Matthew Lang

I love Rian Johnson’s Knives Out. Such a quirky film and Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc character is great to watch. Looking forward to the sequel, Glass Onion.

I completely agree with Michael Wade. Master & Commander is a masterpiece.

I never got round to seeing Master & Commander at the cinema. If I’m honest, I don’t even remember much of seeing Master & Commander being advertised at all at the time. I do regret not seeing it on the big screen, but at home, maybe with a good set of headphones, it is as close to the cinema experience as I’ll ever get.

It’s definitely one of my favourite movies of all time.

Just finished watching Greyhound on Apple TV+.

A great watch and goes straight into the action. Tom Hanks is brilliant as always and Stephen Graham is also great as the Greyhound’s executive officer.

I also think I’ve found myself a book to add to the reading list. The Good Shepherd by C. S. Forester, the book on which the movie is based.

A look at the different techniques used to make the lightsaber work on screen through the different Star Wars movies.

Enter the sequel trilogies, which would achieve the pinnacle of lightsaber effects by merging the various techniques from over the years. Like the prequels, the blades of the lightsabers on-screen would be added digitally, with the on-camera fights taking place with plastic prop stand-ins. Also like the original trilogy, the battles were still fought on actual sets as part of the Star Wars sequels’ commitment to trying to embrace more practical effects.

The Star Wars sequels finally got lightsabers right

Of course, you’re bound to hit on the right combination after numerous attempts. The sequel trilogy does get it right though with the lighting effect from the lightsabers.

It’s just a shame though, that we haven’t yet seen any other colour of lightsaber than the blue and red done with this effect.

Also, I wonder if we’ll get a new version of A New Hope with this included as an option?

“We were inspired by the Vader scene in Rogue One,” Christopher Clements from FixitinPost says in an email to Fast Company. “We felt like the fury and power from that hallway scene should be present in the Vader/Kenobi duel that happens very closely in the Star Wars timeline. It was essential to update the emotion of the scene given the history we are now aware of between these two. Telling the story of these two was our main goal when setting out to create Scene 38.”

This fan-made, nerd-approved edit of an iconic Star Wars scene took 2.5 years to make

I’m not one for paying particular attention to the Academy Awards, but even I had to do a double-take when it was announced that Black Panther earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture. Not that I think it doesn’t deserve it, it indeed does, and it is a fantastic film. It’s just that these types of movies never seem to make the final list of nominees.

No longer can superhero movies be classed merely as summer blockbusters and be relegated to specific award categories as they have been in the past.

That was the assumption, anyway. Between 2009 and this year, superhero movies still didn’t receive much attention from the academy in its biggest categories. That’s the entire lifespan of Marvel’s current Cinematic Universe — a total of 22 movies passed over. Genre films have largely been relegated to the science categories, including Visual Effects.

— Black Panther is the first superhero movie to earn an Oscars Best Picture nomination by The Verge

It’s taken a long time for these movies to be recognised and hopefully, we will continue to see a broader range of films being nominated for Best Picture in the future.

Posting this here in the hopes that Michael Wade sees this and doesn’t need to break his Twitter fast for it.

For the Aubrey Maturin lovers , I do hear whispers indeed that a second voyage is perhaps potentially pre-proposed a possibility . So O’Brian affectionate’s and aficionados , let @20thcenturyfox know of your pleasure .

— Russell Crowe

I would love to see a second Master & Commander film. The first movie is great and the Aubrey/Maturin books by Patrick O’Brian are fantastic reads.

Another Christmas, another Star Wars movie. I can’t wait to see this.

Since watching it this morning, I’ve seen lots of theories online and I’ve even got my own theory about how the three movies will pan out but I’m keeping that to myself.

If stamps, scruffy-looking nerf herders and laser blasting walking carpets are you thing then these stamps by the Royal Mail might be right up your street.

Saddened to hear that Carrie Fisher has passed away at the age of 60.

It wasn’t until a few years ago that I was aware of her career off screen, including an author and an advocate for mental health.

Thanks for being a huge part of my childhood and the childhood of my kids Carrie.

via The Verge

The Rogue One movie is coming out soon and so is the last expansion pack for Star Wars Battlefront.

For the first time an expansion pack will feature content not from the original trilogy. Of course Rogue One is set just before the beginning of A New Hope so it’s as close as you’ll get to the original trilogy.

Star Wars Battlefront has been a real joy to play over the last year. Enough game play variety to keep you interested, great graphics and source, and lastly of course it’s Star Wars.

Games like this don’t come along very often but when they do you find yourself playing for hours at a time. Great fun. I can’t wait for the new expansion pack to come out.

via Electronic Arts

Seriously. Why isn’t it December the 16th yet?

The 50 best film scores have been compiled over at the Playlist and feature scores from movies such as The Dark Knight, Solaris and the Ocean’s trilogy.

A few gems in here that I’ll be adding to my own playlists.

via Kottke.org

$800 for the new box set of Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. It’s hard to see what you’re really getting for your money on this one.

I won’t be buying it!

It’s great to see movie crews and especially stunt performers, going to extraordinary lengths to get shots like this for movies.

Can’t wait to see Assassin’s Creed!

Amazing work here for the movie. I particularly like the foldable spear.

via Ian Dick

Great to Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass working on the new Bourne movie.

Love this.

via Kottke.org

A film about the early life of Han Solo has been announced by Disney. Good to see that Disney are moving forwards with Star Wars.

via Kottke.org

Adults will have their own variations on this ranked list of Pixar’s movies, but has anyone asked the kids to order these films? Chances are the kids probably couldn’t seperate any of them.

via Kottke.org

I would have to say that the Jack Ryan reboot was by far my most disappointing movie of 2014.

Chris Pine seems suffocated to be playing the straight-man hero (he is more at home in Stretch and Into the Woods), Kenneth Branagh is really not Russian, and really you just want to weep for Keira Knightley, whom everyone assumed would have a secret role to play in the film but is merely there to have a light bulb shoved in her mouth while she tearfully waits for her man to save her.

— ‘Exodus,’ ‘Maleficent’ And The Worst Films Of 2014 by Forbes

My own cinema going experience for 2014 was limited, but I’m glad to see there’s a few must-see movies for 2015. Roll on 2015!

The different sound components of the Millennium Falcon’s hyperdrive failing explained by Ben Burtt. The biplane used was probably more reliable than that hunk of junk.

The new Bond movie, Spectre, is out next year but that’s not what I was interested in. I’m not a petrol-head, but you can’t deny that the new Bond car looks great.

… Raiders.

I loved this movie as a kid, but equally amazing is that my oldest son also loves this movie. It’s a real testament to a movie when it can be appreciated across multiple generations.