The Week in Spandex - The Avengers, The Amazing Spider-Man, The Dark Knight Rises, Doctor Strange, Man of Steel, Ghost Rider and more

Presenting our weekly round-up of the big news stories from the world of movie superheroes…

After giving us a sneak peek at The Dark Knight Rises back in November, Britain’s Empire Magazine has now turned their attention to The Avengers, delivering plenty of Marvel goodness within the pages of their latest issue. Along with individual covers featuring new shots of Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Captain America (Chris Evans), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) – the latter giving us our first glimpse of Stark’s new Mark VII suit – and a special subscriber-only cover depicting said heroes assembled, the magazine also includes some interesting quotes from the cast and crew of the $300m blockbuster. Among the highlights was confirmation from Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige that the Red Skull will not make an appearance, with Feige also going on to touch upon the identity of Loki’s (Tom Hiddleston) mysterious army: “It's not Skrulls, I've been clear about that. Beyond that, we want to hide it. The identity of the alien race is not impactful. It exists in the comic books, but we're not setting up the Kree-Skrull war or anything like that." Check out ComicBookMovie for a summary of all the info contained in the issue, and head on over to Marvel.com for five new images from the hotly-anticipated ensemble.

Meanwhile, in one final bit of news from The Avengers, English actress and 70s pin-up Jenny Agutter (Logan’s Run, An American Werewolf in London) spoke to the Radio Times about working on the film, with the article indicating that ‘Spider-Man and Iron Man’ were present on Joss Whedon’s set. Now, before everyone gets too excited, you’d have to expect the Spider-Man reference to be a slip of the tongue on Agutter’s part, especially considering that Sony have the movie rights to the character and have The Amazing Spider-Man set for release just two months later. However, seeing as that’s a brand new reboot of the character, is there a chance that Marvel could have thrown a boat load of money Sony’s way for a fan-pleasing cameo from the web-crawler? Sadly, if I was a betting man, I’d have to go with no…

Sticking with the Marvel Cinematic Universe for a moment, we already know that the studio are gearing up to go into production on Iron Man 3 and Thor 2 for release next year, but this past week has brought forth some details that may give us an idea of the two mystery movies they have scheduled for 2014. First up came reports that the proposed Doctor Strange feature is about to become a reality, with Joblo posting the following synopsis: "Doctor Strange centres around a New York surgeon, who stops running his practice after suffering injuries in a car crash. He then becomes a drifter and heads to the Himalayas, where he meets a healer and discovers that he has a great psychic power to fight against evil. Doctor Strange boasts powers that includes telepathy, teleportation, energy and astral projection." Meanwhile Captain America: The First Avenger star Neal McDonough told IMDb TV that Captain America 2 will go into production as soon as Thor wraps, while he also said he hoped to follow that up by reprising the role of Dum Dum Dugan alongside Samuel L. Jackson for the long-rumoured Nick Fury solo movie.

While it's unlikely that we'll be seeing Spider-Man in The Avengers, the friendly neighbourhood web-crawler will of course be swinging onto screens this July and The Times of India have posted a new synopsis for the Marc Webb-directed reboot, which reveals that Oscorp will play an important role in the story: "The Amazing Spider-Man is the story of Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield), an outcast high schooler who was abandoned by his parents as a boy, leaving him to be raised by his Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen) and Aunt May (Sally Field). Like most teenagers, Peter is trying to figure out who he is and how he got to be the person he is today. Peter is also finding his way with his first high school crush, Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone), and together, they struggle with love, commitment, and secrets. As Peter discovers a mysterious briefcase that belonged to his father, he begins a quest to understand his parents' disappearance - leading him directly to Oscorp and the lab of Dr Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans), his father's former partner. As Spider-Man is set on a collision course with Connors' alter-ego, The Lizard, Peter will make life-altering choices to use his powers and shape his destiny to become a hero." So, if Oscorp is present, does that mean we'll also get a quick cameo from Norman Osborn...?

Now that young actress Joey King has let that cat out of the bag and confirmed that Talia al Ghul is present in The Dark Knight Rises, it would seem that Liam Neeson has thought 'what the hell?' and decided to follow suit by admitting that he'll be back as Ra's al Ghul: "I can tell you nothing about The Dark Knight Rises, seriously. I was on set for maybe an hour-and-a-half and the director didn’t tell me anything of what it’s about. So, I’m being very honest when I say I have no idea what’s going to happen." Meanwhile star Christian Bale has also been speaking about his on-screen alter-ego, explaining to the New York Daily News how he takes inspiration from the Batman: Year One incarnation of the character and - most intriguingly - revealing to Empire that TDKR may not be his final outing under the cape and cowl after all: "All I know is the likelihood that this will be the last one [but] if Chris goes, 'Hey, I've got another story I think could be interesting,' then yeah, great, I'd go do that. I always assumed it would be three, but I could be wrong." Nolan has of course previously stated that The Dark Knight Rises would be his final Batman feature, although he is expected to remain involved in the franchise in a producing capacity for future installments. Could that be enough to tempt Bale back for a fourth time..?

Wrapping up the best of the rest...

...Having settled their legal dispute over the movie rights to The Crow, Relativity Media and The Weinstein Company are pushing on with their plans to reboot the series, with reports emerging that the two studios have hired screenwriter Jesse Wigutow and director Javier Gutiérrez to tackle the remake. The Crow was previously in the hands of 28 Weeks Later director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, with Bradley Cooper signed up for the lead role, although there's no word yet as to whether The Hangover star is in the frame once again...

...In a case of 'what might have been', David Bowie's ex-wife Angela Bowie revealed that she was granted the TV rights to Daredevil and Black Widow for a proposed television series during the 1970s, even going so far as to pose for photographs in character (yes, that really is meant to be the Man Without Fear), while the former model was also considered for the role of Wonder Woman prior to Lynda Carter's casting in 1975...

...Last week it was rumoured that Fox were turning their attention to Chronicle director Josh Trank to helm their proposed Fantastic Four reboot, but according to an interview with Trank in HeyUGuys, he could also be in the frame for the X-Men: First Class sequel, should Matthew Vaughn pass on the project. Asked if he'd be involved in either, Trank refused to deny the speculation, stating that "I have been working on some original ideas and things are being talking about, but nothing’s a signed deal yet..." Be sure to check out the full interview for the director's thoughts on his debut feature, which arrives in UK cinemas on Wednesday...

...Attending the premiere of Daniel Radcliffe's latest film, The Woman in Black, screenwriter Jane Goldman has officially confirmed that neither she nor director Matthew Vaughn will be returning for the sequel to 2010's Kick-Ass: "Matthew is not directing [Kick-Ass 2] so it looks like someone else will write and direct which will be exciting." Could this open the door for Mark Millar to make his directorial debut? He seems to be the only person convinced it's even going to happen...

...In addition to the news that child actors Dylan Sprayberry (Land of the Lost), Jadin Gould (Battle Los Angeles) and Jack Foley (30 Minutes or Less) have joined the cast of Zack Snyder's Man of Steel as young versions of Clark Kent, Lana Lang and Pete Ross respectively, the MoS Facebook page also posted a snap of Henry Cavill posing with a young fan, giving us a pretty good look at his revamped costume...

...The marketing machine on Ghost Rider: Spirt of Vengeance has moved up a gear as the clock ticks down to the arrival of Nicolas Cage's second outing as Johnny Blaze, with Sony releasing a whole host of new images featuring the likes of Cage, Violante Placido, Ciarán Hinds, Johnny Whitworth, Christopher Lambert and Idris Elba, along with a number of TV spots and a short behind-the-scenes feature...

...DC Comics CCO Geoff Johns has spoken briefly about the status of the rumoured Captain Marvel / Shazam movie, stating that there's still hope it could see the light of day: "There's always a possibility for Shazam.... and I can't get into the specifics on that, but yeah, there's hope for Shazam." Something tells me that if the likes of Wonder Woman can't get off the ground, such 'hope' is probably very slim...

...The TV Addict has acquired a casting breakdown for the upcoming Green Arrow - sorry, Arrow - pilot, which includes a couple of familiar names including Dinah Lance, a.k.a. The Black Canary, as well as the following description of the Emeral Archer: "Oliver Queen: A 27-year-old reformed bad boy, who after having spent five years shipwrecked on a tiny, brutally dangerous island in the South China Sea returns to town a different man. Or to be more specific, a tortured, thoughtful master of the bow with a ferocious determination to make a difference..."

...And finally, fans of DC Animation may want to check out this clip from the upcoming direct-to-video animated movie Justice League: Doom, along with the following short from Aardman Animations, which features DC superheroes done in the style of Creature Comforts and will soon be arriving on television as part of Cartoon Network's DC Nation...


Gary Collinson

Holy Franchise, Batman! - Arriving this June.

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DVD Review - Cash (2008)

Cash (a.k.a. Ca$h), 2008.

Directed by Éric Besnard.
Starring Jean Dujardin, Jean Reno and Valeria Golino.


SYNOPSIS:

A master thief attempts to pull off the biggest robbery in history.


The current awards season (2011/12) has been most kind for Jean Durjardin, following his star making performance in The Artist. It’s a wonderful film and a dazzling lead performance. As such, this little known (on these shores anyway) French film from 2008 finally procures itself a DVD release here. Undoubtedly a move to cash in on the critical success of The Artist, this film is an interesting look at the talented star before the big time beckoned.

Durjardin stars as the titular character Cash. He’s a conman and master thief, whose brother was killed on a previous gig. Cash continues scamming where he can. The film is a caper, with twist upon turn. Who’s playing who? Who has the upper hand? It’s all about sleight of hand, misconception, deception and Cash is a master. As the plot motors on, he pits his wits with or against fellow master thief Maxi (Jean Reno) and morally obtuse cop, Julia (Valeria Golino). The film steams through quickly, with sometimes one too many twists and turns to keep up with, but the conclusion is satisfying and the journey entertaining enough.

The cast are very good. If you’ve seen a fair amount of French cinema, you’ll recognise many of the faces. Dujardin leads well. The effortless charisma he displayed in The Artist is clear to see here. It might not be a role with as much depth here, but never the less, he delivers. Jean Reno is reliable as ever. Golino is good, whilst Ciaran Hinds manages to steal his scenes and make his extended cameo memorable.

Technically the film looks good, polished and stylish. The direction from Éric Besnard is vibrant and the editing though sometimes a little too intrusive, adds to the caper element of this. The film feels like a mish-mash of modern film and 60s cinematic style. Bresnard's script is decent enough, though the characterisation is limited in some cases, but probably intentionally as certainly in Reno and Golino’s cases, their characters don’t want to give too much away. Dujardin is allowed to offer us more insight into his characters core, and as lead, it’s what matters. Occasionally the film borders on being too elaborate and a bit far- fetched, but again, it’s not a particularly serious film and it’s never too bothersome. Come the end it sticks together well enough, and certainly manages to keep one step ahead of the audience.

In all this won’t go down as a classic, but it’s a good slice of entertainment. There’s plenty of star power on show and fans, or indeed new found fans, of Dujardin, will find enough here to keep them entertained.

Tom Jolliffe

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365 Days, 100 Films #93 - Bobby Fischer Against the World (2011)

Bobby Fischer Against the World, 2011.

Directed by Liz Garbus.


SYNOPSIS:

A documentary about arguably the greatest chess player of the 20th Century.


Bobby Fischer cuts an awkward figure. Even at the chessboard he seems to be in pain, sitting lopsided to the right, his torso sharply angled into the chair and his head supported by an open palm. If Bobby didn’t appear so deadly serious, you could slap a moustache above his top lip and call him Groucho.

The muscles in his face visibly tense as he attempts to smile in television interviews. In one he sweats so profusely that beads spot across his forehead.

But for all his social retardation, you can’t help but admire his passion and the way his mind whirs when observing the black and white pieces in front of him, calculating moves at a rate beyond most human comprehension. But that mind was fragile as well as formidable. And he became engulfed by the larger chess game of the era, one between the United States and the U.S.S.R. – the Cold War.

Bobby Fischer Against the World pays most attention to the period of his career that typified that international tension – the 1972 World Chess Championship against the holder, a Russian, Boris Spassky. The archive footage of the match and various news reports are accompanied with a wide range of talking heads; some big and unnecessary, like Henry Kissinger; some tiny and pivotal, like Bobby’s Icelandic bodyguard, Saemi Palsson, who would later be the subject of another documentary, Me & Bobby Fischer.

They don’t always know exactly where to look. Some stare to the right of the camera, where the interviewer is presumably seated, others glare directly down it. There’s something unnerving about a biographer looking right at you.

Jump cuts are occasionally used during these talking head shots. For a documentary filmed so conventionally, these cuts don’t quite make sense and could have been easily avoided by showing archive footage in their place, or perhaps zooming in on a still, black and white photograph – a technique with which the filmmakers appear to be obsessed.

The structure lazily avoids narrative satisfaction and is split into chapters, all with chess-pun names. Which would all be forgivable, if it weren’t for the title card Photoshop jobs. The font looks like the bastard offspring of Time New Roman and a cheap, italicised comic sans whore, and the background appears to have been sourced from typing ‘chessboard’ into Google, circa 1999.

As Bobby struggles during the 1972 World Chess Championship, the documentary intelligently splinters off to explore the tangent of his wayward mother, hippy activist Regina Fischer. This history was only hinted at previously, and worked within the narrative to ‘flashback’ to Bobby’s unconventional upbringing. It goes some way to explaining why Bobby is like he is. The rest of the documentary, however, orders itself either chronologically or mundanely.

But despite the filmmakers’ best efforts, the story of Bobby Fischer is a remarkable one, and the 1972 World Chess Championship is a historic moment in the game. The old grandmasters talking to the camera can barely withhold their admiration and awe when describing that match’s 6th game. A symphony of placid beauty, one of them eloquently described it as. At its end, even Spassky stood up and applauded. This isn’t shown, as Bobby demanded that the match was played without cameras present, but the way it’s described. Oh boy, it’s like you were there.

“Genius or madman?” is the question Bobby Fischer Against the World proposes throughout. Perhaps you need to be one to fuel the other, and Bobby certainly seemed to embody both throughout his life. But once the 1972 World Championship was over, he rapidly descended into the latter, sacrificing his genius to cult-like religious organisations and paranoid conspiracy theories. A pariah, a Jewish anti-Semite, his old, blotchy face looks like another person’s.

The story of Bobby Fischer and that remarkable match redeems what is otherwise a below-average documentary.

RATING **

Oli Davis

365 Days, 100 Films

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Films To Watch Before You Die #55 - Bad Boys (1995)

D.J. Haza presents the next entry in his series of films to watch before you die...

Bad Boys, 1995.

Directed by Michael Bay.
Starring Martin Lawrence, Will Smith, Téa Leoni, Joe Pantoliano and Theresa Randle.

Bad Boys is the directorial debut of Michael Bay and since the majority of his films have the same shots recycled over and over again maybe it’s the only one of his films with any visual originality, but is great fun nonetheless.

The film is an action comedy that sees Miami cops Marcus Burnett (Lawrence) and Mike Lowry (Smith) trying to uncover $100 million of heroin stolen from a police vault. The seized drugs need to be recovered within five days or Internal Affairs warn that the narcotics division of the Miami-Dade Police Force will be shut down. When escort Max is hired for a party and takes along her flat mate Julie (Leoni) what is meant to be a good time soon turns bad when French drug lord Fouchet kills the host of the party, ex-cop Eddie, and then Max.

Unsure where to turn Julie tries to contact Max’s friend on the force, Mike Lowry. However, with Lowry unavailable Marcus has to pose as his partner and find the girl before Fouchet gets to her. Needing to put her in a safe place Marcus takes her to Mike’s flat where she hides out with her dogs, who shit on Mike’s expensive rug. Mike and Marcus try to solve the crime and pretend to be each other as well as keep Julie under control in order to recover the drugs and save their own arses.

Bad Boys is full of over the top shootouts, car chases and hilarious quips and banter between the two partners. Bay’s debut was a huge box office success on a modest budget, but received mixed reviews from critics. The film is criticised as recycling old cop film clichés and stealing plenty of characters and plot lines from a range of other cop movies. In all honesty it was never going to win an Oscar and isn’t exactly the most magnificent film ever made, but it is great fun to watch if you want to switch off your brain.

Bad Boys is a film you must see before you die because of the on screen chemistry between Smith and Lawrence is pretty good. Apparently Bay wasn’t entirely happy with the script and the dialogue so allowed his two main actors to improvise. Despite his pitfalls as a director this was a pretty good decision and Smith and Lawrence, who are petty fun in their own rights, managed to bring to life the dialogue and allow for some great on screen fun.


D.J. Haza

Follow my blog at http://djhaza.blogspot.com/
Follow me at http://www.facebook.com/djhaza

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Thoughts on... Final Destination 5 (2011)

Final Destination 5, 2011.

Directed by Steven Quale.
Starring Nicholas D'Agosto, Emma Bell, Miles Fisher, Arlen Escarpeta, David Koechner
and Tony Todd.


SYNOPSIS:

A group of co-workers face a race against time to escape Death's sinister agenda after they survive a terrifying suspension bridge collapse.


For the last 11 years we’ve watched people get sliced, decapitated, hung, stabbed, impaled, and blown up, among other things, in the Final Destination series. What else could they possibly do in a 5th movie?

Like the first four movies we get someone who has a vision of a horrible accident about to happen and then rescues his friends, and possibly other, from the situation only to have death hunt them down and try to finish what he started. This time around we have Sam played by Fired Up’s Nicholas D’Agosto. He sees that him and his friends are supposed to die in a horrific bridge collapse, but safely gets a handful of his friends off their bus before it happens. Along for the ride are The Walking Dead’s Emma Bell, Tom Cruise look-a-like Miles Fisher, the Friday the 13th remake’s Arlen Escarpeta, Anchorman’s David Koechner, and a slew of people you’ve probably never seen before. As the movie progresses one by one they start to die in the order they would have in the accident they all avoided. Once they learn that death is out to get them they try to do whatever they can to avoid death once more.

In more ways than not this is exactly like the first four movies. Same set-up, characters you don’t care about, bad acting, death’s pattern is the same, etc. They do try and bring back what made the first two movies in the franchise entertaining and fun but they don’t end up executing it well enough. A lot of the deaths still feel very cartoonish because of the heavy CGI on most of them and the 3D adds nothing to any of the deaths.

They do try to add some small things that differ from the previous movies. For instance, if you kill someone who wasn’t already supposed to die then that would cancel out your death and you’d be off the hook. Also what they do with the ending I thought was very creative. I won’t spoil anything but they do find a nice way to tie in this movie with the first movie. While I did like the ending I did not like the, literally, last two minutes because they go out of their way to do something that is just even more ridiculous than most of the deaths in the movie.

As far as the acting goes your not going to find anyone here who is giving a good performance. All of the kids are mostly hamming it up every second their on camera and David Koechner is clearly there just for the comic relief. We get a pointless character in an agent, played by Courtney B. Vance, who is interested in finding out what is happening to these people that survived the bridge accident. Tony Todd makes a cameo appearance that isn’t much but he at least tries in his very short amount of screen time.

The deaths I found to be pretty weak. They actually started off great with the first death but then turned into great build-ups and then blowing it on the actual death. Most of the deaths don’t look too good either because they are all CG and it just makes them look too unreal. Had they at least maybe tried to use some practical effects I think the deaths would have had more impact that just looking like a cartoon.

All in all this movie does have some entertaining moments and the ending, except for the final two minutes, is done really well. It’s not as good as the first two movies in the franchise but it definitely beats part three, and is leagues better than part four.

Jake Peffer

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The Comedy Critic - Phwoar Horse

Adam Hollingworth casts a satirical eye over Steven Spielberg's War Horse...

There have been many great love stories in the history of cinema. Rick and Ilsa in Casablanca, Rhett and Scarlet in Gone with the Wind, Yuri and Lyra in Doctor Zhivago. Well, this week saw the addition of another great screen romance added to this swooning pantheon, a story of two lovers whose mutual desire and affection transcends the fear and horror of wartime. This love is of course between the heavily-accented country bumpkin Albert and his horse Joey in Spielberg’s latest film War Horse.

This isn’t the first time a sweet bestial romance has attained the kind of colossal momentousness afforded to mere human couples. Indeed, some could read the history of cinema as a sweeping chronicle of man’s growing affection for fitties of the animal kingdom. Oscar favourite The Artist is acutely aware of this fact, portraying as it does the unfaltering romance between a movie star and his dog in the form of a silent film, harking back to the early days of cinema when such affairs were more commonplace and less frowned upon by the law. Where is Valentin’s lady-friend Peppy when his house is burning down with him lying unconscious in it? That’s right; she’s hoarding all his belongings in a mansion paid for with the money accumulated from a career he kick-started for her. Typical gold-digger. The dog is left to save his life. And if it seems unlikely that any man would prefer the amorous affections of a dog to the gorgeous Berenice Bejo, consider that the man in question here is French. Enough said.

Dogs and other small animals have always been man’s best friend though (apart from deer, which if Disney is to be believed are much more likely to be shot), so cinema has always reflected this closeness, for example the heartfelt, childhood-scarring moment when Old Yeller is shot in the face. This is not merely the loss of a friend, but of a true loved one. Kids have got to learn it all from somewhere after all. In any case, it wasn’t long before men and women were hankering for beasts of a somewhat larger nature. Take King Kong for instance. It is still a common misconception that Fay Wray is screaming in terror when a big, strong ape squeezes her tightly in his hairy fist. They are clearly screams of ecstasy, and later on screams of sheer delight at the bravery of her partner in defending her honour from the lecherous advances of creepy crawlies and dinosaurs. Peter Jackson took this even further, and to his credit realised the whole love story with a touch more romance and tenderness than the original. After all, what girl wouldn’t go weak at the knees at the prospect of a private ice-skate around the frozen pool of central park? Kong might be a savage murderer, but that’s no excuse for interrupting his date with a frankly excessive amount of army trucks and rocket launchers. Girls in the thirties just weren’t cut out for that kind of excitement.

I could go on and on, but suffice it to say that War Horse takes a leaf out of the Airplane! book of horse-loving, but with slightly less off-hand callousness. Albert wouldn’t take off for an emergency in the middle of the night without planting a sensual good-night kiss on Joey’s nose, especially knowing what we do about a horse’s natural anatomical advantages over humans. When angry they can be dangerous lovers, and my mate once watched a really dodgy video proving it.

It is odd that such a breath-taking film should come from the likes of Steven Spielberg. Not only is the closest he’s come to pure screen romance between a young child and a clearly diseased long-necked alien, but for my money he hasn’t made anything worthy of his talents for nearly twenty years. In 1993, you see, he released both Jurassic Park and Schindler’s List. The former was always going to be a triumph, being precisely the kind of escapist rollicking adventure he had at that point specialised in since the early seventies. The latter was a much more unlikely success, but lightning truly struck and Spielberg, against all the odds, created to this day the most emotively powerful and sensitive, not to mention artful, fictional cinematic Holocaust piece. This in turn caused Spielberg to miss the boat: he stopped making fantastical adventures and started making worthy serious films, and in the process forgot how to do the former genre well (witness as testament to this the abysmal fourth Indiana Jones film). Instead of making really fun films every agreed were brilliant, we instead got the saccharine A.I. Artificial Intelligence, the terminally dull Munich, and the over-long and more importantly over-rated Saving Private Ryan (the first half an hour is admittedly gruelling and ground-breaking, but the film’s three hours long and most of that is about saving Matt Damon from certain death. Just let him die for god’s sake!)

However, whilst the woeful dead-behind-the-eyes The Adventures of Tintin forbids me from hailing War Horse as a return to form for Spielberg just yet, it is nonetheless an impressively moving and beautiful film. The problems with the often plodding episodic plot are issues with the novel and not with the film, but at their best these narrative tangents effectively illustrate the futility and poignancy of World War One, for example when a British and German soldier combine forces and friendly banter to cut Joey free from barbed wire. Janus Kaminski’s photography is utterly gorgeous, leading to some sublime image-making, from the soldiers mounting their steeds in a wheat-field to the dusky-red return of Joey to Dorset which recalls the close of Gone with the Wind. John Williams’ music is similarly superb, sacrificing memorable leit motifs for a score which complements the emotional dynamic of each scene of the film. Most importantly, it’s really well directed. Spielberg’s staging is uniformly excellent, with some scenes leaving an indelible impression, such as the execution obscured by the rotors of a windmill, and an evocation of trench warfare that is as intense, though not as brutal, as the celebrated D-Day landings battle in the aforementioned WW2 snore-fest.

Oh, and the horse is pretty good too.

Adam Hollingworth

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Spielberg set to direct Moses epic Gods and Kings

Steven Spielberg (War Horse, Schindler’s List) is close to signing on to direct a Braveheart-esque version of the story of Moses for Warner Bros. The film, which has a working title of Gods and Kings, will include him forming an army, freeing the Hebrew slaves, wandering in the wilderness, receiving the Ten Commandments and parting the Red Sea.

Michael Green (Green Lantern) and Stuart Hazeldine (Exam) have penned the script and the film will have a gritty and realistic tone similar to Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan. The studio first showed Spielberg the script back in September and talks have now intensified. It is expected that he will officially agree to direct soon and if he does sign on, the movie will likely start filming in early 2013.

Spieleberg is currently working hard on two other films, having just finished shooting Lincoln with Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Daniel Day-Lewis and Jared Harris, while also starting to make the robot uprising movie Robopocalypse.

Emma Hutchings

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Movie Review - Megan is Missing (2011)

Megan is Missing, 2011.

Directed by Michael Goi.
Starring Amber Perkins, Rachel Quinn and Dean White.


SYNOPSIS:

Megan is an outgoing, confident 14-year-old whilst her best friend, Amy, 13, is not so self-assured. Megan meets a boy online, Josh, and agrees to meet him. Next thing Amy knows, Megan is gone. In pursuit of finding her best friend, Amy tells the police about Josh – but then Amy goes missing too…


Megan is Missing has caused some controversy since its release, banned in New Zealand for ‘glorifying young sexuality’. Elsewhere, mothers are taking away their children’s computers, outright banning them from spending time on the Internet.

The debate about protecting children from the Web is pretty controversial in itself. We have come to rely on technology and connecting to the Internet for all manner of reasons, be them completely innocent, like checking a fact for homework, or something a lot more sinister like ‘Josh’ has in mind. However, whatever anyone’s views on letting their children access the world wide web, Megan is Missing is a shocking story to make you think.

We follow the 14 year old Megan, not particularly a likeable character – but we see she does have a nicer side which she hides to avoid tarnishing her popularity with the ‘cool kids’ who drink, smoke drugs and have a good time. Megan is introduced to Josh, a faceless online ‘friend’ who claims his webcam is busted by his brother, and then chewed by his dog. You’d be sceptical right? Ok, well set your mind back to your early teens and tell me you wouldn’t just carry on chatting to kill the time. It’s a worrying thing, many of us may have chatted to any sort of person when we went through that phase of chatting to people online – and if you think I’m being unrealistic, just look at the popularity of Chat Roulette and other such forums.

Anyway, Megan agrees to meet with Josh – he seems shy, after seeing her at a party and being too nervous to say hello. The two arrange to meet behind a diner – and that’s the last Amy hears from her best friend. Anxious to find out the truth, she chats to Josh who very quickly turns aggressive, and before long is tailing Amy to teach her a lesson for blabbing to the police.

Megan is Missing works to a pretty strong degree in telling us that chatting to strangers is definitely not safe online. It may seem harmless, but meeting up with them is also not a particularly wise move. No one would like to think they are naïve enough to agree to meet someone they’ve spoken to online, but the sad truth is that it happens all the time. Megan’s character may seem a little emphasised and quite unlike anyone you know – but Megan’s do exist, and even those less confident, and less damaged by their past, are still willing to agree to meet with seemingly harmless online friends, who could be as perverted as the predator in this film.

Preaching aside, the film takes an interesting stance on technology. Acting as a compilation of mobile phone video footage (a la IPhones Facetime), alongside news reports and video camera footage, Megan is Missing creates a documentary that takes you to pretty dark places. It’s mostly well-thought out and put together, but a minor gripe I have with this film is its dealings with news reports. I have a limited idea on how US news reports are put together – they do tend to use more visual elements like graphics and cheesy transition effects, but the use of them in the film looks more like parody as opposed to replication, which doesn’t really sit well alongside the sinister subject matter.

The acting in the film is great, Amber Perkins as Amy Herman is a particular highlight. Although some scenes seem to linger a little too long and not seemingly with the intention to discomfort, generally the story plays out effectively. The marketing of Megan is Missing is quite interesting too, as it claims to be a fictional drama ‘based on real events’ – whether this is an amalgamation of cases of child abduction, or replicates a particular case, I am unsure.

Get hold of this DVD and watch for a thought-provoking look at the web, and check out the extras for a shocking statement from Marc Klaas, the owner of Klaas Kids, a foundation which aids parents with missing children – as he himself had a young daughter abducted, raped and killed.

Cat Fyson

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Films To Watch Before You Die #54 - The Hurt Locker (2009)

D.J. Haza presents the next entry in his series of films to watch before you die...

The Hurt Locker, 2009.

Directed by Kathryn Bigelow.
Starring Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Christian Camargo, Evangeline Lilly, Ralph Fiennes, David Morse and Guy Pearce.

The Hurt Locker is the gritty tale of a three-man bomb disposal team in the United States Army during the Iraq War. With every day being possibly their last as they dispose of hidden and improvised bombs around the dangerous streets of Baghdad the three of them need to work closely together. Sergeant J.T. Sanborn and Specialist Owen Eldridge guard their new team leader Sergeant First Class William James as he works to disarm the IEDs.

However, James is a bit of a wild card and a maverick. His reckless actions and who cares attitude make his team nervous and tensions mount. As each of them try to deal with the ordeal of their job and the possibility of being blown to bits every time they leave the base they clash regularly. Each of them want to make it out Iraq in one piece and count down the days until the tour is over, but for James the rush is irreplaceable and normal life just doesn’t cut it for him anymore.

The Hurt Locker is a tense and edge of your seat movie that brings home the constant threat of death that plagues soldiers whose jobs it is to disarm bombs in a war zone. The constant tension is enough to drive any person mad and the strain shows on the soldiers. Although some critics and veterans have condemned the film as not being realistic enough, they have admitted that it does more than most other modern films to bring the reality of war to audiences. The main criticism is that the uniforms, lack of radio communication and bad behaviour of the soldiers would not be found in such situations, but why let the truth get in the way of a good story?

The Hurt Locker is a film you must see before you die because Kathryn Bigelow’s low budget film earned her an Oscar for Best Director and she became the first woman to win in that particular category. With a budget of only $15 million it is the lowest grossing film to ever win the Best Picture Oscar and fought off competition from Bigelow's ex-husband, James Cameron, and his immensely expensive film Avatar. A triumph in my eyes for substance over grossly expensive special effects as it was nominated for 9 Oscars and won 6.


D.J. Haza

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