Feature Archives

Premium video on demand, and the ongoing pricing problem

by Simon Brew | Feb 16, 2021 | Feature, News

With pricing for premium 48 hour movie rentals still set between £13 and £16, we ask whether consumers are getting a good deal....

The challenge of selling Rambo to the children's market

by Simon Brew | Feb 15, 2021 | Feature, News

Just because Sylvester Stallone's Rambo was aimed at a mature audience, that doesn't mean there weren't attempts to sell the character to children....

Old movies: the romances of 90 years ago

by Sarah Cook | Feb 15, 2021 | Feature, News

Welcome to our regular column, where we dig right back into cinema history: and we're starting with a bit of romance....

Instant Family: a salute to a really special family movie

by Simon Brew | Feb 12, 2021 | Feature, News

The 2018 comedy Instant Family still flies under many people's radars - here, Simon argues why it's one of the best live action family movies in some...

Film Quiz Friday: Love On The Big Screen

by Mark Harrison | Feb 12, 2021 | Feature, News

Keep yourselves entertained this Valentine’s weekend with a fresh film quiz, featuring 30 questions ranging from romance to robots....

British movie podcast of the week: Russophiles Unite!

by Em McGowan | Feb 12, 2021 | Feature

Our independent podcast recommendation of the week is a terrific guide to Russian cinema - here's a bit more about it....

Epic unveils Metahuman Creator, a create-your-own-eerily-real character construction kit

by Ryan Lambie | Feb 11, 2021 | Feature, Gaming

Making (almost) photo-real human characters for your games is about to get a whole lot easier

Celebrating the bloopers reel at the end of Pixar movies

by Simon Brew | Feb 11, 2021 | Feature, News

Remember when films such as A Bug's Life and Toy Story 2 had an outtakes reel? We look back at a lost but much-loved Pixar extra....

The highs and lows of directing Bruce Willis

by Simon Brew | Feb 10, 2021 | Feature, News

Across his career, Bruce Willis earned a reputation for sometimes being on the difficult side - but M Night Shyamalan had a simple, clever approach to...

Wellbeing & Mental Health Matters: home prescription

by Jane Roberts | Feb 10, 2021 | Feature

In our weekly bit where we chat about mental health and well being, a few ideas and thoughts on finding some favourite things to keep us going....

How a fake film poster launched a major horror franchise

by Peter Davis | Feb 09, 2021 | Feature, News

When the first advert for Friday The 13th appeared, it didn't have funding or a script - but suddenly it had a release date....

Has 3D Blu-ray quietly died a death now?

by Simon Brew | Feb 08, 2021 | Feature, News

It's been over six months since the last 3D Blu-ray release - and it feels like a physical media format with a bleak future....

Why Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back now has a PG certificate

by Simon Brew | Feb 05, 2021 | Feature, News

The BBFC has given The Empire Strikes Back a PG certificate for the first time – but why the sudden change? Simon has been finding out....

Film Quiz Friday: Objects From Space

by Mark Harrison | Feb 05, 2021 | Feature, News

As Greenland arrives on Amazon Prime Video, this week’s film quiz covers space rocks in the movies, along with the usual, more Earthbound cinematic t...

British movie podcast of the week: You Never Forget Your First

by Em McGowan | Feb 05, 2021 | Feature

It's our weekly spot where we salute a movie podcast we reckon is worth your time - and this one's all about movie debuts....

Cucumber, Banana, and working for Russell T Davies

by Bethany Black | Feb 04, 2021 | Feature, News

With acclaim rightly rich for It's A Sin. Bethany Black tells us about her time working on the superb Cucumber and Banana for Russell T Davies....

Gaming stuff to look forward to in 2021

by Ian Dransfield | Feb 03, 2021 | Feature, Gaming

The big games, yes, but also plucky indies, hardware, and a couple of movie adaptations…

When The Muppet Movie was censored for its 'gratuitous violence'

by Simon Brew | Feb 03, 2021 | Feature, News

There are few better family friendly movie delights than The Muppets - but one censorship board didn't always agree with that....

Wellbeing and Mental Health Matters: helpful distractions

by Jane Roberts | Feb 03, 2021 | Feature

In our weekly spot on the site where we chat about mental health and wellbeing, a few thoughts on things to keep our brains entertained....

Dark Souls: Examining the video game death instinct

by Daniel Lipscombe | Feb 02, 2021 | Feature, Gaming

What do a 20th-century psychoanalyst and video games have in common? Death. Repeated death

James Bond, Goldfinger, and how Pussy Galore got past the censors

by Simon Brew | Feb 02, 2021 | Feature, News

The James Bond team knew they were pushing their luck with the character of Pussy Galore - but they had a plan to beat American censors....

22 children's books to look out for this month

by Charlotte Harrison | Feb 02, 2021 | Feature, News

There's a whole lot of brilliant books for young readers out this month - here's our round-up of February 2021's releases....

Decline’s Drops: Kirby meets Smash Bros

by Ryan Lambie | Feb 01, 2021 | Feature, Gaming, Previews

We chat to French developer Drazglb. about his hard-hitting action platformer

Your scandalous stories of trying to sneak into the cinema underage

by Simon Brew | Feb 01, 2021 | Feature, News

Scandalous stories of people trying to sneak into the cinema underage - with not always successful results....

Killer Feature: The Elder Scrolls' learning by doing

by Ian Dransfield | Jan 29, 2021 | Feature, Gaming

Punching immortal enemies forever

A small request to Disney+ regarding its film output

by Simon Brew | Jan 29, 2021 | Feature, News

With over 270 movies joining Disney+ in one go next month, a polite request: please let this be the moment where movies start landing more regularly...