A Bunch of Amateurs is a 2008 British comedy film directed by Andy Cadiff, and stars Burt Reynolds, Derek Jacobi and Samantha Bond. In November 2008, the premiere in Leicester Square was attended by Elizabeth II. The screenplay was written by Nick Newman, John Ross, Ian Hislop and Jonathan Gershfield. A washed-up Hollywood star is […]
Bard Movies 24
My Kingdom is a 2001 British crime film directed by Don Boyd and starring Richard Harris, Lynn Redgrave and Jimi Mistry. It premiered at the 2001 Toronto International Film Festival on the eve of 9/11 and like many films that year was consequently compromised commercially. It was subsequently previewed in Los Angeles to heighten nomination […]
Bard Movies 23
A Thousand Acres is a 1991 novel by American author Jane Smiley. It won the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction in 1991 and was adapted to a 1997 film of the same name. It was premiered as an opera by the Des Moines Metro Opera during their […]
Bard Movies 22
The Lost King is a 2022 British comedy drama film directed by Stephenm Frears and written by Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope, based on the 2013 book The King’s Grave: The Search for Richard III by Philippa Langley and Michael Jones. It is a dramatisation of the story of Philippa Langley, the woman who initiated […]
Bard Movies 21
Tower of London is a 1962 historical drama and gothic horror film directed by Roger Corman and starring Vincent Price and Michael Pate. The film was produced by Edward Small Productions. The film tells a highly fictionalised account of the rise to power and eventual downfall of Richard III, freely combining elements derived from the […]
Bard Movies 20
Falstaff (Chimes at Midnight) is a 1966 period comedy drama film directed by and starring Orson Welles. The Spanish-Swiss co-production was released in the United States as Chimes at Midnight and in most of Europe as Falstaff. The film’s plot centres on Shakespeare’s recurring character Sir John Falstaff and the father-son relationship he has with […]
Bard Movies 19
Big Business is a 1988 American comedy film starring Bette Midler and Lily Tomlin, each playing two roles, as sets of identical twins mismatched at birth. The nature versus nurture farce adapts The Comedy of Errors, but with female siblings in contemporary society: one of each twin being reared in a wealthy urban setting, while […]
Bard Movies 18
The Boys from Syracuse is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Lorenz Hart, and based on the play The Comedy of Errors, as adapted by librettist George Abbott. The score includes swing and other contemporary rhythms of the 1930s. The show was the first musical based on a Shakespeare play. The […]
Christine McVie
I am interrupting my present series to celebrate the life and music of Christine McVie, whose death at 79 was announced today. She was one of my musical heroes. Her singing on ‘I’d Rather Go Blind’ was seminal in introducing me to the blues. This is my tribute to her. Christine McVie (nee Perfect) was […]
Bard Movies 17
Mean Girls is a 2004 American teen comedy movie directed by Mark Waters and written by Tina Fey. It is based in part on Rosalind Wiseman’s 2002 non-fiction self-help book, Queen Bees and Wannabes, which describes female high school social cliques, school bullying, and the damaging effects they can have on students. Fey also drew […]