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
Oscar Nominations 2017
The Academy Awards Ceremony take place on 26th February and here is the full list of nominees for this year’s Oscars. As widely expected La La Land leads the way with a record equaling 14 nominations across the major and technical categories. Arrival and coming of age drama Moonlight also feature heavily with 8 nominations apiece.
Notably though Amy Adams misses out on a best actress nod for either Arrival or Nocturnal Animals. Meanwhile Meryl Streep secured her 20th Oscar nomination. Mel Gibson also effectively completed his Hollywood rehabilitation, welcomed back into the fold after years of personal controversy with six nominations for his war drama Hacksaw Ridge, most significantly including a best director nod.
Check out the full list of nominees below in all categories
Best picture
Arrival
Fences
Hacksaw Ridge
Hell or High Water
Hidden Figures
La La Land
Lion
Manchester by the Sea
Moonlight
Best actress
Isabelle Huppert – Elle
Ruth Negga – Loving
Natalie Portman – Jackie
Emma Stone – La La Land
Meryl Streep – Florence Foster Jenkins
Best actor
Casey Affleck – Manchester by the Sea
Andrew Garfield – Hacksaw Ridge
Ryan Gosling – La La Land
Viggo Mortensen – Captain Fantastic
Denzel Washington – Fences
Best supporting actress
Viola Davis – Fences
Naomie Harris – Moonlight
Nicole Kidman – Lion
Octavia Spencer – Hidden Figures
Michelle Williams – Manchester by the Sea
Best supporting actor
Mahershala Ali – Moonlight
Jeff Bridges – Hell or High Water
Lucas Hedges – Manchester by the Sea
Dev Patel – Lion
Michael Shannon – Nocturnal Animals
Best director
Arrival – Denis Villeneuve
Hacksaw Ridge – Mel Gibson
La La Land – Damien Chazelle
Manchester by the Sea – Kenneth Lonergan
Moonlight – Barry Jenkins
Best adapted screenplay
Arrival – Eric Heisserer
Fences – August Wilson
Hidden Figures – Allison Schroeder and Theodore Melfi
Lion – Luke Davies
Moonlight – Barry Jenkins and Alvin McCraney
Best original screenplay
20th Century Women – Mike Mills
Hell or High Water – Taylor Sheridan
La La Land – Damien Chazelle
The Lobster – Yorgos Lanthimos and Efthimis Filippou
Manchester by the Sea – Kenneth Lonergan
Best animated feature
Kubo and the Two Strings
Moana
My Life as a Zucchini
The Red Turtle
Zootopia
Best foreign language film
A Man Called Ove – Sweden
Land of Mine – Denmark
The Salesman – Iran
Tanna – Australia
Toni Erdmann – Germany
Best documentary feature
13th
Fire At Sea
I Am Not Your Negro
Life, Animated
OJ: Made in America
Best original song
La La Land – Audition by Justin Hurwitz, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul
La La Land – City of Stars by Justin Hurwitz, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul
Moana – How Far I’ll Go by Lin-Manuel Miranda
Trolls – Can’t Stop the Feeling by Justin Timberlake, Max Martin and Karl Johan Schuster
Jim: The James Foley Story – The Empty Chair by J Ralph and Sting
Best original score
Jackie – Mica Levi
La La Land – Justin Hurwitz
Lion – Dustin O’Halloran and Hauschka
Moonlight – Nicholas Britell
Passengers – Thomas Newton
Best cinematography
Arrival – Bradford Young
La La Land – Linus Sandgren
Lion – Greig Fraser
Moonlight – James Laxton
Silence – Rodrigo Prieto
Best costume design
Allied – Joanna Johnston
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them – Colleen Atwood
Florence Foster Jenkins – Consolata Boyle
Jackie – Madeline Fontaine
La La Land – Mary Zophres
Best make-up and hairstyling
A Man Called Ove – Eva Von Bahr and Love Larson
Star Trek Beyond – Joel Harlow and Richard Alonzo
Suicide Squad – Alessandro Bertolazzi, Giorgio Gregorini and Christopher Nelson
Best live action short
Ennemis Interieurs – Selim Azzazi
La Femme et le TGV – Timo Von Gunten and Giacun Caduff
Silent Nights – Aske Bang and Kim Magnusson
Sing – Kristof Deak and Anna Udvardy
Timecode – Juanjo Gimenez
Best sound editing
Arrival – Sylvain Bellemare
Deepwater Horizon – Wylie Stateman and Renee Tondelli
Hacksaw Ridge – Robert Mackenzie and Andy Wright
La La Land – Ai-Ling Lee and Mildred Iatrou Morgan
Sully – Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman
Best sound mixing
13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi – Greg P Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J Haboush and Mac Ruth
Arrival – Bernard Gariepy Strobl and Claude La Haye
Hacksaw Ridge – Kevin O’Connell, Andy Wright, Robert Mackenzie and Peter Grace
La La Land – Andy Nelson, Ai-Ling Lee and Steve A Morrow
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story – David Parker, Christopher Scarabosio and Stuart Wilson
Best documentary short
4.1 Miles – Daphne Matziaraki
Extremis – Dan Krauss
Joe’s Violin – Kahane Cooperman and Raphaela Neihausen
Watani: My Homeland – Marcel Mettelsiefen and Stephen Ellis
The White Helmets – Orlando von Einsiedel and Joanna Natasegara
Best production design
Arrival – Patrice Vermette and Paul Hotte
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them – Stuart Craig and Anna Pinnock
Hail, Caesar! – Jess Gonchor and Nancy Haigh
La La Land – David Wasco and Sandy Reynolds-Wasco
Passengers – Guy Hendrix Dyas and Gene Serdena
Best visual effects
Deepwater Horizon – Craig Hammack, Jason Snell, Jason Billington and Burt Dalton
Doctor Strange – Stephane Ceretti, Richard Bluff, Vincent Cirelli and Paul Corbould
The Jungle Book – Robert Legato, Adam Valdez, Andrew R Jones and Dan Lemmon
Kubo and the Two Strings – Steve Emerson, Oliver Jones, Brian McLean and Brad Schiff
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story – John Knoll, Mohen Leo, Hal Hickel and Neil Corbould
Best animated short
Blind Vaysha – Theodore Ushev
Borrowed Time – Andrew Coats and Lou Hamou-Lhadj
Pear Cider and Cigarettes – Robert Valley and Cara Speller
Pearl – Patrick Osborne
Piper – Alan Barillaro and Marc Sondheimer
Best film editing
Arrival – Joe Walker
Hacksaw Ridge – John Gilbert
Hell or High Water – Jake Roberts
La La Land – Tom Cross
Moonlight – Nat Sanders and Joi McMillon
London Critics’ Circle Awards 2017 Winners
The winners of the London Critics’ Circle Film Awards 2017 were announced last night at the Mayfair Hotel. Winners included La La Land, Isabelle Huppert, Casey Affleck. I Daniel Blake and Kate Beckinsale. Check out the full list of winners below
FILM OF THE YEAR
La La Land
FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM OF THE YEAR
Toni Erdmann
DOCUMENTARY OF THE YEAR
Fire at Sea
BRITISH/IRISH FILM OF THE YEAR
I, Daniel Blake
ACTOR OF THE YEAR presented by Millbank and Cooper Searle
Casey Affleck – Manchester by the Sea
ACTRESS OF THE YEAR presented by Suqqu
Isabelle Huppert – Things to Come
SUPPORTING ACTOR OF THE YEAR (tie)
Mahershala Ali – Moonlight
Tom Bennett – Love & Friendship
SUPPORTING ACTRESS OF THE YEAR presented by Cameo
Naomie Harris – Moonlight
DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR
László Nemes – Son of Saul
SCREENWRITER OF THE YEAR
Kenneth Lonergan – Manchester by the Sea
BRITISH/IRISH ACTOR
Andrew Garfield – Hacksaw Ridge, Silence
BRITISH/IRISH ACTRESS
Kate Beckinsale – Love & Friendship
YOUNG BRITISH/IRISH PERFORMER presented by The May Fair Hotel
Lewis MacDougall – A Monster Calls
BREAKTHROUGH BRITISH/IRISH FILMMAKER
Babak Anvari – Under the Shadow
BRITISH/IRISH SHORT FILM
Sweet Maddie Stone – Brady Hood
TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT
Victoria – Sturla Brandth Grovlen, cinematography
DILYS POWELL AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN FILM
Isabelle Huppert
New Shocking Logan Trailer Released
While the first trailer for Wolverine sequel Logan set out a gritty and violent tone for Huh Jackman’s final outing as the iconic mutant hero, this new trailer showcases some r rated humour and reveals that the young girl Logan is charged with protecting might not quite be the adorable damsel in distress she may initially seem… Don’t take our word for it though. Check out the blood soaked trailer below to find out for yourself…