Friday, 03 September 2010
Written by Ivan Radford
 Still unsure about Matt Reeves remaking Let the Right One In? Maybe a spot of bloody murder will convince you, thanks to a new clip which showcases a shifty Richard Jenkins. Taking a leaf out of Zodiac's book, it sees a young guy getting bumped off in a car - it's a long way from stringing people up in the woods and spilling their blood on the snow, but it certainly has its own chilling charm.
Made under the watchful eyes of Hammer Films, the remake of Tomas Alfredson's beautiful piece of Swedish perfection is certainly dividing audiences. And that's an understatement. But with a cast that includes Chloe Moretz and Kodi Smitt-McPhee, I'm honestly excited about this. Despite the fact that I'm also completely against it. I hate being torn between the two - I blame the hormones.
Let Me In is released on Friday 5th November. Check out the trailer over here or read on for the new video. We've even thrown in the new pictures too. Do they change your mind? It may be pointless, but it might also be really, really good. I'm going for the latter.
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Friday, 02 July 2010
Written by Ivan Radford
 Forget the leaked version yesterday - the official teaser trailer for Let Me In is now online. And it looks quite good. Considering. Considering this is a remake of 2009's best film, Let the Right One In. Considering that it's another Americanised take on a great foreign movie. Considering that no-one wanted this film to happen.
And yet there's something in the trailer for Matt Reeves' Let Me In that works. The location feels right, the casting is spot on (Kodi Smitt McPhee and Chloe Moretz look to be sinking their teeth into their parts), even the music sort of fits.
From the looks of things, the tale will remain pretty much identical, with young outcast Owen meeting blood-sucker Abby on his local housing estate. Only to discover she's been his age for a long time. As their awkward relationship blossoms, things get darker and chillier, building up to one hell of a climax.
Tomas Alfredson he ain't, but Matt Reeves has clearly been doing his homework - lots of the shots here look the same as the original. Whether that makes it more pointless or not is perhaps debatable, but (and I'm surprised to be saying this) Let Me In could well be one of those faithful remakes that actually works. They do exist, after all. Remember Insomnia? Or The Departed?
Let Me In is released in October. Check out the trailer in our videos section, or read on for the full video.
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Monday, 10 May 2010
Written by Ivan Radford
 Remember that Swedish film? The one with the vampire? The one that we decided was the Best Film Of 2009? Yeah, the one Matt Reeves is remaking. Well, the Cloverfield director has been busy, with the movie well on the way to its October release date. The question is: will it be any good? Thanks to the LA Times, we can at least see what it looks like. And the answer is somewhat reassuring. Yes, that's Chloe Moretz (aka Hit Girl) there, donning fangs and pale expression to bring us a new, English-language take on the disturbing, disarming character of Eli (now called Abby), the 100 year old vampire in a 13 year old's body. While she may look the part, will Let Me In feel anywhere near the same? Matt Reeves is aware of the challenge:
"I think because of Cloverfield, people have an assumption, which is, 'Oh, crazy handicam, he's going to jazz it up. And I think that's probably what a lot of people were afraid of when they thought of the most cynical version. And that's the last thing we tried to do. We tried to create the approaching, foreboding dread of movies like The Shining, where you feel like something wicked is unravelling and it's not going to end well. That's what I responded to about the original, the juxtaposition of those tones, this very disturbing story but at the centre of it there are these very tender emotions. That's a very unusual mix, and that's what drew me in and dug into me."
He gets it, then. But whether he delivers is another matter. With The Road's Kodi Smit-McPhee on board as our little blonde lead Owen, maybe - just maybe - this won't be as bad as we all thought. Read on for a look at Kodi and Chloe's first meeting.
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Friday, 08 January 2010
Written by Ivan Radford

Director: John Hillcoat Cast: Viggo Mortensen, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Charlize Theron Certificate: 15 "Soon all the trees in the world will have fallen... I think it's October, but I can’t be sure. I haven’t kept a calendar for years." The post-apocalyptic world is a grey place. Drowned in decaying ash, it sits in ruins, foraged by the few who survived. Among them are a father (Mortensen) and his boy (Smit-McPhee). They wander the wastelands, over the cracked ground, stepping between dead bodies and abandoned lives. It's a sombre scene, which stops you cold. This is The Road they have to walk.
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Friday, 18 December 2009
Written by Ivan Radford
 Director: John Hillcoat Cast: Viggo Mortensen, Kode Smit McPhee, Guy Pearce, Charlize Theron, Robert Duvall Certificate: 15 Release Date: Friday 8th January From Cormac McCarthy, author of No Country for Old Men, comes the highly anticipated big screen adaptation of the beloved, best-selling and Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Road. Academy Award-nominee Viggo Mortensen leads an all-star cast featuring Charlize Theron, Robert Duvall, Guy Pearce and young newcomer Kodi Smit-McPhee in this epic post-apocalyptic tale of the survival of a father (Mortensen) and his young son (Smit-McPhee) as they journey across a barren America that was destroyed by a mysterious cataclysm. A masterpiece adventure, The Road boldly imagines a future in which men are pushed to the worst and the best that they are capable of—a future in which a father and his son are sustained by love.
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Friday, 16 October 2009
Written by Ivan Radford

Director: John Hillcoat Cast: Viggo Mortensen, Kody Smit-McPhee, Charlize Theron Certificate: TBC Showing: Monday 19th October, 4:00pm "Soon all the trees in the world will have fallen... I think it's October, but I can’t be sure. I haven’t kept a calendar for years." The post-apocalyptic world is a grey place. Drowned in decaying ash, it sits in ruins, ravaged by the few who survived. Among them are a father (Mortensen) and his boy (Kody). They wander the wastelands, over the cracked ground, stepping between dead bodies and abandoned lives. It's a sombre scene, which stops you cold. This is The Road they have to walk.
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Friday, 16 October 2009
Written by Ivan Radford
 There's nothing quite like a depressing, post-apocalyptic stroll through a wasteland to cheer up your evening. So The Road, director John Hillcoat's adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's bestselling novel, is your perfect pick for a night out. But how on earth can you tackle such material, especially when you're an 11 year old boy, like Viggo Mortensen's co-star Kody Smit-McPhee? Well, John Hillcoat, screenwriter Joe Penhall and Aragorn himself are on hand to fill us in. John, your last film, The Proposition is completely different to The Road, but it somehow had a similar look to it. What attracted you to the material?
JH: Well, I love the heat and the Sun - I'm an Australian! No, the two films are really quite polar opposites, but they're both set in extreme environments. And one of the things that interests me is the impact an extreme environment has upon people; it's like another character for them to react to.
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Tuesday, 30 June 2009
Written by Ivan Radford
 I liked Cloverfield. And I liked Matt Reeves - he honestly came across as an intelligent guy when he chatted to me about Cloverfield. But even I have a slight reservation over him remaking Let the Right One In (that masterful piece of fanged Swedish poetry). And now, thanks to the LA Times, we've got a few words from the director on the Americanisation of the anti-Twilight. First off, it's being renamed. To "Let Me In" - a shorter title for slower audiences (the same happened to John Ajvide Lindqvist's novel). And it's definitely coming out in autumn next year. It's going to be set in 80s Colorado, a clear attempt to recreate the period snowy vibe of the original. Reeves, meanwhile, is cautiously determined: "There's this cynicism that I'll come in and trash it, when in fact I have nothing but respect for the film," he says. "I'm drawn to it for personal and not mercenary reasons. If I didn't feel a connection I wouldn't be doing it. I hope people give us a chance."
And if you fancy reading the book while you wait for the DVD release, I'd offer one word of warning: beware. It's quite graphic and disturbing. Remember Hakan? Let's just say he's not quite so dead after all...
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