Michelle Dockery and Jasper Waller-Bridge are newlyweds!
The ceremony took place at St Nicholas' church in Chiswick, West London, on Saturday, Sept. 23, with Michelle wearing a stunning dropped waist wedding dress by Emilia Wickstead with a long train and a veil pinned at the back of her wavy hair. [...]
The groom's sister [Phoebe Waller-Bridge] donned a bright pink three-piece suit and elegant hat, with Phoebe's longtime partner, screenwriter and director Martin McDonagh.
Michelle and Jasper's wedding served as a mini Downton Abbey reunion, with cast members Hugh Bonneville, Laura Carmichael [one of the bridesmaids], Lily James, Lesley Nicol, Joanne Froggatt, Jim Carter, Elizabeth McGovern, Imelda Staunton, Allen Leech, [Michael Fox], and likely more there. Julian Fellowes, the creator and producer of Downton Abbey, was also in attendance.
Since the end of the TV show in 2016, there have been two feature films, one released in 2019, while the sequel came out in May 2022.
The Crown's Lesley Manville, former The Good Doctor actress Antonia Thomas, and more famous faces were also at the star-studded wedding. (People)
Jim Carter and Imelda Staunton supporting SAG-AFTRA strike
Jim Carter: I’m here today as an Equity member of 50-odd years to stand behind SAG-AFTRA. I fully support it. Most Equity members do, because their fight is our fight. What they’re doing is absolutely right and I applaud them.
Jim Carter: We’re not being paid properly for our work. Streaming services take our work and we have no control over where it’s shown or how many people see it. They’re not open about how many people see things so we don’t get properly recompensed for it. That’s ridiculous. Our performance isn’t just for the premiere and opening night; it’s for as long as it lasts, and we should be fairly recompensed for that.
Imelda Staunton: SAG-AFTRA strike isn’t an American problem, or an English problem but rather a global problem. [The] streaming services seem to be paying themselves and not the creatives. The issue of AI is here. We need to talk about how it’s going to affect people’s financial circumstances. Most actors and most writers and performers seem to be at the bottom of the pile when the pay packet is issued, so I think that needs sorting out as soon as possible.
Finally saw “Wonka” this week (wanted to bring the nephew and neice patrol to see it closer to Christmas but there was some question about whether there would be too-scary parts for the sensitive ones but now having seen it, I think there was nothing that would be particularly scary for even very young children (old enough to sit through a movie, five or six), maybe some close-ups of sneering adults. However; no frightening imagery/characters or sequences.
My main takeaways:
Tenderness and optimism needed to make a comeback in family friendly fare, after the past few years of post COVID upheaval and the lingering bleak vibe that’s been shading culture, since.
“Wonka” hits a sincere mark with its sweetness that feels like a cultural catharsis for weary families.
It’s also a gentle education for kids about organized corruption and how it works; what cartels are, how they develop, how people talk themselves into engaging in corruption or “selling out” based on interests and human weaknesses and snobbery. The villains in “Wonka” aren’t just caricatures, even at their most comedically buffoonish; the audience is shown how these figures developed their senses of entitlement and the excuses they make to themselves about why it’s okay to participate in corruption and abuse people (i.e., “it’s legal”, “you signed a contract”, “I have an addiction”, “if we don’t maintain absolute control our companies will collapse”, etc.)
Chalamet’s tone was just perfect for the origin story of this character. I haven’t seen such a convincing presentation of a childlike creative, since Ed Norton’s disarming portrayal of Sheldon Mopes in “Death to Smoochy.” It’s a hard line to walk, to play a character who is eccentric yet sweet, who connects with sincerely pure intentions to the dreams of children, without coming across as (even if only slightly) creepy. Chalamet convincingly comes across as a true friend to “Noodle” (a touchingly weary performance by Caleh Francie Lane) with a guardian instinct who is unwaveringly trustworthy.
Wilder’s Wonka has long been known for his gently cynical, slightly demented sense of humor but by the end of the 1971 version, you see Wonka’s quietly bitter, sardonic facade crack and reveal the gooey center often found in those who build a hard exterior shell to deflect the pummeling cruelties of the world. When it’s revealed that all Wonka wanted was a child pure of heart to inherit his factory, “Wonka”(2023) shows us where that came from; his childhood heart had lead him to his dream (supported by the pure and unconditional love he remembered from his Mother). He’d nearly lost faith that such goodness could still exist in a cynical, shallow and materialistic modern world until he saw the sincerity and goodness in Charlie and it brought him back from his doubt. That is the Wonka we see in this film: The Wonka who believes.
Overall, visually it was whimsical without being too strictly stylistic. There was an organic feel to costume design and spaces but subtly so. It didn’t feel cartoonishly dark, grimy or graphic as often seems the tendency in these “magical realism” type adaptations and/or productions. The fabrics look just natural enough, the visuals are bright without looking psychedelic or vintage carnivalesque. It just dips a toe into that for the dance sequences, (*Spoilers*!) chocolate shop reveal and zoo visit.
There were many strong performances in it with a range of different comedic styles interweaving quite well but this was just my initial hot take on the film. I was most struck by how tender it was, credit Chalamet’s portrayal for setting that refreshing tone. This is indeed the Wonka we need right now and it will even make you like Wilder’s portrayal a little better when you see a continuity of principles and life’s purpose for the character.