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British Science Fiction & Fantasy: A Survey
BSFA News Who writes sf and fantasy? How do they perceive their work, and how is it received? The two surveys collected here answer these questions, and many more. With in-depth responses from over... Read More..

BSFA Awards Ballot
BSFA News  It's that time of year again when we all get to vote on the BSFA Awards shortlist. And in standing with tradition voting is open to all BSFA Members and Eastercon attendees. The official ballot w... Read More..

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..

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Featured Articles

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..

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..

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..

CAPBRITDanny Elfman: Paint it Black.
by Kim Lakin-Smith 05/01/2010 07:12:47

"Graduate, with Honours, American College of Hard Knocks" with post-graduate studies at "Nose to the Grindstone University." So composer, vocalist, b... Read More..

Film Reviews

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..

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..

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..

CAPBRITOutpost - A Missed Opportunity
by Martin McGrath

Released 16 May 2008 Directed by Steve Barker Runtime 90 minutes Black Camel Pictures Writer: Rae Brunton Originally published in Matrix 188 on 07.07.2008 'Outpost' Reviewed by Martin McGrath Outpost has almost every element necessary to make a successful low budget horror movie. It has a strong cast but it’s made up of actors whose faces you’ll recognise but whose names will mostly escape you. It has a confined and atmospheric location – an underground bunker supposedly in Eastern Europe abandoned by the SS at the end of World War II. And it has a tense, ... 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..

CAPBRITThe Day The Earth Stood Still (DVD)
by Martin McGrath

  Scott Derrickson directed one of the most loathsome films I have ever watched – 2005’s The Exorcism of Emily Rose – a disingenuous anti-rationalist rant disguised as a “based on a true story” horror movie that adopted tactics used by creationists and evangelicals to suggest that faith should outweigh the law or scientific proof. To say I hated it would be a serious understatement. I had only just stopped ranting about the abomination of Derrickson’s earlier film when I discovered that his next project was to remake my favourite classic American sf movie, The Day the Earth Stood ... Read More..

CAPBRITKung Fu Panda Is A Kick In The Pants
by Lon S. Cohen

Released 4 July 2008 Directed by Mark Osborne & John Stevenson Runtime 92mins DreamWorks Animation Stars Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Ian McShane, Jackie Chan Originally published in Matrix 188 on 07.07.2008 'Kung Fu Panda' Reviewed by Lon S. Cohen When I heard that Jack Black was going to star in an animated Dreamworks production populated only by animal characters playing a martial arts wielding panda, my initial reaction was, “What the Fu?” But as the brilliantly rendered characters appeared all over the Inte... 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 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..