Director: Brian Percival
Running Time: 131 mins
Certificate: 15
Release Date: July 7th 2014 (UK)
Perhaps unsurprisingly, while an awful lot of films have been made about the Second World War, not that many have looked at the German side from a sympathetic perspective. However millions of ordinary people had to live under Nazi rule whether they agreed with Hitler’s policies or not, and while a lot purely submitted to the evil whims of the regime, others did what they could to oppose.
The Book Thief, based on Marcus Zusak’s novel, takes us back to this time and the life of young Liesel (Sophie Elisse), who is separated from her communist mother and sent to live with an ordinary couple, Hans (Geoffrey Rush) and the stern Rosa (Emily Watson). Initially she is illiterate and despite the difficult situation she has come from, relatively oblivious to the world around her. [Read more…]
There was little doubt that The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug would top the US box office this weekend. The only question was how much it would take. There was a lot of disagreement going into the weekend, with some suggesting it could take as much as $80 million, while others thought it would struggle to make $70 million.
Frozen had a great opening over the Thanksgiving holiday, but even so it ended up second on the US box office chart due to the continuing success of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. However this weekend the roles were reversed as Frozen snuck past Catching Fire with $31 million versus Hunger Games 2’s $27 million.
Marcus Zusak’s novel The Book Thief received huge plaudits when it was released eight years ago, but it’s taken until now for a movie version to gear up, with Downton Abbey director Brian Percival at the helm.
After Dowton Abbey’s huge success in the US, it’s not surprising Hollywood is sniffing around those who’ve directed episodes of the series. Helming Downton certainly seems to have helped Brian Percival, who