February 2017 – 89th Oscar Nominations (2016-17), Moonlight, Fifty Shades Darker, Fences, John Wick 2, Hidden Figures

Hi Everyone,

As I write, sad news is coming in that veteran screen actor John Hurt has died from pancreatic cancer aged 77. The guy was a legend, with a unique face and voice and immense talent. He will be greatly missed. On TV he was chilling and remarkable as Roman emperor Gaius Caligula in the BBC's I, Claudius (1976) and ground-breaking in The Naked Civil Servant for ITV's Thames Television in 1975. I loved both of these productions. I also loved his voicing of the dragon in the more recent Colin Morgan television series Merlin.

 My favourite films of John's are:- A Man For All Seasons (1966), Before Winter Comes (1969), Midnight Express (1978), Alien (1979), The Elephant Man (1980), and Hell Boy (2004). In many other movies he had a small role but added a real touch of class to a film, and it was always a delight to see and hear him. He was (and remains) one of the greatest character actors of all time!

 

Although the musical isn't my favourite genre of movie, I do like to catch a good musical every now and then. Over the last week or so, I feel I've had a great “double bill” of movie musicals. Firstly, I saw on TV* a delightful 2013 film called Begin Again – starring Keira Knightley and Mark Ruffalo. This is one of those feel-good movies about a musician and a record producer who decide to create something new. The film very much reminded me of the heart-warming film musical Once; and for good reason. It turns out Begin Again was written and directed by the writer and director of Once – John Carney. Carney, managed to give Begin Again a freshness by basing the film in New York (whereas Once is set in Dublin). It appears that Carney is “three for three” because he also co-wrote and directed the musical comedy-drama Sing Street which is almost universally beloved and acclaimed by those who have seen it. I wonder what Carney is going to come up with next?

*Technically, I viewed it from my hard drive recorder - from a television broadcast some time ago.

The second part of my musical “double-bill” this week has been a cinema trip to go see La La Land (starring Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling). La La Land is one of those films where, if you believe all the hype - and go in thinking it's going to be the “greatest thing since sliced bread”, you may be a little disappointed. It's not the best film musical ever made! (That accolade goes to West Side Story. Or should that be Singin' in the Rain? Or perhaps The Wizard of Oz? Or maybe The Sound of Music?  
Or is it Oliver!? lol). 
 
But, make no mistake, La La Land is enchanting and beautifully made, and is (at the very least) very good indeed! It's wonderful and infectious. I defy you to leave the theatre without thinking back to Emma Stone's touching rendition of the song Audition [The Fools Who Dream], and/or whistling (as you saunter back to your car) the melody to City of Stars (both Oscar-nominated songs). La La Land was written and directed by the talented Damien Chazelle – the man who brought us the compelling and taut 2014 musical drama Whiplash. Once again, Chazelle doesn't disappoint. In La La Land he has delivered a jazz musical with a message which is destined to become a classic, and one that Robbie Collin (writing for The Telegraph) described as a film that will leave you “with a tear in your eye and a song in your heart.” He's not wrong!

 I haven't seen Moonlight yet but, in my view, that is the only film that could keep 
La La Land from winning best picture at the Oscars. La La Land has already swept up a record number of wins at the Golden Globes and has gained 11 Bafta nominations, plus (with 14) a record-equaling number of Oscar nominations. In fact, this is a good point at which to segue into a reasonably comprehensive listing of the 2017 Golden Globe nominations (and wins) as well as the Bafta and Oscar nominations - with these two ceremonies due to take place later this month (12th and 26th February 2017 respectively).

The Golden Globes [Ceremony Sunday 8^th January 2017]

(Winners in Bold type)

Best Motion Picture (Drama): Hacksaw Ridge, Hell or High Water, Lion, Manchester By the Sea, Moonlight

Best Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy): 20^th Century Women, Deadpool, La La Land, Florence Foster Jenkins, Sing Street

Best Director: Damien Chazelle (La La Land), Tom Ford (Nocturnal Animals), Mel Gibson (Hacksaw Ridge), Barry Jenkins (Moonlight), Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester By the Sea)

Best Actor (Drama): Casey Affleck (Manchester By the Sea), Joel Edgerton (Loving), Andrew Garfield (Hacksaw Ridge), Viggo Mortensen (Captain Fantastic), Denzel Washington (Fences)

Best Actress (Drama): Amy Adams (Arrival), Jessica Chastain (Miss Sloane), Isabelle Huppert (Elle), Ruth Negga (Loving), Natalie Portman (Jackie)

Best Actor (Musical or Comedy): Colin Farrell (The Lobster), Ryan Gosling (La La Land), Hugh Grant (Florence Foster Jenkins), Jonah Hill (war Dogs), Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool)

Best Actress (Musical or Comedy): Annette Bening (20^th Century Women), Lily Collins (Rules Don't Apply), Hailee Steinfeld (The Edge of Seventeen), Emma Stone (La La Land), Meryl Streep (Florence Foster Jenkins)

Best Supporting Actor: Mahershala Ali (Moonlight), Jeff Bridges (Hell or High Water), Simon Helberg (Florence Foster Jenkins), Dev Patel (Lion), Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Nocturnal Animals)

Best Supporting Actress: Viola Davis (Fences), Naomie Harris (Moonlight), Nicole Kidman (Lion), Octavia Spencer (Hidden Figures), Michelle Williams (Manchester By the Sea)

Best Screenplay: La La Land, Nocturnal Animals, Moonlight, Manchester By the Sea, Hell or High Water

Best Animated Picture: Kubo and the Two Strings, Moana, My Life as a Zucchini, Sing, Zootopia (aka Zootropolis)

Best Score: Moonlight, La La Land, Arrival, Lion, Hidden Figures

Best Song: Can't Stop the Feeling (Trolls), City of Stars (La La Land), Faith (Sing), Gold (Gold), How Far I'll Go (Moana)

Best Foreign Language Film: Divines, Elle, Neruda, The Salesman, Toni Erdmann



The Baftas [Ceremony Sunday 12^th February 2017]

 (Winners in Bold type)

Best Film: Arrival, I Daniel Blake, La La Land, Manchester By the Sea, Moonlight

Best Director: Denis Villeneuve (Arrival), Ken Loach (I, Daniel Blake), Damien Chazelle (La La Land), Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester By the Sea), Tom Ford (Nocturnal Animals)

Best Actor: Andrew Garfield (Hacksaw Ridge), Casey Affleck (Manchester By the Sea), Jake Gyllenhaal (Nocturnal Animals), Ryan Gosling (La La Land), Viggo Mortensen (Captain Fantastic)

Best Actress: Amy Adams (Arrival), Emily Blunt (The Girl on the Train), Emma Stone (La La Land), Meryl Streep (Florence Foster Jenkins), Natalie Portman (Jackie)

Best Supporting Actor: Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Nocturnal Animals), Dev Patel (Lion), Hugh Grant (Florence Foster Jenkins), Jeff Bridges (Hell or High Water), Mahershala Ali (Moonlight)

Best Supporting Actress: Hayley Squires (I, Daniel Blake), Michelle Williams (Manchester By the Sea), Naomie Harris (Moonlight), Nicole Kidman (Lion), Viola Davis (Fences)

Best Original Screenplay: Hell or High Water, I Daniel Blake, La La Land, Manchester By the Sea, Moonlight

Best Adapted Screenplay: Arrival, Hacksaw Ridge, Hidden Figures, Lion, Nocturnal Animals

Best Cinematography: Arrival, Hell or High Water, La La Land, Lion, Nocturnal Animals

Best Editing: Arrival, Hacksaw Ridge, La La Land, Manchester By the Sea, Nocturnal Animals

Best Sound: Arrival, Deepwater Horizon, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Hacksaw Ridge, La La Land

Best Visual Effects: Arrival, Doctor Strange, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, The Jungle Book, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Best Animated Feature: Finding Dory, Kubo and the Two Strings, Moana, Zootopia (aka Zootropolis)

Best British Animated Short: The Alan Dimension, A Love Story, Tough
Best Documentary Feature: 13^th, The Beatles: Eight Days a Week, The Eagle Huntress, Notes on Blindness, Weiner

Best British Short: Consumed, Home, Mouth of Hell, The Party, Standby

Best Original Music: Arrival, Jackie, La La Land, Lion, Nocturnal Animals

Best Foreign Language Film: Dheepan, Julieta, Mustang, Son of Saul, Toni Erdmann

Best Production Design: Doctor Strange, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Hail Caesar!, La La Land, Nocturnal Animals

Best Costume Design: Allied, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Florence Foster Jenkins, Jackie, La La Land

Best Hair & Make-up: Doctor Strange, Florence Foster Jenkins, Hacksaw Ridge, Nocturnal Animals, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Best British Film: American Honey, Denial, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, I Daniel Blake, Notes on Blindness, Under the Shadow

Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director, or Producer: The Girl with All the Gifts, The Hard Stop, Notes on Blindness, The Pass, Under the Shadow, Lucan Toh

EE Rising Star Award: Anya Taylor-Joy, Laisa Costa, Lucas Hedges, Ruth Negga, Tom Holland

Special Awards:-

Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema: Curzon Cinemas

BAFTA Fellowship: Mel Brooks



The Academy Awards [Ceremony Sunday 26^th February 2017]

 (Winners in Bold type)

Best Picture: Arrival, Fences, Hacksaw Ridge, Hell or High Water, Hidden Figures, La La Land, Lion, Manchester By the Sea, Moonlight

Best Director: Barry Jenkins (Moonlight), Denis Villeneuve (Arrival), Damien Chazelle (La La Land), Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester By the Sea), Mel Gibson (Hacksaw Ridge)

Best Actor: Andrew Garfield (Hacksaw Ridge), Casey Affleck (Manchester By the Sea), Ryan Gosling (La La Land), Viggo Mortensen (Captain Fantastic), Denzel Washington (Fences)

Best Actress: Emma Stone (La La Land), Isabelle Huppert (Elle), Meryl Streep (Florence Foster Jenkins), Natalie Portman (Jackie), Ruth Negga (Loving)

Best Supporting Actor: Dev Patel (Lion), Jeff Bridges (Hell or High Water), Lucas Hedges (Manchester By the Sea), Mahershala Ali (Moonlight), Michael Shannon (Nocturnal Animals)

Best Supporting Actress: Viola Davis (Fences), Naomie Harris (Moonlight), Nicole Kidman (Lion), Octavia Spencer (Hidden Figures), Michelle Williams (Manchester By the Sea)

Best Original Screenplay: Hell or High Water, La La Land, The Lobster, Manchester By the Sea, 20^th Century Women

Best Adapted Screenplay: Arrival, Fences, Hidden Figures, Lion, Moonlight

Best Cinematography: Arrival, La La Land, Lion, Moonlight, Silence

Best Editing: Arrival, Hacksaw Ridge, Hell or High Water, La La Land, Moonlight

Best Sound Editing: Arrival, Deepwater Horizon, Hacksaw Ridge, La La Land, Sully

Best Sound Mixing: Arrival, Hacksaw Ridge, La La Land, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, 13 Hours

Best Visual Effects: Doctor Strange, Kubo and the Two Strings, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, The Jungle Book

Best Animated Feature: Kubo and the Two Strings, Moana, My Life as a Zucchini, The Red Turtle, Zootopia (aka Zootropolis)

Best Animated Short: Blind Vaysha, Borrowed Time, Pear Cider and Cigarettes, Pearl, Piper

Best Documentary Feature: Fire at Sea, I am Not Your Negro, Life Animated, O. J. Made in America, 13th

Best Documentary Short: Extremis, 4.1 miles, Joe's Violins, Watani: My Homeland, The White Helmets

Best Live-Action Short: Ennemis intérieurs, La femme et le TGV, Silent Nights, Sing, Timecode

Best Original Score: La La Land, Jackie, Moonlight, Lion, Passengers

Best Original Song: Audition (La La Land), Can't Stop the Feeling (Trolls), City of Stars (La La Land), How Far I'll Go (Moana), The Empty Chair (Jim: The James Foley Story)

Best Production Design: Arrival, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Hail Caesar!, La La Land, Passengers

Best Costume Design: La La Land, Jackie, Florence Foster Jenkins, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Allied

Best Make-up & Hairstyling: A Man Called Ove, Star Trek Beyond, Suicide Squad

Best Foreign Language Film: A Man Called Ove, Land of Mine, Tanna, The Salesman, Toni Erdmann

 

The big films released in the UK in February 2017 include Moonlight, Fifty Shades Darker, Fences, John Wick: Chapter 2, and Hidden Figures. Here is a picture from each of those movies to whet your appetite:-

Moonlight © 2016 Image courtesy of A24 Film Distribution. All Rights Reserved.

Fifty Shades Darker © 2016 Universal Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

Fences © 2016 Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

John Wick: Chapter 2 © 2016 Warner Bros. Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

Hidden Figures © 2016 Twentieth Century Fox. All Rights Reserved.

Here's a comprehensive run down of the February 2017 new releases:-

The major films are: A Cure for Wellness, Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk, Fences, Fifty Shades Darker, Gold, Hidden Figures, John Wick: Chapter 2, Loving, Moonlight, Patriots Day, Rangoon, Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, Rings, The Founder, The Great Wall, The Lego Batman Movie, The Space Between Us, and Toni Erdmann.

Limited or “key cities” releases include: Bafta Shorts, It's Only the End of the World, Lost in France, LoveTrue, Southern Fury, Sweet Dreams, The Student (now delayed to 3^rd March 2017), and Tower.

Other limited releases given their “own spot” in the newsletter are: 20^th Century Women, Best, Bitter Harvest, Love of My Life, Prevenge, and The Fits.

In addition to all of the above are two classic movies being showcased theatrically, and these are Multiple Maniacs (1970), and Taxi Driver (1976). I am delighted that an artist by the name Cris Vector has allowed me to reproduce one of his original Taxi Driver posters on the back cover of the February issue. You may like to check out his work here www.crisvector.com

Since the February newsletter has gone to press, as it were, several other film releases have been announced. These include a documentary called All This Panic, Naomi Watts thriller Shut In, a horror film named Within. Also movies called Guardians of Oz, Across the Waters, Tanna, Tomato Red, Without Name and Transpecos. 

Selected Odeons (and other cinemas) are playing foreign language films: Jolly LLB2, Kaabil, Kung Fu Yoga, Nanu Local, Po Prostu Przyjazn, Raees, and Yu-gi-oh!: The Dark Side of Dimensions. 

Look out for previews of such films as Hidden Figures, John Wick: Chapter 2, Moonlight, and The Founder - in selected UK cinemas from 9th or 10th February onwards. 

Also not included in the magazine are this month's “Event Cinema” special screenings and the like. As usual, information sometimes differs when comparing various sources – so please take the following details with a pinch of salt and do some further investigation if you are interested in any of these events:-

• 2^nd February 2017 – Amadeus – NT Live 2017 (Picturehouse Entertainment/National Theatre)
  
  
• 3^rd February 2017 – Swan Lake – Bolshoi 2017 (Picturehouse Entertainment)
  
  
• 3^rd February 2017 – Woolf Works – Royal Opera, London 2016/17 (Royal Opera House) [Could be 2^nd Feb according to www.roh.org.uk whereas The Odeon website says 8^th Feb (?)]
  
  
• 14^th February 2017 – Dirty Dancing 30^th Anniversary (Lionsgate)
   
• 16^th February 2017 – Saint Joan – NT Live 2017 (Picturehouse Entertainment/National Theatre)
  
  
• 17^th February 2017 – Exhibition On Screen: I, Claude Monet (Seventh Art Productions)

• 24^th February 2017 – Rusalka – Opera 2017 (By Experience) [The Met Opera (?) - Odeon says it's Saturday 25^th Feb (?)]
  
  
• 24^th February 2017 – Sleeping Beauty – Royal Opera, London 2016/17 (Royal Opera House) [ www.roh.org.uk says 23^rd Feb – whereas Odeon says 28^th Feb (?)]

Here is the link to my latest newsletter (which is a relatively large download of approximately 84MB - because of some special graphics in this issue):-

Click here for the February 2017 newsletter

Although the version above is recommended - for its better resolution of some images - you may prefer a smaller download (with some graphics looking significantly inferior). If you'd prefer the smaller (in terms of megabytes) version of the February 2017 newsletter click here:-

Lower Resolution version (33MB)

Due to a minor illness last month, I wasn't able to get to the cinema much. I hope to makes amends for that this month. So many interesting films out at the moment. I hope you also are able to get to the cinema to see some really good films in February 2017 – including some of those movies nominated for Baftas and Oscars. Happy viewing!

A Trailer for most of this month's new releases follow:-

Please note that, as my YouTube channel Mal's HD Movie Trailers has - for some reason as yet unknown to me - been suspended, many of the following videos will unfortunately not be playable at this time.

20th Century Women



A Cure for Wellness



All This Panic



Bafta Shorts



Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk



Bitter Harvest



Fences



Fifty Shades Darker



Gold



Hidden Figures



It's Only the End of the World



John Wick: Chapter 2



Le Parc



Lost in France



Love of My Life



LoveTrue



Loving



Moonlight



Multiple Maniacs



Patriots Day



Prevenge



Rangoon



Resident Evil: The Final Chapter



Rings



Shut In



Southern Fury (aka Arsenal)



Sweet Dreams



Taxi Driver



The Fits



The Founder



The Great Wall



The Lego Batman Movie



The Space Between Us



The Student



Toni Erdmann



Tower