Monthly Archives: June 2007

Brando: the man and the myth

Marlon Brando with Everett Sloane in “The Men” BFI Southbank has a month-long program of Marlon Brando films running throughout July, starting Sunday with his debut performance in Fred Zinnemann’s “The Men.” Fifteen other pictures are included from “Apocalypse Now” … Continue reading

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'True Dare Kiss' can't miss

True Dare: Dervia Kirwan, Lorraine Ashbourne, Pooky Quesnel, Esther Hall  Football rivalry can be deadly serious but it can also be fun as writer Debbie Horsfield demonstrates in the first episode of her excellent new series “True Dare Kiss” on … Continue reading

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'Lord' rings the changes

London cast of “The Lord of the Rings (photo Manuel Harlan) The stage show of “The Lord of the Rings,” according to its co-creator and director Matthew Warchus, is “Shakespeare meets Cirque du Soleil.” He told the New York Times: … Continue reading

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Welles & Porter's lost 'World'

The concert presentation of the musical “Around the World,” created in 1946 by Orson Welles and Cole Porter (below left) from the Jules Verne novel about Phileas Fogg traversing the globe in 80 days, has two more shows to go, … Continue reading

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Maurice Murphy: A trumpeter's farewell

Few people know more about film music than my friend and colleague Tommy Pearson and he has put together a wonderful audio documentary about legendary musician Maurice Murphy (below) who has just retired as principal trumpet for the London Symphony … Continue reading

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'Rabbit' runs off-Broadway

The Critics’ Circle and the Evening Standard named Britain’s Nina Raine as the most promising playwright in 2006 for her funny and insightful first play “Rabbit,” which is currently being staged in New York. Described as a play about “what … Continue reading

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A proper boozer under threat

The Nell Gwynne pub, threatened by developers One of London’s most charming pubs, the Nell Gwynne, tucked away on Bull Inn Court off the Strand, is under threat. There’s a petition to save it at the prime minister’s Number 10 … Continue reading

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Stoned on 'The Wild Blue Yonder'

Brad Dourif is not from around here in ‘The Wild Blue Yonder’ Werner Herzog’s rhapsodic documentary “The Wild Blue Yonder,” which just opened at London’s ICA and in other key U.K. cities, is a hugely entertaining exploration of inner and … Continue reading

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Those hateful folk on 'The Chase'

Misery loves company on the BBC’s vet show ‘The Chase’ Has there ever been a television series with more hypnotically annoying characters than “The Chase”? Steven Bochco always cautioned that all TV drama series, including his classic “Hill Street Blues,” … Continue reading

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'Compass' is looking golden

Dakota Blue Richards as Lyra Balacqua in “The Golden Compass” New Line Pictures were so paranoid about copyright theft at the screening of 10 minutes from “The Golden Compass” in London on Thursday that they confiscated all electronic gadgets including … Continue reading

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