Attack the Block - Community Library

Attack the Block Reference Portal

2011-12-26T00:01:00.004+01:00

I am just a silly with no connection to the makers of this film whatsoever

I think this is something along the lines of what a proper fan-site might put together but in my case it will be a lumbering list of links that I shall attempt to update as and when the mood takes my flighty, little brain.

The shiny official website is here.

Attack the Block is full of win!

After Attack the Block's amazing success in the UK, it's rolling out with dates in the US and Worldwide.

The U.S. Press Tour including San Diego Comic Con 2011

This film has been lovingly squeezed into it's cans (or BARCO spitspot) with the help of Optimum Releasing, Film4, Big Talk and the UK Film Council. All these links have a hotch-potch of things that might interest you if you poke around a bit. What one site lacks in glossy pictures and pithy quotes, it makes up for in wordy bits of information.

Reviews

Interviews

Video Interviews

Podcasts and Radio Interviews.

Clips and trailers if you can't navigate the official website.

The UK release for the DVD, Blu-ray and digital versions is set for 26th September 2011 and Play.com appear to be offering an exclusive Glow in the Dark Triple Pack with what appears to be a complimenting green case.

So what did those Amerrricans think of the film? They saw it before any of us homeys, after all. The film was so well received at SXSW that it won the Best Midnight Feature nod so here are some links to the ejaculations of over-excited geekboys. Video interviews are here.

The next big public schmoozefest was at the Kapow Comic Con and I've been patiently thrumming my fingers in anticipation that someone might host some of the stuff that was recorded. They're probably waiting until nearer the release date.

and finally, a place to put all the items that defy categorisation.

This site is maintained by Auntie Nubbins.

When she doesn't have Joe's film to think about, she bothers parts of the internet here and here, tweets here and has dipped into Facebook.

Attack the Block: Awards

2011-12-25T15:00:00.029+01:00

So far, Attack the Block has attracted the following baubles of appreciation:

Nebula Awards (winners not yet announced)
Nominated: Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation

Saturn Awards (winner not yet announced)
Nominated: Best International Film

The Serial Diners of Toronto have the Silver Lenas
Nominated: Coolest Director Attack The Block
Nominated: Best Original Screenplay Attack The Block

Virgin Media Movie Awards (winners not yet announced)
Nominated: Various Categories (Public Vote)

Empire Film Awards (winners not yet announced)
Nominated: That's up to you!

Black Reel Awards
Winner: Outstanding Actor
Nominated: Outstanding Breakthrough Performance
Nominated: Outstanding Ensemble
Nominated: Outstanding Score
Nominated: Outstanding Film
Winner: Outstanding Foreign Film

Austin SXSW Film Festival 2011
Winner: Best Midnight Audience Award

Los Angeles Film Festival 2011
Winner: Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature

Black Film Critics' Circle 2011
Inclusion: Top Ten Films & Special Mention

Lund International Fantastic Film Fest 2011
Winner: Melies d'Argent

Montreal Fantasia International Film Festival 2011
Winner: Audience Award – Best European or American Feature

Sitges Film Festival 2011
Winner: Best Motion Picture
Winner: Special Jury Award
Winner: Jose Luis Critics Award
Winner: Best Original Soundtrack

Miskolc International Film Festival, Hungary
Winner: Müút Award for Best Visual Concept

Torino International Festival, Turin, Italy
Winner: Best Production Design (for Marcus Rowland)
Winner: Golden Mouse

New York Film Critics
Winner: Best Debut Director

Toronto Film Critics Association Awards
Winner: Best First Feature

Austin Film Critics Association
Winner: Best First Film
Winner: Best Original Score

Internet Film Critics' Awards
Winner: Best Horror or Science Fiction Film

Writers Guild of Great Britain
Nominated: Best Film Screenplay

BAFTA
Nominated: Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer

British Independent Film Awards 2011
Nominated: Best Directorial Debut – Joe Cornish
Nominated: Most Promising Newcomer – John Boyega

Evening Standard Film Awards
Nominated: Most Promising Newcomer (John Boyega)

NAACP Image Awards
Nominated: Outstanding Foreign Motion Picture

Guardian First Film Awards
Shortlisted

London Critics' Circle Film Awards
Nominated: Breakthrough British Film-maker
Nominated: Young British Performer of the Year

The Guild Of Music Supervisors Awards
Nominated: Best Music Supervision (Screen Gems) Studio Films

Central Ohio Critics Awards
Nominated: Most Overlooked Film

....and an honourable mention at the Sight & Sound Best Picture of 2011 poll as Attack the Block apparently tied for twelfth place with the wonderful Kill List.

The IMDb list is here and Big Talk list some here.

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! (Attack the Block Discs)

2011-09-17T00:00:00.008+01:00

Not one of my more original subject headings but I wanted to spend the time going through the extras rather than worry about a pithy title.

DVD extras are rarely reviewed in any great detail since the film itself must surely be the biggest selling point for most publications. That said, there are some wonderful articles in a couple of the mags currently on the news stands. My last blogpost linked to The Incredible Suit's piece which I have now read. We seem to have been amused by the same things and also the unquenchable desire for a proper crew hoodie.

This is not a review of the extras. It's a self-indulgent as-if-liveblog while I'm watching the main extra featurette and to that end, I must warn you that it contains many, many spoilers.

I was watching the Blu-ray but the DVD has the same content. The DVD commentaries are on the main film disc, of course but all the other extras are on the second. I suspect my tenses are all over the place. Deal with it. I can't do this if it becomes a chore.

As the disc settles into it's nice, round, laser-lit bed and determines how long it will keep you on a knife edge before it allows you to watch anything, you should gather drinks and snacks around you to last a good couple of hours.

Unlike some distributors, the nice people at Optimum (now Studio Canal) let you skip the trailers but their films are so good, you're not likely to want to on the first viewing, at least.

There are some cool, cavernous sound effects as the main menu comes up and if I had one criticism this early, it is that the menu is a bit small and feint. The main screen is the smoke filled corridor of the block with a POV from the opened lift doors. It's a clever device to use the lift buttons for the menu but they're really not all that easy to read. The menus are hierarchical and thus expand across the screen in various options, justifying the far right placement but for the stab-and-go player, it might be frustrating. Of course, if you have a flick-off, huge telly, you'll not know what I'm on about. As Mr Suit's screengrab shows, the DVD menu works much better on lovely image of the Block although the logo fights with the lines of the block in a disturbing way, imo. I'll bet you're glad this kind of thing doesn't bother you.

The main Behind the Block feature kicks off with a seemingly random montage of the film's title being said or demonstrated by cast and crew larking around. This gives into another quick montage of silly teased moments taken from longer sequences, yet to come. We even get our first glimpse of a 'raw' creature with untreated teeth and fur. As with the film itself, your attention is required from frame one and you know this will not have any down time. Pay attention. I did warn you to get some snacks. I shall also flag up that there will be several shots of Joe in a variety of hats and headgear ranging from Pest's tassels to one I like to think was originally fashioned for Oblio.

Remember that original red and black logo? The one featured on the crew hoodies that I have not yet been able to wrestle away from anyone? This is used in a lovely little animation to bring us the title of "Behind the Block".

Now we're into the production diary and first of all it takes us through the kids' casting process. We're shown brief, b/w footage from each of the boys' sessions and then a short summary of how it worked for them. Nira Park talks about the overall process while we see some of Zac's beautiful drawings. Jodie & Luke did some sessions with the kids and we learn that Franz was originally considered for Moses. Jodie reveals she was a little star struck at her audition. John was aware of the Adam and Joe Show and wondered if the film was going to be a spoof but Joe soon put him right. There's a lovely moment when Michael Ajao rates his teacher, Miss Duggan and little Sammy Williams is rolling his eyes within an inch of having his gorgeous cheeks pinched. We see some lovely footage from the read-throughs. Joe's reading of Dimples' line feels really weird. He's such a silly, tall, white boy. All credit to the kids. Not one of them laughed at him, however lovely Paige does express surprise that a man of Joe's age could write such slang.

We're only at five minutes into the feature and we get a crash zoom on the call sheet followed by an introduction from Joe with a title that says "Day 01 - Night Shoot, South London". This device is used throughout and is good, clean orientation tool. I mention this because it implies that we're clearly going to see how this process grew, not only for Joe but for the young cast as well.

They clearly adored Jodie and she seems completely immersed in their joy and unflapped* by their antics. What a wonderful set dynamic. Of course, these things always lead down from the top. (*Oow, look. 'Unflapped' isn't a real word.) It's funny hearing Joe asking for quiet, please. There's a sweet mixture of thrill and nervous anticipation in John's voice.

By the time we see 'Day 03' Joe's introduction is already tinged with the weariness of having his body clock rudely turned up-side-down. I remember this day fairly well (3rd March 2010) because Youtube suddenly had a few seconds of Brewis' Dad's car being blown up. Fortunately, the culprit was swiftly persuaded to take it down.

We now cut to Day 07 on the Heygate Estate where the little fellas are racing around the walkways. The camera is on a high crane arm or somesuch and we see one of those silly big clappers that look more like a chevroned version of a blackboard compass.

Day 09 details the irony of having the youngest cast members, restricted to working for only 4 hours in every 24 by law, totally banjaxed by a generator breakdown which it later transpires may have been caused by neglecting to refuel the beast. Number ones going tits-up before the end of week two can't be a good feeling. Joe is clearly very grumpy and I get a sense that some comments in this edit are there to make the culprit cringe all over again, as they certainly should. It's a horrid thing to happen on any shoot but so early in a first timer's who has already set himself up with so many potential obstacles, is cruel. Ah well, what doesn't kill ya makes ya more alive or sommat.

The downtime does afford our glorious featurette maker the time to catch some lovely moments, particularly Terry Notary messing with the very young kids. There's also a great shot of the unit nurse trying to keep the little blighters warm, to little avail. Joe & his team are so ridiculously sweet and polite. He looms above those kids and touches their cheeky, little heads as he thanks them but they take the time to say 'you're welcome'. Why don't I meet kids with such good manners? Joe even gives the behind-the-scenes camera a bit of a slap-about 'thank you' which is followed by a montage of what can only be a fraction of the times when Joe took his frustration out on this poor, disrespected piece of equipment and it's valiant operator.

Day 11 is the first shoot day for those awesome, sassy young ladies. I love every scene they're in (mute point - I love almost every scene). The tone on the set must have changed dramatically. Lovely Leeon even jokes 'that girl has intercepted my mates'. Danielle is a hoot and remarkably, she doesn't appear to like the beautiful texture of her voice. There's an element of showing-off from the boys at this stage. It's only natural. As Mr Suit mentions, there's a lovely moment when Phil points out that Franz's style is a bit Timmy Mallet and Franz admits he doesn't know if that's a compliment.

Day 15 brings us another example of how well this little piece has been put together. It opens with a montage of various crew members calling out for the assistance of another crew member and then we cut to Joe talking about how amazing the crew are. We've been seeing shots of Tom Townend throughout but I don't think we actually hear him speaking until the Creature Feature, which is just as well because it he sounds as cute as he looks, I'm in trouble. If I had an anniversary special edition wish, it would be for a commentary with Tom and maybe Marcus Rowland and Terry Notary.....and Joe, of course....oh and Jonathan Amos. Perhaps I could just get them all round for tea one day (a smoothie for Joe). I could always do muffins.

There are some shots of the more tense moments with Joe trying to get his shots right and then to a lovely shot of Michael stuffing his face and Sammy asking Joe where he got the idea of the film from. There are so many gently gorgeous little nuggets in this piece ..... erm .... .trust.

This is all followed by a testimonial to Simon Howard. He was clearly well loved and respected by all concerned and there's a lovely shot of Joe picking imaginary nits from his impressive head of hair. Having admitted that his jump from the high walkway was aided by the use of a stunt man, we now see that the small jump and subsequent run into the recycling bin were all his own work though he may have paid a high price for it in the procreation department.

We're into day Day 23 by now and exploring John's amazing stunt with the Union Jack. I'm sure it seems like fun in hindsight but must have been a bit worrying at the time.

At various points throughout, most of the crew interviews are shot against a brick wall and it looks like the alien pod from the park has been up-ended and propped up behind them......unless it's just an object d'art at Three Mills Studios.

Next up is a section about Nick Frost and of course, this is a blend of love, respect and naughtiness.

Day 27 and they've been shooting for a calendar month but Joe chooses to talk about two days prior to this when they shot the crowd scene. Joe talks about the technicalities of those shots and gives a tearful thank you to all the Extras who stood out in the cold all through the night. It's at this point when I realise to my great joy, that the little behind the scenes package we saw a few weeks ago (scroll down to the bottom here) was not a cut-down from this film. It has some additional footage.

Moving on, we have a couple of lovely chitty-chats with a lady who thinks the director is called Joe Cushion (only just managed to suppress any jokes about sitting on him and plumping him up) but she's pretty and gives a little kissy pout with it so she is charming. The same cannot be said of everybody's favourite Elvis impersonator. Joe's mouthed comment from behind is probably the most succinct, one word review this gentleman's work has ever had.

This next segment concentrates on those lovely girls, but that brings us on to talk about moral compasses and love. Inevitably, Paige and Danielle are most often mentioned in reviews but all these ladies have good things to say and were clearly very professional and sorted on set.

Day 28 is in East London. This is the crash, down in the lock-ups, between Hi-Hatz's whip and the bully van. I don't know how Felix would have explained that loss away, har har. Joe talks about the logistics of only affording one car to wreck, necessitating three cameras to make sure the shot was well covered and that safety measures dictated they could not be operated so they're all locked-off. He talks about the fact that the airbags have to be seen to go off lest that brand of car be shown in a bad light. I'll digress for a moment to say that in Nicolas Winding Refn's wonderful "Drive" (which incidentally 'steals' all of Tom's night time colour palette), there's a shot of the dashboard showing what I guess might be dummied light reading "Air Bags Off". Interestingly, (I thought, in my capacity as a girl, unaccustomed to stunt shoots) the ATB BMW does momentarily hit reverse gear when the police van impacts. I presume that's so the damage to the front isn't too ridiculous but that skills, right?

You should know that while I'm trying to write this, I'm forever having to rewind because I've become so engrossed in watching all the little details going on, I forget to write.

Now we cut to something slightly contentious. Joe is talking about his cruel abuse of an almost minor as he made poor Alex Esmail give 22 cracks for a shot that he latterly realised he had in the can by take four. That's not the contentious bit. He's telling us about this while being expertly pummelled by heated bean bags . Now, in the original specs for the DVD, "Joe's Massage" was listed as a separate feature and one that Joe seemed quite proud to amuse us with when he told everyone at Kapow about it. This item was dropped from Optimum's press release and whilst I had a few months fiddling with inappropriate images in my mind's eye, I can't help but think it would have sat very strangely on the disc as a stand-alone feature and the sound quality probably fluctuated during the course of that footage. Furthermore, you can't relax and benefit from a massage properly if you're thinking and talking so I hope a lot of the content would have caused the nonsense button to go off.

Alex clearly has no respect for Joe as he tells us he laughs when Joe tries to encourage them. I'm joking, of course. They all love him and they're laughing because Joe's never far away from a funny quip. There's a lot of love shown for Alex from the cast and a little demo of his ninja skills.

Sweet, sweet Selom Adawdzi is up next, talking about playing Tonks. Once the gate is declared clear, Joe chews on is bloody, prosthetic throat while Selom says his thankyous. HOW could Joe murder such a lovely man? That said, you'd go a long way to find a better bit of gruesome dying. Furthermore, his final words are amusing and very much to the point.

Finally, the shoot moves away from location and into the relative comfort of Three Mills Studios in Bromley-by-Bow. This is day 33 and Joe shows us the fake lift doors. This is a chance for me to say that I didn't think the lift floor indicators looked rough and skanky enough for a block like that but we've all had different life experiences and I bow to the art department's superior research skills. We've already ascertained that I'm a picky little munchkin.

John takes us around his bedroom set and the rest of his flat after he's dismissed his director. We really get a good look at the work of Marcus Rowland and his team including a detailed shot of the shittiest sink and draining board I've seen since last night apocalyptic supper debacle.

This leads on to the cast talking about youths and the structure of the film over a montage of lovely shots that no doubt didn't fit comfortably into the rest of the featurette. This is so nicely put together. Did I say that already?

It cuts to Joe saying his piece which ends with one of his quips that has had me laughing out loud three times. I'm not proud of this. It's a silly quip but it's they way he says it that creases me.

Paige suggests that Tia's bedroom is just like her own with a few exceptions which she details. Those exceptions pretty much demonstrate that this room is nothing like her own bedroom. Danielle muses that she'd like to live in that set but realises the sole impediment is that there's no ceiling.

The boys look on as the young girls and Jodie do a little Attack the Block rap. It's rather charming because they seem to have adopted Jodie's accent (a bit like Ms Hathaway did, only sweeter and with more consistency, ha). The boys pretend to be unimpressed. Paige gives the sweetest chitty-chat just before she does her lines to camera.

This is a good time to point out that the cast and crew clearly love Phil Stoole, our man behind, the behind-the-scenes camera. He seems totally present at all times and as much a part of the team as anyone else. John has a bit of fun with him from behind the sofa where he's apparently been stuck for three days with no food.

Everyone gives their opinion of Franz. Where does he get his energy from? Fortunately, Joe managed to locate his 'off' switch.

Somehow, we've arrived at day 38 in Tia's flat to stage the demise of Dennis. Most of the cast are in this scene with the exception of Ron, Brewis, Hi-Hatz and Tonks. This ought to be tricky but apparently it's a doddle because Joe and Paige have loads of time to stage an eyebrow contest. I'm still not sure who won it but Paige doesn't always know left from right. I'm convinced Joe uses his eyebrow skills as an hypnotic mind weapon to get his own way.

There's a very odd shot thrown in which seems to be a crew member having an asthma attack but it turns out he's operating the creature's jaw remotely, though you may not realise that until you watch the Creature Feature.

I can't believe they got as far as Day 42 without any speed-reading but clearly there was enough vital energy going down for them not to need it.

For reasons never explained, Luke introduces himself wearing a full face mask, no doubt from a smoke-filled corridor scene and there's a lovely little bit with him around the read through table.

Now this next scene totally floored me. I knew from various mentions when Joe interviewed Edgar at the BFI and perhaps that time he called into Edgar, Nick & Simon's New Year 6Music show, that he had a google alert for his film and I'd assumed he was getting the same stuff as I do. Apparently, he must have received a lot more shit than me because what he describes implies that he'd not put "attack the block" in inverted commas so he'd get news of anything that has those three words in it, even if they're not consecutive. No wonder he's impressed by my searching skills. I don't do anything special. I'm just a strict mistress with Google.

There's a lovely shot of him trying to convince himself that he doesn't mind knowing the script has been uploaded. It had gone up some time before Joe got the link and as far as I can surmise, not from anyone on the current cast or crew. Amusingly, there's a watermarked name all through the thing so the original careless culprit can hang his head in shame. I'd like to think he didn't know that would happen to it when he thoughtlessly discarded it. Am I being naïve?

The penultimate set of cast testimonials are about Leeon and there's some lovely stuff from the day he dies on screen. There's a huge smoke tunnel and then Leeon responding unintelligibly to a call from his sister while he has the blood rig in his mouth.

As we reach Day 56, four days from the end of principal photography, people are getting a little sad and give their thoughts about John who is clearly adored and respected. I do hope these young men have a master plan to regularly touch base with each other in the years to come. Do they realise they've had a unique experience that should bind them together forever?

On Day 60 Joe asks them what they've learned about making a film and discusses their next engagements with his usual lack of respect for the truth.

The whole thing wraps up with a montage of people hugging and saying their farewells and Joe tipping his pan hat like a good Squadron member.

Mr Phil Stoole has done a lovely job of shooting and directing this piece and credit must also go to Ben Wisemen for the truly Original Music and Paul Trewartha for the editing and graphics. A bloody marvelous treat.

Check AdamAndJoe.com for Amazon links. If you prefer, you can get the Glow in the Dark Cover version from Play or a version with the free Little White Lies mini booklet from HMV. They also have a foil sleeved version. It should be in the usual stores too.

Attack the Block: Worldwide Release

2011-09-05T11:05:00.019+01:00

If all this linkage doesn't send me to an early grave, I'll attempt to keep an eye on the film's progress around the world

This page is an erratic mess so I'm consigning older updates to below the line and just popping known release dates & festivals up here at the top.

So far, Attack the Block has attracted these baubles of appreciation.

RELEASE DATES:

Austin, Texas, U.S.A - 12th March 2011 (SXSW Film Festival - 1st Audience Award)
UK & Ireland - 13th May 2011
Malta - 29th June 201
Los Angeles, Ca, U.S.A. - 22nd June 2011 (L.A. Film Festival - 2nd Audience Award)
Malaysia - 23rd June 2011
Indonesia - 1st July 2011
Bohemia, Czech Republic - 5th & 7th July 2011 a.k.a. "Útok na věžák" (Karlovy Vary International Film Festival)
Montreal, Quebec - 15th July 2011 (Fantasia 2011, where it took another audience award)
Seoul, Korea - 16th & 20th July 2011 (Puchon International Fantasic Film Festival)
Belgium - 20th July 2011
Iceland - 20th July 2011
Netherlands - 21st July 2011
San Diego, Ca, U.S.A. - 21st July 2011 Comic Con
France - 20th July 2011
U.S.A. - 29th July 2011 (in limited cities)
U.A.E (Dubai) - 5th August 2011
Switzerland - 5th August 2011 (Locarno Festival)
Germany - 24th August 2011 (Fantasy Film Festival)
Finland - 26th August 2011
Turkey - 26th August 2011(Uzaylıların Şafağı)
Kuwait - 29th August 2011
Maldives - 16th September 2011 (apparently)
UK DVD, Digital and Blu-ray Release - 19th September 2011
Germany - 22nd September 2011
Sweden - 22nd September (Fantastisk Film Festival, Lund - winner Méliès D'Argent)
Austria - 22nd September 2011 (opening /Slash Film Festival)
Hungary - 23rd September 2011 (Jameson Cinefest International Film Festival)(Title - Idegen arcok)
Greece - 24th September 2011 (Athens International Film Festival)
Singapore - 29th September 2011
Spain - 6th October 2011 (Sitges Film Festival)
Israel - 6th October 2011 (Hebrew Title - Ha'Shu'huna vs haisarim)
Brazil - 7th October 2011 at the Festival do Rio (Title - Ataque ao Predio)
Taiwan - 21st October 2011 (Kaouhsiung Film Festival)
Sweden - 28th October 2011
Italy - November 2011
South Africa - November 2011
Australia - 3rd November 2011 - Brisbane International Film Festival
Australia - 5th November 2011 - Canberra International Film Festival
New Zealand - 24 Hour Movie Marathon in Aukland - 19th November 2011
Italy - Turin Film Festival - 26th November 2011
Australia - 1st December 2011 (General Release)
Spain - 7th December 2011 (General Release)
Finland - 9th December 2011
Bahrain - 11th January 2012
Denmark - 2nd February 2012
Portugal - Fantasporto Festival - 28th February 2012
New Zealand - 29th March 2012

Clips, reviews and photos from the U.S. Press Tour can be found here.

Current showtimes in the US can be found at the Sony site.

I'll start a page for the poster variations that are popping up.....eventually.

Joe attended the Locarno Film Festival. IndieWire have an interview with him from Eric Kohn and here are some agency pictures from the festival, using a background inspired by a totally different kind of cat.
There's an audio interview with him here and a video here.

Premiere Fr have an interview with Joe and bring us what I believe is the first dubbed trailer (as if their subtitled version wasn't joyous enough).

Next up, the German dubbed version........

I'm sure this is hilarious and very satirical.

================================================================================

There are a couple of worthy pieces Scott Wampler and Devin Faraci about the spurious Subtitle Issue.

Happily, an L.A. screening which invited All The Right People persuaded Sony Screen Gems to pick up the US rights.

USC has a screening on 18th July and their link implies
there is a US theatrical release date of 29th July, 2011.

The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival scheduled a couple screenings and this leads me to believe it has opened in Malta.

There's a screening in Toronto on 14th June and the lovely Alamo Drafthouse in Austin has a special screening on June 15th.

The Los Angeles Film Festival will be showing it on 22nd June.

Malaysia have a release date of 27th June 2011. Other dates in the mix seem to be 15th June for Indonesia, 21st July for The Netherlands, 27th July for France and 26th August for Finland.

In the Empire Webchat, Joe revealed that Australia had just picked up the film and Avalon acquired it for Spain but there's no release date yet for either of those regions.

Play.com orignally had the UK release for the DVD, Blu-ray and digital versions set for 26th September 2011 and appear to be offering an exclusive Glow in the Dark Double Pack but that's now come down to a Double Play released on 19th September.

Amazon has also dropped down from a triple play to a double play.

Special Features:

Disc 1:
JUNIOR COMMENTARY - Joe Cornish with John Boyega, Alex Esmail, Franz Drameh, Simon Howard and Leeon Jones
SENIOR COMMENTARY - Joe Cornish with Jodie Whittaker, Luke Treadaway and Nick Frost
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER COMMENTARY - Joe Cornish with Edgar Wright

Disc 2:
Featurettes: Behind The Block, Creature Feature, Meet The Gang, It’s A Rap, Unfilmed Action
Trailers

Attack the Block Index

U.S. Press Tour including Comic Con 2011

2011-07-23T23:05:00.064+01:00

Here's a random collection of links from the US Press tour.

One of the most enjoyable interviews came right at the start of the tour from Anne Thompson (in two parts).

Versions of this generic interview did the rounds. It's worth a hit just to see the look of fear and confusion on Joe's face as Sean sits down with him. HD, HD, HD!

There are tiny audio clips from Critics' Choice here and here.

I Am Rouge's Jami Philbrick:-

I think Heather Wixson also grabbed her chance in L.A. for Dread Central

...Kevin McCarthy of BDKReviews...

....Ryan Turek has this lovely piece with Joe for Shock till you Drop.

Mike Eisenberg sat down with John & Joe for Screenrant.

There's a snatch or two from Joe here.

Before the tour left the runway at LAX, somewhere between Carmaggedon and O'Hare, Joe joined Edgar Wright to record the Comedy Bang Bang podcast. They took some snaps and have a page for Joe here.

Chicago

@HappyRhodesFan had already seen Attack the Block twice before having the chance to go to this special screening and meet the team. These photos were also taken at the Q & A afterwards.

Here are Joe and John getting miked up for WGN-TV but this interview didn't seem to make it onto the internet.

Hollywood Chicago ran this interview with John & Joe.

Seattle

Scroll down the list and for a while at least, you should be able to find Joe & John's appearance on the Bob Rivers Show.

The New York Times carried a good, two page piece and there are some sweet quotes in the San Francisco Chronicle.

This blogger interviewed Joe and John for the Seattle Post.

There's a blink-and-you'll-miss-it shot of John in this video from Urban Daily but Attack of the Show features more of him.

IMDBLive posted this photo of John and Joe.

Austin

Photo: Ralph Barrera/AMERICAN-STATESMAN

Let's kick off with Matthew Odem's interview with Joe & John for The American-Statesman/Austin360.

Chase Whale for Culture Map's interview with Joe and John:

This beautiful lady, Kayla designed and made a creature hat to wear to the Austin screening. Scroll down to see her with Joe and John.

Harry Knowles had his picture taken with John Boyega and Joe Cornish after the Q & A at the Alamo Drafthouse.

Alex Williams of the Daily Texan has this really lovely interview with Joe and John.

San Diego Comic Con 2011

As the team flew into San Diego, John Boyega shared this aerial view of Comic Con.

A touching number of people were linking their photos of the enormous banner at an entrance.

Attendees of the Thursday night screening were given t-shirts that will no doubt turn up on Ebay with any luck: Alien for sale - one size fits all.

Not quite sure what Paramount had to do with this but here's the only picture I found from the post screening Q & A although this fella grabbed a snap with John.

Andrew Sorcini wrote for Geeks of Doom from the press conference (with thanks to Dave3 for the photos).

Trailer Addict have this video from that session.

I guess this interview from MovieWeb was also around the time of the press conference.

E-Online give a brief mention here but have a video interview with John Boyega...

Joe revealed his guilty pleasure for EW.

While others were rushing little tweets out from the panel, Brendon Connelly was live-blogging for Bleeding Cool and Eric Eisenberg gave a running commentary for Cinema Blend.

Arrow in the Head covered Friday's panel for JoBlo who also have this film.

UGO covered it as well but they seemed clueless about the release date so I'm not sure of the validity of this piece.

Here's a video from the panel which starts with Kate "Beckinsdale's" legs and and some grumbling.

Here's a happy picture of a fan with Edgar and a threesome snap here.

The Playlist gathered lots of lovely nuggets for their panel piece including the latest about so-called The Cornetto Trilogy and Ant-Man.

Geek Tyrant has a swift roundup of proceedings too.

Jen Yamato interviewed Joe and John for Movieline

There are pieces in Rotten Tomatoes, San Diego.com, and Spinoff did one of the roundtables with the guys.

More from the press line....

Marie Lewis talks to John Boyega for erm, Bloody Disgusting.

Upcoming Movies brought this little video.

Finally, an interview from WIRED in their noisy cafe.....just imagining how much that will have bothered Joe or perhaps he's more immune to it now.

Long after Joe had returned to Europe, John entertained a delighted crowd in Atlanta. This looks like a joyous occasion for everyone involved.

Attack the Block UK Premiere - 4th May 2011

2011-05-04T18:30:00.005+01:00

For the purposes of not cluttering other pages, content here was generated from the night of the premiere.

Joe’s long career with friend Adam Buxton has thrown up a wild array of strange characters and sketches. We couldn’t resist asking what he thought one of his early characters Ken Korda, might make of his film. “Ken? Err… I think he would be angry and probably confused, but then, that’s just another day in the life of Ken Korda…”

Matthew Groizard from Cine-Vue

Good friend of Ken Korda and Joe Cornish, Adam Buxton rocked up in his wedding best and blogged about it the next day.

This is the first of what sounds like a whole lovely series of films from Bleeding Cool.

HolyMoly have paid for several pictures, bless 'em as did CapitalFM.

There are ton of them here, here and here.

This young man took pictures of his own and everything.

Joe Upton wrote for The Hollywood News and finally, feast your eyes on this turgid waffle from MSN.

A lot of people turned their cameras on the team as they made their way up the red carpet. Sadly, a good deal of what we have is the same waffle from different angles but push through and you'll find the odd adorably fresh nugget.

This film won't embed happily so follow this link to The Independent and then again to TotalFilm's premiere video report and finally This is Fake DIY's report.

There are several links here and more of the same from Metacafe.

This is a lovely blend made from all of the above.

If you think you're heard all you need about Attack the Block, Bleeding Cool's Brendon Connelly to his opportunity to ask him about anything but....

Good shot of the bespoke red carpet at the top of the next film. It's one thing having a proper premiere but they made him a carpet with the film's title on...bless.

This is a charming little piece...

Make sure you don't have any sharp object to hand when you watch this. I can't be held responsible if you stab your screen before the interviews even start.

There are one or two blog-style videos from the red carpet which are a giggle and finally, here's a sweet video from the people who organised the post premiere party.

Attack the Block Index

Attack the Block Reviews

2011-04-28T11:40:00.016+01:00

At the risk of repeating myself, the Big Talk links have a lot of reviews.
There is no risk.
I am repeating myself.

You can short circuit all of this by checking Rotten Tomatoes, of course.

As well as excitement and laughs, Cornish provides some sharp social comment on the subject of aliens and alienation

Peter Bradshaw for The Guardian

First and foremost, Attack the Block is a properly cinematic film unlike anything the British film industry has produced in recent memory.

Ultra Culture held back their words in accordance with the embargo

but then realised they were the only silly billies to be showing

that level of respect.

Cornish, like Garth Jennings, Duncan Jones and Gareth Edwards before him, didn't get the memo that said all British science fiction must be small-scale, tedious analogies of the decline of postwar imperialism or the unbelievable price of stamps or whatever we're complaining about these days.

More delightful twaddle from Neil Alcock of The Incredible Suit fame.

All great horror films work because the heroes are stuck in a locked, small environment. Here we find our gang of kids, and everyone else for that matter, fighting off the alien invasion within the confines of a South London tower block.

Neil for SciFind

Cinematographer Tom Townend turns exclusively nocturnal locations into a riot of neon-drenched colour reminiscent of Andrew Laszlo’s work for Walter Hill, while the electronic throb of Steven Price’s score betrays an unmistakable John Carpenter influence

Michael Brooke for Sight & Sound

The stylistic references are clear (predator, gremlins, close encounters), but the film doesn’t rely on this to support itself, never descending into parody or overly referential fan boy smugness.

From Celluloid Hero's Jack

Like a love postcard to his postcode this is a movie set in a very real London, and Cornish uses every part of the grimy night streets and neon lit housing estate as a sprawling playground-come-warzone where the crafty kids who ‘call it home’ have the upper hand against their evil aggressors.

From Love Horror

I can imagine discovering Attack The Block at a TIFF Midnight Madness screening circa 1987 or 88, or watching it on a crappy VHS screening copy even. And I think I would have loved it then as much as I love it now.

Norman Wilner for Now Toronto

The character development between the mugged nurse and her hooded marauders provides a solid foundation of urban realism upon which Cornish layers on plenty of visual japes, verbal wisecracks and gory shocks.

from Ben Rawson-Jones of Digital Spy

Joe Cornish, making his debut here, stuffs the film with immensely satisfying, soon-to-be-iconic moments and juggles several major story threads with ease.

Alex Williams for the Daily Texan

But the setting and the aliens are mere supports to the true stars of the film, the young actors, who last week described how they had enjoyed having an input into their characters' dialogue.

Andrew McCorkell for The Independent

It's a perfect example of how every piece of the film is intricately thought out.

Rick DeMott for Animation World Network

Giant Feral Chia Pets Gone Wild

Leah Rozen for TheWrap

The small scale works in favor of the film’s overall charm. There’s no government cover-up or agents running around with walkie-talkies.

Tim Kelly for Guy.com

It's action-packed 88 minutes feel like about 20.

Whitney Matheson for USA Today

The film alternates suspense with flashes of mild gore gross-out and cheerful farce: there's a nice scene in which a bunch of girls set about the aliens with roller skates and standard lamps (the girls, in fact, are feistier and mouthier than the boys, and underused in this somewhat male affair)

Jonathan Romney, also for The Independent

Attack the Block is an affectionate addition to the monster movie catalogue but anyone expecting Cornish, with his comedy pedigree, to have crafted a parody should know that this is a quirky, but brutal sci-fi shocker that’s as violent and tense as the best of the genre demands.

from Ed Whitfield of Obsessed with Films

While the aliens remain unknowable black beasts – prowling blotches of dead space with no eyes and glowing neon fangs – the youngsters gradually evolve from caricatures to characters.

from Jonathan Crocker of Love Film

Most importantly, it gives grotty London estates an almost magical cinematic sheen which is unexpectedly stunning.

by Becky Read for FakeDIY

Cornish was obviously very deliberate when distinguishing each person’s look, speech, attitude and back story and it pays off.

Germain Lussier for /Film

Alongside Ayoade, Cornish is now a director to watch.

Michael Leader for Den of Geek

While the creatures look like vicious Muppets, they make surprisingly convincing antagonists.
David Rooney in The Hollywood Reporter

Consistently funny and bursting with creativity, it’s staggering that this is Cornish’s first feature. Along with cinematographer Thomas Townend, Cornish shoots inner city London like Blade Runner’s midnight cityscape; a third-act slow-mo sequence in particular is a scene of unexpected beauty amid the interstellar chaos.

Jordan Farley of SFX Magazine

The socio-political commentary is there if you want to chew on it, but Attack The Block is primarily concerned with the invasion of inky extraterrestrials whose only distinguishing feature is a hellish maw of glow-in-the-dark teeth.

Graeme Virtue of The Sunday Herald

His direction is terrifically solid too, keeping the audience on the edge of their seats from start to finish.

Danny Bowes for TOR.com

There are some genuine scares too, thanks to the great retro monster design and the stunning night-time cinematography.

From Andy Lea at The Daily Star on Sunday

Attack the Block sets its stall out as a 80s sci-fi, which is very entertaining and brilliantly written.

Andrew Watson for The Script Lab

‘Attack the Block’ is a rousing adventure which packs as much excitement as possible into its 88 minute running time.

by Alan Diment for Hackney Hive

During the climax, I wanted to send along a note to Zack Snyder saying, "This is how you use slo-mo."

Jake writes in his blog

Cornish resists the temptation of including such traditional tropes as a hokey romantic subplot, or of attempting to explore the broken familiar relationships at the heart of the film in any way not befitting the characters themselves.

by Adam Batty of Hope Lies.....

The design of these creatures is brilliant in its simplicity; they are essentially a black, featureless mass with glowing fangs

from Phil - you know, Phil on Film

The lead character Moses with an excellent performance by John Boyega who looks at times eerily like a very young Denzel Washington.

Sergio n for Shadow And Act on Indiewire.

I overheard two earnest-sounding men in the British Library canteen talking about it the other day. One had never heard of it, the other was enthusing about how, finally, underprivileged kids who live on estates would finally have a film that does them justice and give them a positive spin. I think I can see what he means. But don’t watch Attack The Block out of a spurious need for political roughage; watch it (from May 13), because it’s scary and funny.

Andrew Collins has put a solid and balanced blogpost together.

You should read it.

Where Wright’s first two features were satirical romps, and Jones and Edwards chose to set their sci-fi pictures outside the UK, Attack the Block is both muscular and set on his home turf; for once it’s not America that the aliens choose to invade.

from Jamie Dunn at The Skinny

However much goodwill you chuck at it, this isn’t quite the instant cult classic you want it to be. But now and then it’s as blinding as those alien gnashers.

Just in case you thought I was sugaring a pill,

this a rare review with reservations

from James Mottram at......well, it's Total Film

SO WHY THE STRANGE TITLE ATTACK THE BLOCK? BECAUSE THIS A FILM ABOUT TERRITORY. AND TERRITORY BEST MEANS “HOME” AND “COMMUNITY” IN THIS CASE; BEST EXPLORED THROUGH THAT SINGLE, AMAZING CHARACTER.

HULK SIMPLY CANNOT BELIEVE SOMEONE MADE A MOVIE ABOUT MOSES.

If you like your reviews to SHOUT AT YOU, click HERE.

There will be lots of lazy comparisons with Shaun Of The Dead, taking into consideration the Edgar Wright link (he’s executive producer). On one level, that’s justified — we’ll be throwing in our own lazy comparison later — but like Belloq in Raiders, people seeking to lump Shaun and Block together are digging in the wrong place. For Attack The Block is really the best movie John Carpenter never made

This is the on-line version of Chris Hewitt's review in this month's glossy Empire Magazine I chose that quote because Attack the Block has got about as much to do with Shaun of the Dead as my bottom - i.e. I sat on it to watch both films...though only the very edge of it.

The director Joe Cornish has a sharp ear for the depressing rhythms of teen patois, and the execution has an undeniable zing, but it’s more jumpy than scary...

Jenny McCartney in The Telegraph's Seven (David Gritten's review is also at this link)

In some ways Attack The Block is reminiscent of last year's French zombie actioner The Horde. The high rise council block is the locale for a fantasy event where different types of people come together in an uneasy alliance.

Martyn Conterio from FilmShaft.com

Cast-wise, the young crew of first-timers is plucky and endearing. There’s muscular support from Jodie Whittaker and Nick Frost, while Luke Treadaway walks away with the film as a bumbling posh-boy stoner.

This piece from Time Out was linked by Big Talk

in their SXSW roundup but there'll be more to come

from this team, no doubt.

Despite the inclusion of every potential stereotype, and tackling an entirely improbable storyline, the film still feels fresh and real

Louise Howells at Wired.

Once the Basement Jaxx soundtrack is pumping and the glow-in-the-dark teeth possessing aliens are ascending the tower, the film hits the peak of the frenetic pace and it manages to keep it all the way to the finale.

Stewart Terry for HUH

Cornish’s breathlessly-paced script entwines thrilling action set-pieces with a gently provocative portrayal of urban youth, effectively challenging audience preconceptions while never letting up on the entertainment.

Paul Gallagher writes for The List

Another clever idea is that the alien invasion occurs on bonfire night with most people assuming that when they land they are simply rockets that have been misfired.

Luke for The Daily Dischord

Although very funny, Attack the Block refuses to be labelled as a mere comedy and is not to be confused for one.

From Justine Young at Drop Out UK

Steven Price’s score is impressive, is used with wit and verve, and Basement Jaxx (also feature film debutants) contribute a superb pulsing soundtrack.

from Olly Buxton of Flick Feast

There are plenty of reviews on the newsstand as well. Empire has a very entertaining piece in their June issue but they also put this little piece up when the creature poster was released.

It would be remiss of me to exclude Robbie Collin's now notoriously damning review but it's behind a paywall so you'd think I'd have a watertight excuse. I'm not impartial. I can't pretend I am but whilst I disagree with Robbie as often as I concur with him, he's a lovely chap and his thoughts on any film are always worth a look. Due to the Twoutrage on Sunday, Robbie felt the need to not so much defend but explain the basis of his review via his Facebook page and in doing so, pretty much made the salient points of it available for us tightwads.

There are a few more interviews towards the bottom of this page, in audio form.

.......and then we have Mr Kermode's immediate reaction.

...and Picturehouses' Flick's brief introduction starts at 1:52

Attack the Block Index

Attack the Block Interviews

2011-04-28T11:35:00.035+01:00

One of the earlier interviews came via Jon Hamblin who had pieces in print for SFX Magazine, on his own blog and a little more here but first past the post must have been this delightful bit of nonsense from Neil at The Incredible Suit who goes on to interview key members of the crew before returning to the master himself. Seriously, wander around all his pages for more bountiful nuggets than you ever imagined.

I am so biased in my deeply fond love for these Podcast munchkins. Sam was flying solo for this but Simon had his moment of glory later in the week.

Picturehouse Podcast: Attack The Block Special by Picturehouses

Little White Lies have kindly put their special Attack the Block issue online in some kind of digital format so that you can read it without having the awesome glow-in-the-dark cover tediously cluttering up your lack-lustre life.

The Empire Webchat has been transcribed and littered with photographs (3).

"It's answering a need I felt when I was a kid. Somebody said it was a 'fucked-up ET' and I loved that description – it's about a lonely kid with absent parents who comes across an alien. Only he doesn't invite it home with M&Ms; he duffs it up."

Joe talks to Peter Watts of The Independent

Oui. Sinnon vous avez lu film français La Horde ?
La what ?

Euh Horde. H.O.R.D.E. Réalisé par Yannick Dahan.
Ah, The Horde. Oui je l’ai vu, mais pas en entier.

Joe talks to François Grelet for Premiere France

The tower blocks where I grew up have always looked like enormous spaceships

Joe talks to Tim Masters, BBC Entertainment Correspondant

I was always very envious of Edgar and Simon’s relationship with Big Talk. They seemed like just a group of friends making stuff together and doing it at a very high level.

Joe talking to Jack Giroux for Film School Rejects

I wanted to get into the essence of being a silent actor and for that to play you have to have the thought process going on in your head.

John Boyega talking to Rob Carnevale for Indie London

“I’ve been trying to write a screenplay since I was about 13,” he laughs. “I could never finish one. I had amazing first acts and loads of ideas for endings, but I suffered from the same problems everyone has – the middle act black hole.”

Joe talking to GARRY MCCONNACHIE of MCMBuzz

In some sequences you would have the sound of fireworks, the sound of creatures screaming, and the music and you had to find a level where everything punched through.

Joe talks to Renn Brown of CHUD.com

To me it's not really about how much it makes at the box office, it's about knowing it's a genuine kind of honesty.

John Boyega talks to Peter Hall with Joe for Movies.com

I’m just interested in action, and character development through action; I’m not enormously interested in long dialogue scenes.

Matt Barone at for Pop Culture at Complex interviews Joe

When I toddled along to the first unveiling of new Eterna Vivid 500T it took me about two minutes to decide it would be ideal

Tom Townend talks to Quentin Falk about using Fuji's film stock (for Exposure)

I’m a bit less street than Prince Charles and there was no way I was going to go Westwood on anyone’s arse

Joe talks to Simon Jablonski of DazedDigital

Well the actors are less cooperative. You can’t stick things into them. You can’t use a hot glue gun to glue their costumes to their skin as much as you try.

Joe talks to the NUS

"I mean, there used to be a tradition of anti-heroes in movies, but that's kind of disappeared."

Jim Slotek of QMI Agency for Toronto Sun

"When you watch so-called hood-related stuff," says Howard, "you always know what it's going to be. Gangs beefing gangs. Someone gets robbed, someone gets beaten up. Happy days. Attack the Block is different."

The Observer's Tom Lamont talks to the young stars

Hollywood seemed kind of terrifying to me. But in Britain I had a television career and a radio career and was known in a much smaller circle, so that to me was a cozy, comforting place to make my first film.

Joe to Peter Hall for Moviefone

It's something that I take very, very seriously and something I’m very, very passionate about.

John Boyega talks on the phone to Global Grind

I have this thing about CGI monsters in contemporary movies: They're very "samey" to me. Like the dragon in Harry Potter could wander into Cloverfield and no one would bat an eyelid. And then he'd wander into Battle: Los Angeles...it's like the same monster is casually strolling between blockbusters.

Mike Ryan talks to Joe and Edgar for the GQ&A

“After some scenes, I would give the aliens a stroke and that’s when you see their cute side. Although inside the costume, it’s an angry stunt guy thinking, ’What is wrong with this kid?!’”

John Boyega talking to Ben Hopkins of Clash Music

I’m a big yeti fanatic. I was born in 1968, which was the year that the Patterson big foot footage was filmed.
Joe talking to Dan Brightmore for Sabotage Times

I watched Raiders before, and if you listen to the Raiders score, it’s elastic, it fits the action, and the tempo get faster or slower as the action gets faster or slower and I wanted a score like that a slave to the action

Joe talks to Damon Houx for Screencave

I used to be very good at drawing the Stay Puft marshmallow man, and the Ghostbusters logo.

Joe talking to Matthew Turner for View London

I think that Moses gets the bravery to fight an alien invasion not only from fear, but from the love of these boys.

John talking to Wilson Morales for Black Film

One small snag was that Cornish wanted plenty of lens flare…“And of course the main selling point of Cookes is that you can shoot into light without any flare! But I believe if you want something, you should make it happen rather than just let it happen,”

Tom Townend (Director of Photography) talks to Arri Media

It’s a trope that has slightly vanished from cinema because people are a bit frightened of antiheroes now. People are very keen to make the protagonist sympathetic in the first act, give him a wife and kids, have the kid be kidnapped.

Joe for Screen Junkies' Fred Topel with more from Fred here

It’s a movie with kids on dirt bikes hacking at aliens with samurai swords, so I don’t want to get too deep about it
Joe talks to Mr Beaks for Ain't It Cool
To be honest I had no idea what Edgar looked like before I met him. I only new he was a director. I imagined to be very tall and would wear a cape.
John Boyega talks to FAULT Magazine

He always enjoyed getting on stage; his first role was as a daffodil in the village pantomime. "My dad was the big bad wolf, so I remember seeing him with big ears panting his way across the stage. That's my inspiration from when I was three," he smiles.

Luke Treadaway talks to Patrick Barkham at The Guardian

The worst thing is how quickly you have to do it and I had no idea how hard you have to work, how little sleep you get and how quickly you have to do really important things you planned for years and then you have ten seconds to do it.

Joe talks to the NUS

I don’t think it’s an incredibly radical premise to try and have sympathy for someone who has made a mistake. I think you’ll find it in the Bible quite a lot, and in various faiths; for me it’s quite a simple dramatic premise

Joe for Paul Gallagher at The List

Film is like a crowd thing. You’re going to watch it with a crowd, it’s got to play with a crowd so to expose it to other people is the best thing.

Joe talked to CraveOnline with Edgar while they were in Austin.

Joe really did write a fantastic script. I found that as long as I responded honestly to the way each scene was played, the tones were all there for me in the way the film was put together.

Daniel Schweiger talks to composer, Steven Price for Film Music Magazine

For me this movie is half reality and half bullshit, and I wanted to make the reality as real as possible and the fantasy as fantastic as possible

Dave Hunter talks to Joe for Tonight at the Movies

If you go through art and culture and eliminate everything that isn’t based on the author’s first hand personal experience, you’d lose the vast majority of it.

Joe talks to Ben Kirby for Cherwell.org

It was very important to me that they were bestial, that they were quadrupeds, because I wanted the audience to have a sense of what they could do, and therefore put themselves in the minds of the characters subconsciously.

I love the fact that Popular Mechanics even has a film section,

let alone an interview with Joe.

It only became a double act because I was such an ego maniac that I bullied my way in front of the camera, but in truth I was always much happier behind it.

Joe talks to Jamie Dunn for The Skinny
“The speed at which you have to shoot a film is really tough, it’s like being on some evil version of Supermarket Sweep where every minute costs you hundred of thousands of pounds,”
to Henry Fitzherbert of The Express

I barely saw my girlfriend or my family - and I missed my brother's wedding!

Issue 7 of Clint boasts an interview with Joe.

There is more in the hard copy.

One of the points of this movie is that they're children, and that they're children growing up in really difficult circumstances, and these social problems affect kids, and they're often not culpable.

Joe talks to 24 Frames for the LA Times

I had an idea pretty early on in the process, of how to do the creature, and it was based on memories of the ring wraiths in Ralph Bakshi’s Lord of the Rings

Michael Leader from Den of Geek talks to Joe

& has a nicely comped poster/premiere picture

Over the Edge is absolutely one of my favourite films. It’s quite an influential film in America. It’s famously Kurt Cobain’s favourite film. Larry Clark is very influenced by it.

Joe talking to Sam Price of Don't Panic

"Meeting those guys was like meeting my maker," Joe says, "Spielberg and Jackson's films are hugely important to me. But I didn't giggle. I got on with the work. I put it out of my mind who they were in order to function, but every now and then Spielberg would say, 'When I was making Jaws…', and suddenly my mind would freeze as I was reminded."

Eva Wiseman's wonderful piece for The Guardian

It was quite surreal watching a film that was made in the dark in Elephant and Castle, being screened in Texas.

Luke Treadaway talks to InStyle

"I think anybody's first film, there's going to be some hurdles," Wright added. "Even if you are going to hit those potholes, I could at least impart to Joe what problems I went through with my first film and what he could do to avoid them or just be aware of them."

Joe talks to Steven Bryan for Yahoo at SXSW

I always wanted to make a 90 minute film. That we came a few minutes under is merely the result of twisting the tap a couple of turns tighter in the edit just to keep things as lean and mean as possible, which was always the idea.

Joe writes to Auntie Nubbins for her Silly Blog...erm, that's me too

Lauren Laverne had Joe and Nick in the studio for a chitty chat which you can listen to here (complete with unrelated but gorgeous picture). She wasn't the only 6Music tottie that got a piece of delicious cornballs as with great pragmatism, Joe arrived a few minutes early for their Adam and Joe show last week for Nemone and relived the memory of sitting in that studio before 10 am ...the days when being a Black Squadron op was a gritty task rarely committed to camera.

Here's what went on when Claudia Winkleman interviewed Joe late one night.

These and plenty of other audio interviews and reviews can be found here.

It goes without saying that Empire, Total Film and all the news stand regulars have interviews and reviews.

Attack the Block Index

Attack the Block Video Interviews

2011-04-28T11:30:00.030+01:00

All the video interviews from SXSW have their own page here and now I've done something similar for the UK Premiere on 4th May. There are radio interviews and podcasts here.

I've given the US press tour it's own page but this this two part interview is absolutely excellent.

You've seen it on your telly, now watch the Film4 Special in a smaller format, then explore the wonderful Film4 Microsite.

Empire have a page of links to various videos including interviews but I'm going to put Joe's one below. I do take issue with this, of course. Empire were most certainly NOT the first to ask him the Faves/Worsties questions but I'm pleased to say he was consistent with the answers he gave them.

This Q & A at The Ritzy in Brixton was after the first truly public paying audience screening in the UK. It was fittingly in Joe's local picture palace. With the help of Little White Lies and See Film Differently, The Ritzy went to town with the event, decking the bar with banners, set stills and projecting more frames in the stair well, looping clips in one of the smaller screens and allowing Joe and the cast a comfort zone in which to relax with their friends after this special event.

Nick Frost and Jodie Whittaker were on the breakfast sofa.

Digital Spy have various interviews so when you've watched this one with Joe, have a poke around the rest of their channel.

The Platform recently uploaded this interview with Joe and the wonderful young men of the cast.

Sam at Plaza Community Cinema has a beautiful, exclusive interview with Jodie Whittaker, spread over three Youtube films.

Joe, John and Jodie spent a few minutes with T4.

Filmclub caught up with Joe and the main cast.

35mm Interviews

BBC London News

Metacafe have interviews with the cast and with Joe. Their site runs 30 second ads before each piece so can't allow embedding and auto forwards to the next page. These interviews don't have any new information in them. You decide.

Germain Lussier of Slash Film talks to John Boyega.

Trailer Addict have loads of interviews and clips. I'm not even sure if they are exclusive but take a look at this one with Jodie.

Gorgeous three part interview from Live with the main young men.

A bit cheeky putting this in the interview section but here it is anyway.

These aren't actually trailers for Attack the Block so I'm putting them in this section as they feel closer to being interviews.

Attack the Block Index

Attack the Block Clips and Trailers

2011-04-28T11:25:00.014+01:00

Trailers:

The Green Band for the US Release (Spoilers & language mellowing!)

The Red Band for the US release (Extra big spoilers here):

French trailer with subtitles

Attack the Block - Bande Annonce [VOSTFR] by Marvelll94

....and the French trailer with dubbing!

German dubbed trailer:

The Orignal UK Trailers:

Clips:

Featurette:

Character Profiles:

ALL of these can be viewed at the official website.

...but these TV ads aren't there as far as I can see.

Trailer Addict are also hosting what they're calling B-rolls.....but they look more like documentary footage to me.....I mean you shouldn't be able to see a flipping camera on a dolly on the B-camera, should you?

IO9 have several behind-the-scenes clips on their site.

Attack the Block Index

Attack the Block's reception at South By Southwest

2011-04-28T11:20:00.005+01:00

You really cannot do much better than check out the links at Big Talk's page.

Further to their link for CHUD, there was an interview posted here (which is also linked on the interview page).

I've also linked this piece from Film School Rejects on the interview page.

Austin's own Chronicle had this piece by Richard Whittaker.

Peter Sciretta at HTTP Colon Forward Slash Forward Slash Film Dot Com also collected some links from the festival. Now is a good time to realise that you're going to be reading some things more than once as you wander through this run down estate.

Dread Central has this and their video interview is linked on the SXSW Video page. Likewise, the IFC interviews.

Catherine Shoard has this to say in The Guardian.

Meredith Woerner from io9 gave this impression.

CraveOnline grabbed this interview with Edgar and Joe while they were in town.

Ryan Mahoney gave it 5/5 and Ben at Filmonic wrote this.

Steven Bryan grabbed this for Yahoo.

Video interviews are here.

Before that celebratory evening, The Hollywood Reporter had this to say.

This lady snapped Joe while he was watching Nick and Simon being interviewed for Paul.

Attack the Block Index

Attack the Block Video Interviews from SXSW

2011-04-28T11:15:00.003+01:00

Don't come whining to me about spoilers. It's implied in all of these pages.

and then these have the same content from subltey different angles so you can blow your mind.

Attack the Block Index

Attack the Block at the Kapow Comic Con

2011-04-28T11:10:00.003+01:00

The Kapow Comic Con invited the Attack the Block team to feature in their inaugural event.

A short push from the main entrance Joe Cornish, Luke Treadaway and John Boyega chatted on the sofas of a little raised IGN deck. They were scheduled to do this at 4:30 but since the main panel was due to start at 5pm in the Bikram Yoga Room*, they appeared about an hour early, causing some people to be late for the start. They obliged with signings, photos and for the lucky (pushier) few, cosy, sofa chitty chat before bouncing up the wangy stairways to the arena for a 'Platform' discussion which consisted of showing a) the prevailing trailer of the moment b) the 'First Kill' clip as seen on Film 2011 c) a much longer clip.

These were discussed with a well-balanced mixture of levity and passion followed by a handful of diverse questions from a salivating audience.

What had prevented him making the leap to the big screen for so long? ‘I’m really lazy, there was a lot of good telly on‘ replied Cornish, in a typically self-effacing answer – whilst Cornish is undoubtedly modest about his efforts, his answers over the course of the panel revealed someone who is incredibly passionate and principled about film.

...from Colin Bell at ComicBooked.com

Cornish says that all the best sci-fi is actually about someone other than what you think it's about. Referring to E.T. again, which Kathleen Kennedy admitted to Cornish is really about divorce, as we all know. He wants this to have a clear element of social commentary too - he says like Precinct 13, in which things are said without being said explicitly.

...from Adrian Hieatt at Ain't It Cool News

Regarding the idea for Attack the Block 2, Cornish told the amassed fans at his afternoon panel that the idea was Edgar Wright’s, and that it’s “brilliant”. Cornish said that he doesn’t think it “should be” his next film.

...from Brendon Connelly at Bleeding Cool.

*It was impossibly hot, rendering the film more of an odorama presentation than one had been expecting.

Attack the Block Index

Biggz's Dumpster

2011-04-28T11:00:00.046+01:00

The stuff in here refuses to be boxed into a category so it's going to hide out with Biggz. I'm afraid it's becoming a frightful mess of a page. The bin men will arrive soon, surely.......or some gorilla wolf mofos.

Fun Times:

The Noise of Art had an Attack the Block Party event at Latitude this year. It was loosely, some might say spuriously themed around the film!

I haven't bothered to Babelfish this but a Malaysian blogger has some sort of competition to celebrate the release of the film and made this banner including their version of the poster......which amuses me on several levels.

You can make your OWN Attack the Block characters in paper with thanks to the awesome talent of Sally Grosart.

Why not play "The Ends" from Basement Jaxx while you make them?
Basement Jaxx - "The Ends" from "Attack The Block" by Basement Jaxx

The Incredible Suit ran a competition and blasted an asteroid into the milky way of inventiveness by asking Joe to perform some block related business to chose a random winner.

The WYIFN also ran an Attack the Block based competition, asking for soft toy film sequences. I've only managed to find the four entries that went up on Vimeo but when winners are announced, we may find some more.

Dread Central are building their gallery with considerably more haste than the official site. The look like press kit stills but they might be screen grabs from the trailer.

The Shiznit have helpfully made some cut-out-and-keep cards for anyone struggling with the argot.

A Nissan owner went to the special screening at The Ritzy and messaged this. The charm of it caught my eye and there's another lovely account at this link.

Joe Griffin from The Guardian has put together a handy list of alien invasion dos and don'ts.

3D World have a really interesting piece with Fido who created the digital effect, which you shouldn't click on until you're ready to have the mystery of the creatures revealed.

Seriously, why does this even exist?

Joe looked at this Little Dragon video by Fredrik Egerstrand for the lights in their eyes with reference to his creatures.

A special screening was held for the residents of Carpenters Estate since their block was one of the central characters of the film.

Gabriel started a Wordpress blog for the film back in January.

HolyMoly have several pictures from the UK Premiere.

This clever lady did exactly what Joe had hoped she would. Cherry went home and drew a picture of the male alien.

Trina Marie made this rendition of Moses!

Dana Jones made this

and thank goodness the amazing Alex Pardee enjoyed the film enough to do this

This is from Russell Ford Movies

...and here's another piece of inspired artwork.

HeyUGuys tags page.

The Building used for the awesome shots of The Block. It's like an actual character in the actual film, you know.

This is a piece from Ellen E Jones for The Guardian, discussing comedy in youth crime film.

The Sun selected some brief Twitter reactions for their ad on the day of the UK theatrical release.

Here are a couple of bits of early artwork for the film.

UK Press Tour:
The Nintendo Fun Room.
Look at these smart boys!

Joe Wilson's awesome artwork for the Little White Lies cover and this is a video that sort of goes with.....

From South By Southwest:
Larry411's snaps from SXSW, for instance and Rocky too plus a press photo.
Scroll down here for this.

3DWorld Magazine talks to Fido about handling the effects in Sweden.

There was a time, back in 2008, when the title was "Attack the Estate".

The following reviews have moments in them that are sweeter than a kitten in a tea-cup.

and here is his review after seeing it!

Mathew Buck is an enthusiastic young man and has spent 3 motor-mouthed minutes telling us what he thinks of the film.

Nick Frost, Joe Cornish and Edgar Wright pit their alien wits against Simon Pegg .

There's a lovely bit of blog enthusing here.

The wonderful Film4 Summer Screen season included Attack the Block in a double bill with Die Hard and it was preceded by an intimate chat between Joe Cornish and David Cox. A couple of people wrote their notes about it. What I don't understand is why I didn't commit anything to paper. Oh yes....I can't actually write.

The silly fellas at Totally Rad get their biographical facts a bit wonky but when they enthuse like this, you can't really suppress a webhug, can you?
If you're into this kind of thing, here's a comparative review ratings score.

Roc4Life canvassed opinion after their screening.

UK Box Office Tally (with thanks to Charles Gant at the Guardian Blog)

1st Weekend: 3. Attack the Block, £1,133,859 from 352 sites. Total: £1,133,859

2nd Weekend: 5. Attack the Block, £ 355,232 from 327 sites. Total: £1,925,419

3rd Weekend: 9. Attack the Block, £ 142,919 from 196 sites. Total: £2,269,528

Attack the Block Index

Radio and Podcasts

2011-04-20T15:00:00.010+01:00

Everyone wanted a piece of the action with this film.

This is a list of the podcasts containing reviews and interviews. Many of them are from radio broadcasts. There are a handful of radio shows that didn't make it into podworld and some pods that have passed their use-by date so I've endeavoured to slip as much as I can under the wire.

The U.S. Press Tour brought a few sound nuggets our way.

There are tiny audio clips from Critics' Choice here and here. Joe joined Edgar Wright to record the Comedy Bang Bang podcast.

Jeff Goldsmith hosted a Q & A at the LA Film School which you can listen to here.

Geek by name and deliciously geeky by nature. Joe and John seemed to really appreciate and enjoy their 'sit down' with an enthusiastic BJ Shea team from KISW. Their segment is here but why not listen to the entire, loopy thing? You can now watch the interview on YouTube.

Cinematic Method chat here.

John Boyega talks to Imperial Trouble.

A couple of soundbytes from Hollywood Outbreak.

There are tiny audio clips from Critics' Choice here and here.

Designer, Marcus Rowland talks to Red Curtain Creatives in the 22nd July 2011 episode.

Kermode and Mayo - Radio Titanium. Joe Cornish, at the end of a very tiring week, defends his corner and enjoys lively debate with these lovely old women of film.

The Film Programme(previously known as Back Row) - Francine Stock talks to Joe Cornish.

Film Weekly - Jason Solomons talks to Joe Cornish for The Guardian.

Picturehouses Podcast - Sam Clements worked his way through the cast and Joe to bring us a beautiful bit of podding. If you don't already do so, this is one to subscribe, by the way.

Screen 3 - These fellas recorded their reaction straight after they emerged from the auditorium after Sam's usual Picturehouses Podcast Partner, Simon Renshaw hosted the Q & A with a screening in Stratford. Their happy waffle starts at around 34 minutes.

The Arts Show with Claudia Winkleman is no longer available as a downloadable podcast but her interview with Joe is here.

Edith Bowman spoke to Joe Cornish and Nick Frost for Radio1.

6Music's Lauren Laverne had Joe and Nick on her show too.

6Music's Nemone spoke to Joe before he started his show with Adam, that morning.

Radio 1Xtra's Trevor Nelson talks to Joe Cornish and John Boyega.

The Hawskbee and Jacobs show on TALKSport got this from Joe.

Northampton Radio's Pete Cooper has an interview with Joe.

BBC Radio Oxford reviews the film and Phil Mercer interviews Joe.

Asylum have various audio links with the cast and Joe.

Movie Nerd - Your Local Guardian Podcast. Not sure what actually happened with their mike difficulties at the top of this but Joe does burst into song momentarily. The cast is there and it's a sweet little nugget.

The SXSW Baby Podcast - aaah, what a sweet name. Ewan Spence caught up with Joe, Edgar and Nick while he was in Austin - starting at about 10 minutes in.

The Movie Bit - Joe quite literally phones this interview in to Vic Barry at Cork Red FM.

The Green Room on Newstalk in Dublin is another phoned interview with Joe.

We Love Movies - Spin 1038's interviews with Joe and the cast.

Spin Cinema - Peter Murphy has an interview with Joe pretty much at the top of the pod.

Hywel and Jamie - These lovelies chat to Helen for a review first and then later to Joe Cornish. I'm not going to give you a time mark because this is an entertaining pod from start to finish.

Robin Cooper - Somewhat off-piste with this but I'm sneaking it in.

You've Got a Geek On You - This is a review rather than an interview but they describe the dialogue as 'Shakespeare' and site 'phenomenal writing' so it tickles me to include it.

The Junkcast 76 - Carrying an explicit warning, this review starts at around 36 minutes. "See it in theaters and then buy it on DVD". Yeah.

Almost Locals Only - Another enthusiastic review from the one of the early US screenings. Waffle begins around 32 minutes in.

Entertainment Overload Radio - Fused Reviews - You have to love all this enthusiasm coming from The States. Starting at 44 minutes in - 'Instant Classic'.

The 3m3 Madcast - Lest I should be accused of excluding the UK reviewers, at 35 minutes this lovely bunch of wafflers begin.

If anyone in the States is kind enough to record any tv or radio appearances during the promotional period, I would be most grateful to receive links or files.

Attack the Block Library Index.