Monthly Archives: March 2007

'Doctor' prognosis excellent

Posted on March 31, 2007 by admin

Freema Agyeman joins David Tennant in ‘Doctor Who’ “All the world’s a stage,” says the doctor. “Hmm,” says the playwright, “I might use that.” As the playwright is William Shakespeare, you know he will. One of the pleasures of the … Continue reading →

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A fine 'Persuasion'

Posted on March 30, 2007 by admin

Sally Hawkins as Anne Elliot looks for her man in “Persuasion’ ITV’s excellent new version of “Persuasion” airing Sunday is the best of the U.K. commercial channel’s season of new Jane Austen adaptations. All three were coproductions with WGBH Boston … Continue reading →

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Red ribbon undoes grey 'Lives'

Posted on March 29, 2007 by admin

Ulrich Muehe (left) is all eyes in ‘The Lives of Others’ The McGuffin in Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s vastly overrated film about state repression, “The Lives of Others,” which opens in the U.K. on April 13, is a manual typewriter … Continue reading →

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Bassey rocks

Posted on March 28, 2007 by admin

BBC Newsflash: Bassey confirmed for Glastonbury. What would Elvis say? Shirley Bassey (above) was born on January 8 two years after Elvis Presley had been born on the same day. Welsh-born Bassey made her performing debut in 1953 and her … Continue reading →

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Bean there, done that

Posted on March 27, 2007 by admin

“Mr. Bean’s Holiday,” which is released across the U.K. and most of Europe this weekend but not until Aug. 31 in the United States, is an amusing farce but it never really reaches for big laughs. If this is Bean’s … Continue reading →

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Here comes the 'Lady'

Posted on March 26, 2007 by admin

Legendary editor Harold Ross famously declared at the founding of The New Yorker that the urbane magazine would not be edited “for the old lady from Dubuque.” With typically biting humour, playwright Edward Albee took the phrase for the title … Continue reading →

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Flying 'Pan'

Posted on March 26, 2007 by admin

Ivana Baquero discovers wonderland in ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’ Triple Academy Award-winner “Pan’s Labyrinth,” Mexican director Guillermo Del Toro’s engrossing fantasy picture that combines mesmerizing visual effects with harsh drama, has become Optimum Releasing’s fastest-selling foreign-language DVD in the U.K. Optimum said … Continue reading →

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I feel pretty

Posted on March 25, 2007 by admin

Barbara Ellen asks in an amusing column in today’s Observer why Hollywood insists on casting beautiful women in film biographies of famous females who were gifted more with inner brilliance than external appeal. She demands: Why is there increasingly such … Continue reading →

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Delivering romance: Lismore Castle

Posted on March 25, 2007 by admin

Liam Cunningham as Gen. Tilney at Lismore Castle The daunting edifice in “Northanger Abbey,” ITV’s new version of the Jane Austen novel that aired tonight, is actually Lismore Castle in County Waterford, Ireland. Andrew Davies, who wrote the screenplay, says … Continue reading →

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Elton John: happy days

Posted on March 25, 2007 by admin

Iconic image of young Elton taken by rock ‘n’ roll photographer Ed Caraeff Elton John turns 60 today and is celebrating in typically high style with a record 60th concert at New York’s Madison Square Garden. The show will be … Continue reading →

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