Eve Best and Stockard Channing are adding more star quality to the cast of Suranne Jones’ upcoming three-part Itvx drama Maryland.
Created by Jones and Trollied creator Anne-Marie O’Connor, Maryland focuses on the relationship between two sisters, down-to-earth mother of two Becca (Jones) and disciplined high-flyer Rosaline (Best) who have been driven apart by complex family dynamics.
They travel to the Isle of Man to repatriate the body of their mother, Mary, leaving their father Richard at home in Manchester. Confined on the island, they discover shocking information about their mother and find it impossible to escape the ripple effect of her secrets and lies.
Best is currently enjoying strong reviews for her role as dragon rider Rhaenys Targaryen in HBO’s House of the Dragon.
Becca...
Created by Jones and Trollied creator Anne-Marie O’Connor, Maryland focuses on the relationship between two sisters, down-to-earth mother of two Becca (Jones) and disciplined high-flyer Rosaline (Best) who have been driven apart by complex family dynamics.
They travel to the Isle of Man to repatriate the body of their mother, Mary, leaving their father Richard at home in Manchester. Confined on the island, they discover shocking information about their mother and find it impossible to escape the ripple effect of her secrets and lies.
Best is currently enjoying strong reviews for her role as dragon rider Rhaenys Targaryen in HBO’s House of the Dragon.
Becca...
- 10/18/2022
- by Jesse Whittock
- Deadline Film + TV
Pastor Mick Fleming – a former drug dealer who found God and set up a church that would one day be visited by Prince William and his wife Catherine – is set to be the subject of a new drama series called “The Pastor,” Variety can exclusively reveal.
Herd have optioned Fleming’s life rights.
“Top Boy” director Brady Hood is already in talks to helm the project, which is set to shoot in the U.K. and Portugal, while Andrew Knott and William Ash (“Twisting My Melon”) have signed on to write the screenplay.
Herd will oversee the shoot in the U.K. while their production partner Moviebox will oversee Portugal.
Fleming shot to fame in December 2020 when he became the subject of a BBC News report that was watched by 50 million people. In the throes of the pandemic Fleming, a former drug dealer, set up a church and project that included delivering food,...
Herd have optioned Fleming’s life rights.
“Top Boy” director Brady Hood is already in talks to helm the project, which is set to shoot in the U.K. and Portugal, while Andrew Knott and William Ash (“Twisting My Melon”) have signed on to write the screenplay.
Herd will oversee the shoot in the U.K. while their production partner Moviebox will oversee Portugal.
Fleming shot to fame in December 2020 when he became the subject of a BBC News report that was watched by 50 million people. In the throes of the pandemic Fleming, a former drug dealer, set up a church and project that included delivering food,...
- 9/7/2022
- by K.J. Yossman
- Variety Film + TV
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Seeing is believe, but fantasy films are a special genre that will push your imagination to the limit and maybe even open up a part of your mind that you didn’t know existed. The good thing about fantasy movies is that they typically have a deeper subtext that will give you a deeper appreciation for life, and film.
For those who love streaming a variety of movies, signing up for streaming platforms is the easiest way to get access to tons of titles from plenty of different genres. If you’re not already signed up for at least one of the major platforms, it’s quick and easy to join, and you...
Seeing is believe, but fantasy films are a special genre that will push your imagination to the limit and maybe even open up a part of your mind that you didn’t know existed. The good thing about fantasy movies is that they typically have a deeper subtext that will give you a deeper appreciation for life, and film.
For those who love streaming a variety of movies, signing up for streaming platforms is the easiest way to get access to tons of titles from plenty of different genres. If you’re not already signed up for at least one of the major platforms, it’s quick and easy to join, and you...
- 4/2/2021
- by Latifah Muhammad
- Indiewire
Jack O’Connell is in advanced negotiations to star in a music biopic called “Twisting My Melon” about the life of Shaun Ryder, the frontman of the British band Happy Mondays, Agc Studios chairman and CEO Stuart Ford announced on Friday.
O’Connell would star with Jason Isaacs, Holliday Grainger and Maxine Peake in the film that will be fully financed and co-produced by Agc Studios. Isaacs will play Ryder’s father and fellow musician Derek Ryder, Peake will play his mother, and Grainger would star as Ryder’s girlfriend. Production on the film is slated to begin in January 2020. Here’s the full synopsis for the film:
Brother. Son. Poet. Film Star. Rock’n’Roll Legend. Since childhood, all Shaun Ryder ever wanted to do was play in a rock band like his father, a local working-class guitar hero dubbed the “Horseman.” Soon his drive and one-of-a-kind songwriting skills...
O’Connell would star with Jason Isaacs, Holliday Grainger and Maxine Peake in the film that will be fully financed and co-produced by Agc Studios. Isaacs will play Ryder’s father and fellow musician Derek Ryder, Peake will play his mother, and Grainger would star as Ryder’s girlfriend. Production on the film is slated to begin in January 2020. Here’s the full synopsis for the film:
Brother. Son. Poet. Film Star. Rock’n’Roll Legend. Since childhood, all Shaun Ryder ever wanted to do was play in a rock band like his father, a local working-class guitar hero dubbed the “Horseman.” Soon his drive and one-of-a-kind songwriting skills...
- 9/6/2019
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
Control, Film Stars Don’t Die In Liverpool screenwriter Matt Greenhalgh to make feature directorial debut.
UK actor Jack O’Connell is in advanced talks to star as Happy Mondays lead singer Shaun Ryder in the musical biopic Twisting My Melon, which Stuart Ford’s Agc Studios is introducing to buyers at Tiff.
Agc will fully finance and co-produce the project, based on Ryder’s autobiography of the same name that charts his life and role in ushering in the “Madchester” sound in the late 1980s and early 1990s that embraced hedonism and rave culture. O’Connell will perform Happy Mondays songs in the film.
UK actor Jack O’Connell is in advanced talks to star as Happy Mondays lead singer Shaun Ryder in the musical biopic Twisting My Melon, which Stuart Ford’s Agc Studios is introducing to buyers at Tiff.
Agc will fully finance and co-produce the project, based on Ryder’s autobiography of the same name that charts his life and role in ushering in the “Madchester” sound in the late 1980s and early 1990s that embraced hedonism and rave culture. O’Connell will perform Happy Mondays songs in the film.
- 9/6/2019
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Jack O’Connell is in advanced negotiations to play Happy Mondays frontman Shaun Ryder in Agc Studios’ “Twisting My Melon.” The project, which Agc will fully finance and co-produce, was announced at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival.
In addition to O’Connell, Jason Isaacs is in talks to play Derek Ryder, Shaun’s father. Holliday Grainger (“Cinderella”) will likely play Shaun’s girlfriend and Maxine Peake (“The Theory of Everything”) will portray his much-put-upon mother. The Happy Mondays were giants of the independent music scene in the U.K., combining elements of funk and psychedelia with hits such as “Hallelujah” and “Mad Cyril.”
The project was originated and developed by Matt Greenhalgh and his production company Maine Road Films. He co-wrote the screenplay with Andrew Knott and William Ash and will direct and produce the film. Greenhalgh has dramatized the rock world before, writing screenplays for the John Lennon...
In addition to O’Connell, Jason Isaacs is in talks to play Derek Ryder, Shaun’s father. Holliday Grainger (“Cinderella”) will likely play Shaun’s girlfriend and Maxine Peake (“The Theory of Everything”) will portray his much-put-upon mother. The Happy Mondays were giants of the independent music scene in the U.K., combining elements of funk and psychedelia with hits such as “Hallelujah” and “Mad Cyril.”
The project was originated and developed by Matt Greenhalgh and his production company Maine Road Films. He co-wrote the screenplay with Andrew Knott and William Ash and will direct and produce the film. Greenhalgh has dramatized the rock world before, writing screenplays for the John Lennon...
- 9/6/2019
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Agc Studios is launching sales on and co-producing Twisting My Melon, a music biopic of Shaun Ryder, frontman for UK band the Happy Mondays.
Jack O’Connell (Unbroken), and Jason Isaacs (Hotel Mumbai) are in advanced negotiations to star as Ryder and his father, Derek Ryder, respectively. Also in discussions to join are Holliday Grainger (Patrick Melrose) as Ryder’s girlfriend and Maxine Peake (The Theory of Everything) as his long-suffering mum.
The cautionary rock fable will chart Ryder’s story from childhood, when he was desperate to play in a rock band like his father, a local working-class guitar hero dubbed the ‘Horseman’, to his rise as the frontman for 90s Manchester band the Happy Mondays. Production is slated to start in January, 2020.
Based on Ryder’s autobiography of the same name, the project was originated and developed by Control and Nowhere Boy scribe Matt Greenhalgh and his production company Maine Road Films.
Jack O’Connell (Unbroken), and Jason Isaacs (Hotel Mumbai) are in advanced negotiations to star as Ryder and his father, Derek Ryder, respectively. Also in discussions to join are Holliday Grainger (Patrick Melrose) as Ryder’s girlfriend and Maxine Peake (The Theory of Everything) as his long-suffering mum.
The cautionary rock fable will chart Ryder’s story from childhood, when he was desperate to play in a rock band like his father, a local working-class guitar hero dubbed the ‘Horseman’, to his rise as the frontman for 90s Manchester band the Happy Mondays. Production is slated to start in January, 2020.
Based on Ryder’s autobiography of the same name, the project was originated and developed by Control and Nowhere Boy scribe Matt Greenhalgh and his production company Maine Road Films.
- 9/6/2019
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Mackenzie Foy and Kate Winslet have signed up to star in Ashley Avis’s reboot of the classic story of ‘Black Beauty’.
Foy will take the leading role as a 17-year-old girl whose bond with Black Beauty helps her overcome the death of her parents.
Winslet will have an easier job of it as she will provide the voice of the horse, Black Beauty.
Based on the best-selling children’s classic by Anna Sewell, Avis will direct the film from a script she has adapted herself. The film will be a fictional autobiography of the titular wild horse. In a significant change from Sewell’s book, in which Black Beauty is a carriage horse, in the new adaptation, she is a wild mustang captured on the Wyoming Plains.
Also in news – Man of Steel’s David Goyer to tackle ‘Hellraiser’ reboot
Black Beauty has been adapted for the big and...
Foy will take the leading role as a 17-year-old girl whose bond with Black Beauty helps her overcome the death of her parents.
Winslet will have an easier job of it as she will provide the voice of the horse, Black Beauty.
Based on the best-selling children’s classic by Anna Sewell, Avis will direct the film from a script she has adapted herself. The film will be a fictional autobiography of the titular wild horse. In a significant change from Sewell’s book, in which Black Beauty is a carriage horse, in the new adaptation, she is a wild mustang captured on the Wyoming Plains.
Also in news – Man of Steel’s David Goyer to tackle ‘Hellraiser’ reboot
Black Beauty has been adapted for the big and...
- 5/8/2019
- by Zehra Phelan
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
"Don't close the door, I cannot be alone with you." Fox Searchlight has debuted a second trailer for the new romantic thriller My Cousin Rachel, starring Rachel Weisz in a period piece based on Daphne Du Maurier's novel of the same name. Weisz plays the alluring cousin of a young Englishman, who falls for her as he attempts to seek revenge on her for supposedly murdering his guardian. Sam Claflin co-stars, along with Holliday Grainger, Iain Glen, Andrew Knott, and Poppy Lee Friar. There's some impressive cinematography in this, thanks to Dp Mike Eley (Nanny McPhee Returns), but as for the rest of it I'm not sure if it's for me. There is a great deal of sexual tension and confusion and all that good stuff. Take a peek. Here's the second official trailer for Roger Michell's My Cousin Rachel, direct from YouTube: You can still watch the...
- 3/26/2017
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
"How easy it must be for a woman like your cousin Rachel to twist you around her little finger..." Fox Searchlight has unveiled a trailer for the upcoming romantic drama My Cousin Rachel, adapted from Daphne Du Maurier's novel of the same name. My Cousin Rachel stars Rachel Weisz as the cousin of a young Englishman, who falls for her as he attempts to seek revenge on her for supposedly murdering his guardian. Sam Claflin co-stars, along with Holliday Grainger, Iain Glen, Andrew Knott, and Poppy Lee Friar. This is a very powerful trailer with a very mood song in it that is designed to provoke emotions and pull viewers in. I'm curious, but not really sure what to expect, it seems a bit too romantic for my tastes. Here's the official trailer (+ poster) for Roger Michell's My Cousin Rachel, direct from YouTube: A dark romance, My Cousin Rachel...
- 1/25/2017
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Author: David Sztypuljak
With Denial in cinemas this week starring the fabulous Rachel Weisz as Professor Deborah E. Lipstadt it comes as no surprise that Fox Searchlight have released the first UK poster & trailer for My Cousin Rachel starring Weisz and her co-star Sam Claflin (The Hunger Games). For anyone unsure, this is most definitely not a sequel to the 1992 movie My Cousin Vinny starring Joe Pesci, Ralph Macchio and Marisa Tomei… as nice as that would be!
The movie is an adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s (author of Rebecca, The Birds) acclaimed novel of the same name and is helmed by Notting Hill / Morning Glory director Roger Michell.
Sam Claflin in My Cousin Rachel
My Cousin Rachel is a dark romance about a young Englishman who plots revenge again his mysterious beautiful cousin believing that she’s murdered his guardian. His feelings becoming rather more complicated when the finds himself falling for her.
With Denial in cinemas this week starring the fabulous Rachel Weisz as Professor Deborah E. Lipstadt it comes as no surprise that Fox Searchlight have released the first UK poster & trailer for My Cousin Rachel starring Weisz and her co-star Sam Claflin (The Hunger Games). For anyone unsure, this is most definitely not a sequel to the 1992 movie My Cousin Vinny starring Joe Pesci, Ralph Macchio and Marisa Tomei… as nice as that would be!
The movie is an adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s (author of Rebecca, The Birds) acclaimed novel of the same name and is helmed by Notting Hill / Morning Glory director Roger Michell.
Sam Claflin in My Cousin Rachel
My Cousin Rachel is a dark romance about a young Englishman who plots revenge again his mysterious beautiful cousin believing that she’s murdered his guardian. His feelings becoming rather more complicated when the finds himself falling for her.
- 1/25/2017
- by David Sztypuljak
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Neil Morrissey is starring in series two of ITV's period drama Grantchester.
The actor will appear alongside James Norton and Robson Green, who star as clergyman Sidney Chambers and police inspector Geordie Keating investigating crimes in the 1950s-set village.
Morrissey will play Harding Redmond, the father of teenage girl Abigail (Grace Holley) who is found dead in Grantchester under suspicious circumstances.
He accuses Chambers of having an inappropriate relationship with his daughter - forcing the clergyman to both investigate the girl's murder and clear his name.
But is it too late to save his reputation amongst the residents of Grantchester?
Morrissey said of his new role: "I'm really excited to be joining the cast of Grantchester. It's great to work with James Norton, Robson Green and the rest of the cast, and I can't wait to film in the actual village of Grantchester, which I know is beautiful.
"I'm also...
The actor will appear alongside James Norton and Robson Green, who star as clergyman Sidney Chambers and police inspector Geordie Keating investigating crimes in the 1950s-set village.
Morrissey will play Harding Redmond, the father of teenage girl Abigail (Grace Holley) who is found dead in Grantchester under suspicious circumstances.
He accuses Chambers of having an inappropriate relationship with his daughter - forcing the clergyman to both investigate the girl's murder and clear his name.
But is it too late to save his reputation amongst the residents of Grantchester?
Morrissey said of his new role: "I'm really excited to be joining the cast of Grantchester. It's great to work with James Norton, Robson Green and the rest of the cast, and I can't wait to film in the actual village of Grantchester, which I know is beautiful.
"I'm also...
- 8/5/2015
- Digital Spy
Cloud Atlas | To The Wonder | Lore | Gangs Of Wasseypur Part 1 | Song For Marion | Mama | Before Dawn | Crawl | Ollie Kepler's Expanding Purple World | Fire In The Blood | The Road: A Story Of Life And Death | We Are Northern Lights | Breath Of The Gods
Cloud Atlas (15)
(Andy & Lana Wachowski, Tom Tykwer, 2012, Ger/Us/Hk/Sin) Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugh Grant, Jim Broadbent. 172 mins
You've got to admire the ambition of trying to tell six stories at once, together spanning the 19th to 24th century. There are connections and parallels, of course, but also wild variations in tone and effectiveness. The experience is a little like channel surfing between Tom Hanks movies, but it's greater than the sum of its parts.
To The Wonder (12A)
(Terrence Malick, 2012, Us) Olga Kurylenko, Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams. 113 mins
Those entranced (or put off) by The Tree Of Life will get more of the same from...
Cloud Atlas (15)
(Andy & Lana Wachowski, Tom Tykwer, 2012, Ger/Us/Hk/Sin) Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugh Grant, Jim Broadbent. 172 mins
You've got to admire the ambition of trying to tell six stories at once, together spanning the 19th to 24th century. There are connections and parallels, of course, but also wild variations in tone and effectiveness. The experience is a little like channel surfing between Tom Hanks movies, but it's greater than the sum of its parts.
To The Wonder (12A)
(Terrence Malick, 2012, Us) Olga Kurylenko, Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams. 113 mins
Those entranced (or put off) by The Tree Of Life will get more of the same from...
- 2/23/2013
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Viv Fongenie's second feature, about an astronomy buff who becomes schizophrenic, is a textured and engaging look at mental illness
The desolate expanses of the universe are telescoped into one man's head in British director Viv Fongenie's second feature, as web designer and astronomy buff Ollie Kepler (the clue's in the name) slips into paranoid schizophrenia after the death of his girlfriend. Edward Hogg – skullcap hair and furious eyes, obsessing over heat death and cramming imaginary microchips into blocks of mature Scottish cheddar – is good as Kepler. But praise is also due to straight man Andrew Knott, selfless in the (in both senses) support role: Kepler's bewildered best friend, a window on the other side of the mental-illness experience. A textured and engaging look at a subject that often doesn't want to be looked at.
Rating: 3/5
DramaPhil Hoad
guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies.
The desolate expanses of the universe are telescoped into one man's head in British director Viv Fongenie's second feature, as web designer and astronomy buff Ollie Kepler (the clue's in the name) slips into paranoid schizophrenia after the death of his girlfriend. Edward Hogg – skullcap hair and furious eyes, obsessing over heat death and cramming imaginary microchips into blocks of mature Scottish cheddar – is good as Kepler. But praise is also due to straight man Andrew Knott, selfless in the (in both senses) support role: Kepler's bewildered best friend, a window on the other side of the mental-illness experience. A textured and engaging look at a subject that often doesn't want to be looked at.
Rating: 3/5
DramaPhil Hoad
guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies.
- 2/15/2013
- by Phil Hoad
- The Guardian - Film News
Guillermo del Toro is to produce a new movie adaptation of The Secret Garden.
The Hellboy filmmaker will oversee the project's development alongside his Don't Be Afraid of the Dark collaborator Mark Johnson, Deadline reports.
Beasts of the Southern Wild screenwriter Lucy Alibar will pen a script for the film based on Frances Hodgson Burnett's 1911 novel of the same name.
The Secret Garden has been adapted on numerous past occasions for theatre, film and television. Kate Maberly, Andrew Knott and Dame Maggie Smith starred in a 1993 cinematic adaptation directed by Agnieszka Holland.
Del Toro already has numerous projects in development, including his Pinocchio adaptation and Crimson Peak, both of which are in pre-production.
His next directorial venture will be Pacific Rim, which opens in the UK on July 12.
Watch a trailer for Pacific Rim below:...
The Hellboy filmmaker will oversee the project's development alongside his Don't Be Afraid of the Dark collaborator Mark Johnson, Deadline reports.
Beasts of the Southern Wild screenwriter Lucy Alibar will pen a script for the film based on Frances Hodgson Burnett's 1911 novel of the same name.
The Secret Garden has been adapted on numerous past occasions for theatre, film and television. Kate Maberly, Andrew Knott and Dame Maggie Smith starred in a 1993 cinematic adaptation directed by Agnieszka Holland.
Del Toro already has numerous projects in development, including his Pinocchio adaptation and Crimson Peak, both of which are in pre-production.
His next directorial venture will be Pacific Rim, which opens in the UK on July 12.
Watch a trailer for Pacific Rim below:...
- 2/6/2013
- Digital Spy
Another film-to-stage adaptation, this time from Iain Softley’s 1994 debut feature starring Stephen Dorff and Ian Hart, Backbeat presents the Beatles as archetypal mythic figures, which indeed they have become, undergoing a Joseph Campbell-styled coming-of-age saga as a band. The tragic protagonist is the brooding and talented painter Stuart Sutcliffe (Nick Blood). He is press-ganged by his domineering classmate John Lennon (Andrew Knott) into his band The Quarrymen, promptly redubbed "The Beatals" (sic) by the too-cool-for-school Sutcliffe. The early scene where Lennon tutors Sutcliffe in how to play three strings on the
read more...
read more...
- 2/2/2013
- by Myron Meisel
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Director: Julian Kerridge Writers: Martin Sadofski, Julian Kerridge Starring: Jack McMullen, Reece Noi, Leila Mimmack, Georgia Henshaw, Rita Tushingham, Maggie O'Neill, Andrew Knott Seamonsters tells the story of two shiftless young friends, Sam (Jack McMullen) and Kieran (Reece Noi), who are biding their time during the off-season in the English seaside town of Worthing. Sam and Kieran are stuck in a kind of shiftless limbo. Too old to be kids any more, they drift along without any plans for the future, vaguely aware that they’re expected to be adults. Kieran is skittish and unpredictable, perhaps a little bit crazy. Sam is quiet and sensitive, and tends to back down when challenged. Of course, even lifelong friendships can completely derail when a girl enters the picture. One day the boys meet Lori (Leila Mimmack), a mysterious, dark-eyed girl who’s somehow escaped their notice until now. Lori lives on the fringes with her sad,...
- 10/16/2011
- by Dave Wilson
- SmellsLikeScreenSpirit
Title: In Our Name Writer-director: Brian Welsh Starring: Joanne Froggatt, Mel Raido, Andrew Knott, Chloe-Jayne Wilkinson, Janine Leigh, Shah Amin A British coming-home-from-war drama that toes the line between pedestrian and interesting, though tilting toward the former, ‘In Our Name’ connects chiefly as a gender-shift curiosity given its main focus on a female soldier. Joanne Froggatt’s engaging performance, which picked up the Most Promising Newcomer prize at this past year’s British Independent Film Awards, is the chief selling point of writer-director Brian Welsh’s sophomore outing, which otherwise cycles through the expected interpersonal difficulties of trying to readjust to civilian and married life. ‘In Our Name’ opens with Suzy Jackson (Froggatt) returning...
- 7/11/2011
- by bsimon
- ShockYa
Filmed last year in Worthing and London, Seamonsters tells the tale of two best mates, Sam and Kieran; a bewitching traveller girl, Lori; Moony, waitress and dreamer. Wild young lives which are torn apart by a terrible tragedy.
Jack McMullen from Waterloo Road stars as Sam, and Reece Noi, recently seen in BBC legal drama Silk, as Kieran.
With Leila Mimmack, who starred as Christa in the Being Human spin-off Becoming Human, as Lori and Georgia Henshaw, who'll also be seen later this year in another independent feature In The Dark Half, as Moony.
Seamonsters is adapted from the Royal Court play "Outside Of Heaven" by Martin Sadofski, and directed by London Film School graduate Julian Kerridge, his first feature film after several award-winning shorts.
The film also stars Rita Tushingham, Maggie O'Neill and Andrew Knott.
Jack McMullen from Waterloo Road stars as Sam, and Reece Noi, recently seen in BBC legal drama Silk, as Kieran.
With Leila Mimmack, who starred as Christa in the Being Human spin-off Becoming Human, as Lori and Georgia Henshaw, who'll also be seen later this year in another independent feature In The Dark Half, as Moony.
Seamonsters is adapted from the Royal Court play "Outside Of Heaven" by Martin Sadofski, and directed by London Film School graduate Julian Kerridge, his first feature film after several award-winning shorts.
The film also stars Rita Tushingham, Maggie O'Neill and Andrew Knott.
- 4/10/2011
- by noreply@blogger.com (ScreenTerrier)
- ScreenTerrier
There’s a sudden appetite for Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” to become a transmedia spectacle. Filmmaker Danny Boyle is currently directing an adaptation of the classic Victorian novel for the National Theatre (with Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller alternating roles as Frankenstein and his Creature), which was also broadcast to selected cinemas around the world. And last night, BBC3 delivered the horror-musical Frankenstein’s Wedding (a modern spin on Shelley’s masterpiece), which went out live to the nation from Leeds’ Kirkstall Abbey, where 12,000 people had gathered to be part of the performance.
There was ambition to Frankenstein’s Wedding, that much is definitely true, but this live 80-minute spectacle was a mostly laborious and underwhelming flop. A great idea, but the execution didn’t fulfill its promise. Opening on Kirkstall Abbey (after a weird intro from DJ Reggie Yates) the live audience were playing the wedding guests for...
There was ambition to Frankenstein’s Wedding, that much is definitely true, but this live 80-minute spectacle was a mostly laborious and underwhelming flop. A great idea, but the execution didn’t fulfill its promise. Opening on Kirkstall Abbey (after a weird intro from DJ Reggie Yates) the live audience were playing the wedding guests for...
- 3/20/2011
- by Dan Owen
- Obsessed with Film
Newcomer Scottish director Brian Welsh's second feature, In Our Name, is a brave and moving exploration of what it's like for soldiers returning from war to suddenly adjust to the relative peace of civilian life.
Having undergone gunner training in North-West Iraq, Suzy returns home fourteen months later to a welcome party and Union Jack flags. At first she's seems unaffected by her “tough but rewarding” tour; but as the days pass, her husband, Mark, notices she's emotionally and sexually withdrawn, and fellow officer Paul describes her as “out of it”.
Haunted by the memory of a young Iraqi girl's death, for which Suzy feels responsible, having given the reluctant child sweets only to later see her gunned down for communicating with soldiers. Her own daughter, Cass, acts as a constant reminder of the event for Suzy, and she soon becomes unhealthily obsessed with protecting her - the gang...
Having undergone gunner training in North-West Iraq, Suzy returns home fourteen months later to a welcome party and Union Jack flags. At first she's seems unaffected by her “tough but rewarding” tour; but as the days pass, her husband, Mark, notices she's emotionally and sexually withdrawn, and fellow officer Paul describes her as “out of it”.
Haunted by the memory of a young Iraqi girl's death, for which Suzy feels responsible, having given the reluctant child sweets only to later see her gunned down for communicating with soldiers. Her own daughter, Cass, acts as a constant reminder of the event for Suzy, and she soon becomes unhealthily obsessed with protecting her - the gang...
- 12/9/2010
- Shadowlocked
Newcomer Scottish director Brian Welsh's second feature, In Our Name, is a brave and moving exploration of what it's like for soldiers returning from war to suddenly adjust to the relative peace of civilian life.
Having undergone gunner training in North-West Iraq, Suzy returns home fourteen months later to a welcome party and Union Jack flags. At first she's seems unaffected by her “tough but rewarding” tour; but as the days pass, her husband, Mark, notices she's emotionally and sexually withdrawn and fellow officer, Paul, describes her as “out of it”.
Haunted by the memory of a young Iraqi girl's death, for which Suzy feels responsible, having given the reluctant child sweets only to later see her gunned down for communicating with soldiers. Her own daughter, Cass, acts as a constant reminder of the event for Suzy, and she soon becomes unhealthily obsessed with protecting her - the gang...
Having undergone gunner training in North-West Iraq, Suzy returns home fourteen months later to a welcome party and Union Jack flags. At first she's seems unaffected by her “tough but rewarding” tour; but as the days pass, her husband, Mark, notices she's emotionally and sexually withdrawn and fellow officer, Paul, describes her as “out of it”.
Haunted by the memory of a young Iraqi girl's death, for which Suzy feels responsible, having given the reluctant child sweets only to later see her gunned down for communicating with soldiers. Her own daughter, Cass, acts as a constant reminder of the event for Suzy, and she soon becomes unhealthily obsessed with protecting her - the gang...
- 12/9/2010
- Shadowlocked
Newcomer Scottish director Brian Welsh's second feature, In Our Name, is a brave and moving exploration of what it's like for soldiers returning from war to suddenly adjust to the relative peace of civilian life.
Having undergone gunner training in North-West Iraq, Suzy returns home fourteen months later to a welcome party and Union Jack flags. At first she's seems unaffected by her “tough but rewarding” tour; but as the days pass, her husband, Mark, notices she's emotionally and sexually withdrawn and fellow officer, Paul, describes her as “out of it”.
Haunted by the memory of a young Iraqi girl's death, for which Suzy feels responsible, having given the reluctant child sweets only to later see her gunned down for communicating with soldiers. Her own daughter, Cass, acts as a constant reminder of the event for Suzy, and she soon becomes unhealthily obsessed with protecting her - the gang...
Having undergone gunner training in North-West Iraq, Suzy returns home fourteen months later to a welcome party and Union Jack flags. At first she's seems unaffected by her “tough but rewarding” tour; but as the days pass, her husband, Mark, notices she's emotionally and sexually withdrawn and fellow officer, Paul, describes her as “out of it”.
Haunted by the memory of a young Iraqi girl's death, for which Suzy feels responsible, having given the reluctant child sweets only to later see her gunned down for communicating with soldiers. Her own daughter, Cass, acts as a constant reminder of the event for Suzy, and she soon becomes unhealthily obsessed with protecting her - the gang...
- 12/9/2010
- Shadowlocked
Newcomer Scottish director Brian Welsh's second feature, In Our Name, is a brave and moving exploration of what it's like for soldiers returning from war to suddenly adjust to the relative peace of civilian life.
Having undergone gunner training in North-West Iraq, Suzy returns home fourteen months later to a welcome party and Union Jack flags. At first she's seems unaffected by her “tough but rewarding” tour; but as the days pass, her husband, Mark, notices she's emotionally and sexually withdrawn and fellow officer, Paul, describes her as “out of it”.
Haunted by the memory of a young Iraqi girl's death, for which Suzy feels responsible, having given the reluctant child sweets only to later see her gunned down for communicating with soldiers. Her own daughter, Cass, acts as a constant reminder of the event for Suzy, and she soon becomes unhealthily obsessed with protecting her - the gang...
Having undergone gunner training in North-West Iraq, Suzy returns home fourteen months later to a welcome party and Union Jack flags. At first she's seems unaffected by her “tough but rewarding” tour; but as the days pass, her husband, Mark, notices she's emotionally and sexually withdrawn and fellow officer, Paul, describes her as “out of it”.
Haunted by the memory of a young Iraqi girl's death, for which Suzy feels responsible, having given the reluctant child sweets only to later see her gunned down for communicating with soldiers. Her own daughter, Cass, acts as a constant reminder of the event for Suzy, and she soon becomes unhealthily obsessed with protecting her - the gang...
- 12/9/2010
- Shadowlocked
The protagonist of In Our Name is Suzy (Joanne Froggat), a British soldier returning home after a traumatic tour in Iraq. Suzy returns to the embrace of her wider family, her husband Mark (Mel Raido) and her young daughter Cass (Chloe Jayne Wilkinson). Her husband Mark (Mel Raido) is preoccupied with getting Suzy into bed as soon as possible and seems to care little about her mental state or the fraught relationship between her and her daughter. Suzy is clearly not well though and the lack of care and attention to this from her husband in the early scenes sets up his character as uncaring and incredibly unlikeable.
The central performance by Joanne Froggat as the troubled soldier is quite adept but it is not enough as In Our Name constantly fails in almost every other area. The supporting performances are very weak in places despite having little to do...
The central performance by Joanne Froggat as the troubled soldier is quite adept but it is not enough as In Our Name constantly fails in almost every other area. The supporting performances are very weak in places despite having little to do...
- 10/18/2010
- by Craig Skinner
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
The Secret Garden. Family/Drama. Rated G. Recommended for viewing by adults and kids of all ages. Check your favorite local and online movie rental stores for availability. Some movies may be borrowed from your local public library. The Secret Garden is a one-hour, forty-two minute, Warner Brothers 1993 release, in color, directed by Agnieszka Holland, starring Kate Maberly, Heydon Prowse, Andrew Knott, John Lynch and Maggie Smith. This movie is based on the novel The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett, who also authored another well-known classic, A Little Princess. While on the...
- 9/16/2010
- by JenniferAnneMessing
- Examiner Movies Channel
The line-up for the 18th Raindance Film Festival was announced today at a press launch held at the May Fair Hotel in London. This years line-up includes 77 feature films, 69 UK premieres and 133 short films, special live events, exclusive Q&As and masterclasses.
The festival will run from September 29 – October 10.
Opening the festival on Wednesday 29th September is Jackboots On Whitehall – a satirical animation about an alternative history of World War II where the Nazis seize London and England must band together to prevent a full on invasion. Star voiceover cast includes: Ewan McGregor, Rosamund Pike,Richard E. Grant, Timothy Spall, Tom Wilkinson, Alan Cumming, Richard Griffiths, Stephen Merchant and Richard O’Brien. It will be followed by an after-party with live set from rising Us indie band stars Airborne Toxic Event and DJ set from one of the most influential DJs in the UK – Andrew Weatherall. The following day will...
The festival will run from September 29 – October 10.
Opening the festival on Wednesday 29th September is Jackboots On Whitehall – a satirical animation about an alternative history of World War II where the Nazis seize London and England must band together to prevent a full on invasion. Star voiceover cast includes: Ewan McGregor, Rosamund Pike,Richard E. Grant, Timothy Spall, Tom Wilkinson, Alan Cumming, Richard Griffiths, Stephen Merchant and Richard O’Brien. It will be followed by an after-party with live set from rising Us indie band stars Airborne Toxic Event and DJ set from one of the most influential DJs in the UK – Andrew Weatherall. The following day will...
- 9/7/2010
- by Jamie Neish
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Year: 2010
Directors: Viv Fongenie
Writers: Viv Fongenie
IMDb: link
Trailer: Not available
Review by: projectcyclops
Rating: 5 out of 10
The name alone had me excited, and with comparisons to Donnie Darko in the Eiff catalogue, and a theme surrounding particle physics, madness, death and grief; how could I resist? Once again I eagerly sat at the back of the cinema, notebook in hand, and anticipated something special. Special it most certainly isn’t. Maybe it’s ‘competent’, but I’ve been there, done that and seen it done better before.
The films begins with Ollie marching down the street, wearing a bathrobe, fez and scarf and talking dementedly to his smiley face kettle. “Don’t complain to me!” he spits, “At least you get to see the world!” We’re then treated to a cosmic opening credits sequence, and to whoever designed it, it’s the best part of the film,...
Directors: Viv Fongenie
Writers: Viv Fongenie
IMDb: link
Trailer: Not available
Review by: projectcyclops
Rating: 5 out of 10
The name alone had me excited, and with comparisons to Donnie Darko in the Eiff catalogue, and a theme surrounding particle physics, madness, death and grief; how could I resist? Once again I eagerly sat at the back of the cinema, notebook in hand, and anticipated something special. Special it most certainly isn’t. Maybe it’s ‘competent’, but I’ve been there, done that and seen it done better before.
The films begins with Ollie marching down the street, wearing a bathrobe, fez and scarf and talking dementedly to his smiley face kettle. “Don’t complain to me!” he spits, “At least you get to see the world!” We’re then treated to a cosmic opening credits sequence, and to whoever designed it, it’s the best part of the film,...
- 6/25/2010
- QuietEarth.us
This review was written for the AFI Film Fest screening of "The History Boys".
"The History Boys" reunites the team behind the award-winning play -- playwright Alan Bennett, director Nicholas Hytner and the key cast members of the London and Broadway stage version -- for a film where precious little has been done to accommodate the change in medium.
Performances border on the theatrical. Perhaps they should rename this "The Histrionic Boys" as Hytner fails to get his over-rehearsed actors, especially the younger ones, to take their stage performances down a notch or two for the camera. But if you liked the play and the compelling ideas Bennett kicks around, the movie makes for an intellectually invigorating couple of hours.
This is a very English play. The truths here may be universal, but the specifics belong to no other country. So audiences for the film version may be limited to Anglophiles and admirers of Bennett's witty way with words. Throw in a classroom scene entirely in French -- first-year French will make the hilarious scene completely accessible, though -- and you do get a film that screams "art house."
The story takes place at an all-boys grammar school -- the British equivalent of an American public high school -- in Yorkshire in 1983. Here a class of eight smart history students has achieved such success on the A Levels that the headmaster (Clive Merrison, far too over the top) pushes them to apply to those twin holy grails of British higher education: Oxford and Cambridge.
Their no-nonsense history professor, Mrs. Lintott (Frances de la Tour), and flamboyant, Falstaffian English instructor, Hector (Richard Griffiths), have led the clever lads to this level of achievement. However, the headmaster hires a young history grad named Irwin Stephen Campbell Moore, who somewhat resembles Stephen Colbert) to coach them in ways to improve test scores and give them polish and edge for their interviews.
Over the next few weeks, as the relationships among students and teachers come into sharper focus, the movie examines the process and purposes of education itself. Is it to pass exams, or is it to encourage a desire to learn?
Bennett's achievement is not so much to take sides as to let the three teachers and their charges to have their say. The motorcycle-riding Hector, whom Bennett describes in his stage directions as "a man of studied eccentricity," glories in the richness of language and has his lads memorize great swaths of poetry. On their own, the boys memorize old movies -- tearjerkers are the preferred choice -- and old songs.
Mrs. Lintott believes in plain-vanilla historical study and inquiry without resorting to flash or gimmicks. Ah, but Coach Irwin insists that, for exams at least, tricks may help. He preaches a "journalistic" technique to answering academic questions, going for an attention-grabbing, unconventional approach, argued with brisk generalities and sufficient facts and quotations to engage the interest of an examiner dazed from reading so many dry scholarly answers.
This leads to the movie's most fascinating scene, in which the boys, in a class jointly shared by Hector and Irwin, debate how one approaches the Holocaust academically, indeed whether one can even teach the Holocaust. If the Holocaust can be explained as an historical event like all others, then can it not be explained away?
While Bennett's satire no doubt aims at Thatcherite values, American viewers can certainly substitute the Reaganite push for a results-oriented society and heavy reliance on spin and glibness.
The young actors are all a good number of years older than their characters, but somehow you scarcely notice. Dakin (Dominic Cooper) is the class star, dark and handsome, on whom everyone has a crush: teachers, students and the headmaster's female secretary. (Bennett succumbs to the British boys school cliche where homosexuality is rampant and even a heterosexual stud has an inner "nancy" eager to come out.)
Posner (Samuel Barnett) is small, Jewish and homosexual -- "I'm fucked," he moans. Rudge (Russell Tovey) is the athlete, light on academics, yet he most accurately sums the randomness of historical events as "one fuckin' thing after another."
Portly Timms (James Corden) earns a few laughs, but the others -- Scripps (Jamie Parker), Lockwood (Andrew Knott) and the two minority representatives, Crowther (Samuel Anderson) and Akthar (Sacha Dhawan) -- are thinly sketched.
Griffiths and Moore deliver absolutely spot-on, wonderfully engaging performances that use their girth and youth, respectively, to full effect. But, surprisingly, the great performance belongs to de la Tour. She has taken a stage performance down a notch, giving each appearance -- she has fewer than the males -- its full impact.
The production has not been opened up much for a film. Nor has Bennett changed much from the play. A gym teacher, one who overly proselytizes his Christian religion, has been added and the ending tweaked so the headmaster gets a much-deserved comeuppance. Andrew Dunn's camera darts smoothly in and around the flat-footed actors, bringing at least some sense of movement to the movie.
A few break-away montages with period music and shots of the boys pulling books from library shelves and the like also help to remind you that this is, after all, a movie.
"The History Boys" reunites the team behind the award-winning play -- playwright Alan Bennett, director Nicholas Hytner and the key cast members of the London and Broadway stage version -- for a film where precious little has been done to accommodate the change in medium.
Performances border on the theatrical. Perhaps they should rename this "The Histrionic Boys" as Hytner fails to get his over-rehearsed actors, especially the younger ones, to take their stage performances down a notch or two for the camera. But if you liked the play and the compelling ideas Bennett kicks around, the movie makes for an intellectually invigorating couple of hours.
This is a very English play. The truths here may be universal, but the specifics belong to no other country. So audiences for the film version may be limited to Anglophiles and admirers of Bennett's witty way with words. Throw in a classroom scene entirely in French -- first-year French will make the hilarious scene completely accessible, though -- and you do get a film that screams "art house."
The story takes place at an all-boys grammar school -- the British equivalent of an American public high school -- in Yorkshire in 1983. Here a class of eight smart history students has achieved such success on the A Levels that the headmaster (Clive Merrison, far too over the top) pushes them to apply to those twin holy grails of British higher education: Oxford and Cambridge.
Their no-nonsense history professor, Mrs. Lintott (Frances de la Tour), and flamboyant, Falstaffian English instructor, Hector (Richard Griffiths), have led the clever lads to this level of achievement. However, the headmaster hires a young history grad named Irwin Stephen Campbell Moore, who somewhat resembles Stephen Colbert) to coach them in ways to improve test scores and give them polish and edge for their interviews.
Over the next few weeks, as the relationships among students and teachers come into sharper focus, the movie examines the process and purposes of education itself. Is it to pass exams, or is it to encourage a desire to learn?
Bennett's achievement is not so much to take sides as to let the three teachers and their charges to have their say. The motorcycle-riding Hector, whom Bennett describes in his stage directions as "a man of studied eccentricity," glories in the richness of language and has his lads memorize great swaths of poetry. On their own, the boys memorize old movies -- tearjerkers are the preferred choice -- and old songs.
Mrs. Lintott believes in plain-vanilla historical study and inquiry without resorting to flash or gimmicks. Ah, but Coach Irwin insists that, for exams at least, tricks may help. He preaches a "journalistic" technique to answering academic questions, going for an attention-grabbing, unconventional approach, argued with brisk generalities and sufficient facts and quotations to engage the interest of an examiner dazed from reading so many dry scholarly answers.
This leads to the movie's most fascinating scene, in which the boys, in a class jointly shared by Hector and Irwin, debate how one approaches the Holocaust academically, indeed whether one can even teach the Holocaust. If the Holocaust can be explained as an historical event like all others, then can it not be explained away?
While Bennett's satire no doubt aims at Thatcherite values, American viewers can certainly substitute the Reaganite push for a results-oriented society and heavy reliance on spin and glibness.
The young actors are all a good number of years older than their characters, but somehow you scarcely notice. Dakin (Dominic Cooper) is the class star, dark and handsome, on whom everyone has a crush: teachers, students and the headmaster's female secretary. (Bennett succumbs to the British boys school cliche where homosexuality is rampant and even a heterosexual stud has an inner "nancy" eager to come out.)
Posner (Samuel Barnett) is small, Jewish and homosexual -- "I'm fucked," he moans. Rudge (Russell Tovey) is the athlete, light on academics, yet he most accurately sums the randomness of historical events as "one fuckin' thing after another."
Portly Timms (James Corden) earns a few laughs, but the others -- Scripps (Jamie Parker), Lockwood (Andrew Knott) and the two minority representatives, Crowther (Samuel Anderson) and Akthar (Sacha Dhawan) -- are thinly sketched.
Griffiths and Moore deliver absolutely spot-on, wonderfully engaging performances that use their girth and youth, respectively, to full effect. But, surprisingly, the great performance belongs to de la Tour. She has taken a stage performance down a notch, giving each appearance -- she has fewer than the males -- its full impact.
The production has not been opened up much for a film. Nor has Bennett changed much from the play. A gym teacher, one who overly proselytizes his Christian religion, has been added and the ending tweaked so the headmaster gets a much-deserved comeuppance. Andrew Dunn's camera darts smoothly in and around the flat-footed actors, bringing at least some sense of movement to the movie.
A few break-away montages with period music and shots of the boys pulling books from library shelves and the like also help to remind you that this is, after all, a movie.
- 11/2/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
AFI Film Fest The History Boys reunites the team behind the award-winning play -- playwright Alan Bennett, director Nicholas Hytner and the key cast members of the London and Broadway stage version -- for a film where precious little has been done to accommodate the change in medium.
Performances border on the theatrical. Perhaps they should rename this The Histrionic Boys as Hytner fails to get his over-rehearsed actors, especially the younger ones, to take their stage performances down a notch or two for the camera. But if you liked the play and the compelling ideas Bennett kicks around, the movie makes for an intellectually invigorating couple of hours.
This is a very English play. The truths here may be universal, but the specifics belong to no other country. So audiences for the film version may be limited to Anglophiles and admirers of Bennett's witty way with words. Throw in a classroom scene entirely in French -- first-year French will make the hilarious scene completely accessible, though -- and you do get a film that screams "art house."
The story takes place at an all-boys grammar school -- the British equivalent of an American public high school -- in Yorkshire in 1983. Here a class of eight smart history students has achieved such success on the A Levels that the headmaster (Clive Merrison, far too over the top) pushes them to apply to those twin holy grails of British higher education: Oxford and Cambridge.
Their no-nonsense history professor, Mrs. Lintott (Frances de la Tour), and flamboyant, Falstaffian English instructor, Hector (Richard Griffiths), have led the clever lads to this level of achievement. However, the headmaster hires a young history grad named Irwin Stephen Campbell Moore, who somewhat resembles Stephen Colbert) to coach them in ways to improve test scores and give them polish and edge for their interviews.
Over the next few weeks, as the relationships among students and teachers come into sharper focus, the movie examines the process and purposes of education itself. Is it to pass exams, or is it to encourage a desire to learn?
Bennett's achievement is not so much to take sides as to let the three teachers and their charges to have their say. The motorcycle-riding Hector, whom Bennett describes in his stage directions as "a man of studied eccentricity," glories in the richness of language and has his lads memorize great swaths of poetry. On their own, the boys memorize old movies -- tearjerkers are the preferred choice -- and old songs.
Mrs. Lintott believes in plain-vanilla historical study and inquiry without resorting to flash or gimmicks. Ah, but Coach Irwin insists that, for exams at least, tricks may help. He preaches a "journalistic" technique to answering academic questions, going for an attention-grabbing, unconventional approach, argued with brisk generalities and sufficient facts and quotations to engage the interest of an examiner dazed from reading so many dry scholarly answers.
This leads to the movie's most fascinating scene, in which the boys, in a class jointly shared by Hector and Irwin, debate how one approaches the Holocaust academically, indeed whether one can even teach the Holocaust. If the Holocaust can be explained as an historical event like all others, then can it not be explained away?
While Bennett's satire no doubt aims at Thatcherite values, American viewers can certainly substitute the Reaganite push for a results-oriented society and heavy reliance on spin and glibness.
The young actors are all a good number of years older than their characters, but somehow you scarcely notice. Dakin (Dominic Cooper) is the class star, dark and handsome, on whom everyone has a crush: teachers, students and the headmaster's female secretary. (Bennett succumbs to the British boys school cliche where homosexuality is rampant and even a heterosexual stud has an inner "nancy" eager to come out.)
Posner (Samuel Barnett) is small, Jewish and homosexual -- "I'm fucked," he moans. Rudge (Russell Tovey) is the athlete, light on academics, yet he most accurately sums the randomness of historical events as "one fuckin' thing after another."
Portly Timms (James Corden) earns a few laughs, but the others -- Scripps (Jamie Parker), Lockwood (Andrew Knott) and the two minority representatives, Crowther (Samuel Anderson) and Akthar (Sacha Dhawan) -- are thinly sketched.
Griffiths and Moore deliver absolutely spot-on, wonderfully engaging performances that use their girth and youth, respectively, to full effect. But, surprisingly, the great performance belongs to de la Tour. She has taken a stage performance down a notch, giving each appearance -- she has fewer than the males -- its full impact.
The production has not been opened up much for a film. Nor has Bennett changed much from the play. A gym teacher, one who overly proselytizes his Christian religion, has been added and the ending tweaked so the headmaster gets a much-deserved comeuppance. Andrew Dunn's camera darts smoothly in and around the flat-footed actors, bringing at least some sense of movement to the movie.
A few break-away montages with period music and shots of the boys pulling books from library shelves and the like also help to remind you that this is, after all, a movie.
Performances border on the theatrical. Perhaps they should rename this The Histrionic Boys as Hytner fails to get his over-rehearsed actors, especially the younger ones, to take their stage performances down a notch or two for the camera. But if you liked the play and the compelling ideas Bennett kicks around, the movie makes for an intellectually invigorating couple of hours.
This is a very English play. The truths here may be universal, but the specifics belong to no other country. So audiences for the film version may be limited to Anglophiles and admirers of Bennett's witty way with words. Throw in a classroom scene entirely in French -- first-year French will make the hilarious scene completely accessible, though -- and you do get a film that screams "art house."
The story takes place at an all-boys grammar school -- the British equivalent of an American public high school -- in Yorkshire in 1983. Here a class of eight smart history students has achieved such success on the A Levels that the headmaster (Clive Merrison, far too over the top) pushes them to apply to those twin holy grails of British higher education: Oxford and Cambridge.
Their no-nonsense history professor, Mrs. Lintott (Frances de la Tour), and flamboyant, Falstaffian English instructor, Hector (Richard Griffiths), have led the clever lads to this level of achievement. However, the headmaster hires a young history grad named Irwin Stephen Campbell Moore, who somewhat resembles Stephen Colbert) to coach them in ways to improve test scores and give them polish and edge for their interviews.
Over the next few weeks, as the relationships among students and teachers come into sharper focus, the movie examines the process and purposes of education itself. Is it to pass exams, or is it to encourage a desire to learn?
Bennett's achievement is not so much to take sides as to let the three teachers and their charges to have their say. The motorcycle-riding Hector, whom Bennett describes in his stage directions as "a man of studied eccentricity," glories in the richness of language and has his lads memorize great swaths of poetry. On their own, the boys memorize old movies -- tearjerkers are the preferred choice -- and old songs.
Mrs. Lintott believes in plain-vanilla historical study and inquiry without resorting to flash or gimmicks. Ah, but Coach Irwin insists that, for exams at least, tricks may help. He preaches a "journalistic" technique to answering academic questions, going for an attention-grabbing, unconventional approach, argued with brisk generalities and sufficient facts and quotations to engage the interest of an examiner dazed from reading so many dry scholarly answers.
This leads to the movie's most fascinating scene, in which the boys, in a class jointly shared by Hector and Irwin, debate how one approaches the Holocaust academically, indeed whether one can even teach the Holocaust. If the Holocaust can be explained as an historical event like all others, then can it not be explained away?
While Bennett's satire no doubt aims at Thatcherite values, American viewers can certainly substitute the Reaganite push for a results-oriented society and heavy reliance on spin and glibness.
The young actors are all a good number of years older than their characters, but somehow you scarcely notice. Dakin (Dominic Cooper) is the class star, dark and handsome, on whom everyone has a crush: teachers, students and the headmaster's female secretary. (Bennett succumbs to the British boys school cliche where homosexuality is rampant and even a heterosexual stud has an inner "nancy" eager to come out.)
Posner (Samuel Barnett) is small, Jewish and homosexual -- "I'm fucked," he moans. Rudge (Russell Tovey) is the athlete, light on academics, yet he most accurately sums the randomness of historical events as "one fuckin' thing after another."
Portly Timms (James Corden) earns a few laughs, but the others -- Scripps (Jamie Parker), Lockwood (Andrew Knott) and the two minority representatives, Crowther (Samuel Anderson) and Akthar (Sacha Dhawan) -- are thinly sketched.
Griffiths and Moore deliver absolutely spot-on, wonderfully engaging performances that use their girth and youth, respectively, to full effect. But, surprisingly, the great performance belongs to de la Tour. She has taken a stage performance down a notch, giving each appearance -- she has fewer than the males -- its full impact.
The production has not been opened up much for a film. Nor has Bennett changed much from the play. A gym teacher, one who overly proselytizes his Christian religion, has been added and the ending tweaked so the headmaster gets a much-deserved comeuppance. Andrew Dunn's camera darts smoothly in and around the flat-footed actors, bringing at least some sense of movement to the movie.
A few break-away montages with period music and shots of the boys pulling books from library shelves and the like also help to remind you that this is, after all, a movie.
- 11/2/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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