Imelda Staunton Page 3

Pride Reviews

By Michael West in Movies / TV / Theatre on 12 September 2014

'Pride' has 100% on Rotten Tomatoes and is set for further accolades.

After taking Cannes by storm and picking up a few awards in the process, the true comedy-drama Pride has already joined the ranks of beloved British crowd-pleasers, even though it's only opening in UK cinemas this weekend. In addition to the accolades it has already won, the film has a rare 100 percent positive rating from Rotten Tomatoes critics.

Pride

Pride joins a long history of British feel-good hits like Billy Elliot, The Full Monty, Brassed Off, Calendar Girls, Bend it Like Beckham and Kinky Boots. Plus of course the rousing movies that stormed the Oscars and walked off with Best Picture in the process: Chariots of Fire, Shakespeare in Love, Slumdog Millionaire and The King's Speech.

More: read our full review of 'Pride'

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Pride Trailer

During the UK miners strike between 1984 and 1985, working families are in desperate need of support. They're feeling victimised and abandoned by society as threats over their livelihood remain imminent. But they're not the only ones feeling ostracised in their own country and that's how the Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners campaign was born. Homophobia is rife in the UK, with the National Union of Mineworkers even refusing help from the LGSM campaigners for fear of how people may see them. Instead, they take their support to a small town in Wales where the majority of workers there are miners. In an extraordinary show of acceptance in an unlikely era, the town allows their new supporters to raise funds for their village. The townspeople may be humorously ignorant about life as a homosexual, but they're judging no longer.

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Sienna Miller, Sean Bean (and Alan Partridge) Amongst BAFTA Nominees

By Michael West in Movies / TV / Theatre on 09 April 2013

BAFTA Sienna Miller Imelda Staunton Peter Capaldi Sean Bean

'Accused' writer Jimmy McGovern had tipped Sean Bean for a BAFTA following his performance in the drama, which aired last year.

Sienna Miller, Imelda Staunton, Peter Capaldi and Sarah Lancashire are among the nominees for the 2013 television BAFTAs. London based actress Miller - a star on both sides of the Atlantic - gets the nod for her role as Tipi Hedren in the BBC's Alfred Hitchcock drama The Girl, which scooped four nominations in total. Staunton received a best supporting actress nomination, also for The Girl, while Lancashire was rewarded for her performance in the romantic-drama Last Tango in Halifax.

Peter Capaldi is up for best actor for BBC Two's recently-axed 1950's drama The Hour, though also for his role as the foul-mouthed spin-doctor Malcolm Tucker in political comedy The Thick Of It. The latter nomination - for best male performance in a comedy programme - will see Capaldi pitted against Steve Coogan's return as Alan Partridge in Welcome To The Place Of My Life, as well as Inbetweeners star Greg Davies.

Elsewhere in the acting categories, Sheridan Smith received her first BAFTA nomination for her portrayal as Mrs Biggs, in the true story of the wife of the Great Train Robber, Ronnie Biggs, and Rebecca Hall was nominated for Parade's End. Sean Bean is nominated for his performance as transvestite Tracie in Accused, the BBC drama series which follows people accused of crimes as they await the verdict. Bean's performance was clearly one of the stand-out turns of the year and he won best actor for the role at the Royal Television Society Awards in March.

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Arthur Christmas Trailer

Arthur Christmas is the clumsy youngest son of the famous Santa Claus. Together with his family, including his father, his cool older brother Steve, Santa's father Grandsanta and Santa's wife, Mrs. Santa, they run a top secret, highly state of the art operation beneath the North Pole, which helps Santa deliver every single Christmas present in one night around the globe and which cannot be seen by anyone else. It is a lengthy process, which sees Santa's team of elves - including a 'Gift Wrapping Battalion' who carry scissors and tape guns - training in the isolated Arctic during the summer by performing drills and practising their wrapping skills on unsuspecting polar bears. There is also a 'mission control' in which Santa and his team can see exactly how many days there are until Christmas and how many presents have been wrapped.

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The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists Trailer

The Pirate Captain has never won the Pirate of the Year award but this year he hopes to do so. He sets out with his crew - some are pirates, some are not, some are just fish he dressed up in a pirate hat - to beat his rivals Black Bellamy and Cutlass Liz. Along the way, he travels to places as diverse as Blood Island and Victorian London and joins forces with a young Charles Darwin. The Captain and his crew must also avoid Queen Elizabeth - who is determined to wipe out pirates from the seas.

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Another Year Trailer

Meet Tom and Gerri, a happily married couple who're closer to the end of their life to the start. Another Year is a touching and true-to-life story that explores the meaning of friendships and relationships through all stages of life.

Another Year was written and directed by British film maker Mike Leigh and sees him collaborate with Lesley Manville for the eighth time, his seventh with Jim Broadbent and fifth with Ruth Sheen.

Another Year is released in the UK through Momentum Pictures on November 5th 2010
Directed by: Mike Leigh

Starring: Jim Broadbent, Lesley Manville, Ruth Sheen, Peter Wight, Oliver Maltman, David Bradley, Martin Savage, Michele Austin, Philip Davis, Imelda Staunton, Stuart McQuarrie, Eileen Davies, Mary Jo Randle and Ben Roberts

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Part 1) Trailer

The final instalment of the Harry Potter series is almost upon us! Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will bring the much loved set of films to a close.

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Taking Woodstock Trailer

Watch the trailer for Taking Woodstock

Woodstock Festival was almost not meant to be, originally the permit was pulled, only when Elliot Tiber stepped in and spoke to the organisers offering them the use of his parents motel and his next door neighbour, Max Yasgur, land that things got rolling. Taking Woodstock starts the moving story of Elliot Tiber and his personal struggle to keep the family motel open, what eventually develops from Elliot's plans is way beyond anyone's expectation.

Directed by Academy Award winner Ang Lee
UK Release date: 13th November 2009

Starring: Demetri Martin, Emile Hirsch, Liev Schreiber, Paul Dano, Henry Goodman, Imelda Staunton, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Eugene Levy, Jonathan Groff, Kelli Garner, Adam LeFevre, Edward Hibbert, Dan Fogler, Damian Kulash, Christina Kirk, Skylar Astin and Gabriel Sunday

Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix Review

By Christopher Null

Good

It's gotten to the point where the quality of the films don't really matter: Now I feel like I'm committed to the whole Harry Potter series. I've reviewed the first five now, so by golly, I'm going to stick it out and finish the lot... even though I still can't bring myself to read any of the books. As always, consider yourself warned that I don't know the intricate backstory developed over thousands of pages in J.K. Rowling's writing. And really, I'm happy to keep it that way.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix continues in the tradition of following another year at the Hogwarts School of Wizardry, where Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) has faced nothing but grueling struggle after grueling struggle. His most recent year (Goblet of Fire) saw a friend get killed by his nemesis, the evil Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes), who's gaining more power every day and giving Harry severe nightmares. With few exceptions, his friends have largely abandoned him, and the new term comes with even more headaches in the form of Dolores Umbridge (the perfect Imelda Staunton), sent from the Ministry of Magic to teach the defense from the dark arts class and eventually taking over the school as an iron-fisted, fun-crushing bureaucrat.

After much pottering about (ha ha!), the film finally finds its groove as Umbridge goes too far, refusing to teach magic in the classroom, instead preferring to rely on theoretical knowledge so the students can pass their year-end standardized tests. With Voldemort approaching (this guy is always just around the corner), Harry becomes more nervous that he will be unable to defend himself, finally recruiting a handful of students to his cause to teach them what he knows about magical combat. Together they prepare for the day when they know they'll have to use those skills. (In case you haven't seen any of the first four movies, rest assured it isn't far off: This end-of-movie showdown between Harry and the forces of evil has almost become a cliché that pans out every single time.)

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Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Trailer

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Trailer

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Freedom Writers Review

By Norm Schrager

Very Good

It's always satisfying when a movie defies an obvious formula and delivers something better. Freedom Writers is the first such surprise of 2007, a genuinely touching entry in a genre that often wallows in cliché: a motivational teacher inspiring a group of troubled kids.

The list in this category is long, and the quality broad, ranging from To Sir, with Love (Sidney Poitier straightens up hooligans) to Sunset Park (Rhea Perlman coaches hoops!). Instead of sliding into pitfalls of predictability, writer Richard LaGravenese (The Fisher King, Beloved), who also directs, relies on straight, unforced dialogue delivered by a fine cast. Like many similar films, this one happens to be based on truth.

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Blackball Review

By Christopher Null

Weak

Apparently there is a sport in Britain with the awkward name of "lawn bowls" that is essentially shuffleboard on a grass lawn.

And apparently, this oddity merited being the subject of a feature film from National Lampoon, the former cultural touchstone that has now become the bottom feeder of American lowbrow humor.

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Chicken Run Review

By James Brundage

Essential

Since the beginning of time (or at least the domestication of animals), the chicken has been man's feathered enigma. Like so many of its feathered friends, it has fallen into the realm of the metaphor (i.e. "He's a chicken."). Unlike so many of its edible counterparts, it has survived the hassles of religious communities unscathed (no one will persecute you for eating a chicken wing). It has found its way into the realm of ontological questions (which came first: the chicken or the egg), as well as into sanguine curiosity (why does a chicken continue running around after you cut its head off?). It has become the basic standard for all foods (tastes like chicken). It has changed with the times, entering the debate about genetic engineering (see the accusations against KFC using frank-n-roosters). It has even, through its progeny, entered into the world of our children (I do not like green eggs and ham, I do not like them Sam I am). As long as civilization has existed, the chicken has haunted our collective hubris with its often-charming idiocy.