Director: Travis Knight
Running Time: 101 mins
Certificate: PG
Release Date: January 16th 2017 (UK)
Kubo is a young boy, living secluded with his mother inside a mountain. Each day he goes to the nearby village and tells stories, using his magic to enact them to the villagers with moving origami figures. He tells the story of his heroic father, who was killed trying to save Kubo from his evil grandfather, the Moon King. Kubo lost an eye in the attack, but he and his mother managed to escape.
Kubo’s mother has told him there is one big rule – he must be home before darkness falls. However, while trying to honour his dead father the sun goes down and he comes under attack from his aunts. His mother uses the last magic to get Kubo to safety, telling him that his only way to protect himself is to find three magical pieces of armour that will make him nearly invulnerable. With his mother gone, Kubo’s only protection comes from Monkey, a charm that his mother brought to life as part of her final act, as well as Beetle, a man-size warrior bug they come across, who’s had his memory erased. [Read more…]
Awards Season is upon us! The Golden Globes were last Sunday, the BAFTA nomination were out on Monday, and the Oscars will be revealing their noms next week. Sandwiched inbetween is the nomination announcement for the most important awards of all, the Dorians, voted for by the Gay & Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association (and I’m not just saying that because I’m a member). The list of this year’s nominees has now been announced!
Pedro Almodovar’s latest movie, Julieta, is out on DVD and Blu-ray in the UK now, and to celebrate, we’re got a copy to give away on DVD, plus a copy of the book it’s based on, featuring Alice Munro’s three linked stories, Chance, Soon, and Silence.
Avengers: Infinity War is gonna be a big movie, which promises to bring together all the major Marvel universe characters, not just the usual suspect such as Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, Hawkeye, Black Widow and Thor. There’ll also be Spider-man, Doctor Strange, Black Panther, Ant Man and the Guardiand Of The Galaxy too.
Seeing how upset Fox News got at the suggestion you could have a black Santa Claus, they’re probably apoplectic that Disney is planning a movie about a female Santa. 
One of the many live-action adaptations of their animated classic that Disney has is the works is Dumbo, which Tim Burton is planning to direct. (And those who aren’t keen on these live-action versions have Burton to blame, as it was the success of his Alice In Wonderland that kicked it all off).
Madonna has never gotten too much respect as an actress (although she does have a Best Actress Golden Globe for Evita), but the two movies she’s directed showed she has potential behind the camera. Now she’s planning to follow 2008’s Filth And Wisdom, and 2011’s royal drama W.E., with The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells. She’s also been co-writing the script.
While the first part of Tony Kushner’s two-part, Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes, Millennium Approaches, was first performed in San Francisco, it was the 1992 British National Theatre production which helped state the play’s claim to being something exceptional. It and it’s follow-up, Perestroika, went of to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the Tony Award for Best Play, and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play, amongst other gongs.
It’s not too long now until the Dustin Lance Black written eight-part gay rights mini-series, When We Rise, starts airing on ABC in the US. He’s been at the Television Critics Association Winter press tour to talk about the show, how he believes it’s under attack by the alt-right, how he things Donald Trump might actually like the series, and how he hopes non-liberals will watch it.