Gemma Arterton in todays Telegraph magazine

While perusing today's newspaper supplements I discovered Gemma Arterton in the Telegraph magazine. That (plus the bonus of a free DVD of Sleepy Hollow) was enough reason to buy the paper. Here's a scan of the magazine cover showing Gemma in all her lovely Gemma-ness.

Gemma Arterton in Empire

Gemma Arterton is featured in the new April 2010 issue of Empire magazine. (Actually she's also in the new issue of Total Film.) This is largly due to the fact that she will be seen in the new Price of Persia and Clash of the Titans movies that are both due to come out this summer.

Anyway I thought I'd attempt scans of the Empire article seeing as it's Gemma...

Lost in Austen on the big screen

Last year ITV broadcast a very enjoyable four part series called Lost in Austen where a modern-day fan of Pride and Prejudice swapped places with Elizabeth Bennett. The first episode was fun enough and was followed by a second that was surprisingly good. I found myself quite looking forward to each subsequent episode.

Now I read with interest that Sony is to make a version for the big screen. There are few details announced so far. You can read what news there is here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7887996.stm

Jemima Rooper starred in the TV version. Will she return as Amanda Price?



Gemma Arterton, who would go on to appear in Quantum of Solace and Tess of the d'Urbervilles, played Elizabeth Bennett in the first and last episodes. If there is any justice she should return.

And here's an excuse to mention Christina Cole who played Caroline Bingley. She and Jemima started in Hex together so Lost in Austen must have been a bit of reunion for them.

Future developments are awaited with interest!

Gemma Arterton and the Bafta nominations

I got a nice surprise this morning when I turned on my TV just before 8am. The BBC had live coverage of Gemma Arterton reading out the Bafta nominations. (OK, so Hayley Atwell read some out too, but I was only paying attention to Gemma.)



Admittedly she did stumble on the title 'Persepolis', but that understandable. Hey, the sun still hadn't risen and there she was looking very presentable.

After just a few minutes it was all over and Mark Kermode popped up. All before 8am! If only the actual awards ceremony was that quick.

I've got to sent a "boo, hiss" to the Daily Mail who have a nasty story about Gemma not looking as skinny as she did in October. Seriously! Will the British press ever stop attacking people for the sake of it? Go complain about Jonathan Ross if you've got to.

Tess of the d'Urbervilles on Masterpiece Theater

Tess of the d'Urbervilles will be shown in the USA this month on PBS. I believe the first episode is on Sunday 4 January.

It's a good adaptation, but be warned, as it's a Thomas Hardy book there ain't many laughs.

I was very impressed with Gemma Arterton as Tess. Here she is with Alec. (Boo, hiss!)



Find out more at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/

Quantum of Solace (my belated thoughts)

A few years back I was a reader and occasional contributor to the James Bond newsgroup. (Anyone remember newsgroups?) Anyway, when a new Bond movie came out I would put up my initial thoughts. I've not done that for many years so I thought I would do something similar here.

To be honest I was not getting my hopes up about Quantum of Solace. Casino Royale was the best Bond movie in many years and I couldn't not see how the next one could match it. plus all the talk of it being action-packed the whole way thorough didn't bode well.

However, on balance, I was pleasantly surprised. While it is nowhere near as good as Casino Royale it is nowhere near as poor as it might have been. At the very least it is superior to the Brosnan era's entries.

The opening car chase appears to be exciting. If only the makers had opted for less frenetic editing so I could actually see what was happening! When I see clips of it on TV it looks a bit clearer what is going on, so hopefully I'll enjoy that more on DVD.

I didn't like the song when I first heard it and I've not changed my mind since. At least it's not as bad as Madonna's.

The chase through the tunnels and rooftops was fine. There was some nice arty inter-cutting with the horse race.

I enjoyed the scene where M surmises that Dominic Greene is indeed a "person of interest".

Bond's fight with the "geologist" was good but seemed very... well, Bourne. The meeting with Camille was good. Olga Kurylenko really grew on me as the movie progressed. (Put it this way, I'm probably going to track down her other DVDs.) The following boat chase was unnecessary.

My favourite sequence of the movie was the opera segment. Bond's method of identifying the members of Quantum was ingenious and amusing. The following gun battle was inter-cut with the opera in a very arty and entertaining way.

After that there was more action, some action and a bit of action. It was nice to see Mathis again and Bond's drinking binge on the plane.

I did think that Gemma Arterton was very good value as agent Fields. As expected she didn't last for too much of the movie's running time, but she made an impression when she did.

After the emotionally devastating ending of Casino Royale it was a pity that QoS ended up with traditional explosions. At least Bond's farewell "gift" to Greene (the can of oil in the desert) gave a glimpse of his cruelty. Daniel Craig continues to play the role perfectly.

Lots of M in this movie. I would have liked to see more of Felix.

Finally I liked how the location names came up in unusual but suitable "fonts". Also the choice of locations provided some of the most visually stunning seen in a Bond movie for a long time. The deserts were particularly memorable.

In summary the movie is disappointing when compared to the excellence of Casino Royale but still far better than a lot of the post-1960s entries.

Gemma Arterton - Woman of the year!

The new issue of Total Film magazine is out and they've made Gemma Arterton their woman of the year. To celebrate here is a scan of the Gemma page for your viewing pleasure.



Run out and buy the new issue. It's got a cool Terminator cover with light-up eyes!

Quantum of Solace posters

Although I am in two minds about the Quantum of Solace movie (better than I thought it would be, but not as good as Casino Royale) I would quite like to get my hands on some of the posters.

So far I have only seen the grey "teaser" poster in the shops. I've been doing a little bit of research on play.com, ebay.co.uk and pyramidposters.com and I've "discovered" three poster designs that hopefully be available in the shops soon.

The first design is the standard poster art with Daniel Craig and Olga Kurylenko.



The second design is a "quartet" featuring Daniel Craig, Olga Kurylenko, Gemma Arterton and Mathieu Amalric.



Finally we have one with just Olga Kurylenko, who, I must add, is looking suitable sultry.



If they release one of Gemma Arterton I will be uber-happy, but I'll be pleased enough if I can find the three above!

Tess of the D'Urbervilles on BBC4

If you missed the recent broadcast of Tess of the D'Urbervilles on BBC1 you can now catch the whole thing again on BBC4 in all it's misery!

The first episode is on Saturday 22 November at 8:10pm.

Maybe I'm a glutton for punishment but I quite enjoyed it and I'll make the effort to see it again. By the end of it I was quite fond of Gemma Arterton and her Tess.

I quite liked her in Quantum of Solace too.

Here's the BBC 4 listings page for Tess: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00dlpcj

Gemma Arterton in Vanity Fair

Here's a scan that I made of Gemma Arterton in the new issue of Vanity Fair. Gemma is one of the new Bond ladies in Quantum of Solace.

Gemma has been busy. Tonight she's on BBC1 in the final episode of Tess of the D'Urbervilles (which is sure to have a happy ending!) and recently she was also in ITV's surprisingly enjoyable Lost in Austen.

Anyways, here's the scan. Click to get the big version.



PS Thanks oh so very much Mail on Sunday for giving away her fate in Quantum of Solace!