Skyline Trailer

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CaptainD - Movie Reviews Blog

True Grit Trailer

And for comparison...

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CaptainD - Movie Reviews Blog

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (2008)

I remember wanting to go to see this at the cinema, but never quite got round to it.  We got the DVD cheap recently and watched it last night; I didn't think it reached anywhere near its full potential, but it was an enjoyable enough romantic comedy.

The eponymous Miss Pettigrew is played by Frances McDormand, and starts the movie being kicked out of a job - yet again - and finds herself on the streets.  After a last-gasp effort to convince her agency that she can change her ways and become a reliable governess fails, she resorts to subterfuge and takes a job intended for someone else.  However the job socialite Delysia Lafosse (Amy Adams) has in mind is not quite in her usual line of work...

Delysia can sing a bit, act a bit, attends lingerie fashion shows and shuffles three boyfriends to achieve what she wants from life.  Even though Amy Adams is an extremely talented actress and extraordinarily beautiful, I found her character here to be simply too annoying and conniving to ever come close to liking - although she still managed to be funny from time to time.  Her string of suitors include slimy nightclub owner Nick Cordorelli (Mark Strong), Theatre Producer wannabe (and more crucially, son of a wealthy established Theatre Producer) Phil Golman (Tom Payne), and piano player Michael Pardue (Lee Pace).  She also gets introduced to fashion queen wannabe Edythe DuBarry (Shirley Henderson) and her fiance, Lingerie Designer Joe Bloomfield (Cairan Hinds).

There are no surprises here - really, no surprises - every time you meet a character for the first time, you know exactly what sort of person they'll turn out to be and what part they'll play in the story - and despite attempts at pathos (the movie is set in the thirties with war threatening to break out), it opts for happy endings all round and convenient plot devices to show that the bad people really didn't deserve good things happening to them, of course with the exception of Delysia who were are supposed to root for despite a complete lack of any real redeeming qualities.  Most characters are rather unlikeable, either very scheming or simply stupid.  Even the eponymous heroine of the piece isn't really a very appealing person, though compared to some of the others she's practically a saint.

Despite its obvious drawbacks however, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day is quite fun and does have some definite plus points - most of the acting was good, it's nicely filmed, it's funny on a fairly frequent basis and has a great thirties jazz soundtrack.  It's not a great movie by any means but its worth watching; I wouldn't pay more than a fiver for it at most, but for two or three quid it'll give you an enjoyable hour and a half of entertainment.  (For those who like such things there are a few bonus features on the DVD - the deleted scenes weren't much cop, they were the only bits I bothered looking at.)

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CaptainD - Movie Reviews Blog

Blues in the Night (1941)

Now this is a strange movie... it starts off as a "jazz band starts up and goes through trials and tribulations before hitting the big time" type movie, then turns into a murder mystery noir. It also has strange character names - the main character played by Richard Whorf is nicknamed "Jigger", which is bad enough, but Priscilla Lane's characters is called ... "Character". The band forms, they start out poor, they have some success but are still financially insecure, then just as they start having some real money along comes a crook and takes it all off them. Before long though they've accepted a suspicious invite from the same crook and end up working for him.

This didn't sit right with me as a viewer - they seemed neither desperate enough nor should they have been stupid enough to take up this offer. Then there's a femme fatale who, despite being unpleasant and frankly unattractive, Jigger falls for (for no apparent reason) and throws everything away. This movie has quite a number of fans but I'm afraid I couldn't find much about it to enjoy - the plot made little sense, there was precious little blues music in it, the acting was fairly bad and the dialogue poorly written.

I had high hopes of Blues in the Night - it looked interesting from the plot synopsis - but to me it failed on just about every count.

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CaptainD - Movie Reviews Blog

Toy Story 3 now available on DVD and Blu-Ray from Amazon UK

If you want to get Toy Story 3, there are quite a few options available:

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CaptainD - Movie Reviews Blog

You Know You're Getting Old When...

... as presents, you get given DVD box sets of children's TV series from when you were a kid.

A couple of years ago my sister-in-law got me the complete box-set of Dogtanian and the Three Muskahounds... my wife just bought me Fraggle Rock. Nostalgia is a wonderful thing though, even if it does mean the years are passing! :-D

Altogether now...

Chase the blues away,
save them for another day
let the music play
down in Fraggle Rock...



One for all and all for one,
muskahounds are always ready
One for all and all for one
helping everybody...


Anyone else got any childhood memories that have been turned into gifts?!

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CaptainD - Movie Reviews Blog

Press Release - Shine Pictures Unveils ‘The Big Idea’ For Screenwriters

Shine Pictures Unveils ‘The Big Idea’ For Screenwriters

Production company launches new national screenwriting competition

Winner will receive a £25,000 feature film development deal

Closing deadline for entries is October 29^th, 2010

London 20th September Shine Pictures, the joint venture between the UK’s Kudos Pictures (Brighton Rock, adapted by Rowan Joffe, Eastern Promises, written by Steve  Knight,  and Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day , written by Simon Beaufoy) and Hollywood producer-financier New Regency (Mr and Mrs Smith, Jumper and Knight and Day) is launching The Big Idea, a national competition for writers. 

The Big Idea is looking to discover ingenious concepts with global appeal from experienced talented writers in the following genres: Romantic Comedy, Action Adventure, Sci-Fi or Fantasy and Family Comedies.   The winning concept will be awarded a £25,000 development deal working with the Shine Pictures creative team to create a treatment followed by a draft and one set of revisions.  Complete details on The Big Idea – including application information – can be accessed through www.shine-pictures.com

The Big Idea winner will work to develop their project with the Development staff of Shine Pictures based both London and Los Angeles, managed by the Head of Development Ed Clarke and the Head of Film Paul Webster.  The project manager is Melanie Coombs. The winner will be announced on December 20^th 2010.

Paul Webster and Stephen Garrett of Shine Pictures said: “British writers are among the most sought after in Hollywood. Shine Pictures, in keeping with our desire to bring  the cream of the UK’s creative community to a global audience, wants to nurture the next generation of leading screenwriters. We hope writers will be excited by this new competition and the chance to showcase their concepts and enjoy the opportunity to win a substantial prize which will help take their ideas to the next level.”

Shine Pictures was set up in 2008 to develop and produce broad-based commercial films for the global marketplace. The company draws from a substantial development fund to capitalize on the Shine Group’s reputation for working closely with the UK talent pool to deliver innovative and creative material in combination with the filmmaking and marketing expertise of Regency and the worldwide distribution network of 20^th Century Fox.  Shine Pictures is run by Kudos Pictures’ Paul Webster and Stephen Garrett.

For further information contact please contact:

The Big Idea Project Manager, Melanie Coombs:

thebigidea@shine-pictures.com

Cathy Dunkley/Jules Grant, Freud Communications:

cathy@freud.com; jules.grant@freud.com

About Shine Pictures

Shine Pictures was founded in July 2008 by independent production group Shine, spearheaded by Shine Group CEO and Chairman Elisabeth Murdoch and leading US producer and distributor New Regency, headed by co-chairmen Bob Harper and Hutch Parker, to develop and produce broad-based commercial films for the global marketplace. The new co-owned joined venture is headed by Paul Webster and Stephen Garrett. Shine Pictures continues to build on the success of Kudos Pictures (Eastern Promises) and capitalize on its access to talent in Europe and beyond.

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CaptainD - Movie Reviews Blog

Vote for Twisted Seduction's Trailer

This is an indie movie I've blogged about before - to help the movie get a better chance of a distribution deal, please rate the trailer on the Big Break Movie Contest.  (There's a voting option just above the video itself on that page - watch the trailer and vote away!  127 votes when I just looked, average 4 star rating.)

If you like the look of Twisted Seduction, this is a great way to help the film's creators.

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CaptainD - Movie Reviews Blog

Goodbye Lenin! (2003)

I often don't really get "black" comedy. For instance, Fargo left me completely unmoved (which is something I know many people will deride me for, with it being considered a classic and all). However I liked this movie set in post Berlin Wall East Germany a great deal.

Starring the excellent Daniel Buhl as Alex Kerner, the plot revolves around his attempts to keep his mother from realising how much things have changed, after she recovers from a long coma with no idea about the Berlin Wall coming down and the events that followed.  With the help of his family and a colleague who's a wannabe filmmaker, Alex tries to convince his mother that all is as she remembers it being.  Obviously this is no easy task, and a combination of shielding the mother from real-life events and fabricating thier own news stories is required - but Alex's sister isn't always so inclined to help him...

As well as a black comedy, it's a piercing look at how East Germany changed after the wall came down, and the various reactions amongst the populace to the introduction of a capitalist society.  To me the humour doesn't always work and sometimes the film is unnecessarily crude, but overall it's an intriguing, amusing and heartwarming film by turns.  It also won a truckload of awards.

If you're looking for something a bit out of the normal, Goodbye Lenin! might very well fit the bill.

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CaptainD - Movie Reviews Blog

Three's Company

My wife picked up the first season of this at a car boot sale for a quid, I'd never seen it before but apparently it was very popular in South Africa at the time. It may have one of the all-time worst theme tunes, but it's quite funny. Of course after this short season, there are seven long (22 episodes or more) seasons to come... maybe this wasn't such a good idea!

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CaptainD - Movie Reviews Blog

Yes Minister / Yes Prime Minister DVD Box Set

I was very happy with my Yes Minister / Yes Prime Minister DVD Box Set purchase from HMV today. Perhaps not quite so chuffed when I saw that Amazon had the exact same box set for a shade under £15, but never mind, what's done is done.  I can console myself with not having to wait for it to arrive in the post! :-D

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CaptainD - Movie Reviews Blog

Blue Gold American Jeans: A Feature Documentary

I got an email about an interesting project today - I've reproduced it verbatim as I know nothing about it otherwise.

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I would like to tell you about a new documentary feature coming to theaters in 2011. View our Trailer Here.


Blue Gold  is a documentary feature that celebrates the history and cultural impact of American Blue Jeans.


The film tracks the journey from rebels and delinquents, to designers and celebrities; from gold mines to red carpet. The story takes us from the cut throat world of vintage jean “hunters” who ring up bids as high as $25,000 to the inner sanctum of industry taste makers such as Adriano Goldschmied and Calvin Klein. Shot over the past 30 months in Japan, Egypt, Turkey, Italy, Scandinavia, and all over the United States: Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Idaho City, and Las Vegas. Follow the Blue Gold blog for production updates, clips from interviews and historical anecdotes.


We also have a partnership with the Gap, who is sponsoring our video contest. Contestants submit their favorite blue jeans moment for a chance to win $250 Gap gift card, or a cameo in our film.

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CaptainD - Movie Reviews Blog