Coming Soon
Out this week
Albums
- Nation of Two by Vance Joy: The Australian singer’s second album; comes after his 2014 debut Dream Your Life Away; includes the singles ‘Lay It on Me’, ‘Like Gold’, ‘We're Going Home’, ‘Saturday Sun’, and ‘Call If You Need Me’.
* Movies
- Game Night (starring Jason Bateman, Rachel McAdams, Kyle Chandler, Billy Magnussen) – comedy; a group of friends who regularly meet for game night find themselves investigating an actual murder mystery.
- Annihilation (starring Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gina Rodriguez, Oscar Isaac) – fantasy, based on Jeff VanderMeer’s 2014 novel; after only one solider (Isaac) returns alive but badly injured from an environmental disaster zone, his wife (Portman) volunteers for another expedition into the zone to find out what happened.
Awards
71st British Academy Film Awards Winners:
- Best Film: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
- Director: Guillermo del Toro – The Shape of Water
- Actor in a Leading Role: Gary Oldman – Darkest Hour
- Actress in a Leading Role: Frances McDormand – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
- Actor in a Supporting Role: Sam Rockwell – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
- Actress in a Supporting Role: Allison Janney – I, Tonya
- Original Screenplay: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
- Adapted Screenplay: Call Me by Your Name
- Cinematography: Blade Runner 2049
- Documentary: I Am Not Your Negro
- Original Music: The Shape of Water
- Sound: Dunkirk
- Animated Film: Coco
- EE Rising Star Award: Daniel Kaluuya
- Outstanding British Film: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
For the full list of winners, visit bafta.org/film/awards/ee-british-academy-film-awards-in-2018
Spotlight
Maze Runner: The Death Cure
Cast: Dylan O'Brien, Kaya Scodelario, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Nathalie Emmanuel, Giancarlo Esposito, Aidan Gillen, Walton Goggins, Ki Hong Lee, Barry Pepper, Will Poulter, Patricia Clarkson
Director: Wes Ball
Tagline: The end will be WCKD.
- Sci-fi action; those immune from the Flare virus embark on a mission to find a cure for the deadly infection.
- Is based on James Dashner’s novel The Death Cure.
- Is the third and final instalment in the Maze Runner film series, and the sequel to Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015).
- Had a budget of $62 million; has made almost $260 million in around a month.
- Has received mixed to negative reviews from critics, who found the film flat and dull.
- While making the movie, O'Brien was injured on set and hospitalized in March 2016; production was shut down indefinitely while he recovered. Was originally scheduled to be released in February 2017 but was rescheduled for January 2018 because of O'Brien's injuries.
- Score composed by John Paesano.
Star
Aziz Ismail Ansari
- Born on 23rd February 1983 in Columbia, South Carolina, U.S.
- Is of Tamil Muslim heritage but describes himself as “not religious”.
- Has a brother, Aniz.
- Graduated from the New York University Stern School of Business with a major in marketing.
- Started his career performing stand-up comedy.
- Gained notice in mid-2000s before getting his big break after being cast in Parks and Recreation (2009 – 2015).
- Subsequently created the Netflix series Master of None (2015 – present) that earned him several awards; his real-life parents, Shoukath and Fatima Ansari, play his parents on the show.
- Wrote a book, Modern Romance: An Investigation (2015), with sociologist Eric Klinenberg.
Also born today: Dakota Fanning, Emily Blunt, Josh Gad, Niecy Nash, Peter Fonda