There is a lot of time and expense involved in establishing your own home movie theatre, and people who take the step want to know that they will be guaranteed a choice of the latest in best online DVD rental. Those who have studied what’s going on in cheap DVD online rental in the UK have reached a spontaneous conclusion that LOVEFiLM are the undisputed leaders in their field and the company to choose if you want enjoy the best of all worlds in online DVD rental.

It wasn’t too long ago that the only choice for DVD rental was the local video store or even worse some kind of self –service booth stuck at the entrance to the local shopping centre or in the forecourt of a filing station. The truth is that unless you camped out overnight the day before you wanted to rent the latest release, your chances of actually being able to rent the film were very slim. And if you did succeed, the fees for late return were so high; it might even have been worthwhile to travel to mingle with the stares as the film made its UK premier in Leicester Square.

Thankfully all that is history, thanks to LOVEFiLM. First of all, LOVEFiLM has every single DVD that has ever been released in the UK on their list and once you rent them you can hold onto them for as long as you want. The LOVEFiLM policy is to allow their clients to hold on to a minimum of three films or indeed any DVD for as long as they want. When you get tired of the film, simply return it.

So what makes LOVEFiLM refreshingly different? We allow you the flexibility of ordering your DVD’s online. Your order is processed immediately and dispatched instantaneously by express post. All you need to do is to hang on the envelope that the films came in, and return them by the same method. If you order new DVD’s they will be sent to you in the same envelope. It’s as simple as that.

Want to give us a try yet are afraid to make a commitment? No worries! We are so confident that you will love what we have on offer, that we will give you a free two week trial and back it up by providing a contract that starts at less than four pounds a month that you can walk away from anytime you want.

So really you have nothing to lose and everything to gain by choosing LOVEFiLM to be your number one source for DVD rental.

Tags: DVD, Lovefilm, Movies, rent dvd

When it comes to the question, what makes a good horror film, there is a fine dividing line between genuine terror and comedy.

A good horror movie makes you glad you were wearing your brown corduroys. A bad one makes your sides split.

This writer has a family member who having watched a horror movie in which the baddie hides in the back of a woman’s car – only to decapitate her later whilst she’s driving along – now always checks the back seat when driving alone. And that’s still happening, six years after the movie in question.

I can also remember the first Alien film. I must have left ten fingernails in the cinema seat as I staggered out into the night air, looking widely around for any hideous creature that might have landed in the nearby Huddersfield NCP car park. They were tough times.

But is there a formula for a good horror movie? Many people think there is, although people tell me that Blair Witch was a breakthrough in scary cinematography; I just thought it was a bloke doing it on the cheap who couldn’t hold the camera still.

But back to the formula.

Apparently, the stars of a horror film should look everyday and mundane. Having Barbie and Ken mincing about just doesn’t do it, although you need a Barbie for the teenage boys to gawp at and she should die showing as much thigh and cleavage as possible.

As with many movie formats, the baddie has to be believable. I once watched an obscure German horror movie in which a short, uptight guy would spot couples in their cars at inner-City road junctions. The car would stop, the couple would swap passionate looks and fondle each other’s knees, and not noticing the dribbling pervert who had rode up on his chopper (it was in the 1970s).

The couple would then drive off and the scene would change to the countryside, as the couple shed their clothes and got down to it. Of course, behind the nearest tree was the pervert, axe in hand (or was it something else). And whilst he sprang out and hacked the unsuspecting couple to death, I couldn’t help but be distracted by the thought as to how did he manage to get from the traffic lights, following a quite speedy hatchback and make it some ten miles out to the countryside, on his chopper, and then have enough time to axe the couple, perform some highly unpleasant personal act and then get back in time for tea with mum. Fair ruined the film for me.

So, your baddie has to be realistically bad, and not someone that cause’s the audience to scream with laughter every time he appears.

Also, horror fans say that events based on a true story are often better than those made up. This didn’t seem to set back the Alien franchise of films, but then that might be about to happen.

The setting is key, with deserted houses, woods and lonely islands the favourite. Which helps the audience cope with the fear of course; most of us don’t choose the garden of a haunted house as a good place for the family picnic.

Music is also vitally important, as without some guy strumming on a violin, you might just miss the point when the dagger penetrates Barbie’s flesh – and that just wouldn’t do.

So, for all those aspiring horror movies makers, get yourself some pig ugly actors, spend the cash on a Barbie doll with minimal clothing, take them all to a dark wood, based on what your mate told you down the pub about his fright the other weekend, grab the local busker and get some handsome bloke with a personality complex (and interesting things to say) to start the butchery. Sounds a breeze actually.

Tags: DVD, Horror Films, Horror Stars, Lovefilms, Movies

When considering, what is a cult film, it reminds this writer of a great line in one of the episodes of send-up of chat shows Alan Partridge’s ‘Knowing Me, Knowing You’. A TV producer is talking to the great maestro about producing a late night TV programme. She describes it by saying it’s a cult series, to which he replies with “ah…right, low viewing figures.”

And there you have it. One of the two main definitions of cult is a movie that has a fanatically devoted, yet relatively small number of fans. And the other definition is a movie that for some reasons hits a cord in the cultural imagination and remains as such for many years.

Cult films are usually famous only within their small fanbases; they do not transcend out into the mainstream market. This does not mean they might not eventually breakthrough out into a wider audience, but initially, they appeal to the fans that are receptive to the themes and ideas they portray.

Many cult films have the dubious distinction of being so bad, that they are good, and eventually build a loyal and happy fanbase on that basis.

And a cult film can lead to a whole subculture of activity, which is marked by people re-enacting, or basing their whole life on themes developed by the movie.

Cult films usually do not follow traditional movie making ideals; they do not rigidly follow the money making template demanded by the big studios and producers. And their subject matter is often controversial, allowing them to explore concepts and ideas that would disappoint mainstream audiences.

This doe not mean to say that certain cult movies have not been extremely successful, as they reach out to a wide audience and say pinpoint the ideals, or problems of a certain generation.

And for many producers, a film that bombs at the box office, might eventually do very well in the DVD sales market, recouping its losses. Furthermore, movies that are deemed not commercially viable for cinema release and have the indignity of going ‘straight to DVD’, might turn out to be huge hits.

Take the 1999 movie ‘Office Space’ which bombed at the cinema, but more than made its money when it was considered a great film to have out on video. And when ‘Harold and Maude’ was released in 1971, it was poorly received, yet following its release on video and later DVD, it has gathered a huge fanbase, gaining it the status of a very successful cult movie.

And another distinction with cult movies is they are made from independent producers who have sought finance from alternative sources.

Some of the biggest examples of this happening involved movies that were never expected to be runaway commercial successes, but despite this belief, made money. Such movies as ‘Basket case’ (1982), ‘The Evil Dead’ (1981), ‘Eraserhead’ (1977) and ‘Pink Flamingos’ (1972), surprised most by becoming commercial earners over many years.

And many film achieve cult status by appealing to a particular social grouping that was never envisioned at the outset. Take Paul Verhoven’s 1995 big budget film about a Las Vegas stripper, Showgirls. Presented as a serious drama, it was panned by critics and was initially a commercial flop. Yet it’s become a cult movie for homosexual audiences who regard it as comedy, with a laughable screenplay and beyond belief physical encounters. Fans were even throwing Showgirls irony parties, whereby people would gather and tear the film apart and enjoy doing so. The studio behind the film, MGM, was not slow to recognise its sudden cult status and have capitalised on it ever since.

So, cult status need not equate to financial disaster. What it can mean, is long term financial success: more of a slow-burn, than a sudden flame.

Tags: Basket case, Cult Film, DVD, Eraserhead, Films, Lovefilms, Movies, Pink Flamingos, Showgirls, The Evil Dead

Quite a few cinema goers are now asking themselves, how does 3D work, and as more directors and movie studios promise more 3D movies, then it’s a good time to have a look at the basic principles.

When you talk about 3D in a film, what is comes down to is a visual system which creates a third dimension on screen, which actually equates to a feeling of depth. We see things in real life as three dimensional, yet when we watch the TV, or the big screen, we have to adjust ourselves to two-dimensional images.

The ability to see programmes and movies in the same way we see real-life images, has become the holy grail for many in the entertainment business.

And this sensation of depth is usually created by the simultaneous filming of two images by two cameras that are set-up side by side. These two identical images are then played back and with the aid of a viewing device, the viewer sees one image which has been married together, creating the illusion of 3D. Without the viewing device, the image appears slightly blurred on the screen.

Of course, when it comes to computer CGI techniques, these can effectively create 3D images without the use of a viewing device, although it is arguably not as rich an experience.

There are a number of key techniques when it comes to creating 3D images.

Anaglyph is the most common and uses the well-known viewing glasses which have two filters: one red and the other cyan. These play about with the colours that the viewer can pick up and creates a 3D image. This technique is being refined all the time.

The Eclipse method uses mechanical shutters to affect the light that a viewer is aware of, but still the effect is the same, it creates a 3D image.

The method which uses Polarization Filters makes use of the concept of linear polarization to create a stereoscopic motion picture, with two images projected onto the same screen. Light headsets are then worn to sort out the image and create a 3D effect.

With Lenticular, or barrier screens, no glasses are necessary to see the 3D image as the image is beamed onto a special screen.

But whatever method is used, 3D is always the end result and those methods which eventually do away with the need for glasses, but are still commercially viable, will win the day.

Tags: 3D, CGI techniques, Films, Lovefilms, Movies, Pixar

For those interested in such things, the films with the highest body count are worth having a quick look at.

Firstly though, lets have a brief look at the phrase body count. It usually means that the total number of people that fall – killed – in combat are added together and provide a confirmed kills number. At best, this is only usually an estimate.

Some call this the butchers bill and in movies, body counts will vary from one silly plot to the next. Obviously, in putting a list together of films with the highest body count, you might want to exclude ones that involve the end of the world – such as ‘I am Legend’ and ‘Knowing’ – as these will win every time.

But lets have a quick look at those that can boast high body counts, without entailing the destruction of mankind in one cataclysmic blow.

In a chart of five, first up would have to Lord of the Rings, Return of the King. This trilogy can claim to have a bloodbath in each of its episodes and the estimated body count in this part is calculated at 836. Of course, it’s all about good triumphing over evil, and so what if nearly one thousand souls perish in the process. Some might feel sorry for the Orcs, as they inadvertently steal the show on a number of occasions, but as long as the Hobbits make their wearisome way to the jewellers shop to hand back that ring, all’s right in the end. Whether Tolkein quite envisaged such a massacre, will be forever argued by purists and film buffs, but it makes for good cinema.

Second place is Kingdom of Heaven. This focuses on the away matches conducted by the Europeans in the Middle East during the time of the crusades. It was not a pleasant time for both sides and the body count is a not too unconservative 610. You might have expected more, given the obvious animosity of the two sides and some very poor referring decisions.

Third place goes to the movie that tries too hard to create a machismo atmosphere. The 300 might have been tough and brave, and told not to cry at a young age when the chocolate sauce had run out, but their gurning and posturing as grown-up Spartans would more than likely cause an opposing army an attack of the giggles, rather than the shakes. Body count is 600, although mostly down to boredom.

Fourth in the chart is Troy and again, as with 300 and Kingdom of Heaven, these re-interpreted classic tales are reduced to slightly effete tales of daring-do. Take Brad Pitt and his sword wielding circus act. Historians point out that a man of his stature – no matter how crafted and poised – would be unlikely to be even able to lift a sword forged in those ancient times, nevermind swing it around like he was auditioning for Britain’s Got Talent.
But this doesn’t seem to have affected the body count and it has a decent enough kill ratio of some 572 souls.

Last, and not least, at number five, is sushi swashbuckler The Last Samurai. Even though it doesn’t promise much with Scientologist Tom Cruise swapping Maverick for Nathan Algren (say that after a few Saki’s), it actually delivers on a number of fronts. Algren falls in love with many things Japanese, including the wife of the bloke he killed. But what saves this movie from a sharp intake of breath, is fine performances from top Japanese actors who obviously revelled in showing off their culture and being paid American dollars to do so. Body count 558 and not all down to those shimmering swords. Unsportsmanlike behaviour with a few canons and Gatling guns upped the kills.

Tags: Body Count, Kingdom of Heaven, Lord of the Rings, Return of the King, The Last Samurai, Tolkein, Troy

For many movie fans, thinking about the best film kiss is a major preoccupation.

The movie kiss is usually a big moment: it might signal the end of the story, when the hero has got the heroine and everything gets sorted out; or, a pivotal moment in the story, as the tension notches up and the plot begins to develop.

And over the decades of film making the kiss has changed, from, strong Hollywood leading men towering over their female co-stars, seemingly working the same moves as a deep sea diver struggling for air, as they peer down at their defenseless conquests and give them want they want. And the females who wait the whole movie waiting for that one kiss, to signify their willingness to play the subservient woman. The irony is of course, that many of the leading men were shorter and less statuesque than the leading ladies and one punch from their co-stars might have floored them.

Take perennial cowboy actor Alan Ladd, who it’s said had difficulty towering over his leading ladies, as his five foot six frame made it difficult to tower over anything. Stage hands were kept busy providing boxes on which he could stand and even dug trenches for scenes that required a walking shot next to someone. No doubt the cameramen were kept busy avoiding too many long shots.

But back to the best film kiss. Lets have a look at how some of them shape up. First, the classics.

In the 1939 Gone With The Wind, Vivien Leigh appears to be impersonating a small monkey as she hangs off the neck of Clark Gable in what was a classic screen smacker. Rhett was taking Scarlett upstairs, but not to show her his coin collection, and she didn’t have any choice in the matter.

Screen hard man Humphrey Bogart knew how to treat the ladies and in the 1944 To Have and Have Not, he fine tuned the skill of mouth-to-mouth resuscitation with Lauren Bacall.

Hollywood gent Cary Grant was a smooth screen snogger and with Ingrid Bergman around, he had plenty of practice. Their joining in the 1946 Notorious was actually notorious for one thing; the censors declared that Grant and Bergman had to come up for air every three seconds. It’s a tough life.

Marlon Brando, the man who had so much rawness and vitality it was almost painful to watch, was an accomplished screen kisser. Kim Hunter was one of the actresses on the receiving end, succumbing in the 1951 cult movie A Streetcar Named Desire.

John Wayne seemed more suited to strangling cattle and killing off the U.S. population of Native Indians, but his lips weren’t bad either. In the 1952 The Quiet Man, at least he had a female co-star, Maureen O’Hara, that might be able to handle that walk and embrace.

And who can forget the passionate kiss when Deborah Kerr was under the impression that Burt Lancaster was drowning and needed some air into his lungs? Lots of flesh, sun and a beach – how did they get that past the censors in the 1953 From here to Eternity.

In the 1954 benchmark movie Rear Window, James Stewart got to planting a smacker on a sleeping Grace Kelly. The future princess might have been sleeping, but she still looked a million dollars. No-one was sure that Stewart deserved it of course.

Anyone kissing Marilyn Monroe went down in history as a lucky boy and Tony Curtis got his chance in the 1959 Some Like It Hot.

So they were the classics, what do the more modern examples offer us in the way of screen snogs?

Harrison Ford and Kelly McGillis give the lips a good work out in the 1984 cop meets uptight religious female movie Witness. Of course, all she wanted was a bit of affection and Ford steps up to oblige.

Harvey Keitel and Holly Hunter get down to some serious smooching in the 1993 The Piano. Unlike the classic snog scenes, this is more a paint by numbers.

Superhero Spiderman shocks comic book geeks with the desire to be kissed in the 1993 Spider-Man. Tobey Maguire hangs upside as Kirsten Dunst plants one on him in the rain. Should be saving the city, rather than getting hot under the spider suit with a steamy Dunst.

Kate Winslet handles Leonardo DiCaprio a little better than an acceptance speech in James Cameron’s 1997 Titanic. It’s sultry, but Winslet still manages to look like she’s working hard on a Sudoku puzzle.

Ryan Gosling and Rachael McAdams got up close and personal in the 2004 Notebook, although it was said they couldn’t stand the sight of each other on set. Months later they were romantically linked, then separated, the back again. Maybe they couldn’t get the kissing right.

Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger explore a new angle on the Hollywood kiss in the adventurous 2005 Brokeback Mountain. Not only get two blokes to do it, but get two cowboys to do it.

No, the newbies aren’t a patch on the classics, but maybe the screen snog has been confined to history, forever.

Tags: A Streetcar Named Desire, Best Film Kiss, Brokeback Mountain, Films, Gone With The Wind, Movies, Notorious, Rear Window, Screen Kiss, Some Like It Hot, Spiderman, The Quiet Man, To Have and Have Not, Witness

One of the joys of a new year is being able to look back and give an opinion as to what was hot during the previous year, and what was not.

Of course, it’s all pretty subjective and what for one person might be an epic, for another it might be a good case of yawns-ville.

For many people the best film has to be WALL-E; well, at least for the kids out there and their long suffering parents. Coming from the Pixar camp you expect nothing less than superb animation, great characters and a brilliant plot. And it delivers, in bucket loads.

Next for consideration is The Dark Night which might, just might, have for once done justice to this comic book franchise. So many Batman films have overdosed on special effects, but forgotten the inner traumas of the main characters, apart from Jack Nicholson of course. And that’s ironic, given that Heath Ledger stole a large part of the film with his portrayal of The Joker. Will he get a posthumous Oscar?

And how about The Spiderwick Chronicles? A hit with many people out there, this was one of the top fantasy family films of the year.

Not a fantasy film and arguably not one for the whole family was the surprising hit In Bruges. The three main guys – Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson and Ralph Fiennes – pulled off a treat, without being too clever about themselves. This was selfless good fun and had a rare quality about it. Set to be a classic.

Others up for worthy of note are Wanted (some would say notable for a sultry Angelina Jolie); Iron Man (another comic book super hero with a propensity for ego stroking, this was good fun after all said and done); Forgetting Sarah Marshall (somewhat of an unsurprising comedy, but it’s not meant to be Shakespeare); Definitely, Maybe (one of the best romantic comedies of the year); and, Smart People (which operates on so many levels, it’s a joy to behold).

And now some of the ones that not only didn’t take of for the majority of us, but didn’t even get to the departure lounge.

Leading us out is The Love Guru. Oh dear, is Mike Myers starting to lose it? Best for summer holidays – take the disc out onto the beach and use it as a Frisbee.

Close behind is Speed Racer which, on nearly all levels, just did not work. They say that CDs make great bird scarers: give this one to your Dad to keep the birds off his allotment.

And even closer behind is Meet The Spartans. Oh dreary me. You mean people get paid to produce this kind of rubbish? Not even worth taking down to the allotment.
For many people the film The Eye was useful for one thing, it proved that Jessica Alba just can’t act. Oh really?

And in quicker succession come Witless Protection (the title and a scantily clad bird on the front cover gives this one away); Drillbit Taylor (sorry, what did you say?); Prom Night (why does it always happen at the Prom?); Over Her Dead Body (and over yours if you pay money to see this); Fools Gold (exactly); and You Don’t Mess with the Zohan (and yes, you don’t mess with the audience either, if you can help it).

Okay, so that’s it. Some hits and some flops. The hits are notable for their genius of course, whereas the flops are notable for the nerve of the people behind them. On well, where would we be without someone to poke the stick at?

Tags: Angelina Jolie, DVD, In Bruges, Jack Nicholson, Lovefilms, Pixar, The Dark Night, The Spiderwick Chronicles, WALL-E

So film buffs, what has 2009 got to offer us? We’ll need something good to distract our minds from more financial meltdown, everyone being made redundant and general breakdown of society as we know it.

So let’s have a quick look at some of the biggies that promise to shock and awe throughout the year.

And what better place to start than Star Trek? This time it’s director J J Abrams to take control of the iconic space brand and boldly go where everyone has been before; a couple of times each. Pencilled in for May, this should be an enjoyable romp for all those Trekkies out there, and non-Trekkies as well. This time is a look-back at the early careers of the heroes we came to love out of the first TV series. Should be a good excuse for space daring-do in the old mould. Might be most memorable for English audiences who are looking forward to see uber-Trekkie Simon Pegg taking on the role of Scotty, before he and his mate Nick Frost rediscover Tintin.

Next up is Avatar, which has been ten years in the making so they say and is meant to be the epic of all epics. It’s backed by the once epic James Cameron, who for some has lost his way since early massive successes. Maybe this one, which will be in 3D and on a kiss-ass size, will cement Cameron’s claim to Hollywood immortality. We’ll have to wait and see; actually, we’ll have to wait and see until Christmas 2009, and given the nature of epics, this might also be put back. By the way, it’s all about people (earthlings and Na’vi’s try to get it together on a different planet, Pandora) and as no-one can seem to survive in harmony on this planet, you might guess what will happen.

The next one has its feet firmly attached to plant earth and is called Public Enemies which is due out in the summer. Directed by the still-going-strong Michel Man, this is a good old fashioned stick-um-up movie, with lots of good guys with lots of neat looking suits from the 1930s. It’s all about one Melvin Purvis, played by Christian Bale, a favourite of FBI chief J Edgar Hoover and who played hardball with the likes of the fashionable mobsters such as Baby Face Nelson (although don’t call him that to his face), Pretty Boy Floyd and Alvin Creepy Karpis. Great names, great actors (including Johnny Depp) and sets; does it get any better than that?

And, oh yes, lets not forget the Harry Potter franchise. The latest fling for the boy-wizard comes out in the summer and as everyone knows it’s late, having been due on the screens at the start of the year. Called Harry Potter and the Half Prince, little needs to be said about this one apart from the fact that it is eagerly awaited, will be a massive success and sporn another load of Harry Potter merchandise. Oh dear.

So there we have it, a few films to whet your appetite for the coming year. Enjoy.

Tags: Avatar, Big Screen, Christian Bale, DVD, Film Buffs, Harry Potter, J J Abrams, James Cameron, Lovefilms, Michel Man, Star Trek