You know what they say: you wait ages for one Benedict Cumberbatch trailer, then two come along at once.
Just last week we brought you the trailer for The Current War, the film about 1840s electrical patents in which he plays Thomas Edison, and today (September 12) we have the promo for The Child in Time, the BBC’s adaptation of Ian McEwan‘s novel by the same name.
This project is perhaps a little closer to Benedict’s heart, as he’s serving as executive producer as well as starring in the one-off 90-minute film.
Indeed, when Benedict’s involvement in the film was announced, he released a statement saying it was based on a book that meant a lot to him. “I read the novel years ago and it stayed with me – profound, beautiful and very moving. Only Ian McEwan could write about loss with such telling honesty.”
You can say that again, Benny. The Child in Time is about every parent’s worst nightmare: Benedict plays Stephen Lewis, a successful children’s author whose life is turned upside down when his three-year old daughter goes missing.
Kelly MacDonald (Trainspotting, Boardwalk Empire) plays his estranged wife, while The History Boys‘ Stephen Campbell Moore and Luther‘s Saskia Reeves are his best friends.
Prepare for some harrowing viewing:
The release of a trailer suggests a fall screening for the one-off 90-minute film, which will air on BBC One in the U.K. and on Masterpiece on PBS in the U.S.
The former Time Lord will take to the stage from March 13 next year at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, alongside Niamh Cusack (Silent Witness, Rebellion) as Lady Macbeth.
The RSC describes it as a “thrillingly dark, modern production,” and the photo released of Niamh and Christopher as the Macbeths sure gives an impression of austere modernity:
(Photo: Royal Shakespeare Company)
The play will run as part of the RSC’s summer season until September 18, which gives us plenty of opportunities to grab a ticket, unlike some recent productions we could mention (we’re looking at you, Kenneth Branagh and Tom Hiddleston).
Booking opens later this month on the RSC website. And that’s not all! There’s good news for those of us unable to jump on a plane to the U.K., as the play will also be broadcast in theaters on April 11, 2018.
Do you think Christopher will make a good Macbeth?
Forget “Dame Judi.” A new rapper has emerged by the name of “Ju-to-the-D,” and she’s proper Dench.
Confused? You’re not the only one.
It’s all down to one Lethal Bizzle, an MC in the U.K. grime scene — by which we mean the energetic and uncompromising form of rap that emerged in east London circa 2002, rather than a general lack of cleanliness — who a few years ago coined the word “dench” to mean “nice” or “brilliant.” He even used it in his clothing line, “Stay Dench,” with hats and t-shirts emblazoned “DENCH,” until word got back to the original Dench.
“Grime” blends aspects of American hip hop with Jamaican dancehall, as well as earlier music trends such as U.K. garage and jungle. Bizzle is a well-known MC in the genre, as well as Dizzee Rascal, recent Drake collaborator Skepta, and Stormzy.
In 2012 Dame Judi Denchtold Greg James on BBC Radio 1 that she was “thrilled” and felt “drunk with power” when he gave her a t-shirt and baseball cap of her own, and called Bizzle a “wonder.”
And, the year following, Graham Norton addressed the topic with Dame Judi on his chat show, which helped explain the word a bit more:
Lo and behold, a meeting was duly organized between the pair. During the summit Bizzle gave Judi her own cap, insisted she fistbump him, before laying down some lyrics — and thankfully the whole thing was caught on camera.
First Bizzle tries to teach the 82-year-old Philomena star some rap verses from his recent hit “Celebrate,” though they quickly get bogged down in the meaning of certain phrases, like “gang rolling” (which means, as Bizzle elucidates, “my friends are coming with me”) and “big, big batty” (er, “ample bottom”).
The pair then launch into a version of Bizzle’s 2004 debut single “Pow (Forward),” with lyrics specially adapted for someone of Dame Judi’s status: “Pow! Yeah, I’m Ju-to-the-D / Pow! If you don’t know about me / Pow! Better ask someone quickly.”
The first trailer for Ridley Scott‘s All the Money in the World was released yesterday (September 14), revealing Kevin Spacey as we’ve never seen him before.
The House of Cards star has undergone a dramatic transformation to look like oil tycoon J. Paul Getty, the wealthy, craggy-faced industrialist who initially refused to pay a $17 million ransom demand when his grandson was kidnapped in 1973.
All the Money in the World co-stars Michelle Williams as the boy’s mother, who pleads with her father-in-law to save her son, and Mark Wahlberg as one of Getty’s advisers who helps her make her case.
The trailer looks dramatic enough, what with a clock ticking to the sound of “Time of the Season” by The Zombies, and has a retro vibe reminiscent of 1970s classics like The Godfather.
It’s all leading up to one thing, however: Kevin portraying Getty cuts a shadowy figure as Michelle and Mark’s characters bicker, until we finally get to see him up close in the final scene.
See if you recognize him under all those prosthetics:
Kevin’s transformation makes him the latest in a long line of actors who’ve taken drastic action to change their appearance for a role, with recent examples including Ewan McGregor in Fargo, Gary Oldmanbeing transformed into Sir Winston Churchill, and Margot Robbie‘s astonishing make-under to look like Queen Elizabeth I.
All the Money in the World opens in theaters this December 8, 2017.
The 69th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards airs this Sunday (17 September), unofficially signaling the start of awards season.
Some categories have no obvious standout, so in those instances, we’re choosing to cheerlead for our favorites, including Sir Anthony Hopkins (Westworld) and Matthew Rhys (The Americans), who are both up for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama, and Thandie Newton, whose performance in Westworld led her to being nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.
Some categories, though, will be fiercely contested, and in some cases, we’ll be forced to watch as one of our faves is vanquished by another. Talk about conflicted! Here are five of the most contentious categories we’ll have to get our head around.
1. Claire Foy vs. Elisabeth Moss for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama
(Photo: Getty Images)
If the Golden Globes are any indication, then Claire Foy will walk away with this for her wonderfully buttoned-up portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in The Crown. One actress not up against her then, however, was Elisabeth Moss, whose brooding performance in The Handmaid’s Tale was still a twinkle in Hulu’s eye in January. Could the eight times-nominated Mad Men alumna nab the trophy from under Claire’s nose? Or will outsider Evan Rachel Wood surprise both of them with her performance in Westworld as the big-eyed prairie ‘bot who morphs into Dolores the lawless?
2. Riz Ahmed vs. Benedict Cumberbatch for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or TV Movie
(Photo: Getty Images)
Plucky newcomer Riz Ahmed and fan favorite Benedict Cumberbatch are nominated in the same category this year, meaning we’ve got a veritable “Sophie’s Choice” when it comes to choosing a winner. Should Riz win for his critically acclaimed performance in HBO’s The Night Of? Or how about Benners for Season 4 of Sherlock? It’s irrelevant, of course, because both of them are up against Robert bloody deNiro.
3. The Crown vs. Stranger Things for Outstanding Drama Series
(Image: Netflix)
Could this be the first year a streaming service bags the biggest drama Emmy? It certainly looks possible, with Netflix and Hulu both nominated for The Crown, House of Cards and Stranger Things, and The Handmaid’s Tale respectively. If it does, then our money’s on a face-off between The Crown, which swept the board at the Golden Globes, and Stranger Things, which captured the nation’s imagination with a terrifying underworld mixed with 1980s nostalgia. The networks might have the last laugh, however: HBO’s Westworld has the biggest number of Emmys noms this year with no fewer than 22 mentions, and is also nominated in this category.
4. Jessica Lange vs. Susan Sarandon for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or TV Movie
Susan Sarandon and Jessica Lange star in ‘Feud’. (Photo: FX)
Feud dramatized how Joan Crawford and Bette Davis were at each other’s throats over the 1963 Oscar for Baby Jane, so it is a delicious occasion that the actresses who play them have been nominated in this category. Jessica Lange is the bookie favorite, but Susan Sarandon might just scratch her eyes out for it.
5. James Corden vs. John Oliver for Outstanding Variety Talk Series
(Photo: Getty Images)
Emmy host Stephen Colbert is nominated in this category, along with Samantha Bee, Bill Maher, and Jimmy Kimmel, but all eyes will be on these two Brits fighting to make late-night TV their own. Will it be The Late Late Show with James Corden, home of the “Carpool Karaoke” phenomenon? Or will last year’s winner Last Week Tonight With John Oliver pip James to the post once again? Oh! We can’t watch.
His performance as Nasir “Naz” Khan in The Night Of beat fan favorites Benedict Cumberbatch and Ewan McGregor, not to mention his The Night Of co-star John Turturro, Genius star Geoffrey Rush, and even acting legend Robert De Niro to the award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series.
The accolade makes Riz — who is of British and Pakistani descent — the first male South Asian star to win an Emmy, following Archie Punjabi‘s success in the Outstanding Supporting Actress category last year for her role in The Good Wife.
Riz paid tribute to James Gandolfini in his speech, as well as thanking South Asian Youth Action and The Innocence Project for helping him prepare for the role.
Riz wasn’t the only Brit star to win on the night. Charlie Brooker won the Outstanding TV Special and Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series awardss for “San Junipero” episode of Black Mirror, while John Oliver and his writing team scooped two prizes for satirical show Last Week Tonight.
The 2017 Emmys proved to be historic in more ways than one: Donald Glover became the first black winner of the award for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series, while Master of None‘s Lena Waithe became the first black woman to win the award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series.
Elsewhere, Julia Louis-Dreyfus won the award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series the sixth time in a row for Veep, smashing not only Candice Bergen’s record of the most Emmys for a singular role, but tying her now with Cloris Leachman‘s record eight Emmys wins by a singular performer.
Meanwhile the biggest winner of the night was dystopian TV series The Handmaid’s Tale, which scooped five awards including Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Lead Actress for Elisabeth Moss and Outstanding Supporting Actress for Ann O’Dowd.
TheCrown, on the other hand,won just one award for John Lithgow‘s performance as Sir Winston Churchill, while Westworld left empty-handed, having failed to win any of the five awards for which it was nominated.
Elisabeth Moss may just have won an Emmy for her performance as enslaved surrogate Offred in The Handmaid’s Tale, but that doesn’t mean she’s about to rest on her laurels any time soon.
Variety reports that she’s already signed on for a new film, and it sounds every bit as hard-hitting as the adaptation of Margaret Atwood‘s dystopian 1985 novel.
In fact, there are more than a few parallels. Titled Call Jane, it’s about a group of women who organized an underground network to provide safe abortions in 1960s Chicago.
The story is based on the real-life work of the Jane Collective — known simply as “Jane” — that helped provide women get safe abortions in Chicago in the years before Roe vs. Wade made them legal in 1973. Elisabeth will reportedly play a married woman who becomes pregnant unexpectedly and turns to the secret group for help.
The film will be directed by Simon Curtis, who’s fresh from helming Goodbye Christopher Robin, which stars Domhnall Gleesonas the author A.A. Milne, and was previously responsible for the BBC’s 2008 adaptation of Cranford and 2011’s My Week With Marilyn.
Call Jane looks set to offer another great role for Elisabeth, who’s gone from strength to strength since her breakout role as Peggy Olsen in Mad Men — starring in High Rise and Mad to Be Normal, not to mention some of the best TV in recent years such as Top of the Lake and The Handmaid’s Tale.
Are you excited to see Elisabeth in this new role?
Emilia Clarke has finally taken the plunge and bleached her hair blonde, judging by a photo she posted on her Instagram account yesterday (September 19).
Until now the star of Game of Thrones has donned a long, platinum blonde wig to play Daenerys Targaryen, covering up her own dark brown tresses.
Now that an end to the popular series is in sight, however, it seems she’s stepping up her commitment to the role by embracing her inner Targaryen:
Cameras are due to start rolling on the eighth and final season in the next few weeks, with the last episodes airing in late 2018, or even early 2019.
Like the sixth and seventh seasons, season eight will be based on an outline of the two final, so far unpublished novels in George R.R. Martin‘s A Song of Ice and Fire series, The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring.
What might happen in the final season is predictably under wraps, with rumors that producers plan to film numerous alternative endings to avoid leaks of the show’s actual conclusion.
What we do know, at least, is that a dye-job won’t be enough to emulate Khaleesi’s lengthy braided hair. Unless the Mother of Dragons has a much shorter haircut for her climactic face-off with the Night King, we expect Emilia will be forced to wear extensions.
It’s finally happened! For the first time in “Carpool Karaoke” history, James Corden has given in and admitted he can’t compete with one of his guests.
The Seattle rockers were the latest stars to jump in James’s car on The Late Late Show with James Corden, though a minivan was needed to fit them all in.
They proceeded to belt out some of their biggest hits, including “All My Life,” “Best Of You,” and “Learn To Fly,” before James made an eye-popping claim: that he could drum as well as, if not better, than frontman Dave Grohl.
There’s just one problem: James has never picked up drumsticks in his life. But to quote him, “I don’t consider [that] to be an issue. Because what is drumming? It’s a feeling.”
Hmm. We can see where this may be headed. For anyone unfamiliar with the Foos’ work, Dave Grohl can drum really, really well — almost as well as Animal from The Muppets.
There was nothing for it but to pull up at Guitar Center on Sunset Boulevard and test out James’s claim, with a rendition of “Never Gonna Give You Up,” a track the band have been performing at recent gigs with the original British singer Rick Astley.
Watch to see if James pulls it off (spoiler alert: he doesn’t):
And there it was: “I can’t compete.” Drumming, James is forced to concede, is indeed more than a feeling — and being in a band is still a far off dream.
Beatrix Potter fans, look away now. The new animated version of Peter Rabbit got its first trailer yesterday (September 21), and by the look of things it’s been given a very modern update.
And that’s understating it: Mr. McGregor’s cunicular nemesis always was a pesky little chap, but in Easy A director Will Gluck‘s reboot he’s a veritable tearaway.
He’s also voiced by one James Corden, who’s taken a break from the carpool lanes to lend his vocal chords to the blue-jacketed bunny.
The cast features plenty more Anglo favorites, including Star Wars‘ Domhnall Gleeson as a “young” Mr. McGregor, Jurassic Park‘s Sam Neill as Mr. McGregor Senior, while Bridesmaids‘ Rose Byrne plays a mysterious character known as “Bea,” whom some have assumed is a reference to the original tale’s author.
And the stars voicing Peter’s bunny pals are more than worthy of a mention too: there’s Flopsy (Margot Robbie), Mopsy (Daisy Ridley) and Cottontail (The Night Manager‘s Elizabeth Debicki).
Add to that it’s an update of a beloved children’s tale that’s captivated generations of children since it was first published in 1902.
So we were pretty excited to see the trailer had finally been released. …Aaand perhaps a little concerned. See what you think:
Woah. Has Peter Rabbit turned home intruder and vandal? Last time we checked his worst crime was pilfering a couple of lettuces.
The film’s official plot synopsis calls it an “irreverent, contemporary comedy with attitude,” which, coincidentally, also goes some way to describe people’s reactions to the trailer on social media:
The synopsis goes on: “In the film, Peter’s feud with Mr. McGregor (Gleeson) escalates to greater heights than ever before as they rival for the affections of the warm-hearted animal lover who lives next door (Byrne). James Corden voices the character of Peter with playful spirit and wild charm.”
That’s for sure. And don’t get us wrong, we welcome innovative, unexpected takes on the classics. The question remains, though: will it appease the Potter-heads?
Peter Rabbit is due to open in theaters on February 9, 2018.
Gaga: Five Foot Two debuts today (September 22) on Netflix, and is the latest addition to an art form that has gained in prominence over the years: the behind-the-scenes documentary giving an unvarnished look at a popstar’s life.
It tells the story of the making of Joanne, the fifth studio album by Lady Gaga, and what went on in the lead-up to her extraordinary halftime performance at this year’s Superbowl.
Its release follows a long line of revelatory pop docs, the best of which we’ve listed here.
10. Shut Up and Play the Hits (2012)
LCD Soundsystem played a “last stand” in 2011, an epic, instantly legendary final show at Madison Square Garden (although, like many pop retirements, it didn’t last that long, with a reunion in 2015). This documentary captures the final concert beautifully, but also manages to be much more than that by examining super-producer James Murphy‘s decision to go out on top, not to mention the comedown and uncertainty that follows the greatest high of his career.
This could very easily have just been a puff piece about the “Firework” pop star, and to a certain extent it is, with sugary-sweet scenes that are as garish and multi-colored as some of her wigs. Allowances are made, however, for things not going to plan — and not go to plan they do, especially if you’re married to a certain Russell Brand.
Chances are you’ve not heard of The Funk Brothers, although you’ve almost certainly heard their music. That’s because they were the house band of Motown throughout the 1960s, playing on hits such as “My Girl” and “What Becomes of the Broken Hearted” and “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” but weren’t credited by the record label’s founder Berry Gordy until 1970. This documentary goes some way to redress that balance.
This Grammy-nominated film documented the band’s reunion after seven years apart and an acrimonious split (is there any other kind?) that saw Graham Coxon walk out on the band as they recorded 2003’s Think Tank. The interviews are unexpectedly revealing, and the live footage stands as a reminder why they should bother getting back together in the first place.
Documentaries about the making of an album often focus on the art only. Spike Lee‘s Bad 25, for instance, did little to reveal anything about the artist behind that mega-album. This documentary, however, released on the 20th anniversary of the album often cited as the greatest hip hop album ever made, Nas‘s 1994 opus Illmatic, goes further than that, delving into both Nas and his background — in particular his relationship with jazz trumpeter father Olu Dara — as well as the social and political issues he tackled on his debut record.
Let’s face it: Icelandic rockers Sigur Rós can come across as taking themselves very seriously indeed, but Jonsi and pals are revealed to be warm, self-deprecating and kinda nerdy in this documentary. Part concert film, part travelog, it’s set against a backdrop of archive footage and some spectacular shots of Iceland’s stark landscape.
Watch: Vimeo
4. The Making of Thriller (1983)
Behind-the-scenes films about Michael Jackson tend to fixate on the controversies surrounding his private life, for obvious reasons. This short documentary therefore is rare, in that it lets Michael talk for himself, and shows him at his sublime, mercurial best, as he films the music video that catapulted him into superduperstardom.
Watch: YouTube
3. George Harrison: Living in the Material World (2011)
Martin Scorsese has made films about The Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan, but it’s this sprawling, two-part, three and a half hour documentary about George Harrison that’s worth a mention here. Covering both his pre- and post-Beatles career, what emerges is an absorbing, well-rounded portrait of the so-called “quiet Beatle,” and in particular his devotion to faith and spirituality.
Widely regarded as one of the greatest concert films ever, director Jonathan Demme‘s classic recording of a Talking Heads concert at Hollywood’s Pantages Theater manages to capture the unbelievable energy on stage, providing a huge shot of joy into the arm of even the most cynical critic.
We wouldn’t expect anything less, but Madonna lays everything out in this classic behind-the-scenes documentary — from love affairs going wrong to fractious family relationships, and even her ill-disguised contempt for other celebrities. She’s outrageous. A force of nature. The film is ultimately a testament to Madge’s enduring appeal: not charm, but a voracious, awe-inspiring appetite for self-revelation and promotion. Oh, and the music’s great, natch.
Olivia Cooke, whose starring role in Steven Spielberg‘s upcoming sci-fi thriller Ready Player One is about to make her a household name, was already down to play the novel’s protagonist Becky Sharpe, a character previously played by Reese Witherspoon and The Night Manager‘s Natasha Little.
Becky stirs things up in William Makepeace Thackeray‘s sprawling 1848 novel, having worked her way up from a modest upbringing to the highest echelons of early nineteenth-century British society.
A photograph also released today (September 25) shows Olivia with the actor playing Captain Rawdon Crawley, Snatched‘s Tom Bateman:
(Photo: ITV)
The release of the first set photo coincides with the casting news that Olivia and Tom will be joined by not one, but two acting giants: Doctor Foster‘s Suranne Jones, and Michael bloomin’ Palin.
Suranne will play Miss Pinkerton, the owner of the girls’ school where Becky meets Amelia Sedley (Line of Duty‘s Claudia Jessie), while the ex-Python will no doubt ensure the irreverent tone of the original text is preserved in his role as the author Thackeray.
Theater veterans Simon Russell Beale and Frances de la Tour will also star as Amelia’s father John Sedley and Rawdon’s aunt Miss Matilda Crawley respectively, and will be joined by musician and actor Johnny Flynn (Genius) as Dobbin; Martin Clunes (Doc Martin) as Sir Pitt Crawley; Charlie Rowe (Salvation) as Amelia’s betrothed George Osborne. Claire Skinner (Outnumbered) as Mrs. Sedley; and David Fynn (School of Rock) as her son and Amelia’s brother Jos.
Vanity Fair is expected to debut on ITV in the U.K. next year, before launching in the U.S. on Amazon Prime.
It’s fair to say Kaya Scodelario‘s career has gone from strength to strength since she played Nicholas Hoult‘s little sister Effy on Skins. Now the 25-year-old has scored a lead role in new action film Die in a Gunfight, starring opposite Hunger Games‘ Josh Hutchinson.
Just this year she’s starred in Dead Men Tell No Tales, the latest Pirates of the Carribbean movie, and also reprised her role in the final installment of the Maze Runner series, TheDeath Cure, which has also just had its first trailer released.
And this new role, announced yesterday (September 25), is not just any lead, either. Kaya will play Mary, whose passion for Ben (Hutcherson) sets her on a collision course with her family. The whole thing is set against a backdrop of corporate espionage, revenge, and a long-standing feud between two important families.
Sound familiar? Well, it would, as the plot of Die in a Gunfight is in fact a reimagining of Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare’s classic tale of two star-crossed lovers.
“Ben and Mary” just doesn’t have the same ring to it, does it?
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the tragic story will be shifted to the modern-day setting of “corporate espionage,” and will also star X-Men: Apocalypse‘s Olivia Munn and Oscar winner Helen Hunt.
Sounds promising. And then there’s the producers’ description of the film, summarized as “true love conquers all… but if it can’t, it’ll at least ensure you go out swinging, in spectacular fashion.”
How do you think this will compare with Baz Luhrmann’s classic 1996 retelling of Shakespeare’s play?
New pictures have been revealed of Call the Midwife star Jessica Raine in new military drama The Last Post, which will launch as an Amazon Original in the U.S. later this year.
The six-part period series tells the story of a British army unit fighting in the city of Aden, in what is now Yemen, in 1965. It also looks at how life was for the soldiers’ wives and children, and Jessica plays Alison Laithwaite, a woman described as “ahead of her time,” who feels cooped up just as the Swinging Sixties are getting underway back home.
(Photo: ITV / Amazon)
The series is based on the childhood memories of BAFTA award-winning writer Peter Moffat (no relation to Doctor Who‘s Steven Moffat), who created the U.K.’s Criminal Justice and is now an EP on its U.S. version, HBO’s Emmy award-winning The Night Of starring Riz Ahmed.
Alison is based in part on his mother, who was forced to follow his father to the Middle East when he became an officer in the Royal Military Police there.
In the series her husband Ed is played by The History Boys‘ Stephen Campbell Moore, seen here in another photo released yesterday (September 26):
(Photo: ITV / Amazon)
In a statement released last year when the series was first commissioned by the BBC, Peter Moffat explained:
“Young married couples in the heart of the Sixties living in extremely close proximity in a very alien and dangerous environment has always struck me as ripe territory for drama. Men full of vim, vigor and a desire to be heroes in a situation where that isn’t always possible, alongside young women who are starting to feel the emancipation of the Sixties and a sense of new freedoms but who are living in a constrained setting where their role is supposed to be merely supportive.”
(Photo: ITV / Amazon)
He added, “My mum remembers standing on the balcony of our flat in her first week in Aden and seeing a hand grenade thrown killing a five-year-old boy and my dad rushing out to try and do something… Throw in rock-n-roll and tumultuous love stories alongside the unexplored territory of this period in our history and you have a pretty heady mix.”
We’ll say. Look out for The Last Post on Amazon later this year.
It’s an irresistible tale: a plucky young kid overcomes overwhelming odds to become a successful dancer. That’s the plot of Magic Mike, but also Flashdance, Save the Last Dance, Footloose, Billy Elliot, and Dirty Dancing.
So we can’t blame James Corden for fancying his odds at making it in the cutthroat world of male exotic dancing (and to think we were worried his confidence had taken a hit after last week’s “Carpool Karaoke”!).
It happened last night (September 27), when a one-off sketch featuring Magic Mike star Channing Tatum was released after his visit to The Late Late Show on Tuesday (September 26).
In it Channing agrees to let James audition for the live show based on his 2012 hit film, and, needless to say, things don’t start well.
“I don’t know if you’re exactly Magic Mike material,” Channing tells our James. “You need stamina, you need sexiness, and you need abs.”
So that’s check, check — and, uh, okay. No check.
“I’ve got an ab,” James countered, but even that was way off the mark.
Luckily, James has never let a little thing like “not having any of the requisite skills” get in his way before. So here it is. Watch him drop those pants and give some of those Magic Mike Live moves a whirl:
That’s “Magic James,” indeed.
Do you think we’ll be seeing James in Vegas any time soon?
Things looked pretty bad for Cillian Murphy and the gang in the last episode of Peaky Blinders, and it seems they’re going to get even worse in season four.
A trailer for the new season released today (September 29) shows Cillian as Thomas Shelby, announcing “we’re going back,” as the family come reunite to face new foes after what looks like a stint in prison.
It also gives us our first proper look at Oscar winner Adrien Brody, who joins the series this season in a mysterious role, written especially for him.
Also joining the cast is Aidan Gillen, (Game of Thrones‘ Littlefinger), as William Wilson, an American agent tasked with infiltrating Alfie’s gang. “Aidan is a sort of, in the face of danger it’s like pressing the nuclear button – you get him to help. Let me put it that way. We have been very fortunate to get two really legendary actors.”
We’ll say. Also shown in the clip are Helen McCrory, whose character Polly Gray looks like she’s in a lot of trouble, and a hirsute Tom Hardy, reprising his role as Camden gang leader Alfie Solomons.
And for anyone struggling with those Brummie accents, then you’ll be relieved to see that every word uttered in the new trailer pops up helpfully on screen:
An official release date is yet to be announced, but Peaky Blinders season four will air in the U.K. this fall, launching in the U.S. on Netflix soon after.
After six long years, everyone’s favorite curmudgeon Larry David is back as Curb Your Enthusiasm returns to our TV screens this Sunday (October 1).
The ninth season promises to be every bit as agonizingly and hilariously awkward as the previous eight, with regular stars Cheryl Hines, Jeff Garlin, Susie Essman, J.B. Smoove, Bob Einstein, Richard Lewis, Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen all returning.
Not only that, but some of our favorite stars are set to make guest appearances, including Bryan Cranston, Gilmore Girls‘ Lauren Graham, Jimmy Kimmel, Nick Offerman (Parks and Recreation), Elizabeth Banks (30 Rock), Ed Begley Jr., Carrie Brownstein (Portlandia), SNL‘s Nasim Pedrad, Elizabeth Perkins (Weeds), Damon Wayans Jr. (New Girl), Steven Weber (Wings), Katie Aselton (Legion) and Judy Sheindlin, a.k.a. Judge blimmin’ Judy.
To say we are excited about Larry’s comeback would be an understatement, so let’s revel in our favorite (and most toe curling!) moments from the series so far.
10. The stop and chat
If anything, Larry David is a social renegade, ready to break its rules and conventions at a moment’s notice. One such rule is the “stop and chat,” or the obligation to “stop and chat” upon meeting an acquaintance. In an episode called “The Massage” (season 2, episode 20), a man on the sidewalk approaches Larry as if he knows him, says hello, and turns to engage him in conversation. Anyone else would do the same, but not Larry.
9. Larry explains tampons
Women have known about the unintelligible instructions for tampons for a long time, but it takes someone with Larry David’s dogged persistence to figure it out for the rest of mankind. He is forced to do so in “The Divorce” (season 8, episode 1) when buying cookies from an unfortunate girl scout, who suddenly gets her period for the first time in his house. Awks.
8. The Miracle
In one scene in “Bare Midriff” (season 7, episode 6), Larry goes to the bathroom at his assistant Maureen’s home and accidentally splashes urine on a picture of Jesus. As you do. When Maureen — played by the hilarious Jillian Bell of Workaholics fame — sees the stained picture, she assumes what anyone would: that Jesus was crying, and she’d witnessed a full-on miracle. Larry’s face here says it all.
(Image: HBO)
7. Larry deals with annoying Bluetooth guy
Bluetooth headsets may have gone the way of pagers and rotary phones, but their heyday took place in the middle of Curb‘s original run, and, in the case of this scene from “The TiVo Guy” (season 6, episode 7), right under the nose of one Larry David. Larry did what we’ve all dreamt of doing, thus becoming a hero to us all.
6. Larry wears women’s panties
For some reason, Larry’s agent Jeff Greene (Jeff Garlin) turns to his favorite client in “Officer Krupke” (season 7, episode 8) for help when his wife finds some discarded women’s underwear in his car. Jeff cooks up an absurd excuse — and Larry, incredibly, goes along with it.
(Image: Giphy)
5. Larry vs. Ricky Gervais
Two worlds collide when Larry meets Ricky Gervais, whose character David Brent is arguably an inheritor of both Curb and Seinfeld, in “The Hero” (season 8, episode 6). Things between the two rivals come to a head when Larry spots Ricky on a date with a woman he’d previously dated: Larry gives chase, before coming to their rescue when a mugger attacks them on the New York subway. Briefly, he looks like a hero — but that’s never going to last, is it?
4. Larry pretends to be deaf
Some of the best Larry moments are actually the reactions of his loved ones to him. Take this moment in “The Special Section” (season 3, episode 6), when, eating breakfast on the verandah with his wife Cheryl (Cheryl Hines), it briefly looks like Larry might be enjoying himself.
3. “Prett-ay, prett-ay, prett-ay, pretty good”
Okay, so this isn’t a single moment, but something akin to a catchphrase, if that’s not too conventional a comedic idea for the co-creator of Seinfeld. Larry utters it a few times throughout the series, usually when he’s feeling little more than a bit fond of something, so it’s particularly crushing for wife Cheryl (Cheryl Hines) when he whips out the phrase in front of all their family and friends during the renewal of their marriage vows.
2. “She didn’t want to bother you”
If George Costanza (Jason Alexander) was based on Larry David, then his mom and dad, played so memorably in Seinfeld by Ben’s dad Jerry Stiller and Estelle Harris, are based on Larry’s parents. In this scene from “The Special Section” (season 3, episode 6), Larry’s father (Shelley Berman) recounts his mother’s final behest — an act of passive-aggressive selflessness that’s worthy of Estelle Costanza.
1. The Larry David stare
Not a single moment either, but the one Curb fans are most likely to reenact when asked for their favorite moment. If anybody seems to be lying, or up to something — anything — then Larry subjects them to this inimitable stare, accompanied by a perky clarinet. It’s amazing any of them keep a straight face (though anyone who’s seen the show’s blooper tapes knows they don’t always).
It’s been announced today (October 2) that David Tennant will be one of the guest stars on the upcoming British comedy Hang Ups, which shakes up the trend by being a remake of a U.S. TV show.
We’ve seen this happen the other way around, with hit British TV shows like The Office, The Thick of It, and House of Cards getting remade for American audiences, to varying degrees of success.
Hang Ups, on the other hand, is a British remake of the Emmy-nominated series Web Therapy, co-created by and starring former Friends star Lisa Kudrow, which was cancelled by Showtime in 2015 after four seasons.
Lisa’s role of a web therapist with a somewhat checkered past will be played in the British version by Stephen Mangan, who was recently seen alongside her Friends co-star Matt LeBlanc in Episodes. Stephen also co-wrote the show, although its dialogue, like that of the original, will be largely improvised.
Despite the daily interruptions of a demanding extended family, errant teenagers and his own trouble-filled past, Stephen’s character Dr. Richard Pitt starts seeing patients over webcam instead of the traditional 50-minute in-person sessions.
And while Web Therapy featured guest stars such as Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Meryl Streep, and Bob Balaban (not to mention Lisa’s friends David Schwimmer, Courtney Cox, Matt LeBlanc and Matthew Perry), Channel 4 announced today which British comedy stars we can expect to pop up displaying symptoms of neuroses, phobias, and anxieties in Hang Ups.
Chief among them is our very own Doctor, David Tennant, who’s recently gone back to his comedic roots in the new Duck Tales and Good Omens since his role as the unsmiling DCI Alec Hardy in Broadchurch.
David will be joined by Jessica Hynes (Spaced), Richard E. Grant (Withnail & I), Katherine Parkinson (The IT Crowd, Humans), and Celia Imrie (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel), as well as Arsher Ali (Line of Duty) and Charles Dance (Game of Thrones).
Whether Hang Ups will make its way back over the pond is yet to be seen, but international distribution does look likely.
Are you looking forward to seeing David and Stephen duke it out over webcam?
Spider-Man and Rey have teamed up for the movie adaptation of Patrick Ness‘s Chaos Walking novels, and judging by the first set photo released yesterday (October 2), they’re looking very different indeed.
By Spider-Man we mean Tom Holland, of course, and of course Rey is really Daisy Ridley. They’re starring in the film as Todd Hewitt and Viola Eade respectively. He’s a boy living on a world afflicted with “The Noise,” and she’s a girl whose silence seems to hold the key to the planet’s many secrets.
Tom-as-Todd has ditched the red body suit and buffed up a bit, while Daisy-as-Viola is rocking a shaggy blonde bob and bangs:
(Photo: Lionsgate)
Daisy published the photo above on her Facebook page yesterday (October 2), with the caption “WHAAAAT!”
She can certainly say that again. Her new platinum ‘do reminds us of a bit of Daryl Hannah in Bladerunner, which is appropriate, as Chaos Walking is also set in a future world. It’s based on the Young Adult novel The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness, who most recently wrote A Monster Calls and the Doctor Who spin-off, Class, and is the first in a trilogy of Chaos Walking novels.
Whether the two subsequent books The Ask and the Answer and Monsters of Men will also be filmed is yet to be seen, but in the meantime this first installment also stars Mads Mikkelsen, Nick Jonas, David Oyelowo, Demián Bichir and Kurt Sutter.
It won’t be in theaters until March 1, 2019, but we’ll see Tom in The Current War alongside Benedict Cumberbatch next month and Daisy reprise her role of Rey in Star Wars: The Last Jedi this festive season.
If you thought Kate Winslet went a bit blue in those final watery scenes of Titanic, then you’ve seen nothing yet.
Deadline reports that the award-winning star is set to join the Avatar universe. This will see Kate reunited her with director James Cameron 20 years after the disaster movie that made her name sank all previous box office records.
In those two decades, Kate has starred in hit films such as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), The Holiday (2006) and The Reader (2008), for which she won her first Academy Award, while James went on to break his own record with 2009’s sci-fi epic Avatar.
“Kate and I have been looking for something to do together for 20 years, since our collaboration on Titanic, which was one of the most rewarding of my career,” he told Deadline. “I can’t wait to see her bring the character of Ronal to life.”
Not much is known about who or what Ronal is, but the original Avatar movie featured the Na’vi, a tribe of humanoid beings indigenous to the planet Pandora, who were most notable for their distinctive blue hue.
Not one but four sequels are planned, with production starting in California last week (September 25). Actors Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Joel David Moore, Stephen Lang, Matt Gerald and Sigourney Weaver are all reprising their roles from the original film, and will be joined by Fear the Walking Dead‘s Cliff Curtis and Taboo‘s Oona Chaplin as well as Kate.
Alas, the first sequel won’t hit theaters until December 2020, with the release schedule for the subsequent three stretching until 2025. How many of those four films will star Kate is also yet to be seen.
