Christopher Nolan predicts surprise Best Picture nomination at next year’s Oscars

Sunday’s Oscar ceremony produced a number of positive talking points on an otherwise successful night celebrating the best of everything film.

One movie that was mentioned on the regular throughout the night and indeed for the last few months, is Black Panther.

The latest Marvel release received incredible critic reviews and fan reaction as well as offering a voice for diversity in film.

Furthermore, legendary director Christopher Nolan offered his thoughts on the movie on Deadline’s Oscar round-up, claiming that he believes “Black Panther will among the Best Picture nominees in 2019”.

Although a superhero movie has never been nominated for an Oscar outside of the technical awards before, Logan broke that duck this year when it was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Additionally, there was plenty of suggestion that Wonder Woman would be nominated for a big prize, though that never surfaced.

Deadline claimed that a Disney executive had spoken about how hard they were pushing for Black Panther to be nominated, while another Disney contender comes in the shape of Mary Poppins Returns, starring Emily Blunt.

Chris Tucker confirms there WILL be a Rush Hour 4

Chris Tucker has confirmed the news that everyone wants to hear. There will be a Rush Hour 4!

It’s over a decade since the third instalment of the franchise and a question mark has been hanging over whether there will be a fourth film.

Last year, Jackie Chan announced his intentions to do another movie but Tucker remained quiet about the potential for a fourth film…until now.

Speaking on ESPN’s podcast, The Plug, Tucker said: “It’s happening. This is gonna be the Rush of all Rushes. Jackie is ready and we want to do this so that people don’t ever forget it.”

One potential banana skin would be regarding Brett Ratner, the director of the first three movies. Ratner was recently at the centre of sexual assault claims and it is unlikely that he would return for a fourth venture anytime soon. Would it be the same without his input?

Additionally, many would suggest the third was where the series should have died, particularly with the rubbish TV reboot that barely managed to air for an entire season in 2016.

New favourite for Bond 25 director role

There has been a huge new development in the Bond 25 director saga.

There was more bad news for James Bond fans earlier this week when Dunkirk director Christopher Nolan ruled himself out of helming the next Bond project.

But now, Danny Boyle is the front-runner to direct the next movie as MGM have put him top of their want list, according to Variety.

Earlier this year, Blade Runner 2049 director, Denis Villenueve, confirmed that he turned down the opportunity to direct the next Bond movie due to other commitments.

Boyle would certainly be an interesting choice given his catalogue of visually experimental projects throughout the years.

That said, he is one of the most successful directors to come out of Britain and it only seems fitting that he should be given a go at helming the most British of characters.

 

UK cinemas to host dog-friendly film screenings

A number of cinemas up and down the UK are hosting dog-friendly film screenings to mark the release of Wes Anderson’s new movie, Isle of Dogs.

It sounds like a barking mad (sorry) idea to me but various cinemas are welcoming customers to bring their well-behaved dogs to the preview screening of the movie on Sunday 25 March, including:

Crouch End Picturehouse
Picturehouse Central
East Dulwich Picturehouse
Hackney Picturehouse
Stratford Upon Avon Picturehouse
City Screen
Ritzy Cinema
Greenwich Picturehouse
Exeter Picturehouse
Harbour Lights
Cameo Cinema
Picturehouse Cinema
Clapham Picturehouse
Cambridge Arts Picturehouse
Duke of York’s Picturehouse
The Little Theatre Cinema

The cinemas will be supplying water bowls inside and outside of the screen, as well as blankets so your dog can sit on the seat next to you.

For more information about the event that will get tails wagging, click here.

We will supply plenty of water bowls both inside and out the screen, and we will issue everything with blanket so your dog can sit on the seat next to you.

 

2018 BAFTA Awards – The Winners

The 2018 BAFTA Awards were held on Sunday night – here is a selection of the standout winners, along with their fellow nominees along with my verdict:

Best Film

Call Me By Your Name
Darkest Hour
Dunkirk
The Shape of Water
Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri – WINNER

Verdict: Three Billboards was a deserved winner for best film and is pipped for best picture at the Oscars next month. It’s a tight category, but the film offers so much with a heartbreaking tale at the heart of it.

Best Leading Actor

Daniel Day-Lewis, Phantom Thread
Daniel Kaluuya, Get Out
Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour – WINNER
Jamie Bell, Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool
​Timothée Chalamet, Call Me By Your Name

Verdict: This was fairly straight-forward. Oldman is faultless as the great Winston Churchill and was by far the best thing about Darkest Hour. It was a career best performance by the veteran actor and fully deserved.

Best Leading Actress

Annette Bening, Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool
Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri – WINNER
Margot Robbie, I, Tonya
Sally Hawkins, The Shape of Water
Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird

Verdict: By far the toughest category – but there can’t be too many arguments about McDormand’s win. Her performance in Three Billboards is both heartbreaking and charming and near perfect. Margot Robbie and Saoirse Ronan can count themselves unlucky however.

Best Supporting Actor

Christopher Plummer, All the Money in the World
Hugh Grant, Paddington 2
Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri – WINNER
Willem Dafoe, The Florida Project
Woody Harrelson, Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri

Verdict: Again, another incredibly competitive category which could have easily gone to any of the nominees. Nevertheless, Sam Rockwell is brilliant in his role in Three Billboards, both hilarious and touching at the same time.

Best Supporting Actress

Allison Janney, I, Tonya – WINNER
Kristin Scott Thomas, Darkest Hour
Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird
Lesley Manville, Phantom Thread
Octavia Spencer, The Shape of Water

Verdict: Allison Janney gave a startling performance in I, Tonya and fully deserves the prize. Her role is both shocking, forceful and right on the money. Credit must also go to the brilliant Kristin Scott Thomas and Laurie Metcalf who were both terrific also.

Best Director

Denis Villeneuve, Blade Runner 2049
Luca Guadagnino, Call Me By Your Name
Christopher Nolan, Dunkirk
Guillermo del Toro, The Shape of Water – WINNER
Martin McDonagh, Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri

Verdict: After watching Lady Bird, it’s difficult to see how Greta Gerwig wasn’t even nominated for this category bearing in mind it was her debut solo movie. Martin McDonagh can also count himself unlucky with Three Billboards, but instead it was Guillermo del Toro who took the prize for the incredulous The Shape of Water.

Three Billboards was the big winner on the night, scooping five trophies in total while Gary Oldman’s win was one of two trophies won for Winston Churchill epic, Darkest Hour.

Guillermo del Toro’s, The Shape of Water, won three awards in total despite being nominated for 12.

Sir Ridley Scott was also awarded the BAFTA Fellowship – his third honorary award despite never having won a competitve BAFTA.

 

2018 Golden Globe Nominations

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association revealed the nominations for the 75th Golden Globe Awards this morning and they are as follows:

Best Motion Picture – Drama

“Call Me By Your Name”
“Dunkirk”
“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
“The Post”
“The Shape of Water”

Best Motion Picture – Comedy

“The Disaster Artist”
“Get Out”
“The Greatest Showman”
“Lady Bird”
“I, Tonya”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama

Jessica Chastain, “Molly’s Game”
Sally Hawkins, “The Shape of Water”
Frances McDormand, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Meryl Streep, “The Post”
Michelle Williams, “All The Money In The World”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama

Timothée Chalamet, “Call Me By Your Name”
Daniel Day-Lewis, “Phantom Thread”
Tom Hanks, “The Post”
Gary Oldman, “Darkest Hour”
Denzel Washington, “Roman J. Israel”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy

Judi Dench, “Victoria & Abdul”
Hellen Mirren, “The Leisure Seeker”
Margot Robbie, “I, Tonya”
Saoirse Ronan, “Lady Bird”
Emma Stone, “Battle of the Sexes”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy

Steve Carell, “Battle of the Sexes”
James Franco, “The Disaster Artist”
Daniel Kaluuya, “Get Out”
Hugh Jackman, “The Greatest Showman”
Ansel Elgort, “Baby Driver”

Best Supporting Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama, Musical or Comedy

Allison Janney, “I, Tonya”
Laurie Metcalf, “Lady Bird”
Octavia Spencer, “The Shape of Water”
Mary J. Blige, “Mudbound”
Hong Chau, “Downsizing”

Best Supporting Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama, Musical or Comedy

Willem Dafoe, “The Florida Project”
Armie Hammer, “Call Me By Your Name”
Sam Rockwell, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Richard Jenkins, “The Shape of Water”
Christopher Plummer, “All the Money in the World”

Best Director

Guillermo del Toro, “The Shape of Water”
Christopher Nolan, “Dunkirk”
Steven Spielberg, “The Post”
Martin McDonagh, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Ridley Scott, “All The Money in the World”

Best Screenplay

Greta Gerwig, “Lady Bird”
Martin McDonagh, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Liz Hannah, Josh Singer, “The Post”
Guillermo del Toro, Vanessa Taylor, “The Shape of Water”
“Molly’s Game”

Best Original Score

Hans Zimmer, “Dunkirk”
Johnny Greenwood, “Phantom Thread”
Alexandre Desplat, “The Shape of Water
Carter Burwell, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
John Williams, “The Post”

Best Original Song

“This Is Me” from “The Greatest Showman,” Benj Pasek, Justin Paul
“Remember Me” from “Coco,” Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Robert Lopez
“Mighty River” from “Mudbound,” Mary J. Blige, Raphael Saadiq, Taura Stinson
“The Star” from “The Star,” Mariah Carey, Marc Shaiman
“Home” from “Ferdinand,” Nick Jonas, Justin Tranter, Nick Monson

Best Animated Feature Film

“The Breadwinner”
“Coco”
“Loving Vincent”
“The Boss Baby”
“Ferdinand”

Best Foreign Language Film

“A Fantastic Woman”
“Loveless”
“First They Killed My Father”
“In the Fade”
“The Square”

James Franco announces superhero project

James Franco has confirmed he will produce and star in a superhero movie, but did not reveal the identity of the character it would be based on.

There have been reports that Fox has been working on a Marvel Comics movie based on Multiple Man.

“I do have a superhero that I am developing,” Franco told the Hollywood Reporter. “I don’t know how much I can say. But I will say I am producing and performing in it.

“It’s early stages. I think probably what I can say is, like anything, there’s a need to develop more.”

Franco mentioned that he was working on a number of different projects through Ramona Films, the company that he created with his brother, Dave.

“Our bottom line MO is, how can we push this into new ground? A little bit, but still make it entertaining? What I love about what Simon Kinberg and Fox and the X-Men people have done with Deadpool and Logan — it took a while to get there, maybe 10 years — but they are going to go hard R.

“And we’re going to take this superhero thing and really just push it into a new genre. So we’re working with Simon Kinberg on an X-Men property.”

Franco is currently receiving plaudits for his portrayal as Tommy Wiseau in The Room, which hits UK cinemas this Friday.

Who might replace Ben Affleck as Batman?

It has been widely reported that Ben Affleck will not be returning to play the Dark Knight in Matt Reeves’ The Batman. Although the actor didn’t actively suggest he would be leaving the role in an interview last week for USA Today, he did say it is something he is contemplating. He went on to suggest: “You don’t do it forever, so I want to find a graceful and cool way to segue out of (the role).”

Affleck didn’t offer any reason for his doubts over the future of the role, but one thing could be down to the poor reception critically for the DC movies he has featured in. He has now portrayed Bruce Wayne aka Batman three times in two years now (Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad, Justice League), but it’s looking increasingly likely that we will see someone new donning the cape in the stand-alone Batman movie. Here are some potential candidates for the role:

Jake Gyllenhaal

Just a quick fix for now – Jake Batman, might add more to it. pic.twitter.com/nXMHVaZvWw

— BossLogic (@Bosslogic) November 18, 2017

As it stands, Gyllenhaal is the favourite to don the cape after a report was released last week claiming he expressed interest in the role and even had meetings with director Reeves.

In the DCEU leaks section of Reddit an allegedly ‘incredibly reliable source at Warner Bros’ revealed “Gyllenhaal really wants the role, but the studio isn’t 100% sold on the idea yet.

Interestingly, the 36-year-old auditioned for the role of Batman in 2005 for Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins with the role of course going to Christian Bale instead.

Armie Hammer

Having supposedly been chosen to play Batman in the 2008 version of Justice League that was scrapped, Hammer must surely feel that he has unfinished business when it comes to the role.

Hammer previously worked alongside Superman’s Henry Cavill in The Man From UNCLE where he portrayed a dark and dangerous spy which could work as some form of audition.

Colin Farrell

In 2007, Will Smith’s I Am Legend featured a cool easter egg—a movie billboard layering the Batman and Superman logos together. This was when a Batman v Superman movie was originally planned – and Farrell was one of the front runners to play the Batman, despite Christian Bale filming The Dark Knight at that moment in time.

Farrell won’t be featuring in the next instalment of Fantastic Beasts, freeing up some time for him to possibly feature as the caped crusader, but at 41 years of age, it’s difficult to see him commit to the character.

Michael Fassbender

It’s tough to see this one becoming a reality due to his commitments as Magneto in the X-Men franchise, but Fassbender would be a solid choice for the role.

His CV consists of some dark, gritty roles which have demonstrated why he would fit the ruthless persona of Bruce Wayne.

Again, at 40 years of age, it might be difficult for Fassbender to take on such a demanding character physically.

Jeffrey Dean Morgan

This is one of the more farfetched shouts but super-fan theories portray some form of logic. Morgan featured briefly in Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice as Thomas Wayne, Bruce’s father.

One alternate timeline in the comics sees Thomas Wayne – not Bruce – become Batman. This theory does involves some form of time travel from The Flash which comic fans will be familiar with.

In addition, at 51, there’s little chance of Morgan being able to commit himself to the role – though fans of the TV series Negan would argue otherwise.

Keanu Reeves

Somewhat of a wildcard in this list – especially considering how much of a factor age seems to be amongst the other candidates. But with that said, anyone who has watched Reeves resurrect his career in both John Wick films will know just how nimble the 53-year-old still is.

With John Wick 3 in the pipeline, it’s unlikely that Reeves would take on the role of Batman, but he has demonstrated that he would have been perfect for the role once upon a time.

 

Uma Thurman to Harvey Weinstein: ‘I’m glad it’s going slowly, you don’t deserve a bullet’

Uma Thurman yesterday launched a scathing attack on disgraced mogul, Harvey Weinstein, whilst wishing her Instagram followers a Happy Thanksgiving.

Footage was released earlier this month of the Pulp Fiction actress telling Access Hollywood: “I’ve learned that when I’ve spoken in anger I usually regret the way I express myself. So I’ve been waiting to feel less angry. And when I’m ready, I’ll say what I have to say.”

Her Instagram post yesterday was the first suggestion that she is now ready to tell all after including the #metoo hashtag, and going on to wish all her followers a Happy Thanksgiving “Except you Harvey, and all your wicked conspirators – I’m glad it’s going slowly – you don’t deserve a bullet”.

She ended the post, which included a picture of her character from Kill Bill, Beatrix Kiddo, with “stay tuned”, suggesting that she will soon reveal her story.

Check out the post in full below:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Uma Thurman (@umathurman)

Rebel Wilson claims sexual harassment

Australian actress Rebel Wilson is the latest star to reveal that she was the victim of sexual harassment in the entertainment industry.

The Pitch Perfect actress posted a number of tweets on Saturday claiming that a male star had asked her to perform a sexual act in front of him and his friends who were filming on their phones.

https://twitter.com/RebelWilson/status/929380532286140419

https://twitter.com/RebelWilson/status/929381376243089408

She claims that she was later threatened by the representatives of the male star to “be nice and support” them after she contacted her agent and lawyer about the incident.

https://twitter.com/RebelWilson/status/929381772877369344

https://twitter.com/RebelWilson/status/929382510819033088

Wilson went on to tweet about a previous experience she had with a director in which she thought they had gone up to his hotel room to talk about comedy.

She went on to say that “nothing physical happened because the guy’s wife called and started abusing him over the phone for sleeping with actresses”.

https://twitter.com/RebelWilson/status/929383465572638720

https://twitter.com/RebelWilson/status/929383919840923649

The actress went on to say that she had the “ability to escape both incidents” but she did “realize that not everyone is as lucky” referring to the numerous cases that have recently been made public.

Wilson added: “If I witness this behaviour, whether it happens to me or someone I know, I will no longer be polite. Interpret that as you will”.