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On June 18th, 1984, Alan Berg was assassinated outside of his home in Denver, Colorado. The confrontational talk-radio host had made a name for himself by arguing on-air with, among others, anti-Semites and white supremacists. A group known as “The Order,” who had taken their name from the fictional hate-mongers in the novel The Turner Diaries, had been responsible for Berg’s murder. They were also behind a series of bank robberies throughout the Pacific Northwest, as well as stealing $3.6 million from a brinks truck in Ukiah, California. The goal was...

HBO's critically acclaimed fantasy series Game of Thrones achieved record viewership for the network and has garnered a vast fanbase worldwide. The series aired from 2011 to 2019 across eight seasons, and during that time, the series and ensemble cast were nominated for numerous awards. Most impressively, the series was nominated for 164 Primetime Emmys, winning 59. This series has propelled many of its cast members into the limelight, but who is the most successful?

Looking at award nominations and wins, Peter Dinklage, who portrayed Tyrion Lannister, led the pack with 40 nominations, of which he won seven. He is the only cast member to receive an Emmy for his role in the series. Emilia Clarke, who played Daenerys Targaryen, closely followed with 29 nominations and four wins.

While award wins is one way to gauge success, let's examine cast members whose appearances in Game of Thrones boosted their careers. With such an expansive list of actors,...

Prime Video has a fair amount in store for subscribers in November, as the uber-violent hit animated show Invincible returns for its highly anticipated second season. Based on the iconic comic book by Robert Kirkman, Cory Walker, and Ryan Ottley, season two will find super-powered protagonist Mark attempting to rebuild his life after finding out the truth about his father Nolan.

Elsewhere on the streamer, the producing team behind the James Bond movies are out to spin the franchise in a completely different direction by debuting their curious new globe-trotting adventure series, pitched somewhere between a quiz show and a treasure hunt. 007: Road To A Million features Brian Cox as the game’s “mastermind”, watching over the contestants as they try to win a million quid.

Here’s everything coming to Amazon Prime Video and Freevee this month. Amazon Originals are accompanied by an asterisk!

New on Amazon Prime...

Exclusive: Dean Georgaris’ agent drama Blank Slate has found its pilot director.

Richard Shepard, who has directed pilots for series including Ugly Betty and Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist, will helm and exec produce the pilot episode of the NBC project.

Shepard has directed ten television pilots to pick-up including Criminal Minds and has also directed episodes of Acapulco for Apple and Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale. He also directed 12 episodes of HBO’s Girls including the controversial American Bitch episode for which Matthew Rhys received an Emmy nomination.

On the feature side, he has helmed The Matador starring Pierce Brosnan and Greg Kinnear, black comedy Dom Hemingway starring Jude Law and Richard E. Grant, Allison Williams’ The Perfection and HBO documentary I Knew It Was You: Rediscovering John Cazale.

Written by The Brave creator Georgaris, Blank Slate is a high-concept procedural about a government agent who may not be what he seems.

As it continues to expand its global profile, Nordic major Sf Studios is ramping up its U.K. operations with high-profile new hires and is developing “Don’t Move,” an English-language survival thriller project to be directed by Scandinavian up-and-comer Alain Darborg (“Alex”).

Sf Studios, which celebrated its 100th anniversary last year, stepped into English-Language moviemaking with “Borg McEnroe,” starring Shia Labeouf, and most recently with “Horizon Line,” which is now in post and has been sold nearly worldwide by Stx.

Based on an original story by Darborg, “Don’t Move” is set in Los Angeles and follows a medical student, Ali, who volunteers for the night shift at a Californian zoo. After a rescue mission goes awry, she finds herself trapped in the anaconda enclosure. It will take all of her willpower and intelligence to survive until morning with a hungry predator chasing her down and nowhere to hide. The action...

Exclusive: Emmy-winning director Richard Shepard is set to direct and executive produce American Crime Story: Impeachment, Ryan Murphy’s upcoming FX limited series about the Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinsky sex scandal. He is expected to be one of several producing directors on the series, including Ep Murphy.

The third season of American Crime Story will be based on Jeffrey Toobin’s book A Vast Conspiracy: The Real Story of the Sex Scandal That Nearly Brought Down a President. Beanie Feldstein will star as Lewinsky, Clive Owen as Bill Clinton, Annaleigh Ashford as Paula Jones and Billy Eichner as journalist Matt Drudge. It will premiere in late 2020 or early 2021.

Sarah Burgess is writing and will serve as Ep with Shepard, Murphy, Nina Jacobson, Brad Simpson, Brad Falchuk, Larry Karaszewski, Scott Alexander, Alexis Martin Woodall, and Sarah Paulson. Lewinsky, Feldstein, Henrietta Conrad and Jemima Khan are producing.

The veteran helmer has...

It’s punishment more than practice that makes “The Perfection,” which is less a horror film per se than a grisly yet upscale grand guignol melodrama. Richard Shepard’s very tricky suspense film, co-written with the TV writing-producing team of Eric Charmelo and Nicole Snyder, has been a success for Netflix. The streaming service released the film earlier this year, picking it up after it made a stir at Fantastic Fest 2018.

The tale of classical musicianship and elaborate revenge is easier to admire than actually like, given somewhat repellent content grounded in character psychology that does not bear close scrutiny after these terse 90 minutes are over. Still, the icily well-crafted gamesmanship Shepard and company have devised certainly makes that time pass quickly, if uncomfortably.

The director has turned mostly to small-screen work since his last theatrical feature, “Dom Hemingway” (2013), including a dozen episodes of “Girls,” whose Allison Williams plays the lead here.

Exclusive: Emmy and DGA Award-winning writer-director Richard Shepard has signed with CAA.

The veteran helmer has directed nine television pilots that have gone to series, including Criminal Minds, Ugly Betty, for which he won an Emmy, Rosewood, Salem, Sweetbitter, and the upcoming musical dramedy Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist starring Jane Levy, premiering on NBC in January. Shepard also directed 12 episodes of the Golden Globe Award-winning HBO series Girls, including the controversial “American Bitch” episode, for which Matthew Rhys received an Emmy nomination.

Shepard’s feature films as writer/director include the 2018 horror film The Perfection, starring Allison Williams and Logan Browning for Netflix; the black comedy Dom Hemingway, starring Jude Law and Richard E. Grant for Fox Searchlight; and the Golden Globe nominated The Matador, starring Pierce Brosnan and Greg Kinnear.

Shepard’s short film Tokyo Project starring Elisabeth Moss premiered at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival and was bought by HBO.

You do not spend six seasons crafting a character like Girls‘ Marnie Michaels — ambitious, artistic, self-centered, self-defeating, romantically confused, musically inclined, very flawed, very human — without leaving a certain impression on viewers. And if you’re smart like Allison Williams, you then find a role that takes advantage of those preconceptions and proceeds to seriously screw with them. Any number of actresses could have played the progressive young woman with, shall we say, ulterior motives in Get Out, but once you’ve seen how she weaponizes her Marnie-isms in the...

There’s been a lot of talk about not spoiling your favorite movie or TV show lately, especially when it comes to social media. Well speaking of spoiling, there is a new film on Netflix that you will not want to be spoiled in any way. The Perfection is a brutal, thought-provoking and deeply disturbing thriller starring Allison Williams (Get Out), Logan Browning (Dear White People) and Steven Weber. Directed by Richard Shepard, this stunning feature…...

"Well, you know what happens now?" Netflix has debuted an official trailer for an acclaimed indie horror thriller titled The Perfection, from director Richard Shepard. This premiered at Fantastic Fest last year to rave reviews, hailing it as one of the most unique and original horror projects to play at the festival that year. Described as a shocking "cellist feud" film, it's about two rival prodigy musicians who get into some big trouble when they go at each other in sinister ways. Allison Williams stars with Logan Browning, and a cast including Steven Weber, Alaina Huffman, Glynis Davies, and Winnie Hung. This is one of those films that is best seen without having watched any footage before, but if you need to be convinced the trailer shows just enough to get your undivided attention. Here's the official trailer (+ poster) for Richard Shepard's The Perfection, direct from Netflix's YouTube: The...

"You ever spend the night with a stranger?" HBO has unveiled a trailer for a short film they're debuting this October. Tokyo Project is a 30-minute short from director Richard Shepard (Dom Hemingway, The Hunting Party, The Matador), produced by Lena Dunham. Ebon Moss-Bachrach stars as Sebastian, a man on a business trip to Tokyo. He keeps running into a mysterious woman named Claire, as played by Elisabeth Moss. They eventually hook up, but also end up dealing with their own sordid pasts. Co-starring Shu Kakizawa. This obviously reminds me of Lost in Translation, but hopefully it's a bit different. I am always up for anything with Elisabeth Moss, because she is so talented, and this looks like it could be good. Here's the first official trailer (+ poster) for Richard Shepard's short film Tokyo Project, from YouTube: On a business trip to Tokyo, Japan, Sebastian explores the city with...

Exclusive: Hot on the heels of its Toronto domestic rights sale of I, Tonya to 30West and Neon, Miramax Films has acquired The Perfection, which will be the next film directed by The Matador and Dom Hemingway helmer Richard Shepard. Shepard wrote the script with Eric Charmelo & Nicole Snyder. Pic is a horror-thriller about two cello prodigies and a sinister obsession that drives the dark pursuit of perfection. Miramax Films will finance, and CEO Bill Block will produce…...

Lena Dunham’s “Girls” didn’t go quietly into the night in its six and final season. Dunham and producing partner Jenni Konner continued to push the creative boundaries of the half-hour “comedy” format. One of their most impressive endeavors was “American Bitch” which was written by Dunham and directed by series veteran Richard Shepard (“The Matador,” “Dom Hemingway”).

The season’s third episode finds Hannah (Dunham) agreeing to meet a noted author Chuck Palmer (a fantastic Matthew Rhys) after she’s published a story with allegations that he coerced college students into having sex with him.

Continue reading ‘Girls’: Richard Shepard On That Shocking Moment From ‘American Bitch’ That Wasn’t In The Script [Emmy Interview] at The Playlist.

An unexpected pleasure at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, Tokyo Project is a romantic drama with a psychological twist starring Elisabeth Moss and Ebon Moss-Bacharach and directed by Richard Shepard, whose career traverses dark comedies like The Matador and Dom Hemingway as well as some of the most memorable episodes of TV’s Girls. But what’s unexpected about this story of two American wanderers who hook up in Tokyo while both seemingly escaping their normal lives is, simply, its existence. The half-hour work is beautifully acted and shot (by Giles Nuttgens), coursing with a kind of romantic cinephilia, and, unlike other […]...

Six years ago, Emilia Clarke burst into popular consciousness during the first season of HBO's Game of Thrones. Her character, Daenerys Targaryen, began as a naive and submissive young woman who soon emerged as a far stronger personality than might have been anticipated. Throughout the course of the series, Daenerys has overcome one setback after another, rising to become a powerful ruling force. In concert with her character, Clarke has risen from relative obscurity to immense popularity over the past few years. She has been quite selective about the movies in which she's appeared since the series hit it big, starting with supporting roles in Spike Island and Dom Hemingway before she landed a starring role as Sarah Connor in Terminator Genisys (above left). The...

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Few actresses have had the near instant ascension that Emilia Clarke has already achieved in her career. She arrived almost out of nowhere to great acclaim as Daenerys Targaryen in “Game Of Thrones,” and outside of the blockbuster series she’s had mixed success with a role in the underrated “Dom Hemingway,” co-starring in this summer’s sleeper hit “Me Before You,” and playing Sarah Connor in the failed franchise reboot “Terminator Genisys.” Now, she’s getting ready to go to a galaxy far, far way.

Continue reading Emilia Clarke Joins Han Solo ‘Star Wars’ Spinoff at The Playlist.

The star of Game Of Thrones and this year’s summer breakout Me Before You is the latest name to board the stand-alone sci-fi adventure.

Clarke joins Rules Don’t Apply star Alden Ehrenreich as the young Solo and Donald Glover as the young Lando Calrissian.

The action will take place in a galaxy far, far away before events in the original Star Wars trilogy. The news broke on Friday on StarWars.com.

Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who broke out with The Lego Movie, are on board to direct the project and Disney has earmarked a 2018 release.

Clarke portrays Daenerys Targaryen in Game Of Thrones and her credits include Terminator Genisys and Dom Hemingway.

Expected in 2017 are Phillip Noyce crime thriller Above Suspicion, which Sierra/Affinity introduced to international buyers in Cannes and Gersh represents in the Us, and supernatural thriller Voice From The Stone, which 13 Films represents for international sales.

Baywatch: Dwayne Johnson shared the latest photo from Baywatch, showcasing the lead players -- left to right: Kelly Rohrbach, Alexandra Daddario, Priyanka Chopra, Johnson, Zac Efron, Jon Bass -- running on the beach. Johnson captioned the photo: "We are the reason you feel safe on the sand. We are also literally running iconically in [slow-motion] because apparently that makes everyone's kibbles and bits look sexy." Look for the movie in theaters on May 19, 2017. [Instagram]   Wolverine 3: Richard E. Grant (Dom Hemingway, above) has been cast as "a villainous mad-scientist type" in the third, currently untitled movie revolving around the Marvel comic book mutant Wolverine (Hugh Jackman). Production is scheduled to get underway next month under...

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With a filmography that spans nearly 40 years, Demi&#225n Bichir has had more than his fair share of ups and downs throughout his career. In the mid-80s, he moved to New York and then Los Angeles to pursue his craft, but he was eventually drawn back to Mexico, where he became one of his home country's biggest box office stars. He won an Ariel Award, the Mexican equivalent of an Oscar, for his role in 'Til Death in 1994, and his 1999 blockbuster Sex, Shame and Tears became the highest-grossing movie in the country's history. While he was a bona fide star in Mexico, he would only gain the attention of American audiences nearly a decade later

His portrayal of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro in 2008's Che (Part 1) and Che (Part 2) helped put Demi&#225n Bichir on one Hollywood map, as well as his portrayal of Tijuana mayor/drug kingpin Esteban Reyes on Showtime's Weeds.

As director Ridley Scott continues the pre-production process in Australia for his highly-anticipated Alien: Covenant, the growing cast has yet another new addition. The Hollywood Reporter reveals that The Hateful Eight star Demi&#225n Bichir has signed on, but no details were given regarding his role. We reported earlier this month that production will begin in April, on location in Sydney, Australia.

Demian Bichir joins a cast that includes Prometheus star Michael Fassbender, who returns as the android David, along with franchise newcomers Katherine Waterston and Danny McBride. Ridley Scott teased last month that he's aiming for a hard R rating, which makes sense since all of the previous Alien movies were R except Alien Vs. Predator. While no official plot details have been given yet, we know this will be the first in a new trilogy that will eventually lead up to the original Alien.

Ridley Scott is directing...

Inexcusably self-indulgent. Tarantino gratifies his enormous self-love and his amusement at his own genius at the expense of all else. I’m “biast” (pro): loved Tarantino’s last two films…

I’m “biast” (con): …but really hate some of his films, too

(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)

Damn. So after the marvels of Inglourious Basterds and Django Unchained, Quentin Tarantino has swung back to the Kill Bill style of filmmaking, which I described in my review of Basterds as a cinematic “circle jerk in which he and his fans get off on one another and how clever they all are to be such rapacious film geeks.” With the inexcusably self-indulgent The Hateful Eight, Tarantino has returned to the gratification of his enormous self-love and his amusement at his own genius at the expense of all else.

There are no characters to like in Eight.

Acquisitions exec joins from Goldcrest.

Courtney Noble has joined Pinewood Pictures as its new head of acquisition and development, ahead of the American Film Market (Afm) (Nov 4-11).

Noble joins from Goldcrest Films International, which she joined in January 2013 as head of acquisition and development.

She was previously VP of acquisitions at Fortissimo Films, where she secured Terence Davies’ Sunset Song and oversaw international and world premieres for titles including Winter’s Bone and Martin Scorsese’s Shine A Light.

Robert Norris, commercial director at Pinewood Pictures said: “We are delighted to have Courtney joining the team to help us both develop and acquire great film and television projects, for the Isle of Man, Wales and Pinewood.”

Pinewood Pictures is part of the Pinewood Group, funding TV and film productions, as well as games, on behalf of the Isle of Man Media Fund and The Welsh Government’s Media Investment Budget. It also invests...

Game of Thrones normally uses its Comic-Con panel every summer to announce the new casting additions for each season, but that tradition was broken this year. The show still hasn't made any official casting announcements to date, but news has started to trickle out from unconventional sources. Today, we have a report from Watchers on the Wall, which reveal that veteran British actor Richard E. Grant has signed on for an unspecified role in Season 6. It isn't known if he has started filming or not.

The news of his casting was spotted on the actor's official resume page on his talent agency's website, but the listing was removed shortly thereafter. There are still a number of roles that have yet to be cast, such as Randyll Tarly, the father of Samwell Tarly, Aeron Greyjoy, Lord Karstark and Smalljon Umber, so it's possible that Richard E. Grant could be playing any one of those roles.

Welcome to The Best Movie You Never Saw, a column dedicated to examining films that have flown under the radar or gained traction throughout the years, earning them a place as a cult classic or underrated gem that was either before it’s time and/or has aged like a fine wine. This week, we’ll be looking at F*@#!%& Dom Hemingway. The Story: Twelve years ago, Dom... Read More...

I have a terrible feeling of deja vu. I have a terrible feeling of deja vu. I have a terrible feeling of deja vu. I have a terrible feeling of deja vu. I’m “biast” (pro): love the early films in the franchise…

I’m “biast” (con): …but it should have been left alone

(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)

I have this terrible feeling of deja vu.

I have this terrible feeling of deja vu.

The Summer of Franchise Movies That Just Makes Me Want to Go Back and Watch the Original Film continues. (See also Jurassic World, Minions, Poltergeist and so on.) The Terminator universe picks up the death knell of 2009’s Salvation with Genisys, in which the time-travel jiggery-pokery that has been futzing with its own mythology in ways that do it no favors now jumps back into the events of the...

Sneak Peek new images of "Game Of Thrones" actress Emilia Clarke aka 'Daenerys Targaryen', dressed in Christian Dior, for a recent issue of British "Vogue", photographed by Paolo Roversi :

Clarke was nominated for a 2013 Emmy for 'Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series' in "Game Of Thrones"...

...played Jude Law’s daughter in "Dom Hemingway" (2013), starred as 'Holly Golightly' on Broadway in "Breakfast At Tiffany’s", and will soon be seen as 'Sarah Connor' in "Terminator Genisys".

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek Emilia Clarke for "Vogue"...

The career highs of the Oscar-nominated actor, who stars as a super suave agent in this week’s comedy, Spy

While he’s never had the chance to actually play James Bond, despite rumours that he’s been in the running, Jude Law’s turn in Melissa McCarthy comedy Spy – out this week – shows that he would make a convincingly slick secret agent.

It’s a smallish role for the actor, who has been enjoying a bit of a comeback of late with vanity-free roles in The Grand Budapest Hotel, Dom Hemingway and Black Sea, all suggesting he’s breaking free of his pretty–boy shackles and seeking a more varied set of roles. Here’s a look back at his defining scenes:

Continue reading...

Sneak Peek new images of "Game of Thrones" actress Emilia Clarke in the July 2015 issue of "Marie Claire" (UK), photographed by David Roemer:

Clarke was nominated for a 2013 Emmy for 'Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series' for her work in "Game Of Thrones"...

She also played Jude Law’s daughter in "Dom Hemingway" (2013), starred as 'Holly Golightly' on Broadway in "Breakfast At Tiffany's" and will soon be seen as 'Sarah Connor' in "Terminator Genisys".

Click the images to enlarge...

Exclusive: Pinewood Pictures exec to leave UK outfit after three years.

Director of Pinewood Pictures Steve Christian is to step down after three years at the company.

Christian, who is also a Pinewood board member, coordinates investment advice for the UK studio’s production arm, which has backed films including Spooks: The Greater Good, Take Down, Pressure, Our Robot Overlords, Dom Hemingway, Belle, The Christmas Candle and Camera Trap.

Pinewood declined to comment on the departure while Christian was unavailable for comment.

Former CinemaNX founder and chairman Christian, who previously oversaw the development of the Isle of Man’s film investment programme, joined Pinewood Pictures in 2012 when the studio took over management of the Isle of Man’s $38.5m (£25m) Media Development Fund in return for the Isle of Man taking a 19% stake in Pinewood Group.

The studio launched its production arm in 2010 under the stewardship of former British Film Commissioner Steve Norris.

Since then Pinewood...

Channeling her “Game of Thrones” character Daenerys Targaryen, Emilia Clarke is featured on the front of the May 2015 issue of Vogue UK.

The 28-year-old “Dom Hemingway” actress told the publication that while some actresses wince at the thought of going nude on camera, she’s not the least bit squeamish.

Clarke shared, “We’ve been able to take it to a very real level. It was never pretending to be a show for kids! It’s gritty in a good, realistic way. There are other women who remove items of clothing on Game Of Thrones, so they’ve got my nipple count down now.”...

Sneak Peek new images of "Game Of Thrones" actress Emilia Clarke aka 'Daenerys Targaryen', dressed in Christian Dior, for the May 2015 issue of British "Vogue" fashion magazine, photographed by Paolo Roversi :

"...as the season five premiere of HBO's 'Game Of Thrones' is on the horizon, Clarke drssed like her character in the hit show as 'Daenerys Targaryen' aka 'Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea' for the publication..."

Clarke was nominated for a 2013 Emmy for 'Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series' in "Game Of Thrones"...

...played Jude Law’s daughter in "Dom Hemingway" (2013), starred as 'Holly Golightly' on Broadway in "Breakfast At Tiffany’s", and will soon be seen as 'Sarah Connor' in "Terminator Genisys".

Click the images to enlarge...

Sneak Peek new images of Emmy nominated actress Emilia Clarke aka 'Daenerys Targaryen' in the medieval fantasy series "Game Of Thrones", from a recent pictorial in The Hollywood Reporter:

In 2010, Clarke was cast as 'Daenerys Targaryen' in the HBO series "Game of Thrones", based on the book series "A Song of Ice and Fire" by George R. R. Martin.

To date she has appeared in all four broadcast seasons, and will reprise the role once more in Season 5. In 2013, she was nominated for 'Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series' at the '65th Primetime Emmy Awards'.

In 2012, Clarke appeared in "Spike Island". From March to April 2013, Clarke played 'Holly Golightly' in a Broadway production of 'Breakfast at Tiffany's'. In 2013, she also co-starred in the feature "Dom Hemingway". Clarke was cast as 'Sarah Connor' in 2015's "Terminator Genisys". She will also play the lead as 'Nurse Verena',...

Thanks to her breakout role as Daenerys Targaryen in HBO's Game Of Thrones, British actress Emilia Clarke has a very promising big-screen career ahead of her. Though she has appeared in a few movies already (including Shackled and Dom Hemingway), her biggest role to date is undoubtedly that of Sarah Connor in the upcoming Terminator: Genisys. In the following video interview, Clarke fills us in on how she's adapting to the Hollywood limelight, and also discusses this new incarnation of the "mother of the future", who has been played twice already by Linda Hamilton in the original James Cameron films, and by Clarke's Thrones cast-mate Lena Headey in the Sarah Connor Chronicles TV series. The beginning of Terminator: Genisys, the first of three planned films that Paramount hopes will relaunch the beloved sci-fi franchise, is set in 2029, when the Future War is raging and a group of human...

Lower Depths: MacDonald’s Latest a Tense Deep Sea Treasure Hunt

While it’s being treated to a December release in his native UK, director Kevin MacDonald’s latest feature film, Black Sea, gets plopped into Us theaters in January, perhaps signaling a wise move so that it will stand out amidst the litter of debris that constitutes the vein of awards fodder holdovers and studio doldrums flooding the theaters during that season. Fresh from his enjoyable dip into Ya dystopia with How I Live Now, MacDonald returns to a tale bearing a bit more historical baggage, spiriting us away into a homosocial space of mounting tensions and rival cultural attitudes. A likeable lead performance from Jude Law plus a handful of nervy twists and turns helps its claustrophobic narrative chug along to a finale of limited possibilities.

Being informed he’s about to be laid off by his employer,...

Jude Law has turned into a very surprising actor. When he first hit the scene in films like A.I. and The Talented Mr. Ripley, it almost felt like Hollywood was forcing him to be an A-lister. Fast forward to now and Law has not headlined a major film in a while. Yeah, he has been a supporting player in several Steven Soderbergh films and the Sherlock Holmes franchise, but as a leading man he has found a comfortable home in smaller productions like Dom Hemingway and the upcoming Black Sea....

Heist movies are universally loved yet rarely reinvented, as they typically assemble a band of misfits who work towards a collective criminal goal involving immense riches. Most of the time you’ll see a bank being robbed, or there’s the Ocean’s gang infiltrating casinos, and we can’t forget when those Fast & Furious boys/gals stole an entire vault – but we haven’t seen that many underwater heist films.

Sure, Black Sea isn’t a straightforward smash-and-grab story, but Kevin Macdonald’s latest film is an unconventional heist movie at its core. There’s a rag-tag team, their treacherous submersible journey, and a buttload of Nazi gold hidden deep inside a sunken German U-Boat – there just happens to be a little more drama involved thanks to the creaky Russian submarine used to navigate Jordanian/Russian waters. Don’t expect a quirky seafaring adventure from this lot of gold-digging sailors,...

Chicago – It’s that time of year to figure it out, as 2014 leaks away, and the film year follows suit. Whittling down a list to ten films, after hours of entertainment and provoking of thought, is a fool’s challenge at best. Then who better to do it than Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com.

Best to change it up to first person voice, since I’m writing the actual article. So, I, Patrick McDonald, will attempt to break down the film year into the 10 Best, and my colleagues on HollywoodChicago.com will follow suit in the next several days.

The most difficult slot of any list like this is the 10th position, for it leaves out so many brilliant possibilities for 11th place and onward. At that position are the international films “Bright Days Ahead,” “Force Majeure” and “The Raid 2”; the horror/comic genius of “Dead Snow 2: Red vs.

An underwater heist of Nazi loot? Awesome. Submarine movies don’t get much better than this intensely suspenseful popcorn adventure. I’m “biast” (pro): nothing

I’m “biast” (con): nothing

(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)

An underwater heist of Nazi loot. Does a submarine movie get better than this? How about some rage against the 1 percent thrown in for fun? Jude Law’s (Dom Hemingway, Rise of the Guardians) Robinson is a veteran of the British navy who’s been working in marine salvage until he gets an unceremonious boot from his job: nothing wrong with his work, just changin’ times, and don’t let the door hit your ass on the way out. He puts together a team of similarly hopeless men who’ve given their lives to the same dangerous, demanding work and have been discarded with nothing but flipping burgers as a career option.

Pinewood Pictures, which finances and distributes the media investments of the Pinewood Studios Group, today announced it has closed a deal that will see 20th Century Fox book all films on its distribution slate into cinemas.

The lead title in Pinewood’s slate is the feature adaptation of hit TV series Spooks: The Greater Good, starring Game of Thrones‘ Kit Harrington, which will be released May 8.

Other titles include Ron Scalpello’s Pressure, starring Danny Huston.

Pinewood Pictures, which is part of the Pinewood Studios group, funds and distributes TV and film productions in the UK on behalf of the Isle of Man Media Fund and The Welsh Government’s Media Investment Budget. The company also offers direct equity investment from Pinewood.

Pinewood and Fox previously collaborated on Brit filmmaker Amma Asante’s Belle, which Pinewood invested in, and which Fox released to much success in the UK and U.

Spooks: The Greater Good sets release date.

Pinewood Pictures, which finance and distribute the media investments of the Pinewood Studios Group, announced today that it has signed a deal with 20th Century Fox, that will see films on its distribution slate booked into cinemas by the studio.

Spooks: The Greater Good, starring Kit Harington (Game of Thrones), the movie based on the BBC hit show, is a key picture on the slate, and its release date is announced today as May 8 2015.

Ron Scalpello’s Pressure, starring Danny Huston, Matthew Goode and Joe Cole, will also feature in the deal. Further films in the slate will be announced in due course.

Pinewood Pictures is part of the Pinewood Studios group.

Other projects in which Pinewood Pictures has invested include Michael Grandage’s Genius, Belle, Take Down and Dom Hemingway.

Jude Law never quite hit the leading man status that everyone anticipated he would reach, but that has not stopped him from having something of a McConaussance in the last few years. Despite the high profile Watson role in Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes films, Law has been mostly appearing in smaller thrillers like Steven Soderbergh's Contagion and Side Effects, the animated Rise Of The Guardians, the excellent Dom Hemingway, and the upcoming Black Sea. Law may find his stock becoming more...

"Goodbye to Language" grossed $11,448 in two New York theaters in its first two days after opening Wednesday. With a per screen average for $5,724, it beat films with far higher ad buys and advance theater bookings from companies such as Fox Searchlight ("Dom Hemingway"), Sony Pictures Classics ("Kill Your Darlings"), Cohen Media ("My Old Lady") and Paramount ("Men, Women and Children") over the past year. "Goodbye to Language" was topped by Weinstein's "Yves Saint Laurent"--just barely.   NPR's story on the film details the way Godard playfully expands the use of 3D with never before seen effects. That's why there's so much interest in seeing it.  Here are the reasons key big-city theaters aren't booking it.  1. It's a Godard film.  Exhibitors are shying away from Jean-Luc Godard and the challenging nature of the film, despite its Cannes pedigree and critical acclaim. It's...

The Bridge star Demi&#225n Bichir has signed on to star in Universal Pictures' Untitled Lowrider Project, which was formerly known as Lowriders when we first reported on it back in 2010.

The actor will play an East Los Angeles man who annually competes in a lowrider event known as the "Supershow." The story centers on his teenage son, who is torn between his traditional father and his estranged, criminal brother, both of whom are competing in the "Supershow." The plot is described as an, "inspirational youth culture" story.

Brazilian filmmaker Ricardo de Montreuil (Mancora) is directing from a script that was most recently written by Josh Bierne-Gordon and Justin Tipping, with Cheo Hodari Coker (Notorious) and Elgin James (Little Birds) previously working on the screenplay.

Brian Grazer is producing for Imagine Entertainment, alongside Blumhouse's Jason Blum, both of whom are based at Universal, with Mister Cartoon and Estevan Oriol serving as executive producers.

If you enjoyed Jude Law scruffing it up for Dom Hemingway, it looks like that streak will continue on into his next role in the submarine thriller Black Sea. Law portrays a down on his luck marine salvager who finds himself with no family, no job and no money. Promises of Russian gold in a sunken U-boat are too much to pass up, attracting the shadiest of characters, as this trailer beautifully illustrates. Take a look! The synopsis is as follows: A suspenseful adventure thriller...

First of all, something of an apology. I have been writing this column thinking that every single title due for release the following Monday would of course be released via some kind of pay to stream service. Of course it would, we are living in the future, and this is how things are done isn’t it?

Apparently not, last week I included Jeremy Saulnier’s much loved Blue Ruin in the pay to stream section and then it didn’t come out the way I thought it might. Turns out that some companies still have a fairly limited release pattern so Blue Ruin was released by channel 4’s DVD label and appeared on DVD and Blu but didn’t show up to stream on any of the major providers, not even Sky Store or Playstation Network.

So turns out that being a channel 4 release, you can of course rent...

Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke and Sam Claflin are in negotiations to star in the new adaptation Me Before You for MGM Studios.

Based on the novel of the same name by Jojo Moyes, Me Before You follows Lou, a young girl from a small town who meets Will, a successful man who has been confined to a wheelchair after a horrific accident. Lou takes a job as Will's caretaker and they go on a series of adventures. The young woman tries to convince Will that life is still worth living.

Jojo Moyes wrote the first draft of the screenplay, with Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber performing the most recent rewrite. Thea Sharrock is making her feature directorial debut, after directing episodes of Call the Midwife, with Karen Rosenfelt producing. No production schedule was given.

While best known for playing Daenerys Targaryen on HBO's Game of Thrones, Emilia Clarke...

The producers of “Downton Abbey” have released the first trailer for Season 5 online and there's no shortage of drama happening throughout the Grantham estate. The fifth season begins in 1924 as Britain gets its first-ever Labour Prime Minister — Ramsay MacDonald, whose election the Earl of Grantham takes exception to. Also read: ‘Downton Abbey’ Season 5 First-Look Stills, Explained By an Idiot (Photos) “Dom Hemingway” star Richard E. Grant is among the Season 5 guest stars. The fifth season of “Downton Abbey” will premiere in the U.S. on Jan. 4, 2015 on PBS Masterpiece, though overseas audiences will be able to enjoy all...

With the passing of Robin Williams (see what we chose as his 10 Best Performances here), perhaps this is a good moment to reflect on actors who died unexpectedly. A documentary on the brief, tragic life of Montgomery Clift has surfaced, and today happens to the birthday of the great John Cazale, an immense talent who died too young, laid low by lung cancer at the age of 42. In 2009, HBO released "I Knew It Was You: Remembering John Cazale," a terrific 40-minute look at his life, career and legacy. Featuring Al Pacino, Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Francis Ford Coppola, Robert De Niro, Gene Hackman and many more, produced by Brett Ratner (yup), and directed by Richard Shepherd ("The Matador," "Dom Hemingway") the doc takes a look at the man whose brief film career included the first two "The Godfather" films, "Dog Day Afternoon" and "The Deer Hunter." And he was fantastic in all of them.

If you seek out Dom Hemingway (as you should) for a chance to see Jude Law as never before, you’ll likely come away thrilled with what writer-director Richard Shepard has unleashed within the actor. He’s on fire. Physically, Law’s almost unrecognizable, complete with greased-back hair, a protruding belly and a feral glint of sexual hunger in his eyes. And as an actor, he’s louder, bolder, nuttier and more rakishly appealing than ever before. It’s quite a transformation, coming on the heels of many almost clinically detached performances over the past few years – and Dom Hemingway should mark the beginning of a new era for the star, as Mud did for McConaughey. He’s so stunningly good, so fiercely alive, in this role that one can almost feel the heat from his fire coming off every frame.

Thanks to Law and to Shepard, who proves himself...