movies

London museum acquires Vivien Leigh archive

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The personal archive of “Gone With The Wind” star Vivien Leigh has been acquired by London‘s Victoria & Albert (V&A) Museum. The archive includes personal diaries and letters to her husband Sir Laurence Olivier.

The museum said it bought the archive from Leigh’s grandchildren for an undisclosed amount. The collection also includes photographs, her awards, annotated film and theatre scripts, and thousands of letters from some of the most famous names in world history including Sir Winston Churchill, TS Eliot, Marilyn Munroe, the Queen Mother, and Noel Coward.

More than 200 letters exchanged between the screen legend and Olivier who was married for 20 years exists. Leigh won the Best Actress Academy Award for playing the strong-willed heroine Scarlett O’Hara in the American Civil War epic GWTW. She was also famous for the role of Blanche Dubois in the film version of the Tennessee Williams play “A Streetcar Named Desire“.

The British-born actress died of tuberculosis in 1967 at the age of 53. Items from the collection, which have never been on show before, are expected to go on display in October. 

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Paranoia bombs up the box office

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PARANOIA

Gary Oldman and Harrison Ford‘s new film Paranoia has proven to be Ford’s biggest box office bomb ever. The action thriller starring the British Oldman and one of the biggestHollywood actors (Ford) going head to head with Australian actor Liam Hemsworth in the middle was estimated to make as little $6 million after taking in $3.5 million in its first three days in cinemas.

The film is one of the worst box office performers for all three actors and one of the biggest bombs of the summer. It’s also Ford’s worst-reviewed film to date. It has gotten mostly “rotten” reviews behind 1994′s “Jimmy Hollywood”. Paranoia cost an estimated $35 million to make and stars Oldman as Nicholas Wyatt and Ford as his corporate rival Jack Goddard with Hemsworth using entry-level staffer Adam Cassidy as a pawn.

Ford stars in the adaptation of the movie “Ender’s Game” in November. Harrison Ford has starred in some of the biggest movies in history including Raiders of the Lost Ark, the other films in the Indiana Jones franchise, and of course, the Star Wars franchise.

Oldman starred in the Harry Potter films while Hemsworth was in the hit The Hunger Games. Director Robert Luketic has had other flops such as Monster-in-Law and The Ugly Truth.

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Bond parachutist dies

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Mark Sutton, the stuntman who parachuted into the stadium dressed as James Bond during the 2012 Olympic Games in London has died in a freak accident in Switzerland.

The 42 year old Sutton died while wingsuit flying on Wednesday, August 14 in the town of Martigny in the Swiss Alps near the border with France. Police said it appeared that Sutton died after crashing into a ridge of rock.

The stuntman was one of the 20 top wingsuit pilots in the world who had been invited to participate in a non-competitive gathering of similar pilots who are filmed as they jump from helicopters. The accident happened on the first day after several successful jumps had already been made.

The stuntman jumped from the helicopter at an altitude over 10,000 feet.

Sutton and another jumper flew close to the mountainside in the Valais region and were supposed to land close to the village of Le Peuty.

Sutton stirred up the London Games Opening Ceremony as part of a stunt featuring Queen Elizabeth II and Daniel Craig as Bond. Craig reprised his role up to the point of the jump flying into the Stadium as Sutton as Bond parachuted in.

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Minnie Driver discovers her dad was a married man

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British actress Minnie Driver discovered on television that her dad was a married man – and it wasn’t to her mom.

On the BBC1’s Who Do You Think You Are? Driver found out that her dad was married and had another daughter the entire period f his relationship to her mother Gaynor Millington. The pair also had another daughter, older than Minnie, Katie.

The actress who was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar for her role as a pre-medical student in the 1997 film Good Will Hunting did not find out her parents weren’t married until she was a teenager. Driver never met her paternal grandparents or saw a picture of them until the programme.

Her father later moved to Barbados where she and her sister Katie were raised. She said having her son Henry Story Driver made her want to learn more about her roots.

Driver’s dad, Ronnie, was a World War II hero who also won a medal for bravery. He won the Distinguished Flying Medal for saving three injured crewmen in thebattle of Heligoland Bight in 1939.

He told her that he threw the medal in the River Thames because he didn’t believe he deserved it. Ronnie’s wife eventually discovered he was leading a double life and divorced him.

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James Bond star confirms he is gay

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Ben Winshaw burst on the scene in the latest James Bond flick Skyfall as the incomparable Q and now the youthful-looking star has confirmed that not only is he gay, but he is also married.

Winshaw admitted that he has been married to his Australian lover Mark Bradshaw for the last year.

The actor’s representative issued a statement saying that Winshaw was gay and had never tried to conceal his sexuality but, as is the case with many other actors, chose not to speak about his personal life.

Winshaw and the Aussie composer met in 2009 when they both worked on the film Bright Star and got married in a secret civil ceremony in Sydney in 2012. They recently celebrated their first anniversary.

Thirty-two year old Winshaw has played television roles and starred in a few films including Brideshead Revisited and Cloud Atlas. He made his Bond debut in 2012’s Skyfall.

The English actor played a younger Q than previous actors such as John Cleese and Desmond Llewelyn.

Winshaw has won a 2013 BAFTA television Leading ActorAward for his role in Richard II and was also a favourite to play the iconic Doctor Who on the long-running BBCsci-fi series but took himself out of the running earlier this year.

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Tom Hanks takes London festival by storm

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He is one of the biggest stars in the world and the weight of Tom Hanks’ stardom will be on the 57th annual London Film Festival with two of his movies set to open and close this year’s event.

Hanks’ films are already getting Oscar buzz with the Paul Greengrass thriller Captain Phillips to open the ten day-event and the John Lee Hancock-directed Saving Mr. Banks set to close things off on October 20.

Captain Phillips tells the story of the 2009 hijacking of a US container by Somali pirates in which Hanks plays the title role while Saving Mr. Banks tells the story of how the studios attracted PL Travers who authored Mary Poppins.

Hanks will star alongside British actress Emma Thompson in Saving Mr. Banks whileCatherine Kenner plays the wife of Captain Phillips.

Hanks has won the Academy Award for Best Actor on two occasions. He first won for 1993’s Philadelphia which he starred opposite fellow Best Actor winner, Denzel Washington, and again in 1994 for the film Forrest Gump in which he played the title character.

Captain Phillips will debut in the United States in mid-December.

Danny Boyle’s Best Picture Oscar winner Slumdog Millionaire has closed the LFF in the past.

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Smurfs 2, tops in Uk

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The Smurfs have painted the UK blue topping the box office with the sequel to their firstanimated film. Smurfs 2 topped the box office with £3.2 million pounds in its first weekend beating, The Heat and The Conjuring.

The debut was £500,000 short of the first Smurfs film in 2011. Monsters University andDespicable Me 2 are the other animated films still being shown in cinemas. The 3D family comedy film is loosely based on the Belgian comic characters and is the second of a planned trilogy.

In this sequel Smurfette is kidnapped and taken to Paris by the evil Gargamel and the rest of the Smurfs have to rush to save her. The cast of the Sony Pictures Animation film includesShaquille Oneal, Katy Perry, Christina Ricci, JB Smoove, and Hank Azaria as Gargamel.

Pop star Britney Spears has contributed the song “Ooh la la” to the film’s soundtrack. Smurfs 2 was directed by Raja Gosnell as was the first Smurfs film. Gosnell is also on board to direct the third installation.

There is a Smurfs 2 game for Nintendo while Sony has teamed up with Build-A-Bear Workshop to release three customised limited edition stuffed animals of movie characters Vexy,Hackus, and Smurfette.

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Harry Potter fans for Florida Invasion

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Harry Potter fans will be treated to the ultimate celebration in January 2014. Warner Bros will host “A Celebration of Harry Potter” at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida.

The three-day celebration comes more than two years after the final Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, was released.

The Celebration of Harry Potter will take place from January 24 to 26 2014 at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park based in Orlando, Florida. The event will celebrate all things Harry Potter – books, films, Q&As with talent and film-makers, and presentations.

Most of the activities will be open to all Universal Orlando park guests and annual pass holders. However, only guests who purchase the special packages, which will cost between £250 and £450 per person, will enjoy exclusive benefits and reserved seating for select events.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter opened in 2010 after five years of building and planning and cost a reported £169 million. Universal is building similar theme parks in Hollywood andJapan and is expanding the Orlando-based park.

Harry Potter films have grossed more than $7.7 billion worldwide and the JK Rowling-penned books have sold over 450 million copies.

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Stewart out, new love in for Robert Pattinson

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It’s out with the old and in with the new and for Twilight star Robert Pattinson. After splitting from his much-publicised romance with fellow Twilight star Kristen Stewart earlier this year, the British actor is said to be hanging out and hooking up with another starlet, Riley Keough.

Pattinson and Stewart broke up a few months ago, not long after Stewart admitted to having an affair with Rupert Sanders, the married director of Snow White and the Huntsman.

The 22-year old Stewart has reportedly already met Pattinson’s new love, albeit by chance. Stewart ran into Keough at a Joan Jett concert at West Hollywood’s House of Blues. The pair previously worked together in the movie The Runaways in 2010. The film was a biopic of Jett’s life.

K-Stew is reported to have called Keough, who just happens to be the granddaughter of American rock legend Elvis Presley, and expressed her displeasure with the reported romance between herself and Pattinson.

Keough has in the meantime been spotted with her ex-boyfriend Alex Pettyfer while Pattinson’s car was spotted at Kristen Stewart’s house over the weekend.

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James Gandolfini movie to be released in posthumously in september

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“Enough Said” one of the final movies made by Sopranos star James Gandolfini before he died from a heart attack in June, is to be released in September.

A poster of the film starring Gandolfini and Julia Louis-Dreyfus of Seinfeld fame star has been released. In the film directed by Nicole Holefcener, Gandolfini plays the ex-husband of Louis-Dreyfus’ new best friend who she just happens to have fallen in love with.

The film will premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. Meanwhile, another film, “Animal Rescue” the final film shot by Gandolfini, is currently in post-production.

The film was shot in Brooklyn, New York in the final eight weeks before Gandolfini died in Italy from a heart attack on June 19. In the Fox Searchlight Picture, Gandolfini plays a bar owner in the crime drama which also stars Tom Hardy and Noomi Rapace.

No release date has been announced but 2014 is most likely.

Gandolfini won three Emmy Awards, Two Golden Globes, and three Screen Actors Guild Awards for Best Actor for the role of Tony Soprano on the long-running HBO mafia drama.

He died at age 51 while on vacation in Rome with his 13 year old son. He left behind wife of five years, Deborah Lin. 

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