Hi
Everyone,
It
was only a month or so ago that I was raving about La La Land,
and saying that the only film that could prevent the Emma Stone and
Ryan Gosling musical from taking home the Best Picture Oscar was
coming-of-age drama Moonlight. Well, as it turned out,
Moonlight did indeed win the top prize at the Academy Awards –
although La La Land did very well too; with six wins
including, for example, Best Director and Best Actress.
La
La Land was shaping up to be my
favourite movie of the year (thus
far) – when along came
three movies that have knocked it into fourth place. The
first of these I'd like to mention is
Disney's 2017 live-action remake of
Beauty
and the Beast. The movie is really
good, with
an outstanding score and Broadway-style
songs. A
few folks have
been put off from seeing the film by the announcement (by the film's
director Bill Condon) that one of the
film's main characters, LeFou, is “Gay”.
This caused a bit of a stir. Regardless
of the
stance you take on LGBT issues, however,
I can tell you the
whole thing has been blown out of
proportion – as there are no more than
about three
“camp” moments
in the movie (all of them humorous) and
these (in my humble opinion)
are no more outrageous than you'd get in your
average Carry On
film.
Anyway, I love the movie
and it seems that a
lot of other people do too. At least, it's
had incredible success at the global box office.
At time of writing (after only 14
days on general release) the
film has taken
in an amazing $766
at the worldwide box office. This
is a rare achievement.
Update: After 21 days on general release, Beauty and the Beast has taken in $900m at the worldwide box office.
Update: Just shy of four weeks on general release, and the film has brought in $1 Billion Dollars worldwide.
Fast and Furious 8 is to reach a very rapid billion dollars also!
By the way, Beauty and the Beast features a nice little performance from child actor Nathan Mack – who plays Chip in the movie. In fact I've been very impressed by a number of performances from child actors this year. Moonlight has memorable performances from child actors (Alex Hibbert and Ashton Sanders) as does my other two favourite films of the year so far: Lion and Logan. In the engaging and moving true story Lion, the first part of the movie is dominated by an impressive debut performance from new discovery Sunny Pawar – who plays the lead character Saroo as a boy. He pretty much carries the first half of the movie all by himself. Similarly, Logan has a brilliant and utterly convincing performance from actress Dafne Keen – also in her first film (having previously only appeared in the Anglo-Spanish TV drama The Refugees). In this great X-Men spin-off, she plays a girl named Laura, who turns out to be a mutant similar to Wolverine. These films are both wonderful – and so are the performances of these youngsters.
Update: Just shy of four weeks on general release, and the film has brought in $1 Billion Dollars worldwide.
Fast and Furious 8 is to reach a very rapid billion dollars also!
By the way, Beauty and the Beast features a nice little performance from child actor Nathan Mack – who plays Chip in the movie. In fact I've been very impressed by a number of performances from child actors this year. Moonlight has memorable performances from child actors (Alex Hibbert and Ashton Sanders) as does my other two favourite films of the year so far: Lion and Logan. In the engaging and moving true story Lion, the first part of the movie is dominated by an impressive debut performance from new discovery Sunny Pawar – who plays the lead character Saroo as a boy. He pretty much carries the first half of the movie all by himself. Similarly, Logan has a brilliant and utterly convincing performance from actress Dafne Keen – also in her first film (having previously only appeared in the Anglo-Spanish TV drama The Refugees). In this great X-Men spin-off, she plays a girl named Laura, who turns out to be a mutant similar to Wolverine. These films are both wonderful – and so are the performances of these youngsters.
Dafne
Keen in Logan (above left) and Alex Hibbert (far right) pictured with
Mahershala Ali in Moonlight.
The
big films released in the UK in April
2017 include Fast
and Furious 8
(also known as The
Fate of the Furious),
Guardians
of the Galaxy Vol. 2,
and animated comedy The
Boss Baby.
Here's a picture from each of those movies. (I've also included a
still from limited release The
Zookeeper's Wife
– as I'm a big softy.):-
Here's
a comprehensive run down of the April 2017 new releases:-
The
major films are: A Quiet Passion, City of Tiny Lights, Fast and
Furious 8 [aka The Fate of the Furious], Going in Style, Guardians of
the Galaxy Vol. 2, Lady Macbeth, Molly Monster, Peppa Pig: My First
Cinema Experience, Rules Don't Apply, Table 19, The Belko Experiment,
The Boss Baby, The Promise, The Sense of an Ending, The
Transfiguration, Their Finest, and Unforgettable.
Limited
or “key cities” releases include: A Dark Song, A Moving Image,
Bunch of Kunst, Clash, Handsome Devil, Heal the Living, Letters from
Baghdad, Raw, Sarkar 3, Suntan, The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli
Maki and Who's Gonna Love Me Now?
Other
limited releases given their “own spot” in the newsletter are:
Aftermath, Cezanne et Moi, Finding Fatimah, I am Not
Your Negro, Mad to be Normal, Neruda, The Handmaiden, The
Hatton Garden Job, Sword Art Online, and The
Zookeeper's Wife. In addition to all of the above, the classic
movies Mulholland Drive (2001) and One Flew Over the
Cuckoo's Nest (1975) have been showcased.
Since
the April
newsletter has gone to press, as it were, another
film release has
been announced. This
is Polish
foreign
language film Sztuka
kochania.
Historia Michaliny Wislockiej
(said
by the
Odeon
chain
to be playing March 31st
2017
–
sometime
in the
first week in April).
Moviegoers might also look out for such films as: Lowriders, Baahubali - The Conclusion, and Mad Max: Fury Road (Chrome Edition).
Moviegoers might also look out for such films as: Lowriders, Baahubali - The Conclusion, and Mad Max: Fury Road (Chrome Edition).
Also
not
included in the magazine are this month's “Event Cinema” special
screenings and the like – most
of which are listed below.
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
attending
any
of these events:-
-
6th April 2017 – Twelfth Night – NT Theatre Live 2017 (Trafalgar Releasing)
-
7th April 2017 – A Hero of Our Time – The Bolshoi Ballet 2017 (Trafalgar Releasing)
-
7th April 2017 – Jewels – Royal Opera, London 2016/17 (Royal Opera House)
-
14th April 2017 – Coppelia – Australian Ballet 2016: Fairytale Series (CinemaLive)
-
18th April 2017 – La Gazza Ladra – Teatro Alla Scala: Live Opera 2017 – One night only (Soda Pictures)
-
20th April 2017 – Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead – Live Theatre from the Old Vic, London (Trafalgar Releasing) Note: Some sources say 14th April 2017.
-
21st April 2017 – Eugene Onegin – Met Opera 2017 (By Experience)
-
21st April 2017 – Julius Caesar – RSC Live Theatre 2017 (Trafalgar Releasing)
Here
is the link to my latest newsletter (which is a download of
approximately 62MB):-
I'm
looking forward to going to see a number of films this coming month
including Rules Don't Apply and Guardians of the Galaxy
Vol. 2. Should be fun. Whatever you decide to see in April 2017 –
I hope you have a great time at the movies. Happy viewing!
Trailers for most of the above mentioned films are provided below:-
Aftermath
A Dark Song
A Moving Image
A Quiet Passion
Bunch of Kunst
Cezanne et Moi
City of Tiny Lights
Clash
Fate and Furious 8 (aka The Fate of the Furious aka Furious 8)
Finding Fatimah
Going in Style
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Handsome Devil
Heal the Living
I Am Not Your Negro
Lady Macbeth
Letters from Baghdad
Love Off the Cuff
Mad to be Normal
Manje Bistre
Molly Monster
Mulholland Drive
Neruda
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Peppa Pig: My First Cinema Experience
Raw
Rules Don't Apply
Sarkar 3
Suntan
Sword Art Online: The Movie (aka Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale)
Table 19
The Belko Experiment
The Boss Baby
The Handmaiden
The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Maki
The Hatton Garden Job
The Promise
The Sense of an Ending
The Transfiguration
The Zookeeper's Wife
Their Finest
Unforgettable
Who's Gonna Love Me Now?
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