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BBFC LAUNCHES NEW STUDIES
PARENTS CALL FOR ONLINE CERTS
ON THE HUNT
GO ENTERTAIN PLANTS THE SEEDS
THE NEXT INTERROGATION…
GETTING A JUMP ON RIVALS
KNIGHT IN HMV FOR DAYS
COMIC CON REPORT
EUREKA TO UNVEIL Q4…
…AND LAUNCHES NEW PLATFORM
CURSE HEADS OIVER FROM SINGAPORE
METRODOME GETS THE GIRL
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
AT THE MOVIES
SITE OF THE WEEK
TWEET OF THE WEEK
TRAILERS OF THE WEEK
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It Was A Good Week For… Arrow, with acres of coverage for it Salute title…
It Was A Bad Week For… Team Raygun at the Star Trek quiz night…
The publication of the annual report from the BBFC always makes for fascinating reading, and it was no different this week as the organisation unveiled its look back at 2011. It took the opportunity to announce some major pieces of research to be carried out this year. These will take in studies in s*xual violence in films and potentially harmful content in exempt video releases. Those were two of the key concerns raised during the past year and are issues the BBFC is currently focusing on. As reported here, two titles, The Human Centipede 2 (Full Sequence) and The Bunny Game both fell foul of examiners due to s*xual violence, the latter was sufficiently trimmed to attain an 18 certificate. Its research aims to discover the public's attitude to this kind of material and what is and isn't acceptable. It's further supporting tweaks to the Video Recordings Act that may see previously exempt items, such as music video releases, come under closer scrutiny. BBFC director David Cooke said: "In 2011 Reg Bailey highlighted concerns about the sexualisation of children through readily available audio-visual material that is exempt from classification. The BBFC hope that an adjustment to the Video Recordings Act will help prevent children from being exposed to strongly violent or sexual content, whether in music videos, instructional DVDs or documentaries. The issue of sexual violence in films in 2011 will also be considered in more depth in 2012, with new research into the public’s opinion around portrayals of sexual violence due to be published in the autumn."
The BBFC report also looks at some of the research it carried out in 2011 too. Much of this focused on its role in the Internet age and showed that, according to the public, it's needed as much now as ever: 85 per cent consider it important to have BBFC ratings applied to vod content, a figure that rises to nine out of 10 among parents with children under 16 years old. BBFC director Cooke added: "The BBFC has worked with the home entertainment industry since 2008 to develop voluntary content labelling strategies for online and Video On Demand (VOD) content and it’s encouraging to know the public still want a trusted guide to online content. This is also recognised by on-demand content providers and in 2011 we welcomed several new subscribers to our online service, including BT Vision, Talk Talk, Netflix and British Airways."
We're poring over the report over the weekend and will putting a feature up on our website next week. Somewhat serendipitously, we also visited the organisation's Soho Square HQ this week, to look at the ongoing work of BBFC Digital Services. More on this in the next week or two as well… It was interesting to note how far and wide the BBFC report was taken up, with stories appearing in newspapers ranging from The Guardian to The Sun (check the user comments on the latter, typically hilarious and, while we're at it, see the Daily Mail readers' bile here). Interesting to note how, no matter what the BBFC does, all anyone ever wants to talk about is the complaints they've received…
 Talking of those complaints, one currently around the top in terms of complaints is The Woman In Black, from Momentum. After its recent success on DVD and Blu-ray, the company is now readying itself for another fevered bout of activity. A key title on the way is Headhunters, which, given its word of mouth, reviews, theatrical performance, writer Jo Nesbo's burgeoning reputation and the involvement of Momentum which scored such successes with the likes of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and the rest of the Millennium Trilogy, will, as the company's Kristin Ryan said, "over index on home entertainment following the September release. Ryan explained: "We're planning a major media push at a similar level to our Dragon Tattoo home entertainment release which is designed to appeal not just to our core 'smart-house' audience but to the wider 18-34-year-old action thriller mainstream film fan which will include a substantial TV, press and online campaign and a highly visible outdoor campaign across the rail network to target our Nesbo reading suburban commuters. With an incredibly strong release, in clear release week building on the solid awareness with our art-house core along with a heavyweight media campaign targeting a wider audience we're confident Headhunters will be a great success."
To Kew Gardens, west London, for the launch of Go Entertain's July 16 release Kingdom Of Plants 3D. The launch, attended by assorted journalists, many from the nationals, and industry types was hosted by Sir David Attenborough himself. At a Q&A after an airing for extended clips from the release, Attenborough talked about time-lapse photography and gave his thoughts on 3D: "3D is a special kind of revolution," he said. And once the technical issues were sorted, "it will come into its own. It's a learning process, [but] it's an exciting time to be in on it." The event was part of a launch campaign that includes press and digital advertising and a Smooth Radio campaign voiced by the unmistakable tones of Sir David. Attenborough is also appearing on This Morning and Radio 2. Go Entertain's Neil Harrington said: "We are extremely pleased to be working with the award-winning Atlantic Productions on the release of our ground-breaking Kingdom Of Plants 3D Blu-ray and DVD. To have the programme narrated and endorsed by Sir David only further enhances what we feel to be a very strong release.”
And on to the Enterprise pub in Chalk Farm, north west London, for a special quiz night hosted by Paramount and its agency Eulogy to mark the launch of Star Trek Next Generation on Blu-ray (the first season is due on July 23). As previously noted here, The Raygun, including contributor Alex Kidd, joined forces with screenjabber.co.uk and screengeek.co.uk to form a team that, er, didn't do very well. The winning team included former video trade press editor Toby Weidmann and were an unstoppable force. The teams were made up of assorted journalists and bloggers, all of which will help the release get further coverage. And of course, ourselves and assorted others were tweeting throughout the event. Paramount's Tara Hutton said: "Publicity from the pub quiz combined with our extensive PR and media campaign should ensure this is the biggest Star Trek Blu-ray release to date." We've got some of the questions and more on ST:TNG, as its known, up on our website shortly so you can testy your own skills and knowledge. You won't be nearly as bad as we were, that's for sure…
 Out this week and one of the funniest films we've seen for some time is 21 Jump Street, from SPHE. It was one of the weekend's best reviewed films, as our recent round-up of DVD and home entertainment releases showed. And we loved the viral that landed in our inbox this week, put together by the major over at Whiteleys shopping centre. It centred on the fact that one of the film's stars, Channing Tatum, had problems remembering how to read a bad guy he'd collared his rights. The clip was used across social media by assorted film bloggers and sites. You can see it up on our website shortly…
You may, or may not, have noticed that the new Batman film, the final part in Christopher Nolan's trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises, is due out at cinemas next week (the latest billboard, focusing on villain Bane is the best yet, as we tweeted earlier this week). And drafting has come to the fore once more, courtesy of Warner's first two films in the trilogy, Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. HMV has had costumes from the new film in the window of its flagship Oxford Street store this week. It has taken the opportunity to rack out the first two films and recent doublepack alongside other related DVD catalogue as well as games, T-shirts and the likes. HMV's London West End regional manager Martin Jezzard said: "We're thrilled to have the costumes at the store and it's exciting to be part of the build up to the film's release. The exhibit is understandably attracting a huge amount of interest from Oxford Street shoppers and tourists, many of whom are stopping to take photos for their Facebook pages." For pictures, head over to our website soon…
 Talking of comic book characters, as anyone who's gone within spitting distance of the Internet this week might have realised, the huge San Diego Comic Con event is currently taking place over in the US and, among the scores of genre fans doing the rounds there, alongside the equally numerous journalists and bloggers, are our very own Jerome Mazandarani and Thom Leaman, from sister companies Manga and Anchor Bay respectively. Here's some inside track from Mazandarani from the event which is, as he said, three times bigger than Cannes and 100 times more interesting: "In addition to the hundreds of video games, comics, books, t-shirts, toys and other merch you can buy here the Con is also a very important place for studios to launch their latest movies and tv shows. Hall H is reserved for the biggest panels. It holds over 4000 people and once you've queued to get in you can stay all day. Saturday is where the biggest panels take place including Guillermo del Toro's Pacific Rim, Warner's Man Of Steel and The Hobbit. All panels feature stars and creators. Friday is Disney and Marvel's chance to pitch Iron Man 3. Expect Robert Downey Jnr to make an appearance. [Anchor Bay and Manga parent] Starz will be holding a Spartacus Season 3 panel. They are flying over some of the stars of the highly anticipated season 3, which is currently shooting in New Zealand. It's not all fun though. Some serious business gets done here during the week. Honest!" For more, see our website and expect further updates next week too…
Monday July 23 sees the release of StreetDance 2, the sequel to the eOne title that proved to be one of the success stories of 2011. We've already covered the title here, but Monday sees eOne joining forces with hip-hop club night Jump Off and street dance outfit Flawless for a launch event at London's Scala on the day of release. The night will, it says here, offer up "body-popping, booty-shaking and crunching" with the best dancers being selected by Flawless Marlon "Swoosh" Wallen. eOne's Jeff Suter said:"I’m delighted with this partnership it’s a great fit for the StreetDance brand and ensures we are appealing to a core urban market. Flawless are also supporting this and will be there in the night to help judge the dance-off."
Also on Monday, Eureka is going to unveil its line-up for Q4, an online event that is always met with great interest – and chatter – from devotees, especially on Twitter and assorted blogs. We'll be reporting on it next week, but it really is a major event. As Eureka's Ron Benson noted: "As eclectic as ever, The Masters of Cinema Series will close 2012 by revisiting some familiar friends while welcoming several new directors into the fold with a slate that spans the landmarks of silent cinema, Hollywood classics, overlooked American gems, and the very best in Japanese art cinema.” Also worth noting is the news that the Masters Of Cinema imprint's Double Indemnity is currently proving to be yet another strong seller for the label.
 And more from Eureka now, as the label has marked the arrival of Friday the 13th by launching a clutch of its more shocking titles as vod items through its Facebook pages and online. The quartet includes both The Human Centipede films, as well as The Yellow And Guilty Of Romance. As Ron Bemson stated: " What better opportunity to launch our new VOD technology platform, than on Friday 13th with these ultimate horror and noir thriller titles. Everyone will be able to watch quality streaming directly on their iPhone, iPad, computer, television or even on FaceBook.The technology is territory specific and provides rental streaming, digital gifting and personalised subscription to the public directly through our website and social media pages from this Friday, with more titles being added soon.” You can see it here and further examples here.
Another week and another new label launches into the market. So welcome then, Grayson Pictures, named after Bruce Wayne's sidekick Robin. The label is specialising in films from SE Asia and its first release is Curse, a chiller from Singapore, due on September 10 and distributed via Lace. "We want to average two releases per quarter to start off with," said md Jamil Ahmed. "We want to build steadily and create an appetite for them." You can see the trailer for the company's first release here.
It's been a busy week for Metrodome, currently enjoying success with titles such as The Innkeepers (see the last newsletter) and In Darkness. And this week it's unveiled a raft of acquisitions. It haspicked up UK and Irish rights to God Help The Girl, the first film from Bell And Sebastian frontman Stuart Murdoch, a film based on his own album of the same name. It will star, among others, Emily Browning. Filming started this week. It has also picked up the rights to Maniac, an 80s horror remake starring Elijah Wood and Room 237, a look at the theories surrounding Stanley Kubrick's The Shining.
And we’ll end with news from Kaleidoscope, which continues to innovate when it comes to release strategies, particularly at theatrical ahead of later DVD releases. So next week the company is hosting the premiere for its Something For Nothing: The Art Of Rap, a personal look at the form by rapper Ice T. The event takes place at the HMV Hammersmith Apollo and will see not just the film being shown, but also a live gig from the likes of Ice T and seminal hip hop figures such as Chuck Dee, Melle Mel and Raekwon, it’ll be followed by a Q&A. The event is being beamed to 90 UK cinemas and a further 150 across Europe… You can see the trailer for the film here.
 QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“The founders saw a great opportunity to bring back family entertainment to movie lovers within the communities it serves. We have watched the family experience of selecting entertainment at the local video store disappear. And we are going to bring it back to where it belongs — in the community.
US company wegotmovies unveiling plans to expand its door to door, personal DVD delivery service, as well as opening new rental stores…
AT THE MOVIES
With the distraction of the football out of the way, it was back to business as (almost) normal, where not even Wimbledon could put The Amazing Spider-man off, on its way to an opening haul of more than 11 million. Ice Age 4: Continental Drift has notched up more than £2.3 million from just certain parts of the UK and Ireland, while other new entries included Katy Perry: Part Of Me (£449,,491) and Bollywood film Bol Bachchan (£160,941).
One of the big Comic Con appearances was Arnold Scwharzenegger, unveiling some footage from The Expendables 2 alongside Sylvester Stallone. Ingterestingly, he also confirmed that he is set to re-team with director Ivan Reitman to make a sequel to Twins, which will be at least a quarter of a century old by the time it's made…
And lo, it came to pass that 007 producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson confirmed what many already knew: Ben Whishaw will star as Q in the next Bond film Skyfall…
Musicals are where it's at this week, as ddreports surface that successful London and New York stage plays Wicked and Jersey Boys are heading to the big screen. The arrival of Wicked, potentially with Stephen Daldry at the helm, will cap a flurry of Oz activity – Comic Con saw Disney unveiling the trailer for its Sam Raimi directed Oz: The Great And Powerful (see below for trailer).
SITE OF THE WEEK
Some excellent albeit lengthy reading about Netflix…
TWEET OF THE WEEK
This week we managed the odd tweet from the Star Trek quiz, under the #thenextinterrogation hashtag. And you can follow us on www.twitter.com/theraygun
TRAILERS OF THE WEEK
Luke Goss stars…
One of the Comic Con biggies…
The FrightFest fans are all looking forward to this one…
Currently creating a lot of buzz, Revolver has this for the Uk…
We can easily see this being in our top 10 come year end…
More Sweeney antics…
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