The third season of The Crown is shaping up to be something truly special. Not only do we have the debut of a new cast, including the tantalizing proposition of Olivia Colman as Queen Elizabeth, Helena Bonham Carter as Princess Anne and Gillian Anderson as Margaret Thatcher, but we now have confirmation that we’ll see Irish actor David Wilmot taking the role of Arthur Scargill.
For those of you unfamiliar with 1970s and 1980s British trade union disputes, Arthur Scargill was President of the National Union of Mineworkers during some of the most tumultuous years for British Industry, which the next two seasons of The Crown will cover. With the third outing encompassing the late 60s to about 1980, we’ll see Scargill leading a mineworkers strike which resulted in the country resorting to a three-day work week in an attempt to conserve energy.
Scargill eventually triumphed over Prime Minister...
For those of you unfamiliar with 1970s and 1980s British trade union disputes, Arthur Scargill was President of the National Union of Mineworkers during some of the most tumultuous years for British Industry, which the next two seasons of The Crown will cover. With the third outing encompassing the late 60s to about 1980, we’ll see Scargill leading a mineworkers strike which resulted in the country resorting to a three-day work week in an attempt to conserve energy.
Scargill eventually triumphed over Prime Minister...
- 2/12/2019
- by David James
- We Got This Covered
On the 30th anniversary of the miners' strike, Billy Elliot writer Lee Hall talks about Thatcher's death, being fired from War Horse – and finding the lead for his Elton John musical
I'm watching Billy Elliot the Musical in a state of shock. Forget the movie – this is incendiary drama, militant to its core. Not only does it open with Labour MP Herbert Morrison's paean to the newly nationalised mines and common ownership ("Now I want you men of the pits to come through ... The great experiment of socialism in a democracy depends on you"), it also pre-empts the passing of Margaret Thatcher with a feelgood singalong: "We all sing together in one breath/ Merry Christmas Maggie Thatcher/ We all celebrate today/ 'Cause it's one day closer to your death."
The astonishing thing is that the musical, with tunes provided by the not notably radical Elton John, has been a worldwide success,...
I'm watching Billy Elliot the Musical in a state of shock. Forget the movie – this is incendiary drama, militant to its core. Not only does it open with Labour MP Herbert Morrison's paean to the newly nationalised mines and common ownership ("Now I want you men of the pits to come through ... The great experiment of socialism in a democracy depends on you"), it also pre-empts the passing of Margaret Thatcher with a feelgood singalong: "We all sing together in one breath/ Merry Christmas Maggie Thatcher/ We all celebrate today/ 'Cause it's one day closer to your death."
The astonishing thing is that the musical, with tunes provided by the not notably radical Elton John, has been a worldwide success,...
- 3/11/2014
- by Simon Hattenstone
- The Guardian - Film News
After five years and three movies of playing arguably the definitive screen version of Batman -- with a pit stop or two along the way for weightier fare, like his Oscar-winning turn in "The Fighter" -- Christian Bale returns this month to the kind of physically and emotionally intense roles he was making a career of before he donned the cape and cowl and helped relaunch that legendary franchise.
First up is "Out of the Furnace," the second effort from director Scott Cooper ("Crazy Heart"). Bale plays Russell Baze, a native of the steel town of Braddock, Pennsylvania, who steadfastly holds onto his job at the factory and his honorable desire to lead the kind of small-town, working-man life that has become increasingly rare in modern, corporatized America. When Russell runs afoul of the law -- he's not perfect, after all -- and his restless, war-traumatized brother Rodney (Casey Affleck...
First up is "Out of the Furnace," the second effort from director Scott Cooper ("Crazy Heart"). Bale plays Russell Baze, a native of the steel town of Braddock, Pennsylvania, who steadfastly holds onto his job at the factory and his honorable desire to lead the kind of small-town, working-man life that has become increasingly rare in modern, corporatized America. When Russell runs afoul of the law -- he's not perfect, after all -- and his restless, war-traumatized brother Rodney (Casey Affleck...
- 12/4/2013
- by Don Kaye
- Moviefone
A full-tilt biopic tribute to the Polish trade-union leader and founder of the Solidarity movement is very enjoyable
At the age of 87, that remarkable Polish film-maker Andrzej Wajda has directed a movie with terrific gusto and a first-rate lead performance from Robert Wieckiewicz. It's a full-tilt biopic tribute to the trade-union leader Lech Wałesa, founder of the Solidarity movement: bullish, cantankerous, with an exasperating charm and the gift of the gab. Wałesa's defiance of Poland's Soviet masters removed the very first brick from the Berlin Wall. Famously, Wałesa was the one subversive trade-union leader whom Margaret Thatcher felt able to love: Arthur Scargill did not enjoy the same admiration.
Wałesa: Man of Hope is a belated companion piece to his Man of Marble (1977) and Man of Iron (1981), respectively about a Stakhanovite bricklayer and his son in Poland; it discloses now an unexpected trilogy, and somehow suggests, in retrospect, that the...
At the age of 87, that remarkable Polish film-maker Andrzej Wajda has directed a movie with terrific gusto and a first-rate lead performance from Robert Wieckiewicz. It's a full-tilt biopic tribute to the trade-union leader Lech Wałesa, founder of the Solidarity movement: bullish, cantankerous, with an exasperating charm and the gift of the gab. Wałesa's defiance of Poland's Soviet masters removed the very first brick from the Berlin Wall. Famously, Wałesa was the one subversive trade-union leader whom Margaret Thatcher felt able to love: Arthur Scargill did not enjoy the same admiration.
Wałesa: Man of Hope is a belated companion piece to his Man of Marble (1977) and Man of Iron (1981), respectively about a Stakhanovite bricklayer and his son in Poland; it discloses now an unexpected trilogy, and somehow suggests, in retrospect, that the...
- 10/17/2013
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Interview Simon Brew 2 Apr 2013 - 06:30
Sylvester McCoy chats to us about working with Richard Briers, The Hobbit, Doctor Who and more...
The fates didn't seem to be with us when we called up Sylvester McCoy for a brief chat primarily about his work in The Hobbit, which arrives on DVD and Blu-ray in the UK today. A bad line plagued the call, sadly, but we did still manage to talk Doctor Who, The Hobbit and Richard Briers. Here's how we got on..
Shall we get the inevitable Doctor Who question done first! I figure everyone asks you, but do you have any involvement in the 50th anniversary at any level?
No! Somebody mentioned something that the BBC is running on the weekend when it goes out. Big Finish have done us proud, they're coming out with something really exciting. The BBC, we've heard nothing though.
One Doctor Who thing...
Sylvester McCoy chats to us about working with Richard Briers, The Hobbit, Doctor Who and more...
The fates didn't seem to be with us when we called up Sylvester McCoy for a brief chat primarily about his work in The Hobbit, which arrives on DVD and Blu-ray in the UK today. A bad line plagued the call, sadly, but we did still manage to talk Doctor Who, The Hobbit and Richard Briers. Here's how we got on..
Shall we get the inevitable Doctor Who question done first! I figure everyone asks you, but do you have any involvement in the 50th anniversary at any level?
No! Somebody mentioned something that the BBC is running on the weekend when it goes out. Big Finish have done us proud, they're coming out with something really exciting. The BBC, we've heard nothing though.
One Doctor Who thing...
- 3/28/2013
- by ryanlambie
- Den of Geek
David Cameron has 'a hilarious sense of humour', according to Helena Bonham Carter. Perhaps so, but who were the really funny rightwingers?
Are Tories funny? Of course, with the exception of Jim Davidson. Expressing amazement that they might be funny is like saying that because someone has different political views from us they can't have a sense of humour. Yet this appears to be exactly what Helena Bonham Carter did in an interview at the weekend, when she insisted her friend David Cameron was "not a rightwing person", citing his "hilarious sense of humour, which nobody really knows about".
Bernard Manning was funny. And racist and misogynistic too, but the jokes were good even if the laughter died on your lips. Peter Cook spent much of his life savaging Labour politicians, but there's no doubt that he was funny. You might recall the Tory rally in 1983 when Kenny Everett spoke for Margaret Thatcher.
Are Tories funny? Of course, with the exception of Jim Davidson. Expressing amazement that they might be funny is like saying that because someone has different political views from us they can't have a sense of humour. Yet this appears to be exactly what Helena Bonham Carter did in an interview at the weekend, when she insisted her friend David Cameron was "not a rightwing person", citing his "hilarious sense of humour, which nobody really knows about".
Bernard Manning was funny. And racist and misogynistic too, but the jokes were good even if the laughter died on your lips. Peter Cook spent much of his life savaging Labour politicians, but there's no doubt that he was funny. You might recall the Tory rally in 1983 when Kenny Everett spoke for Margaret Thatcher.
- 4/23/2012
- by Simon Hoggart
- The Guardian - Film News
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