Even without the crafty and contorted screenplay, The Disappearance of Alice Creed would be seeing for Blakeson’s austere work behind the camera and the near-flawless interplay between the three leads. And in a rare case of me saving the best for last, it must be mentioned that Gemma Arterton pretty much owns the whole movie. As the title character, Arterton is asked to be amazingly vulnerable, powerfully miserable, desperately crafty, and suddenly brave. Compston and Marsan more than hold their own (especially in their many scenes together), but it’s the recently-ascendant Ms. Arterton who grabs this tight little thriller and makes it her own.

Read the rest of this entry »

Many thanks to Dannii for this! Movieline posted two clips from the movie, one of them with Gemma.

Yesterday, we chatted with Eddie Marsan and Martin Compston about their roles as would-be kidnappers who find themselves increasingly in over their heads in The Disappearance of Alice Creed, which has already secured some international distribution at TIFF but is still being circled by studios for domestic rights.

You can watch the clips here.

GALLERY LINK:
- The Disappearance of Alice Creed (2009): Posters & Covers

Could 2010 herald the return to form of the fantasy epic? With Clash of the Titans and Prince of Persia, we’re saying yes.

GALLERY LINK:
- Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010): Related Clippings > Deathray (UK) – October/November 2009 (thanks to Lorna)

Sony Pictures Classics has acquired the North American distribution rights to director Stephen Frears’s Tamara Drewe film, reports Variety.

The movie is based on the graphic novel by Posy Simmonds, itself based on Thomas Hardy’s Far From The Madding Crowd.

The starring role in Frears’s (The Queen, Mrs Henderson Presents) movie will be played by Quantum Of Solace Bond girl Gemma Arterton, among a cast including Dominic Cooper, Roger Allam, Luke Evans, Bill Camp and Tamsin Greig.

Tamara Drewe originally appeared as a comic strip in The Guardian in 2005, and was nominated for an Eisner Award.

Filming is due to begin on September 21.

Source: Digital Spy

9/14/09 Lenore Francois Strong, convincing performances & engaging intrigue yield a successful 1st feature film. 4 stars

Source

Alice Creed is played by Gemma Arterton, who was lovely in Quantum of Solace. Here she picks up a brutally physical role – there aren’t a lot of places one can successfully go with a character, after all, when one is bound naked to a bed in the first 3 minutes of a film – and yet Arterton becomes a firebrand as the roller-coaster speeds down the tracks.
(…)
Creed is a terrific surprise.

Source (Spoiler Warning)

Highlight of TIFF so far: “The Disappearance of Alice Creed”. Nice & tight with solid twists.

Source

THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ALICE CREED was fantastic, great acting, believable stakes and smartly directed. Well done.

Source

J. Blakeson’s debut film is absolutely brilliant. The world premiere of The Disappearance of Alice Creed ranks up there with Jason Reitman’s debut film, Thank You For Smoking. Blakeson is a talented writer and director that has crafted an intelligent thriller.
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***½
Films are rated from 1 to 4 stars.

Source

THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ALICE CREED is terrific. Don’t let anyone tell you a fucking word about it. Except “terrific”.

Source

A lot of fans are awaiting the release of the Disney adaptation of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. The studio has put out a few posters promoting the film, but we’ve come across an amazing costume display set up at the D23 convention. The entire presentation is pretty true to the Middle Eastern background of the story, but the outfits that stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Gemma Arterton were forced to wear look just as uncomfortable as they do beautiful.

The sleeveless warrior costume will be a favorite among fans, because of how closely it resembles Prince Dastan’s outfit in the video game. Tamina’s (Arterton) gown looks very uncomfortable, but it’s pretty to look at. The detailed design for all three of these costumes are top notch. The outfits have weight to them, and they don’t look cheap. This studio doesn’t mess around their Disney dollars.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time debuts in theaters on May 28, 2010.

Source

GALLERY LINKS:
- Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010): Costumes
- Events: 2009 GQ Men Of The Year Awards – Arrivals

The programme for The Times BFI 53rd London Film Festival, has been announced today by Artistic Director Sandra Hebron. The line-up includes a diverse selection of world and international premieres with a total of 191 features and 113 shorts screening alongside an exciting line-up of special events and expected guests.

The Disappearance of Alice Creed will be shown in the New British Cinema strand.

Tue 27 | 14:00 | NFT1
Tue 27 | 19:00 | STUDIO
Thu 29 | 21:00 | Vue Screen 6

J Blakeson’s endlessly inventive debut feature is a committed, claustrophobic three-hander, featuring some of Britain’s most credible and adaptable film acting talent.

The Times BFI 53rd London Film Festival takes place from October 14th until October 29th.

Click here for a full synopsis.

Added some more pics from the GQ Awards, plus a clipping from UK’s “The Sun” – many thanks to Lorna!

GALLERY LINKS:
- Events: 2009 GQ Men Of The Year Awards – Arrivals
- Events: 2009 GQ Men Of The Year Awards – Champagne Reception
- Scans: Clippings from 2009

The GQ Men Of The Year awards 2009 took place last night at the Royal Opera House. GQ celebrated the cream of the crop from the world of entertainment, politics, literature, film and music. And Gemma was among the guests.

GALLERY LINKS:
- Events: 2009 GQ Men Of The Year Awards – Arrivals
- Events: 2009 GQ Men Of The Year Awards – After Party
- Events: 2009 GQ Men Of The Year Awards – Champagne Reception

GQ magazine has honoured its men of the year at a glitzy showbiz ceremony – but the red-carpet gossip focused on more than just who was most stylish or sporty.

Mickey Rourke was named international man of the year while Elvis Costello scooped the award for outstanding achievement at the bash at the Royal Opera House in London’s Covent Garden. Read the rest of this entry »

Tess Of The D’Urbervilles is up for Best Drama and Gemma Arterton is up for Best Drama Performance in the National TV Awards! Vote now and spread the word!

The Boat That Rocked is out on DVD and Blu-ray in the UK today.

I’ve capped MTV’s short “Clash of the Titans” Set Visit.

GALLERY LINK:
- Clash of the Titans (2010): MTV’s “Behind the Screen” – Set Visit

MTV got the first-ever look at action-adventure remake Clash of the Titans, and has posted a two minute preview of the ‘Behind the Screen’ feature on their website.

Gemma makes an appearance in the second half of the video, fondly recalling watching the original stop-motion picture over and over with her sister, to the point of being able to recite bits of the movie. (Source)

“Writing Didn’t Cost Anything, so I Started Writing”

Two ex-cons kidnap a woman, but the tables turn and turn again in this tight, smart tale. J. Blakeson’s “The Disappearance of Alice Creed” is a terrific little thriller starring Eddie Marsan, Martin Compston and Gemma Arterton. We gave Blakeson and others a free-form style interview to gather their thoughts on their careers individual projects.

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“The Disappearance of Alice Creed”…

“The Disappearance of Alice Creed” all came together extremely fast. I first met with CinemaNX (the production company/financiers) in September 2008. We shot the film in February 2009. So it was a mad rush – which was great, as it gave me no time to be nervous. I just had to get on with it and trust my instincts.

Gemma Arterton only had a short gap between filming two huge movies – “Prince of Persia” and “Clash of the Titans” – which luckily coincided with our schedule. She was the first person to read for any role and about twenty seconds into her audition I was thinking “let’s hire her now. Right now.” She was phenomenal. Read the rest of this entry »