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Matthew Weiner’s 60s drama returns for a fourth season. Here’s our review of the episode one…

4.1 Public Relations

The incomparable Mad Men returns to the UK for a fourth series, once again tucked away on BBC4 at ten o’clock at night. It’s an odd treatment for a show that deserves to be seen by as wide an audience as possible, and just as the similarly brilliant The Wire was shoved in a graveyard slot on BBC2, the Auntie Beeb seem intent on keeping Mad Men one of UK television’s best kept secrets.

The previous season of Matthew Weiner’s 60s set Madison Avenue drama concluded with the collapse of advertising lothario Don Draper’s marriage, and the formation of a new agency, the snappily named Sterling, Cooper, Draper and Pryce.

As sycophantic accountant Pete describes them, the new SCDP are “the scrappy upstarts”,and their workplace is now a funky, contemporary 60s office full of hip young talent, though notably smaller and less lavish than their old building.

But, while the office space is small, the agency’s ideas are big. A commercial for a cleaning solution called Glo-Coat has provided SCDP with its first big success, and the episode opens with a typically Brylcreemed Don Draper engaged in a terse interview with an Advertising Age journalist. When the hack asks, “Who is the real Don Draper,” Don himself seems utterly unable to answer the question.

When the finished article appears in the newspaper, the results please nobody. Draper is (quite accurately) described as a latter-day Dorian Gray, and what should have been a piece of free advertising for the agency is instead deemed a minor embarrassment. “This is a missed opportunity. Plus, you sound like a prick,” as Roger later puts it, with a typical absence of tact.

One of Don’s defining characteristics has long been his insatiable appetite for comely ladies. Artist Tracey Emin once made a cub tent with all her lovers’ names on it. Don Draper would need a marquee the size of the Millennium Dome for his.

And while Don’s divorce from Betty appears to have taken the wind out of his libidinous sails somewhat, a blind date set up by Roger soon sees the former sitting across the table from another potential love interest, who both tuck into chicken Kiev.

Meanwhile, a newly coiffured Peggy has cooked up a PR stunt to sell a brand of ham, which involves two middle-aged women publicly fighting in a supermarket. Peggy hires two candidates to stage the squabble, while Pete makes sure the incident appears in a newspaper. Predictably, the stunt goes awry, with Peggy forced to ask an unimpressed Don for bail money when one of the women presses charges for assault, though the ham sellers are unperturbed: “He’s sorry that people got hurt, but more people will taste our ham now.”

There are also signs in this first episode that Don’s advertising crown may also have slipped. His unsuccessful pitch to a swimsuit company ends with him petulantly throwing his clients out of the building, an ill-advised move for an agency with an already tiny client base.

Don’s relationship with his ex-wife is similarly scrappy. While Betty’s evidently swept up in her new love for Henry, Don coldly announces that he wants them out of his house, warning them that he’ll put up the rent if they don’t leave.

So, while Don retains his veneer of polish and Cary Grant-like aura of cool, the cracks that began to appear in the previous series are strongly in evidence here, and the newspaper interview at the start of this episode is a rare glimpse of his character looking uncomfortable and out of his element.

In an attempt to redeem himself, public relations concludes with Don making a more concerted effort to impress another journalist, this time from the Wall Street Journal. How this new, less terse approach will affect the company remains to be seen.

Compared to earlier episodes, this season opener wasn’t the best we’ve seen of Mad Men, but then, the drama’s been so radically shaken up by the events of the last series that there are entire new dynamics to establish. The shattered Draper household is vastly different, while Peggy’s now more stylish and assertive.

Will Don be able to recover that creative edge that his agency desperately needs to survive? Only time will tell.

It turns out that Martin Freeman may be joining The Hobbit movies after all, with reports of a new deal that lets him play Bilbo Baggins and remain in the BBC’s Sherlock…

Earlier in the week, we reported that Martin Freeman had passed on the chance to play Bilbo Baggins in the upcoming pair of movies of The Hobbit, due to his commitments to the TV show Sherlock.

Sherlock has been confirmed for three new adventures in the autumn of 2011, and that’s going to eat up 20 weeks of shooting time next year, which is set to clash, presumably, with the planned production of The Hobbit. Thus, Freeman had apparently had to pass on the role.

However, it appears that there’s more to the story. Entertainment Weekly is now suggesting that Warner Bros (through its New Line subsidiary) and MGM have come back to Freeman with a new schedule, which should, in theory, allow him to make both The Hobbit and Sherlock. Entertainment Weekly also says that “all parties are currently negotiating a deal”.

Even if Freeman agrees, meanwhile, there are still obstacles in front of the film. The Hobbit has no start date for its year-long production, given that financial frailties are still befalling the MGM studio, and as of now, there’s still no confirmed director for the two movies, since Guillermo del Toro left the project.

It’s widely expected that Peter Jackson will sign on the dotted line to direct, and we assume that, given negotiations with Freeman are apparently ongoing, the idea is to be shooting the film at least by next year.

We’ll keep you posted on any developments. In the meantime, the Entertainment Weekly story can be found here.

The first set of photos from the next X-Men movie have appeared online – and we’ve got shots of January Jones as Emma Frost right here!

Shooting is now underway on next summer’s X-Men: First Class, with director Matthew Vaughn calling the shots at Pinewood Studios in the UK. And the first pictures from the shoot have now emerged too, courtesy of INF Daily.

The images show January Jones in character as Emma Frost on the set of the movie, and we’ve got a smattering of pictures for you here. The rest of the gallery can be found at the INF Daily site, which you can find right here.

X-Men: First Class, meanwhile, will be shooting for most of the rest of the year, and will be in cinemas on June 3rd 2011.

John Romita Jr talks to us about the Kick-Ass divide between the US and UK, Marvel, Avengers and more…

Son of the legendary Spider-Man artist of the same name, John Romita Jr has become something of a Marvel Comics legend himself since the late 80s, carving out a reputation as one of the most definitive artists on characters including Iron Man, Thor, Hulk and, of course, ol’ Webhead.

More recently, he teamed up with writer Mark Millar to create the smash hit series Kick-Ass, and also served as producer on the highly successful film. With the DVD out this week, we sat down for a quick chat with the man they call ‘JRJR’ about his thoughts on the movie, his upcoming visit to the UK, and how Spider-Man is the greatest fictional character of all.

How pleased were you with the film itself, in so far as how well it translated yours and Mark’s vision to the screen?

Well, I didn’t want it to be too strict to the comic, as I think that would have been detrimental to Matthew’s vision, but at the same time, I didn’t want it to completely disparage the comic. I think it ended up as a nice combination.

Was there any particular aspect that you were happiest with?

I think the subtlety – it wasn’t over the top, visually. The costumes weren’t ridiculous, there wasn’t one point where I felt any of the visuals were unnecessary. It could have been over the top, there could have been too much blood or too much of something else, but I think Matthew held it back.

We went way over the top with the comic, and broke through a couple of barriers, so to speak. But I think Matthew pulled back just a touch, and that’s what I was very happy with. He didn’t go beyond us, he stayed within us!

You mentioned the costumes. I found an interesting difference was that, although Big Daddy was a big comics geek in the book, he had quite a non-traditionally superhero-style costume. Yet, in the film, obviously, they went down the Batman-pastiche route. Did that make you wish you’d gone a similar way in the comic?

Not really. I mean, if I’d known they were going to be so different from the comic, with the exception of Kick-Ass himself, I don’t know if it would have intimidated me at all.

When we were designing the costumes up-front, we did so with the mind of an amateur – these were normal people putting these costumes on – and it didn’t really occur to us that we would use the iconic Batman visuals for Big Daddy and Hit Girl.

But I have no problem with the difference. I enjoy my designs, but I think the costume designer for the film did a fantastic job.

It seemed to be the UK rather than the US where the film really took off, critically and in terms of box office. Was it surprising that we clicked with it more over here than in the US?

Not surprised, but when it happened, it made sense. I think there’s a little more of a comfort zone, maybe a little bit more leeway with content in the UK and Europe than the United States.

Ultimately, the reviews were “Good movie, however, really unnecessary with the little girl.” Which is comical, if you think about a movie like The Exorcist, which was 35 years ago and was equally outrageous with the little girl!

I’m confounded by people who complained about the little girl and the foul language and violence, because, you know, there are no children with foul mouths in the United States! But no, I’m very happy that the UK took to it the way it did, because even though it’s based in New York, this was a British production. I think that flair was there, and I think Matthew Vaughn doing the film gave it its strength in the UK and Europe. And I was very happy that the box office take was divided so evenly between the UK and the States.

How did you initially come to work with Mark? I know you did a Wolverine run together, but did you know him before then at all?

I was familiar with his work before we did Wolverine together, and read more of it when I knew we were going to work together. And then he sent me a bottle of scotch, and said, “This is what you’ll get if you work with me!”

His sense of humour’s what attracted me to working with him, on a personal basis, and then working on Wolverine cemented that, because he’s such a brilliant talent.

We had so much fun together professionally that we vowed to work on a creator-owned project, and here we are all these years later with the fun and success of Kick-Ass! And now we’re working on the second arc.

I’m very happy to work with Mark, and I look forward to working with him on any and all projects. The only problem is that there are people waiting in line to work with him!

I was going to say, as Mark seems to have a number of creator-owned projects going at any one time, with a variety of top artists, with Kick-Ass, did he already have that in mind and then come to you, or did the pair of you develop it together from the start?

Yeah, Mark had come up the initial idea, and came to me with the story. But he said that he came up with the idea with me in mind. You can ask him to split hairs and get into the minor details of what was in the inner workings of his mind, which will scare any human being, but basically he came to me with a different version of the Kick-Ass story. It was mostly about Big Daddy and Hit Girl, and then when he came to me it morphed into Kick-Ass.

He told me months after he first sent it to me, “Hold on a second, don’t get too carried away. I have an idea to add to this!” In all fairness, it was his original idea, but it developed as we worked on it together. I like to call it 50/50. He’ll give me more credit, but ultimately it was his original idea.

That’s the formula. I have my own projects too, and I’ll attempt to draw those as well as I draw Mark’s, but from the start it was his baby. I just didn’t want to drop it!

I’ve always found it quite interesting that you’ve never done any work for DC, having been a Marvel guy for pretty much your entire career. Is there any particular reason for that, or is it circumstance that you started out there and have been happy there ever since?

It’s a little bit of happenstance. Ultimately, until my father retired, I chose to stay with Marvel, because it was a family thing. After he retired, there was interest from other companies, and some negotiations with DC, but Marvel was adamant about keeping me and always made sure that I stayed.

I’m loyal to the people that are loyal to me, and it’s kind of chicken and egg. They’re loyal to me because I’m loyal to them. But the people I’ve been working with at Marvel since the mid-to-late 90s. Joe Quesada, Dan Buckley, David Bogart, the brain trust at Marvel, they are very good to me and my family, and I will be the same way to them. So long as they stay at Marvel, I’ll be signing contracts with them.

I’m also a big fan of the characters. I think the characters are the best in the business. In all honesty, Spider-Man is the best character in creation! So, it’s a loyalty thing, too – a combination of happenstance and loyalty.

Regarding upcoming work, then, you’ve just started an Avengers run with Brian Michael Bendis. Are you on that for the foreseeable future?

Yeah, a minimum of a year, and then we’ll see what happens. I’m currently working on the fourth issue, and Brian Bendis is another one of these brilliant writers. I get to work with Mark, and with Brian, I’ve worked with Neil Gaiman and Frank Miller. I’ve had blessed luck when it comes to working with writers.

And Avengers is pretty much the top-selling book in the industry. But I’m also working on Kick-Ass 2, and I have three other of my own projects that I’m developing.

One is in the hands of a producer. It’s called The Gray Area [based on John's 2004 Image Comics series], and two others. One is a treatment that I’m writing, and on the other I’m working with Howard Chaykin. It’s called Shmuggy And Bimbo, and it’s about two hitmen who aren’t what they seem. But I’m fully into this, and if I can survive the next ten years, then I’ll retire!

Just finally, I notice you’re coming over in November to the Thought Bubble convention in Leeds. I haven’t really seen you do much in the way of UK shows. I just wondered how this one came about.

I was in London during the filming of the Kick-Ass movie, they mentioned it then, and kept in email contact since. And I love the UK. I haven’t seen enough of it, and I wanted to come back and actually have some vacation time in London. So. my wife and I – it’s her birthday – we’re going to go to Leeds for the convention, and then we’ll spend a week in London, meet up with some of our friends, and enjoy the city the way we should. I’d like to explore the country a bit, too – maybe rent a car, get lost, see what happens!

John Romita, thank you very much!

Kick-Ass is out now on DVD and Blu-ray. John will be appearing at the Thought Bubble convention in Leeds on Saturday 20th November. More info can be found at www.thoughtbubblefestival.com.

See also:

• Mark Millar interview: Kick-Ass, Kick-Ass 2, CLiNT and more

It stars the mighty Nathan Fillion. It’s full of Firefly references. And it’s brilliant. As Castle prepares for its third season, here’s why you should be watching it…

Take the sincerity of Firefly, add the morbid fascination of CSI, and throw in a dash of literary humor reminiscent of Murder, She Wrote, and you have the recipe for great television. Castle, the ABC Monday night surprise hit, is exactly what book nerds and crime show fans alike have been waiting for.

Richard Castle, flawlessly portrayed by the charming Nathan Fillion (Firefly, Two Guys, A Girl And A Pizza Place), is a 26-time bestselling author of murder mysteries. He is a ruggedly handsome, womanizing, mischievous kid-at-heart, with a gift for knowing exactly what people want to hear (or read), and is a joy to watch on screen.

He’s thrown into the world of crime-solving suddenly and unwillingly, but discovers inspiration in the sassy lead detective and pulls some strings with the mayor to follow them around and use his knowledge of criminal psychology to help solve cases.

Stana Katic (The Spirit, Quantum Of Solace) is Kate Beckett, a sexy, no-nonsense homicide detective for the NYPD with a good eye for detail and a tough attitude. She is put on the cases with strange or eerie circumstances and is the best at catching the creepy killers. Katic is beautiful and strong in the role, and the contrast and chemistry between her and Fillion is stunning and often hilarious.

The two are forced together when Beckett’s precinct is called to solve a mysterious murder (which soon escalates into three murders) with details that seem all too familiar. The murder scenes are straight out of two of Castle’s novels, and so season one begins.

Very quickly, Fillion and Katic show their superior acting chops and phenomenal chemistry. The writers give them witty banter and they can play off of each other so well, you would think that they had been working together for years.

Week after week, the team solves murders and catches killers in strange and sometimes disturbing circumstances, but that’s not all that this show is about. Castle has a young daughter that he’s trying to raise, Beckett has a traumatic past, and drama ensues. What is so unique about this show is that it can be mysterious and thrilling, but it still has a lot of heart behind it. It’s not all about the case, and the entire show has an arc, as well as a week by week mini arc. It’s creative and clever and well-written, and so easy to fall in love with.

Joining Fillion and Katic is an excellent cast of supporting characters. Beckett’s team consists of Javier Esposito and Kevin Ryan, two detectives who are great at their jobs and are always a huge help to Beckett, whether it’s noticing details that the others missed, interviewing witnesses and fact checking, or just doing the paperwork. Jon Huertas and Jon Huertas (Esposito and Ryan) are obviously friends in real life, and that friendship translates on screen, making their characters believable and loveable, complete with catch phrases and nicknames.

Tamala Jones plays Lainey Parish, the local medical examiner, who takes on Beckett’s dead bodies and is critical in finding out the facts that can turn a case in any direction. She is a sweet but tough and honest friend to Beckett, and her comedic timing is spot on. Law And Order and NYPD Blue alum Ruben Santiago-Hudson has a role as Captain Roy Montgomery of the 12th precinct. Mentor and boss to Beckett and friend to Castle, he has an awesome role with some humor, some hilarity, some professionalism, and all attitude.

Castle’s little family consists of Martha Rodgers, played by the legendary Susan Sullivan (Falcon Crest, Dharma And Greg), his eccentric and dramatic actress mother who lives with him, and his 15-year-old daughter, Alexis (Molly C. Quinn). Quinn is a revelation. She lights up the screen whenever she’s present and her character is an adorably sweet balance to her father’s recklessness. The casting is excellent and the three of them really do look like a family.

So, Castle has a strong plot, hilarious and in-depth characters, and an all star cast. What more could you ask for? How about awesome guest stars? Actors Alyssa Milano, Tom Bergeron, Dana Delany, Monet Mazur, and Debi Mazar guest star. Milano, especially, plays an amazing character, one that this author would love to see more of and real-life mystery authors Stephen J. Cannell, James Patterson, and Michael Connelly make appearances as themselves, often giving Castle helpful murder-solving advice.

If there aren’t enough reasons to watch Castle already, try this one, fellow geeks: the Firefly references run rampant! Fillion dresses in his old Malcolm Reynolds costume and if you listen carefully, you’ll hear lines like “I was aiming for his head!” Interested yet?

Castle is on ABC on Monday nights at 10:00 pm in the US and series 1 is currently airing in the UK on the Alibi channel, with the second series premiering Wednesday, September 22nd at 9:00pm. I highly recommend watching it. You will not be disappointed.

We hope to have reviews of the third season of the show when it returns on September 20th in the States.

See also:

• Nathan Fillion: will such a geek icon ever become A-list?

John C. Reilly stars in the blackly romantic comedy, Cyrus, which is now arriving in the UK. Here’s Richard’s review…

Jay and Mark Duplass are no strangers to the affections of serious film geeks, having produced two relatively well known indie flicks, the SXSW acclaimed The Puffy Chair (2005) and the rather less well known Baghead (2008), both of which were made for peanuts. It was only when producer Michael Costigan (Brokeback Mountain and Smart People) got involved with the two filmmakers that any real studio budget, courtesy of Ridley and Tony Scott, was made available to them.

The end result of this cash injection was Cyrus, a sort of black/romantic comedy that focuses on the bizarre relationship between a single mother played by Marisa Tomei, her home-schooled 20-something man-child son, Cyrus (Jonah Hill), and her first love interest in two decades, John (John C. Reilly).

The film starts by introducing us to John C. Reilly’s character, John, and his ex-wife Jamie (Catherine Keener) who’ve been divorced for seven years. In the opening scene, we see Jamie go round to John’s house where she finds him masturbating – in a jockstrap! – on his bed. Embarrassment for both parties ensues and Jamie informs her lump of an ex that she is getting re-married and, for some utterly unfathomable reason, she’d like him to attend.

In terms of genre, the film Cyrus falls into the category of what is now commonly known as mumblecore. And while there isn’t really any official definition of mumblecore, it is probably best described as having an emphasis on low production values, handheld camera work, improvised dialogue and covering subjects that aren’t usually the norm for what the layman would perceive as subject matter for feature films.

And while there are a lot of notable films that fall into this category, such as Slacker and LOL, it’s hard to consider Cyrus among them. For starters, Cyrus wasn’t made on shoestring budget and features some serious Hollywood actors. That said, Cyrus does feel very mumblecore on the whole, but this is more down to the film’s camera work and sloppy dialogue than anything else.

The film gets well and truly underway when John attends a 30-something ‘media-types’ party with Jamie and her new finance. Jamie and John are still very close, but their relationship has gone from a sexual union to that of a paternal one, where Jamie is hell bent on hooking John up with someone, presumably so he’ll leave her alone and allow her to get on with her new life.

Nonetheless, Jamie’s plan works and John meets Molly at the party, who catches him taking a leak in the garden. She tells him he has a “nice penis” and the two hook up.

John is slightly taken aback by Molly’s interest in him, which is thoroughly plausible, as he is definitely punching above his weight with Marisa Tomei.

Nevertheless, their relationship commences and John is elevated from the lowly level of masturbating gooseberry to that of a normal single male in his late thirties. Symbolic house tidying ensues as John well and truly gets his groove back.

It is only when John meets Molly’s son, Cyrus, that we get to the meat of the film, which is essentially one big ‘don’t fuck my mom’ joke. And if you’ve seen the trailer, you’ve seen pretty much all the good jokes the film has to offer.

Cyrus is a home schooled man-child. He calls his mum “Molly” and tells John that they’re more like housemates than mother and son. Obviously, this isn’t the case, and there’s some serious Freudian undertones as Cyrus does all that he can to destroy the blossoming relationship between his beloved mother and John.

Cyrus isn’t a bad film. There’s some good acting in it with the entire cast putting in commendable performances. Both Marisa Tomei and John C. Reilly are utterly believable and make an adorable, albeit unlikely, couple. Jonah Hill also puts in a memorable performance as the dark-natured, manipulative, man-child who is determined to prevent anyone from stealing his mother’s affections.

Nevertheless, it is an ultimately underwhelming 90 minutes. Put simply, there just isn’t enough, humour or otherwise, going on in the film to keep you entertained or excited. Plus, it’s a film that seems torn between being a drama and a light comedy, and it never really commits to either.

To be fair, initial reviews of Cyrus have been rather complimentary, with Rolling Stone proclaiming it the “sharpest comedy at Cannes”, so maybe people will like this film better than we did.

On the whole, though, we weren’t overly impressed with Cyrus. It’s a decent movie, that seems to have more potential than the end result would lead you to believe. It’s decent, but we couldn’t help but hope for more than we got.

In our latest world cinema column, Nick embarks on a whistle stop tour of countries and their most notable films, starting with Europe…

I’ve sais before: the lure of the unknown is what attracts people to seek out world cinema. Discovering new places and new people is intoxicating, and the thrill of it can often be replicated in cinema, and what keeps us seeking it out.

Not all of us can make the journey in reality, but we can still experience the wonders nonetheless. With that in mind, I decided I’d shake up the column a bit and introduce a new section.

Over the next couple of weeks, I thought I’d take you all on a once in a lifetime round-the-world trip, visiting every continent and making hundreds of emotional connections with places and people, all via the medium of film. And if you’re thinking this is corny bullshit, well then you may be right, but if any of you have ever been inspired to visit a place after seeing it on screen, then I hope this list adds a few more destinations…

Europe

Britain

Start your journey in London, Britain, and what better way to celebrate the city than a return to its swinging past, with 60s classic Blowup, in which a fashion photographer (David Hemmings) believes he may have accidentally snapped a murder. The film has mimes playing tennis and counts both The Conversation and bizarrely Enemy Of The State as sort-of remakes…

France

Then hop over the channel to France, where Gallic filmmaking’s long tradition stretches back to the earliest days of cinema. In honour of our own globetrotting endeavour, watch the reclusive Chris Marker’s Sans Soleil, a continent spanning treatise on memory and time. I once saw this film in a Sydney gallery, where I also found out that Chris Marker was apparently a member of the French Resistance.

Germany

Moving into Germany, we can celebrate the fact that Bavarian regional film funder, FimFernsehFondsBayern, has increased its financial commitment to German film by watching some of its finest, the bonkers German expressionist masterpiece The Cabinet Of Dr Caligari. You probably can’t visit this place in real life, and you probably shouldn’t. The incredible set design is evocative of a nightmare come to life.

Sweden

Heading further north we end up in Sweden, where, in defiance of the cold, high suicide rates, and recent excellent gloomy nihilism evident in its films, I instead recommend Show Me Love, the heart warming tale of an unrequited youthful gay love. If this film doesn’t have you smiling by the end, then you’re probably dead inside.

Spain

For those who prefer sunnier climes, then Spain is possibly a preferred port of call. In amongst the embarrassment of cinematic riches that this country has produced, I once again draw your attention to the dynastic epic Vacas. It really is a powerful work of art.

Italy

Equally redolent in its film legacy is Italy. While justly famed for its neo-realism and spaghetti westerns, I say pay attention to the Italian giallo genre, a blend of mystery, crime and horror. Foremost here is the work of Dario Argento and my personal favourite, Bird With The Crystal Plumage.

Poland

Venturing into less visited Eastern Europe and the old Communist bloc, Poland is our next stop. The Kinoteka Film Festival is a firm fixture on the London festival circuit, and its most recent (held in March/April this year) produced a string of notable new films, including Boris Lankosz’s Reverse, an aching portrait of Warsaw society old and new.

Hungary

Sticking with our former Communist buddies come good, next up is Hungary. Having paid a visit to Budapest and ridden on its tiny but awesome metro, I heartily suggest Kontroll, a black comedy about murders underground.

Greece

Sliding down the continent, Greece is the next country on our tour. Birthplace of democracy, cradle of Western civilisation and noted for its stunning monuments, it seems obvious to watch erotic comedy Safe Sex. Actually a satirical look at modern Greek culture. Or so they say.

Turkey

For all my mocking last week, it seems Turkey is quite the cinematic powerhouse. In the same vein as the Indian realist work, Berlin Golden Bear winner Susuz Yaz is a timeless tale of corruption and greed in the rural heartland.

So, 10 down and 70 to go. It’s quite the odyssey, but I’ll add a little each time until a film map of the world has formed. Except using words instead of actual images of countries and stuff. But you get my meaning…

In Cinemas

My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done?

Not strictly World Cinema, but Werner Herzog definitely doesn’t fit into Hollywood by any stretch of the imagination. Re-teaming him with Willem Defoe, this is, on the surface, a straightforward story about a man who re-enacts a play’s fictional killing of a mother with a sword.

In Herzog’s (and producer David Lynch’s) hands, this instead becomes a classic exploration of obsession, madness and all the fun things in between.

If you’re a Herzog fan, this is another solid entry in his oeuvre, and a piece which really charts the descent of a man into the darker recesses of his soul. Described variously as ‘complex’ and ‘hypnotic’, it is not to be missed and will surely stay with you long after.

Released 10th September

22 Bullets

I missed this last week, but if Jean Reno action thrillers are your thing (and if they aren’t, why not?), then this is right up your street. Reno plays a retired mobster who goes on the rampage after being left for dead by, you guessed it, 22 bullets. In his body. Which surely hurt.

22 Bullets is out in cinemas now.

• See the growing World Cinema series

With London’s Raindance Film Festival set to begin at the end of the month, Michael provides a run-down of ten movies worth keeping an eye on…

Coming up at the end of the month is the Raindance Film Festival, London’s showcase for the world’s most promising independent and low-budget cinema. Now in its 18th year, Raindance is boasting a line-up of 77 would-be breakout flicks, most of which are receiving their UK premieres.

With strands dedicated to documentaries, Japanese cinema, and homegrown British films, as well as awards given for the best debut, microbudget, UK and international features (to be judged by, amongst others, Charles Saatchi, Julian Barratt, Dave McKean and Lemmy), there’s certainly a lot on offer for the discerning cinephile. Luckily for you, we’ve combed the programme and come up with 10 films that have impressed us with bold concepts, or baffled us with their barminess.

A Serbian Film

Already kicking up a fuss in the UK since it was pulled from the Frighfest lineup last month, A Serbian Film is being presented at Raindance as a private screening, in order to get around BBFC cuts.

If you’ve not heard of this gruelling exercise in boundary-pushing sex gore, where a porn star is brought out of retirement and faced with various tasks and trials by a sadistic director, we’d recommend you check out the helpfully thorough Wikipedia plot summary. Crikey.

Armless

Nominated for both Best Debut and Best Microbudget Feature, Armless looks to be a cheeky, dark comedy with a unique twist. The trailer builds with deadpan humour and mild drama, before hitting on a quite brilliant punchline, as an otherwise boring man comes to terms with his personal obsession: he wants to have his arms cut off. Hell, we’re intrigued.

Cannibal

Another Best Debut nominee is the Belgian film Cannibal, a brooding horror about a young man who falls in love with a mysterious girl. She has a secret, one which, judging by the film’s title, might have something to do with her peculiar taste in men.

Flooding With Love For The Kid

Now this is an odd entry. Flooding With Love For The Kid is inspired by David Morrell’s novel First Blood (the book which birthed Rambo), however this isn’t a straight-up reboot. In the running for the Best Microbudget prize, Flooding was filmed, acted and edited by one man (Zachary Oberzan), on a budget of $96, in a set constructed within a 220 square foot apartment.

Iron Doors

Indie features love locked door thrillers, mostly because you save on budgeting for multiple sets and locations. Iron Doors, however, looks to be a particularly twisted take on the genre, as an investment banker wakes up after a night on the lash in an underground vault. From the trailer, it seems to hinge on tension and the banker’s slowly deteriorating mental state, as he chisels away at his little prison. It leaves a lot of tantalising questions, not least of which is: just what is he drinking from his shoe?

Jackboots On Whitehall

Recently shown in Edinburgh and due a wide release in October, Jackboots On Whitehall is the UK’s answer to Team America, a perky what-if yarn of invading Nazis and stiff upper lip British retaliation, all in stop-motion, puppet-heavy animation. Up for the Best UK Feature award, the film also stars quite a stunning array of vocal talent, including Rosamund Pike, Ewan McGregor, Timothy Spall, Dominic West and – our favourite – Alan Cumming as Hitler.

Rebels Without A Clue

One of the other Best UK Feature hopefuls, Rebels Without A Clue sports a pretty rubbish title, but its mixture of rural English boredom and gangster high jinks looks like it should be a hoot. Check the first trailer, where two brash teens discover a pistol in an abandoned car. But what about the body in the boot?

Symbol

Up for the Best International Feature prize, Symbol is another closed room thriller, from Japanese director Hitoshi Matsumoto. Like in Iron Doors, a man wakes up to find himself in a nondescript room. However, here, he is wearing polka dot pyjamas, and before long the wall starts erupting with penises and hundreds of little babies. We’re just as puzzled as he is and, frankly, we want to know more.

Vampires

Vampires is a Belgian faux documentary, looking at the lives of a family of immortal bloodsuckers. While the concept sounds a bit cynical and contrived, the trailer is quite promising, bringing a lot of mundane humour to the table. What with sleeping in dingy cellars and feeding on illegal immigrants, being a vamp doesn’t seem glamorous at all.

Yellow Kid

The trailer for Yellow Kid is in Japanese, so we can’t totally tell what’s going on, but this debut from Tetsuya Mariko has an interesting set-up. The protagonist is a wannabe boxer, Tamura, who unwittingly was the inspiration for a high school chum Hattori’s manga creation, the Yellow Kid. When their paths cross, Tamura is greatly influenced by the comic, and changes his outlook on life.

The Raindance Film Festival runs from September 29th to October 10th, at the Apollo Piccadilly in London. For more information, visit www.raindance.co.uk.

As writing continues on Torchwood season 4, we round up a couple of the latest stories surrounding the show’s return…

Shooting doesn’t start until the beginning of 2011, yet a few more bits and bobs have been seeping through about the return of Torchwood with The New World next year. The new season of the show is a co-production between BBC America and US cable network Starz, and show boss Russell T Davies has lured in some impressive writers to work on it.

One of them is Jane Espenson, a veteran of Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Battlestar Galactica episodes, and she’s been talking to Blastr about how the new season of the show is being put together.

Espenson confirmed that she’s writing three of the ten episodes of the show, and that all of the scripts will be written this time before the cameras start rolling. She revealed that “Because of the length of our season and the lead time before production begins, we’re actually approaching Torchwood in a very unusual way-all the episodes will be written before any of them begin shooting.

“This is allowing us to ‘break’ all the episodes at once, with the entire writing staff working together in a very concentrated one-month work session. This is making for a very intense and collaborative process, all guided by Russell’s very precise vision. The final product is going to be tightly plotted and lovingly crafted.”

She also revealed that one of the previously-announced character names has been changed.

Furthermore, John Barrowman has confirmed his return, something we didn’t actually appreciate was in much doubt. He’s basically said that he’s ultimately chosen returning to the character of Captain Jack Harkness over continuing in Desperate Housewives.

He said, “I was in discussions with the creator of Desperate Housewives, one of the top three television series in the whole world, and he invited me to play Patrick. It was such a good role playing the baddie and I really wanted to do it. But, I also didn’t want to spoil the Torchwood deal, so I told him that if I played Patrick he’d have to find a way to kill me off and he went along with that. Desperate Housewives is so huge that it actually helped to seal the Torchwood deal, so everyone is happy.”

Torchwood: The New World will be arriving on TV screens next summer.

Film Shaft
Blastr

The latest Spider-Man casting rumour: is Hilary Duff set to appear in the upcoming reboot?

Given that the casting of Captain America earlier this year was done pretty much in the public glare, it’s interesting to see that another Marvel-based production, the Spider-Man reboot, is going about things in a much quieter way.

The manner in which Sony sprung the casting of Andrew Garfield in the title role was a surprise to pretty much everyone, Andrew Garfield included. And in terms of further casting announcements and news on who the villain is set to be, it’s all been very much under wraps.

It had been rumoured that six actresses were in talks a few weeks ago to star in the movie. However, it’s also been reported that the lead female role in the movie won’t be Mary Jane this time around. Apparently, Hilary Duff wasn’t on the list.

But what has been uncovered is that she seems to have the script for the new Spider-Man movie in her home. This information came about as part of a Globe and Mail piece that managed to slip in the presence of a Spider-Man script in a description of Duff’s home. The piece noted that “a script marked ‘Spiderman’ sits on the table, with lines for a character simply called ‘girl’ highlighted in yellow”.

So, let’s do a bit of speculating, then. Does this mean that Duff might be in line for a female role that’s not the outright lead actress part in the film? And does that mean that she might be playing either Mary Jane or Gwen Stacey, with a view to expand their presence in the movies as the new planned Spider-Man trilogy gets going?

We’ll bring you more news on this as we get it. What we do know is that Marc Webb is directing the film, and he’s shooting it beginning at the end of the year.

Gameplay footage and special edition details arrive for Propaganda’s forthcoming blockbuster tie-in, Tron: Evolution…

The original Tron movie spawned two excellent videogame tie-ins way back in the early 80s. The first, predictably called Tron, was a collection of four minigames all housed in a weird walk-in cabinet. Next came Discs Of Tron, which replicated the Kevin Flynn versus Crom glowing Frisbee fight from the film.

Notable for its unusual control system, which involved turning a little knob-type thing to bounce your discs off the walls, Discs Of Tron‘s appeal has proved so enduring that it’s still readily available to play today, and can be downloaded from Xbox Live Arcade.

And with the belated sequel Tron: Legacy hitting cinemas at the end of the year, it’s unsurprising that a videogame tie-in should follow in its wake.

A huge percentage of movie tie-ins are utter bilge, of course, but we’ve high hopes that Legacy‘s adaptation, Tron: Evolution, will buck that depressing trend. A film set in the luminous virtual world of a computer programme should be ripe for an equally shiny piece of interactive entertainment, shouldn’t it?

Fresh from last weekend’s Penny Arcade Expo comes a new gameplay video, which reveals what appears to be a neon-drenched third person action platformer, with bursts of combat and, we’re relieved to see, parts where you get to ride around on a light cycle.

If you’re really impressed with what you see, there’s a $130 special edition version of Evolution on the way. The extra cash buys you a rather gorgeous looking miniature light cycle, with a little display case to keep it in. If that seems rather steep for what you get, do bear in mind that the light cycle also glows in the dark.

Tron: Evolution is due for release on 7 December for (deep breath) PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS.

You can see the Collector’s Edition package by clicking on the thumbnail just below the trailer…

Screenwriter Dennis Potter’s final works, Karaoke and Cold Lazarus, were a poignant examination of his life and future legacy. Cliff takes a look at their DVD editions…

A dying writer, haunted by his past creations and aware of how his legacy will be picked over by the media barons he so hates, writes about a dying writer, haunted by his past creations, and then how his legacy is picked over by the media barons.

Albert Finney is (and occasionally was) Daniel Feeld in these two dramas, but so is Dennis Potter. This duet is the ‘lastest last great work’ you’ll see, and there’s nothing really quite like it.

Or, perhaps there is, as throughout there are numerous homages to previous Potter productions, rarely subtle: Karaoke with all the hospital imagery of The Singing Detective and the moving Pennies From Heaven finale, Cold Lazarus even heavier, as the voyeurism of The Singing Detective, the adult-as-child young Daniel recalling Blue Remembered Hills, the oily Stiltz further oiled by two beautiful nurses.

Karaoke is the ‘fantasy drama’ half, Cold Lazarus the full-blooded science fiction sequel. Made at Potter’s request as a joint BBC/Channel 4 venture, both are (just about) standalone, but you wouldn’t really want to only see one or the other.

It begins with Feeld slowly realising and coming to terms with fatal illness, whilst lines from scripts keep popping up around him, people he meets are eerily familiar, and soon he finds himself trying to prevent the brutal murder he’s already written about.

Then, for Cold Lazarus, flash forward, four hundred years. Unsurprisingly, Feeld’s dead by now (we’ll see a bit of his death later on) and a team of scientists led by Emma Porlock (Frances de la Tour) are extracting memories, visualised on a virtual screen.

Meanwhile, an American oligarch competes with the president to control the project, the marketing of Feeld’s often harrowing memories their concern. But Feeld may not be as completely unaware of his situation as people realise.

The episodes are not always the paciest. That said, Potter wasn’t the paciest of writers, but the performances are, mostly, good enough, big enough or both to keep up interest, from a highly respectable company.

Albert Finney is excellent as Feeld across both, balancing weary bitterness with the nearest Potter gets to warmth early on, and all the fear and discomfort later on, never putting a twitch wrong even as a disembodied, frozen head. Karaoke is his showcase, while in Cold Lazarus he’s always the focus, but not the star.

In Karaoke, Roy Hudd’s constantly Spoonerisming agent doesn’t quite sell the over-egged dialogue he’s given, but I don’t know who could. Richard E Grant, with the barmy Balmer, revisits the obsessional Dennis from How To Get Ahead In Advertising, as he tries to get ahead in boiling bunnies for Keeley Hawes. ‘Pig’ Malion, the villain, is played with a more grounded menace by Hywell Bennett. Then there’s Anna Chancellor and Alison Steadman.

At times, it’s easy to drift from the story and just enjoy the images and actors doing their thing. Overall, the heightened reality, which makes an implied sense once you’ve seen all of Cold Lazarus, makes it a weirder watch than the conclusion. De la Tour and Ciar

Children Of Men director Alfonso Cuarón’s forthcoming sci-fi movie Gravity could star Natalie Portman, it’s been revealed…

It may have been flawed in places, but director Alfonso Cuar

Nathan Fillion may be a recognisable name to cult movie and TV geeks, but does he have what it takes to break into the mainstream? Ti weighs up the possibilities…

In the world of cult movie and TV geekdom, there are actors that are revered and worshiped. Actors who, in the eyes of their fans, can do no wrong and attract a large and loyal following wherever they go.

Names like Bruce Boxleitner, George Takei and Bruce Campbell may not mean much to the average person, but say their name to someone wearing some sort of retro t-shirt and their eyes will light up.

Unfortunately, these actors have never been truly embraced by film studios and have never achieved A-list status, making their cultdom all the more endearing. However, every now and then a geek icon threatens to break into the big leagues and all it takes is one role or one film to make it so.

Take, for example, Heroes‘ Zachary Quinto. Formerly that bloke from 24 and Heroes, Quinto is arguably heading towards the A-List after his blockbusting turn as Spock in the Star Trek reboot. The same can be said of Steve Carell, Tina Fey and Jennifer Aniston. They all started in TV and, through the popularity of their individual shows, they now command hefty paychecks.

For many, it is a fine line of having the screen presence and charisma to make the leap, but there is one actor who arguably should have made the leap a long time ago or is due it now. Nathan Fillion.

For many, Fillion first came to note in Two Guys, A Girl And A Pizza Place, but then acquired more fans after his turn as Caleb in Joss Whedon’s Buffy The Vampire Slayer. However, it was his role as Mal Reynolds in the ill-fated Firefly that sealed his position in the hearts and minds of geeks everywhere.

Displaying Indiana Jones-esque cockiness, withering sarcasm and his ability to take a punch, Fillion’s Mal Reynolds became the Han Solo of a new generation. His undeniable ‘star quality’, coupled with a cool jacket and a revolver, made him arguably the closest we have to a 21st century Harrison Ford. Except maybe for Harrison Ford, but he’s far too grumpy these days.

The fact that Fillion even appeared to be channelling Harrison Ford made his character even more appealing, but it was his natural charm that won over so many fans, male and female alike.

When Firefly was cancelled, it seemed Fillion’s chance to break out of TV hell went with it, but Whedon resurrected the character and Firefly for the theatrically released film, Serenity.

Fans of the TV series went nuts for the big screen outing of the Firefly crew, but the general audience was apathetic and a disappointing box office return meant the end for the show and its characters.

For Fillion, though, his geek credentials grew and he got cast as the lead in James Gunn’s excellent B-movie tribute Slither. You can argue that Fillion really only specialises in playing various forms of the same character, an honourable, over grown man-child with a wit as dry as a desert, and it was no different in Slither where he played Sheriff Bill Pardy, the local lawman who must defend his town from alien parasites.

Again, Slither found a cult audience, but its box office wasn’t enough to put Fillion on anyone’s A-list.

Roles followed in the likes of White Noise 2 and TV hit Lost, and then it looked like Fillion might get another shot at TV stardom with Drive, a drama about various people competing in an illegal cross-country road race. However, the series was cancelled after six episodes.

It was another series that catapulted Fillion into the mainstream audience’s consciousness, Castle. Cast as Richard Castle, a crime writer who follows around a female detective for inspiration, Fillion displayed chemistry with his co-star, Stana Katic, reminiscent of Bruce Willis and Cybil Shepherd in Moonlighting. Essentially built around Fillion’s personality and charm, the series has been a hit and is currently filming its third season.

Bit parts in highly acclaimed indie films like Waitress and Trucker show his acting chops to movie producers, while his part in Dr Horrible’s Sing-A-Long Blog as the egotistical Captain Hammer has only solidified his appeal in the hearts of geeks around the world.

He’ll be seen soon in Super, James Gunn’s next film, where he’ll star as The Holy Avenger, as well as

Has Martin Freeman really just turned down the role of Bilbo Baggins in the two upcoming movies of The Hobbit?

Tabloid rumour of the day is that Martin Freeman has been offered the lead in the upcoming movies of The Hobbit. And furthermore, it’s being reported that he’s turned the part of Bilbo Baggins down.

Instead, according to a report in The Sun today, Freeman rejected the role so that he could carry on playing Dr Watson in Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss’ modern-day reworking of Sherlock. Freeman, reports the paper, is committed to 20 weeks of filming for Sherlock in 2011, and he wouldn’t have been able to take that on had he signed up for the year-long shoot for the two The Hobbit movies.

The Sun quotes a source as saying, “It was one of the most difficult decisions of his career. MGM, who are making the film, only got a formal offer over in the last couple of weeks. It was too late for Martin because he had already signed up for another series of Sherlock. It was agonising but he had no other choice.”

More on the story here, and as usual, approach with the requisite degree of tabloid salt…