“Mojo,” a rom-com film whose cast of oddball characters includes a cow who has gone viral, has been set as the first feature to emerge from Sympatico, a U.K.-Malaysia coproduction venture that launched last year.
The film is to be directed by Min Lim, who also heads operations at Sympatico. She already has significant writing, directing and live venue producing experience, with credits that include executive producing the multi-season Asian adaptation of “The Bridge,” showrunner and director on the multi-award-winning Malaysian adaptation of the ITV/Sundance drama “Liar,” and as co-director of the reboot of the popular Malaysian sitcom “Kopitiam.”
The story of an ambitious city boy who finds love and meaning in simple, rural life “Mojo” is scripted by Honey Ahmad. Director Zahir Omar is onboard as creative consultant. The film is a coproduction between Sympatico and a Mocha Chai Laboratories and Mocha Chai’s Michelle Chang...
The film is to be directed by Min Lim, who also heads operations at Sympatico. She already has significant writing, directing and live venue producing experience, with credits that include executive producing the multi-season Asian adaptation of “The Bridge,” showrunner and director on the multi-award-winning Malaysian adaptation of the ITV/Sundance drama “Liar,” and as co-director of the reboot of the popular Malaysian sitcom “Kopitiam.”
The story of an ambitious city boy who finds love and meaning in simple, rural life “Mojo” is scripted by Honey Ahmad. Director Zahir Omar is onboard as creative consultant. The film is a coproduction between Sympatico and a Mocha Chai Laboratories and Mocha Chai’s Michelle Chang...
- 8/21/2024
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Carly Pearce is issuing an expanded full-length version of her EP 29, which came out in February. The performer’s 29: Written in Stone will be released September 17th and includes the ode to Kentucky and country music “Dear Miss Loretta,” featuring the great Patty Loveless.
“Dear Miss Loretta” takes the form of a stone-country waltz, heavy on low-end twang and fiddle, and delivered as a note of gratitude to one of Kentucky’s greatest musical exports. “I ain’t a coal miner’s daughter, but my grandmother was/Must be whiskey in the water,...
“Dear Miss Loretta” takes the form of a stone-country waltz, heavy on low-end twang and fiddle, and delivered as a note of gratitude to one of Kentucky’s greatest musical exports. “I ain’t a coal miner’s daughter, but my grandmother was/Must be whiskey in the water,...
- 8/3/2021
- by Jon Freeman
- Rollingstone.com
For four years, we clung to the heart-pounding theatricality of "Green Lights" and the cry-yourself-to-sleep piano tempo of "Liability," repeatedly refreshing the onion ring review Instagram account for any sign that Lorde hadn't forgotten us. On June 10, the "prettier Jesus" came frolicking back into our lives in the sunny, flirtatious "Solar Power" music video, radiating sunshine in a yellow two-piece and promising a summer of warmth, joy, and rejuvenation.
"You're all gonna watch me disappear into the sun," Lorde sang at the end of "Liability," possibly hinting at an era that 2017 us wasn't ready for yet. Like photosynthesis for the soul, Lorde's new single is warm, upbeat, and pulsing with a vibrant energy not found in its musical precursors. Where Pure Heroine gave us orange juice, Solar Power is already giving us mimosas on the beach and endless supplies of cocktail umbrellas. Find out more about the inspiration behind her...
"You're all gonna watch me disappear into the sun," Lorde sang at the end of "Liability," possibly hinting at an era that 2017 us wasn't ready for yet. Like photosynthesis for the soul, Lorde's new single is warm, upbeat, and pulsing with a vibrant energy not found in its musical precursors. Where Pure Heroine gave us orange juice, Solar Power is already giving us mimosas on the beach and endless supplies of cocktail umbrellas. Find out more about the inspiration behind her...
- 6/21/2021
- by Chanel Vargas
- Popsugar.com
Jack Antonoff has always been a serious, handshake-avoiding, airplane-seat-wiping germophobe, but the past year didn’t phase him much. “I was fine,” he says, “because I was preparing for this.” Instead of freaking out, the songwriter-producer-frontman spent the year hanging with his parents in New Jersey and making music with his usual crew of insanely famous and talented women — Taylor Swift, St. Vincent, Lana Del Rey, and Lorde, among others — not to mention finishing the third album by his own band, Bleachers, Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night.
“If...
“If...
- 6/16/2021
- by Brian Hiatt
- Rollingstone.com
In its first season, “Euphoria” was a lightning bolt.
The HBO series, crackling with oddity and possibility, generated noise and light in a manner that felt new, and overdue. The show told stories about the TikTok generation with all the emotional excess that comes with actually being a teen. And in Zendaya and Hunter Schafer, it put forward two massively charismatic and gifted performers — the first a familiar face allowed to graduate to a new level of acting achievement, the second a brand-new star. The TV landscape has been a little dimmer without them since “Euphoria’s” first season ended in August 2019.
Evidently, show creator Sam Levinson missed these actors and their characters too. This weekend sees the launch of the second of two off-season specials on HBO after a preview on HBO Max. The first of these dealt with Rue (Zendaya), an addict in tentative recovery, meeting with her...
The HBO series, crackling with oddity and possibility, generated noise and light in a manner that felt new, and overdue. The show told stories about the TikTok generation with all the emotional excess that comes with actually being a teen. And in Zendaya and Hunter Schafer, it put forward two massively charismatic and gifted performers — the first a familiar face allowed to graduate to a new level of acting achievement, the second a brand-new star. The TV landscape has been a little dimmer without them since “Euphoria’s” first season ended in August 2019.
Evidently, show creator Sam Levinson missed these actors and their characters too. This weekend sees the launch of the second of two off-season specials on HBO after a preview on HBO Max. The first of these dealt with Rue (Zendaya), an addict in tentative recovery, meeting with her...
- 1/23/2021
- by Daniel D'Addario
- Variety Film + TV
Saban Films has acquired North American rights to Martin Owen’s “Twist,” the company announced on Monday. From a script written by John Wrathall, the modern take on Charles Dickens’ classic Oliver Twist stars Academy Award winner Michael Caine (“The Dark Knight” series), Golden Globe Award nominee Lena Headey, Rita Ora, Raff Law (“Repo Men”) and Sophie Simnett.
“Twist” is produced by Noel Clarke and Jason Maza for Unstoppable along with Pure Grass Films’ Ben Grass and Knuckle Sandwich’s Matt Williams. The film is co-produced by Sky. Saban Films will release the film theatrically Q1 of 2021.
Set in contemporary London, “Twist” follows a gifted graffiti artist who is lured into a street gang headed by a father figure, Fagin, who plans a series of audacious art thefts.
Also Read: Neon Takes 'Memoria' From Palme D'Or Winner Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Bill Bromiley and Jonathan Saba negotiated the deal for...
“Twist” is produced by Noel Clarke and Jason Maza for Unstoppable along with Pure Grass Films’ Ben Grass and Knuckle Sandwich’s Matt Williams. The film is co-produced by Sky. Saban Films will release the film theatrically Q1 of 2021.
Set in contemporary London, “Twist” follows a gifted graffiti artist who is lured into a street gang headed by a father figure, Fagin, who plans a series of audacious art thefts.
Also Read: Neon Takes 'Memoria' From Palme D'Or Winner Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Bill Bromiley and Jonathan Saba negotiated the deal for...
- 11/25/2019
- by Umberto Gonzalez
- The Wrap
Michael Caine, Lena Headey and pop star Rita Ora are to star in “Twist,” a modern-day, gender-bending film interpretation of Charles Dickens’ classic novel “Oliver Twist” for Sky, which will release the film day and date in theaters and on its pay-tv platform.
The title role of Oliver is played by Jude Law’s son Raff Law. In this version, Oliver is reinvented as a streetwise artist living on the streets of modern-day London.
A chance encounter with a gang of grifters led by the charismatic Dodge, played by Ora, propels Twist into a high-stakes heist to steal a priceless painting for master thief Fagin, portrayed by Caine, and his psychopathic business partner, Sikes, played by Headey. Franz Drameh, Sophie Simnett and David Walliams also star.
The film goes into production in London this fall, and will be available on the Sky Cinema pay-tv service on the same day as its theatrical release.
The title role of Oliver is played by Jude Law’s son Raff Law. In this version, Oliver is reinvented as a streetwise artist living on the streets of modern-day London.
A chance encounter with a gang of grifters led by the charismatic Dodge, played by Ora, propels Twist into a high-stakes heist to steal a priceless painting for master thief Fagin, portrayed by Caine, and his psychopathic business partner, Sikes, played by Headey. Franz Drameh, Sophie Simnett and David Walliams also star.
The film goes into production in London this fall, and will be available on the Sky Cinema pay-tv service on the same day as its theatrical release.
- 10/16/2019
- by Tim Dams
- Variety Film + TV
To coincide with Agatha Christie's 125th anniversary, BBC One and Lifetime are teaming up for an all-star mini-series based on arguably the Grand Dame of mystery's most famous work - "And Then There Were None".
Set on the eve of World War Two, the story follows ten strangers with dubious pasts who are lured to an isolated rock near the Devon coast in southern England. Cut off from the mainland, their host is mysteriously absent.
A recording starts with each accused of a terrible crime. As each member of the party starts to mysteriously die one-by-one every few hours, the survivors realise one of them is a killer and start to turn on each other.
This time out the ensemble will be: Charles Dance ("Game of Thrones"), Sam Neill ("Jurassic Park"), Toby Stephens ("Black Sails"), Aidan Turner ("The Hobbit"), Miranda Richardson ("Harry Potter"), Anna Maxwell Martin ("The Bletchley Circle...
Set on the eve of World War Two, the story follows ten strangers with dubious pasts who are lured to an isolated rock near the Devon coast in southern England. Cut off from the mainland, their host is mysteriously absent.
A recording starts with each accused of a terrible crime. As each member of the party starts to mysteriously die one-by-one every few hours, the survivors realise one of them is a killer and start to turn on each other.
This time out the ensemble will be: Charles Dance ("Game of Thrones"), Sam Neill ("Jurassic Park"), Toby Stephens ("Black Sails"), Aidan Turner ("The Hobbit"), Miranda Richardson ("Harry Potter"), Anna Maxwell Martin ("The Bletchley Circle...
- 7/13/2015
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
Exclusive: John Wrathall script The Italian Chapel readied for 2015 shoot.
Andrew Bendel of the UK’s Blue Horizon Productions and Cristiano Bortone of Italy’s Orisa Produzioni are to co-produce Second World War love story The Italian Chapel.
Scheduled for a 2015 shoot, the film charts the love story between an Italian Pow in Scotland and a local woman.
The original screenplay by John Wrathall was previously selected for Working Title’s emerging writers scheme and has been developed by Blue Horizon with support from the BFI Film Fund.
Wrathall’s credits include the original screenplay for The Liability, starring Tim Roth and Peter Mullan, and Good starring Viggo Mortensen, which screened at Toronto and was released in the UK by Lionsgate.
Set during the Second World War, The Italian Chapel - based on true events - follows a reluctant private in Mussolini’s army who is captured by the British and sent to a windswept camp on...
Andrew Bendel of the UK’s Blue Horizon Productions and Cristiano Bortone of Italy’s Orisa Produzioni are to co-produce Second World War love story The Italian Chapel.
Scheduled for a 2015 shoot, the film charts the love story between an Italian Pow in Scotland and a local woman.
The original screenplay by John Wrathall was previously selected for Working Title’s emerging writers scheme and has been developed by Blue Horizon with support from the BFI Film Fund.
Wrathall’s credits include the original screenplay for The Liability, starring Tim Roth and Peter Mullan, and Good starring Viggo Mortensen, which screened at Toronto and was released in the UK by Lionsgate.
Set during the Second World War, The Italian Chapel - based on true events - follows a reluctant private in Mussolini’s army who is captured by the British and sent to a windswept camp on...
- 7/21/2014
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: In a further foray into scripted programming, FremantleMedia is teaming with the UK’s Corona Pictures for a drama/adventure series project based on best-selling author Wilbur Smith’s Birds Of Prey. Layer Cake scribe Jj Connolly has been set to pen the adaptation of the first three novels in Smith’s Courtney Family Adventures series that begins with Birds Of Prey and includes Monsoon and Blue Horizon. All told, Smith’s 34 books have sold over 120 million copies worldwide. The swashbuckling Courtney novels are set against a backdrop of the uncharted Africa of the 17th century, which offers the promise of the adventure of a lifetime and tantalizing riches. The stories chronicle the lives of the eponymous family as they battle to secure the clan’s fortunes in a place where sea-faring empires, privateers, wild animals and settled African tribes and nations fight it out for control of the land and its treasures.
- 3/24/2014
- by NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor
- Deadline TV
Craig Viveiros will helm Queen & Country for Chernin Entertainment at Fox. The project, which will star Ellen Page, is based on the Oni Press comic book series Queen & Country written by Greg Rucka. Page will play a British agent who goes on the run from her own people as she tries to bring down a terrorist on English soil. Viveiros made shorts and commercials, including the award winner Back To Back. Viveiros then produced, wrote and directed his debut feature film, Ghosted, which starred Art Malik, John Lynch and Martin Compston. He then moved to Haiti to work as a volunteer at the country’s film institute and returned to England to make The Liability with Tim Roth, Peter Mullan and Jack O’Connell. “I’m thrilled to be working with Fox and Ellen in the task of bringing Tara Chace and Queen & Country to life on the big screen,...
- 3/21/2014
- by MIKE FLEMING JR
- Deadline
Variety reports that Ghosted and The Liability director Craig Viveiros will step behind the camera to helm Queen & Country , the live-action adaptation of the Greg Rucka comic series that will star Ellen Page. Published by Oni Press, Queen & Country launched in 2011 with the following official description: Follow British intelligence operative Tara Chace and her fellow .Minders. across countries and continents as she thwarts terrorist plots and protects the interests of her queen and her country. Peter Chernin and Jenno Topping are producing with Ryan Condal having handled the most recent draft of the script.
- 3/21/2014
- Comingsoon.net
Flight; Wreck-It Ralph; The Liability; I Give It a Year
From the moment an upturned aeroplane clips the steeple of a church as it plummets Icarus-like towards Earth, it's clear that Flight (2012, Paramount, 15) is more interested in cod metaphysics than spectacular aerodynamics. Opening with sozzled jumbo-jet pilot Whip Whitaker knee-deep in the sins of the flesh (drugs, booze, lust), this moves us briskly to the cockpit from whence he will attempt to save the lives of his passengers with a head full of cocaine and vodka and an oxygen-mask chaser on the side.
The question is: does Whip manage to do something miraculous despite being as high as a kite or because of it?
As the conflicted anti-hero at the centre of the drama, Denzel Washington does a bang-up job of juggling the charismatic and the bedraggled in a manner that effectively captures the spirit of a soul in torment.
From the moment an upturned aeroplane clips the steeple of a church as it plummets Icarus-like towards Earth, it's clear that Flight (2012, Paramount, 15) is more interested in cod metaphysics than spectacular aerodynamics. Opening with sozzled jumbo-jet pilot Whip Whitaker knee-deep in the sins of the flesh (drugs, booze, lust), this moves us briskly to the cockpit from whence he will attempt to save the lives of his passengers with a head full of cocaine and vodka and an oxygen-mask chaser on the side.
The question is: does Whip manage to do something miraculous despite being as high as a kite or because of it?
As the conflicted anti-hero at the centre of the drama, Denzel Washington does a bang-up job of juggling the charismatic and the bedraggled in a manner that effectively captures the spirit of a soul in torment.
- 6/1/2013
- by Mark Kermode
- The Guardian - Film News
Watching on mobile? See the trailer here
The hit man has been a recognisable figure in our dramatic literature since at least the time Richard III and Macbeth hired anonymous murderers to do their dirty work, though the actual term didn't become widely used outside the American underworld until the 1960s. There are now so many around that they take in apprentices, especially when they start ageing. In serious Hollywood thriller The Mechanic (1972), hitman Charles Bronson offers informal indentures to Jan-Michael Vincent, as does Jean Rochefort to Guillaume Depardieu in the French comedy Wild Target (1993). A tradition of sorts is now developing. In Stephen Frears's The Hit (1984), dead-keen pupil Tim Roth is taken on as assistant to jaded hitman John Hurt, Thirty years later, in The Liability, Roth has become Roy, a middle-aged hitman who engages a teenager to help him carry out his final killing.
The Liability is a black comedy,...
The hit man has been a recognisable figure in our dramatic literature since at least the time Richard III and Macbeth hired anonymous murderers to do their dirty work, though the actual term didn't become widely used outside the American underworld until the 1960s. There are now so many around that they take in apprentices, especially when they start ageing. In serious Hollywood thriller The Mechanic (1972), hitman Charles Bronson offers informal indentures to Jan-Michael Vincent, as does Jean Rochefort to Guillaume Depardieu in the French comedy Wild Target (1993). A tradition of sorts is now developing. In Stephen Frears's The Hit (1984), dead-keen pupil Tim Roth is taken on as assistant to jaded hitman John Hurt, Thirty years later, in The Liability, Roth has become Roy, a middle-aged hitman who engages a teenager to help him carry out his final killing.
The Liability is a black comedy,...
- 5/18/2013
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
The Great Gatsby | Beware Of Mr Baker | Fast And Furious 6 | The Stoker | The Liability | Rangeelay
The Great Gatsby (12A)
(Baz Luhrmann, 2013, Us) Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan, Joel Edgerton, Elizabeth Debicki. 143 mins
No one's disputing that Luhrmann can put on a show, but can he tell a story? In a way, F Scott Fitzgerald's 1920s parable is a perfect fit: a study of surfaces and seduction and the hollowness of the wealthy. The hedonism and vulgarity are ravishing to behold and the hand-tinted-photo aesthetic is gorgeous. When the fireworks die down, however, that artificiality works against the romantic tragedy, and the characters are too flat to really stir any great emotions. Maybe that's the point.
Beware Of Mr Baker (15)
(Jay Bulger, 2012, Us) 92 mins
When it comes to great rock bio-doc material, Ginger Baker doesn't disappoint on any front: prodigious talent, eventful career (Cream, Blind Faith and Fela Kuti...
The Great Gatsby (12A)
(Baz Luhrmann, 2013, Us) Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan, Joel Edgerton, Elizabeth Debicki. 143 mins
No one's disputing that Luhrmann can put on a show, but can he tell a story? In a way, F Scott Fitzgerald's 1920s parable is a perfect fit: a study of surfaces and seduction and the hollowness of the wealthy. The hedonism and vulgarity are ravishing to behold and the hand-tinted-photo aesthetic is gorgeous. When the fireworks die down, however, that artificiality works against the romantic tragedy, and the characters are too flat to really stir any great emotions. Maybe that's the point.
Beware Of Mr Baker (15)
(Jay Bulger, 2012, Us) 92 mins
When it comes to great rock bio-doc material, Ginger Baker doesn't disappoint on any front: prodigious talent, eventful career (Cream, Blind Faith and Fela Kuti...
- 5/18/2013
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
A downbeat Brit thriller that shows some flair but doesn't really come together
Craig Viveiros, who made the prison drama Ghosted, has concocted a flawed but interesting downbeat Brit thriller with some creepy, leftfield jolts, calling to mind Mike Hodges with a twist of Tarantino. Jack O'Connell plays clueless 19-year-old Adam, the "liability", whose mum Nicky (Kierston Wareing) is living with Peter (Peter Mullan) a scary villain. Peter dislikes his gormless and annoying stepson but, for reasons that become clear, gives him a job in his organisation driving a hitman around. This is the gloomy and ill-tempered Roy (Tim Roth) who has to be chauffeured up to the north-east to kill a Latvian bad guy and make it look like the work of a local serial killer who is cutting off his victims' hands. Of course, Peter and Roy are not telling Adam the whole truth. It doesn't entirely work,...
Craig Viveiros, who made the prison drama Ghosted, has concocted a flawed but interesting downbeat Brit thriller with some creepy, leftfield jolts, calling to mind Mike Hodges with a twist of Tarantino. Jack O'Connell plays clueless 19-year-old Adam, the "liability", whose mum Nicky (Kierston Wareing) is living with Peter (Peter Mullan) a scary villain. Peter dislikes his gormless and annoying stepson but, for reasons that become clear, gives him a job in his organisation driving a hitman around. This is the gloomy and ill-tempered Roy (Tim Roth) who has to be chauffeured up to the north-east to kill a Latvian bad guy and make it look like the work of a local serial killer who is cutting off his victims' hands. Of course, Peter and Roy are not telling Adam the whole truth. It doesn't entirely work,...
- 5/16/2013
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
A smooth landing for the Star Trek sequel plus ongoing love for Iron Man 3 means cinematic coffers should live long and prosper
The winner
When the Next Generation cycle of Star Trek movies sputtered to an end in 2003, Nemesis closed out its run with a mediocre £4.8m in the UK, down from previous episode Insurrection's £7.7m. Paramount and Jj Abrams craftily reinvented the brand with the 2009 reboot, debuting with a tasty £5.95m (including £872,000 in previews), on its way to a total of £21.4m. Now comes the sequel, Into Darkness. Given the expanded fanbase established by the 2009 film, and the addition of Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch as the Star Fleet's formidable new foe, it's no big surprise to see numbers rise. Even so, Paramount will be more than happy with the achieved result: £8.43m including previews of £1.57m. That's a 42% rise on the debut last time around. Sequels do usually...
The winner
When the Next Generation cycle of Star Trek movies sputtered to an end in 2003, Nemesis closed out its run with a mediocre £4.8m in the UK, down from previous episode Insurrection's £7.7m. Paramount and Jj Abrams craftily reinvented the brand with the 2009 reboot, debuting with a tasty £5.95m (including £872,000 in previews), on its way to a total of £21.4m. Now comes the sequel, Into Darkness. Given the expanded fanbase established by the 2009 film, and the addition of Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch as the Star Fleet's formidable new foe, it's no big surprise to see numbers rise. Even so, Paramount will be more than happy with the achieved result: £8.43m including previews of £1.57m. That's a 42% rise on the debut last time around. Sequels do usually...
- 5/15/2013
- by Charles Gant
- The Guardian - Film News
It seems cameraman-cum-director Craig Viveiros fancies himself as a bit of a ‘British Tarantino’ with his second feature, The Liability. He even employs the services of one of Pulp Fiction and Resevoir Dogs’ actors, Tim Roth, to evoke that clever magic. Indeed, at the heart of this road movie is a more superior, darkly comedic thriller itching to unfold. Thankfully, due to the central and intriguing father/son relationship between ageing hit man Roy (Roth) and his haphazard apprentice Adam (Jack O’Connell), this commendable attempt at deadly humour does not fall short, even though there are other, more daring possibilities Viveiros could have explored to make his film feel less déjà vu in plot.
After trashing his step-father Peter’s car, 19-year-old Adam is forced to pay off the damage by the sinister, violent gangster (Peter Mullan) by driving a mysterious associate of his called Roy across country in an ageing Ford Granada.
After trashing his step-father Peter’s car, 19-year-old Adam is forced to pay off the damage by the sinister, violent gangster (Peter Mullan) by driving a mysterious associate of his called Roy across country in an ageing Ford Granada.
- 5/15/2013
- by Lisa Giles-Keddie
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
★★☆☆☆ The second feature from Craig Viveiros, The Liability (2012) straddles a number of interesting sub-genres (road trip, gangster yarn, the world-weary hitman). It's a shame these outwardly intriguing elements have to do battle with a predictable and pretty contrived story. Even an impressive visual canvas eventually plumps for style over substance as the script begins to drag and the pace slackens. A teen tearaway (Jack O'Connell) trashes her criminal stepfather's prized automobile. As a means of paying off his debt, he's given the job of driving a professional killer (Tim Roth) to a grizzly job up in the North East.
As their long journey unwinds, an unlikely bond develops between the pair, with the young upstart taking an interest in his passenger's macabre occupation. Before it all turns into a mutually cheery apprenticeship, a young Eastern European traveller (Talulah Riley) interrupts their disposal of a victim. Escaping from the duo, her...
As their long journey unwinds, an unlikely bond develops between the pair, with the young upstart taking an interest in his passenger's macabre occupation. Before it all turns into a mutually cheery apprenticeship, a young Eastern European traveller (Talulah Riley) interrupts their disposal of a victim. Escaping from the duo, her...
- 5/15/2013
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
A British hitman movie, starring Tim Roth, owes a debt to a little-known 1980s Us noir thriller, superbly crafted by Eric Red, which deserves to be better known
Twenty years ago, when I first started reading credits of movies I loved to see who'd written the screenplay, one name leapt out at me: Eric Red. In the space of three years in the late 1980s he wrote the terrifying Rutger Hauer road movie The Hitcher and two brilliant genre movies for a young director called Kathryn Bigelow: the trailer-trash vampire movie Near Dark, and Blue Steel, a feminist cop movie with Jamie Lee Curtis as a rookie up against an amorous serial killer. The first two of those have gone on to become bona fide cult classics. But Red remains little known – as does the film of his I really loved, one he wrote and directed in 1988, Cohen and Tate.
Twenty years ago, when I first started reading credits of movies I loved to see who'd written the screenplay, one name leapt out at me: Eric Red. In the space of three years in the late 1980s he wrote the terrifying Rutger Hauer road movie The Hitcher and two brilliant genre movies for a young director called Kathryn Bigelow: the trailer-trash vampire movie Near Dark, and Blue Steel, a feminist cop movie with Jamie Lee Curtis as a rookie up against an amorous serial killer. The first two of those have gone on to become bona fide cult classics. But Red remains little known – as does the film of his I really loved, one he wrote and directed in 1988, Cohen and Tate.
- 5/14/2013
- The Guardian - Film News
Star Trek Into Darkness | Mud | A Hijacking | The Reluctant Fundamentalist | Our Children | Deadfall | Vehicle 19 | Village At The End Of The World | Journey To Italy
Star Trek Into Darkness (12A)
(Jj Abrams, 2013, Us) Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Benedict Cumberbatch, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg. 132 mins
Those cinemagoers won over by Abrams's first Star Trek movie (even if they can barely remember it now) won't be disappointed with this finely tuned follow-up, which deftly balances action crises, sci-fi repartee and the ongoing Kirk/Spock bromance, but adds enough surprises to keep things interesting, largely by way of Cumberbatch's shifty supervillain.
Mud (12A)
(Jeff Nichols, 2012, Us) Matthew McConaughey, Tye Sheridan, Reese Witherspoon. 130 mins
Another distinctive, beguiling southern parable from Nichols, this time tracking the friendship between two boys and the mysterious fugitive they find down by the river. It's like a mix of Stand By Me, Night Of The Hunter and Terrence Malick.
Star Trek Into Darkness (12A)
(Jj Abrams, 2013, Us) Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Benedict Cumberbatch, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg. 132 mins
Those cinemagoers won over by Abrams's first Star Trek movie (even if they can barely remember it now) won't be disappointed with this finely tuned follow-up, which deftly balances action crises, sci-fi repartee and the ongoing Kirk/Spock bromance, but adds enough surprises to keep things interesting, largely by way of Cumberbatch's shifty supervillain.
Mud (12A)
(Jeff Nichols, 2012, Us) Matthew McConaughey, Tye Sheridan, Reese Witherspoon. 130 mins
Another distinctive, beguiling southern parable from Nichols, this time tracking the friendship between two boys and the mysterious fugitive they find down by the river. It's like a mix of Stand By Me, Night Of The Hunter and Terrence Malick.
- 5/11/2013
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
The Liability is the tale of a seasoned assassin hoping to retire named Roy (Tim Roth), who gets teamed with a young, enthusiastic driver, Adam (Jack O’Connell) for his next job (as a result of Adam owing a ruthless local crime boss, played by Peter Mullan).
It should be a quick and easy hit, but the two find themselves at a cross-roads as Roy becomes increasingly desperate to escape this life, while Adam is drawn ever more into it, gaining a taste for killing. However, things get even dicier when a beautiful, enigmatic young woman (Talulah Riley) witnesses one of their murders, which by the professional hitman code, suggests that she must also be taken care of. Soon, it becomes clear that her coming into the fold is no accident, complicating their situation considerably.
Boasting strong visuals and a pulsing soundtrack, The Liability promises to be another potent demonstration...
It should be a quick and easy hit, but the two find themselves at a cross-roads as Roy becomes increasingly desperate to escape this life, while Adam is drawn ever more into it, gaining a taste for killing. However, things get even dicier when a beautiful, enigmatic young woman (Talulah Riley) witnesses one of their murders, which by the professional hitman code, suggests that she must also be taken care of. Soon, it becomes clear that her coming into the fold is no accident, complicating their situation considerably.
Boasting strong visuals and a pulsing soundtrack, The Liability promises to be another potent demonstration...
- 5/7/2013
- by WhatCulture
- Obsessed with Film
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
The Liability has two things going for it: the acting chops of two excellent British actors, Tim Roth (Lie To Me) and Peter Mullan (Tyrannosaur). Tim Roth is about as cool as it’s possible to be and still retain an English accent. Mullan, on the other hand, is renowned for playing (and playing very well) characters that are palpably nasty and as dangerous as a bagful of aggressively swung monkey wrenches. As a point of order, it would have been nice to see a bit more of him here.
Directed by Craig Viveiros and written by John Wrathall, this under the radar, modestly budgeted drama about not really very much impresses more than expected. As stated above, however, this is largely due to the charismatic performances of most of the cast rather than some fine scripting or a subtle plot. With a story centering around...
The Liability has two things going for it: the acting chops of two excellent British actors, Tim Roth (Lie To Me) and Peter Mullan (Tyrannosaur). Tim Roth is about as cool as it’s possible to be and still retain an English accent. Mullan, on the other hand, is renowned for playing (and playing very well) characters that are palpably nasty and as dangerous as a bagful of aggressively swung monkey wrenches. As a point of order, it would have been nice to see a bit more of him here.
Directed by Craig Viveiros and written by John Wrathall, this under the radar, modestly budgeted drama about not really very much impresses more than expected. As stated above, however, this is largely due to the charismatic performances of most of the cast rather than some fine scripting or a subtle plot. With a story centering around...
- 2/13/2013
- by Steve Leadbetter
- Obsessed with Film
Craig Viveiros' The Liability starring Tim Roth as a veteran hitman and Jack O'Connell as his willing apprentice has inked a U.K. distribution deal with Metrodome. U.K. sales and finance banner Av Pictures had to re-sell the title which had originally been picked up in June last year by the now troubled British indie distributor Revolver Entertainment. Photos: 10 Titles to Track in Berlin at the 2013 European Film Market Revolver Entertainment had not returned calls at time of press. The movie unspooled at last year's Marche du Film in Cannes and reported brisk business following a screening for buyers. The
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- 2/11/2013
- by Stuart Kemp
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Tim Roth plays a take-no-prisoners, happy-to-tie-corpses-to-trees hit man in the upcoming British gangster flick The Liability, and here's the exclusive trailer to prove it.Telling the tale of a 19 year old desperately trying to earn a few quid to pay back his unforgiving dad (played by Peter Mullan), it sees relative newcomer Jack O'Connell as unlucky teen Adam and Tim Roth as the hit man who takes him under his wing.Playing The Girl - no really, her character is called 'The Girl' on the cast list - is St. Trinian's alumnus Talulah Riley, with Lost In Italy's Craig Viveiros in the director's chair. As you'll see from the trailer below, the tone is very much in the vein of Lock, Stock and the like, with humour intrinsically wrapped up with all the twists and the turns and the killing and the backstabbing and the what not. Take a...
- 1/22/2013
- EmpireOnline
Django Unchained | The Sessions | Everyday | V/H/S | The Wee Man | Ballroom Dancer | Monsters Inc 3D
Django Unchained (18)
(Quentin Tarantino, 2012, Us) Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Samuel L Jackson, Kerry Washington. 165 mins
Few directors would have the imagination, the guts or the resources to reimagine America's slaving past as a spaghetti western/blaxploitation thriller, but the result is Tarantino's most politically provocative movie, and one of his most entertaining – up to a point. Foxx's odyssey from captive slave to mythical avenger, enabled by Waltz's liberal German "dentist", is often an exhilarating ride, though the action is constantly slowed up by Tarantino's love of his own dialogue – if only he'd kept that chained in.
The Sessions (15)
(Ben Lewin, 2012, Us) John Hawkes, Helen Hunt, William H Macy. 93 mins
Severely disabled man seeks first–time sexual experience. It doesn't sound too promising but there are plenty of riches in this open–hearted drama: the performances,...
Django Unchained (18)
(Quentin Tarantino, 2012, Us) Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Samuel L Jackson, Kerry Washington. 165 mins
Few directors would have the imagination, the guts or the resources to reimagine America's slaving past as a spaghetti western/blaxploitation thriller, but the result is Tarantino's most politically provocative movie, and one of his most entertaining – up to a point. Foxx's odyssey from captive slave to mythical avenger, enabled by Waltz's liberal German "dentist", is often an exhilarating ride, though the action is constantly slowed up by Tarantino's love of his own dialogue – if only he'd kept that chained in.
The Sessions (15)
(Ben Lewin, 2012, Us) John Hawkes, Helen Hunt, William H Macy. 93 mins
Severely disabled man seeks first–time sexual experience. It doesn't sound too promising but there are plenty of riches in this open–hearted drama: the performances,...
- 1/19/2013
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
As announced back in March, Skins is set to return for a final time next year, and E4 and Company Pictures today announced the details of the new series.
It will mark a departure in style and will see three former stars returning to the roles which shaped their careers in three individual stories, each one broadcast in two, one hour parts.
Written by series creators Bryan Elsley and Jamie Brittain with Jess Brittain, the stories go into new territory; more adult, more uncompromising. Each two part story centres on the characters now in their early twenties, the party's over and they're starting out as young adults, struggling to find a direction and a focus in unforgiving times.
Kaya Scodelario, the only cast member to appear in all previous six series of Skins, returns in Fire, written by Jess Brittain.
Effy has a dead end job as a receptionist for a leading London Hedge Fund.
It will mark a departure in style and will see three former stars returning to the roles which shaped their careers in three individual stories, each one broadcast in two, one hour parts.
Written by series creators Bryan Elsley and Jamie Brittain with Jess Brittain, the stories go into new territory; more adult, more uncompromising. Each two part story centres on the characters now in their early twenties, the party's over and they're starting out as young adults, struggling to find a direction and a focus in unforgiving times.
Kaya Scodelario, the only cast member to appear in all previous six series of Skins, returns in Fire, written by Jess Brittain.
Effy has a dead end job as a receptionist for a leading London Hedge Fund.
- 10/16/2012
- by noreply@blogger.com (ScreenTerrier)
- ScreenTerrier
London – Craig Viveiros' The Liability starring Tim Roth as a veteran hitman and Jack O'Connell as his willing apprentice has inked distribution deals for North America, the U.K. and Japan. U.K. sales and finance banner Av Pictures signed deal memos with Grindstone Entertainment Group for North America where the film will be released by Lionsgate Home Entertainment, Revolver Entertainment for the U.K. and Nikkatsu Corporation for Japan. The movie unspooled during last month's Marche du Film in Cannes and reported brisk business following the screening for buyers. The road-trip thriller is in the final stages
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- 6/26/2012
- by Stuart Kemp
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Skins bad-boy Jack O'Connell has replaced Jamie Blackley in the role of the young hero Calisto in the 300 prequel, provisionally titled 300: Battle of Artemisia, which is set to start shooting in Bulgaria later this month.
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.
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 film will also star Eva Green as Artemisia, and Australian actor Sullivan Stapleton as Themistocles.
Jack himself recently had to drop out of a role in Beautiful Creatures filming in the Us due to visa issues, which may well have made him once...
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.
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 film will also star Eva Green as Artemisia, and Australian actor Sullivan Stapleton as Themistocles.
Jack himself recently had to drop out of a role in Beautiful Creatures filming in the Us due to visa issues, which may well have made him once...
- 5/5/2012
- by noreply@blogger.com (ScreenTerrier)
- ScreenTerrier
Skins star Jack O'Connell has landed the lead role in a new supernatural love story feature film ''Beautiful Creatures.''
Based on the first novel in a series known as the Caister Chronicles, it could be the start of a new Twilight-esque franchise, with Beautiful Creatures being followed by the subsequent books in the series Beautiful Darkness and Beautiful Chaos.
Jack will star alongside New Zealander Alice Englert as the two teenage lovers - Ethan, a local boy who meets and becomes bewitched by Lena Duchannes, a 16-year-old whose family has moved to his small South Carolina town. The two must confront a curse that's haunted her family for generations as they uncover dark secrets about their families, their history and their town, and Lena has to come to grips with her powers.
Jack (represented by Conway Van Gelder) will be seen this year in the Michael Morpugo adaptation Private Peaceful,...
Based on the first novel in a series known as the Caister Chronicles, it could be the start of a new Twilight-esque franchise, with Beautiful Creatures being followed by the subsequent books in the series Beautiful Darkness and Beautiful Chaos.
Jack will star alongside New Zealander Alice Englert as the two teenage lovers - Ethan, a local boy who meets and becomes bewitched by Lena Duchannes, a 16-year-old whose family has moved to his small South Carolina town. The two must confront a curse that's haunted her family for generations as they uncover dark secrets about their families, their history and their town, and Lena has to come to grips with her powers.
Jack (represented by Conway Van Gelder) will be seen this year in the Michael Morpugo adaptation Private Peaceful,...
- 2/9/2012
- by noreply@blogger.com (ScreenTerrier)
- ScreenTerrier
Skins star Jack O'Connell joins Tim Roth, Talulah Riley and Peter Mullan in The Liability, a darkly comic thriller.
He plays Adam, a young guy who only wants to be a hitman, who is brought together by a female vigilante with an old hitman who only wants to retire.
Written by John Wrathall, the film will be directed by exciting Brit newcomer Craig Viveiros, who made his debut feature with Ghosted earlier this year, and produced by Corona Pictures.
Jack has recently completed filming on Private Peaceful.
Shooting on Liability is due to begin on Nov 21 in Northumberland, UK.
He plays Adam, a young guy who only wants to be a hitman, who is brought together by a female vigilante with an old hitman who only wants to retire.
Written by John Wrathall, the film will be directed by exciting Brit newcomer Craig Viveiros, who made his debut feature with Ghosted earlier this year, and produced by Corona Pictures.
Jack has recently completed filming on Private Peaceful.
Shooting on Liability is due to begin on Nov 21 in Northumberland, UK.
- 10/18/2011
- by noreply@blogger.com (ScreenTerrier)
- ScreenTerrier
Here are a few interesting and/or noteworthy projects that were recently added to IMDbPro's database of development titles:
Trouble with the Curve – A week after Clint Eastwood announced his return to acting with the baseball-themed, father-daughter drama for director Robert Lorenz, the pair have set their sights on Oscar winner Sandra Bullock for the role of Eastwood's daughter. Warner Bros. is producing.
Untitled Dr. Seuss Biopic – It's been hard to keep up with the number of development projects Johnny Depp's been attaching himself to lately. But, one of the more intriguing ones is the life story of popular children's book writer Theodor Geisel. Depp's eyeing the lead role and producing through his Infinitum Nihil company. Illumination Entertainment and Universal Pictures are also on board to produce.
Perry Mason – In addition to nabbing Adam Gibgot's Accidental Genius pitch for Warner Bros., Robert Downey Jr.'s Team Downey is looking to bring the iconic attorney to the big screen using the original 1930s-set novels written by Erle Stanley Gardner as the film's source material. The Iron Man himself is considering taking on the titular role.
The Liability – Tim Roth stars opposite Peter Mullan and Talulah Riley in this British thriller from director Craig Viveiros and writer John Wrathall. Corona Pictures' Richard Johns and Rupert Jermyn produce the film that Deadline describes as a "a darkly comic road trip."
The Poet in Exile – What if legendary rock star and former Doors front man, Jim Morrison, staged his death in 1971? That's the basis for this drama based on fellow Doors rocker Ray Manzarek's bestselling novel and produced by ClubHouse Entertainment. Tim and Liz Sullivan will write the project with Gavin Heffernan.
If you know of something in the works, you can submit it via our online submission form.
Trouble with the Curve – A week after Clint Eastwood announced his return to acting with the baseball-themed, father-daughter drama for director Robert Lorenz, the pair have set their sights on Oscar winner Sandra Bullock for the role of Eastwood's daughter. Warner Bros. is producing.
Untitled Dr. Seuss Biopic – It's been hard to keep up with the number of development projects Johnny Depp's been attaching himself to lately. But, one of the more intriguing ones is the life story of popular children's book writer Theodor Geisel. Depp's eyeing the lead role and producing through his Infinitum Nihil company. Illumination Entertainment and Universal Pictures are also on board to produce.
Perry Mason – In addition to nabbing Adam Gibgot's Accidental Genius pitch for Warner Bros., Robert Downey Jr.'s Team Downey is looking to bring the iconic attorney to the big screen using the original 1930s-set novels written by Erle Stanley Gardner as the film's source material. The Iron Man himself is considering taking on the titular role.
The Liability – Tim Roth stars opposite Peter Mullan and Talulah Riley in this British thriller from director Craig Viveiros and writer John Wrathall. Corona Pictures' Richard Johns and Rupert Jermyn produce the film that Deadline describes as a "a darkly comic road trip."
The Poet in Exile – What if legendary rock star and former Doors front man, Jim Morrison, staged his death in 1971? That's the basis for this drama based on fellow Doors rocker Ray Manzarek's bestselling novel and produced by ClubHouse Entertainment. Tim and Liz Sullivan will write the project with Gavin Heffernan.
If you know of something in the works, you can submit it via our online submission form.
- 10/15/2011
- by Eric Greene
- IMDbPro News
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