“Happy International Women’s Day!” I walk into the interview room and greet Octavia Spencer, who’s wearing a polka-dot skirt that I’m about to find out is as joyful as her demeanour. “Oh yes, that’s today! Great! Yes! Yes,” she replies, oozing an enthusiasm that is undeniably infectious. The Oscar-winning actress plays the head of the Amity faction in Veronica Roth’s incredibly successful Divergent series. She’s one of the new characters introduced in Insurgent, which is the reason for my trip to LA this past weekend. Along with Naomi Watts, who plays the Factionless leader Evelyn, Octavia joins Shailene Woodley and Kate Winslet, who reprise their roles from the box-office-busting first movie. It may have been a…
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The 2014 Brit Awards: The One Where Arctic Monkeys Rock-n-Rolled
“Yeah, that rock ‘n roll, it seems like it’s fading away sometimes. But it will never die.” With these words, Arctic Monkey’s frontman Alex Turner accepted the award for Best British Album, together with his bandmates. AM was absolutely one of last year’s top records so it was a well-deserved win. The group also picked up Best Group. Here’s the rest of Turner’s acceptance speech… A bit of American flavour, thanks to Beyonce, Katy Perry, Bruno Mars and Daft Punk kept the show feeling a bit more international than usual, but it was good to see Hackney’s Rudimental take Single of the Year for Waiting All Night, featuring Ella…
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Entertainment Express: Hugh Jackman, NY Film Critics Circle Awards, Jane Campion, Queen Latifah, Ellie Goulding
Hello from deep inside the polar vortex, the North Pole’s late Christmas gift to the US. No really, you shouldn’t have… * After a good ol’ safari, Hugh Jackman has gone back to work and has begun shooting his first day of Chappie, District 9 director Neill Blomkamp’s latest movie, in which he plays a mullet-brandishing character named Vincent. * The NY Film Critics Circle handed out its prizes for the top films and performances of the past year on Monday night. It was meant to be a fairly breezy night for the previously-announced winners – among them Robert Redford (best actor), Cate Blanchett (best actress), American Hustle (best film),…
