Movies

Hollywood legend Julie Andrews opened up about watching a 'wild' fake orgy scene on the set of her 1980 comedy 10, directed by her husband Blake Edwards. Andrews was on Ellen Wednesday, promoting her new memoir Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years, which was published last month. The host asked her about some dirt on any crazy parties she and her husband Edwards went to, while while she said they didn't go out too much, the orgy scene in 10 certainly sticks out.  Fake orgy: Hollywood legend Julie Andrews opened up about watching a 'wild' fake orgy scene on the set of her 1980 comedy 10, directed by her husband Blake Edwards 'There was one party that was actually manufactured for the movie 10. I think my character in 10 had to look through a telescope and see that my boyfriend, sweet Dudley Moore, was in fact invading a neighbor's house when they were having an orgy,' Andrews said. She added that one day her husband was directing one of the orgy scenes and he … [Read more...] about Julie Andrews opens up about watching a ‘wild’ fake orgy on the set of her movie 10 with her director/husband Blake Edwards

It is the high-profile, big screen adaptation of a knee-trembling literary sensation that has left more than 70m readers hot under the collar. But verdicts on the first footage from Sam Taylor-Johnson's take on EL James' Fifty Shades of Grey suggest the film version of the S&M-flavoured novel may in fact be rather tame. Studio Universal screened scenes for journalists and cinema owners at the annual CinemaCon event in Las Vegas yesterday, with reports suggesting there could be little in the way of erotic tension on show when the movie hits cinemas next year. Stars Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson, who play kinky billionaire Christian Grey and his willing, well-remunerated "sex-slave" Anastasia Steele, were mostly seen "making moon-eyes at each other", suggested attendees. The Hollywood Reporter labelled the footage "more romantic than sexual", adding: "There was a brief glimpse of Johnson wearing a black blindfold in a red room, but most of the focus was on the couple's courting." … [Read more...] about Fifty Shades of Grey movie ‘surprisingly tame’

It’s such a rare thrill to see a smart, adult drama like The Report that I left its Sundance premiere on an adrenaline high as if I had just seen the latest Mission: Impossible movie, giddy from the ride I had just taken. What makes this so remarkable is that the film, an exhaustive retelling of the investigation into CIA’s post-9/11 “enhanced interrogation” practices, avoids forcing the facts into Hollywood formula, allowing us to simply bear witness as intelligent people discuss, argue and debate in government offices for two hours. In crude terms, it might be viewed as a cross between Spotlight and The Post although I’d argue that it’s finer than both of those films, with its laser-tight focus resulting in an audacious unwillingness to entertain extraneous material. We spend the majority of the film with Daniel Jones (Adam Driver), a Senate staffer tasked with building a report on any potential abnormalities in how the CIA interrogated terror … [Read more...] about The Report review – gripping, fiery drama on CIA torture investigation

Once the Oscar-winning, critic-baiting enfant terrible of Hollywood, Oliver Stone’s position in the industry has gone from illuminating grandmaster to embarrassing grandfather with a string of curiously ill-advised disasters. Alexander, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps and Savages are the works of a director depressingly out of touch and uncomfortable with his landscape, far from the zeitgeisty provocateur he used to be. On paper, the story of Edward Snowden provides Stone with ample, angry opportunity to regain his footing and restore faith in his ability to provoke and challenge. He’s utilised two books for the film, by Russian professor Anatoly Kucherena and Guardian journalist Luke Harding, and even consulted with Snowden himself to ensure maximum authenticity. But doing your research will only get you so far as it becomes clear, mere minutes into the film, that Stone is quite clearly not the man for the job. The film exists within two different timelines: there’s … [Read more...] about Snowden review: Oliver Stone turns true thrills into dated Hollywood fodder

Daniel Ellsberg, the US whistleblower celebrated in Steven Spielberg’s new film, The Post, was called “the most dangerous man in America” by the Nixon administration in the 70s. More than 40 years later, the man he helped inspire, Edward Snowden, was called “the terrible traitor” by Donald Trump, as he called for Snowden’s execution. The Guardian has brought the two together – the most famous whistleblower of the 20th century and the most famous of the 21st so far – to discuss leaks, press freedom and other issues raised in Spielberg’s film. Starring Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks, The Post deals with Ellsberg’s 1971 leak of the Pentagon Papers, which revealed presidents from Truman to Nixon lying about the Vietnam war. It deals, too, with the battle of the US media, primarily the Washington Post and the New York Times, to protect press freedom. During a two-hour internet linkup between Ellsberg in … [Read more...] about ‘Is whistleblowing worth prison or a life in exile?’: Edward Snowden talks to Daniel Ellsberg