News

Last week, we launched a new page at JoBloYouTubeNetwork.com, where you can access all of our YouTube channels from one place. Now we have some very cool news to share about our YouTube network, as JoBlo Media and Octane Multimedia are partnering on a new channel named JoBlo TV, which will host feature films to watch for free every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday! The channel launches Today, and the genres we’ll be focusing on are Action, Horror, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Thrillers.

The first free-to-watch movie to be featured on JoBlo TV will be the Russian sci-fi action film A Rough Draft. Check it out:

Directed by Sergey Mokritskiy, who also crafted the screenplay with Maksim Budarin, Denis Kuryshev, and Olga Sobenina (based on a novel by Night Watch author Sergey Lukyanenko), A Rough Draft has the following synopsis: A video game designer is stripped of his identity and...

On the JoBlo Movies YouTube channel, we will be posting one full movie every day of the week, giving viewers the chance to watch them entirely free of charge. The Free Movie of the Day we have for you today is the 2018 Russian sci-fi action movie A Rough Draft. You can watch the movie over on the YouTube channel linked above, or you can just watch it in the embed at the top of this article.

Directed by Sergey Mokritskiy, who also crafted the screenplay with Maksim Budarin, Denis Kuryshev, and Olga Sobenina (based on a novel by Night Watch author Sergey Lukyanenko), A Rough Draft has the following synopsis: A young resident of Moscow, Kirill is a talented designer of computer games. One day, he is completely erased from the memory of everyone he knew and loved. Kirill learns that he is chosen for an important and mysterious mission.

Producer Mila Rozanova also updates on other future projects.

Russian producer Mila Rozanova of New People Film Company has revealed further details of Ivan Tverdovsky’s new project Jumpman (which has been selected both for CineMart and for the Berlinale Coproduction Market next month as part of the Rotterdam Berlinale Express).

Rozanova has already attached one coproduction partner to the project, French outfit Arizona (who also partnered on Tvardovsky’s previous project Zoology, about a middle-aged woman who grows a tail). Now, she is looking for a second coproducing partner as she seeks to replicate the funding model on Zoology.

Jumpman, due to start shooting this summer, is the story of a young man recently released from a psychiatric clinic who has a rare condition - he feels no pain. He goes to live with his mother but becomes caught up with crime and corruption. His main party trick is to jump in front of cars and...

Exclusive: Portmanteau film will feature segments from young Russian directors.

A portmanteau movie is being planned to mark the centenary of the 1917 Russian Revolution, involving some of the most talented young directors in Russia.

The film, produced by the New People Film Company, is also set to include contributions from established international filmmakers. Four stories are initially being prepared.

The Fuel by Mikhail Arkhipov is the story of a self-taught blacksmith trying to save his village from starvation in 1918.

Arms and Palms Of October by Arseny Zanin will use the montage methods of legendary Russian filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein, the director of Strike and Battleship Potemkin.

The Georgian by Nika Barabash and Andreas Konstandakes will tell the story of a petty thief (who looks remarkably like a young Stalin) who prospers in the storm of revolution.

Lenin by Denish Shibaev is set in Donbass in the present day and follows some eccentrics whose passion is restoring old Soviet...

Now, I'm not going to pretend to be an expert in Russian copyright law but if I were one of the producers of upcoming action fantasy Guardians Of The Night (Nochnye Strazhi) I might consider having my lawyer on speed dial. The story of a young courier who stumbles upon a hidden underworld of supernatural creatures and is recruited into the agency responsible for keeping the peace between the supernatural and human worlds, the similarities between this and Timur Bekmambetov's Night Watch are many and obvious. Not least of which is that the Russian title is actually close enough to Bekmambetov's film (and the source novel by Sergei Lukyanenko) that the literal translations to English are exactly the same. Regardless: Vampires in Russia! Take a...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

While the lot of you are still reading and enjoying FM 273 (you Are, aren’t you?), it’s time to preview our yearly Kaiju Issue—which of course means we have welcomed Consulting Editor (and Big Wow! Special Guest) August Ragone on board to help us deliver a tribute of massive proportions…

Sixty Years Of Godzilla!

The image above, featuring Mothra, is only one of four special cover paintings by the extremely awesome Bob Eggleton (previously responsible for our Godzilla vs. Gamera, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, and Colossal Kaiju covers).

FM 274 will feature our exclusive Godzilla Timeline, featuring writeups and information on all 29 existing Godzilla films—plus a little interview with director Gareth Edwards about the new Warner Bros. film debuting in May.

Never fear, though, as there’s still plenty of material for people who haven’t learned to love Godzilla yet, including:

Enter The Dragon: Film legend and...

Twilight Watch is the third book in Sergei Lukyanenko’s Night Watch series. It is being released today in the Us by HarperCollins and they’ve given us an excerpt to share with Daily Dead readers:

“Night Watch and Day Watch revealed the “Others,” an ancient race of supernatural beings—magicians, shape-shifters, vampires, and healers—who live among us and swear allegiance to either the Dark or the Light. For a millennium, these opponents have coexisted in an uneasy truce, guarding each other and tottering on the brink of war.

In Twilight Watch, the Others face their greatest threat yet. An ancient book of spells with the power to turn ordinary humans into Others has fallen into the wrong hands, threatening to destroy the precarious balance between the forces of Darkness and Light. Now the Night Watch and the Day Watch must cooperate to stop the culprit. Anton, the hero from Night Watch,...

Before Wanted and before the forthcoming Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, director Timur Bekmambetov hit the genre scene with the supernatural actioner Night Watch, a visually-stunning adventure that was followed by the sequel Day Watch.  

Based on the novels by Sergei Lukyanenko, the film series was envisioned by a trilogy that would wrap up with the rumored Twilight Watch, however, Bekmambetov is not so certain another film is going to happen.

Since Night Watch and Day Watch, the director has refocused his efforts.  He produced 9, Apollo 18 and The Darkest Hour and is currently in post-production on Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.  Shock caught up to Bekmambetov recently and asked if Twilight Watch will ever become a reality.

Read more...

The digital landscape of Timur Bekmambetov's on screen treatment of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is looking very sweet. The preview offers glimpses to the cinematic style that this director/producer is recognized for. The dreamy slow motion sequences and digital grit is appropriate to convey a sense of a civil war period. And with parts of this film made on location than in a green-screen studio, at least this movie will stand apart.

With this preview, Lincoln (Benjamin Walker) is demonstrating his chops to placate the undead. Also, one of his most famous quotes gets rendered, "If I had six hours to chop down a tree, I'd spend the first four hours sharpening the axe." Also in the film stars Dominic Cooper, who plays Henry Sturges, a mentor who assists the president in vampire hunting.

And just maybe, Bekmambetov will get the notice that's needed to finish off that project he started long ago.

Each week within this column we strive to pair the latest in theatrical releases to the worthwhile titles currently available on Netflix Instant Watch.

This week in theaters girls go gross-out in the latest Apatow comedy, Paul Bettany dons vestments to vanquish vampires, and the world of indie cinema unleashes a nihilistic loner and a homeless homeowner. But if these new releases aren’t enough to satisfy your movie-viewing cravings, we’ve got a selection of streaming features full of laughs, madness and mayhem.

—

Bridesmaids

Kristen Wiig stars as a lovable loser whose life goes from bad to abysmal when her best gal pal’s approaching nuptials threaten their longtime friendship. Full of fiercely funny females like Maya Rudolph, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Ellie Kemper, and Melissa McCarthy this sassy and sharp feature proves comedy knows no gender.

Fill your weekend with female-fronted comedy:

Easy A (2010) Emma Stone stars in this cheeky...

MOSCOW -- The writer behind Russia's biggest-ever blockbuster, Day Watch (Dnevnoi Dozor) -- which has grossed nearly $35 million at the home boxoffice in the 10 weeks since its release -- said Wednesday he plans to write a fifth book in the sci-fi series. Sergei Lukyanenko, who co-wrote the scripts for the film versions of the first two books in the series, Night Watch (Nochnoi Dozor) and this year's Day Watch, said the current fourth book in the series, called Last Watch (Posledni Dozor), will likely be followed by another book, thanks to the phenomenal success of the film versions. GeminiFilm, the Moscow-based distributors of Day Watch in Russia and regional territories, report boxoffice receipts of $34.7 million for the film through March 12.