RBS Rugby Six Nations 2017 Interviews

The RBS Six Nations 2017 starts this weekend with England, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Italy and France doing fierce battle for national pride on a rugby field.
Check Out in depth Interviews below with Coaches and Captains ahead of the big kick off:

Denis Villeneuve Directing Dune Reboot

Dune author Frank Herbert’s son Brian Herbert has confirmed via twitter that much acclaimed Arrival director Denis Villeneuve has been signed to direct Legendary Pictures’ upcoming Dune reboot.

Villeneuve is already responsible for the forthcoming Bladerunner sequel starring Harrison Ford and Ryan Gosling. Positive reactions to early production art and teaser footage for that classic sci-fi reboot clearly makes him a very sensible choice for the studio.

Dune has already been brought to the big screen and the small screen in a whole range of formats, but remains a landmark work in the genre with considerable fan enthusiasm for yet another big budget retelling.

Screen Actors Guild Awards Winners & Pictures

Best female actor in a TV comedy series
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep

Best male actor in a TV comedy series
William H Macy, Shameless

Best cast in a TV comedy series
Orange is the New Black

Best female supporting actor
Viola Davis, Fences

Best male supporting actor
Mahershala Ali, Moonlight

Best female actor in a TV movie or miniseries
Sarah Paulson, The People v OJ Simpson: American Crime Story

Best male actor in a TV movie or miniseries
Bryan Cranston, All the Way

Best male actor in a TV drama series
John Lithgow, The Crown

Best female actor in a TV drama series
Claire Foy, The Crown

Best cast in a TV drama series
Stranger Things

Best female actor
Emma Stone, La La Land

Best male actor
Denzel Washington Fences

Best ensemble performance
Hidden Figures

Sir John Hurt Dies At 77

Sir John Hurt the BAFTA winning star of Alien, The Elephant Man, 1984, The Naked Civil Servant, Hellboy and countless other classic films and blockbuster franchises has sadly passed away at the age of 77 following ongoing battles with pancreatic cancer.

His wife Lady Anwen Hurt confirmed the news that the beloved actor passed away on Wednesday at his Norfolk home.

“John was the most sublime of actors and the most gentlemanly of gentlemen with the greatest of hearts and the most generosity of spirit. He touched all our lives with joy and magic and it will be a strange world without him.”

Tributes had quickly flowed on social media from collaborators, co-stars and fans. Among those to pay loving tribute are JK Rowling, Mel Brooks, Stephen Fry, Elijah Wood, Alfred Molina and Guillermo Del Toro.

For our part at Red Carpet News, we had the absolute honour and privilege of speaking of Sir John on many occasions over the past decade and can only join our voice to those singing his praises. His career was littered by mesmerising performances, each imbued with the unique charms afforded by his iconic husky toned gravitas. Both as a charismatic leading man and as a versatile character actor, Sir John Hurt represented the absolute epitome of British acting talent. Consistently compelling and diverse Sir John was just as comfortable lending his gifts to Shakespearean verse, gritty social drama or whimsical fantasy epics.

Though he will no doubt be most proudly celebrated for his award winning work in several key pieces of cinema, in truth his legacy of over 120 films and countless stage and television appearances  will mean so much to so very many people.

Sing Review

The Plot:

Desperate to keep his beloved old theatre in business a daydreaming Koala Bear called Buster Moon organises a singing competition. Attracting an eclectic mix of animal entertainers each with their own distinct plans for fame and fortune, the competition lurches from one disaster to the next, throwing into question whether Buster and his shining new stars will make all their dreams come true when their big night finally comes…

The Good

Matthew McConaughey is one of the most likeable and charismatic stars of the Big Screen. Even in animated Koala Bear form his distinctive vocal charms are a perfect fit for Buster Moon’s relentless optimism and infectious enthusiasm. Even as Buster’s smooth talking get him and all those around him into trouble it’s simply impossible not to long for his delightful delusions to succeed. It’s undoubtedly important for the film to have someone as undeniably sympathetic in its lead role to keep the entire course of the film best intentioned.

Sing’s biggest asset by far is an impressive vocal cast that includes Scarlett Johansson, Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Hudson, Idris Elba and rising star Taron Egerton. They inject a huge amount of actual personality into the films characters which include a shy elephant diva, a rebellious porcupine rocker, a criminal Gorilla family, a downtrodden pig housewife and her flamboyant dancing sidekick.

Ironically particular for younger audiences it is some of Sing’s supporting cast that ultimately steal the show and grab the most laughs. Nick Kroll’s deliciously silly German pig Gunter is a spandex clad bundle of fun and portly body popping. J-pop Gerbils, singing snails and Buster’s bumbling lizard assistant are among the silly slapstick joys likely to bring a smile to young faces.

The film also strives to pack a few simple moral messages in alongside the Lady Gaga cover versions. Each contestant and Buster himself has a little something to teach young fans about pursing dreams and self-belief.

The Bad

While Sing is brightly colourful and will appeal to young audiences in truth it lacks the breath-taking quality of animation which is now so regularly showcased by Pixar and Disney. The film’s budget clearly was at least in part diverted toward securing the services of an all-star voice cast. While those vocal performances were no doubt a very worthy investment, in truth they sometimes somewhat outshine the animation quality.  It’s simply hard to avoid drawing obvious comparison to Dinsey’s recent award winning and Oscar nominated anthropomorphic animal adventure Zootropolis.   In truth the comparisons in both animation quality and storytelling complexity are far from flattering.

Perhaps part of the problem for Sing is that despite its central musical theme, the film ironically can only mostly manage karaoke rendition of familiar pop hits, unlike iconic Disney efforts that introduced their own original collection of memorable musical masterpieces. The only exacerbates the general feeling that as in real life the generic ‘talent show’ format is already far too overly familiar and riddled with clichés to capture audience’s imaginations any more. Ten years ago the film’s premise would perhaps have felt a lot more culturally relevant and a bit less overplayed.

The Ugly Truth

Sing is a very successful piece of light family fun sure to delight younger children. A line up of recognisable famous voices and musical numbers keep things watchable for weary parents and more reluctant older siblings.

Review By Russell Nelson