Posts Tagged ‘Catherine Zeta-Jones’

THE  56TH BAFTA AWARDS /

THE BRITISH ACADEMY FILM AWARDS

Took place on the 23rd February 2003 in London

BAFTA WINNERS IN THE FILM CATEGORY:

Best Film: The Pianist

Best Director: Roman Polanski – The Pianist

Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis – Gangs of New York

Best Actress: Nicole Kidman – The Hours

Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Walken –Catch Me If You Can

Best Supporting Actress: Catherine Zeta-Jones – Chicago

Best British Film: The Warrior directed by Asif Kapadia

Best Original Screenplay: Talk to Her (Hable con ella) – Pedro Almodóvar

Best Adapted Screenplay: Adaptation. – Charlie and Donald Kaufman

Best Visual Effects: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

Best Foreign Language Film: Talk to Her (Hable con ella) directed by Pedro Almodóvar (Spain)

56th BAFTA Awards

RED 2

Retired and Extremely Dangerous

Director: Dean Parisot

Cast: Bruce Willis, Anthony Hopkins, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Helen Mirren, John Malkovich, Mary-Louise Parker, Neal McDonough, Steven Berkoff, David Thewlis, Byung-Hun Lee, Tim Pigott-Smith, Brian Cox

Despite the inherent violence in the film’s narrative, Red 2 is an enjoyable yet not particularly lucid sequel to the 2010 hit Red, which stands for Retired and Extremely Dangerous. Both films are inspired by DC Comics so that should give the audience an indication of what to expect: lots of action, globetrotting assassins and a convoluted story line with a dash of witty one liners.

Considering the calibre of the cast of Red 2, including Oscar Winners Catherine Zeta-Jones (Chicago), Anthony Hopkins (The Silence of the Lambs) and Helen Mirren (The Queen) along with the main stars, Bruce Willis, the fabulous Oscar nominee John Malkovich (Dangerous Liaisons) and Mary-Louise Parker (Red Dragon), this sequel’s script could have been sharper. Although thankfully the female stars do elevate the narrative beyond another sort of The Expendables type film, featuring all male action stars over 45 slugging it out with an armoury that could annihilate a small eastern European country. Director Dean Parisot goes for violence over sophisticated repartee, which is a great pity considering the cast he had at his disposal.

Red 2 is hugely entertaining but could have had a less complicated narrative and the action could have been diluted more effectively. There is the perennial car chase scene in Paris (straight out of A View to a Kill), the Kremlin scene in Moscow, straight out of countless spy movies and the more recent A Good Day to Die Hard and an aerial chase sequence across London’s slate grey skyline which is definitely inspired by the Bond franchise.

If audiences have not seen Red, then its best to see that first before seeing Red 2, but the premise is simply about an international group of retired spies and assassins (ex CIA, Mi6, Russian intelligence) who inadvertently stumble on a a plan to activate a so-called forgotten nuclear device in Moscow codenamed Project Nightshade after it was left there during the Cold War by a rogue American spy unit. The globe hopping from suburban America to London, Paris and Moscow is great but comically inspired and nothing as brilliant as the elegant cityscape changes seen in Skyfall.

Red 2 also features Byung-Hun Lee as a knife-wielding assassin last seen in GI Joe, Retaliation along with Neal McDonough as the vicious agent Jack Horton, but it is really Mary-Louise Parker’s performance which lifts Red 2 out of Comic book banality  as the sharp and sassy Sarah, girlfriend to Frank Moses played by Bruce Willis who is always hankering for more adventure and glamour, spicing up their crumbling romance.

Look out for a hilarious scene at the end of the film set in Caracas. Anymore details, then that would give the game away. Also featuring a briefly seen Steven Berkoff and David Thewlis as the Frog, a Wikileaks inspired classified intelligence hacker. Red 2 is fun viewing, heavy on action, light on content and plausibility!

75th Academy Awards

23rd March 2003

Oscar Winners at the 75th Academy Awards

Best Picture: Chicago

Best Director: Roman Polanski – The Pianist

Best Actor: Adrien Brody – The Pianist

Best Actress: Nicole Kidman – The Hours

Best Supporting Actor: Chris Cooper – Adaptation

Best Supporting Actress: Catherine Zeta-Jones – Chicago

Best Original Screenplay: Pedro Almodovar – Talk to Her

Best Adapted Screenplay: Ronald Harwood – The Pianist

Best Foreign Language Film: Nowhere in Africa directed by Caroline Link (Germany)

Best Documentary Feature: Bowling for Columbine directed by Michael Moore

Best Original Score: Elliot Goldenthal – Frida

Best Cinematography: Conrad L. Hall – Road to Perdition

Best Costume Design: Colleen Atwood – Chicago

Best Film Editing: Martin Walsh – Chicago

Best Visual Effects: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

Source: – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/75th_Academy_Awards