Alan Rickman Guestbook

Alan is so busy! guess he'll be overwhelmed with cards and letters this time of year and it will probably be that way for a long time.

Noticed in the current K-Mart catalogue - The "Love Actually" Soundtrack CD for $20.82 - looks like we get the Soundtrack before we get the Movie!

HBO has chosen the wards vacated long ago by the Springfield Hospital Center, along with Sykesville's downtown, as filming locations for the cable channel's movie on the lives of two heart surgery pioneers.

The hometown look of Sykesville's Main Street and the frozen-in-time hospital wards and operating rooms, part of the hospital's Warfield complex, made the town an ideal location for Something the Lord Made, a story that takes place in 1940s Baltimore, said Charley Armstrong, location manager for the production.

Filming in the town will take about 10 days and is to begin next week in several Warfield buildings. The set will be closed to the public.

Something the Lord Made is set at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore and revolves around the friendship of Dr. Alfred Blalock and his surgical and research assistant, Vivien Thomas. It stars Alan Rickman, most recently in Love Actually, as Blalock and hip-hop artist and actor Mos Def, who appeared in The Italian Job, as Thomas.

The partnership of Blalock and Thomas led to several advances in heart surgery. Blalock set out to find a surgical treatment for "blue baby" syndrome. The condition, caused by a heart defect, killed thousands of infants each year.

Blalock and Dr. Helen Taussig devised the procedure. But it was up to Thomas, a young black man who aspired to go to medical school but lacked the money to get there, to help make it work. The technician practiced the procedure on dogs, and developed his skill with a scalpel. After examining a canine heart that Thomas had repaired, Blalock marveled that the organ looked like "something the Lord made." Shooting also will take place in Baltimore in and around Hopkins Hospital and should wrap in about 25 days, said Armstrong.

The film is expected to appear on the premium cable channel in late spring, he said. (Italics added)(

Sykesville officials said they expect the production to use one of the largest of Warfield's dozen buildings, which were added to the Springfield Hospital for the mentally ill in the 1920s. One building has a sizable cafeteria and auditorium, but officials would not reveal the exact location for the filming.

Warfield's buildings, which have been vacant for nearly two decades, still closely resemble the operating and patient rooms at Hopkins from 60 years ago. The same architect designed Hopkins and Springfield hospitals, according to town history. "The similarities in architecture helped us decide," said Armstrong. "This is a real period piece."....

...The film company is to pay the town $800 for every day of filming in Sykesville. The filmmaker will contribute minimally to the development effort by removing asbestos and lead paint from at least one building. "This is a really sweet deal," said Mayor Jonathan Herman. "It will give our [Warfield] project a little publicity, too."

At least two days of filming will take place on Main Street sometime next month. If the town's Christmas lights and decorations do not fit into the story line, the film company will take them down and then rehang them, Armstrong said. Sykesville, a town of about 4,500 people, seems to be gaining a reputation in film circles, Herman said. "

Fan-in-recovery, can we add:

MC - Irish Wolfhound

to your list?

Aurora wrote (in regard to director commentary):

>>Personally, I thought he ought, instead, to be examining his stereotypes about women. For example, he says about the early scene with AR and Polly Walker in the motel that she is supposed to be acting like a hooker, since she makes love to her husband. Honestly, don’t married people have a sex life, too? And it is whorish for a woman to initiate sex with her own husband?<<

I also have the DVD, and I don't recall the director's comments quite that way. What I gathered was that he was hinting at a strained or dysfunctional relationship because Polly's character was seducing Alan's character more like a hooker, rather than a wife. In other words, the love was waning, or absent altogether, between them.

The United States consists of 50 states that are quite distinct due to the variety of weather. Each has its own needs and problems not always understood by the rest of our country. Let's not forget about the huge differences between Alaska and Hawaii. So, living in the USA teaches us that it's difficult to accurately know another's land because of all the variety we have here. Sadly, there are people here who are so poor, they are homeless, let alone technology deprived.

I have seen it happen too often, the one with the money gets to "rule", and I'm talking about all of history. There are many places in the world that are in an "emergency situation". We have our share of disasters here too - earthquakes, blizzards, floods, droughts, forest fires, tornados, hurricanes. etc. What a mess!

I agree with you, we must teach our children about the world, America is not Heaven for us either, things will get better when we start to see each other as people, not "those people from that country are blah, blah, blah."

Artemis - Here I thought I had found this really obscure quote from Dark Harbour and it took you all of 11 minutes to wipe the evil grin from my face!LOL

Ooops!:p LOL :D ("Oops", would be another good quote from DH btw :D ) (Artemis peeps her head out the dungeon door) Dooly noted Sandy ;) :D I'll let the good professor know that I need another hour added to my detention time! And I fear that I simply must go back to confessionals now for another round....oh whoa is me......(sports evil grin of her own)....slips head back into the door.....(faintly Artemis can be heard saying "Over here sir, I found the paddle!")

Thankyou for the new quote Martha:)I think it's cool that you live not far from where DH was filmed. When next I watch it, which will probably be soon after all this talk about it LOL, I will think of you :D My guess for the quote is the scene at the end of Blow Dry when Phil is looking at Sandra after they've won the competition and he just says "Beautiful lass, Beautiful"

Thankyou Fan In Recovery for the compliment but me thinks I've just been very very lucky so far...LOL :)Usually about this time is when I start to get one wrong..LOL. So we'll see ;) :D As for my choice of punishment..well, I was leaning toward a *very* long detention in the dungeons with our dearly beloved professor, but the prospect of spending time with everyone's fav holy man sounds equally inviting.....aaahhh...descisions...descisions.....

Wait , I know, I'll go confess to our dear Raz and then take my Punishment for my sins with Snape!!!YAY!! Off I go..........

Mere Mortal, For someone hiding behind the nom de plume.. "mere mortal", methinks is holding forth from atop the dizzying heights of the very same pedestal it accused another from weighing in on..? But let's get down to brass tacks, shall we?

Sigh.. of all the tired old 'net parries to appropriate.. the old "if that *is* your real name" is pretty lame... I do think that were I to wish to post under some mysterious username.. I would be able to come up with something far more unique than the name I was assigned at birth.. but yes, Mary is my real name, I post my real email addy as well. Lordy, you make it too easy.. from your commentary "mm", I can honestly say, that I wouldn't care to know you. Your (chuckle..) "fair comment" was not any kind of rational arguement or even fair commentary.. it was the online version of the extremely childish.. "I know you are, but what am I".. sort of twaddle that only serves one purpose.. and it isn't a positive one.

To be accurate, ACC, in my not so humble opinion, the double standard is on the other foot.. as I attempted to say in my previous posting. Do you want me to go into detail.. I'm more than happy, willing and able to? Let's start with what's always laid at America's doorstep (not that we don't have culpability, it's just that others who do as well, tend to overlook their own), Vietnam, anyone? France brought that about... colonialism, empire building.. gross, overwhelming greed.. rather old world sins, aren't they? I mean, America, and Australia (let's not forget Ireland, China, India, Africa, Egypt and the many elsewheres) are perfect examples of the British Empire's standard practice of cultural genocide as means of domination and appropriation? Not pointing fingers mind, that is said in full cognizance of my own part English heritage.

We ALL share culpability in the sorry state of world affairs.. and France, the UK, Germany, Russia, Asia as well as the US all have dirty fingers from being at play in the mess that is the Middle East at the moment. My question for you is do you actually give a damn, or are you just playing the old world game of swinging a club? Because your selective finger pointing doesn't really cut it.. it only invites more of the same in return. If you seriously care about working to ensure a better state of affairs, grow up and let's talk in earnest about it.

PRIVATE LIVES Alan Rickman video rare Item number: 3367145299

Saw LA for third time yesterday. Scene at jewelry counter would be my favorite if it weren't for the fact that he was betraying his wife. That fact puts it second and, yes, the PM's dance is first!

I think I like Daniel best. LN has one of those wonderful faces that just gets better with age and his line to Sam, "You're f*ed," always makes me laugh.

I liked Bill Nighy in Blow Dry and was happy to see him again. Hope to see more. And the guy that played his manager did a great job of playing the part with very few lines.

I've said what I think of AR and ET before (fabulous talents!) but there's something that bothers me that no one's mentioned. After the party when Karen's awake beside Harry, WHY does she turn away? This is the time to snuggle up to the man and give him a squeeze. I've never met a man who objected to being woken up for sex, no matter HOW tired he was. Considering the fact that Mia had been priming him all evening, this seems like the ideal moment to remind the poor man why he married his wife in the first place! Come on woman! I think she may have stopped the affair in it's tracks with the right move that night.

I'm a passionate leftist, and have no problem with taking my country to task for its wrongdoings.. I'll be the first to admit that some of us in the US can be blind to our faults as a nation.. but I can understand ACC's comment. It's easy to get fed up with the blame game some around the world like to play.. many of the finger pointers don't seem to be taking the time to examine their own nations culpability in the mess the world finds itself in. If you care so much, then get off your behind and start actively working for change cleaning up your own backyard. Otherwise you're just being a big hypocrite.

As of the few postings I've made here have been sorely lacking of AR content.. I'll add a bit now. I became an AR fan back in the '90s, when I rented "Truly, Madly, Deeply", what a weeper.. the thing is, I'd also seen "Closet Land" and "Bob Roberts", but hadn't even noticed his being in those two films. I actually only went to see "Robin Hood Prince of Thieves" because he was in it.. not a Costner fan whatsoever. I've seen a good bit of his film work, and some of his made for television performances.. but clearly not as much as the rest of you apparently. (BTW, I did pick up "Close My Eyes", and enjoyed it very much, so thanks to whomever made the recomend... sorry for not remembering your name, as I'm on the flip side of 40, the memory's already tied up with so much.. I can tend to be a bit scatty.) Still didn't get to see LA today, though the husband has promised me lunch and the movie tomorrow.

When Harry was late it was the night of the family play rehearsal and Karen said, “Where have you been? We have been waiting hours for you to come home.” Harry replied “Can’t a man have any secrets?” (apparently not) and he looked very guilty as he watched the family rehearsal with Barney as the baby Jesus.
I am almost positive he signed the J.M. CD gift as “XX bad Harry” I memorized the bedroom scene where Karen was quite concerned and I think it was the imagery again. It was the image of the husband who rolls over and goes to sleep, uninterested in his plain wife as compared to miss hot lips. Karen is recalling his dancing with Mia. At the I Christmas party, L.L.’s character (Sarah?) was terribly concerned for Karen and had noticed Harry’s inappropriate behavior too, but was interrupted by her love interest before she could ask Karen about it.
At the airport, Karen looks happy to see Harry at first, but her expression turns very, very cold and hurt. I think only a phenomenal actor like Emma Thompson could have accomplished such a concise, crystal clear transition which spoke volumes to me. She is an awesome actor.

Mia had the “another notch in my belt” look with the rumpled bed in the background as she put the necklace on. There were red lips all over the camisole that she was wearing when she answered the door for P.M. David. I believe Harry was with her on the rehearsal night and earlier in the day on Christmas play night.

I think the step dad wore the same blue shire throughout the entire film and had a subconscious thing for Karen, but they were such comfortable friends that they could eat frosted flakes out of the box together. Carol was with him at the airport to receive young Joanna back to England. L.A. could have easily been an advertisement for lip collagen injection. They put the wrong lipcolor on A.R. as I could notice it too much.

"I'm too sexy Video"

Stephanie - you may be 12 but you appear mature and articulate. Such a nice change from some of the kids these days who don't seem to be able to put a sentence together. Keep up the good work!

As to Close My Eyes. Not my favorite movie but Sinclair is one of my favorite characters. Seems strange that it was written for Alan as it is so different from any of his other characters so in many ways. Sinclair is always busy, always wondering about 'stuff', always talking, always eating, always upbeat. He even walks and sits differently. A real contrast to, say, Jamie or Ed. (By the way, Ed's bit of unpacking the food in the closet is one of the best routine's I've ever seen.)

If I may digress even more here....
My job, where I am now, is answering the phone. When times are slack, as they usually are at the beginning of my early shift, I can wander around the internet or play games. One morning, after watching HP for the umpteenth time, I mentioned to another HP/AR fan that I wouldn't mind knowing more about some of the actors. She put me on to movies.yahoo.com and I started looking up the actors in HP. It intrigued me that so many had so few movie credits, being (don't kill me for this) 'real' actors from the stage. I enjoyed seeing the pictures of people like Robbie Coltrane and marveling at how they looked without the makeup. The picture of AR, however, showed him as Snape. So off I went to google. Well. I WAS surprised. I started reading some of the stuff on claire's site and the thing that really caught me was an interview after RHPOT came out. (I had not seen any of AR's other movies at that time.) The interviewer tried everything he could think of to get AR to bad-mouth Kevin Costner. AR simply wouldn't do it. I thought here was a man who had more than talent and looks. Next I rented a bunch of movies and in a week's time had seen DH, Dogma, RHPOT, Rasputin, and S&S. I was in awe. No other word for it. And I've been a hopeless case ever since.....

Re: Ben Franklin, and his ideas on on the national bird, he prefered what is now called the wild turkey because not only are they beautiful, they are extremely adaptable and very peaceable and intelligent members of the species. They're making a comeback from near extinction.. there's even one living in Battery Park in NYC. We have a small flock in residence on the little island across the cove from my house.

Aurora, as someone who is part Native American (also, part English, part Irish, my daughter, whose father is half Italian and half Portuguese, is a world dance party unto herself..) and , who also did an internship at Plymouth Plantations in Massachusetts one summer before college, and who is more than adequate on history.. I think you're off the mark a bit. The pilgrims who landed at Plymouth were English Separatists who had broken away from the C of E.. a good portion of which were from Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire. Some of which had emigrated initially to Amsterdam hoping to find religious tolerance. When that failed, they opted to charter a vessel to take them to, yes, Virginia.

Yes, the Native peoples were treated horribly, humans the world over are famous for playing each other off against the other. I would like to point out that the ones here at the time WEREN'T what is now called Americans.. and history does illustrate that each country has heaps of it's own dirty laundry hidden away in their respective skeleton closets.. so can we puh-lease can the finger pointing, and assorted sarcasm, etc.. ? It's sooooo counter productive to actually achieving anything other than more divisiveness. I'm totally way past being supportive of the type of BS that only seeks to further enable the various divide and conquer brigades. BTW, lay off Texas, I have some really incredible friends down that-a-way.. Many Texans are some of the best salt of the Earth types around. Bush's roots are of the Connecticut Yankee variety and prior to that, the particular nut he sprang from was shaken from crazy, old George the III's tree.

"do you know it? "

He does come across as a very smart individual though and I think he is very canny in the way he handles PR for his image. Mind you that being said I could be completely wrong and blowing hot air, just an impression I get. I like the idea that he doesn't surf but is kept in the know by friends or secretary. He doesn't read reviews of his stage/movie work so why would he read this board. He does strike me as the type of person who is curious so I could see him giving the GB a glance, but just a quick one. Did I confuse everyone?

Generally, I think we communicate very well together considering that eye contact, smiles, pauses, hand gestures, finger gestures, (finger gestures!), and the all-important raised eyebrow are missing from our conversations.

Is there a fan page for ET like this one for AR?

What is your favorite AR character quote? Mine is from JM: In his first scene, AR as "Ed' says, "Jus' languish there, darlin'. Don't molest anything!" AR just doesn't have many lines in JM. Unfortunately, I haven't seen all of his movies. There are several lines as "George" in RH/POT that crack me up! My favorite characters are Col. Brandon and P.L. O'Hara. I like Hans Gruber too. I saw AR first in SS on the big screen. I missed DH on the big screen ut saw it on TV.

What was also obvious was the place that she picked for the party. The nude art served to prompt Harry’s mind both conscientiously and subconsciously. Men are very visual that way.

On to business. LOVE ACTUALLY SPOILER follows: Did anyone else notice Emma Thompson's character refer to herself as "cold, English wife" and think it odd? Surely you'd only use your nationality like that if you'd married someone from a different country? Or was it established that Harry's from elsewhere and I missed it?

that reminds me of an old aquaintance of my single time (same age, as AR, but that was it with similarities, I'm afraid:-) who once told me: If you women knew just how easy it is to seduce a man...

Well, I got some clues by now, thanks a lot. Some men even insist on being seduced if the woman just says hello. And Mia did a bit more than that. Not a snowball's chance of survival in hell, poor old Harry had. No excuses, of course:-) Even if I admit to having seducable moods myself, at times, even at my age, but only in very tiny print:-)

Thanks to the link I just found on the Ciaran Hinds "Drool Board", I've stumbled onto a short interview with Heike Makatsch about her role in LA. The only problem is, it's in German! With my limited knowledge of the German language, I think she says that AR is a "charmer" and is someone who is easy to flirt with (or readily flirts with others??). Mortianna or any other GBers who are fluent in German - Help! Could you give us an exact English translation of what Heike says about AR?

The original link I found directs you to a webpage that includes interviews with Hugh Grant and Richard Curtis as well (and way down at the bottom of the page you can see an interview with Ciaran Hinds, a hazel-eyed Irishman who is often compared with AR).

Here's the AR-significant part of what Jamie shared with them *very, very mild spoilers for the fourteen people online who aren't yet familiar with the plot of PoA*:

Even the adults are in on the fun. When dressed as Neville’s grandmother for the Boggart scene, Alan Rickman got right into character, calling out, ‘Hello, love!’ to all who passed him in his dress - as did his body double.

" . . . . in a way, you can call this searingly realistic, and I think that it probably is. The challenge was that there are nine stories. So, you're inevitably going to have an accumulation of sentiments . . . . "

Ummm, mortianna, by "stem guy" I only meant I that surely AR knows to hold a champagne glass by its stem, and that in that "snow" photo, he was just trying to hold the glass discreetly out of camera range, at his side.

***LA Spoiler type ramble***warning****

I'm very curious as to what Emma and Alan decided (or whether they did) about their characters and the Harry and Karen story, aside from what Curtis had written in the original or revised scripts . . . . However, I have a feeling that AR's response could just as likely have been *not* to delve or resolve, but play it simply, and let the audience members find what they might. Whatever the other flaws of the film, I think Curtis was right to leave this storyline unifinished, much as it might be, in real life.

Life goes on--Harry and Karen have opportunities to change, forgive, and grow, or to become more distanced, losing touch and therefore meaning, in their marriage and in their lives. We don't know if they once were happy and connected. AND we don't know how much each of them is capable of change--does Karen keep too much inside, and has that stood in the way of health and happiness in her marriage? Would "giving herself away" make her too vulnerable, especially now that her trust has been broken? She's not completely silent, though--as she tells Harry to "be careful there".

Harry isn't uncommunicative altogether, as we see him tell Laura Linney to stop waiting around and TELL the man of her dreams that she's crazy about him. He is wonderfully open and direct, and tells her to DO something about it. Not the same guy who talks to Karen, though, is it?

I'm not sure what AR doesn't like about his performance in LA--many actors say what they see is the mistakes (in performance, delivery, timing, etc...) and what they'd do differently. Not sure if what he meant was that he's uncomfortable with Harry as a man. Since we believe that Harry's done what is undoubtedly hurtful, our reaction may be to dislike Harry. We'd like that wig, as lee said--because then it wouldn't be real, it wouldn't be something any of us might have to face in our lives. That makes us uncomfortable. But I think AR separates himself from a screen character, much differently, say, than from being the Vicomte in LLD on stage.

I think in a long relationship we sometimes tend to take our significant other for granted. As previously said, we put the kids and running of the household first instead of making an effort to keep the relationship exciting and alive. It doesn't mean anything is broken per se just that maybe priorities need to be rearranged. For an example in my own marriage, four kids etc, there was nothing wrong with our relationship. Then I went back to college and took a computer program which consisted mainly of men (boys to me). Well, young guys like that are always horny and I learned to flirt with them (yes I led a sheltered life before that). I took that home to my husband and started flirting with him letting him know what a hunk he was etc. Wow it was like flicking the light switch on. Men respond really well to being thought of as Mr Studly (if you know what I mean). I wish I had realised this sooner.

Consider the difference between catching your husband with a hooker and catching him with a lover. When Harry said ‘I am such a fool,’ I almost wondered if he thought he was a fool because he left the necklace in his pocket for Karen to find.

First the things we didn't like. We all agreed the porn star story was underdeveloped, and that the nudity was cheap and gratuitous. That should have the been the first story to hit the cutting room floor. The second useless story was the Keira Knightley story. Again, not enough background material to make the audience care about any of them. Though on a side note, we all agreed Keira is the poster child for good oral hygience.

Now what we liked-we all thought Bill Nighy was hysterical and the "twist" ending was well done. The PM/Tea lady story was cute, I've been humming Jump since I left the theater. The kids loved the Liam Neeson/stepson story, I had a hard time understanding Liam, tends to mumble.. My personal fav was the Colin Firth story. Those subtitles were hilarious.

But do you prefer hamming it up to the more normal roles?

Browser permitting, this should only be one post ;-)

I wanted to thank Sue for pointing out that I did mention the context the photograph was taken in (and for reposting the photograph ~ I seem to have been in linking hell!).

As for a possible invasion of privacy, well AR’s photograph was one of three in the article (although the most prominent) and, however poignant an affair in Westminster Abbey last Wednesday, it certainly wasn’t private.

Ironically, Michael Kamen’s obituary was printed on the back of the same page.

Aurora, if you want a clearer scan I could try and e-mail you the jpeg.

B.

Going back into lurking mode

And if anyone has trouble with the link (in which case I apologise) the photo is in the main 'files' file in the ARexperience yahoo group entitled Alan HYT.jpg

Sorry for the numerous posts

Hi,

I don't know if any of you/most of you saw the photo of Alan in Friday's Guardian, but I found it heart-stopping, not to mention poignant.

And not having seen any posts mentioning it, I thought I'd be a good little de-lurker and post it, or at least point to it. It's in the files over on yahoo, in the ARexperience group. If the link doesn't work, it's entitled Alan HYT.jpg (HYT of course standing for Hugo Young Tribute) Just scroll down.

Probably not the world's greatest scan, but it's the thought that counts. Right ladies?

B.

Hoping she hasn't trodden on any msgboard toes...

There is also a smaller version of the photo on the Love Actually website.

Question when you click on Alan's picture on the Love Actually website (In the love lasts a lifetime section) he says one brief sentence that ends with something like ...a perfect fool. But I can't make out what he says at the beginning of that sentence. He says it quickly and it is hard to make out with his accent. Anyone know what he is saying??

Colin Firth is now 36% Alan is 33% We were ahead for several hours earlier, but now the tide has turned. Those Firth Fans are coming out in force.

Let's jump back in and vote again. No matter how many times I vote I can't get that 33% to move up!!!

Your post gave me such a chuckle. The Dustin Hoffman conclusion from the folks behind you. I have seen some older (especially black and white ) photos of AR where I have seen a resemblance to DH as well.

When I watched CL. and there is one scene where AR on the floor, rambles on about....... the mind ....... it is very "Rainman" DustinHoffman-ish. (idiot savant) and then Madeline Stowe follows up with a rather Sally Field "Cybil* ish ranting on her own. Anyone agree?

I have voted, don't get me wrong,
but what the heck is Handbag.com?

If that young girl was really singing and not just lipsynching (I didn't look at the credits to see) - will a record company please sign her up right now. As somebody who finds Terminal Three at Heathrow an absolute maze, could somebody please tell me how the lovelorn boy manages to unerringly find the correct departure gate.

*Small spoiler for Die Hard here*

From the scene in which Holly's colleague tries to play smart and negociate the hostages' lives with Hans in exchange for McClane.

One of the main points that is stressed in Karen’s scenes is that she is not as emotionally open as she might be. First of all, she TWICE interrupts/shuts down Liam Neeson’s character (Daniel) when he is emotionally upset. When Daniel calls Karen saying he didn’t know whom else to talk to she cuts him off (rather cruelly although she grimaces to show that she realizes she was rough on him and she does it to speak with her children). Then, when she is at Daniel’s house she objects to his crying with a relatively insensitive comment-something like “no one will shag you if you are crying all the time”-when his wife has JUST died and he has every right to be upset.

Secondly, the whole discussion about Joni Mitchell involves Karen saying something like “you have JM to thank for making your cold English wife more emotional” (I know the quote isn’t right but it’s in the ballpark). And, when Harry gives her the box set (in addition to it showing that he did listen to her comments), he says that it is for her “continued emotional education.” I agree that ET/Karen’s crying scene in the next room is fantastically well done and I was really moved by it, but it also underscores her emotional distance. Not only does she not let Harry see that she is upset (which is understandable given the presence of the children), but the lyrics of the Joni Mitchell song “Both Sides Now” also play to underscore her emotional distance. I need to see the film again to see exactly which lyrics are used, but I’m pretty sure we hear the lyric referring to love as “just another show/You leave ‘em laughing when you go/And if you care, don’t let them know/Don’t give yourself away.”

The still photo of Alan Dancing with the woman in LA reminds me of the scene where he was dancing in Private Lives on Broadway.

Alan gets even sexier when he is dancing close to a woman. He usually towers over them and his eyes narrow in a sexy way and who can resist having those expressive hands holding you very close!

I'm looking forward to go back to England. I used to live there for a couple of years and totally loved it, unfortunately i had no idea who AR was at the time...well i knew who Hans Gruber was ;-)

Darn, i wish he would do a play right now.

You don't know if he has plans for a new play in the near future do you??

Have seen LA twice with two different groups of friends and have come to realize that the genius behind the Harry/Karen story line is that everyone has their own interpretation. There seem to be four scenarios that people ascribe to: he did and they don’t stay together, he didn’t and they don’t stay together, he did and they stay together, he didn’t and they stay together. I think each person brings his or her own experiences and values to the story. It’s interesting to observe who thinks which.

Personally, I believe that he did and they stay together. But then again I’ve been married 30 years and have experienced my share of the highs and lows of married life in that time. See what I mean about bringing your own views to the subject. To me Harry’s reaction in the scene where Karenconfronts him backstage at the Christmas pageant conveys his realization and horror at what he’s done, that it effects others and what he could lose. I also think that people overlook the deeper significance behind Harry’s gift of the Joni Mitchell tape. First he really listened to what his wife was saying and secondly he wanted to give her something, other than the traditional scarf, that would be meaningful to her. (But then again I’m a confirmed Joni Mitchell fan). It has been great fun to hear the many differing opinions.

However my favorite scene in the movie is after the “bedroom” scene when Karen comes back in and finds the three of them ready to go (as she asked) sitting staring blankly as if they are lost without her. The look on AR’s face melts my heart it’s so real.

Alan is on 35 % !!!

SPOILERS!

The ending of the Harry/Karen story has me completely puzzled, and I am anxious to get my copy of the screenplay to see those cut scenes (what's the holdup, Amazon?). All I know for sure is that Harry's family is meeting him at the airport, he has been away for about a month (?), and he is coming from America. What happened in the meantime? What was the purpose of the trip? Was it voluntary, was it business, was he fleeing, was he shacking up with his girlfriend, what? What? There is a whole movie's worth of story left out of this one...

By the way, does anyone else think that sometimes Harry acts like Ed? The scene where he and Laura Linney leave his office, and we see his back as he goes out the door--he is doing Ed's rolling walk. What a concept--Ed grows up to be Harry! Why not--they are both artists, both rather irresponsible, both easily led. Fun to contemplate, anyway.

And on a side note..."Hi my name is JC, and I'm addicted." I have seen LA three times already, and a fourth trip is in the planning...Gosh, this is the part about life I love most...seeing Alan on screen...anyway...

Harry was just a passive, spineless shmuck who was carried along on momentum. He could have stopped it, but he didn't. Gawd, I wish AR had given us a clue what was going on in Harry's head, rather than making him so opaque. Maybe that's Curtis's fault for either not fleshing out the character or cutting AR's part.

Lee, you said what I said after I saw LA the first time. It is unsettling to see AR playing such a jerk, because there's not enough remove between him and the character -- no Sheriff campiness or Snape wig or Hans Gruber cartoon-action movie stuff. I really don't like Harry, and I love Hans, the Sheriff and Snape, and they all did far worse than Harry, on the moral scheme of things.

Click on link to see "Red Carpet Interviews" with cast from LA (including AR.) This clip is from the London Premiere. Alan manages to get bleeped again! LOL The first time was on the Kimmel show......

so there should be a great big SPOILERS here

first of all, the German translation sucks in so many places, it is awful. (Why the Prime Minister has to be the Prime Minister when we have quite a good word for the position ourselves, is beyond me. Imagine someone going on and on in your native language, like sauerkraut, lederhosen, heidelberg castle and such, and then: Prime Minister. My favourite line being: ich bin der Prime Minister.) Godawful.

The film:

I wanted to leave the cinema straight after the beginning. Loved the "ordinary people at the airport" scene, it was touchy, but the 9-11-reference was a bit too much for my stomach. I was prepared for it through this page, but it WAS awful (well, to me, of course).

Luckily, then came Bill Nighy. I'm completely with Emma Thompson here:
Go see this movie if only for Bill Nighy.
Every time the film became too unbearably touchy, or simply boring (I, like most everybody else, could have done without some of the storylines, but this movie wants to cater to the tastes of all ages, so I knew I had to live with that:-), up came Bil Nighy and did something outrageous, wonderfully funny and hilarious. Yeah, and completely un-PC, which I enjoyed tremendously.

This is not to say that the movie on the whole was boring. It took me along all right, and the first time I looked on my watch, one and a half hours had gone by.

Well as I said, I loved the Bill Nighy sequences. Funnily, for me, I enjoyed the Hugh Grant stuff, even if he was doing his usual thing. He did it well (and the dance was one of my favourite moments:-)

I loved the American president - well the performance. It was so glib, so slimy, so arrogant - just wonderful (I'm talking film here, of course).

I liked the tea lady, even if this story was far too Pretty Womanish for my taste.

I could have done without the boy going to America line and the marriage and best man loves bride line. Both the Colin Firth and the Liam Neeson lines had their moments - I liked the kid, even if the story was highly dubitable - this IS a fairy tale, as Sue and others have remarked.

The guy Laura Linney tried to have sex with was very attractive, but the story got on my nerves.The porn guys were quite sweet.

A wonderful surprise (I know someone mentioned it, but I had forgotten) was Adam Godley in a wonderfully silly (if short) role. I personally don't care for Mr. Bean. You can have him - with ham and eggs.

Those of you not yet sleeping - yes Alan Rickman IS in the film. But I have to confess, I looked away in most scenes he is in with the secretary. Funny way of enjoying an actor you have come specially to watch. But the seduction - if you may call it - is as dumb and stupid as it often is in real life - and it succeeds! I cringed away in my seat. Alan plays the man, who doesn't even seem interested in the beginning, but succumbs because he hasn't got anything better to do and perhaps it was raining (forgive me if I missed something, I told you, I looked away frequently) so well, it was just too awful like real life. I hated him. Emma T. is fabulous - she nearly broke my heart.

Well, I got to see LA last night. Having had galloping indigestion alll afternoon, teen problems and TTOTM I really wasn't in the mood for much. I had seen so many bits of the movie I didn't think there would be much left to see!!

As the well-known British advert says "It does exactly what it says on the tin". It's labelled Romantic Comedy and it is.

It is also sentimental and a fairystory. In CurtisLand everybody is gorgeous (allowing for token fatties, quaint old folk and a disablement of some kind). London shines and twinkles (it doesn't) and every scene sparkles. This is the land where all problems are solved or summed up with a witty one-liner.

But hey, this is the movies so why not?

The story line was complex and I could have done with a couple less threads. You found yourself wanting to see more of one story and then another popped up just as you were getting all involved with another one.

The Keira Knightley didn't seem to amount to much and Kris Marshall just played the same brainless idiot that he plays in the British sitcom My family. The Laura Linney story just faded away too and although the porn stand-in couple were cute I thought they took up too much time.

I enjoyed the Colin Firth story especially the sub-titles and of course once you had accepted Hugh Grant as Prime Minister(!!) well, Hugh was just Hugh and although not a HG fan he does what he does so well and he gave me some of the biggest laughs.

Through all this the wonderful Bill Nighy popped up regularly like a naughty deed in a good world and stole the film.

Alan Rickman and Emma Thompson's story brought a bit of well deserved depth to all the fluff but sadly there was no time for their development and I was left wanting to see more of that story (and not just for the obvious reasons!!) Emma T is, I think, one of the finest actresses of her generation and brings a special quality to all her parts. Alan was great too, I especially like the scenes with Laura Linney and the Selfridge one with Rowan Atkinson which I hadn't been (or should I say ! looking forward to;)

Well, if you can suspend your disbelief there is something for everybody to relate to in there. For me, it was the AR/ET storyline, thankfully not given a tidy ending as there are no tidy endings in real-life. The other scene strangely enough was the Laura Linney character dancing with Karl summing up that wonderful feeling you get when you finally get your hands on a crush!!LOL

There were only a handful of people in the late showing that I went to, but it was OK since I wasn't squashed between people like I was at the Sneak Previw. I enjoyed it more the second time around! I wasn't as embarassed during the "porn actors" scenes since there wasn't some stranger sitting next to me! I figured out a few more of the connections between the characters, but probably not all of them yet. I have gotten used to the glasses that AR wears, they don't look as odd to me anymore, but I prefer him without glasses, or at least without thick rimmed black glasses! I'm not sure about the time-line, it seems odd that the little boy would take up drumming and within a couple of weeks be "THE" drummer for the Christmas pagent. And LN character doesn't get much time to grieve the death of his wife. I do like AR lines when he asks the secretary about what she wants for Christmas.. "stationary... stapler?" Typical clueless man. I guess that he was trying to give ET something she would like and if she hadn't seen the jewelry she probably would have liked the CD instead of the ususal scarf. ET broken heart scenes are wrenching, as is AR when she confronts him. WHY can't we see their faces when they ET & AR kiss at the airport instead of the back of his head? It would give us more info about the state of their relationship! I understand that the director wanted to leave some of the "love stories" unfinished and so he leaves us hanging... is said I understand it, but I still don't like it very much!

Off LA topic: I saw "The Winter Guest" today. What a good film! Was this ever in the theaters? I've heard that AR was a "man on the street"in the film: where was he? Was he the man who bumps into the two ladies?

"On a day when security around the Houses of Parliament was at maximum levels, just a few hundred metres away Westminster Cathedral was packed with family, friends and colleagues who had joined to celebrate the life of Hugo Young.

Father Dominic Milroy, who led the service, said Young, a political columnist with the Guardian for nearly 20 years, would have appreciated the irony of the occasion coinciding with the high security surrounding President Bush's state visit."He enjoyed being a critical presence in the right place at the right time," Father Milroy said.

Luminaries from the worlds of journalism, politics, the arts and the law - as well as many members of the public - joined Young's second wife Lucy and his four children for the Roman Catholic service. Young was a lifelong Catholic.

Re: your theory. From what I know, the American television industry has had more money for visuals, et al.. but while it pays for the trappings, it can't compensate for substance. That's not to say that we lack in substance, the vast body of work that emerged in the late '30s through into the '50s from some producers/directors/screenwriters in film and some televsion more than speaks for itself. The imput of over commercialization and the impact of selective marketing, and how Hollyweird and New York bought into it is the true culprit in my estimation. It'd be a rare thing if a Playhouse 90, or anything on the terms of the original Twilight Zone managed to emerge today, yet there is every reason to hope. I'm also the proud mother of a film studies major.. and if she gets where she's going, I can (biased of course) promise she'll set the industry here on it's ears!

From what I know of the British television and film industry, even the school of acting, it seems to me to have been more open, perhaps even grassroots. Showcasing "the everyman" doesn't seem to be the rarity that it is here. Perhaps they take Shakespeare's adage "all the world's a stage" to heart? I have no idea. All I know is that after that I was exposed to more BBC programming on PBS, and prefered most of it to the standard fare I could get on the regular networks. That said, at 19, when I spent a year in Vermont, and was stuck with more CBC than US networks, and with four feet of snow outside and couldn't get out enough to escape little else than Coronation Street and similar inane offerings.. I thought I'd go bonkers.

Star Trek vs Dr. Who? No comparison whatsoever, I think a more apt one to contrast Trek with would be Space 1999.. that was dull as toast as well though. Blake's 7, which I saw seldomly was much better. Battlestar Galactica.. Lorne Green portraying a futuristic Ben Cartwright lol! (sorry, never could take that show, too cutsie) Red Dwarf blows that away of course.. but it's not straight sci-fi, it's a comedy more than anything else. Absolutely brilliant while it lasted. Did you see the US pilot for that one? If not, don't. I could site far more examples.. the US market would never have taken a chance releasing the wonderful Fahrenheight 451 that came out of the UK in '66. But we did manage to put out the equally wonderful Planet of the Apes, Lost in Space (the series), while kiddie fare, was at times amazing.. and the series Quantum Leap is loved worldwide. Almost forgot, Joss Whedon's Firefly was pretty darned good too.

Basing my opinion on the plethora of American British programming fans I've corresponded with online since '94, and the outright nutters I know locally from run ins at conventions and at local bookstores and hobbyist shops, etc.. there are a hell of a lot of us who would eagerly (read that as.. begging, pleading and abasing ourselves in the worst way) take far less "visually" in exchange for more basic humanity, humor, down to earthiness, and biting wit in American programming, regardless of genre.

I'm not a sci-fi fan, persay.. horror and fantasy.. definately... but sci-fi per usual is too cold and sterile for my tastes.. I prefer the earthier genres.. and Dr. Who, while containing sci-fi elements virtually grabbed my then ten or so year old self through Baker's, colorful, breathtaking, style. From memory, the show was a late afternoon fill in, just before the requisite game shows and news programming. All the kids in the neighborhood (to be honest, the boys.. plus me the tomboy) previous to that would have had to be threatened with hell to pay "when your father gets home", if we didn't come in, on time for dinner. It must have been an extremely rainy afternoon, but I remember the show coming on and being totally captivated.. the next day in school, my friends and I talked about nothing else.

*shudders*

Oprah's website has an email form to fill out for show suggestions. I shall daringly try to create a link (and beg the lovely and talented DoC's to sigh and forgive me, and then patiently fix it if I screw it up). It is:

Oprah Link

Chandra, AFNH, I also exist as a freelance graphic designer and remember those pre-Mac days. How about ruling pens, amberlith, Lettraset and Polaroids? Not to mention the endless money spent on rapidiographs and templets. I do miss my markers thou.

Do you remember this one? How many graphic designers does it take to screw in a light bulb?
The whole department. One to screw it in, while the others sit around and discuss why it doesn't work........ hee hee, what a blast from the past!

Maybe that's why AR seemed like he was in a better mood than he usually is when he sits down with a journalist.

I have always been curious to see AR's artwork. I wondered if the portrait being worked on by "Ed" in January Man was really done by him or was just a prop. It would be great to see the work which was auctioned off. The only work I've ever found for sure is the following link for the play Antonio:Poster: Logo art, self-portrait and design by Alan Rickman

Antonio homepage

Boy, I hope that worked and I didn't mess up the page - this is the first time I've tried a link.

Hello Suzanne -- Apologies, could you please delete one of the double-posted links and my first post beginning:

I heard the end of ...
Chandra VA, - Wednesday, November 19th 2003 - 03:13:29 AM

Kate, thanks for the pics from Paris - France?:-) Seems like they were all carried around the world by some airplane or other, partying along with no time to even change clothes, doesn't it? No wonder he looks like he could bite your head off in a trice:-)Very very wary he seems to me - has seen it all before, done it a thousand times - hey: Alexander Dane has come to town:-).

I don't think I've browned it at all. It's not even dead yet. ;)

Tom Baker was the Doctor I started with, too, and I'll always have a tendre for Genesis of the Daleks for just that reason. That said, I enjoyed episodes with Hartnell, Troughton, Davidson and McCoy, too. (Must admit I never cottoned to Pertwee and Colin Baker drove me up the wall. McGann was never allowed to grow into his character, as all he was ever in was the 2-hour pilot film created by American "Fox Television." For details, see Details of the American Doctor Who TV Pilot.)

As to American vs. British science fiction... I come down quite strongly on the side that the American mainstream media SF has better visuals and the British mainstream media SF has better ideas.

Consider the following examples:
Original series of Star Trek vs. Doctor Who
Space Rangers vs. Blake's Seven
Battlestar Galactica vs. Red Dwarf

To me, a Science Fiction reader and watcher, the difference in quality is clear. The equation is that American viewers want good visuals with good stories, not good stories with good visuals -- it's a difference in priorities.

But that's just me. :D I could rant for hours.

Never mind.....

Read the sad news about Michael Kamen, as posted by Sue, and thus decided to de-lurk.

I was lucky enough to have been at "When Love Speaks" two years ago, and thought Michael Kamen was wonderful as master of ceremonies. Truly inspiring, warm, funny and magical. And that was before he played a single, beautiful note on the baby grand piano.

Tonight, posthumously, I discovered his web page and wish that I had done so earlier, even yesterday. Why am I posting? Well among others, he mentions Alan in a post on his message forum:

I'm sure our thoughts are with his family and all of his friends. His work and talent are eternal.

Thanks for the video clip. Fun to see what goes on at premieres in London. Plus It was a real value for my money for once!

As mentioned on the Kimmel interview, I think I saw "that Snape wig" on a stick signing autographs................alas no, my mistake, it was just Michael Jackson in trouble again.

It is my thought that guestbookers would be the exception.

ALso nearby was an article on Kiwi Michelle Ang who is an actress who is in Neighbours (sorry do not watch it). She states that she has not auditioned for the role as Cho Chang. It is just an exciting rumour. Which keeps it consistant as to keeping the cast of H.P. from the U.K.

Yet another H.P. article stated. The five H.P. books have also been reported as have collectivelty sold a quarter of a bilion copies. J.K. Rowling's agent said she was working on the sixth book and planned seven in all. (We knew this but we want more Snape content)

Not any of the posts signed "Joan" on the current DT (Nov 15 --Nov 17), was posted by me; those words are not mine, nor is the signature, someone(s) else is using my name, writing nasty things, then people see it and assume it was written by me, then they attack me personally.

I tried to get in touch with you today on the Downtime Bar and Solo Flights and could not get through.

Can't you understand that I'm attacked when I'm not there? I do stay away, but it does not improve.

If you hadn't done it, someone else surely would...

Unless you're dealing with a celebrity's Official Fan Site (we all know that AR doesn't have one--Suzanne's GB and site are as close as we'll most likely ever get), you can pretty much guarantee that you're involved in copyright infringement with regard to photographs and video clips, etc . . . Much of the pics and videos posted here on this Guestbook would fall into that category, and yet we view them and clamor for more and thank (rightly so) those who take the time to search for, host, and post them.

And yet there's a certain 'Netiquette that would prevent most of us from taking one of, say, Suzanne's videograms of an AR interview or film clip, and uploading it to our sites as if we had made it ourselves. Or from publishing someone else's screen captures, or desktop wallpapers, etc., etc., without asking their permission first (it's usually always kindly given, I've found).

So am I a thief? Most definitely, I'm afraid. :( LOL (As are the majority of my fellow AR and Harry Potter Webmasters/mistresses--a thieving lot we are indeed! May we find repentance someday! LOL Just not yet, as I'm rather enjoying this AR obsession and the fuel these stolen bits provide the fire . . . .) And, from the amount of attention this GB receives, I'd say there might be one or two people out there who enjoy it as well . . . ?

Is there honor among thieves? Hmm, well, there often is, I find. ;)

Anyway, it's back to the dungeons of TARF for me, to grovel at the feet of the Potions Master for forgiveness of my wretched, filthy hypocrasy . . . I'm looking forward to it! :)

Magda, thanks for that Shakepeare info.

Sue--that's what we in the US would call a snow job.

Love Actually Premiere Video

I have persuaded my present squeeze to buy me the RHPOT double DVD for Chrimble, but it appears to be unavailable! (The Sept 2003 release one) Websites such as WH Smiths, Woolworths etc talk about a new updated version coming out 26th Jan 2004, which sounds like the same one but with a different cover, black & white drawing type photos rather than Ole Kevin with his bow. Can someone please clear up the confusion for me?

William Hartnell played the Doctor as a crotchety anti-hero.
Patrick Troughton played the Doctor as a Chaplinesque clown, a "cosmic hobo," frightened and fierce.
Jon Pertwee played the Doctor as a dapper Edwardian Bond, with gizmos and gadgets and wit (and scantily clad co-stars).
Tom Baker played the Doctor as a sort of idiot savant, brilliant and baffling in turns.
Peter Davidson played the Doctor as an innocent, as a Percival, wise and naive.
Colin Baker (no relation to Tom) played the Doctor as bitter survivor.
Sylvestor McCoy played the Doctor as a sad-eyed philosopher.
Paul McGann played the Doctor as an interdimensional MacGuyver, with the "chick of the week" (McGann was the only "American Doctor").

I'm glad the BBC took the Doctor back. Americans just can't doBritish science fiction.

Someone once said, and I paraphrase badly, "British science fiction television has three dimensional characters and cardboard ships. The Americans do it the other way around."

Too true!

never mind.

AR has gone on-record to say that he despises Science Fiction (it's nice to know the Man can be stupid from time to time, and this is not one of his more brillant choices), and the Good Doctor especially.

And the flipside of being a successful actor in a successful picture is that even if you can "get rid" of the fans by smiling at them and waving, you can't do the same to the press. They're there, waiting for a statement, from the moment you leave the car to the moment you enter the theatre/room/etc. It's not like you can wave them away that easily - bottomline here is, I doubt Alan did it because he woke up feeling like he'd just be cold to fans today. Maybe he'll feel more talkative in a while. :)

LOL, mortianna. Some of us will, yes.

I've been enjoying everyone's comments about the film--it's so very interesting how a movie takes people in similar, or different ways.

Sam, thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts. You said you feel that LA is "a postmodern examination and deconstruction of the media industries, and the tricks they use to manipulate audience emotions". I confess I felt the movie to be basking in those devices (quite knowingly, and without shame) and to be a light celebration, as opposed to any sort of examination. (There was certainly a structure Curtis was using, but in my view not the same as what an examination implies.)

It might be said that any movie capable of producing such thoughtful differing responses is valuable for precisely that reason, if no other. I believe that is part of the reason AR chooses roles. To challenge us, whether in emotional or thought-provoking ways.

Movielink Obtains Internet Rights to Wide Selection of Literary Adaptations Produced by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)Monday November 17, 6:03 am ET
Shakespearean Classics Including 'Hamlet,' and 'A Midsummer Night's Dream,' and Featuring Brenda Blethyn, John Cleese, John Gielgud, Derek Jacobi, Nigel Hawthorne, Anthony Hopkins, Bob Hoskins, Helen Mirren, Alan Rickman, Patrick Stewart, and Many Others, Will Be Available for Download

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Nov. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Movielink ( www.Movielink.com ), the broadband video-on-demand (VOD) service, has obtained the Internet rights to a selection of literary adaptations produced by the BBC, starting with a number of Shakespearean classics. The titles range from tragedies "Hamlet" and "Julius Caesar," to the rousing history play "Henry V," and comedies "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and "Much Ado About Nothing."

The films are complete, unabridged versions of the plays and star a selection of award-winning actors, including Brenda Blethyn, John Cleese, John Gielgud, Derek Jacobi, Nigel Hawthorne, Anthony Hopkins, Bob Hoskins, Helen Mirren, Alan Rickman, Patrick Stewart, and many others.

These classic films will be available for download from the Movielink site as well as Movielink's college site, college.movielink.com.

"We are so excited to offer these wonderfully crafted BBC productions on the service," stated Jessica Algazi, Movielink's VP for Content. "These faithful renditions of the original plays feature some of the best, classically trained Shakespearean actors bringing the immortal words to life. The movies will be a special treat for our customers who are fanatics for the Bard, and students will be able to watch these films and use them as a supplemental resource in their studies."

"We look forward to this new partnership and to delivering our programming to Movielink's online audience," stated Beth Clearfield, Vice President of Programming for BBC Worldwide Americas. "The combination of our award-winning literary adaptations and Movielink's impressive foundation will bring quality and entertainment to the online consumer."

The movies now available on the service include those mentioned above, as well as "King Lear," "Macbeth," "Merchant of Venice," "Othello," "Richard III," "Romeo and Juliet," "Taming of the Shrew," "The Tempest," and "Twelfth Night." In the future, BBC Worldwide Americas, who brokered the deal, will work with Movielink to supply other quality productions.

Customers who download movies from Movielink can store them on their hard drive for up to 30 days. Once play is initiated, they can watch a movie as many times as they would like in a 24-hour period. Movies can be viewed at home via the PC or a television connected to the PC, or downloaded to a laptop for traveling. Users do not have to be connected to the Internet to view Movielink films. Downloads range between $1.99 and $4.99. The Movielink service is only available to broadband customers in the United States.

THIS is waht i put!!!

Nice big spread on Empireonline with some nice pix of which here are 2.
Prem2, Prem3

Also Daniel Craig was at the afterparty. And the bonus was: Jason Isaacs. He came over to us to talk, he talked and smiled and signed books all the time. What a great guy!

We were ensconced behind some particularly large girls who were making a lot of noise and probably scared AR off from coming over our side.

First off I saw Kris Marshall the guy who plays the saddo who goes to Wisconsin. All the stars were being interviewed over the other side of the red carpet for the cameras but quite a few then came across. A rather dishy man who I thought I recognised came across and was signing some stuff in front of us and was then joined by a very smiley blonde lady who seemed to be enjoying herself enormously. I then realised it was Emma Thompson and Greg Wise!! Colin Firth came across too and he was looking particularly gorgeous. I hasten to add this all happpened very quickly and there was no chance to get any pix etc in all the crush. Meanwhile I was just aware of a man striding down the red carpet with about 6 santa-clad girls on his arm. That was Bill Nighy very much in character from the film.

My pal suddenly said "Oh it's Alan Rickman" and we could see him across the other side being interviewed by various people. he was there quite a while but only got to see the back of the head mainly. (Very nice back of the head actually particularly good hair day!) He turned round and started to walk off but stopped and waved and smiled. He didn't come across despite (because of??LOL) the shouts from the large girls.Hugh Grant was seen by the front people for ages but took an enormously long time as he went back across to be interviewed. He did come over in front of us and I tried some over the head shots but I doubt very much if any will come out. We were thinking about going then Bill Nighy arrived (again!!??) and he did come over and signed stuff for the people in front. I don't know what somebody said to him but I heard him say "I'm old enough to be your father" in rather shocked tones! I said "I'm not!" but thankfully he didn't hear!!LOL

So that's about it, there were quite a few Pop Idol-type C-list celebs I didn't recognise, Oh and I saw Angus Deayton!

Well, not something I would probably do again but was great fun (once my feet thawed out!)

As I live a caffiene-free existence (quit cold-turkey, and that's not a story for mixed company), I was delighted to discover that

Hot Chocolate contains more anti-oxidants than green tea....

So, pour me a cuppa!

Would anyone else care to indulge? :D

Hiromi, yes, that's right! translation is often difficlt. :) espessialy for beginners like i'm. and differenses between languages isn't one prodlem. In fact, I'm still amazing, that " can communicate with people, who think in another than me language. *smile* And then, hi from Russia to Japan. :) and Britain, ang US too. :))) it's plesaure to talk with you all. :))

A quick note on the tea issue. I am a huge tea drinker(never touch coffee)so I was in Heaven when I visited England. We didn't particularly care for English food, so we practically lived on tea and toast with Robertsons jam. We would go to the hotel lounge and order our pot of tea with toast and jam at least twice a day, and that was not counting breakfast. The wait staff thought we were hysterical because we loved the tea so much. You would think we were eating filet mignon and champagne the way we carried on!

I enjoy iced tea when doing sweaty exercise or when out in hot weather, but for some reason, hot tea makes me nauseated.

When Kimmel asked AR if he'd like some tea, I thought "yuk!". Can you imagine being sick on live TV?

Just one cup of coffee and I'm awake all night. Caffeine is an alkaloid, and toxic to humans. People in England usuablly take tea with milk and have a lesser incidence of stomach cancer, than the people in Japan.

Numero Uno: Joan, Don't worry about people "stealing" your name in the DB. It should speak volumes that Amazon Woman -- who is a brilliant, eloquent satirist -- hasn't been there in months. Besides, as long as it's Alan-related, it can go on "FOF", poetry included.

Since I am not posting there, give me the same courtesy as you do other AR Guestbook posters.

Claudia, would you please post something to that effect, because if I post there I doubt my request would be respected.

Here in the USA youth is almost worshipped. A teen or young woman is not supposed to have a womanly figure, but rather the tiny measurements of a just developing teen.

That said, of course in my first viewing of LA, 5 pm, with the row in front of me TOTALLY empty, a girl has to come in that seats precisely in front of me. And does she sink in her seat as a proper Alan-movie-watcher would? No, she spends ten minutes fidgeting with something or another on her lap, her back almost inhumanly straight - I swear she was doing it expressly to get on my nerves.

On the up side, I could move to the seat next to my partner's, which awas empty as well - thank God for matinées, and my pride was massaged when the blasted girl finally sat back to watch the movie properly, though she didn't bother me anymore.

Now instead of stuffing anything and everything into my mouth without paying attention to what I'm eating, I ask myself "do you really want to eat that because you won't earn the next movie as quickly". I have to admit that I still eat stuff I shouldn't but it must be working because I'm losing weight, albeit very slowly, but I'm losing. Makes me wonder how much I cram into my mouth when I'm not thinking about it because I don't really feel like I'm on a diet. I guess cutting out all those extra cookies is helping.

1)What AR means when they talk about tea "No, not from America 'I'd die'"? What is 'I'd die'? Is it some trademark of tea or it is some kind of idioma?

2) What is R.I.P.?

3)Then when talk about the Queen: "What do you give high five to the Queen as you by or..." What is "to give high five" or :a low five"?

4)The last: do i understand right: chik flik is kind of...hm...something connected with sex or something? judging by AR's answer...lol :))))))

AR: Of getting rid of her, yeah there was a (cartoon?) I saw, it said on her grave R.I.P Margeret Thatcher licene for dancing.

I personally find it very hard to dislike this one. Stellar cast, all of them giving performances worthy of their reputation, good writing, good plot(s), very good directing, considering Richard Curtis is a first-timer... not many ways it can go wrong, isn't it? Cinematic masterpiece it may not be, romantic comedies don't come much better than this.

Hot: The acting. Can't think of a single bad performance, even if some deserved a better treatment. Emma Thompson's (great acting, by the way) bedroom moment was wrenching, Liam Neeson was moving overall, Bill Nighy was stupendously unpleasant as the aging rockstar, and we all loved him for it, so on, so on...The theme. Love. In all (or most of) his manifestations. You'd think it impossible to do something new out of it anymore.

Lukewarm: I wouldn't go so far as to say their subplot should be cut out, but the story with the porn actors (who are actually very shy in "real life" and won't even kiss in the first date) did take up a lot of time that could have been used to develop the other stories. It was still nice to watch and had a couple of humourous moments. The subplot with the married young couple and the best friend who falls for the girl, though sweet, was totally unnecessary, I daresay even more than the porn actors'. Well acted (Keira Knightley et al.), yes, but... nothing new there, nothing that actually adds to the movie. Bit of a waste of time, really... Kris Marshall... well, he was playing at home (with a bit of a similar character to the one he plays in My Family, which the Brits here might know about), and he was funny, but his plot was... just too far-fetched. Just too much. It's the one plot I could (almost) beg Curtis to rewrite. From scratch.

Cold: The movie's greatest advantage comes hand in hand with the greatest disadvantage. Too many talented people, too little individual screentime. Evaluating each story independently, one comes to the conclusion that in a regular movie, with a main pairing and a couple of supporting ones, the supporting characters'd have more screentime than these, who were all meant to be "leading characters". Of course, in a main cast of about 20 people, there wouldn't be much room for deep development, but one leaves the theatre dearly wishing we knew more about some of the relationships. Of the top of my head, I can recall Hugh Grant (who was fine as the PM, by the way)'s plot. The man falls for the girl, keeps falling for the girl, and eventually goes after her, without us ever seeing what happens in between. The essential is there, but continuity is a bit lost. Same for the Laura Linney/Rodrigo Santoro subplot, which was woefully underdeveloped - Rodrigo Santoro's role was more of a bit part than anything else, which is a shame, considering his talent.

Cringeworthy in a funny way: Colin Firth trying to speak Portuguese is almost as good as Bill Nighy trying to sing. But he was very funny at it. Oh, dear. And he at least tried to get the accent right (if not the verbs). Kudos to him.

Won't start on Alan Rickman *drools heavily*. Except to say he was wonderful. Not quite as strong a role as Emma Thompson's though, but that was unavoidable for the sake of the plot.

Eagerly awaiting the DVD - and particularly the cut scenes - here.

Q. You and Richard have been working together for so long. Can you talk about your collaboration and what makes it work?

Love Actually ** (Two Stars out of Four)
Starring:Emma Thompson, Hugh Grant

Comedy | Rated R | 2003

THE ROLLING STONE REVIEW

One movie, ten love stories-only half of them funny, actually One movie, ten love stories -- only half of them funny, actually Hugh Grant is a world-class charmer, and he pours it on as Britain's prime minister, a sort of bachelor Tony Blair in heat for a chubby staffer (Martine McCutcheon) who also attracts the U.S. prez, played as a Clintonesque horn dog by Billy Bob Thornton. The PM has a sister (marvelous Emma Thompson), whose husband (Alan Rickman, of the witty sneer) lusts for his secretary. There are laughs laced with feeling here, but the deft screenwriter Richard Curtis (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill) dilutes the impact by tossing in more and more stories.

As a director (it's his debut), Curtis can't seem to rein in his writer. Did we need Liam Neeson as a widower teaching his ten-year-old stepson about shagging? It's tough to see talented Laura Linney and Keira Knightley wasted in nothing roles. It's even tougher to endure the language-barrier humor between Colin Firth as a writer in love with his Portuguese housekeeper. And why the ungallant fat insults? As for the girl-boy porn actors too shy to ask for a date, that's one joke pounded into hash. And the subplot about the geeky British kid (Kris Marshall) who has to go to Wisconsin to find babes is not only subpar, it wouldn't work in any movie.

It helps that the great Bill Nighy nails every comic line as an aging rocker who claims Britney Spears was a lousy lay. Nighy's rocker refers to the old song he's recycled into a Christmas chart-topper as "solid-gold shit." If only Curtis' ear had stayed that acute. He ladles sugar over the eager-to-please Love Actually to make it go down easy, forgetting that sometimes it just makes you gag.

PETER TRAVERS
(November 3, 2003)

Star Ratings:

Sometimes children have measurements that are quite similar, but a grown woman is expected to have the small waist, noticibly small, waist.

Alan on The Jimmy Kimmel Show
As someone said before he was wearing those baker shop jeans, a blue shirt with light colored buttons and the shirt was untucked he wore a black suit coat over that. His shoes appeared to be brown( I'm not sure on the color)but they were really shiny.Ok on to the interview.

JK:How are ya Alan
AR:Good,Thanks
JK:I have to say I hope you take this as a complement but it's a little unsettling to see you smile because to me your evil
AR:How kind of you
JK: It's the least I could do. Do you prefer playing the evil guy, or do you like to mix it up alittle.
AR:No, as long as I can make sense of one word after another I never know what they are(inaudible, I think he said "or are going to be" but I'm not possitive)
JK: And your from what part of England are you from?
AR: Right in the middle of London, right buy paddington station.So if anyone is coming in on the Heathrow express, I;m a minute over the road.
JK:They can stop by.
AR: they're welcome to (inaudible, something about there'll be tea)
JK: That would be nice, that would be pretty nice.I have a little tea here if you'd like some too.
AR: No not, not from America 'I'd die'
JK: Are you a night bird, OH really, really.
AR: You havent got a clue
JK: I was actually,I worked in a radio station here in town KROCK, Elvis costello came in and he asked for some tea and I rushed to make him some, and he said "this is the best tea Ive had since I've been here, what kind is it?" I said 'lipton'. True story absolutely, well sorry about the tea. BUt we have other good stuff, like a...
AR: Your government
JK: yeah, like we have governor Swartzeneger(something, I dont know how to spell it)you dont have that.
AR: Thats fabulous.
JK: You have...
AR: No we just got rid of 'well not just' but we managed to get rid of Margeret Thatcher and that's takin along time.
JK:I see you were in favor of that.
AR: Of getting rid of her, yeah there was a (cartoon?) I saw, it said on her grave R.I.P. Margeret Thatcher licence for dancing.
JK:Oh, thats nice. She was married to president Ronald Reagan, for a while right?
AR: She was yes right, thats completely true.
JK: Isnt that right, they were dating or something Im not sure what happened. Have you met like the prince and Queen and all her family?
AR: I have yeah, I've met quite alot of them .um but ya know I dont believe in any bowing or scraping. I wont do any of that. I was in a film line up once with Kate Winslet and she;s standing next to me once, I said ' curtsy and I'll kill you'.
JK: Oh really, so you dont go for that
AR: NO, I wont have any of that stuff.
JK: What do you give a high five to the Queen as you go by or...
AR: She's a little short for that.
JK: or a low five.
AR: ( Alan lean's forward and looks down) Hello down there.
JK: You know one of the women who works here Molly, said that she just saw your new movie Love Actually and she said that she would personally reimburse anyone who doesnt like it, thats how much she loved the film.
AR: Good for you Molly.
JK: yeah , so if you want your 8 dollars, afterwards, write in care of Molly here but um, it's a little bit differant is it a chick flick this film?
AR: I think it might be a dick flick as well
JK: It's a little bit of everything
AR: There are some very bautiful women that take their clothes off so if any of the men here are interested in that . Ya know.
JK: Oh that's good, lets take a look at a clip Alan Rickman in Love Actually( they play the'lots of sex and babies office conversation of Alan and Laura)
JK:( he says some things that are inaudible to me) Jackson, your ten years old ya know this guy from the Harry P otter movies?
Jackson: yeah
JK: what do you think of him?
Jackson:evil
JK: Hes evil, thats what I would say . earlier. Do kids...
AR: what did I do I;ve saved Harry's life all the time.
Jackson: Yeah in the first one ya know.
JK: something inaudible and then the kid repeats what he said.
JK: Do a lot of children recognize you now?
AR: No, no ,no cause i'm careful not to wear that black wig in the street.
JK: oh is that right, thats good.
AR: I could even put the wig on a stick and it would sign autographs.
JK: oh really but otherwise they dont give you the eye as they walk pass.
AR: No , no they believe in the story. I'm not him, Thankfully.
JK: you're not , thats good good for you. Had you read the books before you got invovled in this whole thing
AR: NO, I just read them as we get there ya know so I dont have a clue( he turns to the 10 year old and asks' can you tell me what happens in the next one'?
Jackson: shrugs his shoulders shakes his head no and Says ' I dont know' ( this gesture should be instantly recognizable to the parents on the GB).
JK:No, at Fleas school( Flea , from the Red Hot Chili Peppers opened a school for children that apparently concentrates on music, Thats why the 10 year old Jackson was there playing the Trumpet) they dont teach the kids how to read it's stickly trumpets...
DL hughly: Hes already a cool musician,no.
JK: thats right , all right we're going to get him tattooed up. Alan Rickman is here. ( then Alan's session is over and then at the end of the show
JK: I want to thank Alan Rickman, Alan come back anytime you were fantastic.
AR: thank you
JK: LOve actually his movies in theatres now .

On the news, they showed a little piece on Love Actually (premieres here tomorrow). They focused more on Rodrigo Santoro ("Laura Linney"'s love interest) and Lucia Moniz ("Colin Firth"'s), seeing as she's portruguese and he speaks portuguese, but they still had the good sense of showing snippets of interviews with the rest of the cast. Main focus on Richard Curtis and Hugh Grant, as usual, but here's Emma/Alan's bit:

Emma: *something about being a family movie. Didn't quite catch the words as I was drooling at the man sitting next to her*

Alan: You can take the whole family. *smile*

Journalist asks about their characters' story and the main reasons they'd give for people to see the movie.

Emma: (roughly this) Our story's not about two people meeting and falling in love, it's about two people who've been married for years and are facing a few problems. Alan: *quiet* *smile* (he was very smiley in this interview)

Emma: And there are lots of wonderful love stories, very nice stories, and there are also lots of beautiful girls taking their clothes off, which... in my opinion has always been a very good reason to watch a movie.

Alan: Hmmm! *big smile*

show off!

There were some smart ass kids on the show that thought they were all that, at age 7 or 10 or so, cuz they could blow a bugle........

God forgive them. They had no idea they were on a show with a legend and I wanted to smack them around abit. Mr Rickman handled it all very nicely but I think the dungeon kids were almost disrespectful.

BUT hey, they are only about 50 years younger so one must keep (all of this in respective.) I think he should place all the other guests into immediate detention... HA

i noticed AR's crossed arms, but they were like that when jimmy kimmel came out of commercial. i was wondering if that was just his "i hate giving interviews" body language, if it was "this theatre is freezing (a la dave letterman)" or if it was "toby keith is only slightly more conservative than George W. Bush himself" pose. thoughts?

he was extremely relaxed, charming and pointed out that the queen was too short for high-fives (had to be there) and most kids were into the story, not the actors behind the characters

He seems to despise American tea. The topic of our government was thrown out but was quickly dropped (darn it!). Kimmel asked if he had met any of the royals. AR's response was that he had met quite a few of them and that he really didn't go in for all the bowing and curtsey stuff. He said that when he met some of the royals with Kate Winslet that he told her if she curtsied, he'd "kill her". He wore jeans a dark pullover (I believe and a black sport coat.

Here's the link to the Wayne Brady site---perhaps it has just not been updated. I plan to set my VCR just in case (here in Detroit area it's on at 1:30 AM!!)

See Boggart Snape...
The scene you've all been waiting for!: Tee Hee Hee...(there's a bonus picture of TANFSS here with Dan Radcliffe I didn't expect...don't recall seeing it in my HP# book)
Protect the students!...and that Potter boy (dang my promise to the Headmaster)

Personally, I'm waiting for the Looney Tunes movie to show here in Manila so that I can see the trailer personally. At least the screen'll be bigger than that of my computer...(^-^)

I started to write down my thoughts about the film, and they will hopefully form some sort of cohesive fan review which I'll try to remember to post . . .

Do not be concerned about what you see in patterns on the floor or computer screen backgrounds, what you see is your own interests; if you're a farmer you may see shapes similar to animals, if you're a choreographer you may see ballerinas. It's also a clue to your mood.

http://www.digicasey.com/TeaserTrailer.html

Sorry, forgot to mention that I think this was intended to be a grown-up comedy, and not a family film that got R notices by mistake. Not only is there the nudity of the sex film couple, but I don't think I have seen breasts being massaged quite that actively in a film before - no, he was not very good at it, but that's the point!

Now,MAJOR SPOILERS ON LA

In Toronto yesterday I found time between the dentist and a terribly serious Remembrance Day concert to sneak into Love Actually. Which I enjoyed enormously. There is a lot more bite to that film than seems to have been noticed by the critics - I can only assume they were listening to the schmaltzy musical soundtrack and not the dialogue. I would really like to have seen the version shown at the Toronto film festival which I believe was before the music was added - it is a major distraction from the various story lines, I think.

First, these are not all happy-ever-after stories. When AR's character is seen at the airport at the end of the film, ET is obviously not sure whether the secretary has been along on the trip or not. Perhaps there is an outtake on the cutting room floor showing her in the crowd behind? Yes, the Laura Linney character vanishes, but the point has been made. Her family love and loyalty to her unbalanced brother are her first priority, and that was her decision.

I take issue with Martine McCutcheon's character being described as the tea lady at No. 10. She is seen carrying files several times, and is obviously a junior in the PMO.

I wish Colin Firth had played the PM, and vice versa. He can do the comedy, but has the gravitas for the serious moments such as the face-off with the American President which I don't think Grant had. Hugh, on the other hand, could have done the writer in his delightfully fluffy way.

I loved seeing London all dressed for Christmas (as, I think, Georgiana is doing right now) and am looking forward to seeing it myself in a couple of weeks. At least they didn't throw snow all around.

mortianna

I ALWAYS believed the mystery woman to be Geraldine McEwan - and want to prove it. I did a search on Google and came up with a pic from her newest film. Yes, she IS older but the BOSOM pic is from the premiere of Robin Hood, and even the man has aged since then - if only just a bit. Plus, she has a sick husband at home, I seem to recall from some venue or other.

But even CZJ detractors much recognise she got her big break in Hollywood before she met her very famous hubby - well, granted, it was in the ever-typecasting role of a curvy latin (God forbid they'd have a curvy american), but it did allow her to get other roles, like that of the american leading lady in Entrapment, and, if nothing else, I think that is commendable about her. Getting a job despite her body (which seems nothing short of perfect to me, blast the woman).

There's this italian who's only starting to hit it big in Hollywood, Monica Bellucci, who's curvy, and, as far as I'm concerned, is a beautiful woman - she seems absolutely immune to pressures to get thinner, unlike poor Kate Winslet, who, a while ago, said in a public statement she was starting on a diet in order to get a job (I think that's when hell broke loose about the actresses' weight). But I do think most Hollywood leading ladies are under pressure to get thin - I remember an actress who left the Ally McBeal cast a while before the series ended saying lunchtime on set was a terrifying thing "Everyone went to their trailers, you didn't see anyone eating!". I think the people in charge of the wardrobe there also said by the end of the series, Calista Flockhart's skirts (which'd already been small-sized to start with) had been gradually reduced to about half their original size - I don't know how much of this is exaggeration, though. Ms. Flockhart is thin as a stick, but from what i recall of the first episodes, there wasn't much weight she could shed there without wasting into oblivion.

http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/Studio/7608/cherie.htm

LA is a 15 certificate in the UK, are our 15/16 years olds somehow more worldly and mature than in the US? I doubt it.

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. For non USers, it’s a “news” parody show. The one real interview each day is the short, 3 min kind. Fairly painless publicity stop. And Stewart is very smart and can talk to different types of people. Recently he has had Angelina Jolie, academic author of best-selling bio of Benjamin Franklin, separately, Will Farrell and Bob Newhart, all very different interviews.

NPR interviewers, in this order: 1. Liane Hansen, host of Sunday Weekend show. Fine sensibilities and mature, combines thoughtfulness and feeling. Pace can be slow. Loves eclectic rockers, who die to be her Sunday arts interview. 2. Susan Stamberg, retired evening news anchor. She is now able to pick her own gigs, and chooses almost exclusively to do arts stories. Another intelligent grownup. 3. Scott Simon. Almost as good as the two women.

A correction--the movie LA when "assembled" ran 3 and a half hours, not just 3!. Let's hope the DVD extras will include the pair of scenes lost from each character. If Curtis wrote books (does he?) LA might have made an excellent novel. Curtis did mention that he liked the structure of Altman's "Short Cuts", and Woody Allen's "Crimes and Misdemeanors" (don't miss the latter). He didn't mention Paul Thomas Anderson's "Magnolia" (I didn't care for t hat one.)

Although LA was called a portmanteau film (I think it was a Colin firth website) I'm not sure it fits. As I understand it, portmanteau is a collaborative effort of several stories written by several authors (think "New York Stories") around a theme or set of themes. Actually FOF next door is in the vein of portmanteau, come to think of it, at least in regards to several of the writers.

BTW, if you like dramatic ensemble films, try the Australian film "Lantana", which deals with four couples--and something more, making it a thriller as well as a character study about adult relationships, love, trust, and betrayal. (Defintitely not for the kids.)

Renie, I really loved and appreciated your description of how Charlie Rose operates as an interviewer, and I whole-heartedly agree with it. When I first started watching him, I, too, thought, "How in the world did this guy get his own (highly respected) show?"

He DOES interrupt his guests (frequently LOL), gets some of his facts muddled on occasion, or misses facts that he (or his research assistants, at least) should have known prior to the interview, and does sometimes come across as "star-struck". These things are annoying at best, infuriating at worst, depending on the topic and the guest. And yet time after time I am impressed with what he draws from his guests, even when the interview didn't go as well as it could have (which is my opinion of his AR interview). He is able to direct the discussion such that, somehow, you're bestowed these perfect little snippets of truth, or some revelation, or emotion, that you rarely get on other shows, whether they be the formulaic, late-night jobs or the more informal or "arty" ones . . .

I admire the restraint AR shows in his speech, always searching--or so it seems--for the right words, and I'd like to learn how to do that myself! LOL It takes a self-control and a willingness to suffer constant interruption by people who feel the need to finish your thoughts/sentences that I don't think many people have--I know I don't! LOL I think that Rose often speaks what he is thinking as he thinks it (something I also do, especially when I'm nervous).

Saw LA yesterday, liked it more than I expected (I'm not a great fan of Richard Curtis films), and especially liked the storylines and performances of Hugh Grant, Colin Firth, and Alan. Yes, he doesn't have a lot of onscreen time, but thankfully his character keeps popping up now and then just when you need him.

Yes, Rose visibly relaxed when he asked the LA cast about politics. And yes, he's runs a great show, without which TV broadcast (and I) would suffer greatly. But there were other areas--about the film, or acting--that might have been plumbed instead. Of course, at a dinner party, those would be just the sort of interesting questions you might ask--and it would be a blast to conjure up your perfect dinner party guests. (You mean you haven't done that? Try it: first go round, all living persons, second, living or not.)

Emma gave a long answer, and was the most anxious to express herself about the war, Blair, and the feeling of the possibility of change after 9/11, especially as expressed by American journalists. She said there was a feeling that the world was at a changing point--and the opportunity seemed to have slipped away. Emma is probably as left-leaning as AR--they seem to share a political axis as well as a very comfortable and deep friendship. (The comments they make to each other in front of the press or in TV appearances are either inside jokes, or complicit fictions--though that's just my opinion. In the sound bite discussed in the GB earlier, Emma was attesting to AR's ability to disregard what's uninteresting to him, that's all. It was a compliment in several ways, to my thinking. He and Rima have been partners for about 36 years, if press numbers are correct.)

AR speaks thoughtfully, not at all the first thing which rises to the surface, which is a beat too slow for Rose's pace. "I'm always careful to say what I think and not to just b.s. That takes a little thought and fidgeting." (The rest of this article is here. It's the January 1998 Guardian article which mentions he's going to do The Moon & Sixpence"--but I've come to believe the writer got that info by misreading this Boston Globe article where AR said he'd like to film a remake of M&S. Terrible pity. If someone runs into him again, maybe AR might clarify?) Anyway, whether it's to ensure his show doesn't lag, or to rescue a guest who's momentarily caught wordless, Rose's instincts run afoul of AR's measured speech. Not to say AR doesn't toss off delicious one-liners.

Barbara the Australian, I did a Internet search on Geraldine McEwan and she was born 1932 (71 years old), I don't think she is the woman on AR's arm. I could be wrong, but the pic of her I saw looked like the pic of Mortianna in RHPOT, so I think its the same actress.

My point is, "Matrix3" has an "R" rating -- and it deserves it for the violence and the "adult situations." LA has an "R" rating for "language and sexual content" (don't you love the PC language??)

I am very glad to "know" some parents who exert more control over what their children see than many I have known!!:(

Now, AR-related, the story of how he was cast in "In Demand." The video director asked the singer for ideas -- vidoes have become mini-movies, does she think of any genre? She said she always wanted to dance a tango. The director asked, With whom? Singer, in a quiet voice said, "Alan Rickman."

And the price charged for the tape of Charlie's interview with Alan was no more than what is charged for tapes of other interviews. In fact, there were so many requests for the tape that the distributor was willing to lower the price for us.

Have enjoyed all the various views of LA! You have pointed out some things I missed the first time.

-- thanks for your response Ann -- i was worried that i missed out on some great music video clip ;-)

can i ask you what you meant with long-ish story?

Maybe it is because they are new fans as was previously mentioned on this board.

Don't get me wrong--Alan has some WONDERFUL moments in this film, but when you compare this to some of his other roles like

Truly Madly Deeply / Col Brandon in S&S / Sheriff in RH/ Hans in Die Hard/ Rasputin / The Preacher / and on and on and on.

As we all know in some of those parts he actually BURNS A HOLE IN THE SCREEN with his passionate performances.

LA is a lov