Bob Hoskins Dies at 71
Bob Hoskins has sadly passed away at the age of 71 as a result of pneumonia. The sad news was confirmed by his family in the following statement:
“We are devastated by the loss of our beloved Bob. Bob died peacefully at hospital last night surrounded by family, following a bout of pneumonia.We ask that you respect our privacy during this time and thank you for your messages of love and support.”
His daughter Rosa also added her own heartfelt tribute:
“My darling Dad has died, I loved him to the ends of the earth and he loved me back just the same.”
Hoskins was a BAFTA winning Oscar nominated actor best known for lead roles in classic films like The Long Good Friday and Who Framed Roger Rabbit. His final performance was in Snow White and The Huntsman, shortly before his 2012 retirement from acting following a diagnosis of parkinsons.
His Long Good Friday co-star Dame Helen Mirren lead a chorus of celebrity tributes to the iconic British actor saying he was:
“A great actor and an even greater man” whose “inimitable energy… seemed like a spectacular firework rocket just as it takes off”.
Plastic World Premiere Pictures
Crime drama Plastic had it’s world premiere in London tonight and stars including Will Poulter, Ed Speleers and Emma Rigby walked the red carpet alongside celebrity guests. Check out a full gallery of pictures below:
Pompeii Review
The Plot:
A gladiator fighting for his life in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius finds himself confronted by the corrupt Roman soldiers who massacred his family while also meeting his true love. When the volcano erupts he finds himself in a race against time to escape the burning city with his beloved and take his revenge.
The Good:
Game Of Thrones star Kit Harington graduates to the big screen for his debut role as a leading man. At least nobody can fault the considerable effort it must have taken to chisel his body into a convincingly muscled torso. Though short of stature the young British star is certainly a lean fighting machine, with tousled hair and a well displayed six pack giving him some credibility as an emerging action star. Armed with a gruff voice and minimal dialogue Harington graduates with some success from being part of a small screen ensemble.
Lost star Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje also delivers a pleasantly heroic turn as gladiator superstar Atticus. Towering a little over his co-star and adding even more convincing muscle to the film’s fight scenes. The film is in truth probably at its best when the pair of gladiators are battling for their lives in the Coliseum.
Cast in a shamelessly villainous role as a ruthless roman senator, Kiefer Sutherland clearly relishes the opportunity to ham things up as a pantomime villain. The 24 star has a sneering charisma on screen which keeps things comfortably watchable and even manages to briefly distract from the impending destruction of the city.
From its early Gladiator-esque drama, to its explosive final scenes, Pompeii never fails to at least hold audience’s attention. It also deserves some credit for creating actual characters and a plot, instead of lazily relying on just the promise of massive explosions to hook audience’s attention. Michael Bay… take note.
The Bad:
The Pompeii posters carry the tagline ‘No Warning No Escape’, unfortunately anyone with a basic grasp of world history or who has seen the film’s trailer knows exactly what’s coming. An over eager promotional campaign perhaps revealed a little too much detail of Pompeii’s inevitable fiery CGI destruction. It’s hard to create distracting subplots surrounding actual characters and their lives when audiences are mostly waiting to watch the world’s most infamous volcanic eruption.
When Vesuvius finally does start raining fire and destruction down upon Pompeii the special effects are competent but unlikely to create the sense of shock and awe which classic disaster movies once seemed capable of. Audiences are now so accustomed to CGI destruction, that cartoonish tidal waves or fireballs probably won’t impress anyone. Unfortunately, there are also a few moments near the end of the film of less than convincing CGI work during an increasingly implausible horseback chase.
The film perhaps fails to make the most of acting talents like Jared Harris and Carrie-Anne Moss, both given scarce screen time in brief supporting roles. Meanwhile, it gives love interest Emily Browning far too much attention, lingering frequently on her pretty but ineffectual performance.
Pompeii’s most obvious flaw is that even as the action ramps up towards an explosive climax it takes persistent breaks for dramatic monologues and unnecessarily contrived fight scenes. The film struggles forlornly to maintain its early subplots amidst an increasing mess of explosive scenery. It’s impossible to ignore the obvious fact that instead of fighting with each other or making heartfelt declarations all the characters should just be running away from the approaching wall of flames and molten lava.
The Ugly Truth:
Pompeii delivers a mostly satisfying CGI spectacle and physical performances from a clearly enthusiastic cast. The film ambitiously tries to be a combination of Titanic and Gladiator. Though it lacks the romance and credible drama of both, the result is a watchable ‘disaster movie’ effort none the less.
Premiere video interviews below:
Sundance London 2014 Pictures
The Sundance London Film and Music Festival 2014 took place over the weekend at the O2 Arena showcasing a selection of the very best in independent cinema and music content. This year’s festival saw the UK premiere of numerous titles including new films from Ryan Reynolds, Gemma Arterton, Rose McGowan, David Cross, Steve Coogan and Michael Fassbender. Check out a selection of pictuer galleries below featuring all the stars.
Transcendence Review
The Plot:
Dr Will Caster, a brilliant scientist on the verge of creating a powerful new artificial intelligence, is fatally injured in an assassination attempt by a violent anti-technology organisation. His desperate wife and best friend help copy his consciousness onto a computer as he slowly dies. But who or what have they really created…?
The Good:
Christopher Nolan’s critically acclaimed cinematographer Wally Pfister makes a solid directing debut, with a movie that actually bears many of Nolan’s hallmarks. Transcendence is an intelligent science fiction film that refreshingly relies more on big ideas than big explosions. It shuns cheap theatrics and superfluous action set pieces in favour of a serious exploration of the growing interface between man and machine.
The film packs artificial intelligence, nano-technology, gene therapies, matter manipulation, hive minds and environmental control into one simple and cohesive narrative. It’s a story that also manages to avoid all the usual genre clichés of secret government organisations or megalomaniac billionaire villains. For science fiction fans it’s likely to be a welcome change from a lazy combination of Transformers and pyrotechnics.
The film is helped along by a genuinely impressive cast which includes Johnny Depp, Rebecca Hall, Morgan Freeman, Cillian Murphy, Kate Mara and Paul Bettany. Rebecca Hall in particular carries much of the film, as her character struggles to reconcile her love for her husband with her growing uncertainty about what ‘he’ is becoming. Johnny Depp and his familiar husky tones also breathe convincing electronic life into the increasingly omniscient and morally ambiguous digital copy of Dr Will Caster.
The Bad:
Although Transcendence touches readily on a whole range of interesting philosophical and technological issues, in truth there’s actually fairly limited discussion surrounding these ideas. Clever concepts provide the film with plot points and a sense of narrative momentum, but never quiet give it the same aura of profound depth that film’s like Inception accomplished with much simpler ideas. Perhaps with Nolan directing and help from a Hans Zimmer soundtrack the film could have attracted enough attention/emotion to have an impact on pop culture and at the box office.
Fans expecting typical blockbuster action may be left disappointed by the films slow burning technological drama. Though it might be welcomed from a low-budget indie effort, it’s not what audiences naturally expect from a heavily marketed Hollywood film with a $100million dollar budget and a truly A-List cast.
Much of the cast have little to do with their considerable talents. Morgan Freeman, Cillian Murphy and Kate Mara could all easily have been replaced by less familiar and gifted performers. Their mere presence lends the film credibility at the cost of heighted audience expectations that are never truly met.
The Ugly Truth:
Transcendence deserves much better than its weak box office opening. It’s actually a thoughtful and well-crafted technological thriller that echoes many classic sci-fi films and explores intriguing possibilities for mankind’s future.