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Tag: Anthony Hopkins

  • Eight must-watch films to prepare for ‘The Marsh King’s Daughter’

    Eight must-watch films to prepare for ‘The Marsh King’s Daughter’

    Mumbai: Entering the realm of imagination through the pages of a book, accompanied by a soothing beverage, is a source of comfort for many. But, for those who prefer a cinematic experience over reading, movies become the go-to choice. Adaptations of novels often achieve blockbuster status as they breathe life into captivating stories that have already captured the collective imagination. Think of The Harry Potter series, Game of Thrones, and The Lord of the Rings trilogy as prime examples. When it comes to thriller/suspense novels, watching the cinematic rendition often elevates the anticipation. Still unsure? How about we clarify ourselves with a few choice thriller/suspense novel adaptions that became iconic? From the upcoming ‘The Marsh King’s Daughter’ to ‘It’, we’ve curated a list of gripping films, each adapted from a popular novel that’ll keep you on the edge from the very beginning.

    1.   1984 (1984)

    George Orwell’s dystopian masterpiece, 1984, is a chilling exploration of a totalitarian society. John Hurt’s portrayal of Winston Smith and Richard Burton’s ominous presence make this adaptation a timeless cautionary tale that’s as relevant today as it was when the novel was written.

    2.   The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

    Based on Thomas Harris’s spine-chilling novel, The Silence of the Lambs stars Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins. Foster plays Clarice Starling, an FBI trainee tasked with consulting the brilliant but deranged Dr. Hannibal Lecter, played by Hopkins, to catch a serial killer. This gripping thriller is a masterclass in suspense, with unforgettable performances that will leave you on the edge of your seat.

    3.   A Walk to Remember (2002)

    Based on Nicholas Sparks’ emotional novel, A Walk to Remember is a classic romance that’ll tug at your heartstrings. Mandy Moore and Shane West deliver touching performances as two high school students from different worlds who find love despite seemingly insurmountable odds.

    4.   Gone Girl (2014)

    Gillian Flynn’s psychological thriller, Gone Girl, takes on a new dimension when brought to the big screen by David Fincher. Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike’s performances are nothing short of remarkable as they lead you through a web of secrets, lies, and suspense, making it a must-see for anyone who loves a good mystery.

    5.   It (2017)

    Based on Stephen King’s spine-tingling novel, It is a chilling journey into the dark underbelly of Derry, Maine. Starring Bill Skarsgård as the terrifying Pennywise the Dancing Clown, this adaptation captures the essence of the book’s horrors. The Losers’ Club, a group of misfit kids, must confront their deepest fears as they confront an ancient evil that haunts their town.

    6.   Dune (2021)

    Frank Herbert’s epic sci-fi novel, Dune, finally received the cinematic treatment it deserved in this visually stunning adaptation. With a star-studded cast that includes Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, and Oscar Isaac, Dune immerses you in the intricate political landscapes and desert worlds of Arrakis. It’s a breathtaking journey through a future where power, politics, and mysticism collide.

    7.   Death on the Nile (2022)

    Agatha Christie’s beloved detective, Hercule Poirot, returns in this adaptation of her classic novel. Kenneth Branagh stars as the brilliant detective who finds himself solving a murder aboard a luxurious Nile River cruise. The star-studded ensemble cast, including Gal Gadot, Armie Hammer, and Letitia Wright, adds an extra layer of intrigue to this thrilling masterpiece.

    And Last, but not the least. Here’s the film that inspired this list:

    8.   The Marsh King’s Daughter (2023)

    Finally, the highly anticipated The Marsh King’s Daughter takes the spotlight. In this thrilling adaptation of Karen Dionne’s novel, Daisy Ridley portrays Helena, a woman who must confront her traumatic past when her father, played by Ben Mendelsohn, escapes from prison. As she navigates the wilderness of her childhood, Helena must grapple with her complex emotions, and the film promises to be a rollercoaster of suspense, emotion, and extraordinary performances, just like the novels we’ve explored on this list.

    If you’re a fan of movies adapted from novels, be sure to catch ‘The Marsh King’s Daughter,’ releasing on 3 November 2023, at your nearest PVR INOX cinemas.

  • Five serial killer movies guaranteed to terrify you

    Five serial killer movies guaranteed to terrify you

    Mumbai: Horror movies are one of the most enthralling genres in mainstream cinema. The 80s gave birth to some legendary horror movies that excel at jump scares and send shivers down your spine, thanks to groundbreaking scriptwriting, cinematography, and performances. With unforgettable characters and spine-chilling scenes, the Saw universe has made a significant contribution to the world of horror, and John “Jigsaw” Kramer has become synonymous with childhood nightmares. Fast forward to 2023, and the Saw franchise is back with its deadliest story yet. Saw X was released on 28 September 2023. As we eagerly await its release, here are five movies you shouldn’t miss before watching Saw X.

       SE7EN – 8.6

    It’s one of the most unpredictable thriller movies ever made. The audience was surprised to see Brad Pitt taking a different path in this film as David Mills, a character typically associated with action and drama. This crime thriller was among the most successful movies of 1995 and is still regarded as one of Brad Pitt and Kevin Spacey’s best performances.

       American Psycho – 7.6

    American Psycho can arguably be one of the best satires Hollywood has ever seen with Christian Bale’s phenomenal performance as Patrick Bateman. The movie is weaved with black comedy and nuanced parody that has stood with time and notoriously depicted the 80’s hippie culture.

       Perfume: The Story of a Murderer – 7.5

    The movie is inspired by the famous book named Perfume: The Story of a Murderer. It embraces the Mexican tonality brilliantly, and the film is much darker than presumed from the book. With spine-chilling scenes and the brilliance of cinematography, the film has a fantastic cast who have each performed brilliantly.

       Hannibal – 6.8

    The sequel to the iconic movie “Silence of the Lambs” with Anthony Hopkins reprising the character of the infamous Hannibal Lecter is a continuation of the original film as it tries to retain the essence with memorable performances from the cast.

       Friday The 13 – 5.5

    Hailed as one of the pioneers of the 80’s horror flicks, this franchise has a different fan base to all the horror film enthusiasts, with the iconic mask being so famous that there are references in many movies for the same. The movie has been popular for generations and remains one of the most iconic horror movies ever made.    

    If you want to witness a movie where you are terrified yet excited? Then Saw X is just the one for you. Witness John Kramer visiting Mexico at the nearest PVR INOX theatres this Thursday onwards.

  • Chloe Zhao and ‘Minari’ star Yuh-Jung Youn make history at Oscars 2021

    Chloe Zhao and ‘Minari’ star Yuh-Jung Youn make history at Oscars 2021

    New Delhi: Beijing-born Chloe Zhao made history at the 93rd Academy Awards as the first Asian woman and only the second woman ever to win the Oscar for best director for the film Nomadland.

    The Hurt Locker director Kathryn Bigelow was the first woman ever to win the coveted prize eleven years ago.

    Korean actor Yuh-Jung Youn, 73, won the best supporting actress winner for immigrant tale Minari, and became the first South Korean actor to win an Oscar. British actor Daniel Kaluuya completed his awards grand slam this year with the Oscar for best supporting actor for his performance in Judas And The Black Messiah.

    In an upset, 83-year-old Anthony Hopkins (The Father) walked away with the best actor trophy, which many believed to be a cinch for the late Chadwick Boseman for his performance in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. The win makes Hopkins the oldest performer to bag an acting Oscar ever.

    The best actress award went to Nomadland star Frances McDormand, who last won an Oscar in 2018 for her stellar turn as a ferocious, heartbroken mother in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.

    Netflix had a big night at the Oscars, bringing home a total of seven trophies, though it failed to pick up an award in the big three categories – best picture and best actor/actress. The streamer had come into Sunday night with 36 nominations, far more than any studio or OTT platform.

    Producers of the annual awards gala, including director Steven Soderbergh, had said that the award ceremony this year would be more like a movie than a TV show. And, indeed it was, with limited audience capacity and celebrities not wearing masks. The ceremony was moved to Union Station in downtown Los Angeles amid the Covid2019 restrictions.

    Dark comedy Another Round, from Denmark, was awarded best international feature film. India’s official entry this year – Jallikattu – failed to make the final nominations.

    The first Oscar of the evening went to Emerald Fennell who won best original screenplay for Promising Young Woman; best adapted screenplay was won by The Father. The White Tiger, starring actress Priyanka Chopra, was nominated in this category.

    The movie Soul, the first from Pixar to feature a black lead character, won best animated feature and also the award for best original score. Christopher Nolan’s Tenet won the award for best visual effects.

    The winners are chosen in a secret ballot by the 9,000 members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

  • Star World Premiere HD to air ‘Westworld’s’ 90 minute finale

    Star World Premiere HD to air ‘Westworld’s’ 90 minute finale

    MUMBAI: Star World Premiere HD is all geared up to broadcast the season 1 of science-fiction drama Westworld. The season finale will be a super-sized 90 minute long episode titled The Bicameral Mind. Created by Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, the season stars Anthony Hopkins, Ed Harris, James Marsden, Thandie Newton, Evan Rachel Wood, Jimmi Simpson, etc.

    The show will air on 6 December at 10 pm.

    “We weren’t interested in spinning out mysteries with no answers in sight,” Nolan said. “Our goal is to tell an ambitious story in season-long chapters, each with a distinct feel and theme.”

    Joy added, “Most of the questions viewers have will be resolved in the final episodes, except for the most important one: What happens next.”

    So what’s happening with our favourite characters in the season finale episode? The episode will follow the characters closely as Dr. Ford unveils his vision for a bold new narrative; enlightened by Bernard and The Man in Black, Dolores will come to terms with who she is and Maeve will set her liberation plan in motion as Westworld is bound to face a major upheaval.

    For those who want to binge-watch the TV series, Westworld will air all day, from its very first episode, on 31 December and 1 January, 12 pm onwards.

  • Star World Premiere HD to air ‘Westworld’s’ 90 minute finale

    Star World Premiere HD to air ‘Westworld’s’ 90 minute finale

    MUMBAI: Star World Premiere HD is all geared up to broadcast the season 1 of science-fiction drama Westworld. The season finale will be a super-sized 90 minute long episode titled The Bicameral Mind. Created by Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, the season stars Anthony Hopkins, Ed Harris, James Marsden, Thandie Newton, Evan Rachel Wood, Jimmi Simpson, etc.

    The show will air on 6 December at 10 pm.

    “We weren’t interested in spinning out mysteries with no answers in sight,” Nolan said. “Our goal is to tell an ambitious story in season-long chapters, each with a distinct feel and theme.”

    Joy added, “Most of the questions viewers have will be resolved in the final episodes, except for the most important one: What happens next.”

    So what’s happening with our favourite characters in the season finale episode? The episode will follow the characters closely as Dr. Ford unveils his vision for a bold new narrative; enlightened by Bernard and The Man in Black, Dolores will come to terms with who she is and Maeve will set her liberation plan in motion as Westworld is bound to face a major upheaval.

    For those who want to binge-watch the TV series, Westworld will air all day, from its very first episode, on 31 December and 1 January, 12 pm onwards.

  • Mike Leigh to be honoured with BAFTA Fellowship

    Mike Leigh to be honoured with BAFTA Fellowship

    MUMBAI: On 8 February, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts will present Mike Leigh with the Fellowship at the EE British Academy Film Awards ceremony at the Royal Opera House, London.

     

    Awarded annually, the Fellowship is the highest accolade bestowed by BAFTA upon an individual in recognition of an outstanding and exceptional contribution to film, television or games.

     

    Fellows previously honoured for their work in film include Charlie Chaplin, Alfred Hitchcock, Steven Spielberg, Sean Connery, Elizabeth Taylor, Stanley Kubrick, Anthony Hopkins, Laurence Olivier, Judi Dench, Vanessa Redgrave, Christopher Lee, Martin Scorsese and Alan Parker. Helen Mirren received the Fellowship at last year’s Film Awards.

     

    Leigh said, “What a privilege to be honoured with the BAFTA Fellowship. I’m moved, delighted and surprised.”

     

    BAFTA chief executive officer Amanda Berry OBE added, “Mike Leigh is one of Britain’s finest filmmakers, so I am delighted that we will honour him with the Fellowship, recognising his outstanding and exceptional contribution to film, at this Sunday’s EE British Academy Film Awards. He is a true innovator, an artist and an exceptional filmmaker, which is why last year the Film Committee voted unanimously to award him the Fellowship, the highest honour that BAFTA bestows. We look forward to celebrating his remarkable career.”

     

    A day before the ceremony, Leigh will join a number of close colleagues and friends at a special BAFTA lunch held in his honour at the Awards’ Official Hotel, The Savoy. The lunch will be hosted by Jeremy Hackett of Hackett London, BAFTA’s Official Menswear partner.

     

    Writer-director Leigh trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, at the Camberwell and Central Schools of Art and at the London Film School, of which he is now the chairman.

     

    Leigh’s award-winning career features three BAFTA wins, a BAFTA Special Award for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema and a John Schlesinger Britannia Award for Excellence from BAFTA Los Angeles last year, as well as a further 11 BAFTA nominations. He has seven Academy Award nominations and has been celebrated in Cannes, winning the prestigious Palme D’Or for Secrets & Lies, and at Venice, where Vera Drake won the Golden Lion.

     

    Leigh’s first feature film was Bleak Moments; this was followed by the full-length television films Hard Labour, Nuts In May, The Kiss of Death, Who’s Who, Grown-Ups, Home Sweet Home, Meantime and Four Days In July, as well as the television studio version of Abigail’s Party.

     

    Leigh’s other feature films are BAFTA-nominated Naked and BAFTA-winning Secrets & Lies (for Outstanding British Film and Original Screenplay), which also received five Academy Award nominations and two Golden Globe nominations, and Career Girls, Topsy-Turvy, All Or Nothing, Vera Drake (for which he won BAFTA for director), Happy-Go-Lucky and Another Year. Most recently he has written and directed Mr. Turner, which received four nominations at this year’s EE British Academy Film Awards and four Academy Award nominations.

     

    Leigh has also written and directed over twenty stage plays, which include Babies Grow Old, Abigail’s Party, Ecstasy, Goose-Pimples, Smelling A Rat, Greek.

  • AXN to launch serial killer thriller ‘Hannibal’ in April

    AXN to launch serial killer thriller ‘Hannibal’ in April

    MUMBAI: AXN will kick off the show ‘Hannibal’ about iconic serial killer Hannibal Lecter from 5 April.

     

    The serial killer was previously played by actor Anthony Hopkins in the movies ‘Silence of the Lambs’ for which he won an Oscar ‘Hannibal’ and ‘Red Dragon’. The younger version of the character on the television series will now be portrayed by Casino Royale’s Mads Mikkelsen.

     

    What is exciting is that Dr. Lecter is not depicted as a villain. He is seen as a talented being and if not aware, it is not possible for the viewers to know that he is the serial killer.

  • Hopkins, Mirren play Hitchcock and wife in film

    Hopkins, Mirren play Hitchcock and wife in film

    MUMBAI: Anthony Hopkins has been signed to play Hitchcock in Fox Searchlight’s Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho while Helen Mirren will play the filmmaker‘s wife Alma Reville.

    On the other hand, Scarlett Johannson has also joined the cast of the film that is being directed by Sacha Gervasi (Anvil! The Story of Anvil fame). Johannson will play Janet Leigh, the actress whose chilling shower scene became one of the most iconic in film history.

    The film is based on the non-fiction book by Stephen Rebello that tracks how Hitchcock, at the height of his game as a director, decided to make a "lowly" horror movie. No studio wanted to touch it initially, so Hitchcock scrounged for financing by himself. The movie, of course, became one of his biggest hits and one of the most influential of all time.
     
    The project was earlier in development at Paramount for four years. Montecito Picture Co., which has a first-look deal with Paramount and set it up there in 2007, remains on board as producer. At the center of the script by John McLaughlin (Black Swan) and Rebello is the relationship between Hitchcock and his wife.

    Scarlett Johannson is joining the cast of Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho, a behind-the-scenes drama being directed by Sacha Gervasi (Anvil! The Story of Anvil), sources confirm to THR. She will play Janet Leigh, the actress whose chilling shower scene became one of the most iconic in film history.

  • Anthony Hopkins to play Hitchcock

    Anthony Hopkins to play Hitchcock

    MUMBAI: Veteran Anthony Hopkins has been roped in to play legendary director Alfred Hitchcock in a new biopic titled Alfred Hitchcock & the Making of Psycho.

    The film will chronicle Hitchcock‘s experiences while filming the thriller Psycho that became an instant classic when it was released in 1960 and many film fans claim it is the director‘s greatest work.

    On the other hand, it is being said that Dame Helen Mirren is in talks to play Hitchcock‘s wife, Alma Reville.

    The film, based on Stephen Rebello‘s book of the same name, would be directed by Sasha Gervasi.

  • Fremantlemedia looks to put a twist on romance

    Fremantlemedia looks to put a twist on romance

    MUMBAI: Television format owner and creator Fremantle Media North America (FMNA), which produces American Idol for Fox, America’s Got Talent for NBC and The Price Is Right for CBS, has inked a one-year, first-look deal with best-selling novelist, Jackie Collins.

    As part of the deal, Collins will work with FMNA’s scripted division to create new romantic television dramas based on both original ideas and existing novels.

    FMNA CEO Cecile Frot-Coutaz says, “This partnership is the perfect creative marriage. We are excited to work with a literary legend whose ingenious ideas match our expertise in developing and producing original programming.”

    Collins says, “I am delighted to be in business with Fremantle. They are a forward-thinking, extremely productive and innovative company with a great creative spirit and a fine team to back everything up.”

    In addition to this new deal, Collins will also release her 25th book entitled Drop Dead Beautiful: The Continuing Adventures of Lucky Santangelo. This is the fifth book in the Santangelo series, which will be published by St. Martin’s Press in July. Lucky/Chances, starring Nicollette Sheridan, and Lady Boss, starring Kim Delaney, were turned into two very successful, highly-rated miniseries for NBC, both written and executive produced by Collins herself.

    Collins started writing as a teenager, creating steamy stories her schoolmates paid to devour. Her first book, The World is Full of Married Men became a sensational best-seller with its open sexuality and honest depiction of the gender double standard. Eight best-selling novels later, Collins wrote the international sensation Hollywood Wives,which later became one of ABC’s highest-rated miniseries, produced by Aaron Spelling and starring Anthony Hopkins and Candice Bergen.