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Quick question: At any given point during the first five minutes of Fargo's Season Three premiere – "The Law of Vacant Places" – did anybody else worry that FX was accidentally airing the wrong show?

After a trippy opening shot looks like a leftover from Noah Hawley's other FX runaway-hit show Legion, we're dropped into East Berlin circa 1988, for a scene that could easily be an outtake from The Americans (albeit with more deadpan comedy and less espionage). For a little while, we're about as far from Minnesota as we can get.

The actor was best known in Britain for East Is East and My Son The Fanatic.

Veteran Indian actor and former chairman of India’s National Film Development Corporation (Nfdc) has died from a heart attack, aged 66.

Puri was a familiar figure in British cinema due to his roles in films such as Udayan Prasad’s My Son The Fanatic (1997), Damien O’Donnell’s East Is East (1999) - for which he was BAFTA-nominated - and its sequel West Is West, directed by Andy De Emmony in 2010.

He had recently completed filming a role in Gurinder Chadha’s upcoming Viceroy’s House, alongside Gillian Anderson, Michael Gambon and Hugh Bonneville.

Born in the north Indian state of Haryana, Puri made his film debut in Ghashiram Kotwal, directed by a collective of ‘parallel cinema’ filmmakers in 1976. He was one of the leading actors of India’s non-mainstream cinema movement of the 1980s and 1990s, with award-winning...

To mark the release of The Parole Officer on 15th February, we’ve been given 3 copies on DVD. Manchester’s leading detective frames a hopeless parole officer (Steve Coogan)for a murder he didn’t commit. The only proof of his innocence is a security video – but the video is locked inside a bank vault! Enrolling the

The post Win The Parole Officer on DVD appeared first on HeyUGuys.

Netflix giveth and Netflix taketh away.

While everyone's favorite subscription streaming service is adding a ton of awesome movies and TV shows in December, it's also yanking a huge list of popular titles from its library. Below is said list. I'm especially sad to see "Dirty Dancing" and "The Talented Mr. Ripley" go. Those movies are the sh...

Watch them while you can!

Movies Being Dropped by Netflix on December 1st

"1941" (1979)

"The Apostle" (1997)

"Audrey Rose" (1977)

"The Believers" (1987)

"Better than Chocolate" (1999)

"Blood & Chocolate" (2007)

"The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" (2008)

"Chaplin" (1992)

"The Choirboys" (1977)

"The Cockeyed Cowboys of Calico County" (1970)

"Coffee and Cigarettes" (2003)

"The Cold Light of Day" (1996)

"The Constant Gardener" (2005)

"Count Yorga, Vampire" (1970)

"Cry-Baby" (1990)

"Dirty Dancing" (1987)

"Double Indemnity" (1944)

"En la Cama" (2005)

"Event Horizon" (1997)

"Eye for an Eye" (1996)

"Fairy Tale: A True Story" (1997)

"First Knight" (1995)

"Five Easy Pieces" (1970)

"Foreign Student" (1994)

"Free Men" (2011)

"Funny Lady" (1975)

"The Ghost and Mrs Muir" (1947)

"The Girl from Petrovka...

The Academy has announced the new class of invited members for 2014 and, as is typical, many of which are among last year's nominees, which includes Barkhad Abdi, Michael Fassbender, Sally Hawkins, Mads Mikkelsen, Lupita Nyong'o and June Squibb in the Actors branch not to mention curious additions such as Josh Hutcherson, Rob Riggle and Jason Statham, but, okay. The Directors branch adds Jay and Mark Duplass along with Jean-Marc Vallee, Denis Villeneuve and Thomas Vinterberg. I didn't do an immediate tally of male to female additions or other demographics, but at first glance it seems to be a wide spread batch of new additions on all fronts. The Academy is also clearly attempting to aggressively bump up the demographics as this is the second year in a row where they have added a large number of new members, well over the average of 133 new members from 2004 to 2012. As far as...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is extending invitations to join the organization to 271 artists and executives who have distinguished themselves by their contributions to theatrical motion pictures.

Those who accept the invitations will be the only additions to the Academy’s membership in 2014.

“This year’s class of invitees represents some of the most talented, creative and passionate filmmakers working in our industry today,” said Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs. “Their contributions to film have entertained audiences around the world, and we are proud to welcome them to the Academy.”

The 2014 invitees are:

Actors

Barkhad Abdi – “Captain Phillips”

Clancy Brown – “The Hurricane,” “The Shawshank Redeption”

Paul Dano – “12 Years a Slave,” “Prisoners”

Michael Fassbender – “12 Years a Slave,” “Shame”

Ben Foster – “Lone Survivor,” “Ain’t Them Bodies Saints”

Beth Grant – “The Artist,” “No Country for Old Men”

Clark Gregg – “Much Ado about Nothing,” “Marvel’s The Avengers”

Sally Hawkins – “Blue Jasmine,...

Michael Fassbender and Lupita Nyong’o of 12 Years a Slave were two of the 271 artists and industry leaders invited to become members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which determines nominations and winners at the annual Oscars. The entire list of Academy membership—which numbers about 6,000—isn’t public information so the annual invitation list is often the best indication of the artists involved in the prestigious awards process. It’s worth noting that invitations need to be accepted in order for artists to become members; some artists, like two-time Best Actor winner Sean Penn, have declined membership over the years.

Pop quiz: What do Chris Rock, Claire Denis, Eddie Vedder and Josh Hutcherson all have in common? Answer: They could all be Oscar voters very soon. The annual Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences invitation list always makes for interesting reading, shedding light on just how large and far-reaching the group's membership is -- or could be, depending on who accepts their invitations. This year, 271 individuals have been asked to join AMPAS, meaning every one of them could contribute to next year's Academy Awards balloting -- and it's as diverse a list as they've ever assembled. Think the Academy consists entirely of fusty retired white dudes? Not if recent Best Original Song nominee Pharrell Williams takes them up on their offer. Think it's all just a Hollywood insiders' game? Not if French arthouse titans Chantal Akerman and Olivier Assayas join the party. It's a list that subverts expectation at every turn.

Amber’s good behavior got her out of jail nearly four years ahead of her sentence — but she’ll have to stay on her best behavior to keep out of jail, and have a chance at gaining joint custody of her daughter! The ‘Teen Mom’ revealed that her post-release goal is to gain joint custody of her girl — and here’s what she’ll have to do to get it.

Amber Portwood will be on parole following her Nov. 4. release from Indiana’s Rockville Correctional Facility. Douglas Garrison, the Chief Communications Officer for the Indiana Dept. of Corrections, revealed that there are several conditions that come along with her early release — and any violation would send her back to jail — and away from her nearly 5-year-old daughter Leah.

Amber Portwood Parole: What She Has To Do To Stay Out Of Jail & Get Custody

Amber has immediate plans to try to...

Feature James Clayton 18 Oct 2013 - 06:39

The arrival of Sly-and-Arnie thriller Escape Plan leaves James pondering the living conditions in other Hollywood film prisons...

"Joey, have you ever been in a Turkish prison?" asks Captain Clarence Oveur (Peter Graves) in Airplane!, the classic Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker spoof from 1980. Joey doesn't respond to that question or Oveur's other teasers - "Do you like films about gladiators?" and "Have you ever seen a grown man naked?" - but I think we can safely assume that the kid has never done time in a cell in Turkey.

Employing our Sherlock-style deduction skills, we take the wholesome pre-pubescent All-American boy's claim "I've never been on a plane before!" as conclusive. Unless Joey is delusional, a severe amnesiac or a chronic liar, he has not had a Midnight Express experience.

Still, that was over 30 years ago and in that time Joey has undoubtedly grown...

Odd List Simon Brew 20 Sep 2013 - 07:14

They don't make funny movies any more, right? Wrong. If you're looking for a laugh, then here are some you may have missed...

For this list, blame The Hangover Part III. It was whilst walking out of that film that I got into a chat with someone, who was bemoaning the lack of genuinely funny movie comedies. Certainly, big budget Hollywood comedies have no end of problems right now - with the occasional exception - but I couldn't help thinking of the many neglected gems that had gone through my DVD player over the past decade or so.

As such, I started to put this list together. It's inevitably subjective, as one person's comedy is another person's snore fest. But I've tried to dig out a mix of comedies from the past three decades that have either flown under the radar completely, or...

The Lone Ranger limps into town, seven films enjoy £1m-plus weekends – and Despicable Me 2 is 2013's biggest film so far

Three kings

Just £100,000 separates the three films battling for the top spot in the weekend chart, with Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa edging out the competition to claim bragging rights. Literal bragging on this occasion, with distributor StudioCanal releasing the following statement from the North Norfolk Digital DJ: "Now is not a time for gloating or celebration, more a time for healing old wounds, a time to say: 'Let us join together in thanks that I am No 1 at the box office.' Hallelujah."

The comedy took £2.18m including £744,000 in Wednesday/Thursday previews, just ahead of Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, with £2.14m including £861,000 in previews. However, it's the third-placed title – Grown Ups 2 – that won the battle over the Friday-to-Sunday weekend period, with £2.08m, including just £421,000 in previews.

Alpha...

The actor's attempt to play Soho sex king Paul Raymond should have worked on paper – they share a similar look and mannerisms – but there is only one role he can play

Steve Coogan looks a bit like Paul Raymond; the two men even share the same adenoidal tic. So Coogan ought to be better placed to play Raymond in a biopic than, say, Meryl Streep was, to play Thatcher. Yet during The Look of Love, it's not the legendary entrepreneur of erotica who fills the screen: it's Alan Partridge.

The character's gestures, mannerisms and intonation hail from the Norwich ring road, not Walker's Court. More importantly, so does his soul. The Look of Love seeks to portray its protagonist as a libertine tragically confounded by doomed paternal love. Coogan's Raymond meets his daughter's demise with an agonised show of remorse; yet his pained expression doesn't have you reaching for your hanky.

The biggest laugh in Carnage, Roman Polanski’s chaotic ensemble comedy, doesn’t come from one of the verbal barbs spewed between the group of ill-mannered New Yorkers. Rather it’s a gut-busting scene (quite literally) that involves, well, spew. And it’s from Kate Winslet, no less. In fact, the actress is so believable in the moment that if the Golden Globes were to vote on a vomit curve, she’d have this thing in the bag. (Bridesmaids’ Kristen Wiig’s near-puke in the bridal shop would be a close second.)

Is it the fact that you’re watching...

It must be frustrating being Steve Coogan. As the winner of numerous British Comedy and BAFTA awards (not to mention the 1992 Perrier Award, the 1997 Silver Rose of Montreux and a South Bank Show Award for his live show “The Man Who Thinks He’s It”) he’s also been listed amongst the 50 funniest acts working in British comedy as well as featuring in the Top 20 greatest comedy acts of all time as voted for by fellow comedians.

He’s forged himself a moderately successful Hollywood career and starred in a number of successful films from the likes of Sofia Coppola, Ben Stiller, Jim Jarmusch, Adam McKay and Frank Oz and starred alongside such names as Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Jackie Chan, Owen Wilson and Kirsten Dunst. And to top it all off he’s even founded his own production company, Baby Cow Productions, which itself has given birth to such...