Tag: Thomas Sangster

LOVE ACTUALLY 10th Anniversary Edition Coming To Blu-ray October 15

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Relive the love this holiday season and take part in the decade-long phenomenon with Love Actually 10th Anniversary Edition.

Hugh Grant (Bridget Jones’s films), Liam Neeson (Taken 2), Colin Firth (The King’s Speech), Laura Linney (Hyde Park on Hudson), Keira Knightley (Anna Karenina), Emma Thompson (Nanny McPhee) and Bill Nighy (About Time) are part of an illustrious all-star cast that charm and delight in this heartwarming romantic comedy about eight couples whose lives intersect shortly before the holidays. Brimming with early career appearances by Martin Freeman (The Hobbit), Andrew Lincoln (The Walking Dead), January Jones (Mad Men) and Thomas Sangster (“Game of Thrones”) Love Actually 10th Anniversary Edition has been newly restored to provide longtime fans and first-time viewers alike with a heartwarming holiday treat.

Love Actually 10th Anniversary Edition will be available on October 15, 2013 on Blu-ray™ Combo Pack including Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD from Universal Studios Home Entertainment with an exclusive collectible holiday ornament included with purchase. Also available on DVD with Digital.

Written and directed by Academy Award® nominee Richard Curtis (About Time, Bridget Jones’s Diary and Notting Hill), comes Love Actually, the unforgettable holiday classic that has had audiences laughing, crying and hugging since it first premiered to U.S. audiences in 2003. Love, the fire that makes the world go round, is causing chaos for all. The lives and loves of these eight couples collide, mingle and climax again and again with romantic, hilarious and bittersweet consequences for anyone lucky (or unlucky) enough to be under love’s spell. The film’s hilariously unpredictable plot examines how love inspires experiences that are alternately exciting, unexpected and unequalled. This “star-studded, multi-plotlined movie” has become “one of the great Christmas movies” of all time (Entertainment Weekly).

The Blu-ray™ Combo Pack includes a Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD with UltraViolet.

  • Blu-ray™ unleashes the power of your HDTV and is the best way to watch movies at home, featuring 6X the picture resolution of DVD, exclusive extras and theater-quality surround sound.
  • DVD offers the flexibility and convenience of playing movies in more places, both at home and away.
  • DIGITAL HD with Ultraviolet lets fans watch movies anywhere, on any device. Users can instantly stream or download movies to watch on iPad®, iPhone®, Android™, smart TVs, connected Blu-ray players, game consoles, and more.

BONUS FEATURES:

  • OVER 30 MINUTES OF DELETED SCENES with Introductions by Writer/Director Richard Curtis
  • THE STORYTELLERS (exclusive to Blu-ray)
  • THE MUSIC OF LOVE ACTUALLY with Introductions by Writer/Director Richard Curtis
  • BILLY MACK “CHRISTMAS IS ALL AROUND” MUSIC VIDEO (exclusive to Blu-ray)
  • KELLY CLARKSON “THE TROUBLE WITH LOVE IS” MUSIC VIDEO
  • FEATURE COMMENTARY with Writer/Director Richard Curtis and Actors Hugh Grant, Bill Nighy and Thomas Sangster

CAST AND FILMMAKERS:
Director: Richard Curtis
Screenwriter: Richard Curtis
Producers: Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Duncan Kenworthy, Liza Chasin, Debra Hayward
Executive Producers: Mohamed Al-Fayed, Richard Curtis 
Production Designer: Jim Clay
Cinematographer: Michael Coulter
Editor: Nick Moore
Cast: Hugh Grant, Liam Neeson, Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Colin Firth, Keira Knightley, Laura Linney, Bill Nighy,Martine McCutcheon, Martin Freeman, Andrew Lincoln, January Jones and Thomas Sangster.

TECHNICAL INFORMATION – BLU-RAY™
Street Date: October 15, 2013
Copyright: 2013 Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved.
Selection Numbers: 61129328 (U.S.), 61129329 (CDN)
Running Time: 2 hours, 15 minutes
Layers: BD-50
Aspect Ratio: Widescreen 2.35:1
Rating: R for Sexuality, Nudity and Language
Technical Info: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (English); DTS Digital Surround 5.1 (Spanish); DTS Digital Surround 5.1 (French Canadian)
Subtitles: English SDH, French and Spanish

TECHNICAL INFORMATION – DVD
Street Date: October 15, 2013
Copyright: 2013 Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved.
Selection Numbers: 61127581 (U.S.), 61127582 (CDN)
Running Time: 2 hours, 15 minutes
Layers: Dual Layer
Aspect Ratio: Widescreen 2.35:1
Rating: R for Sexuality, Nudity and Language
Technical Info: Dolby Digital 5.1(English); Dolby Digital 5.1 (Spanish); Dolby Digital 5.1 (French)
Subtitles: English SDH, French and Spanish

Feel the love this holiday season with the Love Actually 10th Anniversary Edition! Funny, charming and heartwarming, this delightful romantic comedy follows eight couples whose lives intersect shortly before Christmas. Headlined by an incredible roster of stars, this beloved film also features early movie appearances by Martin Freeman (The Hobbit), Andrew Lincoln (The Walking Dead), January Jones (Mad Men) and Thomas Sangster (Game of Thrones). From the makers of Bridget Jones’s Diary and Notting Hill, it’s the perfect companion for every Christmas.

Like Love Actually at www.facebook.com/LoveActuallyMovie.

http://www.universalstudiosentertainment.com/love-actually/

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Review: NOWHERE BOY

As a Beatles/Lennon fan, I was very skeptical of this film. Especially with John Lennon being such a charismatic individual. I must say, they pulled it off well!

NOWHERE BOY is the true story of John Lennon’s childhood in Liverpool, England. As a youth, Lennon (Aaron Johnson) was constantly in trouble for his tom foolery and shenanigans in school. Raised by his Aunt Mimi (Kristin Scott Thomas) and his Uncle, Lennon was brought up on classical music and rules. After his grandfathers death, he reconciles with the mother that gave him to her sister to raise at the age of 3-4 years old. Julia (Anne-Marie Duff) was a lovely woman, but fought a horrible case of depression that left her unable to raise Lennon herself. During their reconciliation, Julia taught him to play music, inspiring his first band, The Quarrymen. Through music, he would eventually meet a young Paul McCartney (Thomas Sangster) and George Harrison (Sam Bell). Lennon would never be the same once music touched his life.

The movie does a decent job telling the tale of Lennon’s childhood. The one thing to take into consideration is that it is, after all, a movie. Things are going to be left out, distorted, or crunched together to tell a story in a couple of hours. I was actually quite impressed by Johnson’s portrayal of Lennon. Whenever anyone plays an iconic historical figure (which Lennon truly was) the bar is going to be set high. Johnson did a great job of capturing Lennon’s dialect and attitude.

For those of you expecting more of a Beatles history, you will be disappointed. I was not a fan of the casting  Thomas Sangster as Paul McCartney. Don’t get me wrong, he isn’t a bad actor or anything, but he did not do McCartney justice. He looked way too young for a 15 year old, and didn’t really capture Paul McCartney’s personality or musical charisma. The kid could be great in other roles, but this was not the role for him.

They definitely went the route of basing the majority of the story on the dysfunctional part of Lennon’s upbringing. He fought with wanting to know his mother and knowing where he truly belonged. There was the definite pain of wanting to be with his mother and realizing just how sick she really was. She had a family, and her present husband was very worried that surrounding herself with Lennon would trigger her illness again. In a way, it did. The film depicts a very manic side to Julia at times, which would flip to depressed and cold in an instant.

The problem I have with the portrayal of Julia is that they made her estranged. Julia was always present in Lennon’s life. She was present until his death, when he was just 17 years of age. They did the same type of alteration with Mimi. Mimi was a disciplinarian, but she was not nearly as cold as the film portrayed. In fact, Lennon always spoke highly of Mimi. Smith always knew that she would raise him. She was quoted to say “I knew the moment I saw John in that hospital that I was the one to be his mother, not Julia. Does that sound awful? It isn’t, really, because Julia accepted it as something perfectly natural. She used to say, ‘You’re his real mother. All I did was give birth.”” Still, Duff and Thomas gave magnetic and fantastic performances.

Also, while I do not dispute that Lennon was quite the troublemaker that they portray him to be, they concentrated more on that side than his happy-go-lucky nature. I was pleased to see that they included his fondness for drawing. His cartoons and illustrations are simply brilliant.

For a movie, I think that they did a decent job of making an entertaining, watchable film. As a Lennon/Beatles fan, I really wish that they didn’t stretch things so much. I would have appreciated a more straightforward story.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars