Laurence Boyce had just got back from enjoying the vodka in Krakow and sunning himself in Portugal and was ready to get back into business. And then his computer blew up. It’s always the way isn’t it? Thanks to friends, some technical nous and a lot of crossing his fingers, he’s managed to sort out the problems and is ready to bring Special Edition # 24 to the world. There are p…

It’s heartening to know that there is still life in the British film industry yet as Special Edition # 43 opens with an exciting example of some of the talent that this country has to offer. With the imminent closure of the UK Film Council and worries about arts cuts it’s films such as Skeletons that sure us that UK talent need to be nurtured and supported. And, as always, Laurence Boyce also wad…

As dedications go, the one to (500) Days of Summer tells you immediately that we are definitely not in rom-com land anymore, Toto: "Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental. Especially you Jenny Beckman. Bitch.” Wow. And although the film is fun, occasionally true and makes you feel incredibly sorry for the main character, Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), the underlying bitt…

Release your own film on DVD with this step-by-step guide that walks you through the most complex aspects of production and provides detailed information to create a DVD that will sell.   The book passes on insider information used by independent film pros, including   -Authoring high-quality DVDs comparable to major studio titles -Negotiating Distributor deals in your favour -Launching a guerill…

Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan will screen tonight at the London Film Festival's Jameson Gala. Starring Natalie Portman, Vincent Cassel, Mila Kunis and Winona Ryder, this drama/horror is set in the physically and mentally demanding world of New York ballet. Never thought that a film about ballet would have you on the edge of your seat? Think again. It's less about ballet than about perfectionis…

It’s the time again to move your eyes away from the screen and let them drift over to the printed word. In Page To Screen # 3, those books that are influenced by – and, indeed, influence - the worlds of film and television are brought to the fore as Laurence Boyce examines how someone is making a monkey out of biographies, someone else is making us nostalgic for classic Saturda…

Thanks to the perils of blown up computers and various other technological problems, Special Edition # 4 has been a long time coming. But never fear as Laurence Boyce had managed to move heaven and earth (and, more importantly, has managed to install a new version of Windows XP) to bring a bumper crop of all the DVD’s that are fit to watch when the bright sunshine starts to get a l…

My very first encounter with a full feature film budget was quite terrifying, simply on grounds of complexity and sheer weight and volume of paper.  There were lots of  “line items” all number coded, running down the left margin. Thousands of them. The bundled pages would pass muster for a telephone directory. I felt the urge to run, but I swallowed, stayed and sent for a bo…

As the film world anxiously awaits the release of David Lynch's latest film Inland Empire, Michel Chion's definitive book on the one of the most complex directors in American Cinema today is finally updated. But if you're looking for a book that explains all of Lynch's work then you're going to be disappointed: after all, it's sometimes questionable if Lynch himself knows…

    Future Shorts, the film label behind Rock'n' Roll Cinema and Secret Cinema , as well as global distributor of short films, has released its first DVD, a bit of a greatest hits called Adventures in Short Film - Volume 1. They chose well for their inaugural compilation.   As with a short story, short films can do great things with a hint of strangen…

Given that the UK Film Council have announced that the next few months will be the 'Summer Of British Film' (appropriate given the bloody awful weather at the moment) it's good to see that Special Edition # 20 (yes, break out the champagne as we've made it to 20) has plenty of great British films for you to enjoy in the comfort of your own homes. Alongside the homegrown product, L…

The Sixth of May , directed by the late Dutch director Theo Van Gogh , is a thriller that re-enacts the murder of right wing Dutch politician, Pim Fortuyn, on 6th May 2002. The slick movie has a Hollywood feel to it, but might prove impenetrable without a little Wikipediaing of the facts (at least), unless you're clued up on your Dutch politics.       Van Go…

Tim Burton has always had something of a schizophrenic career. On one hand he’s the eccentric visionary who works on the fringes of Hollywood with such films as the fabulous Edward Scissorhands and the commercially unsuccessful yet brilliantly twisted Mars Attacks. On the other hand he’s at the heart of the Hollywood machine, helming the merchandise monster that was Batman and th…

Profoundly humane and stunningly aesthetical, Waltz with Bashir is not about dancing…not even around the bullets of one’s enemies as does an Israeli soldier in the eponymous scene. Through the personal lens of his experience as a soldier during the Sabra and Chatila massacres of the 1982 Lebanese war, Israeli director Ari Folman tells the universal story of young men and the harrow…

The interiors of this latest adaptation of John Le Carré's 1973-set novel look and feel like just like the those of the BBC's recent drama series, The Hour, set in their 1956 newsroom. Even the plots are alike - there's a Russian spy in our very English midst, which one is he (it's never gonna be a she)? The main clues as to which era we're in are found outside - the odd black or Asian person…

"I'd like to finish with a word of warning. You may have started something. The British are coming." If that statement, made by Colin Welland during his 1981 Oscar acceptance speech for Chariots Of Fire, is true then the British have been taking their bloody time. More than 25 years on, it's only now that British cinema seems to be at the beginnings of resurgence that could pu…

As always, the summer becomes a time when the focus is on the spectacle of cinema-going with movies such as Inception and Toy Story 3 packing them in. So, Special Edition # 41 will show you that it’s excellent time to chill out and enjoy some low key delights as they hit the shelves. Laurence Boyce finds some excellent films that have proved wildly popular on the festival circuit and a choice sel…

  Final Cut's latest offering on DVD is another fine garnering of some of the best shorts going, filmed, animated or even snapped with a stills camera and given a frantic screen life, as with Jo Barnes' Midst of Paradise. Don't be put off by the grotesque image from Cleanse that adorns the front cover. Just wait until you see the full story! Ouch! A deep facial will neve…

It's holiday time and Special Edition has been away and topping up it's tan. Now it's come back, got its holiday photos developed and returned to a darkened room to watch the very best DVD's that have been released recently. So if the oppressive heat is making life outside uncomfortable, switch on the air conditioning and let Special Edition # 7 tell you what to pop in you DVD pla…

    Michael Powell's The Edge Of The World, a black and white classic film of 1937, filmed in Scotland's remotest island community, has been released for the first time on DVD by the British Film Institute. The film has been printed afresh and the DVD package comes with a wealth of supporting documentary material that shows just why this was such a remarkable testament…

The LFF has chosen well for its opening night. Ahead of the final presidential debate between Barack Obama and John McCain in New York tonight, Frost/Nixon, the tale of a president undone in a television interview, has its world premiere in London tonight. Surely you know the story? The 37th president of the United States was involved in some bad stuff called Watergate (let's ignore t…

  Starsuckers is the second feature-length documentary from writer/director Chris Atkins, who made the BAFTA-nominated Taking Liberties in 2007. The film takes an in-depth look into celebrity culture - and sleb journalism - and the results are both laugh-out-loud funny and worrying. The issue of made-up stories making their way into showbiz gossip columns was discussed by George Clooney and…

How did we cope before the advent of DVD’s? Rewinding a video tape took ages, the quality was something less to be desired and there was a nary a special feature in sight. How our film loving predecessor’s must have suffered in that primitive world - well, unless they had loads of money and bought a Laserdisc. Thankfully, we’re now knee deep in DVDs and Special Edition # 28 is…

As the nights begin to draw in and the weather becomes increasingly cold (well, at least here in the jolly old UK - you could be reading this anywhere across the world whilst basking in tropical sunshine for all I know) what better time to curl up be the fire and purchase some DVDs to keep you company. But what DVDs should you buy? Thank goodness that Special Edition # 11 is here to…

I watched the pilot episode of HBO’s The Pacific and all my fears of the same run off the mill macho war film were somehow true. As a follow up to Band of Brothers it lacks a lot of characterisation that made the 2002 10 part series a groundbreaking multi character epic. It is still a powerful piece of television with it’s visceral carnage but the characters revert to that macho American attitude…