Oscar Predictions 2017
As the 2017 Academy Awards gets ready to begin here’s our Red Carpet News TV predictions for who will be taking home the top prizes in all 24 categories at this year’s ceremony.
Best picture
La La Land
Best cinematography
La La Land
Best supporting actor
Mahershala Ali (Moonlight)
Best documentary
OJ Made In America
Best foreign language film
Toni Erdmann
Best actor
Casey Affleck (Manchester By the Sea)
Best costume design
Jackie
Best score
La La Land
Best song
City of Stars (La La Land)
Best sound editing
Hacksaw Ridge
Best sound mixing
La La Land
Best documentary short
Joe’s Violin
Best production design
La La Land
Best original screenplay
Manchester By the Sea
Best adapted screenplay
Moonlight
Best animated feature
Zootopia
Best animated short
Piper
Best supporting actress
Viola Davis (Fences)
Best film editing
La La Land
Best live-action short
Ennemis Interieurs
Best actress
Emma Stone (La La Land)
Best director
Damien Chazelle (La La Land)
Best visual effects
The Jungle Book
Best makeup and hairstyling
Star Trek Beyond
Bitter Harvest Review
The Plot
Set in 1930s Ukraine, as Stalin ruthlessly advances the ambitions of the communist party in Russia, young artist Yuri battles to save his village from the Holodomor, the systematic Soviet program of engineering a famine with genocidal consequences for the people of Ukraine.
The Good
Bitter Harvest deals with one of the most significant and yet largely unspoken crimes of the 20th Century and human history. Having been shamefully shrouded in soviet era secrecy for so long it is the smallest possible act of consolation to have a true account of the genocide that claimed the lives of many millions of people brought to life on screen.
Regardless of any of the individual qualities of the film its mere existence is an important step in shining some light on a forgotten tragedy. Even those well versed in the Historical horrors of the second wold war will likely be deeply shocked to discover the true extent of atrocities that took place before it even began.
It wasn’t until the ultimate collapse of the Soviet Union that true extent of this national tragedy was revealed to the rest of the world. Having waited so many decades for recognition it’s important that these events are not now quickly lost to the fog of history and ever shortening modern memories.
Writer director George Mendeluk battled for at least four years to make his vision a reality and it’s clear from the film’s production and performances that it was certainly made with the most sincere intentions.
The Bad
The fundamental problem with making a film about almost incomprehensibly terrible historic atrocities is that often audiences natural instinct is to remind themselves they’re merely watching a film. It’s an act of emotional self-preservation and a natural defence mechanism in the face of such relentlessly grim subject matter. As a result for these kinds of films it is vitally important to maintain a completely credible and immersive experience at all time. You simply cannot afford audiences the opportunity to detach themselves from what they’re watching.
Unfortunately for Bitter Harvest there are frequent lapses in the quality of individual performances, production value and above all the script which frustrate the films laudable efforts.
Max Irons and Samantha Barks are attractive young stars but frankly poorly cast as a pair of Ukrainian lovers facing up to one of the great evils in history. Their performances are earnest but their appearance is simply too obviously clean cut and well fed. Unfortunately shooting out of sequence by production necessity meant that method acting and self-starvation wasn’t possible for the cast. Leaving a little too much strained credibility on makeup and a bit of dirt to effect any kind of transformation.
Danny Dyer’s regular straight to DVD accomplice Tamer Hassan battles valiantly to stay out of pantomime villain territory as a cruel soviet Commissar. Unfortunately a heavy handed script makes this exceedingly difficult at times.
Despite Bitter Harvest’s best intentions sadly the script is the most frequently disappointing feature of a film which never quite manages to be as emotionally compelling at it clearly hopes to be. Otherwise sincere work is mostly ruined by dialogue marred with awkward exposition and cringe worthy lamentations. It makes it regrettably difficult to take the film seriously during some of its most crucial moments.
The Ugly Truth
Bitter Harvest ambitiously seeks to shine the light of modern awareness onto a largely forgotten act of historical evil. Even if at times the film falters in its efforts to capture the painful reality of such epic scale horrors, it deserves some credit for at least trying.
Review By Russell Nelson
What’s On Stage Awards Winners 2017
The winners of the 17th Annual WhatsOnStage Awards have been announced. In a ceremony at the Prince of Wales Theatre, hosts Vikki Stone and Simon Lipkin announced the winners of the only major theatre awards voted for by the audience.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child was the big winner of the evening, taking home eight awards, a record number of WhatsOnStage Awards won for a play. The eighth story in the Harry Potter series took home awards for Best Actor in a Play for Jamie Parker, Best Supporting Actress in a Play for Noma Dumezweni, Best Supporting Actor in a Play for Anthony Boyle, Best New Play, Best Set Design, Best Lighting Design, Best Video Design and Best Director for John Tiffany.
In the musical categories, Half a Sixpence took home the most awards with three, including Best Actor in a Musical for Charlie Stemp, Best Supporting Actress in a Musical for Emma Williams and Best Choreography.
In the Best Play Revival category, No Man’s Land, which starred Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart, won, beating The Boys in the Band, The Deep Blue Sea and Travesties.
Billie Piper took home her second WhatsOnStage Award in three years, winning Best Actress in a Play for the Young Vic production of Yerma. Amber Riley was named as Best Actress in a Musical for her turn as Effie White in Dreamgirls.
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s new show School of Rock won Best New Musical, while Funny Girl won Best Musical Revival.
Gary Barlow’s musical The Girls – soon to officially open in the West End – took home Best Regional Production, while The Last Five Years took Best Off-West End Production. Disney’s Aladdin took home two awards, Trevor Dion Nicholas won Best Supporting Actor and Gregg Barnes won Best Costume Design.
The winners were announced in a ceremony in the West End which featured performances from a host of shows in London. Tyrone Huntley sang “Heaven on their Minds”, Ria Jones sang “As If We Never Said Goodbye”, while Gary Trainor and the company of School of Rock performed “Teacher’s Pet”. Barlow also performed the song “Scarborough” from The Girls alongside Joanna Riding. Riley also performed alongside Dreamgirls co-star Liisi LaFontaine, and the cast of Half A Sixpence sung “Flash, Bang, Wallop”. Trevor Dion Nicholas also appeared alongside Dean John-Wilson in a performance of “Somebody’s Got Your Back” from Aladdin.
Marking 50 years in theatre, Cameron Mackintosh was honoured with a special award, the Equity Award for Lifetime Achievement (So Far).
Video interviews with this years winners and VIP guests below:
The Lost City Of Z Review
The Plot
Real Life British explorer Major Percival Fawcett sets out to secure the glory he desperately needs to advance his career by undertaking a long and dangerous expedition to chart the remotest regions of the Amazon during the perilous dawn of the 20th century. While doing so he believes he may have found a mysterious ancient city, leading to a lifelong obsession and a relentless quest for discovery.
The Good
Sons of Anarchy star Charlie Hunnam delivers a leading man performance that is earnestly British and physically intense. After many years of playing Americans he reclaims his native accent without much difficulty. He also prove more than a match physical for the arduous task of surviving remote jungles, dangerous rapids and the battlefields of world war one. His Major Fawcett is a credible depiction of what it genuinely means to be a true ‘explorer’, rather just an Indiana Jones style fantasy figure.
Around Hunnam a strong supporting cast of familiar faces keep the film watchable in spite of its occasionally languid pace. As major Fawcett’s fiercely supportive but outspoken wife Sienna Miller continues to prove her talents extend well beyond a being just another pretty face. She manages to ensure that with relatively modest screen time Major Fawcett’s family life back home remains something to yearn for and fight to return to.
Miller manages to avoid too many heavy handed clichés whilst illustrating the frustrations of being an enlightened woman during a more repressive era. She also serves a useful narrative purpose on behalf of the audience in directly confronting Major Fawcett about his potentially selfish addiction to adventure and the glory of discovery.
Spider-Man star and BAFTA winner Tom Holland is a competent fit for Major Fawcett’s young son, caught somewhere between hero worship and frustrated abandonment for his often absent father.
Finally Robert Pattinson delivers an understated and virtually unrecognisable performance as Fawcett’s sharp shooting travel companion. Hidden beneath a rugged full beard and jungle dirt Pattinson manages to fully shed increasingly distant memories of his pretty Twilight adolescence. The young British star has systematically built a credible dramatic reputation beyond the hysterical screaming of young adult fiction fans. While light in dialogue his performance exudes convincing wilderness weary qualities.
Perhaps most significantly the convincing comradeship between Hunnam and Pattinson’s characters is a crucial part of making Fawcett’s yearn to explore and push the limits of human survival actually make some emotional sense.
The Bad
Those anticipating or even hoping for something approximating Indiana Jones dodging snakes and poisoned darts on his way to the temple of doom will no doubt find the grim realities of actual expeditions to be considerably less fantastical and fun. Though there is undoubtedly a genuine sense of peril at times, there simply aren’t any moments of escapist joy.
During what turns out to be an ever growing series of life threatening expeditions, Fawcett often finds himself openly questioning why he persist is abandoning his wife and young children for such a seemingly foolish and almost suicidal pursuit. Unfortunately as the film progresses it’s a question that audiences may find harder to ignore themselves.
In the shadow of world war atrocities and with the promise of a perfectly idyllic life at home it may be hard for many people to understand what really drives Fawcett to keep going back to the edge of civilization. In a modern era of google maps and sat navs it will be especially hard for younger audiences to comprehend what the lure of blank spaces on the map and the true unknown could possibly be.
The Ugly Truth
The Lost City Of Z is a reverential homages to a largely forgotten bygone spirit of exploration at a time when the world was still full of dangerous mysteries worthy of risking life and limb for. Though the film looks and feels authentic this may not satisfy audiences hoping for more fantastical or fun adventures.
Review by Russell Nelson
Travesties Review
The Plot
An elderly man Henry Carr recounts comically misremembered tales of his time as a minor British Diplomat in Zurich in 1917. In the proses he accidentally fuses faded memories of his encounters with James Joyce, Tristan Tzara and Lenin with jumbled recollections of his involvement in a moderately successful production of The Importance of Being Ernest.
The Good
Returning to the West End after many years absence, much of the philosophical and political themes of Stoppard’s Travesties remain oddly contemporary. Though set against the very specific historical backdrop of Switzerland in 1917 much of the play’s free flowing debate about the meaning of art, love and anarchy are indisputably timeless.
In the lead role as both the befuddled older Henry Carr and the spry younger version of his recollections, British thespian Tom Hollander is perfectly magnificent. Those that perhaps know him best from his consistently scene stealing supporting work will be even more delighted to see him hold court on stage with an effortless charm and accomplished dry wit. Opening the production with a lengthy and demanding monologue he sets a perfect tone for Stoppard’s unique comedic blend of intellectualised stupidity.
Around Hollander a strong cast of gifted supporting talents inject frenetic life into each scene. Freddie Fox is a perfect madcap foil for Hollander, playing the boundlessly anarchic founder of Dadaism Tristan Tzara. His impressively energetic performance makes sure that even those struggling to grasp the endless array of philosophical word play and early 20th century references will have much enjoy none the less.
Alongside Hollander and Fox the rest of the cast is rounded out by equally amusing performances. Peter McDonald is a fine fit for Stoppard’s parody of literary icon and compulsive rhymer James Joyce. Likewise Amy Morgan and Clare Foster provide a scintillating combination of quick wits and dancing feet as the respective love interests of Carr’s Oscar Wilde themed fantasies. Forbes Masson also does a great job of making Soviet state builder Lenin both playfully silly and sincerely sermonising by equal turns.
The combined talents of the cast make Stoppard’s demanding script work to the very best of its abilities. Whether it’s trading verbal barbs or breaking into impromptu musical numbers the production flows with ease, particular in an even livelier second act.
The Bad
The plays relentless barrage of aggressively intellectual language and complex wordplay will soon prove overwhelming for some. Tourists listening in their second language will no doubt struggle, but in truth even for native speakers Stoppard’s unashamedly frantic intellectualising demands a very high degree of attention.
At least for those that are either incapable of grasping the full meaning of Stoppard’s words or reluctant to expended the requisite effort to keep pace there’s enough frequent physical comedy and whimsical musical interludes to keep them satisfied and at least moderately entertained.
The Ugly Truth
Travesties is a unique piece of highbrow theatre expertly brought to life by a fine ensemble cast, led by Tom Hollanders note perfect performance. Entertaining and rewarding on a number of different level it’s a production which much to offer satisfying a wide range of west end crowds.
Review by Russell Nelson