New Release Review - Anna Karenina

Directed by: Joe Wright

Starring: Keira Knightley, Jude Law, Aaron Johnson, Kelly MacDonald, Olivia Williams, Matthew MacFadyen, Emily Watson, Domhnall Gleeson

In nineteenth century Russia, wealthy wife Anna Karenina (Knightley) embarks on an affair with young Count Vronsky (Taylor-Johnson).

Dead Format Month - Wiiiiiiiidescreeeeen

In an age when we can enjoy watching DVDS, Blu-Rays and online films on a large screen TV and surround sound system in our living room (or home theater room if you're lucky), the thrill of a cinema visit isn't what it used to be. In the mid twentieth century, television sets were appearing in more and more homes, leading Hollywood to look for new ways to entice people back to the cinema. 3D was attempted unsuccessfully but what did work was the enlarging of the screen itself to give us what's now known collectively as "widescreen". Various widescreen formats competed for your dollar in the fifties and sixties. Here we take a look at the successful and not so successful variants.

Great Movie Posters - Wiiiiiiiidescreeeen

New Release Review - Compliance

Directed by: Craig Zobel

Starring: Ann Dowd, Dreama Walker, Pat Healy, Bill Camp, Philip Ettinger, Ashlie Atkinson

Posing as a police officer, sociopath Healy calls a fast food restaurant and accuses a staff member of stealing from a customer.

New Release Review - Premium Rush

Directed by: David Koepp

Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Shannon, Dania Ramirez, Wole Parks, Jamie Chung

Manhattan bike courier Gordon-Levitt finds himself being chased by crooked cop Shannon who desperately needs the mysterious ticket he has been hired to deliver to Chinatown.

Superman Summer - Superman 4: The Quest For Peace (1987)

Directed by: Sidney J. Furie
Starring: Christopher Reeve, Gene Hackman and Margot Kidder, Jackie Cooper, Marc McClure, Jon Cryer, Sam Wanamaker, Mariel Hemingway, Mark Pillow, Jim Broadbent

Using a strand of Superman's hair, Lex Luthor creates Nuclear Man.

New Release Review - The Possession

Directed by: Ole Bornedal

Starring: Natasha Calis, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Kyra Sedgwick, Matisyahu, Grant Show, Madison Davenport

After purchasing a wooden box at a yard sale, Morgan's ten year old daughter Calis becomes possessed by a Dybbuk, a spirit from Jewish folklore.

New Release Review - Berberian Sound Studio

Directed by: Peter Strickland

Starring: Toby Jones, Tonia Sotiropoulou, Cosimo Fusco, Suzy Kendall, Antonio Mancino, Susanna Cappellaro

Mild mannered sound technician Jones becomes increasingly disturbed while working on an Italian horror film.

New Release Review - Lola Versus

Directed by: Daryl Wein

Starring: Greta Gerwig, Zoe Lister Jones, Hamish Linklater, Joel Kinnaman, Bill Pullman, Debra Winger, Ebon Moss-Bachrach

Gerwig reassesses her love-life after her fiance Kinnaman walks away from the relationship.

Dead Format Month - Why Laserdiscs?

Laserdisc fan Denny Spangler on why he loves those big shiny discs.

Superman Summer - Supergirl (1984)

Directed by: Jeannot Szwarc

Starring: Helen Slater, Faye Dunaway, Peter O'Toole, Peter Cook, Marc McClure, Hart Bochner, Mia Farrow, Brenda Vaccaro, Maureen Teefy

Superman's cousin Kara (Slater) travels to earth to retrieve a mystical orb which has fallen into the hands of a witch (Dunaway).

New Release Review - VHS

Directed by: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, David Bruckner, Tyler Gillett, Justin Martinez, Glenn McQuaid, Joe Swanberg, Chad Villella, Ti West, Adam Wingard

Starring: Calvin Reeder, Lane Hughes, Adam Wingard, Hannah Fierman, Mike Donlan, Joe Sykes 

Anthology of six horror stories told from a found footage perspective.

Dead Format Month - 35mm

Photography enthusiast John Saltwell looks back fondly on a format which, after over a century in existence, is now becoming little more than a nostalgic memory.

New Release Review - Total Recall

Directed by: Len Wiseman

Starring: Colin Farrell, Kate Beckinsale, Jessica Biel, Bokeem Woodbine, Bryan Cranston, Bill Nighy, John Cho

Blue collar worker Farrell visits Rekall, a company who implant their clients with false memories, and discovers a past he was unaware of.

First Time Watches - August 2012

Dolemite (1975)

Blaxploitation icon Rudy Ray Moore made a bunch of trashy movies in the seventies, starting here where he plays a convict freed to help take down a drug cartel.

New Release Review - Shadow Dancer

Directed by: James Marsh

Starring: Clive Owen, Andrea Riseborough, Gillian Anderson, Aidan Gillen, Domhnall Gleeson, David Wilmot

IRA terrorist Riseborough is recruited by Owen as an informer.

New Release Review - To Rome With Love

Directed by: Woody Allen

Starring: Woody Allen, Penélope Cruz, Jesse Eisenberg, Judy Davis, Flavio Parenti, Roberto Benigni, Alison Pill, Alessandro Tiberi, Alessandra Mastronardi, Alec Baldwin, Carol Alt, Greta Gerwig, Ellen Page, Ornella Muti

Four comedic stories set in the Eternal City.

Superman Summer - Superman 3 (1983)

Directed by: Richard Lester

Starring: Christopher Reeve, Richard Pryor, Robert Vaughan, Annie Ross, Pamela Stephenson, Annette O'Toole, Gavan O'Herlihy, Jackie Cooper, Margot Kidder, Marc McClure

Computer wiz Pryor is hired by evil businessman Vaughan to build a computer capable of fulfilling his dreams of world domination.

New Release Review - The Watch

Directed by: Akiva Schaffer

Starring: Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Jonah Hill, Richard Ayoade, Rosemarie DeWitt, Will Forte, R Lee Ermey

Area busybody Stiller puts together a neighborhood watch outfit which soon finds itself battling aliens.

Superman Summer - Superman 2 (1980)

Directed by: Richard Lester / Richard Donner

Starring: Gene Hackman, Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, Ned Beatty, Jackie Cooper, Terence Stamp, Sarah Douglas, Jack O'Halloran, Valerie Perrine, Marc McClure, EG Marshall

The three intergalactic criminals imprisoned by Jor-El arrive on Earth and use their powers to rule the planet.