Interviews

Even during the early days of Laserdisc, UK film fans looked with envy across the Atlantic thanks to the effort US distributor Criterion put into its releases. Not only were titles presented in the most complete version possible and at the correct aspect ratio, they were bundled with newly-produced bonus material designed to act as a sort of 'film school in a box'.

Ridley Scott's latest sci-fi smash The Martian finds Matt Damon playing NASA astronaut Mark Watney, who is mistakenly presumed dead and left stranded alone on Mars by the rest of his crew during a dust storm. Marooned millions of miles from home and facing at least a four year wait for a rescue mission, Watney must learn to adapt to life on the inhospitable planet. With The Martian about to make it's bow on Blu-ray and DVD, leading man Matt Damon opens up about making the film and why he particularly enjoys watching films on Blu-ray...

Hammer Films is a studio reborn. The British film icon, which enjoyed worldwide success in the 1950s, '60s and '70s with a swathe of fright flicks and launched the careers of Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing among others, had seemed to be dead and buried by the mid-80s, with production ceasing completely. Yet since 2007, under the guidance of CEO Simon Oakes, Hammer is back in the limelight, chilling new audiences first with an innovative web-based horror series and then a blockbusting – and controversial – adaptation of Susan Hill's The Woman in Black. Its latest movie, The Quiet Ones, is out now on Blu-ray/DVD.

Having begun his animation career at Pixar working on Toy Story and THX promos, Hal Hickel transfered to Industrial Light & Magic in order to work on the Star Wars prequels having been a fan of the franchise since childhood (he even submitted his own script for a Star Wars sequel at the age of 12 and received a polite rejection letter from producer Gary Kurtz). Since then he has worked on a variety of blockbusters including Star Wars: Episodes I and II, first three Pirates of the Caribbean films, Iron Man and Super 8. His most recent role was as animation supervisor on Guillermo del Toro's sci-fi blockbuster Pacific Rim.

With its bravura mix of violence, intrigue, action and sex, Cinemax's recent hit series Banshee quickly established itself as a firm favourite here at HCC.