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Tag: Alicia Vikander

  • What to Watch on Streaming This Week: February 23-29

    What to Watch on Streaming This Week: February 23-29

    Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal in All of Us Strangers. Photo by Parisa Taghizadeh, Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures

    From a major Oscar winner to one of this year’s biggest awards snubs, this week is filled with some recent quality content. Plus, a fun new spin-off of The Good Wife, FX’s newest blockbuster series, and some animated fun are all premiering.

    What to watch on Netflix

    Everything Everywhere All at Once 

    With the Oscars now less than a month away, why not refresh your awards season memory by watching last year’s undeniable winner? Everything Everywhere All at Once all but swept the season, taking home seven Oscars (including Best Picture). In this genre-bending exercise in action and absurdism, Michelle Yeoh stars as Evelyn, a middle-aged Chinese immigrant who’s struggling to hold her life together: her business is getting audited by the IRS (represented by Jamie Lee Curtis), her husband (Ke Huy Quan) feels like their marriage is a mess, and her daughter (Stephanie Hsu) is tired of her mom not accepting her. Everything Everywhere All at Once streams Friday, February 23rd. Read Observer’s review.

    The Tourist

    A British export recently picked up by Netflix, The Tourist is a thrilling ride. Jamie Dornan stars as a man who, in Season 1, woke up alone and amnesiac in the Australian Outback. With a bevy of people out to get him, he had to act fast to try to piece together his true identity. Now, in Season 2, Dornan’s Elliot has an idea of who he is, and it’s not pretty. He ventures back to his native Ireland with Constable Helen Chambers (Danielle Macdonald), where plenty of surprises await. Season 2 of The Tourist premieres Thursday, February 29th.

    What to watch on Hulu

    All of Us Strangers 

    A moving, heartbreaking, devastatingly relatable drama, All of Us Strangers takes a fantastical conceit and makes it into one of last year’s most human films. Andrew Scott stars as a lonely writer, dealing with unresolved guilt from his parents’ sudden passing several decades ago. But after a chance encounter with one of his apartment block’s few other residents (Paul Mescal), he ventures to his childhood home and finds his parents, exactly as they were all those years earlier. It’s a difficult needle to thread, but writer-director Andrew Haigh does it with a deep sense of sympathy. All of Us Strangers premiered Thursday, February 22nd. Read Observer’s review.

    Shōgun 

    Based on the novel of the same name, Shōgun is a new historical epic on FX. The series take place in feudal Japan, where three people’s paths intertwine. First, there’s the shipwrecked English sailor, John Blackstone (Cosmo Jarvis); second, there’s Lord Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada), who’s contending with his keen political rivals; lastly, there’s the Lady Moriko (Anna Sawai), whose necessary skills belie her mysterious past. It’s a sprawling drama filled with political intrigue, richly realized medieval battles, and fascinating characters, all coming together to make a spectacle of a show. Shōgun will be available to stream Tuesday, February 27th.

    What to watch on Amazon Prime

    The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy 

    Following Hazbin Hotel, Amazon is looking to further bulk up its adult animated slate with The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy. The series follows Dr. Sleech (Stephanie Hsu) and Dr. Klak (Keke Palmer), a pair of brilliant besties with expertise in all sorts of intergalactic injuries and illnesses. But when a new patient presents a new possibility to cure a universal ill, they decide to take the opportunity—even if they may lose their lives (or their licenses) in the process. The rest of the talented voice cast includes Kieran Culkin, Maya Rudolph, Natasha Lyonne, and Sam Smith. The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy premieres Friday, February 23rd.

    The Green Knight 

    An Arthurian legend stunningly brought to life by filmmaker David Lowery, A24’s The Green Knight stars Dev Patel as Gawain. Taking cues from the 14th century poem, the film follows Gawain as he strikes down the mystical Green Knight for glory—in exchange for an equal blow bestowed by the knight the following year. It’s a medieval fantasy movie that feels decidedly out of place in the ‘20s, but that’s a good thing. The supporting cast of Alicia Vikander, Joel Edgerton, Barry Keoghan, and Sarita Choudhury help instill things with dread and mystery in equal measure, and Patel makes for quite the convincing knight. The Green Knight streams until Thursday, February 29th. Read Observer’s review.

    What to watch on Paramount+

    Elsbeth 

    The Good Wife has already spawned a successful spin-off in The Good Fight, and now Elsbeth is ready to join the proceedings. Carrie Preston returns as fan-favorite Elsbeth Tascioni, the brilliant but unusual attorney. This new series sees her uprooting her successful Chicago career and bringing her unique talents to New York, where she works with NYPD Captain Wagner (Wendell Pierce) and Officer Blanke (Carra Patterson) to solve a litany of legal cases. For a character that’s existed in the background of shows for over a decade, it’s sure to be an interesting adventure for Elsbeth. Elsbeth will be available to stream starting Thursday, February 29th.

    What to Watch is a regular endorsement of movies and TV worth your streaming time.

    What to Watch on Streaming This Week: February 23-29

    Laura Babiak

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  • Cannes: Alicia Vikander On Playing Catherine Parr In Henry VIII Drama ‘Firebrand’

    Cannes: Alicia Vikander On Playing Catherine Parr In Henry VIII Drama ‘Firebrand’

    By Jake Coyle, The Associated Press.
    Published:

    It’s widely know that Henry VIII, the Tudor king, had a particularly grim batting average when it came to matrimony.

    His litany of wives, of course, are the subject of the current Broadway show, “Six”, and many other productions. The wives’ succession of fates — two beheadings and three other deaths — has long loomed in the historical imagination.

    The new film “Firebrand”, which premiered over the weekend at the Cannes Film Festival, takes a different approach to a much-dramatized chapter of 16th century British history. The film, directed by the Brazilian filmmaker Karim Aïnouz, stars Alicia Vikander as Catherine Parr, the sixth wife of Henry and the only one to outlive him.


    READ MORE:
    Alicia Vikander Says She Was ‘The Most Sad’ At The Height Of Her Fame

    “Catherine Parr, out of all of the six wives I probably knew the least of,” Vikander said in an interview on a Cannes hotel terrace. “And it seemed like that was the general feel from everybody that I talked to. The one woman who survived was the least interesting to know about.”

    “Firebrand”, adapted from Elizabeth Freemantle’s novel The Queen’s Gambit, has all the accoutrement of a lush period drama (Jude Law grandly co-stars as Henry), but it’s animated by a twist in perspective and a feminist spirit. “History tells us a few things, mostly about men and war,” a title card announces at the movie’s beginning.


    READ MORE:
    Jude Law Got Perfume That Smelled Like Blood, Fecal Matter And Sweat To Play Henry VIII In ‘Firebrand’

    The film follows Parr as she negotiates a coarse, abusive husband while trying to have some role in shaping national affairs. She’s friends with the controversial Protestant preacher Anne Askew (Erin Doherty), a relationship that poses grave danger to Parr if found out. Meanwhile, some members of the king’s court, including the bishop Stephen Gardiner (Simon Russell Beale), conspire to have Parr follow in the footsteps of Henry’s prior wives.

    Photo by Aurore Marechal/ABACAPRESS.COM

    For Vikander, the preternaturally poised 34-year-old Swedish actor, investigating Parr was full of discovery. Parr penned several books in her life and spoke openly about Protestantism, the Reformation and then-controversial English translations of the Bible. That led to accusations of heresy and increasing distrust from Henry.

    “The first Wikipedia search I did when I was sent the script, I saw that she was the first queen who’s ever been published under her own name in British history,” said Vikander. “I thought: That’s really a huge feat to do that with the kind of views that she’s tackling whilst being married to a man known to be the most terrifying and dangerous man with quite different beliefs.”

    “I thought: When did I read a text that’s older than 100 years from a woman?” added Vikander.

    Vikander has often been at home in costume dramas. She starred in “A Royal Affair” and “Anna Karenina” before winning an Oscar for her performance in 2015′s “The Danish Girl”. But some of her best performances — the robot android of “Ex Machina”, the miniseries “Irma Vep” — have been more contemporary.

    “Firebrand”, which doesn’t yet have a release date, speaks to both past and present. To stretch the point, the film ultimately relies on some speculative fiction to imagine what might have happened behind closed doors.


    READ MORE:
    Alicia Vikander On Not Being ‘Protected’ During Intimate Scenes, ‘I Should Have Been Looked After’

    “Jude and I said even if we sat with 20 history books in front of us, they all have the same pillars of points and have different ways of interpreting what’s in between,” says Vikander. “That’s what we were doing, too, with artistic choices we made.”

    Shot on location at Haddon Hall, Vikander and Law had dressing rooms in the castle cellar. The clothes, too, were transportive.

    “Between takes sitting with the other women, in those costumes you don’t sit up straight. We were all lying on the floor in those corsets,” said Vikander. “It gave me a real image. This is what it was like.”

    Click to View Gallery

    Stars At Cannes 2023: Tom Hanks And Rita Wilson Steal Spotlight At ‘Asteroid City’ Premiere




    Brent Furdyk

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  • Cannes: First Look at Jude Law as Henry VIII in Firebrand

    Cannes: First Look at Jude Law as Henry VIII in Firebrand

    We’ve seen Jude Law take on many looks over the years, starring in the Sherlock Holmes and Fantastic Beast franchises, along with everything from The Talented Mr. Ripley to The Young Pope. But audiences have never quite seen him like this.

    As his new film Firebrand debuts at the Cannes Film Festival, Vanity Fair has the first look of Jude Law in his transformative role as Henry VIII in an exclusive image and video.

    The competition film centers on King Henry VII’s sixth and final wife, Katherine Parr, played by Oscar winner Alicia Vikander.  Law plays the increasingly ailing and paranoid King, who returns from fighting overseas to see that his Queen is attempting to transform the court based on her radical Protestant beliefs. Tensions rise between the pair, as seen in the short clip below.

    Directed by Brazilian artist Karim Aïnouz, Firebrand is described as a reimagining of a period film, more closely resembling a psychological horror film or a political thriller. It is based on Elizabeth Fremantle’s novel The Queen’s Gambit, and centers on the ambitious Parr, the queen who survived. Law captures Henry at the end of his life, when his physical strength was waning and influencing his mental state in dark ways. It’s a visceral, menacing performance, along with a transformation we haven’t seen from Law before. 

    Rebecca Ford

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  • Amazon’s Tomb Raider Show Reportedly Being Written By Fleabag Creator

    Amazon’s Tomb Raider Show Reportedly Being Written By Fleabag Creator

    Image: Crystal Dynamics

    If you, like me, are having trouble keeping track of all the video game adaptations coming to TV and film, you may have forgotten that a Tomb Raider series is in development over at Amazon. Well, friends, I will not be forgetting about this show any time soon, now that writer/actor/comedian Phoebe Waller-Bridge is reportedly writing the script for the show.

    According to a report from The Hollywood Reporter, Waller-Bridge is attached to the live-action show as a writer, though there’s no word on whether or not the Fleabag star will be in front of the camera at this time. Alongside writing, she’s set to act as executive producer alongside Ryan Andolina and Amanda Grenblatt, who both recently left Amazon to found their own production company, and have worked out further deals with Bezos and co. to work on projects like the Tomb Raider series.

    If you’re unfamiliar with Waller-Bridge’s work, she is known throughout the internet for her role as the titular character in Fleabag, a two-season series (also produced by and streaming on Amazon) which is also one of the few examples we have of what perfect television looks like.

    Fleabag is two seasons of perfect television.

    Fleabag is two seasons of perfect television.
    Image: Amazon

    You want to watch two short self aware seasons about a woman trying to claw her way out of emotional detachment and grief? It’s streaming on Prime. Don’t thank me, because it will ruin you for days. Come for Waller-Bridge’s sharp writing and performance, stay for Andrew Scott as the Hot Priest.

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    This series will be the third time Tomb Raider has seen a live-action adaptation, with Angelina Jolie and Alicia Vikander portraying Lara Croft in two separate film series. At the moment, it remains unclear if this show will be based on the classic Tomb Raider games or the survival-oriented settings of the reboot series.

    While the Amazon adaptation is in the works, developer Crystal Dynamics is also in the midst of developing a new Tomb Raider game. The studio was recently acquired by The Embracer Group after Square Enix sold it and other studios off in an effort to downsize and shift its focus onto other things like blockchain.

    Kenneth Shepard

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