopsis,

The action begins as the Nazis – led by the campest Hitler on record (Alan Cumming) – plan an invasion of England. As Winston Churchill (Timothy Spall) plots an evacuation to Scot Land… somewhere in England’s green and pleasant countryside, farmworker Chris (Ewan McGregor) is trying to win the heart of Daisy (Rosamund Pike) while rueing the fact that he can’t fight for his country because his “hands are too big”

The DVD is out on the 24th January and we’ve got three copies to give away and all you have to do is answer the following question using the form below.

What was the other 2010 film in which Timothy Spall played Churchill?

The small print:

• The competition is open to UK residents only
• Only one entry per household will be counted
• The competition will close January 24th at 23.59 GMT
• The winner will be picked at random from entries received

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

COMPETITON NOW CLOSED