This week on The Establishing Shot: Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance in 3D, The launch of Star Trek: The Next Generation – The Next Level Blu-ray, The Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance Press Conference, Man On A Ledge, Chronicle,  Mr Gary Oldman statement on his Best Actor Oscar Nomination,  Is Ferris Bueller Back?,  Harry Potter Tour Exhibition opens in London March 2012,  UK Top 10 Films,  This weeks Film Releases; Agneepath, The Descendants, Like Crazy, The Grey, Patience (After Sebald), Things I Don't Understand, Top 10 Grossing Films Of 2011, John Hurt To Receive BAFTA Award For Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema, The Harry Potter Knight Bus visits The Making of Harry Potter Warner Bros. Studio Tour, Hunky Dory In Cinemas 2nd March 2012, This Means War UK Premiere Monday 30th January 2012 Alert,  New Life Cover Advert Starring Julie Walters, Bel Ami to premiere at 62nd annual Berlin Film Festival, Academy Award nominations for Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris, The Descendants gets Five Academy Award nominations, Vertigo Brings Top Cat: The Movie To The Big Screen, Kung Hei Fat Choy Happy Chinese New Year! BRUCE LEE released on DVD! Courtesy of Cine-Asia presents HKL, Dante Lam’s The Sniper comes to DVD this March, Congratulations to the 21 Sony Academy Award Nominees, Future Cinema presents Brief Encounter the Launch of The Other Cinema, The London Film School celebrates recent graduate successes, Sundance London Short Film Competition, Watershed's super-short filmmaking competition as part of Encounters International Film Festival, Madeline Smith (Live and Let Die) will be opening The Cinema Museum's Grand Fundraising Event, BAFTA TV Preview: Homeland & QA, Patience (After Sebald) and QA with Director Grant Gee, Star Wars Episode I - The Phantom Menace 3D (Digital*) Opens 9 February at the IMAX,  Perfect Sense,  The Six Million Dollar Man : The Complete Collection Trailer,  Camille’s Senza

This week on The Establishing Shot:
This week we saw Nicolas Cage’s Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance in 3D like the Spirit of Vengeance Marvel comic story arc it is more of a reboot than a sequel. Unfortunately I can’t discuss my thoughts of which there are many - till nearer its release. But expect a full review soon. And like one Twitter reader don’t read anything into this other than - there is an embargo on opinions till nearer the release.

The stars of This Means War will be gathering in Kensington, London tonight for the UK Premiere of Twentieth Century Fox's upcoming action-comedy  This Means War, starring the tantalising trio of Tom Hardy, Chris Pine and Reese Witherspoon and directed by McG, all of whom are set to attend.

Eager fans will be able to bag themselves a spot in a special VIP crowd area along the red carpet on presentation of the special flyer below, with the promise that a lucky few may even make it inside to see the film.

Click the flyer below to enlarge and then print.

Warner Bros. are delighted to announce that Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter will open its doors for the very first time to visitors from 31st March 2012.

Tickets to the UK’s newest attraction are now on sale. Visitors must pre-book their tickets in advance by selecting specific tour times throughout the day via www.wbstudiotour.co.uk or through approved tour operators. Tickets will not be on sale at the attraction and spaces are limited.

Warner Bros. is also pleased to announce the inclusion of some of the film series’ most iconic sets within the attraction including the Great Hall, Dumbledore’s office, the Ministry of Magic, Harry Potter’s famous cupboard under the stairs, 4 Privet Drive, Gryffindor common room, the boys’ dormitory, the Potion’s classroom, Professor Umbridge’s office, the Weasley kitchen, the Hogwarts bridge and many others still to be announced.

The unique walking tour attraction will offer visitors the very first opportunity to journey behind-the-scenes and experience the magic that has gone into creating the most successful film series of all time. Visitors will be able to see firsthand the sheer scale and detail of the actual sets, costumes, animatronics, special effects and props used in all eight of the Harry Potter films.

Well kind of. The teaser bellow has popped up promising a full reveal in May. Rumour has it that Honda has roped Todd Phillips the Director of The Hangover into making a short film for them featuring Matthew Broderick loosely reprising his Ferris Bueller character showcasing their cars.

Not an entirely original idea as HomeAway did a similar thing with 80s National Lampoon Vacation’s favourite family The Griswolds in 2010. Their teaser and short film can be viewed here: http://www.theestablishingshot.com/2010/02/griswolds-are-back.html

This time it looks like John Hughes’s Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick) will be switching the Cameron’s dad’s 1961 250 GT Spider California Ferrari for a Honda CR-V as his mode of transport for a day off in Chicago. But we’ll have to wait for Super Bowl Sunday 2 May, 2012 to see the full short and find out for sure. I’m hoping that he brings Cameron and Abe Froman with him.

This weeks our news is late. News on The Establishing Shot: James Bond Thunderball Villain Emilio Largo’s Palmyra Estate Film Location, David Fincher talks The Amazing Spider-man Spider-Man, War Horse Review It's an outrage! And Jeremy Irvine Talks about War Horse & working with Steven Spielberg,  Ridley Scott is on a global search for The World's Best Storytellers, Your Film Festival a global competition, UK Top 10 Films, This weeks Film Releases; Haywire, The Sitter,  Underworld Awakening in 3D, J. Edgar, W.E.,  X-Night Of Vengeance, Troll Hunter, Legendary Horror Studio Announces Global Restoration Project With Multiple Partners Company committed to preserving its legacy for future generations, John Le Carré comments on the awards race and TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY French premiere, Drive nominated for 4 Orange British Academy Film Awards 2012, Peccadillo Cinema release their 2012 slate for Q1+Q2, Young Adult’ Pomeranian Nominated For ‘Best Dog In Theatrical Film, Sundance London Short Film Competition, Watershed's super-short filmmaking competition as part of Encounters International Film Festival, Henry Rollins Live, Sky Meanies Season on Sky Movies Drama & Romance/HD,  Acts of Godfrey, Black Gold Trailer,  Doomtree - Bangarang

2 Weeks ago on The Establishing Shot:
This week 2012 kicked off in earnest and we realised that our time management was going to fly out the window than last year’s schedule.

We continued to plow through the films we missed in 2011 to round off our best films off 2011 list including; The Descendants a sweet but sadly over rated, mediocre film. The Sitter a painfully hilarious update to Adventures in Babysitting. Jonah Hill's escapades hurting my funny bone. I also watched Kanye West’s Runaway and Steven King’s Bag Of Bones.

Highlight of the week was popping along to see exclusive  preview footage from Disney’s John Carter and QA the team. Which I have to say looked outstanding. Hopefully the momentum of the footage we saw will be maintained as I’m really looking forward to seeing John Carter.

The Establishing Shot: James Bond Thunderball Villain Emilio Largo’s Palmyra Estate Film Location
James Bond's 50th Anniversary is turning out to be as big as 2008 was commemorating Ian Fleming's Centenary year. 2012 sees the production and release of Bond 23 Skyfall, the release of the Bond 50 Blu-ray box set that includes all 22 films as well as the launch of  the BOND IN MOTION exhibition at Beaulieu National Motor Museum celebrating 50 years and 50 vehicles of James Bond.

Read more here: http://www.theestablishingshot.com/2012/01/establishing-shot-james-bond.html

The Establishing Shot: Why David Fincher wanted to do Spider-Man
We are still 7 months away from Marvel's The Amazing Spider-Man reboot hitting screens on 4 July, 2012 and a month away from Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance being unleashed onto screens on 17 February, 2012

But as it is a New Year and I have been assessing The Establishing Shot's current position and what I would like to achieve with it this year. After some careful consideration I have realised, what The Establishing Shot is really missing, is a piece about Auteur David Fincher's thoughts on doing a superhero film and more specifically Spider-Man. So I dug out this clip of David Fincher explaining why he wasn’t interested in doing superhero films apart from Spider-Man.

Read more here: http://www.theestablishingshot.com/2012/01/establishing-shot-why-david-fincher.html

The Establishing Shot: War Horse Review It's an outrage! And Jeremy Irvine Talks about War Horse & working with Steven Spielberg
In an effort to catch up with films that may end up on my top 10 films of the year I managed to see Steven Spielberg's War Horse last week and was suitably impressed. It is an outrage that anyone would slur this utterly beautiful piece of film making.

I could go on  about being biggest fan of Steven Spielberg's recent output for some inexplicable reason and hankering for his more adult films and intelligent exploration of less mainstream themes - but Steven Spielberg is a living legend and master film-maker with an incredible body of work that one has to appreciate regardless. But you know that already.

Read more here: http://www.theestablishingshot.com/2012/01/establishing-shot-war-horse-review-its.html

The Establishing Shot: Ridley Scott is on a global search for The World's Best Storytellers, Your Film Festival a global competition
15 minutes to tell a story. Millions of people to watch it. £325,000 or $500,000 to make a new one for the world to see. YouTube has teamed up with Sir Ridley Scott, Scott Free London, the Venice Film Festival and Emirates to create Your Film Festival, a global competition that will provide one deserving entrant with £325,000 or half a million US dollars to work on their next great story.

Read more here: http://www.theestablishingshot.com/2012/01/establishing-shot-ridley-scott-is-on.html

Few people are more pleased than me to hear, that after a three decades on screen Mr. Gary Oldman has been nominated for his first Oscar. I can't help but recall the brilliant final scene of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy while writing this. And who knows I may even watch the Oscars as they seem to be getting some of it right this year. Here is an excerpt from my review of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy from 8 September 2011.

“But the real surprise of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is Mr Gary Oldman. I think it is generally accepted that he is a living Legend that came up the hard way - on pure talent. And it may be because I have seen him as the reliable sidekick or over the top villain for so long that I have forgotten what a dynamo Gary Oldman is.

Gary Oldman’s George Smiley is a master class in acting. Not only does Oldman chameleon himself into a forgettable every man, as required of a spy as he methodically and cunningly goes about uncovering who the mole might be, but he delivers an understated, subtle yet menacing performance. 

There is a particularly brilliant scene where George Smiley anecdotally recounts a story from his scalp hunting days, when he tried to turn a possible defector. The entire scene is spine tingling not only because of the story but Gary Oldman's delivery is absolutely electric. This must surely be his greatest performance to date and the one that, dare I say it wins him his first Oscar? Yea, that’s right Mr Gary Oldman one of the entertainment worlds brightest lights has not as yet won an Oscar.”

But stacked up against populist favourites George Clooney (The Descendants) and Brad Pitt (Moneyball) - I like Clooney & Pitt as much as the next guy but neither of those performances deserve a nomination, the runaway success of Jean Dujardin (The Artist) and genuinley touching performance from Damian Bichir (A Better Life). It looks like Gary Oldman's battle is still not over.

This is what Mr Oldman had to say:

“This afternoon in Berlin I have learned that I was nominated for an Academy Award in the category of Best Actor. You may have heard this before, but it has never been truer than it is for me today, it is extremely humbling, gratifying, and delightful to have your work recognized by the Academy, and to join the celebrated ranks of previous nominees and colleagues. Amazing.” - Gary Oldman, Berlin

The spy thriller features a stellar cast including Gary Oldman, Kathy Burke, Benedict Cumberbatch, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, Ciarán Hinds, John Hurt, Toby Jones, Konstantin Khabensky, Svetlana Khodchenkova, Roger Lloyd Pack, and Mark Strong. Directed by Tomas Alfredson ("Let The Right One In") it is a Working Title production for STUDIOCANAL.

This is the second post of a John Carter special from an Exclusive Disney John Carter Preview Event. The first, An introduction to the World of John Carter and our thoughts on Disney’s upcoming adaptation can be found here!

After Producer Kevin Kurtz’s presentation introducing us to the world of John Carter we got to see 5 2D clips from John Carter. Unfortunately Director Andrew Stanton was still in post production at Skywalker Ranch so each clip was introduced by him via recorded video. Apologies in advance if the below reads like I’m gushing but I was surprised at just how good John Carter looked, my thoughts on why further below.

John Carter Clip 1 – Enter John Carter
The cameras POV is from the inside of a dark saloon focused on the saloon’s doors. Through it a shadowy figure walks through wearing a dark wide brimmed hat drooping at the ends. The sun streaming in from behind him.

Initially I assume this a villain of sorts - but it turn out to be a badass John Carter (Taylor Kitsch) and we are on earth. Now he’s at the bar and a couple of armed Yankee soldiers burst in led by Bryan Cranston’s Powell (a reference to John Carter’s prospecting partner in Burroughs’s original tale). Cornered and outnumbered Carter is given a stand down ultimatum. But instead rushes at them. We almost seamlessly cut see him being thrown into a chair handcuffed. Whilst Powell is talking Carter rushes for a window and jumps out of it. Again we almost seamlessly cut to Carter looking rough lying in a stockade cell.

Powell trying to reason with Carter and lets us know via discussion that John Carter is a decorated Confederate soldier and the right man to help out as they are having a problem with Indians killing the homesteaders.

John Carter’s not interested and wants no part of it. Powell assumes he’s gone native. Carter tells him the Indians can go to hell too and that as soon as Carter has struck it rich with gold he is going to disappear forever.  Powell tells him that he owes his country. Carter looks at his wedding ring and says something to the effect of any debt he had has been paid in full and then some.

Thoughts: OK! It was tricky to place the scene in context until I had seen all the other clips and by then I loved it. Initially I got a bit worried that it seemed to be a bit similar to Cowboys and Aliens, but that was soon gone. It doesn’t come cross very well in my dry description but the scenes of Carter trying to escape and seamlessly cutting to his next attempt were very entertaining and raised chuckles from the audience –which is difficult straight out the gate. It also gave us an idea of the kind of man John Carter is – Tenacious, resourceful with a haunted past. Which ties into our first look at Carter when he enters the saloon - in any other western film, everything about him screamed would have screamed bad guy. John Carter seems to be a stone cold bad ass with issues. He is an anti hero who steps up to the challenge. This is a strong fun start for John Carter.

John Carter Clip 2 – John Carter on Mars or Barsoom and meeting Tars Tarkas
Andrew Staton set this clip up by saying John Carter finds himself on Mars, discovers his new abilities, an incubator and meets the local inhabitants.

John Carter has just arrived on Mars he is now semi dressed as we see in most of the clips and media, he’s confused and disorientated. Mar looks mostly desert and hot as we see in the trailers and posters.

Carter is clamoring over some rocks and finds some symbols engraved in the sand or rock wiping across them reveals a layer of glass under it. The glass is revealed to be a window seemingly with a view into the rock. Carter looks down into an incubator where he sees 100s of baby Thark hatchlings and I have to say as much as I dislike the cutesy aspects of Disney films these guys were adorable. Drooling and climbing over one another and being generally cute.

A shocked Carter utters: “Where am I?”

Last Thursday evening I was fortunate enough to go along to an Exclusive Disney John Carter Preview Event. During the hour or so we were seated at The Apollo Piccadilly. Where we got an introduction to the world and heritage of John Carter from Producer Kevin Kurtz, saw 5 exclusive clips from John Carter, the new John Carter 3D trailer and sit in on a QA session with Special Effects Supervisors Sue Rowe & Eamonn Butler and the star of the film Taylor Kitsch.

I have split the session over 3 posts to make it less cumbersome and an easier read. In this first post I’ll cover the Introduction to John Carter presentation we got from Producer Kevin Kurtz, in the second the exclusive clips we got to see and the third the QA session that followed.

Firstly some thoughts on John Carter. Like any informed fan of Science Fiction of course I know Edgar Rice Burroughs. I am a huge fan of one of Burroughs’s other characters - Tarzan, so much so that Burne Hogarth’s, way ahead of it’s time 1972 Graphic Novel Tarzan of the Apes is in my Top 10 Comics of all time and I highly recommend it. In my youth I had a huge collection of books and amongst them - most of the John Carter of Mars or Barsoom series. However to my shame never read all of them favouring Asimov, Clarke, Wells, Verne or Dick for my literary Sci-Fi needs over the more fantastical Mars based stories. Also I had read most of the Marvel John Carter comics as well as the modern reinterpretations and John Carter themes that proliferated comics in some shape or form at the time and still do. So despite Burroughs's books being the source I  felt quite saturated as far as John Carter style tales went.

In an odd quirk, all the authors I mention above bar Wells where influenced by Burroughs and I was well aware of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ influence on not only Sci-Fi but broader culture. So in short even though I grew up with John Carter of Mars but wasn’t a big fan.

When I first heard John Carter of Mar was being made into a film I wasn’t particularly interested in another overly manufactured mediocre big screen blockbuster focusing on spectacle rather than story, the disappointments over the years marring my excitement. Also I had thought John Carter was probably going to be aimed at a much younger age group than myself, how else could they make sense of the extreme fantastical nature (characters & creatures) of the material? But not overly familiar with John Carter I was not very precious about it and my expectations were pretty low so in all fairness I could only be pleasantly surprised.

Last July I managed to catch an early preview of the teaser trailer, which didn’t show a whole lot but my interest was piqued in seeing more – the quickly edited visuals and Peter Gabriel’s cover of Arcade Fire’s My Body is a Cage evoking Johnny Cash’s Hurt seemingly combined for that very reason.

Well after this preview event I can safely say I have seen enough to shift me from ambivalent to John Carter being one of my most anticipated films of 2012. And I’m hoping that Disney continue the momentum and create the same depth of immersive experience of the great TRON: Legacy which I absolutely loved, whilst entertaing both adults and kids.

John Carter The Film
John Carter the newest movie from Academy Award – winning filmmaker Andrew Stanton is an action adventure story set on Barsoom, the exotic and mysterious planet we know as Mars. Based on the Edgar Rice Burroughs classic novel, John Carter is the story which inspired many of the most imaginative and well known Hollywood movies, past and present.

The movie tells the tale of war-weary, former military captain John Carter (Taylor Kitsch), who is inexplicably transported to Mars where he becomes reluctantly involved in a conflict of epic proportions between the inhabitants of the planet, including Tars Tarkas (Willem Dafoe) and the captivating Princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins).

In a world on the brink of collapse, John Carter rediscovers his humanity when he realizes that the survival of Barsoom and its people rests in his hands.


Guide to the World Of John Carter and it’s heritage
Master of ceremonies Chris Hewitt introduced the event and welcomed Producer Kevin Kurtz (any relation to Gary Kurtz?) to the podium. Where he delivered a quick presentation about Edgar Rice Burroughs’s John Carter series, its heritage and importance to modern Science Fiction, some insight into the cast and team behind John Carter and ended by taking us through some of the characters, creatures, geography and architecture of John Carter’s Mars also known as Barsoom.

We just got the heads up on a great competition for fans. Momentum Pictures today announced a competition to win a pair of tickets to the World Premiere of The Woman in Black on Tuesday 24th January 2012 and watch the film alongside the cast and celebrity guests.


Based on the classic ghost story,  The Woman in Black  tells the tale of Arthur Kipps (Daniel Radcliffe), a lawyer who is forced to leave his young son and travel to a remote village to attend to the affairs of the recently deceased owner of Eel Marsh House.  Working alone in the old mansion, Kipps begins to uncover the town's tragic and tortured secrets and his fears escalate when he discovers that local children have been disappearing under mysterious circumstances. When those closest to him become threatened by the vengeful woman in black, Kipps must find a way to break the cycle of terror.


All you have to do to be in with a chance is get down to the Worldwide Premiere tomorrow 24th January 2012 at the Royal Festival Hall (BFI Southbank) dressed as your own interpretation of the Woman in Black. If you are lucky enough you may gain access to a special VIP area of the red carpet - depending on numbers as The VIP fan pen will operate on a first come first serve basis SO GET DOWN THEIR EARLY. The two best dressed fans will also be selected from the crowd to win the prize!

15 minutes to tell a story. Millions of people to watch it. £325,000 or $500,000 to make a new one for the world to see. YouTube has teamed up with Sir Ridley Scott, Scott Free London, the Venice Film Festival and Emirates to create Your Film Festival, a global competition that will provide one deserving entrant with £325,000 or half a million US dollars to work on their next great story.

In an effort to catch up with films that may end up on my top 10 films of the year I managed to see Steven Spielberg's War Horse last week and was suitably impressed. It is an outrage that anyone would slur this utterly beautiful piece of film making.

I could go on  about being biggest fan of Steven Spielberg's recent output for some inexplicable reason and hankering for his more adult films and intelligent exploration of less mainstream themes - but Steven Spielberg is a living legend and master film-maker with an incredible body of work that one has to appreciate regardless. But you know that already.

Although it is on my list of things to do I have still not seen War Horse the play on which Spielberg's film is based. And wasn't entirely sure what to expect from the film, apart from a horse becoming the embodiment and projection of human spirit in a war situation that ends sadly. Well War Horse could be about that - but Spielberg takes on an incredible journey with interesting characters and set ups that continually surprise to get us there. Although it is a bit sad that we have become so desensitised to the horrors of war that new ways of addressing it are dreamed up.

Too be honest I was surprised how un- cliché the characters of War Horse actually are. As we have have come to expect a certain range and distillation of character traits when it comes to war stories. I'm unsure of where the credit needs to go the playwright or Spielberg's adaptation - but War Horse is a fresh look at the timeless themes of war mainly driven home by the intelligence of the characters.

Although it is steeped in sentimentality and relies heavily on emotion War Horse is engaging and and compelling experience as it moves from one set piece to the next. With some genuinely great performances and moments. Particularly from; Peter Mullan, Tom Hiddleston, Toby Kebbell, Finder the horse and Benedict Cumberbatch. But young Jeremy Irvine's subtle and understated performance as a Devon farmer - especially from a lead character that has to carry much of the film's emotion is absolutely outstanding. Much of this a testament to Spielberg's skill as I can't help but think that Steven Spielberg shaped and moulded much of these performances to get exactly what was needed to make the film work - as well as it does. One of the elements that distinguishes Great Director from the also rans.

We are still 7 months away from Marvel's The Amazing Spider-Man reboot hitting screens on 4 July, 2012 and a month away from Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance being unleashed onto screens on 17 February, 2012

But as it is a New Year and I have been assessing The Establishing Shot's current position and what I would like to achieve with it this year. After some careful consideration I have realised, what The Establishing Shot is really missing, is a piece about Auteur David Fincher's thoughts on doing a superhero film and more specifically Spider-Man. So I dug out this clip of David Fincher explaining why he wasn’t interested in doing superhero films apart from Spider-Man.

David Fincher was on Sony's short-list to direct Sam Raimi's Spider-Man and more recently it was reported that he was again up for the reboot The Amazing Spider-Man which we all now know will be helmed by Marc Webb. Although I have seen his quirky 500 Days of Summer Webb is still largely an unknown quantity for me, which I kind of like as I'm going in to see The Amazing Spider-Man with few preconceptions - apart from high expectations from Andrew Garfield and after re-watching the trailer I'm getting excited about Spider-Man again.

Sony have shown us some dark imagery and a poster for The Amazing Spider-Man as well as a pretty awesome teaser trailer (all of which can be accessed from the official site here!) displaying a deeper emotional side to Spider-Man - previously unexplored then switching to some spectacular visuals with his POV web slinging. I only wish the music was better, it would have made a huge difference. But I saw the trailer a while back at a demonstration of Sony's 3D projectors and was blown away seeing the trailer up on big screen in 3D.

James Bond's 50th Anniversary is turning out to be as big as 2008 was commemorating Ian Fleming's Centenary year. 2012 sees the production and release of Bond 23 Skyfall, the release of the Bond 50 Blu-ray box set that includes all 22 films as well as the launch of  the BOND IN MOTION exhibition at Beaulieu National Motor Museum celebrating 50 years and 50 vehicles of James Bond.

To commemorate 50 years of Bond rather than present some modern media from Skyfall which is currently filming in London using an unprecedented number of local locations. I thought I would go retro and highlight a location that would please true Bond aficionados. So here is a location used in a classic James Bond film and one of my favourites - Thunderball.

A couple of years I jetted off to the Bahamas to visit locations used in James Bond films and my enthusiasm for watersports get married. As well as staying in two Bond hotels (One&Only Resort from Casino Royale and the British Colonial Hilton from Thunderball & Never Say Never Again - unfortunately not in their Bond suite), diving both Bond undersea wrecks with Stuart Cove (the outfit that taught Sean Connery to dive) and visiting many Bond film locations across the Bahamas - we were fortunate enough to stay at the incomparable Staniel Cay Yacht Club right next to Thunderball Grotto (or James Bond Cave or by it's former name Golden Grotto, fictional home of Largo's "the most dangerous, the most savage Golden Grotto Sharks) which I snorkelled almost every day, used as a Bond base whilst filming some Thunderball water based scenes. You can still find a couple of old photos taken during filming on the wall of the bar area of the Staniel Cay Yacht Club.

I remember the first time I saw Thunderball and being mesmerised by those incredible underwater scenes and wondering how much of that incredible beauty was real and how much was manufactured. Well I can assure you that the Bahamas are absolutely magnificent and the water really is that crystal clear. It's beauty is only matched by the friendliness of the Bahamians. It is no wonder that Sir Sean Connery decided to relocate there

Contrary to online reports The Bahamas have been used in eight of the Bond films. Three of them; Thunderball (1965), Never Say Never Again (1983) and most recently Casino Royale (2006) actually featured Bahamas locations. Whilst four; You Only Live Twice (1967), The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), For Your Eyes Only (1981) and The World is Not Enough (1999) used a second unit to shoot underwater scenes only. Testament to just how good the underwater conditions are, as Pinewood Studios - home of James Bond have one of the best underwater shooting facilities in the world.

Last week on The Establishing Shot: Tinker Tailor Exclusive! Title of Tinker Tailor sequel confirmed and decoding Tinker Tailor with the film’s makers, Titanic 3D Footage and QA session with Producer Jon Landau, Goon Review, Troll Hunter is on DVD & Blu-ray TODAY! Celebrate by entering our competition, UK Top 10 Films, This weeks Film Releases, The Darkest Hour (3D), War Horse, Tatsumi, Shame, A Useful Life,  BFI London Film Festival films on release in January, Boca (Boca do Lixo), Patience (After Sebald), Win Tickets To The Worldwide Premiere Of The Woman In Black, Universal Pictures Celebrates 100 Years Of Movie Memories With Yearlong Centennial Celebration, Summer In February Starts Principal Photography On Sunday 15th January On Location In Cornwall, Paramount And Cirque Du Soleil To Partner On "Cirque Du Soleil Worlds Away", Written And Directed By Andrew Adamson, And Presented By James Cameron, Star Trek: The Next Generation® – The Next Level Blu-ray Disc™ will be beamed up on 30th January 2012, Winning Ghost Story Announced For The Woman In Black YouTube Competition, Miss England Runner Up, Amy Jackson, makes Bollywood debut in Oscar winner A.R. Rahman's Musical 'Ekk Deewana, Troll Hunter shortlisted on the BAFTA Longlist, BAFTA Film Awards Longlist Released, Film Making Competitions, Sundance London Short Film Competition, Short Cuts Returns…In 2012, Film School, Power To The Pixel Announces The Pixel Lab 2012, BOND IN MOTION opens this week, Blood Car screening, Powder, Prometheus Trailer, Liquid Swords – GZA, 3D Sex & Zen: Extreme Ecstasy, Troll Hunter, Arrietty, Life, Above All, Too Fat For 40, Cine Asia Presents Hong Kong Legends Bruce Lee, The Big Boss 2, Game of Death, Game of Death 2, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Drive, Yamada: Way Of The Samurai, Four Flies On Grey Velvet, Sasha, Perfect Sense

Last week on The Establishing Shot:
Last week was all about heading to the cinema or chasing down and watching check & review discs so we could finalise our top films of 2011 list. I could have gone live with it a while back felt that I missed too many films last year. So The Establishing Shot’s Top Films of 2011 will be up soon. (War Horse - great. Melancholia - disappointing, A Separation - Only half way through :(.) As well as reacquainting ourselves with the magic of the Weitz Brother’s About a Boy. What an absolutely wonderful film and surely the pinnacle of Hugh Grant's career. We also had a chance to watch Yamada: Way Of The Samurai and our full review will be up soon.

Early last week on the back of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy being shortlisted in almost every category on the BAFTA Film Awards Longlist (which can be viewed over here! ) and the home release coming up soon. I had the pleasure of being invited along to a BAFTA screening of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and QA session with Producers Tim Bevan and Robyn Slovo, writer Peter Straughan and production designer Maria Djurkovic – taking place at Working Title Films, and I have to say it was a thrill just being in the building never mind the frank and informative discussion that followed. The QA gave me some insight into decoding some of the enigma of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Particulary interesting bits from the talk were Writer Peter Straughan discussing his writing process of adapting Tinker Tailor for screen which is like a master-class for writers and Production Designer Maria Djurkovic gives us insight into the design of The Circle. Between them the motif of a circular maze that permeates Tinker Tailor is slowly revealed.

Other highlights from the talk include: Producer Tim Bevan on the inception of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Producer Robyn Slovo on when she became involved in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Tim Bevan on finding the right Director and why Tomas Alfredson was the right choice, Writer Peter Straughan on getting involved in Tinker Tailor and working with Tomas Alfredson, Robyn Slovo on choosing the right Production Designer, Tim Bevan on the pressures of making an intelligent film that is profitable, Peter Straughan on the process of adapting a complex story for screen, on hidden easter eggs  and the Harry Potter speculation, Tim Bevan on the casting of Gary Oldman and Tim Bevan on the status of the Tinker Tailor sequel.

Goon took me by surprise and it has the honour of being the best film I have seen this year it also has the honour of being the only new release I had seen at the time I wrote this.

Sports based films have a real challenge, as we pretty much know the arc - scrappy underdog overcomes challenges to either win, or win you over. And pretty much almost every variation on theme has been attempted in some form or other. Since Rocky the skill in the sport has taken a back seat and become a vehicle to the emotions of the characters motivations aka heart. Which means - that for a sports related film to be relevant they now need to be based on or at least inspired by actual events. Although Goon is based on actual events - The True Story of an Unlikely Journey into Minor League Hockey by Doug Smith and Adam Frattasio in almost every other regard it differs. Most notably it presents the sport at its heart (of which I no nothing about) as an exciting experience and rather than try show the dark side or the underbelly which the public never sees a standard device for these type of films – it whole heartedly revels in celebration of Ice Hockey and the cringe worthy bloody violence that it wroughts.


Goon made the game exciting and I could easily understood why fans love it and players want to be part of it. Something else that I really enjoyed about Goon that permeates the filmmaker approach throughout is that it isn’t watered down for the tween market. That doesn’t mean that it is a mature film look at life but inventive and fun for a mostly ignored audience. I was laughing through most of the film punctuated with grimaces and the scenes of ultraviolence (which were mostly funny as well).

We haven't seen it yet but any film that has Trolls or Troll Hunters in it needs to be celebrated! Hot on the heels of last months quirky Finnish take on Father Christmas with Rare Exports, today sees the release of the Nordic take on the myth of Trolls with Troll Hunter.


 To celebrate the 9th January UK DVD and Blu-ray release of monster hit Troll Hunter we are offering one winner the chance to win an extremely limited edition money can't buy exclusively designed Troll Hunter t-shirt and a copy of Troll Hunter on Blu-ray! One runner up will also win a limited edition Troll Hunter t-shirt!

This “original and highly assured fusion of B-movie lore and fairytale terror” (The Hollywood Reporter) combines the vision of “Where The Wild Things Are” with the faux-documentary, found-footage stylings of “Cloverfield”, “REC” and “The Blair Witch Project” to produce an “enormously entertaining” (Variety) and suspense-filled creature feature that the Daily Star rated as 'one of the finest monster movies ever“ and Total Film described as being “like David Attenborough taking a stroll into Roald Dahl’s brain.” ”Troll Hunter is Magnificent" (Jonathan Ross).

TROLL HUNTER bursts it's way on to DVD & Blu-ray on 9th January 2012 (Momentum Pictures) released in the UK.

Last week on The Establishing Shot: Welcome to 2012, We see Goon – Gets the thumbs up as well as Man on a Ledge, UK Top 10 Films, This weeks Film Releases: Despair, The Iron Lady, Mother and Child, Goon, Yamada: Way Of The Samurai, Martin Scorsese To Be Honoured With BAFTA Fellowship, Celebrate Paramount Pictures 100 Year Anniversary with Paramount Pictures... 100 Years of Movie Magic App, Previously unseen vehicles to debut at BOND IN MOTION, Sundance London Short Film Competition, Short Cuts Returns…In 2012, Submissions for the ÉCU 2012 Script Competition is OPEN!, Final Secret Cinema tickets for January released, Midnight Movies Jan and Feb Events Revealed...,The Hobbit vs The Dark Knight Rises vs Prometheus trailer buzz Showdown, Top 10 List - The top 10 Studio Ghibli, Things I Don't Understand, , Troll Hunter, Arrietty, Life, Above All, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Drive, Yamada: Way Of The Samurai, The Woman In Black Teaser Trailer, No man can walk alone

This week on The Establishing Shot: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Review, Merry Christmas and this year’s must have gifts, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo viral reveals a new clip, Behold! The Bat phone or Un-boxing the Nokia Lumia 800 Dark Knight Rises Bat phone, UK Top 10 Films, This Week's New Releases, Last chance to see Thandie Newton in Death and the Maiden, Ralph Fiennes QA Postponed, The Richard Attenborough UK Regional Film Awards return for their 6th year, The Lady’s Michelle Yeoh visits parliament, Sir David Attenborough’s “The Bachelor King 3d” To Air Exclusively On Sky 3d On New Years Eve 2011, Waterloo Road's Tom Milner supports suicide prevention, Weekend receives 2 London Critics Circle nominations, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance Trailer, IMAX Posts Record December Opening Box Office Results with Mission: Impossible- Ghost Protocol, Sky Movies showing 2012 on New Year’s Day, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey gets it’s first trailer, Daniel Radcliffe Invites You To Vote For Your Favourite Ghost Story From The Woman In Black Youtube Competition, Goon gets a new, NEW, NEW trailer, Watch the Relentless Energy Drink winning Short Stories video & Xavier de le Rue’s new film, Final Destination 5 releases Boxing Day, Dario Argento's lost masterpiece, Four Flies On Grey Velvet gets a January 2012 home release, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy DVD gets a 30 January Release, Yamada Way Of The Samurai, The Front Line, The Big Boss, Game of Death, Game of Death 2, The Shock Of The Blue: The BBFC’s Close Encounters With Foreign Erotica, The Dark Knight Rises Trailer, Theophilus London - Last Name London.

Does the world really need another pointless remake? Probably not - but it needs more films like The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo from David Fincher.

Let’s get it out of the way early. My review is not a comparison between Niels Arden Oplev and David Fincher’s work and it is difficult to discuss Fincher’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo in real depth without giving anything away. But it would be dismissive not to mention that the material that they both base their films on - Stieg Larsson's novel is pretty spectacular tapping into our curiosity of the criminal mind, cultural perceptions, introducing us to the most unlikely anti-hero and as alluded to in the film - it bridges an old darkness that runs some 70 years deep and the new Europe. But it also draws on Stieg Larsson world view - in his own journalism career he investigated corruption, racism, right wing extremism, Nazism and abhorred violence against woman. All themes touched on in the Millennium trilogy.
Read our full review over here! http://www.theestablishingshot.com/2011/12/establishing-shot-girl-with-dragon.html
I just wanted to wish everyone Happy Holidays / Christmas /Hanukkah /  Festivus and thought I would dig out my list of this year’s must have Christmas gifts at the same time.

Originally this list of much coveted items was put together for the fine chaps over at Liiveforfilms.com, but as they are less lifestyle and more film orientated some of the pieces didn’t make the final list. So with only 6 days left till Christmas I thought I would update my list and get it up on the theestablishingshot. If you have any thoughts about other must have items or feedback on any of the items please do leave a comment below.

When Phil asked for us to compile a Christmas list in the run up to year end I naturally whipped out my list of stuff I had either needed or coveted at some point over the last year. A couple of the items will definitely not be in my Christmas stocking this year so it is more of a Christmas wish list. In no particular order:

Read our full post over here! http://www.theestablishingshot.com/2011/12/establishing-shot-this-years-must-have.html
We are having quite a week at The Establishing Shot tower. Yesterday evening after giving Kings Road a much needed boost with some last minute shopping I got in to find a strange package had been delivered. The mystery deepened when I opened the package to find a thin elegant hardcover book. Turning it over - revealed an embossed Golden Dragon on the front. Ahh! It could only be one thing. But no! the book title on the spine is Afterword. Even more curious the initials on the spine are S.L. Surely it must be? Opening the book up revealed it to be Afterword Stieg Larsson: Four Essays and An Exchange Of Emails. More about that later.

Because someone had placed a piece of paper in between the pages as a bookmark.  On the bookmark the following had been handwritten: 72 21 3 Vanger-industries.eu
Read our full post over here! http://www.theestablishingshot.com/2011/12/establishing-shot-girl-with-dragon_22.html
You have probably been wondering where I have been & where my analysis of the full Batman trailer is. Well I’ve been spending every free second pouring over the Bat phone! No not Batman’s red retro hotline to Commissioner Gordon, although that is pretty cool though. Rewind! Freeze! Hopefully you had a chance to skim my post the other day regarding my recommendations for this years most wanted gifts. I hope it helped with any last minute shopping you had to squeeze in. Well I know at least one person read that post using his North Pole wireless network.

Read our full post over here! http://www.theestablishingshot.com/2011/12/establishing-shot-he-bat-phone-or-un.html

You have probably been wondering where I have been & where my analysis of the full Batman trailer is. Well I’ve been spending every free second pouring over the Bat phone! No not Batman’s red retro hotline to Commissioner Gordon, although that is pretty cool though.

We are having quite a week at The Establishing Shot tower. Yesterday evening after giving Kings Road a much needed boost with some last minute shopping I got in to find a strange package had been delivered. The mystery deepened when I opened the package to find a thin elegant hard cover book. Turning it over - revealed an embossed Golden Dragon on the front. Ahh! It could only be one thing. But no! the book title on the spine is Afterword. Even more curious the initials on the spine are S.L.

I just wanted to wish everyone happy holidays / Christmas / Hanukkah / Festivus and thought I would dig out my list of this year’s must have Christmas gifts at the same time.

Originally this list of much coveted items was put together for the fine chaps over at Liveforfilms.com, but as they are less lifestyle and more film orientated some of the pieces didn’t make the final list. So with only 6 days left till Christmas I thought I would update my list and get it up on the theestablishingshot. If you have any thoughts about other must have items or feedback on any of the items please do leave a comment below.

When Phil asked for us to compile a Christmas list in the run up to year end I naturally whipped out my list of stuff I had either needed or coveted at some point over the last year. A couple of the items will definitely not be in my Christmas stocking this year so it is more of a Christmas wish list. In no particular order:

Does the world really need another pointless remake? Probably not - but it needs more films like The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo from David Fincher.

Let’s get it out of the way early. This is not going to be a comparison between Niels Arden Oplev and David Fincher’s work, and it is difficult to discuss Fincher’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo in real depth without giving anything away. But it would be dismissive not start with the material that they both base their marvellous films on - Stieg Larsson's novel is pretty spectacular tapping into our curiosity of the criminal mind, cultural perceptions, introducing us to the most unlikely anti-hero and as alluded to in the film - it bridges an old darkness running 70 years deep and the new Europe. But it also draws on Stieg Larsson world view - in his own journalism career he investigated corruption, racism, right wing extremism, Nazism and abhorred violence against woman. All themes touched on in the Millennium trilogy.

This week on The Establishing Shot: Full The Dark Knight Rises Prologue analysis and thoughts from a true Batman fan, UK Premiere Georges Méliès restored A Trip to the Moon with AIR in attendance, Goon,  UK Top 10, London Short Film Festival And BAFTA Present: Mark Herbert And Warp Films,  Goon gets a new trailer, The BFI’s FindAnyFilm.com announces its aim to become the go-to audience guide for film availability in the UK, across all platforms and providers,  Opening date confirmed for BOND IN MOTION, GI Joe Retaliation - Trailer, Summer In February Shooting January 2012, Sky Announces Further Ground Breaking 3d Project With Sir David Attenborough, The Hunger Games - New poster, The Expendables 2 - teaser trailer, Disney previews its 2012 film lineup, Rock of Ages - first trailer released, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - 1 year to release gets an official synopsis, st Midlands school girl wins nationwide competition to win a visit to her school from Rupert Grint!, The Men In Black III trailer arrives!, Secret Cinema announce their Secret Restaurant, ASUS launches the Eee Pad Transformer Prime with NVIDIA® Tegra® 3 Quad-Core Processor and Google® Android™ 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich in the UK, Afterschool Ezra Miller's acclaimed screen debut gets a February re-release, Revenge: A Love Story,  Sasha - A teacher/pupil romance with a difference - on DVD 30th Jan, The Lucky One, Boca available on DVD and Blu-ray™ from 13th February 2012,  3D Sex & Zen: Extreme Ecstasy gets a January release date, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo Immigrant Song Teaser Trailer, Oh Land - Perfection (Live) music Video

109 years ago in 1902, Scott, Shackleton and Wilson reached the most southern point of the Antarctic, the 26th President of American - Theodore Roosevelt becomes the first American President to ride in an car and over in France at 41, Georges Méliès completed Le Voyage dans la Lune - A Trip to the Moon roughly his 100th film. Seven years after the Auguste and Louis Lumière (the Lumière Brothers) had invented and patented the first film projector.

Mentioned in almost every film book I have ever picked up, as the father of modern cinema - Georges Méliès was a theatre owner, illusionist and showman before changing the way films were made. Over his 18 year film career Méliès made approximately 555 films. Using his Theatre illusionist background to create optical tricks, fantastical worlds and adventures. But his most famous was Le Voyage dans la Lune - A Trip to the Moon, heralded as the most significant Science Fiction work of the day. I guess it must have equaled the scale of spectacle of James Cameron’s Avatar at the time and its success means that on release it was more revered than say, Sir Ridley Scott's Blade Runner which was only appreciated by a niche audience on release before blossoming to on home release.

A Trip to the Moon not only has one of the most iconic and memorable scenes in film history as a rocket ship crashes into the moons eye but Méliès’ narrative format (previously most of films had been of a news type) and effects were the inspiration for many filmmakers that followed, he invented stop-substitution, dissolves, double exposure and pioneered many of the techniques still used in some form today. The way we see film may have been vastly different without Georges Méliès’ vision and output.

I've been getting a couple of requests for my thoughts on The Dark Knight Rises prologue, some, from guys nowhere near an IMAX so below I’ve tried to give as much detail as I can. My post is split into 3 segments; the first outlining why The Dark Knight Rises could be good, the second running through the footage of the prologue and 1 minute montage from The Dark Knight Rises with commentary and the third some thoughts. So you can skip to the bits that interest you.

This week on The Establishing Shot: Celebrate Georges Méliès films with AIR and the Scissor Sisters, The Dark Knight Rises leaked Leonid Pavel CIA Documents, Operation Early Bird viral campaign and new poster , Noises Off at the Old Vic, Panic Button, Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale, UK Top 10 Films, This Week's New Releases, The Shot short film competition introduced by Paul WS Anderson, FLAMIN Launch New Development and Production Opportunity, Meet Mr Ray Harryhausen & have your animation short screened at the Barbican, MOFILM Barcelona 2012 : Video Contest, The Chocolate Festival is here…it must be Christmas!, Les Enfants du Paradis, Meet Me in St. Louis, Carol Morley for a Q&A after a special preview of Dreams Of A Life, Preview of Shame and Steve McQueen in Conversation, Preview of Coriolanus and Ralph Fiennes QA At The Phoenix, Want to be a credible film blogger/journalist?, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo Soundtrack by Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross is now out!, Arthur Christmas – No. 1 at the Box Office in its fourth week of release!, The Empire State Building turns bloody RED to commiserate the Dolphins of The Cove, Winners Announced At The 14th Moët British Independent Film Awards, Weekend wins two BIFA awards for Most Promising Newcomer and Achievement In Production, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo viral site and US ARG game launched, 8th Dubai International Film Festival unveils 171 films from 56 nations, combining substance, star power, and industry offerings, Discover The True Story Behind The Making Of Bruce Lee's Most Personal Movie Book, Director Brad Bird talking about the making Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol in IMAX, Royal Mail Issue Special Harry Potter Heroes & Villains Stamp Set, Sony Pictures’ Columbia releases The Amazing Spider-Man teaser Poster, Perfect Sense, Too Fat For 40, Red Scorpion, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo - Stockholm Press Day Featurette, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Lana Del Rey Blue Jeans

This week has been all about exploring the Sony Tablet S outstanding! , discovering DC Universe Online which is amazing! The Dark Knight Rises’ Operation Early Bird and the upcoming Georges Méliès Tribute.
There are two events coming up this week that I am super excited about. Of course the one is The Dark Knight Rises presentation and prologue screening in London, the other I found out a bit late but is equally breathtaking - Ciné Lumière in Kensington are putting on a tribute to Mr Georges Méliès with some incredible once off events and screenings including; the restored films of Georges Méliès, a spectacular screening of a mix of Georges Méliès films with a new original soundtrack performed live by John Garden of the Scissor Sisters and a screening of the newly restored colour version of Le Voyage dans la lune - A Trip to the Moon with a new original soundtrack by French synth pop legends AIR (Jean-Benoit Dunckel and Nicolas Godin)

Right! I know Georges Méliès, AIR and Scissor Sisters three things you never thought you would hear in the same sentence. Please note tickets for A Trip to the Moon are now all gone but there is still some availability for the Georges Méliès Revival - Cine-concert with John Garden

Read more here: http://www.theestablishingshot.com/2011/12/establishing-shot-celebrate-georges.html
Christopher Nolan’s finale of the Batman trilogy The Dark Knight Rises is 221 days from being unleashed into the world. But this week saw The Dark Knight Rises viral campaign kick into high gear and ended with a lucky few getting tickets for the much vaunted 6 minute prologue to be shown at IMAX theatres this Wednesday 14 December as well as the unveiling of the Bane broke Batman poster.

There are two events coming up this week that I am super excited about. Of course the one is The Dark Knight Rises presentation and prologue screening in London, the other I found out a bit late but is equally breathtaking - Ciné Lumière in Kensington are putting on a tribute to Mr Georges Méliès with some incredible once off events and screenings including; the restored films of Georges Méliès, a spectacular screening of a mix of Georges Méliès films with a new original soundtrack performed live by John Garden of the Scissor Sisters and a screening of the newly restored colour version of Le Voyage dans la lune - A Trip to the Moon with a new original soundtrack by French synth pop legends AIR (Jean-Benoit Dunckel and Nicolas Godin), 

Right! I know Georges Méliès, AIR and Scissor Sisters three things you never thought you would hear in the same sentence. Please note tickets for A Trip to the Moon are now all gone but there is still some availability for the Georges Méliès Revival - Cine-concert with John Garden

With two weeks to go till various IMAX cinemas in the UK show us a 6 minute preview footage, supposedly a prologue regarding  the main villain of the piece - Bane. The Dark Knight Rises viral marketing has stepped up it's intensity. In a similar fashion to the Inception viral parts of a wiki leaked style C.I.A report were sent to both Wired and Empire Magazine.

Wired received the first page of the bulletin, which is a report regarding the disappearance of Doctor Leonid Pavel, a 63 year old Russian Nuclear Physicist last seen in Chelyabinsk, Russia. In The Dark Knight Rises Leonid Pavel is the character played by Alon Abutbul.

So far all we can divine from the pages is that he was last seen in Chelyabinsk, which was at one time the former Soviet Union’s main military production centre. Pavel was born around the time the many Chelyabinsk residents were feeling the effects of radiation poisoning. Leonid Pavel is probably very knowledgeable in the realm of Nuclear Energy as he  spoke at a IEEE (The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) symposium and the US Government believe that he is a high value commodity because of his knowledge of Nuclear fuel cycle technology and reactor designs.

“Mr. Scorsese, can I start by saying thank you. Hugo is a truly beautiful film. It reminds us of the magic of cinema, particularly the technical innovation in film. Which ties in well with its use of 3D. But I was wondering if we can expect to see 3D in your more conventional future films?”

That is was what I would if asked had I had the opportunity at the Hugo Press conference the other day. Sadly time was short and I didn’t. But someone else did ask - so we do get to find out Martin Scorsese’s thoughts on the matter.

This week on The Establishing Shot: UK Top 10 Films, Hugo Review - A film lovers gift from Martin Scorsese, At the Hugo Press Conference, The Sony 4K and 3D projector showcase Event, Chris O’Dowd announced as Done in 60 Seconds ambassador for the 2012 Jameson Empire Awards, Hugo 3D Review, Miss Bala Review, The Thing Review, One Life Review, Kapow! 2012 Tickets Go On Sale, The London Comedy Film Festival are looking for comedy films, Elstree Props "Design Our New Logo" Contest, Create Announce Launch of Monthly Photography Exhibition - The Photocopy Club 2011, LoCo presents The London Comedy Film Festival In partnership with the BFI, British Academy Children's Awards 2011 - Winners Announced, Hammer website opens official print-on-demand on-line store for iconic artwork, UK's Film Minister Arrives in LA to Promote the UK as the First Choice for Film-making, Cross Creek Pictures And Exclusive’s Hammer Films To Co-Produce Adaptation Of Cherie Priest Novel “Boneshaker”, Trailer of the Week – Goon

UK Top 10 Films Friday 25 - Sunday 27 November, 2011- from Digital Cinema Media
1. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1
2. Arthur Christmas 3D
3. My Week With Marilyn
4. The Adventures Of Tin Tin: Secret Of The Unicorn
5. Immortals 3D
6. 50/50
7. Dream House
8. In Time
9. Desi Boyz
10. Moneyball
This Week On The Establishing Shot:
This week apart from test driving the Sony Tablet S and ignoring spam emails to Christmas and New Year parties has been all about Martin Scorsese's Hugo.

The Establishing Shot: Hugo Review - A film lovers gift from Martin Scorsese
This week sees the release of Martin Scorsese’s Hugo we has the distinct pleasure of seeing Hugo earlier this week and I was completely and utterly reduced to a child marveling at the magic on the screen in front of me.

Hugo is possibly the only family orientated that is in my top 10 films of 2011 as well as in my favourite films of all time. We absolutely loved it. Read our review over here!

The Establishing Shot: At the Hugo Press Conference
Really the title of this post should be: We sit in the same room as a modern master (or more correctly, Maestro) and get to hear him in conversation about his love for the medium of film, and respect as an art form. But that would not be very catchy title in this day and age. We were lucky enough to pop along to the Hugo Press Conference and hear Mr Martin Scorsese, Sir Ben Kingsley, Asa Butterfield and Chloë Grace chat about their first film memories, working on Hugo, working with 3D, a possible resurgence of silent film, and Martin Scorsese speaks about this generations obligations to the youth, working with 3D, as well as his thoughts on the future of cinema.

Initially I was just going to highlight key points from the discussion and get it up quickly but as I listened to the audio I thought it merits to be on-line in it's entirety. As there may be bits that would be of interest and use to readers so I’m transcribing the whole discussion and it will be online shortly. Read it here!

The Establishing Shot: At the Sony 4K and 3D projector showcase Event
As we sadly missed the Sony screening of Stanley Kubrick’s restored masterpiece Dr Strangelove on their seriously high resolution 4K Projector we pushed the boat out and attended the Sony AVForums Projector Showcase. Where we got to see the Sony VW1000 the world’s first 4K home cinema projector demo’ed (mind blowingly awesome) but more entertainingly got to experience the 3D awesomeness of the Sony VPL-VW95ES as we dominated played 3D games. A full write up should be up soon with our thoughts.

The Establishing Shot: Chris O’Dowd announced as Done in 60 Seconds ambassador for the 2012 Jameson Empire Awards
Chris O’Dowd has been building up a respectable (and hilarious) CV since he was in Mike Leigh's Vera Drake. Most notably his hilarious turn in The IT Crowd and most recently the sisters can do it for themselves/Hangover with depth Bridesmaids. It was just announced that he is up for an Orange Rising Star BAFTA award as well as will be competing in the 2012 Olympics, but our post is about his role as Jameson Empire the Done in Sixty Seconds (DISS) Ambassador. Read more here!

I wept three times during Hugo. Not because Martin Scorsese lost it like with; Shutter Island (rather watch The Ninth Configuration) or The Aviator (rather watch paint dry) but rather because Martin Scorsese has made such a beautiful film that will touch anyone who loves film.

It is a film that transcends the crassness of show business whilst rolling out an entertaining adventure mystery. I’m hopelessly under qualified to try and review it. But I’m pretty sure Scorsese’s response to this would be something to the effect of “Hey, I’m just glad you enjoyed it” – but in a New York Accent.

In this age of Harry Potter. Surprisingly, Hugo starts off in the exact way that I had envisioned it, when I first heard about the film regarding a boy who lives in the walls of a Parisian railway Station during the 1930s that would star; Sir Ben Kingsley, Sacha Baron Cohen, Asa Butterfield, Chloë Grace Moretz, Ray Winstone and Christopher Lee. I was surprised because as spectacular as it was to see some incredible 3D and cinematography (classic sweeping Scorsese single takes IN 3D) within a period station. It seemed a little conventional for Martin Scorsese.Then the title flickers up and everything changes.

The Jameson Empire Done in Sixty Seconds or DISS short film making competition is back.

Last year Mr. Tom Hooper the man behind The King's Speech was the Done in 60 Seconds Ambassador, you may remember our chat with him over here! Looks like this year's ambassador was on the DISS team last year as well as is one of the nicest people in show business and 2012 BAFTA Orange Rising Star Nominee... Mr. Chris O’Dowd 

This week on The Establishing Shot: UK Top 10 Films, Establishing Shot Exclusive: Inside the Resistance Premiere a photo set, Voting for the Jameson Empire Awards 2012 is now OPEN,  Paramount shows us exclusive footage of Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol and my analysis, Resistance Review, Take Shelter Review, Sony Digital Cinema 4K screening of Dr Strangelove, Support Charity and get tickets to the Royal Film Performance of Martin Scorsese's Hugo 3D, Sundance London Film & Music Festival pre-sale tickets now available, Sir Ben Kingsley - A Life in Pictures, ICA announce a new Cinema Loyalty Card, Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol opening early on IMAX, New Releases From Cine-Asia, UK Jewish Film Festival 2011, Sky Film Award presented at closing night event, Black Pond + QA with Chris Langham & Directors, Warner Bros. Studio Tour London - The Making Of Harry Potter™ Tickets now available, Ralph Fiennes A Life In Pictures, Cagney & Lacey – 30th Anniversary: Sharon Gless, Tyne Daly, and Barney Rozenzweig in Conversation, Eisenstein Flashmob Reenact: The Odessa Steps Sequence from Battleship Potemkin, The Deep Blue Sea and QA with Director Terence Davies, Harry Potter Stars To Make A Special Appearance At Harrods!, The Twilight Saga: Breaking 'Records' Dawn Part 1 Biggest Uk Opening For The Franchise So Far, Tom Hanks talks; Larry Crowne, the Wachowskis' Cloud Atlas, Superheroes and Robert Langdon’s return, You can play a part in the production of feature film Fortune Cookies, Morricone in Love! at The Ritzy, Shooting On The Rise And Fall Of A White Collar Hooligan Has Wrapped!,  Project X Trailer

UK Top 10 Films Friday 18 - Sunday 20 November, 2011- from Digital Cinema Media

1. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1
2. Arthur Christmas 3D
3. The Adventures Of Tin Tin: Secret Of The Unicorn
4. Immortals 3D
5. In Time
6. Tower Heist
7. Justice
8. Johnny English Reborn
9. The Rum Diary
10. The Ides Of March
Last Sunday we were lucky enough to be invited along to the Premiere of Resistance at the jam packed Curzon Mayfair. At that point we had not actually seen the film and were a little unprepared to chat with the vastly talented cast and team that made Resistance.

I have now seen Resistance and it is astounding! A quiet anti war tale that conveys it’s message by provoking thought and tapping into a rich emotional vein carried by absolutely outstanding performances. Hopefully I’ll have a review up after lunch that will do this film justice and interviews up of the weekend. But if you are looking for a clever film that conveys more through subtlety than crassness, with some of the best performances I have seen this year. Resistance should be at the top of your list.

In the meantime here are some pictures from the Resistance Premiere at Curzon Mayfair. Read more here!
With the doom and gloom of the current economic climate lurking around every corner I have recently seen a number of outstanding American films like; Winter’s Bone, The Tree Of Life, The Help, Red State, Texas Killing Fields and Take Shelter, seemingly mirroring the shift in the USA’s current outlook. That is, a shift from an international outlook, to a more insular focus as well as a return on importance being placed on people rather than high concept. Read more here! 
The Jameson Empire Awards 2012 will take place on 25 March 2012 and voting for the Awards is now OPEN! The competition is open to any film released between 22 January 2011 and 20 January 2012 and film fans across the country can nominate their favourite film or actor in the 11 categories from now until 12 March 2012. Read more here!
Early last  Friday I accepted the challenge and made my way to the BFI IMAX the biggest screen in the UK to see some exclusive and never before seen footage from this year's mega action blockbuster and fourth in the series Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol. Read more here!

The Jameson Empire Awards 2012 will take place on 25 March 2012 and voting for the Awards is now OPEN! The competition is open to any film released between 22 January 2011 and 20 January 2012 and film fans across the country can nominate their favourite film or actor in the 11 categories from now until 12 March 2012.

This year the Best Newcomer category has been split into Best Male Newcomer and Best Female Newcomer giving you more scope to pick your favourite emerging actor. Other categories fans can vote for are Best Comedy, Best Horror, Best Sci-Fi / Fantasy, Best Thriller, Best British Film, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director and Best Film.

From blockbusters such as Thor, Captain America and Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes, to finales such as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 and not forgetting art house successes including We Need To Talk About Kevin, Drive and The Skin I Live In the choice is completely yours!

Open voting closes 21 February 2012. On 5 March, Empire will release the shortlist of nominees in each category from the films and actors YOU voted for! Voting on the shortlist closes 12 March 2012.

Last year’s winners included The King’s Speech, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1, Four Lions, Inception, Kick-Ass, Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Chloë Grace Moretz and Edgar Wright and next year’s ceremony promises to be as star studded as ever.

So go to www.empireonline.com/awards2012 to view the categories, pick your favourite movies and make your vote count!

The Establishing Shot: Voting for the Jameson Empire Awards 2012 is now OPEN 

With the doom and gloom of the current economic climate lurking around every corner I have recently seen a number of outstanding American films like; Winter’s Bone, The Tree Of Life, The Help, Red State, Texas Killing Fields and Take Shelter, seemingly mirroring the shift in the USA’s current outlook. That is, a shift from an international outlook, to a more insular focus as well as a return on importance being placed on people rather than high concept.

These films are studies of issues effecting pedestrian small town life (sometimes the dark underbelly of rural life) and all have a very strong focus on family. I’m sure it is pure coincidence that Jessica Chastain is in four of these films.

Along with the increasing financial pressures cracks have started forming in our Zeitgeist further widened by the apocalyptic buzz brought on by talk of the oncoming Mayan 2012 apocalypse (since said to be completely unfounded) as well as America’s own religious Rapture planned to take place on September 6, 1994, , May 21, 2011, October 21, 2011. Oh! I’m unsure of the exact new date. But these are trying times and this is the ominous feelings that Take Shelter taps into with it’s titular warning.