Starring Scrat the Squirrel, the featurette charts his nut-obsessed trials and tribulations throughout the first three films, in a loving homage to the silent film.

The short has been created to cleverly advertise the fourth instalment of the Ice Age franchise, Ice Age: Continental Drift. What better way to do so, than by comparing it to the hot favourite to sweep the board at the Oscars?

Clever, clever marketing team.

I don’t know about you, but I think that pesky squirrel is a dead ringer for Jean Dujardin. What do you think?

And the featurette brings up an interesting point. All of the advertising for the brand new Ice Age, including the first teaser trailer, have starred Scrat. Despite the fact the films actually revolve around Sid the Sloth, Mannie the Mammoth and the Sabre tooth tiger, Diego. Scrat is a sub-plot.

It makes us wonder who the real star is. Considering they put him in the place of the central character in The Artist, I think we may have our answer.

Ice Age: Continental Drift will see Manni, Diego and Sid become separated from their herd, when their continent separates. On their travels via iceberg, they come across pirates.

Catch the brand new Ice Age: Continental Drift in theatres in July of this year.

You can see if The Artist steals all the Oscars this Sunday, 26th February on Sky Movies. Red carpet coverage starts from 11.30pm. The ceremony will air from 1.30am until 4am.

Here is the Ice Aged Artist:

Calling all Bruce Lee buffs and martial arts fans  - boy, do we have the competition for you. 12th March 2012 will see the release of two long-awaited documentaries focusing on the man himself, his films and bringing you some fantastic unseen footage and special features.  Enter the competition below to be in with the chance of winning a copy of both films before anyone else.

This is a great opportunity to learn more about the man widely considered to be the most influential martial artist of the 20th century. Bruce Lee – In Pursuit of the Dragon is the ultimate guide to his feature film career and has been put together by award-winning Bruce Lee expert, John Little. It includes re-mastered extracts from The Big Boss, Fist of Fury, The Way of the Dragon and Enter the Dragon. This documentary combines the chronology of these films with state-of-the-art videography in high-definition so that the viewer can be transported back to Hong Kong, Macau, Thailand and Rome which all played a huge part in the formation of martial arts movie history.

Not only that, but you can also look forward to seeing interviews with key cast members who have appeared with Lee, as well as the exciting bonus feature of the last surviving on-camera interview with Lee himself. Phew – that’s a lot of excitement for one day. However, there is even more!

Bruce Lee – A Warrior’s Journey is ‘the untold story of a fighting legend’, and this documentary delves deeper into the very soul of Bruce Lee. For the first time, we will see how he battled against cultural and professional bigotry to develop his philosophy of total freedom for the individual practitioner. Based upon this idea, he formed the radical new approach to martial arts and used this to create the stunning cinematic masterpieces that we all know and love. We see how he was able to overcome a serious back injury and become a martial arts legend.

Included in this documentary are three action sequences that have been unearthed and restored. They were filmed for Game of Death (his unfinished work) but were not originally used and this will be the first time that they have been presented in such a format. Both DVDs are a fantastic chance for fans of Bruce Lee, and martial arts in general, to get a closer look at how the history of this legend.

Sound good? All you need to do is enter below for the chance to win!

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Now before we start, don’t confuse the title with the classic Michael Caine war film set in South Africa. You know, the 1964 Zulu they show every Christmas without fail.

This project is actually an adaptation of Caryl Ferey’s novel, Zulu. The story revolves around a Cape Town police department, which is thrust into the spotlight when the 18-year-old daughter of a professional rugby player is murdered.

Starring alongside Orlando and helping him solve the case, will be Djimon Hounsou (Gladiator), who will play the chief of the homicide branch where Bloom’s character will be based.

The film is to be directed by Jerome Salle, who has also adapted the screenplay. You might know him as the guy behind works like The Tourist and The Burma Conspiracy.

Orlando, who has reprised his role of Legolas from the Lord of the Rings trilogy in the upcoming The Hobbit films, has had a few flops over the years including Troy and his most recent release, The Three Musketeers.

With this project though it sounds like his career could be getting back on track. Before that Orlando will be seen in the Roger Donaldson financial thriller Cities, opposite his 2005 Elizabethtown co-star Kirsten Dunst.

Zulu is set to start filming this July in Cape Town.

Cohen is no stranger to causing controversy by attending high-profile events in-character, but the Academy Awards could present him with the opportunity to pull off his biggest stunt to date.

Back in 2006, the actor turned heads at at the Toronto International Film Festival by arriving as his character of Borat, in a cart which being pulled by ‘Kazakhstani peasant women’, in an attempt to promote his latest film of the name same. Cohen was also offered the opportunity to present an award at the 2007 Oscars ceremony, but declined after being refused permission to appear on stage dressed as the same character.

One of his best-remembered stunts took place at the 2009 MTV Movie Awards, where he appeared as flamboyant fashion reporter, Bruno, and was lowered from the ceiling into the crowd – landing bare-buttocked on Eminem. Although the rapper appeared to storm out of the ceremony in anger, it was later revealed that the incident had been planned, with Eminem in on the joke.

However, while Cohen may have been allowed to construct and rehearse extravagant stunts at other such events, the Oscars is rather a different matter. The Academy has always asked studios not to promote their upcoming projects at the ceremony, and has only recently allowed adverts for upcoming releases to be aired during the commercial breaks.

Cohen has, in fact, been invited to attend the Oscars as part of the cast of Martin Scorsese‘s Hugo, which is nominated for Best Picture. If he does decide to make an appearance as Admiral General Alladeen – the “dictator who risked his life to ensure that democracy would never come to the country he so lovingly oppressed”, who is reportedly based on late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi – then it may well be regarded as a tasteless publicity move at what is usually a high-class event.

Will Cohen heed the warnings of the Academy? We’ll have to wait until the 26th February to find out.

The Dictator is released in the UK on 18th May.

According to iMediaMonkey, Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace, could be released in 3D on Blu-Ray in just a few months time, thanks to Panasonic’s recent deal with LucasFilm.

Last year, Panasonic was the only AV manufacturer which sold the Star Wars Blu-Ray with their Blu-Ray players and home cinema setups.

A statement on the Star Wars website said: “The cutting edge conversion will take that immersion to the next thrilling level.”

The Phantom Menace has just been released in 3D at the cinema and Lucas hopes to continue releasing the Star Wars saga in this format.

It is thought that he will release one film a year, starting with this year’s, The Phantom Menace.

However, despite how popular the sci-fi films are, the recent 3D adaptation has received mixed reviews.

One of the positive reviews was from British actor Simon Pegg (Star Trek, Shaun of The Dead ) who tweeted ‘Watching TPM (The Phantom Menace) in 3D would be like the car actually crashing into your face as opposed to just unfolding before your eyes’.

Whereas Philip French from the Guardian wrote, ‘It will take more than 3D to save this lumbering Stars Wars prequel.’

It was thought that Lucas delayed converting the galactic adventure films into 3D because he wanted to wait until there were enough screens available to show them.

It was estimated that 3D movies boosted the UK box office takings by 8% last year, with films including Alice In Wonderland, Toy Story 3 and Shrek Forever After, proving to be big hits at the cinema.

It will be interesting to see how popular the 3D, Blu-Rays will be with Star Wars fans. Tell us what you think about the new 3D Star Wars film via Twitter, or on our new Facebook page.

The story of The Counsellor follows a top lawyer who starts dabbling in the drug business. This storyline, of an unlikely character getting into the drug world has echoes of two recent films, the 2010 Holy Rollers and The Wackness, out in 2008. The former, directed by Kevin Asch and starring Jesse Eisenberg, is set in Brooklyn and follows a Jewish youth as he begins to deal in ecstasy. While the latter, starring Ben Kingsley and directed by Jonathan Levine, is also set in New York, and centres on a lonely, pot-dealing teenager whose clients include his therapist.

Is Michael Fassbender a good choice to play a lawyer-gone-wrong? Almost certainly. Having had a whole variety of roles, from the dashingly powerful Mr Rochester in period drama Jane Eyre to a New York sex addict in Shame, he has proven that he can handle variety. In The Counsellor, he will find that life goes rapidly downhill when he gets sucked into the world of drugs, so the dark emotions of the story should also suit his brooding good looks perfectly.

At the ripe age of 74, Ridley Scott isn’t hanging around. His current project Prometheus (also featuring Fassbender), is due for release in the UK on 1st June. There is no doubt that his trademark style of striking visuals and atmospheric lighting will make it into this new film, but it will also be interesting to see whether it proceeds at the slower pace of Blade Runner or move a bit quicker like Black Hawk Down. The screenplay has been written by Cormac McCarthy, so it is likely that it will set within his trademark masculine world, filled with sexual obsessions.

Two major female characters will intrude into this world and there will also be a dastardly villain. These three roles are yet to be cast and are likely to become hotly contested in the time before filming is  expected to start in May. We’ll bring you more updates as we hear them.

The Franco-British drama leaves many ends untied, forcing the audience to reach their own conclusions. The undeveloped plots make it quite confusing, to say the least. Directed by BAFTA winning Pawel Pawlikowski (Last Resort, My Summer of Love) The Woman in the Fifth is an adaptation of Douglas Kennedy’s novel of the same name.

Ethan Hawke (Daybreakers) is Tom Ricks, an American professor who arrives in Paris in search of his estranged wife Nathalie (Delphine Chuillot) and his young daughter. When he attempts to have a ‘normal conversation’ with Nathalie, she simply replies “you’re not normal”. It gradually becomes clear that something is not quite right with the man. Luckily for him, he soon meets Margit, a mysterious and seductive woman, played by Kristen Scott, who soothes his anxieties and makes him feel loved.

From the very beginning, you cannot help but suspect Tom; there’s something strange about him. Despite his conventional appearance – a fondness for tweed jackets and thick rimmed glasses – he is always on edge and runs every time he sees the police. Hawke’s edgy portrayal of this strange, oddball character, makes it very hard for us to figure out his true personality, which is both intriguing and frustrating. As the whole story is told through the eyes of Tom, it is difficult to tell what is reality and what is fantasy. Hawke’s performance peaks during a scene when he is taken to a police station for questioning; the pain in his eyes is utterly convincing. Surprisingly, I felt great sympathy for Tom, despite his untrustworthy persona.

However, it is Kristin Scott Thomas as Margit, the woman in the fifth arrondissement herself, who really stands out. Thomas portrays Margit’s charismatic and bewitching charm so effectively, that both Tom and indeed the audience, initially trust her. Mysterious, seductive and craving a man, she seems trustworthy to begin with, but as we only see her through Tom’s eyes, she remains a character who we cannot put our finger on just yet. Magrit weaves a web of seduction and sanctuary for Tom who becomes hooked on their meetings.

The Woman in the Fifth refuses lead the viewer by the nose to a happy ending, it is highly unpredictable if nothing else. We are left to fill in very many blanks. This approach has been used successfully a lot in films recently, but here the mysterious and enigmatic plot never reaches a satisfying conclusion. What makes it even more frustrating, is that even the concluding scenes are seen from Tom’s perspective, making it impossible for us to find out the truth behind his strange character.

The Woman in the Fifth is released in cinemas on the 17th February 2012 by Artificial Eye.

The 2010 Piranha 3D was a gore-fest of hilarity or a laugh-fest of gore, in which pretty young people on spring break got mauled to death by a swarm of ravenous piranhas. It was trashy, it was sick, and it was ridiculously enjoyable.

The sequel has been well on the way since then, and a pair of brand spanking new posters have cropped up online for our enjoyment. Are the film makers going down a classier route this time? The tag-line on the poster sums it up nicely.

“Double the Action. Double the Terror. Double the D’s”

We’re pretty sure that isn’t just a reference to the extra D in the title. Piranha 3D was, after all, a boob-fest.

That said the posters are very tame in the lady department, with only the gloomy silhouette of a bikini clad, obliviously Jaws-esque woman displayed in the first. We sincerely doubt this is a reflection of the content though.

Sadly due to the film being unable to negotiate a UK release, we won’t be seeing it for a while yet, but US audiences will get to put their specs on, for some spectacularly classless 3DD entertainment as soon as April. Lucky them.

So what happens in this one? I’ll give you a clue … the fish are hungry. In all seriousness it sounds as though it will be Piranha 3D, but in a newly opened water park. We won’t be going to one of them any time soon then. I’d like to keep my toes.

View the posters below. Click to enlarge:

Twickenham Studios have sadly gone into administration, after 99 years of service to the film industry.

The studio, situated in St Margarets, London, will be wound down between now and June.

Scenes from recent films including War Horse and My Week with Marilyn, were shot at the historic studios, which would have celebrated its century next year.

According to Gerald Krasner, who handles the site’s administration, the business had lost money over the past three years.
Krasner told BBC News: ‘I doubt it will be retained as a film studio. Half of the 17 employees have already left’.

He then added that the remaining employees are working their notice and the studios are being sold on.

When the site was constructed in 1913, it was the biggest film studio in the UK. It has since been home to many classic movies including The Italian Job, A Fish Called Wanda and even the Beatles films Help and A Hard Day’s Night.

Later films such as The Others, Layer Cake , The Crucible, Interview with the Vampire, and Sweet Revenge also made use of its facilities.

You can see the studio’s old viewing theatre and wardrobe department in My Week with Marilyn, starring Michelle Williams and Kenneth Branagh.

Camera technician, Rupert Lloyd Parry, who is known for his filmography for Gladiator and more recently, The Iron Lady, was also disappointed to hear that the studios were closing.

He was reported saying, ‘It’s nice when you work where you feel like there’s a real sort of tradition of the British film industry. It’s like working at Ealing, places like that. The film industry is buoyant at the moment, there is work coming in. There doesn’t seem like there is any reason for it to shut.’
Over the years other film sites which have closed include the Amalgamated Studios; the site was sold to MGM-British, who used it as a base of operations until 1970.
In addition, Bray Studios in Maidenhead, are currently under threat of being turned into a residential housing estate. The studio is best known for its close link to Hammer Film productions, which have made films including The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Alien. Their last Hammer Horror release filmed at the studio was The Mummy’s Shroud  back in 1966.

However, with a death of a studio comes two brand new ones. Two more sites are set to open, one of which is located in Manchester and the other in South West England.

According to The Location Guide, a former Woodford Aerodrome site near Manchester, could soon be a new film studio facility. It used to be home to Britain’s Nimrod planes, formally owned by BAE Systems. Other potential plans for the site, include a polo club and housing accommodation facilities.

The heir to the JCB company Joe Bamford, has been involved in buying some of the land.

A spokesman for Avro Heritage Ltd, co-owned by Bamford, was reported saying, “It will hopefully create new jobs and provide the local community with much needed leisure facilities.”
It would also bring alternative filming locations to the UK because the aerodrome’s hangars are ideal for filming and could be used by a big-budget studio production sometime this year.Meanwhile, chairman of the newly-created Full Picture Company, Peter Lamont, is looking at four potential sites in the South West for a brand new film studio.

According to the Mail Online, Lamont, who has worked on 16 James Bond films, is “delighted” to be bringing the project to life.

The UK film industry is worth about £230 million a year, but it is thought Full Picture hope to bring in a further £125m.

The film studio, which could cover up to 200 acres, may be up within four years, before becoming Europe’s largest studio; it is also thought to host state-of-the-art special effects facilities and TV stages.
Not only will it be a working studio, but there are also plans to build accommodation for film crews, as well as a visitors’ centre, making it a major tourist attraction.
As soon as the company receives planning permission, the project can begin.

Let’s hope the project goes ahead  because it’s thought that the Oscar-winning design director, Lamont, already has five big productions planned for its first year.

The news comes after Chinese politician Xi Jinping met with US Vice President Joe Biden to discuss the current laws surrounding the import of foreign films into the country of China. Hollywood has long been frustrated with the restrictions in place, which currently only allow for 20 foreign films to be released in the country per year, despite China having one of the fastest-growing film markets in the world. However, changes to the law will see a further 14 films being able to be released – as long as they are in Imax or 3D format.

This, of course, is great news for anyone who enjoys watching 3D or Imax films anywhere in the world, as far more films are likely to be made in this format, with the hope of securing a Chinese release. Since China have also offered the extra incentive of allowing foreign film-makers to keep a bigger share of box office takings than before – 25% instead of 13% – filmmakers will doubtless be keen to make sure that their films are as widely accessible as possible.

However, for those of us who feel that the 3D had little merit in films such as Tim Burton‘s Alice in Wonderland, and desperately wish that approximately half of Transformers: Dark of the Moon hadn’t been shoddily converted to 3D in post-production, this could spell disaster.

That said, there is a silver lining, as it is hoped that the move will also help to reduce piracy within China. Despite the fact that a relatively small number of Hollywood films are released in the country, they are still hugely popular, and account for approximately 40% of the country’s box office takings. Those which are not given a Chinese release are often subject to high levels of film piracy, meaning that those within the filmmaking and entertainment industries miss out on their share of the profits.

It is perhaps little surprise that it is China who are keen to champion the use of the latest technology within the film industry – the country recently announced plans to release the fist ever 4D adult film, a sequel to Stephen Shiu Jr’s 3D Sex & Zen, titled 4D Sex and Zen: Slayer of a Thousand from the Mysterious East. The 4D experience aims to address audience complaints that “the racy scenes in the first film were not intense enough” – something which filmmakers are, perhaps rather misguidedly, attributing to the fact that the original film did not have vibrating seats.

Let us know your opinion on 3D (or 4D) films below!