News

It's your bi-weekly blend of tasty new releases on DVD/Blu-Ray and the ever shifting entrees from streaming services. I'm totally depressed about the state of the world today as we head to another round of catastrophic primaries tomorrow but let's jump right in.

Newish On DVD/Bluray

• Alvin & Chipmunks 4 - a sure sign of the apocalypse

• The Big Short - about the financial apocalypse

• Brooklyn - wonderful escape from awfulness of everything

• Carol - masterpiece. hope it survives the fires

• Grease: Live! -nobody will be doing the handjive in hell

• In the Heart of the Sea - we are all Chris Hemsworth, deluding ourselves

• Macbeth -that damn spot will never come out, lady!

• The Peanuts Movie - tfw you're Charlie Brown

• Sisters - the sinkhole is a metaphor

• Victor Frankenstein - again?

• Game of Thrones S5 - everyone dies

• Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt S1 - that bunker is looking smart right about now.

The upcoming reboot of "The Crow" franchise has not had much luck in terms of a leading man to take on the iconic role.

Luke Evans was originally slated to play Eric Draven in the film and was attached for two years before dropping out due to scheduling conflicts. He was soon replaced with "Boardwalk Empire" scene stealer Jack Huston in the part and things looked good.

Then Huston abruptly dropped out as well, and the project still has yet to lock down a new star though Nicholas Hoult and Jack O'Connell have been mentioned as possibilities. Appearing at Comic Con last weekend to talk "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies," Collider spoke with Huston about his departure and what happened:

"I was so excited about it. I was so sad. I had a great relationship with everyone. Luckily that's all fine. It's a scheduling thing. It was just a scheduling conflict.

And another one's gone: this time, Jack Huston has dropped out of the lead role in The Crow reboot...

Whoever's in charge of casting on the new movie of The Crow has, we'd suspect, had easier jobs. When the project was first mooted, there was talk of Bradley Cooper taking on the lead role (made famous on the big screen, of course, by the late Brandon Lee). But then when Cooper ultimately passed (not that he ever committed, to be fair), Luke Evans signed up to take the part on. Evans hinted he was quitting The Crow at the end of last year, and did indeed walk away from the movie. And with actors such as Tom Hiddleston linked, it was eventually Boardwalk Empire's Jack Huston who agreed to take the lead role on.

Fast forward to now, and The Crow needs a new Crow again. Huston has exited the project,...

Try as they might, Relativity Studios just can't make "The Crow" happen. Originally slated to be directed by Juan Carlos Frensadillo, the past couple of years have seen a slew of names both realistic and improbable rumored for the gothy lead role, such as Bradley Cooper, James McAvoy, Tom Hiddleston, Alexander Skarsgard and Norman Reedus. Luke Evans was attached for a hot minute before baliing, but this year things seemed to get moving. "Boardwalk Empire" star Jack Huston signed up, the movie got a new director in Corin Hardy, Andrea Riseborough took on a villainous role, and Forest Whitaker is even negotiating for a part. But there's a new snag. Variety reports that with pre-production apparently underway, Huston has had to exit the film over scheduling issues. Apparently, Nicholas Hoult (currently filming "X-Men: Apocalypse") and Jack O'Connell are being eyed as possible replacements. However, it's not clear if those two are the only names on.

The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association (Galeca) has announced the winners of the annual Dorian Awards! Richard Linklater's "Boyhood" took the top honor of Film of the Year. But in a surprising turn of events, Ava DuVernay beat Linklater for her stellar work in "Selma!" Way to go!

Galeca is comprised of over 110 movie and TV critics nationwide, including yours truly, and is one of the few critics associations awarding the year's best in both film and TV.

George Takei took home the Timeless star tribute because, well, he's just pure and simply timeless! This award is given to .an actor or performer whose exemplary career is marked by character, wisdom and wit.. And we all can agree that Takei takes the cake!

A private Winners Toast will be held on Sunday, March 1, in Hollywood.

Here's the complete list of winners (highlighted) and nominees of the 2015 Dorian...

The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association (Galeca), of which I'm a proud voting member, released the nominees for the 2015 Dorian Awards! Among the Film of the Year contenders are "The Imitation Game," "Pride," "The Grand Budapest Hotel," "Birdman," and "Boyhood."

Galeca also gives love to TV including Music Video of the Year! And this year, the Timeless Award goes to the timeless and witty George Takei.

Here's the complete list of nominees of the 2015 Dorian Awards. Winners will be announced Tuesday, January 20th!

Film of the Year

Birdman - Fox Searchlight

Boyhood - Sundance Selects/IFC

The Grand Budapest Hotel - Fox Searchlight

The Imitation Game - The Weinstein Company

Pride - CBS Films

Film Performance of the Year - Actor

Steve Carell, Foxcatcher - Sony Pictures Classics

Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game - The Weinstein Company

Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler - Open Road

Michael Keaton, Birdman - Fox Searchlight

Eddie Redmayne,...

The nominees for the Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association's Dorian Awards have been unveiled, and on the film side, "Birdman" again leads the way with four nominations. "Gone Girl," "The Grand Budapest Hotel," "The Imitation Game" and "Pride" each landed three, filling out the best picture slate along with "Boyhood." On the TV side, HBO's "The Normal Heart" dominated, also with four mentions. Check out the full list of nominees below. Winners will be announced on Jan. 20. Check out the rest of the season's offerings at The Circuit. Film of the Year "Birdman" "Boyhood" "The Grand Budapest Hotel" "The Imitation Game" "Pride" Film Director of the Year Wes Anderson, "The Grand Budapest Hotel" Ava DuVernay, "Selma" David Fincher, "Gone Girl" Alejandro González Iñárritu, "Birdman" Richard Linklater, "Boyhood" Film Performance of the Year - Actor Steve Carell, "Foxcatcher" Benedict Cumberbatch, "The Imitation Game" Jake Gyllenhaal, "Nightcrawler" Micahel Keaton, "Birdman" Eddie Redmayne,...

The Imitation Game

The Imitation Game and Gone Girl were the big winners at this year's Hollywood Film Awards in Los Angeles, the first big event in the awards calendar and the place where Oscar-related speculation begins. Despite a distracting turn from a drunken Johnny Depp, the stars were smiling at a show that boded well for British talent, with Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley and Jack O'Connell all receiving praise for their acting.

Those awards in full:-

Best Film

Gone Girl

Best Director

Morten Tyldum, The Imitation Game

Best Actor

Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game

Best Actress

Julianne Moore, Still Alice

Best Supporting Actress

Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game

Best Supporting Actor

Robert Duvall, The Judge

Ensemble Award

Steve Carell, Mark Ruffalo, Channing Tatum, Foxcatcher

Breakout Performance Actress

Shailene Woodley, The Fault In Our Stars

Breakout Performance Actor

Eddie Redmayne, The Theory Of Everything

Breakthrough Director

Jean-Marc Vallée, Wild

New...

The conversation around "Birdman" has shifted a little bit since early raves out of the Venice and Telluride film festivals. Maybe as expected, a number of writers are taking umbrage with a certain critic depiction in the film. Some reviews go so far as to read like performance art based on that depiction. Nevertheless, there was always going to be a bend in that road, and I'm fine with that. But I want to talk about something else. I want to talk about how Michael Keaton deserves the Oscar for Best Actor walking away. No, I haven't seen performances from guys like David Oyelowo, Oscar Isaac, Bradley Cooper and Jack O'Connell, which lurk on the season's horizon. So the statement is what it is, one made without all the requisite info. But if you're asking me, I'm telling you: no one is likely to own a role or the screen with more authority this year.

Director: John Slattery; Screenwriter Alex Metcalf, John Slattery; Starring: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Christina Hendricks, Richard Jenkins, Caleb Landry Jones, Jack O'Connell; Running time: 88 mins; Certificate: 15

Given how fresh the pain of Philip Seymour Hoffman's passing still feels, it's perhaps a relief that gloomy tragicomedy God's Pocket – which marks one of his final roles – never engages seriously with the reality of death. The sight of Hoffman's downtrodden Mickey lugging his stepson's corpse from the morgue, making an ill-fated attempt to prop it upright along the way, embodies both the film's notion of morbid black humour and its somewhat lacking execution.

Making his feature directing debut after cutting his teeth on several episodes of Mad Men, John Slattery smartly casts his co-star Christina Hendricks as grieving mother Jeanie, whose arc becomes the emotional touchstone in the otherwise dispassionate proceedings. She's the only one in her tight-knit blue-collar community shedding a tear...

At this point, it seems like virtually every young person in Hollywood has tried out (and been passed over, seemingly) for "Star Wars: Episode VII." The sequel, which might be the single most anticipated movie since "Star Wars: Episode I," starts filming soon, so the pressure is on to align the right stars for this particular galaxy. After Jesse Plemmons was said to be meeting with director J.J. Abrams shortly, The Hollywood Reporter has a trio of new names to add to the potential list: Michael Fassbender, Adam Driver ("Girls" and "Inside Llewyn Davis"), and Hugo Weaving.

Keep in mind that these actors join a laundry list of stars that now includes Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael B. Jordan, Jack O'Connell, Alex Pettyfer, Saoirse Ronan, and Sullivan Stapleton, plus, undoubtedly, countless others that didn't get leaked or theorized on. As to which of these actors will actually make the final cut,...

David Bowie, Alan Partridge, Broadchurch and the Arctic Monkeys are among the nominations for the South Bank Sky Arts Awards 2014.

Today's shortlist, which celebrates the best of British culture and achievement across visual art, theatre, opera, dance, comedy, classical music, pop, TV drama, literature and film, also includes nods for The Selfish Giant, Steve Coogan's Philomena and BBC Two dramas The Fall and Top of the Lake.

Melvyn Bragg will host the awards on Monday, January 27 at the Dorchester Hotel in London.

"Once again, the list of nominees for the South Bank Sky Arts Awards shows that the UK arts landscape is as vibrant as ever," said Bragg.

"It's vital to honour the excellence of artists, performers, musicians and authors especially at this time, and we're very glad that we can do this."

Sir Peter Blake, the co-creator of The Beatles' Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album sleeve,...

It looks like Garrett Hedlund is becoming the next Coen Brothers player. Sort of. The actor features in their funny, lovely and melancholy "Inside Llewyn Davis," and in case you forgot, the sibling duo have also taken their pen to Angelina Jolie's next directorial effort "Unbroken." Do you see where this is going? Well, if you didn't figure it out, Hedlund is boarding the WWII drama. Based on the book by Lauren Hillebrand, the film tells the true story of Louis Zamperini, a former Olympian who endured medical experiments, slave labor, and brutal beatings as a Japanese Pow during WWII. He became the target of one sadistic guard in particular, Mutsuhiro Watanabe, whose goal it was to break Zamperini. He endured his harsh punishment right though until the end of the war, but later suffered terrifying nightmares and alcoholism, but on the verge of losing everything, he found God and forgave his captors.

The second part of Cook's story in "Rise" is able to stay true to the character and provide him with a fitting conclusion, although the buildup to the final moments is notably less focused or coherent than last week's excellent establishing episode. Jack O'Connell is, once again, tremendous in the role. His performance very effectively conveys Cook's internal struggle, as the young man swings between the more mature presence that he's grown to be and the reckless boy he once was.Here, Cook is on the run and trying to protect both his girlfriend Emma and the alluring but manipulative Charlie from the wrath of her boyfriend, Louie, his dangerously unhinged employer. The episode again opens with Cook's voiceover, as he considers the effect that death...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

No, it's not Brad Pitt.

Angelina Jolie is set to direct the WWII survival epic "Unbroken," the true story of Air Force pilot Lou Zamperini, who crashed in the Pacific and endured 47 days without food or water, only to become a Japanese prisoner of war for two years. According to Variety, relative unknown Jack O'Connell (below) has been tapped to star as Zamperini -- with the studio veering away from established stars like Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Joseph Gordon-Levitt for budget reasons.

"I've had the privilege of spending a great deal of time with Louie Zamperini, who is a hero of mine, and now -- I am proud to say -- a dear friend," said Jolie. "I am deeply honored to be telling his extraordinary story, and I will do my absolute best to give him the film he deserves. I am grateful to Universal for making this film a priority.

Angelina Jolie is stepping behind the camera for her next movie, directing the upcoming film "Unbroken." It was announced Wednesday that "Unbroken" will hit theaters on Dec. 25, 2014.

Jolie, who made her directorial debut with 2011's "In The Land Of Blood And Honey," will lead the adaptation of Laura Hillenbrand's non-fiction book of the same name. "Unbroken" tells the story of Louis Zamperini, an Olympic athlete who spent years as a Pow during World War II.

“I’ve had the privilege of spending a great deal of time with Louie Zamperini, who is a hero of mine, and now—I am proud to say—a dear friend,” Jolie said in a statement, Deadline.com reports. “I am deeply honored to be telling his extraordinary story, and I will do my absolute best to give him the film he deserve.”

The story was originally intended to be adapted by Francis Lawrence...

While there are still not enough good roles for women out there, particularly in mainstream Hollywood, that hasn't stopped a batch of young female stars from exploding from out of nowhere in recent years. Head-turning performances have helped launch faces like Carey Mulligan, Mia Wasikowska, Emma Stone, Jennifer Lawrence, Felicity Jones and many others into the stratosphere, and the success last weekend of "The Hunger Games" has hopefully put to rest the fallacy that huge audiences won't turn up to big movies carried by a woman.

With that in mind, and hot on the heels of our ten picks for actors on the rise yesterday, we've chosen ten actresses who, while yet to be household names, have wowed audiences and casting directors in recent years, and look like strong contenders to headline the big movies of the future. Check our picks our below, and weigh in with your own tips in the comment section.

A lavish new BBC drama about the aftermath of Manchester United's tragic Munich air disaster was seen by 3.2m on Sunday evening, the latest audience data has revealed. United, starring Jack O'Connell, David Tennant and Dougray Scott, averaged 2.89m (12.8%) for BBC Two between 9pm and 10.30pm, while 346k (1.5%) tuned in on the BBC HD channel. Channel 4's The Hotel, a new docusoap from the makers of One Born Every Minute, continued with 1.39m (6.1%) in the 8pm hour, down 650k on the previous week's debut episode. A further 219k (1.9%) watched the show on +1. On BBC One, Britain's Royal Weddings, a two-part mini-series presented by Sophie Raworth, concluded with 3.45m (14.6%) in the 9pm hour. It was preceded on the channel by Antiques Roadshow, which had 4.74m (20.7%). However, detective drama Lewis once more (more)...

Above: Clio Bernard's The Arbor.

An entirely subjective rundown of the 20+ most-anticipated British films scheduled to have their first public screenings between April 20th and December 31st 2010.

1. Robinson In Ruins (dir. Patrick Keiller)

To call Robinson In Ruins “long awaited” doesn’t quite cover it, given that 13 years have now elapsed since Patrick Keiller’s last release, Robinson In Space(1997). The latter, a quizzically unclassifiable hybrid of political-sociological essay-film and landscape documentary with fictional elements, was perhaps the finest British film of the 1990s.

Like its predecessor London (1994)—also a masterpiece—it featured narration by Paul Scofield. With Scofield now sadly gone to a “better place,” Keiller (who in the interim has been busy with a stack of non-film projects) has turned to Vanessa Redgrave to provide the voiceover for what is apparently a “record of a journey made around southern England in 2008.”

Among his key inspirations, the following quote...

• For the fifth year Screen International has put out their annual list of the next big things in UK Cinema. The UK Stars of Tomorrow is considered a major launching pad for fresh talent both in front and behind the camera. Past honorees include the wanted James McAvoy, the irresistible Emily Blunt, and the prince himself Ben Barnes. Unfortunately the only equivalent we have here in the states is the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards, but I digress. This year’s list features some 40 actors, directors, animators, writers and producers vying for industry glory. Four names I think you should keep an eye on: Carey MulliganAfter making her debut in Joe Wright's Pride & Prejudice, she will be seen in both Jim Sheridan's upcoming Brothers and alongside Christian Bale and Johnny Depp in Michael Mann's gangster flick Public Enemies – not bad! Christian McKayHe’ll be playing a young Orson Welles for Richard Linklater…

...