Coming Soon
Out this week:
* Albums
- The Ride by Nelly Furtado: Sixth album by the Canadian singer, the follow-up to 2012’s The Spirit Indestructible; includes the singles ‘Pipe Dreams’ and ‘Flatline’.
- Also out this week: Bob Dylan’s thirty eighth album Triplicate, which features covers of classic songs; Automaton, the eighth release by jazz funk band Jamiroquai; electronic duo Goldfrapp’s seventh album, Silver Eye; and Mental Illness, the ninth album by singer-songwriter Aimee Mann.
* Movies
- The Boss Baby (with the voices of Miles Christopher Bakshi, Tobey Maguire, Alec Baldwin) - animation, based on Marla Frazee’s 2010 picture book; a baby (Baldwin) works as a secret agent in the war between babies and puppies.
- Ghost in the Shell (starring Scarlett Johansson, Takeshi Kitano, Michael Pitt) - action, based on the Japanese manga by Masamune Shirow; a human-cyborg hybrid (Johansson) must stop dangerous criminals.
- The Blackcoat’s Daughter (starring Emma Roberts, Kiernan Shipka) - thriller; after getting left behind at their boarding school over winter break, two girls must battle a mysterious evil force.
Celeb Tweets
- Courtney Love Cobain (Courtney): I sing rock ‘n’ roll because punching people is frowned upon.
- Kumail Nanjiani (kumailn): If our current political situation was a TV show, I’d be like “Too many characters and subplots.”
- Ricky Gervais (rickygervais): Only a moron would take this tweet personally.
Spotlight
Beauty and the Beast
Cast: Emma Watson, Dan Stevens, Luke Evans, Kevin Kline, Josh Gad, Ewan McGregor, Stanley Tucci, Audra McDonald, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Ian McKellen, Emma Thompson
Director: Bill Condon
Tagline: Experience the tale as old as time.
- Fantasy; a prince (Stevens), cursed by a sorceress to become a beast, imprisons a woman (Watson) - who is being pursued by a narcissistic hunter (Evans) - in his enchanted castle.
- Remake of Disney’s 1991 animated film which was an adaptation of Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont’s eighteenth century fairy tale.
- Had a budget of $160 million; has made nearly $700 million in its first few weeks.
- Has received mixed to positive reviews, with critics praising the graceful execution, although its premise - a woman falling in love with her captor - has been deemed unhealthy and problematic.
- Ryan Gosling was offered the male lead role in this film, but turned it down to be in La La Land (2016). Emma Watson was considered for the lead female role in La La Land but was eventually passed over reportedly for being too demanding.
- Score composed by Alan Menken.
Star
Ewan Gordon McGregor
- Born on 31st March 1971 in Perth, Scotland.
- Parents were both teachers.
- Has an older brother, Colin.
- Started pursuing acting in his teens.
- Made his screen debut in the television series Lipstick on Your Collar (1993).
- Gained some recognition for his performed in the film Shallow Grave (1994) before getting his international breakthrough in the acclaimed Trainspotting (1996).
- Has since starred in movies including Moulin Rouge! (2001), Black Hawk Down (2001), Angels and Demons (2009), Salmon Fishing in the Yemen (2011), August: Osage County (2013), Beauty and the Beast (2017), T2 Trainspotting (2017), and the Star Wars prequel trilogy (1999 - 2005).
- Is set to appear in the third season of TV drama Fargo (2017).
- Has been married to production designer Eve Mavrakis since 1995. They have four daughters, one of whom is adopted from Mongolia.
- Enjoys riding motorbikes. Has undertaken marathon international motorcycle trips which have formed the basis of the television series Long Way Round (2004) and Long Way Down (2007).
Also born today: Kate Micucci, Angus Young, Rhea Perlman, Al Gore, Christopher Walken