Shanghai film festival sees Tibetan film scooping Jury Grand Prix

New Delhi, June 23 (ANI): The 12th Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) saw Tibetan director Pema Tseden’s movie ‘The Search’ bagging the Jury Grand Prix.

The film follows a director’s search for a leading actor for his drama set in picturesque Tibet.

The festival, which ended on Sunday, also saw Christina Yao’s ‘Empire of Silver’, a mainland-Hong Kong-Taiwan co-production about a young heir to a giant banking empire in 1899, scooping the Jury Award.

A comedy titled ‘Original’, jointly produced by Danish and Swedish filmmakers, took the Golden Goblet Award.

Directed by Antonio Tublen and Alexander Brondsted, the film tells the story of a man who gets tired of living up to others’ expectations, and tries to chart his own course.

According to Jury leader Danny Boyle, the film was “a light, touching and subversive study of mental illness that is both compassionate and never sentimental.”

The film’s leading actor Sverrir Gudnason was also named Best Actor, reports the China Daily.

“I feel so good. This is the best thing that anybody has given to me and will keep me going,” he said. (ANI)

‘Harry Potter’ bird breeder lands in jail for neglect

Washington, May 12 (ANI): A falconer who provided birds of prey for the filming of the ‘Harry Potter’ franchise has landed in jail after pleading guilty to neglect.

Kenneth Lea was put behind bars for 12 weeks on 17 charges involving more than 51 specialist birds.

The 50-year-old fell under the court scanner after officials at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) received a tip about the “filthy” conditions, reports Contactmusic.

The creatures, including owls, falcons and hawks at his farm in Bradford, England, were found in an emaciated state and plastered in blood and dirt.

Lea supplied nine of the birds for various scenes in the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. (ANI)

Robert Pattinson’s career dilemma helped him play new movie role

London, May 5 (ANI): ‘Twilight’ star Robert Pattinson has revealed that the career dilemma he went through as a teenager helped him play the part of a man experiencing an identity crisis in his new film.

Pattinson, 22, recalled being torn between training to become an actor or pursuing academic success when he was younger, and how that period in his life helped him to relate to his role in “How To Be”.

“It’s just kind of feeling you don’t really know where you’re going in the world. At the time I thought that – I didn’t know if I wanted to be an actor, I didn’t know what I was doing, I hadn’t been to university,” the Daily Star quoted him as saying.

“I was bumming around, not feeling particularly good at anything but at the same time desperately wanting to and thinking ‘You’ll never reach your own goals you set for yourself’,” he added.

Pattinson plays Art, a man who is going through a ‘quarter life crisis’, in the new movie.

He landed his first major role playing wizard Cedric Diggory in 2005′s Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. (ANI)

David Tennant tops ‘Metrosexual Role Models’ list

London, Jan 20 (ANI): David Tennant has landed the top spot in a new poll of ‘Metrosexual Role Models’.

The 37-year-old Scottish actor has beaten soccer ace David Beckham, James Bond star Daniel Craig and Brad Pitt to be named the man who most likes to take care of his looks.

The poll was carried out by Superdrug, reports the Mirror.

Tennant achieved fame for his TV roles in ‘Doctor Who’ and ‘Casanova’, as well as his film role as Barty Crouch, Jr. in ‘Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire’. (ANI)

Record-breaking Bond opening gathers mixed reviews

Record-breaking Bond opening gathers mixed reviewsWashington, November 4: ‘The Quantum of Solace’, the latest James Bond movie, rocked the box office collecting a staggering 4.9million pounds on its opening day though evoking mixed reviews.

The 22nd film in the hit series, released in the UK on October 31, displaced former record-holder Harry Potter And The Goblet of Fire’s collection of 4.25million pounds.

However, unlike its prequel ‘Casino Royale’, which had raked in 2.9million pounds on its first day of release while becoming the most popular film in the UK in 2006, the ‘Quantum’ hasn’t struck the same chord with the reviewers.

The film that sees Daniel Craig’s second performance as James Bond, who is seeking revenge for his slain girlfriend, Vesper Lynd, has had varied reactions.

“The expository dialogue scenes can be dull, and cram in so many machinations and double-crossings that it”s easy to lose track of who”s duping whom,” the BBC quoted the Daily Telegraph as reporting.

But Times titled the movie as ‘an intriguing watch’ adding that “Really, nobody does it better than the new 007”. (ANI)