”His body of work represents exactly what many British filmmakers aspire to.”
Friends and collaborators in the international film industry reacted with shock and sadness to the sudden death of UK director Roger Michell, who died on Wednesday at the age of 65.
“It is a shock. He was my oldest professional friend,” said UK producer Kevin Loader, who produced six of Michell’s feature films including 2004’s Enduring Love, 2012’s Hyde Park on Hudson and 2013’s Le Week-end, through the duo’s London-based Free Range Films, founded in 1996. “I’d known him for over 30 years. We spoke several times a...
Friends and collaborators in the international film industry reacted with shock and sadness to the sudden death of UK director Roger Michell, who died on Wednesday at the age of 65.
“It is a shock. He was my oldest professional friend,” said UK producer Kevin Loader, who produced six of Michell’s feature films including 2004’s Enduring Love, 2012’s Hyde Park on Hudson and 2013’s Le Week-end, through the duo’s London-based Free Range Films, founded in 1996. “I’d known him for over 30 years. We spoke several times a...
- 9/24/2021
- by Ben Dalton¬Louise Tutt
- ScreenDaily
Madrid — Starring Kate Winslet, Susan Sarandon and Mia Wasikowska, “Blackbird,” an English-language remake of Bille August’s 2014 Danish-language movie “Silent Heart,” will open the 67th San Sebastian Film Festival on Sept. 20.
World premiering at the Toronto Intl. Film Festival as a Gala Presentation, “Blackbird” will play in competition at what will be its European premiere.
San Sebastian’s competition normally mixes larger world cinema auteurs with a few choice first features. “Silent Heart” brings it large star-laden independent which promising to be an audience-friendly tearjerker.
Directed by Roger Michell, “Blackbird” turns on terminally-ill matriarch, Lily (Sarandon). who reunites three generations of her family at their country house for one final time.
Lily informs them that she will soon put an end to her life via euthanasia, but her daughters (Winslet and Wasikowska), whose tensions already threaten a peaceful sending off, discover family secrets which make the situation even more complicated.
World premiering at the Toronto Intl. Film Festival as a Gala Presentation, “Blackbird” will play in competition at what will be its European premiere.
San Sebastian’s competition normally mixes larger world cinema auteurs with a few choice first features. “Silent Heart” brings it large star-laden independent which promising to be an audience-friendly tearjerker.
Directed by Roger Michell, “Blackbird” turns on terminally-ill matriarch, Lily (Sarandon). who reunites three generations of her family at their country house for one final time.
Lily informs them that she will soon put an end to her life via euthanasia, but her daughters (Winslet and Wasikowska), whose tensions already threaten a peaceful sending off, discover family secrets which make the situation even more complicated.
- 8/13/2019
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Lionsgate U.K. has acquired U.K. rights to comedy “Made in Italy,” starring Liam Neeson. Lindsay Duncan, who starred in “Le Week-End,” and Valeria Bilello have joined the cast, which includes Micheál Richardson. HanWay Films is handling worldwide sales.
The film, James D’Arcy’s feature directorial debut, is set in Tuscany. It centers on bohemian London artist Robert (Neeson), who returns to Italy with his estranged son Jack (Richardson) to make a quick sale of the house they inherited from his late wife. The once-beautiful villa is in a terrible state of disrepair, and the pair set about restoring it, with help from the locals.
Kamasa said: “James has written a beautiful and relatable story about a father and son who mend their relationship in the most unexpected of ways. Poignant, funny and heart-warming, this project reflects Lionsgate’s continued desire to make the best of British films,...
The film, James D’Arcy’s feature directorial debut, is set in Tuscany. It centers on bohemian London artist Robert (Neeson), who returns to Italy with his estranged son Jack (Richardson) to make a quick sale of the house they inherited from his late wife. The once-beautiful villa is in a terrible state of disrepair, and the pair set about restoring it, with help from the locals.
Kamasa said: “James has written a beautiful and relatable story about a father and son who mend their relationship in the most unexpected of ways. Poignant, funny and heart-warming, this project reflects Lionsgate’s continued desire to make the best of British films,...
- 5/7/2019
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
“It’s very hard not to like him” – Ritesh Batra on directing Jim Broadbent in The Sense of an Ending
Author: Stefan Pape
I once interviewed Jim Broadbent to mark the release of his congenial drama Le Week-End, and off camera politely asked if he’s consider adopting me as a grandson. Naturally he looked weirded out by such a request and brushed it away instantly – but the intention stands, for he’s one of the most affable, endearing actors working in England – and it’s a sentiment shared by Ritesh Batra, director of The Sense of an Ending.
“It’s very hard not to like Jim, both in person and on screen, he’s a very endearing presence,” Batra said. “I always read about how Tony is an unlikeable character but since I read the novel I’ve always liked Tony, but perhaps that’s to do with me not being from here. I always loved Tony, but Jim makes it very easy to like him, definitely.”
Batra’s...
I once interviewed Jim Broadbent to mark the release of his congenial drama Le Week-End, and off camera politely asked if he’s consider adopting me as a grandson. Naturally he looked weirded out by such a request and brushed it away instantly – but the intention stands, for he’s one of the most affable, endearing actors working in England – and it’s a sentiment shared by Ritesh Batra, director of The Sense of an Ending.
“It’s very hard not to like Jim, both in person and on screen, he’s a very endearing presence,” Batra said. “I always read about how Tony is an unlikeable character but since I read the novel I’ve always liked Tony, but perhaps that’s to do with me not being from here. I always loved Tony, but Jim makes it very easy to like him, definitely.”
Batra’s...
- 4/12/2017
- by Stefan Pape
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Believes six impossible things — like implausible character motivations, or big emotions — because they’re in the script, without bothering to earn them. I’m “biast” (pro): nothing
I’m “biast” (con): hated the first film
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
Alice Through the Looking Glass may bear even less resemblance to anything Lewis Carroll wrote than its predecessor, Tim Burton’s 2010 flick Alice in Wonderland, so perhaps it’s not surprising that it follows up on the adventure that Burton’s adaptation hinted was in store for Alice, something that Carroll would never have imagined for her. Glass opens with adult Alice Kingsleigh (Mia Wasikowska: Crimson Peak, Madame Bovary), now captain of an English merchant ship in 1847, executing a daring escape from pirates on the high seas. It’s a thrilling sequence, not least because Alice’s all-male crew appears to have no...
I’m “biast” (con): hated the first film
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
Alice Through the Looking Glass may bear even less resemblance to anything Lewis Carroll wrote than its predecessor, Tim Burton’s 2010 flick Alice in Wonderland, so perhaps it’s not surprising that it follows up on the adventure that Burton’s adaptation hinted was in store for Alice, something that Carroll would never have imagined for her. Glass opens with adult Alice Kingsleigh (Mia Wasikowska: Crimson Peak, Madame Bovary), now captain of an English merchant ship in 1847, executing a daring escape from pirates on the high seas. It’s a thrilling sequence, not least because Alice’s all-male crew appears to have no...
- 5/24/2016
- by MaryAnn Johanson
- www.flickfilosopher.com
He’ll be shooting his mouth (and several guns) off as Deadpool next year, but Ryan Reynolds also wants to explore the world of print advertising. No, he’s not angling to star in a Mad Men movie – he’s in final talks to lead new comedy drama Truth In Advertising. Roger Michell, who last brought us Le Week-End, is attached to direct the film, which novelist John Kenney adapted from his own award-winning book. Reynolds will be Fin Dolan, a hard working sort at an advertising company. His boss asks him to cancel his Christmas holidays to work on a new campaign, but when his best friend announces her engagement and his estranged father is admitted to hospital at the same time, he starts to question the direction is life is taking. Is he simply drifting through it while others are moving on? “John Kenney has adapted his genius...
- 10/27/2015
- EmpireOnline
You might think that Olivia de Havilland and Richard Burton are untouchable, but that's only if you've never been around Hollywood. While Daphne Du Maurier's novel "My Cousin Rachel" was already made into an Oscar-nominated noir in 1952, a new version is being prepped for the modern age. Read More: Watch The Amazing Trailer For Yorgos Lanthimos' 'The Lobster' Starring Rachel Weisz Rachel Weisz and Sam Claflin will team up for the new adaptation. Roger Michell ("Hyde Park On Hudson," "Le Week-End") will direct this updated version and also write the script, which tells the tale of an orphan who seeks revenge on the woman he believes murdered his cousin and caretaker. Here's the book synopsis: Philip Ashley's older cousin Ambrose, who raised the orphaned Philip as his own son, has died in Rome. Philip, the heir to Ambrose's beautiful English estate, is crushed that the man...
- 9/25/2015
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
The French film director died last week after a battle with cancer.
Pascal Chaumeil’s A Long Way Down is to open the 26th Dinard British Film Festival (30 Sept - 4 Oct).
The comedy drama, which stars Pierce Brosnan, Toni Collette, Imogen Poots and Aaron Paul, was the penultimate production for the French director, who died last Thursday aged 54 following a battle with cancer.
The film, which premiered at the 2014 Berlinale, was the final English-language film for Chaumeil, who was in post-production on his final feature Odd Job (Un Petit Boulot) when he died.
Competition
The festival also revealed the titles that will compete for the festival’s Golden Hitchock award, including Owen Harris’ Kill Your Friends, an adaptation of John Niven’s 2008 novel of the same name starring Nicholas Hoult, Ed Skrein, James Corden and Rosanna Arquette.
Other films vying for the top prize are Craig Roberts’ directorial debut Just Jim, Andrew Steggall’s [link...
Pascal Chaumeil’s A Long Way Down is to open the 26th Dinard British Film Festival (30 Sept - 4 Oct).
The comedy drama, which stars Pierce Brosnan, Toni Collette, Imogen Poots and Aaron Paul, was the penultimate production for the French director, who died last Thursday aged 54 following a battle with cancer.
The film, which premiered at the 2014 Berlinale, was the final English-language film for Chaumeil, who was in post-production on his final feature Odd Job (Un Petit Boulot) when he died.
Competition
The festival also revealed the titles that will compete for the festival’s Golden Hitchock award, including Owen Harris’ Kill Your Friends, an adaptation of John Niven’s 2008 novel of the same name starring Nicholas Hoult, Ed Skrein, James Corden and Rosanna Arquette.
Other films vying for the top prize are Craig Roberts’ directorial debut Just Jim, Andrew Steggall’s [link...
- 9/1/2015
- ScreenDaily
Jurassic World is shattering box office records across the globe, but what happened to the stars of the movie that kick-started it all? Steven Spielberg's 1993 classic Jurassic Park was flawlessly cast, mixing well-known stars and fresh faces in a perfect blockbuster thrill-ride.
With Jurassic World overhauling its stars entirely (just two remain from the original), we take a look back to find out what the stars of Jurassic Park are doing now...
Sam Neill
Already a well-known star when he appeared in Jurassic Park, Neill won himself a fresh fanbase playing Alan Grant, a palaeontologist invited to see John Hammond's breathtaking park up close.
A one-time contender to play James Bond, Neill's early credits include espionage series Reilly: Ace of Spies, Dead Calm and The Hunt for Red October. In the years after Jurassic Park he notched up roles in Event Horizon, The Tudors and Peaky Blinders. Neill...
With Jurassic World overhauling its stars entirely (just two remain from the original), we take a look back to find out what the stars of Jurassic Park are doing now...
Sam Neill
Already a well-known star when he appeared in Jurassic Park, Neill won himself a fresh fanbase playing Alan Grant, a palaeontologist invited to see John Hammond's breathtaking park up close.
A one-time contender to play James Bond, Neill's early credits include espionage series Reilly: Ace of Spies, Dead Calm and The Hunt for Red October. In the years after Jurassic Park he notched up roles in Event Horizon, The Tudors and Peaky Blinders. Neill...
- 6/17/2015
- Digital Spy
Film and TV is guilty of instilling us with wanderlust, throwing up amazing locations from all over the world and leaving us wishing nothing more than to jump straight on a plane to distant climes.
Here are some stunning destinations from movies and shows (all ready to check out on Netflix now) that have us eyeing our suitcases with longing:
The Florida Keys - Bloodline
An amazing chain of tropical islands hanging from the tip of Florida, connected by a series of bridges running all the way to Key West and frequently offering amazing views of both sunrise and sunset.
It's the perfect temperate getaway, as long as you don't get entangled with the dysfunctional Rayburn family, that is.
New York City - Manhattan
From the opening peals of Gershwin's 'Rhapsody in Blue', Woody Allen classic Manhattan is pure New York City from head to toe.
Diane Keaton...
Here are some stunning destinations from movies and shows (all ready to check out on Netflix now) that have us eyeing our suitcases with longing:
The Florida Keys - Bloodline
An amazing chain of tropical islands hanging from the tip of Florida, connected by a series of bridges running all the way to Key West and frequently offering amazing views of both sunrise and sunset.
It's the perfect temperate getaway, as long as you don't get entangled with the dysfunctional Rayburn family, that is.
New York City - Manhattan
From the opening peals of Gershwin's 'Rhapsody in Blue', Woody Allen classic Manhattan is pure New York City from head to toe.
Diane Keaton...
- 5/14/2015
- Digital Spy
Looking for more highbrow fare to supplement your holiday binge-streaming of "Friends" on Netflix? While several of 2014's best films now on Amazon Prime are also up on Netflix—including Pawel Pawlikowski's Oscar-shortlisted beauty "Ida" and Roger Michell's underseen autumn-years romance "Le Week-End"—Amazon Prime subscribers can enjoy even more this weekend. We've rounded up the best of the best: "Borgman" (dir. Alex van Warmerdam) A dark suburban fairytale that takes cues from Yorgos Lanthimos ("Dogtooth") and Michael Haneke ("Funny Games"), while firmly remaining its own strange beast, "Borgman" hovers perilously over a stiff upper-class family whose bearings are unmoored by the appearance of a mysterious vagrant fellow (Jan Bijvoet). A creepy blast from beginning to end. "Coherence" (dir. James Ward Byrkit) "Coherence" is not just smart science fiction: it's a triumph of crafty...
- 1/2/2015
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Thompson on Hollywood
Year in Review. Two yummy lists each day. Here's Matthew Eng on "Entertainers of the Year"
Let’s face it: Jimmy Fallon is an okay if utterly predictable choice for Entertainment Weekly’s annual “Entertainer of the Year” title, which can occasionally become more of an honor for being widely-known and well-liked than, you know, being consistently entertaining. (Have they made a truly interesting choice since that three-year, Oscar-certified run of Russell Crowe, Nicole Kidman, and Denzel Washington from 2000-02?)
Rather than continue to pat the backs of those like Ben Affleck, Taylor Swift, Robert Downey, Jr., and J.K. Rowling – i.e. prominent pop culture presences and former “Entertainers of the Year” whose dominance over their respective industries is already deep and durable – let’s take a moment to honor some of our favorite hard-working actors and actresses who zig-zagged across mediums this year, making crucial contributions to the entertainment landscape,...
Let’s face it: Jimmy Fallon is an okay if utterly predictable choice for Entertainment Weekly’s annual “Entertainer of the Year” title, which can occasionally become more of an honor for being widely-known and well-liked than, you know, being consistently entertaining. (Have they made a truly interesting choice since that three-year, Oscar-certified run of Russell Crowe, Nicole Kidman, and Denzel Washington from 2000-02?)
Rather than continue to pat the backs of those like Ben Affleck, Taylor Swift, Robert Downey, Jr., and J.K. Rowling – i.e. prominent pop culture presences and former “Entertainers of the Year” whose dominance over their respective industries is already deep and durable – let’s take a moment to honor some of our favorite hard-working actors and actresses who zig-zagged across mediums this year, making crucial contributions to the entertainment landscape,...
- 12/27/2014
- by Matthew Eng
- FilmExperience
Adorable. So witty and compassionate and bittersweet and just the right little bit of snarky that you will cry tears of joy from the perfection of it. I’m “biast” (pro): love the cast
I’m “biast” (con): was worried about CGI creepiness
I have read the source material (and I am indifferent about it)
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
So, a small brown illegal immigrant — he doesn’t even have a passport — sneaks over the border into the United Kingdom… and is instantly welcomed into the home of a quintessentially English family in London, complete with a kooky elderly kinswoman of unspecified relation and a house that is the epitome of storybook chic.
And it is adorable.
Adorable.
Paddington is, in fact, so cute and witty and compassionate and bittersweet and just the right little bit of snarky and positively downright altruistic that...
I’m “biast” (con): was worried about CGI creepiness
I have read the source material (and I am indifferent about it)
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
So, a small brown illegal immigrant — he doesn’t even have a passport — sneaks over the border into the United Kingdom… and is instantly welcomed into the home of a quintessentially English family in London, complete with a kooky elderly kinswoman of unspecified relation and a house that is the epitome of storybook chic.
And it is adorable.
Adorable.
Paddington is, in fact, so cute and witty and compassionate and bittersweet and just the right little bit of snarky and positively downright altruistic that...
- 11/26/2014
- by MaryAnn Johanson
- www.flickfilosopher.com
"Birdman" star Michael Keaton has sat atop our Best Actor chart all awards season long. Rounding out the top five are three British thespians -- Eddie Redmayne ("The Theory of Everything"), Benedict Cumberbatch ("The Imitation Game") David Oyelowo ("Selma) -- and another American, Steve Carell ("Foxcatcher"). There are three more Brits -- Timothy Spall ("Mr. Turner"), Bill Nighy ("Pride") and Jim Broadbent ("Le Week-End") -- jockeying for that fifth slot currently occupied by Carell. And Keaton should be hoping that one of them makes it in as the lone American has always won an Oscar when facing four foreign rivals. -Break- Michael Keaton and Edward Norton: What we think of acting, 'Birdman' and verbs (video) In 1971, Jane Fonda ("Klute") won her first Best Actress award over Julie Christie ("McCabe and Mrs. Miller"), Glenda..."...
- 11/20/2014
- Gold Derby
When it comes to winning Oscars, it helps to be good, but it's notoriously difficult for any film or actor to make headway without an advantageous release date – usually in the fall – A-list stars, and/or a high-profile awards campaign, which in itself costs big bucks. So I asked our forum posters what off-the-radar candidates they feel deserve more recognition than they're likely to get. -Break- Oscars news: 'Interstellar' reax, sneak peeks of 'The Hobbit,' 'Into the Woods' I personally made the case for "Le Week-End," a comedy-drama about the strained relationship between a longtime married couple featuring award-worthy lead performances by Lindsay Duncan and Jim Broadbent, which earned strong reviews back in the spring, as well as "Venus in Fur," Roman Polanski's French-language adaptation of the play, with Emmanuelle Seigner impressively tackling the role that won Nina Arianda a Tony. Who do...'...
- 11/9/2014
- Gold Derby
The European Film Academy and Efa Productions have announced the nominations for the 27th European Film Awards. The more than 3,000 Efa Members will now vote for the winners who will be presented during the awards ceremony on December 13, in the Latvian capital Riga, European Capital of Culture 2014.
Nominees:
European Film
Force Majeure (Turist)
Sweden/Denmark/France/Norway
Writer/Director: Ruben Östlund
Ida
Poland/Denmark
Director: Pawel Pawlikowski
Writers: Paweł Pawlikowski & Rebecca Lenkiewicz
Leviathan (Leviafan)
Russia
Director: Andrey Zvyagintsev
Writer: Oleg Negin & Andrey Zvyagintsev
Nymphomaniac Director's Cut Volume I and II
Denmark/Germany/France/Belgium
Writer/Director: Lars von Trier
Winter Sleep (Kis Uykusu)
Turkey/France/Germany
Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Writer: Ebru Ceylan & Nuri Bilge Ceylan
European Comedy
Carmina and Amen (Carmina y Amen)
Spain
Writer/Director: Paco León
Le Week-End
UK
Director: Roger Michel
Writer: Hanif Kureishi
The Mafia Only Kills In Summer (La Mafia Uccide Solo d'Estate)
Italy...
Nominees:
European Film
Force Majeure (Turist)
Sweden/Denmark/France/Norway
Writer/Director: Ruben Östlund
Ida
Poland/Denmark
Director: Pawel Pawlikowski
Writers: Paweł Pawlikowski & Rebecca Lenkiewicz
Leviathan (Leviafan)
Russia
Director: Andrey Zvyagintsev
Writer: Oleg Negin & Andrey Zvyagintsev
Nymphomaniac Director's Cut Volume I and II
Denmark/Germany/France/Belgium
Writer/Director: Lars von Trier
Winter Sleep (Kis Uykusu)
Turkey/France/Germany
Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Writer: Ebru Ceylan & Nuri Bilge Ceylan
European Comedy
Carmina and Amen (Carmina y Amen)
Spain
Writer/Director: Paco León
Le Week-End
UK
Director: Roger Michel
Writer: Hanif Kureishi
The Mafia Only Kills In Summer (La Mafia Uccide Solo d'Estate)
Italy...
- 11/8/2014
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Force Majeure, Leviathan and Nymphomaniac among nominees.
The nominations for the 27th European Film Awards have been announced at the Seville European Film Festival.
More than 3,000 European Film Academy members will now vote for the winners, who will be presented during the awards ceremony on Dec 13 in Riga.
Ruben Östlund’s Force Majeure, Pawel Pawlikowski’s Ida, Andrey Zvyagintsev’s Leviathan, Lars von Trier’s Nymphomaniac Director’s Cut - Volume I & II and Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s Winter Sleep will compete for European Film, with every director - apart from von Trier - up for European Director alongside Steven Knight for Locke and Paolo Virzi for Human Capital.
Roger Michell’s Le Week-End is up for European Comedy, alongside Paco León’s Carmina & Amen and Pierfrancesco Diliberto’s The Mafia Only Kills in the Summer.
The full list of nominations is as follows:
European Film 2014
Force Majeure (Sweden/Denmark/France/Norway)
Written & Directed By: [link...
The nominations for the 27th European Film Awards have been announced at the Seville European Film Festival.
More than 3,000 European Film Academy members will now vote for the winners, who will be presented during the awards ceremony on Dec 13 in Riga.
Ruben Östlund’s Force Majeure, Pawel Pawlikowski’s Ida, Andrey Zvyagintsev’s Leviathan, Lars von Trier’s Nymphomaniac Director’s Cut - Volume I & II and Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s Winter Sleep will compete for European Film, with every director - apart from von Trier - up for European Director alongside Steven Knight for Locke and Paolo Virzi for Human Capital.
Roger Michell’s Le Week-End is up for European Comedy, alongside Paco León’s Carmina & Amen and Pierfrancesco Diliberto’s The Mafia Only Kills in the Summer.
The full list of nominations is as follows:
European Film 2014
Force Majeure (Sweden/Denmark/France/Norway)
Written & Directed By: [link...
- 11/8/2014
- by ian.sandwell@screendaily.com (Ian Sandwell)
- ScreenDaily
The nominations for the 2014 European Film Awards—and six winners—have been announced. Nominated for European Film 2014 are Ruben Östlund's Force Majeure (Turist), Paweł Pawlikowski's Ida, Andrey Zvyagintsev's Leviathan (Levifan), Lars von Trier's Nymphomaniac Director's Cut: Volume I & II and Nuri Bilge Ceylan's Winter Sleep (Kis uykusu). Nominated for European Comedy 2014 are Paco León's Carmina & Amen (Carmina y Amén), Roger Michell's Le Week-End and Pierfrancesco Diliberto's The Mafia Only Kills in the Summer (La mafia uccide solo d'estate). We've got the full list. » - David Hudson...
- 11/8/2014
- Fandor: Keyframe
The nominations for the 2014 European Film Awards—and six winners—have been announced. Nominated for European Film 2014 are Ruben Östlund's Force Majeure (Turist), Paweł Pawlikowski's Ida, Andrey Zvyagintsev's Leviathan (Levifan), Lars von Trier's Nymphomaniac Director's Cut: Volume I & II and Nuri Bilge Ceylan's Winter Sleep (Kis uykusu). Nominated for European Comedy 2014 are Paco León's Carmina & Amen (Carmina y Amén), Roger Michell's Le Week-End and Pierfrancesco Diliberto's The Mafia Only Kills in the Summer (La mafia uccide solo d'estate). We've got the full list. » - David Hudson...
- 11/8/2014
- Keyframe
The first image from the Alan Bennett adaptation has been unveiled as well as the release date.
Sony Pictures has released the first official image from TriStar and BBC Films feature The Lady In The Van showing Dame Maggie Smith in character as the eccentric Miss Shepherd.
The big screen adaptation of writer Alan Bennett’s iconic memoir is directed by long-standing Bennett collaborator Nicholas Hytner.
The film tells the true story of the relationship between Bennett and Miss Shepherd, a woman of uncertain origins who ‘temporarily’ parked her van in Bennett’s London driveway and proceeded to live there for 15 years.
Sony Pictures has also announced that the film will release in cinemas across the UK on Nov 13, 2015.
The first official picture shows Dame Maggie Smith (Downton Abbey, Harry Potter), on location in London alongside co-star Alex Jennings (The Queen), who plays Bennett.
The movie is being filmed on the very street, and in the...
Sony Pictures has released the first official image from TriStar and BBC Films feature The Lady In The Van showing Dame Maggie Smith in character as the eccentric Miss Shepherd.
The big screen adaptation of writer Alan Bennett’s iconic memoir is directed by long-standing Bennett collaborator Nicholas Hytner.
The film tells the true story of the relationship between Bennett and Miss Shepherd, a woman of uncertain origins who ‘temporarily’ parked her van in Bennett’s London driveway and proceeded to live there for 15 years.
Sony Pictures has also announced that the film will release in cinemas across the UK on Nov 13, 2015.
The first official picture shows Dame Maggie Smith (Downton Abbey, Harry Potter), on location in London alongside co-star Alex Jennings (The Queen), who plays Bennett.
The movie is being filmed on the very street, and in the...
- 11/5/2014
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Glenn Whipp says to "think again" if you believe the Oscar race for Best Actress is "thin" this year. He partially blames "the allure of the new, with some pundits flailing their arms each time an unseen movie debuts." A few days ago, Julianne Moore ("Stil Alice") jumped to the tops of prediction lists strictly because she came out of nowhere and was the most recent person to be screened. Along with Moore, Reese Witherspoon ("Wild") and Felicity Jones ("The Theory of Everything") are strong possible choices. He also adds in the lesser-viewed Gugu Mbatha-Raw ("Belle"), Marion Cotillard ("The Immigrant"), Lindsay Duncan ("Le Week-End"), and Jenny Slate ("Obvious Child") to consider. L.A. Times -Break- Join the lively film and TV discussions going on right now in the Gold Derby message boards Gregory Ellwood provides eight important revelations after Venice, Telluride, and ...
- 9/16/2014
- Gold Derby
Australian producers increasingly are looking to international co-productions as one solution to the difficulty of raising finance at home.
Producers say the .soft. money available for co-pros with Canada and Europe will help to compensate for the very low minimum guarantees offered by Australian distributors.
Another advantage, they say, is the improved chances of securing marquee cast for films shot in part or completely in Canada and Europe.
. With the collapse of distribution windows, online communication, and the competitiveness of getting soft money out of Australia, producers are becoming more savvy in financing their films with global partners especially as we are telling more global, universally themed stories,. says producer Raquelle David, who is developing the futuristic thriller Lucid as a co-pro.
Producer Matthew Dabner aims to shoot Seasons Pass, a comedy scripted by Heath Davis about an Australian ski instructor who goes to the Canadian snowfields where he is...
Producers say the .soft. money available for co-pros with Canada and Europe will help to compensate for the very low minimum guarantees offered by Australian distributors.
Another advantage, they say, is the improved chances of securing marquee cast for films shot in part or completely in Canada and Europe.
. With the collapse of distribution windows, online communication, and the competitiveness of getting soft money out of Australia, producers are becoming more savvy in financing their films with global partners especially as we are telling more global, universally themed stories,. says producer Raquelle David, who is developing the futuristic thriller Lucid as a co-pro.
Producer Matthew Dabner aims to shoot Seasons Pass, a comedy scripted by Heath Davis about an Australian ski instructor who goes to the Canadian snowfields where he is...
- 7/24/2014
- by Don Groves
- IF.com.au
UK producer Kevin Loader joins comedy drama B Model, to be directed by actor Rachel Griffiths.
Now that it is likely to be set up as a UK/Australian co-production, prolific UK producer Kevin Loader (In the Loop, Hyde Park on Hudson, Le Week-End) has become part of the team behind the comedy drama B Model, to be directed by actor Rachel Griffiths.
Griffiths has directed two shorts, Roundabout and Tulip and this will be her first feature – providing the money can be raised.
Australian producer Louise Smith was reluctant to provide details of the project precisely because it is yet to be financed. The current draft of the script is being written by Samantha Stauss, co-creator of the series Dance Academy.
B Model is included in a list of 18 features that Screen Australia has injected a total of Us$500,000 worth of development money into in the last four months.
One of the...
Now that it is likely to be set up as a UK/Australian co-production, prolific UK producer Kevin Loader (In the Loop, Hyde Park on Hudson, Le Week-End) has become part of the team behind the comedy drama B Model, to be directed by actor Rachel Griffiths.
Griffiths has directed two shorts, Roundabout and Tulip and this will be her first feature – providing the money can be raised.
Australian producer Louise Smith was reluctant to provide details of the project precisely because it is yet to be financed. The current draft of the script is being written by Samantha Stauss, co-creator of the series Dance Academy.
B Model is included in a list of 18 features that Screen Australia has injected a total of Us$500,000 worth of development money into in the last four months.
One of the...
- 7/23/2014
- by Sandy.George@me.com (Sandy George)
- ScreenDaily
Screen Australia today announced nearly $535,000 in development funding for 18 features including projects set in Canada, inner-city Berlin, Mexico City, Vietnam, the Middle East and medieval England.
The genres range from family and musical to comedy, drama, thriller, sci-fi and action. The funding will support eight new projects as well as further assistance for 10 titles.
Through its Talent Escalator programs, the agency is placing three producers in professional posts to improve their direct industry experience and supporting short film director Nicholas Verso in the next stage of his professional development.
Screen Australia.s Head of Production Sally Caplan said, .In this round it is encouraging to see such a great range of Australian stories receive support from filmmakers at different levels, some with international creative partners and several with international focus.
"We are also pleased to be able to support emerging local talent with international placements that will increase our industry...
The genres range from family and musical to comedy, drama, thriller, sci-fi and action. The funding will support eight new projects as well as further assistance for 10 titles.
Through its Talent Escalator programs, the agency is placing three producers in professional posts to improve their direct industry experience and supporting short film director Nicholas Verso in the next stage of his professional development.
Screen Australia.s Head of Production Sally Caplan said, .In this round it is encouraging to see such a great range of Australian stories receive support from filmmakers at different levels, some with international creative partners and several with international focus.
"We are also pleased to be able to support emerging local talent with international placements that will increase our industry...
- 7/22/2014
- by Don Groves
- IF.com.au
The British film industry is to send its biggest ever delegation to the Bogota Audiovisual Market (Bam).
Producers, distributors and festival execs are among a 29-strong British delegation that will arrive in Colombia on Monday for the fifth Bogota Audiovisual Market (Bam) (July 14-18).
The UK is the guest country at this year’s Bam, attended by more than 1,000 delegates including 250 buyers from 20 countries, as Colombia aims to increase collaboration with the British film industry.
The ambition follows rapid growth within the Colombian film sector as a result of increased government support and incentives, with the country positioning itself as a production centre in the region that is keen to attract foreign shoots.
One of the delegation is Isabel Davis, head of international at the BFI, who said: “As Colombia steps up support for its local film industry, I’m looking forward to finding out what makes Colombian filmmakers and audiences tick, and what the...
Producers, distributors and festival execs are among a 29-strong British delegation that will arrive in Colombia on Monday for the fifth Bogota Audiovisual Market (Bam) (July 14-18).
The UK is the guest country at this year’s Bam, attended by more than 1,000 delegates including 250 buyers from 20 countries, as Colombia aims to increase collaboration with the British film industry.
The ambition follows rapid growth within the Colombian film sector as a result of increased government support and incentives, with the country positioning itself as a production centre in the region that is keen to attract foreign shoots.
One of the delegation is Isabel Davis, head of international at the BFI, who said: “As Colombia steps up support for its local film industry, I’m looking forward to finding out what makes Colombian filmmakers and audiences tick, and what the...
- 7/11/2014
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
This is a rare jewel of a movie. Le Week-End follows Nick and Meg, enacted brilliantly by Jim Broadbent and Lindsay Duncan, a British couple whose longtime marriage faces a turning point during a weekend in Paris. Directed judiciously by Roger Michell from an exquisite original screenplay by Hanif Kureishi, and photographed beautifully by Nathalie Durand, the film captures the nuances of a long-term relationship, the ups and downs, the easy asides and the sidelong glances, the heat of anger and the warmth of touch, the regrets and the resentments and the recriminations. It begins, comfortably enough, on a train but soon enough becomes awkward when Meg doesn't like the tiny hotel room Nick has secured for them. ("It's beige," she says, petulantly, and storms...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
- 7/10/2014
- Screen Anarchy
Our resident VOD expert tells you what's new to rent and own this week on the various streaming services such as cable Movies On Demand, Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, and, of course, Netflix. Cable Movies On Demand: Same-day-as-disc releases, older titles and pretheatrical exclusives for rent, priced from $3-$10, in 24- or 48-hour periods Bad Words (Jason Bateman-directed scabrous comedy; Jason Bateman, Kathryn Hahn, Rohan Chand, Allison Janney; rated R) Jodorowsky's Dune (documentary; Alejandro Jodorowsky, Michel Seydoux; rated PG-13) Le Week-End (romance; Lindsay Duncan, Jim Broadbent, Jeff Goldblum; rated R) The Raid 2 (highly stylized action sequel; Iko Uwais, Julie Estelle; rated R) Watermark (documentary about how water shapes humanity; rated PG...
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- 7/8/2014
- by Robert B. DeSalvo
- Movies.com
Updated 7/11: The giveaway has concluded, and the winner has been notified. Thanks to all who entered. As an antidote to blockbuster season in Hollywood, we have a Blu-ray copy of Le Week-End to give to one reader who is "in the know."The film, which is available today -- Tuesday, July 8 -- on Blu-ray, DVD, and VOD from Music Box Films, stars Jim Broadbent and Lindsay Duncan. Here's the official synopsis: Arriving in Paris for the first time since their honeymoon in an attempt to rekindle their 30-year marriage, British college philosophy professor Nick (Jim Broadbent) and schoolteacher Meg (Lindsay Duncan) get off to a rocky start in a cheap and depressing lodge. Moving into a swankier hotel with view of the Eiffel Tower sets them off...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
- 7/8/2014
- Screen Anarchy
Moviefone's Top DVD of the Week
"Jodorowsky's Dune"
What's It About? Cult filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky's vision for a "Dune" movie was beyond remarkable; it was truly epic. Pink Floyd, H. R. Giger, and Mick Jagger were just a few of the names attached to the film - until it imploded. This is a documentary about a sci-fi film that was ahead of its time and the visionary behind it.
Why We're In: Tons of interviews, behind-the-scenes details, storyboards, and more make this a must-see for art house, midnight movie, and film history fiends.
Moviefone's Top Blu-ray of the Week
"Point Blank"
What's It About? Lee Marvin and Angie Dickinson star in this cool crime drama about a thief who's out for revenge on the dude who double-crossed him. Mel Gibson's "Payback" was based on the same novel, "The Hunter" by Donald E. Westlake, but that shouldn't deter you.
"Jodorowsky's Dune"
What's It About? Cult filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky's vision for a "Dune" movie was beyond remarkable; it was truly epic. Pink Floyd, H. R. Giger, and Mick Jagger were just a few of the names attached to the film - until it imploded. This is a documentary about a sci-fi film that was ahead of its time and the visionary behind it.
Why We're In: Tons of interviews, behind-the-scenes details, storyboards, and more make this a must-see for art house, midnight movie, and film history fiends.
Moviefone's Top Blu-ray of the Week
"Point Blank"
What's It About? Lee Marvin and Angie Dickinson star in this cool crime drama about a thief who's out for revenge on the dude who double-crossed him. Mel Gibson's "Payback" was based on the same novel, "The Hunter" by Donald E. Westlake, but that shouldn't deter you.
- 7/7/2014
- by Jenni Miller
- Moviefone
Part romantic caper-comedy, part brutal exploration of a 30-year marriage, Le Week-End uses an endearing sense of mischief to balance life's satisfying highs and crushing lows.
The film stars Lindsay Duncan and Jim Broadbent as Meg and Nick, a British couple celebrating their anniversary in Paris, the site of their honeymoon decades earlier. Though their children are now adults and they should be approaching those golden years of retirement and relaxation, both are wrecked with uncertainty and worry about money, aging and who they are -- in their own eyes and in the eyes of the other.
Nick has grown clingy around Meg and fears being alone. He's also been keeping a secret from her about the state of his career and seems to be on the verge of a full-on existential crisis. Not too far off, Meg is filled with dissatisfaction but doesn't know what to do to make herself happy.
The film stars Lindsay Duncan and Jim Broadbent as Meg and Nick, a British couple celebrating their anniversary in Paris, the site of their honeymoon decades earlier. Though their children are now adults and they should be approaching those golden years of retirement and relaxation, both are wrecked with uncertainty and worry about money, aging and who they are -- in their own eyes and in the eyes of the other.
Nick has grown clingy around Meg and fears being alone. He's also been keeping a secret from her about the state of his career and seems to be on the verge of a full-on existential crisis. Not too far off, Meg is filled with dissatisfaction but doesn't know what to do to make herself happy.
- 4/3/2014
- by Caitlin Moore
- Slackerwood
A marvelous little unpacking of the meaning of happiness, precisely what constitutes it, and how to know whether you’ve found it. I’m “biast” (pro): nothing
I’m “biast” (con): nothing
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
Nick (Jim Broadbent: Closed Circuit) and Meg (Lindsay Duncan: About Time) have been married a long time. We’re not sure how long, as Le Week-end opens with them on the train from London to Paris for a getaway, but the practiced ease of their togetherness, all reflexive sniping and easy intimacy, is plain. You know these people… but you don’t see them in movies often. Apart from the simple pleasure of spending cinematic time with intriguing yet realistic people exploring the conundrums of life in an engaging and sympathetic way, we have here the pleasure of seeing a couple of fresh, funny 60somethings having little...
I’m “biast” (con): nothing
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
Nick (Jim Broadbent: Closed Circuit) and Meg (Lindsay Duncan: About Time) have been married a long time. We’re not sure how long, as Le Week-end opens with them on the train from London to Paris for a getaway, but the practiced ease of their togetherness, all reflexive sniping and easy intimacy, is plain. You know these people… but you don’t see them in movies often. Apart from the simple pleasure of spending cinematic time with intriguing yet realistic people exploring the conundrums of life in an engaging and sympathetic way, we have here the pleasure of seeing a couple of fresh, funny 60somethings having little...
- 4/2/2014
- by MaryAnn Johanson
- www.flickfilosopher.com
Film, television and theater director Roger Michell has signed with Wme, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. He previously was with CAA. Michell directed Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant in the 1999 romantic classic Notting Hill. He began his career helming BBC series in his native Britain, winning a BAFTA for the 1995 telepic adaptation of Jane Austen's Persuasion. The filmmaker most recently directed the dramedy Le Week-End, which received its world premiere at Toronto last year and later earned acting wins for stars Lindsay Duncan and Jim Broadbent, as well as a Best Film nomination for Michell at the
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- 4/1/2014
- by Rebecca Sun
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Review by Kathleen Kaiser
Director Roger Michell, who brought us such films as Notting Hill, Changing Lanes and Morning Glory, takes us along for a “joy ride” of sorts with his new film – Le Week-end.
As we meet Meg (Lindsay Duncan) and Nick (Jim Broadbent), they are attempting to rekindle their relationship and save their marriage by returning to the ambiance and breathtaking beauty of gay Paris’. Having honeymooned there, they are both consumed by the notion that once back in Paris’, they can reconnect and their lives will return to the way they used to be…..
It seems that while incredibly excited about their travels, the idiosyncrasies that each have over-looked for many years, seem to be exacerbated in their new surroundings. Meg’s love of the “good life” is being tested, as Nick tries to stay on budget with their accommodations, sending her over the edge. As Meg...
Director Roger Michell, who brought us such films as Notting Hill, Changing Lanes and Morning Glory, takes us along for a “joy ride” of sorts with his new film – Le Week-end.
As we meet Meg (Lindsay Duncan) and Nick (Jim Broadbent), they are attempting to rekindle their relationship and save their marriage by returning to the ambiance and breathtaking beauty of gay Paris’. Having honeymooned there, they are both consumed by the notion that once back in Paris’, they can reconnect and their lives will return to the way they used to be…..
It seems that while incredibly excited about their travels, the idiosyncrasies that each have over-looked for many years, seem to be exacerbated in their new surroundings. Meg’s love of the “good life” is being tested, as Nick tries to stay on budget with their accommodations, sending her over the edge. As Meg...
- 3/28/2014
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Roger Michell’s Le Week-End is a far darker and less conventional film than its twee, Notting Hill name-dropping advertisements suggest. Its depiction of a bickering older couple stuck together on a perfunctory second honeymoon is hardly another indie grab for the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel crowd to once again sightsee vicariously through British screen veterans. Rather, the couple’s failure to connect is presented as an existential crisis borne by their inability to overcome one another’s revisited insecurities and tics. Their disconnection is a reluctantly accepted marker of dwindling self worth in the face of a life run embarrassingly short of its rich potential. Jim Broadbent‘s Nick at one point dances alone to Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone” around the lavish Parisian suite he can’t afford, earbud cords bopping atop his undershirt while he sips on minibar whiskey. Abruptly, he stops. A former ‘60s radical, Nick...
- 3/26/2014
- by Landon Palmer
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
If you have a proclivity for the smaller, indie films, then you won’t want to miss Le Week-end. This charming film opens at the Plaza Frontenac Cinema in St. Louis this Friday, March 28th.
Academy Award winner Jim Broadbent (Iris, Topsy-turvy, Another Year) and Lindsay Duncan (About Time, Alice In Wonderland, Mansfield Park) give exquisite performances as Nick and Meg, a long-married British couple revisiting Paris for the first time since their honeymoon in an attempt to rekindle their relationship.
During a two-day escapade, diffident, wistful Nick and demanding, take-charge Meg careen from harmony to disharmony to resignation and back again as they take stock of half a lifetime of deep tenderness – and even deeper regret. A surprise invitation from Nick’s old friend Morgan (Jeff Goldblum), an amusingly boorish American academic with a fancy Parisian address, soon leads them to an unexpectedly hopeful vision of what their love and marriage might still become.
Academy Award winner Jim Broadbent (Iris, Topsy-turvy, Another Year) and Lindsay Duncan (About Time, Alice In Wonderland, Mansfield Park) give exquisite performances as Nick and Meg, a long-married British couple revisiting Paris for the first time since their honeymoon in an attempt to rekindle their relationship.
During a two-day escapade, diffident, wistful Nick and demanding, take-charge Meg careen from harmony to disharmony to resignation and back again as they take stock of half a lifetime of deep tenderness – and even deeper regret. A surprise invitation from Nick’s old friend Morgan (Jeff Goldblum), an amusingly boorish American academic with a fancy Parisian address, soon leads them to an unexpectedly hopeful vision of what their love and marriage might still become.
- 3/24/2014
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
“Love dies” Meg (Lindsay Duncan) exclaims after being accused of unfaithfulness by her husband of 30 years Nick (Jim Broadbent), who replies: “Only if you kill it” And who would know more about the longevity or expiration date of such powerful sentiment than a couple who knows each other to the most minimal pet peeves and still can be surprised, often negatively, by the other’s behaviors. Spending the weekend in the City of Love could either provoke a reassuring sense that they still need to be together or be a catalyst for the conclusion of their relationship. This is the premise of the elegantly funny and often-meditative Le Week-End directed by Roger Michell and written by Hanif Kureishi in what is the creators’ fourth collaboration.
As soon as the pair sets foot in Paris the bittersweet banter between the two exposes the crumbling state of their marriage. The trip’s purpose is to celebrate their anniversary, and in an effort to relive the magic Nick books a room in the same hotel as the first time they were there. Displeased by the establishment’s redecoration Meg refuses to stay there and recklessly decides on a luxurious suite they can’t afford. Nick gives in to keep his moody wife happy, but such splendid accommodations might simply not be enough. In a storytelling style that inevitably resembles Linklater’s “Before” trilogy, they walk along the Parisians streets looking for the perfect restaurants while dishing out their fears and aspirations that seem fading with the passing of time and the monotony of daily life.
Sex is out of the question despite Nick’s constant efforts. On the other hand, at times Meg appears certain on her resolution to get a divorce before submitting to the evident affection she still feels for her gray-haired husband. There is a strange kind of love here, but is tinted with the accumulating lost battles they both have endured and the uncertainty of what the future can still hold for them. Are they too old to change? Are they together because they are used to it and fear a new beginning? They are both teachers with greater unfulfilled artistic dreams, and in turn such regret becomes exponentially important as they look back at their journey together with profound melancholy and quiet sympathy. Nick and Meg would be lost without one another, and can’t figure out if this merits to be called love or if it's mutual pity.
In the midst of all their anxieties and feuds throughout the weekend, they run into one of Nick’s old friends, Morgan (Jeff Goldblum), a charismatic successful writer. His intellectual circle of friends will serve as added conflict-arousing device in the already complex failed romantic getaway. Lindsay Duncan is fantastic as the feisty, almost bipolar, woman who still wants more out of life and will settle for nothing less than ecstasy regardless of her partner’s shortcomings. Meg is selfish, dominating, and yet deeply insecure, the veteran actress plays her with outstanding nuance. Duncan’s character is so overpowering that it would seem she overshadows Broadbent, but it is thanks to the actor’s on point passiveness that they both can showcase their skills by means of a delicately written screenplay.
Michell and Kureishi have never set out to make spectacular films. They focus on crafting layered characters and then implanting those traits into the perfect actors to let the screenplay and the setting speak for themselves. This decaying love story that unfolds over a couple days in Paris is soothing, subtly comedic, and exquisitely put together. Le Week-End, like the finest wines, gets its strengths for the slow-simmered flavors developed by age, wisdom, and trial and error, which once in a while deliver the perfect combination of serendipitous luck and great ingredients. It is also – like wine- a labor of love.
As soon as the pair sets foot in Paris the bittersweet banter between the two exposes the crumbling state of their marriage. The trip’s purpose is to celebrate their anniversary, and in an effort to relive the magic Nick books a room in the same hotel as the first time they were there. Displeased by the establishment’s redecoration Meg refuses to stay there and recklessly decides on a luxurious suite they can’t afford. Nick gives in to keep his moody wife happy, but such splendid accommodations might simply not be enough. In a storytelling style that inevitably resembles Linklater’s “Before” trilogy, they walk along the Parisians streets looking for the perfect restaurants while dishing out their fears and aspirations that seem fading with the passing of time and the monotony of daily life.
Sex is out of the question despite Nick’s constant efforts. On the other hand, at times Meg appears certain on her resolution to get a divorce before submitting to the evident affection she still feels for her gray-haired husband. There is a strange kind of love here, but is tinted with the accumulating lost battles they both have endured and the uncertainty of what the future can still hold for them. Are they too old to change? Are they together because they are used to it and fear a new beginning? They are both teachers with greater unfulfilled artistic dreams, and in turn such regret becomes exponentially important as they look back at their journey together with profound melancholy and quiet sympathy. Nick and Meg would be lost without one another, and can’t figure out if this merits to be called love or if it's mutual pity.
In the midst of all their anxieties and feuds throughout the weekend, they run into one of Nick’s old friends, Morgan (Jeff Goldblum), a charismatic successful writer. His intellectual circle of friends will serve as added conflict-arousing device in the already complex failed romantic getaway. Lindsay Duncan is fantastic as the feisty, almost bipolar, woman who still wants more out of life and will settle for nothing less than ecstasy regardless of her partner’s shortcomings. Meg is selfish, dominating, and yet deeply insecure, the veteran actress plays her with outstanding nuance. Duncan’s character is so overpowering that it would seem she overshadows Broadbent, but it is thanks to the actor’s on point passiveness that they both can showcase their skills by means of a delicately written screenplay.
Michell and Kureishi have never set out to make spectacular films. They focus on crafting layered characters and then implanting those traits into the perfect actors to let the screenplay and the setting speak for themselves. This decaying love story that unfolds over a couple days in Paris is soothing, subtly comedic, and exquisitely put together. Le Week-End, like the finest wines, gets its strengths for the slow-simmered flavors developed by age, wisdom, and trial and error, which once in a while deliver the perfect combination of serendipitous luck and great ingredients. It is also – like wine- a labor of love.
- 3/15/2014
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Sydney's Buzz
Caught somewhere between the dialogue-rich, European snapshots of Richard Linklater’s Before trilogy and the deep humanism and leisurely beats of a Mike Leigh drama, Le Week-End is a splendid, albeit salty look at two septuagenarians spending a few days in Paris to mark their 30th anniversary. The man is Nick Burrows (Jim Broadbent), a weary college professor recently sacked from his teaching post. The woman is Meg (Lindsay Duncan), who wants to retreat from her dogged husband and find her own freedom. The couple ventures through the City of Love over three days of happiness and misery, as we wonder how their love will end up – faded away or reinvigorated?
Nick is still deeply in love with Meg, who has aged gracefully and has not lost the vigor or figure of a much younger woman. She knows that she controls him with an icy grip and that he will...
Nick is still deeply in love with Meg, who has aged gracefully and has not lost the vigor or figure of a much younger woman. She knows that she controls him with an icy grip and that he will...
- 3/15/2014
- by Jordan Adler
- We Got This Covered
For aging, married academics Nick (Jim Broadbent) and Meg (Lindsay Duncan), romance doesn’t come so easy anymore in Roger Michell’s wise and often very funny anti-rom-com Le Week-end. They jet off to Paris to recapture some of the spirit of their initial honeymoon 30 years before. But the trip is miserable from the start. She refuses to stay in the hotel from the honeymoon, sickened by its beige paint job. They check into a place far too expensive for their budget and enjoy the view of the Eiffel Tower, but little magic is rekindled with Meg, who is especially uninterested […]...
- 3/15/2014
- by Brandon Harris
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
For aging, married academics Nick (Jim Broadbent) and Meg (Lindsay Duncan), romance doesn’t come so easy anymore in Roger Michell’s wise and often very funny anti-rom-com Le Week-end. They jet off to Paris to recapture some of the spirit of their initial honeymoon 30 years before. But the trip is miserable from the start. She refuses to stay in the hotel from the honeymoon, sickened by its beige paint job. They check into a place far too expensive for their budget and enjoy the view of the Eiffel Tower, but little magic is rekindled with Meg, who is especially uninterested […]...
- 3/15/2014
- by Brandon Harris
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Le Week-End is a marital disintegration–reintegration drama that opens with a dose of frost and vinegar and turns believably sweet—and unbelievably marvelous, in light of what had seemed a depressing trajectory. Jim Broadbent and Lindsay Duncan play an aging, not-affluent British couple grabbing a fast weekend in Paris. Their tatty hotel appalls her so much she impulsively checks into a luxury one—which appalls her husband, who has yet to reveal he was forced to resign his professorship over a run-in with a student. He would like to touch her, but she quivers with displeasure when he tries. (“I’m a phobic object,” he concludes.) The not-so-sub subtext is that love doesn’t last. She sees his weakness and inability to get out of himself and truly care for her; he sees a still-beautiful woman who’s moving beyond his grasp.Hanif Kureishi wrote it, Roger Michell directed...
- 3/13/2014
- by David Edelstein
- Vulture
This weekend, your best bet is to steer clear of "Need for Speed" and seek out a few indies instead. The critics have spoken, and "Breaking Bad" star Aaron Paul's first mainstream theatrical vehicle, based on the wildly popular video game racing franchise, has no wheels. So instead, why not catch not one, but two hunky Jake Gyllenhaals in Denis Villeneuve's moody "Enemy," director Jason Bateman's "Bad Words," the long-awaited "Veronica Mars" movie, or even some sweet old folks in "Le Week-End"? Trailers below.With fest-circuit hit "Le Week-End," Brit director Roger Michell ("Notting Hill") returns to his home turf after several limp Hollywood outings ("Morning Glory," "Hyde Park on Hudson"). He directs writer Hanif Kureishi's sharp, acutely observed romantic comedy about a 60ish couple (Jim Broadbent and Lindsay Duncan) hoping to liven up their marriage with an anniversary celebration in Paris, where they honeymooned 30 years before.
- 3/12/2014
- by Anne Thompson and Ryan Lattanzio
- Thompson on Hollywood
Meant to Be Spent Alone: Michell’s Latest a Welcome Return to Quality Filmmaking
After a pair of mainstream Us misfires, South African born director Roger Michell returns to the UK for his latest film, Le Week-End, a portrait of a married heterosexual couple after thirty years of marriage that is as moving as it is engaging and astute. Enhanced by a pair of performances from a melancholy Jim Broadbent and an incredibly prickly yet gloriously acerbic Lindsay Duncan, Michell once again utilizes the strengths of screenwriter Hanif Kureishi and creates a visual journey out of what is, mostly, a sparring of contradictory wills through a series of well written dialogues. Though best known for his 1999 Julia Roberts/Hugh Grant starrer, Notting Hill, his latest ranks with his other top tier titles like The Mother and Venus.
Deciding to celebrate their 30th anniversary in Paris, university professor Nick (Broadbent) and...
After a pair of mainstream Us misfires, South African born director Roger Michell returns to the UK for his latest film, Le Week-End, a portrait of a married heterosexual couple after thirty years of marriage that is as moving as it is engaging and astute. Enhanced by a pair of performances from a melancholy Jim Broadbent and an incredibly prickly yet gloriously acerbic Lindsay Duncan, Michell once again utilizes the strengths of screenwriter Hanif Kureishi and creates a visual journey out of what is, mostly, a sparring of contradictory wills through a series of well written dialogues. Though best known for his 1999 Julia Roberts/Hugh Grant starrer, Notting Hill, his latest ranks with his other top tier titles like The Mother and Venus.
Deciding to celebrate their 30th anniversary in Paris, university professor Nick (Broadbent) and...
- 3/12/2014
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
New Release
Enemy
R, 1 Hr., 30 Mins.
Fans of the surreal brainteasers of mid-period Cronenberg and Lynch will dig Denis Villeneuve’s puzzle-box thriller starring Jake Gyllenhaal as a professor who discovers his doppelgänger and falls down a psychological rabbit hole. The film is long on mood and mystery. It also just feels long. Still, its Wtf ending is so insane you’ll forgive almost anything. B —Chris Nashawaty
New Release
The Art of the Steal
R, 1 Hr., 30 Mins.
You could say that Kurt Russell, as the ringleader of a robbery of priceless religious texts, is jaunty and appealing. You could...
Enemy
R, 1 Hr., 30 Mins.
Fans of the surreal brainteasers of mid-period Cronenberg and Lynch will dig Denis Villeneuve’s puzzle-box thriller starring Jake Gyllenhaal as a professor who discovers his doppelgänger and falls down a psychological rabbit hole. The film is long on mood and mystery. It also just feels long. Still, its Wtf ending is so insane you’ll forgive almost anything. B —Chris Nashawaty
New Release
The Art of the Steal
R, 1 Hr., 30 Mins.
You could say that Kurt Russell, as the ringleader of a robbery of priceless religious texts, is jaunty and appealing. You could...
- 3/12/2014
- by EW staff
- EW - Inside Movies
The great insight in director Roger Michell's fourth collaboration with writer Hanif Kureishi is its vision of Paris as an arena equally amenable to romantic comedy and sulking tragedy.
Thus the City of Lights becomes a proving ground in Le Week-End, where Jim Broadbent and Lindsay Duncan play an aging middle-class British couple quarreling away their anniversary, running the relationship through all manner of weapons-testing.
Soon enough arrives the potential doomsday machine of Jeff Goldblum, in a fine display of Goldblumage, as the Broadbent character's eccentric and comparatively well-off Cambridge classmate. As articulated by these savvy players, the intimate scenario exemplifies what a recent Guardian profile of Kureishi described as "a characterist...
Thus the City of Lights becomes a proving ground in Le Week-End, where Jim Broadbent and Lindsay Duncan play an aging middle-class British couple quarreling away their anniversary, running the relationship through all manner of weapons-testing.
Soon enough arrives the potential doomsday machine of Jeff Goldblum, in a fine display of Goldblumage, as the Broadbent character's eccentric and comparatively well-off Cambridge classmate. As articulated by these savvy players, the intimate scenario exemplifies what a recent Guardian profile of Kureishi described as "a characterist...
- 3/12/2014
- Village Voice
It is the August of their lives, and elderly couple Nick (Jim Broadbent) and Meg (Lindsay Duncan) are absolutely lost. They’re attempting to go on holiday, during what we’re to imagine is one of the quietest moments in their shared life. The abrasiveness of Meg’s jokes suggests that things were never going well between the two, but they were at least “going.” Now, in one of the harsher exchanges of “Le Week-End,” Meg considers Nick’s hugs to make her feel like she’s being “arrested.” He humors her because, why shouldn’t he? Nick doesn’t have to say anything, but Broadbent’s eyes are enough to convey that this woman is all he has. Roger Michell’s new film gains traction by observing Broadbent’s hangdog features. No one in contemporary film conveys quite as much sadness as Broadbent does when he looks up, his...
- 3/11/2014
- by Gabe Toro
- The Playlist
Welcome, beloved guest-to-be. Upon your check-in to The Grand Budapest Hotel on Friday, you might meet a very important attorney that goes by the name of Deputy Kovacs, who is played by Jeff Goldblum in Wes Anderson’s new caper about friendship, honor, and promises fulfilled. This week, Wamg and a few members of the press sat down (in a roundtable discussion) with Goldblum to talk about the working with Anderson, upcoming projects, and memes. Check it out below!
The Grand Budapest Hotel recounts the adventures of Gustave H, a legendary concierge at a famous European hotel between the wars; and Zero Moustafa, the lobby boy who becomes his most trusted friend. The story involves the theft and recovery of a priceless Renaissance painting; a raging battle for an enormous family fortune; a desperate chase on motorcycles, trains, sleds, and skis; and the sweetest confection of a love affair — all...
The Grand Budapest Hotel recounts the adventures of Gustave H, a legendary concierge at a famous European hotel between the wars; and Zero Moustafa, the lobby boy who becomes his most trusted friend. The story involves the theft and recovery of a priceless Renaissance painting; a raging battle for an enormous family fortune; a desperate chase on motorcycles, trains, sleds, and skis; and the sweetest confection of a love affair — all...
- 3/6/2014
- by Melissa Howland
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
★★★☆☆ Upholding the current vogue of films both targeted at an older tier of cinemagoers and depicting the romantic ups and downs of characters in their autumn years, Le Week-End (2013) sees director Roger Michell teaming up once more with screenwriter Hanif Kureishi for another witty and jaggedly charming gander at identity and the processes of maturing somewhat gracefully. Two of their previous collaborations have focused on older characters reaching something of an impasse - from Anne Reid's impassioned grandmother in The Mother (2003) to the late Peter O'Toole's twinkly-eyed pensioner in Venus (2006).
- 2/24/2014
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
John Jarratt.s serial killer Mick Taylor squared off against Mark Wahlberg, Taylor Kitsch, Eric Bana and Emile Hirsch as Navy SEALs in Afghanistan in Australian cinemas last weekend.
Wolf Creek 2 was the victor over Lone Survivor, but not by a huge margin. Greg Mclean.s horror movie inspired by the Ivan Milat backpacker murders rang up $1.68 million, and $1.7 million with previews.
A sizable hit in the Us, the Peter Berg-directed Lone Survivor raked in $1.48 million, $1.53 million with sneaks. It will be fascinating to see where these two male-skewed films finish up, considering Lone Survivor.s takings trailed the Australian film on Thursday, Friday and Saturday but overtook it on Sunday.
The first Wolf Creek pulled in $1.23 million in its opening in 2005 and ended up with $6.1 million, an unusually strong multiple of five times the first weekend.
Overall it was a dreary weekend as nationwide grosses slumped by 19% to $9.9 million.
Wolf Creek 2 was the victor over Lone Survivor, but not by a huge margin. Greg Mclean.s horror movie inspired by the Ivan Milat backpacker murders rang up $1.68 million, and $1.7 million with previews.
A sizable hit in the Us, the Peter Berg-directed Lone Survivor raked in $1.48 million, $1.53 million with sneaks. It will be fascinating to see where these two male-skewed films finish up, considering Lone Survivor.s takings trailed the Australian film on Thursday, Friday and Saturday but overtook it on Sunday.
The first Wolf Creek pulled in $1.23 million in its opening in 2005 and ended up with $6.1 million, an unusually strong multiple of five times the first weekend.
Overall it was a dreary weekend as nationwide grosses slumped by 19% to $9.9 million.
- 2/24/2014
- by Inside Film Correspondent
- IF.com.au
Le Week-end Music Box Films Director: Roger Michell Screenplay: Hanif Kureishi Cast: Jim Broadbent, Lindsay Duncan, Jeff Goldblum Screened at: Review 1, NYC, 2/19/14 Opens: March 14, 2014 When you see people who have just come back from a vacation, you ask, “How was your trip?” Did you ever hear someone say, “Ok, I guess, but there were so many hassles—customs, overcharges, bad weather, generally miserable time come to think of it.” Not a chance. “Great time, fabulous weather, can’t wait to go back.” After seeing Roger Michell’s “Le Weekend,” his fourth collaboration with scripter Hanif Kureishi, you’ll be discussing the weekend holiday taken by Nick Burrows (Jim Broadbent) and [ Read More ]
The post Le Week-End Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post Le Week-End Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 2/20/2014
- by Harvey Karten
- ShockYa
Submarine Entertainment just sold the rights for "Watchers of the Sky" to Music Box Films. Edet Belzberg's documentary about the life of lawyer Raphael Lemkin premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. Belzberg stated, "I'm honored to have such notable partners to help bring the film's important story of courage and perseverance to audiences around the world." "'Watchers of the Sky' is... a story replete with ticking clocks, heinous villains, the collusion of apathy, intrepid heroes, provisional victories and ultimately a clear-eyed but hopeful sense of human progress" said Ed Arentz and William Schopf of Music Box Films. "These narrative threads are brilliantly orchestrated by Edet Belzberg and we expect Us audiences, including Academy voters, to be as rapt and moved as we were." Upcoming titles from Music Box Films include Roger Michell's "Le Week-end" starring Jim Broadbent, and five-time Academy Award nominee Jan Troell’s "The Last Sentence.
- 2/11/2014
- by Taylor Lindsay
- Indiewire
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