News

James Nesbitt & Matt Willis Board Netflix’s Next Harlan Coben Series

Further cast has been unveiled for Netflix’s next Harlan Coben adaptation from Nicola Shindler’s Quay Street. James Nesbitt (Stay Close, Bloodlands) and Love Is Blind host and former Busted singer Matt Jay-Willis have joined previously-announced Rosalind Eleazar, Jessica Plummer, Richard Armitage, Ashley Walters, Lenny Henry and Steve Pemberton in Missing You, which comes off the back of the smash success of Coben’s Fool Me Once. The series, which was revealed by Deadline several months back, follows Detective Kat Donovan (Eleazar), whose fiancé Josh disappeared and hasn’t been heard from since. Now, swiping profiles on a dating app, she suddenly sees his face and her world explodes all over again. Stay Close scribe Coben’s Netflix deal has proved lucrative for the streamer and he is working on another show, Run Away. In keeping with previous Coben adaptations,...

Ed Sheeran made a surprise appearance at London’s O2 to join Busted for a performance of their 2004 hit “Who’s David.” The English pop-punk group, who is currently on their 20th anniversary tour with Hanson as support, invited Sheeran onstage midway through their set, where he joined in on vocals and guitar.

Busted also joined forces with Hanson for “MMMBop” and “Sleeping With The Light On” during the show. Earlier this year the two bands released a new version of “MMMBop,” Hanson’s ’90s single, titled “MMMBop 2.0.”

Sheeran has...

Exclusive: Amazon’s Audible, The Man in the High Castle producer Big Light Productions and Vespucci have teamed up to develop a slate of podcasts with a scripted series starring Game of Thrones’ Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as one of its first projects.

Coster-Waldau will star in Mask of Sanity, a serial killer story based on a true story from Bulgarian journalist, Dimiter Kenarov.

Mask of Sanity, which Coster-Waldau will co-produce via his Ill Kippers Productions banner, with producing partner and series writer Joe Derrick, follows the story of a journalist reporting on a serial killer, but with a secret of his own. Ill Kippers’ Vice President Jeffrey Chassen will also serve as co-producer.

The series will be joined by Killer Book Club, a documentary true crime thriller exploring the much-covered case of British private school teacher and novelist Peter Farquhar who was murdered by church warden Benjamin Field, his much younger lover and former student.

Italian horror from the early 1960s covers a wide range of quality, from eerie hauntings to tacky vampire romps. For one of his first major credits, ace giallo scribe Ernesto Gastaldi cooks up Lycanthropus, a murder mystery in which the savage slashing is committed by a drooling maniac with a hairy face, wild eyes and saber-toothed fangs. You saw the poster out front, kid — do you think it might be … a werewolf? Director Paolo Heusch’s thriller is no classic, but neither is it stupid — and the original Italian language option on this disc reveals good work by a spirited cast. Dreamy Polish starlet Barbara Lass is a much more assertive, independent female than what we expect from conventional Italo horror fare.

Werewolf in a Girls’ Dormitory

(Lycanthropus)

Blu-ray

Severin Films

1961 / B&w / 1:66 widescreen / 85 min. / Street Date November 12, 2019 / 34.98

Starring: Barbara Lass (Kwiatkowska), Carl Schell, Curt Lowens, Maurice Marsac, Luciano Pigozzi,...

Unicef UK Ambassadors and High Profile Supporters Rita Ora, Sir Chris Hoy, Martin Bell and Emma Willis led this week’s fantastical turn out for Unicef UK’s ‘Twisted Tales’ Halloween Ball raising £435,054 to support Unicef’s life-saving work for children in danger around the world.

The bold and the beautiful descended on London’s Banqueting House for a Halloween experience like no other, with an interactive “twisted tales” themed champagne reception, a Beauty and the Feast dinner, and stellar performances from Brit-award-winning Neneh Cherry and Unicef UK supporter Rita Ora.

Dinner guests heard from Unicef UK Ambassador Sir Chris Hoy about the vital work made possible by generous donations to Unicef, and guests pledged their support at a money-can’t-buy auction – with lots including a starring role in David Walliams’ new book, an exclusive visit to the set of The Crown with Unicef UK supporter Olivia Colman, and...

Lewis Milestone’s poetic character study of an infantry landing in Italy gives us a full dozen non-cliché portraits of men in war, featuring a dramatic dream team of interesting character actors. Dana Andrews was the only big star in the cast, joined by hopefuls Richard Conte, Lloyd Bridges and John Ireland; the standout crew includes Sterling Holloway, Norman Lloyd, Steve Brodie and Huntz Hall.

A Walk in the Sun

DVD

The Sprocket Vault / Kit Parker Films

1945 / B&W / 1:37 Academy / 117 min. / Restored Collector’s Edition / Street Date ?, 2017 / available through The Sprocket Vault / 14.99

Starring: Richard Conte, George Tyne, John Ireland, Lloyd Bridges, Sterling Holloway, Norman Lloyd Dana Andrews, Herbert Rudley, Richard Benedict, Huntz Hall, James Cardwell, Steve Brodie, Matt Willis, Chris Drake, John Kellogg, Robert Horton, Burgess Meredith.

Cinematography: Russell Harlan

Film Editor: Duncan Mansfield

Original Music: Fredric Efrem Rich; ‘The Ballads’ sung by : Kenneth Spencer

Written by: Robert...