Nicolas Winding Refn featurette

Ryan Gosling featurette

Carey Mulligan featurette

Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn throttles into the Hollywood fast lane with the precision-crafted action caper Drive.

Ryan Gosling stars as a Los Angeles wheelman for hire, stunt driving for movie productions by day and steering getaway vehicles for armed heists by night. Though a loner by nature, Driver can’t help falling in love with his beautiful neighbor Irene (Carey Mulligan), a vulnerable young mother dragged into a dangerous underworld by the return of her ex-convict husband Standard (Oscar Isaac).

After a heist intended to pay off Standard’s protection money spins unpredictably out of control, Driver finds himself driving defense for the girl he loves, tailgated by a syndicate of deadly serious criminals (Albert Brooks and Ron Perlman). But when he realizes that the gangsters are after more than the bag of cash in his trunk-that they’re coming straight for Irene and her son-Driver is forced to shift gears and go on offense.

The movie was written by Oscar nominee Hossein Amini,The Wings of Dove, and adapted from the eponymous novel by James Sallis. The Wings of Dove is such a different movie than Drive. It’s hard to image they both were written by the same person.

You have to hand it to Oliver Stone. No other director is as quick to respond to era-defining events or as obsessed with marking national identity as he. Of course, more often than not his coke-fuelled directing style ruins worthy attempts at documenting the life of Nixon, George W Bush, or the assassination of JFK, but at least he’s trying. And after the insultingly sentimental World Trade Centre, Stone is back on the familiar furious territory with a return to Gordon Gekko in Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps.

Set in 2008, on the cusp of the global financial meltdown, Gekko (Michael Douglas) is released from prison. Instead of returning to the shady world of the stock market, he releases a book on the financial shenanigans of the noughties and attempts to ‘tell it like it is’. His lectures inspire one Jacob Moore (the ever-charming Shia Labeouf), a talented stock trader who happens to be the fiancé of Gekko’s estranged daughter Winnie (Carey Mulligan). In the aftermath of the financial crisis, Jacob uses Gekko’s advice to bring down the man (John Brolin as Bretton James) responsible for the bankruptcy of his adored employer Lewis Zabel (Frank Langella), and also reunite Gekko with his daughter.

So now Stone is responsible for dramatising the two most defining moments of the last decade for the Western World. But unlike World Trade Centre, there is a good story lurking in Wall Street 2. The world of the US stock market is as shady as ever, with Stone depicting the pow-wows like a gangster flick, all dark rooms and menace. And admittedly, it’s important for mass audiences to see what is essentially an accurate representation of the deplorable actions taken by institutions to protect themselves by screwing over the competition and the public (the silent victims in this film).

It’s only a shame that these issues are placed in the background of what is a poorly told drama. In Wall Street, we felt for Charlie Sheen’s character Bud (who makes a cameo appearance in the sequel) due to the tension between choosing the life of a cut-throat trader and honouring his father’s honest life. We get none of this in the sequel. Jacob is an obnoxious know-it-all, as displayed by his arrogance about his bike-riding skills. He’s smart, and he does have faith in alternative energy, but ultimately it’s hard to care for the upstart. Likewise, Winnie had the potential to be the film’s emotional core but the film utilises her merely to cry on cue. The dialogue is occasionally embarrassing: Langella talks like he’s from a Western, and Gekko’s monologue on money (which the film derives its silly title from) is laughable. The twist in the plot is predictable, and the film’s worst crime is in the resolution, which makes little sense in light of the huge emotional betrayal inflicted on Winnie and Jacob. READ ON »

You almost have to feel sorry for Sam Mendes. It all went downhill after his feature debut America Beauty tore up the box office and award ceremonies and made heart-shaped rose petals a recognizable visual trope. And this week sees Sam’s latest film, On Chesil Beach, getting postponed.

UK paper The Telegraph reports that the production of his latest film has been shut down even before cameras started rolling. On Chesil Beach is an adaptation of the Ian McEwan (Atonement) novel which examines a newly-married couple in 1960′s England as they come to terms with their sexuality, and stars Oscar nominee Carey Mulligan. No exact reason for the shut-down has been attributed, although it is believed that financiers have backed off in light of Mendes’s last two films failing to make an impact at the box office, as well as pre-production going beyond its allocated time. However, plans are being made to get back on track early next year.

Mendes has faced tough times as of late. Not only has he recently split from superstar Kate Winslet, but MGM’s financial difficulties meant that the latest James Bond movie, which Mendes was attached to, has been delayed indefinitely. And of course the director’s last two films, Revolutionary Road and Away We Go, failed to earn back their production budgets for their cinema releases.

Never Let Me Go is such a beautifully made  movie that it’s kind of unnerving that the movie has a wickedness involving the children of the institution.  With three very talented actors such as Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightly and Andrew Garfield, I want to see the film but fear of its underlying science fiction horror.

I think, it will be hard for me to watch the movie.  Even though the story takes place within an idyllic background. It appears  innocent, until we definitely see some hard core deceit and unethical practices from the medical community.

In this clip, you can see Garfield’s character going through some physical and mental tribulations. Mulligan’s character reacting gets under my skin.

Never Let Me Go film clip with Carey Mulligan and Keira Knightly is a minute of brilliant acting.  I am wondering if Keira’s character is a little south as Carey’s character tries to compose herself in seeing her friend kind of lose it. 

I think, it will be hard for me to watch the movie.  Even though the story takes place within an idyllic background. It appears  innocent, until we definitely see some hard core deceit and unethical practices from the medical community.

Never Let Me Go seems so adorable with the three stars: Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield and Kiera Knightly. 

The latest character posters are beautifully made with the characters innocent but guarded.

Even though the story takes place with an idyllic background and the images are innocent, there is definitely some hard core deceit and unethical practices from the medical community.

If you would like to see the other two character posters with Kiera Knightly and Andrew Garfield, click here.

Never Let Me Go seems so adorable with the three stars: Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield and Kiera Knightly. 

I think, it will be hard for me to watch.  Even though the pictures and idyllic background where the story takes place seem innocent, there is definitely some hard core deceit and unethical practices from the medical community.

The story is a thriller-science fiction movie with a twist to the story that is based on the book of the same name.

The story is penned by the same author who wrote The Remains of the Day, which is not science fiction. Yet, the story takes place at an idyllic boarding school for children and seems so innocent.

The story does have a love triangle, and is told in flash backs. The movie stars Carey Mulligan, Kiera Knightley and Andrew Garfield and opens October 1, 2010.

You may recognize Garfield’s name because he has been cast as the next Spider-man.

As you watch Never Let Me Go, you may be surprised to find out that the story is a thriller-science fiction movie. I don’t want to say any more because there is a twist to the story that is based on the book of the same name.

The story is penned by the same author who wrote The Remains of the Day, a very different genre than science fiction. Yet, the story takes place at an idyllic boarding school for children and seems so innocent.

The story does have a love triangle, and is told in flash backs, which you can see in the trailer. The movie stars Carey Mulligan, Kiera Knightley and Andrew Garfield and opens October 1, 2010.

An Education is available in Blu-Ray and Standard DVD. 

 Rolling Stone magazine calls it “a miracle of a movie.”

When Jenny (Academy Award and Golden Globe nominee Carey Mulligan), a bright young school girl who longs for adulthood, meets David (Peter Sarsgaard), a dashing older man, he introduces her to his vibrant world of glamorous friends, chic jazz clubs and her own sexual awakening.

Will she let this affair ruin her dreams of attending Oxford, as her headmistress (Emma Thompson) fears? 

This captivating film sparkles with the wit, charm and style of 1960s Britain.

I’d love to have this movie in my library. The story is true to form and brings the essence of pre-rock ‘n’ roll era.

Screenhead has one copy of An Education available for giveaway.  Please post your name and we will pick the winner Tuesday, April 13, 2010.