News

Brad Pitt is one of those actors that lends instant credibility to any film that he’s attached to star in. No matter what the plot of the film might be, Pitt has entered the exclusive superstar level that makes film fans interested in anything he does, just as they would be for people like Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert Downey, Jr, and Angelina Jolie, to name only a few.

Continue reading Brad Pitt Reportedly Up For A Starring Role In Damien Chazelle’s ‘Babylon’ Opposite Emma Stone at The Playlist.

While only a few came away unscathed after the La La Land wars of 2016, Damien Chazelle’s follow-up First Man was a sturdier, more mature outing for the directing that unfortunately wasn’t met with as open of arms. Nonetheless, the young director forged ahead, developing series for both Netflix and Apple. Now we finally have word of what will likely be his next film.

Variety reports the project is titled Babylon, with his La La Land star Emma Stone already entering talks to lead the film, while Brad Pitt is also circling the project, according to Deadline. The film will find Chazelle returning to Hollywood, this time depicting the era in the 1920s as the move from silent features to talkies caused much upheaval.

Said to be more of an ensemble film though not a musical, it will mark his most ambitious project yet and be firmly R-rated. While...

After delivering the 14 Oscar-nominated song and dance drama, La La Land, word around the old Hollywood water cooler is that studios are ready to go to the matresses for director Damien Chazelle's next feature film, Babylon. As you know, things can get rather competitive when a hot, new script is being shopped to potential buyers, and that goes double for when a proven filmmaker is ready…...

Director Damien Chazelle didn’t get nearly as much acclaim as he deserved for last year’s biographical historical drama First Man. The chronicle of Neil Armstrong’s walk on the moon and the key moments that led to it was much more than your average account of Nasa’s exploits in the space race, but the film only […]

The post Damien Chazelle Shopping ‘Babylon’ Around Studios with Emma Stone and Brad Pitt Circling appeared first on /Film.

Joseph Baxter Jul 16, 2019

Emma Stone could headline La La Land director Damien Chazelle’s new movie, Babylon.

Babylon, the developing would-be film from Oscar-winning La La Land director Damien Chazelle, is already making plenty of industry waves as he currently considers would-be studios for the project. Moreover, the project’s value has just increased significantly with the latest report, which indicates that the film could facilitate a reunion between the director and the co-star of his Oscar-earning effort in Emma Stone. Additionally, a subsequent update reveals that Brad Pitt is also in the mix.

With La La Land distributor Lionsgate reportedly a front-runner for Chazelle’s next written/directorial turn, Babylon, it appears that Emma Stone – whose performance in the former earned a Best Lead Actress Oscar win in 2017 – is circling the starring role in the new film, leading what will become a large ensemble of high-profile names, according to Deadline.

“La La Land” director Damien Chazelle is heading back to Hollywood for his next feature film “Babylon,” and Emma Stone is in early talks star.

Sources say Chazelle has met with a handful of suitors over the past couple weeks, and Paramount and Lionsgate are both vying to land the project. While Chazelle previously worked with Lionsgate for “La La Land,” one insider added Paramount may have a slight edge in acquiring it given the scope of the film and the budget it would require to undertake it. “Babylon” is a period piece set in the 1920s Hollywood, and Chazelle is looking for an A-list ensemble to make this film his largest production to date.

Precise plot details are vague, but sources say the film will take place during the transition from silent films to talkies and will feature a mix of real-life and fictional characters, similar to Quentin Tarantino...

Update (5:40pm Et): According to Deadline, Brad Pitt is also circling a role in Damien Chazelle’s new movie.

Earlier: Damien Chazelle is in production on his Netflix music drama series “The Eddy,” but he’s also gearing up for a return to the big screen in the near future. An exclusive report from Deadline says numerous studios are bidding for “Babylon,” a Hollywood period drama that Chazelle wrote as his next feature directorial effort. Lionsgate is reportedly the frontrunner to land the picture after successfully releasing Chazelle’s “La La Land” to the tune of $446 million worldwide and 14 Oscar nominations.

Plot details for “Babylon” are remaining under wraps. Deadline reports the film is not a musical but is “a bold auteur piece with a significant budget.” According to Variety, the film is set in Hollywood during the 1920s as the industry transitions from silent films to talkies.

Damien Chazelle, who wrote and directed the 2016 hit musical La La Land, is again tackling an L.A. story, which this time is set in the 1920s.

Chazelle penned the screenplay and is attached to helm Babylon, which is intended to be his next film and is making the rounds to studios and streaming companies. The project generated immediate interest from Lionsgate, Paramount and Netflix, among others, when it hit the town over a month ago, but coming to any deal has been slow going. Those in the know have described the Babylon script as being a whopping 180 pages long and ...

Damien Chazelle, who wrote and directed the 2016 hit musical La La Land, is again tackling an L.A. story, which this time is set in the 1920s.

Chazelle penned the screenplay and is attached to helm Babylon, which is intended to be his next film and is making the rounds to studios and streaming companies. The project generated immediate interest from Lionsgate, Paramount and Netflix, among others, when it hit the town over a month ago, but coming to any deal has been slow going. Those in the know have described the Babylon script as being a whopping 180 pages long and ...

Tony Sokol Jun 6, 2019

New Orleans musician Mac Rebennack conjured the best mojo in Dr. John the Night Tripper.

"They call me Dr. John, The Night Tripper," New Orleans voodoo pianist Mac Rebennack sang on the 1969 song "Gris-Gris Gumbo Ya Ya." With his sizzling Gris-Gris his hand, he lived and breathed New Orleans. The last of the best, Dr. John the Night Tripper, died of a heart attack "toward the break of day" on Thursday, June 6, according to the New York Times. Like Leon Redbone, who died last week, there is some dispute over Dr. John's age, various reports have him listed as 77 or 78.

"The family thanks all whom have shared his unique musical journey, and requests privacy at this time," a statement from the musician's family said. They did not say where he died, though he reportedly was resting at his Lake Pontchartrain area home, not too far from New Orleans.

My Brother The Devil director Sally El Hosaini is to direct Working Title’s forthcoming Yusra Mardini biopic, which now has the working title The Swimmers. El Hosaini has replaced Stephen Daldry, who is staying on as an exec producer.

The film tells the story of Syrian swimmer Mardini, the teenage Olympian refugee who dragged a dinghy of refugees to safety across the Aegean Sea.

Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner’s firm optioned the life story last year with Kiri creator Jack Thorne, who is also working on Netflix musical drama The Eddy with La La Land director Damien Chazelle, writing the script.

The project is currently out to casting. El Hosaini broke out with 2013 British crime film My Brother The Devil, which picked up a slew of awards, and she has directed episodes of Danny Boyle’s Channel 4 drama Babylon.

The film will tell the true story of Mardini,...

Since any New York City cinephile has a nearly suffocating wealth of theatrical options, we figured it’d be best to compile some of the more worthwhile repertory showings into one handy list. Displayed below are a few of the city’s most reliable theaters and links to screenings of their weekend offerings — films you’re not likely to see in a theater again anytime soon, and many of which are, also, on 35mm. If you have a chance to attend any of these, we’re of the mind that it’s time extremely well-spent.

Bam

A series on Czech titan Věra Chytilová has commenced.

Metrograph

King Hu’s The Fate of Lee Khan has been restored.

Films about Thelonious Monk play back-to-back.

Herzog’s Bad Lieutenant and a print of Cronenberg’s Spider can be seen.

Museum of the Moving Image

A series on Latin America’s recent sci-fi...

In today’s film news roundup, Sterling K. Brown is cast as a basketball coach, Kino Lorber hires a programming veteran and Imagine promotes Karen Lunder.

Casting

Sterling K. Brown will play the lead role of Coach Willie Davis in inspirational sports drama “Rise” for Sony’s faith-based Affirm Films, Crystal City Entertainment and Gulfstream Pictures.

Kevin Rodney Sullivan will start filming in May in Louisiana with a wide theatrical release on April 10, 2020. The script was written by Randy Brown and Gregory Allen Howard.

Davis, a junior high school janitor, seized the opportunity to head coach the school’s basketball team as the school was weighing the decision to cancel the program due to funding concerns. Davis stressed “The Lord, books and basketball” to the team and became a role model for many of the kids in the school and surrounding community.

Producers are Ari Pinchot, Stuart Avi Savitsky, Mike Karz and Bill Bindley.

After a robust three-year run as the director of programming at New York City’s Quad Cinema, C. Mason Wells surprised the indie film world by announcing his departure earlier this week. Now we know why he’s leaving: Wells is joining Kino Lorber as director of theatrical sales, starting Monday April 8. He’ll be reporting directly to Wendy Lidell, Svp of theatrical, non-theatrical distribution and acquisitions.

When the Quad Cinema relaunched in 2016, it distinguished itself almost immediately with its extraordinary repertory lineups, including retrospectives of Alain Delon, Bob Fosse, and films that were rated X. Almost instantly, the Quad was as essential a part of the New York City film landscape as the IFC Center, Anthology Film Archives, and Bam Cinematek (for all three of which Wells had previously programmed lineups), as well as Film Forum and the Metrograph.

“I am delighted that Chris Wells will be joining our team,...

There’s something missing in “Yardie,” Idris Elba’s directorial debut, but I can’t quite place my finger on it. The acting is decent, the cinematography is well-executed, and the music is on point, but the delivery and the tone are completely mismatched. It feels as if the film itself is aching to say something more, but is ultimately muted by choices the freshman director withheld from making.

Based on the 1992 book by Victor Headley, the film opens in 1973 Kingston, Jamaica. There’s a gang war, and young D (Antwayne Eccleston) is being raised by his older brother, Jerry Dread while King Fox (Sheldon Shepherd) — a gang leader, don, and music producer — acts a sort of father figure to both. During a concert meant to unite rival gangs in Kingston, Jerry is gunned down, leaving D to be raised by King Fox.

Years later, adult D is working for...

Frank Rosso's Babylon (1980) is showing February 25 – March 26, 2019 on Mubi in the United Kingdom.Impressions of Franco Rosso’s Babylon (1980) extend past the boundaries of its 95-minute running time. Like the dub remixes its London characters’ lives revolve around, the movie plays with re-establishing identity and our experience of time. A narrative document of young, working class male Jamaican-British Londoners, Babylon doles out atmospheric city scenes of their place in the community: sons, brothers, boyfriends, small-time crooks, laborers, music lovers and producers. Privileging viewers with immersion into an insulated, under-documented immigrant community, the film provides a window into their daily lives. We are thrown into conversations and situations, intimately experiencing their patois their interactions with friends, their constant victimization by a dominantly racist white society, and the massive sound system parties they congregate to. A corrective to the British ignorance and fear of Jamaican immigrants, the film’s emphasis is on...

Abel Ferrara's King of New York (1990) and 4:44 Last Day on Earth(2011) are playing April – May, 2019 on Mubi in the United States.The world has shrunk around Abel Ferrara. He was once able to shoot every corner of his oft-filmed hometown in movies like Fear City, Ms. 45, RXmas, The Addiction, Bad Lieutenant and King of New York as if it were Babylon. It's darkest corners and towering skyscrapers, its crooked cops, princely dealers and bottom-feeding scum riding an unpredictable wave of fortune and misery. And fittingly Ferrara himself fell prey to that same tide and by the time he wanted to make 4:44: Last Day on Earth, he was no longer the in-demand presence he once was. King of New York and 4:44 are perfect twins, charting the disintegrating mental peace two men with storied pasts. Drug addictions, prison time, lost potential, lost time, both men have to...

Fresh product is invigorating the post-awards season. Julianne Moore in “Gloria Bell,” Sebastián Lelio’s Los Angeles redo of his Chilean success “Gloria,” led the field with a strong two-city start. Expanding “Apollo 11” (Neon) added to its initial IMAX runs, landing in tenth place overall.

Scoring surprisingly strong numbers is “Babylon,” an almost 40-year-old British-Jamaican film finally released stateside. Its exclusive New York run took in $20,000, a strong number for any specialized opener.

The recent subtitled surge continues as a variety of new esoteric and well-reviewed entries join previous non-English successes “Climax” (Neon) and “Everybody Knows” (Focus).

Opening

Gloria Bell (A24) – Metacritic: 81; Festivals include: Toronto 2018

$154,775 in 5 theaters; PTA (per theater average): $30,955

Lelio has already enjoyed three significant specialized successes: the original “Gloria,” his Oscar-winner “A Fantastic Woman” last year, and London-made “Disobedience.” For his first U.S. film, he reworked “Gloria” with Julianne Moore playing a single grandmother,...

Nearly four decades ago when it was originally released co-writer/director Franco Rosso's explosive British musical drama Babylon tapped into the complicated mindset of a different kind of youth-fueled movement saddled with incidiary overtones of racial strife and cultural intolerance. Specifically, spotlighting the prominence of dreadlock-induced indifference concerning British-Jamaican musicians enduring xenophobia scorn is the foundation for Rosso's controversial expose chronicling the heavy-handed race-related bias around South London's bombastic boundaries in the early eighties. Babylon is revealing and raw in its political and sociological spectrum in reference to racial divide, reggae music, and the underbelly of ambition to succeed within the realm of doomsday disillusionment. Indeed, Babylon was destined to be a blistering commentary on black youth alienation upon its 1980 debut. Honest, gritty and vastly telling, Rosso and fellow scriber Martin...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Director Sebastián Lelio is revisiting a character that charmed audiences back in 2014. Gloria Bell, starring Oscar winner Julianne Moore, is the English-language reimagining of the filmmaker’s box office hit Gloria. A24 is opening the title in New York and L.A., which should be the headliner among the weekend’s specialty newcomers. Fellow Academy Award winner J.K. Simmons stars in drama I’m Not Here, heading out day-and-date from Gravitas Ventures. Documentary Ferrante Fever is doing exclusive showings in New York starting Friday before heading to L.A. later in the month, and KimStim is opening Golden Horse winner An Elephant Sitting Still by the late Chinese filmmaker Hu Bo.

Among other limited releases opening this weekend is Lionsgate’s The Kid starring Ethan Hawke, and the U.S. debut of Franco Rosso’s 1980 film Babylon is having its U.S. bow at Bam in Brooklyn.

Gloria Bell

Director-writer: Sebastián Lelio

Cast: Julianne Moore,...

For the past few years, Iranian director Jafar Panahi has been sending a series of quietly confounding films to festivals that he’s not allowed to attend. “Three Faces,” which premiered in May 2018 at the Cannes Film Festival, is the latest of these little examples of his cinematic sleight-of-hand, and another Panahi gem that has more on its mind than it lets on.

“Three Faces” is typical of the canny director’s output in the way it’s modest but profound, leisurely but urgent, a portrait of a country disguised as a meandering road movie.

But it’s not like he’s using misdirection or only pretending to be modest and leisurely. Panahi’s films are all those things at once — and this one is particularly timely at this year’s Cannes in the way he manages, without openly criticizing his home country, to sketch a portrait of how the...

Can you count the number of times you’ve heard someone use the phrase “hidden gem” or “cult classic” in reference to movies that do not deserve these titles? Chances are if you hang around the type of people whose ears perk up when they hear the words “eighties restoration” or “never released in the U.S.,” the statistics probably number in the thousands. Just for the sake of saving you time in the future, here’s a quick warning—do not be fooled by these buzz words.

Continue reading ‘Babylon’: Despite Strong Performances & Gritty Social Commentary, This Reggae Restoration Ultimately Disappoints [Review] at The Playlist.

Director Franco Rosso’s “Babylon” was never released in America. It’s a 1980 film with subtitles and no big-name stars that centers on poor black male youths in London living among neighbors who shout, “Go back to your country!” from their bedroom windows on a regular basis. It’s about their daily resistance to hate and navigating a system that is rigged against them.

The characters speak in Jamaican patois, and there is no white savior. In many ways, it is the antithesis of what mainstream audiences in America were interested in watching at that time. But 39 years later, it finally sees the light of day in U.S. theaters.

Releasing “Babylon” today underscores its unfortunate relevance, though it also makes it vulnerable to criticism shaped by modern society and conversation. For instance, the screenplay by Rosso (who died in 2016) and co-writer Martin Stellman deserves acclaim for highlighting the stories...

Franco Rosso’s Thatcher-era drama to premiere theatrically in March.

Nearly 40 years after it premiered in Cannes Critics’ Week, cult British reggae film Babylon will get its first Us release through Kino Lorber Repertory and new boutique distributor Seventy-Seven.

Franco Rosso’s Thatcher-era drama about racial tension and police brutality stars Brinsley Forde, founder of British reggae band Aswad, as a dancehall DJ in south London who battles xenophobia, neighbours, police, and the National Front.

The film was deemed so incendiary that after screenings on the Croisette and the Toronto International Film Festival, top brass at the New York Film Festival passed.

“I was a huge Laurel and Hardy fan since I was eight years old,” reveals director Jon S. Baird about why he was the perfect choice to helm the new film “Stan and Ollie” for Sony Pictures Classics. In our recent interview (watch the exclusive video above), he adds, “I’ve got a picture of me dressed as Stan Laurel for the school fancy dress party. So there’s proof there that I did love them. It’s been a long love affair for me and these two guys. When I read Jeff (Pope)’s script, I jumped at the chance because it was a childhood dream come true.”

SEEJohn C. Reilly Interview: ‘Stan and Ollie’

The movie is mostly set in Great Britain after the major film successes of the iconic comedy duo of Laurel and Hardy. The film opens with them in Hollywood just before Laurel (portrayed by...

There can’t be many pairs of hands as safe as Don Letts’s when it comes to music knowledge. A cultural polymath who has been front-and-centre of the music scene for over 40 years – as a musician, DJ, radio presenter, Grammy Award-winning music video and film director. Letts was one of the key figures in the introduction of reggae to the punk movement, working particularly closely with The Clash.

He’s returned to reggae, celebrating his first love with a series of podcasts for Turtle Bay, and in his latest Reggae45 podcast, he has zeroed in on reggae’s place in Jamaican cinema. “With this episode Don takes the term soundtrack from a literal point of view, delving deep into the world of film and how the sound has a parallel connection with the story on the screen.”

The Citizen Kane of Jamaican cinema is Perry Henzell’s 1972 crime thriller...

Stan & Ollie, the Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly-starring biopic of one of Hollywood's greatest double acts, Laurel and Hardy, is to get its world premiere as the closing-night film of this year's BFI London Film Festival.

The film, directed by Jon S. Baird (Filth, Babylon), will close the curtain on the 62nd edition of the festival on Oct. 21, organizers unveiled on Friday.

Written by Jeff Pope (Philomena), Stan & Ollie tells the story of Laurel and Hardy as they journey around the U.K. and Ireland in what would become the pair’s triumphant farewell tour....

Stan & Ollie, the Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly-starring biopic of one of Hollywood's greatest double acts, Laurel and Hardy, is to get its world premiere as the closing-night film of this year's BFI London Film Festival.

The film, directed by Jon S. Baird (Filth, Babylon), will close the curtain on the 62nd edition of the festival on Oct. 21, organizers unveiled on Friday.

Written by Jeff Pope (Philomena), Stan & Ollie tells the story of Laurel and Hardy as they journey around the U.K. and Ireland in what would become the pair’s triumphant farewell tour....

A wife and mother in her 40s is at the center of Sony Pictures Classics’ Sundance fest acquisition Puzzle starring Kelly Macdonald and making its theatrical bow this weekend in New York and Los Angeles. Directed by Marc Turtletaub, the feature, which also stars Irrfan Khan, is based on an Argentine film from 2009. Greenwich Entertainment is taking doc Scotty And the Secret History of Hollywood to select locations this weekend. Based on a best-selling memoir, the film spotlights Scotty Bowers who provided for the sexual needs of some of Hollywood’s biggest stars during its Golden Age. And Music Box Films is going out with its Toronto ’17 fest feature The Captain, based on a true story about a German army deserter who finds a captain’s uniform in the waning days of World War II. The film will have an exclusive New York run this weekend before heading to other cities.

It’s already been a heck of an E3 this year, with some big announcements from some major developers. With all the news about Fallout 76, The Elder Scrolls 6, Gears of War 5, and other major franchises, it might have been easy to miss the Square Enix press conference. The 30-minute live stream didn’t actually […]

The post E3 2018: New Platinum Games Title Babylon’S Fall Announced appeared first on Dread Central.

Veteran colorist Jean-Clement Soret has been named supervising digital intermediate colorist at Technicolor Post in London. He will work in this new role, on features and TV, in addition to maintaining his current duties at Technicolor-owned VFX house Mpc, as global creative director of color grading, working on advertising campaigns.

Soret's feature credits include 28 Days Later, Twilight: Eclipse, Trainspotting 2, In the Heart of the Sea and Steve Jobs; his TV work has included Babylon, Midnight Sun and Black Mirror.

In April, he will begin work on thriller Serenity, written and directed by Steve Knight, lensed by cinematographer Jess...

“Get Out” leading man Daniel Kaluuya may have lost the Best Actor BAFTA to Gary Oldman (“Darkest Hour”) but he picked up a nice consolation prize earlier in the evening when he received the Rising Star award from Margot Robbie and Octavia Spencer. Among his rivals for this award, which is voted on by the British public, was another Best Actor nominee: Timothee Chalamet (“Call Me By Your Name”).

Kaluuya was the first winner to enter the press room and was by far the liveliest and funniest. His natural charm and charisma were infectious during the interview and he had everyone laughing by the end of his time answering questions.

He mused on now having to take Ubers everywhere due to his ever increasing fame, as well as the fight to be noticed while working towards his goals. I asked the Oscar nominee about the high bar he has already set for himself.

At Sunday’s BAFTA Awards, two of the Best Actor nominees — Timothee Chalamet (“Call Me By Your Name”) and Daniel Kaluuya (“Get Out) — are also pitted against each other for the Rising Star prize. While the winner of the former will be decided by the members of the academy, the latter is voted on by the public.

Chalmet is American and Kaluuya is British as are the other three nominees (Josh O’Connor, Florence Pugh and Tessa Thompson). Only two of the 12 winners of this award to date have been American: Shia Labeouf (2008) and Kristen Stewart (2010).

While the other three British nominee are little-known outside the UK, Kaluuya stars in one of the biggest hits of the year world-wide. His film is a leading Oscar contender and he reaped a Best Actor bid at the Academy Awards as well. This one-time star of Channel 4’s teen drama “Skins” went...

Idris Elba discusses his Sundance debut Yardie.

Source: BBC Films

‘Idris Elba and Aml Ameen on the set of Yardie’

In 2015, Idris Elba was about to board a flight from London to La when he bumped into fellow actor Aml Ameen. The two didn’t know each other well but had met a couple of times before. The encounter would prove serendipitous.

After seeing Ameen in Maze Runner, Elba had wanted to get in touch with the rising actor’s representatives to talk about the lead role in his directorial debut Yardie, an adaptation of Jamaican-born British writer Victor Headley’s 1992 crime novel about a courier carrying cocaine from Jamaica to London who decides to go it alone and disappears into the mean streets of Hackney with a kilo of white powder. The thriller has a cult reputation in the UK where it proved a publishing hit.

“I was like, ‘Oh right, I know...

X-Files Recap is a weekly column by Keith Uhlich covering Chris Carter's 10-episode continuation of the X-Files television series.To know someone intimately is to risk familiarity, and we all know what that breeds. Not that FBI Special Agents and ex-flames Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) are contemptuous of each other, exactly. Their disdain is more often directed inward, at those subconscious voices that dissuade and derail, reminding them that the clock (on both their work and on life itself) is always ticking. The duo's flirty, jargon-heavy banter is, beyond its innumerable surface pleasures (could any other pair so bewitchingly debate Gastaut-Geschwind syndrome?), a defense mechanism against the devils within and without. Find that one person who you can most easily converse with, whose sentences you don’t just finish but practically prophesy, and nothing can hold you back. That’s how it should ideally work,...

Participants revealed for year-long initiative.

Bafta has named the 15 female directors taking part in its inaugural career development programme for under-represented groups in film and TV.

Launched in February, Elevate will initially focus on helping women progress their directing careers in high-end television and film. According to 2016 data from Directors UK, only 13.6% of working directors between 2004 and 2014 were female.

The group of 15 was selected from 250 applicants, and reflect a range of experience levels and backgrounds.

Participants include My Brother the Devil director Sally El Hosaini, who co-directed Channel 4 and Sundance TV’s Babylon; Wolfblood and Dates director Sarah Walker; Tina Gharavi, founder of media production company Bridge + Tunnel; and Vanessa Caswill, a lead director on BBC3’s Thirteen.

Full list of Bafta Elevate directors:Alicia DuffyAmanda BlueCathy BradyChristiana Ebohon-GreenDawn ShadforthDelyth ThomasEmma SullivanKate SaxonLindy HeymannLisa ClarkeRebecca JohnsonSally El HosainiSarah WalkerTina GharaviVanessa Caswill

The year-long initiative will include panel discussions, masterclasses and workshops, These will build...

Are you overwhelmed by how much television is available right now? Is life getting in the way of keeping up with the shows you wanna try out? We feel your tube-related pain. Here’s a handy feature that’ll help you locate the hidden gems in this era of Peak TV.

The Oa

Network | Netflix

Created By | Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij

Number Of Episodes | 8

Episode Length | 60 mins.

Premise | Marling (of the British miniseries Babylon) stars as Prairie Johnson, a young woman who went missing years ago as a blind girl, but returns to the community she grew up in with her sight inexplicably restored.

Daniel Kaluuya, the British actor and star of Jordan Peele's hit horror movie Get Out, defended his casting in the film that explores racial issues in the U.S.

Samuel L. Jackson last week wondered aloud "what that movie would have been with an American brother who really feels that."

While Jackson defended his remarks as not a criticism of black British actors but just a question about Hollywood, Kaluuya, who rose to fame in the U.K. on TV shows such as Skins and Babylon and will soon appear in Ryan Coogler's Black Panther and was recently cast as...

Danny Boyle’s second foray into television, after directing the first episode of “Babylon,“ should be happening soon, as FX gears up Boyle and “Slumdog Millionaire” scribe Simon Beaufoy’s “Trust.” The show tracks John Paul Getty III’s famous mafia kidnapping from 1973 in Rome. It’s a fascinating story that should make for exciting TV.

Continue reading Danny Boyle Talks His Decades-Spanning FX Series ‘Trust’ at The Playlist.

In Plain Sight alum Mary McCormack is among the cast of Loaded, AMC’s newly announced comedic drama being co-produced by Channel 4.

RelatedHalt and Catch Fire Renewed for Final Season at AMC

An eight-part series based on the award-wining Keshet International format Mesudarim, Loaded follows four tech entrepreneurs and childhood friends who have just sold their start-up videogame company for hundreds of millions of pounds — “the culmination of a billion man-hours of blood, sweat, toil, coding, shouting, swearing, fighting, hugging, pitching, grinding, and, occasionally, showering.” Overnight, the four are transformed from “people who play games” to “serious players in the game,...

Danny Boyle crossed over to the small screen with Babylon in 2014, and it looks like he’s eager to come back for more. Even as he preps his next movie, Trainspotting 2, he’s scored a ten-episode order from FX for Trust, a based-on-a-true-story limited series about the Getty family (as in Getty Oil, the Getty Museum, and Balthazar […]

The post Danny Boyle Heads to FX With Getty Family Drama ‘Trust’ appeared first on /Film.

While Danny Boyle's "Steve Jobs" didn't get the box office love it deserved (it's a terrific film), don't lean on that fact to suggest that it explains his move into television for his next project. The director hasn't been shy about working on the small screen, launching the procedural "Babylon" starring Brit Marling a couple of years back. And now he's headed to FX for what sounds like a cracking series. Read More: Ranked: The Films Of Danny Boyle FX has ordered ten episodes for what will be the first installment of "Trust." Penned by Boyle's frequent collaborator Simon Beaufoy ("127 Hours," "Slumdog Millionaire") this is a true story saga about the wealthy Getty family. Here's the synopsis via EW:  Trust chronicles the story of the Getty family, particularly focused on John Paul Getty III, the heir to the Getty oil fortune. The first installment takes place in 1973, when the...

Is ITV really going to bring back Cold Feet?

That's the rumour, with the broadcaster apparently looking to plug the Downton-shaped hole in its schedule with a revival of the popular comedy-drama.

If it's true, they'll have a job bringing the cast back together - some have gone on to be huge telly and film stars, while others have stepped out of the spotlight entirely...

James Nesbitt

Nesbitt's carefree lothario Adam Williams met his match in Helen Baxendale's Rachel - the couple overcame infidelity and infertility but were denied lasting happiness when Rachel was killed in a traffic accident.

Since Cold Feet wrapped, Nesbitt has become one of British television's most in-demand leading men.

He fronted BBC One's gritty cop series Murphy's Law from 2003-07, led Steven Moffat's supernatural thriller Jekyll - also in 2007 - and played the title character in ITV's short-lived medical drama Monroe (2011-12).

Of late,...

‘Point of view’ in cinematic storytelling is at the crux of the entire issue of equality and sexism in film. Its influence on popular culture – and, in turn, society as a whole – is routinely underestimated. The fact is that the majority of the narratives we watch on our screens are told from the point of view of white men – making their experience the ‘norm,’ and everything else marginal. This creates a skewed cultural perspective, and leads to a situation that reinforces a pervasive sense of entitlement – if your perspective were the only one regularly represented in the media, you would unconsciously assume it was the most important, too. This is why The Keeping Room is a vital film.

In reality, the perspective of white men is, of course, no more important than any other perspective – particularly considering that that point of view is actually in the minority in global terms.

17. "Babylon" Season 1 Sharp, timely and unrelenting, SundanceTV's "Babylon" started 2015 off on the right foot. Starring Brit Marling as a PR executive working with the London police force to improve their image after some troubling recent events, co-creator Danny Boyle's six-part series weighed storylines surrounding police misconduct and public outrage with proper gravity. Yet the show never shied away from its sportive tongue, creating an access point for vital discussion of uncomfortable issues. Many shows would like to have covered as much in 13 episodes as "Babylon" did in less than half that time, even if audiences wished it would've kept going for much, much longer. Read More: Review: Danny Boyle's 'Babylon' is Startlingly Relevant, Rounded and...Funny? 16. "The Affair" Season 1 Capitalizing off of a commonality with the 2014 smash "True Detective" — which was ineligible for this list as Season 1 was part of the 2013-14...

Misdirection is a hand played throughout Safe House, which is elevated by a fascinating cast and strong direction...

This review contains spoilers.

From ITV comes yet another Monday night drama to add to their roster of impressive output in recent times.

Safe House, from writer Michael Crompton (who recently penned ITV’s excellent Code of A Killer), sees Christopher Eccleston play ex-policeman Robert who has left the force behind him with his wife Katy, played by Marsha Thomason, for a quiet life in the beauty and tranquility, not to mention solitude, of the Lake District.

We quickly discover Robert left the police due to the the execution of a witness he was protecting, an event which continues to haunt him. He’s visited by his former colleague and friend Dci Mark Maxwell, Paterson Joseph, with a proposition for the couple.

Keen to “rehabilitate” his friend Robert, Mark suggests that the...

James Nesbitt entertained the cast of 'Babylon' ''on every occasion possible''. The 50-year-old actor's director John S. Baird has revealed the Northern Irish star kept his co-stars from getting bored during breaks on the set of the British comedy/drama by singing Boys' Brigade songs, and it led to the pair forming a great friendship. John exclusively told Bang Showbiz: ''I rate James very highly, I would say me and James have become very good friends since doing 'Babylon'. ''We had quite a similar upbringing and funnily enough we were both in The Boys' Brigade when we were younger and we...

James Nesbitt entertained the cast of 'Babylon' ''on every occasion possible''. The 50-year-old actor's director John S. Baird has revealed the Northern Irish star kept his co-stars from getting bored during breaks on the set of the British comedy/drama by singing Boys' Brigade songs, and it led to the pair forming a great friendship. John exclusively told Bang Showbiz: ''I rate James very highly, I would say me and James have become very good friends since doing 'Babylon'. ''We had quite a similar upbringing and funnily enough we were both in The Boys' Brigade when we were younger and we...

Sam Bain and his writing partner Jesse Armstrong made their name with oddball Pov sitcom Peep Show but after branching out into comedy-drama with uni-comedy Fresh Meat, the pair decided to take an even darker detour last year with Babylon.

A cop show with a difference, Babylon explored the impact of PR on modern policing, airing a full series in late 2014 following a 'pilot' episode - helmed by Oscar winner Danny Boyle - in February.

With the series available on DVD and Blu-ray from today (March 9), Bain spoke to Digital Spy about the challenges of bringing Babylon to the screen, whether the show has a future and how he and Armstrong feel about bringing their big hits Peep Show and Fresh Meat to a close.

Babylon began with a pilot, which led into a series - what did you learn from that first episode that you carried over?

"The reason...

Well, here's a reteaming that we're really excited to see happen. Zal Batmanglij and Brit Marling knocked out back-to-back efforts with 2011's cult drama "Sound Of My Voice" and 2013's activist tale "The East." While Marling moved on to a variety of acting gigs including a role on the British series "Babylon," things have been a bit quieter for Batmanglij, though he has helmed a couple episodes of M. Night Shyamalan's upcoming event series "Wayward Pines." But now, the duo are back together. Netflix has announced the new drama series "The Oa," with eight episodes directed by Batmanglij, who will co-write with Marling, who will star in the show. What's it about? Well, no details are being given out just yet so we'll just have to wait and see, but we'll be watching in 2016. Check out the full press release below. ---------- Beverly Hills, Calif., March 5, 2015 -- Netflix, the...