Like everyone else that has internet access I feel I must share my thoughts on Avatar. It's good, go see it. It has blue people that fly dragons right out of the screen.
Seriously imagine that you went to see Star Wars Episode I - The Phantom Menace (not that I'm bitter) and actually loved it. Well that's Avatar.
A case study in making things happen. many believe that Sam Rockwell's performance in sleeper hit MOON deserves an Oscar nod. Below Duncan Jones director of the Moon takes this belief one step further and chats with LAGenX.
Something that Duncan Jones doesn't mention that is if you want to see more great inventive film making like MOON. These guys need our support. Spread the word!
More info & deets on getting involved can be found on Duncan Jones' blog here!
RAY HARRYHAUSEN and TONY DALTON will be signing An Animated Life at the Forbidden Planet Megastore, 179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, WC2H 8JR, on Saturday 24th October 1 – 2pm.
The last great animator before the introduction of CGI, Ray’s book takes us through sixty years of bringing dreams to life. From harpies and skeletons in Jason and the Argonauts to the six-armed Kali in Sinbad, Ray explains the films' journeys, from original concept through to the critics' reviews, as well as the basics of special effects and stop-motion animation. Now re-issued in softcover, An Animated Life is a wonderland guide through a golden age of SFX magic.
Mr Harryhausen is responsible for the barrier breaking animation in much loved classic films such as; Clash of the Titans, Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger, The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, One Million Years B.C., First Men in the Moon, Jason and the Argonauts, Mysterious Island, The 3 Worlds of Gulliver, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad and many more.
Where Forbidden Planet London Megastore 179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, WC2H 8JR
Every October SCI-FI-LONDON hold OKTOBERFEST, a Sci Fi based extravaganza. Arguably the most fun and varied Sci-Fi festival in the world. This year you'll be able to catch special events, screenings and their popular All-nighter events.
This year they have some really cool stuff happening including "a co-production we are doing with the Royal Observatory Greenwich. Yup, the home of GMT and all things astronomical, we have created SCI-FI-UNIVERSE, a planetarium show from an SF perspective. Also, at the Observatory we will have some talks and a writing workshop. And to celebrate the release of the DVD and Blu-ray, we will do an invite only screening of the new STAR TREK. Click here for details of how to register for this screening and how to buy tickets for this unique night at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich Park. Buy a planetarium ticket and you can attend on of the talks or workshop for free - places are very limited and on a first-come-first served basis, so get there early." This years line up: Friday 23rd October, 2009 Events held at the Royal Observatory Greenwich
6.30pm: Sci-Fi-Universe 8.15pm: Star Trek (2009)
Saturday 24th October, 2009 Events held at the Apollo Piccadilly Circus
A To celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the very first ALIEN movie (and their 10th All-nighter!) SCI-FI-LONDON is giving you the chance to see these iconic movies as they should be seen - on a big screen from 35mm prints.
The event starts around 10.30 with DJ's in the bar and the first movie starts just after 11.00 - the whole. show ends around 10am the next day. There will be some very cool spot prizes and give-aways and a packed goody-bag. Throughout the night we keep you full of Redbull, Ice-Cream and coffee to help you make it 'til morning.
The line up: ALIEN ALIENS ALIEN3 PREDATOR PREDATOR 2 (Oops! Sorry) AVP: Alien vs. Predator Tickets here! Where Apollo Piccadilly Circus 19 Regent Street London SW1Y 4LR
In the not-too-distant future, wars will no longer exist...
Wha-hey! It's all happening this month. There have been loads of classic screenings from The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Once upon a time in the west and 3 of my all time favourite films; The Warriors, The Thing and now Rollerball. Action overload!
One of the best dystopian sci-fi movies to come out of the 70s, Rollerball focuses on an ultra-violent sport used to keep an overpopulated planet under control and probes its links to politics, the media and big conglomerates. When a star player refuses to obey the owners of his team, the stage is set for a Gladiator-like confrontation between a rebellious individual and the corporate power that seeks to crush him.
Where The Prince Charles Cinema 7 Leicester Place, WC2 Just north off Leicester Sq & up from Häagen-Dazs
Become a part of world history! To mark the Blu-Ray release of The Prisoner the first 125 Network customers who pre-order the Blu-Ray edition from the Network web site will receive a pair of tickets to "The Prisoner All Nighter", an all night extravaganza taking place at the Prince Charles Cinema in Central London on Saturday 26th September 2009 starting at 8.30pm, where every episode of The Prisoner will be screened in High Definition for the first time anywhere in the world. Will you still feel like a free man after being subjected to 17 TV hours in the village plus special guests who appeared in the show?
To obtain tickets you simply need to purchase a copy of The Prisoner the Complete Series (RRP £59.99) fromwww.networkdvd.co.uk.
• Tickets to this event for the pre-order DVD will be issued on a first come first serve basis. • As well as these special tickets each attendee will also receive a 1967 reproduction ITC brochure exclusive to this event.
The Prisoner All Nighter will be opened by Prisoner Loudspeaker Announcer Fenella Fielding and closed by an additional special guest. Attendees will also be entered into a prize draw t win some unique Prisoner merchandise. Please note the Prince Charles Cineme are NOT taking any bookings for this, to obtain a ticket you MUST go via www.networkdvd.co.uk
Where The Prince Charles Cinema 7 Leicester Place, WC2 Just north off Leicester Sq & up from Häagen-Dazs
28 Days Later Stars: Cillian Murphy - Jim, Naomie Harris - Selena, Brendan Gleeson - Frank, Christopher Eccleston - Major Henry West
It has been twenty-eight days since Jim, a young bicycle courier, was knocked off his bike and injured in a car accident. When he wakes up from his coma, the world has changed. Four weeks after a mysterious, incurable virus spreads throughout the UK, a handful of survivors try to find sanctuary.
A critical and commercial success, 28 Days Later is widely recognized for images of a deserted London. It spawned the 2007 sequel, 28 Weeks Later, the graphic novel 28 Days Later: The Aftermath, and a possible third film.
28 Days Later features scenes set in normally bustling parts of London such as Westminster Bridge, Piccadilly Circus, Horse Guards Parade and Oxford Street. In order to depict these locations as desolate, police would close the roads at 4am and filming would begin immediately. It would last for one hour, and at that time the police would reopen the roads. As well as having to deal with traffic, the producers also had to ask clubbers to find alternative routes home. In terms of the traffic, the producers correctly predicted that asking drivers to either wait for up to an hour or find another way might cause some considerable consternation. As such, they employed several extremely attractive young women (one of whom was Danny Boyle's daughter) to make the necessary requests. This plan had the desired results, as the drivers responded quite amicably to the young girls.
For the London scene where Jim walks by the overturned double-decker bus, the film crew placed the bus on its side and removed it when the shot was finished, all within 20 minutes.
Where: Westminster Bridge, Westminster and South Bank, London SE1 and SW1
View Larger Map Trivia: It's not explained in the film but the infected are attracted to the tone in human voices. The decision to film on DV (using Canon XL1 cameras) was both an aesthetic and a logistic choice. - Danny Boyle felt that the harshness of the DV imagery suited the post-apocalyptic urban landscape and the grittiness of the film in general. - All the scenes of the Infected in a particular style - using a type of slow motion feature on the Canon XL1 DV cameras with which the film was shot. Shooting at that speed on a film camera gives basic slow motion, but doing so on a DV camera produces the kind of staccato effect seen in scenes involving the Infected. - "The police and the local authorities were quite happy to assist us because we could set up scenes so quickly. We could literally be ready to shoot with a six-camera set-up within minutes - something we would not realistically have been able to do if shooting under the restrictions of 35mm which takes a good deal more time to set up a single shot."
Westminster Bridge can also be seen in; Doctor Who (1964 & 2005), Monty Python's Flying Circus, 102 Dalmatians, Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix
Get yourself a ticket for the biggest party the unfashionable end of the galaxy has ever seen and join best-selling author Eoin Colfer – creator of criminal mastermind Artemis Fowl – and actor Simon Jones, the original Arthur Dent, in a celebration of 30 years of the late, great Douglas Adams’ classic British comedy. This’ll be your first chance to see, hear and buy the sixth instalment, And Another Thing... by Eoin Colfer.
With other out-of-this-world entertainment throughout the day – including special free screenings of the Hitchhiker’s series in The Clore Ballroom – this is one event no self-respecting lover of classic British comedy will want to miss.
One of the best dystopian sci-fi movies to come out of the 70s, Rollerball focuses on an ultra-violent sport used to keep an overpopulated planet under control and probes its links to politics, the media and big conglomerates. When a star player refuses to obey the owners of his team, the stage is set for a Gladiator-like confrontation between a rebellious individual and the corporate power that seeks to crush him.
Events include: Photo Call Start the day at a photocall of the largest number of Hitchhiker's fans ever.
Session 1: The Douglas Adams Chat Show A full panel of Hitchhiker’s experts and friends of Douglas Adams discusses the great man and his work.
Booksigning: Mega-signing of the fantastic new edition of the first five Hitchhiker's novels.
Sessions 2 & 3 (And Another Thing... & Hitchhikers Live On Stage!) The sixth book in the series, special guests and a live gig – Sessions 2 & 3 of our day-long celebration of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
Booksigning: Eoin Colfer Buy the new sixth book in the series a day before everyone else and get it signed by Eoin Colfer.
Where The Southbank Centre Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX
By know you know that Director Duncan Jones's next film will not be an adaptation of "Escape from the Deep" as anticipated.
It sounds like "Escape from the Deep" the true story of a WW2 submarine crew that go to hell and back will be tackled after another forage into the Sci Fi with "Mute". More information about the Alex Kershaw book "Escape from the Deep" can be found here http://www.escapefromthedeep.com/.
Mute The Mute concept art released via Jone's Liberty Films website looks pretty damn spiffy and tantalising enough to keep Sci Fi fans wanting more. The artwork is very reminiscent of Syd Mead's conceptual art for Blade Runner. Interesting to note that the signage in the street scene says Fremde which is German for strange, but could also mean foreign or Alien. Jones has said that Mute is not about Aliens as such. I'm guessing that this scene is some high class clientele leaving a bar/club that caters for strange tastes. This is possibly the club that the lead's girlfriend works at before disappearing. Then again it could just be a street scene.
Mute is basically the other side of the coin from Moon. Moon is about isolation, loneliness, living on your own and having to find a way to deal with that.
Mute is based in a future Berlin, so it's a big city film, a thriller in a city that so full and so unfriendly in a way. It's going to be a very different kind of film - but a good companion piece.
Mute is a much busier, nosier kind of film. It’s a thriller based in a future Berlin…. If Moon is inspired by films like Outland and Silent Running, then Mute, is inspired by Blade Runner. For twitter updates on everything Duncan Jones's including Mute follow:@manmademovies You can follow Duncan Jones here:@manmademoon You can follow Moon Producer Stuart Fenegan (One of Variety's 10 Producers to Watch) here:@LibertyStu (Warning! Does not update much - yet) The most media rich news can be found on the Liberty Films blog here:http://blog.manmademovies.co.uk/ Follow the Moon Facebook Group here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/manmademovies/151750620947
In a windswept Antarctic research facility, a group of American scientists are terrorised by a shape-shifting extra-terrestrial.
After a helicopter from a neighbouring Norwegian camp is destroyed pursuing a dog and the crazed pilot shot, MacReady (Kurt Russell) and a small team set off to investigate. A grisly discovery awaits them: the camp is populated by mutilated corpses and there's evidence of a long-frozen UFO. Back at the base the stray dog wreaks havoc, undergoing a grotesque transformation and killing the other hounds before being burnt to death. An autopsy on one of the bodies from the Norwegian camp reveals that a chameleon-like alien that can take the form of whatever it kills is at large - and any one of the team could be its host. In an astonishing finale, bodies are ripped apart and limbs are lopped off as paranoia breeds hysteria and the crew are picked off one by one...
On Friday 11th September The Prince Charles Cinema (Leicester Sq) have a VERY Special Q&A with Duncan Jones, Director of Moon!
Moon is playing upstairs all week on their brand new screen, however grab this chance to talk to the man who made this spectacular film.
MOON Sam Bell has a three year contract to work for Lunar Industries. For the contract's entire duration, he is the sole employee based at their lunar station. His primary job responsibility is to harvest and periodically rocket back to Earth supplies of helium-3, the current clean and abundant fuel used on Earth. There is no direct communication link available between the lunar station and Earth, so his only direct real-time interaction is with GERTY, the intelligent computer whose function is to attend to his day to day needs. With such little human contact and all of it indirect, he feels that three years is far too long to be so isolated; he knows he is beginning to hallucinate as the end of his three years approaches...
Director: Duncan Jones Starring: Sam Rockwell, Kevin Spacey (voice), Matt Berry, Robin Chalk
Where The Prince Charles Cinema 7 Leicester Place, WC2 Just north off Leicester Sq & up from Häagen-Dazs
When 21:00 Fri 11th Sep Moon plus Q&A Tickets onsale 5pm Today (Tuesday 8 September)
Restoring the Midnight Movie to Chelsea, Curzon’s popular strand of late-night attractions hosts a special screening of cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show, with full audience participation. Join Janet and Brad as they enter the musical world of alien transvestites and Time Warps in one of the must-do events in life! Dressing up is essential and don’t forget to bring the essentials: rice, newspapers, water pistols, torches, rubber gloves, confetti, toilet paper, toast, party hat, bells and cards. Plus, all ticket holders receive a complimentary Jameson cocktail.
Where: Curzon Cinema Chelsea 206 Kings Road London SW3 5XP
!!JUST ANNOUNCED!! Robot Chicken Premiere and Q&A Seth Green via Webcast
It’s time, once more, to get ANIMATED!
Teaming up with popular cable channel Adult Swim, and the London International Animation Festival, Curzon Soho bring you a night of titillating, shocking and absurd animations on the big screen. Check out the premiere of Robot Chicken Season 2. Brain child of Seth Green, the skits play around with cult film, cult TV and celebrity personalities. We also present a special selection of freaky animations as a taster for the LIAF which starts on 31st Aug at Renoir Cinema.
Before the film we will be hosting a Q&A via webcast with Seth Green. Come prepared with your questions whether it be anything Robot Chicken, Buffy or Scott Evil!
The Prop Store of London (http://www.propstore.com/), one of the world's leading vendors of movie props and costumes as memorabilia). Has 2 awesome items of cinematic history for sale.
Two pieces of the futuristic skyline used in the Ridley Scott masterpiece Blade Runner. This highly detailed brass section was used along with other similar pieces of varying sizes on a table top set to form a forced perspective miniature for the opening scene of the movie. Each panel was laid out to give a multi layered effect and had a fibre optic light glued to the back. They were saved after filming by Mark Stetson's crew and have been in storage ever since. The section has been custom framed with laser cut mount board featuring the film’s title and stills from the movie. The display also has three LED's built in which help silhouette the "building" perfectly. The lights are activated by a small concealed switch on the inside of the frame. The overall display measures 49.5cm x 43cm (19.5" x 17"). The skyline image along with Vangelis' haunting music is perhaps the most memorable scene in the movie and one of the great movie openings of all time.
On Wednesday 23rd September, Terry Gilliam will be talking, at an exclusive event at the Soho Hotel in London, about the people, relationships and film moments that made him the eccentric genius he is today.
This Is Who I Am with Orange : Terry Gilliam
Wednesday September 23, 2009 at 6:00pm
The Soho Hotel 4 Richmond Mews London, EnglandW1D 3DH
Today the much anticipated Movie Con 2 kicked off. I'm still reeling from the mind blowing Film goodness of day 1.
The BFI & Empire Magazine have pulled off another collaborative coup for film lovers. The second Movie Convention is heading to all time greatness.
Movie Con is a annual collaborative effort between the BFI & Empire Magazine. It takes place just after after Comic Con (San Diego) at the BFI on the Southbank in London. This means that the organisers can cherry pick the best of Comic Con as well add some good stuff. It's held for film fans and the core content covers forth coming features in the Super Hero, Horror, Fantasy, Sci Fi, blood and Cult genres.
Empire have a much better run down of today's schedule over here. But today's events have roused me from my Blog laziness of late and mention must be made of some of the key events:
Trailers & footage from Astroboy. Over the last 18 months I have been hearing the buzz about the animated Astroboy feature but had no real interest in this remake of a 60s Japanese TV show. After today's clips I'll be seeing this gem. It will enthrall kids & older kids alike. It had the audience oohing, aahing & laughing in all the right places.
Harry Brown Presentation. Harry Brown is a new film from British filmmaker Daniel Barber and stars Sir Michael Caine. The film is about an elderly veteran that due to circumstances decides to do something about his neighbourhood that has been over run by young yobs.
Coming across as a modern day version of Michael Winner's Death Wish with big boots, genuinely threatening yobs, knuckledusters and big guns. The clip we saw made it clear this was a quality production with outstanding performances Sir Michael and the blinding Sean Harris as a very, very scary low life (think Drexel nastier brother, the love child of Travis Bickle & Myra Hindley on crack). I recently saw Tonto Woman the brilliant short that Daniel Barber adapted from an Elmore Leonard story. He received an Oscar nomination for it. I'm looking forward to seeing Harry Brown in full as well as anything else Daniel Barber serves up. Think Peckinpah with a social conscience.
Next up the indomitable genius "Still not a Sir" Terry Gilliam showed us some mind melting clips from The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus. Seems to be a true return to form for Mr Gilliam whose tribulations of getting his film made rival anything you have seen on screen. Doctor Parnassus recaptures the magic of Time Bandits and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen with a dash of sensibility from The Fisher King. * When re-watching the classic Spies Like Us keep an eye out for Terry Gilliam as Dr. Imhaus.
Kick Ass Presentation. Put together by the Stardust team & Brad Pitt, independently financed, directed by Matthew Vaughn, written by Jane Goldman (Mrs Johnathan Ross but a super talent in her own right) & Mark Millar. Kick Ass promises to turn the Super Hero genre upside down. Referencing the both comic & film super heroes, eastern sensibilities and the slacker/Clerks space. The Kick Ass clips shown deliver in the holy Triumvirate of modern super hero genre: high action, humour & blood stakes.
I was surprised thaty neither Jane Goldman or Matthew Vaughn did not pitch up but enjoyed Editor Jon Harris' presentation and chat with Christopher Mintz-Plasse (yes that's right McLovin) and Jason Flemyng. I'm slightly annoyed I didn't get a chance to quiz Flemyng about Clash of the Titans & Solomon Kane both of which I am eagerly waiting for.
The super secret screening I guessed that this year's secret screening was going to be District 9 - D9. I have been curious about D9 for awhile Weta and Peter Jackson's name should have made this a dead cert but South African films tend to do emotional small films well and haven't really shone in the high action or sci fi genre as yet. D9 changes that - whilst being true to it's African setting it shines at being a high adventure sci fi romp that has it's roots firmly planted in complex social issues. Google "District 6" & "Africa xenophobia" for sight of the bigger picture.
Originally Jackson and Director Neil Blomkamp were to make HALO: Combat Evolved when that fell through they decided to remake an earlier Blomkamp short film "Alive in Joburg".
< * Sharlto Copley whio plays D9 lead Wikus Van De Merwe is not a trained actor and was a producer on Alive in Joburg.
Next up was Warner Bros screening of the Jonah Hex trailer. I've been waiting for this film for about 20 years.
Jonah Hex is a scarred Mad Max by way of Dirty Harry in the West that was on the wrong side during the Civil war. This makes fior an intresting character seeking redemption.
The trailer looked good but it could still go either way the newly added occult plot devices are a bit of a concern. I'm holding off on judgment for now.
Finally and "saving best for last" Robert Downey Junior & Guy Ritchie made an appearance to introduce an extended trailer for Sherlock Holmes. They were in good spirits and played off each other like a comedic duo rather than Star and Director. And well they should be in high spirits the Sherlock Holmes footage was everything it needed to be. My only query would be that it seemed fairly light and didn't really show any darkness that usually haunts Victorian era pea soap London. Possibly emulating the very successful Iron Man's formula? I'm holding thumbs.
The 15-minute Avatar Day screenings, presented in 3D at “select cinemas and Imax theaters,” will provide regular moviegoers their first glimpse of Cameron’s highly anticipated sci-fi epic outside of footage screened last month at Comic-Con International in San Diego and Movie Con 2 at the BFI London hosted by Empire Magazine last weekend.
The big-budget sci-fi movie, conceived by Cameron 14 years ago and filmed in stereoscopic 3-D using cameras developed by the director, takes place on Pandorum, a strange and beautiful planet replete with bizarre creatures and plant life. Sam Worthington plays a paraplegic who is linked through a medical process to an “avatar,” a 10-foot-tall, blue-skinned creature that looks like Pandorum’s native Na’vi
Also rolling out on Friday’s Avatar Day:
- The official Avatar trailer, which will be shown in theaters and online. The worldwide trailer launch will be presented in all formats, including Imax 3-D, Imax 2-D, digital 3-D, digital 2-D and 35-mm 2-D, the studio said. - 3D/lenticular one-sheet posters for the film. - The trailer for Ubisoft’s videogame James Cameron’s Avatar: The Game. - First look at Mattel action figures for the film’s avatar and alien Na’vi characters.
The showings will be limited to two on the 21st, except for the BFI Southbank, which is holding four.
Among the participating cinemas:
Cineworld Aberdeen Cineworld Birmingham, Broad Street Cineworld Brighton Cineworld Cardiff Cineworld Edinburgh Cineworld Glasgow, Renfrew Street Cineworld Sheffield Odeon London IMAX Greenwich Odeon London IMAX Wimbledon Odeon Manchester Printworks Odeon Southampton Vue Bristol Cribbs Vue London West End BFI Southbank IMAX
Avatar hits theaters Dec. 18. Friday August 21, 2009 at 1:30pm BFI London IMAX 1 Charlie Chaplin Walk London, England SE1 8XR
RAY HARRYHAUSEN and TONY DALTON will be signing An Animated Life at the Forbidden Planet Megastore, 179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, WC2H 8JR, on Saturday 24th October 1 – 2pm.
Labels:
Event,
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Film,
Forbidden Planet,
Literary,
Producer,
Sci-Fi,
Street Art,
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Every October SCI-FI-LONDON hold OKTOBERFEST, a Sci Fi based extravaganza. Arguably the most fun and varied Sci-Fi festival in the world. This year you'll be able to catch special events, screenings and their popular All-nighter events.
In the not-too-distant future, wars will no longer exist...
No Man Is Just A Number.
!!JUST ANNOUNCED!! Robot Chicken Premiere and Q&A Seth Green via Webcast
Brad Pitt, independently financed, directed by Matthew Vaughn, written by Jane Goldman (Mrs Johnathan Ross but a super talent in her own right) & Mark Millar. Kick Ass promises to turn the Super Hero genre upside down. Referencing the both comic & film super heroes, eastern sensibilities and the slacker/Clerks space. The Kick Ass clips shown deliver in the holy Triumvirate of modern super hero genre: high action, humour & blood stakes.
trailer. I've been waiting for this film for about 20 years.
