Del Toro leaves The Hobbit.

Guillermo Del Toro decided to resign as the director of The Hobbit. He said that this was the hardest decision he ever had to make. Reason for him to do is the the fact that MGM has yet to give the green light for the financial part of the project. MGM has been struck with a lot of financial misery recently - postponing the latest James Bond indefinitely for instance - and does not have the money to go ahead with the project.

Del toro moved to New Zealand with his family, especially for this project. He did not feel he could live there for 6 years after the original plan was only meant to be 3 years.

It is sad to see him go, as I was very excited after I heard he would be directing it. However he will still be co-writing it with Peter Jackson and Jackson's wife.

- Seb.

Releases to DVD [24th of May]

Films to look out for this month on DVD and Blu-ray:

Double Oscar winning film, Precious released on the 24th of May depicts the story of a young obese illiterate woman struggling with severe hardships. Raped by her father continuously, abused by her mother on a daily basis and now carrying her second child; she suffers enormously. Due to her second pregnancy by her father she is moved to a different school in the hope her life may go down a different road. Precious uses her imagination to escape her traumatic existence and becomes inspired by her teacher Blu Rain and confides in her social worker Miss Weiss who shows her both compassion and love. The film contains some superb acting and some very traumatic scenes, which does not shy away from the darkness of humanity. Mo'Nique's acting received world wide acclaim for her remarkable performance which won her a Golden Globe, a SAG and an Academy Award.
Precious is ultimately a very grim tale, full of complete desperation which is shockingly raw; yet it is also filled with hope and triumph and ended with an inspiring message.
Rating: 8/10

The Brothers which was released last week on Monday stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Natalie Portman and Tobey Maguire, takes a look into a household dealing with the traumatizing psychological effects of war on a man and the actions taken on his family. The film follows a young marine (Tobey Maguire) who leaves his family to fight the war in Afghanistan, during his time out there his helicopter crashes and he is presumed dead, meanwhile back at home his brother (Jake Gyllenhaal) who was released from prison earlier in the year takes care of the marines wife (Natalie Portman) and daughters. However the marine has actually been imprisoned at a remote encampment and uncovers horrors unimaginable, so when he finally returns home he is left a very broken man convinced that his wife and his brother have been having a passionate affair.

Acting from Tobey Maguire is unexpectedly brilliant, which in turn got him nominated for a Golden Globe. Both performances from Gyllenhaal and Portman are striking and full of intensity. The film mainly focuses on the family drama and relationships of the characters, inter-cut with scenes of Maguire in action and imprisoned/tortured in Afghanistan. The progression of the narrative takes its time to develop, but it feels organic and realistic. While one could see the film as a criticism of war and the negative effects that war has on the family of veterans, the film is more a character-driven drama, and doesn't go into the politics of war. Instead to me The Brothers portrays an engaging, intense story about familial loyalty, redemption, and difficult relationships.

Rating: 6/10

Breathtaking apocalyptic tale The Road was released to DVD and Blu-ray last week, which includes outstanding performances by Viggo Mortensen and Kodi Smit-McPhee.

The story follows a man and his young sun struggling with an unspecified cataclysm which has destroyed civilization. The Road uses little CGI, only some special effects used to remove greenery and tackle sky replacement, adding a more gloomy overlook of the landscape.

To create a world in severe trauma, director John Hillcoat used shots of coalfields, dunes, and run-down areas of Pittsburgh.

The Road is both haunting and heartbreaking, it comes across as a harrowing and powerful film receiving many nominations for its undeniably compelling story. However to me it was detached due to the hard translation from the book to the film and with it lost the warmth of great literature.

Rating: 7/10

'Alice In Wonderland' crosses the $1 Billion mark worldwide

Tim Burton's 'dark' adaptation of Alice in Wonderland crosses the $1 Billion mark in box offices worldwide. What the hell is going on? Tim Burton's piece of crap movie manages to join the ranks of Avatar, Titanic and The Dark Knight. Not saying these films are exactly the most mentally stimulating pieces of work. But I would choose them any day rather than watch Tim Burton ruin a fantastic classic 'children's tale', with some less than average effects and very poor acting. It's also sad that one of Burton's arguably worst films is his highest grossing, wonders like Beetle Juice and Edward Scissorhands; even his beautifully animated film A Nightmare before Christmas deserved more acclaim. Sadly, as I have moaned on about before, this is the way the world of cinema is heading; with the introduction of using these 3D cameras and converting perfectly good 2D films into 3D, we're beginning to lose substance and depth. Films are now going to be judged on whether they should be 3D or not, and of course 3D will win because it brings in larger audiences and therefore makes the industry more money. Boo bloody hoo

-Jen

[Rec] 2

If horror films are your bag, you have to look out for [Rec] 2, which is released next week on the 28th of May. The first film [Rec] is possibly one of my favourite modern horrors. It scared me for weeks. I was a complete mess,I was seeing clips of the film as I brushed my teeth, ate my breakfast and got the tube to university. I was a wreck...ha

But I'm hoping for the same with [Rec] 2, providing audiences with plenty of screams, claustrophobic camera work and really disturbing imagery.

The story picks up from the setting of a last film. A SWAT team with a medical officer go to investigate and control the situation inside a sealed off building after authorities lose contact with the people locked inside; with horrific outcomes. The film is from Spanish filmmaker Jaume Balageuró who seems to have hit the nail on the head when creating terrifying horror films. I found [Rec] a wonderful piece of work, both disturbing and surreal. The fact that it was also in Spanish made me more fixated, the setting became intensified and the shaky camera work actually worked for this movie, unlike many horrors before it.

Let's hope [Rec] 2 can bring something more...

-Jen

Ghanaian Film Posters

I happened upon these posters whilst talking to a graphics student from London, he was doing a project on early horror and told me about these Ghanaian film posters. I am a huge 80's film fan, so this knowledge came as a treat.

When VHS technology hit the world in the 1980's it allowed some countries to be able to show films at impromptu screenings. They would set up their portable cinemas at any venue available, hook their TV's and VCR's up to play any of the movies that had made it to VHS and landed in their hands. Of course printing was expensive, so they would hire local artists to draw and paint film posters to advertise their screenings. Funny thing was most of these artists hadn't even watched the films. But I couldn't help myself thinking they're still bloody remarkable!

Hope you enjoy!

-Jen

Inception

If there is one film you should see this year it should be INCEPTION, acclaimed filmmaker Christopher Nolan's mind boggling creation.

'What's the most resilient parasite? An Idea. A single idea from the human mind can build cities. An idea can transform the world and rewrite all the rules. Which is why I have to steal it'

In this sci-fi thriller Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Dom Cobb, the most skilled thief of his trade who is able to extract secrets from deep within the mind, when his contracted jobs are left in their dream state. However being the best at working with 'subconscious security' means he loses all that is dear to him. So now Cobb leads the life of a fugitive, he believes the only way to redeem himself is to change his plan of action, instead of stealing secrets he is going to implant one instead and by doing so create the perfect crime.

The music in this trailer made my body cover itself with goose pimples. It's got a fantastic cast peppered with Nolan favourites - Leornado DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Michael Caine, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy and Ellen Page. The CGI looks groundbreaking, it includes Nolan's passion for architecture and angular designs. There's something quite dark and haunting about this film, it aims to completely confuse your perceptions of reality and the dream world by using surrealist concepts and psychological puzzles on a massive scale. In the scene in which bodies are floating in mid air my mouth dropped open in sheer disbelief, this became the ultimate calling for me to see this film.

Definitely bound to be the most extraordinary and mysterious film of the year. I just cannot wait.

Release date in the UK is the 16th of JULY

-Jen

Dear John

So, I got 'dragged' along to this romantic drama. I saw the trailer for it while I was waiting to see Shutter Island. As soon as that Snow Patrol song kicked in, my eyes started welling up, and I could feel a flood of tears coming on. Yes I am a huge cry baby when it comes to love stories. I knew that if I went any where near it, I would spend the whole day balling my eyes out. But a part of me was secretly desperate to see it. I guess I just crumbled.

From the adaption of Nicholas Sparks' novel of the same name (who also wrote The Notebook) comes a story of a young couple who fall in love in a matter of weeks and become separated by war. John played by Channing Tatum who is one of the most boring actors I have encountered falls in love with big eyed Savannah played by Amanda Seyfried.

I couldn't say for the life of me that I immediately fell in love with either of the characters. There was of course nothing special about them or their union. By the end I realised I didn't really particularly liked either of them. There was nothing quirky or original, they were just another good looking couple who had a lot of lust for each other. As the film went on it came to my attention that I was just more concerned with John's autistic father who is played by Richard Jenkins. He played the role brilliantly I may add, and Savannah's understanding of the disability was moving and well acted.

But the plot seemed jumbled and meandered from one thing to the next. There was no real progression just lots of jumping around and I started to wonder what year it was...The Notebook I loved, I enjoyed every minute of it, it was such a beautifully told story with wonderful characters and beautiful sets. Dear John lacked any endearing romance for me, it was full of clichés and had very little honesty and passion.

Dear John's overdose of lachrymose romance came to a very abrupt end, it was as if they had run out of film and couldnt be arsed to put another reel on. If a film leaves you thinking, 'was that it?' It's probably not worth seeing.

-Jen

Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps.

The world premiere is tomorrow and I am so excited. Granted I wont get to see it for at least a little while but I just loved the original and I have got relatively high hopes for the latest one. Shia LaBeouf however... I am not a fan. I doubt he will be anywhere near as good as Charlie Sheen. That role was just so perfect for him. There is no reason to mention Michael Douglas as I know that he will be great.

If this is not going to be great I am going to hunt down whichever corporate jerk was to blame for reviving the concept and cover their desk in elephant droppings. Then I will get naked and fling the shit at them whilst yelling; ''The main thing about money, Bud, is that it makes you do things you don't want to do. ''

- Seb.

MGM fire sale.

MGM is rumoured to be sold in order to try and recoup some of the $3.7bn (£2.2bn) debt it has accumulated over its existence. It would be sad to see the studio that made great films such as Singing in the Rain, Ben Hur and Gone with the Wind go. These classics and the rest of its back catalogue including all the James Bond films may fetch a decent price in order to recoup some of its loss.

It would be sad to see the instantly recognizable lion go but to be frank it has not released any films of its own in a while. Last year it released a mere three films which were all co produced for other studios.

The films were; The Pink Panther 2 and two remakes, Fame and The Taking of Pelham 123. These boring films desperately looking for easy money go against the studios motto that started in the 1920's; ''Ars Gratia Artis''. Perhaps for merely this reason it is a good plan they go down under..

- Seb.