As we head towards the Summer Blockbuster season, those who found themselves averse to explosions, CGI and lines such as "Whyyyy? And he only had 45 minutes until retirement..." should be extremely grateful for whoever invented Digital Versatile Discs. There are a number of films in Special Edition # 6 that show the crusading and intelligent side of the modern film industry alongside a…

Look out as the heavy hitters from Cannes 2006 are starting to make their way onto DVD as Special Edition # 14 contains reviews two of the very best from last year’s festival. Laurence Boyce also sees that DVD producers are suddenly suffering from outbreaks of common sense, as numerous great –and forgotten – TV shows are unleashed on the buying public. There’s even a lit…

Michael Haneke's critically-acclaimed The White Ribbon, which was released on DVD yesterday, is a chilling look behind the apparently normal façade of a small north German village in the lead-up to the First World War. Narrated by one of the most sympathetic characters, the schoolteacher, when he has become an old man, the film shows us brutal events, some apparently perpetrated by children, b…

Special Edition # 35 is  your special Xmas bumpercolumn with plenty (and we really mean plenty) of DVDs for you to be getting your teeth into. Laurence Boyce will point you in the right direction if you’re looking for presents or simply some ways to escape the endless rounds of Xmas television. So let’s get cracking with just what exactly Santa may put in your stocking over Christmas, especially…

Propelled forward with the raw exuberance of the music and characters within the dance music scene of Brazil's favelas, rarely is a documentary so sexy, foul-mouthed and downright fun. Refreshingly void of narration or authorial presence, ‘Favela on Blast' drops you in at the deep end of Rio's ‘Funk Carioca' scene, relying only on personal accounts from the D.J's, M.C's and characters within it…

Shame there weren't as many celebrity mags back in Joan's day, as she would've provided them with endless fodder: casting couch connoisseur, a sideline in prostitution, four marriages, Mommie Dearest... and a few films.   Shame there weren't as many celebrity mags back in Joan's day, as she would've provided them with endless fodder: casting couch…

Those who know the work of illustrator Dave Shrigley will understand how easy it is to fall into cliché when describing his work. Words such as ‘twisted’, ‘dark’ and ‘disturbing’ seem inadequate to express his truly warped view of the world and the people who inhabit it. Now, with the aid of Chris Shepherd who directed the wonderful short film Dad’…

Under director Hannah McGill, Edinburgh International Film Festival has been steadily building its reputation as a platform for great animation - showing the UK premieres of Ratatouille, Wall*E, Up - and this year Toy Story 3 - in a bumper year which includes the world premiere of the hotly tipped 'British Team America': Jackboots on Whitehall. But few films could be better suited to open the f…

I marched thru the night, looking up to the snow kissed trees, and arrived too late for Cloud Atlas. Half an hour later a film I didn’t know, beyond reading that it was about a student dropout in Berlin, and was Black and White. I dashed back across the road for a thai curry, laden with mushrooms, which I left. I returned in time to get a seat and a small bag of popcorn, hoping this would not be…

Sicko was shown at the London Film Festival last week. It is Michael Moore's latest effort, looking at the mess that is America's privatised healthcare system, relying as it does upon insurance claims to pay medical bills.  As Moore's average, middle-class, insured subjects show us, though, having the insurance may still not be enough. The industry does all it can to avoid payouts, d…

Ahead of the London Film Festival's opening night tomorrow, here's a round-up of some highlights from Suchandrika Chakrabarti. The LFF's press screenings begin before the festival begins, and carry on during it, with the previews of the big gala films, like the opening night's Fantastic Mr Fox (gosh, they do love a bit of Wes Anderson) and the George Clooney-starring The Men Who Stare at Goats…

Even though Laurence Boyce is getting ready to visit a mass of summer music festivals, he’s still ploughing through all the latest DVDs as Special Edition # 30 amply illustrates. This time around: Clint Eastwood impresses, someone actually makes a sequel to Donnie Darko and – as always – there’s a little bit of old school Doctor Who. Even though he’s heading towards his 80s, Clint Eastwood st…

Lots of new films this time around as Special Edition # 33 has more examples of Hollywood being unable to think of new ideas, a bunch of documentaries and the usual intriguing mix of world cinema and TV releases. Originally a BBC Drama, State Of Play (Universal Releasing) has transferred to the big screen under the direction of Oscar winner Kevin One Day In September Macdonald. The original was…

  Making and Marketing Hobbyist DVDs The explosion in pro camcorder sales says there are a lot of people out there with video shooting kit that will produce professional results, many of them focused on traditional markets like film and television, but when it is not shooting that carefully constructed documentary, or between film assignments, how can your camcorder earn its keep…

 There's a real air of independence with Special Edition # 17 as there’s no Hollywood blockbusters in sight. Instead there are movies from across the world, which show the real diversity of things available to movie goers nowadays. Whether it’s French horror, some classic documentaries or a curious Sci-Fi film then Laurence Boyce is here to show you can find just abo…

  Producer: Generic Pool Productions Wildlife films have long been family favourites on TV, but the smooth and easy presentation of the earth's fauna on the box belies the infinite patience and dedicated professionalism of the men and women who set out to capture it on film. This special interest video DVD gives us the inside story. And for those who feel they would enjoy the…

  This is a pocket book in three acts; Inspiration, Preparation and Delivery. Simple as that. But as we should know by now, making a pitch can never be as simple as it seems, even when it has been reduced to three acts. Help is at hand though, in this little book, a distillation of pitching wisdom from producer Eileen Quinn, filtered and polished through one of her faithful disciples, pr…

If Grizzly Man was too scary, but you still haven't had your Dr.Doolittle fix, this documentary might be the one for you.   Director: JUDY IRVING Starring: MARK BITTNER, JUDY IRVING, LOADS OF PARROTS Unemployed 'dharma bum', Mark Bittner, has become the modern-day 'St Francis of San Francisco', by tending to the squawking parrot population. The director, Irving, dia…

Do you want some DVDs? Then you've come to the right place squire as I have Special Edition # 46 all ready and waiting with some tremendously fun new films to see you through the days. This time around we've got violence, corruption and a half shark and half octopus. As you do.  Danny Trejo plays a man whose family have killed and whose beloved town has been corrupted out of all recognition. Kno…

There are lots of things that people can do at the same time. There’s rubbing your tummy whilst patting your head, watching telly whilst doing the ironing and reading whilst in the bath. But one thing you can’t do is run a Film Festival whilst trying to write a DVD column. As such, Laurence Boyce has been away for a while. But like a phoenix from the flames Special Edition # 23 has…

It’s heartening to know that there is still life in the British film industry yet as Special Edition # 43 opens with an exciting example of some of the talent that this country has to offer. With the imminent closure of the UK Film Council and worries about arts cuts it’s films such as Skeletons that sure us that UK talent need to be nurtured and supported. And, as always, Laurence Boyce also wad…

  An Education, which which has its UK premiere tonight at the London Film Festival, is based on a short memoir written by newspaper journalist Lynn Barber, which was published in Granta. The story was adapted for the screen by Nicky Hornby, and stars Carey Mulligan in an acclaimed turn as 16-year-old Jenny (based on the young Lynn), and Peter Sarsgaard as David, the older man who shows her wh…

My very first encounter with a full feature film budget was quite terrifying, simply on grounds of complexity and sheer weight and volume of paper.  There were lots of  “line items” all number coded, running down the left margin. Thousands of them. The bundled pages would pass muster for a telephone directory. I felt the urge to run, but I swallowed, stayed and sent for a bo…

The first post-war film from Iraq - shot by British filmmakers - makes its UK debut in Leeds ahead of a Foreign Language Oscar campaign Ahlaam, which means dreams or utopia, made it's British premiere in Leeds last night, and is a dazzling display of world class filmmaking using guerilla techniques. Producer-writer-director Mohamed al Daradji, formerly of Leeds Met film school…

      Which is to avoid this self-important, uninspiring look at the effect of police incompetence upon race relations.   It's a shame, as the film begins so intriguingly. It opens with a disturbed young woman, Brenda Martin (Julianne Moore), from a posh suburb in New Jersey, who stumbles into hospital with injuries to her hands. She…