The Fault In Our Stars Review

Plot:

John Green’s hit teen romance novel is brought to the big screen with Divergent stars Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort as the troubled couple. When terminally ill Hazel meets Gus at her cancer support group they quickly become friends.  Hazel soon finds it hard to avoid escalating romantic feelings between them despite her intention of making sure her inevitable death affects as few people as possible.

The Good:

Shailene Woodley first caught attention in The Descendants as George Clooney’s troublesome daughter. A film in which she showed she can has the raw acting ability needed to make cinema audiences everywhere cry their eyes out. In The Fault In Our Stars she proves it yet again and even manages to surpass her previous efforts.

Hazel is cynical from the start and readily displays a sharply acerbic wit. However, importantly her attitude rarely seems particularly angry. When films approach the sensitive subject of cancer and adolescence it’s often hard to avoid the cliché of merely making characters constantly abrasive and hostile. By welcome contrast Shailene Woodley’s performance feels simply matter-of-fact. The fact being that she will probably die in the near future. Woodley brings Hazel to life flawlessly and doesn’t beg for audiences pity.

When Hazel meets Gus (Elgort) the connection is instantly easy to see. Woodley and Elgort capture a raw chemistry that will have you smiling from ear to ear. Gus’ easygoing attitude and self-evident love for Hazel is incredibly beautiful. Particularly as Gus goes to incredible lengths to demonstrate his love, such as his quest to find out what happens after the end of Hazel’s favourite book.

In the aftermath of Divergent, Woodley and Elgort both prove more than capable headlining a film, each injecting considerable personality and subtle poignancy.

The Bad:

Whilst the two young leads do bring an incredibly realistic chemistry to the screen, the story feels strangely familiar. Though it will inevitably bring tears, it will also bring along with it memories of other films of the same subject matter. One such example is My Sisters Keeper, which shares themes and emotional resonance if not necessarily matching plot points.

Willem Defoe’s undoubted talents are largely left unused during his appearance as Peter Van Houten, the author of Hazel’s favorite book. Likewise much of the supporting cast fade into the background, including Hazel’s Parents. The film sacrifices attention to its supporting figures to streamline its romantic narrative and fix focus firmly on its young leads. It’s understandable but denies the film some interesting territory to explore.

The Ugly Truth:

The Faults In Our Stars largely deserves it’s box office hype and delivers a well-crafted adaptation of John Green’s beautiful novel. Led ably by the performance its two young stars the film will linger in the hearts and minds of audiences long after they’ve wiped away the tears.

One For The Boys Fashion Ball

One For The Boys, a charity founded by Sofia Davis and chaired by Samuel L. Jackson is set to reach the world’s men by uniting stars from every genre.  Uniting the man’s worlds of sport, music, food, film, comedy, television and exploration for one night only, the Fashion Ball will launch the One For The Boys campaign – the first of its kind to fight every type of male cancer.

With a special guest host showing the boys how it’s done, stars including Tinie Tempah, Bear Grylls, Mr Hudson, David Walliams, Greg Minnaar, Simon Pegg, Daniel Bruhl, Richard Jones, George Lamb, Graham Norton, Jeremy Piven, will take to the catwalk for the ultimate men’s ‘fashion moment’.

Creating an exquisite musical backdrop to the grand surroundings of the Natural History Museum’s Central Hall, Paloma Faith will exclusively perform for the 200-strong star-studded audience, including leading ladies Amanda Holden, Sophie Ellis Bextor and Lara Stone.

Bringing in support from his film co-stars, Samuel L Jackson will be joined by Margot Robbie and Chris Evans, straight from the film sets of Avengers and Tarzan.

Uniting the world of fashion during the international fashion week dedicated to men, London Collections: Men, designers including Alexander McQueen, Asprey, Fendi, Giorgio Armani, Hugo Boss, Richard James and Y-3, will add a touch of style to the Fashion Ball catwalk.

Guests will be treated to a Moët & Chandon reception and a fine dining experience by a dream team of Michelin star chefs including Michael Caines MBE, Marcus Wareing and Jason Atherton, before a silent auction, raising funds for the charity.

Samuel L. Jackson, Chairman of One For The Boys, comments,

“One For The Boys shines a little blue in the world of cancer campaigning – something I believe to be overdue.  Men don’t tend to talk about their health issues, worrying about appearing vulnerable.  The problem is that they do not have enough information on the subject.  One For The Boys focuses on cutting through the noise to educate men, in the hope that we can have a similar reach to that of the pink campaigns.    London Collections: Men gives us the perfect launch platform this June.”

The One For The Boys Fashion Ball kick-starts a series of events throughout June to November, to raise awareness and funds for male cancer, launching the inaugural Men’s Movement, owning the month of June every year – a month truly dedicated to men.

One For The Boys was founded in October 2012 by Sofia Davis as a tribute to a friend’s brother who lost the battle to cancer.  Chaired by Samuel L. Jackson and supported by global ambassadors including Michael Douglas, Nick Candy, Dylan Jones, Simon Pegg and John Bishop, One For The Boys arms men with the facts, the risks and tools they need to tackle cancer head on.

To find out more about One For The Boys, the One For The Boys Fashion Ball and how to support the 2014 Men’s Movement, go to www.onefortheboys.com and follow @One4TheBoys #OFTBFashionBall. To purchase tickets, email fashionball@onefortheboys.com

Video Clip of Samuel L Jackson below talking about the importance of Male Cancer Awareness:

Ron Perlman Still Fighting For Hellboy 3

Speaking at the world premiere of his latest film in London’s East End Film Festival, Hellboy star Ron Perlman told Red Carpet News how he really feels about the long hoped for final chapter in the franchise.

The big screen adaptation of Mike Mignola’s iconic comic series and its 2008 sequel Hellboy II: The Golden Army was intended to set up a trilogy. However despite vocal enthusiasm from director Guillermo Del Toro and devoted fans, production on Hellboy 3 has been tragically stalled for many years.

Though critically well received and adored by fans, Hellboy II ‘underperformed’ at the box office, due in large part to opening alongside The Dark Knight. Unfortunately it evidently seems to have put Universal off gambling on a spectacular big budget conclusion to the series.

With last year’s release of Pacific Rim there was excited speculation that Legendary Pictures may have an interest in making Hellboy 3 if all the relevant rights issues could be resolved with Universal. But given that the studio hasn’t even sanctioned a Pacific Rim sequel yet, such hopes seem increasingly unlikely.

However, during a rare visit to the UK, big red himself Ron Perlman shared his continued and emphatic determination for making Hellboy 3 a reality. Here’s exactly what he had to say:

“I’d like to finish it. I’d like for there to be a third film because the first two films were set up for this huge resolve and he (Guillermo Del Toro) already understands what that resolve will look like. He never gave me the nuts and bolts of it, but he gave me a rather broad strokes sketch of what the third film would look like and it’s so epic and so deserved by the fans that hung in there for the first two that I really feel as though it’s essential that we make it. So I fight for it every day. Sometimes I’m the only voice and sometimes there are others, but I’m never going to stop trying to get Hellboy 3 made!”

Perlman’s inspiring enthusiasm for the project may help fans keep alive faint hopes of finally seeing Del Toro’s grand vision for the series become a reality.

Full Length 6 Minute Interview below:

 

Del Toro Won’t Direct Beauty And The Beast

Guillermo Del Toro has officially dropped out of directing Warner Bros Beauty And The Beast in the wake of the recent news that Disney are planning their own live-action imagining of the tale as old as time. Warner Bros will now turns to another director to helm the project based the current draft of Del Toro’s script and presumably with star Emma Watson still attached.

While Del Toro will produce the new film, he is currently working on a speculative script for a potential Pacific Rim sequel and has haunted house horror Crimson Peak due out next year.

Sigourney Weaver & Stephen Lang Join Avatar Sequels

Sigourney Weaver and Stephen Lang are apparently going to feature in all all three Avatar sequels, despite both of their characters being emphatically killed off in the first film. Explaining the unlikely casting news for Weaver Director James Cameron said:

“We’re good friends who’ve always worked well together, so it just feels right that she’s coming back for the Avatar sequels. Her character of Grace Augustine, as fans know, died in the first movie, so she’s playing a different and in many ways more challenging character in the upcoming films.”

Cameron also discussed the subject of Lang’s return and potential status as principal villain for the entire franchise in another recent interview:

“Steven was so memorable in the first film, we’re privileged to have him back. I’m not going to say exactly HOW we’re bringing him back, but it’s a science fiction story, after all. His character will evolve into really unexpected places across the arc of our new three-film saga. I really look forward to working with such a gifted actor, who’s also become a good friend.”