It's no secret that world famous actor, Leonardo DiCaprio has lost out on many of his fair share of Oscars in the past years. However, could that all be about to change?
It has been confirmed that the 40 year-old is set to star in brand new biopic 'The Crowded Room' which takes us back to the 1970s and follows the story of Billy Milligan, the first American citizen to use his diagnosis of multiple personality disorder as a defense in a court of law, pleading 'insanity' for his charges against multiple felonies including rape and armed robbery in the state of Ohio.
Rumour has it, DiCaprio has been eyeing up the role of Milligan for the almost twenty years, having been interested since 1997, but has only just achieved the role as New Regency production company have finally managed to get started on the movie.
It may still be early days but critics strongly believe that this could be the role that finally rewards Leo with an Oscar that many fans believed he deserved earlier for his roles in movies such as 'The Great Gatsby' and 'The Aviator'. You know what they say, better late than never!
- Zoe x
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Wow....what a way to mix up the fairy tales of our childhood. I'm talking Jack and the Beanstalk, Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Rapunzel, something to do with Mr and Mrs Baker (?) and a rather creepy witch who causes most of their problems, all blended into one mythical world together.
The film opens with the musical number 'I wish', where all the characters are singing what they wish for in life. Soon after The witch, played by the wonderful Meryl Streep, storms into the bakery, telling the couple she can grant their wish of having a child with one condition. Naturally, this condition would be far from easy to meet. She demands they enter the woods and retrieve four items for her, 1. a cow as white as milk 2. a cloak as red as blood 3. hair as yellow as corn and 4. a shoe of pure gold. With this, the Bakers enter the woods on the search for their four items. On their journey, the tales of Little Red, Jack, Rapunzel and Cinderella play out, throwing twists and surprises at every turn and colliding the fairy tales into one wild adventure.
This is one of those musicals where almost every word is sung, pretty much every scene is a song (Most of the time the same song 'Into the woods', just different lyrics) but everything makes perfect sense, trust me.
I'll hand it to director, Rob Marshall, he has created something mind-blowing and surprising, not just your typical 'they lived happily ever after' story. First of all, James Corden CAN sing, like really sing and Emily Blunt, where did that voice come from?! You can tell that some serious hard work has gone into creating this movie and it has paid off. It has also introduced two new talents to Hollywood in the form of Lilla Crawford (Red Riding Hood),who has made her movie debut after starring in 'Annie' on Broadway and Daniel Huttlestone (Jack) ,has taken to the screen again in another musical after previously starring in 'Les Miserables' in 2012.
When I first heard of this movie being released, I honestly didn't know quite what to expect and I still remain shocked now at how the story twisted in the second hour of the film. You think the film is coming to an end with the happy ending, happy marriages, beanstalk destroyed, wolf killed bla bla bla, but then you think again. Hang on, there's another hour left to this film. In that hour, is where the movie strays from your average fairy tale to an unexpected battle and I definitely didn't expect people to be dying!(No I'm not saying who)
Don't get me wrong, I liked the storyline but I think it's the musical aspect of this movie that really won me over. I'm a sucker for musicals, I love them, Mamma Mia, Phantom of the Opera, West Side Story, you name it, i've seen it. The lyrics are very clever, captivating and at times you forget they're even singing because they're telling a story and you're so involved in the story, it's like they're talking to you. Does that make any sense?- Made sense in my head.And it's funny, I can't get on with a movie unless it has at least a glimpse of humour and this sure does.
One thing, I think they could have expanded on Cinderella's story a teeny weeny bit more, but I understand that may have made the film like another forty minutes long or something and the twist to her tale was unexpected (again, no I'm not telling)
Overall, I liked it. It was surprising yet stuck to the traditional tales at the same time, well on some of them. As for the acting, well they all deserve Baftas for starters, or at least some kind of high recognition for their outstanding voices. If they don't make a West End/Broadway musical out of this soon then I will!
The movie starred:
Meryl Streep as The Witch
Anna Kendrick as Cinderella
Chris Pine as Prince Charming
Johnny Depp as The Wolf
Lilla Crawford as Red Riding Hood
Emily Blunt as The Baker's Wife
James Corden as The Baker
Mackenzie Mauzy as Rapunzel
Billy Magnussen as Rapunzel's Prince
Daniel Huttlestone as Jack
Tracey Ullman as Jack's mother
Christine Baranski as Cinderella's stepmother
Lucy Punch and Tammy Blanchard as Cinderella's stepsisters
And was directed by Rob Marshall.
What did you guys think? Let me know!
- Zoe x
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I'm going to be dead honest, I really kind of wanted Felicity Jones to win this award. However, at that time, I hadn't seen 'Still Alice', okay, I still haven't seen it but I have spent the morning researching and watching clips and trailers and interviews and my god, I hold my hands up, she deserved it. I cannot wait to watch this film!
On accepting her award for best actress at the 87th Oscars, Moore, 54, who plays the role of an Alzheimers sufferer, spoke of the struggle that so many face today 'I'm thrilled that we were able to shine a light on Alzheimers disease, so many people with this disease feel isolated' she then continued to thank her friends and family and said 'one of the wonderful thing about movies is that it makes us feel seen and not alone and people with Alzheimers deserve to be seen so that we can find a cure'
She also praised her fellow nominees who looked on from the crowd which included Felicity Jones, Marion Cotillard, Reese Witherspoon and Rosamund Pike, 'There's no such thing as best actress, I've been honoured to be among you every step of the way'.
The emotional winner ended by thanking the film makers, Wash Westmoreland and Richard Glatzer '(they) had hoped to be here tonight but they can't because of Richard's health' She then continued to address the subject already touched on by winner, Eddie Redmayne 'When Richard was diagnosed with ALS, Wash asked him what he wanted to do (in life)....and he said he wanted to make movies and that is what he did'
The crowd began to applause as she tearfully thanked her husband and children, 'Thank you for my life, thank you for giving me a home' and on that note, she exited the stage, clutching her award proudly.
With both speeches from Julianne Moore and Eddie Redmayne, it soon became a night of awareness of both mental and physical diseases and from what I saw, there wasn't a dry eye in the house. Congratulations to them both on their well deserved achievements. I promise to soon watch 'Still Alice' in full and review it.
- Zoe x
