London Film Festival 2013 Tickets On Sale Today

Tickets go on sale this morning at 9.30am for this years 57th BFI London Film Festival. Tickets are available for BFI members ahead of the going on sale to the general public on 20th September. Go to: http://www.bfi.org.uk/ for more information and to purchase tickets.

The Festival will screen a total of 234 fiction and documentary features, including 22 World Premieres, 16 International Premieres, 29 European Premieres and 20 Archive films. There will also be screenings of 134 live action and animated shorts. A stellar line-up of directors, cast and crew are expected to take part in career interviews, master classes and other special events. The 57th BFI London Film Festival will run from 9-20 October 2013.

Taking place over 12 days, the Festival’s screenings are at venues across the capital, from the West End cinemas – Odeon West End, Vue West End, Odeon Leicester Square and a new addition this year the Cineworld Haymarket; central London venues – BFI Southbank; the ICA, Curzon Mayfair, and Ciné Lumière; and local cinemas – Ritzy Brixton, Hackney Picturehouse, Renoir, Everyman Screen on the Green and Rich Mix. Additional screenings and events will take place at the Curzon Chelsea, BFI London IMAX and Village Underground.

OPENING & CLOSING NIGHT GALAS

The Festival opens with the European Premiere of Paul Greengrass’ CAPTAIN PHILLIPS a high-stakes thriller based on true story of the 2009 hijacking of the U.S. container ship Maersk Alabama by a crew of Somali pirates with Tom Hanks playing the eponymous lead role.

The European Premiere of Disney’s SAVING MR. BANKS will close the festival, the film which tells the untold story of how Mary Poppins was brought to the big screen stars Emma Thompson as P.L. Travers, author of Mary Poppins and Tom Hanks as Walt Disney. Continuing the initiative from last year the Closing Night red carpet event and screening will be screened simultaneously to cinemas across the UK.

SPONSOR GALAS

Among the other highly anticipated Galas are the previously announced American Express Gala of Stephen Frears’ PHILOMENA, the true story of one woman’s search for her lost son, starring Judi Dench and Steve Coogan. The Accenture Gala is the European Premiere of Steve McQueen’s 12 YEARS A SLAVE starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch and Brad Pitt. The American Airlines Gala is Alfonso Cuarón’s 3D sci-fi thriller GRAVITY starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. The Centrepiece Gala supported by the Mayor of London is the Coen Brothers’ INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS starring Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan and Justin Timberlake which is set in the Greenwich Village folk scene of the early 1960’s, the film took home the Grand Prix at Cannes earlier in the year. The May Fair Hotel Gala is the European Premiere of Jason Reitman’s literary adaptation LABOR DAY starring Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin. The Festival Gala is the European Premiere of Ralph Fiennes’ second directorial feature THE INVISIBLE WOMAN staring Fiennes as Charles Dickens, Felicity Jones, Kristin Scott Thomas and Tom Hollander.

STRAND GALAS

The nine programme strands are each headlined with a gala, they are: the Love Gala, Abdellatif Kechiche’s BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOUR; the Debate Gala, Kelly Reichardt’s NIGHT MOVES; the Dare Gala, Alain Guiraudie’s STRANGER BY THE LAKE; the Laugh Gala, Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s DON JON; the Thrill Gala, Ivan Sen’s  MYSTERY ROAD; the Cult Gala, Jim Jarmusch’s ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE; the Journey Gala, Alexander Payne’s road-trip NEBRASKA; the Sonic Gala, Lukas Moodysson’s WE ARE THE BEST!; and the Family Gala is Juan José Campanella’s FOOSBALL 3D. In addition to which the previously announced Archive Gala is the World Premiere of the BFI National Archive restoration of THE EPIC OF EVEREST.

FILM GUESTS

Key talent due to attend the Festival’s gala screenings include: Paul Greengrass, Tom Hanks, Barkhad Abdi, Faysal Ahmed, Barry Ackroyd, John Lee Hancock, Emma Thompson, Alison Owen, Stephen Frears, Judi Dench and Steve Coogan, Steve McQueen, Chiwetel Eijofor, Alfonso Cuaron, David Heyman, Sandra Bullock, Joel & Ethan Coen, Carey Mulligan, Oscar Isaac, Ralph Feinnes, Abdellatif Kechiche, Lea Seydoux, Adele Excharchopoulos, Alain Guiraudie, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Alexander Payne, Lukas Moodysson.

Additional talent attending for films in competition include: Catherine Breillat, Isabelle Huppert, Richard Ayoade, Yasmin Paige, Craig Roberts, Noah Taylor, Pawel Pawlikowski, Hirokazu Kore-Eda, Ahmad Abdalla, Clio Barnard, David Mackenzie, Jonathan Glazer, Jim Wilson, Jessica Oreck, Frederick Wiseman, Zachary Heinzerling, Mark Cousins, Nicolas Philibert, Greg Barker, Matt Wolf, Daniel Radcliffe, Michalis Konstantatos, Fabio Grassadonia, Antonio Piazza, Rob Brown and Vivian Qu.

The Festival will announce its complete guest line-up in early October.

Antonio Banderas Reacts To Fifty Shades Of Grey Casting

Antonio Banderas spoke to Red Carpet News TV for the first time about the recent news that his stepdaughter Dakota Johnson will be playing the female lead in the big screen version of infamous erotic page turner Fifty Shades Of Grey.

Reacting to the news Banderas was quick to express his absolute confidence in Dakota’s choices as a young actress and quick to stress that she’s an ‘adult’.

Video Interview Below:

The Expendables 3 Antonio Banderas Interview

Speaking for the first time about his role in The Expendables 3 Antonio Banderas admitted that his role as Matador will indeed be a heroic return, alongside fellow action superstars Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger. 

Antonio joked about how much harder it is for him to be a heroic action star, but assures us that he still has the self belief to overcome weak knees and old age to make believe. The star confirmed that while he won’t exactly have a major role in he third Expendables outing, he will certainly be responsible for providing some well timed comic relief.

Surprisingly the star admitted he sees the film as more of a comedy than an action blockbuster and is treating it as such.

Video Interview Below:

Saoirse Ronan On Avengers 2 Rumours

Actress Saoirse Ronan spoke to Red carpet News TV at the London premiere for new animated movie Justin And The Knights Of Valour about recent casting rumors linking her to a part in the Avengers sequel Avengers The Age of Ultron.

Many sources had been reporting that the pretty young actress was Director Joss Whedon’s lead choice to play new hero the Scarlet Witch.

However whilst admitting that she’d love to be in the Marvel franchise, Saoirse confirmed that she hasn’t in fact been offered the role and won’t be in the sequel. He reaction and enthusiasm for the franchise seems to suggest that reports claiming she had been offered the part only to decline it, forcing the studio to move onto Elizabeth Olsen may be wide of the mark.

Video Interview Below:

Roland Emmerich Reboots Stargate

Stargate Director Roland Emmerich plans to reboot the franchise on the big screen with a new trilogy of films. Seemingly the disaster movie maestro isn’t convinced that the first film and over 354 episodes of several spin-off TV series has satisfied audiences desire for Ancient Egyptian themed alien adventures.

“We went to MGM, who has the rights, and we proposed to them to do a sequel, but as a reboot. Reboot it as a movie, and then do three parts. That’s what we’re doing right now, and pretty soon we’ll have to look for a writer and start.”

Emmerich had long held onto hopes of making a straightforward sequel to the original film, but has admitted that’s no longer an option:

“I originally wanted to make [the original Stargate] a trilogy. But now, after all this time, I couldn’t do a trilogy anymore, because the actors look totally different, and it would not work.”