Nicholas Hoult has grown up handsomely since he starred in About a Boy, appearing in Skins, Clash of the Titans and X-Men: First Class. In this modern-day adaptation of the classic folktale Jack and the Beanstalk, he plays Jack, a young farmer who gets his hands on some magic beans. It seems as though he has missed out on reading Jack and the Beanstalk as a child however, as inevitably the beans end up sprouting into, yes you’ve guessed it, a massive beanstalk and it takes Jack’s home with it.

If that wasn’t bad enough, the beanstalk also takes Princess Isabelle, played by Eleanor Tomlinson (Alice in Wonderland, The Illusionist), on its journey upwards. Jack is then forced to undertake a rescue mission, which is not as easy as it might have been if the giants were not so mad at his kingdom.

Jack the Giant Killer is directed by Bryan Singer and follows the trend of fairytale re-makes that seems to be in the air at the moment. It will be third of its kind to be released in 2012, with Snow White adaptations Mirror Mirror and Snow White and the Huntsman coming out in March and June respectively.

Jack the Giant Killer also features Ewan McGregor, Warwick Davis, Ian McShane, Stanley Tucci, Eddie Marsan, Ewan Bremner and Love Actually‘s Bill Nighy. It will be released on 15 June 2012, so giants beware!

Here’s the trailer to get you in the mood:

Anyone who doubted that the world of British films is thriving at the moment just has to look at the list of nominations to see that this is not the case. A wealth of talent is being recognised at this years awards, from firmly established names to new, breakthrough filmmakers. The films with the most nominations this year are Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Shame and Tyrannosaur. These three giants are competing with each other for several awards, including Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor or Actress, Best Director and the mighty Best British Film Award.

Starring Gary Oldman, Colin Firth and Tom Hardy, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is set during the bleak days of the Cold War. This tale of espionage is based on the 1974 novel by John le Carré. The film made its début at the 68th Venice International Film Festival and has met with great reviews. It has been nominated for a total of seven awards, including Gary Oldman for Best Actor and Tom Alfredson for Best Director.

The world of British films is proving that it can hold its own, with many other sparkling names gracing the list of nominees. Those put forward for the award of Best Actress include Tilda Swinton for her part in We Need To Talk About Kevin and Mia Wasikowska for her starring role in Jane Eyre. Fans of children’s stories will remember Wasikowska for her innocent part as Alice, in Alice in Wonderland. In 2010, she won the Hollywood Breakthrough Award at the Hollywood Film Festival, as Best Actress and is fast becoming one to watch.

Her co-star in Jane Eyre, Michael Fassbender, is nominated for Best Actor for his role in Shame. Other actors hoping to win this award are Brendan Gleeson (The Guard), Neil Maskell (Kill List) and Peter Mullan (Tyrannosaur). And that’s not all, there are many other prestigious honours up for grabs, including the Douglas Hickox Award for début directors. Those new talents who are venturing out into the directing scene include Joe Cornish with Attack The Block and Ralph Fiennes with Coriolanus.

Having worked with such talented directors as Steven Spielberg, Stephen Daldry and Kathryn Bigelow, it seems that Fiennes has got a taste of directing. He began shooting Coriolanus, a contemporary adaptation of the Shakespeare play, last March and managed to secure some big names for the cast. Gerard Butler, Vanessa Redgrave, Jessica Chastain, Brian Cox and James Nesbitt all feature in the story that is based on the life of the legendary Roman leader, Gaius Marcius Coriolanus. However, this is a strong category and only the final announcement will tell us who wins the Douglas Hickox Award.

To decide who will be the winners and who will leave empty-handed, there is a jury of professionals and respected talent which includes Director and writer Josh Appignanesi, broadcaster Edith Bowman, actor Ed Hogg and actress Ruth Wilson. We will find out what they have decided during the awards ceremony for The Moët British Independent Film Awards to be held on Sunday December 4^th at the Old Billingsgate, London.

Dr.Seuss was the pseudonym used by Theodor Geisel, the man behind some of the best loved, and most amusingly rhyming, children’s books ever written. Dr. Seuss’s books include Green Eggs and Ham, The Cat in the Hat, and Horton Hears a Who! and now, it seems that his life story has been deemed film-worthy. The upcoming biopic is also thought to include Geisel’s stint as a political cartoonist, and his propagandistic pieces which he created during the Second World War.

Infinitum Nihil, Depp’s own production house, are reportedly set to collaborate with Illumination Entertainment for this live-action film. Although Depp is not yet confirmed to star at Seuss himself, it wouldn’t be the first time that he’s taken on the role of a slightly eccentric literary figure – he starred as Peter Pan writer, JM Barrie, in Finding Neverland, not to mention playing both the Mad Hatter in Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, and Willy Wonka in his version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Illumination Entertainment are already involved in producing an adaptation of The Lorax, whilst other Seuss classics to have previously made it on the the big screen include How the Grinch Stole Christmas and The Cat in the Hat.

Meanwhile, you’ll definitely be able to get your Depp-fix next month, when he’s set to appear in Bruce Robinson’s adaptation of The Rum Diary, which hits UK cinemas on 4th November.

We’ll keep you posted!

In this dusky adaptation of Jane Eyre, Mia Wasikowska plays the 19th century heroine in a tender, yet strong light. Very well-practised at portraying tragic inner turmoil with just a look, Wasikowska, from Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, plainly shows Jane’s inner journey. Equally, Amelia Clarkson as the young Jane, gives a vivid display of pain and suffering in some truly shocking scenes. From her, we also get a clear impression of innocent childhood friendship, and the tragedy it can face.

However, the character who really stands out is Mr. Rochester. Wearing luxuriant lambchop sideboards, Michael Fassbender (Lt. Archie Hicox in Inglourious Basterds) gives an imposingly charismatic performance as the mysterious lord-of-the manor. Power, frustration and tenderness meld together in his character, to create a version of Rochester with the ability to confuse you about whether he is extremely dreamy or fiercely arrogant.

There are more abundant sideburns in the form of  St John Rivers, played by BAFTA-winning Jamie Bell, who danced his way into our hearts in Billy Elliot. His presence in the film is stern yet hopeful, ultimately adding to the turmoil of Jane’s mind. A few scenes in particular between Bell and Wasikowska almost explode with repressed personal  conflict.

The film is shrouded in candlelight, which at times softens the action and at others enhances the frustration of the struggle. The bleak and desolate scenes, although necessary for the film, would be a bit too much if it wasn’t for Dame Judy Dench. Playing the motherly Mrs Fairfax, the much-loved actress introduces some desperately needed gentle comedy into the story. She provides a welcoming face, who bustles through the film and creates a wholesome atmosphere. Hers is a character whom we will ourselves to like and end up being handsomely rewarded for this confidence.

While Dame Judy provides a little light relief from the raging emotions, do not be fooled. The high emotional temperature of this picture is hard to resist. Some advice: Do not come to the cinema without a packet of tissues even if you think you can handle it.

Social conventions, frustrating heartache, pent-up feelings and raging passion. It’s all here in this Bronte classic. There are a few scenes in particular that stand out either for their heightened emotion or tenderness. Either way, you are very likely to be left with a lasting impression of the intense atmosphere from this new adaptation of an old favourite.

We saw the trailer today and, we have to say, it’s worth a look. Sleeping Beauty is the début feature from Julia Leigh and it marks the first Australian film selected for the main competition since Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge opened the festival in 2001.

The film stars Emily Browning, who we saw take the lead most recently in movie flop Sucker Punch. However, this is a far cry from  Sleeping Beauty as we know it – and it looks like it’ll be pretty different to the abundance of other fairytale adaptations soon to be coming our way, too.

Browning plays Lucy, a university student who appears to get sucked into a high class prostitution ring, where she is drugged for her clients pleasure.

The official synopsis for the film is as follows:

A haunting erotic fairy tale about Lucy, a student who drifts into prostitution and finds her niche as a woman who sleeps, drugged, in a ‘Sleeping Beauty chamber’ while men do to her what she can‘t remember the next morning.

The script grabbed Hollywood’s attention in 2008 when it made the Black List of unproduced screenplays and was soon approved for funding from Screen Australia.

Alice in Wonderland star Mia Wasikowska was originally attached to the lead but dropped out for her role in Jane Eyre.

Browning seems like just the girl for the job, giving off the right mix of sensuality and sweetness. The trailer is very intriguing indeed and we can’t wait to see more, what do you think?

The latest is Thomas McDonell, the fresh faced talent from Disney’s Prom, who is reportedly joining Dark Shadows. It is reported he will be playing the younger version of Barnabas Collins, who is played by Burton-regular Depp. That’s a compliment if there ever was one, isn’t it?

In more casting news, Michael Sheen is also reportedly in talks for a supporting role in the film. There are rumours that he will be playing the brother of Michelle Pfeiffer‘s character Elizabeth Collins Stoddard. Sheen has worked with Burton before, he was the voice of the White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland, which Mr Depp was also in, of course.

Dark Shadows is based on the popular supernatural soap opera of the same name. It centres on the life of the vampire Barnabas Collins and the various things he gets up to with monsters, witches, werewolves and ghosts.

Eva Green will play Angelique, a witch who has some sort of history with Barnabas. And it wouldn’t be a Tim Burton film without Helena Bonham Carter popping up, she will be playing Dr. Julia Hoffman.

So what do you think? Does it sound a bit boring?

Producer Graham King, the man behind The Town and The Departed has confirmed he will be taking on the project. He has bought the rights from Square Enix, the games company who own the hugely popular computer game the films are based on.

You’ll remember that there has already been two Tomb Raider films from Paramount, with Angelina Jolie playing the inflatable-bosomed action hero. There is no talk of Jolie returning for this film.

The film is to be funded by JK Films, who actually financed Jolie’s latest outing in The Tourist. It has been reported that the film will be out within the next two years and that it “will create daring new adventures for the young and dynamic Lara Croft.”

The last Tomb Raider film Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life was released in 2003. In 2009 Warner Bros and producer Dan Lin seriously considered making a new version of the film, which failed after the studio sold its stake in the games publisher Eidos to Sqaure Enix.

We’re wondering if anyone would be interested in seeing another version of the computer game, is the idea not a little dated now?

It is thought that he has teamed up with the screenwriter Billy Ray and the producer Joe Roth to make Peter Pan Begins. We’re guessing the Step Up star will not be playing Peter unless it’s Peter on steroids, but who else will he be? Hook? Doesn’t seem likely. Maybe he’ll just be working as a producer on the project.

Roth had success last year with Alice in Wonderland, and he is working on the Sam Rami film Oz, The Great and Powerful which is rumoured to be starring James Franco. He’s also working on one of the many Snow White remakes Snow White and the Huntsman, which will see Charlize Theron and Kristen Stewart as the leads. There seems to be a reoccurring theme running through all his projects, they are all reworks of classic fairy tales. Is someone suffering from Peter Pan syndrome?

We’re not so sure about the title Peter Pan Begins, it’s too similar to Batman Begins so all we can imagine at this point for the prequel is Peter Pan looking buffer with more violence, which doesn’t seem right at all.

Before that we’ll next see Tatum in The Eagle, an epic historical film from Kevin MacDonald and starring Brit Jamie Bell and the legendary Donald Sutherland.

Tatum plays Marcus Aquila who travels to Scotland from Rome to solve the mysterious disappearance of  the Ninth legion and restore the reputation of his father, the commander of the elite Roman regiment. The film is based on The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff, a children’s book originally published in 1954.

Sounds good, particularly if Tatum will be wearing those cute Roman outfits. On a serious note though it looks like this could be the making of him as a serious actor. Speaking about the role he said:

“The Eagle was definitely the most dangerous film I’ve ever done.We were on horseback on unsteady ground on cliffs, places where horses should never have been. I came back broken — physically, mentally and spiritually. I knew it was going to be hard and gruelling, but I didn’t realize how cold it was going to be.”

The Eagle will be released in UK cinemas on March 25 and watch this space for more news of Tatum in leggings (hopefully) for Peter Pan.

The nominations for Best Foreign Language Film were really strong, there was a very interesting mix, all with far from simple plots.

Danish film In a Better World took away the Oscar, beating off competition from Mexico’s Biutiful, Greece’s Dogtooth, Canada’s Incendies and Algeria’s Outside the Law.

The film tells the story of a separated couple who’s family is gradually falling apart, particularly when the two teenage sons begin a bitter and violent feud. It also won the Golden Globe for best foreign language film.

Director Susan Bier, said: “I am so truly honored and grateful and happy,”

Another category which had many people undecided was Best Documentary. The award went to Inside Job, directed by Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs.

The fact that Inside Job took away the award is a clear indication of the times. It is a harsh assault on the banking world, showing its role in the financial meltdown of 2008, the consequences of which we are still dealing with today.

It was picked over Banksy’s Exit Through the Gift Shop, Lucy Walker’s Waste Land, the Afghan war doc Restrepo, and environmental odyssey, Gasland.

The winner of the Best Animated Film was no surprise – Toy Story 3 (yawn). More interesting was the Best Animated Shorts category.

It was kind of assumed that Pixar’s Day & Night would walk away with the award, considering it has had, without a doubt, the most exposure in the competition, as it was played before Toy Story 3 in cinemas. However it was The Lost Thing, from Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann that won.

The Australian short, which is narrated by Tim Minchin (London-based Aussie comedian with big hair who sings) is the story of a boy’s relationship with a half octopus, half metallic creature. It’s a quirky story with bucket loads of poignancy which probably sent it home a winner.

Other Oscar winners you might not have heard much about include:

Best Documentary Short – Strangers No More, Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon

Best Live – Action Short – God of Love, Luke Matheny

Best Make-up – The Wolfman, Rick Baker and Dave Elsey

Best Sound Mixing - Inception, Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo, and Ed Novick

Best Sound Editing – Inception, Richard King

Jon: Winter’s Bone
Possibly the least likely to win, but this movie has some special Ozark magic and myth. Besides if Mark Kermode reckons we should all go and see it, who are we to argue.

El: Black Swan
Natalie Portman at her best, with a great supporting cast and brilliant direction – what’s not to love?! Even Portman’s gammy toe shots couldn’t put me off this film.

Fiona: Black Swan
This is pretty easy for me. The film was everything I hoped for and more. I couldn’t take my eyes of the screen: the acting was incredible, the story was terrifying, intense and exhilarating and at no point was I sure of what would happen.

Chris: The Social Network
I can’t really choose anything that isn’t this film, having watched it twice the week I bought it on DVD. I’ll probably watch it again before the month ends. It’s the perfect example of the web generation’s influence on film, and the performances are absolutely brilliant.

Jon: Tom Hooper – The King’s Speech
Hooper has demonstrated he’s a master of British craftsmanship. The King’s Speech might not be a cutting edge piece of work, but the movie exhibits an attention to detail worthy of Thomas Chippendale.

El: Darren Aronofsky – Black Swan
Another mind-blowing film from this director. It’s ambitious throughout, and that certainly pays off.

Fiona: Darren Aronofsky – Black Swan
Aronofsky is a genius. To create a film with the twists and turns like this and to still keep the audience with you throughout is a great skill. He takes us right to the core of Nina’s neurosis, leaving us uncomfortable and completely with her as she comes undone.

Chris: David Fincher – The Social Network
I think he really brought performances out of the people working with him that felt absolutely spot on. Not to mention his clever mixing-up of visual effects for the Winkelvoss twins.

Jon: Colin Firth – The King’s Speech
Whether it’s as Regency heartthrob Darcy, Old Master Vermeer or in any other of his roles, it’s about time Firth won an Oscar. Especially after last year’s disappointment. He’s also rather splendid in this film.

El: Javier Bardem – Biutiful
Painfully truthful and touching, Bardem’s performance is thoroughly captivating. And Spanish. Lovely and Spanish.

Fiona: Jesse Eisenberg – The Social Network
He is isn’t your average Hollywood star looks-wise and film-choice-wise but boy can he act. His intense performance throughout is incredible and entirely convincing. In fact he did such a good job that it’s hard to tell where Mark Zuckerberg ends and he starts.

Chris: Jessie Eisenberg – The Social Network
I bet you can’t guess why I’d pick him, right? Well, because he made the youngest billionaire in history simultaneously personify both ends of the moral compass, the frayed edges of someone balancing friendship with business.

Jon: Annette Bening – The Kids Are All Right
Despite playing a mom with a touch of the control freak about her, Bening remains sympathetic, humorous and distinctly human. She shines as a very uncommon corner of a bizarre love triangle (or pentagon).

El: Natalie Portman – Black Swan
Less annoying than she was in Garden State, less bald than she was in V for Vendetta… Portman at her best? Quite possibly.

Fiona: Natalie Portman – Black Swan
I’ve always loved Natalie and knew she could act since Leon but this really is something else. The film wouldn’t be what it was without her. Her dedication, passion and subtlety make her compelling to watch.

Chris: Natalie Portman – Black Swan
I’m a huge fan of Darren Aronofsky, and Black Swan really did emphasise what a lot of people already know – Natalie Portman can act, really well. In an additional bonus, she’s chosen ballet over marrying Darth Vader this time, so good for her.