Focus News 31st Jan-6th Feb
The biggest movie news headlines of the week.
Awards season grows ever closer and this week saw the reveal of the nominations for one of the biggest award shows of the year, The Golden Globes. Not only the Globes but also the SAG awards revealed their list of nominees. In television both award shows highlighted The Mandalorian, Ozark, The Queen's Gambit and The Undoing, among others, but it's film that we're here to discuss, and we will discuss it later.
The passing of Christopher Plummer, age 91
Every now and then, the world is unexpectedly shook by the passing of another true icon. And this week, the passing of Christopher Plummer left people reflecting on his auspicious career. Most will know him for his memorable performance as Baron Von Trapp in The Sound of Music, in which his dulcet tones filled our ears as he gently sang Edelweiss and his stern but loving character introduced most of the world to his incredible talent. But his final decade has been just as full of brilliant performances. Most notable of which is the 2018 film Knives Out in which he played Harlan Thrombey, the head of the family who's death is the subject of the film's events. With other noteworthy performances in A Beautiful Mind, Beginners and Up, amongst many others, he will be truly missed, and always remembered. As Captain Von Trapp said, "Activity suggests a life filled with purpose." and the 88 roles he's expertly portrayed on screen show us that his life truly was filled with purpose, a purpose to entertain and inspire. Rest in peace, Christopher Plummer.
Jon M. Chu is Defying Gravity
Jon M. Chu, the director of critically acclaimed film Crazy Rich Asians and magic sequel Now you see me 2 has signed on to direct his next film: a movie adaptation of the award-winning hit musical Wicked. There has been no news on casting yet but with Idina Menzzel most iconically portraying the wicked witch, it would be great to see her don the hat and cloak for the silver screen.
Jon M. Chu is an incredibly talented director, it will be interesting to see what happens once he's got his hands on this one.
Wait...hasn't Cloverfield had a sequel?
Don't worry, you haven't gone mad, we have stepped into the world of Cloverfield since the original 2008 film directed by Matt Reeves! And that was in the form of 10 Cloverfield Lane and The Cloverfield Paradox which took place in the same world as the original story just with entirely different characters, stories and locations.
It has been announced this week however that Cloverfield is finally getting a direct sequel with JJ Abrams back to produce the film. However, the rumour is that original director Matt Reeves will not be back for the project. What will this mean for the film? Who will sit in the directing chair? And where can the plot possibly go? Only time will tell.
Tom Holland: Into the Spider-Verse
This week Peter Parker himself Tom Holland has come out and said his bit in anticipation for the next instalment to the MCU's canon of Spider-Man films. When speaking to Variety this week, he said: "I can say that it's the most ambitious superhero movie ever made. You sit down, you read the script, and see what they're trying to do, and they're succeeding. It's really impressive. I've never seen a standalone superhero movie quite like it."
I may be running away with myself here, but after sightings of Alfred Molina, Tobey Maguire and now Willem Dafoe reportedly spotted on set, you'd assume that the ambition that Holland talks about above can only be referring to the merging of all of these Spider-Man universes. If that is the case, then it really is ambitious. Let's just hope it pays off.
The Golden Globe nominations 2021
The Golden Globes dropped their nominations this week and it's possibly the strangest lineup the show has seen in many years. In any normal year would films such as the Borat sequel or The Prom have been nominated in arguably one of the two biggest awards of the night? But a lack of releases in the past 12 months has forced those usually unappreciated films to gain some recollection.
However, the biggest take-away from the nominations reveal was the fact that three incredible female directors have been nominated for best director. The Best Director award has previously nominated only five women over the award ceremony's 77-year history. It is truly groundbreaking and quite frankly about time, that female directors gain the same amount of respect as male directors have in the past, especially this year when the three films nominated directed by Regina King, Chloé Zhao and Emerald Fennell, are set to make history in their own right.
But the big film awards can now be discussed, and some of those most prestigious award nominations are:
Best Motion Picture - Drama
The Father
Mank
Nomadland
Promising Young Woman
The Trial of the Chicago 7
Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Hamilton
Music
Palm Springs
The Prom
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama
Riz Ahmed - Sound of Metal
Chadwick Boseman - Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Anthony Hopkins - The Father
Gary Oldman - Mank
Tahar Rahim - The Mauritanian
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama
Viola Davis - Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Andra Day - The United States Vs. Billie Holiday
Vanessa Kirby - Pieces of a Woman
Frances McDormand - Nomadland
Carey Mulligan - Promising Young Woman
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
Sacha Baron Cohen - Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
James Corden - The Prom
Lin-Manuel Miranda - Hamilton
Dev Patel - The Personal History of David Copperfield
Andy Samberg - The Prom
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Music or Comedy
Maria Bakalova - Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Kate Hudson - Music
Michelle Pfeiffer - French Exit
Rosamund Pike - I care a lot
Anya Taylor-Joy - Emma
Best Director - Motion Picture
Emerald Fennell - Promising Young Woman
David Fincher - Mank
Regina King - One Night in Miami
Aaron Sorkin - The Trial of the Chicago 7
Chloé Zhao - Nomadland
Biggest films released this week
News of the World | 10th February | Netflix
The Map of Tiny Little Things | 12th February | Amazon Prime
Promising Young Woman | 12th February | PVOD