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Natalie Dormer of Game of Thrones and Assaad Bouab of Call My Agent are set to star in the thriller series Minotaur, a six-part Welsh/French show created, written, and directed by Celyn Jones, who previously co-wrote and co-directed the 2022 psychological drama The Almond and the Seahorse, starring Rebel Wilson. Mad As Birds, the production company Jones runs with Sean Marley, is producing the series, and some episodes will be directed by Charles Sturridge (Marcella).

Unfortunately, it doesn’t like Minotaur will actually deal with the part man / part bull creature from Greek mythology that it gets its name from. Instead, the story follows Luc (Bouab), a cold-blooded killer who escapes Paris’s criminal underbelly for the more prosaic North Wales. There he meets Angel (Dormer) who lives in a struggling community she feels she can never belong to, raising her son Joe alone. Whilst fighting addiction, Angel gravitates towards the mysterious Luc.

“Game of Thrones” star Natalie Dormer is set to lead new Celyn Jones thriller series “Minotaur” alongside “Call My Agent’s” Assaad Bouab.

Jones writes and directs the six-part Welsh/French drama, which he created and will be produced via Mad As Birds (“The Almond and The Seahorse”), the prod-co he runs with Sean Marley. Charles Sturridge (“Marcella”) will also direct.

“Minotaur” follows Luc (Bouab), a cold-blooded killer who escapes Paris’s criminal underbelly for the more prosaic North Wales. There he meets Angel (Dormer) who lives in a struggling community she feels she can never belong to, raising her son Joe alone.

“Whilst fighting addiction, Angel gravitates towards the mysterious Luc,” reads the logline. “But as an initial attraction grows stronger and promises a fresh start for both, the past looks determined to drag Luc back into a dangerous underworld. Where does all the evil go? Know your shadows and beware the Minotaur.

Tony Todd, the “Candyman” star who appeared in more than 240 movies and TV shows, died November 6. He was 69.

The actor’s representatives confirmed news of his death to TheWrap; no information about the cause has been made public. The actor was “an amazing man and I will miss him every single day,” Jeffrey Goldberg, Todd’s manager of over 40 years, told TheWrap.

Todd starred as the killer in “Candyman” and the movie’s sequel, but the actor’s prolific career included arcs on “The Young and the Restless” and “24” as well as episodes of “Hawaii Five-0,” “Xena: Warrior Princess” and “Young Justice.”

Todd also starred in several “Star Trek” shows, including “The Next Generation,” “Voyager” and “Deep Space Nine.” In the “Star Trek” franchise he’s best known for portraying the Klingon Kurn, brother of Worf (Michael Dorn).

In a 1998 interview with Whoosh! Todd said “Star Trek” was “the first...

Tom Hardy's career started with memorable roles in Black Hawk Down and Band of Brothers. Hardy has showcased his versatility in a variety of genres, from action blockbusters like Inception to intimate dramas like Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. In movies like Mad Max: Fury Road and The Dark Knight Rises, Hardy has proven himself as a charismatic leading man who thinks outside the box.

Since making his big screen debut in Black Hawk Down, Tom Hardy has built a career as a versatile leading man, working with many of the best directors in the business. Hardy first made a name for himself in HBO's war drama Band of Brothers. Like many of the stars of that show, he has since gone on to bigger and better things. Hardy steadily built a career as a supporting actor before establishing himself as a leading man with hits such as Bronson and Warrior.

Exclusive: Kevin Hart’s Hartbeat and The Hideaway Entertainment will partner to produce Can You Hear Me?, a new thriller scripted by Taylor Anthony Hopkins (The Last Reverie) and Luke Kelly-Clyne. Set to direct the pic, which is currently casting, is Emmy and DGA Award nominee Dean Israelite (Little Wing).

Can You Hear Me? follows a telephone scammer who learns that his nephew has been kidnapped and must collect a sum of money to get him back. Financed by The Hideaway Entertainment, the film’s producers are Kevin Hart, Bryan Smiley, Patricia Braga and Luke Kelly-Clyne for Hartbeat, along with Jonathan Gray, Matthew Rhodes and Kristy Grisham for The Hideaway. Ty Walker and Kevin Healey are exec producing for Hartbeat, along with Ryan Cassells for The Hideaway. Jen Cox serves as co-producer, with production to kick off this summer.

“‘Can You Hear Me?’ furthers Hartbeat’s commitment to...

Percy's drawing and Grover's Minotaur card foreshadow the monsters and events that Percy will encounter on his journey. The appearance of a black Pegasus hints at Percy's future companion, Blackjack. Rick Riordan's cameo in the first episode is a reassuring sign for book fans that the TV show will stay true to the source material.

Warning! This article contains spoilers for the Percy Jackson and the Olympians novels.The first two episodes of Percy Jackson and the Olympians are out on Disney+, and they're filled with Easter Eggs and hidden details. Based on Rick Riordan's beloved young adult novels, the Percy Jackson series has been adapted before into two feature films, neither of which was well received by book readers. With that being said, Disney has enormous expectations to fulfill with the new show, and the first two episodes are filled with references to the books and general Greek mythology,...

Warning! This article contains spoilers for Percy Jackson and the Olympians season 1, episodes 1 & 2, as well as Rick Riordan's book, The Lightning Thief!

Sally Jackson's fate in the TV show suggests she is killed by the Minotaur, but the books reveal that she is actually alive and in the Underworld with Hades. Hades takes Sally in order to use her as a bargaining chip to retrieve his stolen Helm of Darkness, which he believes Percy stole along with Zeus' Master Bolt. Sally remains in the Underworld until Percy can find and return the Helm, adding complexity to Percy's quest and potentially keeping her there until the season finale.

The final moments of Percy Jackson and the Olympians season 1, episode 1 imply a grim fate for the titular demigod’s mother, Sally Jackson (Virginia Kull) – but the books confirm that all isn’t as it seems. After finally telling her 12-year-old...

Alright, horror buffs and Tony Todd enthusiasts, gather ’round! Have you ever found yourself deep into a late-night Google search, hunting for the “best Tony Todd movies” or diving into the depths of “Tony Todd horror movies”? And who can blame you? The man is relentless, boasting over 250 acting credits on IMDb!

Look no further; your search ends here. We’re gearing up for a Tony Todd-centric cinematic journey that spans from pure, unadulterated horror to a hint of dark action. Sure, some of these roles might be cameos, but let’s be real: Todd’s iconic presence is the cinematic equivalent of a perfectly-timed jump-scare. Even in the briefest of appearances, he leaves an unforgettable impression.

With his resonant voice, imposing stature, and the uncanny ability to shift seamlessly between menacing and deeply empathetic characters, Tony Todd transcends the typical. He’s not just an actor; he’s a horror legend.

Exclusive: UK production company Mad As Birds (Mab) — best known for pics such as Six Minutes to Midnight, Poms, The Vanishing, and The Almond And The Seahorse — has landed a major cash injection from a private investor as it sets out a diverse slate of projects for the Cannes market.

We understand the investment is around the seven-figure mark. The investor, whose identity has been kept private, approached the UK-based indie headed by Celyn Jones, Andy Evans, and Sean Marley with the unique deal, which is set to supercharge the company’s work across film and TV, with several Mab projects heading to the Cannes market this week.

New Mab film projects hitting the market include:

Call Girls

Directed by veteran British filmmaker Catherine Morshead, the film comes from a screenplay by writers Paul Coleman and Brennan Reece. Coleman is the BAFTA-winning writer behind the BBC comedy Car Share,...

Over the course of four albums, St. Paul & the Broken Bones have nimbly shifted from retro-soul to futuristic funk and beyond, rarely settling in one spot for too long. Though the Alabama band is calling upon different musical traditions, it’s not unlike the constantly shapeshifting work that David Bowie did throughout his career.

“Someone like Bowie, they’re ever-changing,” says the group’s frontman Paul Janeway, calling during a brief stretch back at home in Birmingham. “And Prince — I love Prince. You have to push forward, if you do...

Devil worshippers are running amuck in Greece, haven’t you heard? This Greek-English horror show stars Peter Cushing and Donald Pleasance, so it can claim a built-in fan interest factor whether it’s good or bad. It’s fun to check out just to see what these stars got themselves into for a paycheck, back when Hammer was calling it quits and quality roles for U.K. pros were few and far between. Even Michael Powell’s name gets dropped in connection to this ‘shocker,’ which we saw here in the states under the title Land of the Minotaur. The pagan Minotaur god is no Bullwinkle J. Moose: he demands that all trespassers in his pagan temple die, and possessed kids are doing the killing.

The Devil’s Men

All-region Blu-ray

Powerhouse Indicator

1976 / Color / 1:85 1:66 widescreen / 94 + 86 min. / Land of the Minotaur / Street Date February 21, 2022 / available from Powerhouse Films UK / £15.99

Starring: Donald Pleasence,...

Exclusive: Power Rangers filmmaker Dean Israelite has been hired to develop and direct the action thriller Rogue for STXfilms and Tencent, Deadline has learned.

The logline is being kept under wraps, but we’ve heard the project revolves around a CIA agent. The film is based on a pitch from writer T.J. Fixman (Past Midnight), with David Goyer and Keith Levine producing. Goyer’s Phantom Four has a first-look deal with Tencent, which is how the project originated. Drew Simon is overseeing the project at Stx along with Sam Brown.

Johannesburg, South Africa-born Israelite is best known for helming Saban/Lionsgate’s Power Rangers, which opened stateside to $40 milion domestic and grossed $142M WW. Israelite’s first big studio movie was Paramount/Platinum Dunes/MTV Films’ sci-fi title Project Almanac in 2015.

Israelite is an American Film Institute alum. As a student, he wrote and directed the short Acholiland, which was...

Vaughan Oliver, the graphic designer whose art adorned the cover of the Pixies’ albums and whose work became synonymous with the 4Ad record label, has died at the age of 62.

Graphic designer Adrian Shaughnessy, who co-edited the book Vaughan Oliver: Archive, first announced Oliver’s death on Twitter, noting he “died peacefully today, with his partner Lee by his side.” The Pixies also confirmed Oliver’s death. No cause of death was provided.

“We are incredibly sad to learn of the passing of Vaughan Oliver; there was no-one else like him,...

Legends of Tomorrow gets political and Charlie gets heroic in this penultimate episode, Terms of Service

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This Legends of Tomorrow review contains spoilers.

Legends of Tomorrow Season 4 Episode 15

Is it possible for an episode of television to be hopelessly overstuffed and yet also supremely enjoyable? Because that's where I'm at with "Terms of Service", the second to last episode of what is unquestionably my favorite show on TV right now. It was brisk and fun with great character work and a ton of humor. But man, this episode was also a ton. At least thematically.

Oddly, though, it wasn't as packed from a plot perspective. We picked up where last week left off, with Gary controlling Tabitha, his fairy godmother; Mona captured by the bureau; Neron wearing Ray's skin; Constantine in hell; and the rest of the team getting ready to raid the Time Bureau for some rescues.

Once upon a time, after Tim Burton let his freak bat-signal fly but before every cape came with a free cinematic universe, superhero movies were a grungy, pulpy business. Go back and watch the ’90s stuff, like Blade or Spawn or The Crow. There was something kind of grindhouse-ish about a lot of them, even as they aspired for A-list blockbuster status; producers had figured out that people would go see comic book characters onscreen who weren’t Batman or Spider-Man, but assumed no one would take them that seriously (yet). Especially if,...

Exclusive: Robot-fighting series BattleBots has gotten a green light for a second season on Discovery and Science channels. Production begins in April in Long Beach, California, with premiere slated for this summer. Chris Rose and Kenny Florian will return for play-by-play and Faruq Tauheed is back as the ring announcer.

BattleBots features the world’s biggest, baddest, strongest, and fastest next-generation robots from all over the world as they duke it out for robot fighting supremacy. 2018 Champion Bite Force will return to defend its title against top competition including perennial contenders Tombstone, Minotaur, Witch Doctor, Bronco, Bombshell, and Yeti.

Each match consists of two robots competing in a single, three-minute bout, with the goal to destroy or disable their opponent. If there is no knockout during the battle, a panel of judges will declare a victor.

BattleBots also highlights the design and build of each robot, bot builder backstories, and...

Deadline reports today that Amblin has hired Dean Israelite (Power Rangers) to write and direct Minotaur, a supernatural thriller that’s going to be set in Johannesburg. The site adds, “Israelite and Aron Coleite fleshed out the story.” At this time, we don’t yet have any additional information. Jennifer Todd is producing and Coleite will be an executive producer.

If you’ve been keeping up with the current season of Legends of Tomorrow, then you’ve no doubt been witness to the Waverider crew doing battle with threats much different from those prior. Before, they had to deal with the likes of Vandal Savage and the Legion of Doom, but Mallus opened the door for a carnivorous unicorn, a fairy godmother and, more recently, a Minotaur.

Well, if you thought any of the Time Fugitives which I just fired off were strange, then get ready for a whole new level of weirdness next week when it appears that Sara Lance, John Constantine and the rest of the gang will be forced to deal with killer dolls. Being a lover of horror movies myself, it’s pretty difficult not recalling classics such as Puppet Master and Child’s Play after seeing the latest round of promotional images, though the former...

Paul Bradshaw Sep 26, 2018

The Capcom game adaptation also nabs Ti Harris.

Seemingly done with making endless Resident Evil films for his wife, director Paul Ws Anderson is moving forward with his plans to make a Monster Hunter movie – and he’s now sorted his main cast.

We already knew that Milla Jovovich would be starring, but The Hollywood Reporter has now confirmed that Ron Perlman and Tip “Ti” Harris have signed on alongside her. With Jovovich taking the lead as a woman named “Artemis”, Harris is playing a sniper named Link and Perlman is “Admiral”, the leader of the group.

Capcom’s Monster Hunter franchise is already huge (especially in Japan) and Anderson has a pretty long extensive record other game adaptations already – even if this one is being made for a very ambitious sounding $60 million.

"It’s about a normal American who gets dragged into this parallel world, this Monster Hunter world.

[Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers from “The Sinner” Season 2, Episode 5, “Part V.”]

Mosswood has never felt like the sanctuary that it’s purported to be, but “The Sinner” introduced its most disturbing revelations about the commune yet on Wednesday’s episode.

In flashbacks, Mosswood leader Lionel Jeffries (Brennan Brown), aka The Beacon, presented the concept of scapegoating to Vera Walker (Carrie Coon) in the form of a calf. By raising the calf lovingly, naming it, but then putting all of one’s negative emotions on it, a bond would be created. And then the Mosswood members would kill the calf, thereby symbolically eradicating those emotions in a supposedly healthy way. While sacrificing animals is already a troublesome subject, how the episode ends hints that something worse may lay ahead when the Beacon allows young Marin (Hannah Gross) to remain pregnant, despite previously banning members from having children.

“We’ll raise him, all of us together. The child will bind us,...

A review of the Legion season finale – and thoughts on Season Two as a whole – coming up just as soon as I repeat the story about the time I cut the head off a Minotaur ...

Late in "Chapter 19," David Haller's friends stage an extreme intervention for him, confronting him about his increasingly erratic and destructive behavior. They offer him a choice between getting healthy or being executed to prevent him from destroying the world. David is indignant that he's being put on trial while the monstrous Farouk has been set free,...

Discovery and Science Channel has announced that the return of Battle Bots will premiere on May 16th! They also released a promo spot to get fans pumped up for these heavy metal robot battles and it looks like things are going to get crazy! Here's the official description of the series:

The metal-munching mayhem is back, from the bots to the builders, the flames, the spark and all the robot guts and glory. Each match consists of two robots competing in a single, three-minute bout in which the goal is to destroy or disable their opponent. If there is no knockout during the battle, a panel of judges will declare a victor. Some of the returning favorites this season include Tombstone, Minotaur, Chomp, Witch Doctor, Bronco, Bombshell, Bite Force, Yeti and more.

I enjoyed watching this over the years and I'm happy to see that it's coming back! It's always...

Discovery and Science Channel are set for some heavy metal thunder next month. The revived BattleBots series is set to premiere at 8 Pm May 11 on Discovery and 9 Pm May 16 on its cable sib. Watch a sneak peek at the new season above.

Chris Rose and Kenny Florian return to call all the destructive action, while Jessica Chobot serves as the sideline reporter. Faruq Tauheed is back as the ring announcer.

Here’s the logline: The metal-munching mayhem is back, from the bots to the builders, the flames, the spark and all the robot guts and glory. Each match consists of two robots competing in a single, three-minute bout in which the goal is to destroy or disable their opponent. If there is no knockout during the battle, a panel of judges will declare a victor. Some of the returning favorites this season include Tombstone, Minotaur, Chomp, Witch Doctor, Bronco, Bombshell,...

Ryan Lambie Nov 8, 2019

What's The Shining really about? We delve into the underlying theme of Stanley Kubrick's horror classic...

Few horror films have been as closely studied and intimately dissected as Stanley Kubrick's The Shining. The simple story of a family ripped apart by the effects of a remote, haunted hotel, Kubrick's film has only grown in mystique since its release in 1980. Clearly, there's far more going on below the surface, but what does Kubrick's imagery and symbolism - much of it unique to the film, and absent from Stephen King's source novel - actually mean?

Rodney Ascher's superb 2012 documentary Room 237 pulled together some of the more outlandish theories about The Shining. It's Kubrick's veiled confession that he helped Nasa fake the 1969 Moon landings, goes one line of thinking. No, it's an allusion to the horrors of World War II and the Holocaust, says a different theorist.

Exclusive: Athens-set thriller will shoot in September.

Koch Films Gmbh takes German-speaking rights on UK director Jonathan English’s [pictured] Athens-set action-thriller Dias, which is due to shoot in the Greek capital in September.

Paris-based Memento Film International (Mfi) is handling sales on the picture about Athen’s elite police motorbike force, the Dias, which was created in 2012 in response to a rise in petty and organised crime after the debt crisis threw the country into chaos.

“There are lots of reasons to be intrigued by Dias: First and foremost, it’s a fast paced, straightforward action film with cops on motorbikes, chasing their enemies in the streets of Athens,” said Koch Films director of acquisitions Moritz Peters.

The production marks a change of scene for English whose last two films Ironclad and sequel Ironclad: Battle For Blood, were set against the backdrop of medieval England.

It is a $4.5m (€4m) co-production between Athens-based View Master Films and Germany...

Exclusive: Deal marks company’s first foray into the action genre; film set to shoot in Athens in September.

Paris-based Memento Film International (Mfi) will kick-start sales at Cannes on UK director Jonathan English’s Athens-set action-thriller Dias, which is due to shoot in the Greek capital in September.

The film revolves around the city’s elite police motorbike force, the Dias, consisting of four-person squads travelling two-by-two on high-powered vehicles. The force was created in 2010 in response to a rise in petty and organised crime after the debt crisis threw the country into chaos.

The story will follow energetic young recruit Theo, who quickly becomes a pivotal member of the force as it presses on with its work of eradicating the city of violent crime gangs but in the end becomes their target too.

“I was in Athens in 2013 and I saw the Dias units fly through the city,” said English...

Potential awards season contenders Truth from James Vanderbilt and Marc Abraham’s I Saw The Light starring Tom Hiddleston as Hank Williams land world premiere slots, while Paco Cabezas’s Mr. Right will close the festival.

London is the subject of the seventh annual City To City programme that features world premieres of Tom Geens’ Couple In A Hole starring Paul Higgins and Kate Dickie and Michael Caton-Jones’ Urban Hymn with Letitia Wright and Shirley Henderson. Elaine Constantine’s Northern Soul gets a North American premiere.

The world premiere of Catherine Hardwicke’s Miss You Already is among five additions to the galas alongside Mr. Right, an action comedy starring Sam Rockwell and Anna Kendrick.

Matthew Cullen’s Martin Amis adaptation London Fields and David Gordon Green’s Our Brand Is Crisis get first public screenings in the Special Presentations roster with I Saw The Light.

Tiff top brass also unveiled the Contemporary World Cinema section, featuring...

Feature Juliette Harrisson 24 Sep 2013 - 07:00

A beginner's guide to the myths behind new adventure show, Atlantis, starting this Saturday on BBC One...

If there’s one thing we know about BBC One’s forthcoming Saturday night drama Atlantis, it’s that the characters we see week to week on the show won’t necessarily bear a lot of resemblance to their mythological Greek forebears. We can only assume that they will, nevertheless, have one or two things in common; we can at least confirm that Medusa will still end up with snakes for hair. And so, to whet your appetite for all things Atlantean, cast your eyes over our quick idiots’ guide to Atlantis’ main characters and their mythological counterparts.

The first rule of Greek mythology is that there are dozens of different versions of every story and numerous different tales attached to every hero or heroine, with no...

There are a lot of articles running around the web today looking at Tom Hardy's pre-The Dark Knight Rises early days of acting.  Sure, news items like this are great for hits...and they're sort of amusing, too.  Predominantly, the focus of said articles is on Hardy's turn as a Picard clone in 2002's Star Trek: Nemesis (a movie I've erased from my memory).  

That's all awesome and good, however, let us not turn our attention away from a creature feature Hardy participated in called Minotaur from 2006, a post-Layer Cake and pre-The Killing Gene release (yes, Hardy was in that latter Dimension Extreme DVD release, too).

The actor shared the screen with the likes of Tony Todd and Rutger Hauer and he worked with director Jonathan English, who brought us Ironclad last year.

Read more...

From the 70s to the present, we look back through the sterling work of Rutger Hauer to bring you the actor’s 10 finest films that aren't Blade Runner...

For some, Dutch actor Rutger Hauer will forever be associated with a certain rooftop speech about tears in rain. But although his turn as doomed replicant Roy Batty in Blade Runner was a classic one, Hauer’s output before and since has been stunningly prolific. This list, therefore, is designed to highlight 10 of Hauer’s finest non-Blade Runner movies, with a particular emphasis on those that are lesser known – which is why we've gone for some older pictures rather than the more recent and mainstream, such as Batman Begins. And since this is Den of Geek, expect to find lots of action movies, horror, and low-budget sci-fi in the entries below.

One thing they all have in common, though, irrespective of...

In the ultraviolent 13th-century action yarn Ironclad, 65-year-old Scottish actor Brian Cox stars as the leader of a motley crew of tough, battle-hardened warriors/underdogs who try to defend a castle besieged by the army of the blood-crazed King John (Paul Giamatti). The film, written and directed by Minotaur’s Jonathan English, premieres on VOD this Wednesday, followed by a theatrical release on July 8. See below for our exclusive chat with Cox, star of such fan favorites as The Ring, Manhunter, X2, Trick ’R Treat, Zodiac and Red Eye, as well as the upcoming Rise Of The Apes.

We’re always up for a good Paul Giamatti (Barney’s Version) film, and the prolific actor’s historical action film Ironclad will be released on DVD and Blu-ray on July 26. Arc Entertainment tells Disc Dish the movie will be have the list prices of $29.99 and $24.99, respectively. Both are already available for pre-order on Amazon, with the discounted prices of $16.99 and $26.49, respectively.

Paul Giamatti is King John of England in Ironclad.

Directed by Jonathan English, the helmer of 2006′s Minotaur, the violent-looking Ironclad is set in 1215, where King John of England (Giamatti ) has been pressured into signing the Magna Carta. Angry at the barons who have forced the charter upon him, the King brings in a group of Danish mercenaries to show ’em who’s the boss. A group of barons, knights and other rebels led by William de Albany (Brian Cox, Red), in an attempt to stop their tyrannical King,...

Today we have a restricted trailer for "Ironclad" medieval action film that stars Paul Giamatti, Kate Mara, James Purefoy and Brian Cox. It is directed by Jonathan English (Minotaur) and is set to hit theaters on July 8th. Check out the trailer below. Plot: It is the year 1215 and the rebel barons of England have forced their despised King John to put his royal seal to the Magna Carta, a noble, seminal document that upheld the rights of free-men. Yet within months of pledging himself to the great charter, the King reneged on his word and assembled a mercenary army on the south coast of England with the intention of bringing the barons and the country back under his tyrannical rule. Barring his way stood the mighty Rochester castle, a place that would become the symbol of the rebel's momentous struggle for justice and freedom. Restricted Trailer: If you cannot see the player,...

Tremors? Nightbreed? Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat? 976-evil? Are all on the list this year. And though there were not huge horror wins in sound editing through screenplays, the Technical Awards never cease to bring out the horror veterans. Notably Tim Drnec who contributed to such VHS classics as Alien Seed, Destroyer, and Prison won for his work on “Spydercam 3D volumetric suspended cable camera technologies.” An award also shared with Ben Britten Smith and Matt Davis who both also worked on Constantine.

But among all the winners, the Academy also honored some great loses in 2010. And though they mentioned some of our heroes, Dennis Hooper (Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2), Kevin McCarthy (Invasion of the Body Snatchers) and Dino de Laurentiis (King Kong), they did not mention Zelda Rubinstein or Corey Haim. But we will in this last section and the others lost to us last year.

So farewell fight fans and remember,...

Writer-director Jonathan English's (Minotaur) new period action-adventure movie, Ironclad, opened this past weekend in the U.K., but U.S. audiences will have to wait until June for the movie to open Stateside. Set in the 13th century, the movie follows a group of Knights Templar led by Sir Albany (Brian Cox) who fight to defend Rochester Castle from the tyrannical King John (Paul Giamatti). If you're on this side of the Atlantic and you simply have to get your fix of gritty medieval fare, there is a new preview clip from the movie to tide you over.

Next Showing:

Link | Posted 3/7/2011 by BrentJS

Jonathan English | Ironclad...

Two new movie clips for a medieval epic Ironclad have just hit the Internet.

Directed by Jonathan English (Minotaur) the films story is set in 13th century England, full of medieval kings and armies, fights and swords galore as the plot follows the notorious battle for the castle of Rochester. James Purefoy is playing the knight opposite Paul Giamatti’s King John.

Synopsis: Ironclad recounts one of the most violent, pivotal moments in English medieval history – when a few good men fought against insurmountable odds to defend their country from a megalomaniac, blood-drunk king. Torn from the pages of history, the devastating battle for the castle of Rochester is a true story of honour, action and excitement. There will be blood.

The year is 1215. King John (Paul Giamatti) has been forced to sign the Magna Carta, a document that will ensure the freedom of men and form the basis of common law in England.

At first I was like, "Aw, fucking sweet! They made a movie about ironclad warships during the civil war! And Paul Giamatti must be playing Admiral Goldsborough or something."

And then I watched read the (way too long) synopsis:

Ironclad recounts one of the most violent, pivotal moments in English medieval history - when a few good men fought against insurmountable odds to defend their country from a megalomaniac, blood-drunk king. Torn from the pages of history, the devastating battle for the castle of Rochester is a true story of honour, action and excitement. There will be blood. The year is 1215. King John (Paul Giamatti) has been forced to sign the Magna Carta, a document that will ensure the freedom of men and form the basis of common law in England. Furious at having been forced to sign it, King John raises a vicious mercenary army and begins a rampage...

I Am Number Four

Opens: February 18th 2011

Cast: Alex Pettyfer, Timothy Olyphant, Dianna Agron, Kevin Durand, Teresa Palmer

Director: D.J. Caruso

Summary: Nine infant aliens flee their home planet to hide out on Earth. The species that destroyed their planet however has followed them and sets out to hunt them down. As the infants grow into teenagers with special powers, three of them are killed. A fourth has fallen in love and now has something to stand up and fight for.

Analysis: In premise and look, this sounds like a big budget and more action-oriented reboot of late sci-fi teen drama "Roswell". Though based on a young adult novel series, it was another title in this category that was the impetus for this adaptation - Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight" series. Any novels with a focus on teen romance and an other worldly touch are presently being bought up right and...

Inception

I don’t get it. I’ve seen it one million times. There are six different things that it means. It’s too complicated. It’s awesome.

Directed by: Christopher Nolan

Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Ken Watanabe, Marion Cotillard

Running Time: 2 hr 28 mins

Rating: PG-13

Release Date: July 16, 2010

Plot: Cobb (DiCaprio) is a man who infiltrates dreams to steal people’s secrets. Now he and his team must attempt to pull off their toughest mission ever; trying to convince a man that an idea he dreams is his own.

Welcome to the latest installment of He Said – He Said. This time Jeff Bayer and Nick Allen aren’t the stars. It’s the movie. Inception feels like the only movie that anyone is talking about.

Between the two of us, we’ve seen this movie six times. Nick is the real winner here. He’s seen...

The first footage of writer-director Jonathan English's (Minotaur) new medieval adventure movie, Ironclad, debuted last Friday at the San Diego Comic-Con and now it is available for viewing online. Set in the year 1215, the movie centers on a group of Knights Templar who struggle to defend their country from the tyranny of King John (Paul Giamatti). In this clip, King John lays siege to Rochester Castle after being taunted by Sir Albany (Brian Cox). James Purefoy, Kate Mara, and Jason Flemying also star.

Next Showing:

Link | Posted 7/26/2010 by BrentJS

Paul Giamatti | Jonathan English | Ironclad...

Because Leonardo DiCaprio is now making it a habit of playing damaged characters with all the answers and none of them (simultaneously) it is difficult not to look at Inception without it bringing to mind Shutter Island (and a touch of Revolutionary Road.)  There is even twin scenes of a rattled and ill DiCaprio leaning into a sink and splashing water on his face to either steel his nerves or wake from the nightmare.  Whereas Scorsese moulded his film on the noirish Val Lewton films from the 1940s with Gothic sets, character driven and macabre imagery, Christopher Nolan is building off the new millennium blockbuster of the Wachowskis, Michael Mann and Michael Bay.  While he certainly adds a lot more brains to the proceedings, the film is all steel and glass and clean geometric lines.   Nolan as a screenwriter is not above the classical mythology name-dropping (Ellen Page's dream...

Director: Christopher Nolan Writer: Christopher Nolan Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Ken Watanabe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Dileep Rao, Tom Berenger, Michael Caine “I leave our world without believing that I am countering the gas with a superior lucidity…the journey begins. It lasts for centuries… I understand that multiplicity is the sign of this other world and unity the sign of ours.” (Jean Cocteau, The Difficulty of Being) Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a corporate spy who infiltrates other people’s dreams to steal their ideas. Currently exiled from the United States, Dom is hired by an influential Japanese billionaire named Saito (Ken Watanabe) to do something that has purportedly never been done before: introduce a novel idea into someone's mind in such a way to convince them that is their own. In return for a successful “inception,” Saito will end Dom’s forced exile from his country and children.

Leonardo DiCaprio's on the case in Christopher Nolan's latest brain-tease.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt in "Inception"

Photo: Warner Bros.

Are they handing out joints at the box office for "Inception"? That would make the movie considerably more fun. Christopher Nolan's latest is a terrific-looking picture that bounds around the globe from Paris to Tangiers to Tokyo (among places that actually exist) in the wake of a freelance dream thief named Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio). Cobb's specialty is infiltrating the dreams of corporate big shots and extracting their most valuable secrets. His latest assignment, however, is a little different — a Japanese industrialist named Saito (Ken Watanabe) has hired him to implant an idea in someone's head that will allow Saito to take over a rival titan's business empire. Cobb's reward for achieving this goal: an end to his exile from the United States, where he's currently a wanted man, and...

Thursday:

10:00-11:00 – DreamWorks Animation: Megamind — DreamWorks Animation makes its Comic-Con debut with Megamind. The characters Megamind and Metro Man are jettisoned to Earth as babies when their home planets are destroyed. Megamind crash-lands inside a maximum-security prison, where he evolves into the wicked and diabolical genius he is today, while the dashingly handsome superhero Metro Man grows into the universally adored savior of Metro City, beloved by every man, woman and child — and especially the city’s ace reporter Roxanne Ritchi. These life-long archenemies will rewrite superhero movie lore when they challenge each other to the ultimate showdown of Good vs. Evil! Megamind stars Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, and Jonah Hill and director Tom McGrath join forces to unveil footage from DreamWorks Animation’s November 5 release. Hall H

10:30-11:30 – Danny Elfman — From Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure to Alice in Wonderland, composer Danny Elfman discusses his 25-year collaboration with director Tim Burton.

Friday's schedule has just gone up for the 2010 Comic-Con at San Diego. As was the case with yesterday's breakdown, I'm focusing on film/TV/DVD related events, screenings and panels.

Read about Thursday's line-up of events.

10:00-11:00 Comedy Central: Ugly Americans— David M. Stern (showrunner and executive producer), Dan Powell (executive producer), Jeff Poliquin (supervising producer), Devin Clark (producer and series creator), Aaron Augenblick (director of animation), Matt Oberg (voice of Mark Lilly), Kurt Metzger (voice of Randall Skeffington), and Randy Pearlstein (voice of Leonard) take you behind the scenes at this animated series sensation. Featuring a sneak peek of the new season, Q&A, and more. One audience member selected will be drawn into an upcoming episode! Room 25Abc

10:15-11:15 Aloha, Earth!— Lost castaway found! Battlestar Cylon becomes human! Star Trek writers return from space! A supernatural force has drawn some of sci-fi's giants...

Here are the movie and TV highlights

The San Diego Comic-Con has posted the schedule for Friday, July 23. You can view the full schedule here, but below are the movie and TV events that ComingSoon.net/SuperHeroHype/ShockTillYouDrop.com will be concentrating on.

Friday, July 23

10:00-11:00 Comedy Central: Ugly Americans— David M. Stern (showrunner and executive producer), Dan Powell (executive producer), Jeff Poliquin (supervising producer), Devin Clark (producer and series creator), Aaron Augenblick (director of animation), Matt Oberg (voice of Mark Lilly), Kurt Metzger (voice of Randall Skeffington), and Randy Pearlstein (voice of Leonard) take you behind the scenes at this animated series sensation. Featuring a sneak peek of the new season, Q&A, and more. One audience member selected will be drawn into an upcoming episode! Room 25Abc

10:15-11:15 Aloha, Earth!— Lost castaway found! Battlestar Cylon becomes human! Star Trek writers return from space!

Apparently they have created a teaser trailer out of the first 2 weeks of shooting which is what you will see below. Its nothing amazing, but it does get you excited for what they have in store with the rest of the film. For those of you that don’t know, Ironclad is directed by Jonathan English (Minotaur, Nailing Vienna) and stars Paul Giamatti, James Purefoy, Brian Cox, Mackenzie Crook, Jason Flemying, Derek Jacobi and Kate Mara. Here is what we have as far as synopsis goes:

A ragtag group of Knights Templar hold out for months against the hard-fought siege of Rochester Castle in the thirteenth Century. Set in the time of King John’s signing of the Magna Carta treaty, the group struggles against the King to defend the freedom of their country.

We also know that Paul Giamatti is playing King John in the film…outside of that details are pretty bare.

After the break lurks the first trailer for Ironclad, comprising un-polished footage from only the first 2 weeks of shooting and originating as a Cinematical exclusive. You can also see a BBC video report from the set that, while considerably less intense and graphic shows just as much mud and medieval might. Jonathan English's film stars Paul Giamatti as big, bad King John and Jason Flemyng, William Moseley and Robert Carlyle as some of the good guys, with Kate Mara as one of the good gals. Her action is revisionism, sure, but healthy revisionism. English previously directed Minotaur, a myth-infused B-movie with a starring role for Tom Hardy and a cameo from Ingrid Pitt... so, why haven't I seen it exactly? Thanks to Quiet Earth for the embeddable trailer.

Now that's a big frickin' sword! Empire has debuted the first photo from Ironclad, a medieval movie in the works from writer/director Jonathan English (of Nailing Vienna, Minotaur previously). Below you'll find a photo of James Purefoy as the Earl of Pembroke, Capt. William Marshall (a real historical character who also is appearing in Ridley Scott's Robin Hood played by William Hurt). The film is described as a "medieval Seven Samurai" about a determined group of Knights Templar who defend Rochester Castle against the tyrannical King John in the 13th century. This photo is not much to look at, but damn that sword is huge! In addition to Purefoy, Ironclad also stars Paul Giamatti, Brian Cox, Robert Carlyle, William Moseley, Jason Flemyng, Bob Hoskins, Pete Postlethwaite, and Kate Mara. Apparently in the film Giamatti is "in pure Shoot 'Em Up snarling-villain mode, facing off against the noble and true James Purefoy.

Hippie Hippie Shake

Opens: 2010

Cast: Cillian Murphy, Sienna Miller, Max Minghella, Emma Booth, Lee Ingleby

Director: Beeban Kidron

Summary: Follows the love story of Oz editor Richard Neville and Louise Ferrier. Neville and his cohorts launch the London edition of Oz amidst the 1960s counterculture and are subsequently put on trial for distributing a sexually explicit issue.

Analysis: One of the most troubled productions in Working Title's history, 'Hippie' began development back in 1998 but failed to get beyond script stage both in 1999 and in 2002 when "Elizabeth" helmer Shekhar Kapur was attached to direct. Filming finally got underway late 2007 with director Beeban Kidron in charge and shooting seemed to proceed without issue aside from feminist author Germaine Greer being vehemently unhappy about being depicted on film.

Actually the film scored quite a bit of free press for a skinny dipping scene where full-frontal shots of actress Sienna Miller shooting the sequence...