Next year will see the release of the Disney/Jerry Bruckheimer production of Prince Of Persia: The Sands of Time. Based on the popular videogame and starring Jake Gyllenhaal sporting a British accent, Disney has huge hopes for this adaptation. Could it be as lucrative as the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise? After watching the three new trailers (two international and one US) I am still in two minds about this one. While it looks very expensive I can’t help but find Gyllenhaal just slightl... Read Full Story

Psst! Have you seen Diablo Cody’s latest teen angst film – Jennifer’s Body yet? We have, or more to the point our own Ed Whitfield has (review here) and once he’d recovered from his Megan Fox hit, Ed was given the chance to talk to BBC film critic James King about JB and the whole teen film genre to boot! Check out the audio below, feel free to add your comments! © FILMSHAFT.COM, 2009. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Read Full Story

Robert Zemeckis is so convinced by the creative merits of motion-capture technology he has abandoned live-action filmmaking. Forever. Or so he keeps telling anybody who will listen. The director would argue he has freed himself from the tyrannies of filmmaking and problems he could not control. Mo-cap has destroyed the accidents, trouble and hassle associated with undertaking a major production. With untold creative choices, it seems Zemeckis has become rather stuck. If it is such a radical,... Read Full Story

If you’ve ever wanted to own your own cybernetic organism, killing machine, or a piece of Skynet, then this could be right up your alley! The film rights to the Terminator franchise are going up for auction, following the financial collapse of the series’ most recent custodian’s – Halcyon earlier this year. Several big Hollywood studios are expressing an interest in the sale, in which the winning bidder will be given all rights to future Terminator productions –... Read Full Story

PUBLIC ENEMIES Got to admit I was a little under whelmed when watching this at the cinema. The main problem I found was the complete lack of pace and strangely for a Michael Mann film the editing was sub-par. I felt the narrative suffered a lot on the big screen. I was very disappointed because this was coming from one of the greatest filmmakers in America over the past decade. Fortunately Public Enemies works much better on the small screen. The story of John Dillinger and the obsessive ma... Read Full Story

“It would be easy to play Jennifer one dimensionally” said Megan Fox of her titular role, with the emphasis very much on tit, in Jennifer’s Body. For a humble reviewer, hoping to stow away a few groats from a seminal review which any editor in his right mind would open the cheque book for, the quote was much like Jennifer herself, a prick tease. It leaps from the page and says ‘go on, use me, you know you want to use me, weave me into the sordid little critique, screw the F-ing analysis, mak... Read Full Story

Joe Cornish isn’t just the taller half of the UK’s favourite geek double act. Yes, Adam & Joe are brilliant but lately Joe has been forging a pretty impressive career in screenwriting. It seems that he isn’t content with just co-writing the script for Spielberg’s Tintin: The Secret Of The Black Unicorn. His solo project has finally been confirmed to start shooting in February. Attack The Block is about a group of Londoners that have to defend their tower block from invading aliens. Sci-F... Read Full Story

It was only the other day I was reporting about Kenneth Branagh and the major rumours surrounding the cast for his adaptation of Thor. Now we have confirmation that Thor’s old man Odin will be played by none other than Sir Anthony Hopkins. It’s not surprising at all that Branagh has brought on Hopkins. He is just the serious thespian I would expect in a Kenneth Branagh film, even if it is based on a comic book. Thor is definitely shaping up to be a major event for the future. While it is not... Read Full Story

18.12.09 – ACTUAL Avatar Day. Prior to that we’ve had trailers and we’ve had clips for James Cameron’s latest (and greatest?) big screen offering – and today we have plenty more of both!!! We’re good to you I know. Following on from yesterday’s International Trailer, we now have the hi-res version, sans-subtitles and if that’s not enough, check out James Cameron’s lil’ blue guys in a new TV spot and featurette also! Avatar is set du... Read Full Story

And so the 53rd London Film Festival has come to a close. For the past two weeks cinema venues in the West End have hosted world premieres (Fantastic Mr. Fox), Royal Gala screenings (Bright Star) and closed with another world premiere: Nowhere Boy – the story of John Lennon’s youth, directed by Sam Taylor Wood. What makes the London Film Festival different from all the rest is its lack of exclusivity: it is the people’s film festival! There is a wonderful “no nonsense” approach to the... Read Full Story