Alan Jones (film Critic)
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Alan Jones (film Critic)
Alan Jones is a film critic, broadcaster and reporter on the Horror Fantasy genre who has travelled the world to report on movies in production. His first assignment was the original ''Star Wars'' in 1977, after which he became London correspondent for ''Cinefantastique'' magazine (1977–2002) and reviewed for British magazine '' Starburst'' from 1980 until 2008. A film critic for ''Film Review'' and ''Radio Times'', he has made contributions to the ''Radio Times Guide to Films'', the ''Radio Times Guide to Science Fiction'' and Halliwell's Film Guide. He has also served as film critic for BBC News 24, ''Front Row'' on BBC Radio 4, and on Sky News programme Sunrise. He has worked for many of the long-established cinema magazines – ''Empire'', ''Premiere'' and ''Total Film'', an article in which – ''The Splat Pack'' – is credited for the first use of a term that is now part of film industry jargon. Punk connections Jones' punk-era reminiscences about close friend Sid ...
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Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and drama. From the twentieth century, it has expanded further into various media, including film, television, graphic novels, manga, animations and video games. Fantasy is distinguished from the genres of science fiction and horror fiction, horror by the respective absence of scientific or macabre themes, although these genres overlap. In popular culture, the fantasy genre predominantly features settings that emulate Earth, but with a sense of otherness. In its broadest sense, however, fantasy consists of works by many writers, artists, filmmakers, and musicians from ancient mythology, myths and legends to many recent and popular works. Traits Most fantasy uses magic (paranormal), magic or other supernatural elements as a ma ...
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Dario Argento
Dario Argento (; born 7 September 1940) is an Italian film director, producer, screenwriter, actor and film critic, critic. His influential work in the horror film, horror genre during the 1970s and 1980s, particularly in the subgenre known as ''giallo'', has led him to being referred to as the "Master of the Thrill" and the "Master of Horror". His films as director include his "Animal Trilogy", consisting of ''The Bird with the Crystal Plumage'' (1970), ''The Cat o' Nine Tails'' (1971) and ''Four Flies on Grey Velvet'' (1971); his "The Three Mothers, Three Mothers" trilogy, consisting of ''Suspiria'' (1977), ''Inferno (1980 film), Inferno'' (1980) and ''The Mother of Tears'' (2007); and his stand-alone films ''Deep Red'' (1975), ''Tenebrae (film), Tenebrae'' (1982), ''Phenomena (film), Phenomena'' (1985) and ''Opera (1987 film), Opera'' (1987). He co-wrote the screenplay for Sergio Leone's ''Once Upon a Time in the West'' (1968) and served as George A. Romero's script consultan ...
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10cc
10cc are an English rock band formed in Stockport in 1972. The group initially consisted of four musicians – Graham Gouldman, Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley and Lol Creme – who had written and recorded together since 1968. The group featured two songwriting teams. Stewart and Gouldman were predominantly pop songwriters, who created most of the band's accessible songs. Godley and Creme were the predominantly experimental half of 10cc, featuring art and cinematically inspired writing. Every member of 10cc was a multi-instrumentalist, singer, writer and producer. Most of the band's records were recorded at their own Strawberry Studios (North) in Stockport and Strawberry Studios (South) in Dorking, with most of those engineered by Stewart. From 1972 to 1978, 10cc had five consecutive UK top-ten albums: ''Sheet Music'' (1974), '' The Original Soundtrack'' (1975), '' How Dare You!'' (1976), ''Deceptive Bends'' (1977) and ''Bloody Tourists'' (1978). 10cc also had twelve singles reach ...
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Jake West
Jake West (born 1972) is a British film director, known mostly for his horror films and for a series of documentaries looking at film censorship and interviewing well-known directors, actors and industry figures. Biography West's first feature film was ''Razor Blade Smile'', released in 1998. His second film, released in 2005, was ''Evil Aliens'', described as a 'British slapstick horror-comedy', in the tradition of films such as ''Braindead (film), Braindead'', ''House (1986 film), House'', and ''Evil Dead''. It was the first full-length British horror film to be filmed using Sony HD cameras and contains over a hundred digital effect shots as well as many conventional gory special effects. Following the success of Evil Aliens, West directed a made-for-TV sequel to the 1988 film ''Pumpkinhead (film), Pumpkinhead''. ''Pumpkinhead: Ashes to Ashes'' was co-written by West with Barbara Werner. The film was shot in Romania for the American Sci Fi Channel. His next film ''Doghouse (fi ...
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Terror (1978 Film)
''Terror'' is a 1978 British independent supernatural horror film written by David McGillivray and directed by Norman J. Warren. It stars John Nolan and Carolyn Courage as two cousins who fall victim to a curse that a witch placed on their ancestors. Conceived as a "fun horror film" with a simple premise, ''Terror'' was shot in various locations around London and Surrey. Although it was a box office success in the United Kingdom, it has drawn a mixed critical response for its storytelling and visual style, both of which were inspired by the Italian ''giallo'' horror film '' Suspiria'' (1977). Warren's plans for a sequel remain unrealised. Plot Three hundred years ago, the witch Mad Dolly is captured on the orders of Lord Garrick. She is about to be burned at the stake when she invokes the Devil, causing one of her executioners to catch fire. Garrick rushes back to his house, where a disembodied arm bursts through a wall and strangles him. Lady Garrick is confronted by a sword-w ...
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London FrightFest Film Festival
FrightFest, also known as Arrow Video FrightFest is an annual film festival held in London and Glasgow. The festival holds three major events each year: a festival running five days over the UK late August Bank Holiday weekend, a Halloween event held in London in late October, and a festival in Glasgow held around February as part of the Glasgow Film Festival. The first event was held in London in 2000 and the first Glasgow festival was held in 2006. As its name indicates FrightFest primary focus is on the horror film genre, however, the event regularly features documentaries, science fiction and thriller films. History Paul McEvoy has stated that his initial idea for FrightFest "came from my love and admiration for the seminal 'Shock Around The Clock' events of the 1980s organised by Stefan Jaworszyn and Alan Jones." He then reached out to Ian Rattray, journalist Alan Jones, film and television PR person and Greg Day, with whom he founded and ran the event. Question and Answe ...
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One Million Years BC
''One Million Years B.C.'' is a 1966 British adventure fantasy film directed by Don Chaffey. The film was produced by Hammer Film Productions and Seven Arts, and is a remake of the 1940 American fantasy film ''One Million B.C.''. The film stars Raquel Welch and John Richardson, set in a fictional age of cavemen and dinosaurs coexisting together. Location scenes were filmed on the Canary Islands in the middle of winter, in late 1965. The UK release prints of this film were printed in dye transfer Technicolor. The U.S. version released by 20th Century Fox was cut by nine minutes, printed in DeLuxe Color, and released in 1967. Like the original film, this remake is largely ahistorical. It portrays dinosaurs and humans living at the same point in time; according to the geologic time scale, the last non-avian dinosaurs became extinct 66 million years ago, and modern humans (''Homo sapiens'') did not exist until about 300,000 years B.C. Ray Harryhausen, who animated all of ...
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Jason And The Argonauts (1963 Film)
''Jason and the Argonauts'' (working title: ''Jason and the Golden Fleece'') is a 1963 Anglo-American independent mythological fantasy adventure film distributed by Columbia Pictures. It was produced by Charles H. Schneer, directed by Don Chaffey, and stars Todd Armstrong, while co-starring Nancy Kovack, Honor Blackman, and Gary Raymond. Shot in Eastman Color, the film was made in collaboration with stop-motion animation master Ray Harryhausen and is known for its various legendary creatures, notably the iconic fight scene featuring seven skeleton warriors. Although it was a box-office disappointment during its initial release, the film was critically acclaimed and later became a cult classic. The film score was composed by Bernard Herrmann, who had partnered with Harryhausen on ''The 7th Voyage of Sinbad'' (1958), '' The 3 Worlds of Gulliver'' (1960) and '' Mysterious Island'' (1961). Plot Pelias usurps the throne of Thessaly, killing King Aristo. A prophecy states that ...
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Ray Harryhausen
Raymond Frederick Harryhausen (June 29, 1920 – May 7, 2013) was an American-British animator and special effects creator who created a form of stop motion model animation known as "Dynamation". His works include the animation for '' Mighty Joe Young'' (1949) with his mentor Willis H. O'Brien (for which the latter won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects); his first color film, ''The 7th Voyage of Sinbad'' (1958); and '' Jason and the Argonauts'' (1963), which featured a sword fight with seven skeleton warriors. His last film was '' Clash of the Titans'' (1981), after which he retired. In 1960, Harryhausen moved to the United Kingdom and became a dual American-British citizen. He lived in London until his death in 2013. During his life, his innovative style of special effects in films inspired numerous filmmakers. In November 2016 the BFI compiled a list of those present-day filmmakers who claim to have been inspired by Harryhausen, including Steven Spielberg, Peter ...
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Neil Marshall
Neil Marshall (born 25 May 1970) is an English film and television director, editor, producer, and screenwriter. He directed the horror films ''Dog Soldiers'' (2002) and ''The Descent'' (2005), the science fiction action film ''Doomsday'' (2008), the historical war film ''Centurion'' (2010), the superhero action film ''Hellboy'' (2019), and the adventure horror film '' The Reckoning'' (2020). Marshall has also directed numerous television series, including two episodes of the HBO fantasy drama series '' Game of Thrones'': " Blackwater" and " The Watchers on the Wall", the latter of which earned him a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series. Early life Marshall was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. He was inspired to become a film director when he saw '' Raiders of the Lost Ark'' (1981) at the age of eleven. He began making home movies using Super 8 mm film, and in 1989, he attended film school at Newcastle Polytechnic. In the ne ...
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Science + Fiction
Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for scientific reasoning is tens of thousands of years old. The earliest written records in the history of science come from Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia in around 3000 to 1200 BCE. Their contributions to mathematics, astronomy, and medicine entered and shaped Greek natural philosophy of classical antiquity, whereby formal attempts were made to provide explanations of events in the physical world based on natural causes. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, knowledge of Greek conceptions of the world deteriorated in Western Europe during the early centuries (400 to 1000 CE) of the Middle Ages, but was preserved in the Muslim world during the Islamic Golden Age and later by the efforts of Byzantine Greek scholars who brought Greek ...
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Slumdog Millionaire
''Slumdog Millionaire'' is a 2008 British drama film that is a loose adaptation of the novel '' Q & A'' (2005) by Indian author Vikas Swarup. It narrates the story of 18-year-old Jamal Malik from the Juhu slums of Mumbai. Starring Dev Patel as Jamal, and filmed in India, the film was directed by Danny Boyle, written by Simon Beaufoy, and produced by Christian Colson, with Loveleen Tandan credited as co-director. As a contestant on '' Kaun Banega Crorepati'', an Indian-Hindi version of ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?,'' Jamal surprises everyone by being able to answer every question correctly, winning . Accused of cheating, Jamal recounts his life story to the police, illustrating how he is able to answer each question correctly. After its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival and later screenings at the Toronto International Film Festival and the London Film Festival, ''Slumdog Millionaire'' had a nationwide release in the United Kingdom on 9 January 2009, in Ind ...
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