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EastEnders, Victoria Wood's Midlife Christmas, Cranford, Victorian Farm Christmas, Nan's Christmas Carol | TV review

28 December 2009 3:51 AM, PST | The Guardian - TV News | See recent The Guardian - TV News news »

EastEnders was murder, but Victoria Wood was a match for Morecambe and Wise, says Nancy Banks-Smith

The life expectancy of any landlord of the Queen Vic is always brief. It is a peculiarly hazardous job, like diving from a great height into a damp sponge. Den Watts, for instance, was murdered twice, but Archie Mitchell's tenure of office set some sort of new sprint record. After only one day as landlord, most of it spent in a darkened bar staring moodily into a snow globe, he was struck smartly over the head with the bust of Queen Victoria and expired on the spot. If this wasn't EastEnders (BBC1), I'd call it a homage to Citizen Kane, who was dying with his own snow globe at that very moment on BBC4. As it was EastEnders, I'd call it a knock-off.

You will be eager to know who did it. Almost anyone, »

- Nancy Banks-Smith

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Harry Potter And The Half-blood Prince Blu-ray Review

27 December 2009 3:58 PM, PST | Collider.com | See recent Collider.com news »

The Harry Potter series is something that has been running at the same time as the book were being written, and it’s hard not to wonder how much one commented and shaped the other. J. K. Rowling has suggested certain things be in the film because of end payoffs, and now we can see what she was hoping for as the books are done. With Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, I think it’s fair to say that this film isn’t the sixth film in the series, even though it is, but meant to be the start of a trilogy. My review of the sixth Harry Potter episode will continue if you click the continue reading link (I dare you).

Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) has grown up and is almost nearly on his own, but dealing in the aftermath of the last film’s mess, which involved Sirious Black getting killed. »

- Andre Dellamorte

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The Hot List 2010

26 December 2009 4:05 PM, PST | The Guardian - Film News | See recent The Guardian - Film News news »

Now that 2009 is so last year - well, almost - it's time to look forward to the next 12 months and the start of a new decade. Here we present our guide to 2010: the most promising newcomers, how the old guard are staying ahead of the game, plus the latest creative thinking in the arts, technology, politics and culture

1 Pop Ellie Goulding Ellie Goulding's success in 2010 may be preordained by industry insiders, but don't hold that against her. "I'm a country girl – I couldn't be less sceney if I tried," she laughs. Blessed with sirenlike tones and a gift for cleverly skewed pop, the 22-year-old Welsh singer-songwriter (pictured below) has already been named the winner of next year's Critics Choice Brit Award, last year bestowed on Florence + The Machine, and is putting the finishing touches to her debut album, due out in February. Though weaned on folk and chart pop, »

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Victoria Wood's Midlife Christmas – how was it for you?

24 December 2009 2:00 PM, PST | The Guardian - TV News | See recent The Guardian - TV News news »

Her return to television has been hotly anticipated. But did Victoria Wood's Christmas show live up to expectations?

Victoria Wood! She's on TV again! On Christmas Eve! That's the thing when you don't do a Christmas sketch show for nine years – people get very excited when they hear there's one in the pipeline. For me, Wood is a comedian like no other. She has a kind of warmth that I've not seen anyone else replicate: a gentle manner, beneath which lies a sharp and brilliant comic mind. It's that unexpected mixture – and a keen sense of the ridiculous – that makes her such glorious watching. (That, and the fact that with every passing year she looks younger and better. How?)

So we've established that I was excited about tonight's show. And there were bits of it that delighted me: the Margaret Mountford dancing was inspirational; I loved the big show »

- Vicky Frost

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All the highlights for TV this Christmas

24 December 2009 2:20 AM, PST | The Guardian - TV News | See recent The Guardian - TV News news »

It's David Tennant's last Doctor Who, Victoria Wood and Julie Walters are sharing a midlife crisis, Wallander reaches for his trusty cagoule – and there's a Gruffalo on the loose.

Christmas Eve

The Snowman

(Channel 4, 1.35pm)

Twenty-seven years after it first wedged its slipper in the door of Christmas TV tradition, Raymond Briggs's stunning tale of a young boy's friendship with a snowman remains one of the few repeats not to elicit a howl of exasperation. A dialogue-free treatise on the fleeting nature of innocence, its wobbly, pastel-hued evocation of childhood still induces a chorus of scraped-back chairs as a million dads dash to the loo on the grounds of having "chopped too many onions".

Carols from King's

(BBC2, 6.15pm)

In their annual concert from Cambridge, the chapel choir of King's College present highlights from The Best Non-Secular Xmas Album in the World . . . Ever! While parishioners stifle sneezes beneath the late-gothic fan vaulting, »

- Sarah Dempster

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Nighy Crippled By Stage Fright

22 December 2009 4:11 AM, PST | WENN | See recent WENN news »

Actor Bill Nighy suffers from such severe stage fright, he feels physically ill before performing live.

The Love Actually star got his start in the theatre, and even once toured in a company with fellow British stars Julie Walters and Pete Postlethwaite.

But despite successful stints on Broadway and in London's West End, the actor still has panic attacks before stepping into the spotlight.

He says, "It gets worse and worse. It's like an illness. You get a shortness of breath, light-headedness and you feel nauseous.

"When I do a play, it's like agreeing to be ill for a couple of months. It's absolutely normal and appropriate to be scared. Everyone is scared - I know really, really famous people who are terrified every time they walk on to a stage." »

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Royal Institution Christmas Lectures | Victoria Wood: Seen On TV | Timeshift: How to Win at Chess | Ten Minute Tales | Watch this

20 December 2009 4:05 PM, PST | The Guardian - TV News | See recent The Guardian - TV News news »

Royal Institution Christmas Lectures | Victoria Wood: Seen On TV | Timeshift: How to Win at Chess | Ten Minute Tales

Royal Institution Christmas Lectures

7pm, More4

The Royal Institution's Christmas Lectures almost make the festive season bearable. A fixture at the venerable research institute since 1825, they're traditionally a series of digressions by some suitably planet-brained boffin: previous Christmas lecturers have included Michael Faraday, David Attenborough, Carl Sagan and Richard Dawkins. This year, it's ecologist Sue Hartley. Her lectures, entitled The 300 Million Years War, depict natural history as an existential struggle between animals and plants – and you might be surprised by who is winning.

Victoria Wood: Seen On TV

8.30pm, BBC2

A night to settle in with a sausage dumpling and a pot of hot coffee as BBC2 offers a much-deserved hooray to Britain's top lady comic. First a 90-minute documentary featuring favoured collaborator Julie Walters and one-time co-star Roger Moore. »

- Andrew Mueller, Julia Raeside, David Stubbs, Phelim O'Neill

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DVD Playhouse--December 2009

19 December 2009 3:11 PM, PST | The Hollywood Interview | See recent The Hollywood Interview news »

DVD Playhouse—December 2009

By

Allen Gardner

Public Enemies (Universal) Johnny Depp portrays legendary Depression-era bank robber John Dillinger in co- writer/director Michael Mann’s take on America’s first “Public Enemy Number One.” Like many big studio releases today, Public Enemies has it all: A-list talent before and behind the camera, but lacks a heart or soul that allows its audience to connect with it. Film plays out like a “true crime” TV show with re-enactments of famous events cast with top actors and shot by the best technicians in the business, with little, if any, character or story development to hold it together in between. A real disappointment from one of our finest filmmakers and finest actors. The lone standout: the great character actor Stephen Lang as a hard-eyed lawman who’s seen a lot, but manages to retain a tiny piece of his heart. For a better take on the same subject, »

- The Hollywood Interview.com

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Christmas and new year TV films

18 December 2009 5:30 AM, PST | The Guardian - Film News | See recent The Guardian - Film News news »

Not sure what to watch? We can help with our comprehensive guide to the best films on TV this Christmas and new year

Choose a date

Saturday 19 December | Sunday 20 December | Monday 21 December | Tuesday 22 December | Wednesday 23 December |Christmas Eve | Christmas Day | Boxing Day | Sunday 27 December | Monday 28 December | Tuesday 29 December | Wednesday 30 December | New Year's Eve | New Year's Day

Saturday 19 December

Yes Man (Peyton Reed, 2008)

10am, 8pm, Sky Movies Premiere

Remember Jim Carrey in Liar, Liar, where he forces himself to tell the truth for 24 hours? Well, here Jim Carrey forces himself to answer yes to any request, for a year. Which is upping the ante somewhat, but doesn't make it a better film. This is a return to the manic, gurning, not-very-funny Carrey, as if The Truman Show, Eternal Sunshine etc hadn't happened. Just say no.

The Golden Compass (Chris Weitz, 2007)

11.40am, 8pm, Sky Movies Family

What with Harry Potter, Narnia, Lemony Snicket and all, »

- Paul Howlett

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Christmas and new year TV films

18 December 2009 5:30 AM, PST | The Guardian - TV News | See recent The Guardian - TV News news »

Not sure what to watch? We can help with our comprehensive guide to the best films on TV this Christmas and new year

Choose a date

Saturday 19 December | Sunday 20 December | Monday 21 December | Tuesday 22 December | Wednesday 23 December |Christmas Eve | Christmas Day | Boxing Day | Sunday 27 December | Monday 28 December | Tuesday 29 December | Wednesday 30 December | New Year's Eve | New Year's Day

Saturday 19 December

Yes Man (Peyton Reed, 2008)

10am, 8pm, Sky Movies Premiere

Remember Jim Carrey in Liar, Liar, where he forces himself to tell the truth for 24 hours? Well, here Jim Carrey forces himself to answer yes to any request, for a year. Which is upping the ante somewhat, but doesn't make it a better film. This is a return to the manic, gurning, not-very-funny Carrey, as if The Truman Show, Eternal Sunshine etc hadn't happened. Just say no.

The Golden Compass (Chris Weitz, 2007)

11.40am, 8pm, Sky Movies Family

What with Harry Potter, Narnia, Lemony Snicket and all, »

- Paul Howlett

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Blu-Ray Review: Ultimate Edition of ‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone’

15 December 2009 12:51 PM, PST | HollywoodChicago.com | See recent HollywoodChicago.com news »

Chicago – Clear some shelf space for the gigantic Blu-Ray releases of the first two “Harry Potter” films, timed with the not-as-enormous edition release of “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” the same week. These ultimate editions, complete with collectibles and new special features, are great collector’s set gifts for the holidays for the Potter nut in your family but feel a bit like overkill for everyone else.

Blu-Ray Rating: 3.5/5.0

One has to truly love a film to allow it to take up the space of 4-5 others on their Blu-Ray shelf. While I recognized that there are many, many people who do love “Sorcerer’s Stone,” I’m not one of them. For me, the series doesn’t really click until the third film, “The Prisoner of Azkaban”. Three and four are great, five and six are good, but one are two are hampered by director »

- adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)

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Alan Bennett: turning melancholy into an art

7 December 2009 9:43 AM, PST | The Guardian - TV News | See recent The Guardian - TV News news »

This week's celebration of the work of playwright and author Alan Bennett is a treat. So which are your favourite Bennett moments?

It's really the perfect time of year for an Alan Bennett celebration. There has, after all, always seemed something of the autumn afternoon to Bennett's writing; it holds the special kind of melancholy one feels as the nights draw in and the trees stand bare. he himself put it in this weekend's Being Alan Bennett: "I've always had a sense that the best is over really, even when I was 16."

If his new play The Habit of Art, is anything to go by, the best of Bennett is far from over, and indeed in his later years (he is now 75) he appears as prolific as ever – Being Alan Bennett showed him pootling around Camden where he now lives, attending the opening of his doctor's new surgery and »

- Laura Barton

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The First Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Image Surfaces

1 December 2009 6:23 PM, PST | FusedFilm | See recent FusedFilm news »

USA Today has released the first photo for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Though the photo is somewhat boring, at least I liked what David Yates, the mastermind behind both Parts 1 and 2, had to say about the tone of the next film.

“It’s going to feel very real. We’re going for a vérité approach. Being away from Hogwarts, they’re like these three refugees on the run. They’re out in the big bad world, facing real danger, unguarded by those wonderful benign wizards at Hogwarts. They don’t have a home to go to. We’re kind of pulling away from the magic a bit and bringing more reality to it.”

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows finds Harry, Ron, and Hermione hiding in a world full of Muggles with the fate of the Wizarding world in their hands. Directed by David Yates and starring Emma Watson, »

- Kevin Coll

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Blu-Ray Review: ‘Mamma Mia! The Movie’ Given Gift Set Treatment

24 November 2009 7:30 PM, PST | HollywoodChicago.com | See recent HollywoodChicago.com news »

Chicago – It’s the most wonderful time of the year for Blu-Ray and DVD collectors. Every holiday season, studios pull out their most beloved films, polish up the picture, maybe add a special feature or two, and usually throw in a few collectibles for a gift set. Recent gift set releases include limited edition boxes for “Gone With the Wind,” “The Wizard of Oz,” and “Christmas Vacation”. The gleefully campy “Mamma Mia! The Movie” seems like a perfect fit and “The Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! More Gift Set” should make fans of the movie happy but is clearly the lowest rung on the ladder when it comes to these season releases.

Blu-Ray Rating: 2.5/5.0

Before we even get to the movie, what qualifies as a gift set? With recent releases including such unusual items as a watch (“Wizard of Oz”) and fake snow (“Christmas Vacation”), don’t you think a film as weird as “Mamma Mia! »

- adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)

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Brits Storm International Emmys

24 November 2009 4:16 AM, PST | WENN | See recent WENN news »

U.K. stars ruled the International Emmy Awards on Monday as British thespians Julie Walters and Ben Whishaw scooped the top acting honours.

Nominees from the United Kingdom swept the board at the New York ceremony, which honoured excellence in TV programming outside the U.S., winning gold in five of the nine categories in which British stars or programmes were nominated.

Whishaw was named Best Actor for his role in BBC series Criminal Justice, while Walters' performance in A Short Stay in Switzerland landed her the Best Actress prize, reports Daily Variety.

The U.K. also triumphed in the best documentary and arts categories, as well as scooping the award for best programming for children and young people.

Japanese series Hoshi Shinichi’s Short Shorts was namechecked as the best comedy, while Danish show The Protectors was voted top drama. »

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UK dominates International Emmys

24 November 2009 12:35 AM, PST | digitalspy | See recent digitalspy news »

The UK has dominated the winners list at this year's International Emmy Awards, hosted by Graham Norton last night at the New York Hilton. British stars Ben Whishaw and Julie Walters were recognised as the best actor and actress respectively, while UK-made programmes The Mona Lisa Curse, Dustbin Baby and The Ascent of Money also won awards. As previously announced, Sir David Frost was given the 'Founders Award' for lifetime achievement in the industry. Japanese show (more) »

- By Mayer Nissim

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International Emmy Awards 2009: The Winners

24 November 2009 12:21 AM, PST | digitalspy | See recent digitalspy news »

Digital Spy presents the winners of the 37th International Emmy Awards held last night at at the New York Hilton. Arts Programming

The Mona Lisa Curse (UK) Best Performance by an Actor

Ben Whishaw - Criminal Justice (UK) Best Performance by an Actress

Julie Walters - A Short Stay In Switzerland (UK) Children & Young People

Dustbin Baby (UK) Comedy

Hoshi Shinichi's Short Shorts (more) »

- By Mayer Nissim

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Helen Mirren to be given lifetime achievement award

16 November 2009 10:28 PM, PST | RealBollywood.com | See recent RealBollywood news »

London, Nov 16 (Ians) Veteran actress Helen Mirren is to be conferred with a lifetime achievement award for her contribution to cinema.

The Oscar-winner will be presented with the trophy at the 19th annual Women in Film and Television Awards here next month, reports imdb.com.

Event organisers say Mirren will receive the honour for her ‘outstanding and lasting contribution to film and television’.

Previous winners of the award include former Bond girl Dame Diana Rigg, multi Oscar-winner Katharine Hepburn, and ‘Educating Rita’ star Julie Walters. »

- realbollywood

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Mirren Set For Lifetime Achievement Award

16 November 2009 4:06 AM, PST | WENN | See recent WENN news »

Veteran actress Dame Helen Mirren is to be awarded a lifetime achievement honour for her contribution to the film industry.

The Queen Oscar-winner will be presented with the trophy at the 19th annual Women in Film and Television Awards in London next month.

Event organisers say Mirren will receive the honour for her "outstanding and lasting contribution to film and television".

Previous winners of the award include former Bond girl Dame Diana Rigg, multi Oscar-winner Katharine Hepburn, and Educating Rita star Julie Walters. »

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tMF Exclusive Interview - Nicholas Hoult: A Fascinating Study of Character

11 November 2009 6:30 AM, PST | The Movie Fanatic | See recent The Movie Fanatic news »

A Single Man, The Weinstein Company's Oscar bet this year, is a fascinating study of characters. Based on the novel by Christopher Isherwood, it depicts one day in the life of George, a middle-aged gay Englishman who works as a college professor in Los Angeles and whose lover, Jim, has recently died. - - -

- - - Playing Kenny, "a pretty-boy college student who appears to be stalking George (Colin Firth)", is Nicholas Hoult. During its La Press day, tMF was able to secure a phone interview with the young British actor. It must have been a tiresome day for Nicholas Hoult, but I never noticed, even once, any indication. Hoult was quite charming, seriously answered all my questions and even volunteered to add a few tidbits or two. What's so interesting is that he's very courteous, unlike some of the young actors based in Hollywood.

Even though playing »

- modelwatcher@gmail.com (Jed Medina)

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2009 | 2008 | 2006 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000

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