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Angels & Demons
Tom Hanks & Ewan McGregor in Angels & Demons

On the heels of the 2006 adaptation of Dan Brown's best-seller "The Da Vinci Code," Tom Hanks returns to the dullest role of his career, once again under the direction of Ron Howard, who takes the material as seriously as a kidney stone on the way out.

Every Little Step
Bob Avian & Baayork Lee in Every Little Step

"A Chorus Line" celebrates the itch to perform and the exquisite, control-freaky showmanship that is the Broadway musical at its greatest. You can assess the stage original's influence through this wonderful new documentary, which intercuts the story of how the original 1975 show came together with a step-by-step, fly-on-the-wall account of how the custodians of the recent 2006 Broadway revival came to cast whom they cast and why

 

Star Trek
Chris Pine & Zachary Quinto in Star Trek

The new "Star Trek" seeks to extend a lucrative brand with a young demographic. But it's a real movie -- breathlessly paced bordering on manic, but propulsively entertaining.

The script ping-pongs early on between Iowa and Vulcan, as the destinies of James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) and Spock (Zachary Quinto) entwine.

 

X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Hugh Jackman & Liev Schreiber in X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Here and there you get what you want from an "X-Men" prequel, thanks to the irrepressible Hugh Jackman and several other members of the cast, including Liev Schreiber as Wolverine's nemesis, Sabretooth. But there's a rote quality to the proceedings ...

 

 

IN THEATERS: MOVIE REVIEWS & MOVIE TRAILERS

'I need to say something'

Her father was Arthur Miller. Her husband is Daniel Day-Lewis. And her brother was a secret hidden from the world. As her new movie opens, writer and director Rebecca Miller talks to Carole Cadwalladr about emerging from the shadows of giants

Rebecca Miller is so clever, and privileged, and talkative and engaging and clear-skinned and glossy-eyed and vaguely expensive looking, not in a designer sense but in a lucky-enough-to-have-inherited-exquisite-bone-structure sort of way, that she's precisely the kind of character you'd expect to see popping up in a Woody Allen film. One of the classics, a sister to Hannah, perhaps, or a minor player in Manhattan, over-enthusing about art and identity and worrying about her immortal soul or what to have for dinner.

Or maybe I just think this because the first scene of her latest film, The Private Lives of Pippa Lee, a starry ensemble piece featuring Keanu Reaves, Robin Wright Penn, Winona Ryder, Monica Bellucci, Julianne Moore and Blake Lively, looks and feels like a classic Woody Allen moment: well-educated people making portentous comments about art in an upscale corner of Connecticut.

"Oh good!" she says. "That's exactly what it's supposed to feel like. The idea is that you think that and then it becomes something else entirely and it's like whoah!"

It is like whoah! The film veers off in another direction entirely. It's an escape narrative, the tale of a middle-aged woman on the run from her life. Pippa (Robin Wright Penn), married to the much older Herb (Alan Arkin), discovers that her husband is having an affair with her best friend (Wynona Ryder), and takes off with the next-door neighbour's son, a charismatic mid-life failure played by Keanu Reaves. Pippa has a sudden, overwhelming desire to flee not just her present, but also her past, and even herself. What's pertinent, though, is that for the rest of us a Woody Allen movie is just a movie, whereas for Miller it's more like a slice-of-life kitchen-sink drama. Her childhood really did feature clever, well-educated people making portentous comments about art in an upscale corner of Connecticut.

She's the daughter of the great American playwright Arthur Miller and the Magnum photographer Inge Morath, and therefore it's no surprise that so much of her work is informed by questions of identity, or the desire to escape the past, and other people's definitions of you - and the impossibility of ever managing to.

"That's right," she says. "I think we all want to believe, especially Americans, that we are free to redefine ourselves, usually by moving to California. Changing it all. But I think, really, all the past is with us. Our parents are with us. Who we are. You can only escape so far. Pippa succeeds to a degree, she moves on to the next stage, but it's only to a degree."

In this Miller is a larger, starrier, more illustrious version of ourselves. She's like a metaphor for the rest of us, or an avatar, a more obvious version of the inescapability that we all have, as our parents' children and our partners' partner, I say to her, although it's the kind of question that she bats away, like an irritating fly.

"I am also so good at just ignoring things. And just, you know ... I find denial is very handy."

She does. She's incredibly articulate on the thorny subjects of parent-child relations, and how the self can be subsumed within marriage, but only with regard to her characters. Because when it comes to Rebecca Miller's parent-child relations or her marriage, you get only answers like the above. Because from being Arthur Miller's daughter, she became Daniel Day-Lewis's wife, and her books and her films and her interviews sometimes feel like an almost Darwinian struggle for survival; an attempt not to be suffocated by the people around her.

It's precisely the sort of struggle in which Pippa Lee, her eponymous heroine, is engaged. She's the ultimate artist's wife, one of the characters says in the opening scene; the last of a dying breed, somebody who has given her whole self over to others, and who suddenly decides that she has to escape.

"I think I've always been an escape artist. But here I am, deep in family life, and totally committed to it. Escape for me is writing. That's where all the negativity and everything goes. I think it would be easy to go mad if you don't have some sort of release. When you have children and live a family life, the demands on you - to subsume what you want or what you're thinking, or who you are - are huge. There's this thing that Pippa says about how she has ceased to be the protagonist of her own life. And it's the same with me. When I had a family I stepped aside and let other people be the centre. I think that's part of being a woman: you can't remember how to be the centre any more."

Miller wrote The Private Lives of Pippa Lee as a novel first (it was a Richard & Judy summer read) before deciding to turn it into a film. She says that it's not an adaptation, although I point out that she's rather more respectful towards her source material than most screenwriters tend to be, and it's an engaging, highbrow, at times dream-like independent film. But its flaws are novelistic: a heavy use of flashback and a voice-over narration, and as such it's had mixed reviews. ("It's as though Miller threw a really loud party for all her Hollywood friends, but forgot to invite the audience," said Hollywood Reporter).

This is a bit unfair, although there's no doubt that being well connected helped with casting. Keanu Reaves said that the actors were drawn not just to the material, but also "to her, Rebecca Miller ... as a person and as an artist". And you can see why. I'd casually assumed that anyone married to Daniel Day-Lewis might be a bit, well, humourless. But she can really giggle and has a good sense of timing, and the first word she uses to describe her parents is "funny".

"My father was a very funny man. There was a sense that sometimes life was a sad joke, sometimes a happy joke. Although I think it was probably quite lonely living in the country with these two parents, alone. I think I was quite alone."

She was "virtually" an only child, but not quite. As well as two half-siblings from her father's first marriage, Jane and Robert, she also had a brother born four years after her, Daniel. He had Down's syndrome, was placed in an institution at birth, and his existence only came to public attention two years ago with a story in Vanity Fair Guilt cuts a great swathe through Miller's work, and although she quite rightly resists any direct autobiographical reading from it, there are persistent themes that bubble up. In The Private Lives of Pippa Lee, we learn that it's Pippa's affair with a much older man which prompts his first wife, Gigi, to kill herself.

A month before Miller was born, her father's previous wife, Marilyn Monroe, took her own life. She laughs out loud when I point this out. "Oh no, no, no, no, no, no."

Was there a legacy of any sense of guilt?

"Oh no. I don't think so. I don't think so. Their marriage was over way before my parents got together. And Marilyn cast almost no shadow over my life. It was my father who had to pay for her. She was his cross to bear. Every journalist asked, 'What about Marilyn?'"

Inge Morath was sent to photograph Arthur Miller and Marilyn on the set of The Misfits and she's responsible for some of the most defining images of the actress. And when Arthur Miller's marriage to Monroe disintegrated, Morath became his third wife.

But what about her brother, Daniel? Was that a source of guilt?

"You know, I think finally the answer is no, I wasn't thinking about it. Let's not talk about that. I'm too tired. I can't.

I don't have it in me." She did know him when she was growing up, though, she eventually concedes. And he's part of her life now. But you can't help wondering how much of her over-emphatic statement about her childhood loneliness has to do with that.

But then there's so much material in Miller's life that it's no wonder she's a writer. The complications and pressures of her familial life are so richly novelistic. Such as meeting Daniel Day-Lewis at a screening of the film that her half-brother, Robert, made of her father's most famous work, The Crucible. "There's something about Arthur," Day-Lewis said at the time, "that makes you wish he was your father. I'd like to turn up on his doorstep with adoption papers." It's a remarkable statement, given that Miller ended up as his father-in-law, and that this wishful thinking would make Rebecca, not to be overly dramatic, his sister. They were both raised in literary dynasties (his father was the poet laureate Cecil Day-Lewis), and both grew up between the urbanity of the city - London and New York - and the remove of countryside: Ireland and Connecticut, respectively.

There's almost an undertone of incestuousness to their relationship, which has another strange resonance in that Miller had already sent Day-Lewis the script to her film, The Ballad of Jack and Rose, about an over-intense relationship between a father and a child, in which Day-Lewis eventually played the father (she says that it was fear of her father's mortality that was the autobiographical kernel for the story).

It's intriguing how Miller uses her work both to expose and hide herself. She was a secretive child, she says, and as an adult her fiction draws upon the same impulse, that she secretes herself into the unlikeliest of characters.

"I think all fiction writers do that. If fiction writers were interested in exposing themselves they'd be memoir writers. But I do enjoy embedding little bits of myself in places you'd never suspect - an old man, for example. It's not deliberate, it's just something that happens, but I take great glee in it."

Before The Private Lives of Pippa Lee, there was a short story collection, Personal Velocity, which she also adapted into a film, and which won the Grand Jury prize at Sundance, as well as The Ballad of Jack and Rose. And before she was a writer and a director, she was, in turn, an artist, and then an actor (she starred in Regarding Henry with Harrison Ford and Consenting Adults with Kevin Spacey). It wasn't her, though, she says. And she feels enormous relief now that she wasn't more successful. "I was just a bit lost. I was really searching for a long time. Hopefully now I've figured that out."

It's a measure of Miller's definition of success that her idea of "lost" is landing major roles in two Hollywood movies. But then her father wasn't just a famous writer, but a great one, just as her husband isn't merely well known, he's venerated. It's hard not to be curious about what domestic life is like with the world's greatest method actor. When she directed Day-Lewis in The Ballad of Jack and Rose, I'd read that he'd also worked as a set carpenter. But it turns out this was simply part of the famous Day-Lewis immersion method.

"It was his home in the story, he was meant to have built it, so, you know, it made sense to build it," she says, and shrugs. It seems somehow at odds with her character, this. She likes discussing ideas, but she doesn't seem like somebody who takes herself too seriously. Having a husband acting out the impulses of an incestuous father, or a 19th-century butcher, seems unlikely somehow, not least because the over-empathetic woman who can't help but feel other's troubles is another trope of her work. It afflicts one of her characters in Personal Velocity as well as Pippa Lee. "It's what I gave Pippa from myself," she says.

She was, by her own admission, an over-sensitive child.

"If anything was going on in a room I could feel it. Even if there was no actual argument going on, it was as if I heard screaming. I was very switched on. I think I'm very porous."

How does that work when your husband is always transforming himself with his work? Does it have an effect on family life, if you're living with, say, a butcher for a bit?

"I wouldn't allow myself to be swept away. And he wouldn't come home and be in character after we had kids," she says, not mentioning what it was like before they had their two children (Ronan, born 1998, and Cashel, born 2002), when Day-Lewis was filming The Boxer, and presumably came home every night as an Irish paramilitary recently released from prison (a role he took so seriously that he trained for two years with Barry McGuigan).

They now live a deeply rural, isolated existence in County Wicklow, Ireland, with summer forays back to New York, where they keep an apartment. Is it deliberate that it's a precise and equal blend of their own upbringings: his countryside idyll, her city retreat? She admits that she's a city girl at heart. "I definitely want to go back and live in the States again [but] it's working out pretty well for now. Daniel really wanted to live here for a time and I came to see what would be beautiful about living here, about what would be great about bringing up our kids in a very country environment where I could get a lot of writing done. We've made it very much about family in a very private way."

In Ireland, at least, it's a properly rural life - there are no Woody Allenesque dinner parties in County Wicklow.

"I don't think either of us are so into the art of conversation in that way," she says. And she's stricter with her own children than her parents were with her. Pippa Lee talks about a pendulum that swings between the generations, each one reversing the polarities of the last, and there seems to have been some reversal of the haute bohemianism of Miller's early years.

"My children do chores," she says. "I think it's good for them. I was raised more rule-free. My mom really didn't want me as a girl to be a slave at all, but then being raised to expect boys to do things probably isn't a very good thing either."

Perhaps the most engaging thing about Miller is the way that, although she now has all the trappings of bourgeois middle age - marriage, kids, a settled home life - she hasn't stopped grappling with any of the big questions. Pippa Lee is still searching and so too is Rebecca Miller, although her answers have popped up in the most unlikely of places. The film tells the story of a woman, Pippa, married to a much older man, Herb. And after Rebecca's mother died, Arthur Miller, at the age of 86, took up with a woman 55 years his junior. Only, Miller wrote her version first. It's a blurring of the divisions between life and art, just not in the way that most people expect.

"I came to the novel while my mother was alive in 2002, when I wrote the basic nugget, and so at the time I had no idea that my father would end up with a younger woman."

Did you get spooked by that - by writing something and then almost have it coming true?

"I have to admit that it was odd. But ... gosh. Who knows? Isn't there some theory in physics that time is not linear?"

It's very Milleresque: the deflection of the personal into the theoretical. But it's also a writerly abstraction. In The Private Lives of Pippa Lee, she wrestles with questions of nature and nurture, just as she has as the writer-daughter of a writer-father, although she says that her ambition to write comes more from having stories she wants to tell.

"A gift is nothing without something to say. I have a very strong need to say something, to tell stories, to talk, to express myself to people, and I feel that's what I'm like."

The lonely child has become the universal friend although, at the end of the interview, that tap switches straight off. When I turn off the tape recorder, it's like unplugging her from the mains. The light seems to go out in her face, and she's gathering her things, and making a dash for home. It's fair enough. She's tired, and has a cold, and her children are probably waiting for their bedtime story, but then, in her work, only suckers believe the surface. Pippa Lee is described as an "enigma" but declares at the beginning of the film, "I've had enough of being an enigma. I want to be known." With Miller, you get the feeling that it's perhaps the other way around.

• The Private Lives of Pippa Lee is released on 10 July.

Hollywood gets hitched to booming Bollywood

Western producers and stars are lining up for a share in India's global box-office bonanza. Anushka Asthana meets Akshay Kumar, whose new film features his idol Sylvester Stallone

To half the world's population, Akshay Kumar is more famous than Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise and Bruce Willis put together. Now the Bollywood actor's fame is about to spread to the west.

Kumar's latest film, which opens this weekend, marks the first time that Hollywood's leading stars have appeared alongside their Indian counterparts in a Bollywood blockbuster. Filmed at Universal Studios in LA and starring Sylvester Stallone and Denise Richards, Kambakkht Ishq is an example of the growing desire among western actors, companies and financiers for a piece of India's multi-billion-pound entertainment industry. After all, as Hollywood is fighting off a deep recession, Bollywood is booming.

Kumar already has his next collaboration in the bag. Later this year he will appear alongside Kylie Minogue in Blue. The singer recorded songs for the film, including the title track - all composed by the Tamil musician AR Rahman, who shot to fame after his Oscar success with Slumdog Millionaire.

For Kumar, who is one of Bollywood's most recognisable heroes, with more than 100 films to date, collaborations between the film industries of the west and the east are set to accelerate. "I presume they must be seeing what is happening in India. They see what Bollywood was two or three years ago and then they see what it is today," he said. "It has grown a lot and it has the capacity and capability to grow much more. If this collaboration works, then things will start moving towards Hollywood and Bollywood coming together again and again."

According to a report published by PricewaterhouseCoopers last month, India's entertainment and media market was worth $15bn in 2008. This is predicted to grow at an annual rate of 10.7% to more than $25bn by 2013. Bollywood - which has a 3.6 billion fan base around the world, according to the New York Times - is a major part of that industry. It is hardly surprising that Hollywood and others are taking notice.

Last year Disney took a 32% stake in the Indian media company UMP, and George Soros spent $100m on a 3% stake in Reliance Entertainment. The Indian entertainment group Eros International already has two joint ventures, one with Lionsgate and another with Sony Entertainment, that will see the two companies develop, produce and distribute Hindi films.

Kishore Lulla, chairman of Eros, said the "cross-pollination" of Bollywood and Hollywood was inevitable. "India's entertainment industry is growing rapidly - and it will soon be a powerhouse. In a couple of years a Bollywood film might take $50m at the box office in India alone," he said.

Lulla, whose company co-produced Kumar's latest film, said collaborations worked best when the script allowed Hollywood actors to appear without taking major roles - as Bollywood budgets were significantly lower. In Kambakkht Ishq, Kumar plays a stuntman for Hollywood stars, one of whom is Stallone. Richards, meanwhile, falls in love with the Indian actor.

"Audiences across the globe want to see something different in this world of recession. People want escapism, and Bollywood movies give them that. Indians express themselves loudly," said Lulla. "Kambakkht Ishq is just the start. A lot of companies have already approached us - they are very interested in Bollywood. I think Slumdog Millionaire was a huge part of that."

For Kumar, it is an opportunity to meet one of his greatest heroes. Sitting in a plush London hotel, on his way from the US to India, the Bollywood star remembered his days as a waiter in Thailand. "I used to have a small cupboard on which I had a poster of Stallone and one of Sridevi [a Bollywood actress]. I am so fortunate in life that I have had the opportunity not just to shake their hands but to work with them both."

He had expected Stallone to be "reserved", but found the opposite. "I thought, what would a Bollywood action hero talk to a Hollywood action hero about when they met? Within a span of two minutes we were talking about the stunts we had done. He was telling me about his knees and I told him that I was doing yoga to help my back, which was broken. He told me that he was not great with heights, but he still did Cliffhanger, and about how careful they are in Hollywood."

During his acting career Kumar has hauled himself on to a moving plane, clung to it in mid-air and then jumped aboard a hot-air balloon, swum with 40 sharks and leapt from building to building without any safety devices.

Until a few years ago Bollywood had no safety checks and no insurance, Kumar told Stallone. "The man's face just dropped and he called me a madman," said the actor, laughing. "Because I told him we used to jump from the fifth or sixth floor on to cardboard boxes and just pray that nothing would happen."

Kumar admitted he was "terrified" by the stunt in which he leapt from a plane in mid-air. "Let me start the whole thing by calling myself foolish and stupid to do something like that," he said with a smile. "Trying to catch a running plane, get up on it, attach myself to it, the plane goes up into the air, and then I jump from there into a hot-air balloon and slide inside to save the heroine."

More recently, when filming Blue, Kumar was diving close to a shipwreck at a depth of 120ft when his head hit something sharp and started to bleed. "There were 35 or 40 sharks there," he said. "I kept watching them try to bait the sharks away.

"From that depth you are supposed to bring someone up in four or five minutes, but they got me up in 12 seconds because it was so dangerous."

Kumar said it was a pleasure to work with Kylie Minogue on the film. "I like the way she adapted herself to Bollywood," he said. "She is such a huge star - loved by everyone. But she came there and she did exactly what she was told by the director. If she was asked to turn up at 7am in full make-up, then at 6.45am she was there, ready, on set."

The actor has also worked with Snoop Dogg, who had been "dying to wear a pugdi [turban]" and dance to the Indian songs when he recorded the title track and a music video for the film Singh is Kinng.

"It is further testament to the fact that Indian cinema is establishing ever stronger links with the mainstream. It was brilliant that someone of Snoop Dogg's calibre wanted to be involved in this project. And he was just as proud to sing, dance and look like an Indian as I am, bless him," said Kumar. Calling it a day to remember, the actor described Snoop Dogg as a legend: "He's so chilled and laid-back, a complete family guy. He even brought his uncle to cook chicken for absolutely everyone on set."

In the future the actor, who used to be a martial arts teacher, would like the chance to work with another of his heroes, Jackie Chan.

Back in India, it is to Kumar that millions of young boys look up. He believes that celebrities should not complain about the attention from fans and the media. "You did everything for attention - when you get it, how can you run away from it? I enjoy a lovely life. I get first-class tickets to move around, sometimes maybe private planes, I get to go to the best places with my family - and I work hard for it."

He also spends a lot of time and money indulging in his latest hobby, parkour, or free running. He is so into the sport, which involves jumping from one point to another, that instead of selling an old house he converted the entire place into a parkour gym, with rods, ropes and climbing areas. "My wife got upset," he admitted. "She said: 'Stupid, sell the house.' But I really love that gym."

For now, the actor is hoping that merging Bollywood and Hollywood in his latest project will be a success. "This is a typical masala Bollywood film, full of songs, colours, emotions," he said. "When you say something is masala you mean it has all the ingredients: action, comedy and romance."

Indian films are "one tone higher", according to Kumar, with brighter colours and stronger emotions. If someone is crying, they are a little more hysterical, if someone is angry, they shout a little louder, and if someone is happy, they smile a little wider. That's the difference between Bollywood and Hollywood.

A global phenomenon

• The Indian film industry employs more than six million people.

• More than 70,000 Indian films have been made since the advent of the talkies in 1931.

• Worldwide, Bollywood has 3.6 billion fans, according to the New York Times

• It contributes more than £200m to the UK's economy each year.

• The three largest multiplex chains in Britain routinely screen Hindi films.

• In 2010 the Indian entertainment and media industry is expected to be worth almost £10bn.

Dan the man

He was a boy wizard at 11, and eight years later Daniel Radcliffe has left home, found a girlfriend and grown up. With the new Harry Potter film out this month, he talks to Craig McLean about poetry, politics and looking good in eye make-up ...

If you are the world's most famous teenager, the speculation that swirls around you is often less interesting than the reality. For instance, Daniel Radcliffe is not gay, but he does have an interest in cross-dressing: "The one piece of advice I would give to any actor is, if you want to go out on the street without being recognised, without even being looked at, go out with a 6ft 8in beautiful transsexual," he says, eyes wide. "No one gives you a second glance. Especially when you're 5ft 5in. I'd love to play a drag queen or transvestite, but not just because of the costumes. Wait, what am I saying? Yes, because of the costumes! If the script was good - I wouldn't just do it because I got to dress up. Although I maintain that I look good with eye make-up. And I'm not going to be an emo kid, so the only other option is drag queen."

To answer another rumour: Radcliffe has not had beer made by monks drafted on to the Harry Potter set. "I don't drink beer as a rule." He prefers whiskey sour or tequila. "I love tequila - it's one of those things, like Jägermeister, where you get a very specific type of drunk off it." He hasn't recruited the SAS to walk his dogs, either, or ever grown eight inches in two months ("I wish!"). "And the best one: I had a nude sculpture made of myself to put in my living room. I don't know how big they think my ego is."

It is no surprise that Radcliffe, now 19, is a target for the tabloids. Last year he reportedly signed a contract worth £25.6m for the final two Harry Potter films, and was ranked as the world's highest-earning tween, alongside Disney star Miley Cyrus. Has he ever had to sue the press for defamation, or threaten to? "We've got involved a couple of times," he says carefully, "but it's never got to court. We've had to be very vigilant." He also has to be alert to entrapment, though it helps that he's not a regular club-goer, preferring "old man's pubs" and the odd gig. (He loves indie music, from Radiohead to the Hold Steady.)

"There have been people who have tried to exploit me. You get chancers out there who just want to make a quick buck, but as long as you tune into them and who they are ... The best thing I've learned is, if you're going out, never go out alone - you leave yourself vulnerable. If you've got someone else there you trust, they can say, be wary of that person. I probably used to be too trusting of people."

A while back (he thinks it was when he was 14, while filming the third Harry Potter film), Radcliffe made a choice that he definitely did want to be an actor when he grew up. "When you're in the position I'm in, you have two options: you can either shut yourself off from everybody, from the world, and not live a full life. Or you welcome everybody into your life and occasionally somebody will try to take advantage. And I'd much rather be that person who lets people in. Because, as an actor, people are your greatest resources."

This is why, on the evening I meet Radcliffe - Dan to everyone he knows - I find him busy people-watching. He's arrived early for our interview, at a private London club (his PR is a member, he's not), and has been taking in the clientele, trying not to gawp at Christopher Biggins. "And there was this wonderful man downstairs who was flirting so overtly with any female waitress that passed him by. It was fantastically funny to watch. And one day, when I'm 40 or 50, I hope to be playing that part. I'll remember this ... "

Despite all the pressure, it seems that Radcliffe is growing up sensibly. Normally, even. He loves cricket, likes a drink and a furtive smoke, and watching bad TV on a Friday night in his underpants. He has a girlfriend he met at work. He's bought a flat near his parents' home in Fulham, and has lived alone for 18 months. Mostly, it's going well: he keeps his flat fairly tidy, although he's still taking washing to his mum. "Is that shameful?" he asks. "Not every time! But occasionally, if it's a big sheet or something." He's not fond of ironing, as his scruffy outfit suggests. "It's when you get to a zip or a button and you think, 'What the fuck do I do now?' The thing is, I think things look good creased. Scruffy is in now," he says hopefully. "Ironing boards are a classic example of something I find horrible about modern society: the excitementation, for want of a better word, of mundane things. Funny ironing board covers - I hate them."

Radcliffe is a thinker. Referring to the Potter films, which have overtaken James Bond as the most successful movie series in film history, he prefers a different comparison. "You know what I take pride in more than anything else about these films? They're the only films since Truffaut's Antoine Doinel series that have featured one character going from about the age of 11 to 20. To be in Truffaut's company, I'm happy with that."

He is also a fan of modern art. For his 18th birthday in July 2007, when his protective parents notionally handed him financial freedom, he thought about treating himself to a car (nothing too flash - a Toyota Prius, say, or a Golf GTI); two years on, he hasn't even had a driving lesson, much less splashed out on some wheels. Instead, he bought a work by New York-based artist Jim Hodges, which is how he was introduced to the world of transvestites. "The dealer said they wanted to sell it to a more prestigious collector, and Jim got word of this. Turns out he's a massive Harry Potter fan and insisted they sell it to me. Ever since then I've been really good friends with Jim and his best mate Tim, a photographer. And they are two gay guys, artists, in New York, and they introduced me to these amazing, crazy, mad, weird, extraordinary people. I was immediately embraced by the New York tranny community!"

The Hodges work, Mona D, Mary And Me, is "basically a drawing of blue ink on white paper. And it's the words, 'Oh for crying out loud' which is something his mum always used to say, as I think probably all our mothers did. And in the midst of it, it's weirdly calligraphic." What was its appeal? "I suppose - without meaning to sound like it's a link to Harry Potter - it's about finding something magical and fantastical in a mundane phrase. That's what's lovely about it."

He's a big reader, too, and talks enthusiastically of a project in his dressing room, a wall-mounted display of "the most important authors from the 1700s, 1800s, 1900s and a few from the 21st century. It was fantastic - Jo [Rowling] walked in, and the first people she picked out were George Eliot and Joseph Conrad. And Nabokov." He is also a keen poet, though admits that his early verses were all about quantity - "Now I'm lucky if I write one thing a month or every two months. But when I do write, it's of a much higher quality. It's more considered, more concise, I've got less time for the ... pretension I had early on."

He's published some poems under a pen name, and although he doesn't tell me what it is, he provides so many clues even Dobby the house-elf could solve it. It seems to be Jacob Gershon: Jacob is his middle name, Gershon the Jewish version of Gresham, his mother's anglicised maiden name. Modern poetry and free verse "irritates me", he says. "I love people like Simon Armitage. He has such an immaculate grasp of metre and rhyme, if he wanted to do poems like that, he could. But sometimes free verse, for me, is for people who can't do structure. And when I don't write in form and metre, I become unbearably self-indulgent. It's what Robert Frost said: free verse is like playing tennis with the net down."

Why does he like writing poetry? "As an actor, there is room for a certain amount of creativity, but you're always ultimately going to be saying somebody else's words. I don't think I'd have the stamina, skill or ability to write a novel, but I'd love to write short stories and poetry, because those are my two passions. There is an art to a short story. I love Raymond Carver, and Chekhov - without making myself sound more highbrow than I am!" he blusters, a reminder of the public schoolboy he was, on and off, until the age of 17. "I watch Britain's Got Talent like the rest of us."

We've met to mark the imminent release of Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince, the sixth film in the franchise based on JK Rowling's books. Radcliffe signed up for the series in 2001, when he was 11, and is now four months into the 19-month shoot for films seven and eight (the sprawling final book in the series, Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows, has been split into two parts). In The Half-Blood Prince, the Potter saga suffers its first loss of a major character, with the death of Professor Dumbledore, played by Michael Gambon. Was that difficult to film? "The whole film was quite difficult, but particularly that scene. I'd never been bereaved until the end of last year, when I lost my grandmother - before that, I'd never experienced any kind of sadness. So it was very tricky. It's also a tremendous pressure, because you know that a lot of people watching the film will have felt that. I tried to play it quite quiet, because that's just how Harry is."

The film also marks Harry's second kiss, with Ginny Weasley, sister of best friend Ron. Was that enjoyable? "It was quite weird for me because I've known Bonnie [Wright, who plays Ginny] since she was nine and I was 11. Very strange. But we got through it. It was good. And it'll get a bit of a cheer from the Potter fans. But I have to say, today I saw playback of Ron and Hermione's kiss [from the final book], and it is easily, from what we've filmed so far, the biggest moment in all the films. It is," he says approvingly, "a great kiss."

He pauses when I ask if he's happy with his performance. "Six is a very hard book to film, because it was essentially a lead into seven, but no excuses. I think I came through OK. I know I have a lot more to give than I do in six. And what's great is that I did Equus on Broadway between six and seven. I feel I've developed a lot in that time."

The last time I met Radcliffe, in January 2007, he was about to begin the London run of Equus, Peter Shaffer's classic 70s play. He was cast as Alan Strang, the stableboy who, in a frenzy of sexual and religious ecstasy, blinds six horses. He also had to strip naked every night for four months. In late 2008 he did it all again on Broadway. His performance in London was brilliant. Unlike the talkative, CGI-bolstered performances required of him in Potter, he was an electrifying and very physical onstage presence - despite the slight stature to which he refers repeatedly. The mild scandal about the full-frontal nudity (Harry gets his wand out, etc) and about this children's cinematic hero playing a tortured adolescent was quickly eclipsed by acknowledgment that he could really act. The critics mostly raved. "I was a lot better in New York," Radcliffe says. "New York was a better all-round show. We all raised our game."

Alan Rickman, Severus Snape in the Potter films, was a big help on Broadway. He cut short a holiday in Connecticut to visit Radcliffe and give him some pointers on stage presentation "that absolutely saw me through the last six weeks of the run" - how to be still, exploiting his "quite short and compact frame". Radcliffe says he used to "struggle" with Rickman: "I never used to know when he was joking or not. I think I took a lot of his sarcasm seriously. But recently I've woken up to it and he's actually a great guy."

Gary Oldman, who plays Sirius Black in the Potter movies, is one of the many older actors and crew members whom Radcliffe counts as close friends and mentors; Kenneth Branagh, who first floated the idea of his doing Equus, is another. Oldman applauds Radcliffe's "fearlessness" in taking the role. "To - no pun intended - expose himself. Not [just] physically get naked, but be vulnerable like that. To all the guns that could have shot him down. I think that alone is a great achievement. And he's serious about acting."

Equus was good for Radcliffe in many ways. It's how he met his girlfriend, Laura O'Toole, a fellow cast member, although he'd prefer not to talk about her. "She's just a normal person and she's not out for anything else. Which is very, very good. I seem to be a long-term relationship kinda guy. In my head I'm Byron, spreading failed romance ... There's a great line in Thackeray, 'Yes, I am a fatal man. To inspire hopeless passion is my destiny.' That's the image I have of myself [but] it isn't even remotely the case. I am quite a romantic."

It was important to be taken seriously as a stage actor, too. An only child, he was taken to the theatre regularly by his parents - Marcia Gresham, a casting agent, and Alan Radcliffe, a literary agent - and it was an encounter with the film producer David Heyman, a family friend, at a West End production of Stones In His Pockets, that led to him being cast as Harry Potter. "He was endlessly curious, and he was ambitious for his craft," Heyman says. "One of the things I respect most about him is he has pushed himself to get the most out of every moment in his life." This includes "getting everything he can from the directors" on the Potter films, among them Chris Columbus (Home Alone), Alfonso Cuarón (Y Tu Mamá También), Mike Newell (Four Weddings And A Funeral) and David Yates (TV's State Of Play).

Heyman is one of a close-knit group around Radcliffe who have protected, advised and helped keep him balanced. His long-standing PR chaperone no longer sits in on all his interviews but remains a key figure, as do his parents - his father gave up his work to become, in effect, his manager. He also mentions Sue Latimer, an agent and an old friend of his dad's, as one of "the fantastic people around me" who have made sure he doesn't wobble off the rails like so many child actors. "I've known Sue's son, Freddie Highmore - who played Charlie in Charlie And The Chocolate Factory - since we were little. She always looks out for my best interests. And then I've got the people on set. At 11, when I was first on Potter, I remember saying to everyone, if I get cocky, you have to tell me. And they always did."

One of his best friends is Will Steggle, a fortysomething father who works in the series' wardrobe department. "And because Will is a cynical man, he has put me off pretension at every stage. It is totally possible for an actor to be involved with the crew and have a chat with everyone, and be really good friends with them, then go on and do a scene. That should be your job."

He proceeds to tell me the people he "absolutely loves" on set: Rupert Grint, who plays Ron Weasley, and Emma Watson, who plays Hermione Granger. "They are, to all intents and purposes, my brother and sister." Are they all best friends? "Probably not, only because we don't see each other out of filming. But someone like Tom Felton, who plays Malfoy, I'd count among my really good friends. I went to the cricket with him on Sunday."

Big public events can be perilous. At the cricket match a man yelled, "Where's your wand, Harry?" which Radcliffe notes was "not original, not funny. Affectionate, slightly." Then there was his experience at a Red Hot Chili Peppers gig a few years ago. He was standing on the side of the stage when word passed through the crowd. "Hyde Park, 10,000 people chanting, 'There's only one Harry Potter!' It's good to be the king." He grins. "That's the thing, people don't realise that moments like that, while they're embarrassing, are also really cool."

He suspects Watson has a harder time. "Not so much [with] people but with paparazzi. Generally speaking, it's so much harder for girls. Guys are naturally lazy, and we like to lie around at home, so we don't give people many chances. Whereas girls want to get out, socialise and meet people."

But Watson seems to be enjoying all the opportunities for photoshoots and red carpet premieres. "Yeah, totally, but she's much more natural at them than I am. She's more suited to being able to talk to anyone - I get very nervous about those events. She's been photographed at a lot of [fashion] things, and I think that's a world she's very interested in. I've seen some of the clothes she's designed and [they're] very good. She's very clever. Do you know her GCSE results?" His eyes boggle: "I was thrilled with mine - seven Bs, two As and an A*. I think Emma got three As and seven A*s - she's incredibly academic, it's frightening. Me and Rupert to all intents and purposes dropped out of school. And she's going to Brown." He shakes his head in admiration of Watson's place at the US Ivy League college.

After all the untruths about Radcliffe, here are some facts: he won't be going to university, not least because he won't be doing A-levels. He is intent on an acting career, has had some Hollywood meetings, and looks forward to the time, very soon, when he doesn't have to turn down scripts because he's tied up in a converted aircraft hangar in a London suburb, in a world of wizards, Muggles and owls. There are a few projects in the offing, but the only one he wants to talk about is The Journey Is The Destination, about the photographer Dan Eldon, who was killed, aged 22, by a mob in Somalia. Funding permitting, it'll be his second biopic after his well-received turn as Kipling's son in the TV drama My Boy Jack. Radcliffe's passion for the part of Eldon stems from the fact that "everyone around him was steeled and inspired by his adventurous spirit - and it's also a character that's very unlike me. I'm not that adventurous in terms of exploring the world. The freedom that he had as a character, I don't necessarily have."

Radcliffe can't ride a bike or swim, not, as you might imagine, because Harry Potter stole his childhood, but on account of dyspraxia. "Like dyslexia but with coordination. My hand-eye coordination has got a lot better. I did an IQ test when I was about seven, and I was verbally in the gifted range, but my motor skills were rated as well below average. I'm quite proud of that."

He's Jewish, via his mum. "I'm an atheist, but I'm very proud of being Jewish. It means I have a good work ethic, and you get Jewish humour and you're allowed to tell Jewish jokes. For instance: did you hear how copper wire was invented? Two Jews fighting over a penny. And so on."

BBC Parliament is tagged as one of his favourite channels on Sky: he voted for "the gay policeman" (Brian Paddick) in the London mayoral elections and for Arthur Scargill in the European elections. He could never bring himself to vote Tory, but says, a little forlornly, that "the posh boys" he went to school with will soon be running the country. Without the cronyism and expenses fiddling of the last lot, he hopes: "I have a lot of faith in my generation. I have to. We have to develop our own moral system."

And finally, Radcliffe admits that as a boy actor he's had some "quite sexy mums over the years. Jamie Lee Curtis in [big screen debut] The Tailor Of Panama and Emilia Fox [in David Copperfield]. Both good," he says eagerly. He asks if I've met Rowling. "She is fantastically attractive. Very, very beautiful. And so intelligent, it's frightening."

Now, with the hour ticking on, the boy wizard must disappear. He has a 6am pick-up for a 7am start. It's just another day on the Harry Potter set - the Obamas are visiting.

• Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince goes on general release on July 15.

The guidelines: The highs and lows of Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder

The two Gen-X survivors team up in The Private Lives of Pippa Lee. What took them so long?

Keanu. Winona. Winonu. Keana.
Two ageless pin-ups of the Generation X era, two lovable lost souls, two improbable survivors. And even if rumours that Reeves and Ryder became awfully close on the set of their new movie The Private Lives Of Pippa Lee are almost certainly idle gossip, they kind of go together, don't they? In fact, why has it taken them so long? Steve Rose scans.

Defining role

Keanu Ted Logan, of Bill and Ted: cheerfully clueless dude with an instinctive ability for separating the excellent from the bogus.

Winona Veronica in Heathers: archetypal teen outsider heroine with a more 80s-tacular wardrobe than Cyndi Lauper let loose in the Miami Vice dressing room.

Typecast ever since as

Keanu Messianic zen beefcake. Prone to getting his brain scrambled and losing his identity. Often says things that are either so deep they're dumb or so dumb they're deep.

Winona Perceptive intellectual crumpet. Attracted to charismatic misfits whose inner beauty only she can see. Often has personality issues and cries a lot. Usually writes a diary.

Previous encounters

Bram Stoker's Dracula Drawn together by their terrible British accents, Reeves and Ryder are actually engaged at the start of Coppola's operatic horror. But then Gary Oldman sticks his fangs in, seducing Winona with Slavic prose and freshly groomed wolves.

A Scanner Darkly Nearly the happy couple once again, except they're too stoned and weirdly animated to get their romance on. Winona is the girlfriend of Keanu's hallucinating undercover narc. She's also his dealer. And possibly his boss. It gets confusing.

Career high

Keanu Point Break: a cop undercover as a zen surfer dude, who loses his identity - who else you gonna call?

Winona The Age Of Innocence: Oscar-nominated playing against type as a staid little society heiress - who says she can't act?

Career low

Winona Autumn In New York. As a terminally ill kook whose last act is to fall for Richard Gere. Why? Why? Why, Winona?

Keanu Sweet November. As a brain-dead yuppie who falls for terminally ill kook Charlize Theron. No! No! No! Keanu!

Rock star credentials

Keanu Dogstar, dude! He played bass, remember? No, well then you gotta remember his next band, Becky. He played bass, remember? Er ... any takers for a Keanu "moments in bass" solo album?

Winona Um, does Johnny Depp count? Or the guy from Rilo Kiley? OK, what about her starring role in the video for Mojo Nixon's Debbie Gibson Is Pregnant With My Two-Headed Love Child?

Life-changing franchise

Keanu The Matrix movies: he could basically buy all the bass guitars in the world now.

Winona Saks Fifth Avenue ... until the store detective asked to check her bag one day.

Bring It On again (and again, and again)

They've long been typecast as all-American, sexually rapacious zombie bitches, says Andrea Hubert. Do we still need to save the cheerleader?

Bring It On's psychotic choreographer Sparky Polastri may have described them as "dancers who have gone retarded", but the all-American cheerleader has long transcended the image of mere football groupie. Cheerleaders are a double helping of American pie: the good girl with the white pants you might glimpse as she does the splits, and the bitchy, slutty mean girl whose ruthless ambition could see her one day become President.

But whichever incarnation sparks the imagination, there are directors whose childhood treatment at the hands of the pom-pom brigade has clearly led them to a place of darkness. Yes, you, Eli Roth, with your Thanksgiving trailer from Grindhouse that stabs the topless trampolining cheerleader in her lady area - holding a grudge much? And what about classic sexploitation movie Cheerleader Camp, awash with the gore of toned teens, and suffocation by giant pom-pom nightmares, or the flesh-eating girls from Zombie Cheerleading Camp, or Mena Suvari's saucy father-seducing cheerleader in American Beauty, who turns out to be - patriotic gasp - merely ordinary?

Begrudge them their easy ride through life, but modern movie cheerleaders are fighting back against stereotypical predecessors and their evil ways. Kirsten Dunst's impossibly perky morality in the face of cheer-fraud was frankly uplifting in Bring It On, and Heroes' adorable Hayden Panettiere is on track to save the world any day now (the occasional backflip comes in handy when you're a superhero as well as top tier of a human pyramid).

And the backlash doesn't stop there. These days, if you want something done, bypass the jocks and head straight for the sweater monkeys, because those girls will show you a thing or two about teamwork. In Sugar And Spice (Mena Suvari again), cheerleaders turn bank robbers to help their knocked-up captain, with a heart-warming camaraderie straight out of Debbie Does Dallas, where the musketeer-style ethos of Debbie's tight-bodied teammates went a little further than bake sales and bikini car washes. As did the girls in 1973's The Cheerleaders, whose decision to sleep with the opposing team so they'd be too tired to play was a truly pioneering example of taking one for the team.

Sadly, two new cheerleading films, this week's Fired Up and hotly anticipated Diablo Cody-penned film Jennifer's Body, are something of a regression. In the first, two footballers go to cheerleading camp and discover that not only are they as good as the girls, they're even better! In the second, the nerdy best friend has to stop a possessed cheerleader (Megan Fox) from eating the entire town (that bitch!). So the meek inherit the earth, and we continue to repress the most all-encompassing representation of Team America by shoving her back into her psycho bitch box? Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, "The world belongs to the energetic." Why take it away from them just because we're too lazy to give good spirit fingers?

Public Enemies: 'We've heard this tune before, but Mann plays it like a maestro'
Michael Mann's John Dillinger biopic, starring Johnny Depp and Christian Bale, convinces Xan Brooks that there will always be a place in the movies for the great American gangster

Michael Bay's top five outbursts

The outspoken director of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, is not best known for being the soul of discretion. Here's my pick of his most memorable quotes

Michael Bay really ought to be preserved for posterity. Not for his movies, which - almost universally - are mindless, loud trash. And not for his ability to pour vast sums of gold bullion into Hollywood's coffers, though no doubt Paramount, the studio behind his current mega-hit Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, would disagree.

No, Bay ought to be celebrated as a wonderfully politically incorrect archetype of preposterous pomposity and arrogance. He comes across as the ultimate pig in the proverbial, spending vast sums of other people's money on making extremely loud, pointless movies because that's the kind of film he himself loves to go and see ("Don't tell anyone, but I'd do this for free", is a commonly attributed quote.)

With Revenge of the Fallen he has produced a piece of work (in both senses) that has proven completely and utterly critic-proof, taking more than $400m (£245m), so far, at the worldwide box office. So successful is he, that he is able to launch tirades at giant corporations that pay him millions of dollars, lambast stars who have diligently followed his direction on the big screen, and even excuse blatant racial stereotyping in his new movie by suggesting that it is "what the kids want".

Bay's latest outburst comes in response to an unwise comment from his star Megan Fox, who plays slinky car mechanic Mikaela in Revenge of the Fallen, suggesting that not a whole lot of acting went into the movie. Suffice to say, the words "ridiculous", "lot of growing up to do", and "nobody in the world knew about Megan Fox until I found her" feature prominently.

With this in mind, here are my top five all time Michael Bay moments of indiscretion. Please post your own, if I've missed any out.

5. At the decision by Transformers studio Paramount to exclusively release their films on the HD-DVD format, eschewing Blu-Ray, less than a year before the former was consigned to the dustbin of history.

"I want people to see my movies in the best formats possible. For them to deny people who have Blu-ray sucks! They were progressive by having two formats. No Transformers 2 for me!"

Oh and also:

"What you don't understand is corporate politics. Microsoft wants both formats to fail so they can be heroes and make the world move to digital downloads. That is the dirty secret no one is talking about. That is why Microsoft is handing out $100m dollar checks to studios [to] just embrace the HD DVD and not the leading, and superior Blu Ray. They want confusion in the market until they perfect the digital downloads. Time will tell and you will see the truth."

4. In a post on his forum regarding the release of the first teaser poster for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen which ignited a war of words with Terminator Salvation director McG over who dreamt up the idea of giant robots in extremely noisy films.

"We've seen the great year end movies, and watched the upcoming clips of the upcoming summer fare. We've seen certain movies coming out even try to duplicate Transformer size robots in their ads. Please, come on."

3. In response to accusations that the robot twins Mudflap and Skins in Revenge of the Fallen were an example of racial stereotyping. The pair speak exclusively in southern "crunk" drawl and use expressions like "bust a cap". One even has a gold tooth.

"We're just putting more personality in … I don't know if it's stereotypes - they are robots, by the way. These are the voice actors. This is kind of the direction they were taking the characters and we went with it."

"I purely did it for kids, young kids love these robots, because it makes it more accessible to them."

2. In an email to Paramount regarding the apparent lack of advance publicity for Revenge of the Fallen.

"I have been waiting, and waiting for the 'anticipation' of an 'event movie' to make it into the 'public zeitgeist.' You all talk so glowingly about Transformers being the movie of the summer but unfortunately this has not gotten to the public ... You can feel in your gut the presence of a big movie coming. Right now we are not an event. We are just a sequel which is very different. I cannot figure if this is a cash issue with your company? Is there some clever idea why are we not spending? I'm not sure."

1. And finally: that wonderful tirade against Fox.

"Well, that's Megan Fox for you. She says some very ridiculous things because she's 23 years old and she still has a lot of growing to do. You roll your eyes when you see statements like that and think, 'OK Megan, you can do whatever you want. I got it.'

"Nick Cage wasn't a big actor when I cast him, nor was Ben Affleck before I put him in Armageddon. Shia LaBeouf wasn't a big movie star before he did Transformers - and then he exploded. Nobody in the world knew about Megan Fox until I found her and put her in Transformers."

Is this it?

He stars in this summer's sleeper hit The Hangover, needs new clothes and still hasn't left Vegas. But is Bradley Cooper being served?

What's new, pussycat?

My grandmother used to say that. I have this movie I love called The Hangover. If I wasn't in it I would go and see this in a heartbeat. It's exactly the kind of movie I'd want to watch. I'm so happy. Todd Phillips is a hell of a director and Ed Helms and Zach Galafianakis are very funny.

Where do you come from?

Philadelphia. I grew up Italian-Irish. It was wonderful.

Who u wit?

Are you talking about Jennifer Aniston? I'm so flattered that someone would think I'm dating Jennifer Aniston but it's completely untrue. But wow! Not bad, huh, for a kid from Philly? I'll take it.

Where do I go from here?

I'm probably going to take a nap and then I've got to play poker with you.

What's going on?

I have no clothes. I'm here in Las Vegas [where most of The Hangover was filmed] but I don't go home from here.

Where next, Columbus?

I'm going to Chicago, Atlanta, Toronto, Philly and Miami to promote this film. They split us up I think, but I have to also do what Zach was going to do because he's working. Son of a bitch. So I have no clothes and wear the same thing all the time. They keep saying, "Can you please wear different clothes?" I can't afford to buy any new ones. I haven't worked in a year, since we finished this movie. And no, I don't have "people" to get me new ones. I buy everything, I swear to God. Except these shoes.

Dude, where's my car?

Back in LA. I have a Prius and a truck. So I am both good and very very, very bad. I use the Prius most of the time but I love my truck. It's a Mercedes G55 AMG. It's got 469 horsepower. It's a monster.

Are you being served?

One of my favourite shows. Captain Peacock. I used to love it. Miss Brahms died? What of? Wow. I love tennis. I'm pretty good at it. I like basketball, football, running, although I run at the gym now. I can't run outside any more. It's too hard on my knees.

Is there something I should know?

I wore suspenders in high school. But you don't call them suspenders, right? You call them braces.

They shoot horses, don't they?

They do, don't they? Those sons of bitches. But they were pretty horses I'm sure. I have never been on a horse. Love to. I just never grew up around horses. Played a thoroughbred horse trainer in a TV movie called The Last Cowboy, though. It was hilarious trying to get a thoroughbred into a trailer from behind. That is one of the hardest things to do.

Do ya think I'm sexy?

Of course. She's flirting with me.

Where did you sleep last night?

Caesar's Palace. I've grown to love Vegas but it was very difficult in the beginning. By the fifth or sixth time I came back, I liked the sounds of the slot machines that are everywhere, even in the airport. I really do feel at home here.

Who can you trust?

Not a tiger. Katie, the one in the movie, was scary, which was great because we didn't really ever have to act, ever, when she was there. It was like, "Oh we've got to act scared", and then you see the tiger and you don't have to do anything because it's an actual tiger on a sound stage which could kill you if it wanted to. Even though the trainer said it wouldn't.

When will I be famous?

You're saying I'm such a soon-to-be which translates as maybe-not. I love the film, so that's exciting. What happens to me afterwards, who knows? You never know. If you put too much stock in it, it's not going to end well. I won't know until it happens because it hasn't happened at all. If you're right then I'll be able to answer you. I have zero concerns about it. Not at all. It doesn't mean anything.

• The Hangover is out now

Soderbergh's Moneyball mothballed

The baseball movie which would have reunited Steven Soderbergh with his Ocean's star Brad Pitt is cancelled five days before its scheduled start date

Brad Pitt became an unlikely victim of the economic downturn this week when his latest movie, the baseball drama Moneyball, was cancelled just five days before shooting was set to begin. Original backer Sony Pictures has now put the production into "limited turnaround", giving the film-makers a chance to offer it to another studio. Early evidence suggests that no one is biting.

Based on Michael Lewis's 2003 bestseller about the Oakland Athletics baseball team, Moneyball was set to be directed by Steven Soderbergh, with Pitt starring as manager Billy Beane. But the $58m (£36m) production has reportedly been judged to be too "arty" to appeal to a mainstream audience.

According to sources, Sony took the decision to pull out of the project after Soderbergh turned in a last-minute rewrite of the Moneyball script. Penned by the Oscar-winning screenwriter Steven Zaillian, the script reportedly contained an abundance of baseball details that executives feared risked alienating viewers. It was claimed that Sony chairwoman Amy Pascal was left "apoplectic" by both the rewrite and by Soderbergh's subsequent refusal to compromise.

Yesterday, a source close to the production hit back at the studio's decision. "What exactly is wrong with making a movie accurate?" the unnamed source told gawker.com. "And since when does an authentic film translate as an 'art' film?"

In the wake of Sony's decision to bail out of the film, Moneyball was turned down by two other Hollywood behemoths. "In the light of the economic climate, Warner Bros and Paramount said they weren't going to make the movie," confirmed Pitt's manager, Cynthia Pett-Dante.

The future of Moneyball now hangs in the balance. In the meantime, Pitt, Soderbergh, and some 230 other employees are temporarily out of work.

Feature length Michael Jackson film mooted as means to clear debts

Concert promoter behind Michael Jackson's planned tour hopeful about possibility of constructing a documentary from rehearsal footage

A new Michael Jackson film could be assembled from archive footage of the late singer in an effort to clear the estimated $400m debt accumulated by his estate, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

The possibility of a big screen outing emerged as new video was released of Jackson rehearsing two days before his death. It could form part of the new film, along with more than 100 hours of footage which exists of the singer, the promoter of his cancelled London comeback concerts said.

"He was our partner in life and now he's our partner in death," Randy Phillips, president and CEO of concert promoter AEG Live, told the Reporter. "If we all do our jobs right, we could probably raise hundreds of millions of dollars just on the stuff we have worldwide and then the estate could eradicate its debt."

The film, which early reports suggested might be a DVD only release, could provide AEG with valuable revenue to offset its losses from the abandoned gigs at the O2, although Phillips said "the lion's share" would go to Jackson's estate. He also revealed that 40 to 50% of the 750,000 ticket holders had so far opted to hold onto them as mementos rather than receive a refund.

AEG was insured against Jackson's death, but there will only be a payout if the autopsy finds that the singer died accidentally, not if it is found he died from natural causes.

Philips said the company was also considering a tribute show at the O2 which would be broadcast worldwide and then sold as a DVD. The production budget for the 50 London shows, which were set to begin on July 13, was more than $25m, he added.

David Carradine's death 'not suicide' says American pathologist

Authorities concede late actor may have died accidentally, as second autopsy reveals asphyxiation as cause of death

David Carradine did not commit suicide, an American pathologist who conducted a second autopsy on the body of the Kill Bill star said today.

Dr Michael Baden, who carried out the autopsy at the request of Carradine's family after the actor's body was returned to the US from Thailand, said Carradine died from asphyxiation. He said he could not yet determine whether the death of the actor, who had been filming a movie in Bangkok, had been an accident, or a murder. He added that he was still waiting for further information from the Thai authorities which would allow him to make a final decision.

"When we've spoken to them, they've been very cooperative," he said, adding that his report was consistent with the findings of the Thai doctor who performed the first autopsy, who also said Carradine had died from asphyxiation.

The actor's body was found by a chambermaid at the luxury Swissotel Nai Lert Park hotel hanging in a closet on 4 June. Police say he was naked and had a cord around his neck. Speculation has suggested Carradine, 72, died during an autoerotic sex act, but members of his family believe foul play may have been involved.

The Thai police initially said they suspected the actor's death was suicide, but later conceded it may have been accidental. Baden said autoerotic asphyxiation remained a possible cause of death.

Carradine's family were upset by a graphic photo of the death scene which appeared in a Thai newspaper. Police said it appeared to be a leaked forensics image.

The key details which Baden is still waiting to receive from Bangkok include results from toxicology tests, an analysis of items found in Carradine's room, security surveillance footage and a log of room entries from the hotel's key card system.

Cinema's hidden dimension

Riding the 3D gravy train

Your kids want it, your cinema wants it, Hollywood wants it: 3D is taking over. Even Cannes opened with Up, Disney's latest eye-popper. And with 14 3D releases before the year is out, the craze is set to continue. But this trend comes with a fourth dimension: cost. As your recession-bitten wallet recovers, there's a fresh set of bite marks from an average add-on of £2 per ticket. Entry to 3D films can now cost up to £16 for an adult and £10 for a child.

So why are 3D movie tickets so expensive? Well, it's not because of the special glasses you need, which only cost about 45p a pair - and the studios have been covering that cost, anyway. The pricy part to the exhibitor is the projection: the 3D effect is created by your brain combining two different images, one for each eye. So you either need two projectors, or a neat way of doing it with one. And that's where technology comes in.

Cinema, these days, is gradually going digital - it's cheaper than celluloid and gives better picture quality. The cost of a new digital projector is about £30,000. But that still only gives you one image. The clever part is a little lens add-on, which clips onto the front of the projector and splits the image in two via polarised light, giving the 3D effect. But where can one get such a high-class clip-on? A small Beverly Hills-based company called RealD.

RealD have supplied 300 or so of the UK's 3D-equipped screens, with another 300 scheduled to be made ready by the end of 2009. By the time they've finished, RealD will have put up a total of 1,000 3D-ready screens across the country, for Odeon, Vue, Cineworld and other chains. Although it is cagey about the details, RealD give cinemas their technology on a "revenue share model". A simple royalty per ticket, which pays for the technology, is the reason for the hiked-up prices. We are footing the bill for the cinemas to upgrade.

Not that we seem to mind - at least, according to the figures. In fact, cinema attendance for the first quarter of 2009 is up 7.5% on last year. The highest grossing film so far this year is Dreamworks' 3D animation Monsters V Aliens, which has taken £21m at the UK box office, topping even Star Trek's current total (£20.9m). Family animations are favourites for conversion to 3D, with Disney especially throwing its weight behind the format, but even the routine slasher movie My Bloody Valentine was a hit in 3D, outperforming its 2D partner to the tune of £6m against £700,000. With numbers like that, no wonder the industry is excited.

But the increased ticket price does skew the results. In 2008, the average UK ticket price was £5.18. But with its premium mark-up, 3D tickets are up at the £7 mark. So while 2-D Monsters vs Aliens grossed £2.16m from 463 screens on its opening weekend, the 3D version took £2.18m from just 174 screens.

So how much of that goes to RealD? It won't say, but Forbes reported that in the US the royalty per ticket is 30p. If it is that little here, then the cinemas are not just covering the costs of installing 3D, they are also taking a fresh cut for themselves.

Don't expect 3D to go away anytime soon. It is, remember, piracy-proof, since trying to record it just leads to wobbly camera footage. It's the perfect formula for the future: beat piracy, appeal to the kids, and raise the prices. As RealD puts it: "The important takeaway from today's 3D is that everyone wins." Except the person paying for the tickets.

Black Hawk Down: one-sided and flimsy, but the battles are dazzling

Ridley Scott's 2001 dramatisation of the Battle of Mogadishu is too black v white, but warfare has never been so strikingly depicted

Director: Ridley Scott
Entertainment grade: C
History grade: C

The Battle of Mogadishu, fought in Somalia's capital during October 1993, was at the time the biggest US military firefight since the Vietnam war. An attempt by American special forces to kidnap two chief aides of Somali warlord Mohammed Farah Aidid went disastrously wrong, triggering an all-out battle. Under the UN banner, American, Pakistani and Malaysian forces fought Aidid's militia.

Exposition

"This isn't Iraq, you know," says one officer. "Much more complicated than that." Maybe in 2001, when Black Hawk Down was released, you could just about get away with that line. In any case, the conflict in Somalia is indeed complicated. The film opens with a slew of explanatory title cards, revealing it expects its viewers to be a fairly dense bunch. One reads "Somalia, East Africa." As opposed to Somalia, Massachusetts?

Violence

Since M*A*S*H*, American military bases have tended to be portrayed on film as wild and sleazy places. Not so in Black Hawk Down, where the men use their downtime to play chess, illustrate children's books and debate the rules of Scrabble. One soldier's entire characterisation is that he insists on making proper cafetière coffee. Meanwhile, Staff Sergeant Eversmann (Josh Hartnett) holds forth about how profoundly he respects the Somali people. So does everyone else, apparently, and the troops' nickname for the locals – "skinnies" – is merely a sign of affection, rather than a tasteless slur in a country where 300,000 people have just died of starvation. "Bakara market is the wild west," announces one Ranger. "But be careful what you shoot at because people do live there. Hooah!" In the subsequent fighting, soldiers are shown carefully avoiding shooting at any women or children (two groups inevitably lumped together as helpless victims by the movie, which avoids dealing with Somalia's notoriously large number of child soldiers, and only once shows a woman with a gun). The audience can only conclude that, in real life, the several thousand civilian casualties must all have been hit by bullets ricocheting off genuine, kite-marked warlords.

War

Black Hawk Down doesn't hide the fact that the battle was the result of a perennial US military blindspot: underestimating the efficacy of guerrilla warfare. The runtime is almost entirely taken up by visceral battle sequences, in which hi-tech American equipment proves to be little use against determined street fighters. If there's a director who can make war look picturesque, it's Ridley Scott. Showers of sparks glow amid the ruins; market stalls are elegantly swagged with bandoliers; curls of smoke rise from spent bullet casings as they hit the ground; blood spurts forth in graceful fountains. American soldiers die in slow-motion, accompanied by mournful strings or piano music. Somalis just fly into the air, explode and disappear. Though actual data is hard to come by, the historian is pretty sure that it's not like this in real life.

Politics

The film was much criticised for pitting noble, civilising white heroes against faceless, savage black villains. It's true that special forces are less racially diverse than the US military overall, but it is still a bit conspicuous that Black Hawk Down chooses an entirely white cast of main characters from among them. It's also a bit conspicuous that the very few Somali speaking characters (mostly played by Brits of west African and Caribbean descent) don't do anything except scheme, gloat, menace and be untrustworthy. Meanwhile, the Pakistani and Malaysian soldiers who fought in the battle have been written out altogether. When American troops return to a Pakistani base after the operation, they are greeted by the film's only visible Asians: three beturbaned waiters, meekly offering glasses of water and fluffy white towels. So irritated was former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf at this slight that he denounced the movie in his autobiography – though, unfortunately, Hollywood was the least of his problems.

Verdict

Black Hawk Down tiptoes carefully around the facts when it deals with US troops, but its interpretation of history is flimsy, one-sided, and politically questionable.

Karl Malden: A life on screen
2 July 2009: Karl Malden, the Oscar-winning actor with one of the most distinctive profiles in Hollywood, died yesterday aged 97. Here are some of his best roles in a career spanning more than 60 years

Year One: A kindergarten comedy with few adult laughs

Harold Ramis's plan to sacrifice adult laughs for youthful bums on seats hasn't really worked out

If you go and see Year One, you're not very likely to be tickled pink, but you may be a bit puzzled. The producer, Judd Apatow, is an Emmy award-winner. The acting talent is tried and tested. The director and lead writer, Harold Ramis, has Animal House, Caddyshack and even Groundhog Day under his belt. Yet his film's a disappointment, to say the least.

So much reliance on poop-eating, pissing and flatulence seems surprising in an era that's moved on (at least a bit) towards wit and irony. Virginity and circumcision hardly improve matters. Applying contemporary patois to ancient activities was always likely to pall. Jack Black's slobby dude act may be acceptable in small doses, but was surely bound to irritate once centre-staged. Michael Cera's hangdog teen shtick, cute enough in Juno, was never going to fit a buddy movie's sidekick.

So what went wrong? Ramis has said he wanted to apply "a contemporary consciousness" to the "social, political and religious issues" of the ancient world. That might have implied a biting lampoon, tearing apart conventional pieties in the manner of Life of Brian. If this was indeed the original idea, a misguided compromise with the marketplace may have proved to be its undoing.

Ramis agreed that Year One should aim for a PG-13 rating. This requires a film to satisfy a board of American parents that children should be allowed to see it unaccompanied. To this extent, it's even more restricting than the 12A rating accorded to Year One in Britain. The pursuit of such an imprimatur can hardly have encouraged the edgy exploration of the limits of the acceptable that caustic satire tends to require. Year One challenges no orthodoxies, threatens no sacred cows and avoids both cruelty and savagery. Even its Sodom appears to be devoid of sodomy.

Perhaps Ramis judged, consciously or otherwise, that if he had to confine himself to what the young could stomach, he might as well play to their tastes. Children are reliably amused by bodily functions, rude words and grown-ups' romantic yearnings. However, this is doubtless at least partly because for them these things are relative novelties. For the rest of us, they aren't.

To explore its infantile subject-matter, Year One chooses an approach that also depends on its audiences' innocence. The film is best appreciated if you haven't seen Wholly Moses!, Caveman, History of the World Part 1, 10,000 BC or all too many others of their kind. Mature cinemagoers may find that an overall air of corniness drains even the few fresh gags of impact.

If all this was indeed the outcome of a fateful plan to trade comic asperity for youthful butts on seats, then it hasn't worked. Year One came in fourth on its American opening weekend, taking only $20.2 million. It was roundly beaten by another comedy, The Hangover, even though the latter was on its third weekend out. The Hangover enjoyed the advantage that even grown-ups find it funny; yet to win its laughs, it shouldered the box-office burden of an R rating, which requires under-17s to be accompanied by an adult.

Year One's shortcomings may thus reflect a failure of nerve as well as artistry. Ramis has himself indicated that he approached the project in timorous mood. When the film was greenlit, his response, he says, was: "Oh my God! It's one thing to fail small, but to make a big movie that doesn't work is so risky."

For film-makers, trying to play it safe often proves dangerous. This time, Ramis certainly seems to have suffered for his caution. Just now, he could have done with a startling hit. Neither Bedazzled nor Analyze That began to match the glory that was Groundhog Day. Next time, perhaps, he should pluck up the courage to face down the nervous suits. And grow up.

Tippi Hedren tells Michael Jackson's former pet tigers of his death

The Birds star says she informed the two tigers she adopted from Jackson's Neverland ranch of the singer's death, telepathically

Tippi Hedren has called upon mourning fans of Michael Jackson to honour his memory by coming to the aid of the exotic animals rescued from his Neverland ranch.

In 2005, Hedren adopted Jackson's two tigers, Thriller and Sabu, after the singer gave up the private zoo at his Santa Barbara estate. She cares for them at her animal sanctuary, the Los Angeles Shambala Preserve, home to 68 tigers, lions and other big cats who were formerly employed in the entertainment industry, or who were unwanted pets.

The star of Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds says she informed Thriller and Sabu about the singer's death at the end of last week. "I went up and sat with them for a while and let them know that Michael was gone," she explained. "You don't know what mental telepathy exists from the human to the animal. But I hope they understood."

Hedren has called upon grieving members of the public to donate money to her organisation and help her call for a law that bans the keeping of big cats as pets.

Other former inhabitants of Jackson's private zoo were taken on by various sanctuaries and individuals throughout America. His most famed pet, the chimpanzee Bubbles, lives at the Centre for Great Apes in Florida, whose owners are also urging fans for support.

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Four weddings and a catfight: Would YOU let another bride criticise your big day?

'Yes, I'm an autocutie - and I'm proud of it,' says GMTV presenter Emma Crosby

'Yes, I'm an autocutie - and I'm proud of it,' says GMTV presenter Emma Crosby

Michael Jackson to be buried in $25,000 gold-plated coffin at funeral set to be 'greatest show on Earth'

Michael Jackson to be buried in $25,000 gold-plated coffin at funeral set to be 'greatest show on Earth'

Debbie Rowe emerges from hiding to stake custody claim for 'my flesh and blood' Prince Michael and Paris

Debbie Rowe emerges from hiding to stake custody claim for 'my flesh and blood' Prince Michael and Paris

'It's been the worst two months of my life,' says Peter Andre as he rules out reconciliation in frank radio interview

'It's been the worst two months of my life,' says Peter Andre as he rules out reconciliation in frank radio interview

Halfwit survives for the FOURTH time as Sree is evicted from Big Brother

Halfwit survives for the FOURTH time as Sree is evicted from Big Brother

The first Apprentice wedding? Kate Walsh and Philip Taylor fuel engagement rumours as they shop for rings

The first Apprentice wedding? Kate Walsh and Philip Taylor fuel engagement rumours as they shop for rings

Gordon Ramsay gagged as he returns to Australia for the first time since cooking up trouble with TV host

Gordon Ramsay gagged as he returns to Australia for the first time since cooking up trouble with TV host

Red-faced Brad Pitt is rescued by the paparazzi when his motorbike breaks down

Red-faced Brad Pitt is rescued by the paparazzi when his motorbike breaks down

Lilo rings in her 23rd birthday with a romantic date with Samantha Ronson

Lilo rings in her 23rd birthday with a romantic date with Samantha Ronson

Kate Moss enjoys Blur's Parklife and enjoys a post-gig trip to the local curry house

Kate Moss enjoys Blur's Parklife and enjoys a post-gig trip to the local curry house

Sneak preview of the dark forces threatening to destroy Hogwarts in Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince

Sneak preview of the dark forces threatening to destroy Hogwarts in Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince

Jessica Alba forgets her bedside manner as she goes shopping for a new mattress

Jessica Alba forgets her bedside manner as she goes shopping for a new mattress

Kylie Minogue masquerades as the Phantom of the Opera

Kylie Minogue masquerades as the Phantom of the Opera

Terry Wogan: My kids flee the room to escape me

Terry Wogan on sleeping too little, drinking too much – and why his dancing horrifies his children.

'We curse in front of them if we feel like it': Woody Allen on fatherhood

The director, 73, and wife Soon-Yi are parents to Manzie, nine, and Bechet, ten. Here he discusses his parenting attitude to religion, honesty, and the birds and the bees.

The Bill's iconic theme tune scrapped after 25 years

The Bill's iconic theme tune scrapped after 25 years

Narrow escape for Dawn in EastEnders as Garry interrupts her romp with lover Phil

Narrow escape for Dawn in EastEnders as Garry interrupts her romp with lover Phil

Pictured: Secret lovers Kevin and Molly side by side on the Coronation Street fun run

Pictured: Secret lovers Kevin and Molly side by side on the Coronation Street fun run

Goodbye Albert Square, hello boys! Kara Tointon marks her exit from EastEnders with bikini shoot

Goodbye Albert Square, hello boys! Kara Tointon marks her exit from EastEnders with bikini shoot

Spoiler alert! Roxy Mitchell sets out to seduce sister Ronnie's fiancé Jack in EastEnders

Spoiler alert! Roxy Mitchell sets out to seduce sister Ronnie's fiancé Jack in EastEnders

Public Enemies: Smooth criminal, rough old script

Public Enemies tells what should have been an exciting story - how the FBI sent its best agent to hunt down the America's public enemy number 1 - but it is a huge disappointment.

Year One: Stone age, stoney faced

Jack Black is an inept hunter and drippy Michael Cera a feeble gatherer in this would-be comic homage to the Paleolithic age.

Ice Age 3: More (woolly) mammoth fun with the critters from the Scrat Pack

The film sees these animated woolly mammoths and friends in an underground kingdom where dinosaurs reign supreme. It's fantastic and captivating.

My Sister's Keeper: Sorry, it's just another sob story

Nick Cassavetes directed the hit weepie The Notebook, but comes a horrible cropper trying to repeat the trick.

Sunshine Cleaning: Finally, a little ray of light

A thin plot and lack of scenario fail to dampen the sparkling acting by Amy Adams and Emily Blunt in this worthwhile - if off-beat - homage to working women everywhere

Katyn: Massacre that the Soviets couldn't conceal

Polish director Andrzej Wajda has made the most moving film of the week in Katyn, a lengthy, sombre and gruelling account of the massacre in which his own father died in WWII.

Terminator: Salvation

Terminator: Salvation

Florence and The Machine: My Glasto gig with a Mick Jagger wig

Florence and The Machine: My Glasto gig with a Mick Jagger wig

As Neil Sedaka hits the road again at 70, he vows to bop until he drops

As Neil Sedaka hits the road again at 70, he vows to bop until he drops

The next big thing: The Mummers

The next big thing: The Mummers

Ronson's latest flame: Daniel Merriweather nearly fell off the rails before the star producer became his mentor

Ronson's latest flame: Daniel Merriweather nearly fell off the rails before the star producer became his mentor

The House Of Special Purpose: Don't let those Reds give you the blues

The House Of Special Purpose: Don't let those Reds give you the blues

The Fairy Queen By Purcell: Midsummer's here, and it's hot, hot, hot

The Fairy Queen By Purcell: Midsummer's here, and it's hot, hot, hot

Laurel And Hardy: Here's another fine mess you must get into

Laurel And Hardy: Here's another fine mess you must get into

FRIGHT NIGHT ROUND 4: Really packs a wallop

FRIGHT NIGHT ROUND 4: Really packs a wallop

GHOSTBUSTERS: It's frightening how good these old haunts are

GHOSTBUSTERS: It's frightening how good these old haunts are

VIRTUA TENNIS: Serving an ace

VIRTUA TENNIS: Serving an ace

Celebrity tennis: Janet Street-Porter puts on a volley good show in sensational Sardinia

Celebrity tennis: Janet Street-Porter puts on a volley good show in sensational Sardinia

Author Jane Green finally takes a holiday and has a by the book honeymoon spa-hopping in Antigua

Author Jane Green finally takes a holiday and has a by the book honeymoon spa-hopping in Antigua

St Lucia: Konnie Huq escapes to the Caribbean dreamland for adventure and relaxation

St Lucia: Konnie Huq escapes to the Caribbean dreamland for adventure and relaxation

Rachel Stevens ditches her dancing shoes for her first luxury Caribbean cruise with fiance Alex

Rachel Stevens ditches her dancing shoes for her first luxury Caribbean cruise with fiance Alex

BBC news legend Sue Lawley goes off the rails on a train ride through Malaysia and Thailand

BBC news legend Sue Lawley goes off the rails on a train ride through Malaysia and Thailand

Celebrity travel interview: Checking in with A Place In The Sun presenter Jasmine Harman

Celebrity travel interview: Checking in with A Place In The Sun presenter Jasmine Harman

TV&Showbiz | Mail Online
All the latest celebrity news, gossip and pictures from the world of Showbusiness

 

Am I Black Enough For You?


BILLY Paul has been called the unsung hero of soul music.

Red Mist


SOMEBODY needs to make a really good horror film soon because I can't be the only who is losing patience with all the cynical, low-rent shockers that keep oozing on to the market.

Public Enemies


If ANYONE could bring a fresh eye to the era of gun-totin' gangsters and trilby-clad G-Men it is Michael Mann.

Ice Age 3: Dawn of the dinosaurs


THE third film in any series is usually when the law of diminishing returns starts to apply.

British director Danny Boyle picked for Oscars judging panel


SLUMDOG Millionaire director Danny Boyle has been invited to join the Oscars judging panel.

My Sister's Keeper


THERE is nothing wrong with having a good cry at the movies.

Year One


MANIC Jack Black is the king of schoolboy silliness but his blustering dimwit act is wearing thin in Year One.

Sunshine Cleaning


IF YOU enjoyed Little Miss Sunshine then there's a fair chance you will also warm to Sunshine Cleaning.

Rudo Y Cursi


THERE'S something about football that never quite translates to the big screen.

Tenderness


TENDERNESS is based on a novel by Robert Cormier and has all the ingredients for a haunting thriller on damaged lives and the random ironies of being human.

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Simply The Best 7 Days A Week

 

Forbidden Broadway: Menier Chocolate Factory Theatre, London


THERE IS haughtiness about musicals - and grand elan that calls out for parody.

DANCE: Sutra, Sadler's Wells


A SANSKRIT word, Sutra means either a thread that holds things together or Buddhist doctrine distilled into easy-to-memorise aphorisms.

The House of Special Purpose: Chichester Festival, Sussex


THE final doomed days of the Russian Royal Family, right up to their brutal, botched executions in a dark Siberian cellar, cries out for heartclutching drama.

Un Ballo In Maschera: Royal Opera House, London


VERDI liked strong themes for his operas and Un Ballo In Maschera was a controversial example.

DANCE: Singular Sensation, Robin Howard Dance Theatre


THE PLACE is second to none in spreading the love of dance.

Carrie's War, Apollo Theatre


NINA Bawden's best-selling children's classic has probably been read by more adults than kids.

La Traviata: Royal Opera House


THE revival of Richard Eyre's production is a cautious cause for celebration.

Oklahoma!: Chichester Festival


IF PROOF were ever needed Oklahoma! reminds us of what great musicals used to sound like.

English National Ballet's centennial show comes up roses


ANY event celebrating the 100th anniversary of the greatest ballet company of the 20th century would have to be something special.

King And I: Royal Albert Hall


I'VE BEEN in love with this musical ever since watching the classic 1956 film with Deborah Kerr and Yul Brynner about 50 times as a child.

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Simply The Best 7 Days A Week

 

Who bares wins?
As Cheryl flashes the flesh.. read Mark Heyes verdict on who carries it off and who should cover up

Katie Price set to launch her own charity
.. meanwhile Peter Andre is looking after the kids again

Rodrigo triumph in hamper challenge
Rodrigo won the Big Brother housemates a Wimbledon themed hamper by making the glamour model who changed her name to Dogface bark like a canine too.

Potter star recovers from swine flu
Harry Potter actor Rupert Grint is recovering from a "mild bout" of swine flu, his publicist said.

WORLD EXCLUSIVE: Jackson's secret girlfriend was his children's former nanny Grace Rwaramba
Jacko’s personal photographer Ian Barkley says: Grace loved Michael and he loved her.. it was an open secret among staff

WORLD EXCLUSIVE: Bodyguard who dialled 911 is revealed for the first time
This is the loyal bodyguard who calmly took control as a panicking doctor fought to save Michael Jackson’s life.

Stevie Wonder to sing at huge public memorial service for Jackson
Star to be buried Tuesday before 17,500 ticketed fans watch send-off.

Coronation Street's Vicky on her red-hot affair with secret love Kevin
I hope soap fans won’t hate me for cheating on Tyrone, says Vicky Binns .. I’m not like that in real life

Johnny Vaughan & Denise Van Outen’s Big Breakrift
Big Breakfast co-hosts haven’t had any contact in a year

Michael Jackson memorial U-turn after UK fan snub
The organisers of Michael Jackson’s public memorial were forced to do a U-turn last night after a fiasco over tickets for British fans.

Britons join queue for Jackson show
Organisers of Michael Jackson's public memorial have announced that British fans will be able to apply for tickets.

UK fans welcome at Jackson memorial
Organisers of Michael Jackson's public memorial have announced that British fans will be able to apply for tickets.

Exclusive: Tina O’Brien – ‘I cried when I found out I was pregnant ..now I love being a mum’
Having a baby turned ex-Corrie star Tina O’Brien’s life upside-down. She tells us about the day she found out, her lowest moments and getting back in shape.

Peter Andre receives standing ovation from celebs at O2 Silver Clef Awards
He only turned out to present someone else with an award and suddenly a room full of superstars was giving him a standing ovation.

Holly Willoughby considering £250,000k This Morning job
Holly Willoughby is mulling over a £250,000 contract with ITV after being offered Fern Britton’s This Morning job.

British fans outraged over decision to ban them from Michael Jackson's memorial service
Michael Jackson’s British fans were outraged yesterday over the decision to ban them from their hero’s memorial service.

Zac Efron sports new bob haircut just like Robert Pattinson
He''s not just a heart-throb - Zac Efron shows he's top of the crops when it comes to the fashion stakes.

Is there trouble Chantelle Houghton and Paris Hilton?
Can we sniff trouble between Chantelle Houghton and Paris Hilton?

Gary Barlow proves he's Take That's cheeky chap
We always thought Robbie Williams was Take That's cheeky chap but Gary Barlow may be the real wit. Picking up the main Silver Clef award for the band, he said: "Don't be playing Angels before I go up to collect this award."

Stars go Insania for Pete
CELEBS FLOCK TO TEAM ANDRE AT AWARDS

Port's in shorts
Whitney Port brings a little Kate Moss cool to the streets of New York.

Amelle Berrabah doing her first solo gig with Tinchy Stryder at T4
Amelle Berrabah is doing her first solo gig away from Sugababes. The singer, who recently shaved the side of her head, will be doing a duet with Tinchy Stryder at T4 on the Beach.

Cheryl Cole and Dannii Minogue's X Factor rift cools after £2k birthday gift
As X Factor judges they are said to be arch enemies. But that's all in the past after Dannii Minogue gave Cheryl Cole a whopping £2,000 ring for her birthday.

Classy singer Faryl Smith having trouble with her new braces
Classy singer Faryl Smith was down in the mouth at the awards. The 13year-old Britain's Got Talent star was wearing new braces and said: "They're really uncomfortable and I keep fiddling with them."

3am's clocked - we've got spies everywhere
Ant and Dec waiting for a table at The Ivy in London's West End... Mischa Barton looking unsteady after drinking from a £100 treasure chest cocktail at Mahiki, Central London... Lenny Kravitz signing autographs for screaming fans outside Newcastle 02 Academy...

Del Boy coming back as teenager in new 60s sitcom
One of Britain's best-loved sitcom characters is making a return to our screens.

Spicey girl Kate
She certainly knows how to give her fans, er, frills - and Kate Moss does just that in this daring outfit.

Stereophonics' Kelly Jones fancies being godparent to Wayne Rooney's baby
He played at Wayne Rooney's wedding and now Stereophonics' Kelly Jones fancies a new role - as godfather to Rooney's sprog, due in September. He told us: "I've two kids of my own so I'm pretty sure I'll be good at it." Bless...

Special Smash Hits Michael Jackson special to be issued
Smash Hits is to be revived for a one-off special on the life of Michael Jackson, it was announced yesterday.

Michael Jackson's family could lose 45% tax on inheritance
Michael Jackson's family face losing half their inheritance to the US government, it has emerged.

mirror.co.uk - Home - Celebs
Read today's News Headlines at the home of the Daily Mirror Newspaper - get the latest breaking News, Sport and Celebs updated throughout the day at Mirror.co.uk.

 

Sree gets the boot from BB house


SREE has been evicted from the Big Brother house.

Casualty


BIG Mac gets set upon by the Malones and their pals as he's patrolling the Farmead Estate.

CORRIE: Becky calls on ‘Mother Teresa'


STEVE McDonald's new bride will be saved from a jail sentence for dealing drugs - by Mother Teresa.

Big Brother investigating 'bully' Sree


BIG Brother producers are reportedly launching an investigation after viewers complained Sree has been taunting Freddie about his dyslexia.

Sree and Marcus: Yet more rows


AFTER being warned by Big Brother about their arguments, Sree and Marcus have had yet ANOTHER blazing row.

Freddie and Lisa make up


AFTER their huge row on Wednesday, Freddie and Lisa have made an uneasy truce.

Charlie fakes a crying fit


CAMP housemate Charlie had a fake crying fit to get attention from his housemates.

Marcus and Sree warned by BB


MARCUS and Sree's feelings of hatred towards each other spilled over into another argument, and the pair were warned by Big Brother.

CORONATION STREET


THE only question we really need to ask, as far as this affair between Kevin and Molly is concerned, is exactly when it will end in tears.

BIG BROTHER


HERE we are, at the end of Week whatever-number-it-is, and after the latest nominations we find someone-or-other and wotsisname going head-to-head in another nail-biting eviction drama.

Daily Star :: TV Feed
Simply The Best 7 Days A Week

 

Grint and Radcliffe share a crush on Watson


HARRY POTTER star RUPERT GRINT has been harbouring a crush on co-star EMMA WATSON for years - confessing both he and DANIEL RADCLIFFE battle to win favour with the pretty actress during filming.

Hagman's wife battling Alzheimer's


Former DALLAS star LARRY HAGMAN's wife is battling Alzheimer's disease, according to her brother.

Feldman regrets not making amends with Jackson


LOST BOYS star COREY FELDMAN regrets not making amends with his old pal MICHAEL JACKSON before the King of Pop's death last week (25Jun09).

Hart's heart goes out to movie triplets' mum


HARRY POTTER star IAN HART felt terrible for one young mum on the set of his new film A BOY CALLED DAD - because her triplets were always cold, soaking and in peril.

Gandolfini ejects theatre intruder


Former SOPRANOS star JAMES GANDOLFINI booted an audience member from a recent performance of his Broadway play GOD OF CARNAGE, after the fan sneaked onstage during the intermission.

Thomas writing tune for Cyrus' new film


MILEY CYRUS is teaming up with rocker ROB THOMAS for her upcoming film THE LAST SONG - the MATCHBOX TWENTY frontman has agreed on a collaboration for the movie's soundtrack.

Jackson biographer: 'Michael had skin cancer op days before death'


MICHAEL JACKSON underwent surgery to remove a cancerous lesion from his nose just days before his sudden death, according to new reports.

Jackson's This Is It costumers to design burial suit


MICHAEL JACKSON's longtime costumers, DENNIS TOMPKINS and MICHAEL BUSH, will design the suit the King of Pop will be buried in.

Ross phones home after portraying thug


DIANA ROSS' actor son EVAN phoned home in tears from the set of new movie LIFE IS HOT IN CRACKTOWN - because playing a violent hoodlum left him exhausted and upset.

Madonna to pay homage to Jackson's dance moves at London show


MADONNA is to pay tribute to MICHAEL JACKSON at her London concert on Saturday night (04Jul09) with the help of a dancer who has mastered the King of Pop's moves.

Daily Star :: Celebrity Feed
Simply The Best 7 Days A Week

 

Public Enemies


CASTING Johnny Depp as the legendary 1930s Public Enemy Number One John Dillinger is the most impressive aspect of this action thriller.

Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs


THREE cheers for more frozen foolery from the past as the daffy bunch of perky prehistoric clowns return in a funny adventure that takes Manny the Mammoth and the rest of the wild bunch beneath the frozen surface of the world.

Year One


WHOEVER cast Jack Black as the super-stupid Neanderthal slacker hero of this defiantly low comedy deserves an Oscar.

Telstar: The Joe Meek Story


I MUST say I enjoyed the unintentional comic relief offered by Kevin Spacey.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen


WHEN the orgy of mindless metallic mayhem that was 2007's Transformers was panned by critics it picked itself up and went on to win over $700m at the box office.

The Hangover


MY doctor believes I've ruptured my spleen and cracked six ribs.

Looking For Eric


SERIOUS Socialist movie-maker Ken Loach isn't known for making mass-appeal movies.

Last Chance Harvey


SHEER star charisma and Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson's picture-perfect performances turn this old-fashioned story of an apparently mismatched couple who fall for each other against the odds into a genuinely charming and enjoyable romcom.

Terminator Salvation


ARNOLD "The Governator" Schwarzenegger said he'd be back and he is.

Obsessed


THINK Fatal Attraction minus the bunny and you have the idea as Ali Larter gets her claws into married boss Idris Elba.

Daily Star :: Movie Reviews Feed
Simply The Best 7 Days A Week

 

Pet Shop Boys interview: Shop till you drop
THE nostalgia industry has been all over the Eighties like a baggy Katharine Hamnett T-shirt, but in their typically detached and sniffy way the Pet Shop Boys want no part of

Zooey Deschanel interview: And this little piggy
WITH her cerulean eyes and playful style, Zooey Deschanel may be a cutie but she's still an odd size. She is neither the shape of a character actress, a rom-com martinet,

Slam Tent: Enter the rave cave
One of the highlights for every festival-goer at Balado, not to mention the stars who want to chill out, is the Slam Tent. Rosanna Chianta asks the top DJs why this is one gig

Film review: Bruno
BRUNO Director: Larry Charles Running time: 83 minutes ***

Film review: Public Enemies
PUBLIC ENEMIES (15) Director: Michael Mann Running time: 140 minutes ***

Film review: Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs | Fired Up | The Private Lives of Pippa Lee
ICE AGE 3: DAWN OF THE DINOSAURS (U) ***

Album review: Florence and the Machine - Lungs
FLORENCE AND THE MACHINE Lungs *** Island 1797940, £12.72

Classical album review: Sergei Rachmaninov - 24 Preludes
SERGEI RACHMANINOV 24 Preludes ***** Hyperion CDA67700, £12.72

Classical album review: Bernarda Fink
BERNARDA FINK Il pianto di Maria: The Virgin's lament **** L'Oiseau-Lyre, 478 1466, £12.72

Folk album review: Betse Ellis - Don't You Want To Go?
BETSE ELLIS Don't You Want To Go? **** Free Dirt Records DIRTCD0058, £12.72

Album review: Engineers - Three Fact Fader
ENGINEERS Three Fact Fader **** Kscope, £12.72

Album review: Christina Courtin
CHRISTINA COURTIN Christina Courtin *** Nonesuch254652, £10.76

Jazz album review: Tierney Sutton Band - Desire
TIERNEY SUTTON BAND Desire ** Telarc CD-83685, £12.72

Album review: The Duckworth Lewis Method
THE DUCKWORTH LEWIS METHOD The Duckworth Lewis Method ** Divine Comedy Records, DLM002, £11.74

Jazz album review: Harry Allen - Joe Cohn Quartet
HARRY ALLEN – JOE COHN QUARTET …Plays Music From South Pacific **** Arbors Records ARCD 19380, £13.70

Folk album review: Carrie Rodriguez
CARRIE RODRIGUEZ She Aint Me **** Continental Song City CSCCD1050, £12.72

On the box: On Thin Ice | The Madoff Hustle | Inside Nature's Giants
ON THIN ICE BBC2 Sunday 9pm THE MADOFF HUSTLE BBC2 Sunday, 7pm INSIDE NATURE'S GIANTS Channel 4 Monday, 9pm

TV week ahead
PICK OF THE WEEK Getting On BBC4, Wednesday, 10pm

TV films of the week
GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING Tuesday, BBC Two, 9pm

Radio
WHAT really goes on behind the door of No 10 Downing Street? This week we hear from The Garden Room Girls (BBC Radio 4, Wednesday, 11am), an elite band of secretaries

Entertainment listings: 5 - 11 July
ART

British fans in the ballot for Jackson memorial
ORGANISERS of Michael Jackson's public memorial announced yesterday British fans will be able to apply for tickets.

Russell T Davies interview: Feeling regenerated
RUSSELL T DAVIES HAS BEEN responsible for many ground-breaking dramas over the past 15 years – Bob and Rose, The Second Coming, Casanova. But he thinks he will only be remembe

Truly terrific 20 to see at T in the Park
1 FLORENCE AND THE MACHINE (Red Bull Stage, Saturday)

TV review: Torchwood: Children of Earth | Jo Brand's Getting On | Taking The Flak
Torchwood: Children of Earth Monday to Friday, BBC1, 9pm Jo Brand's Getting On Wednesday, BBC4, 10pm Taking The Flak Wednesday, BBC2, 9pm

DVD reviews: Bronson | Lynch | Surveillance
Bronson (Vertigo, £19.56) Lynch (Scanbox Entertainment, £15.65) Surveillance (E1 Entertainment, £15.65)

Radio
All Of me: The Betrayal of Billie Holiday Tuesday, Radio 2, 10:30pm Friday Night Is Music Night Friday, Radio 2, 7:30pm John Mayall's Blues Adventure Tuesday

Wheeler-dealer to return to TV
DELBOY Trotter, the nation's favourite wheeler-dealer, is to return to television screens in a new comedy drama about his teenage years.

Big Yin dates at Usher Hall announced
BILLY Connolly is to perform a series of gigs at the revamped Usher Hall.

Del is back, and he's a boy
THE nation's favourite wheeler-dealer, Derek 'Delboy' Trotter, is to return to TV screens, in a new comedy-drama about his teenage years.

Scotsman.com News - Entertainment
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