Film Archive

SINCE its publication by Edinburgh's Canongate in 2001, The Life Of Pi has won many friends, from the Man Booker judges to President Obama, who found the tale of a boy all at sea with a tiger "an elegant proof of God, and the power of storytelling".

For years, Sir Ian McKellen watched his classical theatre contemporaries take to the big screen. Now, as he returns  as Gandalf in The Hobbit, James Mottram finds a man  who has more than made up for lost time.

If there were any doubts about expectations surrounding The Hobbit, they evaporated at the recent world premiere in New Zealand.

When I was seven ...

Of all the actors who headed to Middle Earth, aka New Zealand, to film The Hobbit, Adam Brown's story offers perhaps the most unexpected journey.

The Oranges (15)

FILMS OF THE WEEK:

GAME OF THE WEEK:

Trouble With The Curve (12A)

From the moment he read the script for The Railway Man, Jeremy Irvine knew it was something he had to do.

FOR a director making his feature film debut, it might be thought that having Charlotte Rampling as a mother would be an advantage.

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MIKE Newell is a nicely old-school sort of director.

WHEN it comes time for David Cameron to write his memoirs – yes, prime minister, it happens to them all – there might be a chapter called "What's Occurring?", "Tidy", or some other catchphrase from Gavin & Stacey.