Join the BSFA

Register  Login

BSFA Awards Panel - meeting 24th March
BSFA News   BSFA meeting 24 th March* Come and join us at The Antelope. Have you been feverishly reading the shortlist trying to pick your favourite out ahead of the final vote on 4 th April? Has... Read More..

BSFA Award Shortlist.
BSFA News The results are in, all nominations have been counted and we have great pleasure in announcing the BSFA Award Shortlist. Congratulations to all the nominees! Note that there are only four nominees ... Read More..

BSFA Meeting: Jim Burns Interview.
BSFA News On 27th January 2010 from around 7pm Jim Burns (winner of the Hugo award for best professional artist three times—the only non-American ever to have won it—and has also been awarded 12 BSFA Awards.) ... Read More..

Vector #261 Out Now
BSFA News The latest mailing to BSFA members should have arrived with BSFA members by now. Not only the latest copy of Vector (#261) but also a free book by Colin Harvey called Wintersong published by the wond... Read More..

read more BSFA News

Featured Articles

CAPBRITMy Solomon Kane weekend
by Liz De Jager 01/03/2010 04:53:52

On Saturday, 20th Feb I was lucky enough to meet writer and director of Solomon Kane, Michael J Bassett and his leading man, James Purefoy, ... Read More..

CAPBRITChris Beckett Interviewed by Ian Whates
by Ian Whates 05/01/2010 08:53:09

1. The two book deal you’ve recently signed will see the reissue of your novel The Holy Machine . Will the second book also be a reissue or somethin... Read More..

CAPBRITA Hardcore Film Experience.
by Andy Remic 17/02/2010 05:00:23

So, I’ve just finished principal photography for the short promo film HARDCORE , in support of my new Combat K book which is out January 2010. P... Read More..

CAPBRITInterview with Angry Robot
by Ian Whates 08/02/2010 16:59:24

Ian Whates conducts a ‘Behind the Scenes Interview’ with those responsible for new Harper Collins imprint Angry Robot IW : Launching a new impri... Read More..

Film Reviews

CAPBRITDoomsday: Shallow and Derivative... but Fun!
by Martin McGrath

Released 9 May 2008 Directed by Neil Marshall Runtime 113mins Rogue Pictures Writers: Neil Marshall Originally published in Matrix 188 on 07.07.2008 'Doomsday' Reviewed by Martin McGrath It is a mistake to think of watching a film as a passive experience. To properly enjoy cinema an audience, and the individual viewer, has to be willing to engage with the images flickering before them, they have to be willing to give something back. Any film worth watching will require the audience to work a bit to get the most from it. And some films ask more of their audienc... Read More..

CAPBRITIron Man
by Lon S. Cohen

Originally published in Matrix 187 on 01.06.2008   Released 2nd May 2008 Directed by Jon Favreau Runtime 126 mins Dark Blades Films Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges, Gwyneth Paltrow 'Iron Man' reviewed by Lon S. Cohen Standing in my kitchen after viewing Iron Man on opening night, I had the strange sense that something was terribly wrong. Earlier I had taken my teenaged son to see the movie, leaving my wife at home. That wasn’t the problem. The problem lay in the question. The same question we all have to ... Read More..

CAPBRITIndiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
by Donna Scott

Originally published in Matrix 188 on 17.06.2009 Released 22 May 2008 Directed by Steven Spielberg Runtime 124 mins Paramount Pictures Writers: David Koepp and George Lucas 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull' reviewed by Donna Scott Any film directed by Steven Spielberg, with a screenplay co-written by George Lucas would surely have enough Hollywood glitz about it to make it not just the blockbuster film for this summer, but arguably a contender for the decade. Factor in those two magical words ‘Indiana’ and ‘Jone... Read More..

CAPBRITLet The Right One In
by Martin McGrath

I’m sick of vampires. I’m sick of men in long coats with middle-European accents and aristocratic bearing sporting pompous hair. I’m sick of the sensitive ones who really long for love after centuries of ripping out the throats of virgins and who only need to find the right woman to toss aside the past and indulge in some of the most cringingly badly written sex in all of English literature. I’m sick of the misunderstood teenage vampires who are just rebelling against the man. I am sick to death of vampires. So it came as a bit of a surprise to discover that I loved Let The Ri... Read More..

CAPBRIT10,000BC: Giving Genre Films a Bad Name
by Martin McGrath

Released 14 March 2008 Directed by Roland Emmerich Runtime 109 minutes Warner Bros Pictures Written by Roland Emmerich & Harald Kloser Originally published in Matrix 188 on 07.07.2008 Reviewed by Martin McGrath There are those for whom the name Roland Emmerich strikes a chill in their heart. There are those who regard his noisy back catalogue (including Stargate, Independence Day, Godzilla , and The Day After Tomorrow ) as a blight upon science fiction. I am not one of those critics. Emmerich’s previous films might have been big and stupid and noisy and brash,... Read More..

CAPBRITRenaissance (2006)
by Martin Lewis

Christian Volckman first started work on this film in 1999 so he must have been slightly narked when Sin City (2005) was released. That film received acclaim for its transliteration of Frank Miller’s comics to the screen. Renaissance goes one step further in this respect by not just using a blue screen and post production but being totally animated, including overlaying motion captured actors. The result is a startling black and white film. Still, the debt to Miller is so clear you can’t help but feel Volckman’s thunder has been stolen. Sin City was a gratuitously offensive exerci... Read More..

CAPBRITSynedoche, New York
by Martin McGrath

  Synedoche, New York is the first directorial outing by Charlie Kaufman, who has previously written a string of brilliant movies that includes Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Being John Malkovich, Adaptation and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind – each, in their own way, thoughtful, intelligent and complex fantasies. If you enjoyed those films then you are undoubtedly going to get something out of Synedoche, New York but whether it is pleasure or pain may depend on your state of mind. There will be plenty of people who dismiss the film as relentlessly self-indulgent and plent... Read More..

CAPBRITThe Happening: Not Much Does
by Martin McGrath

Released 13 June 2008 Directed by M. Night Shyamalan Runtime 91mins Barry Mendel Productions Writer: M. Night Shyamalan Originally published in Matrix 188 on 08.07.2008 'The Happening' Reviewed by Martin McGrath I’d been there before with M Night Shyamalan’s movies. Once again we had terrible reviews and disastrous early word of mouth warning audiences off what, in the past, had always turned out to be better than average science fiction/horror films that ask more of the audience than slack-jawed staring at the screen. Unbreakab... Read More..

CAPBRITThe Incredible Hulk: The Jolly Green Giant Strikes Again!
by Martin McGrath

Released 13 June 2008 Directed by Louis Leterrier Runtime 114mins Marvel Enterprises Writer: Zak Penn Originally published in Matrix 188 on 08.07.2008 'The Incredible Hulk' Reviewed by Martin McGrath As one of the few people who enjoyed Ang Lee’s take on The Hulk (2003), I approached this relaunch of the franchise with a quiet dread. For all its faults Lee’s film at least had the strength of obvious intelligence and a seriousness of intent, even if it did eventually subside into a low-rent pseudo-Freudian drama. Having had ... Read More..

CAPBRITIn The Name of the King: Burt Reynolds Does Fantasy... Badly
by Martin McGrath

Directed by Uwe Boll Release date: 11 January 2008 Runtime 127 mins Brightlight Pictures Writer: Doug Taylor (screenplay) & Jason Rappaport (story) Originally published in Matrix 188 on 07.07.2008 'In The Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale' Reviewed by Martin McGrath You can say what you like about Uwe Boll – and mostly those statements tend to include the words “talentless” and “hack” – but you can’t deny his uncanny ability to attract funding and get films made. Of course, generally speaking, the world would be a better pla... Read More..