As far as I know we never saw Paul's doctor officially die and regenerate - fans please correct me if I am wrong ... Maybe he's still out there somewhere in a parallel universe, and could pop up when the doctor runs out of all his other lives. Either way, here's an exclusive interview I did with one of the main Doctor Who websites for the 50th anniversary celebrations 
...  Click Here!

Boxing Day was very well received  at the LAFF last week.  To see it up on a massive screen here in America where the film has a special relevance, was a fantastic experience I will never ever forget. Here are two of the best reviews ... 

"A tour de force performance piece, and one of my top 3 “Must See” Festival Films at Los Angeles Film Festival 2013,  is BOXING DAY ... A wonderful film that has quickly become one of my favorite Tolstoy adaptations, BOXING DAY is an intimate portrait of the human condition and the socio-economic status of the country ... Sharply observed with a dialogue rich narrative, BOXING DAY is extremely well crafted, allowing the actors to soar, particularly Huston who maintains an air of pompous aristocracy and privilege until the last possible moment when he unconsciously embraces the true spirit of BOXING DAY itself.  Matthew Jacobs is a pure delight as the grounded, simple and salt of the earth Nick, resonating with the heart.  Visually beauteous, the starkness and pristine visual of the clean, pure snow of winter in the Rocky Mountains stuns as a blank canvas that creates a perfect backdrop to the performances." Movieshark review by Debbie Lynn Elias

Bernard Rose now has a promotional site full of fascinating material about his work and there's a lot of detail about Paperhouse. This was one of my first feature screenplays, and it's fair to say  that it really launched both Bernard's, mine, and (to a large extent) Hans Zimmer's careers in America. Click here  to go to the Paperhouse page on his site where there is an excellent clip from the movie itself. Click here to go to a truly brilliant interview with Bernard Rose about  Paperhouse taken from the brand new blu-ray edition that has been issued by Metropolitan in France. 

Just been to see "Mud" ... A really impressive and moving contemporary version of Huck Finn in many ways and details. The big difference being it is without the political themes of Twain. It instead focuses on the nature of a 14 year-old boy's emotional coming-of-age as he starts to understand more about love. If you're a romantic at heart I suspect you'll love it. I was blown away, especially by the 1st half. All the performances are great. In the middle of all the over-priced over-engineered stuff the studios are throwing at us, this is the sort of film that reminded me why I love American cinema. 

I went to see RUST & BONE last night. A slow burner that drew me in then left me so moved I simply couldn't get up from my seat until the last credit rolled. This probably won't happen for everyone, but when a movie draws you right inside it's characters and is shot and acted by true artists I find one can be so transported it's hard to leave the dark. Simply put, it's about a fighter/single parent who's closed off from commitment and a seaworld whale trainer who loses her legs in a terrible accident (that's not a spoiler) they both  need to be drawn out of a state of shock. Their relationship gently drives the movie to a very powerful set of conclusions. And guess what, it's directed by one my fav directors Jacques Audiard (Prophet) ... If you haven't seen it and you love movies, give it a try!

Boxing Day has opened to strong reviews both in the national print:

The Observer
"Huston and Jacobs work superbly together" 
The Guardian 
4 stars - "another arresting adaptation from Rose fascinatingly acted film"
The Telegraph 
4 stars - "Huston and Jacobs have a marvellously spluttery chemistry...terrific"
The Evening Standard 
4 stars - "it sustains an unusual atmosphere and an emotional charge of which Tolstoy might have approved — and both performances are memorably etched into it."
The Independent 
3 stars -"the duelling performances – Huston's saturnine patrician, Jacobs's plaintive everyman – never falter"
The Financial Times 
3 stars -"there’s a rueful wit in this character mismatch"

and online:
The Irish Times online - 4 stars - review here
View London online - 4 stars - review here
Cinevue online - 4 stars - review here
The Arts Desk online - 4 stars - review here
Best For Film online - 4 stars - review here

Went walking yesterday with family around the wonderful murals in the Mission area of San Francisco. If you ever visit this is something you have to do. It's one of the best and wildest galleries I've been to in the states. 

I've just finished shooting BAR AMERICA. A small feature film produced by Rockbridge productions, starring Chris Candy, Dustin Ingram, Michele Boyd and Morgan Walsh. Watch this space for more info during the next few weeks.

The festival was a great experience. Here are some photos I took when I had some time away from the glorious circus ...

The Boxing Day part of this Guardian internet review is about 4 minutes in, directly after the Terrence Malick review.

Click here for the Screen International Review and the Guardian print review.