The heart of London, small-town Wales, or beautiful Florence— the world is your oyster with BritBox! The best-of-British media streamer has announced its August 2023 slate with plenty of diverse titles to choose from— from the classic satirical comedy series “Rumpole of the Bailey,” the critically acclaimed Welsh drama “The Museum,” the beloved 1980s romantic drama “A Room with a View,” and more.
Here are the top five titles coming to the platform we are most excited about at The Streamable!
7-Day Free Trial $7.99 / month via Amazon Prime Video What Are the Best Shows and Movies Coming to BritBox in August 2023? “A Room with a View” | Aug. 17
New to BritBox this month, the beloved British drama “A Room with a View” stars Helena Bonham-Carter as Lucy Honeychurch, a young Englishwoman touring Italy with her older cousin (Maggie Smith). While at a hotel in Florence, Lucy meets the charming, free-spirited George Emerson...
Here are the top five titles coming to the platform we are most excited about at The Streamable!
7-Day Free Trial $7.99 / month via Amazon Prime Video What Are the Best Shows and Movies Coming to BritBox in August 2023? “A Room with a View” | Aug. 17
New to BritBox this month, the beloved British drama “A Room with a View” stars Helena Bonham-Carter as Lucy Honeychurch, a young Englishwoman touring Italy with her older cousin (Maggie Smith). While at a hotel in Florence, Lucy meets the charming, free-spirited George Emerson...
- 7/28/2023
- by Ashley Steves
- The Streamable
The hard-hitting documentary director has turned his unflinching eye on his photographer father Maurice Broomfield in My Father and Me, to fascinating effect
Some documentaries are so vivid, so heartfelt, that you almost feel you’re somehow involved yourself. And for a very interesting reason, this is how I felt watching My Father and Me, the new BBC Two film from the Bafta-winning director Nick Broomfield, whose past work includes Kurt & Courtney, Whitney: Can I Be Me and Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer, the piercingly intimate death-row study of Aileen Wuornos, which inspired the Hollywood feature Monster, starring Charlize Theron.
Broomfield’s new film is, to paraphrase John Mortimer, a voyage round his father, the photographer Maurice Broomfield, who died 10 years ago at the age of 94.
Maurice Broomfield’s beautiful, dreamlike and utterly unique images captured British industry in its postwar heyday. His images have come to...
Some documentaries are so vivid, so heartfelt, that you almost feel you’re somehow involved yourself. And for a very interesting reason, this is how I felt watching My Father and Me, the new BBC Two film from the Bafta-winning director Nick Broomfield, whose past work includes Kurt & Courtney, Whitney: Can I Be Me and Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer, the piercingly intimate death-row study of Aileen Wuornos, which inspired the Hollywood feature Monster, starring Charlize Theron.
Broomfield’s new film is, to paraphrase John Mortimer, a voyage round his father, the photographer Maurice Broomfield, who died 10 years ago at the age of 94.
Maurice Broomfield’s beautiful, dreamlike and utterly unique images captured British industry in its postwar heyday. His images have come to...
- 3/17/2021
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Sir Carol Reed takes on a movie about insurance fraud in sunny Spain — with a great trio of actors for 1963. Laurence Harvey scams an insurance company and looks forward to continuing to beat the system in a happy life of chicanery; Lee Remick finds her affections turning to Alan Bates, an insurance man who might also be on vacation, or might have come to uncover Harvey’s crime. How does Harvey hide out while waiting for the big payoff in Málaga? He buys a huge white convertible too big to fit through the streets!
The Running Man
Blu-ray
Arrow Academy
1963 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 103 min. / Street Date June 18, 2019 / 39.95
Starring: Laurence Harvey, Lee Remick, Alan Bates, Felix Aylmer, Allan Cuthbertson, Noel Purcell, Ramsay Ames, Fernando Rey, Eddie Byrne, John Meillon, Roger Delgado.
Cinematography: Robert Krasker
Film Editor: Bert Bates
Original Music: William Alwyn
Continuity: Angela Allen
Written by John Mortimer from the...
The Running Man
Blu-ray
Arrow Academy
1963 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 103 min. / Street Date June 18, 2019 / 39.95
Starring: Laurence Harvey, Lee Remick, Alan Bates, Felix Aylmer, Allan Cuthbertson, Noel Purcell, Ramsay Ames, Fernando Rey, Eddie Byrne, John Meillon, Roger Delgado.
Cinematography: Robert Krasker
Film Editor: Bert Bates
Original Music: William Alwyn
Continuity: Angela Allen
Written by John Mortimer from the...
- 6/11/2019
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Laurence Harvey in The Running Man (1963) will be available on Blu-ray June 18th From Arrow Academy
Over a decade after redefining the thriller with The Third Man, director Carol Reed returned to the genre with The Running Man. Reuniting with that film s cinematographer Robert Krasker (BAFTA-nominated for his work here), Reed goes in the opposite direction visually, framing the twisty plot in sun-kissed widescreen color.
Rex Black has successfully faked his death in a plane crash and escaped to sunny Málaga under a new identity, waiting for his wife Stella to arrive with £50,000 of life insurance money. It s the start of a blissful, trouble-free new life for the couple until Stephen, the insurance agent in charge of investigating Rex s death, suddenly arrives in town. Is he just holidaying in Spain, as he claims, or is he on assignment to foil Rex s scheme?
Adapted by John Mortimer...
Over a decade after redefining the thriller with The Third Man, director Carol Reed returned to the genre with The Running Man. Reuniting with that film s cinematographer Robert Krasker (BAFTA-nominated for his work here), Reed goes in the opposite direction visually, framing the twisty plot in sun-kissed widescreen color.
Rex Black has successfully faked his death in a plane crash and escaped to sunny Málaga under a new identity, waiting for his wife Stella to arrive with £50,000 of life insurance money. It s the start of a blissful, trouble-free new life for the couple until Stephen, the insurance agent in charge of investigating Rex s death, suddenly arrives in town. Is he just holidaying in Spain, as he claims, or is he on assignment to foil Rex s scheme?
Adapted by John Mortimer...
- 5/21/2019
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Emily Mortimer is to reboot classic British series Rumpole of the Bailey – the legal drama originally created by her father John Mortimer.
The Newsroom and Mary Poppins Returns star is in the early stages of development with the remake, which will be produced by her own indie King Bee and eOne.
The series, which ran on ITV predecessor Thames Television between 1978 and 1992, starred Leo McKern as Horace Rumpole, an elderly barrister in London who defended a weird and wonderful mix of clients. It started as a radio play on the BBC before making the move to television.
The reboot was revealed at a Deadline-moderated Banff Connect event in London by Polly Williams, eOne’s head of scripted development in the UK. The Designated Survivor studio has a first-look deal with Mortimer’s company, which she runs with her husband Alessandro Nivola.
Williams told Deadline that Mortimer has “reimagined” the series...
The Newsroom and Mary Poppins Returns star is in the early stages of development with the remake, which will be produced by her own indie King Bee and eOne.
The series, which ran on ITV predecessor Thames Television between 1978 and 1992, starred Leo McKern as Horace Rumpole, an elderly barrister in London who defended a weird and wonderful mix of clients. It started as a radio play on the BBC before making the move to television.
The reboot was revealed at a Deadline-moderated Banff Connect event in London by Polly Williams, eOne’s head of scripted development in the UK. The Designated Survivor studio has a first-look deal with Mortimer’s company, which she runs with her husband Alessandro Nivola.
Williams told Deadline that Mortimer has “reimagined” the series...
- 3/7/2019
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
During the three-season run of “The Newsroom,” Emily Mortimer was a standout among the ensemble cast. Now, the English actress, who appeared in “Shutter Island” and “Hugo,” is returning to the big screen in the adaptation of Penelope Fitzgerald’s 1978 novel, “The Bookshop.”
What’s your background with literature?
My dad [“Rumpole of the Bailey” creator John Mortimer] was a novelist and playwright and I grew up surrounded by books. I studied English literature and Russian literature at Oxford. As I got older and started having kids, books sort of faded for a while. When you’re raising kids, it’s an achievement to just get your teeth brushed by the end of the day, let alone read a book. It’s only in the last couple of years that I’ve come back to reading again.
Is there a favorite genre or author?
I love Dickens. My dad was a big Dickens fan.
What’s your background with literature?
My dad [“Rumpole of the Bailey” creator John Mortimer] was a novelist and playwright and I grew up surrounded by books. I studied English literature and Russian literature at Oxford. As I got older and started having kids, books sort of faded for a while. When you’re raising kids, it’s an achievement to just get your teeth brushed by the end of the day, let alone read a book. It’s only in the last couple of years that I’ve come back to reading again.
Is there a favorite genre or author?
I love Dickens. My dad was a big Dickens fan.
- 8/2/2018
- by Ellis Clopton
- Variety Film + TV
Hell's Kitchen: Soul stew image likely from the 1922 Benjamin Christensen horror classic 'Häxan / Witchcraft Through the Ages.' Day of the Dead post: Cinema's Top Five Scariest Living Dead We should all be eternally grateful to the pagans, who had the foresight to come up with many (most?) of the overworked Western world's religious holidays. Thanks to them, besides Easter, Christmas, New Year's, and possibly Mardi Gras (a holiday in some countries), we also have Halloween, All Saints' Day, and the Day of Dead. The latter two are public holidays in a number of countries with large Catholic populations. Since today marks the end of the annual Halloween / All Saints' Day / Day of the Dead celebrations, I'm posting my revised and expanded list of the movies' Top Five Scariest Living Dead. Of course, by that I don't mean the actors listed below were dead when the movies were made.
- 11/3/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
'Henry V' Movie Actress Renée Asherson dead at 99: Laurence Olivier leading lady in acclaimed 1944 film (image: Renée Asherson and Laurence Olivier in 'Henry V') Renée Asherson, a British stage actress featured in London productions of A Streetcar Named Desire and Three Sisters, but best known internationally as Laurence Olivier's leading lady in the 1944 film version of Henry V, died on October 30, 2014. Asherson was 99 years old. The exact cause of death hasn't been specified. She was born Dorothy Renée Ascherson (she would drop the "c" some time after becoming an actress) on May 19, 1915, in Kensington, London, to Jewish parents: businessman Charles Ascherson and his second wife, Dorothy Wiseman -- both of whom narrowly escaped spending their honeymoon aboard the Titanic. (Ascherson cancelled the voyage after suffering an attack of appendicitis.) According to Michael Coveney's The Guardian obit for the actress, Renée Asherson was "scantly...
- 11/5/2014
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Jack Clayton's masterpiece is full of repressed sexual hunger and throbbing darkness
Fifty-two years young, Jack Clayton's masterpiece The Innocents is as unsettlingly beautiful and insolubly ambiguous today as it was on the day it was released, and remains, along with Robert Wise's The Haunting, one of the great British psychological horror movies. Based on Henry James's The Turn Of The Screw – derived by screenwriters Truman Capote and John Mortimer from the 1950 Broadway stage adaptation by William Archibald – it's a perfect alignment of script and director, stars and subject matter, and it offers a ton of subsidiary pleasures in its casting (including Peter Wyngarde, a decade before Jason King, and Martin Stevens, the lead blond psycho kid from Village Of The Damned).
The striking camerawork comes courtesy of Freddie Francis, who less than two years later would embark upon a second career as a successful director...
Fifty-two years young, Jack Clayton's masterpiece The Innocents is as unsettlingly beautiful and insolubly ambiguous today as it was on the day it was released, and remains, along with Robert Wise's The Haunting, one of the great British psychological horror movies. Based on Henry James's The Turn Of The Screw – derived by screenwriters Truman Capote and John Mortimer from the 1950 Broadway stage adaptation by William Archibald – it's a perfect alignment of script and director, stars and subject matter, and it offers a ton of subsidiary pleasures in its casting (including Peter Wyngarde, a decade before Jason King, and Martin Stevens, the lead blond psycho kid from Village Of The Damned).
The striking camerawork comes courtesy of Freddie Francis, who less than two years later would embark upon a second career as a successful director...
- 12/16/2013
- by John Patterson
- The Guardian - Film News
Emily Mortimer is finding a big personal benefit to being in "The Newsroom."
The London-native actress is learning ever more about America from working on creator-producer Aaron Sorkin's HBO drama. With the series launching its second season Sunday, July 14, she says such upcoming topics as antiterrorism strategies and the 2012 presidential election are increasing her knowledge and understanding of life in the United States.
Mortimer tells Zap2it she finds the Supreme Court -- which made major news last week with its rulings on gay-rights issues -- "particularly" interesting. "Those people can't be voted out once they're there, and it's a wonderful system in a way, but there's also room for questioning it.
"It's unlike anything we've experienced at home [where the British Parliament can remove Supreme Court justices]. These are appointed judges who make extremely important decisions about things that affect all of us forever. There are definitely different interests that you really have to think about.
The London-native actress is learning ever more about America from working on creator-producer Aaron Sorkin's HBO drama. With the series launching its second season Sunday, July 14, she says such upcoming topics as antiterrorism strategies and the 2012 presidential election are increasing her knowledge and understanding of life in the United States.
Mortimer tells Zap2it she finds the Supreme Court -- which made major news last week with its rulings on gay-rights issues -- "particularly" interesting. "Those people can't be voted out once they're there, and it's a wonderful system in a way, but there's also room for questioning it.
"It's unlike anything we've experienced at home [where the British Parliament can remove Supreme Court justices]. These are appointed judges who make extremely important decisions about things that affect all of us forever. There are definitely different interests that you really have to think about.
- 7/1/2013
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Zap2It - From Inside the Box
Something Wicked This Way Comes
Directed by Jack Clayton
Written by Ray Bradbury
Starring Jason Robards, Jonathan Pryce, Pam Grier, Diane Ladd
Both before and after watching it, I’m stymied by Something Wicked This Way Comes. During our podcast with The Av Club’s Zack Handlen, Mike asked me why I chose this movie to discuss now as opposed to years down the line, and whether or not I felt like this was a “Disney” movie. I’ve talked in this column before about what that latter concept even means. What makes a Disney movie “Disney”? If there is some immutable formula, or a series of ingredients that need to appear, then you may have to look hard for how they show up in Something Wicked This Way Comes. I don’t know that the ingredients are totally absent, but if you look at the film’s plot synopsis by itself,...
Directed by Jack Clayton
Written by Ray Bradbury
Starring Jason Robards, Jonathan Pryce, Pam Grier, Diane Ladd
Both before and after watching it, I’m stymied by Something Wicked This Way Comes. During our podcast with The Av Club’s Zack Handlen, Mike asked me why I chose this movie to discuss now as opposed to years down the line, and whether or not I felt like this was a “Disney” movie. I’ve talked in this column before about what that latter concept even means. What makes a Disney movie “Disney”? If there is some immutable formula, or a series of ingredients that need to appear, then you may have to look hard for how they show up in Something Wicked This Way Comes. I don’t know that the ingredients are totally absent, but if you look at the film’s plot synopsis by itself,...
- 10/27/2012
- by Josh Spiegel
- SoundOnSight
From a grumpy Ariel Sharon to a splenetic Tracey Emin, some of the most entertaining, controversial – and cringe-making – encounters from the Guardian's daily features section, G2
Thora Hird
Simon Hattenstone
12 April 1999
She introduces me to Scotty by way of a photograph on her sideboard. "That is the best picture of my husband and my grandson. He was a good man." The picture is taken in Beverly Hills where her daughter, the former child movie star Janette Scott, used to live. "We had 54 years together. It was a wonderful life. And you see, Simon, I was ashamed that I didn't know it was a stroke he'd had. I was getting ready to go to work in the back, and we've got two bedrooms, and I was in one and he was in the other, not because we didn't speak to each other, because my arthritis, well, with all this you wouldn't...
Thora Hird
Simon Hattenstone
12 April 1999
She introduces me to Scotty by way of a photograph on her sideboard. "That is the best picture of my husband and my grandson. He was a good man." The picture is taken in Beverly Hills where her daughter, the former child movie star Janette Scott, used to live. "We had 54 years together. It was a wonderful life. And you see, Simon, I was ashamed that I didn't know it was a stroke he'd had. I was getting ready to go to work in the back, and we've got two bedrooms, and I was in one and he was in the other, not because we didn't speak to each other, because my arthritis, well, with all this you wouldn't...
- 10/17/2012
- by Simon Hattenstone, Emma Brockes, Decca Aitkenhead
- The Guardian - Film News
What I found in a Ray Bradbury books was a sense of wonder, where science fiction and dark fantasy intersected with the realm of literature. He was one of the few authors of the Golden Age of Science Fiction –the 1940s and 50s- who transcended the genre and was able to make it accessible to all readers, not those who just loved science fiction. As the Los Angeles Times noted, Bradbury had the ability to “to write lyrically and evocatively of lands an imagination away, worlds he anchored in the here and now with a sense of visual clarity and small-town familiarity.”
Bradbury passed away here in Los Angles yesterday at the age of 91. Born in Waukegan , a the northern suburb of Chicago that hugged Lake Michigan, his family eventually settled in Los Angeles in 1934, but the mystery of small town life never left him, as a lot of his...
Bradbury passed away here in Los Angles yesterday at the age of 91. Born in Waukegan , a the northern suburb of Chicago that hugged Lake Michigan, his family eventually settled in Los Angeles in 1934, but the mystery of small town life never left him, as a lot of his...
- 6/6/2012
- by spaced-odyssey
- doorQ.com
Cinema Retro has received the following press release:
The leading ‘Best British TV’ streaming service Acorn TV is now streaming full seasons of several popular British mystery and drama series, along with two critically acclaimed Canadian series. This week Acorn TV also has a special Memorial Day Weekend Midsomer Marathon with the first 22 episodes of its best-selling series,Midsomer Murders, and the U.S. debut of John Nettles final episodes.
Acorn TV is currently streaming a full season of Helen Mirren in Prime Suspect; the final seasons of the universally acclaimed Canadian dramedy Slings & ARROWSand Derek Jacobi’s mystery series Cadfael; the U.S. debut of the newest season of Murdoch Mysteries; Lynda La Plante’s Trial & Retribution; John Mortimer’s Under The Hammer; the final episodes of WWII drama Wish Me Luck; Richard Griffiths (Harry Potter) in Pie In The Sky; and John Nettles final episodes with Midsomer Murders,...
The leading ‘Best British TV’ streaming service Acorn TV is now streaming full seasons of several popular British mystery and drama series, along with two critically acclaimed Canadian series. This week Acorn TV also has a special Memorial Day Weekend Midsomer Marathon with the first 22 episodes of its best-selling series,Midsomer Murders, and the U.S. debut of John Nettles final episodes.
Acorn TV is currently streaming a full season of Helen Mirren in Prime Suspect; the final seasons of the universally acclaimed Canadian dramedy Slings & ARROWSand Derek Jacobi’s mystery series Cadfael; the U.S. debut of the newest season of Murdoch Mysteries; Lynda La Plante’s Trial & Retribution; John Mortimer’s Under The Hammer; the final episodes of WWII drama Wish Me Luck; Richard Griffiths (Harry Potter) in Pie In The Sky; and John Nettles final episodes with Midsomer Murders,...
- 5/24/2012
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
It's budget week, so what better time for billionaire Sir Philip Green to fly 150 celebrity guests to Mexico for a wildly extravagant party?
The late John Mortimer famously divided the world into cavaliers and roundheads. Today, let us divide it into people who would attend Topshop boss Philip Green's 60th birthday party in Mexico, and people for whom one could retain any admiration. In truth, there is simply no one alive whose theoretical attendance at last week's extravaganza would not diminish them in some way. Were Nelson Mandela to have turned up, and swapped one of his idiosyncratic shirts for the PG60-branded ones guests were required to wear, even he could surely have not shaken off all charges of a tarnished legacy.
But before we run away with ourselves, the facts. Green – the "efficiency tsar" David Cameron hired to rail against government profligacy – turned 60 the other day, and raised...
The late John Mortimer famously divided the world into cavaliers and roundheads. Today, let us divide it into people who would attend Topshop boss Philip Green's 60th birthday party in Mexico, and people for whom one could retain any admiration. In truth, there is simply no one alive whose theoretical attendance at last week's extravaganza would not diminish them in some way. Were Nelson Mandela to have turned up, and swapped one of his idiosyncratic shirts for the PG60-branded ones guests were required to wear, even he could surely have not shaken off all charges of a tarnished legacy.
But before we run away with ourselves, the facts. Green – the "efficiency tsar" David Cameron hired to rail against government profligacy – turned 60 the other day, and raised...
- 3/23/2012
- by Marina Hyde
- The Guardian - Film News
The Spanish film festival brings interesting new fare from Juan Carlos Fresnadillo's chiller Intruders to Martin Scorsese's Harrison tribute Living in the Material World
The San Sebastián film festival began in a persistent shower of unseasonable rain, and with a semi-Hollywood-ised English language movie from Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, who made the excellent Intacto: a reasonably scary ghost story called Intruders. Clive Owen plays a troubled and protective dad – he is danger of becoming a little stereotyped in these roles – with a rather implausible blue-collar job sitting astride steel girders on buildings way up in the air, fixing rivets. His 12-year-old daughter has become weirdly obsessed with a creature with no face ("Hollowface"), having discovered an unfinished story about this character in a child's handwriting stuffed in a tree near her grandparents' house. She is finishing this story for a school project and in doing so appears to...
The San Sebastián film festival began in a persistent shower of unseasonable rain, and with a semi-Hollywood-ised English language movie from Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, who made the excellent Intacto: a reasonably scary ghost story called Intruders. Clive Owen plays a troubled and protective dad – he is danger of becoming a little stereotyped in these roles – with a rather implausible blue-collar job sitting astride steel girders on buildings way up in the air, fixing rivets. His 12-year-old daughter has become weirdly obsessed with a creature with no face ("Hollowface"), having discovered an unfinished story about this character in a child's handwriting stuffed in a tree near her grandparents' house. She is finishing this story for a school project and in doing so appears to...
- 9/19/2011
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Director best known for Georgy Girl, a romantic comedy set in 60s London
The film and TV director Silvio Narizzano, who has died aged 84, handled several genres throughout his career, including black comedies, period pieces, social dramas, action thrillers and horror movies. But one picture, his swinging London romantic comedy Georgy Girl (1966), stands out from the rest of his eclectic filmography.
Georgy Girl was part of the trend in which British cinema shifted the focus from provincial life and back to the metropolis, celebrating new freedoms and social possibilities. Narizzano, influenced by the French New Wave and his chic contemporaries Richard Lester, John Schlesinger and Tony Richardson, explored such "shocking" subjects as abortion, illegitimacy, adultery and sexual promiscuity with a light touch. The film, which took its cue from the jaunty title song by the Seekers, had superb performances from Lynn Redgrave as the virginal and plain Georgina; Charlotte Rampling...
The film and TV director Silvio Narizzano, who has died aged 84, handled several genres throughout his career, including black comedies, period pieces, social dramas, action thrillers and horror movies. But one picture, his swinging London romantic comedy Georgy Girl (1966), stands out from the rest of his eclectic filmography.
Georgy Girl was part of the trend in which British cinema shifted the focus from provincial life and back to the metropolis, celebrating new freedoms and social possibilities. Narizzano, influenced by the French New Wave and his chic contemporaries Richard Lester, John Schlesinger and Tony Richardson, explored such "shocking" subjects as abortion, illegitimacy, adultery and sexual promiscuity with a light touch. The film, which took its cue from the jaunty title song by the Seekers, had superb performances from Lynn Redgrave as the virginal and plain Georgina; Charlotte Rampling...
- 7/29/2011
- by Ronald Bergan
- The Guardian - Film News
The daughter of celebrated actor and lawyer Sir John Mortimer of Rumpole of the Bailey fame, Emily Mortimer enjoyed the quintessential upper-crust upbringing. Raised between Chelsea and the Chilterns, she attended St Paul's Girls School before reading Russian at Oxford where she performed on stage. Today, she leads a remarkably different life, fully immersed in her adopted Us homeland and living with her American husband and their two children in Brooklyn.
- 7/14/2011
- The Independent - Film
Versatile British film director known for Bullitt, The Deep and Breaking Away
The director Peter Yates, who has died aged 81, helped Steve McQueen achieve iconic status with the cop movie Bullitt (1968), enjoyed a massive box-office success with The Deep (1977) and made one of the most beguiling of all youth movies in Breaking Away (1979). He maintained a steady career throughout five decades, initially in the theatre and then in mainstream cinema, but he suffered the critical neglect so often accorded those who tackle a variety of subjects and genres and become known, somewhat disparagingly, as journeyman directors.
Pauline Kael described him as a competent director "with a good serviceable technique for integrating staged movie action into documentary city locations". David Thomson suggested that, in America, Yates had "done nothing more profound than send hubcaps careering around corners". Bullitt's famous San Francisco car chase (later revived by Ford as part of...
The director Peter Yates, who has died aged 81, helped Steve McQueen achieve iconic status with the cop movie Bullitt (1968), enjoyed a massive box-office success with The Deep (1977) and made one of the most beguiling of all youth movies in Breaking Away (1979). He maintained a steady career throughout five decades, initially in the theatre and then in mainstream cinema, but he suffered the critical neglect so often accorded those who tackle a variety of subjects and genres and become known, somewhat disparagingly, as journeyman directors.
Pauline Kael described him as a competent director "with a good serviceable technique for integrating staged movie action into documentary city locations". David Thomson suggested that, in America, Yates had "done nothing more profound than send hubcaps careering around corners". Bullitt's famous San Francisco car chase (later revived by Ford as part of...
- 1/11/2011
- by Brian Baxter
- The Guardian - Film News
British producer Stephen Evans hopes First Night, his film inspired by Mozart's CosÌ Fan Tutte, will start a trend
The producer who inspired a fashion for Shakespeare in recent British cinema now plans to bring the operatic work of Mozart to mainstream film audiences.
Twenty years ago Stephen Evans produced Henry V, starring Kenneth Branagh, despite scepticism from investors and distributors who predicted it would be a commercial failure. In fact the film won two Oscar nominations for Branagh as best director and best actor and is still making money. Now Evans is banking on a romantic comedy inspired by Mozart's Così Fan Tutte – and with a Mozart soundtrack – becoming a similarly unexpected hit.
The film, just finished and provisionally titled First Night, is a feelgood British drama. In it Richard E Grant, star of Gosford Park, plays a wealthy businessman who assembles a troupe of singers to...
The producer who inspired a fashion for Shakespeare in recent British cinema now plans to bring the operatic work of Mozart to mainstream film audiences.
Twenty years ago Stephen Evans produced Henry V, starring Kenneth Branagh, despite scepticism from investors and distributors who predicted it would be a commercial failure. In fact the film won two Oscar nominations for Branagh as best director and best actor and is still making money. Now Evans is banking on a romantic comedy inspired by Mozart's Così Fan Tutte – and with a Mozart soundtrack – becoming a similarly unexpected hit.
The film, just finished and provisionally titled First Night, is a feelgood British drama. In it Richard E Grant, star of Gosford Park, plays a wealthy businessman who assembles a troupe of singers to...
- 10/30/2010
- by Dalya Alberge
- The Guardian - Film News
Actor with great stage presence who found his metier in comic and satirical roles
There was something extra-terrestrial about the character actor Graham Crowden, who has died aged 87 – a mix of the ethereal eccentricity of Ralph Richardson and the Scottish lunacy and skewiff authoritarianism of Alastair Sim. He specialised in portraying doctors, lawyers or teachers in a satirical way.
Crowden was a tall, red-haired, serious and sometimes professionally diffident man – he turned down the opportunity of succeeding Jon Pertwee as the fourth Doctor Who, remarking that working with a lot of Daleks did not sound like much fun. He had a tremendous stage presence, always moving with an emphatic, loping gait.
Despite his eminence in plays at the Royal Court and the National Theatre, where he introduced roles in works by Nf Simpson and Tom Stoppard, and in films directed by Lindsay Anderson, he did not become widely familiar until...
There was something extra-terrestrial about the character actor Graham Crowden, who has died aged 87 – a mix of the ethereal eccentricity of Ralph Richardson and the Scottish lunacy and skewiff authoritarianism of Alastair Sim. He specialised in portraying doctors, lawyers or teachers in a satirical way.
Crowden was a tall, red-haired, serious and sometimes professionally diffident man – he turned down the opportunity of succeeding Jon Pertwee as the fourth Doctor Who, remarking that working with a lot of Daleks did not sound like much fun. He had a tremendous stage presence, always moving with an emphatic, loping gait.
Despite his eminence in plays at the Royal Court and the National Theatre, where he introduced roles in works by Nf Simpson and Tom Stoppard, and in films directed by Lindsay Anderson, he did not become widely familiar until...
- 10/22/2010
- by Michael Coveney
- The Guardian - Film News
After a decade of reissues, rereleases, and just plain hernia-inducing box collections, the phrase ‘DVD megaset’ shouldn’t really mean a lot, but it is an apt summarization of this complete set of Rumpole of the Bailey, the courtroom drama that broadcast intermittently on PBS between 1978 and 1991. Spread out across 14 discs, this set collects all seven seasons of the show, as well as a good deal of bonus features (each episode features an introduction with series creator John Mortimer), but this is, in all likelihood, a set that was meant to rally old fans rather than attract new ones. Even within the time-frame of the series, Rumpole shows its considerable age, with its commitment to showing social ills only accentuating how stubbornly quaint the show really is.
Horace Rumpole (Leo McKern) is a barrister at the Old Bailey, the central criminal court of London. A lover of the courtroom (as...
Horace Rumpole (Leo McKern) is a barrister at the Old Bailey, the central criminal court of London. A lover of the courtroom (as...
- 10/20/2010
- by Anders Nelson
- JustPressPlay.net
After a decade of reissues, rereleases, and just plain hernia-inducing box collections, the phrase ‘DVD megaset’ shouldn’t really mean a lot, but it is an apt summarization of this complete set of Rumpole of the Bailey, the courtroom drama that broadcast intermittently on PBS between 1978 and 1991. Spread out across 14 discs, this set collects all seven seasons of the show, as well as a good deal of bonus features (each episode features an introduction with series creator John Mortimer), but this is, in all likelihood, a set that was meant to rally old fans rather than attract new ones. Even within the time-frame of the series, Rumpole shows its considerable age, with its commitment to showing social ills only accentuating how stubbornly quaint the show really is.
Horace Rumpole (Leo McKern) is a barrister at the Old Bailey, the central criminal court of London. A lover of the courtroom (as...
Horace Rumpole (Leo McKern) is a barrister at the Old Bailey, the central criminal court of London. A lover of the courtroom (as...
- 10/20/2010
- by Anders Nelson
- JustPressPlay.net
Her new film is about a man with a secret son. So how did Emily Mortimer deal with acting in such familiar, familial territory?
Acting, according to Emily Mortimer, is a succession of platonic romances. A "weird flirtation thing" when Andy Garcia played a "sex-obsessed Italian detective" and she was a "nervous little French secretary" in The Pink Panther 2, led to her latest part in City Island. Here, Mortimer plays an aspiring actor who develops an intense friendship with a prison guard and repressed actor who is played, inevitably, by Garcia. "It's a very typical relationship that actors experience all the time," she says, words falling from her mouth in a skittish tumble. "You're put together in very intense circumstances with total strangers, very often from entirely different walks of life, apart from the fact you are both fucked-up actors. It hovers somewhere between romance and friendship. It's a platonic romance.
Acting, according to Emily Mortimer, is a succession of platonic romances. A "weird flirtation thing" when Andy Garcia played a "sex-obsessed Italian detective" and she was a "nervous little French secretary" in The Pink Panther 2, led to her latest part in City Island. Here, Mortimer plays an aspiring actor who develops an intense friendship with a prison guard and repressed actor who is played, inevitably, by Garcia. "It's a very typical relationship that actors experience all the time," she says, words falling from her mouth in a skittish tumble. "You're put together in very intense circumstances with total strangers, very often from entirely different walks of life, apart from the fact you are both fucked-up actors. It hovers somewhere between romance and friendship. It's a platonic romance.
- 7/8/2010
- by Patrick Barkham
- The Guardian - Film News
Adapted from the hit play by award-winning novelist, playwright and screenwriter John Mortimer (Rumpole of Bailey), A Voyage Round My Father, debuts on DVD from Acorn Media on April 27, 2010. Also adapted for screen by Mortimer himself, this touching story of father and son stars stage and screen legends Laurence Olivier and Alan Bates (Gosford Park), and garnered multiple awards, including an International Emmy® for best drama (1982). By turns hilarious and heartbreaking, A Voyage Round My Father captures the special bond between father and son, which at times seems unbearable-but ultimately proves unbreakable (80 min., $29.99, www.AcornOnline.com).
- 4/17/2010
- BroadwayWorld.com
DVD Playhouse: March 2010
By
Allen Gardner
Precious: Based On The Novel “Push” By Sapphire (Lionsgate) In-your-face, but undeniably powerful film that follows the plight of an overweight inner-city teen (Gabourey Sidbe, a real find) who must deal with an abusive mother (Mo’Nique, in a career-making turn for which she won a most-deserved Best Supporting Actress Oscar), a baby born of her abusive, and absent, father, and trying to survive day-to-day with few people to offer her help, save for a sympathetic teacher (Paula Patton) in a special ed program. Director/producer Lee Daniels, a former personal manager/producer-turned-filmmaker, brings a kitchen sink authenticity to the proceedings, along with a cast of famous powerhouse performers, who manage to disappear into their roles. Tough stuff, but not to be missed. Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay (Geoffrey Fletcher). Bonuses: Commentary by Daniels; Featurettes; Interviews with Sapphire and Daniels; Deleted scene. Widescreen. Dolby 5.1 surround.
By
Allen Gardner
Precious: Based On The Novel “Push” By Sapphire (Lionsgate) In-your-face, but undeniably powerful film that follows the plight of an overweight inner-city teen (Gabourey Sidbe, a real find) who must deal with an abusive mother (Mo’Nique, in a career-making turn for which she won a most-deserved Best Supporting Actress Oscar), a baby born of her abusive, and absent, father, and trying to survive day-to-day with few people to offer her help, save for a sympathetic teacher (Paula Patton) in a special ed program. Director/producer Lee Daniels, a former personal manager/producer-turned-filmmaker, brings a kitchen sink authenticity to the proceedings, along with a cast of famous powerhouse performers, who manage to disappear into their roles. Tough stuff, but not to be missed. Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay (Geoffrey Fletcher). Bonuses: Commentary by Daniels; Featurettes; Interviews with Sapphire and Daniels; Deleted scene. Widescreen. Dolby 5.1 surround.
- 3/19/2010
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
Emily Mortimer's character in Shutter Island is involved in a mega-shocking plot twist, and showing any picture of her from the movie other than this one would apparently give it away (seriously!). Emily Mortimer is one of the most disarmingly frank and unpretentious actresses in the business—qualities she may have inherited from her father, John Mortimer, the beloved British writer and free-speech lawyer, who died in January 2009. After paying her dues on stage and on British TV, she turned in a string of memorable performances in supporting roles in Notting Hill, Bright Young Things, and Match Point, to name just a few. She has recently finished shooting several movies, including the Martin Scorsese thriller Shutter Island, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio and hits theaters this Friday. Before we get into your movies, let’s talk about you for a second: Sam, is that your oldest son? Sam is my oldest,...
- 2/16/2010
- Vanity Fair
Emily Mortimer's worked with Woody Allen and Stephen Fry, next up it's Martin Scorsese, but she's still not convinced she's a professional actress. She talks about motherhood, movies and jealousy
Emily Mortimer enters the Brooklyn bar like a snowstorm: surrounded by a gust of frozen air and bundled up against the cold in a big white woolly coat that may once have been related to a yeti. She is moving rather slowly: she is just days away from giving birth to her second child. "I feel so enormous," she says, laughing at herself. "Even my doctor told me: 'God, you're really past your glory days, aren't you?'" Once we are ensconced at a corner table, the undisguisable fact of her inhabited belly leads us down intense and intimate avenues straightaway: her fears for her six-year-old son Sam; her mourning of her father, the writer and national hero John Mortimer...
Emily Mortimer enters the Brooklyn bar like a snowstorm: surrounded by a gust of frozen air and bundled up against the cold in a big white woolly coat that may once have been related to a yeti. She is moving rather slowly: she is just days away from giving birth to her second child. "I feel so enormous," she says, laughing at herself. "Even my doctor told me: 'God, you're really past your glory days, aren't you?'" Once we are ensconced at a corner table, the undisguisable fact of her inhabited belly leads us down intense and intimate avenues straightaway: her fears for her six-year-old son Sam; her mourning of her father, the writer and national hero John Mortimer...
- 2/8/2010
- by Gaby Wood
- The Guardian - Film News
Emily Mortimer and her sister Rosie are celebrating after giving birth just three days apart.
The Pink Panther star welcomed her second child, baby daughter May, on 15 January - and three days later, the actress' younger sibling Rosie became mum to son John.
Baby John, who was named after the sisters' late dad, Sir John Mortimer, arrived a day before the first anniversary of the playwright's death.
And the sisters' mother Penelope is glad his legacy will live on through the family's new additions.
She tells Britain's Daily Telegraph, "It has been a very exciting few days. Of course, John died this time last year, so it is just rather a wonderful thing. It does help to think there will be two more of his little grandchildren running around the garden he loved so much. It is really marvellous that life goes on."...
The Pink Panther star welcomed her second child, baby daughter May, on 15 January - and three days later, the actress' younger sibling Rosie became mum to son John.
Baby John, who was named after the sisters' late dad, Sir John Mortimer, arrived a day before the first anniversary of the playwright's death.
And the sisters' mother Penelope is glad his legacy will live on through the family's new additions.
She tells Britain's Daily Telegraph, "It has been a very exciting few days. Of course, John died this time last year, so it is just rather a wonderful thing. It does help to think there will be two more of his little grandchildren running around the garden he loved so much. It is really marvellous that life goes on."...
- 1/28/2010
- WENN
Film stars Alan Rickman, Jeremy Irons and Emilia Fox came together in London to pay tribute to the late Sir John Mortimer on Tuesday.
The trio were among hundreds of mourners, including actors, politicians and members of British royalty, who gathered at Southwark Cathedral for the beloved author's memorial service.
Mortimer's actress daughter Emily, who lives in New York, was forced to miss the ceremony - because she is heavily pregnant with her second child.
Lord Kinnock, one of Mortimer's closest friends, paid tribute to his pal, describing him as an "illuminating" star.
He told the assembled crowd, "He illuminated our lives, he lit up our times. Rejoice in him and be thankful."
Mortimer died in January following a long illness.
The trio were among hundreds of mourners, including actors, politicians and members of British royalty, who gathered at Southwark Cathedral for the beloved author's memorial service.
Mortimer's actress daughter Emily, who lives in New York, was forced to miss the ceremony - because she is heavily pregnant with her second child.
Lord Kinnock, one of Mortimer's closest friends, paid tribute to his pal, describing him as an "illuminating" star.
He told the assembled crowd, "He illuminated our lives, he lit up our times. Rejoice in him and be thankful."
Mortimer died in January following a long illness.
- 11/18/2009
- WENN
Stars including Jeremy Irons and Alan Rickman will help Emily Mortimer pay tribute to her beloved father Sir John by taking to the stage in London to perform some of the author's most famous works.
The actress has organised a live show to celebrate her dad's career, entitled John Mortimer At The Court... And Later At The Bar, which is set to take place at the Royal Court Theatre on 15 November.
It promises to be an emotional night for Mortimer, who was devastated when her father passed away in January, as he had always dreamed of writing a play for his talented daughter to star in.
A source tells Britain's Daily Express, "It will obviously be a very emotional night for her as they were so close and she misses him terribly. But she knows this is just the kind of night her father would have loved and that she has to be part of it. He'd expect her to be up there."...
The actress has organised a live show to celebrate her dad's career, entitled John Mortimer At The Court... And Later At The Bar, which is set to take place at the Royal Court Theatre on 15 November.
It promises to be an emotional night for Mortimer, who was devastated when her father passed away in January, as he had always dreamed of writing a play for his talented daughter to star in.
A source tells Britain's Daily Express, "It will obviously be a very emotional night for her as they were so close and she misses him terribly. But she knows this is just the kind of night her father would have loved and that she has to be part of it. He'd expect her to be up there."...
- 11/5/2009
- WENN
Full casting has been announced for the Royal Court's John Mortimer At The Court...And Later At The Bar. The cast will include Broadway stars Jeremy Irons, Alan Rickman, and Harriet Walter. Further casting includes Sinead Cusack, Joanna David, Edward Fox, Tom Hollander, Richard Johnson, Emily Mortimer, Alessandro Nivola, and Dominic West. The evening will be curated by Stephen Jeffreys and Nina Raine will direct. The evening will take place November 15th.
- 10/28/2009
- BroadwayWorld.com
Most people know the late John Mortimer as the creator of the beloved Rumpole of the Bailey novels and series. He also wrote an intriguing and complex family drama novel which was made into the series Paradise Postponed and a sequel Titmuss Regained. If you are not familiar with this story, and have not seen this production, now through Acorn Media you may have the complete saga in one very fine collection. Set in Britain just after the second World War, this multipart drama is primarily the story of Leslie Titmuss a young man of humble beginnings who dreams of rising to the heights of society. Not only does he aspire to greatness, but Titmuss is prepared to do...
- 10/26/2009
- by June L.
- Monsters and Critics
DVD Playhouse—September 2009
By
Allen Gardner
The Human Condition (Criterion) Masaki Kobayashi’s epic (574 minutes) adaptation of Junpei Gomikawa’s six-volume novel was originally made and released as three separate films (1959-61), and is rightfully regarded as a landmark of Japanese cinema. Candide-like story of naïve, good-hearted Kaiji (Japanese superstar Tatsuya Nakadai) from labor camp supervisor, to Imperial Army solider, to Soviet Pow, and Kaiji’s struggle to maintain his humanity throughout. Unfolds with the mastery of a great novel, beautifully-shot, and a stunning example of cinematic mastery on the part of its makers. Four-disc set bonuses include: Interview with Kobayashi; Interview with Nakadai; Featurette; Trailer; Essay by critic Philip Kemp. Widescreen. Dolby 3.0 surround.
State Of Play (Universal) Russell Crowe stars as a veteran Washington D.C. political reporter investigating the murder of an aide to a rising congressional star (Ben Affleck), who also happens to be an old friend.
By
Allen Gardner
The Human Condition (Criterion) Masaki Kobayashi’s epic (574 minutes) adaptation of Junpei Gomikawa’s six-volume novel was originally made and released as three separate films (1959-61), and is rightfully regarded as a landmark of Japanese cinema. Candide-like story of naïve, good-hearted Kaiji (Japanese superstar Tatsuya Nakadai) from labor camp supervisor, to Imperial Army solider, to Soviet Pow, and Kaiji’s struggle to maintain his humanity throughout. Unfolds with the mastery of a great novel, beautifully-shot, and a stunning example of cinematic mastery on the part of its makers. Four-disc set bonuses include: Interview with Kobayashi; Interview with Nakadai; Featurette; Trailer; Essay by critic Philip Kemp. Widescreen. Dolby 3.0 surround.
State Of Play (Universal) Russell Crowe stars as a veteran Washington D.C. political reporter investigating the murder of an aide to a rising congressional star (Ben Affleck), who also happens to be an old friend.
- 9/26/2009
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
The British dramatist Sir John Mortimer has died at age 85 after a long illness. Mortimer is best known for his Rumpole of Bailey series of books, plays, and TV episodes. Horace Rumpole's speciality is defending those accused of crime in London's Old Bailey. Mortimer created Rumpole for Rumpole of the Bailey, a 1975 contribution to the BBCs Play For Today anthology series. Played with gusto by Leo McKern, the character proved popular, and was developed into a Rumpole of the Bailey television series for Thames Television and a series of books (all written by Mortimer). In September/October 2003, BBC Radio 4 broadcast four new 45-minute Rumpole dramatizations by Mortimer starring Timothy West in the title role. He also dramatised many of the real-life cases of the barrister Edward Marshall-Hall in a radio series starring ex-Doctor Who star Tom Baker. In 1986, his description of what he saw as Britain's descent into...
- 1/16/2009
- BroadwayWorld.com
Popular British dramatist and author Sir John Mortimer has died, aged 85, following a long illness.
Mortimer, who started his career as a barrister, passed away at his home in Turville Heath, near Oxford, England on Friday morning.
He was a prolific writer and best known for creating popular 1970s British TV show Rumpole of the Bailey, about an ageing London barrister who defends any and all clients.
He was knighted in 1998. His daughter is the actress Emily Mortimer.
Mortimer, who started his career as a barrister, passed away at his home in Turville Heath, near Oxford, England on Friday morning.
He was a prolific writer and best known for creating popular 1970s British TV show Rumpole of the Bailey, about an ageing London barrister who defends any and all clients.
He was knighted in 1998. His daughter is the actress Emily Mortimer.
- 1/16/2009
- WENN
Rumpole Of The Bailey creator Sir John Mortimer has passed away, aged 85. The writer, whose daughter is actress Emily Mortimer, died after a long illness, reports the BBC. Mortimer, who began his career as a barrister in the 1940s, was a prolific author and dramatist. His first radio play was in 1957, while his last TV script was for 2001's romantic drama In Love And War. His best-known work was the ITV drama Rumpole Of The Bailey, which starred Leo McKern in the lead role between 1978 and 1992. He also penned the ITV's 1981 11-part serial Brideshead Revisited and drama Paradise Postponed, which featured actor David Threlfall playing obnoxious MP Leslie Titmuss. BBC (more)...
- 1/16/2009
- by By Alex Fletcher
- Digital Spy
Actress Emily Mortimer is holding a bedside vigil for her ailing writer father Sir John Mortimer after he was admitted to a London hospital earlier this month.
The Match Point star, 36, flew back to her native Britain from her New York home when she heard her dad had been taken sick.
He was checked into the Princess Grace Hospital with an unspecified illness and Mortimer is praying his health will soon improve.
She says, "Dad's not been well.
"He's only just managing, really. We took him on a family trip to Italy earlier this summer but there were all these babies around which added to the stress. He didn't cope well at all.
"(But) he is better than he was and that's all we can hope for. We just want him to stay around for as long as humanly possible."
Mortimer is currently planning to get work in and around London over the next few months so she can stay close to her beloved dad.
And she reveals she is keen to have more children with husband Alessandro Nivola - and hopes her father will be around to share their baby joy.
She adds, "I definitely want more children and it would be nice if he could be around to see them."...
The Match Point star, 36, flew back to her native Britain from her New York home when she heard her dad had been taken sick.
He was checked into the Princess Grace Hospital with an unspecified illness and Mortimer is praying his health will soon improve.
She says, "Dad's not been well.
"He's only just managing, really. We took him on a family trip to Italy earlier this summer but there were all these babies around which added to the stress. He didn't cope well at all.
"(But) he is better than he was and that's all we can hope for. We just want him to stay around for as long as humanly possible."
Mortimer is currently planning to get work in and around London over the next few months so she can stay close to her beloved dad.
And she reveals she is keen to have more children with husband Alessandro Nivola - and hopes her father will be around to share their baby joy.
She adds, "I definitely want more children and it would be nice if he could be around to see them."...
- 8/16/2008
- WENN
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