Tag Archives: Entertainment

This Was The Unlikely ’80s Flick That Inspired Oscar-Nominated Film The Holdovers

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Oscar-nominated film The Holdovers starring Paul Giamatti and Dominic Sessa is a drama film that, according to the Motion Pictures Association “delves into themes of depression, loneliness, loss, and regret.”

The Guardian described it as: “a masterclass in melancholy” and The Independent said that the film was: “a warm, sentimental comedy made for life’s curmudgeons.”

It may come as a surprise, then, that the film wasn’t inspired by similarly melancholic films but instead by a classic ’80s action flick.

The film that inspired The Holdovers

Speaking to the Hollywood Gold podcast, producer David Hemingson said that the film was inspired by, of all things, Die Hard!

Interestingly, both films are perhaps unlikely Christmas films but the thing that ties the two is actually the emotion in them both.

Yes, really.

In the podcast, David discussed trying to not commit the “cardinal sin” of being boring in film and creating the perfect blend of emotion and action with a sprinkling of keeping the stakes high.

David said: “I was thinking, how can I make this an action movie but an emotional action movie?”. He added: “you gotta keep it interesting, keep the stakes high. As emotional as you can get with the characters, but credibly, and drag it out of them.”

He went on to say that in real life, many of us aren’t willing to offer up our pain, our fears, our emotions freely but in a time of crisis, it’s more likely. To keep the story authentic and the characters realistic, the crises they faced throughout the film were what spurred on the emotional outpours.

He quoted legendary filmmaker Stanley Kubrick saying: “it’s always the feel of it, never the think of it.”

Once they’d nailed this balance, the producers and writers took around 18 months to make the celebrated film.

The Holdovers is in selected cinemas now.

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The Very Important Reason Why Actors Are Given Red Scripts

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Ever wondered how some of the world’s biggest movies are successfully kept under wraps until the day they’re screened?

Well, according to Cillian Murphy, the Oppenehimer script he was hand-delivered by director Christopher Nolan himself had a special detail that would stop them from being duplicated.

Why? Because the combo makes the scripts far harder to be illegally photocopied and leaked before a film hits the big screen.

Referencing the script, Cillian noted: “[Nolan’s scripts] are always printed on red paper with black ink, unhelpfully, I guess to prevent against photocopying. But I don’t know who photocopies in 2024.

“He’s always had a tradition of printing on red paper with black ink. And it has my name kind of watermarked on each page, so it’s my fault [if it leaks].”

Interstellar actress Jessica Chastain has also shown off her own red and black script given to her by Nolan for the 2014 sci-fi epic

During his 60 Minutes interview, Cillian also showed off a touching note from Nolan on the cover of his original script which read: “Dearest Cillian, finally a chance to see you lead…”

Before Oppenheimer, Cillian had appeared in supporting roles in five of the British filmmaker’s movies.

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BBC Comes Under Fire Over Uncomfortable Andrew Scott Interview On Baftas Red Carpet

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An uncomfortable clip of Andrew Scott being interviewed about Barry Keoghan’s Saltburn nude scene on the Baftas red carpet has been met with criticism on social media.

On Sunday night, the Fleabag star was a guest at this year’s Baftas, where his latest movie All Of Us Strangers was nominated for six awards, including Outstanding British Film and an acting nod for co-star Paul Mescal.

As he made his way into the event, Andrew spoke briefly to the BBC, where things took an awkward turn after he was asked about his friendship with Saltburn star and fellow Irish performer Barry Keoghan.

Barry Keoghan in Saltburn
Barry Keoghan in Saltburn

Amazon Prime

“I know Barry, yeah!” Andrew said when asked about the Saltburn star, prompting the BBC’s reporter to immediately ask for his “reaction when you first saw the naked dance scene at the end of Saltburn”.

After attempting to brush off the question, the BBC’s red carpet reporter then continued: “There is a lot of talk about prosthetics. How well do you know him?”

At that point, Andrew tried to laugh off the question before walking on to speak to another journalist on the red carpet.

However, when a clip of the exchange began doing the rounds on X (formerly Twitter), racking up almost 100,000 views in just a few hours, many users took issue with the BBC’s dubious line of questioning:

HuffPost UK has contacted the BBC for comment.

During the ceremony, Andrew and his fellow All Of Us Strangers actor Paul Mescal presented the award for Best Animated Feature to the latest offering from Studio Ghibli, The Boy And The Heron.

Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott on stage at the 2024 Baftas
Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott on stage at the 2024 Baftas

Joe Maher/BAFTA via Getty Images

Check out all of this year’s Bafta winners here.

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Prince Harry Says He Jumped On A Plane To London After Learning Of King Charles’s Cancer

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LONDON (AP) — Prince Harry said on Friday that he immediately arranged to go to London after his father, King Charles III, called to tell him he had cancer.

“I jumped on a plane and went to go see him as soon as I could,” Harry told the US news programme Good Morning America. “I love my family. The fact that I was able to get on a plane and go see and spend any time with him, I’m grateful for that.’’

Harry arrived from California less than 48 hours after Buckingham Palace announced on February 5 that the king had cancer and had begun treatment.

The visit between the monarch and his younger son at Clarence House was relatively brief, as Charles and his wife, Queen Camilla, were seen leaving about an hour later.

The palace has not revealed the type of cancer the 75-year-old king has, saying only that it was discovered during a treatment for an enlarged prostate but isn’t prostate cancer.

The Duke of Sussex wouldn’t reveal any details about his father’s prognosis. “That stays between me and him,” he said.

Harry has had a troubled relationship with his family since he quit royal duties in 2020 and moved to Los Angeles with his wife, Meghan, citing what they said were the unbearable intrusions and racist attitudes of the British media. He showed up alone for his father’s coronation in May but left as soon as the ceremony ended to return to California for his son’s birthday.

Asked if the illness could help reunify his family, Harry, speaking at an Invictus Games event near Vancouver, said, “Yeah, I’m sure.” He said he has witnessed that type of galvanizing effect among the wounded service members who compete in the games the prince founded in 2014.

“Throughout all these families, I see it on a day to day basis,” he said. “You know, again, the strength of the family unit coming together.”

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This Scene Was Cut From Lilo & Stitch For A Very Dark Reason

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22 years since its first release, Lilo & Stitch is still a beloved family film and now it’s hard to walk through a Primark without seeing hundreds of items of Stitch-based merchandise.

But who can blame us? The tale of found family, friendship and coming-of-age resonates with all different kinds of people.

However, it turns out that the Disney film included a scene that, while very much in the spirit of the film’s mischievous nature, could have been extremely distressing if it had been included in the final cut.

The scene they had to cut from Lilo & Stitch

So, spoilers ahead, but the film culminates with an air chase between two alien spaceships while Stitch and the gang try to save Lilo, if you remember. It’s chaotic and silly, just like the rest of the film.

However, there was one part of the chase which involved one of the aircrafts being a 747 commercial aircraft that crashed into multiple buildings throughout the scene, according to Vox.

Following the attacks on the Twin Towers in New York, animators and scriptwriters changed the scene entirely, due to how distressing it may have been for viewers.

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In the original cut, Stitch was joyriding in a 747 but in the final version, it was an alien craft and instead of weaving through, or indeed, crashing into buildings, the animators instead opted for Hawaiian mountains.

“Americans became highly sensitive to anything that bore even a slight resemblance to the attacks,” journalist Lindsay Ellis wrote on Vox. “Children’s shows like ‘Power Rangers,’ ‘Pokémon’, and ‘Invader Zim’ had episodes taken off the air due to scenes where buildings and cityscapes were destroyed.”

With the perspective that we have now, the deleted scene, featured in Vox’s video, is incredibly unsettling. It’s strange to imagine a time when hijacking could ever have been a lighthearted part of a children’s film.

Lilo & Stitch is available on Disney Plus.

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