The Matrix rumoured for a further sequel and 12 Years a Slave wins at the Indie Spirit

Tonight is Oscar night but we’re focussing on a less mainstream event. The Indie Spirit Awards tend to provide a more alternative view but this year’s results seem to be going the same way as the others.

Best Feature:

12 Years a Slave

All is Lost

Frances Ha

Inside Llewyn Davis

Nebraska

Best Director:

Steve McQueen – 12 Years a Slave

Shane Carruth – Upstream Colour

JC Chandor – All is Lost

Jeff Nichols – Mud

Alexander Payne – Nebraska

Best Leading Actor:

Matthew MacConaughey – Dallas Buyers Club

Bruce Dern – Nebraska

Chiwetel Ejiofor – 12 Years a Slave

Oscar Isaac – Inside Llewyn Davis

Michael B Jordan – Fruitvale Station

Robert Redford – All is Lost

Best Leading Actress:

Cate Blanchett – Blue Jasmine

Julie Delpy – Before Midnight

Gaby Hoffman – Crystal Fairy

Brie Larson – Short Term 12

Shailene Woodley – The Spectacular Now

Best Screenplay:

John Ridley – 12 Years a Slave

Woody Allen – Blue Jasmine

Julie Delpy, Richard Linklater, Ethan Hawke – Before Midnight

Nicole Holofcener – Enough Said

Scott Neustadter, Michael H Weber – The Spectacular Now

Best Supporting Actress:

Lupita Nyong’o – 12 Years a Slave

Melonie Diaz – Fruitvale Station

Sally Hawkins – Blue Jasmine

Yolanda Ross – Go for Sisters

June Squibb – Nebraska

Best Supporting Actor:

Jared Leto – Dallas Buyers Club

Michael Fassbender – 12 Years a Slave

Will Forte – Nebraska

James Gandolfini – Enough Said

Keith Stanfield – Short Term 12

The first Matrix film, 1999, was the biggest sci-fi game changer since Star Wars and subsequently launched itself to icon status. While massively profitable, its sequels were frostily received. Andy and Lana Wachowski haven’t quite reached those heights since, with the flop Speed Racer and the brilliant but widely misunderstood Cloud Atlas. Its now apparent that the brother/sister duo are negotiating a return to the series with a fourth, possibly fifth or sixth, instalment. Latino Review’s report doesn’t really suggest facts or speculation however stars Keanu Reeves, Hugo Weaving, Carrie Anne Moss and Laurence Fishburne have themselves become icons for their own performances as Neo, Agent Smith, Trinity and Morpheus say can we expect them to return?

The Matrix 4 – 2017?

Neeson in talks for Scorsese’s Silence and Her and Captain Phillips triumph at Writer’s Guild Awards

In loving memory of Phillip Seymour Hoffman, an Oscar winning legend and star of The Master, Capote, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and Mission: Impossible 3, who died today aged 46. July 23rd 1967 – January 2nd 2014

Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity) picked up the Director’s Guild; American Hustle, Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine), Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave), Matthew MacConaughey and Jared Leto (both Dallas Buyers Club) swept up at the Screen Actor’s Guild; Gravity and 12 Years a Slave tied and Producer’s Guild. The Guild Awards now conclude with the Writer’s Guild Awards.

Best Original Screenplay:

Her – Spike Jonze

American Hustle – Eric Warren Singer, David O’Russell

Blue Jasmine – Woody Allen

Dallas Buyers Club – Craig Borten, Melissa Wallack

Nebraska – Bob Nelson

Best Adapted Screenplay:

Captain Phillips – Billy Ray

August: Osage County – Tracy Letts

Before Midnight – Richard Linklater, Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy

Lone Survivor – Peter Berg

The Wolf of Wall Street – Terence Winter

Best Documentary Screenplay:

Stories We Tell – Sarah Polley

Dirty Wars – Jeremy Scahill, David Riker

Herblock: The Black and the White – Sara Lukinson, Michael Stevens

No Place on Earth – Janet Tobais, Paul Laikin

We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks – Alex Gibney

In TV, Breaking Bad, Veep, Days of Our Lives, House of Lies and The Colbert Report won one award each.

Just a quick snippet of news to say that two Oscar nominated legends will be teaming up for an upcoming project. Director Martin Scrosese (The Departed, Goodfellas, Taxi Driver, Shutter Island, Hugo, The Wolf of Wall Street, The Aviator, Casino, Cape Fear, The Age of Innocence, The Last Temptation of Christ, After Hours, Raging Bull, The King of Comedy and Mean Streets) has just added Liam Neeson (Taken, Schindler’s List, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight Rises, Star Wars, The Chronicles of Narnia) to the cast of the upcoming drama Silence alongside Andrew Garfield, Ken Watanabe and Adam Driver. The pair will be reuniting for the first time twelve years, the last being when the acclaimed Gangs of New York was released.

Silence – 2015

12 Years triumphs at People’s Choice Awards and new Amazing Spider-Man 2 posters

After director Steve McQueen and star Michael Fassbender were snubbed for both Hunger and Shame, they’re finally getting award recognition for 12 Years a Slave, which won Best Film at the Golden Globes and People’s Choice and shone out at the Academy Award nominations. Here’s the full list

Best Picture

12 Years a Slave

American Hustle

Captain Phillips

Dallas Buyers Club

Gravity

Her

Inside Llewyn Davis

Nebraska

Saving Mr Banks

Best Actor

Matthew MacConaughey – Dallas Buyers Club

Christian Bale – American Hustle

Bruce Dern – Nebraska

Chiwetel Ejiofor – 12 Years a Slave

Tom Hanks – Captain Phillips

Robert Redford – All is Lost

Best Actress

Cate Blanchett – Blue Jasmine

Sandra Bullock – Gravity

Judi Dench – Philomena

Brie Larson – Short Term 12

Meryl Streep – August: Osage County

Emma Thompson – Saving Mr Banks

Best Supporting Actor

Jared Leto – Dallas Buyers Club

Barkhad Abdi – Captain Philllips

Daniel Bruhl – Rush

Bradley Cooper – American Hustle

Michael Fassbender – 12 Years a Slave

James Gandolfini – Enough Said

Best Supporting Actress

Lupita Nyong’o – 12 Years a Slave

Scarlett Johansson – Her

Jennifer Lawrence – American Hustle

Julia Roberts – August: Osage County

June Squibb – Blue Jasmine

Oprah Winfrey – The Butler

Best Young Actor/Actress

Adele Exarchopoulos – Blue is the Warmest Colour

Asa Butterfield – Ender’s Game

Liam James – The Way Way Back

Sophie Nelisse – The Book Thief

Tye Sheridan – Mud

Best Acting Ensemble

American Hustle

August: Osage County

The Butler

Nebraska

12 Years a Slave

The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Director

Alfonso Cuaron – Gravity

Paul Greengrass – Captain Phillips

Spike Jonze – Her

Steve McQueen – 12 Years a Slave

David O’Russell – American Hustle

Martin Scorsese – The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Original Screenplay

Spike Jonze – Her

Eric Warren Singer, David O’Russell – American Hustle

Woody Allen – Blue Jasmine

Joel and Ethan Coen – Inside Llewyn Davis

Bob Nelson – Nebraska

Best Adapted Screenplay

John Ridley – 12 Years a Slave

Tracy Letts – August: Osage County

Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke – Before Midnight

Billy Ray – Captain Phillips

Steve Coogan, Jeff Pope – Philomena

Terence Winter – The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Cinematography

Emmannuel Lubezki – Gravity

Bruno Delbonnel – Inside Llewyn Davis

Phedon Papamichael – Nebraska

Roger Deakins – Prisoners

Sean Bobbit – 12 Years a Slave

Best Art Direction

The Great Gatsby

Gravity

Her

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

12 Years a Slave

Best Editing

Gravity

American Hustle

Captain Phillips

Rush

12 Years a Slave

The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Costume Design

The Great Gatsby

American Hustle

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Saving Mr Banks

12 Years a Slave

Best Hair and Make-up

American Hustle

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

The Butler

Rush

12 Years a Slave

Best Visual Effects

Gravity

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Iron Man 3

Pacific Rim

Star Trek Into Darkness

Best Animated Feature

Frozen

The Croods

Despicable Me 2

Monsters University

The Wind Rises

Best Action Movie

Lone Survivor

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Iron Man 3

Rush

Star Trek Into Darkness

Best Actor in an Action Movie

Mark Wahlberg – Lone Survivor

Henry Cavill – Man of Steel

Robert Downey Jr – Iron Man 3

Brad Pitt – World War Z

Best Comedy

American Hustle

Enough Said

The Heat

This is the End

The Way Way Back

The World’s End

Best Actor in a Comedy

Leonardo Di Caprio – The Wolf of Wall Street

Christian Bale – American Hustle

James Gandolfini – Enough Said

Simon Pegg – The World’s End

Sam Rockwell – The Way Way Back

Best Actress in a Comedy

Amy Adams – American Hustle

Sandra Bullock – The Heat

Greta Gerwig – Frances Ha

Julia Louis Dreyfus – Enough Said

Melissa McCarthy – The Heat

Best Sci-fi Horror Movie

Gravity

The Conjuring

Star Trek Into Darkness

Iron Man 3

Best Foreign Language Film

Blue is the Warmest Colour

The Great Beauty

The Hunt

The Past

Best Documentary Feature

20 Feet From Stardom

The Act of Killing

Blackfish

Stories We Tell

Tim’s Vermeer

Best Song

Let it Go – Frozen

Atlas – The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Happy – Despicable Me 2

Ordinary Love – Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

Please Mr Kennedy – Inside Llewyn Davis

Young and Beautiful – The Great Gatsby

Best Score

Stephen Price – Gravity

William Butler, Owen Pallett – Her

Thomas Newman – Saving Mr Banks

Hans Zimmer – 12 Years a Slave

Gravity has won the most awards with an impressive six wins but it’s 12 Years a Slave’s day as it picked up Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress and Best Adapted Screenplay. American Hustle gained four wins while Frozen, The Great Gatsby, Blue is the Warmest Colour and Lone Survivor got two. I’m not going to do in depth analysis but I’m stilled surprised Her is being praised as an “original” and “fresh” premise as it has exactly the same plot as a Big Bang Theory episode where a lonely Raj (Kunal Nayyar) falls in love with his I-Phone’s Siri. I’m probably not the first to say it but I haven’t heard anyone else pick up on it.

The only other major piece of news is the stunning new poster for Marvel and Sony’s superhero sequel The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Marc Webb directs and Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Paul Giamatti, Sally Field, Dane DeHaan and Chris Cooper star but today’s focus is the hopefully terrifying new villain Electro, played by Ray, Collateral and Django Unchained’s Jamie Foxx.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – April 18th

The 2014 Academy Awards nominations are in!

After the tense but unfocused Argo triumphed over the brilliant Les Miserables, Lincoln and Beasts of the Southern Wild at the last Oscars, I’m not sure that the Academy Award Best Picture is the best judge of what really is the best film of the year but it’s certainly the most prestigious honour any movie can receive. This year features plenty of strong contenders but some stars have seen some shocking snubs.

Best Picture

12 Years a Slave

American Hustle

Captain Phillips

Dallas Buyers Club

Gravity

Her

Nebraska

Philomena

The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Director

Steve McQueen – 12 Years a Slave

David O’Russell – American Hustle

Alfonso Cuaron – Gravity

Alexander Payne – Nebraska

Martin Scorsese – The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Original Screenplay

Eric Warren Singer, David O’Russell – American Hustle

Woody Allen – Blue Jasmine

Bob Nelson – Nebraska

Craig Borten, Melisa Wallack – Dallas Buyers Club

Spike Jonze – Her

Best Adapted Screenplay

John Ridley – 12 Years a Slave

Billy Ray – Captain Phillips

Steve Coogan, Jeff Pope – Philomena

Terence Winter – The Wolf of Wall Street

Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke, Richard Linklater – Before Midnight

Best Actor

Bruce Dern – Nebraska

Chiwetel Ejiofor – 12 Years a Slave

Christian Bale – American Hustle

Leonardo Di Caprio – The Wolf of Wall Street

Matthew MacConaughey – Dallas Buyers Club

Best Actress

Amy Adams – American Hustle

Cate Blanchett – Blue Jasmine

Meryl Streep – August: Osage County

Judi Dench – Philomena

Sandra Bullock – Gravity

Best Supporting Actor

Barkhad Abdi – Captain Phillips

Bradley Cooper – American Hustle

Michael Fassbender – 12 Years a Slave

Jonah Hill – The Wolf of Wall Street

Jared Leto – Dallas Buyers Club

Best Supporting Actress

Jennifer Lawrence – American Hustle

Julia Roberts – August: Osage County

Lupita Nyong’o – 12 Years a Slave

Sally Hawkins – Blue Jasmine

June Squibb – Nebraska

Best Animated Film

The Croods

Despicable Me 2

Ernest & Celestine

Frozen

The Wind Rises

Best Original Score

Philomena – Alexander Desplat

The Book Thief – John Williams

Gravity – Stephen Price

Saving Mr Banks – Thomas Newman

Her – William Butler, Owen Pallett

Best Original Song

Alone Yet Not Alone – Alone Yet Not Alone

Happy – Despicable Me 2

Let it Go – Frozen

The Moon Song – Her

Ordinary Love – Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

Best Cinematography

The Grandmaster – Phillipe Le Sourd

Gravity – Emmanuel Lubezki

Inside Llewyn Davis – Bruno Delbonnel

Nebraska – Phedon Papamichael

Prisoners – Roger Deakins

Best Editing

American Hustle

12 Years a Slave

Captain Phillips

Dallas Buyers Club

Gravity

Best Production Design

12 Years a Slave

American Hustle

Her

Gravity

The Great Gatsby

Best Costume Design

American Hustle – Michael Wilkinson

The Great Gatsby – Catherine Martin

The Invisible Woman – Michael O’Connor

The Grandmaster – William Chang Suk Ping

12 Years a Slave – Patricia Norris

Best Make-Up

Dallas Buyers Club

Jackass: Bad Grandpa

The Lone Ranger

Best Sound Editing

All is Lost

Captain Phillips

Gravity

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Lone Survivor

Best Sound Mixing

Captain Phillips

Gravity

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Inside Llewyn Davis

Lone Survivor

Best Visual Effects

Gravity

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Iron Man 3

Star Trek Into Darkness

The Lone Ranger

Best Foreign Language Film

Broken Circle Breakdown – Belgium

The Great Beauty – Italy

The Hunt – Denmark

The Missing Picture – Cambodia

Omar – Palestine

Best Animated Short

Feral

Get a Horse

Mr Hublot

Possessions

Room on the Broom

Best Documentary

The Act of Killing

Cutie and the Boxer

Dirty Wars

The Square

20 Feet From Stardom

Best Documentary Short

Cavedigger

Facing Fear

Karama Has No Walls

The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life

Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall

Best Live-Action Short

Aquel No Era Yo

Just Before Losing Everything

Helium

Do I Have to Take Care of Everything

The Voorman

The unsurprising leaders are 12 Years a Slave, eight nominations, Gravity, ten honours, and American Hustle, also ten nominations. Both Dallas Buyers Club and The Wolf of Wall Street gained five, Captain Phillips and Nebraska scored an impressive six while Her and Philomena followed up with four. Blue Jasmine got three while, with its two star actresses, August: Osage County scraped into the shortlists with two, as did animations Frozen and Despicable Me 2 and documentary The Act of Killing and martial-arts based The Grandmaster. In the more technical areas, Captain Phillips and Gravity made a big impact while The Great Gatsby, The Lone Ranger, Lone Survivor and Inside Llewyn Davis got two, The Hobbit:The Desolation of Smaug got three and Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, Jackass: Bad Grandpa, The Book Thief, All is Lost and The Invisible Woman pushed their way in with just one nomination each.

There are some shocking snubs. Blue is the Warmest Colour is the most obvious one. I thought that this Palme D’Or was bound to not only win Best Foreign Language Film but also pick up nominations for Best Leading Actress, Best Director and Best Picture but didn’t even get one honour. Captain Phillips’ Tom Hanks and Paul Greengrass were respectively left out of Best Actor and Best Director. Saving Mr Banks, All is Lost, Prisoners and Inside Llewyn Davis were left of some of the awards they were favoured for while the hugely popular The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and Rush were completely bereft of recognition. Saving Mr Banks was one of the most loved efforts of the year and yet only finds itself with one nomination; Emma Thompson, Tom Hanks, Colin Farrel and director John Lee Hancock were all snubbed. I also think that Lone Survivor and The Book Thief will be disappointed with their small hoards.

In terms of potential winners, Gravity will no doubt win the most awards but 12 Years a Slave may just beat off the main competition from Gravity and American Hustle to win Best Picture. I think the winners of the “big five” will be Alfonso Cuaron (director of Gravity), Leonardo Di Caprio (actor of The Wolf of Wall Street), Cate Blanchett (actress of Blue Jasmine), Michael Fassbender (supporting actor of 12 Years a Slave) and Jennifer Lawrence (supporting actress of American Hustle).

The show itself will be on ABC in America or Sky Movies in the UK on March 2nd and will be hosted by Ellen Degeneres.

The 86th Academy Awards – March 2nd on ABC and Sky Movies

Golden Globes winners plus Fassbender, Weaving and more for Star Wars 7

It’s over a month it’ll we reach what I consider to be the main events of the award season, the Oscars, Academy Awards, and BAFTA, British Academy of Film and Television Awards, but the Golden Globes possibly give the most accurate early insight into who’s leading the way to bringing home Best Picture. The show, hosted by Amy Poehler and Tina Fey, was held on Sunday and heralded these results.

Best Motion Picture – Drama:

12 Years a Slave

Captain Phillips

Gravity

Philomena

Rush

Best Actress – Drama

Cate Blanchett – Blue Jasmine

Sandra Bullock – Gravity

Judi Dench – Philomena

Emma Thompson – Saving Mr Banks

Kate Winslet – Labor Day

Best Actor – Drama

Matthew MacConaughey – Dallas Buyers Club

Chiwetel Ejiofor – 12 Years a Slave

Idris Elba – Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

Tom Hanks – Captain Phillips

Robert Redford – All is Lost

Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical

American Hustle

Her

Inside Llewyn Davis

Nebraska

The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Actor – Comedy or Musical

Leonardo Di Caprio – The Wolf of Wall Street

Christian Bale – American Hustle

Bruce Dern – Nebraska

Oscar Isaac – Inside Llewyn Davis

Joaquin Phoenix – Her

Best Actress – Comedy or Musical

Amy Adams – American Hustle

Julie Delpy – Before Midnight

Greta Gerwig – Frances Ha

Julia Louis Dreyfus – Enough Said

Meryl Streep – August: Osage County

Best Supporting Actor

Jared Leto – Dallas Buyers Club

Barkhad Abdi – Captain Phillips

Daniel Bruhl – Rush

Bradley Cooper – American Hustle

Michael Fassbender – 12 Years a Slave

Best Supporting Actress

Jennifer Lawrence – American Hustle

Sally Hawkins – Blue Jasmine

Lupita Nyong’o – 12 Years a Slave

Julia Roberts – August: Osage County

June Squibb – Nebraska

Best Screenplay

Spike Jonze – Her

Bob Nelson – Nebraska

Jeff Pope, Steve Coogan – Philomena

John Ridley – 12 Years a Slave

Eric Warren Singer, David O’Russell – American Hustle

Best Director

Alfonso Cuaron – Gravity

Paul Greengrass – Captain Phillips

Steve McQueen – 12 Years a Slave

Alexander Payne – Nebraska

David O’Russell – American Hustle

Best Animated Feature

Frozen

The Croods

Despicable Me 2

Best Foreign Language Film

The Great Beauty

Blue is the Warmest Colour

The Hunt

The Wind Rises

Best Original Score

All is Lost

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

Gravity

The Book Thief

12 Years a Slave

Best Original Song

“Ordinary Love” – Mandela Long Walk to Freedom

“Atlas” – The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

“Let it Go” – Frozen

“Please Mr Kennedy” – Inside Llewyn Davis

“Sweeter Than Fiction” – One Chance

American Hustle leads the way with three wins but it’s Dallas Buyers Club, Gravity and 12 Years a Slave that’ll be remembered for last night’s success. The victories Alfonso Cuaron, Jennifer Lawrence, Cate Blanchett, Leonardo Di Caprio and Matthew MacConaughey were expected but there’s some real surprises with Spike Jonze, Amy Adams and Jared Leto picking up Globes.

I’ll give a quick review on the TV results. As expected, the final season of Breaking Bad won Best Drama and Best Actor, for Bryan Cranston, while Robin Wright won the Globe for Best Actress with Netflix’s House of Cards. In comedy, brand new cop show Brooklyn Nine-Nine caused an upset for the bookies as it starred taking Best Comedy and Best Actor (Adam Sandberg) in a Comedy from favourites such as The Big Bang Theory, Arrested Development, Girls and Modern Family. Steven Soderbergh’s Behind the Candelabra won both Best Mini-Series or TV Movie and Best Actor in a Mini-Series for Michael Douglas while Elizabeth Moss (Top of the Lake) won the corresponding Best Actress award. Jacqueline Bisset (Dancing on the Edge) and Jon Voight (Ray Donovan) respectively won Best Supporting Actress and Actor.

Star Wars: Episode VII, as you know, is an upcoming sci-fi reboot of George Lucas’ classic ’77 – ’83 trilogy that gained an poor name thanks to Lucas’ failed prequel ’99 – ’05 trilogy. JJ Abrams (Star Trek Into Darkness, Super 8, Lost, Felicity) will direct the new instalment that’s seen a number of intriguing cast rumours.

Benedict Cumberbatch, Daniel Day Lewis, and Chiwetel Ejiofor have gone round the rumour mill while Soarise Ronan, Jack O’Connell, Michael B Jordan and Sullivan Stapleton are confirmed to have had auditions. The Episode VII producers took a tour of Britain with open auditions across about five or six cities to find fresh face and old Star Wars favourites Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Billy Dee Williams, Peter Mayhew, Kenny Baker, Warwick Davis, Samuel L Jackson and Anthony Daniels are rumoured to reprise their roles.

Now, four fresh entrants to the series are in contention but, before you accuse this as a wild guess, consider that the closer we get to the film’s release, the more accurate the rumours’ll be. The latest batch of potential Star Warriors are Michael Fassbender, Hugo Weaving, Jesse Plemons and Adam Driver.

The Irish/Germanic Fassbender is probably the most known of the four. He’s equally spread between mainstream and award worthy performances after leading box-office success with Prometheus, Inglorious, X-Men: First Class and 300 and winning the critics in the more art-house Shame, Hunger and 12 Years a Slave, for which he’s tipped for Oscar success. I’m not sure if Fassbender will sign on as he’s already doing X-Men: Days of Future Past, Frank, Untitled Terrence Malick project, Assassin’s Creed, MacBeth and Prometheus 2 already lined up.

The other three are much more likely candidates. Hugo Weaving (The Matrix’s Mr Smith, The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit’s Elrond, Captain America’s Red Skull, V for Vendetta, Cloud Atlas’ Mrs Noakes), Adam Driver (Frances Ha, Lincoln, Inside Llewyn Davis and Girls’ Adam Sackler) and Jesse Plemons (Breaking Bad’s Todd, Friday Night Lights, Battleship, Paul) are the other three stars rumoured for Star Wars. Casting venerable stars such as Weaving is fine as long as they don’t waste them on pointless politician roles, see Terence Stamp as Chancellor Valorum. There was a rumour that a casting call went out for the role of Obi-Wan Kenobi’s daughter or granddaughter but that may just be fiction.

Star Wars: Episode VII – December 18th 2015

First trailers for The Invisible Woman and I, Frankenstein plus Tarantino’s films of 2013 and new casting for Home

Aaron Eckhart’s upcoming action I, Frankenstein looks like it could be the big dark fantasy of 2014. Stuart Beattie was the writer of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and director of teen adventure Tomorrow, When the War Began and now this effects filled horror. The Frankenstein Monster (Eckhart) is now a 200 year old living in present day hiding under the name of Adam. He’s recruited to end a war between two immortal clans with his surprising superhuman strength and agility. Bill Nighy (Love Actually), Yvonne Strahovski (Dexter), Jai Courtney (A Good Day to Die Hard), Miranda Otto (The Lord of the Rings) and Caitlin Stasey (Tomorrow, When the War Began) make up the cast for this film and all feature in this new trailer which offers a first glimpse at the film.

Our next trailer is for The Invisible Woman. Ralph Fiennes (Skyfall, Harry Potter, Schindler’s List, The English Patient) stars in and directs the new period drama in which he portrays Charles Dickens in the classic Victorian author’s relatively untold true story. Despite being married and at the height of his career, finds himself obsessed with his younger secret lover Nelly Ternan (Felicity Jones). Kristn Scott Thomas (Only God Forgives), Michelle Fairly (Game of Thrones) and Tom Hollander (Rev, Gosford Park) also star.

Moving on, there’s been some new additions to the cast of Home. This Dreamworks (Kung-Fu Panda, Shrek, How to Train Your Dragon animation is about a quirky group of aliens called the Boov landing on Earth to seek refuge from their villainous enemies. Joining three time Emmy award winner Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory) and pop star Rihanna (who had brief acting experience in Battleship) are 5 time Golden Globe nominee Steve Martin (The Jerk, Three Amigos) and Jennifer Lopez (Out of Sight)

Finally, we have the Top Ten films of the year so far according to legendary director Quentin Tarantino (Kill Bill, Reservoir Dogs and many others). The two time Oscar winner has released his expert view on the year’s releases so far and it’s got a good mix of mainstream hits and indie dramas.

1. Afternoon Daylight (Jill Soloway)
2. Before Midnight (Richard Linklater)
3. Blue Jasmine (Woody Allen)
4. The Conjuring (James Wan)
5. Drinking Buddies (Joe Swanberg)
6. Frances Ha (Noah Baumbach)
7. Gravity (Alfonso Cauron)
8. Kick-Ass 2 (Jeff Wadlow)
9. The Lone Ranger (Gore Verbinski)
10. This is the End (Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg)

There’s quite a few surprises in this list. Before Midnight, Blue Jasmine, Frances Ha and Gravity were likely due to their good (excellent, in Gravity’s case) reviews. Drinking Buddies and Afternoon Daylight I haven’t seen but they didn’t seem to be major critical successes with US critics (mainly 3 star reviews) but they seem to have struck a chord with Tarantino. There’s also four massively mainstream releases in the list (which is surprising for the director known for making the kind of action films that flip the genre). Kick-Ass 2 wasn’t a hit with even some of the fans of the first film but the increased violence of the sequel was unlikely to put off the director of Pulp Fiction. The Lone Ranger (which I applauded in my review of Verbinki’s Western) pushed many US critics into the zone of reviewing the film before they’ve seen it but Tarantino’s interest in the Western genre after his huge success with Django Unchained. The most surprising perhaps are This is the End which seemed a just above average comedy and The Conjuring which is a fairly soft-core horror.

The Invisible Woman – February 7th 2014

I, Frankenstein – 24th January 2014

Home – 5th December 2014