First-time actor, who starred in Oscar-nominated Australian-Vanuatu film, remembered as a ‘gentle soul’ and ‘deep family man’
Mungau Dain, who starred in the Oscar-nominated Australian-Vanuatu film Tanna – his first acting role – has died in Port Vila following an untreated infection in his leg.
The film’s co-directors, Bentley Dean and Martin Butler, and script editor Janita Suter, spoke to Guardian Australia after conversations with people on the island about Dain’s death.
Continue reading...Why has one of Britain’s best-loved comedians decided to play it straight? The star of Stan & Ollie talks about politics, his rivalry with Rob Brydon – and his inner Alan Partridge
In 1953, Hollywood comedians Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy embarked on a farewell tour of the British music hall circuit, dragging their luggage from one provincial hotel to the next. They pulled pints for the cameras, judged a beauty pageant at Butlins and reprised slapstick routines from their 1930s two-reelers. The tour was a hit but it was tinged with sadness as well. There are few sights so poignant as the exhausted antics of an ageing clown.
The trick, says Steve Coogan, is to keep moving, branch out. Aged 53, he feels that comedy, by and large, is a young man’s game. He has been there, he has done it, and is shifting towards drama. “It’s fine to be biting, acerbic and silly when you’re young,” he says. “But when you grow up you need to act like a grownup.” Then he catches himself and winces at his presumption. “Maybe that just means I’ve got flabby and middle aged.”
Continue reading...The streaming giant has cautioned those mimicking Sandra Bullock’s character by walking around blindfolded to try not to injure themselves
Last week Netflix claimed that 45 million of its subscribers had streamed the Sandra Bullock thriller Bird Box in its first week of release: a record for original movie content on the platform.
Five days later, on 2 January, they issued a public health warning in the interests of keeping as many of those subscribers alive as possible. The service was responding to a growing social media fad for the Bird Box challenge, in which people emulate characters in the film who must perform every task blindfolded, lest lurking monsters drive them to suicide.
Continue reading...Christian Bale plays Dick Cheney, Nicole Kidman goes undercover, Olivia Colman is Queen Anne and Timothée Chalamet gets addicted to meth
Dir: Yorgos Lanthimos
Olivia Colman excels as an emotionally wounded Queen Anne in a bizarre black comedy of the English Restoration court, directed by the Greek auteur Yorgos Lanthimos. It is based on the true story of two noblewomen creating a horribly dysfunctional love triangle by competing for the queen’s favours: Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, and Abigail, Baroness Basham – played by Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone.
UK release date: 1 January