Directed by Justin Chadwick (The Other Boleyn Girl) Mandela: The Long Walk To Freedom stars Idris Elba as Nelson Mandela and Naomie Harris (Skyfall) as Winnie Mandela.

A chronicle of Nelson Mandela’s life journey from his childhood in a rural village through to his inauguration as the first democratically elected president of South Africa.

The film also stars Tony Kgoroge, Riaad Moosa, Zolani Mkiva, Jamie Bartlett, Lindiwe Matshikiza, Deon Lotz and Terry Pheto.

It should be out on 29th November.

Source: Yahoo

Bryan Singer has shared this new image showing Jennifer Lawrence fully made up as Mystique.

She does look rather fetching.

X-Men: Days of Future Past stars Hugh Jackman, James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, Patrick Stewart, Michael Fassbender, Nicholas Hoult, Omar Sy, Peter Dinklage, Halle Berry, Ian McKellen, Adan Canto, Fan Bingbing, Anna Paquin, Daniel Cudmore, Ellen Page and Booboo Stewart.

The film is out on July 18, 2014.

Via Twitter

The first official teaser poster for the sequel to the last year’s indie scifi film hit, Iron Sky, has been released. The sequel started its’ lengthy and ambitious crowdfunding campaign few days ago and is aiming for shootings in 2015. The script is being developed by the original writing team, and the style of the film will be, according to director Timo Vuorensola, “darker, crazier and more epic”.

Many fans have already spotted references with the film – titled “IRON SKY THE COMING RACE” – to Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s 1871-released book “Vril, The Power of Coming Race”.

“It’s not based on the book, but we’ve gathered a lot of references and ideas from famous conspiracy theories. I enjoy playing with speculative elements, alternative history and political satire, and we inted to dwell deeper into it.”

The film will be largely crowdfunded in an attempt to be able to keep the original vision of the director and writers unhindered by outside demands.

“This allows us also to have a bit sexier and more violent approach”, Vuorensola says. “Not to say that’s the aim, but it’s good to have leeway into those directions as well. With script PG-13 aim of Iron Sky, that was quite soon ruled out. We want to go more to the direction of Starship Troopers.”

Crowdfunding campaign is ongoing at IndieGoGo, a platform available worldwide. The aim is to first finance the script for the film, a few minutes promo reel and a production plan and budget. The campaign attracted over 10000 on its first few days, a good start on the way to the goal of 150000 by the end of June.

“The campaign is not only important because of the raised money, but as the basis for building the fanbase for the sequel”, Tero Kaukomaa, the producer of Iron Sky says. “We’ve worked for years with our fanbase, and continue to nurture it even more in the future. It is our true strength in the international market.”

Iron Sky has over 180000 followers on Facebook and more than 21 million views on the YouTube channel.

It appears that many strange and terrible events have been occurring all around the World as these videos show.

What can it all mean?

The threat is real. The threat is now.

Cinipix, a vertically integrated production, acquisition and distribution company headed by CEO Todd Slater (Ray, Raze), announced today that it has joined forces with Patricia A Beninati and Michael K Anderson’s CenterborProductions to produce the sci-fi action film “Newcomers” and will send XCOR Aerospace’s commercial spacecraft, the Lynx, into space to shoot exclusive footage for the film.

The Lynx will be piloted by former NASA Astronaut Col. Richard A. Searfoss on an expedition marking the first Hollywood involvement for a privately owned space company, as well as first-of-its kind brand integration.

Specific plot details are being kept under wraps, however “Newcomers” will tell the story of a former NASA Astronaut who saves the Earth from an alien invasion with help from the commercial space industry (XCOR Aerospace).

Beninati and Anderson adapted the screenplay from an original story and script by Beninati. Slater will produce alongside Executive Producer Mat Hayden. They join existing producers, James MacLean (Archetype Entertainment) and Jacob Silver, who originally developed the movie package with Beninati and Anderson.

Cinipix CEO Todd Slater said, “We knew we could approach this film in a new, non-traditional way and explore options that didn’t exist just a few years ago. Partnering with a privately owned commercial space company for an interstellar sci-fi film is now very logical and doable so we wanted to move fast and create something special. We certainly know it will add a fantastic and thrilling realism to our scenes.”

“Cinipix is one of the few companies approaching the film business in a really unique way,” says Beninati. “It has created a one stop shop that allows the creative side of the industry to focus on what we do best which is create.”

Andrew Nelson, COO of XCOR Aerospace, said, “We are delighted to have our Lynx spacecraft showcased in the film. We think that Newcomers will be a fantastic piece of entertainment for science fiction fans.”

Producers are now talking to top directors with an eye toward starting principal photography in First Quarter 2014.

Centerboro Productions is a New York City-based entertainment company specializing in science fiction films, television and web content headed by the writing/production team of Patricia A. Beninati and Michael K. Anderson.

Wall Street Financiers Howard Silverman and Neil Grossman recently formed Toast & Jam Holdings, LLC to invest in Cinipix as well as animation house Cosmic Toast Studios and rental company Cinirents, expanding the companies into a multifaceted studio and production company.

We have had a teaser trailer. This new one has almost 5 minutes of Batman in action. There is still no gameplay footage, but they sure do make gorgeous trailers and cut scenes. It also shows just how dangerous Deathstroke can be.

Taking place before the rise of Gotham City’s most dangerous villains and assassins, the game showcases a young, raw, unrefined Batman as he faces a defining moment in his early career as a crime fighter that sets his path to becoming the Dark Knight. As the story unfolds, witness identities being formed and key relationships being forged.

The larger story arc this time revolves around the dominant Black Mask hiring eight assassins, including Deathstroke and Deadshot, to kill Batman, who has made quite an impression the citizens of his city. In fact, while the Caped Crusader feels at home ridding the streets of wretched scum, not everyone is at ease with his arrival. The police, led by Commissioner Loeb, will pursue the Dark Knight and attempt to detain him.

There is also a reference to Queen Industries in the trailer so I wonder if Green Arrow will be showing up in the game?

Roger Craig Smith (Ezio, Chris Redfield, Sonic) is confirmed as the voice of Batman, and Troy Baker (Booker DeWitt, is the Joker although Kevin Conroy did recently say that he had been working on the game.

Batman: Arkham Origins will be available for the Wii U, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC on 25th October 2013.

Source: IGN

Production has begun on Star Wars Rebels, an exciting, all-new animated television series based on one of the greatest entertainment franchises of all time. Scheduled to premiere in fall 2014 as a one-hour special telecast on Disney Channel, it will be followed by a series on Disney XD channels around the world.

Leading the development of the series is a creative team of exceptional talent. Screenwriter/producer Simon Kinberg (X-Men: First Class,Sherlock Holmes, Mr. & Mrs. Smith) is an executive producer on Star Wars Rebels and will write the premiere episode. He is joined by Dave Filoni as executive producer, who served as supervising director of the Emmy nominated Star Wars: The Clone Wars since 2008. Executive producer Greg Weisman brings with him a wealth of animation experience with credits such as Young Justice, The Spectacular Spider-Man and Gargoyles.

Gary Marsh, president and chief creative officer, Disney Channels Worldwide, said, “The entire team at Lucasfilm has provided extraordinary creativity and innovation for over three decades, and we’re thrilled to be bringing the expansive and imaginative world of Star Wars to Disney XD’s viewers.”

“I couldn’t be more excited to explore new corners of the Star Wars universe,” said Kathleen Kennedy, president, Lucasfilm. “I think Star Wars Rebels will capture the look, feel and fun that both kids and their parents love about Star Wars.”

The action-filled series is set between the events of Episode III and IV — an era spanning almost two decades never-before explored on-screen.Star Wars Rebels takes place in a time where the Empire is securing its grip on the galaxy and hunting down the last of the Jedi Knights as a fledgling rebellion against the Empire is taking shape. Details about the show are a closely guarded secret at this point.

Star Wars Rebels will be produced by Lucasfilm Animation, featuring many of the key talents that made Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Fans attending Star Wars Celebration Europe will be the first to get an exclusive look at the new series. Casting will be announced at a later date. More information about this developing project will be found on StarWars.com and on Facebook at facebook.com/starwarsrebels.

The video below teases some more information including how they are referencing the Star Wars concept art by Ralph McQuarrie.

Saturday night gave us the finale of series 7 (Steven Moffat’s 3rd season) of Doctor Who.  It promised us the answer to the “Impossible Girl” Clara Oswald and the big cliff hanger to lead us into the 50th year anniversary special.  Prior to it being aired I’d been following news on this with some enthusiasm as -and this is purely personal opinion- I think Steven Moffat is going to turn around one of the worst mistakes Russell T Davies made: The removal of Gallifrey and The Time Lords from the universe by the Doctors hand.

Moffat has been known for teasing the fans and it was pretty much accepted that the “The Name of the Doctor,” couldn’t be the thing Moffat was teasing; that would be too obvious!  Unless, of course, that is what Moffat wanted us to think, and the episode will actually reveal the Doctor’s name.  I can’t be that, can it?

You see what I am getting at?

Spoilers ahead.

Anyway, back on topic, I’d been following the build up to this episode with considerable interest.  I knew that there was a new Who monster: the Whisper Men, the return of the Great Intelligence, River Song, the answer to the question of who Clara is and two cliff-hangers.  Charlie Jane Anders (editor of io9) was allowed to see the episode (minus the final minutes) a week before airing and had said that if you liked Moffat’s Who then you’d love the finale, but if you were more of a Who puritan you probably wouldn’t.

I have to say I don’t really agree with that – I consider myself more of a legacy fan, I find I dislike a lot of what has been done to the Whoniverse, mostly by Russell T Davies, but I enjoyed the episode.  Moffat has steadied that ship during his term and I was delighted to see so many references to the past doctors in this episode.  I loved the fact that Clara told the first doctor which TARDIS to steal and that she has little scenes with each Doctor through time.  Seeing Patrick Troughton’s second Doctor run past her in what looked like a park in LA brought a genuine smile to my lips, and having the appearance of all 12 of the doctors with Carla as memory flashbacks was a lovely touch and a fitting tip-of-the-hat to the upcoming 50th anniversary special.

The question I am asking myself though is: Did I enjoy the episode because of the story, or did I enjoy it because of all the interaction with previous Who lore?  If I’m honest it’s probably the second question, the story itself I found to be weak in places and I’m very obsessive-compulsive when it comes to the particulars. That is not to say the story was bad though.

The episode opens with Clara in some sort of freefall, quoting a monologue on how she is the impossible girl and her reason for being is to save the Doctor.  We see her interact with William Hartnell as he steals a TARDIS, chasing Tom Baker and John Pertwee, shouting at Peter Davidson and Sylvester McCoy’s Doctors when they are in peril, Colin Baker’s Doctor running past her back in a corridor and finally Patrick Troughton’s Doctor running and bumping her shoulder as he passes her.  Excellent stuff.

We then open on a criminal in a cell in Victorian times singing a nursery rhyme about the Whisper Men, and then begging Madame Vastra to vouch for him to spare him the death sentence.  In return he’ll share some information on the Doctor and he proves it by giving her one word: Trensalore.  Madame Vastra, freaked by this, calls a ‘conference call’ by entering a dreamlike state through the use of soporific drugs, Jenny and Strax are also attending the call.  Clara, in the present day, received a letter from Madame Vastra that contains the soporific compound and she falls into a slumber to ‘attend’ the call, and the final attendee is none other than River Song herself.

Madame Vastra passes along all the information she found out from the criminal which alarms River Song immediately, but not before the new monsters, the Whisper Men, enter Madame Vastra’s house and kill Jenny while she is in the trance allowing her to attend the call.  She realises what is happening and warns the others prompting River to slap Madame Vastra and throw wine over Strax to wake them.  Both wake in the company of the Whisper Men who then also appear in the call beside River and Clara.  OK.  Pretty spooky so far, the Whisper Men look suitably scary and the conference call was typically ‘Whovian’ in nature so, moving along!

Clara wakes up and finds the Doctor waiting for her and tells him everything she has heard.  She tells him what the prisoner said: “The Doctor has a secret you know.  He has one that he will take to the grave, and it is discovered.”  The Doctor realises that this doesn’t mean his secret has been found, but that his grave has been found, and it can only be one place.  Trensalore.  It turns out though that visiting your own grave is the biggest time traveller no-no and could be very, very bad.  So, off they pop in the TARDIS to Trensalore, the Doctor reasoning that he owes Jenny, Madame Vastra and Strax for looking after him during his dark period when he lost the Ponds to history.

So after a bit of a kafuffle with the TARDIS they make it to Trensalore and find the Doctors grave, which turns out to be, could only be, where else but the TARDIS!  Did anyone notice that the TARDIS that served as the Doctors tomb still had the cracked window that happened when the TARDIS landed on Trensalore during the episode?  If you managed to catch that then it’s a clue that this has already happened, you know, one of those timey-wimey things!  At this point River shows up again telling Carla she is still linked to her via the conference call and through Carla helps the Doctor work out how to get to the grave while escaping the Whisper Men (this is the virtual River Song the Doctor uploaded to the library, he can’t see or hear her).  Meanwhile, Strax, Madame Vastra awake outside the Doctors tomb and Strax uses Sontarin technology to revive Jenny (turns out she had a shock induced heart attack).  When Jenny comes around the Great Intelligence shows himself in the guise of Doctor Simeon (Richard E Grant) along with the Whisper Men.

Killing Jenny and kidnapping the others was a ploy to make the Doctor travel to his grave.  It turns out that to enter the Doctors tomb (The TARDIS) you need a key, the key being the Doctors name.  So, when the Doctor and Clara show up the Great Intelligence demands the Doctor to say his name to open the tomb or the Whisper Men will kill the doctors friends.  During the dialogue between the Doctor and Simeon, as the Whisper Men slowly start to kill the Doctor’s allies, the doors open when River Song says the Doctors name – from inside the tomb of course, the viewer can’t know the Doctors name!

In the TARDIS control room we find the ‘body’ of the Doctor, although as the Doctor mentioned, “bodies are boring.”  What is actually left behind is the legacy of the Doctors travels through time, from Gallifrey, to Trensalore.  It’s represented as what I can only describe looks like a pulsating thorn bush of white light.  Every moment of the Doctors life is encapsulated here and it’s the one place the Doctor can’t be (as a time traveller) as it also contains his future.

The goal of the Great Intelligence is to enter the Doctors timeline, effectively killing itself but allowing it to kill the Doctor over and over and over again.  It does so and, as the Doctor lays dying repeatedly all the way through time, the consequences of a Universe without the Doctor unfold.  Jenny disappears, Strax tries to kill Madame Vastra before disappearing himself, countless planets vanish having never been saved.  It’s at this point Clara realises what she must do, how she becomes the impossible girl; she must enter the Doctors timeline too.

River tells her the consequences of that decision, that she’ll be ripped to shreds, spread over the Doctors life copies, of copies, of copies of herself and the actual Clara, the one here and now, will no longer exist.  Clara argues that this has already happened so it must be what she does and River has to agree, so over the Doctors dying protests Clara enters his timeline and puts right everything the Great Intelligence destroyed.

The Doctor, now himself once more, decides to enter his own timeline to save Clara, after all she’s saved him hundreds of times.  The virtual River tries to stop him at which point the Doctor acknowledges her presence, he could see her all along but chose not to as it was too painful for him.  They have a wee romantic exchange and River tells him that if Clara died entering his timeline then why is the conference call link between them still on.  The Doctor asks why and in typical River Song fashion we get the answer, “Spoilers!”  So into his timeline the Doctor goes.

The Doctor locates Clara inside his timeline and as they prepare to try and leave Clara notices a silhouette she doesn’t recognise whom the Doctor eventually admits is him.  Confused, Clara asks why she hasn’t seen this one before, and the Doctor tells her that this regeneration isn’t the Doctor, that in Gallifrey you take on a moniker and live by that code.  There have been 11 Doctors in time and one additional entity.  At this point the Silhouette states, “What I did, I did in the name of peace and sanity,” to which the Doctor agrees, and adds, “but not in the name of the Doctor!“  The figure turns around and on screen letters read: Introducing John Hurt .. as .. The Doctor.  The end credits then start by stating the 50th anniversary special will air November 23rd.

So all in all it was a pretty decent story, it’s an excellent lead in to the anniversary special that promises a lot and I’ll get to it later.  My one gripe with this episode, well two related gripes actually, are the Great Intelligence and the Whisper Men.  We know that the Great Intelligence is a non-corporeal thing that we have met twice before (The Snowmen and The Bells of St Johns).  Both times defeated by the Doctor, but if it can time travel then why not change that?  Probably due to the standard “fixed point in time” excuse, but is that something we should have known, and, really, would a Who monster care about crossing its own timeline?

Also, what purpose are the Whisper Men, and what exactly are they?  They have the hall marks of a great Who monster even if they are a complete rip off of the Gentlemen from Buffy.  I loved the look of them, I loved the fact that the speak (whisper?) in unison and everything they say is in nursery rhyme form.  Anyone who has seen the original Nightmare on Elm Street will lap that up.  As they work for (are?) the Great Intelligence we now know they can travel throughout time so there is definite repeat potential there, but they seemed more of a plot mechanic in this episode, there was no real substance to the threat of them which seemed to me an opportunity missed.  I really believe this is purely down to the program format, one forty-five minute episode per story just doesn’t cut it.  Oh how wish they would return to the three thirty-minute or two forty-five minute story formats of legacy Doctor Who.  How great would it be to have Doctor Who starting on Saturday and concluding on the Sunday?  The BBC would nail the ratings on two prime time evenings, but I guess the reality is that the production costs would prohibit this.  So, yeah, the Whisper Men: Great potential, poorly executed.

That was the only downside though, in general I thought the episode did exactly what is said on the box.  I knew there was no way Moffat would reveal the Doctor’s name and he didn’t, it was a play on words, cheating the audience perhaps, but it got everyone talking about it.  It was also the first time that the new series truly embraced the old series, there was actual interaction there on a personal level for the Doctor, not just the appearance of an old enemy.  Actually something tangible to link the incarnations of the Doctor.  For people born in the 90′s this probably wouldn’t mean all that much, but to me there was a sense of catharsis there, a real relation between Matt Smith and the 10 preceding Doctors, all sewn together by Jenna Louise Coleman’s impossible girl.  To me this is what made the episode special, almost like the first steps taken in healing, what I perceive as, the rift Russell T Davies caused when he launched the franchise reboot.

Then there is John Hurt.  What a cliff-hanger that turned out to be! You can watch it again below. I had heard rumour that he was in the anniversary special as a Doctor, specifically the Doctor from the Time War.  This would make him Doctor number nine, meaning Matt Smith is actually Doctor number twelve.  This is huge.  This means that the next Doctor, as prophesised by the Master in Trial of a Time Lord, would be the Valeyard.  Indeed, the Great Intelligence mentioned this as one of the Doctors names earlier in the episode.  For those who don’t know the Valeyard, this is what the Master told the Doctor: “There is some evil in all of us, Doctor – even you. The Valeyard is an amalgamation of the darker sides of your nature, somewhere between your twelfth and final incarnation, and I may say you do not improve with age.”

I’m intrigued to find out how this now affects the Whoniverse, not that I am in any way wanting Matt Smiths tenure as the Doctor to finish anytime soon, but now I know this I kinda do too.

I wrote an opinion piece on Doctor Who some weeks back.  In it I argued that, despite its success, Russell T Davies sort of destroyed a lot of what I loved about Doctor Who and how I wished that the events ending the Time War, the imprisoning of Gallifrey in time, could be overturned.  It seemed a cheap move to me to say that all the Time Lords, the self professed protectors of space and time, all of a sudden became maddened oligarchs lead by the long dead Time Lord (that discovered time travel and helped the Time Lords evolve into the benefactors of the universe) and were about  to destroy space and time just to kill off the Daleks.  My one wish for the anniversary special was that Moffat would right this wrong.

I’m actually daring to hope this will now be the case…

Below you can also see Matt Smith and David Tennant talking about playing the Doctor.

Blood Ties stars Clive Owen, Marion Cotillard, Matthias Schoenaerts, Mila Kunis, Billy Crudup, James Caan and Zoe Saldana.

Guillaume Canet directs.

Brothers Frank and Chris Pierzynski grew up in the same rough neighborhood of Brooklyn only to find themselves on completely different paths. Now, in 1973, Frank is a captain in the local precinct of the NYPD and Chris is finishing up a 12-year prison stint for murder. When Chris is released early, he tries to fight off criminal temptations for the sake of family but soon falls into his old ways. Now with his job on the line and the fate of his brother in his hands, Frank must decide where his true loyalties lie…

Source: Allocine

Director: Asghar Farhadi

Writers: Asghar Farhadi, Massoumeh Lahidji

Starring: Ali Mosaffa, Bérénice Bejo, Tahar Rahim, Pauline Burlet, Elyes Aguis, Jeanne Jestin

Synopsis: Ahmad (Mosaffa) returns to his ex-wife in France to settle a divorce. Whilst there he attempts to settle several conflicts concerning his ex’s new lover, his ex’s daughter, and his own relationship with the family.

Few directors can compose domestic drama so precisely; in contemporary terms Sam Mendes showed off that skill with American Beauty and Revolutionary Road, and, more recently, Asghar Farhadi has showed an expertise at depicting household upset. The Iranian director’s critically acclaimed About Elly and Oscar-winning A Separation already emphasise the sheer perfection of his direction. His latest, Le Passé, shows the same as each shot, each beat of movement, and every edit is meticulously handled – with a wealth of meaning behind each choice of framing and lighting. It’s terrific to look at as art, and even better as a focal point of discussion.

Story-wise the film is tough to explain but easy to follow; it mostly comes down to a host of characters related, befriended, or in rivalry. It is a composite of emotions and relationships that some may be bored by. However, those looking for a naturalistic film similar to work by Ibsen, Brecht or perhaps Mike Leigh, the film is a captivating watch.

In each of his films Asghar Farhadi gets the very best from his actors. Bérénice Bejo as the ex/mother/lover of the story is beautiful to behold on screen, in looks and in her composed or frenetic moments. Bejo may be the most glamorous of the ensemble, yet it is Ali Mosaffa who is the shining star. Mosaffa is every essence of his character – calm, collected and compassionate bringing warmth to the colder elements of the story. He eases both the turbulent family and the anxious audience through the drama. Farhadi has continually shown a favoritism for the subdued people/those who control their lives through deliberation. The Ahmad character is his best example of this yet, and he couldn’t have asked for a better actor than Mosaffa to take it on.

As if the two leads weren’t enough to help the film sail to victory, the ever-wonderful Tahar Rahim joins as Bejo’s lover. Rahim has less to do here but the “less is more” mantra fits his part – Rahim’s great facial/expression acting comes to the forefront of his role here due to his fewer lines. The last talking point for the film’s acting acclaim are the three children. Each are bound for success and never once break the realism or maturity of the piece with their fewer years’ experience in the profession.

As mentioned, the film is elegantly composed in its entirity. It is demanding at points – with psychologies and motives regularly investigated – though continuously thought-provoking. The last act does meander into soap-opera/whodunit territory but never enough to question the overall value of the film. In sum, a humanistic tour-de-force further highlighting Farhadi’s greatness.

****

Le Passé is competing in the Competition Selection at Cannes 2013

Check out all of our Cannes 2013 coverage.