Upcoming Releases - September '12

Here is a selection of films due out in UK cinemas next month.


Lawless - 7th September
Crime | Drama | Western
115 mins
18 certificate
Main cast: Tom Hardy, Shia LaBeouf, Gary Oldman, Jessica Chastain, Guy Pearce, Mia Wasikowska
Director: John Hillcoat

'Set in Depression-era Franklin County, Virginia, a bootlegging gang is threatened by a new deputy and other authorities who want a cut of their profits.'

Official site: http://lawless-film.com/

Dredd 3D - 7th September
Action | Sci-Fi | Thriller
95 mins
TBC certificate
Main cast: Karl Urban, Olivia Thirby, Lena Headey, Domhnall Gleeson
Director: Pete Travis

'In a violent, futuristic city where the police have the authority to act as judge, jury and executioner, a cop teams with a trainee to take down a gang that deals the reality-altering drug, SLO-MO.'

Official site: http://www.dreddthemovie.com/#/en/home


Anna Karenina - 7th September
Drama
130 mins
12A certificate
Main cast: Keira Knightley, Jude Law, Aaron Johnson, Kelly Macdonald, Matthew Macfadyen, Olivia Williams
Director: Joe Wright

'Set in late-19th-century Russia high-society, the aristocrat Anna Karenina enters into a life-changing affair with the affluent Count Vronsky.'

Official site: http://focusfeatures.com/anna_karenina


The Sweeney - 12th September
Action | Crime | Drama
112 mins
15 certificate
Main cast: Ray Winstone, Ben Drew, Damian Lewis, Hayley Atwell, Steven Mackintosh
Director: Nick Love

'Sometimes you have to act like a criminal to catch a criminal. Ray Winstone and Ben Drew star as part of an elite police unit in the explosive action film The Sweeney, based on the '70s UK TV show.'

Official Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/TheSweeneyMovie


Premium Rush - 14th September
Action | Thriller
91 mins
12A certificate
Main cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Shannon, Dania Ramirez, Jamie Chung
Director: David Koepp

'In Manhattan, a bike messenger picks up an envelope that attracts the interest of a dirty cop, who pursues the cyclist throughout the city.'

Official site: http://www.premiumrush.com/


ParaNorman - 14th September
Animation | Adventure | Comedy
93 mins
PG certificate
Main cast: Kodi Smit-McPhee, Anna Kendrick, Leslie Mann, Casey Affleck, Christopher Mintz-Plasse
Director: Chris Butler, Sam Fell

'A misunderstood boy who can speak with the dead takes on ghosts, zombies and grown-ups to save his town from a centuries-old curse.'

Official site: http://paranorman.com/


To Rome with Love - 14th September
Comedy | Romance
112 mins
12A certificate
Main cast: Woody Allen, Penelope Cruz, Jesse Eisenberg, Alec Baldwin, Judy Davis
Director: Woody Allen

'The lives of some visitors and residents of Rome and the romances, adventures and predicaments they get into.'

Official site: http://sonyclassics.com/toromewithlove/


Savages - 21st September
Crime | Drama | Thriller
131 mins
15 certificate
Main cast: Aaron Johnson, Taylor Kitsch, Blake Lively, Benicio Del Toro, John Travolta
Director: Oliver Stone

'Pot growers Ben and Chon face off against the Mexican drug cartel who kidnapped their shared girlfriend.'

Official site: http://www.savagesfilm.com/


Looper - 28th September
Action | Sci-Fi
118 mins
15 certificate
Main cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, Emily Blunt, Piper Perabo, Jeff Daniels
Director: Rian Johnson

'In 2072, when the mob wants to get rid of someone, the target is sent 30 years into the past, where a hired gun awaits. Someone like Joe, who one day learns the mob wants to 'close the loop' by transporting back Joe's future self.'

Official site: http://www.loopermovie.com/


The Campaign - 28th September
Comedy
85 mins
15 certificate
Main cast: Will Ferrell, Zach Galifianakis, Jason Sudeikis, Dylan McDermott
Director: Jay Roach

'In order to gain influence over their North Carolina district, two CEOs seize an opportunity to oust long-term congressman Cam Brady by putting up a rival candidate. Their man: naive Marty Huggins, director of the local Tourism Center.'

Official site: http://thecampaignmovie.warnerbros.com/



Information obtained from IMDb, http://www.filmdates.co.uk/, and the films' official websites.

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Visit LOVEFiLM.com, where you can choose from over 70,000 titles to rent as well as films to watch online.

Superhero Splatter Art

Canadian artist Melissa Smith has created a series called 'Splatter Art', which includes comic book and video game characters. Here are some of her works featuring the splattered superheroes Batman, Spider-Man, and The Avengers.

 

Splatter Art

[via DesignTAXI]

Vintage-Style Street Map Features Over 900 Film Titles

UK-based design studio Dorothy has created a map with over 900 film titles as street names, parks, lakes, and other features. Loosely based on the style of a vintage Los Angeles street map, the 'Film Map' features a patch of grass called Jurassic Park, with Lake Placid and The Temple of Doom in it. It also features a large stretch of water called Reservoir Dogs, with Shutter Island and The Island of Dr. Moreau in the middle. An A-Z key at the base of the map lists all of the films featured along with their release dates and directors.

Dorothy

[via Creative Review]

Review: Comes a Bright Day

British romantic thriller Comes a Bright Day stars Submarine’s Craig Roberts as Sam Smith, a young bellboy at the Mandarin Oriental hotel in London. When his boss Mr Morgan sends him on an errand, to take a watch belonging to one of the guests to a nearby jewellers to get it adjusted, he pops into the café where his best friend Elliot works on the way. There he is introduced to Mary (Imogen Poots) who spots the expensive watch he has decided to slip on and tells him he should stop by ‘Clara’, the exclusive jewellery boutique where she works, which just so happens to be the place his boss told him to visit.

So off he goes to the jewellers, to eye up the sparkling gems and the beautiful assistant Mary. Unfortunately, while he is there two armed robbers, who call each other Cameron (Kevin McKidd) and Clegg (Josef Altin) to hide their real names, burst in. The jewellery shop’s owner Charlie (Timothy Spall) sounds the alarm and the police are soon on their way, but after a shootout during which Clegg is shot in the foot, the criminals retreat back inside. Getting caught up in this jewellery heist-gone-wrong leaves Sam, Mary, and Charlie trapped inside, taken hostage by the psychotic Cameron and his partner-in-crime as they look for a way to escape.

Comes a Bright Day is writer and director Simon Aboud’s feature-length debut. He began his career as a writer for an advertising agency, and does well with this low budget film, which restricts most of its action to just one room. The confined environment is well-used and tensions run high for the criminals and hostages who are all trapped.

The failed robbery attempt at the jewellers isn’t the main focus of the film; it’s more of a backdrop. It provides an opportunity for the main characters to get to know each other, and there are lots of scenes with Sam, Mary, and Charlie talking about their lives and their dreams. Mary tells a touching story about the history of a ruby bracelet, which offers some welcome escapism during the hostage situation.

The film is partly a coming of age story about Sam gaining the confidence to achieve his dream of opening a restaurant with his friend, and partly a love story about a chance encounter with Mary. These tend to push the more thrilling criminal parts to the side, meaning the supporting cast don’t get enough time to shine. Kevin McKidd’s disturbed robber with a stutter is entertaining and intense but underused. The complicated character enjoys listening to Madame Butterfly while slowing sawing through a ceiling panel in the hopes of finding an escape route. But his motivations are never explained and we don’t learn much about him, which is a shame.

Comes a Bright Day tries to juggle lots of elements and genres, leaving some by the wayside slightly while others take centre stage. Ultimately though it is still a very watchable British film with a great cast, and it marks a promising debut from Simon Aboud.

[DVD screener provided by flickfeast. Review originally posted here]

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Visit LOVEFiLM.com, where you can choose from over 70,000 titles to rent as well as movies to watch online.

Film Festival Posters Provide Recipes for Movies

These posters for the New York International Latino Film Festival (which runs from August 13th-19th) show what you can expect from different movies like chick flicks, spaghetti westerns, and buddy cop movies. The 'movie recipe' illustrations highlight predictable plots and feature the tagline: "Some movies are easy to make. Films are a different story."

New York International Latino Film Festival

[via My Modern Met]

Review: I Melt With You

Mark Pellington’s drama I Melt With You starts off as a story about a group of male friends enjoying a getaway where they consume copious amounts of alcohol and drugs. However, events take a much darker turn around halfway through the film, when something from the past comes back to haunt them.

 

The four men in their 40s, who all went to college together, reunite for a week-long catch-up in a house overlooking the sea in Big Sur. Each of them is happy to escape their normal lives for a hazy week of drinking and drug-taking, as they are all unhappy, disillusioned, and full of regrets.

Richard (Thomas Jane) is a womaniser and unsuccessful author who has begrudgingly become a high school English teacher. Jonathan (Rob Lowe) is a doctor who writes prescriptions for money and is becoming detached from his son, who calls his new stepfather “Dad”. Ron (Jeremy Piven) is a stock broker who is at the centre of a federal investigation. Tim (Christian McKay) is a man who feels responsible for the recent loss of his loved ones. None of these are really likeable or identifiable characters, and the only positive attribute we see is their close friendship and fondness for each other.

The friends go swimming, driving, fishing, and partying, but mainly they drink and take drugs while moping around and complaining about how awful their lives are. After a few days, these excessive and repetitive festivities make way for much darker events, as a pact they all made when they were younger re-emerges and things get even more out of control. The pact that changes the tone of the film and the subsequent events is a little hard to believe in. Would you really follow through on an agreement you made in college when you were young (and probably drunk and high)? They all take it a bit too seriously instead of just dismissing it.

The film’s best feature is its soundtrack of punk music from the ‘80s. The roaring and pounding tunes from the likes of the Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Pixies, Talking Heads, Dead Kennedys, and The Specials, add to the drug-fuelled, hazy atmosphere. They hark back to a time that the four men are pining for and help them to relive their youth, when they were carefree and had fewer troubles.

I Melt With You is a visual assault that is full of angst and excess. Eric Schmidt’s stylish cinematography and the picturesque locations make it a fine-looking film, but at times it feels like an overlong music video. This may have something to do with Mark Pellington’s history directing lots of videos for bands including Pearl Jam, U2, and Foo Fighters. I Melt With You is a treat for the eyes and ears at times and it has a solid cast, but it’s a film of two distinct halves and unfortunately neither of them are particularly impressive story-wise.

[DVD screener provided by flickfeast. Review originally posted here]