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Nocturnal Animals (Cinema Review)

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nocturnal-animalsStarring: Amy Adams, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Shannon, Aaron Taylor-Johnson
Directed By: Tom Ford
Running Time: 117 Minutes
UK Release Date: 4th November 2016
BBFC Certificate: 15

Our Score

Tom Ford is the fashion designer known as the man who saved Armani, and then turned his hand to directing with 2009’s A Single man, a film I haven’t seen but have heard a lot of good things about.

So I made a conscientious effort not to know too much about Ford’s follow up, Nocturnal Animals, except that it gained some great reviews whilst doing the festival circuit. We are into awards season after all, so I was expecting some kind of drama which would be powerful and stylish, the sort of thing that would appeal to awards juries. And my instinct was right. [Read more…]

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Elvis & Nixon (DVD Review)

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elvis-and-nixon-slideStarring: Michael Shannon, Kevin Spacey, Alex Pettyfer, Evan Peters, Colin Hanks
Directed By: Liza Johnson
Running Time: 84 mins
BBFC Certificate: 15
UK Release Date: October 31st 2016 (UK)

Our Score

Elvis & Nixon is a movie spun out from a single moment – a meeting between Elvis Presley and President Richard Nixon in December 1970, which resulted in a picture of the two of them, which is apparently the most requested image from the US national archive. Here we get Michael Shannon as a surprisingly good Elvis, and Kevin Spacey as a slightly more human Nixon that we might be used to.

The movie picks up a while before the meeting, with Elvis fed up with the direction the country is heading – he doesn’t like hippies, the anti-Vietnam protests or The Beatles – so he decides he wants to become a Federal Agent and go undercover to help sort things out. While Elvis is used to having people around who organise his life for him, he decides he’s got to sort this out himself, reaching out to his long-time friend, Jerry (Alex Pettyfer), to help him. [Read more…]

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Michael Shannon Up For Guillermo del Toro’s Supernatural Romance

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michael-shannonA few weeks ago it was revealed that Guillermo Del Toro was working on a supernatural romance set during the Cold War, with Sally Hawkins, Richard Jenkins, Octavia Spencer and Michael Stuhlbarg set to star. Now another actor is joining the throng, with Variety reporting the Michael Shannon is in talks for the film.

There aren’t many story details, but it’s reported that it’s set in 1963 and is about, ‘A mute laboratory worker, to be played by Sally Hawkins, falls in love with an amphibious man who’s being held captive’. Shannon will be the villain of the story.

The movie is set to shoot later this year for a 2017 release. No official title has been revealed, but it may end up being called The Shape of Water.

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99 Homes (Blu-ray Review)

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99-Homes-slideStarring: Andrew Garfield, Michael Shannon, Laura Dern, Clancy Brown
Directed By: Ramin Bahrani
Running Time: 112 mins
BBFC Certificate: 15
UK Release Date: January 25th 2016 (UK)

Our Score

After he can’t get paid for a construction job and ends up unemployed, single father Dennis Nash (Andrew Garfield) gets behind on his mortgage and ends up being evicted by Rick Carver (Michael Shannon), a man for whom the human cost of taking people’s homes isn’t as important as the amount of money he can make. However, after an angry Nash goes to Carver’s company hoping to reclaim tools he believes have been stolen, he ends up getting employed by Rick.

Initially he thinks he’s just going to help with clearances after the people have been thrown out of their house, but as he gets deeper into Carver’s world, he becomes involved in a web of morally bankrupt real-estate scams and downright theft, taking advantage of both normal people and the government. Conflicted about what he’s doing he keeps his new role secret from his child and mother (Laura Dern), but he cannot keep it under wraps forever, especially once he starts evicting people who never had a chance to pay back their loans. [Read more…]

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Elvis & Nixon Trailer – Michael Shannon’s King meets Kevin Spacey’s Tricky Dicky

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elvis-and-nixon-slideOver the years plenty of people have played Elvis Presley – Kurt Russell, Harvey Keitel, Bruce Campbell – and many others have taken on Richard Nixon – Anthony Hopkins, Frank Langella, John Cusack. Now it’s the turn of Michael Shannon and Kevin Spacey to play Presley and the President in Elvis & Nixon.

Here’s the synopsis: ‘On the morning of December 21st 1970 the world’s biggest star, Elvis Presley (Michael Shannon) arrived on the White House lawn to request a meeting with the most powerful man in the world, President Richard Nixon (Kevin Spacey). Elvis & Nixon tells the astounding true story of this meeting between two men at the height of their powers. Also starring Colin Hanks, Johnny Knoxville and Alex Pettyfer.’

The movie will be in UK cinemas on April 29th, 2016. Take a look at the trailer below. [Read more…]

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Midnight Special Trailer – Michael Shannon & Joel Edgerton protect a child with special powers

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midnight-special-pic1-slideAfter indie hits Mud and Take Shelter, director Jeff Nichols heads in a slightly more mainstream direction with Midnight Special.

Michael Shannon, Joel Edgerton, Kirsten Dunst and Adam Driver star in the movie, which follows a ‘A father and son who go on the run after the dad learns his child possesses special powers’.

The new trailer seems to want to keep things rather mysterious, while giving off a slightly Amblin vibe (which seems to be what Nichols was going for, as he’s compared his film to the likes of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T. and Starman),

The movie will be in UK cinemas next April. [Read more…]

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