we are meant to get an extra 12 minutes of footage as well as interviews etc.... I hope that means we get at least some of Alan..... I will let you know once I have watched the extras.... *G*
[Little while later - After having watched the film]
OK I have watched the DvD. All of the extras are added back into the film, and we get to see Sheriff of Nottingham worshipping the Pagan Gods, the call off Christmas scene is extended, the scene where he recruits the Celts is shown and you get to see him celebrating Marion's kidnap, as well as finding out that Mortianna is his mum.
I know it is not due for release in the USA till June 10 and The UK version is not out for a few months yet but I had pre-ordered it from Play.com and they must have had an early delivery, not that I am complaining! *G*
I can thoroughly recommend this DvD to you ladies. It is great to see at least some (if not all) of Alan's scenes put back in and having watched the interview Alan gave at the time for the film you even get to see a little behind the scenes footage of him and Kevin working on the fight scene from the Sheriff's wedding *G*
Kimberly
Michigan, USA - Friday, May 30, 2003
There is another Chelsea Flower Show pic in tonight's London Standard ES magazine. AR with a brolly!
Sue
England - Friday, May 30, 2003
Here's a bit of "Alan" news from an Eddie Izzard fan:
Alan was spotted Wednesday evening (5/28) in New York at Eddie's Broadway play "A Day in the Death of Joe Egg."
Kimberly
Michigan USA - Friday, May 30, 2003
Copyright 2003 Guardian Newspapers Limited
The Guardian (London)
May 27, 2003
SECTION: Guardian Features Pages, Pg. 21
HEADLINE: Pick of the day
. . . Truly, Madly Deeply (Anthony Minghella, 1991) 10.10pm, FilmFour This was seen as the British version of Ghost, the 1990 Hollywood tale about a man returning after death to comfort his grieving girlfriend. Minghella's film (he wrote the script as well as directed) is less sentimental, more emotionally true, and funnier. He's helped by fine acting - Juliet Stevenson as the bereaved Nina makes you feel her pain in all its choking, runny-nosed misery, while Alan Rickman does a very funny ghostly turn as Jamie, invading her flat with a bunch of fellow late-night ghouls. Tears and laughter, all at once: clever stuff.
Georgiana
Seattle - Tuesday, May 27, 2003
Copyright 2003 Belfast Telegraph Newspapers
Sunday Life
May 25, 2003
HEADLINE: Films on TV this week
. . . THURSDAY . . .
Galaxy Quest (Net2: 9.30pm): This is the one I've been telling you all about for months, a wonderfully funny spoof of Star Trek and all those Trekker conventions. It involves the cast of a long-gone TV space series, reduced to doing the convention circuit ... but when they're kidnapped by the inhabitants of a small planet, who pick up transmissions and think they're for real, they demand that the hapless actors save them from an invasion. Tim Allen, Alan Rickman and Sam Rockwell are brilliant ... but Sigourney Weaver steals the honours, as the dim bimbo on the bridge. Don't miss!
Georgiana (...a resemblance that has been noted on the GB previously...)
Seattle - Monday, May 26, 2003
Copyright 2003 Times Newspapers Limited
Sunday Times (London)
May 25, 2003, Sunday
SECTION: Features; Culture; 18
HEADLINE: A Midsummer Night's Dream
BYLINE: John Peter
Bristol Old Vic
The Vic is in good hands at last. David Farr, its new artistic director, directs a tough, nimble-footed production: no big starry names, no pseudo-intellectual reinterpretation, but a strong, attractive young cast who tackle the play as if it were a brand-new text. For the four lovers, this is neither melodrama nor arch comedy, but a life-or-death trap: the forest confrontation could end very badly indeed. Kate Fleetwood (Helena) is the best of the four, a firecracker and a lady: at the end, she covers her face as if she cannot believe her luck. Jaye Griffiths is the sexiest, most beautifully spoken Hippolyta/Titania in years; Ronan Vibert (Theseus/Oberon) sometimes rushes his lines a bit, but he has a majestic voice and the eagle hauteur of a younger Alan Rickman. The fairies are agile, debauched-looking, puppet-like, almost sinister, straight out of ETA Hoffmann. Tom Smith is a first-rate Puck, dangerous but likeable; and the Mechanicals' play, performed with sober, lyrical seriousness, is a treat.
Georgiana (...a resemblance that has been noted on the GB previously...)
Seattle - Monday, May 26, 2003
ES Metro Magazine Pick of the Day
Saturday 24th May
HARRY POTTER AND THE PHILOSOPHERS STONE
6pm Sky Movies Premier (Ch301)
"Some complained this was too long (152 mins), and others preferred The Lord of the Rings, but ignore the naysayers; the boy Potter does the business. This is fun, in a Just William, Jennings way, with the added bonus of magic, monsters and baddies galore. Alan Rickman stands out as the menacincg Prof.Severus Snape, but is hebad, or just a bit anti-social?"
Sue
England - Friday, May 23, 2003 at 03:33:10 (PDT)
Here is the Rex pic from the Pearl and Dean bash
Sue
- Friday, May 23, 2003 at 03:53:23 (PDT)
Um, looks like the Daily Mail's Wicked Whispers column has got it in for Alan (from yesterday's paper, 20th May):
"One of the most bizarre exhibits at the Chelsea Flower Show yesterday was an old grey bloom with curious orange-brown streaks on top. So what was this wooden-spoon winning exhibit? Step forward dour thespian Alan Rickman and his
cringe-making dyed hair."
They just love to be scathing about our hero (hint:
wicked.whispers@dailymail.co.uk ...)
Becky
Manchester, UK - Wednesday, May 21, 2003
Here is a pic of AR at Chelsea from Rex features (Looks like he bought a pot LOL!!)
Sue
England - Wednesday, May 21, 2003
Copyright 2003 Telegraph Group Limited
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH(LONDON)
May 20, 2003, Tuesday
SECTION: Pg. 05
HEADLINE: Ringo Starr adds the final touch to Octopus's Garden
BYLINE: By Charles Clover Environment Editor
RINGO Starr, the former Beatle, and his wife, Barbara Bach, obligingly turned up for the preview of Chelsea Flower Show yesterday to inspect the garden inspired by his
song, Octopus's Garden.
Starr was the ultimate accessory for a garden that attempts to turn a coral reef, complete with fish and giant sea urchins, into terrestrial form.
The Hasmead Octopus Garden, designed by Marney Hall, is worthier and more ecological than Yellow Submarine, the pop-art feature film for which the Beatles wrote the
soundtrack in 1968, including Ringo's song.
The Chelsea programme says it is intended to make a statement about an underwater landscape threatened by global warming.
It has metal sea fans and giant sea urchins, a glass fish fountain, and drifts of brightly coloured flowers to represent coral fishes. The surf line is evoked by waves of cow parsley rolling on to a limestone cliff face at the top of the site.
Chelsea has never wanted for famous names on preview day. Cilla Black could be seen being photographed with children dressed as bumblebees. Alan Rickman, Richard E
Grant, Princess Michael of Kent and Jerry Hall tried to avoid the showers. . . .
Georgiana
Seattle - Tuesday, May 20, 2003
Copyright 2003 Times Newspapers Limited
Sunday Times (London)
May 18, 2003, Sunday
SECTION: Features; Culture; 58
HEADLINE: Best film: Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone
BYLINE: Edward Porter
Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone
Saturday, Sky Movies Premier, 6pm
[ends with . . . ]
. . . the supporting turns from a host of old favourites - including Richard Harris, Maggie Smith and Alan Rickman - are all deliciously ripe.
Georgiana
Seattle - Monday, May 19, 2003
[and, yes, they slipped--this one is 'Chamber,' not 'Phoenix'--which is book 5, also soon to be forthcoming...]
Georgiana
Seattle - Tuesday, May 13, 2003
From (and copyright) "The Hollywood Reporter"
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (DVD)
Apr. 22, 2003
By Glenn Abel
Warner Bros.
Alan Rickman, noted alchemist of stage and screen, knows the real magicians of "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets."
The second Potter film presented "a real opportunity for the craftspeople of the industry to show what they can do -- in a big way," Rickman says on the DVD version of "Chamber." "It's a fantastic demonstration."
Alas, the wizards of Below the Line will have to find another DVD on which to unveil the secrets behind creations such as the fiery Phoenix, Dobby the downcast house-elf and the film's giant snakes and spiders.
Like the first "Potter" DVD, "Chamber" stays true to Potter's legions of young fans, with games, happy-face interviews and trivia tests for tweens and their younger siblings. There's no uneasy mix of techie and kiddie extras, as has become standard on DVDs for effects-laden films ("Star Wars," "Ice Age," "Spider-Man"). Grown-up muggles need not apply for this semester at Hogwarts.
Warner Bros. has released "Chamber" as a two-disc set in widescreen (enhanced for 16x9) and full-screen. Both retail for $29.95. The 161-minute film looks great, as in theaters, with medieval ambers and black-magic blacks effectively conveying the second installment's darker tone. Skin tones are especially pleasing. Most of the murk that haunted the first "Potter" film's darker scenes has done a disappearing act.
The Dolby Digital 5.1 EX mix comes in English and Spanish, crisply delivering the high-volume jolts as Harry hurls spells and battles the beasts of the underworld. Directional effects are used with reserve, enhancing their impact when finally unleashed (check out the surround at 1:48, when Harry hurls a hungry spider across your living room.)
Menu art alternates between Gothic creepy and castle-fire warmth. Fortunately, navigation links don't call for as much needless casting about as last time out.
The DVD for "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" cruelly locked its deleted scenes behind a time-consuming game. "Phoenix" rises above that, providing direct access to 19 outtakes. Most are snippets, but director Chris Columbus unlocks a few telling scenes: a creepy visit to a shop with Lucius Malfoy and his son; a bit of school politics as classmates gossip about Harry's true intentions; and some nice one-on-ones between Potter and Hagraid and Hermione and Professor Lockhart.
"Potter" author J.K. Rowling and American screenwriter Steve Kloves talk about the project in a fairly informative interview apparently taken from British television.
"I just steal her best stuff," Kloves says.
"And I don't sue," Rowling shoots right back.
While Rowling indicates that she's told Kloves more about her closely guarded plot lines than anyone else, he still gets his information about the series' direction on a "need to know" basis.
"The hardest thing for me is, I'm writing a story to which I do not know the end," he says. "I keep hoping that (Rowling) will slip up and tell me something."
The duo say the amount of interaction needed on "Chamber" was significantly less than on the first "Potter" film because of its linear plot. Both agree that the next film, "The Prisoner of Azkaban," due next year, should be the best in the series, playing off major new characters.
Aside from the Rowling-Kloves piece, the cast interviews are securely canned.
Richard Harris, who died in October, raves about the actors-rep atmosphere on Columbus' set. "I've never seen a day of pressure," the headmaster says. "We trust each other." The DVD has no mention of Harris' passing.
Jason Isaacs, who debuted as the white-haired villain Professor Malfoy, says he was amazed to find his onscreen son Draco, an "unpleasant little slimeball," is in reality "a tremendously charming young man." The actor, Tom Felton, and star Daniel Radcliffe are, in fact, good pals, Isaacs reveals.
Richard Griffiths, who plays Potter's cluelessly abusive uncle, raves about Radcliffe's progress since the first film, in which he was a "schoolboy" who had to be told everything. "He's grown amazingly in his understanding of how to move around the camera," Griffiths says. "It's wonderful to watch him open up."
Kenneth Branagh, who limns the blowhard dandy Professor Lockhart, says he was made most to feel at home on the set by the trio of young stars: Radcliffe, Emma Watson (Hermione Granger) and Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley). A clip of the kids horsing around shows them looking every bit the Fab Three.
Studio craftsmen do get a nod on the DVD. The classy featurette "Build the Scene" gives youngsters a proper lesson in the logistics of filmmaking ("It starts with a script ..."). The docu covers cinematography, sets, costumes, visual effects and other details rarely found in extras for young people. The featurette should be required viewing in middle schools across the Potter kingdom.
Columbus talks about the "snakelike quality" he sought in the camerawork, playing off one of the film's major themes. A clip shows the director in a pas de deux with a particularly versatile Steadicam operator that allowed Columbus to capture the exact union of images and movement that he sought.
Cinematographer Roger Pratt, whose mission was to convey the dread found in the Chamber of Secrets, says, "I think dark is a mood -- how you achieve it might not entail less light." Instead, Pratt worked with perspective, creating the illusion that hallways and stairways go on into infinity.
John Williams runs a clip of a scene without his music, and then with it, making the case for syrupy strings as conveyors of emotion.
The DVD's so-so games include an "Evil Dead"-like visit to the Forbidden Forest and a maze that rewards victors with an interactive tour of the Chamber of Secrets.
Other extras include production sketches, a build-it-yourself slide show of photos from the film, a preview of the DVD-ROM features and a noninteractive demo of the Electronic Arts video game.
Georgiana (spoken like a director!)
Seattle - Tuesday, May 13, 2003
Copyright 2003 Financial Times Information
All rights reserved
Global News Wire - Asia Africa Intelligence Wire
Copyright 2003 Kasturi & Sons Ltd (KSL)
The Hindu
May 9, 2003
HEADLINE: A FRESH, POETIC ROMANCE
WHAT'S THE best contemporary romantic drama you've never seen? Answer: "Truly, Madly, Deeply". And yes, the movie is as good as the title. Anthony Minghella's debut film must be the least-seen-great-romantic movie out there. It's poetic, funny, whimsical, original and of course, passionate - with a strong, lovely, moving performance from Juliet Stevenson (the role was written for her), perhaps the most underrated British actress now.
There's only one clue that Minghella, making his debut with "TMD", would go on to make "The English Patient" and "The Talented Mr. Ripley" and that is his overarching romanticism.
The three movies, as different as they are, have in common this overpowering yet delicate sense of fatal, obsessive romanticism. When the two old lovers reunite in "TMD", they hum Joni Mitchell's "A Case of You": "You are like holy wine in my blood. So bitter and so sweet. I'll drink a case of you, my darling. And I'll still be on my feet."
Minghella is always looking for fresh, poetic, un-Hollywood ways to do a romance. When the film opens we see Juliet talking to a shrink about her grief. She's lost her lover (Alan Rickman) whom she loved deeply. She tries to cope with routine but fails. The only place she wants to be is at home - grieving, remembering - at the piano. He was a cellist, she a pianist, and a favourite thing for them to do was to play a composition of his.
One evening, weighed down by memory and grief, she plays the piano, humming their tune, when she begins to hear the familiar cello. Smiling, she plays with more intensity until she realises the cello is not her imagination, it must be real. She turns around and there he is, cello in hand, sitting on his customary stool, smiling his smile. It turns out to be really him after all - his ghost. It is her longing for him that has summoned him, he says, wryly.
The moment feels real, thrillingly real. Real enough to make you feel her disbelief and joy.
The movie is full of genuinely whimsical and truthful moments. One afternoon they play their old game: each one has to describe how much one loves the other without missing a beat:
She: I love you really...
He :I love you really, truly.
She: I love you really, truly, madly.
He: I love you really, truly, madly, deeply.
She: I love you really, truly, madly, deeply, passionately.
He: I love you really, truly, madly, deeply, passionately, remarkably.
She: I love you really, truly, madly, deeply, passionately, remarkably... hmmm..uh..ummm... He: ha!
She: hmm - deliciously!
He: I love you really, truly, madly, remarkably, passionately, deliciously... hmm...
She: You passed on deeply! That was your word! That means you can't have meant it!
In the movie's most hilarious moment, she comes home one evening to find a bunch of weird looking strangers before her television watching videos of classics. He explains: they are his friends from the Other Side - he's invited them for a spot of video watching - they are all, you see, movie buffs. They make her go out to the video store and rent movies for them and sit up all night watching movies. When one movie gets over, they slide in another into the VCR, stopping only to take a quick vote - "Five Easy Pieces" or "Fitzcaraldo"? - not seeing or hearing her roll her eyes and groan at this bizarre invasion of privacy by movie buff ghosts - specially when she doesn't even know which period they are from!
"TMD" wonders how long the living can love the dead and the dead, the living - it has Juliet meet this wonderful character called Mark (Mark Maloney) a charming, funny, sensitive, talented man and to her astonishment (and ours) she finds herself drawn to him.
An utterly beautiful moment in the film is when Juliet and Alan sit on the carpet-less floor, each at one end of the room, and think back on the first time they met: how they talked into the night and only somewhere in the early hours of morning did they touch each other for the first time and found themselves shaking, trembling from contact. And he remembers this Spanish poem she taught him once and begins to whisper it in Spanish, asking her to translate. She does, line after line, even as she gasps, laughs and interrupts to remark that his accent is terrible: Forgive me, If you are not living, If you beloved, my love, if you have died, All the leaves will fall on my breast, It will rain on my soul all night, all day, My feet will want to march to where you are sleeping, But I shall go on living.
And they embrace, crying. This time they know it's goodbye. So "TMD" is not about learning to love again but about Juliet falling in love with Mark WITHOUT her love for Alan [?Jaime] diminishing.
In "The English Patient", the heroine tells her lover that among the many things she loves in her life, her husband is one. And in "The Talented Mr. Ripley", the hero falls in love with the husband and the wife, unable to choose between them.
The heart'', Minghella has informed us in "The English Patient", is an organ of fire.'' And time and again in his films he shows us why the heart, when forced to choose, will not choose but burn brightly for two souls.
(pradeepsebastian@hotmail.com)
Visual by Netra Shyam
Georgiana
Seattle - Friday, May 09, 2003
Copyright 2003 NEWS GROUP NEWSPAPERS LTD
The Sun
May 8, 2003
HEADLINE: MY INSPIRATION
BYLINE: Tim Spanton
Celebs pay tribute to their heroes
THERE is only one place where success comes before work--the dictionary. But whatever the career, there are many different paths to reaching the top. On Tuesday we revealed Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson's recipe for his spectacular triumphs in the high-pressure world of football. Today we hear from five more well-known figures who all pay tribute to the people who have helped them hit the heights. Our famous five are actor Alan Rickman, who plays Professor Severus Snape in the Harry Potter films, Liverpool and England soccer hero Michael Owen, gardener Alan Titchmarsh, telly presenter Davina McCall and actor Nigel Havers, who stars in the TV series Manchild.
ADAPTED from Moving On Up: Inspirational Advice To Change Your Life, by Sarah Brown--wife of Chancellor Gordon Brown. The book contains first-hand accounts of how stars achieve success. It is published by Ebury Press at Pounds 6.99. Call The Sun Bookshop on 0870 162 5005 to order a copy for Pounds 6.99, including post and packing. For every copy sold, Pounds 1 will be donated to Sarah's children's charity PiggyBank Kids.
MICHAEL OWEN
Dad's helped me to achieve lots of my goals
MY boyhood hero was Gary Lineker but my dad Terry, a former professional footballer with Everton, Bradford City, Chester and Cambridge, was undoubtedly my inspiration. As soon as I could walk he had me kicking a ball, but he never forced it on me. He helped me develop my own opinions and stressed I should enjoy the game first and foremost. He could always offer plenty of advice but there was one lesson he drummed in - follow up the ball in the goal. It is remarkable how many goals I poached because of his words. My advice to people is always to concentrate and seek to improve. You can always learn. Work hard and don't get carried away with any success you may have.
DAVINA McCALL
MTV's brilliant Ray was shining light
THE idea of becoming a presenter didn't cross my mind until I saw MTV for the first time. Everyone on the channel looked like they were having a blast but one man shone - Ray Cokes. He was brilliant--hilariously funny and totally unscripted. He was utterly inspiring and made me want to get into television--in particular MTV. So I made a show reel and sent it out. Someone who saw it believed I had potential. He was a researcher and I was a nobody. He didn't have the power to hire me but decided to help me. He would send me information on companies looking for presenters and who I should speak to. His kindness came at a time when I really needed a helping hand. I had just got clean from alcohol addiction and was back living with my mum and dad. His biggest gift was that he believed in me. That gave me the courage to keep plodding away. Three years on I got a job at MTV--with Ray Cokes! And my friend, the researcher, sent me a big bunch of lilies. His name is Duncan Gray. Now he's a bigwig at Granada and I work for him! My advice is to have the courage to keep plodding away to get what you want.
ALAN RICKMAN
I owe a big debt to Hugh
THE people I think of as inspiring are all teachers. Among some very gifted ones are Colin Turner from school days, and Maria Fedro, June Kemp, Robert Palmer and Michael McCallion from the RADA stage school. The qualities they all share are perhaps best summed up by singling out Hugh Cruttwell, who died recently. He was Principal of RADA during my time there. Throughout his working life he was an uncompromising enthusiast for the seeking of truth in the theatre. He told me, make a gift of yourself to the material and make a gift of your work to your fellow actors and the audience. It sounds simple but is frustratingly difficult to achieve--like almost every worthwhile endeavour.
ALAN TITCHMARSH
A teacher who helped me grow
HARRY RHODES was 6ft and had a Roman nose, on which perched a pair of rimless glasses. He was a keen gardener and my favourite teacher from the age of nine. He was always smiling, enthusiastic and, most importantly, always encouraging. Where other teachers would be of the, "Sit down and shut up," school of education, Mr Rhodes was the, "Get up and show me," type. If you had the slightest aptitude for anything he fanned the flame. Harry was an encourager and an enabler. When you thought you couldn't do something he was the one to say you could. Everyone will have fond memories of teachers who, like him, make their subjects come alive and manage to rise above low pay and ridiculous demands on their time and disruptive kids. If it hadn't been for Harry, I might have settled for less. I'm glad I didn't.
NIGEL HAVERS
Headmaster never talked down to us
AS the son of a former chancellor and attorney general, I broke with family tradition in deciding to embark upon a theatrical career. In my early years definitely the most inspirational character was the headmaster of my prep school. Charles Blackburn was a former member of the Cambridge Footlights and was passionate about acting and the arts. Actors and writers were among his closest friends and all the boys were encouraged to perform in his plays, which were astonishingly professional. Charles treated us as adults, which is not to say he didn't maintain a firm hand but he never talked down to us. Our opinions were listened to and valued and he had the knack of assessing each individual's ability and then leading them in the direction they were best suited to. Above all, he instilled a confidence and a belief in oneself that anything is possible. I follow his advice: "Don't think, Dear, you haven't got anything to think with!"
(Paragraphs condensed.)
Georgiana
Seattle - Friday, May 09, 2003
Copyright 2003 Time Out Group
Time Out
May 07, 2003
SECTION: Pg. 76
HEADLINE: Poetry & events: Listings - Sunday 11 May
'Cries From The Heart' The 20th Century Theatre, 291 Westbourne Grove, W11. 7pm. GBP 75, from Anna Dahlberg 020 7713 2773. Readings and guests, George Alagiah, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Christopher Hampton, David Hare, Fergal Keane, Anna Massey, Alan Rickman, Juliet Stevenson and Trudie Styler, in aid of Human Rights Watch.
Georgiana
Seattle - Friday, May 09, 2003
Copyright 2003 Palm Beach Newspapers, Inc.
Palm Beach Post (Florida)
May 4, 2003 Sunday FINAL EDITION
SECTION: ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT, Pg. 6J, The Flick Chick
HEADLINE: THE FLICK CHICK'S GUIDE TO SUMMER MOVIES
BYLINE: Leslie Gray Streeter
. . . . . . . . . .
See, summer is my movie season.
Sure, I enjoy well-made Oscar-caliber epics about war, human drama and deep emotional journeys that burrow to the center of my pain.
But you know what really kicks my pain in its whiny hindparts and blows it away? Watching Harrison Ford running and dodging bullets. Or sharp-toothed creatures that sneak
up on innocent tourists. Or things being blowed up real good that make you say "Whoa, Bubba! Did you see that?"
Or dumb love stories with great soundtracks where somebody at the end stands up and does that slow clap thing until everyone jumps to their feet and yells "Yeah! Johnny!
Good for you!" while Johnny's mama rises out of her wheelchair and cries.
Summer movies are about escapism. They usually don't make you feel guilty about not wanting to learn anything or be a better person. Summer movies offer you some
lemonade and a comfy chair and seductively coo, "Baby, it's hot outside. Kick off your shoes, check your brain at the door and sit a spell."
Being a summer movie junkie, it was hard to pick my 10 favorites, let alone rank them. So here, in no particular order, are my top hot weather flicks.
DIE HARD (1988): The granddaddy of all "lone trapped dude fighting his way past the bad dudes and saving the day" movies. It was quick, melodramatic and actually quite
smart. Its uber-villain, Alan Rickman's smooth criminal Hans Gruber, was frightening. Not because of his brawn, but because of his brilliant, silky ruthlessness. And you
cared about Bruce Willis' John McClane because he was tough and wisecracky but still vulnerable enough to plead, "Please, God, don't let me die" before hurtling, barefoot
and bloody, out of a skyscraper window tied to a firehose. I've seen it 20 times, and I jump every time.
. . . . . . . . . .
Georgiana
Seattle - Thursday, May 08, 2003
Copyright 2003 Western Morning News
Western Morning News (Plymouth)
May 6, 2003
SECTION: News; Ents; Performingarts; Pg. 16 <
HEADLINE: Stylish Tr2 Gives A New Dimension
The Theatre Royal has chosen to mark its anniversary with the opening of TR2, which will revolutionise the way actors and staff work. Gone are the days of rehearsing in
dusty church halls and shuttling around the city to get costumes fitted. Now they will be able to do everything under one roof in a stylish bronze-clad building which has
already been named for one architecture award and may yet be chosen for a second. Simon Stokes, the theatre's artistic director, hopes that eventually TR2 will be home to
masterclasses from leading actors.
"It won't be easy, partly because of the distance away from London, but it's definitely one of our aims," he said. "For example, Alan Rickman doesn't mind going to Oxford
because he can go there and back in a day. The train service down here doesn't help. We need to persuade people there is a national facility down here." The size of the
£8.2m building on the reclaimed land at Cattedown in Plymouth also means that they will be able to put in sets there which actors can work with during rehearsals.
. . . . . . . . . .
Georgiana (Must be nice to be so frequently thought of as the 'for example.')
Seattle - Thursday, May 08, 2003
Copyright 2003 Guardian Newspapers Limited
The Observer
May 4, 2003
SECTION: Observer Review Pages, Pg. 9
HEADLINE: Observer Review: Critics: RADIO: Can I still take potshots at the Welsh?: Answering this and other knotty problems made compulsive listening
BYLINE: Sue Arnold
Questions, Questions
The Way of the World R3
ARE MEN really better at reading maps than women? Do they still make brown cars? Is shooting a Welshman in the back with a bow and arrow inside the city walls of Chester after sunset still legal? And how does the poem that begins: 'By tre, pol and pen, ye shall know Cornishmen' end?
To these and the many other questions put to and pondered by Stewart Henderson and a team of experts in last Thursday's Questions, Questions I would add another - are we the only nation obsessed with trivia?
. . . . . . . . . . .
All these posers come from listeners who seem to be playing an increasingly bigger role on radio these days. I've stopped listening to Home Truths because I got so fed up with hearing John Peel recite yet again the umpteen telephone numbers, fax numbers, email addresses, snail mail addresses, recorded deliveries, dead-letter drops and pigeon-loft registrations by which listeners could communicate.
You can always tell what programme you are tuned to by the cut of the listeners' gib. If they're affable blokes nominating themselves as dead ringers for Alan Rickman or Leonardo DiCaprio, you're listening to Danny Baker's Breakfast Show . If it's someone driving up the M11 in a white van insisting that no one could call him a racist but. . . it's Jon Gaunt's phone-in on BBC London and if the female presenter goes all soft and swoony and says she's just had a request from Lak who is listening to the programme on the internet in his office in Moldavia and wants anything by Vivaldi, it has to be Classic FM. . . .
Georgiana
Seattle - Tuesday, May 06, 2003
Copyright 2003 The Scotsman Publications Ltd.
The Scotsman
May 3, 2003, Saturday
SECTION: Pg. 3
HEADLINE: THEATRE'S MODEL CITIZEN
BYLINE: Susan Mansfield
There is hardly a more eclectic place to spend an hour or two than the foyer-cum-box office of the Citizens Theatre. Culture vultures mingle with the wee Glasgow wummin with multiple shopping bags, there to collect their concession tickets. Staff mingle with both. And from his lofty height of 6ft 4in, Giles Havergal beams benevolence on it all.
. . . . . . . . . .
First up was Hamlet, with David Hayman, loin cloths and plenty of controversy. A Nazi Macbeth, in which Hayman wore a dress, soon followed. Theatre was changing, and not
everyone liked it. The new Citz was daring and visual, it threw away the rule book, and opened the doors to a new audience. The 1960s arrived in the Gorbals, albeit a year
late. Many distinguished productions - and a few flops - followed. Pierce Brosnan, Gary Oldman, Sean Bean, Alan Rickman, Rupert Everett and Glenda Jackson all trod the
boards. . . .
Georgiana
Seattle - Tuesday, May 06, 2003
Copyright 2003 Newspaper Publishing PLC
The Independent (London)
May 1, 2003, Thursday
SECTION: FEATURES; Pg. 18
HEADLINE: BOOK NOW
The 20th Century Theatre presents "Cries from the Heart", an evening of play readings, poems and testimonials in benefit of Human Rights Watch on 11 May. Readers will include Juliet Stevenson, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Christopher Hampton, David Hare, Fergal Keane and Alan Rickman. The 20th Century Theatre, London W11, 7pm. Tickets are pounds 75 from Anna Dahlberg at Human Rights Watch (020-7713 2773)
Georgiana (alas, my schedule won't allow this trip!)
Seattle - Thursday, May 01, 2003
From The Times (London)
Copyright 2003 Times Newspapers Limited
April 29, 2003, Tuesday
SECTION: Features; 19
HEADLINE: First choice
BYLINE: Phoebe Greenwood
BOOK AHEAD
Cries From The Heart 20th Century Theatre, W11 (020-7713 2773)
A benefit for Human Rights Watch. Readings by George Alagiah, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Christopher Hampton, Juliet Stevenson, Fergal Keane and Alan Rickman. May 11.
Georgiana
Seattle - Tuesday, April 29, 2003
Copyright 2003 Associated Newspapers Ltd.
The Evening Standard (London)
April 24, 2003
SECTION: Pg. 10
HEADLINE: Keeping sex off stage; Londoner's Diary
JERRY HALL, Lulu and Alan Rickman were among those who flocked to The Royal Court Theatre in Sloane Square last night for a special gala performance of Hitchcock
Blonde in which Rosamund Pike memorably disrobes.
But there was much less enthusiasm at the prospect of going to see the controversial Spanish sex show, XXX, which has just opened at the Riverside. "I won't go to watch a
play just because it has got sex in it," Rickman told me. "I'm only interested in plays which are well written. You will have to tell me if it's any good."
"I've no desire to see XXX.
The whole point of sex is that it is not something that should be seen on stage," mused fellow theatregoer Nicky Haslam.
"Society is obsessed enough with sex as it is without this."
Last word on the matter goes to newly- wed Mariella Frostrup: "I'm all for live sex - just not on stage."
Georgiana, first posted to the GB by Sue, England
Seattle - Saturday, April 26, 2003
Copyright 2003 Express Newspapers
Daily Star
April 20, 2003
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 29
HEADLINE: IT'S ALL BALLS SAYS STAR AL
BYLINE: by JOHN MILLAR
SCOTS film star Alan Cumming is having to swot up on the game he hated at school - rugby.
The Hollywood hot property is teaming up with Oscar winner Catherine Zeta Jones for a movie comedy about a struggling rugby team.
And Catherine showed off her knowledge of the game when she greeted her Bafta triumph recently with the famous rugby chant - "Oggy, Oggy, Oggy!" "I did play rugby at
school. I liked the strip but I didn't like the game. I wasn't very good at it because I was so little, " said Carnoustie-born Alan, who arrives in London this week for the world premiere of the summer's expected blockbuster X-Men 2.
"When you hit the ball it didn't go the right way because of how it was shaped. I could never get the hang of that." he added. Alan has to get to grips with rugby for Coming
Out, a comedy in which he will be cast as a flamboyant gay West End performer who has to return to the Welsh valleys after he inherits an ailing rugby team.
"My character is the brother of Catherine Zeta Jones and the black sheep of the family, " said 39-year-old Alan.
"He is auditioning for West Side Story when his dad dies, leaving him this rugby team which is deeply in debt and can only be saved by winning a competition.
"So he gets this team of losers fit by teaching them musical theatre dance exercises. It should be hilarious."
Before he enters the world of loose rucks and line-outs, Alan will be hitting the high notes in the big screen version of stage musical The Phantom of the Opera.
He has been recruited by director Joel Schumacher to play one of the French theatre directors. "I think the other one is going to be Alan Rickman, " he revealed.
Georgiana
Seattle - Wednesday, April 23, 2003
Copyright 2003 Newspaper Publishing PLC
Independent on Sunday (London)
April 20, 2003, Sunday
SECTION: FEATURES; Pg. 6
HEADLINE: GHOST STORY: THE HOUSE ON THE HILL
BYLINE: SHOLTO BYRNES
Lauderdale House is Truly Madly Deeply country. Most of that film was shot in the stretch of Highgate that curls round the eastern edge of Hampstead Heath. The boroughs
of Camden, Islington and Haringey all meet here, seeming to tug at their bits of Highgate Hill, down towards the concrete blocks of Archway, east to Hornsey Lane and
suicide bridge, or up the hill to the village. Perched on the vertiginous slope, the cafe in Lauderdale House is where Juliet Stevenson's character first meets the man who is
going to replace Alan Rickman's cello-playing ghost as her love in the film.
There may well be plenty of ghosts in Lauderdale House, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary as an arts and education centre this summer, although it's unlikely that
any of them will contribute to the memory wall, photos and recollections by friends and visitors which will be laminated and posted on the garden railings and the website.
Built in 1582 for Sir Richard Martin, Master of the Mint, the house has been extended by successive occupants who mirrored the history of their times. The Earl of
Lauderdale moved there in 1645, only to be turfed out during the Commonwealth by the prominent Cromwellian MP John Ireton. The Lauderdales returned after the
Restoration, although their house later became the residence of Charles II's most famous mistress, Nell Gwynn. One room is referred to in old documents as "the king's
chamber", suggesting he came here to enjoy the view over London and, doubtless, other pleasures.
Diverse prominent office-holders passed through the house until it was gifted to the London County Council by Sir Sidney Waterlow, the Lord Mayor, in 1889. He wanted the
surrounding grounds, now named Waterlow Park, to be "a garden for the gardenless". After a fire took the roof off - some of the beams inside are still charred - and a transfer
to Camden Council, the house took on its present role in 1978 under the auspices of the Lauderdale House Society.
It fulfills and goes beyond Sir Sidney's aspirations, providing art and dance classes for children, a computer workshop for refugees, courses for the University of the Third Age, outreach programmes for local schools, not to mention classical and jazz festivals, cabaret afternoons and drama workshops.
"It's amazing the number of people who have some connection to Lauderdale House," says Katherine Ives, the general manager. "So many have been here, or taken part in
an event, been a volunteer - we have weddings here too." Yes, I nod, I could also contribute to the Memory Wall - an evening years ago playing double bass in Kate
Dimbleby's band. I can still picture her singing "Black Coffee" while the writers Trevor and Valerie Grove took a star turn on the dance floor.
It's a different kind of place. Whereas the cafe at nearby Kenwood is filled with those who trail the aftershave of wealth, the tables outside Lauderdale House are for poets
(like John Hegley, who often visits), artists, dreamers, the old, and those who have nowhere else like this. Highgate Village may be just up the hill, but to the south lie
sprawling estates. "We're a historic house," says Katherine, "but we don't have a collection. We want people to use it to bring it alive."
There are no velvet ropes to keep public hands off precious furniture. Exposed Tudor brickwork, Georgian columns and trompe l'oeil decorations are here for all - as is the
possibility of an encounter with previous occupants. "Our warden thinks there are presences and cold patches," continues Katherine. "Footsteps have been heard when
there's no one else in the house."
A history is also being written as part of the celebrations. I hope it will delve into one rumour, not as yet confirmed. There's said to be a secret tunnel leading from the
cellars, going under the road, which ends up in the Ghanaian Embassy on the other side of Highgate Hill. The city holds many such treasures that we have forgotten. Old
London does not always yield them up easily.
Georgiana
Seattle - Monday, April 21, 2003
This article ends with what I've posted.
Copyright 2003 The Washington Post
The Washington Post
April 20, 2003, Sunday, Final Edition
SECTION: OUTLOOK; Pg. B05
HEADLINE: The Sun Never Sets On the British Museum
BYLINE: Sue Ellicott
LONDON
. . . . . . . . . . .
These days, our sights are post-imperial. We've abandoned our rhetoric of acquisition. Postwar talk today at the British Museum is about helping Iraq recover its looted
treasures. Gone are the aristocratic plunderers of yore. So acute is our national feeling of responsibility that an anonymous donor has paid for a team of museum
conservators and curators to travel to Baghdad this week to help Iraq track down its treasures.
"I don't know what I think about the Elgin Marbles. I genuinely don't," says Snowden, glancing over the shoulder of her plaid jacket. "But I'm bloody glad they're here right
now. Same for the Assyrian Bulls."
What strikes me about the visitors to the Department of the Ancient Near East, however, is how their feelings of powerlessness emerge as curiosity, not fury. Their quest for
facts is an apolitical one. It's impossible to tell if they support or condemn the use of force to free Iraq of Saddam Hussein.
The same cannot be said for the audiences at the growing number of war-related arts events across London. The other evening, I went along to the Royal Court Theater in
Sloane Square, where playwrights, actors and directors were showing short works based on their reactions to the war. It was a lively crowd. Couples gathered over
late-afternoon beers in the bar. One woman, in her sixties, planned to attend all six performances, and I asked why.
"I would have thought it was obvious," she snarled.
Nothing about background or historical perspective. No. Everyone she knows is "angry" about the war and wanted "something to do with their feelings."
Inside, during a "documentary" by playwright Caryl Churchill, five actors, including a very gloomy Alan Rickman, read excerpts of an Internet chat between a handful of
mostly repugnant and verbally aggressive Americans and Iraqis. One American referred to the Iraqi leader as "So Damn Insane," while an Iraqi yelled at the pro-war
Americans to get back "to your own chat rooms."
Subtle it was not. But it did draw the audience onto the sore subject of Empire. Not ours. America's. One man earned bitter applause when he said the real reason for the war
is that George Bush wants "Wal-Marts in Basra."
Frankly, I preferred the British Museum. There, at least, it was easy to admire the power of archaeology and to transcend -- and avoid -- politics. As Snowden told me after
her most recent museum gallery tour: "It's an indication that we are doing our best as a civilized society that we have some- body in Bloomsbury who can read cuneiform
texts to us."
Quite.
