Check out the all new trailer for The Sheep Detectives below:

Here’s the official synopsis:

In this witty, new breed of mystery, George (Hugh Jackman) is a shepherd who reads detective novels to his beloved sheep every night, assuming they can’t possibly understand. But when a mysterious incident disrupts life on the farm, the sheep realize they must become the detectives. As they follow the clues and investigate human suspects, they prove that even sheep can be brilliant crime-solvers.

Directed by Kyle Balda and adapted from the best selling novel “Three Bags Full” by Leonie Swann, The Sheep Detectives brings together a story of comedy, mystery, detective fiction and plenty of heart, and it’s shaping up to be one of the most entertaining watches of the year.

Hugh Jackman leads an all-star ensemble cast for this on as George, a shepherd who dies under mysterious circumstances, and when it looks like foul play is it hand is loveable flock led by the intrepid Lily (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), decides that it’s time for the sheep to do their own leg work and catch George’s killer redheaded, before more disaster befalls George’s beloved flock.

Joining Jackman and Louis-Dreyfus in the picture includes the likes of Emma Thompson, Nicholas Braun, Nicholas Galitzine, Bryan Cranston, Chris O’Dowd, Regina Hall, Patrick Stewart, Bella Ramsey, Brett Goldstein, and Rhys Darby.

With its’ fantastic mix of detective narrative and laugh-out-loud comedy, plus plenty of Baa Baa hi-jinks, The Sheep Detectives is shaping up to be a picture that is sure to bring plenty of joy to audiences when it arrives in cinemas on May 7.

Image: Sony Pictures

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A widow wishes to feel the romance and excitement that was always missing from her life. To make up for it, she hires a young escort and ends up striking a beautiful connection with him.

When it comes to the concept of sex, Hollywood and the cinema are no strangers to its subject matter. From portraits of clear, virtuous romance to full-on visions of wanton lust and desire, sex is a topic that has time and time again made its way up onto the big screen. But never has its concept, importance or relevance been presented in such a way as it has in Good Luck to You, Leo Grande.

Directed by Sophie Hyde from a screenplay by Katy Brand, Good Luck to You, Leo Grande is an intriguing character study of two individuals brought together by the desire for the act of pleasure, and where the unexpected occurs. Feeling more in its presentation like a play than a film, it’s very much a portrait of two characters Nancy Stokes (Emma Thompson), a recently widowed woman who desires a sexual experience unlike she’s ever had before who falls into the hands of handsome young escort Leo Grande (Daryl McCormack). But expectations differ dramatically from realities, and you’ll quickly get caught up in the wit and drama of Good Luck to You, Leo Grande.

From start to finish this is a piece of cinema that completely takes its audience by surprise. Best described as an ongoing dialogue, all manner of topics are discussed as Nancy and Leo get to know each other and move ever closer to the realisation of the final act. As the widowed Nancy, Academy Award winner Emma Thompson gives another incredible performance and this is a character presented with complete honesty. Having lived a very normal, and somewhat ‘boring’ life Nancy is ready for a little spark, and that’s what leads her to invite Leo into her bed. Or so she thinks. Because as audiences will find out, Good Luck to You, Leo Grande takes plenty of unexpected turns and Nancy’s journey through this film is filled with a fair few complications.

Joining Thompson in Good Luck to You, Leo Grande is newcomer Daryl McCormack as charming male escort Leo Grande, and the young actor completely holds his own with Thompson. And the two make for a lively pair on screen. While he lives a fantasy life, McCormack’s Leo is an incredibly complex and layered character and in his time with Nancy, his complex life is revealed, and it all adds to the tension and drama of the story. This back and forth between the two of them makes for a very interesting cinematic watch and there are plenty of unexpected turns that you won’t see coming.

For a film that is based around the concept of sex, Good Luck to You, Leo Grande is far more interested in its characters and their complex interaction than mere physical moments. Exploring ideas of loneliness, lost youth, the pursuit of fantasy, intimacy and connection, director Sophie Hyde tells a complete story, and you come to appreciate that this narrative and its dual characters are far more interesting to watch than just mere sex. What Good Luck to You, Leo Grande really explores is the human spirit’s need for desire and connection and this is presented to the audience in a space completely bereft of any kind of judgement. And the film is all the more intriguing for it.

Good Luck to You, Leo Grande is a completely honest exploration of what connection and sexuality mean to the human experience and its impact on audiences is greater because of this exploration. It is a film that is both equal parts fun and lively and dramatic and serious. It’s an uplifting experience to watch and audiences who are lucky enough to see it will have a thoroughly enjoyable time with this very unique narrative.

Image: Roadshow Films

The post ‘Good Luck to You, Leo Grande’ – Review appeared first on SpicyPulp.

Set in the 1970s in London during the punk rock movement, the film follows Estella de Vil (Emma Stone), an aspiring fashion designer, and explores the path that will lead her to become a notorious criminal known as Cruella de Vil.

It’s time to go back in time darlings. Back to the punk rock era of the fashionable early 1970s and it’s here that director Craig Gillespie takes us into the formative years of a talented young designer who is destined to become the ultimate Disney villain. And the results are diabolically good in Cruella. Gillespie has made a career of telling compelling and unique stories of misfit characters and the narrative of Cruella makes for plenty of big-screen cinematic fun in his hands. Gillespie understands the motives and aspirations of Cruella perfectly, and he’s all about telling a story of a bad girl who has no desire to be good, and who’ll do whatever it takes to reach the top.

In telling this darkly delicious narrative, Gillespie enlists the talents of Academy Award winner Emma Stone, who is a sheer goddess of the performing arts and who always charms with every role she takes on. With Cruella, Stone gets to sink her teeth into a very meaty character and there’s great layering and revelation in her performance as she brings this grand dame of Disney villainy to life. Stone does something interesting in the duel role of Estella/Cruella de Vil and brings to life a definite Jackyll and Hyde character, and the dual psychology at play in her performance certainly keeps audiences on edge.

As a talented designer, Estella is definitely prone to mischief, and her skills lend a considerable edge to her early exploits as a conwoman. But it’s when she embraces her dark shadow as Cruella where things really get interesting. As Cruella, Stone makes for a dangerous and darkly cunning criminal force who is willing to climb to the top of the fashion world by any means necessary. Stone has a blast in the role and you can tell that she was enjoying the process of completely slipping into such a dangerous and alluring character, and most definitely proves that bad girls have much more fun.

Facing off against Stone’s Cruella is two-time Academy Award winner Emma Thompson as Baroness von Hellman, a fashion icon and Cruella’s mortal enemy…and these two women don’t like each other one bit. As the Baroness, Thompson makes for a chilling Ice Queen who could cause even Miranda Priestly to cry and she really plays into a high level of psychopathy that gives Cruella a challenge and marks her out as a serious threat. Like Stone, Thompson revels in her chance to be villainous and she brings out plenty of surprises in the role that audiences certainly won’t expect.

Along with the Emma’s, praise also needs to be lavished on the supporting duo of Joel Fry and Paul Walter Hauser as Jasper and Horace, Estella’s best friends growing up and a pair of enterprising conmen who are always seeking a new score. Both Fry and Hauser make for superb supporting players in this villainous tale and no villain can get ahead without a little help…which these two are too willing to provide. This misfit family is made complete by animal companions Buddy and Wink, who play an important part in this gang’s grifts and these cuddly companions steal every scene in which they appear…especially the cute, but feisty Wink.

In terms of the cinematic experience, Cruella is a decadent feast for the eyes and Gillespie alongside costume designers Jenny Beavan and Tom Davies, and hair and make-up artist Guy Common, have completely gone to town with this one and the result is haute couture at its most stunning! Artistically lavish and incredibly bold, the costumes and looks that Cruella and the Baroness engage in are utterly glamourous in their presentation and serve an important role in taking audiences further inside the film’s narrative and Cruella’s rise to power. These bold haute couture pieces also serve to expand the transformation that Estella takes in her journey to becoming Cruella and the results will have audiences transfixed on the action that unfolds on screen.

Assisting the lavish visuals that are on display is one of the coolest cinematic soundtracks to be released in a very long time. Taking a trip back in time, Gillespie pulls together a range of amazing tracks from the likes of The Doors, Nancy Sintra, Electric Light Orchestra, Blondie, The Clash, Supertramp and The Stooges and this soundtrack supercharges this film with that anarchistic edge of the late 1970s. Added to this are Florence and the Machine’s title track, “Call Me Cruella”, and it makes for a perfect companion track for the complete and full appearance of one very diabolical villainess.

It must also be said that Gillespie and his team do a fabulous job of weaving in the past history of 101 Dalmations into Cruella and there are great callbacks to Dodie Smith’s original work, alongside the original 1961 animated classic and the 1996 live-action films that were a major part of my childhood. I was very impressed with how all of this material, alongside this new original narrative, came to create the Cruella that we all know and love and audiences will be in for some very neat surprises.

It’s been some time since we last had the pleasure of the spectacle of a Disney film up on the big screen and the arrival of Cruella is definitely to be celebrated. From its lavish visuals to the intense narrative, gripping performances and rocking soundtrack, Cruella has it all and is a guaranteed good night out for all those who are looking for plenty of diabolically good fun.

Image: Walt Disney Pictures

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Watch the all-new Cruella spot below:

Here’s the official synopsis:

In 1970s London, young fashion designer Estella de Vil becomes obsessed with dogs’ skins, especially Dalmatians. Finding herself at the mercy of an uncaring employer, she reinvents herself as the vicious criminal known as “Cruella”.

Building off of the recent surprise trailer for Cruella, this new spot, set to an edgy new rendition of Nancy Sinatra’s classic rebel anthem ‘These Boots Are Made For Walking’, charts the metamorphosis of Estella de Vil, played by Academy Award winner Emma Stone, into the fiendish Cruella as she makes a play to conquer the world of London’s 1970s fashion scene, and there’s plenty of punk-rock glam going on here.

Alongside Stone’s transformation from Estella to Cruella, we also get a proper introduction into Emma Thompson’s Baroness Von Hellman, a noted fashion icon who goes from Estella’s mentor to enemy in rather quick succession. And there’s sure to be plenty of bad blood between these two. Thompson really brings out her inner terror here as The Baroness, and she’s sure to rile up Estella, which is sure to make things interesting for audiences.

Director Craig Gillespie (I, Tonya, Fright Night) is really cranking up the dark energy in this one, and this is a whole new side of Disney that we’ve never seen before. Gillespie’s focus on a true villain story can only lead to a film that is sure to entice the audience, and it’s great to see a filmmaker who has found a new side to a classic Disney character. Add in some irresistible punk tock flair, and you’ve got a movie that audiences are absolutely going to love.

Prepare for a very wicked time when Cruella arrives in cinemas on May 27.

The post Meet the Queen of Mean in new ‘Cruella’ spot appeared first on SpicyPulp.

Watch the all-new trailer for Cruella below:

Check out my full reaction to this diabolically fun teaser trailer below:

Here’s the official synopsis:

In 1970s London, young fashion designer Estella de Vil becomes obsessed with dogs’ skins, especially Dalmatians, until she eventually becomes a ruthless and terrifying legend known as Cruella.

Directed by Craig Gillespie (I, Tonya, Fright Night) really turns up the heat with this one and crafts a dangerous and captivating film that follows up and coming fashion designer Estella de Vil (Stone) who is prepared to go to any lengths to climb to the heights of power in the fashion world and who unleashes her bad side as Cruella in the process.

Featuring a dark, horror meets haute couture styling in its design and tempo, Cruella presents a different side to Disney that we’ve seen before, and there’s plenty of visual brilliance, courtesy of Gillespie, cinematographer Nicolas Karakatsanis, production designer Fiona Crombie, costume designer Jenny Beavan and hair and make-up stylist Guy Common to keep you engaged and interested here, and Cruella is a lavish feast for the eyes.

Lead actress Emma Stone looks to be having a particularly fun time as Estella de Vil, and she readily accepts her psychotic dark side, and I personally believe we’re seeing Disney showcase its first-ever villain movie with this project. Stone’s Estella turns out to be a very bad girl as Cruella, and she absolutely radiates in her bad girl, punk rock swagger, and this one is all kinds of fun. Stone clearly had a ball in bringing this character to life and the results show through on-screen and audiences should expect something completely different from the actress here.

Prepare for the madness of evil’s creation when Cruella arrives in cinemas on May 27, 2021.

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