Science & Environment
Bong Joon Ho’s ‘Mickey 17’ gets trailer and release…
A first look at “Parasite” director Bong Joon Ho’s new movie is here.
Science & Environment
Science & Environment
Science & Environment
‘Love Actually’ director feels ‘a bit stupid’ about movie’s…
CNN
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Every year, as the days grow colder and Christmas draws nearer, “Love Actually” quickly becomes a festive favorite on people’s television screens.
But nearly 20 years on from the release of the 2003 romantic comedy, the movie has faced scrutiny over its story lines and lack of diversity.
“There were things you’d change but thank god society is changing. So my film is bound, in some moments, to feel, you know, out of date,” the movie’s writer and director Richard Curtis said earlier this week.
He was speaking to Diane Sawyer as part of a documentary on ABC News titled: “The Laughter & Secrets of Love Actually: 20 Years Later.”
“Love Actually” features interweaving story lines, following several romantic relationships. However, most of the leading cast is White and all the relationships depicted are heterosexual.
Asked about any moments that might make him “wince,” Curtis said: “The lack of diversity makes me feel uncomfortable and a bit stupid.” He added: “I think there are three plots that have bosses and people who work for them.”
The movie features an impressive number of big names from the entertainment industry, with Alan Rickman, Emma Thompson, Hugh Grant, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Keira Knightley, Bill Nighy, Colin Firth, Liam Neeson, Martin Freeman, Laura Linney, Martine McCutcheon, Rowan Atkinson and Thomas Brodie-Sangster all appearing at some point.
Nearly 20 years on, “Love Actually” remains popular, becoming a staple of the holiday season.
“It’s amazing the way it’s entered the language,” Nighy said in the ABC News documentary.
“I’ve had people coming up to me saying ‘it got me through my chemotherapy,’ or ‘it got me through my divorce,’ or ‘I watch it whenever I’m alone.’ And people do, and people have ‘Love Actually’ parties.”
When asked if she understood why “Love Actually” had remained popular, Thompson replied: “I so do.”
“Because I think that we forget, time and time again we forget, that love is all that matters.”
Curtis has written several other popular romantic comedies, including “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” “Notting Hill” and “Bridget Jones’s Diary.”
“Four Weddings and a Funeral” was released in 1994 and notably portrayed a same-sex relationship between Matthew, played by John Hannah, and Gareth, played by Simon Callow.
Writing in the Guardian 14 years later, Callow said: “It almost defies belief, but in the months after the release of the film, I received a number of letters from apparently intelligent, articulate members of the public saying that they had never realised, until seeing the film, that gay people had emotions like normal people.”
Science & Environment
Joe Pesci says playing Harry in the ‘Home Alone’…
CNN
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They say artists have to be willing to do anything for their art, and for Joe Pesci, that includes setting his head on fire.
In a new interview with People, the Oscar winner reflected on the making “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York” on the occasion of the sequel’s 30th anniversary and remembered how the comedy required some physically “demanding” stunts on his part.
“It was a nice change of pace to do that particular type of slapstick comedy,” Pesci said of making the first two “Home Alone” films in the email interview, published on Tuesday.
In the uber-successful franchise, Pesci played one half a bungling thief duo (alongside Daniel Stern) who is continually one-upped by a clever kid played by Macaulay Culkin. He acknowledged that the movies “were a more physical type of comedy, therefore, a little more demanding.”
One example – when Pesci’s character Harry walks unsuspectingly into a booby trap laid by Culkin’s Kevin, leading to a fiery finish.
“In addition to the expected bumps, bruises, and general pains that you would associate with that particular type of physical humor, I did sustain serious burns to the top of my head during the scene where Harry’s hat is set on fire,” the “Goodfellas” star recalled.
In fact, Harry’s head is set ablaze not once but twice in the movies, once in 1990’s “Home Alone” and again in the 1992 film, when Harry and Marv (Stern) chase Kevin through a house amid renovations. (Pesci did not clarify during which film he sustained his injury.)
Pesci added that he “was fortunate enough to have professional stuntmen do the real heavy stunts.”
“Home Alone 2,” which hit theaters on November 20, 1992, welcomed back Pesci, Culkin and Stern along with Catherine O’Hara and John Heard as Kevin’s parents. The movie also starred Oscar-winning actress Brenda Fricker as the Pigeon Lady.
