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Hamilton, who became Studiocanal UK CEO last year, talks libraries, windows and a new Apple channel.

It has been a turbulent year for UK distribution veteran Alex Hamilton, who became CEO of Studiocanal UK in April 2020, early on in the Covid-19 pandemic.

With cinemas closed and production suspended, it was a challenging period to take up the reins. However, Hamilton’s strategy is now beginning to come into focus.

The Railway Children Return, the first UK production made by the company since he arrived, has just finished shooting and post-production is now steaming ahead. The film, directed by Morgan Matthews...

While longer Best Actress-nominated performances are rarer than ones contending for Best Actor, there has been a significant amount of them over 92 years. Indeed, 44 have surpassed 90 minutes of screen time, and the overall longest nominated performance of all time comes from this category. Here is a look at the 10 longest ever nominated for the award:

10. Rosalind Russell (“Auntie Mame”)

1 hour, 48 minutes, 23 seconds (75.59% of the film)

Over the course of 16 years, Russell competed for the Best Actress Oscar four times, and her final bid was for playing an eccentric socialite who is tasked with raising her nephew. All four of her nominations were for relatively long performances, averaging one hour, 30 minutes, and 42 seconds and over 71%. She never won, and lost in 1959 to Susan Hayward, who was on her fifth and final nomination for her one-hour, 15-minute, and 26-second performance in “I Want to Live!”.

9. Isabelle Huppert (“Elle”)

1 hour, 49 minutes, 55 seconds (83.87% of...

Yonfan, the LGBT pioneer of Hong Kong art cinema, embraces animation for the first time with “No. 7 Cherry Lane” (currently streaming on Moma’s Virtual Cinema through February 4). It’s a love letter to a bygone Hong Kong from 1967, when he was a 20-year-old photographer and aspiring director caught up in the political turbulence and cinematic excitement of the era.

“‘No. 7 Cherry Lane’ is very different from all the other animations that I know of,” said Yonfan, who is not a fan of animation but was intrigued with the imaginative possibilities of the medium for his adult drama. The film represents his remembrance of the Hong Kong riots against the background of the Cultural Revolution in China.

“This is when people started denouncing the Vietnam War and there were many movies like ‘The Graduate’ and ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ that came out and they were very revolutionary. It seems timely with the [recent] protests in Hong Kong,...

According to our BAFTA racetrack odds, “1917” is the front-runner to win Best Picture from the British academy. We also think it’ll win the award for Best British Film, which is awarded to movies with significant contributions from British filmmakers. Can it really take both prizes? Only two films have doubled up since Best British Film was reintroduced in 1992.

Best British Film was first handed out in 1947 but was discontinued in 1968. In those first 21 years there were eight films that won both awards: “The Sound Barrier” (1952), “Richard III” (1955), “The Bridge on the River Kwai” (1957; also Best Picture Oscar), “Room at the Top” (1958), “Lawrence of Arabia” (1962; also Best Picture Oscar), “Tom Jones” (1963; also Best Picture Oscar), “Dr. Strangelove” (1965); and “A Man for All Seasons” (1967; also 1966 Best Picture Oscar).

SEEOscars: 16 War Movies That Won Best Picture

But in the 27 years since Best British Film was brought back in 1992, only two films...

One of the first ‘kitchen sink realist’ films of the British New Wave is also one of the best English films ever — believable, absorbing, and emotionally moving. The adaptation of John Braine’s novel launched Laurence Harvey as a major star, and English films were suddenly touted as being just as adult as their continental counterparts. It attracted a bushel of awards, especially for the luminous Simone Signoret. Unlike the average Angry Young Man, Joe Lampton’s struggle feels universal — bad things happen when ambition seeks a way through the class ceiling, ‘to get to the money,’ as says Donald Wolfit’s character.

Room at the Top

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1959 / B&W / 1:66 widescreen / 115 min. / Street Date January 14, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring: Laurence Harvey, Simone Signoret, Heather Sears, Ambrosine Phillpotts, Donald Wolfit, Donald Houston, Hermione Baddeley, Allan Cuthbertson, Raymond Huntley, John Westbrook, Richard Pasco, Ian Hendry, April Olrich,...

“The Favourite” reaped a leading 12 nominations for the BAFTA Awards. Among these are bids for both Best Picture and Best British Film. But these two categories could cancel each other out in the minds of the BAFTA voters. Since the British academy reintroduced Best British Film in 1992, separate from the top award for Best Picture, only two movies have won both races.

“The King’s Speech” was the first film to pull off this double act at the BAFTAs in 2010 and it went on to win Best Picture at the Oscars. Last year, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” repeated this feat on home turf but lost the top Oscar race to “The Shape of Water.”

For Best Picture, “The Favourite” is up against two seven-time nominees — “Roma” and “A Star is Born” — as well as five-time contender “BlacKkKlansman” and four-time nominee “Green Book.” Its rivals for Best British Film are seven-time nominee “Bohemian Rhapsody,...

This article marks Part 3 of the Gold Derby series reflecting on films that contended for the Big Five Oscars – Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Screenplay (Original or Adapted). With “A Star Is Born” this year on the cusp of joining this exclusive group of Oscar favorites, join us as we look back at the 43 extraordinary pictures that earned Academy Awards nominations in each of the Big Five categories, including the following 11 films that scored a pair of prizes among the top races.

At the 4th Academy Awards ceremony, “Cimarron” (1931) made Oscar history as the first motion picture to ever score nominations in the Big Five categories. On the big night, the western took home the top prize in Best Picture, as well as the Oscar in Best Adapted Screenplay (Howard Estabrook). Not as successful were the picture’s director, Wesley Ruggles, topped by Norman Taurog (“Skippy”), and the leads,...

Ronnie Taylor, the British cinematographer who shared an Oscar for Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi and whose collaborations with that director and Ken Russell produced some of the most memorable films of their eras, died August 3 in Ibiza. He was 93 and had suffered a stroke months earlier.

His death was announced by The British Society of Cinematographers, where Taylor served as president from 1990-1992.

In addition to Gandhi, Taylor’s work with Attenborough includes 1985’s A Chorus Line and 1987’s Cry Freedom. Earlier, Taylor had served as camera operator on Attenborough’s Oh! What a Lovely War in 1969 and the 1972 Churchill biopic Young Winston starring Simon Ward in the title role.

As cinematographer, Taylor’s trio of Russell collaborations are The Devils (1971), Savage Messiah (1972) and Tommy (1975).

According to the Bsc, Taylor began his film career as a clapper boy on 1942’s The Young Mr. Pitt, and by the early 1960s his...

One of the more moving segments of any Oscars ceremony is the “In Memoriam.” This year’s was no exception. With a great performance of the Tom Petty song, “Room at the Top,” Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder honored some of the prominent Hollywood figures that passed over the last year. Unfortunately, some names were left off the list.

While the video montage gave mention to Hollywood greats like Jerry Lewis, George Romero, Roger Moore, Harry Dean Stanton, and Don Rickles, among many others, there were some big stars that didn’t make the cut.

The “In Memoriam” segment of the Academy Awards is guaranteed to be two things: moving and frustrating. While we laud the academy for its efforts to be even more expansive at the 2018 Oscars with the number of people to whom it pays tribute (51), it is vexing that certain famous faces were excluded. Above, watch as Eddie Vedder sings the late Tom Petty‘s “Room at the Top” as the three minute video unspools.

Among those missing from this “In Memoriam” video, the most glaring omission is 1956 Best Supporting Actress winner Dorothy Malone (“Written on the Wind”). After more than a decade as a contract player at both Rko and Warner Bros., she changed her good girl image with her searing performance as an alcoholic in Douglas Sirk’s lush drama and took home an Oscar for her efforts. She went on to headline TV’s version of the Oscar-nominated “Peyton Place.

Each year, the Oscars ceremony includes a moving tribute to the film industry leaders who died in the past year — and each year, big names are left out of the prestigious lineup. This year, the Academy excluded multiple former Oscar winners — Dorothy Malone, who received best supporting actress honors for her portrayal of an alcoholic in Written on the Wind (1956), and Glen Campbell, who starred in True Grit (1969) and earned a best original song nomination.

Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder performed Tom Petty’s “Room at the Top” in a tribute to the singer, who died in...

Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder made a surprise appearance at the Oscars Sunday night, covering Tom Petty’s “Room at the Top” during the show’s “In Memoriam” segment. Eagle-eyed Twitter users saw the singer at the beginning of the broadcast, seated a few rows behind Meryl Streep. Armed only with a solitary electric guitar, Vedder’s bittersweet cover of late-era Petty (the song is from 1999’s “Echo), who also died in 2017, and was backed by a string section as images and clips from the likes of John Heard, Jane Foray, Martin Landau, Glenne Headly, Roger Moore, George A. Romero and Jerry...

The 2018 Oscars paid tribute to the many artists we lost over the last year. Jennifer Garner introduced the segment on Sunday, "Every storyteller knows that there is no joy without sorrow. Tonight as we celebrate the achievements of our collaborators, we also mourn the loss of those who brought joy and awareness through their passion for the movies." Eddie Vedder then took the stage to perform the late Tom Petty's song, "Room at the Top." Petty passed away in October 2017 at the age of 66, his death was confirmed by his longtime manager in a statement to E! News. "On behalf of the Tom Petty family we are devastated to announce the untimely death of of our father, husband,...

Eddie Vedder performed a moving version of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' "Room at the Top" during the "In Memoriam" segment of the 2018 Oscars.

The Pearl Jam frontman stripped back the 1999 single to a soft croon, strummed electric guitar and swirling keyboard strings. "I got a room at the top of the world tonight/ I can see everything tonight," he sang in his trademark quivering tone. "I got a room where everyone/ Can have a drink and forget those things that went wrong in their life."

As always, the "In...

Martin Landau, Jerry Lewis and Don Rickles were just some of the late industry greats who were celebrated and honored at the Oscars on Sunday evening.

Jennifer Garner introduced the in memoriam segment. While photos and clips played on the screen, Eddie Vedder performed the song “Room at the Top” by the late Tom Petty.

“Every storyteller knows that there is no joy without sorrow. Tonight, as we celebrate the achievements of our collaborators, we also mourn the loss of those who brought joy and awareness through their passion for the movies,” Garner said. “The work they left us, as...

The Academy Awards made its annual tribute to the luminaries of the film industry who are no longer with us

Each year the Oscars’ In Memoriam section acts as a tribute to the film world’s great and good who have sadly passed away. From 007 to the king of comedy, these were the standouts of the 2018 tribute film, which was accompanied by a performance by Eddie Vedder of the late Tom Petty’s Room at the Top.

On the eve of the 90th Academy Awards, we celebrate the unlikeliest red-carpet-walkers, including Robert Towne’s dog, several people who don’t actually exist and … Jean-Paul Sartre

10. Hermione Baddeley: best supporting actress nominee, Room at the Top

It took just over two minutes of screen time for Baddeley to nab a nomination for her work in Jack Clayton’s 1959 drama. The current holder of the title for smallest amount of screen time resulting in an actual prize is Beatrice Straight, who won in the same category in 1977 for a performance in Network totalling just under six minutes.

“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” won the very first BAFTA Award of the evening on Feb. 18 when it was named Best British Film. And it ended the night by claiming the Best Picture prize. That marked just the second time since the British academy reintroduced Best British Film in 1992 that the same movie won both awards. The only other double dipper was “The King’s Speech,” which went to win Best Picture at the Oscars in 2011.

It might seem odd that a film like “Three Billboards,” which is set in the American heartland, qualified for consideration as Best British Film. However, it was written and directed by an Englishman, Martin McDonagh, and co-financed by UK broadcaster Channel 4.

See 2018 BAFTA Awards: ‘Three Billboards’ wins 5 including Best Picture, ‘The Shape of Water’ takes 3 [Updating Live]

Over the last quarter century, seven other British films have been named Best Picture at the BAFTAs: “Howards End...

BBC America has acquired A Poet in New York, a film about Dylan Thomas’ final days. The drama is written by Andrew Davies, BBC’s venerable screenwriter most acclaimed for the 1995 Pride and Prejudice as well as more recent well-received series like House of Cards and Little Dorrit. It features several beloved BBC actors, with Tom Hollander (Rev., Pride and Prejudice) as Dylan Thomas and Essie Davis (Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries) as his wife. Ewen Bremner (Trainspotting, Page Eight), and Phoebe Fox (Switch, New Tricks) co-star.

The film will premiere this fall on BBC America and is directed by Aisling Walsh (Room at the Top, Loving Miss Hatto).

From BBC America -

“One of the most renowned poets in the world, Dylan Thomas is the creator of some of the most memorable lines in the English language. Known for his wild, hard-drinking lifestyle as well as his brilliance, his...

BBC Two has announced details of a new three-part drama focusing on the relationship between Virginia Woolf and her sister Vanessa Bell.

Life in Squares dramatises the pair's close but complicated relationship, as well as focusing on gay artist Duncan Grant.

The drama has been written by BAFTA-winning Amanda Coe (Room at the Top) and directed by Simon Kaijser, who directed Never Wipe Tears Without Gloves for BBC Four last year.

Life in Squares is set over a period of 40 years, from the death of Queen Victoria right through to the years of the Second World War.

Kim Shillinglaw, Controller of BBC Two, said: "The legacy of the Bloomsbury set resonates to this day and I'm delighted that such an incredibly talented team are bringing them alive for a modern audience on BBC Two."

Lucy Richer, Commissioning Editor and Executive Producer, added: "We are thrilled to be telling the intimate...

Tom Hollander is to play Dylan Thomas in a new BBC Two drama.

A Poet in New York - from Mr Selfridge writer Andrew Davies - will mark the centenary of the Welsh poet's birth.

Set in New York and Laugharne, the drama will explore Thomas's final days in a smog-ridden New York in November 1953.

Griff Rhys Jones will act as executive producer via his company Modern Television, while Room at the Top's Aisling Walsh will direct.

"I am thrilled to be playing Dylan Thomas for Aisling Walsh in Andrew Davies's wonderful A Poet in New York, produced by Modern Television," said Rev star Hollander.

"Thomas was a great poet, whose blazing life and premature death left both a considerable poetic legacy and an enduring reputation for bad behaviour.

"He was also quite fat - playing him is both a wonderful acting challenge and a great opportunity to...

Olivia Colman led the winners at this year's BAFTA Television Awards this evening (May 12).

E4's Made in Chelsea and Sheridan Smith were also victorious at the ceremony hosted by Graham Norton at London's Royal Festival Hall.

Colman secured the 'Female Performance in a Comedy Programme' award for her role in Twenty Twelve and scooped the 'Supporting Actress' award for Accused - 'Mo's Story'.

Colman took to the stage a total of three times at the ceremony, as Twenty Twelve also won the award for 'Situation Comedy'.

Sheridan Smith won her first ever BAFTA for her role as Charmian Biggs in ITV's Mrs Biggs series. The actress was visibly shocked by her success as she took to the stage in tears.

The cast of Made in Chelsea were present to collect their award for 'Reality and Constructed Factual'. Meanwhile, Game of Thrones won the highly contested 'Radio Times Audience Award'...

The BBC has commissioned a new drama charting the final days of Dylan Thomas.

A Poet in New York - written by Andrew Davies (Mr Selfridge) - will mark the centenary of the Welsh poet's birth.

Set in New York and Laugharne, the drama will explore how the 39-year-old Thomas died in a smog-ridden New York in November 1953.

Griff Rhys Jones will act as executive producer via his company Modern Television, while Room at the Top's Aisling Walsh will direct.

Rhys Jones said: "Andrew Davies has written a moving, exciting and sensitive script about the tragic end of a huge figure. It does full justice to Dylan and his legacy."

Davies added: "It's been such a privilege and a pleasure to work on this film; Dylan Thomas was a huge inspiration to me as I was growing up in a very similar environment to his in South Wales.

"Although...