All articles by John Hazelton – Page 5
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Reviews
P.S. I Love You
Dir: Richard LaGravenese. US. 2007. 126minsThe lightweight Ghost-meets-Bridget Jones dramedy of Irish novelist Cecelia Ahern's PS, I Love You turns into forced romantic comedy in this miscast and largely Americanized screen version starring Hilary Swank and Gerard Butler. Interest in the film's theatrical release will come mostly from avid chick ...
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Reviews
I Am Legend
Dir: Francis Lawrence US. 2007. 100mins.Will Smith makes up what is essentially the one-man cast of I Am Legend, a darkly intense sci-fi/horror drama based on the classic Richard Matheson novella and directed, with the same kind of flair he brought to 2005's Constantine, by Francis Lawrence. Genre afficionados should ...
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News
A closer Look: Brad Wyman and Adam Rifkin
Look, the latest in a series of collaborations between Los Angeles-based Brad Wyman and Adam Rifkin, has opened up new creative and business vistas for the prolific indie producer and the genre-hopping writer-director.The film mixes raunchy comedy with serious drama to tell five overlapping stories that unfold over a week ...
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Reviews
Look
Dir: Adam Rifkin. US. 2007. 102 mins.Shot to give the impression its action was entirely captured by the surveillance cameras that are becoming ever present in modern life, Look is a cleverly made curio that's as entertainingly watchable as the soaps and tabloid TV shows it often resembles. Whether its ...
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News
Halcyon days
They may not have arrived from the future like the Terminator himself, but when they announced last May that their Halcyon Company had acquired rights to the Terminator franchise Derek Anderson and Victor Kubicek were still unknown quantities in the film industry big league.Six months later, with a fourth Terminator ...
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Reviews
The Mist
Dir: Frank Darabont. US. 2007. 127mins. Frank Darabont and Dimension Films go back to the Stephen King well for The Mist, an enjoyably old school horror outing - with sci-fi undertones and some CG beasties - based on a vintage yarn by the mega-selling author. Though it probably won't match ...
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Reviews
P2
Dir: Franck Khalfoun. US. 2007. 98mins.Alexandre Aja and Gregory Levasseur, the French horror auteurs behind Haute Tension (aka Switchblade Romance), cut back on the gore and turn up the suspense for P2, a streamlined US thriller they wrote for Haute Tension-actor-turned-director Franck Khalfoun. The paucity of gory details and the ...
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News
Festival Of Discovery: AFI Fest continues to grow at 21
When it kicks off on November 1 with the North American premiere of Robert Redford's Lions For Lambs, AFI Fest will celebrate its 21st year as an American Film Institute event. But coming of age has not meant an end to growth, suggests festival director Christian Gaines.In recent years, he ...
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Reviews
30 Days Of Night
Dir: David Slade US. 2007. 117 mins.Horror thriller 30 Days of Night is like a very one-sided football match: there's not much suspense involved but at least you get to watch one team - in this case a gang of athletic and bloodthirsty vampires - beat up on the other. ...
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News
Tony Kaye returns with Lake Of Fire and Black Water Transit
Tony Kaye is back. Though he has stayed busy shooting the kind of innovative commercials and music videos that first made his name, the maverick conceptual artist and director has not had a feature in cinemas since his 1998 debut American History X, the edgy drama about neo-Nazi skinheads that ...
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Reviews
The Seeker: The Dark is Rising
Dir: David L Cunningham. US. 2007. 102 mins.Hollywood 's latest take on a cherished fantasy novel series has a modern American teen hero battling ancient evil forces in a Christmassy British setting. That mix of elements should lead to a respectable theatrical showing and a decent video performance for The ...
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News
Resident Evil 3 makes strong US debut
Sony's Resident Evil: Extinction went straight to the top of the North American box office chart this weekend with a $24m estimated gross, the best domestic opening yet for the Resident Evil sci-fi horror franchise. Two other wide releases had more modest debuts but several awards hopefuls had promising launches ...
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News
Bourne stays ahead with $13m international weekend
Universal's The Bourne Ultimatum once again set the pace at the international box office this weekend, grossing an estimated $13m from 4,269 dates in 48 territories. The marketplace's only new entrant, Sony's Resident Evil: Extinction, opened in Mexico day-and-date with its chart-topping domestic launch and came in number one with ...
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News
Bourne Ultimatum set to remain international champion
With only one new entrant into the marketplace and a smattering of openings for other frontrunners, Universal's The Bourne Ultimatum looks set for a third straight international box office win this weekend. The latest installment in the Bourne spy thriller franchise has now reached $128.8m internationally. It opens, through Universal ...
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Reviews
Mr Woodcock
Dir: Craig Gillespie US . 2007. 89mins.Former pupils of sadistic PE teachers will be a key audience for Mr Woodcock, an intermittently chuckle-worthy comedy with Billy Bob Thornton as the bullying, track-suited title character. Having reportedly sat on the shelf for a year, with some scenes re-shot, it's unlikely that ...
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News
Sequel opportunities - reviving franchises
With three sequels grossing more than $300m apiece at the North American box office and another half dozen passing $100m, summer 2007 proved the point yet again: sequels can be very big and very reliable business. No wonder the sequel rights market appears to be growing.By acquiring sequel rights to ...
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Reviews
Halloween
Dir: Rob Zombie US 2007 110mins Rob Zombie's're-imagining' of the original Halloween replaces the atmospheric suspense of John Carpenter's 1978 slasher classic with plodding gonzo horror that offers plenty of blood but not much of the rocker-turned-filmmaker's usual gory flair. Still, the combination of Zombie with one of the horror ...
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Reviews
Death Sentence
Death SentenceDir: James Wan US. 2007. 106 mins.Death Sentence updates the scenario and ethos of seventies shocker Death Wish in a stylishly violent revenge thriller with 'Splat Pack' director James Wan behind the camera and baby boomer star Kevin Bacon in front. It's an unlikely pairing that makes for an ...
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News
Strike jitters ripple out worldwide
The possibility of an industry-wide stoppage in the summer of 2008 by the US industry's writers', actors' and directors' guilds is already having an impact in North America - an impact that could soon be felt in the international marketplace.As they did in 2000-01, the last time there was a ...
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Features
In Focus - The Latest Strike News
Contract talks between Hollywood writers and their studio employers got off to a testy start last month: Writers Guild of America (WGA) reps dismissed a proposal by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (Amptp) for a study of the residuals paid in new media markets - perhaps the ...