Sir Kenneth Branagh to Receive Special Award at Oliviers

PLAYBILL
BY MARK SHENTON
MAR 02, 2017

He will receive the award at this year's ceremony April 9 at the Royal Albert Hall.

Previously an Olivier Award winner for Best Newcomer in 1982, the stage and screen star has appeared frequently in the West End, with the RSC and at the National Theatre. Most recently, the Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company put on its inaugural West End season, comprising seven plays that were staged at the Garrick Theatre, with three of them, The Winter’s Tale, Romeo and Juliet, and The Entertainer, also broadcast to cinemas across the world, where they were seen by over 430,000 people.

In a press statement, Caro Newling, president of the Society of London Theatre, commented, “The Society of London Theatre is delighted to formally celebrate Kenneth Branagh’s outstanding contribution to London theatre. Whether acting or directing, there is no greater advocate for our industry.”

Past recipients of the Special Award include Kevin Spacey, Stephen Sondheim, Judi Dench, and Ian McKellen.

http://www.playbill.com/article/sir-kenneth-branagh-to-receive-special-award-at-this-years-olivier-awards

Dubai film fest: Where to meet Freida Pinto... or Colin Firth (EMIRATES)

As the curtains rise on the seven-day affair, we look at the best spots to catch the starry action in the emirate

By Bindu Suresh Rai Published Monday, December 10, 2012

As the curtains have risen on the ninth edition of the Dubai International Film Festival, the city is fast becoming a playground for the very famous to soak up some winter sun, while wrapping up official red carpet appearances in between.

This year, the film festival is playing host to Hollywood’s top brass Oscar winners such as Kevin Spacey, Cate Blanchett and Colin Firth; meanwhile, damsel turned diva, Freida Pinto, is also returning to the city that gave her a starry status when it screened ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ several years ago.

If you want to be very all the action is, here’s a nifty guide by Emirates 24|7 to catch all the stars in the flesh these next eight days.

Red Carpet Galas

Fans of Hollywood elite need go no further than the red carpet enclosure at the Madinat Arena every night from 6pm to catch their favourite stars.

International celebrities flying into Dubai this December include: Academy Award winners Cate Blanchett, Colin Firth, Livia Firth, Frieda Pinto, Rooney Mara, Kirsten Davis, Amr Waked, Bryan Ferry, Suraj Sharma, Steve Oram, Cuba Gooding Jr., Jessica Mauboy, Shravanthi Sainath and Adil Hussain and Erica Linz.

Phew!

READ MORE:http://www.emirates247.com/entertainment/dubai-film-fest-where-to-meet-freida-pinto-or-colin-firth-2012-12-10-1.486585 

Henry Cavill:'Man Of Steel' Comic-Con Panel: 'We Had To Act As If No Film Had Been Made' BY: Sean Comer POSTED: JULY 15, 2012 @ 7:47 AM PST (YIDIO)

It's hard to imagine "Man of Steel" director Zack Snyder summing up his process more encouragingly, considering Superman's big-screen legacy following Christopher Reeve's 1978 Richard Donner-directed debut: "We had to act as if no film had been made."

That was precisely what the "300" and "Dawn of the Dead" remake director told a curious, enthralled San Diego Comic-Con crowd Saturday during a panel offering his 2013 DC Comics reboot its most vast exposure yet, E! News reports. The footage attendees glimpsed featured a solemn Russell Crowe voiceover as Jor-El foretelling "children being inspired to greater things." As Kal-El/Clark Kent's Smallville father played by Kevin Costner opines some time after the Last Son of Krypton's unexpected Earthly arrival, "People are afraid of what they don't understand."

That bit of Costner dialogue could summarize any apprehension fans can - and do - hold toward another Superman effort following director Bryan Singer's 2006 "Superman Returns." Brandon Routh was cast into the late Reeve's tight, Kate Bosworth  filled in Margot Kidder's Lois Lane, and Kevin Spacey took over Gene Hackman's mantle as Lex Luthor. In what was meant to be a continuation from the original four-film lineage picking up years after "Superman IV," Routh and Bosworth looked conspicuously younger than their predecessors, Spacey was a scene-stealing Luthor despite a weak script, and though generally positively received by critics, a 72-percent Rotten Tomatoes freshness rating couldn't have been what Warner Bros. expected from an installment meant to revive a franchise.

READ MORE: http://www.yidio.com/news/man-steel-comic-con-panel-we-had-act-if-no-film-had-been-made-6624

Jeremy Irons Interview: Great Movie - Margin Call

Jeremy Irons was absolutely amazing in this movie.  He stole every scene he was in and was electric.  If you haven't seen Margin Call you should.  It is a dry subject - the beginning of the world economic collapse - but it is easy to follow and terrifying to watch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGncJE4GcsM&feature=related
by Hotspocker

Plummer? Pitt? Oscar's supporting actor race wide open

November 20, 2011 | 7:00am

A category full of questions: Will voters reward the relevance of “Margin Call”? How about a nomination here for Brad Pitt’s best acting work of the year? Has resistance to motion-capture performances started to crumble? Will anyone remember the name of the guy they loved so much in “Midnight In Paris”?

 

Here’s how Gold Standard sees the supporting acting race currently shaking out:

1. Christopher Plummer, “Beginners”
2. Kenneth Branagh, “My Week With Marilyn”
3. Albert Brooks, “Drive”
4. Armie Hammer, “J. Edgar”
5. Jonah Hill, “Moneyball”
6. Max von Sydow, “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”
7. Nick Nolte, “Warrior”
8. John Hawkes, “Martha Marcy May Marlene”
9. Andy Serkis, “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”
10. Ben Kingsley, “Hugo”

Bubbling under: Jeremy Irons, Stanley Tucci and Kevin Spacey, “Margin Call”; Brad Pitt, “The Tree of Life”; Patton Oswalt, “Young Adult”; Philip Seymour Hoffman and George Clooney, “The Ides of March”; Corey Stoll, “Midnight in Paris”; Viggo Mortensen, “A Dangerous Method”; Ezra Miller, “We Need to Talk About Kevin”; John C. Reilly and Christoph Waltz, “Carnage”; Jim Broadbent, “The Iron Lady”

For your consideration: Corey Stoll, “Midnight In Paris.” Bad Hemingway = Great Hemingway for Stoll, who hilariously plays the author as a parody of one of his manly-man characters.
Analysis: Hasn’t Plummer already delivered his acceptance speech? We seem to remember it was deliciously droll and, god, dropping in the chorus from “Edelweiss” made The Standard Bearer’s mom tear up. No? Didn’t happen? Well … not yet.

Serkis can’t be making the rounds to stump for his bravura work in “Apes” since he’s off in New Zealand reprising his work as Gollum in Peter Jackson’s “The Hobbit.” But he did take part in a Skype-aided Q&A for the Screen Actors Guild last weekend following an enthusiastic “Apes” screening at the Zanuck Theatre on the 20th Century Fox lot.

Given the volume of ovations and the number of times audience members used the word “genius” when prefacing their questions to Serkis, the 47-year-old actor would seem to be in the thick of the race. The big hurdle now comes in reminding voters just how much they enjoyed watching Serkis’ chimpanzee Caesar go all Spartacus on the humans in “Apes,” since voters typically ignore acting from the sci-fi movies.

LA Times

Sir Paul Mccartney launches first vegetarian cook book

Daily News Analysis  DNA

Published: Tuesday, Oct 25, 2011, 21:22 IST Place: Washington, DC | Agency: ANI

Sir Paul Mccartney Reuters Sir Paul Mccartney has asked his celebrity friends including Gwyneth Paltrow and Kevin Spacey to share their favourite vegetarian recipes for a new cook book. The Beatles star, has co-written the Meat Free Monday Cookbook as part of his ongoing campaign urging fans to eat less meat. Celebrity contributors to the cookbook include Paltrow and Spacey, who has offered a recipe for lentil stew with pan-fried halloumi and pomegranate, as well as former model Twiggy, who shares her favourite mozzarella pasta dish, Contactmusic reports. MCCartney, a long time vegetarian, shares recipes for refried bean tacos and super vegetable salad, and describes the environmental and financial benefits of giving up meat in the book’s foreword. “In difficult economic times, people discovered that have at least one meat-free day in their week helped their family budget... (We can) make a huge difference for the better and set a new pattern for the future of this beautiful planet that we all inhabit,” he writes.