Princess Diana’s life and death continue to arouse curiosity and trigger speculation around the world, 25 years after her death in tragic circumstances in Paris.
A new audiobook, ‘Diana – Remembering the Princess’, written by her former bodyguard and brought out as a tribute to the ‘People’s Princess’ on her 25th death anniversary, has breathed fresh life into the controversy over the possibility of Diana’s death being the result of a conspiracy, and how she kept hinting at people who were keen to see that “I was not around”.
Written by Inspector Ken Wharfe, Diana’s police protection officer, and Ros Coward, author of the official book by Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Trust, highlights her initial life, death and what happened after the funeral. It is narrated by Emily Pennant-Rea and Wharfe.
Born on July 1, 1961 at Park House, Sandringham, Norfolk, Diana Frances Spencer was the first wife of Charles,...
A new audiobook, ‘Diana – Remembering the Princess’, written by her former bodyguard and brought out as a tribute to the ‘People’s Princess’ on her 25th death anniversary, has breathed fresh life into the controversy over the possibility of Diana’s death being the result of a conspiracy, and how she kept hinting at people who were keen to see that “I was not around”.
Written by Inspector Ken Wharfe, Diana’s police protection officer, and Ros Coward, author of the official book by Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Trust, highlights her initial life, death and what happened after the funeral. It is narrated by Emily Pennant-Rea and Wharfe.
Born on July 1, 1961 at Park House, Sandringham, Norfolk, Diana Frances Spencer was the first wife of Charles,...
- 8/29/2022
- by Glamsham Bureau
- GlamSham
Update 3/31: The organizers of the Razzies announced Thursday that they have rescinded Bruce Willis’ “Worst Performance” Award following news of the actor’s aphasia diagnosis . Willis previously had his own category at the 2022 Golden Raspberry Awards due to his many small roles in a string of straight-to-video action movies in 2021.
“After much thought and consideration, the Razzies have made the decision to rescind the Razzie Award given to Bruce Willis, due to his recently disclosed diagnosis,” the co-founders of the Razzies said in a statement (via The Hollywood Reporter...
“After much thought and consideration, the Razzies have made the decision to rescind the Razzie Award given to Bruce Willis, due to his recently disclosed diagnosis,” the co-founders of the Razzies said in a statement (via The Hollywood Reporter...
- 3/31/2022
- by Daniel Kreps
- Rollingstone.com
Diana the Musical, the much-mocked telling of the life story of Diana, Princess of Wales, has swept the board at this year’s Razzie Awards.
Complete winners list below.
The stage show, of which a filmed version was shown on Netflix, won five awards at this year’s Golden Raspberries, including worst picture, worst actress for Jeanna de Waal in the title role, worst director, worst supporting actress and worst screenplay. It had been nominated in nine categories altogether.
Netlix streamed a filmed version of the stage show before it debuted on Broadway, without a live audience due to theaters being closed at a time of coronavirus restrictions. When the theatrical show eventually opened, it lasted for only 33 performances on Broadway before the curtain fell for the final time.
The Razzies also saw basketball star LeBron James winning worst actor for Space Jam: A New Legacy as well as sharing...
Complete winners list below.
The stage show, of which a filmed version was shown on Netflix, won five awards at this year’s Golden Raspberries, including worst picture, worst actress for Jeanna de Waal in the title role, worst director, worst supporting actress and worst screenplay. It had been nominated in nine categories altogether.
Netlix streamed a filmed version of the stage show before it debuted on Broadway, without a live audience due to theaters being closed at a time of coronavirus restrictions. When the theatrical show eventually opened, it lasted for only 33 performances on Broadway before the curtain fell for the final time.
The Razzies also saw basketball star LeBron James winning worst actor for Space Jam: A New Legacy as well as sharing...
- 3/26/2022
- by Caroline Frost
- Deadline Film + TV
Results for the 42nd Razzie Awards are in — and if you had anything to do with “Diana: The Musical,” you might want to go back to bed.
The big, fat Broadway bomb about the Princess of Wales beamed into your living room courtesy of Netflix was this year’s big Razzie “winner,” taking home five of what the group calls its “un-coveted … tacky, gold-spray-painted statuettes.”
The streaming version of the stage musical bagged Worst Picture, Worst Actress (Jeanna de Waal), Worst Supporting Actress, Worst Director (Christopher Ashley) and Worst Screenplay. The group pointed out how richly the “Diana” script deserved the honor for “featuring some of the year’s most ridiculed dialogue and lyrics — Including rhyming ‘Camilla’ with both ‘Manila’ and ‘Godzilla.'”
Faring almost as miserably was “Space Jam: A New Legacy,” with slam dunks for Worst Remake, Rip-Off or Sequel; Worst Actor (LeBron James); and Worst Screen Couple...
The big, fat Broadway bomb about the Princess of Wales beamed into your living room courtesy of Netflix was this year’s big Razzie “winner,” taking home five of what the group calls its “un-coveted … tacky, gold-spray-painted statuettes.”
The streaming version of the stage musical bagged Worst Picture, Worst Actress (Jeanna de Waal), Worst Supporting Actress, Worst Director (Christopher Ashley) and Worst Screenplay. The group pointed out how richly the “Diana” script deserved the honor for “featuring some of the year’s most ridiculed dialogue and lyrics — Including rhyming ‘Camilla’ with both ‘Manila’ and ‘Godzilla.'”
Faring almost as miserably was “Space Jam: A New Legacy,” with slam dunks for Worst Remake, Rip-Off or Sequel; Worst Actor (LeBron James); and Worst Screen Couple...
- 3/26/2022
- by Missy Schwartz
- The Wrap
In a year where the Kristen Stewart-led Spencer earned its share of awards buzz comes word that another project about the late Princess Diana is the leading candidate for the anti-Oscars. Diana, the Musical, the filmed version of the ill-fated Broadway show, took a final bow with nine nominations for the 42nd annual Razzie Awards revealed today.
The show “scored” nine noms for the 2022 Golden Raspberries spanning nearly all of the categories, including Worst Picture, Actress, Actor, Director and Screenplay. The Woman in the Window and Karen are a distant second with five apiece, followed by Space Jam: A New Legacy with four and Infinite and The Misfits with three each.
The “winners” will be “honored” on March 26, the day before the Academy Awards. Watch the nominations video above.
Here is how the Razzies handicapped its own Worst Picture race: “This year’s Worst Picture nominees include: The NetFLIX...
The show “scored” nine noms for the 2022 Golden Raspberries spanning nearly all of the categories, including Worst Picture, Actress, Actor, Director and Screenplay. The Woman in the Window and Karen are a distant second with five apiece, followed by Space Jam: A New Legacy with four and Infinite and The Misfits with three each.
The “winners” will be “honored” on March 26, the day before the Academy Awards. Watch the nominations video above.
Here is how the Razzies handicapped its own Worst Picture race: “This year’s Worst Picture nominees include: The NetFLIX...
- 2/7/2022
- by Erik Pedersen
- Deadline Film + TV
The Razzie Awards nominations recognizing the worst “crap streaming, beaming and steaming from our various screens and devices” of 2021 — as the group put it — have been announced, with LeBron James, “Diana: The Musical,” Amy Adams and Bruce Willis topping the heap.
“Here’s a look at what we saw,” the organization said in a press release. “The excruciating musicals, thrill-free thriller rip-offs, a nearly 2 hour product placement flick, and more Bruce Willis than any starving viewer could stomach. In other words, 2021 did not fail the Razzies!”
With Oscar nominations coming out on Tuesday morning, the Academy Award’s snarky counterpart, the Golden Raspberry Awards (aka the Razzies) followed suit as they do every year at this time acknowledging the superior work – or, actually, the inferior work – coming out of the entertainment industry.
Leading the field with nine nods is Netflix’s “Diana: The Musical.” Released in October, The Razzies called...
“Here’s a look at what we saw,” the organization said in a press release. “The excruciating musicals, thrill-free thriller rip-offs, a nearly 2 hour product placement flick, and more Bruce Willis than any starving viewer could stomach. In other words, 2021 did not fail the Razzies!”
With Oscar nominations coming out on Tuesday morning, the Academy Award’s snarky counterpart, the Golden Raspberry Awards (aka the Razzies) followed suit as they do every year at this time acknowledging the superior work – or, actually, the inferior work – coming out of the entertainment industry.
Leading the field with nine nods is Netflix’s “Diana: The Musical.” Released in October, The Razzies called...
- 2/7/2022
- by Jeremy Fuster and Rosemary Rossi
- The Wrap
Diana, The Musical begins its Act II with the shirtless, well-toned actor portraying the princess’ studly consort James Hewitt doing his best Urban Cowboy riding-the-bull impression, much to the dirty-dancing delight of the smitten royal.
Finally, you think, Diana has fully embraced itself, director Christopher Ashley has rediscovered the campy aesthetic that served him so well from Jeffrey to The Rocky Horror Show and hope may not be entirely lost. But then the pink-bedecked romance novelist Barbara Cartland (don’t ask) stops the action to announce that she just made up that steamy bit, and the ripped stable boy covers up his abs and Diana sinks back to its high-decibel mediocrity.
By now you’ve probably read, heard or seen for yourself, via Netflix, just how deliciously bad Diana is, but the truth isn’t quite so much fun. Diana, opening tonight on Broadway at the Longacre Theatre, is not a so-bad-it’s-good disaster.
Finally, you think, Diana has fully embraced itself, director Christopher Ashley has rediscovered the campy aesthetic that served him so well from Jeffrey to The Rocky Horror Show and hope may not be entirely lost. But then the pink-bedecked romance novelist Barbara Cartland (don’t ask) stops the action to announce that she just made up that steamy bit, and the ripped stable boy covers up his abs and Diana sinks back to its high-decibel mediocrity.
By now you’ve probably read, heard or seen for yourself, via Netflix, just how deliciously bad Diana is, but the truth isn’t quite so much fun. Diana, opening tonight on Broadway at the Longacre Theatre, is not a so-bad-it’s-good disaster.
- 11/18/2021
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Shonda Rhimes and writer-turned-showrunner Chris Van Dusen go back 17 years, to his first job as her assistant just out of USC’s Peter Stark Producing Program. He soon transitioned to a writer on “Grey’s Anatomy” and was co-executive producer of “Scandal” before taking on “Bridgerton,” Shondaland and Van Dusen’s first scripted series at Netflix, where Rhimes has a rich TV deal. Those years built a valuable shorthand for their shared sensibilities that came in handy on “Bridgerton,” Netflix’s most-watched show ever — 82 million households watched in its first 28 days, per the streamer’s own unconfirmed reports — which yielded 12 Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Drama Series.
Rhimes cheered on Van Dusen’s vision of a new slant on the period romance. “From the beginning, she gave me the creative room and freedom to make the period show I’ve always wanted to see,” said Van Dusen on the phone. “I never...
Rhimes cheered on Van Dusen’s vision of a new slant on the period romance. “From the beginning, she gave me the creative room and freedom to make the period show I’ve always wanted to see,” said Van Dusen on the phone. “I never...
- 8/18/2021
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Shonda Rhimes and writer-turned-showrunner Chris Van Dusen go back 17 years, to his first job as her assistant just out of USC’s Peter Stark Producing Program. He soon transitioned to a writer on “Grey’s Anatomy” and was executive story editor of “Scandal” before taking on “Bridgerton,” Shondaland and Van Dusen’s first scripted series at Netflix, where Rhimes has a rich TV deal. Those years built a valuable shorthand for their shared sensibilities that came in handy on “Bridgerton,” Netflix’s most-watched show ever — 82 million households watched in its first 28 days, per the streamer’s own unconfirmed reports — which yielded 12 Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Drama Series.
Rhimes cheered on Van Dusen’s vision of a new slant on the period romance. “From the beginning, she gave me the creative room and freedom to make the period show I’ve always wanted to see,” said Van Dusen on the phone. “I...
Rhimes cheered on Van Dusen’s vision of a new slant on the period romance. “From the beginning, she gave me the creative room and freedom to make the period show I’ve always wanted to see,” said Van Dusen on the phone. “I...
- 8/18/2021
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
There is a riveting moment in “Lady Boss,” an insightful documentary about the life of novelist Jackie Collins, in which we see Collins preparing her face for the camera. She brushes her bangs a bit with her finger as if to give herself something positive to do, but there is turmoil going on behind her eyes; it looks like she is struggling to hold down enormous pain and insecurity, and this struggle is intensely active, for there was nothing passive about Collins.
Once the camera is ready for her, Collins has arranged her face into the semi-snarly made-up armor that she presented in her glamorous public life, which always included large hair, shoulder pads and a liking for leopard-print fabric. Collins was English, but her books were very successful in America because she subscribed religiously to the American urge for self-reinvention.
Collins grew up in the shadow of her movie star sister,...
Once the camera is ready for her, Collins has arranged her face into the semi-snarly made-up armor that she presented in her glamorous public life, which always included large hair, shoulder pads and a liking for leopard-print fabric. Collins was English, but her books were very successful in America because she subscribed religiously to the American urge for self-reinvention.
Collins grew up in the shadow of her movie star sister,...
- 6/25/2021
- by Dan Callahan
- The Wrap
Raine Spencer, the stepmother of the late Princess Diana, was laid to rest in a quiet funeral on November 3, People has confirmed.
Countess Spencer, who died last month following a short illness, was buried at a cemetery just outside London on, a spokesman for her son, Earl of Dartmouth, tells People.
It was in keeping with her stated wishes to be buried there. The simple ceremony was attended by her immediate family. She was survived by four children and nine grandchildren. No members of the Spencer family attended the ceremony.
Countess Spencer was married to Diana’s father, Earl Spencer,...
Countess Spencer, who died last month following a short illness, was buried at a cemetery just outside London on, a spokesman for her son, Earl of Dartmouth, tells People.
It was in keeping with her stated wishes to be buried there. The simple ceremony was attended by her immediate family. She was survived by four children and nine grandchildren. No members of the Spencer family attended the ceremony.
Countess Spencer was married to Diana’s father, Earl Spencer,...
- 11/7/2016
- by simonperrytimeinc
- PEOPLE.com
Though the cracks in Princess Diana‘s fairy-tale love story have long been made public, it wouldn’t be complete without one particular character: the “wicked” stepmother, Raine, Countess Spencer â. who died today at age 87 after a short illness.
Although that’s how their relationship began by many accounts, the real life version was of course far more complicated. Raine became Diana’s stepmother after she married John, Earl Spencer, when Diana was 15 years old. Their relationship was often strained, but the two forged a friendship in the years before Diana’s death.
Raine became Diana’s stepmother after she married Diana’s father,...
Although that’s how their relationship began by many accounts, the real life version was of course far more complicated. Raine became Diana’s stepmother after she married John, Earl Spencer, when Diana was 15 years old. Their relationship was often strained, but the two forged a friendship in the years before Diana’s death.
Raine became Diana’s stepmother after she married Diana’s father,...
- 10/21/2016
- by dianapearltimeinc
- PEOPLE.com
Raine Spencer, stepmother of Princess Diana, has died after a short illness, her family has announced. She was 87.
The death was confirmed by her son William Legge, the Earl of Dartmouth and a Ukip Mep.
“Raine, Countess Spencer, died peacefully at her home in London on 21st October, 2016, after a short illness,” the family said in a statement.
Countess Spencer was married to Diana’s father, Earl Spencer, from 1976 until his death in 1992. When she moved into the 16th-century family estate known as Althorp, she became stepmother to then 15-year-old Diana and her 12-year-old brother Charles.
It has been reported...
The death was confirmed by her son William Legge, the Earl of Dartmouth and a Ukip Mep.
“Raine, Countess Spencer, died peacefully at her home in London on 21st October, 2016, after a short illness,” the family said in a statement.
Countess Spencer was married to Diana’s father, Earl Spencer, from 1976 until his death in 1992. When she moved into the 16th-century family estate known as Althorp, she became stepmother to then 15-year-old Diana and her 12-year-old brother Charles.
It has been reported...
- 10/21/2016
- by erinhilltimeinc
- PEOPLE.com
Kirsten Howard Dec 19, 2017
One-time Superman Dean Cain has made lots of Christmas movies, mainly with dogs in them. This year, we've watched even more...
Warning! This article contains spoilers, the kind of swearing you'd expect from someone who's sat through thirteen Dean Cain Christmas movies, and mild peril in the form of ailing sanity.
If you’re anything like me you might have some fairly warm, fuzzy memories of Dean Cain. He was Superman! He brought Superman back! Supes! So fun to watch on Saturday afternoons or after school, saving Metropolis from do-badders and waiting for Lois to notice him without his cape on just once.
Okay! Soooo, what has Cain been up to since The New Adventures Of Superman finished? I mean, sure, you saw him in an episode of that one show. And then there was that other time. More recently, he's had a role in Supergirl. Naturally!
One-time Superman Dean Cain has made lots of Christmas movies, mainly with dogs in them. This year, we've watched even more...
Warning! This article contains spoilers, the kind of swearing you'd expect from someone who's sat through thirteen Dean Cain Christmas movies, and mild peril in the form of ailing sanity.
If you’re anything like me you might have some fairly warm, fuzzy memories of Dean Cain. He was Superman! He brought Superman back! Supes! So fun to watch on Saturday afternoons or after school, saving Metropolis from do-badders and waiting for Lois to notice him without his cape on just once.
Okay! Soooo, what has Cain been up to since The New Adventures Of Superman finished? I mean, sure, you saw him in an episode of that one show. And then there was that other time. More recently, he's had a role in Supergirl. Naturally!
- 11/26/2015
- Den of Geek
Joan Collins in 'The Bitch': Sex tale based on younger sister Jackie Collins' novel. Author Jackie Collins dead at 77: Surprisingly few film and TV adaptations of her bestselling novels Jackie Collins, best known for a series of bestsellers about the dysfunctional sex lives of the rich and famous and for being the younger sister of film and TV star Joan Collins, died of breast cancer on Sept. 19, '15, in Los Angeles. The London-born (Oct. 4, 1937) Collins was 77. Collins' tawdry, female-centered novels – much like those of Danielle Steel and Judith Krantz – were/are immensely popular. According to her website, they have sold more than 500 million copies in 40 countries. And if the increasingly tabloidy BBC is to be believed (nowadays, Wikipedia has become a key source, apparently), every single one of them – 32 in all – appeared on the New York Times' bestseller list. (Collins' own site claims that a mere 30 were included.) Sex...
- 9/22/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
British novelist Jackie Collins, whose licentious-fiction romps through glamorous night lives have sold more than 500 million copies in 40 countries, has died of breast cancer at 77. Collins earned notoriety in 1968, with the publication of her novel The World is Full of Married Men. The prolific romance writer Barbara Cartland, who wrote over 700 novels (!) in her life, called the book disgusting; it was banned in several countries and subsequently sold very well in America. Her next book, The Stud ('69), announced her as the more lurid, female-oriented foil to Philip Roth, whose masturbation-centric classic Portnoy's Complaint came out that same year. Collins wrote about the lascivious side of Hollywood with the Hollywood series ('83-'03) and the seedy world of organized crime with the Santangelo novels, the last of which, the 600-page the Santangelos, came out this June. Collins began writing for film in the '70s, and...
- 9/20/2015
- by Greg Cwik
- Vulture
Ron Moody in Mel Brooks' 'The Twelve Chairs.' The 'Doctor Who' that never was. Ron Moody: 'Doctor Who' was biggest professional regret (See previous post: "Ron Moody: From Charles Dickens to Walt Disney – But No Harry Potter.") Ron Moody was featured in about 50 television productions, both in the U.K. and the U.S., from the late 1950s to 2012. These included guest roles in the series The Avengers, Gunsmoke, Starsky and Hutch, Hart to Hart, and Murder She Wrote, in addition to leads in the short-lived U.S. sitcom Nobody's Perfect (1980), starring Moody as a Scotland Yard detective transferred to the San Francisco Police Department, and in the British fantasy Into the Labyrinth (1981), with Moody as the noble sorcerer Rothgo. Throughout the decades, he could also be spotted in several TV movies, among them:[1] David Copperfield (1969). As Uriah Heep in this disappointing all-star showcase distributed theatrically in some countries.
- 6/19/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
I have been engrossed for the last week in Infidel, an autobiography that chronicles the life and times of political activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali and how she became who and what she is. Ms. Ali will be familiar to those readers of this column, who, like me, strive to never miss an episode of HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher and MSNBC’s Hardball with Chris Matthews. She has also appeared on Fox News, CNN, and just about every news organization around the world – though I don’t know if she has ever been invited onto Al-Jazeera, even here on the U.S. version.
But if not, here’s a short version of Ms. Ali’s biography. Born into a traditional Muslim family in Somalia in 1969, her father was Hirsi Magan Isse, a leader of the Somali Salvation Democratic Front and who was actively involved in the Somalian Revolution against the Siad Barre government.
But if not, here’s a short version of Ms. Ali’s biography. Born into a traditional Muslim family in Somalia in 1969, her father was Hirsi Magan Isse, a leader of the Somali Salvation Democratic Front and who was actively involved in the Somalian Revolution against the Siad Barre government.
- 4/13/2015
- by Mindy Newell
- Comicmix.com
Early imprints of the Bond books increase in value every year. Is this just down to a large readership, or does it say something more fundamental about Ian Fleming's creation?
Funny old thing, that James Bond. Though Ian Fleming died in 1964, his hero has had a charmed existence since, newly incarnated in a variety of actors and films, and in further Bond adventures written by Kingsley Amis, John Gardner, Sebastian Faulks, Jeffery Deaver and, now, William Boyd.
Of these, Boyd seems the best choice. He has a sophisticated interest in the world of espionage, a fluent prose style, and a crisp eye for a Bondish detail. He was pictured, on publication week, in front of one of seven vintage Jensens, each of which was to deliver a copy of Solo, his new Bond novel, to Heathrow, from where they would be flown to various destinations associated with Bond (or...
Funny old thing, that James Bond. Though Ian Fleming died in 1964, his hero has had a charmed existence since, newly incarnated in a variety of actors and films, and in further Bond adventures written by Kingsley Amis, John Gardner, Sebastian Faulks, Jeffery Deaver and, now, William Boyd.
Of these, Boyd seems the best choice. He has a sophisticated interest in the world of espionage, a fluent prose style, and a crisp eye for a Bondish detail. He was pictured, on publication week, in front of one of seven vintage Jensens, each of which was to deliver a copy of Solo, his new Bond novel, to Heathrow, from where they would be flown to various destinations associated with Bond (or...
- 10/17/2013
- by Rick Gekoski
- The Guardian - Film News
The Diana director is kidding himself if he thinks that we're still mourning the 'Queen of Hearts'
The British have upset film-maker Oliver Hirschbiegel, who's expressed his "devastation" over the mauling of his biopic of Princess Diana, starring Naomi Watts. It has not done too well commercially, either. In Diana's opening week, it finished fifth in the box offices; a week later, its audiences halved. Hirschbiegel said that the critical reaction was similar to what newspapers said about the real Diana when she was alive: "Really vile things. So I guess I succeeded."
Hirschbiegel also said: "In all other places where it's opened – in Poland, the Czech Republic, Turkey and Slovakia – it's been very strong. I think, for the British, Diana is still a trauma they haven't come to terms with." Well deflected, Mr Hirschbiegel, but that doesn't make it true.
Downfall showed that Hirschbiegel is a gifted director.
The British have upset film-maker Oliver Hirschbiegel, who's expressed his "devastation" over the mauling of his biopic of Princess Diana, starring Naomi Watts. It has not done too well commercially, either. In Diana's opening week, it finished fifth in the box offices; a week later, its audiences halved. Hirschbiegel said that the critical reaction was similar to what newspapers said about the real Diana when she was alive: "Really vile things. So I guess I succeeded."
Hirschbiegel also said: "In all other places where it's opened – in Poland, the Czech Republic, Turkey and Slovakia – it's been very strong. I think, for the British, Diana is still a trauma they haven't come to terms with." Well deflected, Mr Hirschbiegel, but that doesn't make it true.
Downfall showed that Hirschbiegel is a gifted director.
- 10/6/2013
- by Barbara Ellen
- The Guardian - Film News
When Naomi Watts quipped that she might have to leave the country on the release of Diana, we assumed that was because of the potential controversy surrounding the film.
On reading the reviews for the movie, it seems that the reception of Oliver Hirschbiegel's royal biopic has less to do with its subject and more its lack of quality.
Digital Spy's own Emma Dibdin gave the film a two-star thrashing, calling it "mind-bogglingly misjudged" and "too incompetent even to qualify as hagiography", and with some rare exceptions, that's a kinder verdict than the rest of the critical landscape.
Peter Bradshaw - The Guardian
"Poor Princess Diana. I hesitate to use the term 'car crash cinema'. But the awful truth is that, 16 years after that terrible day in 1997, she has died another awful death. This is due to an excruciatingly well-intentioned, reverential and sentimental biopic about her troubled final years,...
On reading the reviews for the movie, it seems that the reception of Oliver Hirschbiegel's royal biopic has less to do with its subject and more its lack of quality.
Digital Spy's own Emma Dibdin gave the film a two-star thrashing, calling it "mind-bogglingly misjudged" and "too incompetent even to qualify as hagiography", and with some rare exceptions, that's a kinder verdict than the rest of the critical landscape.
Peter Bradshaw - The Guardian
"Poor Princess Diana. I hesitate to use the term 'car crash cinema'. But the awful truth is that, 16 years after that terrible day in 1997, she has died another awful death. This is due to an excruciatingly well-intentioned, reverential and sentimental biopic about her troubled final years,...
- 9/6/2013
- Digital Spy
London, August 14: Fictional romantic novel author Dame Barbara Cartland's 160 unpublished manuscripts are set to be released in three sets.
The late author, who continues to be referred in the Guinness World Records for the most novels published in a single year, left behind a set of her trademark happy ending novels which will be published in three sets: the Eternal Collection, the Pink Collection and a Spanish language collection, the Independent reported.
Under a deal between M-y Books and Ingram Content Group, these unseen manuscripts will be published to cater to her readers abroad.
M-y Books has been working.
The late author, who continues to be referred in the Guinness World Records for the most novels published in a single year, left behind a set of her trademark happy ending novels which will be published in three sets: the Eternal Collection, the Pink Collection and a Spanish language collection, the Independent reported.
Under a deal between M-y Books and Ingram Content Group, these unseen manuscripts will be published to cater to her readers abroad.
M-y Books has been working.
- 8/14/2013
- by Meeta Kabra
- RealBollywood.com
Comedian, actor, writer and director who came to prominence in satirical TV sketch show Not the Nine O'Clock News
Mel Smith was once upstaged by a talking gorilla. He was playing a zoologist in a sketch on his hit comedy show Not the Nine O'Clock News and the gorilla suit contained Rowan Atkinson. "When I caught Gerald in 68 he was completely wild," said Smith. "Wild?" retorted the gorilla. "I was absolutely livid!"
If the gorilla had the best line, Smith had the more expressive countenance, mugging with a deadpan virtuosity rarely seen since Oliver Hardy in his pomp. That face – as hangdog as his childhood hero Tony Hancock's – made Smith, who has died of a heart attack aged 60, one of the most recognisable of postwar British comedians.
Smith's face was only part of his fortune. He was a writer and editor of some of the most redoubtable British TV...
Mel Smith was once upstaged by a talking gorilla. He was playing a zoologist in a sketch on his hit comedy show Not the Nine O'Clock News and the gorilla suit contained Rowan Atkinson. "When I caught Gerald in 68 he was completely wild," said Smith. "Wild?" retorted the gorilla. "I was absolutely livid!"
If the gorilla had the best line, Smith had the more expressive countenance, mugging with a deadpan virtuosity rarely seen since Oliver Hardy in his pomp. That face – as hangdog as his childhood hero Tony Hancock's – made Smith, who has died of a heart attack aged 60, one of the most recognisable of postwar British comedians.
Smith's face was only part of his fortune. He was a writer and editor of some of the most redoubtable British TV...
- 7/21/2013
- by Stuart Jeffries
- The Guardian - Film News
Biopic of film stars' tempestuous relationship stars Dominic West and Helena Bonham Carter in last of BBC channel's big dramas
The BBC has released the first picture of Dominic West and Helena Bonham Carter in costume for its biopic about the final act in the 20 year on-off relationship between Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor.
Burton & Taylor will focus on the final reunion of the pair, already married and divorced twice, on the set of a 1983 stage revival of Noel Coward's Private Lives. The 90-minute BBC4 drama will chart the actors' fraught stint in the play, which opened at Boston's Shubert theatre in April 1983 before moving on to Broadway and Los Angeles.
The meeting on the set of Private Lives reportedly left both actors feeling that their union was irrevocably broken. Burton died the following year at the age of 58. Taylor died from heart failure in March 2011, aged 79.
The casting...
The BBC has released the first picture of Dominic West and Helena Bonham Carter in costume for its biopic about the final act in the 20 year on-off relationship between Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor.
Burton & Taylor will focus on the final reunion of the pair, already married and divorced twice, on the set of a 1983 stage revival of Noel Coward's Private Lives. The 90-minute BBC4 drama will chart the actors' fraught stint in the play, which opened at Boston's Shubert theatre in April 1983 before moving on to Broadway and Los Angeles.
The meeting on the set of Private Lives reportedly left both actors feeling that their union was irrevocably broken. Burton died the following year at the age of 58. Taylor died from heart failure in March 2011, aged 79.
The casting...
- 6/4/2013
- by Jason Deans
- The Guardian - Film News
And we thought the casting up of David O. Russell's movie was getting intense. While monsters may take center stage of Guillermo del Toro's upcoming "Pacific Rim," for his next feature effort, "Crimson Peak," the director is impressing us thus far with the roster of talent he's assembling. One day after Benedict Cumberbatch came on board, Variety reports that Jessica Chastain has knocked another auteur off her list and joined the picture as well. Emma Stone and Charlie Hunnam are also part of the cast for the film, about which zero details are being let out of the bag at the moment. "It’s set at the turn of the century and it is a gothic romance with ghosts. When I use the Gr [gothic romance] term I use it not in the Barbara Cartland model but rather in a Bronte fashion. Dark and stormy and wind-swept," del Toro wrote...
- 4/5/2013
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
Benedict Cumberbatch is pretty much on the precipice of stardom, if not already there. As the villain in both "Star Trek Into Darkness" and "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" this year, his wonderfully English name will be increasingly familiar to American audiences, and that's not to mention a potential awards baiting performance as Julian Assange in "The Fifth Estate" this fall. So what's next? He's gonna get some period clothes out of the closet again. Not to solve mysteries or endure various dramas, but instead to ride with whatever Guillermo del Toro is cooking up. Variety reports that Cumberbatch has joined Emma Stone and Charlie Hunnam in "Crimson Peak." Details are still being kept under guard, so we'll just have to recycle this quote from the writer/director himself. "It’s set at the turn of the century and it is a gothic romance with ghosts. When I use...
- 4/4/2013
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
In the House presents viewers with a series of sharp and often dizzying reflections on the meaning of realism and the moral duty of the writer
François Ozon's new film In the House marks the completion of a decade-long enterprise – a study, drawn from three angles at five-year intervals, of that cold-blooded parasite, the novelist. The approach is a broad one, psychoanalytic, anthropological, even literary-critical, with emphasis on where the creative urge comes from – being an only child helps – and how it is indulged, the wellsprings of creativity and its workings, too. When it comes to describing the relationship between life and art, Ozon isn't above drawing parallels and even arrows, though most of the time he aligns himself with a more antic French tradition – previous representatives include Alain Resnais and Jacques Rivette – in which the two are intertwined to the point of blurring.
Swimming Pool (2002), the first of these films,...
François Ozon's new film In the House marks the completion of a decade-long enterprise – a study, drawn from three angles at five-year intervals, of that cold-blooded parasite, the novelist. The approach is a broad one, psychoanalytic, anthropological, even literary-critical, with emphasis on where the creative urge comes from – being an only child helps – and how it is indulged, the wellsprings of creativity and its workings, too. When it comes to describing the relationship between life and art, Ozon isn't above drawing parallels and even arrows, though most of the time he aligns himself with a more antic French tradition – previous representatives include Alain Resnais and Jacques Rivette – in which the two are intertwined to the point of blurring.
Swimming Pool (2002), the first of these films,...
- 3/23/2013
- by Leo Robson
- The Guardian - Film News
Though she's rightfully earned her claim to fame thanks to a string of comic roles, Emma Stone has slowly branching out. She's put on her blockbuster shoes with "The Amazing Spider-Man" franchise, gone down the drama route with "The Help" and last weekend gave a stab at playing the femme fatale in the guns and molls goof "Gangster Squad." But for one her next roles, she'll be heading into new territory. The actress is in early negotiations and expected to sign for Guillermo Del Toro's next feature effort, "Crimson Peak." A haunted house movie, Del Toro has been cagey about the exact plot details, but did say last month, it had a classical literary feel. "It’s set at the turn of the century and it is a gothic romance with ghosts. When I use the Gr [gothic romance] term I use it not in the Barbara Cartland model but rather in a Bronte fashion.
- 1/16/2013
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
Filmmaker Guillermo del Toro has revealed on his message boards that his upcoming supernatural film "Crimson Peak" isn't akin to "The Haunting of Hell House" as previously reported.
Rather it's a Bronte-esque "gothic romance with ghosts", think a spookier take on the Thornfield Hall scenes of "Jane Eyre." It's also his most direct horror movie in many years.
"It’s set at the turn of the century and it is a gothic romance with ghosts. When I use the Gr [gothic romance] term I use it not in the Barbara Cartland model but rather in a Bronte fashion. Dark and stormy and wind-swept. This is my first foray into horror since "Mimic." "The Devil’s Backbone" was more of an essay on ghosts than a ghost story and, except as a producer, I have not returned to scary stuff in a long time."
Speaking of del Toro, turns out his beloved 2006 dark...
Rather it's a Bronte-esque "gothic romance with ghosts", think a spookier take on the Thornfield Hall scenes of "Jane Eyre." It's also his most direct horror movie in many years.
"It’s set at the turn of the century and it is a gothic romance with ghosts. When I use the Gr [gothic romance] term I use it not in the Barbara Cartland model but rather in a Bronte fashion. Dark and stormy and wind-swept. This is my first foray into horror since "Mimic." "The Devil’s Backbone" was more of an essay on ghosts than a ghost story and, except as a producer, I have not returned to scary stuff in a long time."
Speaking of del Toro, turns out his beloved 2006 dark...
- 12/7/2012
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
Earlier this week, we found out that Guillermo Del Toro’s next film after Pacific Rim would be Crimson Peak, a haunted house horror film. It was guessed to be a version of Hell House, an old script Toro wrote, and Toro took to the internet to deny the rumor and give some information about Crimson Peak! Read on:
Cp is not Hell House at all. Nothing could be further from that. Cp is a spec script Matthew and I wrote right after Pan’s Labyrinth. It stayed mostly under the radar but I have been pushing it quietly. Universal has been very supportive and wanted to do it. It’s set at the turn of the century and it is a Gothic romance with ghosts. When I use the Gr term I use it not in the Barbara Cartland model but rather in a Bronte fashion. Dark and stormy and wind-swept.
Cp is not Hell House at all. Nothing could be further from that. Cp is a spec script Matthew and I wrote right after Pan’s Labyrinth. It stayed mostly under the radar but I have been pushing it quietly. Universal has been very supportive and wanted to do it. It’s set at the turn of the century and it is a Gothic romance with ghosts. When I use the Gr term I use it not in the Barbara Cartland model but rather in a Bronte fashion. Dark and stormy and wind-swept.
- 12/6/2012
- by Andy Greene
- FamousMonsters of Filmland
Announced earlier this week, Guillermo del Toro plans to direct Crimson Peak following the release of Pacific Rim. Peak is said to be a throwback to the classic stylings of The Haunting and The Innocents; big in scope, design and scares. In the wake of the news, it's been speculated Crimson Peak was a retitle of another such tale del Toro wrote called Hell House.
It seems that is not the case, and in correcting this, the director promised a return to "scary stuff":
Cp is not Hell House at all. Nothing could be further from that. Cp is a spec script Matthew and I wrote right after Pan's Labyrinth. It stayed mostly under the radar but I have been pushing it quietly. Universal has been very supportive and wanted to do it. It's set at the turn of the century and it is a Gothic romance with ghosts.
It seems that is not the case, and in correcting this, the director promised a return to "scary stuff":
Cp is not Hell House at all. Nothing could be further from that. Cp is a spec script Matthew and I wrote right after Pan's Labyrinth. It stayed mostly under the radar but I have been pushing it quietly. Universal has been very supportive and wanted to do it. It's set at the turn of the century and it is a Gothic romance with ghosts.
- 12/5/2012
- by samueldzimmerman@gmail.com (Samuel Zimmerman)
- Fangoria
Announced earlier this week, Guillermo del Toro plans to direct Crimson Peak following the release of Pacific Rim. Peak is said to be a throwback to the classic stylings of The Haunting and The Innocents; big in scope, design and scares. In the wake of the news, it's been speculated Crimson Peak was a retitle of another such tale del Toro wrote called Hell House.
It seems that is not the case, and in correcting this, the director promised a return to "scary stuff":
Cp is not Hell House at all. Nothing could be further from that. Cp is a spec script Matthew and I wrote right after Pan's Labyrinth. It stayed mostly under the radar but I have been pushing it quietly. Universal has been very supportive and wanted to do it. It's set at the turn of the century and it is a Gothic romance with ghosts.
It seems that is not the case, and in correcting this, the director promised a return to "scary stuff":
Cp is not Hell House at all. Nothing could be further from that. Cp is a spec script Matthew and I wrote right after Pan's Labyrinth. It stayed mostly under the radar but I have been pushing it quietly. Universal has been very supportive and wanted to do it. It's set at the turn of the century and it is a Gothic romance with ghosts.
- 12/5/2012
- by samueldzimmerman@gmail.com (Samuel Zimmerman)
- Fangoria
Announced earlier this week, Guillermo del Toro plans to direct Crimson Peak following the release of Pacific Rim. Peak is said to be a throwback to the classic stylings of The Haunting and The Innocents; big in scope, design and scares. In the wake of the news, it's been speculated Crimson Peak was a retitle of another such tale del Toro wrote called Hell House.
It seems that is not the case, and in correcting this, the director promised a return to "scary stuff":
Cp is not Hell House at all. Nothing could be further from that. Cp is a spec script Matthew and I wrote right after Pan's Labyrinth. It stayed mostly under the radar but I have been pushing it quietly. Universal has been very supportive and wanted to do it. It's set at the turn of the century and it is a Gothic romance with ghosts.
It seems that is not the case, and in correcting this, the director promised a return to "scary stuff":
Cp is not Hell House at all. Nothing could be further from that. Cp is a spec script Matthew and I wrote right after Pan's Labyrinth. It stayed mostly under the radar but I have been pushing it quietly. Universal has been very supportive and wanted to do it. It's set at the turn of the century and it is a Gothic romance with ghosts.
- 12/5/2012
- by samueldzimmerman@gmail.com (Samuel Zimmerman)
- Fangoria
The Abertoir Skull There's a reason Madness have never written a song called Night Bus To Birmingham. Well, several reasons. When you tell people you're going to spend seven hours stuck on a cramped National Express coach in order to reach England's second city—home of Aston Villa and the Bullring Shopping Centre, historic birthplace of Dame Barbara Cartland—the general reaction is one of shocked disbelief. This doesn't change when you explain that actually you're only using Brum as a convenient stepping-stone to Aberystwyth, where there is a horror festival.
More fool them. This particular bus is full of happy Celtic supporters heading back home to Manchester, flushed with victory over Barcelona, arguably the best team in the world. The atmosphere is one of garrulous bonhomie. The pointless, deafening safety announcements broadcast down the length of the bus and into the world beyond after every stop make it impossible to sleep,...
More fool them. This particular bus is full of happy Celtic supporters heading back home to Manchester, flushed with victory over Barcelona, arguably the best team in the world. The atmosphere is one of garrulous bonhomie. The pointless, deafening safety announcements broadcast down the length of the bus and into the world beyond after every stop make it impossible to sleep,...
- 11/21/2012
- by Stuart Crawford
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
✒On newly minted culture secretary Maria Miller's CV are two spells at Grey Advertising, as an "executive" in 1985-90 and a "director" from 1995-2000. Monkey's inquiries about what she actually got up to have yet to produce results, partly because no one at Grey now was there so long ago. What is known is that she was at Grey when a famous group photo of 36 naked staffers (around half the total) appeared in Campaign, to promote the agency as trustworthy; but it seems that who took part went unrecorded. So we may never find out. Only hunting down back copies of the magazine from 1998 might reveal whether the future cabinet minister was a spoilsport or went with the flow, and Monkey naturally has not the slightest desire to encourage such seedy sleuthing.
✒In an exciting development announced last week, some Telegraph journalists are to be equipped with "a backpack device...
✒In an exciting development announced last week, some Telegraph journalists are to be equipped with "a backpack device...
- 10/9/2012
- by Monkey
- The Guardian - Film News
What's it like to go Cannes as a family? Director Katrine Boorman explains the highs and lows of being there with her father John
I first went to Cannes in 1970 when my dad, John Boorman, had a film playing in competition. It was Leo the Last, about a deposed Italian prince living in London, and I remember holding hands with my sister and its star Marcello Mastroianni as we ran along the beach being chased by paparazzi. Dad won best director. I was so excited.
Eleven years later, he was back with Excalibur 11 years later, based on the King Arthur legend. I spent so long waving to the crowd and having my photo taken, I didn't notice everyone else had gone into the cinema. Dad grabbed my arm, only for the door to be closed in our faces. He turned to me with a look of fury. Eventually, we were spotted by an official,...
I first went to Cannes in 1970 when my dad, John Boorman, had a film playing in competition. It was Leo the Last, about a deposed Italian prince living in London, and I remember holding hands with my sister and its star Marcello Mastroianni as we ran along the beach being chased by paparazzi. Dad won best director. I was so excited.
Eleven years later, he was back with Excalibur 11 years later, based on the King Arthur legend. I spent so long waving to the crowd and having my photo taken, I didn't notice everyone else had gone into the cinema. Dad grabbed my arm, only for the door to be closed in our faces. He turned to me with a look of fury. Eventually, we were spotted by an official,...
- 5/24/2012
- The Guardian - Film News
Author of A Brief History of Time hopes his theories reach a wider audience
I first saw the complete version in Los Angeles in February. I must confess, I was quite apprehensive as to how it would turn out. I was afraid that, on the one hand, it might leave out or trivialise the science, and on the other, that people might be confused or bored. I hope the finished product avoids both dangers.
Of course, the film does not explain the science in the detail the book did. That was inevitable. But I think it gets across two of the key ideas in my book: first, that the universe had a beginning in time. And second, that there is another kind of time, called imaginary time, in which the universe need have no boundary, no beginning or end.
The discovery of ripples in the microwave background reported last week is consistent with this idea,...
I first saw the complete version in Los Angeles in February. I must confess, I was quite apprehensive as to how it would turn out. I was afraid that, on the one hand, it might leave out or trivialise the science, and on the other, that people might be confused or bored. I hope the finished product avoids both dangers.
Of course, the film does not explain the science in the detail the book did. That was inevitable. But I think it gets across two of the key ideas in my book: first, that the universe had a beginning in time. And second, that there is another kind of time, called imaginary time, in which the universe need have no boundary, no beginning or end.
The discovery of ripples in the microwave background reported last week is consistent with this idea,...
- 5/1/2012
- The Guardian - Film News
From Oscar favourite The King's Speech to ex-Booker winner Wolf Hall, art that retells events is now the mainstay of films and books. But the concentration on reality stops writers using the imagination for storytelling
Throughout their history, movies have been talked about in terms of dreaming: studios are "dream factories"; Hollywood is "the land of dreams". But scanning the list of contenders for this year's Oscars, such descriptions feels misplaced. The most striking thing about the leading films of the last 12 months is how many draw their inspiration from fact.
The leading Oscar contenders, The King's Speech and The Social Network, both offer fictionalised portraits of familiar but enigmatic public figures – a monarch and a monumentally successful entrepreneur. But it's also true of other hotly tipped releases such as The Fighter (about boxer Micky Ward) and 127 Hours (about rock climber Aron Ralston), as well as films still to hit...
Throughout their history, movies have been talked about in terms of dreaming: studios are "dream factories"; Hollywood is "the land of dreams". But scanning the list of contenders for this year's Oscars, such descriptions feels misplaced. The most striking thing about the leading films of the last 12 months is how many draw their inspiration from fact.
The leading Oscar contenders, The King's Speech and The Social Network, both offer fictionalised portraits of familiar but enigmatic public figures – a monarch and a monumentally successful entrepreneur. But it's also true of other hotly tipped releases such as The Fighter (about boxer Micky Ward) and 127 Hours (about rock climber Aron Ralston), as well as films still to hit...
- 1/24/2011
- by William Skidelsky
- The Guardian - Film News
London, Dec 27 – New Year’s Eve is the perfect time to throw a party -everyone is in a festive mood, looking to mark the end of the year and to kick-off the new one with a bang.
And if you want to throw a truly memorable bash, here is Dame Barbara Cartland’s guide to social etiquette, written 50 years ago, that provides a few things you can do to make sure.
And if you want to throw a truly memorable bash, here is Dame Barbara Cartland’s guide to social etiquette, written 50 years ago, that provides a few things you can do to make sure.
- 12/27/2010
- by News
- RealBollywood.com
DAME Barbara Cartland is to be buried Wednesday in a cardboard box. The famous novelist - who died on Sunday aged 98 - snubbed a traditional wooden casket out of concern for the environment. It is thought that she will be buried wearing one of her famous pink chiffon dresses - at the private funeral in the grounds of her mansion in Hatfield, England. And the music Cartland chose is the ballad I BELIEVE by Perry Como. Her son IAN MCCORQUODALE says, "She thought it was a wonderful song and greatly admired Perry Como. "She requested it for her funeral - it echoes some of the things she believed in, like life after death."...
- 5/24/2000
- WENN
British romantic novelist Barbara Cartland has died just two months away from her 99th birthday. The prolific author died in her sleep after a short illness, according her son IAN MCCORQUODALE. He says, "She had a wonderful life. I think that she will be remembered as a writer of wonderful romance books that brought so much joy to so many people. She lived a full and fulfilling life, which touched many people around the world." Dame Barbara, whose daughter, RAINE was the stepmother of tragic British Royal PRINCESS DIANA, was one of the world's most successful authors. She was known as the Queen of Romance, writing 723 books with estimated worldwide sales of one billion copies in 36 languages. Dame Barbara had two sons and a daughter, six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. McCorquodale adds, "She was always available for love and counsel for them all. She was a character who was larger than life and a legend in her own time... Her style, glamour and vitality can never be repeated and she will always be remembered for her love of pink."...
- 5/22/2000
- WENN
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