Times Online (Free subscription) | 17/11/2009
There was champagne, which was entirely in character, and God, which was not. But as Lord Kinnock told the congregation at the late author’s memorial service yesterday, Sir John Mortimer was nothing if not a man of contradiction.
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 17/11/2009
Celebration of Rumpole creator's life at Southwark Cathedral one year after lawyer and playwright's death For a man who did not believe in God, only a cathedral was big enough to accommodate Sir John Mortimer's many friends and admirers for a memorial service today. Actually, the event at Southwark Cathedral in London was billed as a celebration of the life of the lawyer, author, playwright, entertainer...
BBC News (Free subscription) | 17/11/2009
Actors Alan Rickman and Jeremy Irons have joined the Duchess of Cornwall and many other famous faces to celebrate the life of Sir John Mortimer.
The Telegraph (Free subscription) | 17/11/2009
Oscar winners knights of the theatre royalty and the son he discovered at the age of 81 celebrated the remarkable life of Sir John Mortimer at his memorial service.
Baxojayz - Centricity (Free subscription) | 17/11/2009
perseverate \per-SEV-uh-reyt\, intransitive verb: To involuntarily repeat a particular response, such as a word, phrase, or gesture, despite the absence or cessation of a stimulus, usually caused by brain injury or other organic disorder. To repeat something insistently or redundantly. Perseverate is a back formation of perseveration from Middle French perseveration from Old French and classical Latin...
Dr. C. (Free subscription) | 16/11/2009
As a work of fantasy, Rogue Male by Geoffrey Household even now is a good read (I couldn't find the original cover so the above is from a British movie in the 1970's. Also, I like Peter O'Toole.) This week another work of fantasy, Going Rogue by our favorite politician (sic) Sarah Palin, hits the news stands. If I wasn't depressed by the level of discourse in America before, the fact that this clueless...
Lucy Ann White (Free subscription) | 16/11/2009
With Remembrance Week just behind us my mind dwells on our soldiers and the great sacrifice they have made for our country. I’ve blogged about Europe and First World War soldier poets before but now I’m thinking of the Middle East and that reminds me of someone in particular. Soldiers come in all shapes and sizes but one of the larger than life figures of the First World War in the Middle...
Retirement Rocks (Free subscription) | 13/11/2009
Once of the most beloved and iconic tv series from the late 60's in the UK was The Prisoner. It actually wasn't all that popular when it was first shown - mainly as only about 18 people had a tv set in the UK back then. But later it went all cultified and now gets mentioned in the same reverential tones as other shows that only lasted a few episodes but have lived long in the memory. For some bizarre...
Orlando Sentinel (Free subscription) | 12/11/2009
What: James Goldman's 1966 comic drama The Lion in Winter may have lasted only a couple of months on Broadway. But the 1968 film version — which starred Peter O'Toole as Henry II of England and Katharine Hepburn as Eleanor of Aquitaine — was an unqualified hit, with audiences embracing the notion that the king and queen of England were just as messed up as the simple folk, but a lot funnier....
Hollywood Elsewhere (Free subscription) | 11/11/2009
What exactly will Scott Foundas's appointment as associate program director of the NY Film Festival mean? He'll be handling series and event programs, and good for that -- Foundas is a very bright and knowledgable and plugged-in guy. I've seen him interview several distinguished filmmakers in various venues, and few are better at it than he. On the other hand Foundas did trash A Serious Man in Film...
The Nookular Option (Free subscription) | 11/11/2009
I love Richard Burton. Tonight, I spilled some beer on my floor to commemorate what could have been his 84 th birthday. As I was wondering why I spilled it on my own floor and not someone else’s (or perhaps out the window), I tried to figure out what my favorite Richard Burton movie is. The funny thing is, I love him more for the movies he hated doing. Go ahead and tell me that you didn’t...
LAist (Free subscription) | 11/11/2009
"Sons of Anarchy" will have a 1.5 hour special episode tonight starting at 10pm on FX Yesterday we waxed poetic about the "Mad Men" season finale which had a viewership of about 2.3 million but let's keep in mind that in this America, 1 million more people watched the Khloe Kardashian/Lamar Odom wedding special on E! Just when we thought we were becoming a little more sophisticated....
Gates of Vienna (Free subscription) | 10/11/2009
Our Flemish correspondent VH has translated an article about the collaboration of the film director Barrie Osborne and Yusuf Al Qaradawi. VH notes: Amanda Kluveld often writes excellent and very interesting columns that are published in the left-wing newspaper De Volkskrant . There must be many readers biting off their nails once a week… And the translated article, published in De Volkskrant...
look back in anger (Free subscription) | 09/11/2009
photos: peter o'toole from 1969's 'goodbye mr. chips'/'the scholar' watercolor by pal shazar
Gold Derby (Free subscription) | 07/11/2009
Two of these stars below are tied for suffering the most Oscar snubs among actresses: six defeats, no wins. Can you name them? To see the answer, click the "Continue Reading" link underneath the photos. ANSWER: Deborah Kerr and Thelma Ritter. Oscarless Rosalind Russell and Barbara Stanwyck lost four times each, Liv Ullmann twice. Two male stars lost more times than all of these women: Peter...
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