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Warning: Major spoilers for The Regime episode 1 "Victory Day" below!

The Regime's first episode features Kate Winslet in a cringe-worthy singing scene reminiscent of her brief music career. The episode sets up the rest of the season, with Herbert encouraging Elena to reassert her power and reject interference from other nations. Winslet's one-hit wonder "What If" was a tie-in single for a movie, reaching number 6 in the UK, but she chose not to pursue a singing career in the aftermath.

The most memorable scene of The Regime's first episode is pure cringe and should remind viewers of a certain age of Kate Winslet's brief singing career. The Regime casts Winslet as Chancellor Elena Vernham, the head of a fictional nation. This HBO miniseries is a biting political satire with shades of Succession, though it's more broadly comedic than the latter. Episode one does a good job setting up the dysfunction within Elena's cabinet,...

Veteran actor Michael Gambon, who spent decades performing on-screen and on-stage, has died.

Per the Associated Press, Gambon's publicist has confirmed that the actor died following a bout of pneumonia. A statement was also released by his family, which noted, "We are devastated to announce the loss of Sir Michael Gambon. Beloved husband and father, Michael died peacefully in hospital with his wife Anne and son Fergus at his bedside."

Gambon began his acting career working on stage as one of the original members of the Royal National Theatre alongside Laurence Olivier; he'd go on to win three Olivier Awards with another ten nominations. For his on-screen work, he'd won two Screen Actors Guild Awards and four BAFTA Awards. He was nominated for a Tony for Best Actor in a Play with his role in his Broadway debut Skylight in 1997, and earned two Emmy nominations for Path to War and Emma.

Some unlikely actors have appeared in movie musicals, such as Tom Hardy in London Road, Kate Winslet in Christmas Carol: The Movie, and Tom Cruise in Rock of Ages. These actors surprised audiences with their musical performances, even though they are not typically associated with the genre. While some of these movie musicals were acclaimed, others were forgotten or considered flops, like London Road and Rock of Ages.

While many actors can sing and dance in addition to acting, there are some stars even eagle-eyed viewers could forget appeared in movie musicals. The word “musical” typically brings to mind a certain type of movie. There are bleak, dark musicals like Les Misérables; bawdy, subversive musicals like Hairspray or Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical; and even horror musicals like Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. However, musicals are still usually seen as light, fun movies filled with singing,...

(Welcome to Tales from the Box Office, our column that examines box office miracles, disasters, and everything in between, as well as what we can learn from them.)

Particularly in light of his recent output, it's hard to think of a more remarkable career than that of Nicolas Cage. The man has had insanely high highs such as his Oscar-winning performance in "Leaving Las Vegas" and his starring role in blockbuster hits like "National Treasure." He's played a Marvel Comics superhero (Ghost Rider), he's starred in more direct-to-video movies than anyone can possibly recall, and he's turned in some legendarily wacky performances (see: "Vampire's Kiss"). He even battled himself in the summer of 1997.

The point is, Cage has had an amazing career that has recently revived itself in a huge way as of late thanks to stellar performances in movies like "Pig" and "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent." Yet,...

Did you know that Hollywood's head girl, Kate Winslet, once had a top 10 single? Back in 2001, Kate voiced the character of Belle in the animated film Christmas Carol: The Movie, and for the role she was required to sing. The filmmakers took advantage of Kate's popularity at the time to release one of the songs, the ballad "What If?", as a single. And though it reached a very respectable number 6 in the UK charts (not to mention hitting number 1 in Ireland, Belgium, and Austria!) it seems like Kate doesn't want to be reminded of her brief foray into pop music. During an interview with BBC Radio 1's Greg James, Kate was forced to listen to a snippet of the song, which she said her husband also uses to torment her during the worst possible moments. Though Kate took it all in good humor, she did ask Greg to "turn it off!

Odd List Robert Keeling Dec 20, 2012

We delve back into more than a century of A Christmas Carol movies to find the best and worst adaptations of Dickens' festive tale...

Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, the classic story of a time travelling pensioner who sees dead people, is a festive fairytale which has itself become part of Christmas folklore. In terms of favourite Christmas tales, Rudolph and Frosty may wrap up the children's vote, but for most people, it's Dickens’ seminal work which would get the nod.

The story was written by Dickens in order to tackle the relatively new issue of urban poverty, and in particular the growing underclass of impoverished townsfolk produced by the Industrial Revolution. With the rapid shift away from conventional farming and trade practices, and with the rise in new technological advancements, many people were suddenly without work and without the necessary skills to find a job.

DVD Playhouse: January 2011

By

Allen Gardner

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (20th Century Fox) Sequel to the seminal 1980s film catches up with a weathered, but still determined Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas, who seems to savor every syllable of Allan Loeb and Stephen Schiff’s screenplay) just out of jail and back on the comeback trail. In attempting to repair his relationship with his estranged daughter (Carey Mulligan), Gekko forges a reluctant alliance with her fiancé (Shia Labeouf), himself an ambitious young turk who finds himself seduced by Gekko’s silver tongue and promise of riches. Lifeless film is further evidence of director Oliver Stone’s decline. Once America’s most exciting filmmaker, Stone hasn’t delivered a film with any teeth since 1995’s Nixon. Labeouf and Mulligan generate no sparks on-screen, and the story feels forced from the protracted opening to the final, Disney-esque denouement. Only a brief cameo by Charlie Sheen,...

From Scrooged to Christmas Carol: The Movie, nothing sets the holiday spirit like the telling of the story of how a grumpy Christmas Miser changes his ways and finds joy in the holiday.

While this week’s special Warehouse 13 episode was more like “Scrooge lite,” it was still able to remind us what's important at the holidays.

I’ll say up front that SyFy very specifically-stated (in multiple places) that "Secret Santa" would not address anything related to Myka leaving on the September finale. Knowing this made it a bit easier to sit back and enjoy the episode.

Much like the recent animated version of A Christmas Carol - where Jim Carey did all the part - this installment featured workaholic Larry Newly as both the grumpy Larry Newly and the apparition/fun-loving “Larry Noodle” a.k.a. “Santa Newly.”

As reported in August, Judd Hirsh played Artie's father...

Irish Producer and former CEO of the Irish Film Board, Michael Algar, talks to Iftn on his recent appointment as the Director of High Point Media Group, Ireland - the Irish office of independent distribution and sales agency - High Point Media Group. In conjunction with his new appointment at High Point Michael Algar works as an independent producer and voice director as well as running the Dublin based animation company Keg Kartoonz. Michael was the first ever CEO of the Irish Film Board and between 1976 and 1982 he was Managing Director of Pan International Films, a subsidiary advertising company of McConnells. His producing credits cover factual and music videos along with feature films including 'Joseph - King of Dreams', 'Christmas Carol: The Movie' and the animation series' 'Budgie the Little Helicopter' and 'Fado Fado'.

Morning Boxwishers. So what did you make of last night’s Oscars? Did you manage to stay up all night fuelled by Red Bulls ala Jim Carrey in Yes Man or did you switch on the TV/ radio/ Interweb this morning to find out all the gos on Hollywood’s big night? A big, hearty Boxwish congrats to all the winners – Kate Winslet as best actress for The Reader, Sean Penn as best actor for Milk and Slumdog Millionaire for everything else, and to show our love for each of the films lucky enough to nab one of the coveted Academy Awards we’re celebrating them Boxwish style.

Congratulations to… Slumdog Millionaire for winning best picture, best director for Danny Boyle, adapted screenplay, cinematography, sound mixing, film editing, original score and original song.

Celebrate by… Nabbing the soundtrack by A. H. Rahman which is a ha-yuge seller and features best...

Actress Kate Winslet has secretly recorded a single - and is aiming to top the Christmas charts. Kate has recorded the track What If? for her latest film, according to Britain's Mirror newspaper. The song was produced by Steve Mac, who has recorded hits for Westlife, Boyzone, And 5ive. The film is an adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, which also stars Nicolas Cage, Jane Horrocks and Simon Callow. A source close to the film says, "This was just a one-off, but people are so excited. It's a terrific ballad. EMI will certainly hope to tempt Kate back into the studio again - she has a lovely voice." Winslet has asked that proceeds of the song be donated to the NSPCC and the Sargeant Cancer Foundation For Children.