academy award

OSCARS 2023: A Full List Of The 95th Academy Awards Nominations

Movies In Focus is just going to say this up front – I want Top Gun: Maverick to win Best Picture at the 2023 Academy Awards. The reason being is that it’s a crowd pleaser – a movie. A Hollywood movie. It deserves to win. It would [...]

January 24, 2023

Review: Mel Gibson’s THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST Is A Cinematic Miracle

Mel Gibson’s The Passion Of The Christ is a powerful piece of cinema. It’s a breathtaking, bravura biblical epic which resonates on multiple levels. Gibson’s film has no compromises. The filmmaker set out to tell a story and he [...]

April 15, 2022

Oscars 2022: The Full Academy Awards Winners List

The 94th Academy Awards took place on Sunday 27th March 2022. The event was pretty much over shadowed by Best Actor winner Will Smith slapping presenter Chris Rock after Rock made a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. If the night [...]

March 28, 2022

Academy Awards 2022: A Full List Of Oscar Nominations

Jane Campion’s The Power Of The Dog leads the charge at this year’s Academy Awards. The Netflix western scored 12 nominations including Best Director for Campion. Campion is now the first woman to have been nominated for best director [...]

February 10, 2022

Behind The Scenes: Francis Ford Coppola & Gene Hackman On The Set Of THE CONVERSATION

The great Francis Ford Coppola‘s 1974 film, The Conversation is an expertly paced dramatic thriller. Written, directed and produced by Coppola, The Conversation was the first film the director made following the massive critical and [...]

January 20, 2022

Kevin Costner – The Last Of The Hollywood Cowboys

Born on the 18 January, 1955, Kevin Costner was an avid film fan who up in California. Fascinated by epic westerns such as Red River and How the West Was Won, he dreamed of being cowboy (a dream that would be fulfilled many years later). Following [...]

January 18, 2022

Behind The Scenes: Rachel McAdams, Michael Keaton & Tom McCarthy On The Set Of SPOTLIGHT

Director Tom McCarthy’s 2015 film, Spotlight is based on a true story that saw a team of Boston Globe journalists (Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, Brian d’Arcy James and John Slattery) investigate child sex abuse within the [...]

January 10, 2022

The Great Sidney Poitier Dies Aged 94

Blackboard Jungle, Edge of the City, A Raisin in the Sun, The Greatest Story Ever Told, The Defiant Ones, Dual At Diablo, In the Heat of the Night, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? and To Sir, With Love – the great Sidney Poitier had a [...]

January 9, 2022

Behind The Scenes: John Ford, Richard Widmark & John Wayne On The Set Of THE ALAMO

A long gestating passion project, John Wayne finally brought his film charting the 1836 battle at The Alamo to the screen in 1960. Wayne produced, directed and starred in the epic, even investing millions of his own money into the production. [...]

December 28, 2021

Notebook Reviews: THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST

Lawrence Kasdan – 1988. Director Lawrence Kasdan has crafted an enjoyable and quirky romantic comedy-drama in the shape of The Accidental Tourist. Kasdan’s film features an strong cast – William Hurt, Kathleen Turner, Geena Davis [...]

October 24, 2021

Behind The Scenes: Anna Paquin, Jane Campion & Sam Neill On The Set Of THE PIANO

Writer/director Jane Campion’s 1993 film, The Piano is seen a a modern classic, however I would argue that the drama is not quite a masterpiece. That’s not to say that it’s a bad film – far from it – it’s a well [...]

October 9, 2021

Review: Oscar Winners Richard Dreyfuss & Mira Sorvino Tackle A Crime Story In The Revenge Thriller THE LAST JOB

The Last Job (aka Crime Story) took me by surprise. I was expecting a by-the-numbers revenge thriller with Richard Dreyfuss seeking revenge on those who wronged him. Yes, that’s the general plot to writer/director Adam Lipsius’ thriller [...]

September 1, 2021

Uncovering Curiosities: Alan Parker’s MISSISSIPPI BURNING

The heat from Alan Parker’s Mississippi Burning can still be felt more than 30 years after its 1988 release. This 1960s set drama (which is loosely based on real events) still packs a hefty emotional punch. Chris Gerolmo’s script makes it strong [...]

August 2, 2021

Podcast – Episode 8: Oscar Nominated Actor Graham Greene Talks About His Career & The Movie A DARK FOE

Graham Greene is an actor who has an illustrious career. The Canadian performer first broke into the public consciousness with his Academy Award nominated turn in Kevin Costner’s masterpiece, Dances With Wolves. He went on to have key roles in [...]

July 28, 2021

Yo, Whiplash! Behind The Scenes Image Shows Miles Teller & Damien Chazelle On The Set Of WHIPLASH

Writer-director Damien Chazelle’s created an absolute gem of a film with 2014’s Whiplash – one that surpasses all expectations. Expertly written and wonderfully acted, Whiplash is a cinematic breath of fresh air. The great J.K [...]

July 13, 2021

Remembering James Cameron’s TITANIC Starring Leonardo DiCaprio & Kate Winslet

James Cameron’s Titanic was a huge cultural phenomenon when it was released in 1997. Cameron’s film became the highest grossing film of all time (before it was beaten by Avatar), grossing $600 million at the US box office and another $1.2 [...]

June 27, 2021

SOUND OF METAL Gets A UK Cinema Release Date

The hugely acclaimed (and BAFTA and Academy Award winning) Sound of Metal will hit UK cinemas on 17 May 2021. Riz Ahmed (BAFTA and Academy Award nominated) and Olivia Cooke star in the music-focused drama which was directed by Darius Marder. [...]

May 11, 2021

George Clooney – The Last Of The Movie Stars

There are movie stars and then there is George Clooney. The actor, who turned 60 years old on 6 May, 2021 is the epitome of old style charm and charisma and he has been compared to Cary Grant on so many occasions that it would be superfluous to do [...]

May 6, 2021

Oscars 2021: The Full Academy Awards Winners List

The big winner at the 93rd Academy Awards was Nomadland, scoring three wins for Best Picture, Best Director for Chloe Zhao (the first woman of colour and only second woman to win best director)and Best Actress for Frances McDormand. Anthony [...]

April 26, 2021

Review: Andrea Bræin Hovig & Stellan Skarsgård Star In Maria Sødahl’s Stunning HOPE

Hope is a semi-autobiographical piece of cinema from writer-director Maria Sødahl. The Norwegian filmmaker’s last film was 2011’s Limbo and Sødahl took a long hiatus following its release after she was diagnosed with brain cancer. Hope is [...]

April 13, 2021

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