News

Courtney Love has announced that she has applied for British citizenship.

The former Hole singer revealed the news on March 4th during a conversation with Todd Almond at London’s Geographical Society, the same event that saw her perform a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone.”

“I’m really glad I’m here,” she said, as reported by the Daily Mail. “It’s so great to live here. I’m finally getting my British citizenship in six months. I get to be a citizen. I’m applying, man! Can’t get rid of me.”

Love has lived in London since 2019 and has previously cited the city’s lifestyle and privacy laws as main reasons for her residence. As for whether her British citizenship was politically motivated, Love didn’t explicitly admit as much, though she did criticize the Trump administration.

“In terms of Trump, and particularly this group…...

Alexander Payne’s Golden Globe-nominated The Holdovers, costumes by Wendy Chuck, stars Dominic Sessa, Paul Giamatti (Golden Globe nomination), and Da'Vine Joy Randolph (Golden Globe nomination)

In the first installment with Wendy Chuck, Alexander Payne’s longtime, brilliant costume designer, we discussed her most recent Payne film, the intricately layered The Holdovers (screenplay by David Hemingson), dressing the stars Paul Giamatti, Dominic Sessa, and Da'Vine Joy Randolph and the terrific supporting cast of Carrie Preston, Brady Hepner, Ian Dolley, Jim Kaplan, Michael Provost, Naheem Garcia, Darby Lee-Stack, Andrew Garman, Stephen Thorne, and Gillian Vigman.

Wendy Chuck with Anne-Katrin Titze on Alexander Payne: “You know Alexander, he wants everything as authentic as it possibly can be.”

We started out with the costumes for Martin Scorsese’s Killers Of The Flower Moon (Jacqueline West), Yorgos Lanthimos’s Poor Things (Holly Waddington), and Bradley Cooper’s Maestro (Mark Bridges). We also touched upon.

Michael Blakemore, the only director in Tony Award history to win twice in one year, died Sunday, Dec. 10, following a short illness. He was 95.

His death was announced by the London-based United Agents literary and talent agency.

An acclaimed director of both West End and Broadway productions – his formidable credits include A Day in the Death of Joe Egg (1968), Noises Off (1983), City of Angels (1989), Lettice & Lovage (1990) and The Life (1997), among many others – secured his place in the Tony Award record books by becoming the first, and to date only, director to win twice in one year: In 2000, he won the award for Best Director of a Play for Copenhagen and Best Director of a Musical for the revival of Kiss Me Kate.

Born June 18, 1928, in Sydney, Australia, Blakemore made his directing debut in 1966 at the Glasgow Citizens’ Theatre, where he served as Artistic Director. His international breakthrough came in 1967 when...

Kit Hesketh-Harvey was one of those surprisingly rare performers whose personality was the same on stage as off. When I saw him in the many revues he would write and perform, the audience basked in his humour and genuine warmth.

You could say that Hesketh-Harvey was the last of the old-style Vaudevillians, keeping alive the spirit of Noël Coward, while unafraid to surprise his audience by stepping into the caustic territory of Barry Humphries. He always revelled in that quintessentially English humour, self-deprecating but biting, drawing on a world of shared references from British culture, while at the same time carving out its own originality.

His version of Gilbert and Sullivan’s “A Policeman’s Lot Is Not a Happy One” turned the jolly jape of a song into a critique of modern-day policing. “They want evidence that can’t be circumvented. So, invent it.” Delivered with such a smile,...

Kit Hesketh-Harvey, the musician, composer and screenwriter, has died suddenly aged 65.

The multi-talented entertainer, who performed for King Charles, enjoyed a prolific career that included writing the screenplay for director James Ivory’s 1987 film Maurice, starring a young Hugh Grant in one of his first onscreen roles.

His agent told The Independent he died unexpectedly but peacefully, while listening to Radio 3 and preparing for a Kit & McConnel show.

He was the brother of Sarah Sands, journalist and former editor of the Evening Standard. His death comes as a double blow to the family during an ongoing search for Ms Sands’s former husband, British actor Julian Sands, who went missing two weeks ago while hiking in southern California.

Ms Sands spoke of the shock over her brother’s death. She told The Independent: “Kit was dazzling – clever, original, funny, kind. The last time I saw him he was busy mapping...

Kit Hesketh-Harvey, the musician, composer and screenwriter, has died suddenly aged 65.

The multi-talented entertainer, who performed for King Charles, enjoyed a prolific career that included writing the screenplay for director James Ivory’s 1987 film Maurice, starring a young Hugh Grant in one of his first onscreen roles.

His agent told The Independent he died unexpectedly but peacefully, while listening to Radio 3 and preparing for a Kit & McConnel show.

He was the brother of Sarah Sands, journalist and former editor of the Evening Standard. His death comes as a double blow to the family during an ongoing search for Ms Sands’s former husband, British actor Julian Sands, who went missing two weeks ago while hiking in southern California.

Ms Sands spoke of the shock over her brother’s death. She told The Independent: “Kit was dazzling – clever, original, funny, kind. The last time I saw him he was busy mapping...

Pather PanchaliMy memories of Satyajit Ray's work before this year are blurred—they come up but they don't come out concretely developed. They aren't stenciled into the cohesive aesthetic dominating my attitude toward art. The first is gooey and, not surprisingly, Oscarized. His supporters in Hollywood knew of his terminal illness and in 1992 he was awarded a lifetime achievement Oscar, “in recognition of his rare mastery of the art of motion pictures, and of his profound humanitarian outlook, which has had an indelible influence on filmmakers and audiences throughout the world,” a few weeks before his death. Speaking from his deathbed, it was one of the first videotaped acceptance speeches. A diminished man, Ray cradled the glistening award, as the producers cut away from Ray’s words for two close-ups of the little golden man. Nevertheless, Ray came off witty when recounting writing to Ginger Rodgers and Billy Wilder...

Do you love programs about gardening and British culture? “British Gardens in Time” combines both, which you can see for free on FilmOn’s BBC Four channel. The television program takes a look at four of Britain’s most spectacular and iconic gardens. One of the episodes focuses on Great Dixter, which dates back to World War I. Here’s more about the program: “Great Dixter lays claim to being the most innovative, spectacular and provocative garden of the 20th century. Made famous by the much-loved eccentric plantsman and writer Christopher Lloyd, who used the garden as a living laboratory and documented his experiments in a weekly column in Country Life, Great Dixter [ Read More ]

The post Watch British Gardens in Time for Free on FilmOn appeared first on Shockya.com.

We asked Den Of Geek’s writers to recommend brilliant comedy shows that deserve to have more of a fuss made about them. Here they are...

Banging a drum about stuff we love is more or less our remit on Den Of Geek - hence what many readers have started referring to as the ‘inexplicably regular' appearance of Statham, squirrels and Harold Bishop from Neighbours on these pages.

To that end then, we asked our writers which comedy shows (past and present, UK or otherwise, on TV, radio, or online…) deserved more praise, and here are the ones they chose. You might already like them too, or you might discover something new to dig out and enjoy. That’s the fun of it.

Please note that this list isn’t ranked in any order, nor is it exhaustive. It’s compiled from the opinions of a group of different people,...

Britain's Prince Charles is to guest edit a special edition of Country Life magazine. The Prince of Wales will take control of the publication, which will honour his 65th birthday, by commissioning articles on his favourite topics - organic farming, rural affairs, architecture and charity work - and he will write a special extended leader column. The special edition of the magazine will be published on Charles 65th birthday, November 14th, 2013, and his wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, is also expected to make suggestions about various inclusions. Mark Hedges, editor of Country Life, told the Daily Telegraph newspaper: 'Since its launch in 1897, Country Life has been privileged to be given access to the Royal Family at...

London, Feb uary 19: Country life is good for the mind, with rural dwellers better able to concentrate than those who live in towns, researchers claim.

Tests showed that people surrounded by buildings and noise and coping with urban stress are more easily distracted, the Daily Express reported.

The findings suggest companies may benefit if employees work from homes in the country, rather than commuting to the city. (Ani)...

Fairfax sells Farm Progress to Penton

Fairfax Media Limited has sold its specialist Us agriculture media businesses to Penton Media for almost $80m.

Fairfax’s Rural Press (USA) Ltd sold Farm Progress and Miller Publishing Company for Au$76m, or Us$79.9m.

Farm Progress operates various agricultural assets as well as leading agricultural trade shows.

Rural Press owns Australian-focused agricultural titles The Land, Stock and Land, Farm Weekly, Stock Journal and Queensland Country Life.

It purchased Farm Progess and Miller Publishing in 1997.

Penton, is owned by MidOcrean Partners and Wasserstein & Co private equity firms.

Fairfax said that the cash would used to “strengthen” its balance sheet.

The post Fairfax sells Us farming titles appeared first on mUmBRELLA.

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert has had the greatest cultural impact of any local film released between 1993-1997, according to a new analysis by Screen Australia.

The report, Staying Power: The enduring footprint of Australian film, ranked almost 100 films' longevity by assessing their: primary release, revenues, ongoing access by audiences, acclaim and wider impact.

The report highlighted 20 films that had a domestic box office greater than $2.5 million and/or achieved an international release in 10 countries or more. Aside from Priscilla, the other films assessed were: Angel Baby, Babe, Bad Boy Bubby, The Castle, Children of the Revolution, Cosi, Country Life, Dating the Enemy, Kiss or Kill, Lightning Jack, Muriel's Wedding, Napolean, Paradise Road, The Piano, Reckless Kelly, Shine, Sirens, The Sum of Us, and The Wiggles Movie.

Screen Australia chief executive Ruth Harley, speaking at the Canberra International Film Festival, said feature films have the powerful ability...

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, or in the belly of the all-powerful Sarlac, it can’t have escaped your attention that Disney has just bought Lucasfilm for a whopping $4bn. Not only that, but Disney intends to use this modest acquisition to create a new trilogy of Star Wars sequels, the first of which will be due in 2015.

Much ink has been spilled (or typed) about this story, with responses ranging from great excitement at what the news film might hold, to seething rage at George Lucas’ ‘latest betrayal’, to admiration after Lucas announced that all the money from the sale would go to his charitable foundation. There have been copious articles, on WhatCulture! and elsewhere, discussing possible storylines, the relationship the new films should have with the other films, and possible choices for directors. There has been so much written, in fact, that there’s not...

78 judges from the United States, United Kingdom, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand have completed the shortlisting for the 2012 Pacific Area Newspaper Publishers’ Association (Panpa) Newspaper of the Year Awards.

The announcement:

Daily Newspapers

90,000+

Finalists:

The Advertiser (South Australia), The Age, The Australian, The Sydney Morning Herald,

Courier-Mail, The Daily Telegraph, Herald Sun, New Zealand Herald, Manly Daily, The West Australian

25,000-90,000

Finalists:

Canberra Times, The Examiner (Launceston), The Dominion Post, Fiji Times, Otago Daily Times, The Herald

(Newcastle), Geelong Advertiser, Gold Coast Bulletin, The Press (Christchurch), Townsville Bulletin, The

Australian Financial Review

10,000-25,000

Finalists:

Nt News, Sunshine Coast Daily, The Courier (Ballarat), Bay of Plenty Times, Border Mail, Bendigo Advertiser,

Wanganui Chronicle, The Advocate (Burnie), Daily Post, NewsMail (Bundaberg), Daily Mercury

Up to 10,000

Finalists:

Ashburton Guardian, Kalgoorlie Miner, Gladstone Observer, Shepparton News, Wairarapa Times-Age

Sunday Newspaper

Finalists:

The Sunday Times (Fiji), Herald on Sunday, The Sunday Age, Sunday...

Danny Boyle's Isles of Wonder celebrates the British countryside and is infused with literary references – and a British Library exhibition also explores this idea of pastoral paradise

Stratford, Newham, meets Stratford-upon-Avon this July, and a line spoken by Caliban in The Tempest has emerged as the guiding spirit of Danny Boyle's Olympics opening ceremony: "Be not afeard. The isle is full of noises."

After Boyle's launch event last week, we now know that the stadium in Stratford is also to be full of cows, geese, and ducks (to say nothing of the three sheep dogs). It may say a lot about the country's anxiety for the future that the opening ceremony (or what we currently know of it) references not the white heat of digitally enabled tomorrows, but harks back to the earthly paradise of rural dreams; a vision of an eternal Britain that endures in the cycles...

Is Danny Boyle's vision of England's green and pleasant land all that it seems?

Something has happened on the way to the Olympics. On Tuesday morning the opening ceremony was launched as a vision of rural Britain, a land of fields and ploughmen, cottages, cows, sheep and horses, of Glastonbury, cricket and the Proms. According to its impresario, Danny Boyle, the title of the show, Isles of Wonder – a metaphor for Olympian Britain – was "inspired by" Shakespeare's The Tempest, specifically Caliban's speech.

You could have knocked me down with a first folio. Danny Boyle, of Trainspotting and Slumdog, turned cheerleader for Country Life? And quoting The Tempest? Have those Olympic corporates actually read the play? Caliban, monster offspring of a witch, makes no mention of isles of wonder. Instead, he inhabits an island awash in conflict, drink, sex and dark arts. He does at one point call it "an isle full of noises,...

Feisty playwright best known for her ground-breaking debut, A Taste of Honey

Shelagh Delaney was 18 when she wrote A Taste of Honey, one of the defining plays of the 1950s working-class and feminist cultural movements. The play's group of dysfunctional characters, utterly alien to the prevailing middle-class "anyone for tennis?" school of theatre, each explored their chances of attaining a glimpse of happiness. The central character, a young girl named Jo, lives in a decrepit flat in Salford with her mother, who is apt to wander off in pursuit of men with money. Jo becomes pregnant by a black sailor and is cared for by Geoffrey, a young gay friend, until her mother ousts him in what could be a burst of suppressed maternal love or a display of jealous control-freakery.

Delaney, who has died of cancer aged 71, had to endure harsh criticism for her attack on the orthodoxies of the period.

Like a modern-day, gender-flipped answer to Roxy Music, Liverpudlian electropop quartet Ladytron has a taste for gorgeous synthesizer melodies and a romanticism that manages to be heart-on-sleeve and icily detached at the same time. (Ladytron even winked at the influence on the cover of 2003’s Softcore Jukebox, in which co-lead singers Mira Aroyo and Helen Marnie posed in swimwear in a PG-rated nod to Roxy Music’s Country Life.) Gravity The Seducer, the band’s fifth full-length and first new album in more than three years, is more atmospheric and wistful than 2008’s Velocifero, but stays well within ...

A striking presence on stage and in the great days of British film, she played the prison governor of TV's Within These Walls

Followers of postwar cinema may well recall Googie Withers's striking presence in It Always Rains On Sunday, an unusually intense film for the Ealing Studios of 1947. A bored wife, she gives shelter to an ex-lover, now a murderer on the run, played by John McCallum, soon to be her real-life husband. The lovers were shown as unsympathetically as they might have been in French film noir, and the weather was bad even by British standards.

What Withers, who has died aged 94, brought to that performance was to define her strength in some of her most powerful roles. Too strong a face and too grand a manner prevented her being thought conventionally pretty, but she was imposingly watchable because of an obvious vigour and sexuality. Thus equipped,...

The Beeb's observational documentary series continues, offering a glimpse of today's Britain that is usually hidden from view. This latest film follows the lives of five of the women who have appeared on Country Life's famopus Girls In Pearls page over the last 50 years. Nothing marks out a life that seems to be destined for wealth and privilege as sharply as the photographs that appear on the Girls in Pearls page.

Punk legends the Sex Pistols have agreed to allow their hit song "Pretty Vacant" to be used in a television commercial for the first time. Former frontman Johnny Rotten, real name John Lydon, was slated for "selling out" when he appeared in U.K. TV adverts promoting Country Life butter in 2008.

Lydon defended his choice to star in the clips as it funded his reunion with his other band Public Image Ltd. (PiL) - and now his fellow former bandmembers have joined in his passion for commercials.

The group has agreed to allow bosses at bookmakers William Hill to use its 1977 track "Pretty Vacant" as the backing for the firm's adverts marking the start of the Champion's League soccer season, which sees Europe's top teams compete. And as a bonus for giving bosses the go-ahead to use the song, bandmembers Lydon, Steve Jones, Paul Cook and Glen Matlock have been allowed to place a $750 wager,...

John Lydon has admitted that Public Image Ltd's upcoming tour is only going ahead because of the money he made from starring in a Country Life butter TV advert. The frontman of the recently reformed rockers said that he is "living on the lucky end of a shoestring" until the band receive the funds for their first gig, scheduled to take place in Birmingham on December 15. "The money I got from that advert is the advance on this," he told the Camden New Journal. Lydon went on to defend (more)...

TV adverts starring John Lydon and Lenny Henry have been named among 2008's worst. In a list compiled by Campaign magazine, Gillette's advert featuring sports stars Thierry Henry, Roger Federer and Tiger Woods was ranked number one while Specsavers's Edith Piaf commercial was the runner-up. Former Sex Pistol frontman Lydon's butter commercial for Country Life and Lenny Henry's endorsement of Premier Inns also made the top ten. (more)...

Actress Liv Tyler is determined to raise her son Milo away from New York - because she wants the tot to enjoy life in the country.

The Lord of The Rings star has spoken of her plans to get out of the Big Apple to avoid the paparazzi, but now she has another reason to head for the countryside.

She tells new mums magazine Cookie, "I'd love for him (Milo) to have pets and chickens to take care of. And I want to give him all the tools to be the best man he can be.

"For me, so much of that has to do with being in nature and really using your hands when you're a kid."

And Tyler, who has just split from Milo's father Royston Langdon, is determined to give her son a better childhood than she had.

The actress, who didn't know her real father was Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler until she was 12, says, "I'm still working through my issues, which I always will be."...