Bits & Pieces: A Somewhat Festive Edition

14th December 2017

We get sent a lot of film treats here at BRWC, so here’s a place we can share them with you. They’ll be clips, trailers, images and posters, links and all sorts. Enjoy.

To celebrate the release of STRONGER, we have a brand new clip. The film stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Tatiana Maslany, Miranda Richardson and Clancy Brown. STRONGER is out in UK cinemas now. Based on the true story from the New York Times best seller, Jake Gyllenhaal stars as the working-class Boston man whose iconic photo from the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing captured the hearts of the world. Stronger is the deeply personal account of the heroic journey that came after that photo – defining a man’s inner courage, a community’s pride, a family’s bond and an unexpectedly tenacious love.

Brett Haley, critically acclaimed director of I’ll See You In My Dreams, returns with THE HERO, a bittersweet, sharply observed exploration of ageing. With an impressive cast that includes Sam Elliot (The Big Lebowski, Tombstone), Nick Offerman (The Founder, Parks & Recreation), Laura Prepon (Orange Is The New Black, The Girl on The Train) and Krysten Ritter (Jessica Jones, Breaking Bad), THE HERO will be released on digital download on 8th January 2018, and on DVD 29th January 2018. Lee Hayden (Elliott) is a Western movie icon with a golden voice, but his best performances are decades behind him. He spends his days reliving old glories and smoking too much weed with his former co-star-turned-dealer, Jeremy (Offerman), until a surprise cancer diagnosis brings his priorities into sharp focus. He soon strikes up an exciting, contentious relationship with stand-up comic, Charlotte (Prepon), and he attempts to reconnect with his estranged daughter, Lucy (Ritter), all while searching for one final role to cement his legacy.

Jacob Harlon (Coster-Waldau), a successful financier, is sent to jail after a drink driving accident. In order to survive the cutthroat prison environment, he joins the Ayran Brotherhood prison gang. Upon release, Harlon is a changed man, and must placate his no-nonsense parole agent, and an LA County sheriff, at the same time as repaying the debt to the gang who looked after him inside, who want him to arrange an illegal arms deal. He has to comply if he wants to keep his family safe from vengeance.

Rosa Salazar stars as Alita, a cyborg with a forgotten past, found and brought back to life by cyber-doctor Ido (Christoph Waltz). Based on the manga series by Yukito Kishiro, ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL also stars Keean Johnson, Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali and Jackie Earle Haley and showcases the talents of WETA Workshop. ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL will arrive in UK cinemas JULY 20, 2018.

The film is set in 2045, with the world on the brink of chaos and collapse. But the people have found salvation in the OASIS, an expansive virtual reality universe created by the brilliant and eccentric James Halliday (Mark Rylance). When Halliday dies, he leaves his immense fortune to the first person to find a digital Easter egg he has hidden somewhere in the OASIS, sparking a contest that grips the entire world. When an unlikely young hero named Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan) decides to join the contest, he is hurled into a breakneck, reality-bending treasure hunt through a fantastical universe of mystery, discovery and danger.

An unprecedented look at the iconic shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock’s PSYCHO, the ‘Man behind the Curtain’, and the screen murder that profoundly changed the course of world cinema. 78/52 references the number of set-ups (78) and the number of cuts (52) in the shower scene from Alfred Hitchcock’s PSYCHO. One entire week out of the four weeks scheduled to shoot PSYCHO — a full quarter of the film’s production schedule — was dedicated to the infamous shower scene.

The Crown, a Netflix original series, tells the inside story of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign, as the fragile social order established after the Second World War breaks apart. Based on the award-winning play, The Audience, the series reunites creator/writer Peter Morgan (The Queen, Frost/Nixon) with director Stephen Daldry (Billy Elliot, The Hours) and producer Andy Harries (The Queen). Beginning with soldiers in Her Majesty’s Armed Forces fighting an illegal war in Egypt, and ending with the downfall of her third Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan after a devastating scandal, the second season bears witness to the end of the age of deference, and ushers in the revolutionary era of the 1960s. The Crown continues to chronicle the major political and global events that have defined and shaped the second half of the twentieth century – a series that is unprecedented in its scale, ambition and creative vision.

Will Smith and Joel Edgerton take on a world of evil in the streets of Los Angeles for their highly-anticipated Netflix Original film, Bright, directed by the Suicide Squad and Training Day’s David Ayer. Bright captures the story of two LAPD police officers played by Smith (Officer Ward) and Edgerton (Officer Jakoby) fighting off orks, fairies and one atomic blonde elf played by Noomi Rapace (Leila) to save the fantastical world as they know it. The unlikely pair must put aside their differences to protect Los Angeles from the lurking sinister forces of the underworld.

Sound the siren! the critically acclaimed, internationally award-winning Driving While Black, from filmmaker Paul Sapiano, opens in theaters February 1. Based on the real life experiences of writer and lead actor Dominique Purdy, this arresting new comedy explores Purdy’s real life experiences growing up as a person of color in LA and his run ins with police. With 32 film festival wins to date, and an ever-increasing online fanbase, Driving While Black is shaping up to be one of the most anticipated comedy releases of 2018.

Check out Marvel’s THE PUNISHER Season 2 Announcement on Facebook.

SONG OF GRANITE revolves around the life of the great traditional Irish singer, Joe Heaney. The harsh landscape combined with the myths, fables and songs of his Connemara childhood helped shape this complex and fascinating character. Enigmatic and complex, Heaney’s devotion to his art came at a huge personal cost. Joe Heaney was born just outside of Carna in 1919. From an early age, he was fascinated by the stories and music around him, ‘drinking (them) from the bottle when (he) was in the cradle”. By the time of his death in Seattle in May 1984, he was widely recognized as one of the most important figures in Irish traditional music, having won fans and admirers from every part of the globe and most particularly from the folk music scene in the United States. Joe’s life was also remarkably complex, challenging traditions with his way of life. Utilizing documentary evidence, recreations and more abstract scenes that attempt to reveal the inner workings of Heaney’s psyche, Pat Collins has shaped a cinematic exploration of Heaney’s life and his music, tracing his strange, tragic and often inspiring journey from rural Connemara through Glasgow and eventually to New York City – but not always in that order.

Based on Louisa May Alcott’s universally beloved novel, LITTLE WOMEN, is a new three-part series, adapted by award-winning creator of Call the Midwife Heidi Thomas and directed by Vanessa Caswill. Set against the backdrop of a country divided, the story follows the four March sisters: Jo (Maya Hawke), Meg (Willa Fitzgerald), Beth (Annes Elwy), and Amy (Kathryn Newton) on their journey from childhood to adulthood while their father (Dylan Baker) is away at war. Under the guidance of their mother Marmee (Emily Watson), the girls navigate what it means to be a young woman: from gender roles to sibling rivalry, first love, loss and marriage. Accompanied by the charming boy next door Laurie Laurence (Jonah Hauer-King), their cantankerous wealthy Aunt March (Angela Lansbury) and benevolent neighbour Mr. Laurence (Michael Gambon), LITTLE WOMEN is a coming of age story that is as relevant and engaging today as it was on its original publication in 1868.

When her best friend gets engaged and moves out of their apartment, Chelsea is left with more than an empty room. In her increasingly frustrating search to find a new roommate, Chelsea realizes that her life may not be shaping up the way she pictured it.

That’s your lot for now, more soon enough.

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