2012 Exclusive Clip – LA Goes Bye Bye
Roland Emmerich is what you’d call slightly ‘iffy’ when it comes to big budget spectaculars.
No-one can deny the unfettered, timeless genius of Independence Day, Stargate and… erm… Universal Soldier.
But in recent years 10,000BC and Godzilla are what the polite movie critic would call a slight misstep.
His upcoming BLOW THE CRAP OUT OF THE WORLD action movie 2012 – which explores what could really happen if the world ends in December 2012 as the uncannily specific Mayan calendar would have us believe – had us on the fence. Until we saw this clip.
Holy Balls. With this much mindless destruction, we’ll happily sit through hackneyed dialogue and pants ‘characterisation. Hold onto your seats.
2012 will open in cinemas everywhere across the UK from Friday 13th November 2009
This Is It – The 5 Most Shocking Cash-Ins In Film History
For fans, the untimely passing of Michael Jackson meant the title of his “final curtain call” show took on a whole new meaning.
And so it did for the corporate piggies at Sony. No longer could it mean fifty gigs in London or the return of the King of Pop™, but it could still be a great title for a film that gives us one last chance to see the man doing what made him famous, right?
On 28th October This Is It was released, promising a look back at the rehearsals and build-up to Jacko’s final gigs. There is more than a vague whiff of cashing in on a legacy here, but for many fans this will be irrelevant if the film reflects the legend and lives up to the standards of which we know he was capable.
Whether this is possible remains to be seen, but here at OTB we ask you to be wary. For every biopic that truly captures the essence of its subject matter there are hundreds of absolute shockers, and then there are some that are so poor they should never be forgotten… Read More…
5 Kung Fu Heroes Who Were Unaware Of Their Bodacity
October 22, 2009 by Sean Marland
Filed under - Home, Features
Just like Che Guevara, kung fu will never go out of fashion, and the new Ong Bak film should introduce us to several fresh techniques in the fight against oppressive henchmen everywhere.
Picking holes in the storyline seems to be as pointless as questioning Rocky’s training methods and any plot discrepancies are pretty easy to sidestep after you see a man backflip from an elephant to clothesline some poor villager.
However as Thailand’s favourite ninja knows only too well, some people are born for kung fu, others have kung-fu forced upon them.
This is OTB’s tribute to the movie heroes who didn’t realise they had it in them… Read More…
Twilight New Moon Video: Kick-Ass Wolf Scene
Twilight’s so blah, it’s so girly, it’s so limp.
That’s the common cry from any guy who was forced to sit through the original Twilight (even if our manly reviewer thought it was actually pretty decent).
Yet with King of the Tweens Robert Pattinson missing for most of the New Moon novel, more and more face time is being given to the growly, fight-happy werewolves.
And from the look of this clip, we couldn’t be happier. Bring it on.
Twilight: New Moon is on general release across the UK from Friday 20th November 2009.
Defanged: When Did Movie Vampires Become Pussies?
October 15, 2009 by Danielle Jacoby
Filed under - Home, Features
Vampires are not what they used to be.
Read the books. Watch the movies and television series. What kind of vampire is ashamed of his fangs, “just says no” to bloodsucking and glitters in the sunlight?
These days, you find the modern vampire roaming around public schools in daylight and managing nightclubs in rural America. They are our friends, neighbours, and one-night-stands. And they listen, stalk, care and cry—anything but feed—on us for their survival.
The release of Park Chan-Wook’s Thirst got us thinking. While it’s full of moral angst and whiny monologues, there’s still enough horrific violence and bloody spurts (which is what you’d expect from the guy who did Oldboy) to satisfy the average horror fan.
When was the last time we saw a good to honest ‘poop in your pants’ vampire scarefest?
Fangs for the Memories – where did it all go wrong?! Read More…
Video: Fantastic Mr Fox – Clooney, Murray & Anderson Speak!
We’re really not bragging, but we’ve met our fair share of celebs.
Usually from a distance and through binoculars, but it’s a very rare day we turn into giggling fan girls.
Today, however, is no ordinary day. To celebrate the launch of the London Film Festival and promote the Gala opening (the excellent stop-frame animation Fantastic Mr Fox), the cast and crew gathered in a rather swanky London hotel to natter about how it went down.
Assorted were director Wes Anderson and, amongst others, stars George Swooney – sorry, Clooney, Bill Murray (whose epic cameo in Zombieland we’re still recovering from) and…. Jarvis Cocker?!
That’s not the weirdest thing – prepare to hear about why Bill Murray hates Roald Dahl’s wife, how he channels his inner badger and why Clooney extols the virtues of stealing….
Fantastic Mr Fox is on general release across the UK from Friday 23rd October 2009, and can be seen right now at the London Film Festival. Check out our review here….
Top 5 Sleeper Hit Films: The Ones That Got Away
Whilst we always keep you up to date with the latest blockbusters and chart topping movie goodness, there are some gems which just seem to slip through the net.
Case in point, the Philip Seymour Hoffman-starring Synecdoche, New York (out on DVD Monday 12th October – win DVDs and more at our comp here) which is a masterclass in creativity, humour and intelligent film-making. But, of course, no-one actually went to see it.
Generic Hollywood Blockbuster No 327 was on instead. Sigh.
So here are our selection of movies that we think are awesome but didn’t quite achieve the commercial success at the box office, as well as the ones that truly exploded when they hit DVD…. Read More…
Morris: A Life With Bells On Green Carpet Premiere Report
September 28, 2009 by Sean Marland
Filed under - Home, Features
Those who regularly frequent the streets of Soho will have seen every irregular costume going in their time.
But even the most flamboyant patrons of the West End might have raised an eyebrow when a group of Morris Dancers jangled into town.
It has taken several months to get Morris: A Life With Bells On to a central London premiere and on their big night, the promoters didn’t miss their chance to bring a memorable slice of the country to the middle of the city.
This was a great night for director Lucy Akhurst and her hubby and leading star Charles Thomas-Oldham, as they watched their creation finally make it to the big screen. Read More…
5 Movie Rules of the Road
September 22, 2009 by Leonie Mercedes
Filed under - Home, Features
As well as Fox, Twinkies, and Oprah Winfrey, the US of A is blessed with thousands of miles of open road.
With the open road comes the grand tradition of the road trip, inevitably followed by the road movie.
Since Dorothy trotted down the one of yellow brick fame, the open road has been the setting of many a formative experience for the folk on screen, and if we look hard enough, there’s plenty to be learned from their god-awful experiences.
This week sees the release of the delightful Away We Go, about an expectant couple taking to the road to find the perfect place to raise their baby. It got us thinking; what has the road got to offer us, and what have movies taught us?
OTB got their motor running and headed out on the celluloid highway to find out, creating the five movie rules of the road trip. Read More…
Jamie Jay Johnson Interview: Sounds Like Teen Spirit
September 15, 2009 by Sally McIlhone
Filed under - Home, Features
When our chief film reviewer Sally McIlhone gushes over a heart-warming movie, it’s not really that uncommon a thing.
“Oh it was wonderful,” she’ll weep as she tucks into her lunch. “It touched me…. but not in the soiling way that Terminator Salvation did,” she’ll argue.
Yet her frenzied and passionate adulation for Sounds Like Teen Spirit (on general DVD release from Monday 14th September) took it to a new level. A film of which she said: “If I could roll this film out like a blanket and wrap myself up in it for eternity, I’d do it in an instant.” You can also grab that quote on the DVD box, by the way.
So when we got an opportunity to interview the Director of the movie, Mr Jamie Jay Johnson himself we knew there was only one person who could take the reigns on quizzing the man on a movie that tackles the teenage Eurovision Song Contest with surprising sincerity and warmth.
But our Editor was busy, so Sally had to do…… Read More…
