April 2011
11 posts
9 tags
From Shakespeare to Superheroes
By Jenny Priestley
There were a lot of raised eyebrows back in 2008 when Marvel announced they were handing control of their latest superhero film to Kenneth Branagh. The British actor/director isn’t particularly known for working on ‘blockbuster’ movies, but he told us recently he jumped at the chance to work outside his comfort zone Thor, which comes out on Friday: ‘It was a great surprise to...
15 tags
South Pacific: One Enchanted Morning...
By Michelle Abraham
With toe-tapping hits such as I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair and There Is Nothin’ Like A Dame, it’s hardly surprising South Pacific has attained international recognition since its debut in 1949. I was lucky enough to be invited to the London launch of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s best loved musical as it prepares to open in the West End.
Strictly Come Dancing star...
23 tags
A Royal windfall
By Ariane Buteux
“Love and marriage, love and marriage, they go together like a horse and carriage” or so goes the old song. But not where a royal wedding is concerned. Oh no.
Happily for some (and sadly for others) the royal wedding is also quite a nice little money-spinner, with all manner of ‘kitsch’ memorabilia being hawked on almost every street corner. Never in my lifetime has two people...
19 tags
Midnight In Paris: the curtain rises on Cannes
By Jenny Priestley
After a pretty lacklustre 2010, the Cannes Film Festival looks set to return with a bang when it kicks off on May 11.
Opening with the world premiere of Woody Allen’s new film Midnight In Paris, the Palais is likely to be besieged by paparazzi desperate for a shot of one of the film’s minor stars. It doesn’t matter that Owen Wilson, Marion Cotillard, Kathy Bates and Rachel...
12 tags
Shhhhh!!! Don’t tell anyone, it’s Sweet Valley...
By Jennifer McKenzie
Today is a very important day. For me anyway. The latest Sweet Valley book is being released in the UK – Sweet Valley Confidential. The cult series first launched back in 1983, and were the only books my parents could ever get me to read.
My addiction started in the early 90s when the identical blonde twins I lived next door to introduced me to the Sweet Valley Kids series,...
6 tags
Britain's Got Talent - or has it?
By Charles Allison
On April 16 ITV1’s annual talent extravaganza sings, dances, juggles and fire-eats its way back on to our screens. Today, I was among the lucky few given a sneak preview at the show’s press launch. This series sees Michael McIntyre and David Hasselhoff join the judging panel, with Piers Morgan and Simon Cowell making way (don’t worry, Cowell’s coming back for the live...
3 tags
Holy stageshow! Batman Lives...
By Michelle Abraham
I grew up watching Batman. One of my favourite memories of the 1990s is of sitting in front of the TV on a Saturday morning with my brother, eagerly awaiting the latest episode of Batman: The Animated Series. Over a decade later, you can imagine my anticipation at attending the Batman Live: World Arena Tour press launch.
We were greeted by creative director Anthony Van Laast....
9 tags
A Little Bistro This...
By Ariane Buteux
Now I’m not a big fan of marmalade, but couple the term with ‘martini’ and throw in a ‘fruits de mer food station’ and specialist iced tea and you’ve got me curious. Top this with the exciting news that Hotel du Vin was making its first foray into the capital with a stand-alone restaurant in Clerkenwell and there you have it, I was hooked and (hungrily) heading along to the launch...
5 tags
The Rise Of Figwit
By Jenny Priestley
Back in 2001 Bret McKenzie was a struggling actor who appeared as an elf in one scene in Peter Jackson’s The Fellowship of the Ring. And then he became a cultural phenomenon. He’s subsequently gone on to fame as one half of comic Kiwi duo The Flight of the Conchords, but to a generation of filmgoers, he’ll forever be known as Figwit.
McKenzie appeared in the Council of Elrond...
2 tags
Q Live At Concrete: cue the excitement!
By Emily Rainbows
After constantly humming the tune of Moving To New York to myself all day - and yes, I mean all day - the moment had finally arrived: it was time to see The Wombats….live! The Liverpool trio, whose second album, …This Modern Glitch, is out on April 11, were down at Concrete in Shoreditch as part of the monthly Q The Music live gig series, which runs up to the Q Awards in...
4 tags
Just what the Doctor ordered
By Charles Allison
I’ve never really got Doctor Who. It sits somewhere between UGG Boots and newborn babies on my list of things that I don’t understand what the fuss is all about. I can’t quite put my finger on why I was never interested in it growing up. Here was a guy who travelled through time and space, fighting aliens and using high tech gadgets and yet, he didn’t seem cool. Also, my mum...
