Flight London Premiere Pictures

Oscar Nominated star Denzel Washington joined co-star Kelly Reilly and acclaimed director Robert Zemeckis on the red carpet in London’s Leicester Square tonight for the UK premiere of new drama FLIGHT 

Check out a gallery of pictures below from the exciting event:

Django Unchained Review

The Plot:

After a bounty hunter recruits a slave called Django to help track down his latest payday the two become unlikely friends and partners. Together the pair set out to free Django’s wife Broomhilda from the clutches of a ruthless and sadistic Mississippi plantation owner.

The Good:

Quentin Tarantino reached new heights of blood soaked brilliance with Inglorious Basterds, his invigorating take on World War 2 and the pleasures of Nazi killing. With Django Unchained the infamous director once again takes a delightful revisionist approach to history, this time to the well-known evils of slavery.  The result is an original deeply satisfying reinvigoration of the Western genre packed with bullets, style and substance.

Amongst all the bloody vengeance and tension, Tarantino even manages to inject some welcome humour. It’s a trait clearly borrowed from the winning formula of the classic ‘Spaghetti Westerns’; taking the sting out of so much human death and misery with clever black comedy and occasional absurdity.  An excellent example of this in Django Unchained is a scene in which a bickering group of Ku Klux Klan members ineptly attempt to plan a midnight raid. Tarantino’s script is exquisitely crafted and precisely balanced.

Christoph Waltz won a well-deserved Oscar for his dangerously charismatic performance as a Nazi ‘Jew hunter’ in Inglorious Basterds, this time in his role as a good natured bounty hunter sparkles with the exactly the same magnificence. Flashing between wry humour and fierce tension Waltz is consistently brilliant and a strong contender for another academy award.

Jamie Foxx is a likewise a perfect fit for Django, playing him like a cunning combination of Shaft and Clint Eastwood. Without him the film would surely have struggled to maintain its flawless bravado and would have been a far less credible adventure.

Leonardo DiCaprio has great fun playing against type as the decadently depraved and sadistic plantation boss Calvin Candie. He clearly relishes the opportunity to play with a malevolent southern drawl and human skulls. Samuel L. Jackson is another stellar addition to Django’s impressive acting arsenal, playing Candie’s viciously shrewd right hand man.

Django’s soundtrack is another equally powerful presence in the film. Music has always been Tarantino’s secret weapon, consistently elevating scenes to iconic moments of unquestionable cool. Typically Tarantino has captured this magic by cannibalising classic film scores and resurrecting long forgotten favourite songs. This time he adds original recordings to the mix and produces a devastatingly effective fusion of iconic western sounds and hip hop. It’s a unique musical mash up that epitomises the film’s swaggering charms.

The Bad:

Before Django Unchained even had a trailer it had vocal critics. Fellow filmmakers like Spike Lee voiced angry concerns that turning the horrors of slavery into the backdrop of a flamboyant western would unavoidably be disrespectful and perhaps even outright offensive. Presumably it was suspected that Tarantino’s trademark focus on one liners and style might prevent him doing justice to such serious historical subject matter.

Though Tarantino’s script is predictably loaded with frequent use of the inflammatory N-word, it never fails to powerfully remind audiences just how horrific human slavery is. It’s the right and responsibility of filmmakers to attack evil by ridiculing its absurdities, exposing its wrongs and symbolically righting them through powerful heroic figures. That’s exactly what Django Unchained does.

Squeamish fans may be a little hesitant about rushing to see Django because of Tarantino’s reputation for blood soaked violence. The Kill Bill films in particular were a messy orgy of death, dismemberment and gruesome eye gouging. Although there may be plenty of gushing blood in Django when the bullets start flying, in reality the quick bursts of action are too frantic for any lingering gruesomeness. The film’s violence is mostly too fast and cartoonish to spoil an entertaining ride, even for more sensitive souls.

The Ugly Truth:

Django Unchained is a bloody brilliant masterpiece that shoots fresh life into the Western genre. A smoothly crafted script, a killer soundtrack and a near perfect cast makes this film easily one of Tarantino’s most satisfying and original efforts.

Check out Interviews below from the red carpet at the London premiere:

Anne Hathaway In New Shrew Adaptation

Anne Hathaway is currently busy collecting awards for her performance in Les Miserables but has now officially signed on for a modern day adaptation of Shakespeare classic The Taming of The Shrew, based on a screenplay by Abi Morgan (Shame,The Iron Lady).

There have already been numerous re-imaginings of the familiar Shakespearean comedy, most recently 10 Things I Hate About You, which starred Heath ledger, Julia Styles and a very fresh faced Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Presumably this latest version will aim to eclipse the dizzy heights of 90s teen comedies.

Jack Reacher Sequels Unlikely

Despite a mostly positive reaction to Tom Cruise recent turn as brooding vigilante Jack Reacher it appears that Paramount is unlikely to push forward with previous plans for sequels. Although the current film is still performing well at cinemas taking in over $150 million so far on a $60 million budget, the studio has reportedly decide that they don’t feel confident about trying to turn the bestselling book series into a franchise.

Allegedly the film’s failure to hit an optimistic projection of $250 million in cinemas, combined with the prospect of having to re-negotiate a new deal with Cruise, has left the studio unenthusiastic about adapting any more of the numerous Lee Child books featuring surly anti-hero Reacher. Luckily Cruise likely has many more Impossible Missions to keep him busy.

Interviews below from the Jack Reacher UK Red Carpet Premiere:

Golden Globes Full Winners List 2013

Here’s the full official list of winners at the Golden Globes Awards tonight as voted for by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

The 70th Annual awards ceremony saw Homeland emerge the clear winner on the small screen, picking up best drama while stars Damien Lewis and Claire Danes both took home awards for best actor/actress respectively. Sarah Palin political drama Game Change also picked up awards for best mini-series and acting nod for stars Julianne Moore and Ed Harris.

In the film awards, despite the widely predicted sweep for Spielberg’s historical biopic Lincoln, honors were shared in the key categories among other films. In fact Lincoln’s only win of the night was a predictable best actor success for Daniel Day Lewis.

Ben Affleck won the best director gong, despite missing out on an Academy Award nomination and Argo took hold of the coveted best film award.

Tarantino surprisingly scooped best Screenplay for slavery era western Django Unchained and Christoph Waltz took home best supporting actor for his role as a likeable bounty hunter.   Best score went to Life Of Pi and Brave took home best animated feature.

Young stars Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook) and Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables) both picked up awards for best actress and best supporting actress in a comedy/musical. Hugh Jackman won for best actor and Les Miserables unsurprisingly took home the prize for best musical/comedy. Jessica Chastain won a best actress award for Zero Dark Thirty 

One of the night’s most significant moments was when Jodie Foster receiving the Cecile B Demile lifetime achievement award, used the opportunity to publicly acknowledge her sexuality for the first time. Although something of an open secret in Hollywood for decades, it’s still  a landmark moment for the gay and lesbian community to finally have the Oscar winner actress ‘come out’ on a global stage.

FILM AWARDS

Best Motion Picture – Drama

Argo

Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

Les Miserables

Best Director

Ben Affleck  - Argo

Best Actor – Drama

Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln

Best Actor – Musical or Comedy

Hugh Jackman, Les Miserables

Best Actress – Drama

Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty

Best Actress – Musical or Comedy

Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook

Best Supporting Actor

Christophe Waltz, Django Unchained

Best Supporting Actress

Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables

Best Screenplay

Django Unchained

Best Original Score

Life of Pi

Best Original Song

Skyfall, Skyfall

Best Foreign Language Film

Amour

Best Animated Feature

Brave

Cecil B DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award

Jodie Foster

 

TV AWARDS

Best TV Series – Drama

Homeland

Best TV Series – Comedy

Girls

Best Miniseries or Motion Picture made for TV

Game Change

Best Actor – Drama

Damian Lewis, Homeland

Best Actress – Drama

Claire Danes, Homeland

Best Actor – Comedy

Don Cheadle, House of Lies

Best Actress – Comedy

Lena Dunham, Girls

Best Actor – Miniseries or Motion Picture made for TV

Kevin Costner, Hatfields & McCoys

Best Actress – Miniseries or Motion Picture made for TV

Julianne Moore, Game Change

Best Supporting Actor

Ed Harris, Game Change

Best Supporting Actress

Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey