Rev Stan's film blog

First pics appear of Daniel Radcliffe in The Woman in Black

A pic has appeared of Daniel Radcliffe, looking rather mature for his age on the set of The Woman in Black.

And I admit that at the moment I'm more intrigued to see the film based on the Susan Hill novel than I am the final installments of the Harry Potter franchise despite being a bit of a fan. Why? Well I'm already nervous about what Warner Bros have done to the final book - they've been taking more and more liberties as the series has progressed.

But The Woman in Black intrigues me because I saw it on the stage a number of years ago. It was the first play I'd seen in many years and came at a time when I was already regularly going to the cinema. I remember sitting through it thinking 'this would make a great film'.

It will also be great to see Daniel Radcliffe get his teeth into something different. He won me over as actor on stage in Equus and now the Harry Potter shackles are off.

Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows - behind the scenes

OK so the trailer made me nervous but this little behind the scenes featurettes has got me all excited again. Perhaps I just shouldn't watch any more trailers?

Competitive, the Harry Potter trio?

This is quite cute. Lots of it on the DVD extras please Warner Bros.

The Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows trailer - prematurely worried?

You see I get all excited when I hear there is a new trailer. But then I watch it and I get nervous. Nervous because I spot things that don't quite tally with the book. OK so I know they have to cut stuff out and change stuff and sometimes it can be better but I'm still scarred by what film makers did to the astronomy tower scene in Half Blood Prince. It nearly ruined the whole thing for me and I certainly didn't leave the cinema with the usual post-Potter smile of enjoyment.

It doesn't give me confidence in how they will handle key scenes in the final book.

In this Deathly Hallows trailer Voldemort seems to be a bit too present. Part of the Voldemort fear factor, for me, is that he is this all-powerful presence that you rarely see but you feel through his army of loyal followers. He uses others to do his bidding, doesn't get involved in the day-to-day of being evil. If he does make an appearance, it's poo-pants time.

My growing list of bad cinemas in London

1. Covent Garden Odeon, well most Odeon's really

CG first because it smells damp, several of the seats are ripped and falling apart and some have been replaced with different sized seats which would be charming if it wasn't in the West End charging West End prices. And then pretty much most of the Odeon's around Leicester Square because they are frustrating rabbit warrens and are desperately in need of make-overs and ditto about the prices.

2. BFI IMAX

I've seen three film here and only one did I feel the IMAX experience was worth the inflated ticket price. That was Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. With Avatar, I was sat quite low down the bank of seating on and therefore got little of the 3D effect. And with Prince of Persia the film was grainy and had hairs travelling up and down the screen at almost regular intervals - there was me thinking such things only happened on the old fashioned film projectors. It is most off-putting when it is travelling down the cheek of the hero during an important close up.

3. Empire Leicester Square

Only because I wanted to see Heartless, checked the film times yesterday, rushed out of work on the stroke of five to get over to Leicester Square on time only to find the cinema was closed for a premiere. Not a word of warning on the website. V. disappointed as I'd been looking forward to it all day.

Rev Stan's news: Matthew MacFadyen, The Tempest & the big Harry Potter split

These are in no way top film stories but they are what interests me at the moment

Sexy Spy No.1 is all for one

Favourite Spook of mine Matthew MacFadyen seems to be making good ground in forging a film career. First there was Death at a Funeral (which has been remade with an American cast sadly) then the Ridley Scott blockbuster Robin Hood in which he, as Sheriff of Nottingham was one of the only good things about the movie and now it seems he's tackling a role with a bit more swash to buckle.

This story has surfaced that he is to play Athos in Paul W S Anderson's Three Musketeers. Bad news is that Orlando Bloom has also been linked to the project - best we can hope for it a small part where he can do the least amount of damage. Still I'm looking forward to seeing MacF being all suave and fightey.

Finally a release date for The Tempest?

Looks like it will be at least the end of the year before I get to see The Tempest - unless it plays the London Film Festival in October. Feels like I've been waiting for years for this Julie Taymor adaption of the Shakespeare play.

Naturally I'm curious about Ben Whishaw's portrayal of Ariel, a role I think he is perfect for. In an interview for Wonderland magazine he said: