I Saw The Light Review
The Plot
Tom Hiddleston stars in this biopic of country-western singer Hank Williams, chronicling his rise to fame and its tragic effect on his health and personal life.
The Good
Opening with a documentary style talking head from Bradley Whitford’s Fred Rose, co-writer and producer to the films main subject about whom he is waxing lyrical, I Saw The Light quickly moves on to a lone Tom Hiddleston, bathed in a spotlight performing a cappella. The aim of the scene is clear. Tom Hiddleston will be singing in this film, here is what he sounds like. Any doubts of Hiddleston’s musical talent are swiftly destroyed with this incredibly powerful and moving performance. And all this before we’ve even been formally introduced to the man!
The biggest praise for Marc Abraham’s biopic of country legend Hank Williams must go to Hiddleston. Completely and utterly owning the part and doing so with an incredibly compelling voice, Hiddleston is a joy to watch on screen and gives his very best performance. During the decade or so of Hank’s life that we’re taken through, performances are blissfully peppered throughout.
The Bad
Though Hiddleston’s opening scene does achieve it’s aim of taking the question of his performance away almost instantly, the story that follows it feels lost. As we are taken through Hank’s increasingly strained relationship with his wife Audrey (played by a somewhat forgettable Elizabeth Olsen) and his emaciating health battles, a lack of emotion in it’s storytelling is abundantly clear. In every scene it feels like the camera has just missed out on the inciting incident and is instead following the, frankly dull, aftermath.
The supporting cast, including the aforementioned Olsen and Whitford as well as Maddie Hasson as one of Hank’s young mistresses and 24 alumni Cherry Jones as his mother Lillie all feel disappointingly underused and ultimately inferior to Hiddleston. Looking at their back catalogue it’s clear to see it’s not the actors themselves who are the problem, but rather the absence of any interesting plot lines for their characters.
The Ugly Truth
Ultimately I Saw The Light becomes a wasted opportunity. A musical biopic that tries to go down the traditional route much akin to Walk The Line or Ray in some respects, but opens too late in Hank Williams’ life to truly give any emotional depth to the character. The only light to see in the film is that of Tom Hiddleston’s dazzling acting and vocal performances transcend the empty story.
Review by Johnny Ellis
The Nice Guys Might Get 80s Sequel
Talking to Red Carpet News at the London press conference for The Nice Guys Director Shane Black and star Russell Crowe offered their thoughts on a potential sequel to the 70s buddy comedy. Shane Black admitted he’d like to see the series turn into a franchise and move on from the 70s to the 1980s.
All I can say, as I have a bit of canoodling to do on that actually, I love this idea of a sort of time-locked franchise, which means it will never catch up to us. So the sequel will be something in the 80s on an issue of that era, so we can throw these guys up against that wall and see what sticks. I think a fun idea is a timeless private eye who proceeds through a series of historical incidents but will never get to the present day.
Meanwhile Russell Crowe teased about the fact that mentioning sequels has a habit of bringing bad luck to projects.
Interesting thing about sequels, it seems every movie I do someone asks in a press conference if there will be a sequel and then it never happens. So now you’ve f*cked it up for everyone! I mean, certainly there is a lot we can do with these characters so it could be fun. For some reason Ryan and I think the title “The Nice Guys Mexican Detectives” is hilarious and I don’t know why.
Alice Through The Looking Glass Pictures
Johnny Depp, Mia Wasikowska, Sacha Baron Cohen, Tim Burton and Director James Bobin gave a press conference in London ahead of the European Premiere for he Disney live action Alice In Wonderland sequel Through The Looking Glass. Check out a gallery of pictures and full video coverage below:
BAFTA TV Awards 2016 Winners List
Here is a full list of winners for the 2016 BAFTA TV Awards 2016. Wolf Hall, Doctor Foster, Thi is England and Peter Kay’s Car Share were among the big winners on the star studded night, with the awards ceremony attended by stars like Anna Kendrick, Mark Rylance, Justin Timberlake and Tom Hiddleston.
Leading actor
Winner: Mark Rylance, Wolf Hall
Idris Elba, Luther
Stephen Graham, This is England ’90
Ben Whishaw, London Spy
Leading actress
Winner: Suranne Jones, Doctor Foster
Claire Foy, Wolf Hall
Ruth Madeley, Don’t Take My Baby
Sheridan Smith, The C-Word
Supporting actor
Winner: Tom Courtenay, Unforgotten
Anton Lesser, Wolf Hall
Ian McKellen, The Dresser
Cyril Nri, Cucumber
Supporting actress
Winner: Chanel Cresswell, This is England ’90
Michelle Gomez, Doctor Who
Lesley Manville, River
Eleanor Worthington-Cox, The Enfield Haunting
Entertainment performance
Winner: Leigh Francis, Celebrity Juice
Stephen Fry, QI
Graham Norton, The Graham Norton Show
Romesh Ranganathan, Asian Provocateur
Male performance in a comedy programme
Winner: Peter Kay, Peter Kay’s Car Share
Hugh Bonneville, W1A
Toby Jones, Detectorists
Javone Prince, The Javone Prince Show
Female performance in a comedy programme
Winner: Michaela Coel, Chewing Gum
Sian Gibson, Peter Kay’s Car Share
Miranda Hart, Miranda
Sharon Horgan, Catastrophe
Drama series
Winner: Wolf Hall
Humans
The Last Panthers
No Offence
Single drama
Winner: Don’t Take My Baby
The C-Word
Cyberbully
The Go-Between
Mini-series
Winner: This is England ’90
Doctor Foster
The Enfield Haunting
London Spy
Soap and continuing drama
Winner: EastEnders
Coronation Street
Emmerdale
Holby City
International
Winner: Transparent
The Good Wife
Narcos
Spiral
Entertainment programme
Winner: Strictly Come Dancing
Adele at the BBC
Britain’s Got Talent
TFI Friday Anniversary Special
Comedy and comedy entertainment programme
Winner: Have I Got News For You
Charlie Brooker’s Election Wipe
QI
Would I Lie to You
Scripted comedy
Winner: Peter Kay’s Car Share
Chewing Gum
Peep Show
People Just Do Nothing
Features
Winner: The Great British Bake Off
Back in Time for Dinner
Kevin McCloud: Escape to the Wild
Travel Man
Radio Times Audience Award
Winner: Poldark
Doctor Foster
The Great British Bake Off
Humans
Making a Murderer
Peter Kay’s Car Share
Current affairs
Winner: Outbreak: The Truth about Ebola
Jihad: A British Story
Children of the Gaza War
Escape from Isis (Dispatches)
Single documentary
Winner: My Son the Jihadi
Bitter Lake
Life After Suicide
Louis Theroux: Transgender Kids
Factual series
Winner: The Murder Detectives
The Detectives
Great Ormond Street
The Tribe
Reality and constructed factual
Winner: First Dates
Gogglebox
I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!
The Secret Life of 5 Year Olds
Specialist factual
Winner: Britain’s Forgotten Slave Owners
Grayson Perry’s Dream House
The Hunt
Rudolf Nureyev: Dance to Freedom
News coverage
Winner: Channel 4 News: Paris Massacre
BBC News at Six: Paris Attacks Special
ITV News at Ten: Refugee Crisis
Sky News: From Turkey to Greece
Sport
Winner: The Ashes (Sky Sports)
The Grand National (Channel 4)
MOTD Live: FA Cup Final (BBC One)
Six Nations: Final Day (BBC One)
Live event
Winner: Big Blue Live (BBC One)
The Sound of Music Live! (ITV)
Stargazing Live: Brit in Space, Tim Peake Special (BBC Two)
The Vote (More4)
Captain America Civil War Review
The Plot
Captain America (Chris Evans) and Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr) come head to head when a fatal accident forces the Avengers to register with the United Nations in an effort to make the heroes take responsibility for the destruction they leave behind.
The Good
A month after DC kick started it’s cinematic universe by pitting Batman and Superman against each other, Marvel have followed suit in the form of Civil War. And instead of just two heroes battling each other, Captain America and Iron Man each get their own team behind them, made up of familiar faces: Black Widow (Scarlett Johannson) War Machine (Don Cheadle) and Vision (Paul Bettany) on team Iron Man, Bucky (Sebastian Stan) Falcon (Anthony Mackie), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) and Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) on team Cap.
Unlike last months big superhero mash up, Batman V Superman, Civil War feels more acceptable thanks to Marvel taking it’s time to get to this point after 2 phases and 12 films which have fleshed out the characters enough to warrant their reasons for in Captain America’s case apposing the registration act or in Iron Man’s case, welcoming it.
Directors Anthony and Joe Russo don’t seem fazed at all with this assortment of heroes and manage to balance out the fight sequences perfectly thanks to Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely’s script, even managing to introduce two new heroes into the mix with Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) and a newly rebooted Spider-Man (Tom Holland) making their first MCU appearances before they make their stand-alone debuts next year. Both characters are introduced with just enough information to give some great moments in Civil War while teasing the next chapter in their own stories.
One of the most impressive feats of Civil War is the wonderful mix of both light-hearted fun with dark and serious undertones which after the tonal mess of Batman V Superman is a blessing. Thanks mainly to Ant-Man and Spider-Man’s brilliant humour and quips during the intense fight sequences. After two previous incarnations under the wing of Sony, it feels so good to have Spider-Man back with Marvel finally.
The Bad
Unfortunately there does seem to be a lack of bravery when it comes to the fight sequences. Though shot wonderfully, at no point does any character truly feel in peril. Partly due to the fact that the actors remaining contracts are well known which alleviates any real surprises. And while the titular war between the two teams is the main event, it does seem to somewhat sideline Daniel Brühl who brings an incredibly interesting villain, Zemo. He is peppered through the film but doesn’t really get too much to do compared to others which is a shame.
The Ugly Truth
Captain America: Civil War is a great achievement from a studio now in it’s third phase of it’s cinematic universe. Taking it’s time to get to this storyline gives it more depth than it’s DC counterpart and manages to balance out the big lineup of superheroes while introducing a couple of new ones in the mix. It’s just a shame that nothing truly shocking happens.
Review by Johnny Ellis