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Friday 12th July has been quite the launchpad for a host of new and exciting films, showcasing the genre spectrum. From action blockbusters to indies, political thrillers to kids animation films, there'll be something to suit all tastes and ages as the summer of film gets hotter.

Well, we'll start off with Trap For Cinderella first because it's the underdog erotic thriller indie with an interesting premise. The Iain Softley film will star young, up-and-coming British actresses Tuppence Middleton and Alexandra Roach as vivacious Micky and shy Do: two girls who are reunited after years apart and reignite a secret passion despite the disapproval they are faced with.

Tuppence Middleton & Alexandra Roach In Trap For Cinderella.

Continue reading: Pacific Rim Now Out In Cinemas, But What Other Films Have Been Released Today?

Pixar's Monsters University sits atop of the North American film charts with takings of over $80 million in its first weekend of opening, beating rival Paramount Pictures' World War Z, which took $66 million (£42.74m). Man of Steel came third in the weekend's rankings at half of the Monsters University takings at $41.2 million (£27m).

Monsters University, the Dan Scanlon sequel to 2001's Monsters Inc., takes a step back in time to the days where lead monsters Mike and Sully weren't the all-star scare-powering duo they are at Monsters Incorporated. Here they're at university and there's a distinct rivalry between the little one-eyed Mike and the big fuzzy Scully as the film charts their progress as young adults.

Watch The Monsters University Trailer:

Continue reading: A New Scare Record! Monsters University Defeats World War Z At Box Office

It’s been a tense weekend at the box office, with contenders for a summer blockbuster out in full force. Unsurprisingly, the top spot over the weekend went to Monsters University with estimated $82 million earnings (all data courtesy of Hollywood.com), proving that even when the critics disagree, the folks over at the Emeryville studio know what they’re doing. For those keeping score at home, Pixar’s perfect streak of 14 out of 14 films debuting at number one on their first weekend remains unbroken.

Zombies came second to monsters, as Brad Pitt’s crack at the contagion genre, World War Z, followed closely with $66 million; having debuted this weekend at 3607 theatres across the US. The film was based on the eponymous Max Brooks novel and helmed by Marc Foster. It’s no secret that the zombie genre is having its Renaissance in recent years and the Pitt production apparently manages to tap into the Zeitgeist. It turns out to be Brad Pitt’s best opening weekend, followed by Mr. and Mrs. Smith with $50.3 million.

The second runner-up again comes as no surprise, as Warner Bros’s Man of Steel continues to perform, despite the second weekend drop of 65%. With estimated weekend earnings of $41,2 million, Man of Steel is still going strong. Note: it isn’t matching the box office success of this year’s Iron Man 3 though, which, if reports of Warner Bros. modeling a Justice League franchise after The Avengers are true, would be the studio’s goal.

Continue reading: Summer Blockbuster Season Is Open, As Monsters And Zombies Dominate The Weekend Box Office

The prequel to Monsters Inc. seems to have captured most of the magic of the first picture, but with mixed reviews, it won’t go down as one of Pixar’s finest moments. We take a look at some of the reviews ahead of the film’s release.

The good: “Execution matters. Verve, and energy, and inventiveness matter. And Monsters University is funny, fast, and likable, with occasional moments of real visual surprise and laugh-out-loud offhand gags,” say Vulture. “The result,” of Monsters University, says The Washington Post, “is a charming addition to the Monsters canon."

Check out the Monsters University trailer here

Continue reading: Monsters University - A Solid Effort But Not Pixar's Best

Monsters University, the sequel to Pixar’s delightfully wonky Monsters Inc. hits theatres today and it offers a plethora of opportunities – for 00s kids and current college students it’s a chance to revisit the world of Mike, Sully and the rest of Monstropolis at the perfect moment, for Pixar – a chance to redeem themselves after recent slumps and for movie critics – a chance to make every college pun imaginable – sometimes more than one. Wordplays aside though, Monsters seems to be doing pretty well with both critics and audiences. It currently holds the unusually high rating of 77% fresh on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes and is probably the first movie in history with the same grade on IMDB – 7.7/10. And it might be that this colorful Pixar romp has reached the children deep inside movie critics, for they’re also heaping praise on the film – if a bit more sparingly.

TIME magazine’s Richard Corliss praises the film’s visual thrills, but doesn’t neglect to mention the standard refrain: it’s not as good as Up or WALL-E, but it’ll do. The review ends on a moderately positive note, with Corliss accurately describing Monsters as “a minor film with major charms.”

Check out the Monsters University trailer here.

Continue reading: Review Roundup: Monsters University Isn't Pixar's Comeback, But It's Still Hilarious.

After months in the pipeline and predictions ranging from a return to form for Pixar to a complete disaster, the studio’s Monsters University is finally in theatres today (June 21). The Pixar team certainly have a lot to prove with this one. After the studio shaped the animated feature landscape with films like Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Wall-E and, of course Monsters Inc., its recent productions haven’t exactly been receiving glowing praise.

Everyone is aware that Cars 2 is no Up and even Brave, which was admittedly better received that Cars 2, didn’t exactly win glowing praise. Perhaps it would make sense then, that, nearly twelve years on, when a franchise would normally be gone and forgotten, Pixar are returning to their roots.

Not only is Monsters University hitting a very specific demographic – the kids who ooh-ed and aah-ed at Boo’s adventures in the first one are now right around college age or a bit older - but the inspiration has finally hit. And the folks at Pixar have a very important philosophy – only make the film when there’s a story to tell (once again, we’ll turn a blind eye on the Cars franchise.)

Continue reading: Pixar Goes Back To Its Roots With "Monsters University"

Monsters University is Pixar’s very first foray into the world of the prequel. And, as prequels go, it’s not terrible – it offers a few laughs, fits well into the general story, which began with Monsters Inc. and, as we’ve come to expect from Pixar movies, it is visually stunning – if you don’t suffer from photosensitive epilepsy, in which case stunning might be a bit too literal. What’s unfortunate for Monsters University is that… well, we’ve already seen the first one. And that was much better. The trailer, which you can see below, pretty much says it all.

Monsters Inc. was made back in 2001. It was Pixar’s fourth feature film, back when the studio was just building its reputation as a flawless dream factory and it was one of the films which helped cement said reputation. We collectively laughed with Mike and Sully, ooh-ed and aah-ed at the adorable Boo and, let’s just admit it, Randall was one creepy dude.

Watch the Monster's University trailer:

Continue reading: Monsters University Falls Victim To "Second Movie" Syndrome?

This week's big world premiere was in London for the zombie apocalypse thriller where Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie made their first public appearance since news of Jolie's pre-cancer surgery. They were joined on the red carpet by director Marc Forster and other cast members. The film opens in two weeks.

This weekend British moviegoers get a chance to see Michael Douglas and Matt Damon on the big screen in the Liberace biopic Behind the Candelabra. The film was broadcast last week on HBO in America, which means it isn't eligible for Oscars, but look for it to mop up Emmys and Golden Globes. And with glowing reviews from UK critics, Bafta nominations are also expected.

Continue reading: A Week In Movies: World War Z Arrives, Britain Braces For Liberace, Superman Speaks

Pixar has a unique way of creating worlds. Some are the imagined versions of what we encounter in 'real life' (such as the life of fish from the ocean to the tank, in Finding Nemo, toys in Toy Story, and bugs in A Bug's Life), while others are entirely new conceptions done in entirely new ways like Wall-E and Monsters Inc. The latter is the favourite of many and has another on the way! A new trailer for which has just been released and while sometimes additions to an original can be superfluous and disappointing, judging by this latest trailer, there'll be nothing to be disappointed about.

The new story is, in fact, a prequel to the original. Following Mike (Billy Crystal) and Sulley (John Goodman) as they attend college, meet one another and forge a lasting friendship. Although... the 'friendship' part of that is a long time coming as they in fact begin as rivals, each wanting to out-scare the other in their quest for scaring stardom and success. In the land of the monsters their energy had been fuelled by the scares of children during earth's night-time elicited by the monsters, but at the end of the first movie they discovered that children's laughter is much more powerful! Ah, we love a happy ending. 

Continue reading: New Monsters University Trailer From Pixar Hits The Web (Trailer)

Twenty five years later, the cast and crew of 'The Princess Bride' reunited at the New York Film Festival this week to promote the Blu-ray release of the classic romantic-comedy. They were all there - Billy Crystal, Robin Wright, Rob Reiner, William Goldman, Mandy Patinkin, Cary Elwes - but the gathered press pack were only concerned with one thing: would there be a sequel?

Goldman, 81, who wrote the 1973 novel and the screenplay for the movie confessed that developing a sequel had been on his mind for years, telling the Los Angeles Times, "I'm desperate to make it and write it and I don't know how.I would love to make it, more than anything else I've not written." In a humorous Q&A session at the Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall, the cast and crew quoted key scenes from the movie, and director Reiner spoke of how he got involved in the project in the first place, revealing that Goldman had approached him after Robert Redford, Francois Truffaut and Norman Jewison had tried and failed to make the movie. "He looked at me with the eyes of, 'What are you gonna do to it?" said the filmmaker, revealing that it was his knack for comedy (This Is Spinal Tap) that helped win over Goldman. A classic fairy tale, 'The Princess Bride' has everything, swordplay, an evil prince, giants, and of course a beautiful princess. So would a sequel be realistic?

Reiner has been relatively active as a filmmaker in recent years, though Goldman hasn't written anything of note since 2003's 'Dreamcatcher,' starring Morgan Freeman. We're sure Crystal, Wright and the gang would be up for another movie, so watch this space!