DOWNTON ABBEY: Risk of new romance

THE WEST AUSTRALIAN
SUE YEAP The West Australian
March 18, 2014, 10:38



If there's one thing most fans agree on about British period drama Downton Abbey it's that middle sister Edith Crawley, played by Laura Carmichael, is hard done by.

Unlucky in love, left at the altar, despised by imperious older sister Mary and often overlooked by her parents, Edith has, over the past season and a half, quietly broken with Crawley tradition and carved out a niche as a newspaper columnist, having previously, shock horror, learnt to drive.

"It has been a really lovely transition for her the last few seasons," Carmichael said down the line from London during a recent break in filming season five.

It was Edith's newspaper writing that led her to strike up a friendship, then relationship, with her editor and publisher, Michael Gregson, played by Charles Edwards.

In last Sunday's episode, the fourth of season four, Edith snuck back into her Aunt Rosamund's (Samantha Bond) house after spending the night with Gregson, whose wife has been in an asylum for many years.

So desperate is Gregson to be with Edith, he has been making plans for them to move to Germany to be together.

"Things start off so well but it doesn't quite all go smooth sailing," Carmichael revealed.

"I liked having time at the beginning of the series to show her slightly more rebellious side and really living and grabbing life with both hands.

"She takes some risks with Gregson; she's out with this married man and that causes a lot of drama to come, therefore she doesn't quite get away with it all.

"I think it is great, she has really sort of matured and is doing the things she wants to rather than the things she has to, which is really fun to play."

Carmichael said Edith was a bit of a black sheep and it was interesting to see how Hugh Bonneville and Elizabeth McGovern, who play her parents Robert and Cora, behaved differently towards her.

"It's heartbreaking, isn't it," she exclaimed. "I love playing this sort of underdog character."

Away from screen, however, Carmichael has formed solid bonds with her on-screen family, particularly Michelle Dockery, who plays Mary, and Jessica Brown Finlay, who played Sybil until the character's tragic death last season.

"We have all been through this mad journey together doing this full-on TV show for ITV that has gone kind of global," she said.

"Michelle and I are similar ages, have similar interests and have become really close."

Although Downton is one of the most-watched dramas in the world, Carmichael still manages to get about mostly unrecognised because she wears a wig to play Edith.

"I was recently out and about with Jim Carter (who plays the butler, Carson) and I couldn't get over how much he gets recognised, which is completely different to my experience," she said.

READ MORE HERE: http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/22038261/risk-of-new-romance/

Henry Cavill: Batman vs Superman Rumors: Release Date Being Moved Up?

EPOCH TIMES
By Zachary Stieber, Epoch Times | March 16, 2014



The Batman vs Superman release date may be moved up so that it’s not directly competing with a film believed to be Captain America 3.

Sources told Brazilian website Judao that Warner Bros’ Brazil is planning to release the movie, which is supposed to get a new name at some point, on April 28, 2016, and that the movie would be released in the United States a day later.

That would move Batman vs Superman one week ahead of the release date that was announced a while ago and would also put it a week ahead of Captain America 3 on May 6, 2016. Insiders believe that’s the movie pegged for that date but it hasn't been confirmed.

Marvel originally had a movie planned for that date before Batman vs Superman was moved back from a summer 2015 release date due to problems.

The rumors aren’t confirmed.

Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige, meanwhile, told Slash Film that Marvel has no intention of moving its release date.

“We’re certainly keeping the date there and we’ll announce what that movie is, I assume, in the next few months,” he said.

The announcement could come at Comic-Con, which is in a couple months.


READ MORE HERE: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/565991-batman-vs-superman-rumors-release-date-being-moved-up/

The girl who kissed Benedict Cumberbatch

INDEPENDENT
JULIA MOLONY – PUBLISHED 16 MARCH 2014 02:30 AM




YASMINE Akram's life has changed considerably since she snogged Benedict Cumberbatch on prime time telly. For one thing, she attracted the ire of the "Cumberbitches", the Sherlock actor's fanatical female admirers.

"I've had so many people threatening my life for kissing Benedict," Yasmine says, clearly disappointed that the attentions after her most high profile job to date haven't been more amorous. "That's all my love life has been – people having a go at me for kissing someone who was paid to kiss me."

It's funny what a guest slot on Sherlock can do. It's given Yasmine, previously best known for a small-ish one-woman play she wrote and starred in here in Ireland, a brush with international celebrity. But what it didn't deliver, unfortunately, was a boyfriend. "I remember saying to the girls when I was doing hair and make-up – this series is going to get me a boyfriend," she says.

But no. "I have never been so single," she faux-wails. It seems a ludicrous complaint, from one so gorgeous, but she is adamant. "I didn't even get a Valentine's card."


READ MORE HERE: http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/tv-radio/yasmines-career-path-takes-a-funny-turn-30093933.html

Benedict Cumberbatch: Early Oscar 2015 Contenders

FEMALE FIRST
by Helen Earnshaw | 16 March 2014



The 2014 Oscars season has just ended - it really was a very exciting awards circuit this year - and we are already looking ahead to the films and stars that could be in contention for 2015.

There are a whole host of exciting film projects on the horizon, and we have already spied a handful of films that have awards contenders written all over them. We take a look at some of the films to watch out for between now and the Oscars 2015.

- The Imitation Game

One of the movies that we are particularly looking forward to is The Imitation Game, which will see Benedict Cumberbatch back in a leading film role; it could turn out to be his greatest film moment to date.

Harvey Weinstein has a great Oscar nomination and Oscar win record, and the infamous producer is behind this new biopic about Alan Turing. Cumberbatch will take on the role of Turing in the film. Turing helped break the Enigma code during the Second World War, but was hounded because of his sexuality.

We all know how much the Academy loves a biopic film, and this really could be a major player by the end of the year. Headhunters filmmaker Morten Tyldum is in the director’s chair, while Keira Knightley and Mark Strong are part of the supporting cast.

Could we all be willing Benedict Cumberbatch on to a Best Actor Oscar win by the beginning of next year?



Read more: http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/movies/early-2015-oscar-contenders-437083.html#ixzz2w9UHeMmv

SXSW Review: 'Frank,' Starring Michael Fassbender Wearing a Giant Fake Head, Totally Rocks

TOH
BY BETH HANNA
MARCH 11, 2014 12:53 PM

Michael Fassbender and Domhnall Gleeson in 'Frank'

In Lenny Abrahamson’s lovely film ‘Frank,’ Jon (Domhnall Gleeson) is a would-be musician who works an office job by day. It’s possible he doesn’t have a lot of talent.

He struggles with trite lyrics in his head and with equally trite tunes on his keyboard. One day he happens to be on the beach at the right moment (“right” being relative, mind you) when the keyboardist for an eccentric pop band is attempting to drown himself. Thus Jon is invited to become the new keyboardist. He heads up to a bucolic Irish cottage to help record a new album with the band, which includes Don (Scoot McNairy), Clara (Maggie Gyllenhaal) and the mysterious if affable Frank (Michael Fassbender), who wears a gigantic, smiley helmet-mask over his face and apparently never takes it off.

What seems like the opportunity of a lifetime turns out to be much different than that, as Jon discovers that one or more members in the band may have legitimate problems. This is where Abrahamson’s film pushes beyond the typical band-movie tropes and becomes a moving portrait of artistic passion on the verge of madness and complete dysfunctionality. It’s also very funny, sometimes in a light-hearted way, and often in a darker way.

As Jon slowly realizes his bandmates are bonkers, he’s also busily at work attempting to transition them from obscurity to internet fame. He tweets about their progress on the album (his Twitter followers slowing going up), he posts videos on YouTube, and eventually nabs an invite for them to play at -- dun da DUN -- the South by Southwest Festival.

What I found fascinating is the connection Abrahamson draws between our internet age of audience engagement and the means by which bands, films, whatever attempt to draw attention and a fanbase. We live in a highly distracted culture that often necessitates gimmicks and stunts to attract followers, page hits, video views, what have you. Frank’s gigantic helmet would indeed seem like a stunt, as do a number of other things that play out in the film. But is it? Or is it the elephant in the room suggesting something much more concerning going on?


READ MORE HERE: http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/frank-review-sxsw-michael-fassbender-lenny-abrahamson