Martin Scorsese: Legend in our time.

This blog is my way of celebrating the birthday this week of movie directing legend Martin Scorsese.

Martin Charles Scorsese was born November 17, 1942  in Queens, New York. His grandparents originated from Palermo in Sicily. He attended New York University's film school and made short films that included What's a Nice Girl Like You Doing in a Place Like This? (1963) and It's Not Just You, Murray! (1964) but by far his most famous short was the dark comedy The Big Shave (1967). In the 70's he became good friends with  Brian De Palma, and it was De Palma that introduced Scorsese to a young actor by he name of Robert De Niro.

Scorsese and De Niro would go on to work together on some of the greatest films of a generation, eight in total. He has always been innovative with his style of direction, and often imitated but never surpassed. It's somewhat of a travesty that even though actors in his films collected awards he didn't win an Academy Award for his work until The Departed in 2006. After over 40 years at the head of his field Scorsese is still going strong and has many projects lined up for the future. I personally can't wait to see what he has in store for us next.

To celebrate the birthday of one of the truly great directors of our time, I would like to share with you my top three choices of what I believe to be his best films.

Taxi Driver (1976)

Robert De Niro as Travis Bickle

The story goes that it was fellow director Brian De Palma who introduced Scorsese to Paul Schrader, the eventual writer of Taxi Driver. Schrader was inspired by the diaries of Arthur Bremer, who had  shot presidential candidate George Wallace four years earlier in 1972. In interviews Scorsese has given his view that the character Travis Bickle, a Vietnam war vet with insomnia, was in fact akin to an avenging angel and compared him to a saint who wants to cleanse or purge both his mind and his body of weakness.

The film was just one of many collaborations with Robert De Niro as the lead, and was the first film role of a certain child actress Jodie Foster. To prepare for the role De Niro obtained a New York City taxi driver's permit and would drive around the city. The film is famous for the phrase "You talkin' to me?" uttered by Bickle. Nominated for 4 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, unfortunately it didn't win any of the nominations but did collect the Palme d'Or at the 1976 Cannes Film Festival.

Raging Bull (1980) Adapted by writer Paul Schrader from American/Italian boxer Jake LaMotta's memoir Raging Bull: My Story. Again it stars Robert De Niro as the lead Jake LaMotta and a relatively unknown actor at the time Joe Pesci.  De Niro read the autobiography upon which the film is based on the set of The Godfather Part II, and he became fascinated by the character of Jake LaMotta. He showed the book to Scorsese, who continually turned down the chance to direct as he wasn't a fan of boxing or indeed any sport that didn't have a ball.

De Niro as boxer LaMotta

Eventually Scorsese agreed to make the film for De Niro's sake, and his own as he was struggling with drugs at the time. When the film, which portrays LaMotta's turbulent life was first released it had mixed reviews, but has since gone on to be considered as one of the greatest movies ever made. Nominated for 8 Academy Awards it only won two: Best Actor, for De Niro, and Best Film Editing.




Goodfellas (1990) This film is my personal favourite of Scorsese's. I love the story and the characters around main character Henry Hill as he grows up as a Wiseguy, surrounded by the Lucchese crime family from the 50's up until the 80's. It is a film adaptation of the 1986 non-fiction book Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi, who co-wrote the screenplay with Scorsese. The film follows the rise and fall of Lucchese crime family associate Henry Hill, played by Ray Liotta , and his friends.

The Goodfellas

Once again Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci star with Pesci giving a chilling performance as nutjob Tommy.  With a budget of $25 million it was Scorsese's most expensive film at the time. It is probably most famous for the long tracking shot through the Copacabana nightclub following Henry and his girlfriend Karen from the back entrance of the club through the busy kitchen right up until they get to their VIP table at the front of the stage. Pure brilliance from Scorsese. Nominated for 6 Academy Awards and only winning for Best Supporting Actor: Joe Pesci, well deserved but should have won many more.

The three films I chose are the films that I consider to be Scorsese's best work, but of course there are many others that came so close to being included and deserve to be mentioned: Mean Streets (1973) The Colour of Money (1986) Casino (1995) Gangs of New York (2002) The Aviator (2004) The Departed (2006) Shutter Island (2010) and producing and directing the pilot of one of my favourite TV shows of recent years Boardwalk Empire.

So I would like to wish a very Happy Birthday to Mr.Martin Scorsese and I hope he enjoys many more and continues to entertain us with his films.

Oscar winner for The Departed.

Thanks for taking the time to read.

Miles Dunton.

Interstellar Review.

Hi and welcome to my review of Interstellar.

Before you read please be aware of spoilers, so if you haven't seen the film, watch it first then return to read
.
Christopher Nolan has delivered, in my opinion, a sci-fi film that will divide opinions of movie goers just as it has with the critics. Ratings vary from an immediate classic of our time to a confusing film that is way to long. I deliberately kept myself away from the movie previews as I wanted to see the film and make up my own mind. Most of the detractors pay attention to the length of the film and the science involved. Yes, at almost 3 hours it seems long, but in actual fact the film didn't seem to be over long at all. In fact I thought the pace was handled very well and at no point did I feel it was dragging on. I felt that the science explanations were done purely for the audiences benefit, as the characters wouldn't need that much explanation. Much of it sank in, but you do have to let a lot of it go over your head and worry about that part of the film after you have left the cinema. It reminded me of another of Nolan's films Inception which I'm still having problems getting my head around.

Let's take a look at the plot. Interstellar is based on the ideas of theoretical physicist Kip Thorne, specifically the notion that while we observe the universe in three dimensions, there could be at least five dimensions, which is paramount in understanding the ending of the film. Basically, in the not so far off future our time on earth is coming to an end due to the Blight. Food is in very short supply and the only crop grown is corn. Matthew McConaughey's character Cooper runs a sweet corn farm, living with his teenage son and 10 year old daughter and his dead wife's father.

At the center of the film is the relationship between Cooper and his daughter Murph, which as the film progresses is a critical component of the outcome of the movie. Cooper just happens to be a former NASA pilot and after discovering an underground NASA secret base headed by a scientist and an old friend of Cooper, Professor Brand, played by Nolan regular Michael Caine, and Brand's daughter, played by yet another Nolan favourite Anne Hathaway, he learns of their plan to travel to a worm hole that has been discovered within our galaxy, which they promise if traveled through will lead mankind to a new planet that will sustain human life. The worm hole has been created by "They" and "They" are helping humans to carry out this journey into the unknown with the help of messages being sent to earth. Cooper has to make the difficult decision to leave his family behind, but knows that in order for humanity to survive he has little choice.

As we follow the space travelers the film also keeps us up to date with the lives of the family Cooper left back on earth as they age and in some cases die. Cooper is kept up to date of his family with video transmissions from his son, Casey Affleck, but not his daughter, grown up and played by Jessica Chastain, as she is angry that her father had abandoned her. As the movie progresses we learn the plight of the explorers and their dilema, and the choices they have to make.

This is not purely a film about space travel it is equally a story of the power of the human spirit to overcome obstacles that are put in our way. It is a drama that literally transcends space and time, and if you are willing to go for the ride then you will be thoroughly entertained. People will obviously compare it to other sci-fi classics, that's inevitable, but on its own Nolan has yet again made a movie of pure genius. Matthew McConaughey as the lead is perfect for this role as he has shown recently he really is an outstanding actor who is simply getting better with every movie he undertakes.

What is extraordinary is that the effects of the solar system created by Nolan using absolutely no green screen, and everything you see, including the space ships were built on a sound stage, and with the use of projectors to show the visuals of space. Even the planets which the explorers visited were real locations on earth including Iceland. The movie is a visual masterpiece of cinematography and will, I believe, be viewed as a classic in the future.

Poet Dylan Thomas is quoted by Michael Caine in the movie: ”Do not go gentle into that good night, old age should burn and rage at close of day. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”




Thanks for reading.

Miles Dunton.

Things that go bump in the night.

Hello everyone and welcome back.

It's that scary time of year again, Halloween. A time for trick or treating and of course for watching your favourite scary movies. I gave this some thought and came up with the movies I would recommend for people to watch over the Halloween weekend. Films that were the forerunners of so many imitations that followed. So enjoy them from behind the sofa or on it, depending on your fright level.

Psycho (1960) Directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

Starring Anthony Perkins as the psycho of the title Norman Bates, who has a mother fixation that includes keeping her corpse in a rocking chair and dressing in her clothes to kill women that are unfortunate to stay at the Bates Motel. Everybody is familiar with the shower scene in which Norman stabs Marion Crane, played by Janet Leigh, a scene that shows the brilliance of Hitchcock's direction as you never see the knife hitting Crane, but with superb editing, camera angles and sound effects the audience believe they are witnessing the full horror of the attack. That one scene took an extraordinary one week to shoot but the end result is one of the most memorable in cinema history. While promoting the film Hitchcok caused controversy by demanding that audiences didn't turn up late for the film as they would miss the introduction of Leigh's character and therefore would feel cheated at the end.



The Exorcist (1973). Directed by William Friedkin.

The first time I experienced this film I was around 15 and I remember the controversy surrounding the casting of Linda Blair as she was only a young teenager at the time playing the role of Regan, a 12 year old girl possessed by a demon. Most of the anger from the media, church and public was aimed at Blair's mother for allowing her daughter to be put through the ordeal of the character. In fact the film wasn't released on video in Britain until 1999 and the first time it was shown on British TV was in 2001. So why all the controversy, well most of it stemmed from the scenes involving Blair's character, in particular with her violating herself with a crucifix and various other violent scenes while Regan was at the peak of her possession. Controversy aside, this was a film that started the trend of demon possession movies that still continue to this day. If this film was released now I'm not sure it would be so controversial, but back then boy was it. It earned a total of 10 Academy award nominations only winning 2, Adapted Screenplay and Best Sound Mixing.

Halloween (1978) Directed by John Carpenter.

The film that not only introduced Jamie Lee Curtis to millions of adoring young male fans but also kick started the slasher movie genre. Itself would spurn as many as seven sequels and a remake. But it was this film that remains the best of all.  Having escape from a mental hospital creepy Michael Myers stalks teenagers in a town called Haddonfield, especially promiscuous girls, in a blue jumpsuit and a white mask that would become so iconic and worn by many a trick or treater. For me the star of the movie has to be British actor Donald Pleasence who played Myers' doctor Samuel Loomis. Pleasence was actually third choice for the part as they originally wanted Peter Cushing or Christopher Lee, but both declined due to not being offered enough money. There is a connection to Psycho as Sam Loomis was the name of Janet Leigh's boyfriend in the film and Leigh is the real-life mother of Jamie Lee Curtis

The Evil Dead (1981) Written and directed by Sam Raimi.

We all know the films where a group of youngsters head off to a wooden cabin in the middle of some woods for the weekend, only to be terrorized and killed off one by one by dark forces. Well The Evil Dead was the original. Raimi and good friend Bruce Campbell found the funding for the film after Raimi had made a short called Within the Woods. The movie became a huge success in the video market and is now such a cult classic that Campbell regularly attends conventions at which people adore his characterization of hero Ash. Having a low budget to spend on the effects and monster make-up tends to make this film more enjoyable visually. It was the beginning of a trilogy that included Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness, which went onto become one of the largest cult film trilogies in history and cemented Campbell into the horror hall of fame.

So there you have it my choices for Halloween viewing with the lights off, closets checked and no one under the bed.

Until next time.

Miles Dunton.

Lest we forget: WW 2 in the movies

Hi to everyone and welcome back.

Brad Pitt in Fury

With the release this week of Fury a World War II  action drama starring Brad Pitt as the leader of an American group of soldiers who take part in the D- Day invasion in control of a Sherman tank, named Fury. I thought I would take a look back at my favourite films that were set in the second world war. There is no mistaking in how my choice of films made sure that I and our generation would never forget what the soldiers and the people who lived and died through the war sacrificed for us.

Battle of Britain. (1969) This is the first of my choices as it was only the second film I remember seeing at the cinema, the first being Tommy Steele’s musical Half a Sixpence. As you can imagine the contrast in the two films was immense on a young boy’s mind. I was blown away by the aerial action and the spirit of the spitfire pilots as they protected Britain from the Luftwaffe.

Directed by Guy Hamilton, best known for directing James Bond films it also included an international cast with the likes of Michael Caine, Harry Andrews, Laurence Olivier, Christopher Plummer, Susannah York and many more British, American and German stars of the sixties. One scene in particular has stayed with me, it’s the one where a German pilot was shot while in his cockpit and his goggles filled with blood I remember being freaked out by that. Together with an unforgettable soundtrack it was certainly boy’s own stuff.



The Bridge over the River Kwai. (1957)  Directed by the legendary David Lean and set in a Japanese prisoner of war camp in Burma during the middle part of the war. It was based on a book by Pierre Boulle, who also wrote the original Planet of the Apes book. The film followed British prisoners who were made to build a railway bridge over the river Kwai to aid the Japanese with the transport of arms and aid for their soldiers.

The film had a strong cast of actors including the greats of that age William Holden, Jack Hawkins, and Alec Guinness. A true epic of cinema the film won a total of seven academy awards including best directer for Lean and best actor for Guinness. The film has a certain poignancy for me as my Uncle was a prisoner of war held by the Japanese.

Schindlers List. (1993) A very personal film from directer Steven Spielberg depicting the horror of the holocaust and the plight of the Jews at the hands of the Nazi's during the war. Memorably filmed in black and white with the only colour being a little girl’s red coat as she wandered around as the Nazi’s rounded up the Jews in her town.

 There were outstanding performances from the leads Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley and Ralph Fiennes in what must have been difficult roles to portray especially for Fiennes who played the despicable camp commander Amon Goeth, who was a truly atrocious human being. The movie went onto win a total of 7 Academy awards with Spielberg collecting best film and best directer. Although nominated Liam Neeson unfortunately did not receive the best actor award. The film is by far the most detailed of all films depicting the terrible fate of the Jews at the hands of the Nazi's and is a lesson to all of the cruelties of man to fellow men during a time of war.





Saving Private Ryan. (1998) Another WW 2 film directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Tom Hanks and  Matt Damon with a host of other stars appearing throughout the film including the likes of Ted Danson, Vin Diesel, Barry Pepper, Paul Giamatti and Tom Sizemore. The film centered around Tom Hanks' character as he and a group of American GI's, who after the landing at Normandy in the 1944 allied invasion, are given a thankless task of searching for a Private named Ryan in order to save him from the fate of his three brothers, who had all been killed in action. The film's opening 20 minutes depicting the Omaha beach landing is probably the most exciting but also harrowing of any Steven Spielberg or for that matter any other war movie scene. It really did bring you a lot closer, sometimes to close to the reality of war.

With an ending that still pulls at the heart strings and makes you realise exactly what the veterans went through. Winner of 5 Academy awards including best directer for Spielberg.

And lastly on a lighter note a film not based in WW 2 but worth a mention all the same

Top Secret. (1984) The debut feature film of a certain Val Kilmer as the all action, dancing and even singing star of this hilarious musical and war film spoof directed by David and Jerry Zuker along with Jim Abrahams, who brought us the equally funny Airplane. The cast includes veteran actors not usually associated with comedy. These included Peter Cushing and Omar Sharif as you have never seen them before. The movie was a parody of Elvis Presley musicals and cold war spy films. There are so many scenes that are side splitting, more than I can mention here so if you haven’t seen it already please check it out. Look out for the Peter Cushing scene which it is actually played backwards.

So there we have it my choice of World War 2 movies and a bonus film. I hope you can watch them again soon.

Until next time enjoy the movies.

Miles Dunton.

It Takes Two To Tango.

Hi to all,

There is a saying that sometimes two heads are better than one. Throughout the history of Hollywood their has been a wealth of actors who made their fame and fortune appearing in movies alongside the same fellow actor, and also behind the camera there are directors who have constantly worked with the same performers. Duos that came together to create something special in the film world that wouldn't have had the same impact if they had worked alone. I can't imagine what it would have been like to have a Laurel but no Hardy or a Scorsese with no De Niro or even a Tom but no Jerry. This week I want to take a look at the partnerships that I believe have had an everlasting effect on the world of cinema.

Laurel & Hardy

Laurel & Hardy: English born Stan Laurel and American Oliver Hardy joined forces to become the first real comedy double act spanning more than two decades, starting in the 1920's until the mid 40's. After having successful solo careers, with Laurel appearing in over 50 silent films and Hardy in over 250, they joined forces for their first film The Lucky Dog made in 1921 and were together right up until 1945 with their last feature The Bullfighters. They did however make an Italian/French produced film in 1950 called Atoll K. During that time they made approximately 105 films which were a mixture of short and feature length films. They started with silent movies until 1929 when sound was introduced. Their comedy depended on the straight man Oliver Hardy playing against the fool character of Stan Laurel, and that recipe for success is probably still copied by comedians until this day. With their trademark bowler hats and Hardy's catchphrase "Another Fine Mess" and the fiddling with his tie along with Laurel's head scratching puts them simply as the best comedy duo in the history of cinema and still enjoyed by audiences to this day.

Bob Hope & Bing Crosby

Hope & Crosby:  Bob Hope and Bing Crosby are two of the biggest names in American films of the 20th century. However, their legacies go far beyond the big screen to include all aspects of entertainment that encompasses successful music and television careers. But luckily they came together to star along with Dorothy Lamour in a series of Road to ... comedy movies. The chemistry between Hope and Crosby was such a joy to watch that the films never get tiresome. They made a total of seven movies from 1940 to the last in 1962. These included Road to Singapore (1940), Road to Zanzibar (1941), Road to Morocco (1942), Road to Utopia (1946), Road to Rio (1947), Road to Bali (1952), and The Road to Hong Kong (1962). In 1977 they had planned to reunite for an 8th outing together but sadly Bing Crosby died of a heart attack that year. In an interesting side note Bob Hope was actually born in London but when he was 5 years old his family emigrated to America, he lived until the age of 100.

Bogie & Bacall

Bogart & Bacall: Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall not only appeared in films together but were a real life Hollywood power couple in the 40's and 50's. Their sexual chemistry was undeniable in the films they starred in together. To Have and Have Not (1944), The Big Sleep (1946), Dark Passage (1947), and Key Largo (1948). With a combination of Bacall's sultry looks and Bogart's all male persona they made a perfect romantic couple on and off screen. Bogart was 25 years older than Bacall but their marriage lasted until his death in 1957. In their day they were the most talked about celebrity couple in Hollywood.

Burton & Taylor in Cleopatra

Burton & Taylor: Another couple that shared screen time and marriage, twice in fact, was Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Burton probably the most famous Welsh actor and Taylor, who was born in England but became a Hollywood child star in the 40's. They first met during the filming of Cleopatra (1963) and during that decade went onto appear together in 6 more films.  The V.I.P.s (1963), The Sandpiper (1965),  and The Taming of the Shrew (1967). By 1967, their films had earned $200 million at the box office. When Taylor and Burton told the studios that they wanted a hiatus for a few months it caused alarm bells to ring in Hollywood as nearly half of the American film industry's income came from movies starring one or both of them. Their next films included Doctor Faustus (1967), The Comedians (1967) and Boom! (1968). Their relationship was highly volatile and often played out in the worlds media but on screen they were a perfect match.

De Niro & Scorsese filming Taxi Driver

Scorsese & De Niro: Over the last 40 years the partnership of Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro is second to none. It started with Mean Streets (1973) and included some of the director's and actor's best screen work. Every film is now considered a classic of modern day cinema: Taxi Driver (1976), New York, New York (1977), Raging Bull (1980), The King of Comedy (1983), Goodfellas (1990), Cape Fear (1991), and Casino (1995). It was Taxi Driver that catapulted De Niro into the public eye with his brilliant portrayal of the troubled Travis Bickle. This duo is a perfect example of two great talents coming together at the right time of their careers to bring out the best in each other. We sincerely hope that it's not too late for them to work together again soon.

George Lucas & Steven Spielberg

Spielberg & Lucas: Alright I know that they are not actors but without the teamwork of  George Lucas and Steven Spielberg we wouldn't have had probably one of the most iconic figures in film history, Indiana Jones. It began with Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) written by Lucas and directed by Spielberg. When it was released the impact was huge. The world had a new hero to cheer on in the form of the fedora wearing, whip carrying hero, played by Harrison Ford. Three more films followed, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade in (1989), and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008). But it was the first movie that will last long in the memory of a young film fan who was sat in the cinema spellbound by this action packed spectacle.

Pegg, Frost & Wright: I know it's not a couple but this threesome of Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Edgar Wright has brought us such fun collaborations including Shaun of the Dead (2004), Hot Fuzz (2007) and The Worlds End (2013). Known as the cornetto trilogy the films show off the qualities of these three Brits who are the hottest talents around. All of them have gone on to have huge individual success but without each other where would they be? And to think It all started with a TV show in Britain called Spaced.

Of course there are many more outstanding partnerships but these are my favourites and the ones that have had an impact on my life through the movies.

Until next time thanks for reading.

Miles Dunton.

Marvel vs DC: The Battle Begins.

Hi to everyone and welcome back.

The two heavyweights of comics, Marvel and DC, have been battling it out for decades to entice readers to their comics and most people have a preference, for example when I was younger it was always Marvel for me, especially Spider-man and Thor, who seemed more engrossing than Superman or Batman. But now there is a bigger battle raging in the movie world and it's only going to get bigger. This is great news for comic book film fans like myself as with every new film the bar is being raised to exciting levels.

Let's take a look at where we are now. Marvel have taken a lead on DC over the last few years with their plan of releasing films in a phase system. Phase 1 kicked off with Iron Man, (2008), which was a huge success financially and gave the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) the start they needed. Marvel followed that up with The Incredible Hulk (2008) which didn't prove as popular with the fans. However, Marvel marched on without blinking to release Iron Man 2 (2010) which once again hit the spot and made Robert Downey Jr. a true idol to all the Marvel fans. Next up was Thor (2011) directed by Kenneth Branagh and introducing an unknown actor Chris Hemsworth to play the god of thunder to great effect. Captain America: The first Avenger (2011) Starred Chris Evans who had already been involved with Marvel by playing Johnny Storm in The Fantastic Four films. Phase 1 culminated in The Avengers (2012) which joined all the heroes together to fight the evil Loki, the main villain in Thor. The Avengers, directed by Joss Whedon, went on to become the third biggest hit in movie history at the box office.  So Marvel's plan worked perfectly and MCU was in the excellent hands of Kevin Feige the President of Marvel Studios and producer of the hit films that have now grossed $8.3 billion worldwide.

Phase 2, which began with Iron Man 3 (2013) then Thor: The Dark World (2013) and Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) has already assured Marvel of continuing success and that was guaranteed by this Summers blockbuster Guardians of the Galaxy, which was a huge gamble for Marvel as it featured characters that were only truly known by the readers of the comics, but it has so far grossed $652.7 million and this is before a DVD and Blu Ray release, so expect that figure to rise.

Phase 2 will end with another ensemble film in 2015 Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Phase 3 is already in preparation with Ant-Man (2015), which was going to be directed by Brit Edgar Wright, but due to differences he decided to drop out. Phase 3 will also include Captain America 3, Doctor Strange and Guardians of the Galaxy 2

So to say that the future of Marvel is bright is definitely and understatement.

Let's take a look at the progress of DC which has not enjoyed the same level as success as their rivals. The problem, I believe, is that DC didn't have the leadership or vision that Marvel had, and through a couple of under performing films Superman Returns (2006) and Green Lantern (2011) didn't look likely to compete at the box office with Marvel. But all that changed big style with the release of Zach Snyder's Man of Steel (2013) This dark and gritty retelling of the Superman origin seemed to strike a cord with the fans earning close to $700 million. Then came the huge news that the sequel would see the two of DC's main characters battling it out in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) with Ben Affleck cast as Batman. This announcement pushed the fans way over the edge with excitement. In the Dawn of Justice there will be more DC favourites including Wonder Woman and Aquaman, who will surely get their own origin films, this is all leading up to their own DC ensemble movie Justice League.

So there we have it the fight to control the Super Hero Universe is well and truly set up to be as good as the films themselves. Who will come out on top? Who will be left licking their wounds? We will have to wait and see, but it's proving to be exciting as each studio releases tit bits to tease the fans and make sure their in a frenzy by the time the movies come out. At the moment Marvel have the lead and they look likely to remain ahead but you never know what will happen. The next few years of movie releases will be crucial to the outcome.

As Stan Lee would say at the end of his comics ''Nuff said''

Miles Dunton.

Winter Movie Preview

Hi to all and welcome back.

This week I thought it would be a good idea to look forward to the movies that are coming to the big screen over the winter months. There are some releases that I am really excited about seeing and some that I 'm not sure that I will venture outside in the cold weather for.

Let's start with the big hitters that should be definitely worth seeing.

Interstellar: Why? Two reasons, the first being this is the first film from director Christopher Nolan since the completion of the Dark Knight trilogy, and secondly the lead actor is the one and only Matthew McConaughey, who is by far the biggest movie star around at the moment, especially after his excellent performance in Dallas Buyers Club. This sci-fi and human adventure has a supporting cast that Christopher Nolan relies on in most of his films including Anne Hathaway and Michael Caine. It seems from the initial trailers that this film will be better than alright, alright, alright!

Exodus: Gods and Kings: Retelling the Biblical story of Moses and his life beginning as an Egyptian general to becoming the salvation of the Jews leading them out of slavery. Directed by Ridley Scott and starring Christian Bale means that this has the look of being as big as Scott's other historical epic Gladiator. I'm expecting a film to be heavy on action and effects, especially the parting of the Red Sea. I sincerely hope that Exodus will be as grand in scope as the classics Ben Hur and The Ten Commandments.

The Hobbit:The Battle of the Five Armies: This will be the final part of The Hobbit trilogy that has kept director Peter Jackson and the cast busy over the last few years. The title has been changed, but that should not take away anything from the spectacle that the genius of Jackson produces film in film out. If you haven't read the books and have no idea who wins the final battle I won't spoil it for you but I will tell you it will be epic, especially in 3-D. The only good news about the end of the trilogy will be that Jackson should now be free to concentrate on future projects Tintin, The Dam Busters and Temeraire.

Gone Girl: Since Seven I, like many others, have been excited by new releases from director David Fincher, and never felt let down. Fight Club, Zodiac, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and Social Network to give just a selection of his immense talent. Now that talent has teamed up Ben Affleck in this new drama that sees Affleck as the prime suspect in the possible murder of his wife. Don't be surprised if this is a front runner for the Oscars.

There are other films coming that I hope will be well received but I'm not holding out much hope for based on the trailers that have been put out there on-line. They are Kingsman: The Secret Service, Birdman, The Man From Uncle and Fury. I hope I'm proved wrong as all these films are being made by and with people I respect in movies.

Expect big things from Disney with the release of their latest computer animated movie Big Hero Six in November. Based on Marvel characters I can see that this has success written all over it, Frozen was their biggest hit so far and I can't see this film being as profitable but expect another Wall-E.

My prediction of box office flops will be Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, Paddington and Dumb and Dumber To. They should be popular with the kids but that won't be enough to generate enough interest elsewhere.


But as usual don't take my word for it.

Until next time enjoy the movies.

Miles Dunton.