Ivan Reitman Won’t Direct Ghostbusters 3

Following the recent death of star Harold Ramis, Ghostbusters director Ivan Reitman has officially dropped out of directing the long delayed third installment in the franchise. Although he will reportedly stay involved with the project as a producer, helping determined studio Sony find a suitable replacement. The studio remains seemingly committed to begin filming the new film early next year.

Explaining the news the director spoke of attending the recent funeral for Ramis and revealed “It was really moving and it made me think about a lot of things”. Ramis had been one of the stars and major creative forces behind the first two films and his death leaves yet another noticeable absence for the reboot of the beloved 1980s franchise.  Bill Murray won’t feature in the new film either having publicly expressed his firm reluctance to reprise his sardonic star turn as Dr Perter Venkman.

Acknowledging the painful ongoing  re-writing process, Reitman has confirmed that the current draft will only feature any of the original Ghostbusters “in a  very minor role” but asserted that they do at least  “now have a draft that is very good, that the studio is very excited about.” Tropic Thunder writer Etan Cohen and Dan Aykroyd are the ones responsible for that latest draft.

Only time will tell if we will finally have someone to call if there’s something strange and it don’t look good…

The Incredibles & Cars 3 Sequels Confirmed

Disney CEO Bob Iger has confirmed that a sequel to The Incredibles and a third film in the popular Cars franchise are both currently in development  at Pixar. 

Finding Nemo sequel Finding Dory, The Good Dinosaur and Inside Out are already in various stages of production, although Pixar won’t have any ready for release this year. Making 2014 the first years since 2005 in which Pixar has failed to release a feature film.

Pixar are however also keeping themselves very busy preparing 3D versions of The Incredibles  and Ratatouille. So expect 2015 onward to be packed full of new and familiar animated delights.

Shane Meadows Talks This Is England 90

Writer and Director Shane Meadows spoke to Red Carpet News at the UK premiere of new comedy Svengali and confirmed that the next installment of This Is England may very well be the final series. This Is England 90 is set to follow up on all the familiar faces from the past series as well as introducing a few new characters. Shane confirms that all the past cast are expected to make an appearance in what will very likely be the very final chapter in the long running saga inspired by his original award winning film.

He also promises that the show will most definitely be “going out with a bang!”.

Video Interview below:

Star Wars Episode VII Starts Filming In May

Producers have finally confirmed that Star Wars Episode VII will officially start filming in May at Pinewood Studios in London. In related news Dinsey and Lucasfim have both further confirmed the long expected news that the new film will pick up the story approximately 30 years after the climatic events of Return of The Jedi. 

Although yet to release an official synopsis or concrete casting details the press release from the studio has confirmed the film “will star a trio of new young leads along with some very familiar faces”. Director J.J. Abrams has been predictably secretive about the project but it remains widely expected that those ‘familiar faces’ will at least include original trilogy stars Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and Mark Hammill. 

The most recent casting rumors have Oscar winning 12 Years A Slave star Lupita Nyong’o tipped to land a lead role with and Girls star Adam Driver almost certain to be playing the new villain in classic Darth Vader type fashion. Expect big news soon as production rushes into full swing to meet he ambitious December 18th 2015 release date.

Svengali Review

The Plot:

Welsh dreamer Dixie moves to London with his loving girlfriend Shell to become the manager for a little known rock band The Premature Congratulations. Determined to turns them into the biggest thing since The Beatles Dixie faces all sorts of obstacles I his quest to become a great musical Svengali. Along the way he experiences the highs and lows of the music industry while being guided by real life Creation Records Guru Alan McGee and with an old school friend deliberately trying to stand in his way.

The Good:

Svengali is a film about the music industry so a great soundtrack was always utterly essential. While the audience never quite gets to hear mythical band The Prems ever actually play a proper song, we do hear a well assembled collection of songs from classic artists and fresh talents alike. The Stone Roses, Jake Bug, The Small aces and Mott The Hoople are just some of the musical magic the film offers. The superb quality of the soundtrack caries the film throughout and particularly keeps things watchable during any slower moments.

Writer and leading man Jonny Owen is so earnestly likeable that it’s impossible not to want his naïve hero Dixie to succeed in the face of a seemingly never ending string of disaster and financial woes. This Is England star Vicky McClure is an equally endearing and accomplished acting talent. The central relationship between Dixie and devoted girlfriend Shell provides a convincingly mundane and affectionate counterpoint to the harsh realities of the greedy underbelly of the music industry.

Svengali features a lot of familiar and very welcome faces. Sherlock star Martin Freeman clearly enjoys a comedy turn as a grumpy record shop owner with a nagging wife and eccentric Mod wardrobe. IT Crowd star Matt Berry and Morwenna Banks also both steal scenes as variously accented but equally hilarious caricatures of record label executives. Watching Berry’s implausibly dressed studio boss berate his grovelling flunkies with spectacularly apathetic disdain is a particular pleasure.

The presence of real life musical figures like Alan McGee and Carl Barat lends the film some deserved musical credibility, further supporting the accuracy of its amusing tale of explosive overnight indie band success.

The Bad:

It feels cruel to criticize Svengali as it does accomplish so much with such little budget and is evidently made with precisely the kind of unashamed enthusiasm that makes Dixie a likeable dreamer. Though the film does occasionally lag in pace, take predictable turns or fail to quite land laughs as big as it aspires to a note perfect soundtrack almost always rescues the situation.

Perhaps the only real problem the film faces is that the greedy cut throat side of the music industry is so well known that it makes the film’s seemingly accurate depiction feel unoriginal. In-fighting arrogant bands, vile A&R men and backstabbing betrayal are such a common feature of rock and roll films that it feels almost overly familiar.

It’s also fair to say that with the exception of Dixie many of the people he meets along his quest, including his own supposedly ‘amazing’ band, are unlikeable character with an assortment of loathsome selfish character traits. But then perhaps that’s the entire point of the film.

The Ugly Truth:

Svengali is a low budget indie comedy that boasts a surprising amount of familiar face and the best soundtracks it could possibly have assembled. After a slow heart it delivers enough heart and humour to carry itself to a satisfying if somewhat surprising conclusion.

Check out red carpet interviews with the cast and celeb guests from the Svengali London Premiere below: