Articles

BBC signs up for more of Doctor Who spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures by Ben Dowell
(from guardian.co.uk)
I bet all those people who moan that new Who isn't like classic Who don't watch SJA because it's a silly kid's spin-off, or something, whereas if they got off their high horses and gave it a go they'd discover it's often quite a lot like old Who was. Only more grown-up. Oh the irony, eh? Anyway, news of a third series is good news indeed.

A Different Approach To Action In Quantum of Solace by Devin Zydel
(from CommanderBond.net)
An interview with Dan Bradley, the man responsible for writing and directing some/all of QoS' major action sequences, specifically including the opening car chase and the Siena rooftop chase. So, he's the guy to blame then. Interestingly, he also worked on both The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum -- explains a lot, no?

The Doctor Who spin-offs that will never be filmed by David Brown
(from "In My Opinion..." at RadioTimes)
This is entirely dependent on you understanding which shows/films are being spoofed (I knew most of them), but also includes some rather cruel comments about Freema Agyeman's acting ability. Which, to be honest, I'm often inclined to agree with, but it makes a change to hear it (rather than the usual "oh, she's so much more intelligent than Rose, isn't it great!")

John Simm on The Devil's Whore by Amy Raphael
(from Times Online)
A nice interview with Simm, covering why he won't be watching the film remake of State of Play, why he won't be aiming at a Hollywood career, and why he won't be the 11th Doctor ("I'm the Master. Simple as that. I don't want to be Doctor Who. I might be the Master again...").

Movie Reviews: Australia
(from Studio Briefing)
"Like his previous film, Moulin Rouge, Baz Luhrmann's Australia is receiving wildly mixed reviews. The $130-million epic has had some writers describing it as Australia's Gone With the Wind, and that film is the benchmark critics are using to assess it... Luhrman has been able to recreate much of GWTW's "lush epic beauty... a gorgeous film, what strong performances, what exhilarating images and -- yes, what sweeping romantic melodrama. The kind of movie that is a movie, with all that the word promises and implies." But [another critic says] the movie "tries to be a sprawling, romantic epic. Instead, it's a melodramatic exercise in tedium. Rather than being old-fashioned or classic, it's old-school and conventional.""
I like Gone With the Wind and I like Moulin Rouge, so personally I'm liking the sound of it. Australia arrives in the UK on Boxing Day... so I'll probably catch it on DVD.

And finally, here's an "and finally..." story if ever there was one:

Bequeathed skull stars in Hamlet
(from BBC News)
"The skull held aloft by actor David Tennant in the Royal Shakespeare Company's Hamlet was a real one, it has been revealed. Pianist Andre Tchaikowsky left his skull to the RSC when he died in 1982 in the hope it would be used on stage. But since his death at the age of 46, it had only been used in rehearsals. Tennant held it on stage during the famous "Alas, poor Yorick" scene in 22 performances at the Courtyard Theatre, in Stratford-upon-Avon."