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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Source: CineHeroes via Collider.

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

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

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

Here’s a synopsis,

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

and here’s the video,

Apple have debuted the first trailer for Willem Dafoe’s new movie, The Hunter which sees him traveling across the Tasmanian jungle looking for what people believe is the extinct Tasmanian Tiger. Although rules extinct in 1936, sightings continue to this day…. at least that’s what he trailer tells us. The Hunter also stars Sam Neil and Frances O’Connor and it looks like a pretty fab movie, full of intensity and is collecting awards at various festivals including Toronto Film Festival and is directed by Daniel Nettheim.

No news as yet on when it’ll be available in the UK but oddly, Apple are releasing the movie in the US via iTunes over a month before it’s in US cinemas. It’ll be on iTunes 2nd March and then in cinemas 6th April.

Have a watch of the trailer below:

THE HUNTER is the story of Martin, a skilled and ruthless mercenary sent into the Tasmanian wilderness on a hunt for a tiger believed to be extinct. Hired by an anonymous company that wants the tiger’s genetic material, Martin arrives in Tasmania posing as a scientist. He proceeds to set up base camp at a broken-down farmhouse, where he stays with a family whose father has gone missing. Usually a loner, Martin becomes increasingly close to the family; however, as his attachment to the family grows, Martin is led down a path of unforeseen dangers, complicating his deadly mission.

Source: Apple

To mark the release of Adam Resurrected on DVD 30th January, Trinity Film have given us three copies of the movie to give away. Adam Resurrected is directed by Paul Schrader and stars Jeff Goldblum, Willem Dafoe, Derek Jacobi and Ayelet Zurer.

Discover the fearless story of a Holocaust survivor, as the powerful World War II drama ADAM RESURRECTED comes to DVD on 30 January 2012, courtesy of Trinity Films.

This extraordinary tale is masterfully adapted from prize winning author Yoram Kanuik’s 1968 novel and is brought to life by director Paul Schrader (Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, American Gigolo) with captivating performances from an impressive cast including Jeff Goldblum (Jurassic Park, Independence Day), Willem Dafoe (Spider-man, The English Patient), Derek Jacobi (Gladiator, The King’s Speech) and Ayelet Zurer (Angels and Demons, Vantage Point).

Adam Stein (Goldblum). The funniest man in Germany. And a Jew. Taken to a Nazi concentration camp upon Hitler’s rise to power, Adam faces near-certain death in the gas chamber. Until he is spotted by the camp Commandant who recognises Adam as a performer and for his own sadistic pleasure, offers him a chance of staying alive…by becoming the Commandant’s pet ‘dog’. But as Adam is to discover, this ‘survival’ will come at a terrible price.

Adam Resurrected in released on DVD on 30th January, courtesy of Trinity Films.

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

After The Lion King 3D did tremendously well at the box office towards the end of last year, Disney and Pixar announced that they would be bringing back four from their collection – two each – to the big screen in 3D.

Kicking things off will be Beauty and the Beast, which the States are set to get this coming weekend – alas, I think we have to wait until May in the UK – and then following towards the end of the year will be Finding Nemo, and DisneyPixar’s YouTube have just put up the first trailer for the re-released film. After Finding Nemo is re-released, we can then look forward to seeing Monsters, Inc. and The Little Mermaid in all new dimensions next year.

“Nemo, an adventurous young clownfish, is unexpectedly taken to a dentist’s office aquarium. It’s up to Marlin (Albert Brooks), his worrisome father, and Dory (Ellen DeGeneres), a friendly but forgetful Regal Blue Tang, to make the epic journey to bring Nemo home. Their adventure brings them face-to-face with vegetarian sharks, surfer dude turtles, hypnotic jellyfish, hungry seagulls, and more. Marlin discovers a bravery he never knew, but will he be able to find his son?”

Along with Albert Brooks and Ellen DeGeneres, the film also found a supporting cast lending their voices to the animated family favourite that included Alexander Gould as the eponymous Nemo, Willem Dafoe, Brad Garrett, Allison Janney, Stephen Root and his NewsRadio co-star Vicki Lewis (if you haven’t seen the show, I highly recommend it), Geoffrey Rush, Eric Bana, and many more.

Directed by Andrew Stanton, Finding Nemo’s first run back in 2003 saw it take just under $900m., making it, unadjusted for inflation, the 26th-highest-grossing film of all time, going on to win an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. Pretty impressive stuff.

I missed it when it was first released in the cinema, and am still yet to see it in the years since then – which I am frequently told is a crime whenever the film is mentioned – so I’m already quite looking forward to seeing this when it gets its re-release. The US are set to get it on 14th September this year, and hopefully we won’t have long to wait after that to see it here too. Here’s the new trailer to begin the excitement.

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

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

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

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

All our John Cater coverage can be seen here.

Source: AndromedaHigh via Coming Soon

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Having worked with the brilliant (and somewhat controversial) writer-director Lars von Trier on his last two films, Melancholia and Antichrist, Charlotte Gainsbourg is now in talks to join him for his next outing, The Nymphomaniac, Variety report.

The film is still at the script stage, with von Trier penning the script himself, and is to be divided into eight chapters. Specific plot details are still being kept under wraps, but it is known that it will be an explicit exploration of a woman’s erotic life, and so there are two versions that are planned to be released – a softcore cut for mainstrea release, alongside a hardcore one.

Two of von Trier’s other past collaborators, Stellan Skarsgård (Melancholia) and Willem Dafoe (Antichrist), are also thought to have been approached by the director, and given the nature of the brief plot description we have so far, we could be in for another controversial von Trier film.

Gainsbourg won the Best Actress award at Cannes for Antichrist two years ago, and was absolutely brilliant opposite Kirsten Dunst – who won the same award for Melancholia this year – in von Trier’s Melancholia. If you missed it in its brief run in UK cinemas this September, I highly recommend picking it up when it hits the shelves on DVD/Blu-Ray on 23^rd January.

Von Trier and Gainsbourg have clearly got a great track record with the director’s last two films, so news that she’ll be returning to work for him for The Nymphomaniac sounds excellent to me. Artificial Eye have already pre-bought the rights to distribute the film in the UK, which is also brilliant news, so though the film’s still in the scripting stage, we shouldn’t have any concerns about it not reaching our shores whenever its release comes. More on this as we get it.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

John Carter will be released 9th March 2012.

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

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

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

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

Here’s the poster,

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

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

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

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

Read more at EW and the link above.

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

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

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

Image follows. Click if the mood takes you.

Avoiding the obvious pun of ‘Things are looking up for John Carter’ isn’t easy – hence the title of the post. Sorry about that.

But hey – John Carter (of Mars) fans – here’s a new picture to cut out and keep – showing our hero in a hole, presumably on Mars. As new looks go it’s not exactly crawling with detail and spoilers but for those keeping an eye on Andrew Stanton’s film this should suffice until another trailer comes out.

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

Those gnashing their teeth in anticipation for a synopsis to the film need gnash no longer.

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

Here’s the pic, all the way from Total Film,

Known as a novelist first and foremost, author and debut film-maker Julia Leigh wanted to ask the question, what would it be like to be a ‘sleeping beauty’, after reading two novellas by Yasunari Kawabata and Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

Officially selected at Cannes 2011, Leigh’s film, Sleeping Beauty, is a haunting portrait of Lucy (played by Emily Browning), a young university student drawn into the mysterious hidden world of beauty and desire. Lucy takes a job as a Sleeping Beauty, where drugged, Lucy must be absolutely submissive to the erotic desires of old men. But her work starts to bleed into her daily life as she develops an increasing need to find out what happens to her when she is asleep.

Julia tells us about the origins of her ideas, Jane Campion’s involvement, and working with Emily Browning, how a certain scene shocked her, and gives her reaction to the label by some of Sleeping Beauty being merely ‘exploitation porn’. 

HeyUGuys: Where did the ideas for Sleeping Beauty come from?

Julia Leigh: For me, the question of inspiration is always an exercise in hindsight because in truth, it’s completely mysterious to me why something arises? There are a number of things, of course the classic fairy tale. I had read and really loved two novellas by Kawabata and Garcia Marquez, which are stories told from the point of view of older men who pay to sleep next to drugged girls. In the Bible, King David sends out to sleep the night alongside sleeping virgins. There are sleeping girls on the Internet. So Sleeping Beauty was out there already as a concept. On a more personal note, after my novel The Hunter came out, I did have a recurring nightmare of being filmed in my sleep, and it was quite compelling because you dream you are asleep in your own bed when you are asleep in your own bed, so it’s very hard to know what’s a dream and what’s reality. I did start to think we are all vulnerable in our sleep, and it’s almost as though we like to forget that. I started to think what it would be like to know something not very good happened to you, and how would that seep down into your waking life and destabilise you.

HUG: You said you set out to make a film where audiences would say ‘Did I really see that?’ Did you set out to shock audiences with this?

JL: I didn’t because I didn’t think that far ahead. There was nothing at all calculating about it, so I can’t say I had an intention to shock.

HUG: How easy was it to get people interested in the script beforehand, and then after Jane Campion got involved?

JL: At one point the script was on the Hollywood ‘Black List’, a list of un-produced screenplays in Hollywood that often do go on to be made into films. People were aware of it. But it didn’t get made in America – and I didn’t want it to. In Australia we’ve got a really good public funding system. The principle investor in this film was Screen Australia, the funding body, and it was this body that introduced me to Jane Campion, and wisely they thought it would be good for me to have a mentor figure – someone who I could ask questions of. Jane read he script. I held my breath. Thankfully she responded to it and she agreed to come on board. She was around for most of pre-production and she was away during the shoot – I always knew that would be the case. She came back in post and I showed her an early cut. She did suggest some trims but did give encouragement that we were on the right track. That was incredible comfort to me at that time. Since then she has continued to be incredibly generous we the support of the film.

HUG: How cathartic was the actual film-making process in allowing you to visual get your ideas across?

JL: The script developed a little bit during production because you always have those exergies that you have to deal with. First of all I couldn’t afford to worry or to look down in any way. I just decided to be very vigilant about all the small things. I felt that if I held the line through production then my leap of faith was if I created these conditions then something good would come of it.

HUG: You did a long ‘director’s treatment’ describing each scene in detail. Were there any scenes that when actually acted out in front of you affected you more than expected?

JL: One of the more confronting scenes in the Sleeping Beauty Chamber involving Man 2 (the sadist) and Lucy, we did a lot of preparation, including with my DoP, because the style of the film with its longer takes and the camera as the steady witness, meant that we had to really marry the camera to the performance that was unfolding. We did a little rehearsal with a home video camera and a bed with a husband and wife couple that I know. I had to think about how long to stay in a scene, and how to maintain the pace of the film that we did as we were making it. When we were doing this first run, I did call cut pretty early because it was hard for me to watch too. But then I had to sort of still myself and become unflinching.

HUG: You said you picked up some character mannerisms during the filming period – what did you mean by that?

JL: When you’re in the edit, you see things over and over and over and over again, and you hear lines over and over, so it’s easy to. I can’t give you an example.

HUG: Was there anything Emily who plays Lucy was a little dubious about doing?

JL: I think she was concerned that I’d actually ask her… I don’t want to spoil the magic of the first scene! So I think she might have been concerned about this and what I was asking her to do, but she had no cause to worry.

HUG: Emily told us she actual felt more comfortable with no clothes on.

JL: Oh great, I love her [laughs]. She’s so great and you know what, I recognise I was very lucky to work with her. My life could have been very different

HUG: Some will see Sleeping Beauty as ‘exploitation porn’. What do you say to that, and what do you hope audiences will discover from watching it?

JL: This film has already received many different responses. Some people really love it, and then again it’s not for others. I’m aware of that and that’s fine by me. I have zero control over how people feel about the film, so I don’t feel I have to defend the film at all. My hope is that this film does allow the audience to use their own imagination. It is a memorable film.

HUG: As a female watching it with males, some were shocked that a female would produce such a film showing a female being exploited. How do you find that?

JL: Really? Why were they so easily shocked? I think this is good. I think you should write about it. I think I’m a step ahead of that game, the question of exploitation, but it is something I’m aware of.

HUG: Were there any scenes that didn’t make the final cut?

JNL: There were a couple of scenes that just showed Lucy in her everyday life that for technical reasons didn’t work. But it’s pretty faithful to the original script. We did drop some scenes, which I was amazed by, as it was a pretty short script, like Lucy walking along in an alley, for example. We did not lose anything from the Chamber world or the Sleeping Beauty world.

HUG: How do you describe Lucy’s relationship with Birdmann?

JL: They are really close friends, and I guess they’re both people who refuse to be well adjusted, if you like, so they’re kind of a safe harbour for one another. I remember in my early twenties, the friendships that I formed then were very intense, close friendships. It’s maybe because you’ve left home and you’ve left the strictures of compulsory education and you’re trying to find your own way in the world and our ‘own folk’ if you like. I do think those friendships are very important; hence Lucy and Birdmann are very close friends.

HUG: You’ve now had a taste of film-making. Any more plans to make more films, say adapting one of your own novels?

JL: I would love to. The Hunter has just been made into a film by Daniel Nettheim, starring Willem Dafoe, Sam Neill and Frances O’Connor that premiered at Toronto Film Festival this year, and just opened on Thursday in Australia – I think it will be released here (UK) later. I’m friends with Daniel and the producer Vincent Sheehan, but I chose not to read the script or attend cuts, so I just saw it at the premiere. In terms of my other films that I could adapt, I’d have to think about it. I do want to continue making films, though.

HUG: Are you working on anything at the moment?

JL: I do have a couple of secret things [smiles] but I’m not telling…

Sleeping Beauty is in cinemas this Friday (October 14). Look out for the review, coming soon.

To read our exclusive interview with Julia Leigh’s star of the film, Emily Browning, check back on the site tomorrow.

When a horribly burned stranger is discovered and subsequently cared for by allied forces the secrets of his past and his identity are gradually revealed over the film’s extensive running time. The stranger is Count Almásy a Hungarian cartographer who is employed to map out the Sahara desert with a number of explorers. However as they’re undertaking their task World War II begins and Almásy finds himself caught up in events that lead up to him being disfigured and being cared for.

As is expected of a film of this stature, The English Patient was incredibly successful at the 1997 Academy Awards bagging nine Oscars including Best Picture. Some would obviously have wanted to have seen Fargo win best picture but it’s easy to see why The English Patient was the major success story and resonated so highly with the voters; it is in many ways a film in the traditional Hollywood sense in terms of its epic scale of story and the story at its heart.

Revisiting it for this review was a joy and I’d forgotten just how much I like the film. I don’t think it’s perfect by any means and feel that the pacing is an issue that lets the film down at times which is a complaint that can be directed at many films that approach the three hour mark and it can be a little melodramatic at times but I’d be lying if I said that the room didn’t get a little misty at times.

However, these are minor complaints for what is a rather incredible film. The film boasts a great cast that are without exception on fine form and deliver magnificent performances. Anthony Mighella and editor Walter Murch have shaped a compelling and engaging film from an initial script that would to many have seemed rather unwieldy given its closeness to a seemingly un-filmable source novel.

The emotional heart at the film is never overplayed and for the most part the film is incredibly understated when portraying the relationships that drive the key characters’ behaviours and actions. It’s this understatement that makes it so effective when the moments of passion and conflict emerge.

John Seale’s cinematography is the films greatest strength and is the area of the film that most benefits from this HD transfer. The film is beautifully shot and Seale makes the most of the wonderful locations taken in.

The years have been very kind to The English Patient and it’s a films ability to stand the test of time that is a true sign of quality. Not a perfect film by any means but one that is incredibly well made and is a thoroughly rewarding viewing experience.

Film ****~ (4/5)

Unlike the Canadian BluRay release, that has been available for some time now, this release is 1080p visual transfer rather than the 1080i the previous version had as well as a host of extra features whereas the Canadian version had none whatsoever. Other 1080p transfers have been previously available however; the Hong Kong version boasted a full HD transfer but didn’t offer the cleanest print and like the Canadian version was region A locked. A region B offering has been available in Germany for a while now and it appears that this is the version that this UK release bears most similarities to.

Previous versions of the film have suffered from numerous faults with the transfer such as dirt on the print and compression. I can spot such overt faults relatively easily but would never to have the keenest of eyes when it comes to these kinds of things. That being said though this transfer seems to be of a considerably higher quality than previous releases, I’d go as far to say that there were times when watching the film that I was amazed at just how good the transfer was. Faults exist here and there but for the most part it’s a very solid offering from a visual standpoint that more than justifies an upgrade over DVD.

The sound is also very impressive; this was an area where other releases of the film earned a decent amount of praise. Presented in full 5.1 DTS-HD MA; it’s well mixed and features plenty of moments to give home cinema systems a decent workout. For the most part the sound is quite subtle as would be expected from a film so heavily reliant on dialogue such as this but it makes the moments when things kick into action all the more effective.

All of the extras here have been available previously on the special edition DVD release of the film although there were some on that edition that haven’t made their way over here. That being said though there’s still an extensive offering of features here.

There are two commentary tracks; the first is a solo offering from Anthony Minghella where he guides the listener through a detailed look at the film covering nearly all aspects of the production during the films extensive runtime. The second commentary also features Minghella but this time he’s also joined by the film’s producer Saul Zaentz and the author of the source novel Michael Ondaatje. A lot is covered in this commentary but a lot of what was discussed here was dealt with in the previous commentary offering very little incentive to take in both. If faced with the choice go for the former rather than the latter.

There are individual features on both Zaentz and Ondaatje the former is a slight piece that mainly involves a lot of backslapping and the latter is a bit more informative and explores the evolution of the story and its adaptation to the screen. There’s also another feature that explores the adaptation of the novel to the screenplay which is imaginatively titled “From Novel to Screenplay” which is a short feature where cast and crew discuss their experiences reading the novel and making the film.

Filmmaker Conversations features Minghella, Zaentz, Ondaatje and the films editor Walter Murch discuss the making of the film. It’s by no means an interesting feature and should be avoided unless you insist on taking in all of the features.

The most interesting of all of the features is “A Historical Look at the Real Count Almasy” which is as the title suggests and explores the films main characters before and during World War II.

Sure, there are some features missing here that were present on the DVD Special Edition and there are minor faults here and there with the picture but this is still an incredibly impressive catalogue release that should please fans of the film.

The Disc ****~ (4/5)

To mark the 29th August release of  Farewell on DVD, Universal Pictures (UK) have given us five copies of the movie to give away. Farewell is directed by Christian Carion and stars Willem Dafoe, Guillaume Canet, Emir Kusturica, David Soul and Fred Ward.

In 1981, disenchanted with what the communist ideal has become, KGB Colonel Gregoriev (Emir Kusturica-Underground ) decides to change the world by passing on secret US documents to Pierre (Guillaume Canet -Tell No One, Little White Lies), a French engineer working in Moscow. With Pierre acting as a reluctant go-between, the valuable documents find their way into the hands of France’s President Mitterrand and the French Secret Service, who give the Moscow source the codename ‘Farewell’.

Based on a true story, Farewell reveals one of the most astounding espionage cases to come out of the Cold War. Directed by Bafta Award nominated Christian Carion (Joyeux Noel), Farewell features a stellar award-winning cast including Alexandra Maria Lara (The Reader) and Willem Dafoe (Spiderman 3) who convincingly depict the paranoia of the time as well as the courage and bravery of the individuals involved.

Willem Dafoe played which comic book Villain in the Sam Raimi Spider-Man films?

COMPETITION NOW CLOSED

The small print:

• Open to UK residents only
• Only one entry per household will be counted
• The competition will close 12th 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!