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!

Terminator: TSSC Episode 2.11

A change of pace in this week's episode. The story mainly focuses on what Cameron does during nights. (She "doesn't sleep".)

It turns out she has "befriended" a wheelchair-bound guy who works nights in some records office. He lets her in at night to do research in return for glazed donuts.

While there she spots a T-888 model in a photograph taken in the 1920s. Cameron does some research and discovers that the terminator arrived in the 1920s by mistake. His appearance inadvertently caused a speakeasy to burn down and a young architect died. The architect was supposed to design a particular building necessary to the terminator's plans so the machine has to become involved in building it himself!

After the building is completed the terminator disappears from history. Cameron figures it out and goes to the building. She has a flashback to the new years celebrations for 2010 (which obviously hasn't happened yet) and "sees" the Governor get assassinated. She finds the 1920s terminator behind a bricked-up wall clutching a tommy gun. She fights and defeats the other machine.

There are lots of unanswered questions in this eposode. Why do the terminators want the Governor killed? How does Cameron "remember" what happened? Was she there as well?

Along the way she casually mentions to her "friend" that his tumor has returned. The next night he's not at the records office and she quickly befriends his replacement by offering her the donuts.

The B story this week concerns John and Riley doing teenage stuff.

Ruth Wilson in Small Island update

I've posted this on my Ruth Wilson page (http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/chevron/ruthwilson) and I thought I would post it here as well. There is a little bit of news on the Ruth's next TV project, Small Island

Watch out for... David Oyelowo, Naomie Harris, Benedict Cumberbatch and Ruth Wilson, who lead the TV drama based on Andrea Levy's novel Small Island. The drama has a series of intertwining tales about Jamaican Gilbert Joseph, who joins the RAF and fights for Britain during WWII. Later, his wife Hortense joins him in the UK. 'Gilbert tries to settle in Britain after the war and it's like: "Oh, are you still here?" That's the sense he gets from the Brits, even though he was in the war,' Mr Oyelowo told me during a break from rehearsals. Filming begins next week on locations in Belfast and London.

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

Interesting. That seems to confirm that she's finished work on the remake of The Prisoner, due on ITV later this year.

I work in Belfast. Ruth, I'll buy you a coffee if you want.

Well, it's worth a try!

Kelly Sotherton article in Mail on Sunday

Last weekend's Mail on Sunday newspaper had an article on my favourite heptathalete Kelly Sotherton. In it she describes how another competitor at the Beijing Olympics blatantly took a banned substance.

As always I am happy for any excuse to include a photo of Kelly. I noticed that the photo below had been reversed (the "OREGON" on her top was back to front) so I have 're-reversed' it.



And why have just one photo of Kelly when you can have two...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/othersports/article-1139042/Kelly-Sotherton-I-sat-Blonska-saw-coach-passed-thought--cheating-cow.html

Terminator TSSC Episode 2.10

And so normal service is resumed. After a long wait Terminator The Sarah Connor Chronicles returned to Virgin 1 last night.

Ellison dreams about digging up Cromartie. He wakes up to find Cameron checking his garden for the missing terminator.

Sarah has decided that the three dots means something. The gang finds a new company working on AI that use three dots as the logo. John studies the hard drives they steal and says the company has a design but needs money to implement it.

Derek confronts his gal from the future when he finds her surveillance photos of the gang. She tells him that future John is making bad choices because of his close relationship with Cameron. Future gal came back to keep an eye on John. Derek obviously has doubts about Cameron also.

The child physiologist who was helping Weaver with her AI dies in the lab. Ellison questions the AI and decides that it's amoral and doesn't know the difference between right and wrong.

Sarah poses as wealthy "Sarah Gale" and offers money to the three dot company to buy a Japanese chip they need. Eventually she realises that the three dot guy has tricked her and kicks the crap out of him before recovering the money.

(Notice the name "Gale" as in Gale Anne Hurd, the producer of The Terminator movie. I bet "Weaver" is named after Sigourney Weaver from James Cameron's Aliens and "Ellison" is named for Harlan Ellison the SF author. "Cameron" needs no explanation.)

The big shock of the episode its that John's gal Riley is from the future! She came back with Derek's gal to befriend John. Riley seems to be cracking up and wants out. This isn't going to end well.

At the end of the episode Ellison is brought by Weaver to meet "John Henry", the AI. It's Cromartie! Back! I saw it coming, but still... Cromartie! Back!

Rebecca Hall in GQ magazine

I've just bought the new March 2009 issue of GQ, mainly because Eva Green from Casino Royale was on the cover.

Inside I got a pleasant surprise when I found a two-page article about Rebecca Hall. Here are my scans:


As you may have noticed the full page photo is the same one that Empire have used in their current issue, only the GQ one is now in colour.

Emily Blunt in Harper's Bazaar

I spotted Emily Blunt on the cover of the new Harper's Bazaar magazine today so I couldn't resist buying a copy.



I first noticed Emily back in 2003 in ITV's Henry VIII playing the ill-fated wife number five, Catherine Howard.

She's been very busy since then. Next up is another royal role in The Young Victoria as the young queen.

But I'm really excited by the news that she might be playing one of my favourite marvel characters in Iron Man 2, namely the Russian assassin Black Widow.

Now, numerous news stories online suggest she she may have to drop out of Iron Man 2 due to a conflict with a part in an upcoming movie of Gulliver's Travels. I hope that's not the case and Emily will get to put on a red wig and practice her Russian accent very soon.