Kyle Soller seen arriving at the 2016 Evening Standard Theatre Awards held at the Old Vic - London, United Kingdom - Sunday 13th November 2016
Kyle Soller seen arriving at the 2016 Evening Standard Theatre Awards held at the Old Vic - London, United Kingdom - Sunday 13th November 2016
Ten years after an alien probe crashed into Mexico, the monster plague has spread out of South America to the rest of the world. With 'Infected Zones' sprouting up all over the planet, and the Middle East has gone through an insurgency, in addition to being almost entirely taken over by the hordes of monsters. The army head into the area to deal with the insurgency, but in the process they are forced to deal with the overwhelming monster threat. With the fight between men and monsters, the army are forced to learn about the true value of life and love.
Continue: Monsters: Dark Continent Trailer
From Training Day to this year's Sabotage, filmmaker David Ayer writes and directs movies about the cathartic power of releasing your inner warrior. And this World War II action thriller is more of the same, with a "war is hell" message stirred in for good measure. The problem is that there's nothing particularly new here. It's a beautifully shot and edited film, with terrific performances and a remarkable sense of scale, but there have been so many movies made about this conflict that it's difficult to find something original to connect with.
It's near the end of the war, April 1945, as Wardaddy (Brad Pitt) leads the crew of a tank named Fury: Bible (Shia LaBeouf) is a true believer, Gordo (Michael Pena) is a relaxed joker, and Coon-Ass (Jon Bernthal) is a hot-headed thug. Having just lost their driver, they're joined by rookie Norman (Logan Lerman), who doesn't yet have a wartime nickname because he never thought he'd end up driving a tank. Together, they head further into Germany, not as liberators but as invaders and occupiers, working with other tank crews to take a strategic town before heading further into the hot zone, where a series of particularly brutal Nazi assaults ensue.
The point of the film seems to be that war erodes a person's humanity over time, and the sharpest aspect is the way each character emerges at some point on the continuum. Obviously, Norman is the naive newbie who still has a strong conscience, while at the other extreme Coon-Ass is virtually a monster. Wardaddy is somewhere in between, a tough guy who still has a sense of perspective, such as when he reasons that Norman should be allowed to have some private time with a young German girl (Alicia von Rittberg) simply because they're "young and alive". All of the actors are excellent, adding telling details to their characters that deepen every scene. And the camaraderie between the five-man crew is remarkably authentic, as is their ease inside the cramped quarters of the tank, which makes submarine movies look spacious by comparison.
Continue reading: Fury Review
During April, 1945, the final month of World War Two, the Allied Forces are making their final push into German territory. With the recent death of one of the crew of the tank, 'Fury', Norman (Logan Lerman) is inducted into the crew. The other members, 'Wardaddy' (Brad Pitt), 'Bible' (Shia LaBeouf), 'Gordo' (Michael Pena) and 'Coon-Ass' (Jon Bernthal) have been together for the entirety off the war so far, and desperately hope that the new recruit is ready to do his job. The film is brought to us by writer/director David Ayer ('Harsh Times' and 'End of Watch') and will be distributed by Columbia Pictures.
Douglas Hodge won a throng of new fans and even a Tony Award when he was last on Broadway for La Cage Aux Folles and now he is back on the stage taking on the celebrated title role in the latest version of Cyrano de Bergerac to hit New York.
It is the role, created by Edmond Rostand in 1897, that has seen such distinguished actors as Christopher Plummer, Gérard Depardieu (who won an Oscar nomination) and most recently on Broadway Kevin Kline put on the fake nose to take on the role, but this time round the Brit actor his being lamented as being the perfect casting as audiences and critics can’t help but lap on the praise for the actor, who performed the first show of the run only last night (October 11, 2012).
In fact, it isn’t just Hodge that is getting the praise for the show, as his (largely British) co-stars have also impressed all round for their performances. British director Jamie Lloyd takes helm of the new production, whilst fellow Brit Ranjit Bolt has provided a new translation of the timeless production. Kyle Soller, another Brit and French actress Clemence Poesy make up the rest of the top billed cast.
Tolstoy's iconic novel may have been filmed several times, but you've never seen a version like this. Clever writer Tom Stoppard and visually whizzy director Joe Wright combine talents with this ambitious film, which sets all of the action in a theatre that expands and shifts into a variety of settings.
Yes, it's rather strange, but it's also drop-dead gorgeous.
Knightley reteams with Pride & Prejudice and Atonement director Wright to deliver another solid performance as Anna, an aristocrat in 1870s St Petersburg who is married to the achingly nice establishment gent Alexei (Law) but falls under the spell of the bland but sexy young heartbreaker Vronsky (Taylor-Johnson). And when she gets pregnant, she has to make a very difficult decision. The central theme is that these people are characters in a play dictated to them by their restrictive Russian society, so they have little choice but head toward tragedy.
Fortunately, there's a parallel plot about a wealthy farmer (Gleeson) who rejects so-called civilised society to stay in touch with the earth. He pursues the smart, young Kitty (Vikander), also entranced with Vronsky but beginning to become disgusted with so-called civilised culture. The film includes a rather huge number of characters, including Anna's womanising brother (Macfadyen) and his longsuffering wife (a particularly excellent Macdonald). And Wright and Stoppard effortlessly let everyone swirl around each other in a huge pool of emotion.
Although this pool often feels frozen over, as the feelings are pretty icy. So it's good to have open-hearted performances by Macdonald and Gleeson to hold our interest. Knightley is excellent, although we never understand why Anna does anything she does (which is the whole point). But perhaps the most impressive thing about this film is its astoundingly beautiful design: the sets, costumes, photography and music are sumptuous and lush, never fussy but always adding to the intensity of each scene. Look for it to deservedly hoover up Oscar nominations across the board.
Rich Cline
Anna Karenina is the young wife of senior statesman Alexei Karenin. Theirs was more of a marriage of convenience rather than love and soon Anna's eyes begin to wander elsewhere as her desire for romance becomes ever more intense. She meets Count Vronsky, a handsome cavalry officer with whom she enters into a passionate adulterous affair. When people find out about their involvement, Anna's honour is crushed in the eyes of the Russian noble men and women and she is forced to make a choice; to leave her loveless marriage and family and lose all honour and dignity, or end her affair with her possessive lover and be potentially forgiven.
Continue: Anna Karenina Trailer
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