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Welcome to The B-Side! Here we talk about movie directors! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between.

Today we discuss Mike Leigh, one of our greatest living filmmakers. Born in England in 1943, Leigh remains an artist for the everyday person more than most. And this descriptor is quite reductive, as the writer/director’s aesthetic is deceivingly simple and incredibly effective. Our B-Sides are Life is Sweet, Career Girls, All or Nothing, and Peterloo. Our guest is Alex Heeney, Editor-in-Chief of The Seventh Row, co-author of Peterloo in Process, and host of the Seventh Row Podcast. They’ve covered several of Leigh’s films on the podcast, including Naked and Hard Truths.

Heeney also put together a short guide just for our listeners! It features a standout 2024 release that’s flown under the radar—with characters as rich...

Simon Mein, a stills photographer for over 30 years including on many Mike Leigh films, has died aged 68.

British photographer Mein died on Sunday, May 25.

Having studied sculpture at Exeter University then worked as an assistant to British photographer Antony Armstrong-Jones, Mein began working regularly as a stills photographer in the 1980s, on films including David Lean’s A Passage To India, Alex Cox’s Sid and Nancy and Peter Weir’s Dead Poets Society.

He began working with Leigh on 1990’s Life Is Sweet – the first of 12 features on which the duo collaborated, including Naked, Secrets & Lies, Mr. Turner...

While his reunion with “Secrets & Lies” star Marianne Jean-Baptiste for 2024’s “Hard Truths” may not have yielded the awards glory many were hoping for, Mike Leigh rides on, gearing up to start work on a new project shooting in 2025.

In a release obtained by IndieWire, it was announced Leigh will be reteaming with “Hard Truths” collaborators Bleecker Street, Cornerstone, StudioCanal, and U.K. financier Film4 on bringing the film to market. Desmar also joins the team as an equity financier, with Georgina Lowe producing on behalf of Leigh’s production shingle, Thin Man Films.

Plot details on the film are under wraps as it’s likely not even Leigh knows entirely what the film will be about. As is his practice, Leigh comes into a new work only with loose ideas and a cast of actors he’s interested in shaping those ideas with. Over the course of months-long rehearsals,...

Mike Leigh is getting behind the camera to break your heart all over again sometime this year. The acclaimed director has set his next project with longtime collaborator Bleecker Street, per Deadline. Not much else is known about the film as of this writing; it's currently going by the placeholder...

Jennifer Nettles is out as Farmer Wants a Wife host.

For two seasons, the Country singer has guided viewers as they watch romances bloom (and crumble).

Now, Nettles is moving on, and Fox has selected someone new to host the agrarian dating reality series.

Who will replace her? Someone who can relate to the premise of the show itself, actually.

Jennifer Nettles, winner of the Outstanding Original Song award for American Anthems: “Life is Sweet,” poses in the press room during the 50th Daytime Emmy Creative Arts and Lifestyle Awards at The Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites, Los Angeles on December 16, 2023. (Photo Credit: Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images) After two seasons, Jennifer Nettles is out as ‘Farmer Wants a Wife’ host

Farmer Wants a Wife will return for a third season.

Fox officially renewed the reality dating series, Variety reports. Season 3 will premiere on Thursday, March 20.

The third season will feature major changes — most conspicuously,...

Dick Pope, the veteran British cinematographer who worked on 11 movies with director Mike Leigh, has died Tuesday, the British Society of Cinematographers said in a statement. He was 77.

No cause of death was given, but Leigh told Indiewire that Pope had undergone “major heart surgery” before work began on Hard Truths, their last collaboration that premiered at the Toronto Film Festival last month.

Pope received Oscar nominations for his work on Leigh’s Mr Turner and the mystery The Illusionist by director Neil Burger. Pope and Leigh also worked together on movies like Life Is Sweet in 1990, Naked, Topsy-Turvey, Vera Drake and Secrets & Lies.

In a 2019 interview with Film Comment, Pope talked about his decades of work with Leigh, with a reference to their movie coming out at the time, Peterloo.

“It’s very difficult to take Peterloo out of all the other work we’ve done together, because...

Dick Pope, the veteran British cinematographer best known for his decades-long collaboration with legendary filmmaker Mike Leigh, has died. He was 77.

The British Society of Cinematographers confirmed the news Tuesday with a statement.

“It is with deepest sadness that we learn of the passing of our friend and colleague Dick Pope Bsc,” the statement read. “Dick had a reputation for being a wonderful collaborator and someone who was passionate about the art form of Cinematography. He was keen to embrace new technologies and ideas while also ensuring the skills and crafts of those that came before him weren’t lost. To this end, Dick would guest tutor at schools such as the National Film and Television School.”

Pope was born in Bromley, Kent in 1947. He began his trade as a documentary filmmaker, working on the British current affairs series World In Action. He moved into television drama in the early...

Richard Pope, the British cinematographer who worked extensively with Mike Leigh, has died at the age of 77.

Pope’s death was reported by the British Society of Cinematographers (Bsc) on Tuesday, October 22.

A message posted to the Bsc website read, “It is with deepest sadness that we learn of the passing of our friend and colleague Dick Pope Bsc.We pay tribute to our wonderful friend and colleague and out thoughts go out to his family especially his wife Pat at this difficult time.”

”On behalf of Mike, the team at Thin Man Films, and the cast and crew who...

British cinematographer Dick Pope, long-time collaborator of Mike Leigh, had died, it’s been announced. A very sad loss.

Some really awful news to wake up to this morning. Cinematographer Dick Pope has died at the age of 77. Ahead of the filming of what turned out to be his final movie, Hard Truths, Pope said he’d recently he’d undergone heart surgery.

Hard Truths – and it’s a superb film – has thus proven to be his final collaboration with writer/director Mike Leigh, and the pair have been at the heart of some of British cinema’s most notable films. They came together on 1990’s Life Is Sweet, and were regular collaborators from that point onwards.

Pope also, across a career that stretched nearly 50 years, worked with filmmakers such as Mike Newell, John Sayles, Gurinder Chadha, Christopher McQuarrie, Richard Linklater and Barry Levinson.

The news of his passing came...

Dick Pope, the legendary two-time Oscar nominated British cinematographer and longtime collaborator of auteur Mike Leigh, has died at the age of 77. News of Pope's passing was confirmed by the British Society of Cinematographers in a statement shared on their website earlier today.

"It is with deepest sadness that we learn of the passing of our friend and colleague Dick Pope Bsc," wrote the organisation in their post, which highlighted Pope's record three Camerimage Golden Frog wins as well as his achievement of the society's prestigious 'Cinematography in a Feature Film' award for his work on Mr. Turner. Continuing, the society also paid homage to their alumni's commitment to his craft and its furtherance, writing, "Dick had a reputation for being a wonderful collaborator and someone who was passionate about the artform of Cinematography. He was keen to embrace new technologies and ideas while also ensuring the skills and crafts...

Dick Pope is dead. The Oscar-nominated cinematographer best known for his 34-year collaboration with Mike Leigh was 77.

Pope's death was announced in a British Society of Cinematographers statement. "Dick had a reputation for being a wonderful collaborator and someone who was passionate about the artform of Cinematography," the Bsc wrote.

Dick Pope, the esteemed British cinematographer who received Academy Award nominations for his exquisite work on “The Illusionist” and Mike Leigh‘s “Mr. Turner,” has died at the age of 77. His death was confirmed by a publicist on his final film, Leigh’s “Hard Truths.”

“Hard Truths” producer Georgina Lowe shared the following statement: “On behalf of Mike, the team at Thin Man Films, and the cast and crew who worked regularly with Dick on our films for over 30 years, I wanted to say what a privilege it has been to have collaborated with him. His work, both with us, and on the eclectic collection of films he shot over his impressive career, was extraordinary. We have lost a friend and will miss him so much.”

Born in Bromley, Kent, in 1947, Pope became obsessed with still photography as a child and published some of his pictures in local papers as a teenager.

Richard Pope, the British cinematographer who collaborated with director Mike Leigh across his career and earned an Oscar nomination for his work lensing Leigh’s 2014 biopic “Mr. Turner,” died Tuesday in London. He was 77 years old.

Pope’s death was confirmed by the British Society of Cinematographers in a statement released Tuesday.

“It is with deepest sadness that we learn of the passing of our friend and colleague Dick Pope Bsc,” the organization wrote. “Dick had a reputation for being a wonderful collaborator and someone who was passionate about the artform of cinematography. He was keen to embrace new technologies and ideas while also ensuring the skills and crafts of those that came before him weren’t lost.”

Pope’s artistic partnership with Leigh, the most enduring of his career, began with the 1990 drama “Life Is Sweet.” The film marked Leigh’s third feature. Pope has served as cinematographer on...

Exclusive: Octogenerian Mike Leigh isn’t slowing down in terms of output. The acclaimed British filmmaker is currently enjoying strong notices for new film Hard Truths, which recently debuted at TIFF and is playing this week at the London Film Festival.

Leigh took part in a Deadline Contenders panel in London this morning during which he dismissed any talk of retirement and confirmed that he is planning to shoot another movie next year.

“We’re planning to make the next movie in 2025. We’re raising the money now.”

The seven-time Oscar nominee wouldn’t be drawn on the subject or creatives involved in the project but Leigh often works with a team including producer Georgina Lowe and DoP Dick Pope.

In a recent interview Leigh admitted that the filmmaking process has become more physically challenging: “It’s a challenge physically. My cinematographer, Dick Pope, who I’ve worked with ever since Life Is Sweet,...

Few filmmakers can electrify the mundane as convincingly as Mike Leigh, whose trademark style—broadly characterized by discreet pacing and stripped-back storylines—belies a meticulous narrative rigor. Born from a well-documented process of intense rehearsal and improvisation with a cadre of trusted actors, Leigh’s scripts are astonishingly precise in their character work, spinning knotty, elaborate webs of tension out of generally unremarkable scenarios, such as drinks with a co-worker, or a weekly driving lesson. Implicitly, the films demand close attention. Blink and you may miss someone baring their soul.

Hard Truths, then, arrives as something of a challenge. Its central character, Pansy, isn’t particularly easy to sit with. In fact, she may be the most hard-bitten lead in Leigh’s entire roster. Nary a moment passes without her loudly, viciously slinging insults at anyone who crosses her path, be it her aptly named husband, Curtley (David Webber), her soft-spoken son,...

In the pantheon of unpleasant screen heroines, Pansy Deacon more than holds her own. Played by a ferocious Marianne Jean-Baptiste, the perpetually harried and hostile protagonist of Mike Leigh’s Hard Truths spews her venom on everyone she encounters — from family members to furniture store employees, and all manner of unlucky folks in between.

Stranding us with such a spectacularly disagreeable person for 97 minutes may seem like a cruel trick, and the movie will test the patience of viewers who prefer their main characters closer to the likable end of the spectrum. But fans of the British auteur will discern, in Leigh’s latest, his trademark generosity, alongside his willingness to show people at their wince-inducing worst. With this prickly, piercing new film, the writer-director presents an intriguing challenge, pushing the bounds of our empathy and asking us to look, really look, at someone from whom we’d surely avert...

The 68th BFI London Film Festival has unveiled its lineup of Screen Talks, featuring a roster of high-profile filmmakers and actors.

The program includes sessions with Steve McQueen, Lupita Nyong’o, Denis Villeneuve, Andrea Arnold, Sean Baker, Daniel Kaluuya, Mike Leigh, Zoe Saldaña, and the documentary duo Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin.

Villeneuve, fresh off the success of the “Dune” films, will take audiences through his filmography, which includes “Arrival” and “Blade Runner 2049.” British filmmaker Andrea Arnold will share insights into her impact on both big and small screens, while Sean Baker, recent Palme d’Or recipient for “Anora,” will explore his approach to representing marginalized lives on film.

McQueen, whose film “Blitz” serves as the festival’s opening night gala, will discuss his work spanning both cinema and television. Oscar winner Nyong’o is set to reflect on her career trajectory from “12 Years a Slave” to recent...

UK director Mike Leigh will receive a lifetime achievement award at Malta’s second annual Mediterrane Film Festival (June 22-30).

The seven-time Oscar nominee will also host a masterclass and participate in an in conversation with Adrian Wootton, CEO at the British Film Commission, with whom the festival has a partnership.

Leigh began his career in theatre and TV with work including Abigail’s Party in 1977. He focused on features throughout the 1990s, winning acclaim for films such as High Hopes, Life Is Sweet, Naked and Secrets And Lies. The latter won the Palme d’Or in 1996.

His following films included Topsy-Turvy,...

Exclusive: Celebrating his 50th year as an indie filmmaker and distributor, Jeff Lipsky is prepping the release of his eighth feature as director. Goldilocks and the Two Bears is due to open domestically via Glass Half Full Media in July for a limited theatrical run, followed by a general release in late summer/early fall. Check out an exclusive clip above.

Goldilocks introduces a trio of new actors: Claire Milligan, Serra Naiman and Bryan Mittelstadt. It’s directed and written by Lipsky, produced by longtime collaborator Nick Athas and shot by Zak Ray with production sound mixed by Caleb Mose (O.J.: Made in America).

Filmed entirely in Las Vegas, the movie centers on a man and a woman – travelers who’ve all but given up on futures that might have been glorious. When a stranger enters their midst, a woman on the run from her own demons, the...

Exclusive: Jennifer Nettles has been cast in The Bondsman, the genre action series from creator Grainger David and starring Kevin Bacon, that was ordered straight to series in June. The project hails from Blumhouse TV for Prime Video.

She will portray Maryanne, whose ex-husband Hub Halloran (Bacon), is a backwoods bounty hunter who comes back from the dead with an unexpected second chance at life, and love, and a nearly-forgotten musical career — only to find that his old job now has a demonic new twist.

Erik Oleson, who was showrunner for the second season of Amazon’s Carnival Row, will serve as showrunner on the half-hour, eight-episode series, via his CrimeThink production company, which has a deal at the streamer.

David executive produces alongside Bacon, Jason Blum, Chris McCumber, Jeremy Gold and Chris Dickie for Blumhouse Television and Paul Shapiro for CrimeThink.

Nettles is a Grammy-winning, Emmy-winning entertainer on multiple platforms.

Updated with Daytime Creative Arts Emmy winners: General Hospital won outstanding drama while Kelly Clarkson won for best talk show host and best talk show at the 50th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards, held Friday in Los Angeles.

Adding in Saturday’s Creative Arts portion of the Daytime Emmys, Gh won a leading seven Emmys this weekend. The Kelly Clarkson Show won six to lead all talk shows.

Kevin Frazier and Nischelle Turner hosted Friday’s show that honored Susan Lucci with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Jennifer Nettles performed the Emmy-winning song “Life is Sweet” for the In Memoriam segment that said goodbye to the likes of Jacklyn Zeman, Billy Miller and Bob Barker.

A posthumous Emmy was given to Sonya Eddy, the General Hospital actress who died last summer at the age of 55.

Below are the winners of the Daytime Emmys, with the list of Daytime Creative Arts Emmy winners following.

“The streak is over!” Shemar Moore declared when he presented Best Actress at the 1999 Daytime Emmys. When he opened the envelope to announce the winner Susan Lucci‘s name was there, finally, on her 19th attempt at the prize. Now Moore and Lucci will reunite when he presents her with another trophy at the long-awaited 2023 Daytime Emmys: the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Hosted by Nischelle Turner and Kevin Frazier from “Entertainment Tonight,” the December 15 show on CBS will also feature a performance of “Life is Sweet” by Grammy-winning Sugarland country singer Jennifer Nettles. She’ll sing the Emmy-nominated song during the “In Memoriam” segment that pays tribute to members of the daytime TV community who have died.

SEENicholas Chavez (‘General Hospital’) poised to win his second Daytime Emmy in a row as Spencer Cassadine

Additional presenters for the landmark 50th annual Daytime Emmys include Lauralee Bell (“The Young and the Restless...

Ask the British national treasure – star of Mike Leigh films aplenty, as well as countless TV and stage roles – about any of her brilliant performances by 6pm Sunday

How long can you be a national treasure for? Alison Steadman arguably holds some sort of record: ever since her breakthrough performance in the TV version of Abigail’s Party, back in 1977, she’s been a brilliant, comforting, spiky staple of British screen and stage.

Her collaborations with ex-husband Mike Leigh (she was pregnant with their first son shooting Abigail’s Party) are what defined her early career in the public consciousness. Life is Sweet, Hard Labour, Nuts in May; later the likes of Topsy-Turvy.

For the second year in a row, the race for best actress is wide open, with key precursors to the Academy Awards yet to be determined.

The Oscar nominees are Jessica Chastain for “The Eyes of Tammy Faye” (Searchlight Pictures), Olivia Colman for “The Lost Daughter” (Netflix), Penélope Cruz for “Parallel Mothers” (Sony Pictures Classics), Nicole Kidman for “Being the Ricardos” (Amazon Studios) and Kristen Stewart for “Spencer” (Neon/Topic Studios). No performance is from a best picture nominee, a first since the 2005 lineup. And none of the contenders was nominated for a BAFTA Award, which “Nomadland” star Frances McDormand won prior to her Oscar victory last year. So how does each become a winner (in some cases for the second time)?

In a ceremony closed to media last month, the Globes awarded Kidman the lead actress drama prize for her turn as classic TV star Lucille Ball in the Aaron Sorkin feature.

The veteran actor on dancing with Helen Mirren, starring in Roger Michell’s final film, and why he turned down the role of Del Boy… and an OBE

Actor Jim Broadbent, 72, was born in Lincolnshire and studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (Lamda). He was initially known for theatre and TV work before getting his film breakthrough in Mike Leigh’s Life Is Sweet. He won an Oscar for Iris, and Baftas for both Longford and Moulin Rouge. He now stars in crime caper The Duke – the true story of taxi driver Kempton Bunton, who reputedly stole Goya’s portrait of the Duke of Wellington from the National Gallery in 1961.

The Duke is director Roger Michell’s final film [Michell died last September]. Was he a colleague who became a friend?

Yes, Roger was delightful. Everyone in front or behind the camera, on stage or backstage, wanted to carry on...

U.K. director Mike Leigh directs films in a wide range of moods but his working-class dramas are what made his name. All or Nothing is an emotionally punishing story of everyday life on a lower rung of a stagnant economy, where nobody has dreams and pessimism is the order of the day. The bitterness and anger are most evident in the abusive attitudes and verbal brutality from one generation to the next, even with the caring, sensitive Penny (Lesley Manville) and the inoffensive Phil (Timothy Spall). Leigh’s players craft heartbreaking characters whose individual miseries can’t be dismissed. We invest heavily in the hope of a positive outcome even as everything we see says, ‘no.’ Yet the film’s honesty doesn’t want us to give up on these people.

All or Nothing

Blu-ray

Severin Films

2002 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 128 min. / Street Date November 23, 2021 / Available from Amazon / 29.95

Starring: Lesley Manville,...

Jon Gregory, editor of such films as Four Weddings and a Funeral, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and In Bruges has died, a representative confirmed to Deadline. He was 77.

Gregory worked with Mike Leigh across the director’s storied career, from an early short called The Short & Curlies to one of Leigh’s first features, High Hopes, to some of the director’s best-known work — such as Life Is Sweet, Naked and Secrets & Lies — to one of his most recent works, Peterloo. Leigh remembered his frequent collaborator in a piece posted by The Guardian today.

In it, Leigh praised Gregory’s ability to compose complex component parts into a cohesive whole. “He brought to the task his unique characteristic skill, imagination, sensitivity and sophistication, while, as always, staying true to the material,” wrote the director. He praised Gregory’s sense of when not to edit, as well.

Leigh recalled...

Exclusive: Veteran indie executive and filmmaker Jeff Lipsky is hooking up with Kino Lorber to launch The Jeff Lipsky Collection on growing streaming service Kino Now. The collection, which becomes available on March 5, will include five out of seven of Lipsky’s directing efforts dating from 2006-2019. Other filmmakers who are similarly represented with Kino Now Auteur Collections include Jean-Luc Godard, Lina Wertmüller, Derek Jarman, István Szabó and F.W. Murnau.

On the Lipsky roster are Flannel Pajamas (2006), a relationship story co-starring Julianne Nicholson and Justin Kirk; family drama Twelve Thirty (2011), starring Jonathan Groff; surreal comedy Molly’s Theory Of Relativity (2013) with Sophia Takal and Lawrence Michael Levine; character study Mad Women (2015), co-starring Reed Birney and Jamie Harrold; and Holocaust-themed family drama The Last (2019), starring Rebecca Schull. Lipsky hopes to add his first film, 1997’s The End, to the collection as soon as its restoration is complete.

Says Lipsky, “Being inducted...

New releases included ‘Miss Juneteenth’ and ’23 Walks’.

RankFilm (Distributor)Three-day gross (Sep 25-27)Total gross to date Week 1 Tenet (Warner Bros) £623,000 £15m 5 2 After We Collided (Shear Entertainment) £514,020 £2.56m 4 3 Bill And Ted Face The Music (Warner Bros) £212,000 £830,000 2 4 Onward (Disney) £126,355 £7.3m 16 5 The New Mutants (Disney) £93,253 £1.47m 4

Gbp to Usd conversion rate: 1.29

Shear Entertainment’s romantic drama After We Collided continued to perform strongly at the UK and Ireland box office over the weekend, which remained dominated by Tenet.

The young adult drama took £514,020 from September 25-27, down just 14% on its previous session, meaning it has now grossed £2.56m after four weekends. The...

Harry Clein, 82, co-founder of Hollywood PR agencies Clein + Feldman and Clein + White, died June 18 in Atlanta. He suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder.

I first met Clein in Manhattan in 1978 when I worked in the United Artists publicity bullpen at 729 Seventh Ave. He represented Alan J. Pakula on the western “Comes a Horseman,” starring James Caan and Jane Fonda. He admired my Annie Hall vests and fedoras; we bonded over his encyclopedic knowledge of film and Broadway musicals, and remained friends as he founded bicoastal press agency Clein + Feldman in 1981 with Bruce Feldman. Their first client, Pakula’s “Sophie’s Choice,” won Meryl Streep her second acting Oscar.

When I first moved to Los Angeles as the West Coast Editor of Film Comment, Clein + Feldman hired me to be the unit publicist on what would turn out to be Sam Peckinpah’s last movie, “The Osterman Weekend” (1983), starring Rutger Hauer, Dennis Hopper,...

Harry Clein, 82, co-founder of Hollywood PR agencies Clein + Feldman and Clein + White, died June 18 in Atlanta. He suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder.

I first met Clein in Manhattan in 1978 when I worked in the United Artists publicity bullpen at 729 Seventh Ave. He represented Alan J. Pakula on the western “Comes a Horseman,” starring James Caan and Jane Fonda. He admired my Annie Hall vests and fedoras; we bonded over his encyclopedic knowledge of film and Broadway musicals, and remained friends as he founded bicoastal press agency Clein + Feldman in 1981 with Bruce Feldman. Their first client, Pakula’s “Sophie’s Choice,” won Meryl Streep her second Best Actress Oscar.

When I first moved to Los Angeles as the West Coast Editor of Film Comment, Clein + Feldman hired me to be the unit publicist on what would turn out to be Sam Peckinpah’s last movie, “The Osterman Weekend” (1983), starring Rutger Hauer,...

Harry Clein, a veteran film publicist who wrote the original press notes for Star Wars and helped develop the innovative internet campaign for The Blair Witch Project, died June 18 of chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder in Atlanta. He was 82.

His death was announced by spokesperson Mark Pogachefsky.

Clein, along with Bruce Feldman, cofounded the Clein + Feldman agency in 1981. Their first client was director Alan J. Pakula and his film Sophie’s Choice.

With offices on both coasts and quickly developing a reputation as an innovative shop for independent distributors, producers and filmmakers, the agency became Clein + White in 1989, with the addition of Cara White as a partner and the departure of Feldman for a studio career. Clein + White closed in 2000, with Clein focusing on producing and marketing consultation. He also taught at the Los Angeles Film School.

Earlier in his career, Clein was a unit publicist on such films as All the President’s Men,...

With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options—not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves–each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit platforms. Check out this week’s selections below and an archive of past round-ups here.

Beats (Brian Welsh)

What exactly are Johnno and Spanner? There are moments when the two Scottish teens hate each other’s guts with bilious fervor, others when they’re the “dream team and that,” inseparable and co-dependent best friends à la Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal in Y Tu Mamá También, others still when their bromance veers into an uncharted, emotionally complex terrain. Brian Welsh’s rollicking Beats thrives on these ambiguities, on a greater-than-life friendship between an introvert and his volcanic and beguilingly ruffian neighbor as they brace for a night out that’s likely to be their last–or at any rate, the...

Timothy Spall stars in a fascinating, surprisingly non-morbid look into the life of Albert Pierrepoint, England’s reluctant celebrity hangman who dispatched hundreds of convicted killers, including Ruth Ellis and John Christie, not to mention 47 Nazi war criminals, in a literal marathon of the gallows. The artist of the noose kept up a double life to separate his execution duties from his domestic marriage … until General Montgomery blew his cover of anonymity. Eddie Marsan and Juliet Stevenson provide terrific acting support in this undeservedly obscure gem from director Adrian Shergold.

Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman

Region B Blu-ray

Lionsgate (UK)

2005 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 91 95 min. / Pierrepoint; The Last Hangman / Available from Amazon UK or Amazon Us / Street Date December 7, 2009 /

Starring: Timothy Spall, Juliet Stevenson, Eddie Marsan, Clive Francis, Tobias Menzies.

Cinematography: Danny Cohen

Film Editor: Tania Reddin

Original Music: Martin Phipps

Written by Bob Mills, Jeff Pope

Produced by Christine Langan

Directed...

23 Walks is directed by Paul Morrison, Oscar-nominated for his debut feature Solomon & Gaenor.

UK outfit Parkland has struck a double deal on romantic drama 23 Walks, starring Alison Steadman and Dave Johns.

Distributor Parkland Entertainment will release the film in the UK and Ireland, while Parkland Pictures will look after the international sales for the rest of the world.

23 Walks is directed by Paul Morrison, Oscar-nominated for his debut feature Solomon & Gaenor, and whose other credits include Little Ashes and Wondrous Oblivion.

For Parkland, the deal was negotiated by Tom Stewart and Andrew Brown. For the production, the deal...

Exclusive: I, Daniel Blake star Dave Johns and Life Is Sweet and Gavin & Stacey star Alison Steadman are starring in UK grey-pound comedy-drama 23 Walks, from the producers of Swimming With Men and Carol Morley’s Out Of Blue.

The film marks a return to the director’s chair after more than a decade for Wondrous Oblivion and Little Ashes director Paul Morrison, whose 2000 drama Solomon & Gaenor was Oscar-nominated for Best Foreign Language Film. Morrison has also written the script. Above is a first look.

23 Walks follows pensioners Dave and Fern, two strangers who meet walking their dogs in a North London park. Over the course of twenty-three walks together romance begins to blossom but the two also hide secrets which could derail their newfound love.

Pic is currently in the middle of a production hiatus as it waits for spring to shoot the scheduled second block of principle photography. The...

At this point, is it possible that filmmaker Mike Leigh will make a bad film? Sure, you may not be his biggest fan, but it’s hard to argue against the critical reception that his filmography has received over the years. Going back over three decades, Leigh’s work, including “Secrets & Lies,” “Life is Sweet,” and most recently, “Mr. Turner,” has been nothing but critically-acclaimed film after critically-acclaimed film.

Continue reading ‘Peterloo’ Trailer: Acclaimed Filmmaker Mike Leigh Tells The Story Of One Of Britain’s Bloodiest Days at The Playlist.

Each month, the fine folks at FilmStruck and the Criterion Collection spend countless hours crafting their channels to highlight the many different types of films that they have in their streaming library. This January will feature an exciting assortment of films, as noted below.

To sign up for a free two-week trial here.

Thursday, February 1st

The Great Escape*

Based on the true story of an elaborately coordinated attempt to break out of a Nazi Pow camp, John Sturges’s The Great Escape is one of the most rousing adventure films of all time, anchored by Steve McQueen’s rebellious turn as “Cooler King” Captain Virgil Hilts. Featuring a powerful ensemble that includes Richard Attenborough, James Garner, Charles Bronson, and James Coburn, the film pulses with the humor of the prisoners’ camaraderie and the relentless suspense of their plan. Never released on DVD or Blu-ray, this 1993 Criterion laserdisc edition includes a long-unavailable commentary featuring Sturges,...

Candice Swanepoel will be a mom for the second time!

On Friday, the 29-year-old Victoria's Secret model revealed that she is pregnant with an adorable picture of herself in a green off-the-shoulder dress and cradling her baby bump.

"...

Nobody stands up for Britons in the lower class trenches like the fierce, opinionated and outright brilliant Mike Leigh; his unusual writing and directing method yields terrific results in his first feature made for TV. And the early performances of Tim Roth, Phil Daniels and Gary Oldman should be the stuff of acting legend, ’80s style.

Meantime

Blu-ray

The Criterion Collection 890

1984 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 107 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date August 15, 2017 / 39.95

Starring: Marion Bailey, Phil Daniels, Tim Roth, Pam Ferris, Jeff Robert, Alfred Molina, Gary Oldman, Tilly Vosburgh, Eileen Davies, Peter Wight.

Cinematography: Roger Pratt

Film Editor: Lesley Walker

Original Music: Andrew Dickson

Produced by Graham Benson

Devised and Directed by Mike Leigh

Mike Leigh is something of an acquired taste, but I have to say that I haven’t forgotten anything of his that I’ve seen. There are of course his ‘special’ period recreations of Topsy-Turvy and Mr. Turner,...

Trista Sutter is mourning the loss of her grandmother, Rosemary.

The former Bachelorette took to Instagram on Tuesday to write a heartfelt tribute to her grandma who "has found peace" after a long battle with Alzheimer's.

Related: Trista Sutter Shares More Family Vacation Photos After Suffering Seizure: 'Life Is Sweet'

"In the book of my life, roses have consistently played a special role...

It’s Emmy time!

And while it’s exciting for viewers to see their favorite shows nab nominations, getting nominated yourself is a whole other level of excitement (we imagine).

See how the nominees themselves are reacting here:

Angela Bassett is so pumped, she’s going to “go pass out somewhere”:

Ty God for blessing me!Ty @TheEmmys for the nom!Ty @MasterofNone @LenaWaithe @azizansari ! Now ima go pass out somewhere! #thanksgivingTODAY

— Angela Bassett (@ImAngelaBassett) July 13, 2017

After five seasons, Billy on the Street got its first nomination And Billy Eichner is psyched:

Billy On The Street!!!! We Did It!

Anorexia is one of those subjects that seem tailor-made for a medium as darkly fascinated by bodies and self-destructive obsessions as film, and yet it always comes across as phony, simply because actors can never really look anorexic; thin and baggy-eyed is a long way from the sight of skin sucked so tightly over bones that it appears that a person’s body might crumple in on itself at any moment. That doesn’t mean that movies can’t tackle the psychology, but with only a few exceptions (e.g., the English writer-director Mike Leigh’s 1990 film Life Is Sweet, which depicts a young, working-class bulimic woman), films about eating disorders take the form of hokey, know-the-symptoms public service pamphlets aimed at teens. There’s a reason why the topic is popularly associated with cheesy TV movies. The Netflix-produced To The Bone, which was written and directed by TV ...

Trista Sutter admits that upon suffering a seizure while vacationing with her family in Croatia, she asked herself, "Why me?"

"All I remember was feeling very dizzy and nauseous, and the next thing I knew, I was in this dream," the former Bachelorette star recalled on Tuesday's Good Morning America. "The only way I can describe it is was like a white euphoria."

Trista's husband, Ryan Sutter, said the incident was especially scary for the couple's 8-year-old daughter, Blakesley, whom Trista fell on top of while seizing. "I heard Blakesley screaming, 'Mommy, Mommy," Ryan remembered. "Trista had fallen onto Blakesley in a sort of convulsive state."

More: Former Bachelorette Star Trista Sutter Hospitalized After Seizure -- 'Be Thankful for Your Life and Blessings'

Ryan, a trained Emt who met Trista on The Bachelorette in 2003, said that despite his medical training, he was really shaken up by the incident. "I was checking her pulse. She was shaking...

“American Honey” took the top prize at the 2016 British Independent Film Awards, which was held on Sunday at London’s Old Billingsgate.

“American Honey” was named Best British Independent Film, and also scored three additional awards (including Best Director for Andrea Arnold). Barry Jenkins’ “Moonlight” was the night’s only non-uk winner, picking up honors for Best International Independent Film.

The 19th annual Bifa ceremony, hosted by Jennifer Saunders, also presented Clare Binns with the Special Jury Prize for her “unstinting efforts in bringing independent film to new audiences.”

Naomie Harris was also presented the Variety Award by Danny Boyle, in recognition of the global impact she made this year in helping to focus the international film spotlight on the UK.

Read More: La Film Critics Association Name the Best Films and Performances of 2016

The Richard Harris Award was given to Alison Steadman by Richard Harris’ granddaughter Ella Harris and...

The first peek at Candice Swanepoel's newborn son, Anacã, was just like mom—impressive And nothing has changed in the 5 days since he was born. "My little man," Swanepoel's fiancé, Hermann Nicoli, captioned a photo of their baby boy Monday, complete with a heart emoji. The Victoria's Secret Angel also posted a new pic over the weekend of Anacã that is almost a little much, he's just that cute. "Life is sweet," Swanepoel wrote. Meanwhile, well-wishes are pouring in for the proud new parents, including from Swanepoel's dear friend, fellow Angel and fellow new mom Behati Prinsloo, who gave...

Candice Swanepoel is a mom! The Victoria's Secret model and her fiancé, Hermann Nicoli, welcomed their first child together, a baby boy, this week, E! News confirms. The pair named their little one Anacã, which is a Brazilian word for a specific type of bird, and on Saturday, the new mom shared a photo of the tiny tot on Instagram, writing, "Life is sweet." News of Candice's pregnancy broke back in March, and in May, she confirmed that it was a boy with a cute Instagram snap. In addition to sharing photos of her growing baby bump on social media, she also celebrated her safari-themed baby shower in August. Congratulations! Life is sweet. A photo posted by Candice Swanepoel (@angelcandices) on Oct 8, 2016 at 7:28am Pdt...

The National Society of Film Critics have decided to celebrate their 50 years. They have teamed up with curators from Boston to La to choose from among the group’s 50 best for special presentations and discussions.

The penultimate season of HBO's Game of Thrones has added the legendary Jim Broadbent to its cast, according to EW. As usual, details on his character are pretty much nonexistent, and all we have to go on is that the role will be a "significant" one. Speculation seems to be pointing to one of the maesters Sam is set to study under at the Citadel (Archmaester Marwyn, Aka Marwyn the Mage, perhaps?), but now that the show has surpassed George R.R. Martin's source material, it's quite possible he'll be playing someone we haven't even encountered in the books yet. Broadbent has starred in a wide array of classic movies over the years (Time Bandits, Brazil, Life is Sweet etc), but he'll be best known to the younger generation as Horace Slughorn in the Harry Potter movies. Game of Thrones returns for its seventh season next year.

Life is sweet for 20-year-old Sophie Turner these days, given the hype surrounding her new movie “X-Men: Apocalypse” and the continued success of “Game of Thrones.”

The redheaded hottie is featured on the front page of the Summer 2016 issue of Asos magazine, posing pretty for photographer Colin Leaman while wearing embellished tops, slip dresses and lightweight jackets.

Of Jean Grey, her X-Men character, Sophie tells the mag, “Jean is surrounded by likeminded people but still feels alone. I think that’s what I really related to. It can get so lonely sometimes…I like to be surrounded by people, but I want to be alone – alone, but still in the company of others!”...