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Domina is a British-Italian historical drama series created by Simon Burke. The Sky Atlantic series chronicles the life of Livia Drusilla, from her early years when Julius Caesar was assassinated to her marriage to the Roman emperor Augustus, which makes way for her to become the most powerful and influential empress in the Roman Empire. Domina stars Nadia Parkes, Tom Glynn-Carney, Enzo Cilenti, Peter Campion, Darrel D’Silva, Tom Forbes, Liam Garrigan, Oliver Huntington, and Alexandra Moloney. So, if you loved the historical drama, a captivating story, and compelling characters in Domina, here are some similar shows you should check out next.

Troy: Fall of a City (Netflix & Rent on Prime Video) Credit – Netflix

Troy: Fall of a City is a historical drama miniseries created by David Farr. Based on the Trojan War, the Netflix series revolves around...

Exclusive: Danny Dyer is thinking about getting back on the boards.

The TV hard man and Rivals star told us he is developing an idea for a play about his close relationship with iconic Nobel Prize-winning playwright Harold Pinter. The idea is in its early stages and Dyer is only just starting to sound people out.

Dyer gave the play a working title of When Harry Met Danny. Were it to move forward, he said he would have to decide whether to play himself, or Pinter, who died in 2008 aged 78.

“I really like it and am excited about it,” Dyer told us. “I’d love to explore it more. I’m grateful for the years I spent with Harold and he was a real mentor to me.”

Dyer (back) with Pinter (right), Anthony O’Donnell (left) and Kenneth Cranham (front)

Dyer struck up a close friendship with Pinter at the start...

Quick Links Rome Was A Ground-Breaking Show Rome Was Canceled Too Soon Game of Thrones Built on Rome's Legacy

Game of Thrones was a world-shattering show that helped to launch a massive franchise. HBO saw massive success from Game of Thrones, which was an adaptation of George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series. Save for the first scene, it initially presented itself as a grounded political show, only seeding in fantastical elements slowly as the series developed. The political element was so successful that it eventually sparked the House of the Dragon spin-off and an entire universe of shows that are currently in development.

It would be easy to describe that level of success as completely unprecedented, but that would overlook the actual truth. Long before Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen made their debuts on the small screen in 2011, HBO had a historical epic...

Update: Last year, Arrow Video released the first four Hellraiser films in a 4K box set called Hellraiser: Quartet of Torment. That box set is now making its way to North America, with a release date of October 22nd in the US and Canada! For information on what’s contained in the set, check out the write-up on last year’s UK release below. It appears that everything from the UK set will be included in the North American set.

The original article follows:

A couple years ago, screenwriter Peter Atkins – who worked on the scripts for the first three Hellraiser sequels – published his original screenplay for the famously troubled fourth film, Hellraiser: Bloodline (the script is available for purchase at This Link), saying, “Whilst you’ll never get to see a Director’s Cut of Hellraiser: Bloodline, you can read in this book what was supposed to be…” But...

Those About to Die is an epic sword-and-sandal historical drama series created by Robert Rodat. Based on the 1958 novel of the same name by author Daniel P. Mannix, the Peacock series revolves around the lives of the gladiators and citizens of the Roman Empire in Ancient Rome, where violence, greed, and lust run rampant. Those About to Die stars Anthony Hopkins, Iwan Rheon, Sara Martins-Court, Tom Hughes, Jojo Macari, Moe Hashim, Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson, Rupert Penry-Jones, Gabriella Pession, Dimitri Leonidas, and Emilio Sakraya. So, if you loved the epic fights, brutal violence, and historical drama in Those About to Die here are some similar shows you could watch next.

Rome (Max & Rent on Prime Video) Credit – HBO

Rome is a historical drama series created by John Milius, William J. MacDonald, and Bruno Heller. The HBO series is set in the 1st century BC during Ancient Rome’s transition from Republic to Empire,...

New in theaters is “One Life” starring legendary actor Anthony Hopkins as real-life British humanitarian Sir Nicholas Winton. Just three years ago he led French playwright Florian Zeller‘s feature directorial debut “The Father.” It not only managed to win him a second Oscar for Best Actor following “The Silence of the Lambs” back in 1991, but it also made headlines. One reason was how it was unconventionally the final award presented during the telecast that year because the sentimental favorite, Chadwick Boseman (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”), was widely expected to win posthumously. Hopkins pulled off a huge upset, though, and he wasn’t even there to accept it. How did that win happen? Here are five reasons.

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1. Hopkins had a very awards-friendly role

His character in “The Father” was an aging man suffering dementia. Multiple actors had won accolades for...

‘Outlander: Blood of My Blood’ starts production (Photo Credit: Starz)

Filming has begun on Starz’s Outlander prequel Outlander: Blood of My Blood which dives into the lives of Jamie’s parents, Ellen and Brian, and Claire’s parents, Julia and Henry. The network’s start of production announcement confirmed Harriet Slater (Pennyworth) will star as Ellen and Jamie Roy (Condor’s Nest) is playing Brian. Hermione Corfield (The Road Dance) is on board as Julia and Jeremy Irvine (War Horse) stars as Henry.

“We’re thrilled to be telling the stories of these two couples. The origins of their relationships explore universal themes that transcend time periods, and we’re so excited for fans to discover and fall in love with these characters and their love stories the way they have with Claire and Jamie,” said Matthew B. Roberts, showrunner, executive producer, and writer on both series.

Season one will...

We’re here about a mattress…

After wrapping up 2023 with look at New French Extremity in Inside (listen), horror musicals in Anna and the Apocalypse (listen) and the Best Horror Films of 2023 (listen), we’re kicking off our first official episode of 2024 with a lengthy discussion of Tony Randel‘s better-than-it-has-any-right-to-be sequel Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988), which just celebrated its 35th anniversary!

Hellbound: Hellraiser II picks up hours after the first film ended, seeing Kirsty Cotton (Ashley Laurence) confined to a mental hospital after she tells the authorities that her father was betrayed by his evil, adulterous wife, Julia (Clare Higgins), and is now being tormented in hell by sadomasochistic demons called Cenobites. Few believe Kirsty, except the thrill-seeking Dr. Channard (Kenneth Cranham), who is so intrigued by her frightening stories that he teams up with a newly resurrected Julia. When they open the gates to Hell and unleash the Cenobites,...

Before Daniel Craig was James Bond, he starred in Layer Cake, a stylish crime drama directed by Matthew Vaughn and based on the novel of the same name by author J.J. Connolly. It’s not a film about a carefully crafted cake with multiple layers and delicious filling. Vaughn’s Layer Cake refers to the layers (or levels) anyone in business goes through while rising to the top of the food chain.

Craig plays an unnamed man in the film known as Xxxx, while Vaughn’s interpretation of the story differs from Connolly’s novel. In the book, Xxxx and his hired gunman wait in a park to kill the off-screen antagonist, Dargon. While in the garden, they shoot an American tourist, mistaking him for Dragon. Initially, the movie would have done the same, but Sony Pictures was uncomfortable with killing an American and asked for the scene to be changed.

The mind of horror mastermind Clive Barker created “Hellraiser,” a long-lived and revered fright series. His 1987 adaptation of his novella, “The Hellbound Heart,” kicked off the franchise; eleven sequels followed. For decades it has held an audience under its spell with eerie thrills, gothic narratives, and iconic characters unlike any others seen before or since then.

Related: 10 Best Horror Movies of All Time, Ranked by Viewers

At the core of Hellraiser is an enigma, the Lament Configuration. This puzzle box opens a doorway into another world filled with Cenobites. These otherworldly beings offer unimaginable pleasure and excruciating pain to those who dare summon them. The franchise’s iconic antagonist, Pinhead, leads the Cenobites with his chilling presence and the unyielding desire to harvest human souls.

Related: 18 Best Thriller Movies (Ranked by IMDb Votes)

The Hellraiser movie marathon delves into themes of obsession, desire, and the repercussions of exploring forbidden territory.

NHS workers are heroes who put up with a staggering amount of stress in their working lives, but has any medical professional been through more than Holby City Hospital’s Charlie Fairhead? As news arrives that actor Derek Thompson is finally hanging up his scrubs and leaving BBC medical drama Casualty this autumn after 37 years, the only question to ask is… what took him so long?

Most of us would leave a job after getting shot in the chest by a schizophrenic killer. Not Charlie. We’d probably bow out after our first heart attack instead of keeping going after the third. We’d likely retreat to a less public-facing role after dealing with a single crazed gunman in the workplace, not sail through multiple hostage situations while while also rescuing colleagues from a variety of life-threatening situations from tunnel collapses to freezing waters, watching two wives die, almost losing...

Doc Martin is ending its run after 18 years on the air, and star Martin Clunes recently talked about ending the British medical comedy-drama series in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. Rupert Graves, Lesley Nicol, Ben Miller, Fay Ripley, David Hayman, Hermione Norris, and Kenneth Cranham also star in the series, which follows a British doctor who has returned to a much-loved town from his youth.

The show's final installment, a Christmas special, was released on the Acorn TV streaming service today.

Read More…...

Doc Martin has the premiere date for its 10th and final season. The final episodes will begin streaming on Acorn TV on October 17th. A documentary special and the series finale special will be released on December 31st.

Martin Clunes, Rupert Graves, Lesley Nicol, Ben Miller, Fay Ripley, David Hayman, Hermione Norris, and Kenneth Cranham are returning for the final season of the British series, which has followed the life of the British doctor (Clunes) over the last 18 years. Guests will include Fay Ripley, David Hayman, Ben Miller, Lesley Nicol, Hermione Norris, Kenneth Cranham, and Rupert Graves.

Read More…...

Clive Barker's novella "The Hellbound Heart," first published in 1986, tells the story of a man named Frank who has experienced everything he feels he can sexually. In seeking a more intense experience, he turns to a mystical puzzle box, said to offer the ultimate sensual pleasure. In solving it, Frank summons a group of beings called Cenobites. "Cenobite" is simply a word for someone who belongs to a monastery. The Cenobites have patches of skin skillfully sliced off their bodies, and are all mutilated to the point of not looking human. They bleed. They are in constant pain.

The lead Cenobite, described as being androgynous, with a feminine voice and elaborate nails decorating their bare head and face, explains that they have reached a level of physical experience beyond sensory overload, and their extreme version of sadomasochism has taught them that pain and pleasure are indivisible. The Cenobites drag...

Masked men stormed a Moscow showing of Agnieszka Holland’s film Mr Jones yesterday night, chanting “Shame on the Motherland” as they took over the stage.

In footage posted on Twitter, the group of what appeared to be around 20 people took to the front of Moscow’s Memorial Human Rights Center, where the film was being shown.

The 20-second clip shows them repeatedly chanting “Shame on the Motherland” in Russian.

The Center’s lawyer Irina Sherbakova told The Guardian that police were called and the authorities handcuffed the entrance doors to its office, locking staff and attenders of the screening inside for hours.

“This isn’t the first and it won’t be the last attack on us,” she added.

Holland’s biographical thriller was released in 2019 and starred James Norton as Gareth Jones, a young journalist dispatched to the Ussr in the 1930s to discover evidence of the Holodomor...

The French director and dramatist reveals how he pushed Hopkins into giving one of the most wrenching performances of his career in an unflinching dementia drama also starring Olivia Colman

When Florian Zeller set out to turn his harrowing hit play The Father into a film, he made a minor, talismanic tweak to the main character. André is an elderly man with dementia, who suspects his daughter of plotting to steal his flat. This meatiest of roles – which demands sudden waves of confusion, charm, rage, terror and sobbing helplessness – has been quite the awards magnet: Kenneth Cranham won an Olivier in 2016 for his performance in the London production, while Frank Langella took home the Tony in New York.

Zeller had a dream actor in mind for the movie version so, as he embarked on the screenplay, he switched the character’s name from André to Anthony. “It was a way...

Finding Alice is a brilliant new series that begins on ITV this coming Sunday, and while featuring a host of treasured British talent, it was the show’s impressive newcomer we had the pleasure of speaking to, as we sat down to speak to the rising star Isabella Pappas.

We ask Pappas about her experience working with Keeley Hawes, and Nigel Havers, as well as Joanna Lumley, Gemma Jones and Kenneth Cranham (we told you it was treasured). She also comments on the incredible set, and her plans to watch the show, and if she feels a little like this period in her life is the quiet before the storm. She also talks about her childhood and whether acting is something she always wanted to do.

But that’s not to say she’s come completely out of the blue, as Pappas had an Olivier award nomination to her name.

James Norton as Gareth Jones in Mr Jones. Photo courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn Films

In the early ’30s, a young Welsh journalist named Jones uncovers a secret famine in Stalin’s Soviet Union, a revelation that helps inspire George Orwell’s “Animal Farm.” The fact-based Mr Jones is a gripping biographical historical political thriller about the little-remembered courageous Welsh journalist Gareth Jones (James Norton), but in a way, it is also a haunting tale of the critical importance of independent investigative journalists committed to truth.

Acclaimed Polish director Agnieszka Holland helms the English-language Mr Jones, a powerful portrait of courage in truth-telling, inspired by the real-life Welsh journalist Gareth Jones. The drama features a script by Andrea Chalupa and co-stars Peter Sargaard. Interestingly, this film is a reversal of the usual pattern of a men making a film about a courageous woman. Director Holland puts a spotlight on the now little-known Gareth Jones,...

A good idea for a biopic doesn’t always find its ideal reflection on screen. Look what happened to Leonardo DiCaprio’s J. Edgar (as in Hoover), Hilary Swank’s Amelia (as in Earhart) and Colin Farrell’s Alexander (as in the Great). To that list of stymied ambition, add Mr. Jones, as in Gareth Jones (James Norton), the Welsh journalist whose exposé of Soviet atrocities leading up to World War II pissed off so many higher-ups that he never lived to see the age of 30.

On the surface, director...

Mr. Jones Samuel Goldwyn Films Reviewed for Shockya.com & BigAppleReviews.net linked from Rotten Tomatoes by: Harvey Karten Director: Agnieszka Holland Screenwriter: Andrea Chalupa Cast: James Norton, Vanessa Kirby, Peter Sarsgaard, Joseph Mawle, Kenneth Cranham, Krzysztof Pieczynski, Celyn Jones, Patricia Volny Screened at: Critics’ link, NYC, 3/7/20 Opens: June 19, “Mr. Jones” should be required viewing […]

The post Mr. Jones Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

There’s a lot going on in the historical drama Mr. Jones, that’s for sure. Unfortunately, too little of what happens is of limited interest, at least in the manner being depicted. What should be a troubling, urgent, and deeply upsetting tale instead comes off fairly rote and uninspiring. The material is there, it just never comes across in a particularly cinematic way. Additionally, the film does an incredibly frustrating thing in detailing some of its most interesting information during a title card at the end. That sealed the deal and prevented me from giving it even a mild recommendation. Now available On Demand, it seems like it’s destined to be quickly forgotten about. The movie is a biographical/historical drama, taking place in the days before the second World War would begin. Ambitious journalist Gareth Jones (James Norton) has traveled from the United Kingdom to Moscow, chasing a story.

"You will retract the statements to the press immediately." "Or they will shoot our engineers?" Goldwyn Films has debuted an official Us trailer for Mr. Jones, a film by Polish filmmaker Agnieszka Holland. This first premiered at the Berlin Film Festival last year, and stopped by numerous other international film festivals - a true story about a great writer. Mr. Jones brings to the screen the extraordinary and powerful story of the real-life Welsh journalist who uncovered Stalin's genocidal famine in Ukraine in the 1930s, which killed almost 10 million. Before WWII begins, he travels first into Russia, then down to Ukraine, becoming the first to break the news in the western media of the government-created famine in the Soviet Union. Starring James Norton as Gareth Jones; and he's joined by Vanessa Kirby, Peter Sarsgaard, Joseph Mawle, Kenneth Cranham, Celyn Jones, Krzysztof Pieczynski, Fenella Woolgar, and Martin Bishop. An important film...

Sony Pictures Classics has acquired rights to “The Father” ahead of its world premiere at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. The pact takes one of the hottest titles off the block. “The Father,” based on an acclaimed stage play by Florian Zeller, stars Oscar winners Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman.

The deal is for U.S. distribution as well as select foreign territories. Hopkins and Colman play father and daughter. The play was hailed as an incisive look at family and mortality.

Zeller directs from a screenplay he co-wrote with Academy Award winner Christopher Hampton (“Dangerous Liaisons”). The film also stars Mark Gatiss, Imogen Poots, Rufus Sewell, and Olivia Williams.

The play was first launched in Paris 2012, winning the Moliere Award for Best Play. Hampton’s translation bowed in London’s West End in 2015 where it won an Olivier Award for Best Actor for Kenneth Cranham. Frank Langella took...

Joanna Lumley, the star of Absolutely Fabulous and Paddington 2, is among a number of British actors to join the cast of ITV’s black comedy Finding Alice.

Made by Happy Valley producer Red Production Company, the six-part season was co-created by Line Of Duty star Keeley Hawes, who has previously been announced in the lead role.

Lumley will play the mother of Hawes’ character Alice, whose husband suddenly dies after falling down the stairs of their new dream home. Alice’s father will be played by Nigel Havers.

Other cast include Gemma Jones (Gentleman Jack), Kenneth Cranham (Hatton Garden), Isabella Pappas (Paranoid) and Sharon Rooney (The Capture).

Hawes created Finding Alice with Roger Goldby and Simon Nye, who have written the show. Red founder Nicola Shindler is the executive producer alongside Hawes, Goldby and Nye. Goldby is directing the first three episodes, while Juliet May also directs.

Mr. Jones Trailer Agnieszka Holland‘s Mr. Jones (2019) U.K. movie trailer has been released by Signature Entertainment and stars James Norton, Vanessa Kirby, Peter Sarsgaard, Joseph Mawle, and Kenneth Cranham. Plot Synopsis Mr. Jones‘ plot synopsis: “1933. Gareth Jones (James Norton) is an ambitious Welsh journalist who gained fame after his report on being the first foreign [...]

Continue reading: Mr. Jones (2019) U.K. Movie Trailer: James Norton Travels to Ukraine to see Stalin’s Man-made Starvation...

"What's being done here will transform mankind." Signature Ent. in the UK has debuted the first trailer for Mr. Jones, the latest film from Polish filmmaker Agnieszka Holland. This first premiered at the Berlin Film Festival earlier this year, and has stopped by many other international festivals, heading to the London and Zurich Film Festivals next this fall. Mr. Jones brings to the screen the extraordinary and powerful story of the real-life Welsh journalist who uncovered Stalin's genocidal famine in Ukraine in the 1930s, which killed almost 10 million. Before the start of WWII, he travels first into Russia, then down to Ukraine, becoming the first to break the news in the western media of the government-created famine in the Soviet Union. Starring James Norton as journalist Gareth Jones; also featuring Vanessa Kirby, Peter Sarsgaard, Joseph Mawle, Kenneth Cranham, Celyn Jones, Krzysztof Pieczynski, Fenella Woolgar, and Martin Bishop. It's a thrilling,...

” It’s not murder, it’s ketchup!”

Simon Pegg in Hot Fuzz (2007) plays midnights this weekend (August 9th and 10th) at the Tivoli as part of their Reel Late at the Tivoli Midnight series. A Facebook invite for the event can be found Here

Hot Fuzz tells the story of London supercop Constable Nicholas Angel (played by Simon Pegg). Angel is one baaaad man! He has a ridiculously high arrest rate and is in top physical and mental shape. But his cronies in the London police are jealous of his success b/c he is as the London Chief Inspector says ‘making them all look bad’. So Angel is transferred to the small, quiet English burg of Sandford. The head of Sandford’s police force, Inspector Frank Butterman assures Angel that nothing ever goes on in Sandford and that there hasn’t been a murder or major case in 20 years!

Peter Mullan plays golfer Tom Morris Photo: Courtesy of Edinburgh Film Festival

Peter Mullan, long considered to be one of the most important figures in the Scottish film industry, was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences this week, it has been announced. The star of films like The Vanishing and Tyrannosaur, and director of Neds, is one of the latest crop of stars to join the Oscar-voting body, alongside younger Scot Jack O'Connell, who burst onto screens in 2013 with Starred Up.

Other actors invited to join the Academy this year include Lady Gaga, who took home this year's Best Original Song Oscar and was praised for her performance in A Star Is Born, Elizabeth Moss of The Handmaid's Tale, Rocketman's Jamie Bell, veteran actor Kenneth Cranham and young Spider-Man: Homecoming star Tom Holland.

The directors' category saw invitations for Out Of Blue's Carol Morley and Stan & Ollie's.

This year, the motion picture academy made history by inviting an equal number of women and men to join. In all, 842 film professionals were invited to become part of the organization that hands out the Oscars. Compare this intake to the totals of the previous five years: a record 928 in 2018; 774 in 2017; 683 in 2016; 322 in 2015; and 271 in 2014.

While Academy Awards nominees are automatically eligible for consideration, the rest of the candidates must go through a fairly cumbersome process. A candidate must meet certain branch specific requirements before even being eligible.

For example, actors must “have a minimum of three theatrical feature film credits, in all of which the roles played were scripted roles, one of which was released in the past five years, and all of which are of a caliber that reflect the high standards of the Academy.” For writers, directors and producers they need have just two of these credits.

In its continuing push to swell the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences membership ranks, 842 artists and executives from 59 countries have been invited to join this year. The branches have increasingly actively sought eligible people to become Academy members, but the Board of Governors makes the final call.

People of color (29 percent) and women (50 percent) are among the many invites, as the Academy continues to address its long-term white-male dominance. As always, actors make up the largest branch of the Academy, but many new members also come from overseas.

In 2018, the Academy invited 928 new members.

Twenty-one Oscar winners are among the new invited members, including Guy Nattiv (“Skin”), filmmaker Jimmy Chin (“Free Solo”), Phil Lord, and Chris Miller (“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”), and 82 Oscar nominees (including newbies like Lady Gaga and “Roma” breakout Marina de Tavira). Ten of the 17 branches invited more women than men. The percentage of women...

In its continuing push to swell the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences membership ranks, 842 artists and executives from 59 countries have been invited to join this year. The branches have increasingly actively sought eligible people to become Academy members, but the Board of Governors makes the final call.

People of color (29 percent) and women (50 percent) are among the many invites, as the Academy continues to address its long-term white-male dominance. As always, actors make up the largest branch of the Academy, but many new members also come from overseas.

In 2018, the Academy invited 928 new members.

Twenty-one Oscar winners are among the new invited members, including Guy Nattiv (“Skin”), filmmaker Jimmy Chin (“Free Solo”), Phil Lord, and Chris Miller (“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”), and 82 Oscar nominees (including newbies like Lady Gaga and “Roma” breakout Marina de Tavira). Ten of the 17 branches invited more women than men. The percentage of women...

Half of the 842 new members invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences are women, the group announced on Monday.

The organization behind the Oscars also disclosed that 29% of the new invitees are people of color. Should those people accept, and they almost universally do, the Academy will have doubled the percentage of nonwhite people in their ranks in four years.

In 2015, people of color accounted for only 8% of the Academy body. In 2019, it stands at 16%, the Academy reported. As it stands, the Academy counts 8,946 active members, with 8,733 eligible to vote on the Oscars. The total membership including retired members is 9,794. This year’s number falls short of 2018’s record of 928 invitations.

New members in this round include “Crazy Rich Asians” director Jon Chu, actors Winston Duke and Gemma Chan, and screenwriters Ritesh Batra (“Photograph”), Chinonye Chukwu (“Clemency”), Park Young-soo (“Detective Dee”) and Ryo Sakaguchi (“Ant-Man and the Wasp...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has invited 842 new members in their annual effort to bring in new blood to the organization that hands out the Oscars. This is down from the 928 members invited last year, but 50% of this year’s number are women, inching closer to the goal of creating an even playing field between female and male members. It marks an 7% increase in female members from 2015 to an overall 32% of the entire organization.

A total of 29% of the new class revealed Monday are people of color, marking an 8% increase in that statistic since 2015. Among the new invitees, 21 are already Oscar winners and 82 are past Oscar nominees.

New members among the acting branch include recent Best Song winner Lady Gaga, who is also being invited to the music branch; Sterling K. Brown; Claire Foy; and actors ranging in age from 23-year-old Spider-Man Tom Holland to the (shamefully) never-nominated legendary French star,...

Lady Gaga, Claire Foy and Sterling K. Brown are among the 842 people who have been invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Academy announced on Monday.

The announcement came two days after the Academy’s Board of Governors spent a Saturday meeting going over the lists of prospective members drawn up by each of the Academy’s 17 branches. This marks the fourth consecutive year in which several hundred film professionals have been invited to join the Academy. This will easily push the number of active Academy members over 9,000 and the number of Oscars voters over 8,000 for next year’s Academy Awards.

As usual in recent years, the huge list of new-member invitations was heavily weighted toward women, who made up 50 percent of the invitees (up from 49 percent last year), and non-white film professionals, who made up 29 percent. The list was also heavily weighted toward international members,...

As the UK’s Brexit political thriller plays out in real time, IFC Films has set a release date for director Gavin Hood’s take on another one from 15 years ago. Official Secrets, the story of Iraq-invasion whistleblower Katharine Gun, will hit select theaters on August 23.

The film, which premiered at Sundance in January, stars Keira Knightley as Gun. Charged with breaking the Official Secrets Act in Britain, and facing imprisonment, she reaches out to Ben Emmerson (Ralph Fiennes), one of the top lawyers in the country, to take her case and defend her actions. With her life, freedom and marriage threatened, Gun risks everything by leaking a classified email to the press in the hope that this simple act could help halt an unjust war.

The pic also stars Matthew Goode, Adam Bakri and Matt Smith as journalist Martin Bright, who first publicly broke the news about the memo.

The story of Gareth Jones is such a fascinating one, built on such intrepid, one-man-against-the-system ideals, that it’s a wonder it hasn’t been filmed into oblivion over the past 80 years. A young Welsh journalist who blew the first public whistle on the Holodomor — the man-made famine of 1932-33 in Soviet Ukraine — only to be broadly discredited by his professional peers and murdered before his 30th birthday, he was the quintessential man who knew too much. “Mr. Jones,” Agnieszka Holland’s suitably absorbing but somewhat stuffy biopic, knows too much in a different sense: neophyte screenwriter Andrea Chalupa’s plainly well-researched script is at such pains to put all its fact-finding on the screen that what should be an urgent political thriller proceeds at a bit of a trudge, its human dimensions not always clear in the ultra-low lighting.

A far stricter edit of this baggy 140-minute film would...

Born a King

Agusti Villaronga’s ninth feature Born a King should be ready for 2019 in what stands as one of the Spanish filmmaker’s largest productions in some time. Produced by Stuart Sutherland of Celtic Entertainment, Andres Vincent Gomez of Lola Films and Marco Gomez and lensed by Josep M. Civit (of Villaronga’s Uncertain Glory and The King of Havana), the period piece stars Ed Skrein, Abdullah Khaleel (in his film debut), Hermione Corfield, James Fleet, Kenneth Cranham, Ruben Ochandiano and Laurence Fox.…...

"Your suffering will be legendary, even in hell!" A 10-hour Hellraiser marathon at The Montalban is part of the theater's "Hellraiser Meets Hollywood" event, raising eyelids on October 14th. Also: new Haunted Live episode details, Scare Slam at London Horror Festival lineup revealed, and Camp Death 3 in 2D details and trailer.

Hellraiser Marathon Details: Press Release: "October 4, 2018 – Scream! And scream again!! Nostalgic Nebula, in partnership with The Montalbán, presents Hellraiser Meets Hollywood, a special 10-hour celebration of horror legend Clive Barker’s immortal Hellraiser series on Sunday, October 14, 2018, from 12:00 noon until 10:00 p.m. The event will kick off inside the gorgeous 1920s theater then move upstairs to the rooftop at 6:00 p.m. for the second half of the program. A matinee screening of Hellraiser (1987) will start at 2:30 p.m. Next, horror fanatics will be treated to a special onstage interview with the Hellraiser composer Christopher Young,...

Released in theaters a little more than 14 months after its predecessor, Hellbound: Hellraiser II had the unenviable task of following up one of the most innovative and boundary-pushing genre films of the 1980s. Tony Randel took over the directorial duties on Hellbound, and he did a brilliant job sidestepping the pitfalls that can often trip up a sequel film effort, ambitiously blazing a new path in the Hellraiser universe by taking viewers into the labyrinthine realm of Leviathan and providing fans with a greater understanding of the franchise’s Cenobite antiheroes as well. Hellraiser II also introduces one of the series’ most dominant and unforgettable villains by way of Dr. Channard (Kenneth Cranham) and transforms Hellraiser’s wicked stepmother Julia (Clare Higgins) into a bona fide evil queen.

Simply put, Hellraiser II is a perfect example of what every filmmaker at the helm of a sequel should aspire to achieve,...

Happy Class of 88 Month, everyone! Here at Daily Dead, we’ll be spending all of July celebrating all of the classic genre films that are turning 30 this year. With that in mind, this writer thought it might be helpful to put together a list of all the horror and sci-fi movies from 1988 so that you could be a part of our month-long celebration. So for those of you who are looking to check out a few of these films that may not already be a part of your own personal media collections, here’s where you can either rent or stream for free over 40 different movies from what was a banner year for genre cinema.

One quick note: this list doesn’t include every single title that was released during 1988, as there are numerous films out there you can’t quite get your hands on digitally just yet. But with over 40 movies available,...

Louisa Mellor Jan 30, 2018

Inside No. 9 does well-observed industry satire in its latest episode. Spoilers ahead in our review…

This review contains spoilers.

See related Riverdale season 2 episode 11 review: The Wrestler Riverdale season 2 episode 10 review: The Blackboard Jungle

4.5 And The Winner Is…

“What’s more important, awards or a massive audience?” I asked Inside No. 9’s creators in 2017. Simultaneously, without missing a beat, “Awards!” they answered to a chorus of laughs. “Can’t put an audience on your shelf!” said Pemberton.

However serious that answer, it’s not a stretch to see why TV awards-giving might be ripe for satire here. Inside No. 9 has won a number of prizes (Rose d’Or, Rts, Writers’ Guild, Banff Rockies, comedy.co.uk…), but there’s still a baffling gap where a Bafta might be. It’s a matter of genre, Reece Shearsmith suggested. As a dramatic comedy/comedic drama, Inside No. 9...

Chicago – George Bailey: “Hey, you look good. That’s some dress you got on there.” Violet: “This old thing? I only wear it when I don’t care how I look.” That is how actress Gloria Grahame (as Violet Bick) was introduced in the classic “It’s a Wonderful Life”. Now she is portrayed by Annette Bening in “Film Stars Don’t Die In Liverpool”.

Rating: 3.5/5.0

The movie is based on a memoir by Peter Turner, who is portrayed in “Film Stars…” by Jamie Bell. Turner was a young actor who had an affair with the much older Grahame near the end of her life in the late 1970s/early ‘80s. He lived in Liverpool, England, and took care of the Oscar winner near her demise. The unusual May/December romance is characterized through Grahame’s deep insecurities, which Annette Bening plays to perfection. It’s also a somewhat claustrophobic film,...

Julien Temple’s intriguing film of Sugg’s autobiographical stage show is amiable as entertaining, as the Madness singer himself

It takes a while to get into its stride, but this filmed record of Suggs’s autobiographical stage show in London’s Hoxton Hall is amiable, fluent and often intriguing. Graham “Suggs” McPherson is the working-class lad and unreliable narrator who came up through the vibrant meritocracy of the 70s pub-rock scene to become lead singer of one of the biggest pop bands in Britain: Madness – without ever seeming to care about or even notice the celebrity status for which today’s X-Factor generation yearn. Director Julien Temple uses some of his trademark archival footage for Suggs’s Soho and west London memories; there are clips of the band in their extreme youth, with some cod-dramatised scenes as Suggs goes in search of information about his late dad. But mostly,...

What an astounding actress Annette Bening is. And she’s at her very best in Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool playing Gloria Grahame, a screen siren of the 1940s and 1950s. Here, however, we pick up with the actress during her last years, from 1979 to 1981, when she died of breast cancer at the age of 57. Instead of hitting all the familiar beats – fading bombshell desperately holding on to her past glory – Bening brings Graham to thrilling life as the complicated woman she was till the end.

Grahame made her...

Casting directors remain the only job in the opening titles that doesn’t have its own Oscar category, but there’s reason to believe that will change. Already recognized by the Emmys, casting directors have made tremendous strides since they unionized in 2005 and negotiated their first contract with studios. In 2013, the guild earned its own Academy branch and received three seats at the Academy’s Board of Governors’ table. Last year, Lynn Stalmaster (“The Graduate,” “West Side Story”) received an honorary Oscar at the Governors Awards, becoming the first-ever casting director to receive an Academy Award.

So: Let’s imagine for a moment casting directors had their own Oscar category in 2017: What are the best-cast films of the year?

IndieWire asked 15 of the top casting directors to nominate films worthy of casting recognition this year. We often think of the best films in terms of their expressive cinematography, enveloping production design,...

"Tell me how I look?" "You look beautiful." Sony Pictures Classics has debuted the new official Us trailer for the festival favorite Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool, which has played at the Telluride, Toronto and London Film Festivals to some great reviews. The film tells the story of Academy Award-winning actress Gloria Grahame, as played by the ever-so-talented Annette Bening. It mainly focuses on her passionate romance with a much younger movie star named Peter Turner, as played by Jamie Bell, and it's based on Turner's actual memoir. The full cast includes Julie Walters, Vanessa Redgrave, Kenneth Cranham, Stephen Graham, and Frances Barber. Grahame starred in The Big Heat, It's a Wonderful Life, In a Lonely Place, and Oklahoma!, and won the Oscar for her role in The Bad and the Beautiful. This still looks great, worth a watch this fall. Bening and Bell leading the way with outstanding performances.

Vulture WatchWill Henry Tudor's marriage to Elizabeth of York ensure he remains on the throne? Has the The White Princess TV show been cancelled or renewed for a second season on Starz? The television vulture is watching all the latest cancellation and renewal news, so this page is the place to track the status of The White Princess season two. Bookmark it, or subscribe for the latest updates. Remember, the television vulture is watching your shows. Are you? What's This TV Show About?Airing on the Starz premium cable channel, The White Princess stars Jodie Comer as Princess Elizabeth of York and Jacob Collins-Levy as King Henry VII. The Starz cast also includes Essie Davis, Joanne Whalley, Michelle Fairley, Suki Waterhouse, Rebecca Benson, Rhys Connah, Caroline Goodall, Kenneth Cranham, and Vincent Regan. Beginning in 1485, the series tells the end of the saga of England’s War of the Roses...

Simon Brew Sep 5, 2017

Annette Bening headlines Film Stars Don’t Die In Liverpool - and here's the first trailer...

Now here’s a movie we’re looking forward to. Directed by Paul McGuigan (Sherlock, Gangster No 1), Film Stars Don’t Die In Liverpool is the screen adaptation of Peter Turner’s memoir. The 70s-set film follows the relationship between Oscar-winning actress Gloria Grahame and the-then young man Turner. Annette Bening, in sublime form, plays the former, with Jamie Bell take on the latter role.

Also in the cast for this one are Julie Walters, Vanessa Redgrave, Kenneth Cranham, Stephen Graham, Frances Barber and Leanne Best. Matt Greenhalgh has penned the screenplay.

The first trailer for the film has landed too, bringing with it a synopsis as well.

Here’s the trailer…

And here’s the synopsis…

Liverpool, 1978: What starts as a vibrant affair between a legendary femme fatale and...

"Could you take me to Liverpool? I could get better there..." Lionsgate UK has unveiled the first trailer for a film titled Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool, which just premiered at the Telluride Film Festival this weekend to great reviews. It will play at Tiff next and the London Film Festival, too. The film tells the story of Academy Award-winning actress Gloria Grahame, as played by the ever-so-talented Annette Bening. It mainly focuses on her passionate romance with a much younger movie star named Peter Turner, as played by Jamie Bell, and it's based on Turner's actual memoir. The full cast includes Julie Walters, Vanessa Redgrave, Kenneth Cranham, Stephen Graham, and Frances Barber. Grahame starred in The Big Heat, It's a Wonderful Life, In a Lonely Place, and Oklahoma!, and won the Oscar for her role in The Bad and the Beautiful. Based on the early buzz, this is...

by Murtada

We just got the news that Annette Bening will be presiding over the Venice Film festival jury. Now we get two new photos of her as Gloria Grahame in the anticipated biopic Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool. And that's not all. The film has a UK release date of November 17. A Us distribution and release date news must be imminent. Unfortunately Bening presiding over the Venice jury not only rules the film out of that festival, but also out of Telluride which takes place at the same time, and the first and more important week of buzz building at Tiff. Unless they unspool the film without its star which seems unlikely. And we'd like her to get that festival buzz that is important for awards later on.

Till then enjoy the Bening and Jamie Bell as Grahame and Peter Turner, an actor she befriended late in...