Judi Dench: Peter and Alice, Noel Coward Theatre, review (TELEGRAPH)

Peter and Alice, starring Skyfall's Judi Dench and Ben Whishaw, is a moving theatrical chamber piece which couldn't be further removed from the Bond blockbuster, says Charles Spencer.

By Charles Spencer7:00AM GMT 26 Mar 2013

If you had to imagine a work that was the complete antithesis of the brilliant Bond blockbuster, Skyfall, it might resemble Peter and Alice, a moving, 90-minute theatrical chamber piece about childhood, growing up and the pressure of literary immortality.

Yet it has been written by John Logan, one of the scriptwriters on Skyfall, and stars Judi Dench and Ben Whishaw who play M and Q in 007’s latest adventure.

They both give beautiful, heart-catching performances in this haunting play that sounds profound notes of loss and grief.

The piece was inspired by a small footnote in literary history. In 1932, Alice Liddell Hargreaves, who was the model for Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, met Peter Llewellyn Davies, one of five brothers into whose lives JM Barrie insinuated himself, and who inspired Peter Pan. Barrie wrote that he created the young boy who never grew up “by rubbing the five of you violently together, as savages with two sticks produce a flame” but it was Peter who bore the name of the character that was to haunt and trouble him throughout his unhappy life.

The play shows Peter and Alice meeting in the dusty backroom of a bookshop where Alice is to open an exhibition celebrating Carroll’s centenary. Peter is there because he is a publisher and hopes to get a book out of her. At first Alice, now 80, is haughty. “You’re presumptuous,” she tells Peter, and no actress is more capable of suggesting withering disdain in just two words than Dame Judi. But Peter perseveres and they talk about the way their lives have been marked and to different extents marred by the writers and the books that trapped them in immortal youth.

READ MORE: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/theatre-reviews/9952907/Peter-and-Alice-Noel-Coward-Theatre-review.html

Michael Caine to be awarded Freedom of the City of London (TELEGRAPH)

by Daisy Bowie-2:00PM GMT 08 Mar 2013

British actor Sir Michael Caine will be given the Freedom of the City of London.

In the past, the honour has been bestowed upon other actors including Dame Judi Dench, and figures such as Winston Churchill, Diana, Princess of Wales and Nelson Mandela have also been recipients.

One of the oldest surviving traditional ceremonies, the award is thought to date back to 1237.

The honour is the latest in a long list awarded to Caine, who will turn 80 next week.

Caine was originally from London, having grown up in Southwark. Born Maurice Micklewhite in 1933 to a fish porter and a cleaner, he became famous for his roles in films such as Zulu, The Italian Job and The Ipcress File.

READ MORE: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film-news/9917793/Michael-Caine-to-be-awarded-Freedom-of-the-City-of-London.html

Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Vanessa Redgrave, Julie Andrews, Katherine Hepburn - WHEN I GROW UP I WANT TO BE AN OLD WOMAN...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iknxnk8Mq_Y

Maggie Smith Likely For BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD Sequel BWW MOVIES WORLD

Friday, Mar, 1, 2013; 4:36 PM; - by Pat Cerasaro

Surprise recent Brit hit THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL is getting a sequel and screenwriter Ol Parker has confirmed that it is more than merely likely that multi-award-winning acting icon Maggie Smith will return in her role of Muriel Donnelly for the next chapter.

"[W]e're getting the old team back together. The very old team," Parker amusingly told Vulture in a new interview. "They were all genuinely up for it, which was really cool. Even Maggie, and that's a scary call to make!"

Why so? Well, he hilariously comments before letting out a laugh, "Because she's f*cking terrifying!"

Read more:http://movies.broadwayworld.com/article/Maggie-Smith-Likely-For-BEST-MARIGOLD-Sequel-20130301

The 2013 Awards Shortlist: Vote Now The final vote for your actors and films of the year! (EMPIRE)

Imagine your ideal awards ceremony. It wouldn't be four hours long. There would be no awkward/sexist/lame musical numbers. Winners would be allowed to take as long as they want, and thank whomever they want in their speeches, and would be positively encouraged to tell us shaggy dog stories about their experiences on set. And the whole thing would be irreverent, laidback, relaxed and very funny. In other words, The Jameson Empire Awards.

Yes, the show we're calling the antidote to Oscar fever is back — on Sunday March 24, to be precise. As ever, the majority of the categories will be decided by our readers, so we need YOUR votes for the best films and performances in the period running from January 27, 2012, to January 25, 2013.

It's a very open race, with box office behemoths Avengers Assemble, Skyfall, The Dark Knight Rises and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey all in contention. Then there are the smaller yet no less deserving entries like The Raid, Beasts Of The Southern Wild, Sightseers, Argo, Looper and Django Unchained – as well as many, many more.

The individual categories will be hard-fought too. For example, fancy choosing between Looper, Prometheus, Avengers, The Hobbit and Dredd in Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy? Nope, us neither.

Best Male and Female Newcomers always throw up some interesting faces, including everyone from Beasts Of The Southern Wild’s Quevenzhane Wallis to Steve Oram for Sightseers, while Best Director will see a battle of the heavyweights with Christopher Nolan, Joss Whedon, Sam Mendes, Peter Jackson and Quentin Tarantino battling it out.

To vote, simply select your favourites in each category below — and don't forget, you'll be entered into a ballot to win a pair of tickets to the Jameson Empire Awards, where you could find yourself rubbing shoulders with this year’s nominees and special guests.

CLICK ON HERE TO VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITES

Dame Judi Dench has been named Britain's greatest actor, ahead of figures such as Lord Olivier and Sir John Mills. (INDEPENDENT)

The 78-year-old Oscar winner, who played M for the last time in the James Bond series last year, triumphed in the poll which put women on top, with Dame Maggie Smith finishing second.

Nostalgia magazine Best Of British, which polled its readers, found broadcaster Sir David Attenborough to be the greatest living British man, with scientist Stephen Hawking in second spot.

The top living British woman was the Queen while Baroness Thatcher took the runner-up position.

READ MORE: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/dame-judi-dench-trounces-laurence-olivier-to-be-name-britains-best-actor-8517113.html