Projects matching: Jones

Synopsis

The filming of F.W. Murnau's 'Nosferatu' is hampered by the fact that its star Max Schreck is taking the role of a vampire far more seriously than seems humanly possible.
Official Selection Berlinale 2018 - Homage

Synopsis

Newport and the Gwent valleys provide the backdrop for this gritty, hardhitting film. It's the last night of the Millennium and it's also crunch time for three couples.

Lee is a local rock singer who's tuning up for what could be his big break - a gig in London. It may be a chance to escape from Wales but can he escape from his troubled past? Dafydd and Susie are expecting their first child but footloose Dafydd is afraid the baby will stifle his freedom. And eloping to freedom is what's on Howard and Alma's minds as their affair reaches a climax.

Three couples. Three crises. One hell of a night.

Synopsis

In 1935, when it was more common for Irish families to leave their famine-stricken country for America, the impoverished McCourt family does the reverse. Angela and her alcoholic husband Malachi set sail from New York Harbour to Cork with their four children, Frank, Malachy Jr. and twins Eugene and Oliver to a land which a mystified young Frank had only heard of as 'where there was no work and people were dying of the starvation and the damp'.

A cold greeting awaits them in Limerick by Angela's Catholic family. Grandma lends them money for a small place but any hope of their luck changing soon disappears with Dad not being able to find employment, and Oliver and Eugene dying from malnourishment and the damp. Dad's spirits sink lower and he drowns his sorrows in alcohol.

Edinburgh Film Festival - nbx write up:

As soon as he finished reading Frank McCourt's Angela's Ashes, the devastating portrayal of a child growing up in Ireland, British film-maker Alan Parker tried to option the film rights. Although they had already been acquired by US producers David Brown and Scott Rudin, Parker soon signed on as director, taking a production credit via his London-based Dirty Hands Productions. The director then updated the first draft of the script written by Australian writer Laura Jones.

"Adapting any famous literary work is problematic in that, in the compression to a manageable cinematic shape, inevitably, certain characters and situations will be excluded," Parker said.

At that time in 1998, Dirty Hands had a first-look deal with PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, now known as Universal Pictures International (UPI). UPI agreed to back the project along with Paramount Pictures. With two-times Academy Award nominee Emily Watson and Robert Carlyle in place as the leads, and three boys cast for the three ages of Frank, production began in September 1998. "Our film had the advantage of being financed by two studios and so we had the luxury of moving this huge travelling circus around Ireland," says Parker.

The team decided to shoot in Dublin and Cork as well as Limerick, the western Irish town where the majority of the book is set. "It was obvious that a patchwork quilt, a mosaic of different places, would have to be put together to accurately replicate the Limerick of 50-odd years ago," says Parker.

Angela's Ashes wrapped in December 1998 after a 75-day shoot. It was released in the US in December 1999.

Synopsis

The story of one woman's desire to reclaim her independence.
It's all happening this afternoon! Edith's been busying herself, getting the whole community going - even the Vicar's on her side. Crippled by a stroke, Edith communicates when she wants to with her finger, one tap for no, two for yes...

Synopsis

Based on Jonathan Coe's novel Dwarves Of Death, Five Seconds To Spare is the story of William (Max Beesley), a young aspiring musician who arrives in London in search of success and romance, only to find himself the sole witness to a bizarre murder.



The film marks the feature film debut of award-winning commercials director Tom Connolly and is produced by Amanda Posey, who says she optioned the rights to the book in 1995, because of its "vividly cinematic premise". Coe wrote a number of drafts for Five Seconds To Spare before Connolly, also a screenwriter, came on board as director and re-wrote the final draft.



"Tom had a very strong, coherent and complete vision of both what he wanted to do with the script to give it a visual vibrancy, and how that translated into shooting it as a director," says Posey.



Despite his experience as a musician, Beesley, who hit the spotlight with his performance as the BBC's Tom Jones, was not at first an obvious choice for the part of William. "Max is magnetic and confident, in complete contrast to the character of William," says Posey. "But he worked because he counteracted any possibility of William seeming drippy."



Music plays an integral part in the film, which boasts an original score by Ben Pope and even features a cameo by Radio One DJ John Peel.



Five Seconds To Spare premiered at the Greenwich Film Festival in June.

Synopsis

Linda is devastated. La Scala, her wonderful bingo hall, is caught in the pincers of development. The council has finally noticed the decay and deterioration and are threatening demolition. And worse: A mile up the valley, Mega Pleasure has been built. The UK's biggest bingo arena. A stream of villagers begin the pilgrimage: the chance to play in the new National Bonanza game and win a million quid. Gavin, the charismatic caller and Linda's lover-elect, soon follows, lured by untold riches and natural fibres. Mr Anzani, Linda's friend, mentor and boss, is distraught. His family of Welsh-Italians have held the hall, in many guises, for over three generations. Is his to be the last?


But Linda discovers she has a gift: she can guess the numbers before they're called. She can decide who wins the games. The pathway to salvation is clear - everyone comes to the lucky hall. But who should she gift the million to? In desperation she seeks her auntie Beth's advice. 'Leave it well alone' is Beth's advice, telling Linda that her (recently deceased) Mother had the same strange abilities. But Linda doesn't leave it and soon finds that some gifts are best left unwrapped.

Synopsis

It was in part thanks to the success of Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels that It Was An Accident got off the shelf and into production. Screenwriter Ol Parker first got hold of the novel by Walthamstow-based former probation officer Jeremy Cameron in 1996, adapted it and teamed up with producer Paul Goodman. But film executives didn't get the stylised vocabulary and frenetic pacing - it was way too ahead of its time. But in the post-Lock, Stock world, Parker's script, now with director Metin Huseyin on board, found an enthusiastic backer in Lottery franchise studio Pathe Pictures.



Goodman is quick to point out the differences between his film and Guy Ritchie's. "They share similar language but this has heart and soul," he says. The film stars two of Britain's most promising young actors: Chiwetel Ejiofor (most recently wowing theatre audiences in Blue Orange at the National Theatre) and Max Beesley (reunited with Metin Huseyin after the BBC serial Tom Jones).



It was the richness of the language in Cameron's novel that appealed to Parker and Goodman. That Parker and Huseyin had both lived in Walthamstow gave them an insight into the area's particular brand of East End culture and helped turn what could have been just another London gangster flick into a film that, as Huseyin says, is "very funny about violence, but underpinned by a serious story about a guy you want to succeed trying to go straight".



The film is looking for spots on the international festival circuit. "We'd like to see it at Toronto because it's a multi-cultural town that we know will respond to the film and that will help with a US sale," says Goodman.

Synopsis

Friendship and tension between the sexes is the subject of this short comedy. Paula's friend, Terry, mistakes her attempts to build a closer friendship with him for romance, and this misunderstanding has profound effects on their relationship. While Paula is played by an actress, Terry is a 1/6 th scale puppet.

Synopsis

Pete's (Rhys Ifans) business is going bust, his sperm count is dodgy, and his relationship with Sarah (Sadie Frost) is on the rocks. He's infatuated with his secretary Charlie (Dani Behr), despite her being hitched to his bike-messenger Trevor (Andrew Howard) and he's spending too much time in Harry's (Nick Moran) coke den. In short, Pete's in trouble.


Then his charming Irish accountant and boyhood pal Deeny (Joseph Fiennes) fixes up a meeting with the mysterious Russian Mr Kant (Steven Berkoff) and his 'assistant' (actually his daughter) Masha (Tara Fitzgerald). Masha and Pete get it together and Mr Kant comes over with the emergency loan. Pete is saved.


But then comes the payback: Pete is summoned off the M25 by Masha, and ordered to Russia. There, he is taken in hand by Dr Jones (Keith Allen), Mr Kant's guru, made love to again by Masha - and then appears to be killed by Mr Kant's terrifying bodyguard (Olegario Fedoro) as a warning to other Western 'partners'. Meanwhile it's clear that Deeny set the whole thing up and is plotting to take over Pete's firm - indeed his whole life.


However, Pete's not dead. Returning to London, he finds Sarah's pregnant and he's got to kill Deeny. The only people Pete can turn to are Charlie and Trevor. Masha is pregnant too and Mr Kant won't intervene.


Pete's got a great plan, and Masha agrees to help with the greatest - and most bizarrely convincing alibi ever, but just as its all coming together Pete learns that Deeny has Sarah and Charlie at his mercy. Now Masha and Mr Kant must help and race to his aid, but Pete has to face Deeny alone, head-to-head, and right up to the final frames.

Synopsis

In Rhythm & Blues two London worlds collide in a dark and gleaming comic thriller. Beginning in a graveyard, Rhythm & Blues follows the adventures of a Scottish skinhead, Byron and his enigmatic Adonis protégé, John.





The pair are adopted by the male dysfunctional male escort agency, 'Boys Galore', run by the Dickensian duo, Mitzi and Bethsheba, which leads to a surreal encounter with American tycoon Bad Daddy and his courtiers.





Bad Daddy lives in a gothic palace with his love addicted French companion, Jean-Claude (who is also a master of gay marionettes). The house becomes centre-stage for a massive clash of personalities and cultures. Hiding amongst this incongruous group is a serial killer masquerading as an escort and nicknamed by the tabloid press as 'The Rent Boy Ripper'.





The result is a dangerous cocktail of the streetwise and the louche which pushes to the limits the ties of friendship bound by the contradictory forces of love, lust and loot.





Side-stepping political correctness and good taste, Rhythm & Blues is irreverent, high camp, slapstick and totally over-the top mixed with a touch of John Waters, Ealing Comedy and Pedro Almodovar.

Synopsis

A heist story set against the backdrop of the Jewish diamond district in London, involves a diamond deal gone helter-skelter, the rough and tumble world of bare-knuckle boxing, a colourful Irish gypsy and a dog.

Synopsis

Guy Ritchie's much-anticipated follow-up to his 1998 hit Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels retreads the East End streets of London, this time centring on the diamond district of Hatton Garden.

Ritchie, who also wrote the script, and producer Matthew Vaughn have attracted a stellar cast including Brad Pitt and Benicio Del Toro, as well as returning Lock, Stock cast members Jason Statham, Vinnie Jones and Jason Flemyng. Columbia TriStar is backing the project, along with the consortium of private investors who backed Lock, Stock, including Xingu Films, the production company of Trudie Styler, wife of rock star Sting.

Snatch tells the story of a diamond deal gone wrong. Del Toro plays a diamond thief and courier who stops in London on his way to making a delivery to his boss in New York, played by Dennis Farina. His love of gambling lands him in trouble with the local unlicensed boxing community, which includes an unreliable Irish gypsy boxer, played by Pitt. And so begins a whirlwind of double-crossing and double-bluffing.

Principal photography took place for six weeks during October and November 1999. Columbia TriStar will release Snatch in September in both the UK and the US before rolling it out internationally.