David Katz

Fright Night 2011: Interviews with Cast and Crew

by David Katz 24 August 2011

By David Katz Fright Night (2011) is released in the UK on 2nd September giving fans of the original the opportunity to judge its steel as a remake awakening a whole new generation to this beautifully quirky horror yarn.

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Alternative Cinema: The Scala Forever Film Festival

by David Katz 5 August 2011

By David Katz Saturday night trips to the multiplex and Sunday afternoon outings to the BFI Southbank are wonderful film staples but now and again we all have cravings for something a little more, shall we say, transgressive from our repertory film offerings. Any self-respecting cinephile will admit that if you don’t want to watch [...]

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In Review: Gilda (1946) Re-released on the big screen

by David Katz 26 July 2011

By David Katz Laden with fear, intrigue and eroticism, and featuring a luminous, unforgettable leading turn by Rita Hayworth, Gilda (1946) is one of the best examples of noir in the genre’s post-war heyday.

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The Trailer Over-Analysis Series #2: The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)

by David Katz 22 July 2011

By David Katz The upcoming rebooted Spider-Man film, titled The Amazing Spider-Man in a nod to the comic book series, has a lot to prove to people. There’s evidence that the moviegoing public are starting to become sick of the superhero genre, if disappointing box office takings of Green Lantern (2011) and X-Men: First Class [...]

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The Dark Knight Rises trailer analysis

by David Katz 19 July 2011

By David Katz The release date may be just over a year away, but Warner Bros. are already pushing The Dark Knight Rises (2012) hard. A viral marketing campaign kicked off in May, with fans copying a unique hashtag on twitter to reveal the first image of Bane (Tom Hardy), one of the film’s main [...]

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In Interview: Jesse Eisenberg on Holy Rollers (2011)

by David Katz 9 July 2011

By David Katz Jesse Eisenberg’s first live-action role since The Social Network (2010) is a big departure from his usual fare: in Holy Rollers (2010) he plays Sam Gold, a Hasidic Jew from Brooklyn who gets embroiled in smuggling ecstasy for the local mob.

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In Review: Girl In Motion (2011)

by David Katz 28 June 2011

By David Katz Girl in Motion (2011), a new short film written and directed by budding filmmaker Phil Bowman, immediately impresses with its nuanced, original take on a well-worn subject. It follows an unnamed young lady, the titular ‘girl in motion’ (played by the impeccable Amy De Bhrǔn), as she navigates her way through London [...]

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In Interview: Rose Bosch, writer and director of The Round Up (2010)

by David Katz 24 June 2011

By David Katz Rose Bosch’s The Round Up (2010) is one of the most notable recent success stories in French cinema, a moving and thought-provoking account of the Vel d’Iver round up in 1942. The round up was a mass arrest corroborated by the Nazi-occupied French government of 13,000 Parisian Jews, forcibly removed from their [...]

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In Review: The Halfway House on DVD (1944)

by David Katz 18 June 2011

By David Katz Fans of classic British cinema should definitely seek out the DVD debut of The Halfway House (1944), a charming little film occupying a rare midpoint between ghost story and propaganda.

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In Review: Brighton Rock on DVD and Blu-ray

by David Katz 12 June 2011

By David Katz Rowan Joffe’s new adaptation of Brighton Rock, here relocated from the 30s to the 60s, plays better if you come in unfamiliar with the earlier versions. Although not without its flaws it’s a pacy, engaging film, a well-worn tale retold with flair and panache.

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In Review: X-Men: First Class (2011)

by David Katz 6 June 2011

By David Katz X-Men: First Class beams into cinemas this summer attempting to capitalise on the reboot trend that has revitalised blockbuster filmmaking. It’s a method that’s worked beautifully and naturally for the Batman, James Bond and Star Trek franchises: take an enduring character people know and love, restart the internal continuity with a hot [...]

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