Ben Wheatley is happy that these are small-budget movies made on his own terms. After finishing High-Rise with Tom Hiddleston and Luke Evans, he turned to Free Fire. The idea came from reading transcripts of real police shootouts that are far messier than the movies ever portray them. "That was the beginning point for me," Wheatley says. "I thought maybe there's something in this, a procedural thing about people in a gun battle in real time. I'm not saying that Free Fire is a documentary or massively realistic, but it relies on some of that realism."

Ben Wheatley at the 2017 Empire Awards

Set in 1970s Boston, the film was shot in a warehouse in Brighton, England, over six weeks with an eclectic ensemble of actors led by Brie Larson, who arrived straight from filming her wrenching Oscar-winning role in Room.

Continue reading: Ben Wheatley Threw His Cast Into Free Fire

Free Fire Trailer

It's 1978 Boston and an unlikely gang made up of Justine (Brie Larson), Stevo (Sam Riley), Chris (Cillian Murphy), Bernie (Enzo Cilenti) and Frank (Michael Smiley) - meet up with a criminal insider named, Ord (Armie Hammer) who has contact with someone from whom they can buy a set of guns. They all meet up in an abandoned warehouse, and the gang soon realise that these arms traders are not messing around. Led by the volatile Vernon (Sharlto Copley), things take a violent turn when the traders try to sell the gang the wrong set of weapons. A comedic shoot-out ensues, with everybody turning on each other while trying to stay alive and escape with their money and merchandise. But they find themselves having to work together when an mysterious sniper shows up trying to shoot them all.

Continue: Free Fire Trailer

Brie Larson Recalled Her First Meeting With An Elephant To Draw Inspiration For Kong

By Holly Williams in Movies / TV / Theatre on 14 March 2017

Brie Larson

The actress explains how her experiences influenced her acting on Kong: Skull Island.

Fantasy movies that rely a lot on CGI aren't always easy for actors to get to grips with, especially if there's nothing they can bounce their emotions off of. It was a similar thing for Brie Larson with 'Kong: Skull Island', but she had a real life experience from which to draw her on-screen fear.

Brie Larson stars in 'Kong: Skull Island'

In reference to Brie's character Mason's reaction when she first lays eyes on the colossal Kong in the film (a creature which the actress insists is 'five times bigger' than he's ever been before: 'He's absolutely massive!'), she reveals that she drew inspiration from her first meeting with an Indian elephant.

Continue reading: Brie Larson Recalled Her First Meeting With An Elephant To Draw Inspiration For Kong

Brie Larson Says Not Applauding Casey Affleck At The Oscars "Spoke For Itself"

By Ed Biggs in Movies / TV / Theatre on 10 March 2017

Brie Larson Casey Affleck

Many noticed during the Oscars ceremony that Larson, having handed Affleck his Best Actor trophy, didn't clap him.

Brie Larson has spoken for the first time about her much-discussed decision not to applaud Casey Affleck as she handed him his Oscar for Best Actor at the Academy Awards last month, saying that it “spoke for itself”.

Back at the 89th Oscars, many noticed that the 27 year old star remained conspicuously still as the rest of the auditorium applauded Affleck after he bagged the prize for his role in Manchester By the Sea. It was especially pointed as Larson had won the Oscar for Best Actress the year before, for her moving portrayal of a long-term sexual abuse victim in the acclaimed film Room.

Brie Larson at a pre-Oscars party in 2017

Continue reading: Brie Larson Says Not Applauding Casey Affleck At The Oscars "Spoke For Itself"

Jane Fonda Bravely Opens Up To Brie Larson About Sexual Abuse

By Holly Williams in Lifestyle / Showbiz on 03 March 2017

Jane Fonda Brie Larson

She was abused, raped and harassed as a child and young woman.

Jane Fonda is the latest star to open up about her struggles with sexual abuse as a woman growing up in the 50s and 60s, confessing that she has suffered more than once at the hands of the 'patriarchy'. She revealed her experiences as part of her stance on International Women's Day.

Jane Fonda reveals that she was sexually abused as a child

The 79-year-old actress revealed that not only has she been a victim of rape, but also of child abuse and sexual harassment in the workplace; the later being when she was dismissed from her job because she refused to have sexual relations with her boss.

Continue reading: Jane Fonda Bravely Opens Up To Brie Larson About Sexual Abuse

Kong: Skull Island Trailer

It's the 1970s and Captain James Conrad and Lieutenant Colonel Packard are leading a group of soldiers and explorers to a seemingly idyllic unmapped location in the Pacific.

Unfortunately, their journey requires some serious collateral damage, as they are forced to bomb the island and unwittingly incite the treacherous ire of Kong, the King of Skull Island. He crushes them - literally. That's what happens when you bomb the habitat of a giant ape. But soon they realise that Kong isn't the only outsize creature they have to fear, because the island is home to a group of demonic monsters as well, some that resemble spiders and others that resemble reptiles. Their only hope is to enlist the help of the island's inhabitants, tribal men and women who worship the great Kong but disapprove of the Americans' willingness to attack their home.

Directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts ('The Kings of Summer'), 'Kong: Skull Island' is a re-imagining of the King Kong story, following him to his home on Skull Island where he first originated. The screenplay was written by Dan Gilroy and Max Borenstein, and filming spanned locations the likes of Hawaii, Australia's Gold Coast and Vietnam. Starring Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson and John C. Reilly, the film is scheduled to be released on March 10th 2017.

Brie Larson Set To Make Directing Debut With 'Unicorn Store'

By Ed Biggs in Movies / TV / Theatre on 09 August 2016

Brie Larson

26 year old Larson is to step behind the camera lens for her first feature film, which starts shooting in October.

In another piece of great news in what’s already been a great 2016 for Brie Larson, the Oscar-winning actress will be making her directorial debut in independent comedy Unicorn Store, it has been confirmed.

Variety reported on Tuesday (August 9th) that the 26 year old star will be taking her bow behind the camera for the new project, which is penned by newcomer Samantha McIntyre. She’ll also be starring in the movie as Kit, a young adult facing a crisis after having to move back in with her parents and who gets invited to a thoroughly unique shop.

Brie Larson is set to make her directing debut with 'Unicorn Store' later this year

Continue reading: Brie Larson Set To Make Directing Debut With 'Unicorn Store'

Kong: Skull Island Trailer

James Conrad is a British captain who leads an international envoy to the middle of the Pacific Ocean to charter some of Earth's most distant and mysterious lands. The captain is accompanied by a number of other members on the team including Randa, a government official who appears to know a few of the islands mysteries; a female photojournalist called Weaver who is known for her war photography; US Lieutenant Colonel Packard who is in charge of the UK troops who are also part of the mission.

As the vessel approaches the island, spirits are high and the team are ready to take choppers to the green land known as Skull Island. Soon their mission becomes disastrous as the inhabitants are far more feral than they could ever imagine. Equipped with guns, Ammunition and rocket launchers, the humans feel that they're able to overcome whatever may await them on the island but the truth is that they could never come face to face and beat the beast that awaits them.

Kong: Skull Island is the latest reboot of the King Kong story and it focusses on the start of the story originally told in 1933.

Continue: Kong: Skull Island Trailer

It's Official! Brie Larson Will Play Captain Marvel

By Stephanie Chase in Movies / TV / Theatre on 24 July 2016

Brie Larson

Larson will play Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel, in the studio’s first film with a female lead.

After months of rumours Marvel have confirmed that Oscar winner Brie Larson will star as Captain Marvel in the superhero’s first stand-alone movie, due for release in 2019. The announcement was made during Marvel's evening presentation at Comic-Con on Saturday, with the actress herself making an appearance.

Continue reading: It's Official! Brie Larson Will Play Captain Marvel

Brie Larson To Play Captain Marvel In 2018 Movie?

By Holly Williams in Movies / TV / Theatre on 02 June 2016

Brie Larson

She's the frontrunner for Marvel's first superheroine film.

Captain Marvel is coming! And guess who's the frontrunner to portray this all powerful hero: Brie Larson. In probably one of the greatest casting choices ever made in a comic book film franchise. It's worth noting that we're talking Marvel's Captain Marvel not DC's, though that's not a bad idea either.

Brie Larson to play Captain Marvel?

The 'Room' actress may be getting the role of Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel in Marvel's first ever stand-alone heroine movie, competing against DC's 'Wonder Woman' starring Gal Gadot. According to Variety, she is the first choice for the role and, apparently, she's interested.

Continue reading: Brie Larson To Play Captain Marvel In 2018 Movie?

Brie Larson Is Engaged To Long-Term Boyfriend Alex Greenwald

By Ed Biggs in Lifestyle / Showbiz on 10 May 2016

Brie Larson

The 'Room' actress was spotted wearing what many assumed to be an engagement ring when she hosted 'SNL' on May 7th, and the news has now been confirmed.

Oscar-winning actress Brie Larson is engaged to her long-term boyfriend Alex Greenwald, it has been confirmed.

According to report by E! News, Larson’s representatives told the publication that she said yes when Greenwald, the 36 year old lead singer of California rock group Phantom Planet, proposed to her during a trip to Tokyo back in March.

Larson, 26, first publicly acknowledged their relationship in 2013 during an acceptance speech for her role in Short Term 12 at the Gotham Independent Film Awards. “I'd like to thank my boyfriend, Alex Greenwald, for making me pasta and taking care of our puppy while I made this movie,” she said three years ago.

Continue reading: Brie Larson Is Engaged To Long-Term Boyfriend Alex Greenwald

Leonardo DiCaprio Finally Gets His Oscar! But 'Mad Max' Was The Big Winner At The 2016 Academy Awards

By Holly Williams in Movies / TV / Theatre on 29 February 2016

Academy Of Motion Pictures And Sciences Leonardo Dicaprio Brie Larson Alicia Vikander

Alicia Vikander, Brie Larson and Mark Rylance also scooped awards.

It would no doubt have been a total travesty if Leonardo Dicaprio didn't win his long-awaited Academy Award for his role in 'The Revenant', but no doubt his very first Oscars victory is a huge cause for celebration. The movie won a further two accolades, but didn't come close to 'Mad Max: Fury Road''s success of no less than six prizes.

This year's winners [L-R] Mark Rylance, Brie Larson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Alicia Vikander

So DiCaprio finally has a Best Actor Academy Award to add to his collection, while 'The Revenant' director Alejandro G. Iñárritu wins for the second year in a row. The movie, which explores the vengeful quest of 19th century explorer Hugh Glass after he was abandoned during a bear attack, also scooped the award for Best Cinematography, but it was beaten to Best Picture by 'Spotlight'; a drama about The Boston Globe's investigation of child abuse in the Catholic church. 'Spotlight' screenwriters Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy also took home Best Original Screenplay, whilst Best Adapted Screenplay went to Charles Randolph and Adam McKay for 'The Big Short'.

Continue reading: Leonardo DiCaprio Finally Gets His Oscar! But 'Mad Max' Was The Big Winner At The 2016 Academy Awards

'Spotlight' Wins Big, As Independent Spirit Awards Celebrate Diversity

By Stephanie Chase in Movies / TV / Theatre on 28 February 2016

Michael Keaton Idris Elba Brie Larson Rachel McAdams

'Spotlight' took home five awards at the annual ceremony, held the night before the Oscars.

Spotlight was the big winner at last night’s Independent Spirit Awards, taking home five gongs, including best feature. The ceremony, which was held at Santa Monica Beach, included many references to the ongoing diversity debate in Hollywood, just one night before this year’s Oscars.

Spotlight’s Michael Keaton.

Spotlight took home the awards for best feature, best director, best screenplay, best editing and best ensemble cast. The drama, directed by Tom McCarthy focuses on the investigation by the Boston Globe newspaper into sex abuse within the Catholic Church.

Continue reading: 'Spotlight' Wins Big, As Independent Spirit Awards Celebrate Diversity

Vanity Fair's 'Hollywood Issue' Cover Celebrates 13 Diverse Women Of Hollywood

By Stephanie Chase in Movies / TV / Theatre on 02 February 2016

Jennifer Lawrence Diane Keaton Lupita Nyong'o Viola Davis Brie Larson

The annual issue’s cover features 13 of the most important women in Hollywood, photographed by Annie Leibovitz.

From Lupita Nyong’o and Jennifer Lawrence to Viola Davis and Diane Keaton, Vanity Fair’s annual ‘Hollywood issue’ cover is a celebration of diversity. Released against the backdrop of the growing diversity debate after this year’s Oscar nominations, the cover shows the variety of women making their mark in Hollywood today, breaking barriers for age and race.

Continue reading: Vanity Fair's 'Hollywood Issue' Cover Celebrates 13 Diverse Women Of Hollywood

Room Was Like A Dream For Brie Larson

By Rich Cline in Movies / TV / Theatre on 15 January 2016

Brie Larson

Brie Larson was first noticed when she began stealing scenes from Toni Collette while playing her daughter on United States of Tara for three years on TV.

Critical attention grew with her breakout performance in the 2013 film Short Term 12. And this week the 26-year-old earned an Oscar nomination for her work in Room. "It seems so far removed from my reality," she says of being an Oscar contender. "Even talking about it feels like planning your dream wedding when you don't have a boyfriend: there's just no point! I'm so thrilled that the movie is resonating, and that is honestly all I could ever have hoped for."

Brie Larson plays the lead role in the film

Many have commented that her sensitive acting lifts what is an otherwise harrowing movie. But she has a problem with that description. "Unless 'harrowing' means 'lovely', I don't understand it," she laughs. "I feel like it gives this weird downer tone to the movie. You can watch the movie and focus on the kidnapping and the crime story, or you can see it as a story of love and freedom and perseverance and what it feels like to grow up and become your own person. That's more of what I see in it."

Continue reading: Room Was Like A Dream For Brie Larson

Room Review

Essential

One of the most extraordinary films of the year, this drama cleverly weaves in events from the news headlines to tell a raw, deeply involving story that's unnervingly personal. Irish director Lenny Abrahamson and writer Emma Donoghue bring these events to life with uncanny skill, using a young child's perspective to give it an extra-strong kick. And Brie Larson's central performance is so powerful that she's become the one to beat on Oscar night.

She plays Joy, a young woman who was abducted at 17 by a man she only knows as Old Nick (Sean Bridgers). The story opens as her son Jack (Jacob Tremblay) celebrates his fifth birthday in the single room where he was born and has spent his entire life. There isn't even a window to look out of so, to help him cope, Joy explains that there is no life outside the room, and everything they see on television is fake. She also gets Jack to hide whenever Nick visits, so they can't develop any kind of relationship. But as he grows up, Jack's curiosity demands more answers, and Joy finally decides to tell him the truth in the hope that he can help them escape.

Its halfway into the film when Jack's world is suddenly opened up around him in a rescue sequence that's exhilarating, terrifying and literally breathtaking. And from here, the film gets even more punchy, as Joy and Jack struggle to adapt to life in what seems like an alien landscape. Joy's parents (the great Joan Allen and William H. Macy) have split up, and her mother has a new partner (Tom McCamus), and their reunion is watched closely by the media, police and psychologists. All of this is seen through Jack's curious, observant eyes. Everyone is worried about him, but he perceptively notices that his mother is having even more trouble coping than he is.

Continue reading: Room Review

Dakota Johnson And John Boyega Lead BAFTA Rising Star Nominations

By Holly Williams in Movies / TV / Theatre on 05 January 2016

Dakota Johnson John Boyega Brie Larson Taron Egerton Bel Powley

Which young superstar deserves this year's accolade?

The nominations are in! Who will follow in the footsteps of Jack O'Connell as 2016's Rising Star Award winner at the Bafta Film Awards in February? This year's bunch of 20-something A-listers are making waves for all the right reasons in the movie industry, but we'll find out just who has come out on top at the ceremony in London on February 14th 2016.

Here's the five nominees:

Dakota Johnson in 'Fifty Shades Of Grey'

Continue reading: Dakota Johnson And John Boyega Lead BAFTA Rising Star Nominations

The Gambler Trailer

Jim Bennett is an English professor at a college and he's also always been one for taking risks. By day he is the sensible, bookish type but by night his life is a dangerous spiral of gambling huge amounts of money to dire consequences. As the gambler he is, he takes a chance in asking his bank to loan him a quarter of a million dollars in order for him to pay back a gangster so that he may stay alive, but when that fails he is forced to take on the services of a loan shark named Frank. Meanwhile, his relationship with his mother is getting tenser and tenser by the day as she wishes more than anything for her little boy to be safe. Also, it seems a student of his named Amy Phillips has discovered his secret life, but wants more than anything for him to take her out to dinner even if it will wreck his school reputation.

Continue: The Gambler Trailer

Cool Thing Of The Week: Jenny Lewis' "Just One Of The Guys" Video, Featuring Anne Hathaway

By Victoria Pavlova in Music / Festivals on 16 July 2014

Jenny Lewis Anne Hathaway Kristen Stewart Brie Larson

Jenny Lewis has a new music video. Watch it. Watch it now (but read this first).

Jenny Lewis’ new music video might be the best thing on the internet this week. Not only is the song, Lewis’ new single Just One of the Guys all about gender roles and why they’re awful, but the video features kickass ladies Anne Hathaway, Kristen Stewart and Brie Larson, rocking out and – at some points – dressing up like dudes. It looks like it was fun to film. The former Rilo Kiley confirmed as much in a recent interview with GQ, where she promoted her upcoming album, Voyager.

Lewis is stepping up her solo game.

"We screamed with laughter all day, huddled behind the monitor," Lewis tells GQ. "I haven't laughed that hard since What About Bob? came out on laser disk."

Continue reading: Cool Thing Of The Week: Jenny Lewis' "Just One Of The Guys" Video, Featuring Anne Hathaway

Video - Tuxedo Pants Swapped For Shorts Became A Thing At The 2014 CFDA Fashion Awards - Part 8

The 2014 CFDA awards took place recently with various winners including Joseph Altuzarra, who won 'Womenswear Designer of the Year' for Altuzarra, and Maxwell Osborne and Dao-Yi Chow who were awarded 'Menswear Designer of the Year' for Public School by James Marsden. Pop-star Rihanna won Vogue's 'Fashion Icon' award.

Continue: Video - Tuxedo Pants Swapped For Shorts Became A Thing At The 2014 CFDA Fashion Awards - Part 8

Short Term 12 Review

By Rich Cline

Excellent

Documentary-style authenticity gives this understated drama a real kick as it explores the fallout of child abuse from an angle we'd never expect. But this isn't the usual devastatingly gloomy approach, as filmmaker Cretton creates people and situations that are so honest that we have no trouble identifying with them. And he remains realistic and hopeful about the future.

The story centres on Grace (Larson), a counsellor at a short-term group home for at-risk teens. She's secretly in a relationship with her colleague Mason (Gallagher), and has a shock when she learns that she's pregnant. The real surprise is how this news dredges up memories of her own troubled childhood. But she doesn't have much time to take care of herself, because she, Mason and their coworkers (Malek and Beatriz) have a variety of kids who need their help. These include Marcus (Stanfield), who's about to turn 18 and move out on his own, and new arrival Jayden (Dever), who keeps trying to run away to see her abusive father.

Writer-director Cretton reveals Grace's personal history only as she's willing to face it herself. This allows Larson to deliver a remarkably transparent performance, as we see her confronting things she won't admit to herself. Her scenes with Gallagher are packed with jagged emotion as all of these issues swell up around them. And we can see that Mason's past in much more stable foster homes has given him more tools to handle these things.

Continue reading: Short Term 12 Review

Don Jon - Featurette

Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Scarlett Johansson and Julianne Moore talk about their new comedy drama 'Don Jon' - Joseph's directorial feature debut about a New Jersey guy struggling to find true love in a world where he objectifies everything.

Continue: Don Jon - Featurette

Video - Brie Larson Wears Lush Leather Frock At The Macy's Passport 'Glamorama'- Part 2

'21 Jump Street' star Brie Larson was snapped on the red carpet in a black leather dress and minimal make-up with her hair scraped back at the Macy's Passport 'Glamorama' fashion show and after-party held at the Orpheum in Los Angeles.

Continue: Video - Brie Larson Wears Lush Leather Frock At The Macy's Passport 'Glamorama'- Part 2

The Spectacular Now Trailer

Sutter Keely thinks he has the perfect life; he's a high-school student with a car, a job he loves, a gorgeous girlfriend and the ability to make friends wherever he goes. Rather than thinking about his future and what graduation will bring, he's perfectly contented to take each day as it comes. It only becomes a curse when his girlfriend dumps him, but things take a different turn in his life when he wakes up after a particularly alcohol-fuelled night only to find himself in someone else's yard with a concerned looking Aimee Finicky next to him. Aimee's the good girl, who's never had a boyfriend and puts her focus on her future. Sutter finds himself falling in love and coming round to the idea of a quiet life, but thinking about the future has made him wonder if he should factor in Aimee's at all.

Continue: The Spectacular Now Trailer

Don Jon Trailer

Jon Martello enjoys his routine lifestyle which involves working out, maintaining his apartment, driving a flash car, seeing his family, going to church, hanging with his boys, pulling pretty girls and, crucially, watching porn. The expectations he builds watching X-rated internet videos is a massive contribution to the fact that he doesn't have long lasting relationships with anyone, despite his friends nicknaming him Don Jon for his ability to take home a stunning woman whenever he likes. However, after setting eyes on a beautiful blonde at a club, he has more than just a one night stand on his mind and arranges to meet her for a date. When they appear to begin seeing each other regularly (to the delight of his grandchild-less mother) things seem to be going better for him than ever before; that is, until, she catches him enjoying his daily dose of obscene web action. Jon now realises he has a lot of lessons to learn if he wants to be with the woman of his dreams.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt ('Looper', 'Lincoln', 'Inception', 'The Dark Knight Rises') stars in his directorial feature debut 'Don Jon' which also marks his first full-length screenplay. It's a comedy about a seemingly normal New Jersey guy who, though happy as he is at the present, could be slowly destroying his future. It will hit UK cinemas in the Autumn on November 15th 2013.

Click here to read Don Jon Movie Review

21 Jump Street Review

By Rich Cline

Excellent

An especially sharp script makes this riotous adaptation of the serious-minded 1980s TV series thoroughly entertaining. And it manages to achieve a balance between the action and spoofery due to sure-handed direction and a cast that really dives into the mayhem.

Rivals in high school, popular pretty boy Jenko (Tatum) and smart-shy nerd Schmidt (Hill) become unlikely friends to get through police academy. But being cops isn't quite as exciting as they thought it would be until they're assigned to the Jump Street squad run by Captain Dickson (Cube). This group of baby-faced cops infiltrate high schools, posing as students. Jenko and Schmidt's assignment is to find the source of a new super-drug that recently caused the death of a student.

Continue reading: 21 Jump Street Review

21 Jump Street Trailer

Morton Schmidt and Greg Jenko were enemies in high school. Schmidt was a nerd who looked like Eminem in an attempt to be cool. Jenko was a jock who took particular delight in bullying Schmidt. In a twist of fate, the pair end up at the same police academy after graduation.

Continue: 21 Jump Street Trailer

Rampart Review

By Rich Cline

Good

Harrelson reunites with The Messenger writer-director Moverman for this grim drama about police corruption in late-1990s Los Angeles. But while it's sharply well-made, the film doesn't really offer anything new to the bad-cop genre.

Dave (Harrelson) is struggling to hold his fractured family together while covering up his dodgy activities as a cop in L.A.'s rough Rampart district. He lives with his two ex-wives (Heche and Nixon) and two daughters (Larson and Boyarsky), while developing a tentative relationship with a lawyer (Wright).

But his vigilante-style approach to his job leaves him with few friends, while his addiction to prescription drugs is sending him into a downward spiral. And now he's being harassed by the D.A. (Weaver) and her investigator (Ice Cube).

Continue reading: Rampart Review

Rampart Trailer

In the midst of the 1990's Rampart Scandal, Dave Brown works for the LAPD and is the most corrupt cop you're ever likely to meet. He is racist, homophobic and chauvinistic and that's just the tip of the iceberg. In his mind, he thinks he is an action hero and he has dedicated himself to doing 'the people's dirty work'. In his personal life, he has two ex-wives - both of them sisters - and has fathered two daughters between them.

Continue: Rampart Trailer

Tanner Hall Trailer

As Fernanda enters her final year at Tanner Hall, a rundown boarding school in New England, she is met by some surprising changes within her group of peers. A friend from her childhood joins the school. Victoria, an alluring trouble causer brings a whole new challenge to her school.

Continue: Tanner Hall Trailer

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Brie Larson