John Alvin (1948 - 2008)

Posted on Sunday February 10, 2008, 09:54 by Ian Freer

John Alvin, one of the great movie poster artists, has died of a heart attack, aged 59.

Amongst his best known work are classic images for Blazing Saddles, Blade Runner (1982 and 2007 incarnations), The Little Mermaid and The Lion King. But, unsurprisingly if you know me, his work for Steven Spielberg is the closest to my heart. As a kid, I would fall asleep on Christmas Eve with one Spielberg poster hanging above my bed and awake the following morning with a newer different Spielberg poster to feast on. And it was John Alvin's work that most regularly captured my imagination;

Alvin had a unique ability to capture the lucidity of Spielberg's imagery while retaining his own distinctive, painterly style. His images transcend their promotional function to become iconic works of art in their own right.

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Kim Newman Junior

Posted on Wednesday January 30, 2008, 16:15 by Ian Freer

If you are aged between 7 and 19 and fancy your chances as a movie critic, UK Film Industry charity Film Education are running a competition to find The Young Film Critic of the Year 2007. Head over to www.youngfilmcritic.org for more details.

16 year old David Gray from Shenley Brook End School (Milton Keynes) won the prestigious title last year . David (pictured above with Film Education’s Derek Ray-Hill) was invited to London to watch and review The Kite Runner. He was also presented with his prize of a Yamaha Home Theatre system.

"It’s about two months since I won the Young Film Critic of the Year competition, and that’s how I came to be writing this review." says David. "This is my first commissioned article after being invited to a preview of The Kite Runner. I was given a grand introduction in front of pupils from a number of schools from across the UK, shortly followed by a choru

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Patrick Doyle’s Music from The Movies

Posted on Monday October 29, 2007, 11:10 by Ian Freer

The cream of British acting talent descended on the Royal Albert Hall last night celebrate the life and work of British film composer Patrick Doyle all in aid of Leukaemia Research. Emma Thompson, Imelda Staunton, Richard E,Grant, Alan Rickman, Greg Wise, Derek Jacobi, Robbie Coltrane. Adrian Lester and Judi Dench lined up to pay warm and witty tribute to Doyle, who was diagnosed with Leukaemia in 1997 but valiantly fought off the disease.

The concert covered the gamut of Doyle’s work, from his Shakespearean collaborations with Kenneth Branagh to his forays into big budget Hollywood (Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix, Carlito’s Way) via his heartfelt explorations into Europe (Indochine, East West). Highlights included Emma Thompson gaily seducing the London Symphony Orchestra with grapes during Much Ado About Nothing’s Sigh No More Ladies, a wor

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Academy Of The Overrated

Posted on Thursday July 26, 2007, 10:00 by Ian Freer

I was watching Woody Allen’s Manhattan for the umpteenth time the other day and the 78th thing I liked about it most — inbetween No.77 the title appearing on a street sign and No.79 the line “I think people should mate for life, like pigeons and Catholics.” — is the Academy Of The Overrated set-piece. If you’ve never seen it, this scene has writer Ike Davis (Woody), his young girlfriend Tracy (Mariel Hemingway) walking and talking with Ike’s friend Yale (Michael Murphy) and Yale’s lover Mary Wilkie (Keaton). As they stroll down New York streets, Yale shares his and Mary’s concept of The Academy Of The Overrated, a pantheon of the great artists (Picasso, Ingmar Bergman) who they feel have been zealously praised beyond all relation to their talent — the joke being that all the artists in the Academy are favourites of Ike’s.

The scene is really funny that perfectly skewers pseudo-intellectual clap-trap but al

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