Beautiful Thing Review

The Plot

Set on a rough-diamond of a Thamesmead estate, mouthy single Mum Sandra holds together an eclectic bunch of disenfranchised kids. Her son, 15 year old Jamie is beginning to experience the joys of bunking PE lessons much to his mother’s feisty disapproval. Meanwhile, Sandra’s posh hippie lover-boy doesn’t see what  the fuss is about, choosing to don his girlfriend’s skimpy dressing gowns and prance about the stage.

Friend and next-door neighbor, Leah, has been excluded from school and so has turned her attentions to perfecting her Mama Cass impersonation. The final piece in this concrete jigsaw is neighbor Ste, who finds refuge in Sandra’s flat as he escapes his abusive father.

Of course, as so often good stories are, this is a love story through and through as a relationship blossoms between Ste and Jamie and the pair fall head-over-heels in love.

The Good

Quite simply, this is the most stunning, beautiful, hilarious, powerful and (oh heck) the best play we’ve ever seen in the West End. In a nutshell,  the play combines the intimacy and realistic acting that we all know and love from film and telly with the immediate presence and raw, live experiences of theatre. It’s a winning combination.

Beautiful Thing superbly explores the challenges, pains and joys of first love. Though it’s rightly praised for it’s sensitive handling of specific issues surrounding gay relationships the social and emotional themes tackled by this flawless production are universally applicable. Though the play cannot avoid having political significance, particularly given the current global debate about gay marriage, it goes beyond soapbox politics to effect audiences in a much more profound and emotionally effective way.

The play’s core cast of Suranne Jones (Sandra), Jake Davies (Jamie) and Danny-Boy Hatchard (Ste) are all absolutely fantastic as they breath dramatic life into the respective  tribulations of parenthood and endearingly tentative romance. Watching a believable family and young couple deal with gay love offers an undeniably  effective argument for tolerance and gay rights.

The Bad

It’s rare even for the high standards of the West End, but for once it’s hard to find a flaw in this production.

The Ugly Truth

It’s twenty years since Jonathan Harvey’s gay coming-out/coming-of- age story first took to the stage and it continues to grow more relevant and poignant. The play’s run has coincided (almost, too) perfectly with the rest of the world’s antics. The opening night just so happened to fall on the same day that New Zealand passed legislation in support of gay marriage. We urge you to support this superb production and visit the Art theatre before it’s run end son 25th May.

Exclusive Cast Interviews below from the official After Party:
 

Evil Dead Review

The Plot

A group of teenagers gather together in a desolate cabin in the woods to help their friend overcome her drug addiction. But, when a hidden basement containing a deadly book is found, a bloodbath soon begins.

The Good

Usually, when Hollywood dares to touch the legacy of cult classics in the form of the dreaded remake; it doesn’t go all too well. However when the writer/director, lead actor and producer of the original are all producing said remake as in this case, it’s a blessing.

Evil Dead is everything fans of the first will hope for, and serves well as an introduction to newcomers. The blood, guts and gore are all turned up to eleven in true Sam Raimi style along with lovely nods to the film that started it all, which will have old fans giggling in glee and new ones witnessing in wonder. And it seems that the franchise is on its way to resurrection, with a sequel already planned and a continuation of the original series in the works. With this will surely come the rise of a new fan base along with the resurrection of the old one.

With a ninety minute runtime, the film gets into the swing of things quite quickly, with dismembered body parts being thrown around the screen like there’s no tomorrow. It also seems that there’s no limit to the amount of blood that can be used in one film. This is definitely not one for the squeamish…

The Bad

Anyone who’s seen the original won’t be very surprised with the remake. Although there are some changes, most notably the added back story of a drug addicts intervention, it’s really nothing you won’t have seen before. The script doesn’t seem to want to dwell too much on character and story building and instead tries to get that part over as soon as possible in order to get to what sells.

The demon possessions and jump scares seem to go on and on, making a ninety minute film seem more like two hours. Just as you think the film is slowing down to the end credits, all of a sudden it will speed right back up again.

And of course, as seems to happen with most films these days, scenes which might have sold the film to you in the trailer don’t actually make the final cut.

The Ugly Truth

Evil Dead is definitely one for the fans. A great throwback to a horror which defined a generation and will forever live in film censor’s memories. Whilst there are no real risks taken in the remake, it will at least leave you wanting to go back and watch the originals again. As well as hopefully make newcomers want to give the originals a try for the first time.

Check out our video Interviews below with Director Fede Alvarez and beautiful star Jane Levy:

Evil Dead 4 & 5 Sequel News

Speaking to Red Carpet News at the London premiere  of horror reboot Evil Dead, Director Fede Alvarez confirmed that work has already begun on a script for a sequel the successful franchise relaunch. Fans of the cult classic film series may be even more excited by what the young director had to say about  plans for a long anticipated follow up to the original trilogy directed by Sam Raimi.

Speaking to our very own Neill Virtue in London whilst promoting Oz The Great and Powerful,  Raimi  finally confirmed last month that Evil dead 4 with original star Bruce Campbell will definitely become a reality and that he’s currently working on a script with his brother Ted. Now Fede Alvarez has revealed that both he and Raimi plan to ultimately unite both the new and original Evil Dead series in yet another sequel.

Alvarez revealed that once he finishes Evil Dead 2 and Raimi completes Army Of Darkness 2 (which seems to be his working title for Evil Dead 4), the pair plan to make Evil Dead 5 together, combining the mythologies and casts of both Raimi’s original trilogy and the blood drenched new reboot.

Video clip below:

Man Of Steel New Full Trailer

Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures have released the first full length trailer for Superman reboot  Man of Steel. Directed by Zack Snyder (300, Watchmen) and produced by Christopher Nolan, the new film stars  Henry Cavill (Immortals,Tudors)  in the role of Kryptionian superhero.

When a young Clark Kent learns that he has extraordinary powers and is not of this Earth he sets out on a lifelong journeys to discover where he came from and what he was sent here to do.  The hero in him must emerge if he is to save the world from annihilation and become the symbol of hope for all mankind.

The film also stars four-time Oscar nominee Amy Adams  as Daily Planet journalist Lois Lane, and Laurence Fishburne as her editor-in-chief, Perry White.  Diane Lane and Kevin Costner make their blockbuster return as Clark’s adoptive earth parents. Russell Crowe meanwhile steps into Marlon Brando’s shoes as Superman’s birth father Jor-El.

Squaring off against the superhero are two other surviving Kryptonians, the villainous General Zod, played by Boardwalk Empire star Michael Shannon  and Faora, Zod’s evil partner, played by Antje Traue.

Check out the full trailer below:

Asian Awards 2013 Winners List

Tonight  the third annual Asian Awards took place in London at the Grosvenor House Hotel. In addition to honouring specific acts of creative and economic achievement by those of Asian origins, this year’s ceremony also saw the launch of a new list of Top 100 Most Influential Asians. 

President of China, Xi Jinqping was unveiled in top spot, followed by Indian leader, Sonia Gandhi, Vice Premier of China, Le Keqiang, Indian PM, Manmohan Singh and Rahul Gandhi, who is widely tipped to be India’s next PM.

Awards founder Paul Sagoo noted:

This year The Asian Awards has truly lived up to its name, celebrating global Asian achievement in what was a triumphant night. We are honoured with the support of our guests and winners, like Sir Ben Kingsley, George Osborne MP, Jiang Jinquing and Linda Lee who joined us for this magnificent gathering of some of the world’s most inspirational and powerful people.

Full list of this year’s winners below with our video interviews with guests and winners to follow soon:

Fellowship Award – Sir Ben Kingsley

 

Founders Award – Bruce Lee

Achievement in Cinema – Anupam Kher

Achievement in Art – Hanif Kureishi CBE

Achievement in Music – Nicole Scherzinger

Achievement in Television – Nina Wadia

Entrepreneur of the Year – Adi Godrej

Business Leader of the Year – Jiang Jianging

Achievement in Science – Ajay Bhatt

Achievement in Sport – Kamui Kobayashi

Philanthropist of the Year – Narayana Murthy

Social Entrepreneur of the year – Masa Kogure

Contribution to Sustainability – Ravi Ruia