Say what you want about Nic Cage, you gotta admit he is the hardest working man in Hollywood. Sure, most of these erstwhile (often Direct-to-dvd) efforts Cage has been associated with (Drive Angry, Rage, Trespass, Stolen, Season Of The Witch, Frozen Ground, Left Behind..….wow, it’s a long, long list) fall squarely in the sub-b-movie category, but there is the occasional diamond in the rough. Last year’s Joe made my top ten list and the work he did in Bad Lieutenant Port Of Call should have won awards. In his newest, the 12th-century China-set adventure Outcast, Cage plays “The White Ghost” and time he isn’t the leading hero. And it’s no gem. Hayden Christensen, the blank slate blamed for crippling the second wave of Star Wars films is the main protagonist of Outcast and he plays Jacob, the stoical, taciturn, gritty, wandering badass with measured assurance.
- 4/8/2015
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Here's how you can get your short film showcased at the Blissfields Festival...
News Den Of Geek
Den Of Geek is once again teaming up with the Blissfields Festival this year. And this Festival is once more calling for all for all rising, student and independent producers, directors and writers to submit their short-films to be screened at the multi-award-winning independent event, before expert judges pick a Best In Show. You can enter your 5-15 minute long film via the application page, which you can find here.
Following the announcement of music guests - 2ManyDJs, Hercules & Love Affair, Tune-Yards, Spector, Bipolar Sunshine, Johnny Flynn, Thumpers, and Laurel - the intimate festival for forward-thinking music and arts fans has now also unveiled the sophomore Blissfields Independent Film Festival, offering the chance for budding film-makers to screen their short movies during the event.
Organisers have suggested applicants keep in mind the animalistic...
News Den Of Geek
Den Of Geek is once again teaming up with the Blissfields Festival this year. And this Festival is once more calling for all for all rising, student and independent producers, directors and writers to submit their short-films to be screened at the multi-award-winning independent event, before expert judges pick a Best In Show. You can enter your 5-15 minute long film via the application page, which you can find here.
Following the announcement of music guests - 2ManyDJs, Hercules & Love Affair, Tune-Yards, Spector, Bipolar Sunshine, Johnny Flynn, Thumpers, and Laurel - the intimate festival for forward-thinking music and arts fans has now also unveiled the sophomore Blissfields Independent Film Festival, offering the chance for budding film-makers to screen their short movies during the event.
Organisers have suggested applicants keep in mind the animalistic...
- 6/12/2014
- by simonbrew
- Den of Geek
Few people have as much insight into the rise and run of "The X-Files" as Frank Spotnitz.
Spotnitz joined the show as a writer in its second season and worked as a writer/producer until the Fox drama ended its nine-season run. He rose to the level of executive producer, directed episodes of the show and worked on the "X-Files" movies that were released during and after the show's run.
None of it was easy.
Part of the reason an obscure show that aired on Friday nights rose to such heights of popularity and influence was because Chris Carter, the show's creator and executive producer, was a demanding boss.
"He was really uncompromising," Spotnitz said in an interview about his time on "The X-Files." "He didn’t care if you didn't like him because he was being so difficult, but he just insisted that you do your best."
In my experience,...
Spotnitz joined the show as a writer in its second season and worked as a writer/producer until the Fox drama ended its nine-season run. He rose to the level of executive producer, directed episodes of the show and worked on the "X-Files" movies that were released during and after the show's run.
None of it was easy.
Part of the reason an obscure show that aired on Friday nights rose to such heights of popularity and influence was because Chris Carter, the show's creator and executive producer, was a demanding boss.
"He was really uncompromising," Spotnitz said in an interview about his time on "The X-Files." "He didn’t care if you didn't like him because he was being so difficult, but he just insisted that you do your best."
In my experience,...
- 7/16/2013
- by Maureen Ryan
- Huffington Post
Flashforward star Joseph Fiennes is trading visions of the future for a prolonged spell in the Dark Ages when he plays Merlin in upcoming Starz series Camelot.
The Us TV retelling of the Arthurian legend - a 10-episode Irish-Canadian production which will air early next year - also stars Eva Green as Morgana le Fey, Jamie Campbell Bower as King Arthur, Tamsin Egerton as Queen Guinevere, James Purefoy as King Lot and Clive Standen as Gawain.
Fiennes said: "The magic lies in the political essences of the piece.
"There will be dark arts. You'll see things disappearing and changing shape, but it's really about the birth of a legend, about power given to the wrong individuals, a country split by war and greed... and the ascent of a pure king and noble minds.
"It's a beautiful, riveting, romantic, sensational epic story that has never been told."
He has pictures of...
The Us TV retelling of the Arthurian legend - a 10-episode Irish-Canadian production which will air early next year - also stars Eva Green as Morgana le Fey, Jamie Campbell Bower as King Arthur, Tamsin Egerton as Queen Guinevere, James Purefoy as King Lot and Clive Standen as Gawain.
Fiennes said: "The magic lies in the political essences of the piece.
"There will be dark arts. You'll see things disappearing and changing shape, but it's really about the birth of a legend, about power given to the wrong individuals, a country split by war and greed... and the ascent of a pure king and noble minds.
"It's a beautiful, riveting, romantic, sensational epic story that has never been told."
He has pictures of...
- 8/19/2010
- by David Bentley
- The Geek Files
We've seen the spawn of Satan in such films as Rosemary's Baby and The Omen, and bad seeds have frequently tickled and terrified audiences. Child saviors haven't been as prevalent in the movies. But in The Seeker, based on the popular children's novel The Dark Is Rising, we have the story of a child chosen by the forces of light to battle evil spirits; the fate of the earth hangs in the balance. With some quasi-religious overtones, the film might have a built-in audience, though it's not going to make much of a dent in the Harry Potter franchise.
The opening cleverly thrusts us into an ultra-contemporary world of cell phones and high-tech malls where Will Stanton (Alexander Ludwig) is not quite at home. The youngest of six sons in an American family transplanted to England, Will is not comfortable with his peers. To make matters worse, he keeps seeing flocks of ravens that want to claw his flesh. Eventually, he learns that he has a mission to save the world from dark forces that intend to wreak havoc. His nemesis is a threatening figure called the Rider (Christopher Eccleston), but he also has a group of allies known as the Old Ones who instruct him in his supernatural powers and guide him on his otherworldly quest.
Seeker is well cast with a mix of British and American actors. Ian McShane, who often is cast as a Satanic figure, here plays Will's spiritual guide, and he lends stature and dignity to the battle between good and evil. Eccleston exudes malevolent power, and he has fun playing the Rider's alter ego, a bumbling English doctor. The young actors who play Will's siblings have a natural ease on camera, and Ludwig is inherently likable, capturing the character's befuddlement as well as his innate decency.
Yet the film plods along without a lot of excitement or inspiration. There's one scary sequence with an army of snakes led by an albino cobra, but a lot of other scenes depend on elaborate CGI effects that aren't all that thrilling. Another problem is that the plot requires young Will to go through a series of trials to find the six signs that will enable him to save the world, and there simply isn't enough variety in these ordeals. The movie's one surprise twist will be pretty transparent to anyone above the age of 6.
Although the film is extremely well photographed by Joel Ransom, it fails to build a sense of mounting terror. The denouement is completely predictable, which might be satisfying to young viewers who haven't seen a lot of movies. For the rest of us, Seeker is a ho-hum exercise in mysticism and hocus-pocus.
THE SEEKER: THE DARK IS RISING
20th Century Fox and Fox-Walden
Marc Platt Prods.
Credits:
Director: David L. Cunningham
Screenwriter: John Hodge
Based on the novel by: Susan Cooper
Producer: Marc Platt
Executive producers: Ron Schmidt, Adam Siegel
Director of photography: Joel Ransom
Production designer: David Lee
Music: Christophe Beck
Costume designer: Vin Burnham
Editors: Geoffrey Rowland, Eric A. Sears
Cast:
Will Stanton: Alexander Ludwig
The Rider: Christopher Eccleston
Merriman Lyon: Ian McShane
Miss Greythorne: Frances Conroy
Dawson: James Cosmo
Old George: Jim Piddock
Maggie Barnes: Amelia Warner
John Stanton: John Benjamin Hickey
Mary Stanton: Wendy Crewson
Gwen Stanton: Emma Lockhart
Max Stanton: Gregory Smith
Running time -- 99 minutes
MPAA rating: PG...
The opening cleverly thrusts us into an ultra-contemporary world of cell phones and high-tech malls where Will Stanton (Alexander Ludwig) is not quite at home. The youngest of six sons in an American family transplanted to England, Will is not comfortable with his peers. To make matters worse, he keeps seeing flocks of ravens that want to claw his flesh. Eventually, he learns that he has a mission to save the world from dark forces that intend to wreak havoc. His nemesis is a threatening figure called the Rider (Christopher Eccleston), but he also has a group of allies known as the Old Ones who instruct him in his supernatural powers and guide him on his otherworldly quest.
Seeker is well cast with a mix of British and American actors. Ian McShane, who often is cast as a Satanic figure, here plays Will's spiritual guide, and he lends stature and dignity to the battle between good and evil. Eccleston exudes malevolent power, and he has fun playing the Rider's alter ego, a bumbling English doctor. The young actors who play Will's siblings have a natural ease on camera, and Ludwig is inherently likable, capturing the character's befuddlement as well as his innate decency.
Yet the film plods along without a lot of excitement or inspiration. There's one scary sequence with an army of snakes led by an albino cobra, but a lot of other scenes depend on elaborate CGI effects that aren't all that thrilling. Another problem is that the plot requires young Will to go through a series of trials to find the six signs that will enable him to save the world, and there simply isn't enough variety in these ordeals. The movie's one surprise twist will be pretty transparent to anyone above the age of 6.
Although the film is extremely well photographed by Joel Ransom, it fails to build a sense of mounting terror. The denouement is completely predictable, which might be satisfying to young viewers who haven't seen a lot of movies. For the rest of us, Seeker is a ho-hum exercise in mysticism and hocus-pocus.
THE SEEKER: THE DARK IS RISING
20th Century Fox and Fox-Walden
Marc Platt Prods.
Credits:
Director: David L. Cunningham
Screenwriter: John Hodge
Based on the novel by: Susan Cooper
Producer: Marc Platt
Executive producers: Ron Schmidt, Adam Siegel
Director of photography: Joel Ransom
Production designer: David Lee
Music: Christophe Beck
Costume designer: Vin Burnham
Editors: Geoffrey Rowland, Eric A. Sears
Cast:
Will Stanton: Alexander Ludwig
The Rider: Christopher Eccleston
Merriman Lyon: Ian McShane
Miss Greythorne: Frances Conroy
Dawson: James Cosmo
Old George: Jim Piddock
Maggie Barnes: Amelia Warner
John Stanton: John Benjamin Hickey
Mary Stanton: Wendy Crewson
Gwen Stanton: Emma Lockhart
Max Stanton: Gregory Smith
Running time -- 99 minutes
MPAA rating: PG...
- 10/5/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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