London to Brighton Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Andy Serkis Enters The Cottage
Filed under: Comedy », Horror », Independent », Casting », Noir », Peter Jackson », Cinematical Indie »
After breaking into the big time playing (and modeling for) CGI characters Gollum (in The Lord of the Rings trilogy) and King Kong, it is time that Andy Serkis becomes recognized for his own face as much as for his versatile acting talents. You may have seen him in supporting roles in Hollywood fare like 13 Going on 30 or The Prestige, and you can see him as the villain in the upcoming fantasy Inkheart, but you probably haven't had the opportunity to see him carry a film mostly on his own. Fortunately you may get to soon, as he's just been cast as one of the leads in The Cottage. I say you may get to because The Cottage is being made by a hot, up-and-coming British director named Paul Andrew Williams, who has been receiving a lot of awards and acclaim abroad for his debut feature, London to Brighton, but who hasn't been given any attention from American distributors yet.
The Cottage is to be a black comedy horror film about a botched kidnapping of a crime boss' daughter. Serkis will be playing one of two brothers who perform the failed crime and who then find themselves mixed up in some kind of "rural secret". The other brother will likely be played by British comedy star Reece Shearsmith. Other cast members include Jennifer Ellison and Steve O'Donnell. Since there are no real international stars, the chances of The Cottage getting a release in the U.S. are low, but hopefully enough Peter Jackson fans will want to see Serkis in the spotlight and will give Hollywood a reason to pick this one up.
If Williams' work doesn't get a proper showing over here, there may be other chances to see Serkis in a starring role. It was just announced by HBO Films and the BBC that he will be playing Albert Einstein in a made-for-TV biopic. There isn't certainty that we will be able to easily see this film either, but it definitely shows that Serkis is on the right path to bigger and more well-known things.
Edinburgh Announces Awards
Filed under: Comedy », Documentary », Drama », Independent », Romance », Sports », Thrillers », Awards », Newsstand », Remakes and Sequels », Other Festivals », Cinematical Indie »
The 60th (!) Edinburgh International Film Festival had its closing gala on Sunday night, and both audience and jury* awards were distributed. The biggest name scoring a trophy was Clerks II (mistitled Clerks 11 by Screen Daily -- innocent typo or glimpse of a very dark future?), which thumped Little Miss Sunshine in winning almost 80% of votes cast by the public, and taking home the Standard Life Audience Award (presented by none other than Sean Connery!). Jury awards, meanwhile, went to: Brothers of the Head, which just beat out the no-budget thriller London to Brighton for Best New British Film; Paul Andrew Williams (London to Brighton) for Best New Director; The Great Happiness Space: Tale of an Osaka Love Thief, cinematographer Jake Clennell's "portrait of an Osaka night club with a staff of the city¹s top male escorts," which was named Best Documentary.*The jury, by the way, was headed by John Hurt, and included such luminaries of film and criticism as ... Chrissie Hynde. I just thought you should know.
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