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Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. To keep up with our latest features, sign up for the Weekly Edit newsletter and follow us @mubinotebook on Twitter and Instagram.FESTIVALSMay Days.As many as 200 French film festival workers plan to stage labor actions during Cannes, citing insufficient pay and the exclusion of many festival staff from unemployment benefits when they are not under contract. The movement is being organized under the banner of Sous Les Écrans La Dèche: Collectif Des Précaires Des Festivals De Cinéma.A new report outlines the institutional dysfunction at the Toronto International Film Festival, which recently lost the support of the telecommunications company Bell as its major sponsor. Citing a desire for “greater accessibility,” Slamdance Film Festival will relocate from Park City, Ut, to Los Angeles in 2025.NEWSHarlan County, U.S.A..Now that all thirteen IATSE locals have reached tentative agreements with the AMPTP,...

Ray Chan, longtime production designer on some of Marvel’s biggest films died this week, according to a statement from Marvel Studios.

Chan was best known for his work on billion-dollar Marvel blockbusters such as Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame as well as the upcoming Deadpool & Wolverine.

But he also worked with directors such as Ridley Scott, Michael Apted, Alfonso Cuarón, Ed Zwick, James Mangold and Antoine Fuqua, and on films as diverse as National Treasure, Nanny McPhee, Children of Men, Blood Diamond, Robin Hood, Knight and Day and Dungeons and Dragons.

He was nominated for an Art Director’s Guild Award five times, winning in 2015 and 2020 for Guardians of the Galaxy and Endgame, respectively.

“Ray was first and foremost a good friend to everyone at Marvel Studios. He was a talented collaborator who brought creativity and attention to detail to every frame of every movie he worked on,...

Last year, Frasier Crane returned to TV screens in the "Frasier" revival series. While it struggled to capture the magic of the original series, "Frasier" 2023 certainly had some high points. The festive season finale was one of the better Christmas episodes, and the show handled the passing of Martin Crane actor John Mahoney beautifully. Then there were the guest stars, which included actress Peri Gilpin, who played Frasier's producer on the original sitcom, and Bebe Neuwirth, who played Lilith Sternin on both "Frasier" and "Cheers."

Lilith debuted in the 1986 "Cheers" episode "Second Time Around," becoming a series regular and eventually starting a relationship with Kelsey Grammer's Frasier before the pair got married. By the end of the series they had broken up, and when "Frasier" debuted in 1993 the titular doctor had moved to Seattle while Lilith stayed in Boston with her and her ex-husband's son, Freddy. Still, Lilith remained...

Following the conclusion of the Dceu with the release of ‘Aquaman: The Lost Kingdom,’ James Gunn has been diligently preparing for the production of ‘Superman: Legacy,’ an upcoming Superman movie that both Gunn and Safran view as the true starting point of the Dcu, despite ‘Creature Commandos’ being released earlier.

Known for his active presence on social media, Gunn frequently engages with fans, addressing questions, dispelling rumors, and offering valuable insights into the anticipated final product. Fans are particularly eager about the cast members, with Gunn stating that over 90% of the cast is already confirmed. Another aspect generating excitement is the selection of technical personnel poised to elevate ‘Superman: Legacy’ into the cinematic masterpiece envisioned by Gunn.

Responding to inquiries on Threads about potential cinematographers for the project, Gunn enthusiastically revealed that Henry Braham, a cinematographer he has previously collaborated with, is set to take on the role.

Henry Braham,...

Ever since the Dceu concluded with the reBit lease of ‘Aquaman: The Lost Kingdom’ Gunn has been working tirelessly to start production on ‘Superman: Legacy’ an upcoming Superman movie that both Gunn and Safran consider the true beginning of the Dcu despite ‘Creature Commandos’ being released first.

Gunn is quite active on social media, and more often than not, he answers fan questions and debunks rumors, as well as provides useful insights regarding what the finished product might be like. The aspect of the movie that fans are most excited about are certainly the cast members (and Gunn claims that he has more than 90% of the cast locked in) and the technical personnel set to transform ‘Superman: Legacy’ into a prime movie Gunn imagines it to be.

Gunn was recently asked on Threads about potential names that might serve as cinematographers for the upcoming project, and Gunn was more than...

Emma Thompson has turned in a host of eclectic, effective, excellent performances throughout her illustrious career. She started out with period dramas such as “Howards End” and “The Remains of the Day” before later moving into fantasy with roles in “Nanny McPhee” and “Harry Potter.” Add to that top-tier performances in the likes of “Sense and Sensibility,” “Saving Mr. Banks,” “Cruella,” and “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande,” and you’ve got one hell of a performer.

However, Thompson has stated herself that the role she gets the most praise for is actually… “Love Actually.” The classic Richard Curtis Christmas movie, which turns 20 this year, tells the interconnected love stories of eight different sets of people with Thompson delivering the most emotional and heartbreaking storyline of all of them. Thompson’s Karen is an under-appreciated stay-at-home mother who spends her days looking after the kids, making costumes for their school nativity,...

There’s a lot to watch on Prime Video in October and, as you may have guessed, there’s spooky stuff galore in amongst Prime’s usual rotation of extensive library content.

In the movie Totally Killer, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina star Kiernan Shipka travels back in time to the 1980s to stop a serial killer. Then there’s Make Me Scream, a Halloween special that challenges celebrities to “a gruesome game of terror.” Renfield will also be streaming on the service for anyone who’s been dying (muahahaha!) to catch the Nic Cage Dracula film.

Outside of Prime Video’s more creepy fare, Shazam! Fury Of The Gods will debut, Upload will be back for a third season, and new film Awareness should scratch your sci-fi itch. Meanwhile, for Frasier heads – those who consider themselves utterly Frasier-pilled – all eleven seasons of the Cheers spinoff show will be streaming at the touch of a button.

To quote the great Taylor Swift, “August slipped away like a moment in time.” September has arrived, and with it, a countdown to certain films and shows leaving Netflix at the end of the 30-day month. Penny Marshall’s “A League of Their Own” (1992) has one more month to teach you that “There’s no crying in baseball,” and why not watch it in support of the Prime Video series that can’t seem to catch a break? If you’re more in the mood for a childish story and magical whimsy, the person you need is “Nanny McPhee” (2005).

Franchise films exiting the streamer’s rotation this month include “Rocky,” “Rocky II,” “Rocky III,” “Rocky IV” and “Rocky V.” Along with those wrestling movies, other films departing at the end of September are “Snow White & the Huntsman,” “Star Trek,” “Star Trek Into Darkness,” “Titanic” and “Warm Bodies.”

Here’s...

As we creep towards summer, Netflix has a hot new list of fresh content, including the final season of “Never Have I Ever,” the sophomore season of ‘Human Resources” and the highly anticipated sixth season of “Black Mirror.”

Kicking off the start of the month on mega streamer are lots of family-friendly goodies like both “Nanny McPhee” and “Nanny McPhee Returns,” “Kicking and Screaming,” “Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius” and the “Angry Birds Movie.” But the adults won’t be left out of the conversation, as more mature flicks and series like “Jarhead,” “Funny People” and “We’re the Millers” are also hitting the platform this month.

And it wouldn’t be Netflix without its originals. “Take Care of Maya,” “Extraction 2” and the Sarah Snook-led “Run Rabit Run” will land on the site in June. And even if this isn’t enough to get you watching, Netflix will be streaming its Tudum festival on Saturday,...

The month of April for Hulu is jam-packed with TV and film goodies, from Adam Sandler’s 1999 comedy “Big Daddy” to Fox’s hit sitcom “New Girl.”

On top of Hulu’s rollout of a new interface, it’s also adding some major film and TV titles to its platform. Some of the highlights that set off the first day of April include “American Psycho,” “Shrek” and its sequel “Shrek 2,” plus the Tim Story-directed “Think Like a Man.”

Anime series will be all the rage on Hulu with the dubbed version of the new popular series “Chainsaw Man” arriving, along with “Spy x Family” and “Black Clover.” If you’re looking for something a little bit more kid-friendly, the family can al enjoy “Despicable Me” and “Despicable 2,” “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days” and “Nanny McPhee.” For the lovers and heartless romantics, “Dear John” and “Date Night...

Even if you’ve signed up for every streaming service out there, it can feel monumental when a title moves from one to another. In April, Netflix mainstay “New Girl” moves to Hulu; still streaming, but not where fans are used to finding it — like rearranging the furniture in your apartment and waking up surprised every day that the couch is over there now.

But what’s important is that “New Girl” lives on, now joining Hulu’s own TV and movie library and originals from Freeform, FX, National Geographic, and more. Later in the month, Leila Gerstein’s “Saint X” — based on the novel by Alexis Schaitkin — premieres with three episodes, recounting the story of a young girl found dead during a family vacation and the sister piecing it together years later. Alycia Debnam-Carey, Josh Bonzie, West Duchovny, Jayden Elijah, Bre Francis, Kenlee Anaya Townsend, Betsy Brandt, and Michael Park star.

Dame Emma Thompson (born 15 April 1959) is a British actress and screenwriter. Described as one of the best actresses of her generation, she portrays reticent women in period dramas and literary adaptations. She has received various accolades throughout her career spanning four decades, including two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, a British Academy Television Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award.

Emma Thompson at the Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences’ Governors Awards, Ray Dolby Ballroom, Hollywood, CA 11-16-13. Depositphotos

Born in London to English actor Eric Thompson and Scottish actress Phyllida Law, Thompson was educated at Newnham College, University of Cambridge, where she became a member of the Footlights troupe, and appeared in the comedy sketch series Alfresco (1983–1984). In 1985, she starred in the West End revival of the musical Me and My Girl, which was a breakthrough in her career. In 1987, she came...

Emma Thompson looks unrecognizable as the tyrannical headmistress Miss Trunchbull in “Matilda the Musical,” but achieving this look was no small feat.

At the New York premiere of the Netflix film on Wednesday, Thompson revealed that she spent about three and a half hours a day with the makeup and wardrobe departments as they applied extensive facial prosthetics and padding.

“‘Cruella’ was a long time, actually, but this was the longest,” Thompson told Variety. “There’s an actual body suit, which is to give her the heft and the muscle. And then a massive weighty underwear and pretend chest and all of that. It was a lot to walk around in.”

Alisha Weir, the 13-year-old actor who plays the titular role, said she was initially frightened when she saw Thompson in her Trunchbull costume.

“I had first seen without all the makeup, and then when I did see her in the makeup,...

Emma Thompson’s emotive acting style has ruffled a few feathers, actually.

The Oscar winner, who iconically wept to Joni Mitchell in “Love Actually,” revealed that her two-time co-star Hugh Grant was frustrated with her improvising tears during 1995’s “Sense and Sensibility.” Thompson won the Academy Award for the screenplay for the film.

Thompson played Elinor Dashwood, who is secretly in love with Grant’s character Edward Ferrars, who is engaged to someone else. After learning that Edward did not, in fact, get married, Elinor is overcome with emotion.

“She was not aware of what was inside her, and it suddenly emerges,” Thompson said in a New Yorker profile, previously writing in her diary, “I was trying to make it as involuntary as possible. A case of the diaphragm taking over.”

Yet Thompson’s scene partner Grant was upset that Thompson’s tears took away from his big monologue.

“Hugh Grant was so cross,...

The entertainment industry lost a legend today. The children of Dame Angela Lansbury have sadly had to announce that their mother has passed away at the age of 96 – just five days shy of her 97th birthday. According to the announcement, Lansbury “died peacefully in her sleep at home in Los Angeles at 1:30 Am today, Tuesday, October 11, 2022.”

Lansbury is best known for her twelve season, 264 episode run as author / crime solver Jessica Fletcher on the mystery series Murder, She Wrote – a role she went on to reprise in four made-for-tv movies. But when you look on her filmography, Murder, She Wrote is just one of 111 screen acting credits she earned during a career that stretched back to 1944.

Born in London on October 16, 1925, Lansbury is said to have “retreated into playing characters” after her politician father died of stomach cancer in 1935. She became interested in film while attending high school, and...

10. “Nanny McPhee” (2005)

Angela Lansbury has often projected an air of menace, as she does playing the near-sighted great-aunt of the newly motherless Brown children in Kirk Jones’ family film. The tightwad meanie gets her comeuppance at a wedding featuring green-frosted cake.

9. “Death on the Nile” (1978)

In this successful adaptation of an Agatha Christie classic, Lansbury plays a romance novelist who might have based one of her characters a little too closely on the murder victim at the center of Hercule Poirot’s investigation

8. “Little Gloria … Happy at Last” (1982)

In this NBC miniseries, based on Gloria Vanderbilt’s best-selling memoir, Lansbury plays the teenage heiress’ aunt who conspires to seize custody of the girl (and her fortune) from her mother. Lansbury earned her first Emmy nomination for the role.

7. “National Velvet” (1944)

In only her second film, Lansbury played the older sister of Elizabeth Taylor’s horse-loving English girl who trains a gelding into a champion.

Angela Lansbury, the London-born actress whose career spanned eight decades and included hits in film (“The Manchurian Candidate”), TV and theater (“Mame” and “Sweeney Todd”), has died at age 96.

Her family announced her death, saying she died early Tuesday morning “peacefully in her sleep at home in Los Angeles.”

A private family ceremony will be held at a date to be determined for Lansbury, who would have turned 97 on Sunday.

One of the last surviving stars of Hollywood’s Golden Age, Lansbury first rose to fame as an MGM player who nabbed Academy Award nominations for her first films roles, in 1944’s “Gaslight” and 1945’s “The Picture of Dorian Gray.”

Also Read:

Angela Lansbury’s 10 Best Film and TV Roles, From ‘Gaslight’ to ‘Beauty and the Beast’ (Photos)

In 1962, she earned another Oscar nomination for “The Manchurian Candidate” playing the scheming mother of a war hero — played by an actor,...

Hollywood writer and director Kirk Jones is to helm Vertigo Films’ buzzy upcoming drama series You’ve Been Trumped, marking his first foray into television drama.

The Waking Ned, Nanny McPhee and What to Expect When You’re Expecting director will write and direct the four part series, which is based on Anthony Baxter’s award-winning 2011 documentary of the same name about the small Scottish community who stood up to Donald Trump and his golf course development.

Jones has completed the scripts, which will likely employ the black humour and deep-rooted emotional sensibility of Baxter’s doc.

Set on one of Europe’s most environmentally sensitive stretches of coast on Scotland’s Northeast coastline, the drama charts the unbelievable true story of what happens when everyday people take on one of the world’s most famous, divisive, and powerful families. Deadline first revealed news of the project in November 2020.

Before becoming President,...

Peacock has put in development Avenger Field, a one-hour drama series starring and executive produced by Oscar winner Renée Zellweger, from writer Felicia D. Henderson and MGM Television, Deadline has confirmed. The project also hails from Zellweger’s Big Picture Co, Toluca Pictures and North Rose Pictures. MGM Television is the studio.

Written by Henderson, who also serves as showrunner, Avenger Field, said be in the vein of Hidden Figures, celebrates the brave women (and men) that executed a clandestine all female US Airforce program called the Wasps to battle Hitler’s evil from home. Inspired by the true story of Wasps leader Jackie Cohran (Zellweger) and the diverse group of women as brave and righteous as the astronauts from The Right Stuff, these women fought the system, skeptics and even sabotage to bring everyone home safely.

Susanna White serves as director and executive producer. Henderson executive produces via Waterwalk Entertainment...

Eliza Bennett has been cast in the role of Amanda Carrington on The CW’s “Dynasty.”

Bennett joins Season 4 in a recurring guest star role, with her first episode being “The British Are Coming” on Aug. 27. She will be a series regular in the forthcoming fifth season.

The original 1980s primetime soap opera “Dynasty” featured Catherine Oxenberg in the role of Amanda for the first three years of the character’s existence. (Her apt entrance was in the fifth season episode titled “Amanda.”) Karen Cellini stepped in in recasting.

This version of Amanda is described as a long-lost Carrington relative who was born and raised in Europe but arrives now “holding a treasure trove of secrets” — both from her past, as well as the Carrington family’s past. She is also described as smart and confident, a character who can hold her own against those who come at her. She is a lawyer,...

Cornerstone has unveiled the first look of Oscar and BAFTA winner Emma Thompson and emerging star Daryl McCormack in Sophie Hyde’s “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande” ahead of the Cannes virtual market, where the company will also showcase footage from the film.

The film is directed by Sophie Hyde (“Animals”) from an original screenplay by comedian and writer Katy Brand (“Katy Brand’s Big Ass Show”).

Thompson stars as Nancy Stokes, a 55-year-old widow yearning for some adventure, human connection and good sex, which she was robbed of in her stable but stale marriage. To make things right, the ex-teacher devises a plan and hires the services of Leo Grande, a sex worker — or “sex therapist,” as he puts it — in his early 20s for a night of bliss.

Align is financing the film with principal Adrian Politowski producing alongside Debbie Gray from Genesius Pictures. Executive producers include Martin Metz,...

Wait a minute. Are we somehow half way through the year already? That feels impossible but here comes month number five all the same. With its list of new releases for May 2021, Amazon Prime is highlighting some of its more intriguing original series in awhile.

The first original of note is The Underground Railroad. This series from Barry Jenkins tells the story of one woman’s desperate bid for freedom in the Antebellum South and arrives on May 14. After that comes Solos. This intriguing anthology has one hell of a cast including Anthony Mackie, Dan Stevens, Anne Hathaway, Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren, Constance Wu, and more. The project will premiere on May 21 and each of its seven episodes promises to be quite different.

Read more TV Does The Lord of the Rings Series Have a Hidden Title? By Joseph Baxter TV Who is the Villain Teased in The Lord of the Rings TV Series Synopsis?...

Emma Thompson was characteristically frank about Hollywood’s double standard during a recent interview with the CultureBlast podcast. The “Nanny McPhee” star, who is also a prolific screenwriter, was talking about her upcoming film “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande,” which she said is a refreshing change of pace from the the typical Hollywood film about women who have romances with men decades older than themselves.

Directed by Sophie Hyde, “Leo Grande” is the story of a widow whose late husband had been an unsatisfying lover, so she decides to seek out a sex therapist in his early 20s.

Thompson’s character in the film says, “The only people willing to sleep with me are my age and I want to sleep with someone younger than me.” But it’s very rare for women to express that desire for a younger man onscreen, she says. “If I have someone playing...

Emma Thompson is set to star in a new comedy from “Animals” and “52 Tuesdays” director Sophie Hyde.

Produced by Genesius Pictures, “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande” marks the first joint project between Cornerstone Films and Genesius co-founder Debbie Gray who are partners in The Reset Collective, the Australian production and distribution company that launched in May.

Oscar winner Thompson stars as Nancy Stokes, a 55-year-old widow yearning for some adventure, human connection and good sex, which she was robbed of in her stable but stale marriage. To make things right, the ex-teacher devises a plan and hires the services of Leo Grande, a sex worker — or “sex therapist,” as he puts it — in his early 20s for a night of bliss.

Hyde’s rollicking “Animals,” starring Holliday Grainger and Alia Shawkat, received critical praise at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival and is set for release in the U.S.

Raphael Coleman, who starred alongside Emma Thompson and Colin Firth in the 2005 film “Nanny McPhee,” died on Friday after collapsing on a run. He was 25 years old.

The British actor appeared in three feature films, “It’s Alive” and “The Fourth Kind” in 2009. He then studied zoology at the University of Manchester before dedicating himself to activism, working with the environmental movement Extinction Rebellion to advocate for wildlife conservation.

Liz Jensen confirmed the news over social media. “Rest in peace my beloved son Raphael Coleman, aka Iggy Fox,” she said. “He died doing what he loved, working for the noblest cause of all. His family could not be prouder. Let’s celebrate all he achieved in his short life and cherish his legacy.”

Jensen also shared an essay that Coleman had written for Extinction Rebellion titled “This is Why I Rebel.” In his writing, Coleman describes the obligation he feels toward the movement.

Raphael Coleman, a former child actor who became a climate change activist, has died. He was 25.

Coleman passed away Friday, his mother and stepfather shared in separate social media posts over the weekend.

“Rest in peace my beloved son Raphael Coleman, aka Iggy Fox. He died doing what he loved, working for the noblest cause of all. His family could not be prouder. Let’s celebrate all he achieved in his short life and cherish his legacy,” his mom, Liz Jensen, tweeted.

Rest in peace my beloved son Raphael Coleman, aka Iggy Fox. He died doing what he loved, working for the noblest cause of all. His family could not be prouder. Let’s celebrate all he achieved in his short life and cherish his legacy https://t.co/qFRKPT7rRG

— Liz Jensen (@LizJensenWriter) February 7, 2020

Jensen’s post included a link to the website for Extinction Rebellion, an international climate...

Raphael Coleman, who starred as Eric in the 2005 Emma Thompson movie “Nanny McPhee,” died suddenly last Friday at the age of 25.

His stepfather, Carsten Jensen, shared the news on Facebook, noting that Coleman “collapsed without prior health problems in the middle of a trip and could not be restored.” Coleman’s mother, Liz Jensen, added on Twitter, “Rest in peace my beloved son Raphael Coleman, aka Iggy Fox. He died doing what he loved, working for the noblest cause of all. His family could not be prouder. Let’s celebrate all he achieved in his short life and cherish his legacy.”

Coleman quit acting not long after the film came out and he went on to devote himself to environmental activism.

Also Read: Kirk Douglas, 'Spartacus' Star and Legend of Hollywood's Golden Age, Dies at 103

In her Twitter post, Coleman’s mother linked to an essay he wrote for Extinction Rebellion,...

The Children Act and Nanny McPhee actress, Emma Thompson is certainly not short for work in recent years. The British actress has signed up to star in the adaptation of coming-of-age comedy, ‘How To Build A Girl’.

Thompson will be joined by Bridesmaid’s Chris O’Dowd on the cast which also includes Lady Bird’s Beanie Feldstein in the lead, Game of Thrones, Alfie Allen, Journeyman’s Paddy Considine and Bridget Jones’ Baby’s, Sarah Solemani.

Adapted from Caitlin Moran’s novel of the same name, the story is set in 1993 and sees Feldstein play Johanna Morrigan, a smart, opinionated and overweight 16-year-old. Hormones raging, she is desperate to get out of her hometown and make a name for herself — which she does, reinventing herself as Dolly Wilde, a rock music critic. Gaining notoriety as an enfant terrible, she finally figures out “how to build a girl.” But is...

“Crazy Rich Asians” star Henry Golding’s ascent to Hollywood’s newest rom-com king continues apace. Hot after his on-screen debut in Jon M. Chu’s box office smash and on the tails of his supporting role in Paul Feig’s “A Simple Favor,” the newly in-demand actor has signed on for a seemingly perfect new gig: a “holiday romance set in London.” Variety reports that Golding will star alongside “Game of Thrones” star Emilia Clarke in the film, set to be directed by Feig, currently titled “Last Christmas.”

No word yet on if the film will pull directly from the lyrics of the Wham! song of the same name — “Last Christmas, I gave you my heart / But the very next day you gave it away / This year, to save me from tears / I’ll give it to someone special,” etc. — but the outlet does report that the film’s...

Joseph Baxter Aug 14, 2019

Bridesmaids director Paul Feig will head Last Christmas, a holiday rom-com starring Emilia Clarke and Henry Golding.

The box office success of 2018 comedy Crazy Rich Asians opened a plethora of opportunities for co-star Henry Golding, who made his onscreen debut in the film. However, the cinematic path of Golding now crosses paths with a certain Mother of Dragons, Game of Thrones’ Emilia Clarke.

Emilia Clarke and Henry Golding will headline a holiday-themed rom-com movie called Last Christmas. With a tribute title to the 1984 holiday ballad by Wham!, the film is directed by Paul Feig, who works off a script by Emma Thompson, the Oscar-winning actress, who’s written screenplays such as Bridget Jones’s Baby and her starring stints in the Nanny McPhee films. Thompson will also have a role in the film.

Last Christmas Trailer

Our first look at Emilia Clarke getting in the holiday spirit finally arrived.

Emma Thompson is having quite the year so far. In June, the British actress, 59, acquired the title of capital-d Dame, thanks to Queen Elizabeth.

Then there is her still-thriving career. She joins her “Howards End” and “The Remains of the Day” co-star Anthony Hopkins in a BBC co-production of Shakespeare’s “King Lear” that will stream on Amazon starting September 28. She plays Goneril, the devious eldest daughter of Hopkins’s tragic royal who takes advantage of his descent into madness.

The double Oscar winner is the main attraction in “The Children Act,” which is now in theaters and is also available on DirecTV. In the drama, based on Ian McEwan’s novel, she plays a British judge who must decide whether a teen boy suffering from leukemia can be forced to get a blood transfusion to save his life — even though it is against his beliefs as a Jehovah’s Witness.

Colin Firth returned to movie screens this summer with the sequel “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again,” reuniting the original all-star cast of Meryl Streep, Amanda Seyfried, Pierce Brosnan, Dominic Cooper, Stellan Skarsgård, Christine Baranski and Julie Walters) plus adding Cher to the cast (surprisingly as the mother of Streep).

Firth began his career on the British stage which led to roles in film and television. It wouldn’t be until 10 years into his career that Firth would become a household name in the United Kingdom when he starred in the highly successful BBC production of “Pride and Prejudice.” His role as Mr. Darcy in the film made him one of the top sex symbols in his native country. He would later lampoon his position as one of the countries most desired men when he played the role of Mark Darcy in “Bridget Jones’ Diary.” Bridget longs for her own...

Michael Howells, a production designer for TV, film and theater who also worked on fashion shows for the likes of Alexander McQueen and John Galliano, died Thursday. He was 61.

Born in 1957 in Staffordshire, England, Howells began his showbiz career as an assistant art director on The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989) and soon became a busy production designer. He served in that capacity on more than two dozen films and TV shows including Princess Caraboo (1994), Emma (1995), FairyTale: A True Story (1997) and Ever After: A Cinderella Story (1997).

During the 2000s, he was production designer on such features as Nanny McPhee (2005) and Death at a Funeral (2007) before segueing to British TV for 2014 miniseries The Game, 2016 telepic Churchill’s Secret and most recently the ITV period drama Victoria, which aired on PBS stateside. Howells won a British Film Designers Award for Victoria in 2016 and was nominated again last year. His work...

The German festival runs from June 28 to July 7.

The Munich Film Festival opens on Thursday (June 28) with the world premiere of Joachim A. Lang’s Mackie Messer – Brechts Dreigroschenfilm, starring Lars Eidinger as Bertold Brecht.

The film is inspired by Brecht’s 1928 play The Threepenny Opera and Kurt Weill’s song Mack The Knife, which was written for the play.

The German premiere of Andrew Niccol’s Anon, starring Clive Owen as a detective who finds a young woman with no identity, played by Amanda Seyfried, will close the festival on July 7. The sci-fi thriller is produced by Germany’s K5 Film.

A suburban New York mother hemmed in by chores finds unfashionably analogue freedom in jigsaw puzzles in this modest yet touching drama

Compare how vital Kelly Macdonald was to 1996’s Trainspotting with her cursory presence in 2017’s boysy sequel, and you’ll have some sense of how the British film industry has underestimated her. Macdonald has always been a supremely sympathetic performer, but her mousy air may have been seen as a big-screen limitation. She scuttled round in subservient roles, before escaping pantry duty via HBO’s Boardwalk Empire: a wife part, yes, but one that proved steelier than first imagined over that five-season run. TV arcs bend towards their own form of justice.

Puzzle, the offbeat Us indie opening this year’s Edinburgh film festival, finds Macdonald tending house yet again – though here it’s an acknowledgement of wasted potential, a corner from which her character Agnes needs to be sprung.

Emma Thompson tells us the Harvey Weinstein allegations are just the tip of the iceberg of a wider and systemic problem in Hollywood pic.twitter.com/VDxswrUP5Z - BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight) October 12, 2017 Emma Thompson spoke to BBC Newsnight about Harvey Weinstein this week, stressing that "we need to start talking about the crisis in masculinity." Thompson spoke openly about her experiences with Harvey, having briefly worked with him when Miramax had the rights to Nanny McPhee. "His bullying patterns also existed in his business world," Emma noted, adding that she found herself "shouting down the phone that I never wanted to work with him ever, ever, ever." Having called out Harvey's bully behavior, she added how he almost appeared frightened when they found themselves in a room together: "if you call a bully out, they tend to avoid you." Unsurprised by the recent sexual assault allegations against Harvey, Emma...

Actor says there are many men in Hollywood like the film mogul who has been accused of multiple sexual assaults

Oscar-winning actor Emma Thompson has branded Harvey Weinstein a bully and a predator and said the scandal now engulfing the Hollywood mogul had echoes of Jimmy Savile.

In a frank interview on BBC2’s Newsnight, the star of Nanny McPhee and Love Actually said the casting couch culture exposed in the past week was endemic and part of a systemic “public health” gender crisis that was endangering girls and women.

Continue reading...

Welcome to Career Watch, a vocational checkup of top actors and directors, and those who hope to get there. In this edition we take on Working Title producers Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner, whose latest hit is Edgar Wright’s wheel-and-disc-spinning breakout “Baby Driver” (June 28, Sony), which has tracked $64 million worldwide to date.

Bottom Line: This brainy duo with plummy British accents have been turning out a consistent slate of smart global hits since the ’80s. The London-based co-chairmen of Working Title boast the best taste in the business. They chase mainstream quality fare. That’s their gig. But even so over the years, partnering with Universal Pictures, with freedom to greenlight movies up to $35 million, their films have grossed an impressive almost $7 billion dollars worldwide.

Career Peaks: From the start, Working Title founder Tim Bevan gravitated to local stories with global potential like “My Beautiful Laundrette,” Stephen Frears’ searing...

Welcome to Career Watch, a vocational checkup of top actors and directors, and those who hope to get there. In this edition we take on Working Title producers Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner, whose latest hit is Edgar Wright’s wheel-and-disc-spinning breakout “Baby Driver” (June 28, Sony), which has tracked $64 million worldwide to date.

Bottom Line: This brainy duo with plummy British accents have been turning out a consistent slate of smart global hits since the ’80s. The London-based co-chairmen of Working Title boast the best taste in the business. They chase mainstream quality fare. That’s their gig. But even so over the years, partnering with Universal Pictures, with freedom to greenlight movies up to $35 million, their films have grossed an impressive almost $7 billion dollars worldwide.

Career Peaks: From the start, Working Title founder Tim Bevan gravitated to local stories with global potential like “My Beautiful Laundrette,” Stephen Frears’ searing...

Director Marc Webb has been especially busy since making two Amazing Spider-Man movies for Sony, released in 2012 and 2014. He has a new movie called Gifted, starring Chris Evans, opening in select cities this Friday, and another one called The Only Living Boy in New York coming out this August.

On top of that, he's also been developing a lot of television shows as executive producer on the Emmy-winning Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and the TV version of Limitless. 

When speaking with Webb about Gifted recently, Lrm asked him about other projects he's working on.

Besides finishing up Only Living Boy and doing a television pilot with Alan Cumming called Instinct, Webb told us that he's in the early stages of developing a movie with Working Title Films called Three Bags Full. 

That would be Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Story,  Leonie Swann's 2006 novel about a flock of Irish sheep who set...

by Kyle Stevens

I was finishing up the new season of Black Mirror --which is alternately smart and smarmy, somehow managing to exaggerate reality to the point of smugness rather than satire-- when, lo and behold, who should pop up in the finale but Kelly MacDonald. And she's magnificent in it. Not being a Boardwalk Empire watcher, I hadn't really thought about her since her spectral turn as Rowena Ravenclaw in the Harry Potter movies. Then I remembered just how good she was in No Country for Old Men, Gosford Park, and even Nanny McPhee. I surprised myself by starting to fantasize Oscar-winning roles for her -- as one does. 

But there are so many worthy actresses without the big award. So to get our minds off the horrors of this past week, let's retreat into some good old-fashioned actressexual playtime. Who are your top five working actresses you'd love to see win an Oscar?...

“We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.”

– Winston Churchill

Continuing creative collaborations that began over a decade ago, premier specialty label Focus Features is reteaming with both Working Title Films, one of the world’s leading film production companies, and director Joe Wright on Darkest Hour. Focus will hold worldwide rights to the film as part of the company’s renewed global initiative; Focus will release Darkest HOURdomestically on November 24th, 2017 in the U.S. and Universal Pictures International (Upi) will distribute the film around the world, beginning with the U.K. on December 29th, 2017.

Production on Darkest Hour begins this fall.

Mr. Wright will direct Gary Oldman as Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour.

Chicago – In the latest HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 40 pairs of advance-screening movie passes up for grabs to the comedy sequel “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2” starring Nia Vardalos and John Corbett!

“My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2,” which opens on March 25, 2016 and is rated “PG-13,” also stars Michael Constantine, Joey Fatone, Lainie Kazan, Andrea Martin, Gia Carides and Elena Kampouris from director Kirk Jones and writer Nia Vardalos.

To win your free passes to “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2” courtesy of HollywoodChicago.com, just get interactive with our social media widget below. That’s it! This screening is on Monday, March 21, 2016 at 7 p.m. in downtown Chicago. The more social actions you complete, the more points you score and the higher yours odds of winning! Completing these social actions only increases your odds of winning; this doesn’t intensify your competition!

Preferably, use your computer to enter rather than your smartphone.

Gold Circle Entertainment and HBO present a Playtone production of My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2, the long-awaited follow-up to the highest-grossing romantic comedy of all time.

Written by Academy Award nominee Nia Vardalos, who stars alongside the entire returning cast of favorites, the film reveals a Portokalos family secret that will bring the beloved characters back together for an even bigger and Greeker wedding.

Kirk Jones (Nanny McPhee, Waking Ned Devine) directs the next chapter of the film that will be once again produced by Rita Wilson and Playtone partners Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman.

The film opens in theaters on March 25, 2016.

Wamg invites you to enter for a chance to win a pass (Good for 2) to the advance screening of My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 on Monday, March 21 at 7Pm in the St. Louis area.

We will contact the winners by email.

Answer the following:

2002’s My Big Fat Greek Wedding...

"That Justin Theroux guy - where do I know him from?" Depending on whom you ask, you could get a great many answers. Of course, he's the husband of Jennifer Aniston, but he's had a string of notable acting roles too. He could be that guy from The Leftovers, the actor who played the hapless director character in Mulholland Drive, Leslie Knope's short-lived boyfriend on Parks and Recreation, or even the bad guy from Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle. However, Theroux is also a screenwriter, and he's credited with a handful of major films that casual movie-goers might not associate with him.

"That Justin Theroux guy - where do I know him from?" Depending on whom you ask, you could get a great many answers. Of course, he's the husband of Jennifer Aniston, but he's had a string of notable acting roles too. He could be that guy from The Leftovers, the actor who played the hapless director character in Mulholland Drive, Leslie Knope's short-lived boyfriend on Parks and Recreation, or even the bad guy from Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle. However, Theroux is also a screenwriter, and he's credited with a handful of major films that casual movie-goers might not associate with him.

It seems as though every cult comedy of yesteryear is making a comeback in some form, whether it’s a TV offshoot or full feature-length movie in the vein of Zoolander 2. One of those forgotten gems is Joel Zwick’s My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

First released in 2002, the comedy flick introduced us to the Portokalos family in all of their weird and wacky glory, and now Universal is getting the gang back together for a bona fide reunion. If last month’s debutant trailer showcased a bigger, fatter and even more outrageous ceremony, then today’s poster for My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 teases the return of a cultural phenomenon.

Kirk Jones of Nanny McPhee fame is behind the lens for this one, which will largely orbit around the character of Toula (Nia Vardalos) coming to terms with her prized daughter making a life for herself in Paris.

Will Ferrell’s Anchorman 2, Monsters: University and – whisper it – Dumb and Dumber To, are just some examples of comedy sequels that arrived long after the release of their respective original. It’s a feat that’s proven to be a difficult butterfly to pin, with each of the aforementioned trio arriving to varying degrees of financial and critical success. Even still, that has in no way quelled the enthusiasm for the practice, and Ben Stiller’s Zoolander 2 won’t be the only follow-up arriving in 2016 after a long time spent flirting with development.

After a full 13 years, My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 is ready to dance its way onto the silver screen, and today brings forth our very first look at the long-in-development sequel. Kirk Jones (Nanny McPhee) is behind the lens for this one, aiming to create an experience that is appropriately “bigger and fatter” than the cult original.

Gold Circle Entertainment and HBO present a Playtone production of My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2, the long-awaited follow-up to the highest-grossing romantic comedy of all time.

Written by Academy Award nominee Nia Vardalos, who stars alongside the entire returning cast of favorites, the film reveals a Portokalos family secret that will bring the beloved characters back together for an even bigger and Greeker wedding.

Kirk Jones (Nanny McPhee, Waking Ned Devine) directs the next chapter of the film that will be once again produced by Rita Wilson and Playtone partners Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman. Paul Brooks and Steve Shareshian return to executive produce alongside Vardalos and Scott Niemeyer.

Universal Pictures will distribute the comedy domestically and in select international territories.

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My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 opens on March 25, 2016

The post Watch The First Trailer For My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2...

Universal Pictures has released the first trailer for "My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2."

Gold Circle Entertainment and HBO present a Playtone production of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2," the long-awaited follow-up to the highest-grossing romantic comedy of all time. Written by Academy Award nominee Nia Vardalos, who stars alongside the entire returning cast of favorites, the film reveals a Portokalos family secret that will bring the beloved characters back together for an even bigger and Greeker wedding. 

Kirk Jones ("Nanny McPhee," "Waking Ned Devine") directs the next chapter of the film that will be once again produced by Rita Wilson and Playtone partners Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman. Paul Brooks and Steven Shareshian return to executive produce alongside Vardalos and Scott Niemeyer. Universal Pictures will distribute the comedy domestically and in select international territories.

Have a look the trailer below.

"My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2" hits theaters...