In another excellent collaboration, revered British actor Dirk Bogarde works under the masterful direction of Joseph Losey, soon after they had created the British film masterpiece ‘The Servant’ together.

Bogarde plays Captain Hargreaves, an army lawyer tasked with defending Private Hamp, portrayed brilliantly by Tom Courtenay of ‘Billy Liar’ and ‘Doctor Zhivago’ fame. Courtenay’s outstanding performance not only earned him the Best Actor award at the 1964 Venice Film Festival but also a much-coveted BAFTA nomination.

Joining this stellar cast were Leo McKern, known for his role as ‘Rumple of the Bailey’ and Barry Foster from Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Frenzy’.

‘King and Country’ transports viewers to the deathly backdrop of World War I, delving deep into the profound impact of war on the human psyche. This project marked the third collaborations between Losey and Bogarde, following the 1954 thriller ‘The Sleeping Tiger’ and the groundbreaking 1963 drama ‘The Servant’. They would pair up again for ‘Accident’ (1967), all of which were available in the Vintage Classics collection.

Crafted from the original camera negative preserved at the BFI, this stunning restoration offers audiences more than just a cinematic experience. It includes a brand-new interview with Tom Courtenay, complemented by an archive interview with the legendary Dirk Bogarde. Additionally, viewers can explore a captivating gallery of ‘Behind the Scenes’ film stills.

The heart of the story revolves around a young soldier, Hamp (Courtenay), who deserts his post during the most harrowing days of World War I. His desperate escape from the relentless barrage of guns and mud was driven by an overwhelming desire to return home. Captain Hargreaves (Bogarde), an aristocratic British Army lawyer, is called upon to defend Hamp before the unforgiving army tribunal. Desertion was a crime that carried the sentence of execution. Hargreaves’s efforts on Hamp’s behalf become increasingly impassioned and sincere.

‘King and Country’ is a gripping and emotionally charged exploration of the human condition in the face of the horrors of war and the brutality of bureaucracy. It is a cinematic masterpiece that continues to resonate with audiences. This restoration ensures that its impact will endure for generations to come.

Pre-order ‘King and Country’ from Studiocanal’s Vintage Classics range.

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Felicity Jones plays Amelia Rennes, a daring pilot and entertainer who is approached by scientist James Glaisher (Eddie Redmayne) to help with a series of experiments high in the skies above. They soon find themselves in a fight for survival as their hot-air balloon ascends higher than anyone has ever been before. But with that milestone comes some very real and present dangers. Glaisher collects fresh, undiscovered data in perilous conditions with no regard for his own safety while Amelia pilots the vessel through uncharted weather, takes charge of the mission and deals with her own emotional demons along the way.

The film is based on an amalgamation of real life events that lead to these ground-breaking discoveries. It’s disappointing to learn that Amelia Wren’s character is made up though, especially given how pivotal and captivating she was onscreen and how integral she is to the success of the movie. This is Felicity Jones’ film and she has done a great job creating such a vibrant and driven character. Someone who is plagued by a past bereavement, but who perseveres through her obstacles. Brit Aeronaut Henry Coxwell was actually in the balloon with James Glaisher, but he doesn’t get any recognition here.

Amelia Rennes character is made up of the endeavours of Coxwell, along with Sophie Blanchard, the first woman to work as a professional balloonist, and Margaret Graham, a British aeronaut and entertainer. Critics have cited that other female, real-life scientists who were active during this period of time haven’t had their stories told either. It’s a balancing act, but it’s a shame that none of the real life stories were deemed strong enough to make it to screen on their own merits.

The strength of the film lies squarely with the chemistry conjured up by Felicity Jones and Eddie Redmayne. The two are a great pair onscreen, and they bring a warmth and short-hand to their scenes which sparkle with life and wonder. They haven’t lost a beat since their moving portrayals in The Theory of Everything and their enthusiasm for their characters keeps you invested in their plight.

There’s a lot of talent in support, but most don’t have enough to do to really leave a mark. Himesh Patel’s character has potential but we only get to scratch the surface with him. It’s a similar case with Phoebe Fox and Tim McInnerny’s characters. By doing this it would have given James and Amelia’s endeavour a more rounded emphasis. Tom Courtenay is sublime though in a touching and sweet side story involving James’ father who is suffering from dementia. Courtenay is magnetic in a small, but pivotal role.

This is a movie that benefits from being seen on a massive screen. The aerial sequences are really put together well and they help propel the film when it lulls in the middle. They are impressive, and whilst you know that most of it is special effects, The Aeronauts still manages to give you sweaty palms and that’s quite an achievement. A sequence involving Amelia having to ascend the outside of a balloon mid-flight is bogglingly good, especially in IMAX. The specially-formatted and expanded ratio sequences really do add a new layer of enjoyment to the film.

The Aeronauts is a pleasant watch, with the chemistry of its two leads doing just about enough to see you through to the end. Whilst I don’t usually mind when movies make a choice to fictionalise certain elements of a story to progress their own narrative, I feel that The Aeronauts did this a bit too much, and it lessened the impact of the finale. But that shouldn’t take away from the spectacle which is enjoyable all the same, and the performance of Jones and Redmayne who always hold your attention.

Cast: Felicity Jones, Eddie Redmayne, Himesh Patel, Phoebe Fox , Tom Courtenay, Anne Reid, Tim McInnerny, Vincent Perez, Robert Glenister Director: Tom Harper Writer: Tom Harper, (story by) Jack Thorne Certificate: PG Duration: 100mins Released by: eOne Release date: 4th November 2019

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A series of new character posters have arrived, along with a set of movie artwork posters in preparation for the films release, which hits cinemas everywhere on 14th September 2018.

Produced by Working Title Films and distributed by Studiocanal, King of Thieves has has a streak of comedy running throughout. For that to work you need a cast of incredible actors and King of Thieves dutifully obliges. Check out this roll-call…

Sir Michael Caine (Interstellar), Jim Broadbent (Paddington 2), Ray Winstone (Point Break), Sir Michael Gambon (Viceroy’s House), Sir Tom Courtenay (The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society) and Charlie Cox (Daredevil) all lead the film.

The supporting cast includes Francesca Annis (Home Fires), Paul Whitehouse (Ghost Stories) and Kellie Shirley (In The Long Run/EastEnders).

Wait… didn’t I just see a Hatton Garden heist film recently? Well, yes. The Hatton Garden Job came out in 2017 and starred Matthew Goode alongside Joely Richardson, Stephen Moyer, Clive Russell, Phil Daniels, Jack Doolan, Larry Lamb, David Calder and Sarah-Jane Crawford. Check out our review of The Hatton Garden Job here.

King of Thieves looks to take a more detailed look at the diamond heist and with its cast of A-listers, it should deliver a memorable, London-based comedy-drama that will resonate with audiences.

King of Thieves is written by Joe Penhall (The Road), directed by Academy Award winner James Marsh (The Theory of Everything), and produced by BAFTA winning and Academy Award nominees Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner (Les Miserables), alongside Ali Jaafar (The Idol) and Michelle Wright (7 Days in Entebbe).

Check out the new poster artwork for King of Thieves below;

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The post Sir Michael Caine’s all-star heist drama King of Thieves debuts new film & character posters appeared first on Entertainment Focus.

Featuring an all-star cast including Sir Michael Caine (Harry Brown), Jim Broadbent (Sense of An Ending), Tom Courtenay (Gambit), Charlie Cox (Marvel’s Daredevil), Michael Gambon (Harry Potter) and Ray Winstone (The Departed), King of Thieves tells the incredible true story of the Hatton Garden heist.

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King of Thieves is produced by Working Title Films for Studiocanal. The film is written by Joe Penhall (The Road) and directed by Oscar-winner James Marsh (Man On Wire). It’s produced by Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner (Theory of Everything) alongside Ali Jaafar (The Idol) and Michelle Wright (7 Days in Entebbe).

Along with a trailer the one-sheet poster has been released which features pictures of the cast in the shape of a diamond. You can see it below:

King of Thieves will be released in UK cinemas on 14th September 2018.

The post Michael Caine leads a stellar cast in King of Thieves trailer appeared first on Entertainment Focus.

Directed by Mike Newell (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) and based on Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows’ international best-selling novel, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society comes to cinemas on 20th April 2018.

The film also stars Jessica Brown Findlay (Victor Frankenstein, Downton Abbey) and Katherine Parkinson (The IT Crowd, The Boat That Rocked) with Tom Courtenay (45 Years, Doctor Zhivago) and Penelope Wilton (The BFG, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel).

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society tells the story of Juliet Ashton (Lily James), a free-spirited, successful writer living in post-war London.

Despite the success of her recent novel and support from her dear friend and publisher Sidney (Matthew Goode), she struggles to find inspiration for her writing after the harsh experiences of the war.

Poised to accept a proposal from Mark Reynolds (Glen Powell – The Expendables 3), a dashing American GI, she receives an unexpected letter from a Guernsey farmer named Dawsey Adams (Michiel Huisman – The Age of Adaline).

Juliet impulsively leaves for Guernsey, where she hopes to write about the curiously named book club that Dawsey has written to her about, formed by his fellow islanders under the German occupation in WW2. Juliet is charmed by the island and inspired by the members shared love of literature. As a lifelong bond forms between this unlikely group of friends, Juliet soon realises that the society are hiding a heartbreaking secret, which they are afraid she may bring to the surface.

As Juliet and Dawsey become close, she begins to unravel what happened during the difficult years under the occupation and starts to understand why they are so afraid to tell her their story. Her fate now intertwined with the society, Juliet must decide how to help her new friends and follow her heart, knowing that her life may change in ways she had never expected.

Check out the new The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society TV spots & featurette below;

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Whilst Toby Jones, Bill Nighy, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Tom Courtenay, Michael Gambon et al hit silver screens across the land, their interpretations of much-loved characters will undoubtedly increase interest in the original BBC series that ran from 1968-1977.

The brainchild of David Croft and Jimmy Perry, Dad’s Army became one of the most affectionately considered programmes in British television history. The nation took the shenanigans of Walmington-on-sea’s Home Guard to its heart, and it remains warm comfort-viewing for people across all age ranges. Yet the show, which started to be made only just over two decades after the end of WWII, could easily have been considered bad taste for making light of a dark time in British history which cost the nation dearly in the lives of young soldiers and countless civilians, with years of hardship that followed. Yet the misadventures of Mainwaring’s Home Guard platoon helped Britain to heal its war wounds and learn again to laugh at itself.

As well as Croft and Perry’s ingenious scripts, a large part of the success of Dad’s Army lay in the fine ensemble cast – probably the best ever assembled for a sitcom. Rarely has there been a better company of actors who have all been given their moments to shine and bring the best out of the consistently good and funny scripts.

Arthur Lowe (1915-1982) – Captain George Mainwaring

Lowe played Captain Mainwaring, the leader of the platoon. A pompous authoritarian, Mainwaring was nevertheless loveable because he was unstintingly brave and would have gladly laid down his life to protect his men. Lowe was one of the finest comedy character actors of his generation, and a favourite of director Lindsay Anderson’s. Look out for him in This Sporting Life finding ingenious ways to inject comedy into the bleakest of kitchen sink dramas. Lowe’s slapstick trademark was to emerge from a scuffle with his spectacles askew. Mainwaring is played by Toby Jones in the new film.

John Le Mesurier (1912-1983) – Sergeant Arthur Wilson

Le Mesurier played Sergeant Wilson, the tall, smooth, sophisticated and upper class right-hand man to Mainwaring. Despite Wilson’s mild manners, Mainwaring could never shake off the inferiority complex of being far less cultured than his staff sergeant. There’s more than a hint that Wilson is in fact the father of Private Pike… Le Mesurier brought his refined, handsome, silver-haired presence to countless British films and television series. Although a heavy drinker, and in fact rarely sober during the filming of Dad’s Army, Le Mesurier’s professionalism ensured that his private vice never affected his work. Wilson is played by Bill Nighy in the movie.

Clive Dunn (1920-2012) – Lance-Corporal Jones

It was a sad day when Clive Dunn died a few years ago, since he had been such a great ambassador for the show and had lived a long and fulfilling life. Dunn specialised in playing characters older than his years (he would go on to star in Grandad for children’s television). Although one of the youngest cast members, Dunn’s Lance-Corporal Jones was meant to be the oldest and most decrepit member of Mainwaring’s platoon, having fought in the Sudan and the Boer War before even WWI! Although Jones was in his late 80s, Dunn at the time of filming was in his late 40s or early 50s. The loveable butcher had many of the best catchphrases, including “Don’t panic”, “Permission to speak, sir”, and, best of all, “They don’t like it up ’em”. Off stage, Dunn’s left-wing politics often brought him into conflict with the conservative Arthur Lowe. He distinguished himself as a painter during his retirement in Portugal. Jonesie will be played by Tom Courtenay in the movie.

John Laurie (1897-1980) – Private James Frazer

A genuine Victorian, John Laurie, who was the second oldest cast member, was a renowned Scottish character actor long before he took on the part of Private James Frazer. A regular performer at the Old Vic Theatre, Laurie had caught the attention of Laurence Olivier and he appears in all three of his big-budget Shakespeare adaptation movies. The dour, wild-eyed Scotsman brought a touch of cynicism to Frazer, but the character also adored telling the platoon scary stories. “We’re doomed. DOOMED!” was his catchphrase, and he wasn’t above trying to usurp or at least show up Captain Mainwaring. The part is kept warm by another Scotsman, Bill Paterson, in the new movie.

James Beck (1929-1973) – Private Joe Walker

Although the second youngest member of Mainwaring’s platoon, and the second youngest ensemble actor in real life, James Beck was the first to die, checking out in 1973 at the height of the series’ success. A huge hit as the loveable Cockney spiv Walker, Beck had completed location filming for the Season Six episode Things That Go Bump In The Night before his untimely death, aged only 44, from pancreatitis. Walker was written out of the series, and the cast is visibly subdued during The Recruit, the final episode of Season Six, where Walker has left a note to explain his absence. The seventh, eighth and ninth series of Dad’s Army undoubtedly suffer from the hole left by the irreplaceable Beck. The part is played by Daniel Mays in the movie.

Arnold Ridley (1896-1984) Private Charles Godfrey

Officially the oldest member of the cast, Arnold Ridley also outlived many of his co-stars, surviving until the ripe old age of 88. Ridley’s camp, gentle Private Godfrey was easily the sweetest member of the platoon. Always needing to be excused on account of his malfunctioning elderly bladder, and a conscientious objector during WWI, Private Godfrey was nevertheless an integral part of Mainwaring’s platoon, often bringing his sister Dolly’s possessions in to save the day. Before Dad’s Army, Ridley was best-known as a playwright, though his works are seldom revived now. He is the great-uncle of Daisy Ridley, who plays a leading role in the new Star Wars movie. His part is played by Michael Gambon in the movie.

Ian Lavender (b. 1946) Private Frank Pike

Lavender is the only surviving member of Mainwaring’s platoon (though out of the recurring cast, Frank Williams [b. 1931] who played Reverend Farthing is still with us too). He played the childish and wet Private Pike – the “stupid boy” of Mainwaring’s ire. The lifelong Aston Villa supporter added the distinctive claret and blue scarf to young Pike’s characterisation. Pike is widely regarded to be Sergeant Wilson’s illegitimate son, though this was never made explicit. The part is played by Blake Harrison in the movie.

Other recurring cast members of the original Dad’s Army included Bill Pertwee (1926-2013) as Warden Hodges, Mainwaring’s Professor Moriarty (he was a distant cousin of Doctor Who-star Jon Pertwee) and Janet Davies (1927-1986) who played Pike’s mother.

David Croft sadly died in 2011 aged 89, but co-creator of the series Jimmy Perry, born in 1923, is still with us at the ripe old age of 92. He is credited as an executive producer on the new movie.

How do you think the original series and the 2016 movie measure up?

Check out the famous scene featuring Philip Madoc (1934-2012) as the U-boat captain below.

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Watch the trailer for the new Dad’s Army movie. 

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Starring a panoply of the world’s greatest acting and musical talent including six-time Oscar® nominee and two-time winner Maggie Smith (the Harry Potter series, Downton Abbey, Gosford Park), double Oscar® nominee and BAFTA winner Tom Courtenay (The Dresser, Doctor Zhivago, Gambit), BAFTA nominee Billy Connolly (Mrs. Brown), Oscar® nominee and BAFTA winner Pauline Collins (Shirley Valentine), Olivier Award-winning Sheridan Smith (Legally Blonde, The Musical, Hedda Gabler) and four-time BAFTA winner Michael Gambon (the Harry Potter series, The King’s Speech).

Quartet is written by the multiple Oscar® and BAFTA winning screenwriter Sir Ronald Harwood (The Pianist, The Diving Bell and The Butterfly), based on his own play of the same name.

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