Lion Premieres At London Film Festival 2016

The 60th BFI London Film Festival in partnership with American Express is thrilled to announce that LION starring Dev Patel, Rooney Mara, David Wenham and Nicole Kidman will be the American Express Gala at this year’s Festival.  The film will receive its UK premiere on Wednesday 12 October at London’s Odeon Leicester Square, with Dev Patel and Nicole Kidman expected to attend.

Directed by Garth Davis, and adapted from Saroo Brierley’s engrossing memoir “A Long Way Home”. LION tells the true story of how a wrong train takes a five-year-old Indian boy hundreds of miles from home; he survives many challenges before being adopted by an Australian couple.  Twenty-five years later, haunted by memories of his childhood, he learns of a new technology called Google Earth, and sets out to find his lost family.

BFI London Film Festival Director, Clare Stewart says:

“We are delighted Garth Davis’ LION will be this year’s American Express Gala. This sweeping adaptation is a rousing tribute to the tenacity of the human spirit, and is more intricate in its texture, and more astounding in its narrative twists than most works of fiction.”

Garth Davis, director says:

“Whilst LION traverses many continents, it has a very special home here at the BFI London Film Festival and we are honoured to be a part of it. Dev Patel gave us everything for this story, and this being his home town, makes it deeply special.”

Dev Patel says

“LION is in essence, a story about mothers and sons and it’s a real honour for me to be in London among so many of my colleagues, friends and family to share this triumphant, immersive and visually breathtaking story.”

LION is a Weinstein Company presentation in association with Screen Australia, a See-Saw Films Production in association with Aquarius Films and Sunstar Entertainment.  Produced by Emile Sherman, Iain Canning and Angie Fielder, executive producers are Bob Weinstein, Harvey Weinstein, David C Glasser, Andrew Fraser, Shahen Mekertichian and Daniel Levin.

The 60th BFI London Film Festival in partnership with American Express takes place from Wednesday 5 October-Sunday 16 October 2016.  The Festival opens with Amma Asante’s A UNITED KINGDOM and closes with Ben Wheatley’s FREE FIRE. The full Festival programme will be announced on Thursday 1 September 2016.

Following a successful six year collaboration, the BFI announced in May this year, a continuation of the partnership between the BFI London Film Festival (LFF) and American Express, which will see them remain as Principal Sponsor and Preferred Payment Partner.

John Krasinski To Star In Jack Ryan Series

The Office star John Krasinski is set to follow the footsteps of Harrison Ford, Chris Pine, Alec Baldwin and Ben Affleck to become the new iteration of Jack Ryan for a series produced by Amazon. It looks like Krasinski, won’t be letting go of those impressive abs he built up for 13 Hours as he’ll no doubt need them for the 10 parter series.

While no release date has been announced yet, Lost co-showrunner Carlton Cuse will be working on the show with writer/producer Graham Roland. It also appears that the show won’t be taking material directly from Tom Clancy’s  Jack Ryan novels and instead will be placing the character in modern day settings as a CIA agent/analyst and will not be a continuation of the last time he graced our screens in 2014’s Shadow Recruit.

More news as always, when we get it but the show is expected to shoot in America, Europe and Africa  with the current synopsis from Amazon: ‘The series follows Ryan as he uncovers a pattern in terrorist communication that launches him into the center of a dangerous gambit with a new breed of terrorism that threatens destruction on a global scale’.

The Get Down Premiere Pictures & Video

Netflix held a star studded Premiere stateside for their much anticipated  latest original series The Get Down. Check out pictures and video highlights below.

The Get Down is a mythic saga of how New York at the brink of bankruptcy gave birth to a new art form. Set in New York  in 1977, this music-driven drama series chronicles the rise of hip-hop and the last days of disco -– told through the lives, music, art and dance of the South Bronx kids who would change the world forever.

Director Baz Luhrmann made the series with a team of collaborators including four-time Oscar winner and fellow executive producer Catherine Martin, legendary MC and executive producer Nas, associate producer Grandmaster Flash, Pulitzer Prize winning playwright, co-creator and executive producer Stephen Adly Guirgis; and expert collaborators, including hip-hop historian and supervising producer Nelson George.

The cast of the The Get Down includes Shameik Moore (“Shaolin Fantastic”), Justice Smith (“Ezekiel ‘Books’ Figuero”), Herizen Guardiola (“Mylene Cruz”), Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (“Cadillac”), Jaden Smith (“Dizzee Kipling”), Skylan Brooks (“Ra Ra Kipling”), Tremaine Brown Jr. (“Boo Boo Kiping”), Mamoudou Athie (“Grandmaster Flash”), Jimmy Smits (“Francisco ‘Papa Fuerte’ Cruz”) and Giancarlo Esposito (“Ramon Cruz”).

The Inbetweeners Cast Set For New Show

Speaking to Red Carpet News TV at the World Premiere for new Ricky Gervais movie David Brent Life On The Road, The Inbetweeners star James Buckley confirmed exciting news that he and former co-star Joe Thomas will be re-teaming for a ‘cool’ new show from some of the creative team behind The Inbetweeners.

While again strongly ruling out the possibility of ever reprising their Inbetweeners characters Buckley did admit that there was enthusiasm for possibly having Simon Bird and Blake Harrison also join them in some capacity in the new show.

While he was reluctant to confirm any details of the new show he assured fans that it would have an Inbetweeners vibe and that they recognized the appeal of getting the whole gang back together given any opportunity to do so. Video interview below

Nerve Review

The Plot

A high school senior finds herself immersed in an online game of truth or dare where her every move starts to become manipulated by an anonymous community of ‘watchers’

The Good

Emma Roberts stars in this engaging thriller which adds an interesting twist to the world of social networking with Nerve, an app which allows people to live stream dares which are matched to fit their online profiles from anonymous ‘watchers’. So for example, if you’re afraid of heights, your dare will be attributed to get the best reactions. Jessica Sharzer’s script does a wonderful job of making the premise feel realistic which adds to the ironically unnerving sense of the film. As Vee (Roberts) decides to finally step outside her comfort zone after a humiliating experience with a crush, she joins nerve as a ‘player’ where she is dared to kiss a stranger. Things soon escalate as Vee and the stranger, Ian (Franco) are banded together by the ‘watchers’ and given dares which start becoming more and more dangerous.

Franco and Roberts are a perfect match as they roam the city, gaining more and more followers both virtually and in reality in the form of anonymous people lit up only by their cell phones. Their chemistry is really what makes the film work, not feeling forced at all, while the story feeds such a simple idea but one that feels minutes away from happening in real life. Twists and turns come along the way as the elusive Ian is slowly revealed to have ulterior motives.

The Bad

As a general concept, Nerve works particularly well. However there is at least one storyline which feels a touch forced especially towards its conclusion. As Vee continues to complete dares, she receives rewards from the watchers in the form of bank transfers which gradually get larger and larger dependant on how tricky the dare is. With this comes Juliette Lewis as Vee’s mother, who becomes more and more confused with the sudden activity in their joint bank account. It works well to begin with but when she becomes more involved with the storyline it just feels out of place. Had she just been outside of the main story for the entirety it could have been a nice addition.

On the subject of the films ending, there does seem to be the sense of a tacked on cliffhanger which feels clearly like it’s there simply to have an option for a sequel should the film succeed. However with the way in which the final act plays out it would perhaps not be the wisest of choices.

The Ugly Truth

Emma Roberts and Dave Franco have a great chemistry and prove they are more than capable of carrying a movie on their own. This is undoubtedly also due in part to the genuinely realistic and intriguing concept. There are a couple of issues with the overall ending, particularly Juliette Lewis’ part. For the most part however, Nerve is a fantastic ride!

Review by Johnny Ellis