An outstanding figure in the UK film industry, Thomas was noted for collaborations with directors including Bernardo Bertolucci and David Cronenberg
Jeremy Thomas, the distinguished British producer of films including Sexy Beast, High-Rise and the multi-Oscar-winning The Last Emperor, has died aged 77.
A representative for Thomas said he died on Friday “peacefully, at his country home in Oxfordshire, surrounded by his family and loved ones”.
Continue reading...The Ali G and Borat creator is reported to be taking the lead in The Popinjay Cavalier, a swashbuckling comedy Tarantino is developing for early 2027
He will soon be seen resuming his old Staines rudeboy persona in the film
Ali G: Who Iz I?, but Sacha Baron Cohen may also be eyeing a new departure – on stage.
The actor will reportedly star in Quentin Tarantino’s first play, The Popinjay Cavalier, which is billed as a “rambunctious comedy of deception and disguise” and a “sweeping celebration of theatre and its heightened romance”, set in 1830s Europe. According to Deadline, Baron Cohen will play the swashbuckling title character in the play, which Tarantino will also direct.
Continue reading...The Wild Horse Nine actor had been due to appear on stage in The Music Critic in Tel Aviv – but pulled out over PR firm’s ‘unacceptable and untenable’ attribution of statement
John Malkovich has cancelled a planned trip to Israel next year to appear on stage after a PR firm hired by the show attributed quotes to the actor that the company had written.
Malkovich, who is a leading Oscar contender for his role in Martin McDonagh’s Wild Horse Nine, was due to appear in The Music Critic, a theatrical-musical satire composed by the Jewish violinist Aleksey Igudesman, in Tel Aviv’s Charles Bronfman Auditorium on 13 April.
Continue reading...Over 40% of films in LFF programme are female-made, but only two of 21 gala films are directed by women
Female film-makers are still being squeezed out of the industry as they progress beyond their debut films, the director of the London film festival has said, adding that “the dial does not seem to be moving”.
Kristy Matheson’s comments came as LFF announced its full programme for this year’s event, which runs from 7 to 19 October. Of the 251 titles, 109 (43%) are made by female film-makers, but only two of the 21 gala films are directed by women.
Continue reading...More than 170 Jewish artists, also including Joel Coen, Hannah Einbinder and Miranda July, have supported the actor after he criticized Paramount
A collective of more than 170 prominent Jewish artists – including Todd Haynes, Joel Coen, Miranda July, Hannah Einbinder, Wallace Shawn and Naomi Klein – have signed an open letter supporting Mark Ruffalo.
The actor had been accused of invoking antisemitic tropes after he criticized Paramount Skydance, the media company owned by David Ellison, a Donald Trump ally. Ruffalo had spoken out about the $111bn merger with Warner Bros Discovery (WBD).
Continue reading...English translation of Élisabeth, the New Wave director’s 1946 book about young lovers in prewar Paris, receives rave reviews as precursor to auteur’s cinematic work
In the dog days of the second world war, 24-year-old Maurice Schérer wrote a tale of young lovers in prewar small-town France. He described lazy August swims in the Marne River east of Paris. He wrote about age-gap affairs and semi-incestuous flirtations. Schérer gallantly used a nom de plume, Gilbert Cordier, to shield his Catholic family from scandal, but he needn’t have bothered as his concerns were unfounded. The finished novel, Élisabeth, barely made a ripple and quickly slipped out of print. Undeterred, Scherer adopted a second pseudonym – Éric Rohmer – and decided to try his luck as a film-maker instead.
Now – eight decades on from its first publication, 16 years on from its author’s death – Élisabeth belatedly returns from the cold. Republished in an English-language translation by Aaron Kerner, Rohmer’s book has been greeted with glowing reviews, hailed as a lost modernist classic and a crucial origin story for the award-winning director of Claire’s Knee, The Green Ray and My Night at Maud’s. “It would be a rewarding, exciting read even if the identity of its author were unfamiliar,” wrote Richard Brody in the New Yorker. The fact that it’s by Rohmer? That’s the icing on the cake.
Continue reading...As social media shrinks and distorts the EU’s crises, the Venice film festival is delivering politically forthright epics from directors such as Sergei Loznitsa and Alex Gibney
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Europe is in an economic crisis that, unlike the eurozone downturn at the beginning of the millennium, cannot be measured in ratings downgrades and borrowing costs. For metrics, try engagement depth and consumer trust instead.
The unedifying spectacle of the European Union’s falling out over the Ceuta crisis looks like the latest symptom of Europe’s shrinking attention economy. When more than 70,000 people crossed over from Morocco to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta at the start of the month, Rome hastily reintroduced air and sea border checks with Spain for one month; Madrid retaliated with spot-checks on travellers to Italy.
Continue reading...Power cable linking UK and Ireland now passes near Bronze Age human burial remains instead of fictional grave on Welsh beach
Harry Potter fans have forced a new multimillion-pound power cable between the UK and Ireland to be relocated after complaining it would desecrate the “grave” of Dobby, a fictional elf.
The character was laid to rest on Freshwater West beach in Pembrokeshire, Wales, in the film Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Fans of the wizard series come to leave stones reading “Here Lies Dobby” despite being asked not to by the land owner, the National Trust, because the beach is an ecologically sensitive site.
Continue reading...Veteran actor best-known for playing Salvatore ‘Big Pussy’ Bonpensiero, friend of Tony Soprano who becomes FBI informant
Vincent Pastore, a veteran actor who played mobsters and tough guys, and was best-known for playing Salvatore “Big Pussy” Bonpensiero on The Sopranos, has died. He was 80.
Bob McGowan, who had managed Pastore since his run on The Sopranos, told the Associated Press that he learned of his death Saturday from another client and actor on the show, Vincent Curatola.
Continue reading...BBC documentary reports incidents alleged to have taken place when actor and musician was in 30s and 40s
The actor and singer Jared Leto has been accused in a BBC documentary of criminal sexual conduct by four women, with the alleged offences taking place when the women were teenagers.
The incidents reported by the BBC are alleged to have taken place between 2002 and 2016, when the actor was in his 30s and 40s. He is now 54.
Support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 500 2222 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, or 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html
Continue reading...Director Ryan Coogler announces British actor in lead role alongside co-stars Letitia Wright and Winston Duke
The British actor David Jonsson has been unveiled as the new Black Panther by the film’s director, Ryan Coogler.
Jonsson, 32, known for roles in Industry, The Long Walk and Alien: Romulus, will play the son of Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa in the third Black Panther movie.
Continue reading...Jewellery made from BC Iran worn at Odyssey photocall throws spotlight on the trade of rare archeological finds
The Odyssey has stormed cinemas, but while its take on the Homeric epic has created ripples among western classicists, it is an actor’s earrings that have made waves further afield.
Zendaya, who portrays the goddess Athena in the movie, provoked outrage when she appeared at a London photocall wearing earrings that were allegedly made from Iranian artefacts dating back to the 1st millennium BC.
Continue reading...Swedish nonprofit alleges cost to repair replica was $6,000 but Universal – which made $264m on film’s opening weekend – has not stumped up
The Swedish owners of a Viking longship replica that features in the Hollywood blockbuster The Odyssey say they feel “forgotten” after film-makers allegedly returned the vessel damaged and failed to foot the bill for repairs.
In nearly three decades at sea, the warship Glad av Gillberga – based on a wreck from around 1040 found in Denmark’s Roskilde fjord – has successfully sailed the North Sea, the Baltic and even voyaged to Canada.
Continue reading...Danny Boyle’s drama about the acquisition of the Sun and a four-hour Elon Musk documentary will premiere alongside new films from Martin McDonagh and Werner Herzog – but only one female director has a movie in competition
The Venice film festival promises to take a swing at media moguls of the print and digital era this year, with Trainspotting director Danny Boyle’s new film about Rupert Murdoch’s acquisition of the Sun and a new documentary about Elon Musk included in the lineup of the films for the festival’s 83rd edition.
In Boyle’s Ink, which will open the festival on the Lido on 2 September, Australian actor Guy Pearce plays compatriot newspaper tycoon Murdoch, whose purchase of the Sun in 1969 sensationalised the media landscape and transformed public life in Britain. The script is written by Olivier award-winning playwright and screenwriter James Graham (Dear England, Brexit: The Uncivil War).
Continue reading...European Commission says Paramount Skydance’s decision to end Universal venture addresses merger concerns
Paramount Skydance’s £80bn takeover of Warner Brothers took a step closer to being realised after it won conditional approval from the European Union.
The European Commission said Paramount’s offer to end a film distribution joint venture with Universal Pictures addressed its concerns over the potential merger. As part of its commitments in the EU, Paramount has 13 months from the date of closing the deal to pull out from the venture.
Continue reading...Judge finds Wilson did not defame Charlotte MacInnes, lead actor in Pitch Perfect star’s directorial debut The Deb
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After a blistering dispute that spanned continents and years, Hollywood A-lister Rebel Wilson has been found not to have defamed her co-star in a series of social media posts.
The Pitch Perfect star was sued by Australian actor Charlotte MacInnes, who played the lead role in Wilson’s directorial debut film The Deb.
Continue reading...The deaf actor, who played a major role in Godzilla v Kong and its 2024 sequel, was killed in a car crash in Maryland
Kaylee Hottle, who played a major role in Godzilla v Kong and the sequel Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire, has died at the age of 18.
Her death was confirmed by her father, Joshua, in a video shared on Facebook. The stream was in American Sign Language (ASL) as the Hottle family is all deaf. “I am taking a flight that I never would like to take,” is the name of the video.
Continue reading...Film star promotes Christopher Nolan film epic wearing gold artefacts dating back almost 3,000 years
The Odyssey is a story about a Greek king’s long journey home. But a pair of earrings worn on the new film adaptation’s press tour – and their long separation from their homeland – is sparking controversy.
At a photocall in London, Zendaya, who plays the goddess Athena in the Christopher Nolan film, wore a pair of earrings fashioned from Iranian artefacts dating back to 700BC.
Continue reading...The acclaimed Irish actor started her career in Coronation Street and Casualty before a string of high-profile Hollywood roles
Brenda Fricker, who became the first female Irish Oscar winner for acting with My Left Foot, has died aged 81. Her agent Phil Belfield told the BBC in a statement: “We will never see her like again and the world is lesser for the lack of her … I was honoured to know, love and work with her and she will always have a place in my heart and in the heart of so many film and TV fans the world over.”
In My Left Foot, Fricker plays the mother of Christy Brown, whose cerebral palsy means he only has muscular control over one of his feet. The film, directed by Jim Sheridan, was released to enormous acclaim in 1989, winning the best actor Oscar for Daniel Day-Lewis as well as best supporting actress for Fricker.
Continue reading...Film fanatics arrive from US, Switzerland and Ireland for midnight premiere of director’s critically acclaimed epic
Odysseus made his name by embarking on a perilous journey from Troy to Ithaca, plus a few unplanned diversions courtesy of the gods. But this is nothing on Christian Campbell, who last night travelled more than 4,000 miles to see the Greek king’s epic fable on the big screen.
The 22-year-old film graduate, who aspires to be an editor, made the journey from Atlanta to London to watch Christopher Nolan’s take on Homer’s epic poem, The Odyssey.
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