Live By Night Review
The Plot
Disillusioned army vet Joe Coughlin returns home to Boston during the height of the prohibition era, determined make his fortune as a career criminal while navigating a dangerous world of guns, girls and gangsters.
The Good
Ben Affleck has indisputably proved his directing credentials with the well-deserved awards glory of Argo. Once again with Live By Night he demonstrates that he’s entirely capable of carrying the responsibility of leading man duties at the same time as those of the director’s chair. Affleck’s performance as Coughlin plays to his strengths, making good use of his gravel coated voice and a never ending supply of sternly confident expressions. Perhaps the best compliment is that looking the part in classic gangster attire Affleck manages to avoid ever looking or feeing like an embarrassing Hollywood cliché.
Live By Night has a well-honed and evidently lavish production value that elevates every aspect of both the story and the performances from a strong supporting cast of recognisable character actors. Fans of classic cars will especially get a kick out of seeing such a wealth of vintage vehicles in pristine condition and high speed use. The film’s look and feel instantly elevates it above a host of low quality gangster flicks. Lush cinematography and attentive production design lend the film an extra dimension of historic credibility.
The Bad
Though the sprawling American gangster genre has produced many popular and critically acclaimed classics, sadly Live By Night does not quite do enough to join those distinguished ranks. Though boasting laudable production value and competent performances from a watchable cast, the film ultimately meanders through a fairly familiar and predictable narrative. Perhaps the true problem is that given the long held cinematic obsession with the golden age of American gangsters it’s simply impossible to avoid comparison with the near perfect versions of those stories that already exist. The Godfather series among others still casts an overwhelming shadow over the genre. There’s simply very that audiences haven’t already seen countless times from the genre.
The Godfather expertly articulated the ruthless scheming and moral complexities of true ‘Gangster’ life. Likewise more modern icons like Goodfellas or Scarface celebrated the shameless excess and anarchic fun of uninhibited criminals truly living without rules. Unfortunately Live By Night does neither. Despite delivering heavy handed monologues about ‘not playing by societies rules’ Coughlin isn’t truly bad enough to give audiences vicarious thrills or to act as an effective cautionary tale.
Though the film delivers moments of action and builds towards a partially satisfying climax, it also falters at times with subplots that inject redundant melodrama into proceedings rather than an intended emotional depth. Ellle Fanning is undeniably talented but her tragic character remains a key example of this. Likewise Sienna Miller may share headline billing but her minimal screen presence simply doesn’t lend her charter the compelling significance the story strains to place upon her.
The Ugly Truth
Live By Night is a competently made if unremarkable addition to the gangster genre. A solid cast and impressive visuals keep proceedings watchable in a story that while predictable in places is at least peppered with frequent bursts of attention grabbing action.
Review by Russell Nelson
EE BAFTA Nominations 2017
The nominations for the EE British Academy Film Awards 2017 below with winners to be announced at the red carpet ceremony on Sunday the 12th February.
BEST FILM
ARRIVAL Dan Levine, Shawn Levy, David Linde, Aaron Ryder
I, DANIEL BLAKE Rebecca O’Brien
LA LA LAND Fred Berger, Jordan Horowitz, Marc Platt
MANCHESTER BY THE SEA Lauren Beck, Matt Damon, Chris Moore, Kimberly Steward,
Kevin J. Walsh
MOONLIGHT Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Adele Romanski
OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
AMERICAN HONEY Andrea Arnold, Lars Knudsen, Pouya Shahbazian, Jay Van Hoy
DENIAL Mick Jackson, Gary Foster, Russ Krasnoff, David Hare
FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM David Yates, David Heyman, Steve Kloves, J.K. Rowling, Lionel Wigram
I, DANIEL BLAKE Ken Loach, Rebecca O’Brien, Paul Laverty
NOTES ON BLINDNESS Peter Middleton, James Spinney, Mike Brett, Jo-Jo Ellison, Steve Jamison
UNDER THE SHADOW Babak Anvari, Emily Leo, Oliver Roskill, Lucan Toh
OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER
The Girl With All the Gifts: MIKE CAREY (Writer), CAMILLE GATIN (Producer)
The Hard Stop: GEORGE AMPONSAH (Writer/Director/Producer), DIONNE WALKER (Writer/Producer)
Notes on Blindness: PETER MIDDLETON (Writer/Director/Producer), JAMES SPINNEY (Writer/Director/Producer), JO-JO ELLISON (Producer)
The Pass: JOHN DONNELLY (Writer), BEN A. WILLIAMS (Director)
Under the Shadow: BABAK ANVARI (Writer/Director), EMILY LEO, OLIVER ROSKILL, LUCAN TOH (Producers)
FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
DHEEPAN Jacques Audiard, Pascal Caucheteux
JULIETA Pedro Almodóvar, Agustín Almodóvar
MUSTANG Deniz Gamze Ergüven, Charles Gillibert
SON OF SAUL László Nemes, Gábor Sipos
TONI ERDMANN Maren Ade, Janine Jackowski
DOCUMENTARY
13th Ava DuVernay, Spencer Averick, Howard Barish
THE BEATLES: EIGHT DAYS A WEEK- THE TOURING YEARS Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, Scott Pascucci, Nigel Sinclair
THE EAGLE HUNTRESS Otto Bell, Stacey Reiss
NOTES ON BLINDNESS Peter Middleton, James Spinney
WEINER Josh Kriegman, Elyse Steinberg
ANIMATED FILM
FINDING DORY Andrew Stanton
KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS Travis Knight
MOANA Ron Clements, John Musker
ZOOTROPOLIS Byron Howard, Rich Moore
DIRECTOR
ARRIVAL Denis Villeneuve
I, DANIEL BLAKE Ken Loach
LA LA LAND Damien Chazelle
MANCHESTER BY THE SEA Kenneth Lonergan
NOCTURNAL ANIMALS Tom Ford
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
HELL OR HIGH WATER Taylor Sheridan
I, DANIEL BLAKE Paul Laverty
LA LA LAND Damien Chazelle
MANCHESTER BY THE SEA Kenneth Lonergan
MOONLIGHT Barry Jenkins
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
ARRIVAL Eric Heisserer
HACKSAW RIDGE Andrew Knight, Robert Schenkkan
HIDDEN FIGURES Theodore Melfi, Allison Schroeder
LION Luke Davies
NOCTURNAL ANIMALS Tom Ford
LEADING ACTOR
ANDREW GARFIELD Hacksaw Ridge
CASEY AFFLECK Manchester by the Sea
JAKE GYLLENHAAL Nocturnal Animals
RYAN GOSLING La La Land
VIGGO MORTENSEN Captain Fantastic
LEADING ACTRESS
AMY ADAMS Arrival
EMILY BLUNT The Girl on the Train
EMMA STONE La La Land
MERYL STREEP Florence Foster Jenkins
NATALIE PORTMAN Jackie
SUPPORTING ACTOR
AARON TAYLOR-JOHNSON Nocturnal Animals
DEV PATEL Lion
HUGH GRANT Florence Foster Jenkins
JEFF BRIDGES Hell or High Water
MAHERSHALA ALI Moonlight
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
HAYLEY SQUIRES I, Daniel Blake
MICHELLE WILLIAMS Manchester by the Sea
NAOMIE HARRIS Moonlight
NICOLE KIDMAN Lion
VIOLA DAVIS Fences
ORIGINAL MUSIC
ARRIVAL Jóhann Jóhannsson
JACKIE Mica Levi
LA LA LAND Justin Hurwitz
LION Dustin O’Halloran, Hauschka
NOCTURNAL ANIMALS Abel Korzeniowski
CINEMATOGRAPHY
ARRIVAL Bradford Young
HELL OR HIGH WATER Giles Nuttgens
LA LA LAND Linus Sandgren
LION Greig Fraser
NOCTURNAL ANIMALS Seamus McGarvey
EDITING
ARRIVAL Joe Walker
HACKSAW RIDGE John Gilbert
LA LA LAND Tom Cross
MANCHESTER BY THE SEA Jennifer Lame
NOCTURNAL ANIMALS Joan Sobel
PRODUCTION DESIGN
DOCTOR STRANGE Charles Wood, John Bush
FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM Stuart Craig, Anna Pinnock
HAIL, CAESAR! Jess Gonchor, Nancy Haigh
LA LA LAND David Wasco, Sandy Reynolds-Wasco
NOCTURNAL ANIMALS Shane Valentino, Meg Everist
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
MAKE UP & HAIR
DOCTOR STRANGE Jeremy Woodhead
FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS J. Roy Helland, Daniel Phillips
HACKSAW RIDGE Shane Thomas
NOCTURNAL ANIMALS Donald Mowat, Yolanda Toussieng
ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY Amanda Knight, Neal Scanlan, Lisa Tomblin
SOUND
ARRIVAL Sylvain Bellemare, Claude La Haye, Bernard Gariépy Strobl
DEEPWATER HORIZON Dror Mohar, Mike Prestwood Smith, Wylie Stateman, Renee Tondelli, David Wyman
FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM Niv Adiri, Glenn Freemantle, Simon Hayes, Andy Nelson, Ian Tapp
HACKSAW RIDGE Peter Grace, Robert Mackenzie, Kevin O’Connell, Andy Wright
LA LA LAND Mildred Iatrou Morgan, Ai-Ling Lee, Steve A. Morrow, Andy Nelson
SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
ARRIVAL Louis Morin
DOCTOR STRANGE Richard Bluff, Stephane Ceretti, Paul Corbould, Jonathan Fawkner
FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM Tim Burke, Pablo Grillo, Christian Manz, David Watkins
THE JUNGLE BOOK Robert Legato, Dan Lemmon, Andrew R. Jones, Adam Valdez
ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY Neil Corbould, Hal Hickel, Mohen Leo, John Knoll, Nigel Sumner
BRITISH SHORT ANIMATION
THE ALAN DIMENSION Jac Clinch, Jonathan Harbottle, Millie Marsh
A LOVE STORY Khaled Gad, Anushka Kishani Naanayakkara, Elena Ruscombe-King
TOUGH Jennifer Zheng
BRITISH SHORT FILM
CONSUMED Richard John Seymour
HOME Shpat Deda, Afolabi Kuti, Daniel Mulloy, Scott O’Donnell
MOUTH OF HELL Bart Gavigan, Samir Mehanovic, Ailie Smith, Michael Wilson
THE PARTY Farah Abushwesha, Emmet Fleming, Andrea Harkin, Conor MacNeill
STANDBY Jack Hannon, Charlotte Regan
EE RISING STAR AWARD (voted for by the public)
ANYA TAYLOR-JOY
LAIA COSTA
LUCAS HEDGES
RUTH NEGGA
TOM HOLLAND
EE BAFTA Rising Star Nominations 2017
Today, the nominations for this year’s prestigious EE Rising Star Award were revealed at BAFTA’s headquarters, 195 Piccadilly in London. The nominations represent five actors and actresses who have shown truly outstanding talent on the big screen in the past year and captured the attention of both the public and the film industry.
The nominees for 2017 are:
LAIA COSTA starred in Sebastian Schipper’s critically-acclaimed Victoria, a film which was almost entirely improvised by the actors and shot in one single take – in turn landing her a series of awards wins. Prior to this, she played the lead role of Lucià in the Russian film Fort Ross, directed by Russian director Yuriy Moroz, and also starred in Palm Trees in the Snow. Costa has worked extensively in her native country, Spain, starring in TV shows such as Cites, the Spanish remake of British TV series Dates, Carlos, Rey Emperador, and Polseres Vermelles. Up next, Costa will be seen starring opposite Thomas Mann in Matthew Brown’s latest Independent film Maine, and Martin Hodara’s Nieve negra with Richard Darin.
LUCAS HEDGES can currently be seen on the big screen alongside Casey Affleck, Michelle Williams and Gretchen Mol, in Kenneth Lonergan’s Manchester by the Sea. Hedges broke onto the scene when director Wes Anderson cast him in his first role as Redford in Moonrise Kingdom. Anderson first caught glimpse of Hedges after sitting in the audience of one of his middle school plays and has since then cast him in The Grand Budapest Hotel, starring alongside Ralph Fiennes. Other notable roles include Richard in Jason Reitman’s Labor Day and starring opposite Christoph Waltz in Terry Gilliam’s The Zero Theorem. Hedges has recently wrapped production on Greta Gerwig’s directorial debut, Lady Bird alongside Saoirse Ronan and Tracy Letts, and Martin McDonagh’s film Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, which is set for release this year.
TOM HOLLAND, trained actor and dancer, is best known for his role as the iconic Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Holland starred in Captain America: Civil War alongside Robert Downey Jr and Chris Evans and has recently finished filming for Spider-Man: Homecoming where he appears opposite Michael Keaton. Holland made his screen debut opposite Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts in Juan Antonio Bayona’s The Impossible. Prior to this, Holland has worked with a number of big names including Chris Hemsworth and Cillian Murphy in Ron Howard’s In the Heart of the Sea, Saoirse Ronan in Kevin MacDonald’s How I Live Now and Tom Hardy in Steven Knight’s Locke. 2017 spells another busy year as Holland features in James Gray’s The Lost City of Z with Robert Pattinson and begins shooting for The Current War opposite the acclaimed Benedict Cumberbatch.
RUTH NEGGA is currently starring in Jeff Nichols’ critically acclaimed film, Loving, opposite Joel Edgerton, which was inspired by the documentary The Loving Story and follows Mildred and Richard Loving, the couple behind the pivotal 1967 civil rights case. After enjoying a successful career in theatre, Negga made her screen debut in the Irish film Capital Letters, playing the lead role of Taiwo. She went on to play the lead role of Mary in Isolation the following year, and has also starred as Tulip O’Hare in the critically acclaimed series Preacher opposite Dominic Cooper. Her award-winning theatre credits include Lolita, Duck, Phaedre and Titus Andronicus.
ANYA TAYLOR-JOY is most notably known for her breakthrough and debut film role of Thomasin in Robert Egger’s The Witch. Following this, Taylor-Joy starred in the science fiction horror film Morgan, directed by Luke Scott, and Vikram Gandhi’s film Barry where she played Charlotte opposite Devon Terrell. Next up for release is M. Night Shyamalan’s thriller Split where Taylor-Joy will be seen in the leading role alongside the first ever EE Rising Star Award winner, James McAvoy, in the gripping story of a man with 23 personalities who is compelled to abduct three teenage girls.
2017 celebrates the 12th year of the EE Rising Star Award, the only award at the EE British Academy Film Awards voted for by the British public. Voting is now open at ee.co.uk/BAFTA and the winner will be announced at the EE British Academy Film Awards on Sunday 12 February 2017.
Alien Covenant Red Band Trailer
Ridley Scott returns to the iconic universe he created, with ALIEN: COVENANT, a new chapter in his groundbreaking ALIEN franchise. The crew of the colony ship Covenant, bound for a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy, discovers what they think is an uncharted paradise, but is actually a dark, dangerous world. When they uncover a threat beyond their imagination, they must attempt a harrowing escape. Check out the official trailer below:
Rogue One Review
Warning: This review may contain spoilers
The Plot
A group of lost causes band together in a plot to retrieve the plans for the Empire’s ultimate weapon, the Death Star.
The Good
Director Gareth Edwards joins the Star Wars saga in this, the first Star Wars Story set between the main episodes (unless you count the infamous Holiday Special), in this case between the prequel and original trilogy, telling the story behind the plans for the Death Star.
Opening with an interesting though perhaps not necessarily planned alternative take on the opening crawl, synonymous with the saga, Rogue One instantly sets itself up as a film both completely removed from the usual formula yet still honouring its roots. Felicity Jones heads the cast as Jyn Erso, daughter of Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelson) chief engineer of the Death Star, who is recruited by the rebellion in an effort to find her father for information.
What sets Rogue One aside from its brother saga is undoubtedly its action sequences. Edwards manages to bring harrowing war sequences to life both on the ground and in the air with real gravitas. It’s a refreshingly realistic take on sci-fi war that instantly apes any attempts previously made in the series so far.
The Bad
With Rogue One chronicling the timeline leading right up to A New Hope, it’s inevitable that some familiar faces will return to the screen. The main face of course being everybody’s favourite Sith Lord, Darth Vader. His return to the big screen is quite simply triumphant, albeit only in the latter half. His one scene preceding the already much discussed fight sequence does dampen things slightly thanks to an awkwardly placed pun which just feels out of place and out of character.
The other main returning face is that of Peter Cushing’s General Tarkin. Just as with Vader, Tarkin is a vital role that would make Rogue One feel extremely lacking if it wasn’t included. And in the few scenes he turns up it’s clear that the production team have put every effort into rendering the likeness of Cushing. Unfortunately all this work feels ultimately pointless. While the effort is admirable the simple truth is that it still looks obviously fake. Due in large part to the fact that any Star Wars fan would know as soon as Cushing appears that it can’t be. What’s especially disappointing is the fact that this could have been so easily averted by either recasting the role or keeping the appearances minimalistic, perhaps covering his face in shadow which would have been just as effective if not more so. Instead Tarkin begins to stick out like a sore thumb the more he is used.
The third and last issue of returning faces comes from the two faces who are the constant s throughout the entire franchise and ironically aren’t technically faces. R2-D2 and C3PO make the briefest of cameos in what feels like a very shoehorned in scene that serves just to keep the record going. It’s a shame that they don’t make one final appearance at the very end to make the appearance feel warranted.
The Ugly Truth
Rogue One manages to successfully stand apart from the Star Wars Saga while still able to keep it’s connections. While the attempts to do this through returning characters doesn’t tend to work particularly well, Gareth Edwards’ fantastically realistic action sequences and Felicity Jones’ Jyn Erso are more than enough to bring you back into A Long Time Ago in a Galaxy Far Far Away.
Review by Johnny Ellis