Latest news with #AllQuietontheWesternFront
The Courier
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Courier
10 famous faces you didn't know were educated in Stirling
Stirling and its surrounding area has produced many celebrities over the years. From TV stars to sporting legends, plenty of famous faces went to school locally. While tennis pros Andy and Jamie Murray are among the most celebrated names, others are less synonymous with the area. Here are 10 well-known figures who you may not have known studied in the Stirling Council area. All Quiet on the Western Front claimed four Oscars in 2023. But did you know its screenwriter and producer, Lesley Paterson, is from Stirling? The triathlon world champion used her race winnings to retain the rights to the film. Lesley credits Allan's Primary for developing her passion for writing. And it was while attending Stirling High School that she first read the original book by Erich Maria Remarque. Influencer and Love Island star Laura Anderson is also an alumnus of Stirling High School. The former flight attendant from Cambusbarron was crowned runner-up on the fourth series of Love Island in 2018. She has also appeared on Celebrity Karaoke Club and reality show Celebs Go Dating. Laura has 1.5 million followers on Instagram and almost 40,000 on TikTok. Finn Russell is a big name in Scottish rugby. The Bridge of Allan native has 87 caps and currently plays for Premiership club Bath. After leaving Wallace High School, he worked as a stonemason before becoming a full-time rugby player. But it was during his secondary education that he discovered his love for the sport. Having starred in Bad Girls, Wire In The Blood, EastEnders and Downton Abbey, Simone Lahbib is a household name. The Scottish actress is a former pupil of St Modan's High School. She then went to ballet school and later studied drama at Queen Margaret College in Edinburgh. Olympian Ross Murdoch is well known in the swimming world. The six-time Commonwealth Games medallist was part of the University of Stirling's high-performance swim programme and graduated with a MSc in sport Management in 2022. But before finding aquatic fame, he attended Balfron High School. Nick Nairn hasn't strayed too far from home with his restaurant ventures. The Trossachs TV chef runs Nick's at Port of Menteith and his Bridge of Allan eatery closed last year. In 1991, he became the youngest Scottish chef to win a Michelin star and appeared on The Great Food Guys with Dougie Vipond. He attended McLaren High School in Callander, as well as Port of Menteith Primary. Finn Russell isn't the only rugby legend to come out of Wallace High School. Kenny Logan's international career saw him win 70 caps for his country, 220 points and compete in both the Five Nations and the 2003 Rugby World Cup. He is currently dedicated to fundraising for motor neurone disease (MND) in honour of former teammate Doddie Weir. Globally known musician and CHVRCHES star Lauren Mayberry grew up in Thornhill, near Stirling. The former journalist, whose band is known for hit single The Mother We Share, has played at top festivals, including Coachella and Glastonbury. Lauren went to Beaconhurst School – now Fairview International School – in Bridge of Allan before studying at Strathclyde University. Basketball ace Kieron Achara was part of Team GB at the London 2012 Olympics and has played at the Commonwealth Games. He got his start at Falkirk Fury, played for Duquesne College in the United States and retired in 2019 after more than a decade with the Glasgow Rocks. The former Stirling High School pupil is on the board of directors for the 2026 Commonwealth Games. Since leaving Wallace High School, actress Mirren Mack has gone on to star in some big shows. These includes Netflix's Sex Education and The Witcher: Blood Origin, as well as BBC's The Nest and Miss Austen. The Stirling star went to Holy Trinity Primary School and Riverside Primary, as well as the Dance School of Scotland in Glasgow and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.
West Australian
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- West Australian
Conclave review: Pope Francis' Death sees Oscar film about papal election top charts
Following the death of Pope Francis, there has been renewed interest in the papal drama Conclave, which was released in January. Set in the aftermath of a Pope's death, Conclave depicts the political manoeuvring and lobbying during the election of a new pontiff, and for many audiences with little knowledge of the opaque process, it was illuminating and highly entertaining. The film went on to win the BAFTA for best picture as well as the Oscar for adapted screenplay. As of this morning, it is trending number one on Apple's charts. It is available in Australia as a $6.99 digital rental or $19.99 digital purchase, and it's still playing in select cinemas. In the past 50 years, there have only been two papal conclaves and the whole process remains shrouded in mystery and mysticism. For the lay person, it comes down to one thing — what colour is the smoke? Likely no one but the most ardent believers would consider the papal conclave to be some divine event in which god's hand guides the decision of who should be their next representative on the mortal coil. We all know it's political, right? That there's as much strategising, campaigning and machinations as any election. For god's sake, the voters, as in, the cardinals, are called electors and power is the main game. Conclave puts to bed any doubt that there's anything holy about the process. The cardinals may be enrobed in gold threads, heavy brocade and righteousness, but they play dirty, just like everyone else. So, yes, a movie about a papal conclave? It's entertaining as hell, and worthy of inclusion on hallowed lists of the best political thrillers and satire. The awards season contender Conclave has quite the mass of talent. It stars Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, Isabella Rossellini and John Lithgow, and was directed by Edward Berger, the filmmaker behind the excellent 2022 German version of All Quiet on the Western Front, and was adapted from a Robert Harris novel. After the pope dies from a heart attack, it's the job of Cardinal Thomas Lawrence (Fiennes) to run the papal conclave to elect his replacement. They descend in a wave of red cloaks, in twos, threes and more. Some of them get their last vape in before they're sequestered for their heavenly task. There are four leading candidates – the moderate Canadian Tremblay (Lithgow), the liberal American Bellini (Tucci), the Nigerian social conservative Adeyemi (Lucian Msamati) and the Italian arch-conservative Tedesco (Sergio Castellitto). Bellini, with whom Lawrence is aligned, doesn't want to be pope, but not as much as doesn't want Tedesco to drag the Catholic church back to the Dark Ages, so he reluctantly agrees to put his name forward to block the reactionary. There are scenes of whispered plotting, opposition research, betrayal and the airing of much dirty laundry. If House of Cards was still going, its writers could take a beat from Conclave. As delicious as all that is, what's really intoxicating about Conclave is actually how impressive it is from a filmmaking perspective. This is an extremely well-made film that unapologetically says, 'Look how much work we put into this'. It paid off. There's a cavalcade of rituals and traditions in the actual election, which Berger visually rejoices in at every turn. For audiences who really appreciate the idiosyncrasies of ornate production design, it'll make you literally giddy. Your heart will jump at the close-ups of the thread binding their votes, the detail of the stationery on which each name is written (you can almost discern the GSM of the card), the symmetry of the table arrangement (Wes Anderson, eat your heart out). It's all so baroque and yet irreverent, from the costume design and the expert editing to the gorgeous mise-en-scene (one slow-motion scene that's also in the trailer looks as if it could be a Renaissance artwork hanging in the Uffizi Gallery). A movie about a papal election had no right to be as thrilling, funny and dramatic as Conclave, so thank god it is. Rating: 4/5 This review was originally published in January.
Perth Now
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Oscar winning film Conclave tops charts after Pope's death
Following the death of Pope Francis, there has been renewed interest in the papal drama Conclave, which was released in January. Set in the aftermath of a Pope's death, Conclave depicts the political manoeuvring and lobbying during the election of a new pontiff, and for many audiences with little knowledge of the opaque process, it was illuminating and highly entertaining. The film went on to win the BAFTA for best picture as well as the Oscar for adapted screenplay. As of this morning, it is trending number one on Apple's charts. It is available in Australia as a $6.99 digital rental or $19.99 digital purchase, and it's still playing in select cinemas. In the past 50 years, there have only been two papal conclaves and the whole process remains shrouded in mystery and mysticism. For the lay person, it comes down to one thing — what colour is the smoke? Likely no one but the most ardent believers would consider the papal conclave to be some divine event in which god's hand guides the decision of who should be their next representative on the mortal coil. We all know it's political, right? That there's as much strategising, campaigning and machinations as any election. For god's sake, the voters, as in, the cardinals, are called electors and power is the main game. Conclave puts to bed any doubt that there's anything holy about the process. The cardinals may be enrobed in gold threads, heavy brocade and righteousness, but they play dirty, just like everyone else. So, yes, a movie about a papal conclave? It's entertaining as hell, and worthy of inclusion on hallowed lists of the best political thrillers and satire. Conclave is about a papal election. Credit: Focus Features The awards season contender Conclave has quite the mass of talent. It stars Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, Isabella Rossellini and John Lithgow, and was directed by Edward Berger, the filmmaker behind the excellent 2022 German version of All Quiet on the Western Front, and was adapted from a Robert Harris novel. After the pope dies from a heart attack, it's the job of Cardinal Thomas Lawrence (Fiennes) to run the papal conclave to elect his replacement. They descend in a wave of red cloaks, in twos, threes and more. Some of them get their last vape in before they're sequestered for their heavenly task. There are four leading candidates – the moderate Canadian Tremblay (Lithgow), the liberal American Bellini (Tucci), the Nigerian social conservative Adeyemi (Lucian Msamati) and the Italian arch-conservative Tedesco (Sergio Castellitto). Bellini, with whom Lawrence is aligned, doesn't want to be pope, but not as much as doesn't want Tedesco to drag the Catholic church back to the Dark Ages, so he reluctantly agrees to put his name forward to block the reactionary. There are scenes of whispered plotting, opposition research, betrayal and the airing of much dirty laundry. If House of Cards was still going, its writers could take a beat from Conclave. Ralph Fiennes in Conclave. Credit: Focus Features As delicious as all that is, what's really intoxicating about Conclave is actually how impressive it is from a filmmaking perspective. This is an extremely well-made film that unapologetically says, 'Look how much work we put into this'. It paid off. There's a cavalcade of rituals and traditions in the actual election, which Berger visually rejoices in at every turn. For audiences who really appreciate the idiosyncrasies of ornate production design, it'll make you literally giddy. Your heart will jump at the close-ups of the thread binding their votes, the detail of the stationery on which each name is written (you can almost discern the GSM of the card), the symmetry of the table arrangement (Wes Anderson, eat your heart out). It's all so baroque and yet irreverent, from the costume design and the expert editing to the gorgeous mise-en-scene (one slow-motion scene that's also in the trailer looks as if it could be a Renaissance artwork hanging in the Uffizi Gallery). A movie about a papal election had no right to be as thrilling, funny and dramatic as Conclave, so thank god it is. Rating: 4/5 This review was originally published in January.
New Indian Express
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New Indian Express
Ralph Fiennes 'Conclave' premieres on Prime Video in India
Set against the backdrop of chaos and tragedy, Conclave portrays the Vatican as a pressure cooker, where the cardinals' ambitions and the church's fraught legacy collide. As Lawrence unravels the dark secrets within the Vatican, the suspense builds, threatening to destabilise the very foundations of the Catholic Church. Edward Berger, director of All Quiet on the Western Front, promises an intense and thought-provoking cinematic experience, while Robert Harris adapted both the novel and screenplay, with Peter Straughan co-writing. The film premiered at the prestigious 51st Telluride Film Festival, receiving critical acclaim for its powerful acting and compelling storyline. Conclave went on to enjoy a successful worldwide theatrical run, earning multiple accolades, including BAFTA and Oscar nominations. Critics have particularly praised the film for its meticulous attention to detail in portraying the Vatican, both as a literal seat of authority and a symbolic battleground between secrecy and openness, tradition and progress.
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
California Democrats bash Trump's foreign-film tariffs: ‘Nonsensical'
California Democrats are hammering President Trump's recent proposal to slap new tariffs on foreign-made films. The lawmakers are warning that, if it's imposed, Trump's 100 percent levy would simply result in higher costs for movie consumers in the United States. 'This is just nonsensical,' Rep. Pete Aguilar (Calif.), chair of the House Democratic Caucus, told reporters Tuesday in the Capitol. 'There are things that we can do to increase production [and encourage] the film industry to film in the United States,' he continued. 'We should be looking at those ideas and strategies, not reckless tariffs that will cost people jobs and raise costs for Americans.' Trump announced his new tariff proposal Sunday night on Truth Social, saying the incentives other countries provide to attract filmmakers pose a national security threat. The policy change, he said, would revive a domestic movie industry that's dying 'a very fast death.' 'Other Countries are offering all sorts of incentives to draw our filmmakers and studios away from the United States. Hollywood, and many other areas within the U.S.A., are being devastated. This is a concerted effort by other Nations and, therefore, a National Security threat,' he wrote in the post. 'It is, in addition to everything else, messaging and propaganda!' he added. 'Therefore, I am authorizing the Department of Commerce, and the United States Trade Representative, to immediately begin the process of instituting a 100% Tariff on any and all Movies coming into our Country that are produced in Foreign Lands. WE WANT MOVIES MADE IN AMERICA, AGAIN!' Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), who represents parts of Los Angeles, joined Aguilar in bashing the proposal as short-sighted, saying it would damage the industry it purports to save. Lieu said the more effective strategy would be tax incentives designed to entice filmmakers to do their work in the United States — a concept he had championed when he was a member of California's state Legislature. 'Donald Trump didn't appear to have talked to anyone about the 100 percent tariff on foreign movies — it just seems like another random idea that he put out there with no thought about how it would actually be implemented. Because if it was implemented, it would increase consumer costs on movies,' Lieu said. 'Also, it would just make some movies really far less interesting,' Lieu added. 'If 'All Quiet on the Western Front' had to be renamed 'All Quiet on the U.S. Side of the Canadian Border' — [that's a] much less interesting movie. So there's just no thought behind what Donald Trump is doing with his indiscriminate tariffs.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
