Red Dawn Review

During the height of the Cold War there was a very real and present danger of a war  between the USA war and Soviet Russia. A product of such fears was the 1984 Patrick Swayze and Charlie Sheen staring Red Dawn and a Soviet invasion of the US Homeland. A plucky all American band of teenagers come together to fight the Russian baddies who are attacking the American goodies way of life. Flash forward to 2013 and the USSR is no more. The fourth largest army in the world is now that of Communist dictatorship led North Korea and this is the jumping off point the remake by director Dan Bradley of Red Dawn uses to create it's new version of an imagined invasion on US soil - this time it's the North Koreans. 

The Bloggies Film Awards: The Winners!

Last night, Hollywood handed out the biggest film awards of them all, the Oscars, in a glitzy ceremony watched by billions. A few days before, on the complete opposite end of the spectrum, a bunch of bloggers handed out their own film awards in a glitzy, beer filled ceremony at the British Film Institute in London (well we just crashed the bar, they had no idea that we were making movie history in their premises), watched by, err, a few other drunken patrons. So, before we unleash the results, a few comments about the results below.

Caesar Must Die - Powerful acting from Roman prisoners

In the Philippines inmates stage huge choreographed dances to 'Thriller', however in Italy they prefer to take on the classics and perform a production of Shakespeare's 'Julius Caesar'. Two opposite ends of the spectrum, but both have their value to society, and for the many long term prisoners the affects are rewarding. Winner of the Golden Bear award at the Berlin Film Festival last year, this film is from the brothers Paolo and Vittorio Tavani.

Transylvania Review

Set in the titular Transylvania writer and director Tony Gatlif's 2006 Transylvania begins with Zingarina (Asia Argento) a French woman travelling into rural Transylvania to find her musician boyfriend Milan (Marco Castoldi) who has suddenly left France for his home. Her French friend Marie (Amira Casar) travels with her along with their interpreter. 

For Ellen - Paul Dano, in the snow

'For Ellen' is the third film from Korean/American director SoYong Kim. Her first feature 'In Between Days' won the special Jury Prize at Sundance in 2007, and 'For Ellen' was also very well received at Sundance in 2012. It is a very slow moving film, this new 'slow cinema' style is scenery heavy, script light and this is no different, but there is a tender beauty to the wintry landscapes.

The British Film Bloggers Circle Awards Nominations 2013

Last year, Martyn Conterio from ace film site Cinemart and myself decided to ask a few British film bloggers to vote for our very own film awards, as an alternative to the Oscars and other Baftas which, in our modest opinion, lacked thrills and originality. And while last year results ended up a little too close to the Oscars for my liking (at least Drive won best film!), we decided to give it a go once again, with a growing number of participants. And we have now a list of nominations below, but a few comments first.

The Blob Vs The Thing: Who Would Win In A Fight?

Just like an MTV's Celebrity Deathmatch spin-off, the world of horror crossovers gave us Freddy Vs Jason and Aliens Vs Predators. There was even a rumour of Freddy Vs Jason Vs Ash (from Evil Dead). But why stop there? Michael Myers Vs Leatherface? The Woman Vs The Wolfman? Dracula Vs Dragula? The possibilities are endless, and mostly, obvious. But what about... The Blob Vs The Thing!