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STARS AND SOME BRITS FLOCK TO MIPCOM
LOVEFILM INKS PS3 DEAL
AND PARTNERS AT LFF
THIS WEEK ON THE WEBSITE
BLINK AND YOU'LL MISS IT OFFERS
GRINDING INTO ACTION
MOMENTUM GIVES FROZEN A LIFT…
…AND SCOOBY GOES TO THE DOGS
CAST-IRON SALES
ABBEY DAYS FOR PLAYBACK
IDIOT PULLS IN RATINGS
4DVD TAKES HART
HBO READY FOR PACIFIC ASSAULT
ARN'LL BE BACK
DARIO KEEPS CUTS AT BAY
ROTH FOR ARROW
ZOMBIES JOIN SOUND OF MUSIC
EVENTS OF THE WEEK
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
RELEASE OF THE WEEK – JIMMY CARR
AT THE MOVIES
TWEET OF THE WEEK
SITE OF THE WEEK
TRAILERS OF THE WEEK
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 It was a good week for… LOVEFiLM, making a major PS3 announcement taking it into even more homes…
It was a bad week for… Film critics, as a survey shows people prefer their own and friends and families' opinions when it comes to choosing a film to see Dateline: Cannes Down to the south of France, for the MIPCOM event, although this year's event didn't see the same size British contingent as is often spotted around the Croisette – maybe they were put off after the shenanigans with the volcanic ash cloud earlier this year at the sister MIP event. But the likes of ITV, Icon, eOne, Acorn, Demand, Revelation, Channel 4, Abbey and so on were all in attendance. They all got to enjoy at least one major deluge, and this year's event – maybe sensing the kind of feeling of deja vu that often surrounds trade shows and markets – attempted to inject a bit of glamour. This saw more stars than normal turning up, with Mad Men's Jon Hamm and co-star Elizabeth Moss, Kiss' Gene Simmons, Matt Lucas and David Walliams and loads more all flying in to help push their wares. Lucas and Walliams' Come Fly With Me was one of the higher profile homegrown products on offer to the rest of the world from the BBC, ITV were, our observers say, pushing Coronation Street among others. More as any deals that were discussed are inked in the coming weeks… Back in Blighty, it's been a big week for LOVEFiLM. The company has entered into what it describes as a "groundbreaking partnership" with Sony Computer Entertainment which will see its streaming service offered to members through the PlayStation 3 console. LOVEFiLM currently has 1.4 million subscribers, the new deal will take it to into more than 3 million homes. The LOVEFiLM streaming service will be available on Internet connected PS3s' Xross Media Bar, giving access to LOVEFiLM's offering through their TV sets. And non-members will be given the chance to sign up to LOVEFiLM with free trials and other offers. Chief executive Simon Calver said: "This is game-changing for LOVEFiLM and transformational for the UK home entertainment market as a whole. PS3 already has a very large installed customer base of all ages, all of whom will soon be able to benefit from our unique combination of instantly available content, streamed through their PS3, as well as DVD, Blu-ray and games rental by post. To become PS3's partner for our service is a tremendous endorsement of the value, choice and convenience offered by LOVEFiLM." SCE UK's Ray Maguire added: "We know there is a huge interest within our audience for film, and so the addition of LOVEFiLM to our current range of services is a very natural fit and one which significantly enhances the value proposition of PlayStation 3." LOVEFiLM already offers its streaming through Sony Bravia hardware. Meanwhile as the London Film Festival kicked off this week and LOVEFiLM is one of the event's official media partners. Its activity includes an interactive microsite that is being regularly updated now the LFF is up and running. See it here: http://festival.blog.lovefilm.com LOVEFiLM editor Helen Cowley said: "To mark the third year of LOVEFiLM's partnership with the BFI and London Film Festival we're set to bring film lovers the best interactive experience of the event yet. Through our dedicated blog, readers will be kept up to date with daily news, reviews and interviews from some of the world's most exciting film talent - from Keira Knightley to Darren Aronofsky." The Raygun has bagged an LFF pass and we'll be at numerous screenings over the next couple of weeks and offer a round-up of the best from us and the industry here on the newsletter and also on our website. Also at http://www.theraygun.co.uk/ this week, an interview with This Is England's Vicky McClure, a look at the pull of war films, our weekly update on home entertainment reviews in the press and the latest addition to our HMV-supported My Inspiration feature.  And while we're at it, how about this for another exclusive? Monday will see a first ever release for Grindhouse, the Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez double header that ended up being split up into two films, Planet Terror and Death Proof. The two films have been put back together again in the original US theatrical version, complete with the intermission trailers between the back to back films. It's only available on Blu-ray – with more than two hours' worth of extras on a two-disc edition – and consumers can only get it from HMV stores or online. For more see here and here (this look at the extras is not for those of a nervous disposition, incidentally). Also out next week is Momentum's Frozen. If you're out and about in London on Monday, keep an eye out for some intriguing DVD and Blu-ray related activity. Chief among this will be Momentum and its agency The Associates who have put together a stunt to mark the release of the ski-lift chiller. It is a competition taking part in a "central London location" that will see consumers suspended in a ski-lift and having to complete a number of tasks to win prizes. Momentum's Adam Eldrett said: "I am delighted to be working with The Associates, BigRedMachineMedia and Zoo magazine to announce the release of Frozen with a bang. On DVD launch day we will have this epic chair lift stunt over the streets of London, the DVD launch of Frozen is a culmination of our work since its theatrical debut on September 24 and the LOVEFiLM rental window from October 1. The appetite for the film is growing every week and the launch day stunt should be a nice cherry on top of all the activity so far." "We are," the statement said, "praying for sunny weather and not too much wind..." More on this next week, although you wouldn't catch us up there even if the prize were £1 million… And more launches to keep an eye out for on Monday, as Warner will be at Battersea Dogs And Cats Home to mark its release of Scooby-Doo! Camp Scare (out this week) alongside a new Boomerang Scooby TV launch and video game, with a guest appearance from Jedward and the unveiling of its new Mystery Mansion. The Mansion will then tour nationwide at key regional locations.  Last week we reported on an Iron Man 2 launch stunt and this week there's interesting news from the US, where the Marvel blockbuster became the first big Q4 release to sell more on Blu-ray than DVD, as it notched up sales of more than 5 million units in its first week in the US, according to figures from trade publication Home Media Magazine and Nielsen. Paramount in the UK is preparing for the October 25 release and next week will see it dominating key event TV spots. The campaign will also see digital forming a key focus targeting the 16 to 34-year-old interactive friendly audience with large format digital creatives across key sites, showcasing the action. The PR element is, as we reported last week, already up and running, with 25,000 followers have been added in the past week alone across social media. Iron Man will also be appearing across retail, in shopping malls as well as retailers. On to television now, and you can't have failed to have noticed the press coverage that has been picked up by Downton Abbey on ITV, which has seen the costume drama becoming a much talked about series, both by journalists and the public (it's even been trending on Twitter). Universal Playback is currently readying the first series for a November 8 release, along with accompanying marketing. Playback's Eleanor Fraser said: "Downton Abbey has rapidly become destination viewing on ITV1 on a Sunday night, something that will also be reflected in the programme’s inevitable success on DVD this Q4. Attracting more than 8.5 million viewers a week, the series epitomises everything that audiences love about period drama – from its gorgeous visuals, witty script and galaxy of popular stars – and these will obviously be key selling points when the programme arrives on DVD loaded with bonus material. We are planning two bursts of activity, with the first targeting all key media around the launch and the second burst kicking off from November 29 when we will be aiming activity squarely at the gifting market – what better way to spend Christmas than in the company of the Crawleys, after all? And with the series already having been recommissioned for a second series, the DVD and Blu-ray release of Downton Abbey Series 1 really does mark the arrival of one of those programmes which will truly endure." More current essential viewing, and another Twitter favourite, is An Idiot Abroad which has seen great viewing figures on Sky 1 since it launched at the end of September. Starring Ricky Gervais' pal Karl Pilkington, the programme’s hilarious journey around the seven wonders of the world has exceeded initial expectations hitting around 1.2 million viewers on a Thursday night with audiences bucking the usual trend and growing week-on-week. 2 entertain’s DVD release is set to hit retail on November 15 with a substantial marketing campaign and high profile PR activity on social media platforms. The first episode, which saw Pilkington travel to "the alright wall of China" was one of the funniest things we at The Raygun have seen for ages. Also on the TV comedy side, keep an eye out for Miranda, the BBC sitcom that is due from 4DVD on November 15. The release coincides with the transmission of the second series of the programme, and 4DVD's release will be supported by a press campaign around launch and a National Rail outdoor campaign for the gifting market. 4DVD's Jessica Scott said: "Miranda Hart is fast becoming a national treasure and we’re thrilled to be releasing Miranda on DVD."  More Arn: Knight Templar news, following our recent reports of the title that came from nowhere to sell 30,000 plus units in its first two weeks. High Fliers has announced that, due to public demand – a lot of it from consumers who've watched the film's DVD extras that talk about an extended edition – it will be releasing a director's cut of the film in the first part of 2010. High Fliers' Jane Lawson said: "High Fliers towers has been inundated with calls and emails from people wanting to see the full extended edition so we are very excited as in the first half of next year we will release the full director's cut." The company is also looking to release an Arn miniseries too… Arrow Video, the cult film-friendly arm of Arrow Video, has announced that its forthcoming Dario Argento title Deep Red will be uncut. The Italian horror tale was being scrutinised by the BBFC over a notorious scene involving a lizard. Cruelty to animals in films rarely goes unpunished by the organisation, and it looked as if Deep Red, also known as Profondo Rosso and one of Argento's finest, might be trimmed. But Arrow pursued Argento in his native Italy and secured a statement from him assuring the censors that "the lizard was not harmed". The title is now being finalised for its lavish Arrow video release, as featured in previous issues of The Raygun. Arrow's Francesco Simeoni said: "When we submitted Deep Red we knew there might be two offensive scenes and one came back as a problem. After the success we had with Inferno we decided to approach Dario Argento again for his comments; his office explained to us that the effect of the lizard with the needle was an false and that in fact the lizard was unharmed. This went back to what we had learned with Inferno, that Dario is a peaceful man that didn’t like to hurt animals, so much so that he is a vegetarian. Despite his meek demeanour the man was capable of creating such horrific images which doesn’t seem to be an isolated case for Italian horror directors as we also found out about Mario Bava, whose A Bay of Blood contains a scene with a beetle being spiked with a needle, a scene Bava was dreading to shoot because of the harm that might be caused to this animal. Finally he got around it as is explained in our upcoming edition of the film." Talking of Arrow's sumptuous packaging – the titles have clear windows, allowing horror fans to choose from four different sleeve images, including one which has been specially commissioned, and, of course, are packed with extras, both elements from the original release and newly-created features – it seems as if the company has found a new fan. Director Eli Roth, whose Last Exorcism is one of the year's most-talked about new horror features, was looking forward to watching, among others, Inferno from Arrow Video, according to his Twitter feed. Roth, an acolyte of Quentin Tarantino's and a renowned film buff, described Arrow Video's titles as "amazing". And we'll end on some more cult viewing, as Terracotta Distribution has confirmed that its Big T*ts Zombie (you can guess what the word is, we've left it out to avoid industry firewalls) will join the likes of The Sound Of Music and The Rocky Horror Show as a regular film shown at the Prince Charles Cinema in London's West End where patrons are positively encouraged to dress up and oin in. Anyone dressed as a, ahem, large chested member of the undead, will get in for free, the monthly night begins this Saturday. Terracotta's Joey Leung said: " BTZ (as it has now been dubbed by everyone in the know) has shipped well to retailers and had a healthy level of online pre-orders. As far as we know, its the first English subbed version of this film and that has helped to reduce the level of parallel imports by consumers in our specialist market. That we are still getting cinema bookings fits in well with our philosophy of not restricting formats and giving consumers the choice.  EVENTS OF THE WEEK
We were kept busy at the start of the week with a brace of CGI family-friendly premieres in as many days. On Sunday, The Raygun was at the premiere of Warner's adventure Legend Of The Guardians – The Owls Of Ga'hoole, which, title aside, was great fun. And on Monday we strolled up the yellow carpet for Universal's Despicable Me, a hugely enjoyable tale with Steve Carell, who was there in person, taking the lead voice duties. QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"FACT is increasingly turning its attention to websites and other internet services which sell, distribute or provide access to counterfeit copies of films and TV programmes. It is increasingly clear that organised criminals are using the internet to generate substantial profits and we are keen to ensure this is tackled by UK law enforcement." Federation Against Copyright Theft director general Kieron Sharp, talking after an 18 month investigation by FACT and Liverpool City Council trading standards officers saw five arrests and the closure of a website selling pirate DVDs along with music and games and offering as many as 30,000 different titles. The raids were carried out in the north west. RELEASE OF THE WEEK A few months ago, we noted that Jimmy Carr started the publicity for his new Q4 live release, Making People Laugh, nice and early when he appeared on one of the final Jonathan Ross chat shows on BBC1. Well, 4DVD is now ramping its campaign up, as the comic travels the country on an autumn tour that will see him playing to 350,000 people. Carr is a well-known quantity in the Q4 gifting market – he's sold around 1 million units across his five releases, with his last notching up sales of 175,000. 4DVD's campaign will take in TV, outdoor, press and online, while Carr himself will appear on TV on Something For The Weekend, Loose Women and Have I Got News For You, as well as featuring in a cover interview in the Sunday Times Culture magazine the day before release. 4DVD's Jessica Scott said: "Jimmy is back with more than two hours of stand-up in his DVD Making People Laugh – which will have stand-out in retail, not least because of it’s lurid orange sleeve." AT THE MOVIES Three new entries at the top of UK box office charts, with the Wall Street sequel, subtitled Money Never Sleeps, proving that adage with a haul of almost £1.8 million. It beat Life As We Know It, which took almost £1 million, and The Death And Life Of Charlie St Cloud, which took nearly £650,000. Our favourite film news of the week came as BBC launched its new-look Film 2010 programme (see Tweet Of The Week below, which shows the jury is still out, although we were disappointed there was no mention of home entertainment at all), with many people on Twitter wishing that Mark Kermode was presenting the programme. The critic had some good news this week as a YouGov poll showed that he is the critic most trusted by the public. The bad news for him – and all other critics – was that a mere three per cent of the public trusted his judgement more than anyone else's. So who did cinemagoers trust most? Themselves (28 per cent), a friend (17 per cent), family (14 per cent) and partners (nine per cent). Empire and Total Film pulled one per cent apiece. It's all been about comic books (again) this week, as the Internet has worked itself into a frenzy of speculation this week, with the latest titles in both Spider-Man and Batman making major casting announcements. The former will see Rhys Ifans plaing the Lizard, while the latter has been more of a tease. Another Brit, the excellent Tom Hardy, will be appearing in Christopher Nolan's next instalment of the Gotham City hero's adventures, although the role he's taking on has yet to be revealed. That hasn't prevented everyone speculating, however, that it'll be The Riddler. TWEET OF THE WEEK It was fascinating gauging public opinion to the new take on Film 2010, with presenter Claudia Winkleman and her team (although the live format must have been disconcerting if they'd read some of the comments while trying to present). The opinions were split between those who liked it, and those who didn't… Follow The Raygun – complete with brief review of EVERY film we watch, at http://twitter.com/theraygun SITE OF THE WEEK Robin Guise at LipSync is one of the keenest film buffs in our business; He told us about his blog as he was launching it, and we're mightily impressed that he's stuck doggedly at his task. Working out that there were 53 Alfred Hitchcock films, of which only 52 were available, he decided to watch one a week for a year and, every seven days, write a review of it on his blog, http://thehitchcockproject.wordpress.com/. We've been dipping in and out of it for a good few months – he's up to Rear Window now – and it really is a fascinating and comprehensive read. Would that everyone in the industry were as enthusiastic and knowledgable as him. A highly recommended read. Guise said: "It’s been a pretty fascinating thing to do and a real discipline to keep going for the full year – it’s one of those ideas that you tell too many people about at the start and then actually have to go through with it for the next 52 weeks without stopping." (Er, a bit like The Raygun…) TRAILERS OF THE WEEK Sci-fi thriller that's picking up some buzz: http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/dreamworks/iamnumberfour/ A very UK kind of release strategy for this in the US – limited theatrical, shortened window, speedy home entertainment: http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/andsoonthedarkness/ One of our LFF picks: http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/boxinggym/ An LFF biggie, but we're still a bit nervous about seeing this… http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/fox_searchlight/127hours/ To subscribe to The Raygun newsletter, please email info@theraygun.co.uk
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