It’s the time of year when the summer blockbusters that filled the cinemas begin to fill the DVD shelves instead. In Special Edition # 27, Laurence Boyce looks at one of the biggest hits of the summer alongside some cinematic classics, some laughs and a few TV staples. I've also been watching films with a lot of porn in them, but as its work then it’s allowed. You know, I…

As we reach the end of August, it appears as if everyone is retuning from their holidays as there are a ton of DVDs being released over the next couple of weeks. So whether you like French movies, Anime or comedy (or indeed French Anime Comedies) let Laurence Boyce and Special Edition # 9 help you sort the wheat from the chaff as the last hazy days of summer gently slip away. Or disappe…

Release your own film on DVD with this step-by-step guide that walks you through the most complex aspects of production and provides detailed information to create a DVD that will sell.   The book passes on insider information used by independent film pros, including   -Authoring high-quality DVDs comparable to major studio titles -Negotiating Distributor deals in your favour -Launching a guerill…

Will Self, I think, once blamed Hollywood in part for the current 'war on terror' because its depiction in epics such as Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter of good and evil as black and white absolutes leads the audience to simplify incredibly complex situations. Even Star Wars  – where Obi Wan rebuked Anakin's Bush-like 'you're either with us or against us…

Tim Burton has always had something of a schizophrenic career. On one hand he’s the eccentric visionary who works on the fringes of Hollywood with such films as the fabulous Edward Scissorhands and the commercially unsuccessful yet brilliantly twisted Mars Attacks. On the other hand he’s at the heart of the Hollywood machine, helming the merchandise monster that was Batman and th…

There were no accidents. Nothing blew up. So, unless I spontaneously combust in the middle of writing this column, then it seems we can go ahead with Special Edition # 25. Yay. And, yes, we’re on number 25. Laurence Boyce would have got some mugs specially produced but who needs merchandise when – as always – there are a multitude of delightful DVDs for your perusal. Thi…

It’s a chock full column this time around as some of the biggest blockbusters of last year find their way onto DVD. So join Special Edition # 16 as Laurence Boyce reviews the re-invention of one of Britain’s cinematic icons, the re-release of one of the most famous films of the 90s and – just so we don’t start getting too serious – some classic cartoons that a genera…

You remember where you were when you saw it happen. It was a normal Tuesday lunchtime in the UK, just after Neighbours in fact. Flicking through the channels, every one of them seemed to be showing a disaster movie, involving cinema’s most recognisable skyline. Like most of the western world, you watched, incredulously, as fiction and reality merged. No one knew then what was going to…

After a few columns in which Hollywood has been heavily featured, Special Edition # 39 focuses upon some great cinema from across the world (though with one or two releases from the US studios). Laurence Boyce will check out new releases and classics from Mexico, Czechoslovakia, Russia and Sweden whilst also dwelling upon remakes of classic TV shows and the usual mention of Doctor Who. For thos…

  You would be hard pressed to find anyone who thinks Ken Loach's films are simply OK, or all right, or not so bad. Loach divides opinion. ``The Wind That Shakes the Barley,'' which won the top prize -- the Palme D'Or -- at the Cannes Film Festival last month isn't going to change that fact. The film is, at least in part, a damning indictment of the British in Ireland…

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…

This book is the complete guide to digital filmmaking by the owner and chief engineer of DVfilm Digital Transfers. Everything from selecting a camera to promoting and marketing your finished film is covered in this comprehensive guide, written specifically for those who wish to shoot with digital cameras and project their movie on 35mm film. The author, Marcus Van Bavel, is an electrical engineer…

It’s the time again to move your eyes away from the screen and let them drift over to the printed word. In Page To Screen # 3, those books that are influenced by – and, indeed, influence - the worlds of film and television are brought to the fore as Laurence Boyce examines how someone is making a monkey out of biographies, someone else is making us nostalgic for classic Saturda…

It may have taken more than ten years for this one to come to the big screen, but it is a must-see for anyone with a liking for quirky humour, or film noir. It may be low budget, but there’s not a Lottery penny in sight. If low budget means you can end up with these production values on screen, then the UK Film Council needs to move over. They may have lost the plot, but the team behind Roo…

Whether you're old enough to remember seeing Jason And The Argonauts on the big screen or fondly hark back to bank holidays where you could comfortably settle down for a screening of Clash Of The Titans, the films of legendary animator Ray Harryhausen have enchanted many a movie goer. But as much as Harryhausen is loved by his audience, he is also revered and respected throughout the film…

Special Edition # 45 marks my return after a hiatus due to things that I can’t tell you about. Well, I could tell but then I’d have to kill you.Which would be a bit unfair given that there are lots of lovely DVDs due out very soon. So, rather than dwell on an emotional reunion, let’s just get straight on with it shall we? A Facebook movie? Whatever next? A musical about My Space? An opera abou…

The London Film Festival opens tonight with a screening of Never Let Me Go, an adaptation of the 2005 Kazuo Ishiguro novel, starring Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley and Andrew Garfield. The screenplay was written by Alex Garland, and the movie directed by Mark (One Hour Photo) Romanek. The story takes place in an alternate England, where medical research has solved most illnesses, and the averag…

Close Up 01 is the first in a series of annual books from Wallflower Press, each containing three individual studies that are linked by their detailed explorations of the decisions that are made in both film and television, such as camera position, editing and sound. Whilst to some this would seem somewhat rather obvious, those who are steeped in film academia will known that many theories in f…

  Britain's latest and remotest filmfest in the Shetland Islands got off to a great start with a screening of BBC 4's drama Reichenbach Falls, a fast-moving drama made by a BBC Scotland team. The TV programme clearly proved that low budget does not exclude high production values - something known to indie filmmakers for a long time - but clearly the message is now getting through to TV d…

As the film world anxiously awaits the release of David Lynch's latest film Inland Empire, Michel Chion's definitive book on the one of the most complex directors in American Cinema today is finally updated. But if you're looking for a book that explains all of Lynch's work then you're going to be disappointed: after all, it's sometimes questionable if Lynch himself knows…

Wes Anderson's The Darjeeling Limited will close the London Film Festival tonight, with a sold-out screening in the West End.  The film follows three brothers - reunited for the first time in the year since their father's death - who take a train journey across northern India, in the hope of renewing their relationships, finding someone they lost and, in true gap-year style, findin…

  Starsuckers is the second feature-length documentary from writer/director Chris Atkins, who made the BAFTA-nominated Taking Liberties in 2007. The film takes an in-depth look into celebrity culture - and sleb journalism - and the results are both laugh-out-loud funny and worrying. The issue of made-up stories making their way into showbiz gossip columns was discussed by George Clooney and…

Whether it’s the fountain where Anita Ekberg frolicked in La Dolce Vita, the scuzzy convenience store where Dante wasn’t even supposed to be that day in Clerks or the hotel where Jack Nicholson went a little bit bonkers in The Shining, there are plenty of movie locations that remain a source of pilgrimage for holiday makers, movie buffs and – on occasion – completely bar…

Shane Meadows has been awarded almost iconic status as one of the pioneers of low budget filmmaking in Britain, which he certainly is, but some people find his work on screen doesn't always reach – on the audience satisfaction scale - the parts others claim it does reach. This week his latest opus Dead Man's Shoes opens Stateside in Greenwich Village, the heartland of New Yor…

  HDV Filmmaking by Chad Fahs An Authoritative Guide to the Brave New World of HDV 470 pages Thomson Course Technology $49.99 High definition video is the latest technology to enable filmmakers to capture the best possible image at lowest cost. Because it shares tape transport with DV format, it is often see as the next step up, but this is not DV, it is a very differen…