Coming Soon
Out this week
* Albums
- Always Ascending by Franz Ferdinand: The Scottish rock band’s fifth album; comes after 2013’s Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action; includes the songs ‘Feel the Love Go’ and ‘Lazy Boy’.
- Little Dark Age by MGMT: Fourth album by the American rock band; follows 2013’s self-titled MGMT; includes the singles ‘When You Die’ and ‘Hand It Over’.
* Movies
- Peter Rabbit (starring Domhnall Gleeson, Rose Byrne, Sam Neill, James Corden, Daisy Ridley, Margot Robbie) – comedy, based on the character created by Beatrix Potter; the mischievous Peter Rabbit (Corden) feuds with a farmer’s (Gleeson) family as the latter tries to get rid of the former.
- Fifty Shades Freed (starring Dakota Johnson, Jamie Dornan) – based on E. L. James’ novel, sequel to Fifty Shades Darker (2017); the newlywed Ana (Johnson) and Christian (Dornan) must deal with their past.
- The 15:17 to Paris (Spencer Stone, Anthony Sadler, Alek Skarlatos) – biographical thriller; three American friends (Stone, Sadler, Skarlatos as themselves) confront a terrorist abroad a train to Paris.
Celeb Tweets
- Bill Maher (billmaher): This Nunes memo is not an intelligence document. It’s a Facebook post you’d briefly skim before clicking 'unfriend.'
- Mindy Kaling (mindykaling): The menu for my Super Bowl get-together is so good it will make up for not knowing anything about the teams and talking loudly through the entire game.
SPOTLIGHT
The Greatest Showman
Cast: Hugh Jackman, Zac Efron, Michelle Williams, Rebecca Ferguson, Zendaya
Director: Michael Gracey
- Musical drama; a financially struggling man (Jackman) creates a show starring "freaks" that becomes a sensation.
- Based on the real life story of P. T. Barnum.
- Had a budget of $84 million; has made $264 million in around 6 weeks.
- Has received mixed to negative reviews from critics who found it flashy but shallow and clichéd.
- Is Efron’s fifth musical.
- Anne Hathaway was sought for the role of singer Jenny Lind but reportedly passed on the part; the role eventually went to Rebecca Ferguson.
- Score by John Debney and Joseph Trapanese. The musical numbers performed in the film were written by La La Land lyricists Benj Pasek and Justin Paul.
Star
Thomas William Hiddleston
- Born on 9th February 1981 in Westminster, London, U.K.
- Has an older sister, Sarah, who is a journalist, and younger sister, Emma, who is an actress.
- Parents divorced when he was 12.
- Went to Pembroke College at the University of Cambridge before studying acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, graduating in 2005.
- Started appearing in television dramas before getting his first film role in Unrelated (2006).
- Gained global fame after being cast as Loki in the Marvel Cinematic Universe; has appeared in the films Thor (2011), The Avengers (2012), Thor: The Dark World (2013), and Thor: Ragnarok (2017).
- Has also appeared in the films War Horse (2011), The Deep Blue Sea (2011), Midnight in Paris (2011), I Saw the Light (2015), and Kong: Skull Island (2017).
- Won praise for his role in the British television limited series The Night Manager (2016).
- Is also an acclaimed theatre actor.
- Upcoming movies include Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and an untitled Avengers film (2019).
- Is a UK ambassador of UNICEF.