For many individuals who were lucky to meet Queen Elizabeth II, it was an intimidating experience. Meeting a royal family member comes with different expectations and procedures than meeting other celebrities. Dolly Parton had the opportunity to meet the queen and said she was “scared to death” before doing so.
Dolly Parton met the queen after performing at the Silver Jubilee Dolly Parton | Terry Wyatt/Getty Images
In 1977, the U.K. held the Silver Jubilee to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the ascension of Queen Elizabeth II to the throne. Dolly Parton performed for the Royal Variety Show in Glasgow, Scotland, alongside the Jackson 5, English comedian Frankie Howerd, and Scottish singer Sydney Devine.
Parton grew up in a small cabin in Tennessee, a completely different life than the luxurious and wealthy life of the queen and the royal family. In an interview with Insider, the “9 to 5” singer said she was...
Dolly Parton met the queen after performing at the Silver Jubilee Dolly Parton | Terry Wyatt/Getty Images
In 1977, the U.K. held the Silver Jubilee to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the ascension of Queen Elizabeth II to the throne. Dolly Parton performed for the Royal Variety Show in Glasgow, Scotland, alongside the Jackson 5, English comedian Frankie Howerd, and Scottish singer Sydney Devine.
Parton grew up in a small cabin in Tennessee, a completely different life than the luxurious and wealthy life of the queen and the royal family. In an interview with Insider, the “9 to 5” singer said she was...
- 2/10/2023
- by Ross Tanenbaum
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Dolly Parton has honoured Queen Elizabeth II in a touching tribute.
The Queen died in Balmoral on Thursday (8 September) at the age of 96. You can follow along here for updated news about the Queen’s death.
On Friday (9 September), Parton joined other celebrities in remembering the monarch.
“I had the honour of meeting and performing for Queen Elizabeth II on my trip to London in 1977,” the 76-year-old country star wrote in an Instagram post.
The “Jolene” singer was invited to perform alongside The Jackson 5, Scottish singer Sydney Devine, and British comedian Frankie Howerd, as part of the Queen’s Silver Jubilee celebrations.
“She carried herself with grace and strength her entire life. May she Rest in Piece. My thoughts and prayers are with her family at this time,” Parton added, alongside a photo commemorating their 1977 meeting.
Other musicians have also honoured the Queen, including Ozzy Osbourne who wrote on Twitter:...
The Queen died in Balmoral on Thursday (8 September) at the age of 96. You can follow along here for updated news about the Queen’s death.
On Friday (9 September), Parton joined other celebrities in remembering the monarch.
“I had the honour of meeting and performing for Queen Elizabeth II on my trip to London in 1977,” the 76-year-old country star wrote in an Instagram post.
The “Jolene” singer was invited to perform alongside The Jackson 5, Scottish singer Sydney Devine, and British comedian Frankie Howerd, as part of the Queen’s Silver Jubilee celebrations.
“She carried herself with grace and strength her entire life. May she Rest in Piece. My thoughts and prayers are with her family at this time,” Parton added, alongside a photo commemorating their 1977 meeting.
Other musicians have also honoured the Queen, including Ozzy Osbourne who wrote on Twitter:...
- 9/9/2022
- by Inga Parkel
- The Independent - Music
In the first episode of 90s-set ITV drama Quiz, a group of men are devising a game show. Provisionally titled Cash Mountain, it involves players doubling their money with each correct answer on their way to the summit. Concerned that the concept’s too old-fashioned, a Birmingham accent comically suggests, “We could set it on an actual mountain. Like, a little one? Wales?”
Cash Mountain didn’t go down the Welsh Outward Bound route but stuck to its questions-and-cash simplicity to become global smash hit Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? That Brummie voice belonged to Steve Knight (played in Quiz by Keir Charles). He was one of the three creators credited with devising the quiz show that was later struck by the “Coughing Major” cheating scandal so brilliantly dramatised in James Graham’s play and TV adaptation.
In the nineties, Knight and his writing partner Mike Whitehill worked at TV production company Celador.
Cash Mountain didn’t go down the Welsh Outward Bound route but stuck to its questions-and-cash simplicity to become global smash hit Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? That Brummie voice belonged to Steve Knight (played in Quiz by Keir Charles). He was one of the three creators credited with devising the quiz show that was later struck by the “Coughing Major” cheating scandal so brilliantly dramatised in James Graham’s play and TV adaptation.
In the nineties, Knight and his writing partner Mike Whitehill worked at TV production company Celador.
- 2/16/2022
- by Louisa Mellor
- Den of Geek
Beryl Vertue, the renowned British television producer and founder of Hartswood Films, died on Saturday, her family has confirmed. She was 90.
No cause of death has been given but her daughters, Sue and Debbie Vertue, who worked with her at Hartswood Films, confirmed she died “peacefully” and surrounded by family.
“It’s with the heaviest of hearts that we have to share the sad news that mum/Beryl passed away peacefully last night,” her daughters and Hartswood Films co-producers Sue and Debbie said in a statement. “It wasn’t Covid, it was just her nearly 91-year-old body saying enough is enough.”
“We were there so the passing was as good as one could hope for. Nothing wrong with her brain – even earlier this week she was grilling us both about work. It’s really impossible to believe that she has gone though, because I know we’re not alone in...
No cause of death has been given but her daughters, Sue and Debbie Vertue, who worked with her at Hartswood Films, confirmed she died “peacefully” and surrounded by family.
“It’s with the heaviest of hearts that we have to share the sad news that mum/Beryl passed away peacefully last night,” her daughters and Hartswood Films co-producers Sue and Debbie said in a statement. “It wasn’t Covid, it was just her nearly 91-year-old body saying enough is enough.”
“We were there so the passing was as good as one could hope for. Nothing wrong with her brain – even earlier this week she was grilling us both about work. It’s really impossible to believe that she has gone though, because I know we’re not alone in...
- 2/13/2022
- by K.J. Yossman
- Variety Film + TV
Opera singer turned actor who made his mark in stage and screen versions of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
Leon Greene, who has died of cancer aged 89, was a Sadler’s Wells opera singer who took his bass baritone voice to the West End stage to play the self-important Roman soldier Miles Gloriosus in the original London production of Stephen Sondheim’s musical comedy A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.
Following its hugely popular two-year run at the Shaftesbury theatre (1963-65), Greene reprised his role in the 1966 film version, directed by Richard Lester, alongside an international cast led by two stars of the initial Broadway show, Zero Mostel and Jack Gilford, plus Phil Silvers, Buster Keaton and Michael Crawford.
Leon Greene, who has died of cancer aged 89, was a Sadler’s Wells opera singer who took his bass baritone voice to the West End stage to play the self-important Roman soldier Miles Gloriosus in the original London production of Stephen Sondheim’s musical comedy A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.
Following its hugely popular two-year run at the Shaftesbury theatre (1963-65), Greene reprised his role in the 1966 film version, directed by Richard Lester, alongside an international cast led by two stars of the initial Broadway show, Zero Mostel and Jack Gilford, plus Phil Silvers, Buster Keaton and Michael Crawford.
- 7/14/2021
- by Anthony Hayward
- The Guardian - Film News
To celebrate the 65th anniversary of Ealing Studios’ flawless The Ladykillers, Studiocanal is releasing the first ever 4k restoration of the 1955 black comedy from the original 3-strip Technicolor negative, showcasing director Alexander Mackendrick’s vision in its full glory.
Featuring all-star line-up of the finest comedy actors of the era: Alec Guinness, Cecil Parker Peter Sellers, Herbert Lom, Danny Green, Frankie Howerd and Katie Johnson, The Ladykillers follows the hilarious capers of a group of small-time crooks, taking on more they can handle in the form of their sweet, but slightly dotty, elderly landlady Mrs Wilberforce. The gang pull off a robbery but none of them could have predicted that their greatest obstacle to escaping with the loot would be their tiny hostess.
Please note: This competition is open to UK residents only
a Rafflecopter giveaway
The Ladykillers is released as a 4K Uhd Blu-ray Collector’s Edition, Standard Blu-ray,...
Featuring all-star line-up of the finest comedy actors of the era: Alec Guinness, Cecil Parker Peter Sellers, Herbert Lom, Danny Green, Frankie Howerd and Katie Johnson, The Ladykillers follows the hilarious capers of a group of small-time crooks, taking on more they can handle in the form of their sweet, but slightly dotty, elderly landlady Mrs Wilberforce. The gang pull off a robbery but none of them could have predicted that their greatest obstacle to escaping with the loot would be their tiny hostess.
Please note: This competition is open to UK residents only
a Rafflecopter giveaway
The Ladykillers is released as a 4K Uhd Blu-ray Collector’s Edition, Standard Blu-ray,...
- 11/8/2020
- by Competitions
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Dame June Whitfield, known for her work on “Terry and June,” the “Carry On” movies and “Absolutely Fabulous” has died.
The BBC is reporting that Whitfield died on Friday night at 93.
Whitfield’s career touched just about every part of the entertainment industry from early radio comedies, acting in the “Carry On” films, to co-leading the beloved BBC sitcom “Terry and June” that ran from 1979 to 1987. She kept working long into her career even appearing in the 1998 London-based “Friends” episode, the new revamped episodes of “Doctor Who” starring David Tennant and landing a recurring role of Gran/Mother in Jennifer Saunders’ “Absolutely Fabulous.” She also continued to appear on radio, voicing Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple for nine years on the BBC Radio 4.
When Whitfield was appointed with the honor of damehood at the age of 92, Charles, Prince of Wales told her this celebration had been “some time coming.
The BBC is reporting that Whitfield died on Friday night at 93.
Whitfield’s career touched just about every part of the entertainment industry from early radio comedies, acting in the “Carry On” films, to co-leading the beloved BBC sitcom “Terry and June” that ran from 1979 to 1987. She kept working long into her career even appearing in the 1998 London-based “Friends” episode, the new revamped episodes of “Doctor Who” starring David Tennant and landing a recurring role of Gran/Mother in Jennifer Saunders’ “Absolutely Fabulous.” She also continued to appear on radio, voicing Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple for nine years on the BBC Radio 4.
When Whitfield was appointed with the honor of damehood at the age of 92, Charles, Prince of Wales told her this celebration had been “some time coming.
- 12/29/2018
- by Meredith Woerner
- Variety Film + TV
Writer David Nobbs has passed away at the age of 80, the British Humanist Association has confirmed.
Nobbs was best known for creating the comic television character Reginald Perrin, played in the BBC series by Leonard Rossiter.
Nobbs created the BBC sitcom The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, which ran between 1976 and 1979, from his series of novels.
The novels follow the story of a middle-aged middle manager, Reginald "Reggie" Perrin, who is driven to bizarre behaviour by the pointlessness of his job.
The Yorkshire-born writer also provided material for The Two Ronnies, Ken Dodd and Frankie Howerd.
Nobbs wrote over 20 novels during a prolific career that spanned nearly 50 years.
Watch a clip from The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin below:...
Nobbs was best known for creating the comic television character Reginald Perrin, played in the BBC series by Leonard Rossiter.
Nobbs created the BBC sitcom The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, which ran between 1976 and 1979, from his series of novels.
The novels follow the story of a middle-aged middle manager, Reginald "Reggie" Perrin, who is driven to bizarre behaviour by the pointlessness of his job.
The Yorkshire-born writer also provided material for The Two Ronnies, Ken Dodd and Frankie Howerd.
Nobbs wrote over 20 novels during a prolific career that spanned nearly 50 years.
Watch a clip from The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin below:...
- 8/9/2015
- Digital Spy
Ron Moody in 'Oliver!' movie. Ron Moody: 'Oliver!' actor nominated for an Oscar dead at 91 (Note: This Ron Moody article is currently being revised.) Two well-regarded, nonagenarian British performers have died in the last few days: 93-year-old Christopher Lee (June 7, '15), best known for his many portrayals of Dracula and assorted movie villains and weirdos, from the title role in The Mummy to Dr. Catheter in Gremlins 2: The New Batch. 91-year-old Ron Moody (yesterday, June 11), among whose infrequent film appearances was the role of Fagin, the grotesque adult leader of a gang of boy petty thieves, in the 1968 Best Picture Academy Award-winning musical Oliver!, which also earned him a Best Actor nomination. Having been featured in nearly 200 movies and, most importantly, having had his mainstream appeal resurrected by way of the villainous Saruman in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies (and various associated merchandising,...
- 6/12/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
When held up to the heady heights of its BAFTA-winning spiritual predecessor Twenty Twelve, the first series of W1A fell short on occasions.
But with a new series opener in which a high-level management power struggle starts simmering alongside the usual japes, hi-jinks and gaffes at Broadcasting House, the BBC's self-flagellating satire is at last hitting its stride.
Hugh Bonneville's still the star of the show as Ian Fletcher, keeping a sharp focus on charter renewal as his contemporaries in the Way Ahead Task Force fall over themselves (almost literally at one point) to get one over on their professional rivals. There's whispers of a new senior post at stake, and everyone seems to have their eye on it.
Following his fall from grace at the end of the last series after a newspaper sting exposing both his handsome salary and close relationship with his former Olympic Deliverance Commission Pa Sally,...
But with a new series opener in which a high-level management power struggle starts simmering alongside the usual japes, hi-jinks and gaffes at Broadcasting House, the BBC's self-flagellating satire is at last hitting its stride.
Hugh Bonneville's still the star of the show as Ian Fletcher, keeping a sharp focus on charter renewal as his contemporaries in the Way Ahead Task Force fall over themselves (almost literally at one point) to get one over on their professional rivals. There's whispers of a new senior post at stake, and everyone seems to have their eye on it.
Following his fall from grace at the end of the last series after a newspaper sting exposing both his handsome salary and close relationship with his former Olympic Deliverance Commission Pa Sally,...
- 4/23/2015
- Digital Spy
It’s the classic time travel question – would you kill a dangerous killer in their crib, before they’ve actually done anything? Well, what is you weren’t sure the baby was going to do anything? What if you were asked to…
Kill The Moon
By Peter Harness
Directed by Paul Whilmshurst
Clara speaks to the entire Earth – they run the risk of the Earth being destroyed if they don’t kill an innocent being. “The man who normally helps” is nowhere to be found, and a decision must be made. Flashing backwards, we learn that Coal Hill student Courtney Woods has not reacted well to her brief run on the Tardis. The Doctor told her she “wasn’t special”, a comment she’s taken to heart. Clara asks him to apologize; he instead offers her a chance to be the first woman on the Moon.
Alas, all is not well there.
Kill The Moon
By Peter Harness
Directed by Paul Whilmshurst
Clara speaks to the entire Earth – they run the risk of the Earth being destroyed if they don’t kill an innocent being. “The man who normally helps” is nowhere to be found, and a decision must be made. Flashing backwards, we learn that Coal Hill student Courtney Woods has not reacted well to her brief run on the Tardis. The Doctor told her she “wasn’t special”, a comment she’s taken to heart. Clara asks him to apologize; he instead offers her a chance to be the first woman on the Moon.
Alas, all is not well there.
- 10/5/2014
- by Vinnie Bartilucci
- Comicmix.com
BBC Two has released the first cast picture from its Twenty Twelve follow-up W1A.
Hugh Bonneville and Jessica Hynes will reprise their Twenty Twelve roles in the upcoming comedy series.
W1A will follow Hugh Bonneville's Ian Fletcher as he takes on his next big job as Head of Values at the BBC.
The previously unseen image depicts the show's central characters in the Frankie Howerd Meeting Room at New Broadcasting House.
Jason Watkins, Monica Dolan, Hugh Skinner, Nina Sosanya and Sarah Parish will also appear in the four-parter, which is currently filming.
W1A will air on BBC Two later in 2014.
Hugh Bonneville to star in Twenty Twelve follow-up on BBC Two
Catch up on all the latest TV and Movies releases in Digital Spy's Screen Time:...
Hugh Bonneville and Jessica Hynes will reprise their Twenty Twelve roles in the upcoming comedy series.
W1A will follow Hugh Bonneville's Ian Fletcher as he takes on his next big job as Head of Values at the BBC.
The previously unseen image depicts the show's central characters in the Frankie Howerd Meeting Room at New Broadcasting House.
Jason Watkins, Monica Dolan, Hugh Skinner, Nina Sosanya and Sarah Parish will also appear in the four-parter, which is currently filming.
W1A will air on BBC Two later in 2014.
Hugh Bonneville to star in Twenty Twelve follow-up on BBC Two
Catch up on all the latest TV and Movies releases in Digital Spy's Screen Time:...
- 1/17/2014
- Digital Spy
Sir Bruce Forsyth says he is on ''borrowed time''. The TV veteran has admitted his career may be coming to an end - and after coping with his friends dying, he's ''conditioning'' himself so he isn't shocked by his own death. He told The Sun newspaper: ''There's no getting away from it. When I look at all my friends that have gone - Eric Sykes, Frankie Howerd, Sammy Davis Jr. - I know I'm on borrowed time. ''How I'm still here I just don't know. I don't know how, why or wherefore. But I'm not really questioning it that much. The day will...
- 11/23/2013
- Virgin Media - TV
Bruce Forsyth has admitted that he finds it tough to keep up with his schedule as the host of Strictly Come Dancing, saying he is living on "borrowed time".
The 85-year-old, who was forced to pull out of the show last month after being taken ill with the flu, hinted that his time on the BBC One programme may be coming to an end.
"The constant week-after-week can drag you down, especially when you are getting older," Forsyth told The Sun.
When asked which projects he had lined up for next year, Strictly - which Forsyth has hosted since it started in 2004 - was absent from the list.
He said: "I've got three one-man show dates fixed for next year and I'm doing another thing for TV in April that I can't talk about yet.
"So if I was to leave Strictly Come Dancing, I wouldn't retire. That's the furthest...
The 85-year-old, who was forced to pull out of the show last month after being taken ill with the flu, hinted that his time on the BBC One programme may be coming to an end.
"The constant week-after-week can drag you down, especially when you are getting older," Forsyth told The Sun.
When asked which projects he had lined up for next year, Strictly - which Forsyth has hosted since it started in 2004 - was absent from the list.
He said: "I've got three one-man show dates fixed for next year and I'm doing another thing for TV in April that I can't talk about yet.
"So if I was to leave Strictly Come Dancing, I wouldn't retire. That's the furthest...
- 11/23/2013
- Digital Spy
Sir Bruce Forsyth says he is on ''borrowed time''. The TV veteran has admitted his career may be coming to an end - and after coping with his friends dying, he's ''conditioning'' himself so he isn't shocked by his own death. He told The Sun newspaper: ''There's no getting away from it. When I look at all my friends that have gone - Eric Sykes, Frankie Howerd, Sammy Davis Jr. - I know I'm on borrowed time. ''How I'm still here I just don't know. I don't know how, why or wherefore. But I'm not really questioning it that much. The day will...
- 11/21/2013
- Virgin Media - TV
Alec Guinness: Before Obi-Wan Kenobi, there were the eight D’Ascoyne family members (photo: Alec Guiness, Dennis Price in ‘Kind Hearts and Coronets’) (See previous post: “Alec Guinness Movies: Pre-Star Wars Career.”) TCM won’t be showing The Bridge on the River Kwai on Alec Guinness day, though obviously not because the cable network programmers believe that one four-hour David Lean epic per day should be enough. After all, prior to Lawrence of Arabia TCM will be presenting the three-and-a-half-hour-long Doctor Zhivago (1965), a great-looking but never-ending romantic drama in which Guinness — quite poorly — plays a Kgb official. He’s slightly less miscast as a mere Englishman — one much too young for the then 32-year-old actor — in Lean’s Great Expectations (1946), a movie that fully belongs to boy-loving (in a chaste, fatherly manner) fugitive Finlay Currie. And finally, make sure to watch Robert Hamer’s dark comedy Kind Hearts and Coronets...
- 8/3/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Biopic of film stars' tempestuous relationship stars Dominic West and Helena Bonham Carter in last of BBC channel's big dramas
The BBC has released the first picture of Dominic West and Helena Bonham Carter in costume for its biopic about the final act in the 20 year on-off relationship between Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor.
Burton & Taylor will focus on the final reunion of the pair, already married and divorced twice, on the set of a 1983 stage revival of Noel Coward's Private Lives. The 90-minute BBC4 drama will chart the actors' fraught stint in the play, which opened at Boston's Shubert theatre in April 1983 before moving on to Broadway and Los Angeles.
The meeting on the set of Private Lives reportedly left both actors feeling that their union was irrevocably broken. Burton died the following year at the age of 58. Taylor died from heart failure in March 2011, aged 79.
The casting...
The BBC has released the first picture of Dominic West and Helena Bonham Carter in costume for its biopic about the final act in the 20 year on-off relationship between Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor.
Burton & Taylor will focus on the final reunion of the pair, already married and divorced twice, on the set of a 1983 stage revival of Noel Coward's Private Lives. The 90-minute BBC4 drama will chart the actors' fraught stint in the play, which opened at Boston's Shubert theatre in April 1983 before moving on to Broadway and Los Angeles.
The meeting on the set of Private Lives reportedly left both actors feeling that their union was irrevocably broken. Burton died the following year at the age of 58. Taylor died from heart failure in March 2011, aged 79.
The casting...
- 6/4/2013
- by Jason Deans
- The Guardian - Film News
Author: Alwyn W. Turner
Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Aurum Press Ltd; Reprint edition (April 1, 2013)
Isbn-10: 1781310416
Isbn-13: 978-1781310410
Synopsis:
The Daleks are one of the most iconic and fearsome creations in television history. Since their first appearance in 1963, they have simultaneously fascinated and terrified generations of children, their instant success ensuring, and sometimes eclipsing, that of Doctor Who. They sprang from the imagination of Terry Nation, a failed stand-up comic who became one of the most prolific writers for television that Britian ever produced. Survivors, his vision of a post-apocalyptic England, so haunted audiences in the Seventies that the BBC revived it over thirty years on, and Blake’s 7, constantly rumored for return, endures as a cult sci-fi classic. But it is for his genocidal pepperpots that Nation is most often remembered, and on the 50th anniversary of their creation they continue to top the Saturday-night ratings.
Yet while the...
Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Aurum Press Ltd; Reprint edition (April 1, 2013)
Isbn-10: 1781310416
Isbn-13: 978-1781310410
Synopsis:
The Daleks are one of the most iconic and fearsome creations in television history. Since their first appearance in 1963, they have simultaneously fascinated and terrified generations of children, their instant success ensuring, and sometimes eclipsing, that of Doctor Who. They sprang from the imagination of Terry Nation, a failed stand-up comic who became one of the most prolific writers for television that Britian ever produced. Survivors, his vision of a post-apocalyptic England, so haunted audiences in the Seventies that the BBC revived it over thirty years on, and Blake’s 7, constantly rumored for return, endures as a cult sci-fi classic. But it is for his genocidal pepperpots that Nation is most often remembered, and on the 50th anniversary of their creation they continue to top the Saturday-night ratings.
Yet while the...
- 6/4/2013
- by Jess Orso
- ScifiMafia
Feature Ryan Lambie 24 May 2013 - 06:10
This week's selection of geek-friendly crowdfunding projects includes a Marvel movie documentary, a game remake, and some classic manga...
Aside from all the new ideas to be found on crowdfunding websites such as Kickstarter - including a new variety of beef jerky made from posh Japanese cows - there are all sorts of opportunities to indulge our sense of nostalgia.
Through sheer coincidence, the projects that caught my eye this week all have a retro theme; there's a documentary about a forgotten adaptation of a Marvel comic book, a timely revival of one of the most innovative computer games of the 1980s, and a special English language edition of a classic Japanese manga. Although very different, each of these crowdfunding projects is worthy of support, since they're all niche interests that simply couldn't find financial backing through other means.
There's another retro-themed Kickstarter project on the horizon,...
This week's selection of geek-friendly crowdfunding projects includes a Marvel movie documentary, a game remake, and some classic manga...
Aside from all the new ideas to be found on crowdfunding websites such as Kickstarter - including a new variety of beef jerky made from posh Japanese cows - there are all sorts of opportunities to indulge our sense of nostalgia.
Through sheer coincidence, the projects that caught my eye this week all have a retro theme; there's a documentary about a forgotten adaptation of a Marvel comic book, a timely revival of one of the most innovative computer games of the 1980s, and a special English language edition of a classic Japanese manga. Although very different, each of these crowdfunding projects is worthy of support, since they're all niche interests that simply couldn't find financial backing through other means.
There's another retro-themed Kickstarter project on the horizon,...
- 5/22/2013
- by ryanlambie
- Den of Geek
Odd List Ryan Lambie 16 Apr 2013 - 06:46
Eccentric and sometimes ungainly, here are seven 80s videogames that were full of innovative or outlandish ideas...
Placing our rose-tinted goggles of nostalgia aside for one moment, it's fair to say that a large percentage of games from the 1980s were painfully simplistic. But in among all the clones of popular arcade machines, which were ubiquitous on computers and consoles throughout the decade, there were legion lesser-known games which were full of innovative ideas and a sense of ambition that far outstripped their technical resources.
Not all of these ideas necessarily came off in the way they were intended, admittedly; while some are utterly brilliant, in other instances, their outlandish concepts were let down by some iffy execution. This list is devoted to the more eccentric games of the 1980s; the ones full of imagination and wit, and which, although not necessarily discussed much today,...
Eccentric and sometimes ungainly, here are seven 80s videogames that were full of innovative or outlandish ideas...
Placing our rose-tinted goggles of nostalgia aside for one moment, it's fair to say that a large percentage of games from the 1980s were painfully simplistic. But in among all the clones of popular arcade machines, which were ubiquitous on computers and consoles throughout the decade, there were legion lesser-known games which were full of innovative ideas and a sense of ambition that far outstripped their technical resources.
Not all of these ideas necessarily came off in the way they were intended, admittedly; while some are utterly brilliant, in other instances, their outlandish concepts were let down by some iffy execution. This list is devoted to the more eccentric games of the 1980s; the ones full of imagination and wit, and which, although not necessarily discussed much today,...
- 4/15/2013
- by ryanlambie
- Den of Geek
Giving Us moviegoers enough thrills to possess the top spot at the North American box office last weekend, Evil Dead will have its UK debut on Thursday, April 18.
And in anticipation of the remake's arrival on British screens, Studiocanal and Vue Entertainment have teamed up to offer interactive photo-booth experiences in the foyers of some London cinemas.
This evening was the turn of North Finchley Vue Cinema, tomorrow (April 12) the activity is at Westfield Shepherds Bush Vue Cinema from 4.30pm to 8pm and on Saturday (April 13) it moves to Islington Vue Cinema from 2pm to 6pm.
There's also a cryptic challenge called The Cursed Word, which you can find on the official Facebook page.
Pages of The Book Of The Dead which contain parts of a 'cursed word' have been hidden. Players need to find all the pieces and translate the word into English for a chance to win a...
And in anticipation of the remake's arrival on British screens, Studiocanal and Vue Entertainment have teamed up to offer interactive photo-booth experiences in the foyers of some London cinemas.
This evening was the turn of North Finchley Vue Cinema, tomorrow (April 12) the activity is at Westfield Shepherds Bush Vue Cinema from 4.30pm to 8pm and on Saturday (April 13) it moves to Islington Vue Cinema from 2pm to 6pm.
There's also a cryptic challenge called The Cursed Word, which you can find on the official Facebook page.
Pages of The Book Of The Dead which contain parts of a 'cursed word' have been hidden. Players need to find all the pieces and translate the word into English for a chance to win a...
- 4/12/2013
- by David Bentley
- The Geek Files
Scanners | The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey | The House In Nighmare Park | The Servant | Dead End Drive-in
Scanners
From Sam Raimi to Peter Jackson, horror has always been a great way for directors to get a career start: as long as they provide marketable gore, they can pretty much make whatever they want. David Cronenberg used the tactic too, but his early films are perhaps closer to science fiction.
Scanners was his big breakthrough success. It fulfilled the basic horror requirements with little more than a single image – the exploding head – but it was such a strong image that it sparked a trend in the early 80s. Scanners are misfits with telekinetic powers who don't fit into society. A scanner underground network is waging war against multinational ConSec, whose reckless drug testing on pregnant women caused these aberrations (playing the rebels' leader is Michael Ironside, a never-unemployed actor with the ideal...
Scanners
From Sam Raimi to Peter Jackson, horror has always been a great way for directors to get a career start: as long as they provide marketable gore, they can pretty much make whatever they want. David Cronenberg used the tactic too, but his early films are perhaps closer to science fiction.
Scanners was his big breakthrough success. It fulfilled the basic horror requirements with little more than a single image – the exploding head – but it was such a strong image that it sparked a trend in the early 80s. Scanners are misfits with telekinetic powers who don't fit into society. A scanner underground network is waging war against multinational ConSec, whose reckless drug testing on pregnant women caused these aberrations (playing the rebels' leader is Michael Ironside, a never-unemployed actor with the ideal...
- 4/6/2013
- by Phelim O'Neill
- The Guardian - Film News
On 8th April the seventies British comedy horror The House in Nightmare Park will be released on DVD and here are two exciting clips from film!
Comedy legend Frankie Howerd stars as the victim of sinister shenanigans in a wacky parody of seventies British horror films when he’s invited to give a dramatic reading at a country home and instead discovers dead bodies, foul intentions, lots of snakes, and a madwoman in the attic.
Continue reading →...
Comedy legend Frankie Howerd stars as the victim of sinister shenanigans in a wacky parody of seventies British horror films when he’s invited to give a dramatic reading at a country home and instead discovers dead bodies, foul intentions, lots of snakes, and a madwoman in the attic.
Continue reading →...
- 3/27/2013
- by HorrorNews.net
- Horror News
Andrew Pulver looks back through some of the key films of director Michael Winner, who has died aged 77
Play It Cool (1962)
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After a string of short films, Winner broke into features in the early 60s, with low budget thrillers and trendy pop musicals. Quite a few of them had "cool" in the title – including the nudie pic Some Like It Cool. The Billy Fury pic Play It Cool was considerably more commercially viable, no doubt inspired by the success of Cliff Richard's Young Ones film. Fury – in a real stretch – plays an up-and coming rocker called Billy Universe; Anna Palk the heiress who he might or might not get together with, and Dennis Price (!) as her overbearing dad.
The Cool Mikado (1962)
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Frankie Howerd led the line for Winner's followup, produced by Howard Baim,...
Play It Cool (1962)
Reading this on mobile? Click here to view video
After a string of short films, Winner broke into features in the early 60s, with low budget thrillers and trendy pop musicals. Quite a few of them had "cool" in the title – including the nudie pic Some Like It Cool. The Billy Fury pic Play It Cool was considerably more commercially viable, no doubt inspired by the success of Cliff Richard's Young Ones film. Fury – in a real stretch – plays an up-and coming rocker called Billy Universe; Anna Palk the heiress who he might or might not get together with, and Dennis Price (!) as her overbearing dad.
The Cool Mikado (1962)
Reading this on mobile? Click here to view video
Frankie Howerd led the line for Winner's followup, produced by Howard Baim,...
- 1/21/2013
- by Andrew Pulver
- The Guardian - Film News
Michael Winner, the film director, food critic and TV personality famed for his "calm down" Esure adverts, passed away today at the age of 77. Born in Hampstead, London, in 1935, Winner started his career as a showbiz newspaper columnist before moving into filmmaking in the early '60s. Early movies saw him direct Frankie Howerd musical The Cool Mikado and comedy The System, the first of six films in which he worked with Oliver Reed.
Winner made the switch to Hollywood with Lawman and The Nightcomers before teaming up with Charles Bronson for brutal vigilante drama Death Wish. He directed two more Death (more)...
Winner made the switch to Hollywood with Lawman and The Nightcomers before teaming up with Charles Bronson for brutal vigilante drama Death Wish. He directed two more Death (more)...
- 1/21/2013
- by By Simon Reynolds
- Digital Spy
Director of British comedy films in the tradition of saucy seaside postcards
During the 1970s, British cinema produced dozens of sex comedies, of which the director Bob Kellett, who has died aged 84, was something of a master. Kellett's films superseded the Carry On series, whose innuendo had become smuttier and less funny, and predated the more vulgar Confessions movies. They were in the tradition of Donald McGill's saucy seaside postcards, which George Orwell had extolled as being "symptomatically important as a sort of saturnalia, a harmless rebellion against virtue".
Kellett, who was born in Lancaster, went to Bedford school, where he was captain of the rowing team. After school, he had various jobs, including growing and selling orchids, selling encyclopedias, and writing for an advertising agency, before entering the film industry in the early 50s. After working on several features as script editor for the producer Ian Dalrymple at Pinewood Studios,...
During the 1970s, British cinema produced dozens of sex comedies, of which the director Bob Kellett, who has died aged 84, was something of a master. Kellett's films superseded the Carry On series, whose innuendo had become smuttier and less funny, and predated the more vulgar Confessions movies. They were in the tradition of Donald McGill's saucy seaside postcards, which George Orwell had extolled as being "symptomatically important as a sort of saturnalia, a harmless rebellion against virtue".
Kellett, who was born in Lancaster, went to Bedford school, where he was captain of the rowing team. After school, he had various jobs, including growing and selling orchids, selling encyclopedias, and writing for an advertising agency, before entering the film industry in the early 50s. After working on several features as script editor for the producer Ian Dalrymple at Pinewood Studios,...
- 12/4/2012
- by Ronald Bergan
- The Guardian - Film News
Help! us explore the many ways in which John, Paul, George and Ringo have influenced film, then and now
With Magical Mystery Tour getting the bells-and-whistles reissue treatment this week, here's a look back at the multifaceted and often downright bizarre impact the Beatles have made on the moving image.
1) The Beatles as Oscar-winners
Let It Be was filmed in January 1969, but remained unreleased until May 1970, by which point the band had officially announced its split. The Beatles were keen to see the film buried; they had little desire to return to this testing period in their career or to air some of the more fractious moments it contains – most famously the tiff between Paul and George ("I'll play, you know, whatever you want me to play or I won't play at all"). And yet, ultimately, they're probably happy they did. In April 1971 the Beatles picked up their one and only Academy award,...
With Magical Mystery Tour getting the bells-and-whistles reissue treatment this week, here's a look back at the multifaceted and often downright bizarre impact the Beatles have made on the moving image.
1) The Beatles as Oscar-winners
Let It Be was filmed in January 1969, but remained unreleased until May 1970, by which point the band had officially announced its split. The Beatles were keen to see the film buried; they had little desire to return to this testing period in their career or to air some of the more fractious moments it contains – most famously the tiff between Paul and George ("I'll play, you know, whatever you want me to play or I won't play at all"). And yet, ultimately, they're probably happy they did. In April 1971 the Beatles picked up their one and only Academy award,...
- 10/10/2012
- The Guardian - Film News
Comedian and variety performer Max Bygraves has died at the age of 89, his agent has told BBC News. Bygraves, known for his catchphrase "I wanna tell you a story" and his novelty songs including 'Pink Toothbrush', had a successful career in showbusiness that spanned over 60 years. Having previously worked as a carpenter, Bygraves's first break came in the form of a BBC radio broadcast alongside Frankie Howerd. The show, during which he performed his impersonations of Charles Chaplin and Max Miller, led to a job in a touring revue 'For the Fun of It' lasting 61 weeks. In 1950, he made his first appearance at the Royal Variety Show before performing at the London Palladium 14 times in ten years alongside stars such as Judy Garland. Bygraves was awarded an OBE in 1982 and a year later, took over from Bob Monkhouse as the presenter of Family (more)...
- 9/1/2012
- by By Alison Rowley
- Digital Spy
The entertainment world has lost one of its most respected comedy writers and performers as Eric Sykes has died at the age of 89.Sykes grew up in Oldham, Lancashire and began his entertainment career while serving in the Royal Air Force during World War II. Following the conflict, he moved to London in 1946 and began looking for work. A lucky break – very lucky, since he’d ended up cold and penniless – saw him meet an old Air Force friend, Bill Fraser, who invited him to come and write material at the Playhouse Theatre. Sykes wound up writing for Fraser and other performers including Frankie Howerd, and quickly made a name for himself as a quality comic scribe.Sykes started performing himself on the radio in 1950, working with, among other notable names, Tony Hancock. During that time, he shared an office with Spike Milligan. In 1954, he began working with Milligan on Goon Show scripts,...
- 7/4/2012
- EmpireOnline
It is for comedy that Eric Sykes will be remembered, and here – in clips from his own hit shows and alongside Tommy Cooper, Spike Milligan and Peter Sellers – is why
I interviewed Eric Sykes, who has died aged 89, in 2001 and the first thing the subeditor who received my copy said was: "I didn't know he was still alive." The legendary comedian had just filmed a straight role alongside Nicole Kidman in The Others, which demonstrated that his range was wider than people perhaps thought. But it is for comedy that Sykes will be remembered, and here is why.
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Sykes started out after the second world war writing for Frankie Howerd and the Goons but by 1960 he had his own sitcom vehicle, Sykes and A …. His unmarried twin sister was played by Hattie Jacques, but perhaps the most memorable episode was more of a solo turn,...
I interviewed Eric Sykes, who has died aged 89, in 2001 and the first thing the subeditor who received my copy said was: "I didn't know he was still alive." The legendary comedian had just filmed a straight role alongside Nicole Kidman in The Others, which demonstrated that his range was wider than people perhaps thought. But it is for comedy that Sykes will be remembered, and here is why.
Reading this on mobile? Click here to view
Sykes started out after the second world war writing for Frankie Howerd and the Goons but by 1960 he had his own sitcom vehicle, Sykes and A …. His unmarried twin sister was played by Hattie Jacques, but perhaps the most memorable episode was more of a solo turn,...
- 7/4/2012
- by Bruce Dessau
- The Guardian - Film News
Blues and jazz singer Etta James died early this morning at Southern California's Riverside Community Hospital from complications of leukemia. She was 73. In 2009, James had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. James' first album, "At Last!," was released in 1961. She won her first of six Grammys 33 years later, for Best Jazz Vocal Performance for the tribute album "Mystery Lady (Songs of Billie Holiday)". Despite battling heroin addiction in the '60s and '70s — in addition to other substance-abuse issues in later years — James released 27 albums during a career that lasted close to half a century. On the IMDb, James has only two credited film appearances: cameos in Nick Castle's Tap (1989), starring Gregory Hines and Sammy Davis Jr, and Michael Schultz's musical Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978). The latter film was a monumental flop despite the presence of the then-popular Bee Gees, Alice Cooper, Aerosmith, and Peter Frampton,...
- 1/20/2012
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
The Wicker Tree
Stars: Brittania Nicol, Henry Garrett, Christopher Lee, Graham McTavish, Clive Russell, Honeysuckle Weeks | Written and Directed by Robin Hardy
Robin Hardy’s spiritual successor to The Wicker Man has taken a very long time to arrive, 38 years to be precise. The Wicker Tree is based on his own novel, Cowboys for Christ, and tells the story of two (seemingly) mentally deficient American Christians who decide to come to the heathen wilds of Scotland to spread the love of Jesus.
I guess the rest of the church was busy: when asked if they really believe in certain elements of the bible, the two have to think long and hard (although I suspect these two would have to think long and hard about tieing their shoelaces, or what their own names are) and can’t reach a committed decision. The heathens, much like the audience thanks to a crushing lack of horror,...
Stars: Brittania Nicol, Henry Garrett, Christopher Lee, Graham McTavish, Clive Russell, Honeysuckle Weeks | Written and Directed by Robin Hardy
Robin Hardy’s spiritual successor to The Wicker Man has taken a very long time to arrive, 38 years to be precise. The Wicker Tree is based on his own novel, Cowboys for Christ, and tells the story of two (seemingly) mentally deficient American Christians who decide to come to the heathen wilds of Scotland to spread the love of Jesus.
I guess the rest of the church was busy: when asked if they really believe in certain elements of the bible, the two have to think long and hard (although I suspect these two would have to think long and hard about tieing their shoelaces, or what their own names are) and can’t reach a committed decision. The heathens, much like the audience thanks to a crushing lack of horror,...
- 10/31/2011
- by Dan
- Nerdly
With the much anticipated release of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy in theatres today, WhatCulture! were challenged with coming up with our 10 best British ensemble casts. With Tinker’s all star British cast – including the likes of Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, John Hurt, Tom Hardy, Mark Strong and Benedict Cumberbatch – it was a bloody hard challenge to come up with ten that could even come close to rivalling such a solid cast!
Read on to discover what we came up with!
10. Gosford Park (2001)
The murder mystery genre is always one that employs a vast and impressive ensemble cast and Gosford Park is a prime example of how effective a film can be when this is done proficiently. A range of talented British stars fill the screen, disclosing the everyday workings of a 1930s mansion house from the privileged inhabitants and their wealthy guests, right down to the most invisible of servants.
Read on to discover what we came up with!
10. Gosford Park (2001)
The murder mystery genre is always one that employs a vast and impressive ensemble cast and Gosford Park is a prime example of how effective a film can be when this is done proficiently. A range of talented British stars fill the screen, disclosing the everyday workings of a 1930s mansion house from the privileged inhabitants and their wealthy guests, right down to the most invisible of servants.
- 9/16/2011
- by Stuart Cummins
- Obsessed with Film
A child star as Oliver Twist, he became a key figure in epoch-making TV comedy
'Please, sir – I want some more." Rationing was still in force when, under the eye of David Lean's camera, a thin, pale eight-year-old boy named John Howard Davies raised his gruel bowl and dared to request a second serving. That image of Davies in Oliver Twist (1948) spoke to the mood of the moment – suggesting the sort of deprivation that postwar Britain was attempting to legislate out of existence. One scene called for Davies, who has died of cancer aged 72, and his fellow child actors to look on enviously as the bigwigs of the workhouse devoured a great pile of pastries, hams and chicken. The astonished expressions are genuine. None of these boys had ever seen food like it.
The film's production company, Cineguild, had launched a national campaign to secure a talented unknown for the title role.
'Please, sir – I want some more." Rationing was still in force when, under the eye of David Lean's camera, a thin, pale eight-year-old boy named John Howard Davies raised his gruel bowl and dared to request a second serving. That image of Davies in Oliver Twist (1948) spoke to the mood of the moment – suggesting the sort of deprivation that postwar Britain was attempting to legislate out of existence. One scene called for Davies, who has died of cancer aged 72, and his fellow child actors to look on enviously as the bigwigs of the workhouse devoured a great pile of pastries, hams and chicken. The astonished expressions are genuine. None of these boys had ever seen food like it.
The film's production company, Cineguild, had launched a national campaign to secure a talented unknown for the title role.
- 8/25/2011
- by Matthew Sweet
- The Guardian - Film News
So there's Jude Law as John Yates and of course Hilary Swank as Murdoch Jr ... but if you've got other ideas for our topical conspiracy thriller, we're all ears
It's the story that's absorbed the entire country (if you're a Tory backbencher reading this, please feel free to replace "entire country" with "Westminster bubble"). Phone-hacking might have started at the News of the World, but it has spread to take in our most powerful institutions: parliament, police, media and Paul McMullan's Dover B&B. It has, of course, been a story with tragic elements, but one that has all the dramatic twists and turns of a conspiracy thriller. So why not see if we can cast one?
Some of you may have played the game of casting phone hacking: the movie on YouTube, and on social networks such as Twitter and Bebo. But it's unlikely that you'll have played it...
It's the story that's absorbed the entire country (if you're a Tory backbencher reading this, please feel free to replace "entire country" with "Westminster bubble"). Phone-hacking might have started at the News of the World, but it has spread to take in our most powerful institutions: parliament, police, media and Paul McMullan's Dover B&B. It has, of course, been a story with tragic elements, but one that has all the dramatic twists and turns of a conspiracy thriller. So why not see if we can cast one?
Some of you may have played the game of casting phone hacking: the movie on YouTube, and on social networks such as Twitter and Bebo. But it's unlikely that you'll have played it...
- 7/22/2011
- by Paul MacInnes
- The Guardian - Film News
Louisa takes a look back at one of the more sinister entries in our Enchanted 80s season, the underappreciated Return To Oz...
If not an outright porky pie, then the DVD blurb on Disney's 1985 Return To Oz is, at the very least, misleading. "If you loved The Wizard Of Oz," it promises, "you'll love accompanying Dorothy on this second thrilling adventure."
A more fitting advert might be, 'If you loved Mulholland Drive, but thought it could do with less girl-on-girl action and more talking chickens, you'll love accompanying Dorothy through this scary ass mess of a film.' Not quite as pithy, perhaps, but a bit more honest.
A composite of the plots of L Frank Baum's Ozma Of Oz and The Magical Land Of Oz, Walter Murch's sole directorial effort is a very different beast from Fleming's 1939 original. The baddies are as scary, the heroine as determined,...
If not an outright porky pie, then the DVD blurb on Disney's 1985 Return To Oz is, at the very least, misleading. "If you loved The Wizard Of Oz," it promises, "you'll love accompanying Dorothy on this second thrilling adventure."
A more fitting advert might be, 'If you loved Mulholland Drive, but thought it could do with less girl-on-girl action and more talking chickens, you'll love accompanying Dorothy through this scary ass mess of a film.' Not quite as pithy, perhaps, but a bit more honest.
A composite of the plots of L Frank Baum's Ozma Of Oz and The Magical Land Of Oz, Walter Murch's sole directorial effort is a very different beast from Fleming's 1939 original. The baddies are as scary, the heroine as determined,...
- 6/29/2011
- Den of Geek
Alec Guinness classic crime caper re-cast as stage play in Liverpool by Father Ted and It Crowd writer Graham Linehan
It might be about criminals exploiting a sweet old lady so they can rob a bank, but The Ladykillers is regularly named as one of the nation's favourite comedy films. Now the Ealing classic is to be brought to the stage in a new version written by Father Ted and The It Crowd writer Graham Linehan.
Producers will announce that the memorably dark and stylish 1955 film is being adapted for the stage, with Peter Capaldi in the role of the charming but sinister gang leader Professor Marcus, played first by Alec Guinness.
The stage play will be very much Linehan's version. "I wanted the film to haunt the play rather than it be a transcription," he said.
There will also be more laughs. Linehan had been asked by producers if...
It might be about criminals exploiting a sweet old lady so they can rob a bank, but The Ladykillers is regularly named as one of the nation's favourite comedy films. Now the Ealing classic is to be brought to the stage in a new version written by Father Ted and The It Crowd writer Graham Linehan.
Producers will announce that the memorably dark and stylish 1955 film is being adapted for the stage, with Peter Capaldi in the role of the charming but sinister gang leader Professor Marcus, played first by Alec Guinness.
The stage play will be very much Linehan's version. "I wanted the film to haunt the play rather than it be a transcription," he said.
There will also be more laughs. Linehan had been asked by producers if...
- 6/7/2011
- by Mark Brown
- The Guardian - Film News
Alec Guinness seedy gang classic to become stage play, written by Father Ted author Graham Linehan
It might be about gangsters exploiting a sweet old lady to commit an ugly armed robbery, but The Ladykillers is regularly named as one of the nation's favourite comedy films. Now the Ealing classic is to be brought to the stage for the first time in a new version written by Father Ted and The It Crowd writer Graham Linehan.
Producers will announce that the memorably dark and stylish 1955 film is being adapted for the stage, with Peter Capaldi taking on the role of the charming but utterly sinister gang leader Professor Marcus, played originally by Alec Guinness.
The stage play will be very much Linehan's version. "I wanted the film to haunt the play rather than it be a transcription," he said.
There will also be more laughs. He had been asked by...
It might be about gangsters exploiting a sweet old lady to commit an ugly armed robbery, but The Ladykillers is regularly named as one of the nation's favourite comedy films. Now the Ealing classic is to be brought to the stage for the first time in a new version written by Father Ted and The It Crowd writer Graham Linehan.
Producers will announce that the memorably dark and stylish 1955 film is being adapted for the stage, with Peter Capaldi taking on the role of the charming but utterly sinister gang leader Professor Marcus, played originally by Alec Guinness.
The stage play will be very much Linehan's version. "I wanted the film to haunt the play rather than it be a transcription," he said.
There will also be more laughs. He had been asked by...
- 6/5/2011
- by Mark Brown
- The Guardian - Film News
Doctor Who star Karen Gillan is currently filming as glamorous Sixties star Jean Shrimpton in We’ll Take Manhattan for BBC4.
The film focuses on the iconic star’s four-year love affair with photographer David Bailey. The part is Karen's first leading role since her debut in the 2010 series of Doctor Who as the Time Lord’s companion Amy Pond.
David Bailey is played by 24-year-old Welsh actor Aneurin Barnard (represented by Ken McReddie Associates) who starred in the original London cast of musical Spring Awakening and last year filmed Ironclad and Hunky Dory. He recently wrapped on Elfie Hopkins and the Gammons and is to star in Iain Softley's Trap for Cinderella, also filming this year.
Although predominantly set in 1962 and exploring the story of how Bailey and Shrimpton first met the drama also reveals how a young, visionary photographer refused to conform. He insisted on using the...
The film focuses on the iconic star’s four-year love affair with photographer David Bailey. The part is Karen's first leading role since her debut in the 2010 series of Doctor Who as the Time Lord’s companion Amy Pond.
David Bailey is played by 24-year-old Welsh actor Aneurin Barnard (represented by Ken McReddie Associates) who starred in the original London cast of musical Spring Awakening and last year filmed Ironclad and Hunky Dory. He recently wrapped on Elfie Hopkins and the Gammons and is to star in Iain Softley's Trap for Cinderella, also filming this year.
Although predominantly set in 1962 and exploring the story of how Bailey and Shrimpton first met the drama also reveals how a young, visionary photographer refused to conform. He insisted on using the...
- 5/31/2011
- by noreply@blogger.com (ScreenTerrier)
- ScreenTerrier
Source: FilmShaft - Paul W.S. Anderson To Direct Pompeii Disaster Flick
Volcanoes are cinematic. Ancient Roman history is very cinematic. Combine the two, add in Paul W.S. Anderson and what do you get? A historical disaster movie! The British director has signed on the dotted line to bring a CG explodaganza to our screens... probably in 3D.
Pompeii was a project Roland Emmerich was circling but now he's abandoned it to the fate of Anderson. The narrative, according to Total Film, centres on "slave of a tycoon who dreams of buying his freedom and marrying his master’s daughter."
Roman Polanski was set to make a film about Pompeii based on Robert Harris' book but budget issues and him being arrested put an end to that. One imagines Anderson's vision to be centred on spectacle. As long as he's not allowed anywhere near the script things might be alright.
Volcanoes are cinematic. Ancient Roman history is very cinematic. Combine the two, add in Paul W.S. Anderson and what do you get? A historical disaster movie! The British director has signed on the dotted line to bring a CG explodaganza to our screens... probably in 3D.
Pompeii was a project Roland Emmerich was circling but now he's abandoned it to the fate of Anderson. The narrative, according to Total Film, centres on "slave of a tycoon who dreams of buying his freedom and marrying his master’s daughter."
Roman Polanski was set to make a film about Pompeii based on Robert Harris' book but budget issues and him being arrested put an end to that. One imagines Anderson's vision to be centred on spectacle. As long as he's not allowed anywhere near the script things might be alright.
- 5/3/2011
- by Martyn Conterio
- FilmShaft.com
Nostalgic retellings of the lives of Tony Hancock, Kenneth Williams, and Eric & Ernie have been ratings winners, but fictionalised accounts can land the Beeb in hot water
Ooh, I say. How's the harness?" We're four minutes and 58 seconds into BBC4's Hattie and the biopic cliche klaxon is primed to emit its first parp of distress. Plonked amid the bustle of a busy panto rehearsal, Eric Sykes (played, somewhat disconcertingly, by Graham Fellows) winces in sympathy as co-star Hattie Jacques (Ruth "Nessa" Jones), squeezes her fairy princess-costumed frame into some manner of hoist. Mugging gamely ("Lucky I'm not planning on having any more children …") Jacques is hoisted swiftly over the empty stage, her matronly limbs swishing in time to the soundtrack's plinky-twinkly piano. Then, inevitably – vzzzzznnng! – the mechanism fizzles to a halt. As offscreen lackeys scramble with levers and pulleys, Jacques is left to dangle pinkly in mid-air, a vision...
Ooh, I say. How's the harness?" We're four minutes and 58 seconds into BBC4's Hattie and the biopic cliche klaxon is primed to emit its first parp of distress. Plonked amid the bustle of a busy panto rehearsal, Eric Sykes (played, somewhat disconcertingly, by Graham Fellows) winces in sympathy as co-star Hattie Jacques (Ruth "Nessa" Jones), squeezes her fairy princess-costumed frame into some manner of hoist. Mugging gamely ("Lucky I'm not planning on having any more children …") Jacques is hoisted swiftly over the empty stage, her matronly limbs swishing in time to the soundtrack's plinky-twinkly piano. Then, inevitably – vzzzzznnng! – the mechanism fizzles to a halt. As offscreen lackeys scramble with levers and pulleys, Jacques is left to dangle pinkly in mid-air, a vision...
- 1/15/2011
- by Sarah Dempster
- The Guardian - Film News
Chicago – I have to admit to a bit of trepidation every time a studio outside of the widely acknowledged masters tries their hand at catalog releases but the Lionsgate/StudioCanal Blu-ray releases of “Contempt,” “The Ladykillers,” and “Ran” are spectacular. Not only do the films look amazing in HD but they’ve been given copious special features. Don’t miss them.
Blu-Ray Rating: 4.5/5.0
What do Jean-Luc Godard’s “Contempt,” Akira Kurosawa’s “Ran,” and Alexander Mackendrick’s “The Ladykillers” have in common? Basically nothing other than loyal followings and, apparently, the same production company that allows them to be released on Blu-ray on the same day. They’re all films well worth adding to any collection of classic titles, especially in packages this lavish and lovingly produced.
Contempt was released on Blu-ray on February 16th, 2010.
Photo credit: Lionsgate Home Video
Four words - “Brigitte Bardot in HD”. For movie lovers who know their classics,...
Blu-Ray Rating: 4.5/5.0
What do Jean-Luc Godard’s “Contempt,” Akira Kurosawa’s “Ran,” and Alexander Mackendrick’s “The Ladykillers” have in common? Basically nothing other than loyal followings and, apparently, the same production company that allows them to be released on Blu-ray on the same day. They’re all films well worth adding to any collection of classic titles, especially in packages this lavish and lovingly produced.
Contempt was released on Blu-ray on February 16th, 2010.
Photo credit: Lionsgate Home Video
Four words - “Brigitte Bardot in HD”. For movie lovers who know their classics,...
- 2/19/2010
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Actor who brought sympathetic dimensions to the comic twerp Bertie Wooster and the shrewd detective Lord Peter Wimsey
Actor known for his roles as the archetypal blithering Englishman
Playing the archetypal silly ass was the sometimes reluctant business of the stage, film and television actor Ian Carmichael, who has died aged 89. In the public mind he became the best-known postwar example of a characteristic British type - the personally appealing blithering idiot who somehow survives, and sometimes even gets the girl. One of his most characteristic and memorable sorties in this field was his portrayal of Kingsley Amis's Lucky Jim – the anti-hero James Dixon, who savaged the pretensions of academia, as Amis had himself sometimes clashed with academia when he was a lecturer at Swansea. Appearing in John and Roy Boulting's 1957 film, he was able to suggest an unruly but amiable spirit at the end of its tether,...
Actor known for his roles as the archetypal blithering Englishman
Playing the archetypal silly ass was the sometimes reluctant business of the stage, film and television actor Ian Carmichael, who has died aged 89. In the public mind he became the best-known postwar example of a characteristic British type - the personally appealing blithering idiot who somehow survives, and sometimes even gets the girl. One of his most characteristic and memorable sorties in this field was his portrayal of Kingsley Amis's Lucky Jim – the anti-hero James Dixon, who savaged the pretensions of academia, as Amis had himself sometimes clashed with academia when he was a lecturer at Swansea. Appearing in John and Roy Boulting's 1957 film, he was able to suggest an unruly but amiable spirit at the end of its tether,...
- 2/7/2010
- by Dennis Barker
- The Guardian - Film News
Amy Winehouse may enter rehab in a house that once belonged to the late comic Frankie Howerd, according to The Sun. Current owner Chris Byrne, a friend of Howerd, is mulling over turning the property into a country retreat where celebrities can fight their drug and alcohol problems. Byrne revealed that he had discussed the possibility of Winehouse undergoing rehab at the Somerset residence with her mother Janis. (more)...
- 7/16/2008
- by By Simon Reynolds
- Digital Spy
The 32nd Carry On movie is set to hit the big screen later this year after producers agreed on a final script.
Britain's Pinewood Studios will release the film under the working title Carry on London to celebrate 50 years of Carry On films.
Casting details for the new film are expected to be announced later in the year, however, a studio spokesman says, "We will be having some cameo appearances in the film."
Carry On films hit British TV screens in the 1960s and have starred Sid James, Frankie Howerd and Barbara Windsor.
Britain's Pinewood Studios will release the film under the working title Carry on London to celebrate 50 years of Carry On films.
Casting details for the new film are expected to be announced later in the year, however, a studio spokesman says, "We will be having some cameo appearances in the film."
Carry On films hit British TV screens in the 1960s and have starred Sid James, Frankie Howerd and Barbara Windsor.
- 3/14/2008
- WENN
LONDON -- FremantleMedia Enterprises said Monday that it is launching a download-to-own or -rent Web portal for consumers looking for good old-fashioned laughs.
The company said output from famous comedy names of yesteryear including Tommy Cooper, Frankie Howerd and Jim Davidson will be on the site, TVComedyClassics.com.
FME head David Ellender said the site, set to launch this month, will become "the digital home" for FME's extensive back catalog of comedy programming.
Titles available from launch either to download, to own or rent include "Tommy Cooper Half Hour", "The Howerd Confessions", "George and Mildred" and "Bless This House".
"We very much see TVComedyClassics.com as just the first in many program genre portal Web sites we will be developing, and we're certain it will be a big hit with comedy fans," said Pete Kalhan, senior vp FME home entertainment and archive sales. "With the launch of this Web site, we're truly taking home entertainment into the home."
FME said it will also brand upcoming DVD releases with the TVComedyClassics stamp to build awareness.
The company said output from famous comedy names of yesteryear including Tommy Cooper, Frankie Howerd and Jim Davidson will be on the site, TVComedyClassics.com.
FME head David Ellender said the site, set to launch this month, will become "the digital home" for FME's extensive back catalog of comedy programming.
Titles available from launch either to download, to own or rent include "Tommy Cooper Half Hour", "The Howerd Confessions", "George and Mildred" and "Bless This House".
"We very much see TVComedyClassics.com as just the first in many program genre portal Web sites we will be developing, and we're certain it will be a big hit with comedy fans," said Pete Kalhan, senior vp FME home entertainment and archive sales. "With the launch of this Web site, we're truly taking home entertainment into the home."
FME said it will also brand upcoming DVD releases with the TVComedyClassics stamp to build awareness.
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