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"The Exorcist" remains one of the most frightening and intense horror films to this day. Even after 50 years, time has done little to diminish its power to shock and terrify audiences. Based on the popular novel of the same name by William Peter Blatty, director William Friedkin's "The Exorcist" was a massive hit among moviegoers who were thrilled by its story of a sweet young girl getting possessed by a demon who forces her to commit all kinds of obscene and horrible acts.

Despite the positive response from audiences and critics alike, the film also generated considerable controversy for its graphic nature and religious themes, with some even claiming that there was an evil in the celluloid itself. Still, all of the wild stories only added to the movie's legacy, further cementing its place in cinema history.

Because the original 1973 film gets all the attention, it's easy to forget...

I can think of a few living filmmakers better suited to making an "Exorcist" movie than Paul Schrader. From the existential rage and self-loathing of Travis Bickle in "Taxi Driver," through the spiritual torment of Jesus in "The Last Temptation of Christ," to the doubting pastors of "Affliction" and "First Reformed," Schrader has spent much of his career exploring matters of the soul. As Roger Ebert once noted, "One thing [Schrader's] movies have in common is a very strong, visible sense of sin."

So who better to direct an "Exorcist" prequel after William Peter Blatty's flawed "The Exorcist III" marked a return to form for the series after the loopy metaphysics of John Boorman's "Exorcist II: The Heretic?" Surely if anyone could get to the bottom of Father Merrin's past exploits, it would be Schrader, right?

Problems arose because Schrader was only Morgan Creek's third pick to direct the movie.

The two "Exorcist" prequels, "Exorcist: The Beginning" and "Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist," offer something that may be unique in the whole of cinema; a strange case of one actor playing the same character in two different versions of the same film shot back-to-back. Oh, and the first version was only released after the second proved a total dog. It's a story of epic studio interference that makes the tacked-on ending William Peter Blatty was forced to shoot for "The Exorcist III" seem like a minor tweak. Morgan Creek studio head James G. Robinson was the person responsible for that change, and he one-upped himself when it came to the prequel. 

After two directors parted company with the project, he hired Paul Schrader. That might seem like a shrewd choice given the subject matter of doubting priests and matters of the soul, something that Schrader has wrestled with in his...

Colette came to the 2018 London Film Festival this evening and we joined the stars walking the red carpet. The biopic from Still Alice director Wash Westmoreland is based upon the life of the French novelist Gabrielle Colette and has a stirring performance from the cast including a career-defining performance from Keira Knightley.

Related: Our glowing review of Colette

The actress talked about how current the film seemed to her, being a story of a woman stepping out of a man’s shadow. The gender politics and sexual politics that are such a part of today’s world. The cast talked about their on set chemistry and how their characters didn’t play by society’s rules, and how that has echoes in the Lgbtq community and with the #MeToo and #TImesUp movements.

The film stars Keira Knightley, Dominic West, Eleanor Tomlinson, Fiona Shaw, Aiysha Hart, Denise Gough as Mathilde de Morny,...

The Happy Prince, the acclaimed biopic of Oscar Wilde, is more than a career-reviving film for the actor and director, it is an avowal of an enduring literary love

The surprised delight that met Rupert Everett’s second volume of memoir, Vanished Years, six years ago was a hint of what might be to come. The calibre of the writing matched any living diarist, according to a broad cross-section of reviewers, from Julie Burchill in the Guardian to the Telegraph’s Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, who awarded five stars and revelled in the way the author “repeatedly slips the gears of genre, moving between scenes of farce, elegy and melodrama”. He predicted more “seriously good books” ahead, if only Everett would take himself “seriously enough”.

Well, now we know exactly what Rupert wrote next – a screenplay. And his new film biography of Oscar Wilde, The Happy Prince, has wowed film critics in much the same way.

Last night the capital saw the premiere of Rupert Everett’s The Happy Prince, telling the last days of Oscar Wilde. The film stars Everett as Wilde, Colin Firth, Emily Watson, Colin Morgan and Edwin Thomas. The supporting cast includes Tom Wilkinson, Anna Chancellor, Beatrice Dalle and Julian Wadham.

We were on the carpet to chat with writer/director (and Oscar Wilde) Rupert Everett alongside his cast including Merlin star Colin Morgan and Edwin Thomas.

Scott Davis and Colin Hart were on the red carpet for us, here’s how they got on.

The Happy Prince Synopsis

The untold story of the last days in the tragic times of Oscar Wilde, a person who observes his own failure with ironic distance and regards the difficulties that beset his life with detachment and humour.

The post The Happy Prince Premiere Interview: Colin Morgan, Rupert Everett & more appeared first on HeyUGuys.

It’s great when a fancy costume picture really has something to say — Alan Bennett’s crazy tale of a king’s episode of mental illness becomes a highly entertaining comedy of errors, but with serious personal and political ramifications. Nigel Hawthorne is exceptionally good as the sovereign whose brain has de-railed; Helen Mirren, Ian Holm, Rupert Everett and Amanda Donohoe variously try to help him — or steal his crown.

The Madness of King George

Blu-ray

Olive Films

1994 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 111 min. / Street Date October 31, 2017 / available through the Olive Films website / 29.98

Starring: Nigel Hawthorne, Helen Mirren, Ian Holm, Amanda Donohoe, Rupert Everett, Julian Wadham, Jim Carter, Rupert Graves, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Anthony Calf, John Wood, Robert Swann, Peter Woodthorpe.

Cinematography: Andrew Dunn

Film Editor: Tariq Anwar

Production Design: Ken Adam

Written by Alan Bennett from his play

Produced by Stephen Evans, David Parfitt

Directed by Nicholas Hytner

Every few years the...

By Troy Ribeiro

Film: Victoria and Abdul; Director: Stephen Frears; Cast: Judi Dench, Ali Fazal, Eddie Izzard, Adeel Akhtar, Tim Pigott-Smith, Olivia Williams, Fenella Woolgar, Paul Higgins, Robin Soans, Julian Wadham, Simon Callow, Michael Gambon; Rating: **1/2...

The scope of this slice of wartime history is so small, it’s almost the movie equivalent of a one-man show. There are perhaps only a dozen speaking roles. Brian Cox is impressive as The Man Who Saved England in its Darkest Hour, but the drama reduces both the man and the historical crisis to trivial status, as little more than a personal emotional crisis: “Winston, the Haunted Imperialist.”

Churchill

Blu-ray

Cohen Media Group

2017 / Color / 2:39 widescreen / 105 min. / Street Date October 3, 2017 / 30.99

Starring: Brian Cox, Miranda Richardson, John Slattery, Ella Purnell, Julian Wadham, Richard Durden, James Purefoy.

Cinematography: David Higgs

Film Editor: Chris Gill

Original Music: Lorne Balfe

Written by Alex von Tunzelmann

Produced by Claudia Bluemhuber, Nick Taussig, Piers Tempest, Paul Van Carter

Directed by Jonathan Teplitzky

No, it isn’t Gary Oldman as Winston Churchill … that’s another movie, Darkest Hour. This is the Brian Cox Churchill movie.

Any...

Chicago – Winston Churchill, except to hardcore history buffs, is fast fading from the cultural radar. Often called the Greatest Briton Ever, the lion who led his people for so many years became a bit toothless during the greatest World War II battle ever conceived, D-Day the Sixth of June. That moment in his life, and the lives of those around him, is the subject of the magnificent new film, “Churchill.”

Rating: 5.0/5.0

In the past of film history – closer to when Winston Churchill absolutely mattered to his generation – this movie might have been a major event, because of its grand psychological profile of the Prime Minister. The director Jonathan Teplitzky (of the underrated WWII film “The Railway Man”) takes the highly intelligent and thrilling script by Alex von Tunzelmann and creates a historical masterwork, even though the chains of “period movie” and “World War II” shackles the impression of rendering such subject matter today.

Brian Cox as “Winston Churchill” in Churchill, directed by Jonathan Teplitzky. Photo courtesy of Cohen Media Group (c)

Brian Cox portrays Winston Churchill in a dramatization of the events just prior to the D-Day invasion of France by Allied forces during World War II in Churchill. Directed Jonathan Teplitzky (The Railway Man, BBC’s Indian Summers television series) from a script by historian Alex Von Tunzelmann, Churchill aims to get beneath the usual familiar image of Churchill as a gruff, cigar-chewing British bulldog to create a fuller human portrait of the man who grappled with deep depression and fears of failure while leading his country through its darkest hours.

It is an admirable aim but unfortunately the film falls far short of its goal. Led by an overheated performance by Cox, Churchill stages a last-minute attempt to stop the 1944 Normandy Invasion, gripped with fear that it would fail. Less than a week before D-Day,...

Years of warfare have taken their toll on the old lion. Beginning one week before D-Day is set to launch in June 1944, Churchill finds the British Prime Minister (and Minister of Defence) haunted by an epic military failure during the Great War three decades before that cost many lives and scarred his psyche permanently. An early tirade in front of King George VI (James Purefoy), Allied Supreme Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower (John Slattery), and British General Bernard Montgomery (Julian Wadham) thus sets the tone for Churchill's reasoning. In his mind, history will inevitably repeat itself. Who else will protect the thousands of young British soldiers who will inevitably die in the planned invasion? He must act to prevent this atrocity! He is adamantly opposed...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Brian Cox is a marvel of an actor, and to watch him tear into the role of Winston Churchill is not to be missed. This is a version of the venerable British Prime Minister we haven't seen before – no longer the lion of British fortitude ("We will fight them on the beaches!"), but a man on the ropes. He's hobbled not just by his alcoholism and "the black dog" of depression, but by his conviction that the D-Day landing, just days away on June 6, 1944, will be a disaster.

Directed by Jonathan Teplitzky,...

After making The Queen over a decade ago, Stephen Frears is returning to direct another film about high royalty, but this time Queen Victoria. Victoria & Abdul, starring Judi Dench and Ali Fazal depicts the friendship between the 19th century Queen and a young clerk hailing from India. Ahead of a fall release, Focus Features have now debuted the first trailer.

As with Frears’ recent films, it looks to be a warm genial dramedy that we’d bet makes its bow at Toronto International Film Festival ahead of its debut. Also starring Adeel Akhtar, Simon Callow, Michael Gambon, Eddie Izzard, Ruth McCabe, Tim Pigott-Smith, Julian Wadham, Olivia Williams, and Fenella Woolgar, check out the trailer and poster below.

The extraordinary true story of an unexpected friendship in the later years of Queen Victoria’s (Academy Award winner Judi Dench) remarkable rule. When Abdul Karim (Ali Fazal), a young clerk, travels from...

Up until a few years ago, Queen Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Empress of India, was the longest reigning monarch. That is until Queen Elizabeth II, her great-great granddaughter surpassed her in September 2015. Elizabeth has been Queen since 1952.

With a reign of 63 years, seven months and two days, Victoria was the longest-reigning British monarch and the longest-reigning queen regnant in world history.

Focus Features has released the first poster and trailer for the upcoming Victoria & Abdul, from director Stephen Frears (The Queen,” “Philomena,” “Mrs. Henderson Presents”). The cast features Judi Dench, Ali Fazal, Adeel Akhtar, Simon Callow, Eddie Izzard, Ruth McCabe, Tim Pigott-Smith, Julian Wadham, Olivia Williams, Fenella Woolgar and Michael Gambon.

Many fans of the 1997’s Mrs. Brown wanted more of the story of a bereaved Queen Victoria (Judi Dench) and her relationship with a Scottish servant, John Brown (Billy Connolly), and the subsequent uproar it provoked.

Author: Zehra Phelan

At the youthful age of 82, Dame Judi Dench isn’t retiring for anyone, just a little like her latest role as an ageing Queen Victoria in Victoria and Abdul for which a joyous trailer and poster have been released.

Dench teams up again with the Philomena director Stephen Frears on a story which is based on the latter years of Queen Victoria who reigned over England for 64 years between 1837 until her death in 1901 and her relationship with a young Indian clerk who she befriends after he is sent to her court. Dench is reprising her role as the cantankerous Queen after she portrayed Queen Victoria back in 1997 in Mrs Brown alongside Billy Connolly from an earlier episode in the royal’s life, so stepping back into her persona should have come quite naturally to the veteran actress.

Clad in Queen Victoria’s black mourning dress that she...

I’m far from a history buff. To me Winston Churchill was a pillar of strength that helped take down the Nazis and declare victory for the Allied forces against fascism. I don’t believe that’s an ill-advised description by any means, but it’s definitely a shallow one. Here we are half a century removed from that carnage and our memories are mostly divided into two categories: good and evil. The latter holds the Holocaust, genocide, oppressive regimes, the suspension of freedom, and some of our species’ greatest villains. The former contains pride, valor, hope, and success with names like Churchill, Eisenhower, and Fdr rising to the status of sainthood. But the truth is much more complicated. Heroism and leadership co-exist with aching regret. Even the greats must combat defeat.

It’s this reality that historian Alex von Tunzelmann touches upon in her script Churchill. A depiction of...

Of all the Prime Ministers in history, few have as much notoriety and acclaim as Winston Churchill. The dude had a bigger pair of balls on him than any other person ever. He was an alcoholic, a strategist, and a sarcastic asshole. But he also was the leader of the United Kingdoms in a time of great distress, and the new movie Churchill starring Brian Cox is deciding to focus on the latter, it appears.

The trailer looks so much like it wants an Oscar, it almost looks formulated, and I wonder if that will hurt it. Regardless, Brian Cox is a great choice to play Churchill as he has the right build and look. It requires very little to believe he's engulfed in the role. The trailer looks beautiful, and... safe. The cinematography and acting are all wonderful in the trailer as well. I love Churchill and his history...

As one of the most iconic, intimidating figures in world history, Winston Churchill has been depicted in film many times. Played by actors ranging from Richard Burton to Albert Finney; from Christian Slater to Michael Gambon – the former British Prime Minister is as recognizable in fictionalizations as he is in real, historical footage. Though interest in his story has never really waned, there has been a notable surge in Churchill-based projects recently, with two heading for theatres this year. One is the more high profile Darkest Hours, starring Gary Oldman, and the other is Churchill, starring Brian Cox, which has had a new trailer released this week.

By the time of his passing in 1965, Sir Winston Churchill had been a prominent and influential British politician for half a century. The former British Army Officer served his government in trade, home affairs, and defence – as well as having held the...

"Try acting like a hero, Winston, and then maybe people will believe that you are one." Cohen Media Group has debuted a new Us trailer for one of the other Winston Churchill movies in the works. This one is called simply Churchill, from Australian director Jonathan Teplitzky. Brian Cox stars as Churchill in the film, which examines a narrow frame of time in 1944 around D-Day and the decisions he was burdened with. The cast includes John Slattery, Miranda Richardson, Ella Purnell, James Purefoy, Richard Durden, and Julian Wadham. This is a very powerful trailer, with a number of strikingly bold shots of Churchill. There's great cinematography, a moving score, it seems like this might actually be worth watching when it opens. We're not sure when the other Churchill film will arrive, but this one hits theaters this June. Here's the new official Us trailer (+ poster) for Jonathan Teplitzky's Churchill,...

"We must launch now." Lionsgate UK has released a trailer for the new Winston Churchill film titled simply Churchill, from Australian director Jonathan Teplitzky. Brian Cox stars as Churchill in the film, joining a shortlist of talented actors who have played the prominent politician - including Albert Finney, Richard Burton, David Ryall, and Brendan Gleeson. There's also another totally different Churchill film due out this year, starring Gary Oldman. This particular film is described as a "ticking-clock thriller following Winston Churchill in the 24 hours before D-Day." The cast includes John Slattery, Miranda Richardson, Ella Purnell, James Purefoy, Richard Durden, and Julian Wadham. This definitely looks intriguing, with some strong moments, but I'm much more interested in seeing Gary Oldman's film more. Take a look below. Here's the first official trailer for Jonathan Teplitzky's Churchill film, direct from Lionsgate's YouTube: June 1944. Allied Forces stand on the brink: a massive...

Codenamed Operation Neptune, the Normandy landings of World War II have gone on to inspire storytellers in the vein of Steven Spielberg (Saving Private Ryan) and Darryl F. Zanuck, who was part of the creative team behind wartime epic The Longest Day.

It’s not hard to locate a film built around the infamous D-day landings, then, but it becomes more difficult to find a character-driven drama that sheds light on the politics behind the Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied France. Enter Churchill, Jonathan Teplitzky’s (The Railway Man) star-studded biopic that places the great Brian Cox in the shoes of the tenacious British Bulldog. Shackled with depression and a startling loss of confidence, by June 1944, Winston Churchill is “a shadow of the hero” he once was, and all of this feeds his reservations about shipping over a million soldiers to the European theater of war.

Wrestling Europe from the ironclad...

As is so often the case in cinema, when one drama about a particular subject or figure comes along, another one arrives soon after. Before Joe Wright’s Gary Oldman-led drama Darkest Hour hits theaters later this year, another historical drama about Winston Churchill will arrive this summer. In the aptly-named Churchill, Brian Cox portrays the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the first trailer has now landed.

Directed by Jonathan Teplitzky (The Railway Man), this drama takes place specifically right before D-Day and follows Churchill’s internal battle in making the decision to send troops to certain death. Scripted by Alex von Tunzelmann, Cox certainly seems fitting for the part, so this should be a worthy warm-up to Wright’s film, and even another WWII film this summer: Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk.

Also starring Miranda Richardson, John Slattery, James Purefoy, Julian Wadham, Richard Durden, and Ella Purnell,...

Lionsgate has released the UK trailer for its upcoming historical drama/thriller “Churchill.” The film about the legendary British Primer Minister hails from Australian director Jonathan Teplitzky (“The Railway Man”), from a screenplay by British author/historian Alex von Tunzelmann. Brian Cox toplines the film.

Read More: Hugh Jackman and Noomi Rapace to Star in Michael Mann’s Ferrari Biopic

Here is the plot summary: In June 1944, allied Forces stand on the brink: a million soldiers are secretly assembled on the south coast of Britain, poised to invade Nazi-occupied Europe. Exhausted by years of war and plagued by depression, Churchill is a shadow of the hero who has resisted Hitler’s Blitzkrieg. Should the D-Day landings fail, he is terrified he’ll be remembered as the architect of carnage.

Read More: ‘The Sweet Life’ Trailer: Chris Messina and Abigail Spencer’s Melancholic Road Trip Turns Into a Touching Love Affair...

Author: Jon Lyus

As with Deep Impact and Armageddon, White House Down and Olympus Has Fallen there are to be two films released in 2017 focusing on Winston Churchill. Joe Wright is following up his gaze into the Black Mirror with Darkest Hour, which looks at the fight against Hitler in the early days of World War II. An almost unrecognisable Gary Oldman is our Churchill in Wright’s film, alongside Lily James, Rogue One’s Ben Mendelsohn and the late John Hurt in his last filmed role.

Lionsgate have Brian Cox as their Prime Minister in the new film from The Railway Man director Jonathan Teplitzky. Unambiguously titled Churchill, the film sees Cox lead a cast which includes Miranda Richardson, John Slattery, Ella Purnell, Richard Durden, Julian Wadham and James Purefoy.

In contrast to Darkest Hour this take on Churchill’s life finds its feet on the days approaching the D-Day landings.

The 9th Life Of Louis Drax was released on DVD and Blu-ray February 7, 2017 and is also available on Digital HD from Amazon Video and iTunes.

Now you can own the Blu-ray of The 9th Life Of Louis Drax. We Are Movie Geeks has four copies to give away! All you have to do is leave a comment answering this question: What is your favorite movie directed by Alexandre Aja? (mine is Piranha 3D). It’s so easy!

Good Luck!

Official Rules:

1. You Must Be A Us Resident. Prize Will Only Be Shipped To Us Addresses. No P.O. Boxes. No Duplicate Addresses.

2. Winners Will Be Chosen From All Qualifying Entries.

No purchase necessary

On Louis Drax’s ninth birthday, he takes a terrible fall and is nearly killed. This would be traumatic enough for anyone, but what is especially alarming is that this is only the latest in a long...

Focus Features holds worldwide rights to the Working Title drama from Stephen Frears starring Judi Dench in what will be her second on-screen portrayal of Queen Victoria.

Shooting will take place at locations across Scotland, India, and England. Focus is financing Victoria And Abdul in association with BBC Films.

Ali Fazal of Furious 7 plays Abdul Karim, a young clerk who forges a close friendship with the queen that is frowned upon by her inner circle after he travels from India to participate in her Golden Jubilee celebrations.

Dench played Queen Victoria in Mrs Brown (pictured) in 1997.

Billy Elliot screenwriter wrote the Victoria And Abdul script based on Shrabani Basu’s book Victoria & Abdul: The True Story Of The Queen’s Closest Confidant.

The cast includes Adeel Akhtar, Simon Callow, Michael Gambon, Eddie Izzard, Ruth McCabe, Tim Pigott-Smith, Julian Wadham, Olivia Williams and Fenella Woolgar.

Focus will open the film in limited release in North America on September...

First look at Brian Cox as the wartime leader as Miranda Richardson, John Slattery, James Purefoy and Ella Purnell join cast.

Salon Pictures has announced that principal photography has begun in Scotland on its new feature film, Churchill.

Brian Cox (The Bourne Supremacy) plays the Second World War leader in the 48-hours preceding D-Day in May 1944, when Churchill had to prepare a final attempt to crush Hitler’s encroaching army.

The cast is rounded out with Miranda Richardson (Harry Potter, Testament of Youth) as wife Clemmie Churchill, with John Slattery (Mad Men) as General Eisenhower, James Purefoy (Rome) as King George VI, and rising-star Ella Purnell (Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, Tarzan) joining the cast as Churchill’s secretary.

Directed by Jonathan Teplitzky (The Railway Man), the film is written by British historian and author Alex von Tunzelmann in her feature debut.

Churchill was developed with the assistance of the BFI. Producers are [link...

Big Finish Productions is to extend its The Avengers range with a new series featuring Emma Peel.

The audio production company - best known for its Doctor Who range - has previously released new dramatisations of 'lost' Avengers episodes from the 1960s.

The new productions will be based on a series of comic strips - published in Diana between 1966 and 1967 - and will feature the classic line-up of Peel and John Steed.

Julian Wadham will reprise his role of Steed from the Lost Episodes range, while the search for an actress to play Emma Peel is ongoing.

The character was originally portrayed by Diana Rigg in 51 episodes of The Avengers between 1965 and 1968.

"I'm so thrilled that we have been granted the opportunity to open a new chapter in our audio adaptations of The Avengers," said producer David Richardson.

"Working on these productions has been an utter joy, and it's so...

News Den Of Geek 14 Feb 2014 - 11:03

A micropilot for The Minister Of Chance film project, starring Paul McGann and Tim McInnnerny, debuts today. Details here...

Producer Clare Eden and writer/director Dan Freeman are the brains behind the wonderful The Minister Of Chance audio series, an unofficial spin-off from Doctor Who that's built a real fanbase. A few months ago, the pair began fundraising for a film version of The Minister Of Chance, and today, they're presented a micropilot of it. We invited Clare to say a few words about it...

We are delighted to have finally completed a micropilot for the award-winning podcast series The Minister Of Chance. The short film - based on The Prologue - stars Paul McGann and Tim McInnerny and has been entirely funded by our now international fanbase.  Today, the Minister Moguls who financed the film by buying a variety of perks will join the online premiere,...

James Lomond is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

The live action film of Radio Static’s Doctor Who spin-off Minister of Chance is progressing apace… . The highly successful spin-off from Death Comes to Time has been entirely funded by donations and sports an impressive cast including Jenny Agutter, Life on Mars’ Philip Glenister, Tamsin Greig, Sylvester McCoy, Paul McGann and Julian Wadham as

The post The Minister of Chance Film News appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Audio publisher Big Finish Productions has unveiled the cover to The Avengers – The Lost Episodes: Volume 1. Cover design and artwork by Anthony Lamb.

The first box set, starring Anthony Howell as Keel and Julian Wadham as Steed will be available in January and you can pre-order it now by click here.

About The Avengers – The Lost Episodes: Volume 1–

In 1961 The Avengers burst onto our TV screens, starring Ian Hendry as Dr. David Keel and Patrick Macnee as John Steed. It began with a tragedy – and then pitted Keel and Steed against the underworld over the course of 26 episodes (of which only two episodes still exist in their entirety).

The Avengers – The Lost Episodes recreates the existing scripts on audio with a full cast of actors. Discover, for the first time in over 50 years, the beginnings of a TV legend…

Glenn Hauman on Google+

Originally published on ComicMix as Big Finish...

Welcome back to the series of posts here at SciFi Mafia that we’re calling Web Series Wednesday where we devote a space to the wonderment of the web series. Every Wednesday we’ll cover an awesome web series and give you all the info to get into it.

If you’ve got a favorite web series you’d like us to cover, head on over to the Contact Us page and shoot us your request. To catch up on past Web Series Wednesday posts click here.

This week we’re covering Masters of Chance.

Today we’re taking a break from the vast amounts of wonderment that YouTube provides and taking a dip into the podcast world. The Minister of Chance is an unofficial Doctor Who spin-off following one of five Time Lords to have survived the destruction of Gallifrey.

Originally voiced by Stephen Fry in the BBC’s...

News Simon Brew 23 Aug 2013 - 07:16

Plans are afoot to take The Minister Of Chance to the big screen - and you can get involved!

Over the past couple of years, a small and dedicated team has been working on The Minister Of Chance, a podcast series which gave a universe of his own to the character that first appeared in the BBC's Doctor Who webcast audio drama Death Comes To Time. The Minister was then voiced by Stephen Fry, playing a Time Lord who survived the destruction of Gallifrey. 

Now with Julian Wadham taking on the role from Stephen Fry (courtesy of a regeneration), the cast attracted to the six-part series (funded entirely by fans) has included Sylvester McCoy, Paul Darrow, Jenny Agutter, Philip Glenister, Tamsin Greig and Paul McGann.

It's a terrific series, and you can download the six episodes that are available entirely for free right here.

Steed The Avengers

B Van Heusen

The Avengers is one of the most popular shows in British TV history. Sadly, many of the episodes from the first year of the show no longer exist. However, Big Finish — the production company behind the Doctor Who audio stories — are bringing the lost episodes back to life.

Production is under way on audio adaptations of the original season one scripts. Writer John Dorney has adapted the stories for the new format. Julian Wadham (Father Brown) plays Steed, Anthony Howell (Foyle’s War) takes on the role of Dr Keel while Lucy Briggs-Owen is cast as Carol Wilson. Guest stars include Doctor Who duo Colin Baker and Sophie Aldred. The finished stories will be released on CD and in digital format early next year.

Click here to friend Best British TV on Facebook or here to follow us on Twitter. You can also find...

Title: Cheerful Weather for the Wedding Director: Donald Rice Starring: Felicity Jones, Luke Treadaway, Elizabeth McGovern, Mackenzie Crook, Fenella Woolgar, Zoë Tapper, Julian Wadham, Sophie Stanton, Ellie Kendrick, Olly Alexander, James Norton A very mannered but deadly dull period piece drama of partially upended, stuffy social customs in which things like, “Dolly, dearest Dolly!” are earnestly exclaimed, “Cheerful Weather for the Wedding” is a ruinous vehicle for the incandescence of Felicity Jones. What could on the surface be something lively and spry, a la Oliver Wilde, is instead neither a spirited tale of romantic competition nor a hand-wringing story of fated love. It just lays there, at once familiar and [ Read More ]

The post Cheerful Weather for the Wedding Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

Cloudy With a Chance of Strain: Rice’s Debut a Sweet Coated Flimsy

For his directorial debut, Donald Rice adapts a 1932 novella written by Julia Strachney, Cheerful Weather for the Wedding, a drolly executed period endeavor concerning the mercurial affections of one very wishy washy debutante in pre-wwii England. Featuring a curiously amassed cast that may inspire high expectations, Rice can’t quite fatten up the thin source material enough to warrant a feature length treatise on a love triangle that’s hardly worth our attention. In its defense, it never regresses to cheap laughs or false humor to pander exclusively to a mainstream pedigree, but neither does it ever become a high class affair.

It’s a very subdued and drowned out day in the countryside of 1932 England, where Dolly Thatcham (Felicity Jones) is about to publicly share her nuptial bliss with hubby to be, Owen (James Norton), and...

Since everyone loves Nazi Zombies as much as I do, I am thrilled to talk about two upcoming Nazi Zombie movies that look more than promising. Exciting is an understatement, even.

Today, Dark Sky Films released the first two official stills from Dutch director Richard Raaphorst’s Nazi Zombie horror film Frankenstein's Army.

This is someone called “Propellerhead”, described officially as "a hulking Nazi automaton that uses its spinning rotors to slice a bloody swath through the film’s terrified, lost Russian battalion."

And this is Doctor Frankenstein, as played by Karel Roden, dissecting someone unwilling to be dissected.

Like any good Nazi Zombie movie, Frankenstein's Army is set at the tail-end of World War II, when Russian soldiers accidentally find a secret Nazi laboratory as they enter Germany's eastern end. Apparently, the journals of Dr. Viktor Frankenstein are serving as the basis for human experimentation to form a -...

Alrighty, kids! We have on tap for you an exclusive clip from the long awaited Nazi zombie flick Outpost II: Black Sun, and as per usual you can dig on it right here. Lock, load, and check it out!

Steve Barker again directs from the script he co-wrote with screenwriter Rae Brunton. The cast includes Richard Coyle (W.E, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, A Good Year, The Libertine) and Catherine Steadman ("The Tudors") with Julian Wadham (Outpost, The English Patient) returning as Hunt and Johnny Meres as The Breather.

Look for Outpost: Black Sun to hit VOD on October 4th and DVD on November 6th through XLrator Media.

Synopsis

The year is 1945, the closing stages of WW2, and a German scientist by the name of Klausener is working on frightening new technology with the power to create an immortal Nazi army. Flash-forward to the present day, and...

IGN scored itself the first look at the official domestic trailer for the long awaited Nazi zombie flick Outpost II: Black Sun, and as per usual you can dig on it right here. Lock, load, and check it out!

Steve Barker again directs from the script he co-wrote with screenwriter Rae Brunton. The cast includes Richard Coyle (W.E, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, A Good Year, The Libertine) and Catherine Steadman ("The Tudors") with Julian Wadham (Outpost, The English Patient) returning as Hunt and Johnny Meres as The Breather.

Synopsis

The year is 1945, the closing stages of WW2, and a German scientist by the name of Klausener is working on frightening new technology with the power to create an immortal Nazi army. Flash-forward to the present day, and a Nato task force is hurriedly deployed to Eastern Europe, where a sinister enemy appears to be mercilessly killing everything in its path.

Holed up in a cramped flat in a large Midlands town with his wife Alison and friend Cliff, Jimmy Porter has got something to say. Look Back in Anger rocked theatre and society in the summer of 1956, and blasted open the doors for a generation of angry young men Benedict Cumberbatch, Rebecca Hall, Anna Maxwell Martin, Matt Ryan and Julian Wadham led a reading of the play for the Royal Court's Playwright's Playwrights season on July 6. View photos below...

It's kind of appropriate that the first trailer out for the Nazi zombie epic Outpost II: Black Sun would be the German one. Fitting, no? Anyway, we have it for you right here so goose step on in for a bit of undead mayhem.

Steve Barker again directs from the script he co-wrote with screenwriter Rae Brunton. The cast includes Richard Coyle (W.E, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, A Good Year, The Libertine) and Catherine Steadman ("The Tudors") with Julian Wadham (Outpost, The English Patient) returning as Hunt and Johnny Meres as The Breather.

Synopsis

The year is 1945, the closing stages of WW2, and a German scientist by the name of Klausener is working on frightening new technology with the power to create an immortal Nazi army. Flash-forward to the present day, and a Nato task force is hurriedly deployed to Eastern Europe, where a sinister enemy...

With a third film already in the works, we've landed the German trailer for Content and Black Camel's Outpost 2: Black Sun, the sequel to the 2008 Outpost. Content co-developed the script with Black Camel Pictures and it is produced in association with Matador Pictures with development and production investment from Creative Scotland. Outpost: Black Sun sees the reunion of the original Outpost creative team. Steve Barker again directs from the script he co-wrote with screenwriter Rae Brunton. The cast includes Richard Coyle (W.E, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, A Good Year, The Libertine) and Catherine Steadman ("The Tudors") with Julian Wadham (Outpost, The English Patient) returning as Hunt and Johnny Meres as The Breather. "The year is 1945, the closing stages of WW2, and a German scientist by the name of Klausener is working on frightening new technology with the power to create an immortal Nazi army. Flash forward to present day,...

Note: The Video Was Removed By The User - Sorry! -ed

Here's an interesting comparison between two actors who have played Time Lord The Minister Of Chance. This new YouTube clip from the MoC website shows Stephen Fry talking about Doctor Who and playing the original incarnation of the Minister for the BBC web-cast Death Comes To Time, whilst intercut with footage of the incumbent Minister Julian Wadham ('The Iron Lady', 'The Madness Of King George').

I feel a certain propriety in the captions of this video as it was my suggestion to the producers back during Shadowlocked's involvement with the project that Fry's original incarnation of the character in Death Comes To Time be the third and not the first incarnation of the Minister. Never leave yourself without room for a prequel and a dark past!

More posts about The Minister Of Chance at Shadowlocked...

Video Coverage from the New York Premiere of The Iron Lady, starring Meryl Streep. Weinstein Co's Margaret Thatcher biopic made its premiere at the Ziegfeld Theater, New York on Tuesday, December 13th. In attendance were Meryl Streep, Olivia Wilde, Alexandra Roach, Harry Lloyd, screenwriter Abi Morgan and director Phyllida Lloyd, among others. The drama opens December 30th and also stars Jim Broadbent, Anthony Head, Richard E. Grant, Roger Allam, Olivia Colman, Nick Dunning, Julian Wadham, Hugh Ross, Michael Pennington, David Westhead, Susan Brown and Martyn Moore. The Iron Lady is a surprising and intimate portrait of Margaret Thatcher (Meryl Streep), the first and only female Prime Minister of The United Kingdom. One of the 20th century’s most famous and influential women, Thatcher came from nowhere to smash through barriers of gender and class to be heard in a male dominated world.

Video Coverage from the New York Premiere of The Iron Lady, starring Meryl Streep. Weinstein Co's Margaret Thatcher biopic made its premiere at the Ziegfeld Theater, New York on Tuesday, December 13th. In attendance were Meryl Streep, Olivia Wilde, Alexandra Roach, Harry Lloyd, screenwriter Abi Morgan and director Phyllida Lloyd, among others. The drama opens December 30th and also stars Jim Broadbent, Anthony Head, Richard E. Grant, Roger Allam, Olivia Colman, Nick Dunning, Julian Wadham, Hugh Ross, Michael Pennington, David Westhead, Susan Brown and Martyn Moore. The Iron Lady is a surprising and intimate portrait of Margaret Thatcher (Meryl Streep), the first and only female Prime Minister of The United Kingdom. One of the 20th century’s most famous and influential women, Thatcher came from nowhere to smash through barriers of gender and class to be heard in a male dominated world.

Video Coverage from the New York Premiere of The Iron Lady, starring Meryl Streep. Weinstein Co's Margaret Thatcher biopic made its premiere at the Ziegfeld Theater, New York on Tuesday, December 13th. In attendance were Meryl Streep, Olivia Wilde, Alexandra Roach, Harry Lloyd, screenwriter Abi Morgan and director Phyllida Lloyd, among others. The drama opens December 30th and also stars Jim Broadbent, Anthony Head, Richard E. Grant, Roger Allam, Olivia Colman, Nick Dunning, Julian Wadham, Hugh Ross, Michael Pennington, David Westhead, Susan Brown and Martyn Moore. The Iron Lady is a surprising and intimate portrait of Margaret Thatcher (Meryl Streep), the first and only female Prime Minister of The United Kingdom. One of the 20th century’s most famous and influential women, Thatcher came from nowhere to smash through barriers of gender and class to be heard in a male dominated world.

New clip from Phyllida Lloyd's The Iron Lady, starring Meryl Streep and Jim Broadbent Scripted by Abi Morgan, The Iron Lady is a surprising and intimate portrait of Margaret Thatcher (Meryl Streep), the first and only female Prime Minister of The United Kingdom. One of the 20th century’s most famous and influential women, Thatcher came from nowhere to smash through barriers of gender and class to be heard in a male dominated world. Also in the cast of the Weinstein Co release are Anthony Head, Richard E. Grant, Roger Allam, Olivia Colman, Nick Dunning, Julian Wadham, Alexandra Roach, Hugh Ross, Michael Pennington, David Westhead, Susan Brown and Martyn Moore. Catch it in theaters from December 30th.

New clip from Phyllida Lloyd's The Iron Lady, starring Meryl Streep and Jim Broadbent Scripted by Abi Morgan, The Iron Lady is a surprising and intimate portrait of Margaret Thatcher (Meryl Streep), the first and only female Prime Minister of The United Kingdom. One of the 20th century’s most famous and influential women, Thatcher came from nowhere to smash through barriers of gender and class to be heard in a male dominated world. Also in the cast of the Weinstein Co release are Anthony Head, Richard E. Grant, Roger Allam, Olivia Colman, Nick Dunning, Julian Wadham, Alexandra Roach, Hugh Ross, Michael Pennington, David Westhead, Susan Brown and Martyn Moore. Catch it in theaters from December 30th.

New clip from Phyllida Lloyd's The Iron Lady, starring Meryl Streep and Jim Broadbent Scripted by Abi Morgan, The Iron Lady is a surprising and intimate portrait of Margaret Thatcher (Meryl Streep), the first and only female Prime Minister of The United Kingdom. One of the 20th century’s most famous and influential women, Thatcher came from nowhere to smash through barriers of gender and class to be heard in a male dominated world. Also in the cast of the Weinstein Co release are Anthony Head, Richard E. Grant, Roger Allam, Olivia Colman, Nick Dunning, Julian Wadham, Alexandra Roach, Hugh Ross, Michael Pennington, David Westhead, Susan Brown and Martyn Moore. Catch it in theaters from December 30th.