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Displaying a transparency that few filmmakers of his fame and / or caliber would even bother with, Steven Soderbergh has, for a couple of years, been keen on releasing lists of what he watched and read during the previous twelve months. If you’re at all interested in this sort of thing — and why not? what else are you even doing with your day? — the 2015 selection should be of strong interest, this being a time when he was fully enmeshed in the world of creating television.

He’s clearly observing the medium with a close eye, be it what’s on air or what his friends (specifically David Fincher and his stillborn projects) show him, and how that might relate to his apparent love of 48 Hours Mystery or approach to a comparatively light slate of cinematic assignments — specifically: it seems odd that the last time he watched Magic Mike Xxl, a...

Film Independent top brass have announced the producers selected for the 14th annual Producing Lab.

The 2014 Producing Lab is supported by lead funder Time Warner Foundation with additional funding from the Alfred P Sloan Foundation and National Endowment For The Arts.

The 2014 Producing Lab filmmakers and projects are: 37, Mollye Asher; The Buried Life, Summer Shelton; Commerce, Steven Berger; Dara Ju (Better), Justin Begnaud; Lord Of Vinyl, Dennis Bartok, Joanna Colbert; Operator, Felipe Dieppa; Shale, Traci Carlson; and Slash, Brock Williams.

Film Independent also awarded the $30,000 eighth annual Sloan Producing Grant to Shelton for The Buried Life by Joan Schimke and Averie Storck.

Look out for young Welsh actress Alexa Davies in 2014.

18 year old Alexa (represented by Bwh), made her film debut last year after a local casting in her native North Wales in 2010, landed her a role in Sara Sugarman's Vinyl.

She will next be seen in Raised By Wolves, a semi-autobiographical series written by Caitlin Moran, set on a Wolverhampton council estate. Alexa plays the younger sister Aretha, opposite Helen Monks as the young Caitlin-character Germaine. The first episode of Raised by Wolves will be shown on 23rd December at 10.50pm on Channel 4.

Alexa will also be seen next year starring alongside Asa Butterfield in feature film X Plus Y, directed by BAFTA winning documentary maker Morgan Matthews, the tale of a maths prodigy team who travel to Taiwan to represent Gb at the International Mathematics Olympiad.

She also made her stage debut earlier this year in No Quarter at the Royal Court.

Gina Gershon is set to star in a new original TV movie for the Lifetime network based on the life of Donatella Versace, the very blonde, very tan vice president and chief designed of the Versace Group. "House of Versace" will focus on the luxury designer's rise in the fashion world after her brother's tragic slaying in 1997. Sara Sugarman ("Vinyl," "Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen") will direct from a script by Rama Stagner ("Blue Sky," "American Dreams"). Accompanying Gershon in the cast are Raquel Welch (as Lucia), Enrico Colantoni (as Gianni Versace) and Colm Feore (as Santo). The film is based on Wall Street Journal investigative reporter Deborah Balls book "House of Versace: The Untold Story of Genius, Murder, and Survival," which explored Gianni Versace's murder, Donatella Versace's drug addiction and the reemergence of the Versace brand.  "House of Versace" premieres October 5 on Lifetime, the latest...

Beyond The Hills | The Incredible Burt Wonderstone | The Paperboy | Welcome To The Punch | Shell | The Spirit Of '45 | Red Dawn | Vinyl | Maniac | Michael H. Profession: Director

Beyond The Hills (12A)

(Cristian Mungiu, 2012, Rom) Cosmina Stratan, Cristina Flutur. 152 mins

Romanian patriarchy had a lot to answer for in Mungiu's 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days, and it's even more to blame in this powerful convent drama. It starts with a young woman coming to visit her former girlfriend, who's now a nun, but events increasingly spiral out of control, to the extent that romantic frustration is diagnosed as demonic possession… and duly treated.

The Incredible Burt Wonderstone (15)

(Don Scardino, 2013, Us) Steve Carell, Steve Buscemi, Jim Carrey. 100 mins

Doing for Vegas-style magic what Blades Of Glory did for figure skating, Carell and co conjure just enough comedy out of a sitting-duck premise, as their cheesy stage act is threatened by Carrey's Blaine-style endurance stunts.

The Paperboy (15)

(Lee Daniels,...

“National Treasure” is a term bandied around somewhat carelessly these days, yet few would argue that Phil Daniels – star of Quadrophenia – is just that, as an actor and musician noted for his cheeky yet somewhat charming personality, and ahead of his upcoming feature film Vinyl, we were fortunate enough to have a chat with the man himself.

Daniels plays Johnny Jones, a former punk rocker who still has dreams of making it into the charts – yet given his age and reputation, may have to rely on doing it via the help of four willing teenagers… Daniels discusses his fun at playing such a role, how he feels about his nude scene, his own musical background, and be warned, we shamelessly drop in one of our favourite lyrics from Parklife*

*Sorry.

The post The HeyUGuys Interview: Phil Daniels talks punk rock ahead of upcoming release Vinyl appeared first on HeyUGuys.

For director Sara Sugarman, her latest project Vinyl was very much a going back to her roots job, as her first film since Confessions  of a Teenage Drama Queen not only takes her back to her hometown of Rhyl, Wales, but also to a story somewhat familiar to her. We were fortunate enough to sit down and discuss Vinyl with the filmmaker and one of her leading stars Jamie Blackley.

The pair discuss the intimate set and community feel, as well as working alongside the likes of Phil Daniels and Keith Allen. Blackley, who also starred in Snow White and the Huntsman, talks of his own experience on this feature, in a feel-good feature that certainly seems to have had as much of a jovial impact on the cast and crew as it will no doubt have on its audiences following its theatrical release this coming Friday March 15.

Our review...

Following on from director Sara Sugarman’s unsatisfying teen flick Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, the filmmaker has returned to her roots somewhat, this time staying closer to home –as she presents Vinyl, not only shot in her hometown of Rhyl, Wales, but also telling the true story of a punk band’s great rock and roll swindle; a band she knows all too well (she dated the bassist, innit).

Based on the real life occurrences surrounding Mike Peters’ band The Alarm, we focus on Weapons of Happiness, a punk four piece who had enjoyed relative success in their prime, yet split up due to the greed and careless irresponsibility of frontman Johnny Jones (Phil Daniels). However when they are reunited for the first time in years at a funeral, Johnny and the other band members (Keith Allen, Perry Benson, Christopher Roy Turner) take a trip down memory lane and,...

★☆☆☆☆ It's certainly still early days, but the poorest British film of the year may just be about to rear its repugnant head (and we're not referring back to Danny Dyer farce Run for Your Wife). Sara Sugarman's Vinyl (2012) wants to be a breezy tale of old rockers sticking it to the 'man'. Sadly, it turns out to be a cliché-ridden bore, with a grasp on reality which makes Hollyoaks look like a restrained, Ramin Bahrani-like character study by comparison. The film is based on the true-life tale of Mike Peters (from 1980s outfit The Alarm) who assembled an imaginary Milli Vanilli-type band to get one over on the major record labels.

Read more »...

Oz The Great And Powerful | Side Effects | Broken | Parker | The Guilt Trip | Robot & Frank | Babeldom | Fire With Fire | The Princess Bride

Oz The Great And Powerful (PG)

(Sam Raimi, 2013, Us) James Franco, Michelle Williams, Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz, Zach Braff, Joey King. 130 mins

Putting adjectives like "great" and "powerful" in your title is asking for trouble, but then "expensive" and "underwhelming" probably didn't fit on the poster. Raimi's prequel apes the original Wizard Of Oz in many respects, but refuses to stoop to camp comedy, or song-and-dance or anything too childish. As a result, this green-screen tribute to smoke and mirrors feels decidedly short on magic.

Side Effects (15)

(Steven Soderbergh, 2013, Us) Rooney Mara, Jude Law, Channing Tatum. 106 mins

A stark reminder of both the pitfalls of the antidepressant industry, and how dull the movie landscape will look if Soderbergh really does retire (as he's threatened). Mara's troubled New Yorker is...

The actor talks about how his father's strictness inspired him to be a different kind of dad.

My father was in the navy. I always found it a bit strange that he would choose to spend an extraordinary amount of time underneath the water in a submarine with 60 men. He would be away for three or four months at a time and wasn't very good at showing love because that was his generation. But he was good at showing discipline, which again was his generation.

My father was so strict. Sometimes he'd hit me – and he stopped me watching the 1966 World Cup. I got caught stealing a tennis ball from Woolworths and brought shame on the family because a policeman had come round to warn me not to do it again.

I had to go to my room and not watch the World Cup final. And that was when football...

Gangs Of Wasseypur Part 2 | Stoker | Arbitrage | Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters | Caesar Must Die | The Bay | Sleep Tight | Broken City | Trashed | Safe Haven | Hi-So | Michael H. Profession: Director | The Gospel According To Matthew | The Attacks Of 26/11 | Acoustic Routes

Gangs Of Wasseypur Part 2 (18)

(Anurag Kashyap, 2012, Ind) Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Zeishan Quadri, Aditya Kumar, Huma Qureshi. 160 mins

It's over five hours long in all, but there's barely a slack moment in this exhilarating Indian epic as it races through generations of smalltown criminal, industrial and political enmity. Yes, it's violent, but like all great crime stories it's also a vibrant tapestry of family life and modern history, closer to Leone, Coppola or Tarantino than Bollywood.

Stoker (18)

(Park Chan-wook, 2013, Us/UK) Mia Wasikowska, Nicole Kidman, Matthew Goode. 99 mins

The Oldboy director gives us a sensual, tantalisingly ambiguous thriller, centred on Wasikowska and her shifty smalltown family.

Arbitrage (15)

(Nicholas Jarecki, 2012, Us) Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon, Brit Marling.

Cloud Atlas | To The Wonder | Lore | Gangs Of Wasseypur Part 1 | Song For Marion | Mama | Before Dawn | Crawl | Ollie Kepler's Expanding Purple World | Fire In The Blood | The Road: A Story Of Life And Death | We Are Northern Lights | Breath Of The Gods

Cloud Atlas (15)

(Andy & Lana Wachowski, Tom Tykwer, 2012, Ger/Us/Hk/Sin) Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugh Grant, Jim Broadbent. 172 mins

You've got to admire the ambition of trying to tell six stories at once, together spanning the 19th to 24th century. There are connections and parallels, of course, but also wild variations in tone and effectiveness. The experience is a little like channel surfing between Tom Hanks movies, but it's greater than the sum of its parts.

To The Wonder (12A)

(Terrence Malick, 2012, Us) Olga Kurylenko, Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams. 113 mins

Those entranced (or put off) by The Tree Of Life will get more of the same from...

We’ve been sent the first look poster for new movie Vinyl which stars Phil Daniels, Keith Allen, Jamie Blackley and is directed by Sara Sugarman with a script from both Sugarman and Jim Cooper.

Based on the story of Mike Peters’ true rock and roll hoax of 2004, Vinyl tells how a group of washed-up rockers hoodwinked top record labels, radio DJs, and the entire rock music world by releasing a pop punk single under a fictitious teenage band’s name….…now they just need to teach this rowdy bunch of kids what true punk spirit is all about!

In Sara Sugarman’s Vinyl, much-loved British icons Phil Daniels (Quadrophenia) and Keith Allen (Trainspotting) return to the big screen, supported by a sensational young cast, with charismatic newcomer Jamie Blackley (Snow White and the Huntsman, London Boulevard) delivering a standout performance that’s sure to mark him out as one...

Raindance have just announced their line-up for their 20th annual film festival. The 2012 festival will, like every year showcase some of the best independent movies that we can expect in the coming year and beyond. Raindance 2012 will take place 26th September to 7th October at the Apollo Cinema, Piccadilly Circus in London. This year we can expect to see 105 features, more than 138 shorts, 64 UK Premieres, 13 International Premieres, 5 European Premieres, 19 World Premieres and 24 Directorial Debuts from 38 countries.

Scroll down to see the full press release as well as all the feature films that will be showing at the festival. To find out more, click here to visit their official site.

Opening the festival on Wednesday 26th September is the International Premiere of Here Comes The Devil a powerful fantasy horror from Mexico. Shot in Tijuana, a married couple lose their children while on a family trip near some caves in Tijuana.

20 year old Jamie Blackley (represented by United Agents), who got his start in the London stage production of  Spring Awakening,  is set to star in the 300 prequel, provisionally titled 300: Battle of Artemisia.

300 was the hugely successful adaptation of the cult graphic novel series by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley set in ancient Greece, featuring an epic array of Persians, Spartans and Greeks.

300: Battle of Artemisia is a prequel centred around the Persian King, Xerxes.

He will play Calisto, a 16 year old whose desire to become the heroic man/soldier his father was, leads him to become the leader of a small band of soldiers. The cast also includes Eva Green as Artemisia.

Jamie has recently wrapped playing the lead role of Mark, alongside another rising star Toby Regbo as John, in the Andrew Douglas-directed uwantme2killhim?, a film about a young man entangled in an unhealthy internet...

Welsh comedy Vinyl based on a 2004 rock 'n' roll swindle teams Vinyl, H20 H2O Motion Pictures and Traction Media are joining for the story about washed-up punk rockers who release a single under a fictitious moniker. Sara Sugarman directs from her own script, as well as producing alongside John H. Williams (Shrek). Phil Daniels and Perry Benson, Keith Allen and Jamie Blackley star in Vinyl. H2O and Traction H2O also banded together for David Weaver's thriller The Samaritan, which stars starring Samuel L. Jackson and Tom Wilkinson. Variety reports that there's select footage...

Welsh comedy Vinyl based on a 2004 rock 'n' roll swindle teams Vinyl, H20 H2O Motion Pictures and Traction Media are joining for the story about washed-up punk rockers who release a single under a fictitious moniker. Sara Sugarman directs from her own script, as well as producing alongside John H. Williams (Shrek). Phil Daniels and Perry Benson, Keith Allen and Jamie Blackley star in Vinyl. H2O and Traction H2O also banded together for David Weaver's thriller The Samaritan, which stars starring Samuel L. Jackson and Tom Wilkinson. Variety reports that there's select footage...

John Williams, President and CEO of Vanguard Films has announced that Mike Johnson (Corpse Bride) will direct its new CG/stop-motion hybrid feature film, Oz Wars. The film was written by Rob Moreland (Space Chimps, City of Dragons) and Athena Gam (Alien Rock Band). Oz Wars transforms the Oz narrative into a contemporary, freaky action-packed PG-13 audience pleaser, with Dorothy caught up in a whirlwind of warrior witches, black magic, martial arts and monsters.

Check out the press release below for all the details.

Official Press Release:

Corpse Bride Co-director Mike Johnson At Helm Of Vanguard’S

Animated Film Oz Wars

(Los Angeles, CA; December 15, 2010) – John Williams, President and CEO of Vanguard Films, announced today the company has signed Oscar™ and Annie Award-nominee Mike Johnson, co-director of Corpse Bride, to direct its CG/stop-motion hybrid feature film, Oz Wars.

“Mike Johnson is a spectacular director and one of the masters of stop-motion,...

Mike Johnson has signed on to direct the CG/Stop-Motion hybrid feature film Oz Wars. The Academy Award and Annie Award-nominee got his start as the Assistant Animation Rigger and Assistant Animator on The Nightmare Before Christmas. He was an animator on James and The Giant Peach, directed three episodes of the lat 1990's Fox clay animated television series The PJs, and was co-director of the 2005 film Corpse Bride. So basically, he has a long history with stop motion animation. Written by Rob Moreland (Space Chimps 1 & 2) and Athena Gam (Alien Rock Band), Oz Wars attempts to transform the Wizard of Oz narrative into "a contemporary, freaky action-packed PG-13 audience pleaser, with Dorothy caught up in a whirlwind of warrior witches, black magic, martial arts and monsters." It's being described as an animated film thats "not just for kids," as the world will be "dark, slick, sexy, and dangerous." Read the press release after the jump.