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On Monday 3 March 2025, BBC Two broadcasts Mastermind!

Season 22 Episode 22 Episode Summary

In the upcoming episode of “Mastermind” on BBC Two, Clive Myrie takes the helm once again, guiding contestants as they face the iconic black chair. This classic quiz show challenges participants to showcase their knowledge in various specialized subjects, and this week’s lineup promises to be intriguing.

The first contender will dive into the world of poetry, focusing on the works of Seamus Heaney. Known for his powerful and evocative writing, Heaney’s poetry offers a rich tapestry of themes and emotions for the contestant to explore. This subject will test not only their memorization skills but also their understanding of the poet’s significance in literature.

Next up, another participant will tackle the popular television series “Mad Men.” This iconic show, set in the 1960s advertising world, has captivated audiences with its complex characters and social commentary.

The excitement builds for the upcoming episode of “Mastermind,” airing on BBC Two at 8:30 Pm on Monday, March 3, 2025. Clive Myrie will once again take the helm as host, guiding contestants through the challenging and iconic black chair. This classic quiz show continues to captivate audiences with its blend of intense questioning and remarkable knowledge.

In this episode, contenders will dive into a diverse range of specialist subjects. One participant will explore the poetry of Seamus Heaney, delving into the works of this celebrated Irish poet. Another will tackle the intricacies of the television series “Mad Men,” a show that has left a significant mark on pop culture. Finally, the third specialist subject focuses on the 1944 Battle of Arnhem, a pivotal moment in World War II that showcases bravery and strategy.

Viewers can expect a thrilling night of trivia and tension as the contestants face the pressure of the black chair.

On Saturday 1 February 2025, BBC Four broadcasts Ulster in Focus!

Lough Erne Episode Summary

The upcoming episode of “Ulster in Focus,” titled “Lough Erne,” promises to be an engaging journey through the beautiful landscapes of Fermanagh. Seamus Heaney, a well-known figure in the world of poetry and literature, takes viewers along as he explores the rich history and culture surrounding Lough Erne.

In this episode, Heaney visits early Christian sites that hold great significance to the region’s heritage. These ancient locations tell stories of faith and community that have shaped the area for centuries. The episode aims to highlight the importance of these sites and their connection to the people who lived there.

Additionally, the episode will delve into the settlements established by the English and Scots along the loughside. Heaney’s exploration will shed light on how these communities developed and integrated into the local landscape. The mix of history,...

On Wednesday 22 January 2025, BBC Two broadcasts Simon Schama’s Story of Us!

Our Contested Land Season 1 Episode 3 Episode Summary

The upcoming episode of “Simon Schama’s Story of Us,” titled “Our Contested Land,” promises to be an engaging exploration of the relationship between artists and the landscapes that shape their identities. Set to air on BBC Two, this episode will delve into how various artists have expressed their connections to the land through their work.

Simon Schama will guide viewers through the thoughts and creations of notable figures like Philip Larkin, Seamus Heaney, and Derek Jarman. Each of these artists has used their craft to reflect on the importance of landscape in understanding who people are. Their words and visions will highlight how land can influence emotions, culture, and personal identity.

In a special feature, U2’s Bono will share his insights, adding a contemporary perspective to the discussion. His involvement...

Say Nothing premieres on Hulu on Thursday, Nov. 14. But is this a series you can binge-watch over the weekend or will you need to return to the streamer when new episodes drop? We have everything you need to know so you don’t miss out.

Created by Joshua Zetumer, the upcoming limited series is based on Patrick Radden Keefe’s book of the same name. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the title comes from a poem titled “Whatever You Say, Say Nothing,” by Seamus Heaney. Say Nothing follows two sisters after they join the Irish Republican Army, focusing on the 1972 kidnapping of a Belfast mother, and taking place over four generations.

It’s a clever and engaging series that will require your full attention. So if you’re searching for a series to just have playing in the background, Say Nothing is not the one! The series stars Lola Petticrew,...

Hulu’s FX-produced limited series Say Nothing, like its source book by Patrick Radden Keefe, takes its name from the striking 1975 poem “Whatever You Say, Say Nothing,” by Seamus Heaney.

It’s a sad and angry piece that looks at the unfolding tragedy of the Troubles, critiquing simultaneously the culture of enforced silence that repressed free speech within Northern Ireland and the voyeuristic instincts of the outside media covering “the Irish thing.” The poem is dazzlingly focused on speech and storytelling, the power and limitations of words in contrast to what Heaney refers to as “Northern reticence, the tight gag of place / And times.”

Keefe’s mission, and the mission of Say Nothing creator Joshua Zetumer (RoboCop, the 2014 one), is to break through the silence. To use a different metaphor, it’s about the disinfecting power of sunlight. It’s also a chronicle of Northern Ireland reported on by...

Raise a farewell toast for Shane MacGowan, one of rock’s most fiendishly brilliant growlers, snarlers, songwriters, storytellers, and blackguards. Shane was the resident Celt-punk genius of The Pogues, one of the great Irish bards of his or any other era, which is why the world is mourning his death on Thursday. But Shane’s demise has been predicted so many times, over 65 years of hard living, it’s bizarrely shocking that the end has finally come. Hell, in one of his best-loved songs, “The Sick Bed of Cuchulain,” he interrupts his own funeral,...

During the interview portion of Pj Harvey’s multimedia event in Brooklyn on Tuesday — her first U.S. live appearance in six years, which included a poetry reading, a conversation, and a musical performance — she told the audience that she felt her voice has only gotten better with age. “I definitely feel it’s the best singing I’ve ever done,” she said. “I think being older helps. One of the good things about aging, actually, is the voice is in a really lovely place. It’s much richer, and...

Following the news of Sinead O’Connor’s death at 56 on July 26th, fans and fellow musicians alike took to social media to share their admiration for the iconic Irish singer.

“I am heartbroken,” reads a tweet from Garbage’s band account. “A true definition of the word icon,” wrote Best Coast bandleader Bethany Cosentino. Jason Isbell shared a screenshot of lyrics to O’Connor’s “This Is a Rebel Song,” captioned: “I hope there’s peace for Sinéad.”

“A great Irish poet and singer left us today. She was beautiful, courageous and wore her heart on her sleeve. She was before her time,” wrote Irish poet Seamus Heaney. “Nothing will ever compare to Sinéad O’Connor. Rest easy Sinéad.”

See more reactions to O’Connor’s death below.

I am heartbroken .

David Easteal's The Plains is now showing exclusively on Mubi starting April 12, 2023, in most countries in the series Debuts.Andrew and I met while working together some years ago at a legal center in the outer suburbs of Melbourne. We found out we lived near each other, and Andrew started to drive me home. Through our discussions, and in hearing Andrew’s calls to his mother and wife Cheri, I learned about his life and a friendship developed between us. The sky and light can be spectacular in Melbourne at certain times of the year, particularly the westward sky at the end of the day. I recall being very struck by the visual contrast between the thousands of people moving together on the road, their alienation from each other, and the great celestial beauty above. Our commutes home during that time formed the basis for the film.I tend...

No plans this weekend? Let us fix that for you. Welcome to The Independent’s Arts Agenda, our brand new guide to the very best culture to catch up with across your Saturday and Sunday.

Carefully curated by our critics and editors, this round-up will bring you our hot tips across art, film, TV, theatre, dance, comedy, opera, books and music. Whether it’s a must-see newly opened show, or a gem you might have missed, we hope our recommendations mean you’re never stuck for something to see or do.

This week, if you haven’t watched The Last of Us yet, our TV Editor Ellie Harrison says you’re in store for a treat, while our Arts Editor Jessie Thompson is very curious about Melanie C’s Sadler’s Wells dance show. Elsewhere, our Film Editor Adam White says you can now watch Damien Chazelle’s Babylon at...

Elton John’s Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour made a detour at the White House Friday as the singer performed for a small audience that included President Joe Biden during an event billed as “A Night When Hope and History Rhyme.”

John, who is scheduled to bring his tour to Washington, D.C.’s Nationals Park on Saturday night, performed a cavalcade of his greatest hits on the White House South Lawn, including “Tiny Dancer,” “Rocket Man,” “Your Song” and “I’m Still Standing.” The concert was produced in collaboration...

Click here to read the full article.

Elton John said Friday that he’d played in some beautiful venues, but the stage in front of the White House, beneath a massive tent on a perfect autumn night, was “probably the icing on the cake.”

Then he kicked off the show with “Your Song,” his first big international hit.

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden welcomed the 75-year-old singer, talking about his activism, the power of his music and his all-around goodness. The event was dreamed up and paid for by A+E and the History Channel.

“Seamus Heaney once wrote, and I quote, ‘Once in a lifetime, the longed-for tidal wave of justice can rise up, and hope and history rhyme,” Biden said. “Throughout his incredible career, Sir Elton John has been that tidal wave, a tidal wave to help people rise up and make hope and history rhyme.

“The Northman” used the Nordic past as its North Star, but after test audiences reportedly balked at the film’s dense historical accuracy, writer-director Robert Eggers and co-writer Sjón had to flip the script (literally) in post-production.

Yet the intense long shots and grueling filming schedule meant that any changes — including dialogue — were confined to the editing room. So, as Eggers and Icelandic poet and novelist Sjón enlisted actors Alexander Skarsgård, Ethan Hawke, Nicole Kidman, Anya Taylor-Joy, Willem Dafoe, Ralph Ineson, and Björk, to Adr certain lines, the script had to match their original mouth movements per each scene.

In an interview with Vulture, Eggers explained, “You’re like, ‘Okay, we’ve got 18 syllables. The fifth syllable has to be a T because he enunciates that T so well.’ Maybe you could get away with a D. And then this syllable has to be an S.”

Sjón called the process...

Robert Eggers turns the doom and gloom of history into high art. His staggering 2015 debut “The Witch” turned memories of Salem witch fears into haunting New England folk horror and “The Lighthouse” turned the world’s most uncomfortable naval gig into a claustrophobic tale of bad roommates. Now he’s taken his vision to an epic scale with “The Northman,” a sprawling Viking saga that wears its vicious spirit on every blood-soaked sword and ear-splitting battle cry.

Produced by Focus Features for somewhere in the vicinity of 70-90 million, “The Northman” is the rare U.S. studio production directed by a rising auteur that doesn’t show the mark of compromise. Production started in March 2020 before Covid shutdowns, and resumed at the end of the year. Eggers assembled a remarkable team of historical advisers and craftspeople to recreate an entire Viking village, as his Icelandic saga (which was loosely adapted...

The comedian and actor on dancing with his mother to Ray Charles, the power of Seamus Heaney’s poetry and how Richard Pryor showed him his future

Music was like a totem pole for us, growing up in Belfast in the 70s. My mother was a singer and a dancer: she had a beautiful voice, and if there was ever a chance to get on the dancefloor, she’d take it. She loved Motown, but especially Ray Charles. I still love a ballad with a driving beat. And I still love to dance. My dad didn’t dance, so my mother was always dragging me on to the dancefloor with her when Ray Charles came on. I got used, at a young age, to clearing the dancefloor with my mother; putting on a show together. That was our bond. People would stand around clapping while we danced. That was my first public performance.

Photo: Don Quixote Surely, judging a book written 400 years ago in line with modern standards of narrative and storytelling amounts to unforgivable sacrilege and infant-level ignorance, especially since the book under discussion is solely responsible for introducing most of those standards. Yet, when the Norwegian Nobel Institute polled a panel of 100 authors from 54 countries on what they considered the “best and most central works in world literature”, the editors revealed that Don Quixote received 50 percent more votes than any other book ever written. And most polls and inquiries held around the world in the last hundred years reveal that Miguel de Cervantes' tale continues to receive the majority of votes, eclipsing works by Shakespeare, Homer, and Tolstoy. After the Bible, there has hardly been any book that has been more influential and important over a period of four centuries, giving birth to more than 30 film adaptations and countless plays, novels,...

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When it comes to arts and culture, Ireland is a country that has always punched above its weight. The small island has produced far more than its fair share of brilliant poets and musicians, but its contributions to cinema should not be overlooked. Irish filmmakers of past and present have mined the nation’s harsh conditions, fraught political history, and poetic spirit for inspiration, and the resulting films are often wonderful. And there has never been a better day to stop and appreciate them. Instead of going out to the pub this St. Patrick’s Day, why not spend some time learning about Irish cinema? Alternatively, the holiday makes for a great excuse...

It really did all come down to that Fleetwood Mac TikTok video, didn’t it? There it was, right in the middle of an inauguration week that was emotionally messy and culturally turbulent on such historic levels: a montage of American idiots, from sea to shining sea, doing their thing to the bass line of “Dreams.” Idaho skater Nathan Apodaca was there, riding his board, sipping his cranberry juice, doing his viral TikTok-star turn, while Stevie Nicks sings about walking through the wreckage of her broken heart and moving on.

During his brief appearance in the primetime special honoring his inauguration, President Joe Biden nonetheless insisted that he and Vice President Kamala Harris “wanted to make sure our inauguration wasn’t about us, but about you, the American people.” It was a nice sentiment, even if it wasn’t especially possible to achieve; by default, the first day of any presidential term revolves around the new president. So even though the special took pains to paint a broader portrait of America writ large, “Celebrating America” — a slick production teeming with stars, aggressively sincere stories and somber moments of remembrance — inevitably reflected the incoming administration that inspired it.

“Celebrating America” traded the usual inauguration night balls for socially distanced performances from around the country, spotlights of “everyday heroes,” and solemn acknowledgments of the extraordinarily tough few years the country has muscled through to get to this moment. Biden and Harris both spoke just once; otherwise,...

“Good evening America, proud to be here in cold Washington DC,” said Bruce Springsteen on Wednesday night, kicking off the Celebrating America apogee of today’s unprecedented inauguration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

If you had any questions about the tone the concert special was going to aim for, the Boss’ choice of an acoustic rendition of his hymn-themed “Land of Hope and Dreams” should have provided the answer. The Ricky Kirshner- and Glenn Weiss-produced event was more a steady commemoration than a celebration for a wounded nation and body politic.

You can put all the Black Puma, Tim McGraw and Tyler Hubbard, DJ Cassidy, Ozuna and Luis Fonsi, Katy Perry, Foo Fighters, prerecorded Justin Timberlake, Ant Clemons and Demi Lovato you like on-screen, and please do. However, the core of tonight was always to be found in Springsteen’s lyric of “faith will be rewarded.”

Perhaps...

In a rousing showcase representing various genres and generations — while addressing social causes — the Celebrating America concert special held on Wednesday built on President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign and inauguration themes: Emphasizing unity and embracing diversity.

The primetime event honoring and closing out their inauguration featured pop stars, newcomers, and rock legends alike. Highlighting a broad swath of America’s rich musical landscape, it included performances by Bruce Springsteen, Foo Fighters, Katy Perry, Demi Lovato, Justin Timberlake, John Legend, Ozuna, Luis Fonsi, Jon Bon Jovi, Black Pumas,...

Telling a heartbreaking tale of love that permeates the boundaries of the living and the dead, Edgar Allan Poe's "Annabel Lee" is one of 24 classic poems brought to life with new artwork by Julian Peters in the upcoming collection Poems to See By: A Comic Artist Interprets Great Poetry. Ahead of its March 31st release (just in time for National Poetry Month in April) from Plough Publishing Press, we've been provided with exclusive preview pages that combine Peters' new artwork with Poe's timeless words of love, loss, and undying loyalty.

Below, you can see a love so strong that it makes the angels jealous in our exclusive preview pages from Poems to See By. We also have the official press release with additional details, and to learn more, visit Amazon and the official websites for Plough Publishing Press and Julian Peters.

Press Release: Timed to National Poetry Month in April,...

One evening in late 1972, a young mother of 10 named Jean McConville was taken from her home in Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland, by four men and four women in masks. McConville’s children would never see or hear from her again. She had been disappeared and likely killed, one of the 3,600 casualties to result from Northern Ireland’s infamous three-decade period of violence and upheaval known as the Troubles.

Forty years later, a pair of detectives working for the Serious Crimes Branch of Northern Ireland’s police service arrived...

A few minutes into Donal Foreman’s The Image You Missed, a voice-over comes to an abrupt stop: “each film is a mission impossible, but this one here, it was the most…” It’s a truncated snippet from an interview given in French by Foreman’s father, Arthur “Art” MacCaig, the late Irish-American director who raised to fame after his resolutely partisan documentary on Ireland’s Troubles, The Patriot Game (1979), and who here acts as the epicenter of a deeply personal and powerfully moving documentary-essay that weaves together an estranged parent-son relationship with a two-handed portrait of a country the two both filmed and experienced – in markedly different ways.

Exhuming largely unseen footage spanning over 30 years, Foreman follows MacCaig’s cinematic peregrinations in and out of Ireland to pierce together the picture of a father he seldom knew. Raised by his mother Maeve (to whom The Image You Missed is...

“We are Ireland. We are inevitable.”

Each summer, while the multiplexes are filled with the big spectacles and epic blockbusters, the little gems that grip us with their humor, their tragedy and their humanity, manage to find their ways into the cinemas. This year it’s The Journey, the gripping account of how two men from opposite sides of the political spectrum came together to change the course of history.

In 2006, amidst the ongoing, decades-long conflict in Northern Ireland, representatives from the two warring factions meet for negotiations. In one corner is Ian Paisley (Timothy Spall), the deeply conservative British loyalist; in the other is Martin McGuinness (Colm Meaney), a former Irish Republican Army leader who has devoted his life to the cause of Irish reunification. Opposites in every way, the two men at first seem to have little chance of ever finding common ground. But over the course of an impromptu, detour-filled car ride through the Scottish countryside, each begins to see the other less as an enemy, and more as an individual—a breakthrough that promises to at last bring peace to the troubled region.

Driven by two virtuoso central performances, The Journey is a more-relevant-than-ever reminder of how simple humanity can overcome political division. Freddie Highmore, Toby Stephens, Catherine McCormack and John Hurt co-star. (Review)

I recently spoke with the director of The Journey, award winning director Nick Hamm. Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Hamm directed cult-classic The Hole (2001), starring Thora Birch and Keira Knightley, in her feature film debut. He also helmed Lionsgate’s thriller Godsend (2004), starring Robert DeNiro, Rebecca Romijn and Greg Kinnear.

Hamm later produced and directed the 80’s U2-centric comedy, Killing Bono (2011) for Paramount Pictures and Northern Ireland Screen, starring Ben Barnes, Robert Sheehan and Pete Postelwaite.

During our discussion about his latest movie, the British director and I talked about the film’s mixture of tension and humor, the human story and the message of The Journey.

We Are Movie Geeks: The Journey is a good story that should be told – the type that audiences don’t see anymore. It opened in 2016 in Toronto and then Venice, and finally had its premiere at the Belfast Film Festival in May 2017. What was the crowd’s reaction and how was it received?

Nick Hamm: That was a really extraordinary event. I’ve seen it now with thousands of people watching the movie and if you’re going to see a movie like this, you really need to take it back to Northern Ireland to see what they make of it. In the end, that’s where the authenticity of the film is. It is important to us. The event was attended by nearly a thousand people and political leaders from both sides of the community came so we had politicians from Sinn Féin and politicians from the Democratic Unionist Party (Dup). It was a very emotional and momentous event because in many respects it reminded people of something that they had achieved and had risked losing.

We Are Movie Geeks: It is such an interesting script by writer Colin Bateman, one that is funny, sad, and dramatic. Tell me about lead actors Timothy Spall (Paisley) and Colm Meaney (McGuinness – who died recently in March) and the casting. Their characters became known as ”the Chuckle Brothers”. Both actors were very impressive to watch.

Nick Hamm: What underscores everything is the fact that Colin’s script is so good and when that happens, you attract really good actors. Both Tim and Colm were fantastic partners on the film. Tim had to transform himself – he’s playing a six foot five, Northern Irish politician when in reality he’s a five foot nine London actor. We did some prosthetics on his chin and a little aging on his hair, along with the false teeth. The hair and makeup was done by Polly McKay. Tim became the character of Paisley which was fascinating to watch and he’s one of those actors that totally transforms himself.

Colm is one of Ireland’s best actors. What was important was to find somebody who could give McGuinness sympathy. This is a man whose background is well documented. What do you do? You start by making him human, you give him a life and a backstory. When you put someone like Colm Meany in that role, Colm transforms himself for that. He understands the culture from where that character comes, he understands the basis of that character’s ideology and he understands how that character ticks. If you have that and you are a good actor – which he is, then you have a good combination. It was great to watch him.

We Are Movie Geeks: I was very pleased to see the late John Hurt in the film in what was one of his final roles.

Nick Hamm: We all knew that John was very sick while he was doing the film. When we offered him the movie, he wanted to work until the end and play the part. It was real tribute to have him involved as a part of the film.

We Are Movie Geeks: Irish writer Seamus Heaney, although not a political animal was an artist like yourself. He was affected by “The Troubles” when his cousin Colum was killed as a result of the war – Heaney moved from Northern Ireland to Southern Ireland after that. Has it affected you in any way and was this a partial reason why you made the film?

Nick Hamm: It hasn’t affected me personally but I knew people who were. Growing up I was in school in Northern Ireland and I knew people who had real problems. I could see it with my own eyes, the difficulties back then, and it was an intense situation. The vast portion of the people in Northern Ireland went on about their daily life unaffected by it. The real heroes were the people who got on with their daily lives in that situation.

The Journey for me shows how a unique political friendship was achieved at the personal cost of both men. Both men were vilified by their respective communities, but it was one of the most unique political friendships that I had ever witnessed. For two people who were so antagonistic towards each other, who ultimately came to respect each other, and became friends with each other, is why I made the movie and to tell their story.

We Are Movie Geeks: Despite technically being set in Scotland, and on a plane, The Journey was filmed in Northern Ireland. There’s no green screen and it was filmed on the road with your director of photography Greg Gardiner. What was the approach when you took it out of the plane and into the car?

Nick Hamm: This device protected the claustrophobia that the film so demanded while allowing a political version of a road movie to take place. We decided to not be frightened by the tyranny of the car but rather embrace it and enjoy the conceit. Greg and I had discussed and ultimately rejected the idea of green-screen or back-projection very early. We filmed on the road, creating a ‘mobile studio’; our own little cinematic microcosm

We Are Movie Geeks: There is one scene in particular, where McGuiness and Paisley let down their defenses somewhat, set inside a church and then out in the cemetery, that has real depth.

Nick Hamm: I think in the cemetery scene when Colm breaks down, everyone expects Paisley to be sympathetic and wrap his arms around him, but he rebuffs him and shows him no pity or sympathy. Every scene was like a boxing match with each character winning a round.

We Are Movie Geeks: I appreciated the sound editing and especially the score from Stephen Warbeck who first became known for the music for “Prime Suspect” and won an Academy Award for his score for Shakespeare in Love. It is a really nice score.

Nick Hamm: It was something quite new for him and he really had a go at it.

We Are Movie Geeks: Did you speak to the families and to some of the individuals involved? And what was their reaction?

Nick Hamm: I met McGuiness before he died. The whole film came together very quickly from the start.. From the script to the financing, it was out in about two and a half years. It’s been a very quick process and very rare for an independent film. I did sit with McGuiness before we started filming about his friendship with Paisley and it was fascinating to hear him speak how important the relationship was and how important it was that they maintained contact up to its logical conclusion. I did talk to Paisley’s family and to his son. We wanted to reassure them we were not riding roughshod over the history. But at the same time it was important to be creatively independent. We did not share the screenplay with them at any stage. In the end both families really loved the movie.

Plus Sinn Féin and the Dup (Democratic Unionist Party) really liked the film, which is almost unheard of, both parties liking the same thing never mind the same movie. The most important thing for us was that the story was balanced.

We Are Movie Geeks: Brexit is seemingly in the news all the time now. As a result, checkpoints could be set up again to control borders. The timing of the film and its release couldn’t be more relevant. Will it cause a major headache between Northern Ireland and Ireland? Will it hinder Ireland’s reunification?

Nick Hamm: The question needs to be asked and it’s a dreadful situation. The idea that there will be a border back in Ireland again, I don’t think anybody wants that. I know for a fact that the Dup doesn’t want that and it would be suicide for both the economy and the welfare of the people to start putting border checks back up. That border in Ireland runs through people’s fields and farms. It was never designed to be a hard border, which it was during “The Troubles”. It would be an unmitigated tragedy to go back to that.

We Are Movie Geeks: Speaking of Indie Films, what are your thoughts on how people see films? Many are leaving the cinemas in favor of watching a film at home or on the computers with the advent of Netflix and Hulu, etc.

Nick Hamm: I like that at the beginning of a movie’s life that it has a public screening. I think the ways a film is distributed these days is really fascinating. I don’t distinguish between how and where a movie is watched. It’s changing so quickly, in five years-time it’ll change all again. Even the act of going to a movie theater is going to change. As long as they keep putting out these huge blockbuster films, in the cinemas is the best way to watch them. However some films work better on a smaller screen. I think screen size some people can get very worked up about.

We Are Movie Geeks: What’s your next project?

Nick Hamm: We are going to do the DeLorean story, Driven. It’s through the eyes of the guy who gave him up to the FBI. We’re hoping to shoot in September in Puerto Rico. The script is from The Journey’s Colin Bateman. Jason Sudeikis, Lee Pace and Timothy Olyphant are in the picture.

Synopsis:

Driven is the turbo-charged story about the FBI sting operation to entrap maverick car designer John DeLorean.

Sudeikis stars as Jim Hoffman, a con artist-turned-informer for the FBI in the war on drugs. Olyphant plays his handler, determined to snare the world-famous but enigmatic DeLorean (Pace) — desperate for cash to finance his dream of designing the ultimate car of the future — in a drug deal that would become the most lurid celebrity scandal of the 1980s.

From IFC Films, see The Journey in theaters now.

The post The Journey – Filmmaker Nick Hamm Discusses His New Film appeared first on We Are Movie Geeks.

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Beowulf: Return To The Shieldlands' slow-drip plot development is both boon and barrier...

This review contains spoilers.

The plot kicked up a gear in this week’s Beowulf: Return To The Shieldlands, though it pulled back from being truly surprising by leaving Abrecan still alive at the end of it. When it looked for a moment like he had been killed, it was a genuine surprise with some interesting potential, particularly for Slean’s character. As it is, Abrecan is looking wounded but resilient and it sounds like he will probably pull through – though this is by no means certain. Nevertheless, Slean appears finally to have decided his loyalties, and a host of different enemies, human and otherwise, appear to be descending on Herot, promising a bit more forward momentum in the story, which has so far been primarily concerned with place-setting.

That slow-drip development can,...

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Beowulf: Return To The Shieldlands' slow-drip plot development is both boon and barrier...

This review contains spoilers.

The plot kicked up a gear in this week’s Beowulf: Return To The Shieldlands, though it pulled back from being truly surprising by leaving Abrecan still alive at the end of it. When it looked for a moment like he had been killed, it was a genuine surprise with some interesting potential, particularly for Slean’s character. As it is, Abrecan is looking wounded but resilient and it sounds like he will probably pull through – though this is by no means certain. Nevertheless, Slean appears finally to have decided his loyalties, and a host of different enemies, human and otherwise, appear to be descending on Herot, promising a bit more forward momentum in the story, which has so far been primarily concerned with place-setting.

That slow-drip development can,...

Here is the first installment of “Comics Mythos”, a semi-regular column about the literary and mythological roots of comic book characters (mostly superheroes). This article will look at the powerhouses of comics, or the “supermen”. (After the Big Blue Boy Scout, not Friedrich Nietzsche’s “Ubermensch”.)

In the world of superheroes, it seems that feats of physical strength and acrobatic prowess are possibly the most prevalent demonstration of super powers. One must wonder if such physical powers are a product of the time in which these comics were originally produced – the 1930s for DC’s iconic Superman and 1941 for Marvel’s super soldier, Captain America – or does this sort of hero have roots that extend deeper into literary history. Obviously, mythology is full of heroes who have superhuman strength, stamina, and agility with Thor and Hercules being the most famous in the world of comics for their huge roles in...

Something of his sad freedom

As he rode the tumbril

Should come to me, driving,

Saying the names

Tollund, Grauballe, Nebelgard,

Watching the pointing hands

Of country people,

Not knowing their tongue.

Out here in Jutland

In the old man-killing parishes

I will feel lost,

Unhappy and at home.

—Seamus Heaney, The Tollund Man

It ended, like all journeys do, in Solitude, a long way from any cinema. Solitude—or rather Zolitūde, in Latvian—is a suburb of Riga, four miles as the crow flies from the fancy Scandi-Gothic-Art Nouveau city centre; six miles on foot if the pedestrian avoids diversions. But by the time I reached Solitude on that cold December Saturday afternoon, however, my inadvertent divagations must have pushed the total to the ten-mile mark. I'd looked at maps prior to departing from my hotel, of course but deliberately didn't bring one along (not a fan); I don't...

Ayub Khan Din's award-winning East is East was first performed on the stage all the way back in 1996, becoming an acclaimed feature film three years later and even spawning a fine follow-up movie West is West.

It returns to London with a new cast as part of Jamie Lloyd's second Trafalgar Transformed series, with Ayub himself taking on the role of patriarch George 'Genghis' Khan. Its themes are as potent as ever, as wars in former colonies continue to bubble and Ukip weasels its way in to our leaders' debates.

Set in '70s Salford, first-generation immigrant George is married to white Englishwoman Ella (Jane Horrocks). He owns a chip shop run with the help of Ella's friend Auntie Annie (Sally Bankes). His son Nazir has flown the nest under a cloud, running off to be a hairdresser in Eccles.

Also at the shop are the six kids...

It seems like only yesterday that we were "celebrating" Jim Davidson's victory in Celebrity Big Brother, but we're already back in Elstree, this time for the "normal" version of the show.

Join Digital Spy for our live blog of night one below, complete with Power Trip theme and host Emma Willis dressed like a 1970s BBC Two futuristic satire on fascism/Sexy Sailor* (*delete as appropriate).

23:31And that is that - tune back in tomorrow for more from the Bb Power Trip house, including the injection of six new housemates. See you then!

23:29Suitcase time! But only the "Power Housemate" our Pauline will get hers. I wonder if that will drive a wedge between her and her power-less peers...?

23:29"Tamara?" Matthew asks. "Yeh," Danielle concedes.

23:27Matthew is having a natter with Danielle his glass box. She says that there are two people she's going to clash with in the house.

Chiwetel Ejiofor and Judi Dench win top prizes at the Irish Film & Television Awards, as Calvary and Philomena are handed best film trophies.Scroll down for full list of winners

John Michael McDonagh’s Calvary picked up a hat-trick of awards at the 11th Irish Film & Television Awards on Saturday night including Best Film, Best Script and Best Actor, for Brendan Gleeson’s performance as a good-natured priest who must battle dark forces. The actor beat competition including his son Domhnall Gleeson, nominated for his role in About Time.

The ceremony in Dublin also saw Stephen Frears’s Philomena walk away with three prizes including Best International Film, Best Costume for the work of Consolata Boyle, and Best International Actress, for Judi Dench’s performance as a woman searching for her long lost son. Philomena Lee, whose true life story inspired the film, was in attendance

Vampire horror Byzantium also scored a hat-trick, winning Best Director...

Stage and screen actor who excelled in playing authority figures and appeared in TV shows such as Brookside and Lovejoy

Malcolm Tierney, who has died aged 75 of pulmonary fibrosis, was a reliable and versatile supporting actor for 50 years, familiar to television audiences as the cigar-smoking, bullying villain Tommy McArdle in Brookside, nasty Charlie Gimbert in Lovejoy and smoothie Geoffrey Ellsworth-Smythe in David Nobbs's A Bit of a Do, a Yorkshire small-town comedy chronicle starring David Jason and Gwen Taylor.

Always serious and quietly spoken offstage, with glinting blue eyes and a steady, cruel gaze that served him well as authority figures on screen, Tierney was a working-class Mancunian who became a core member of the Workers' Revolutionary party in the 1970s. He never wavered in his socialist beliefs, even when the Wrp imploded ("That's all in my past now," he said), and always opposed restricted entry to the actors' union,...

After 650 show-stealing turns as Miss Trunchbull in Matilda the Musical, Bertie Carvel is about to star in Channel 4's new comedy drama Babylon. Though some of the Trunch's truculence remains…

I'm standing on Bertie Carvel's doorstep in Leeds. He is perched in the city temporarily while filming the BBC's new drama, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, an adaptation of Susanna Clarke's novel. He shows the way to the lift, apologising for "living like a bachelor". He points out the canal view, volunteering that when playing Miss Trunchbull in the RSC musical of Roald Dahl's Matilda – the role for which he was nominated for a Tony and won an Olivier – he lived on a houseboat.

Miss Trunchbull, in case you missed her, was a hammer-throwing schoolmarm, a despot with a colossal bosom, hunchback and steel-grey chignon who lived by the motto: Bambinatum est maggitum (children are maggots). Carvel's...

Following the death of former South African President Nelson Mandela on Thursday, Hollywood took a moment to express their condolences.

Related: Nelson Mandela Dies

Vice President Joe Biden: "Nelson Mandela once said, 'A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination.' Mandela's wisdom and compassion were formidable enough to change the world. First his courage and then his forgiveness inspired us all, and challenged us to do better. In the words of the South African poet Peter Horn, he 'dreamed the world another way.' I saw his world the way it used to be when I visited South Africa as a 34 year old Senator. When I exited the plane I was directed to one side of the tarmac, while the African American congressmen traveling with me were sent to the other side. I refused to break off, and the officials finally relented. When I tried to enter Soweto township with Congressmen...

From new voices like NoViolet Bulawayo to rediscovered old voices like James Salter, from Dave Eggers's satire to David Thomson's history of film, writers, Observer critics and others pick their favourite reads of 2013. And they tell us what they hope to find under the tree …

Curtis Sittenfeld

Novelist

My favourite books of 2013 are Drama High (Riverhead) by Michael Sokolove, Sea Creatures (Turnaround) by Susanna Daniel, and & Sons (Harper Collins) by David Gilbert. Drama High is incredibly smart, moving non-fiction about an American drama teacher who for four decades coaxed sophisticated and nuanced theatrical performances out of teenage students who weren't privileged or otherwise remarkable and in so doing, changed their conceptions of what they could do with their lives. Sea Creatures is a gripping, beautifully written novel about the mother of a selectively mute three-year-old boy; when she takes a job ferrying supplies to a hermit off the coast of Florida,...

Christopher Eccleston and Vicky McClure are among the actors who will read war poetry on More4 during Remembrance Weekend.

On November 9 and 10, More4 will mark Remembrance Sunday with a weekend of poetry and other programming.

This year's coverage will include material that focuses on conflicts from World War I to the present day.

Noel Clarke, McClure and Eccleston will read works by Seamus Heaney, John Agard, Carol Ann Duffy and Dunya Mikhail in short films to be broadcast between programmes.

Last year's poems about World War I will also be featured once again, with readings by Gemma Arterton, Sean Bean, Stephen Graham and Sophie Okonedo.

Other programming will include docudrama The Somme, World War I documentary War Horse: The Real Story, and a first-person retelling of the Falklands' Most Daring Raid.

More4 Commissioning Editor in Specialist Factual John Hay said: "It's easy for those of us who have never been...

The madness of war is exposed by a stallion in Spielberg's emotional, no-holds-barred moral epic

Steven Spielberg has been working in Britain off and on for 30 years now, long enough in fact to have been awarded an honorary knighthood. But a few days ago, he described War Horse, his movie based on Michael Morpurgo's children's novel about the madness of war, as his first truly British film. "After I heard the reaction last night at the Odeon, Leicester Square," he said, "I realised I'd made my first British film with War Horse. Through and through."

Actually, the tradition War Horse belongs to is the Hollywood celebration of British pastoral that reached its peak during the second world war with Lassie Come Home and National Velvet. Both were movie versions of novels about lonely, lovable, innocent, working-class children passionately attached to animals in an idealised provincial England.

The narrator of the novel is Joey,...

If you’re still stumped on what to get the fashionable-yet-wildly-intelligent-politico in your life, Today offered up a wonderfully strange pairing this morning to help you with your dilemma when they sat Bill Clinton next to The Office’s Mindy Kaling for a segment on gift recommendations for book lovers.

Kaling found herself embarrassed when Bubba rec’d books from the likes of Marcus Aurelius, David Fromkin, and Seamus Heaney. “I didn’t know his list when I made my list,” she defended. “I would have made it more Ph.D.-friendly.” Kaling’s picks included Stephen King’s 11/22/63, Tina Fey’s Bossypants,...

Jonathan Franzen's family epic, a new collection from Seamus Heaney, Philip Larkin's love letters, a memoir centred on tiny Japanese sculptures ... which books most excited our writers this year?

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

In Red Dust Road (Picador) Jackie Kay writes lucidly and honestly about being the adopted black daughter of white parents, about searching for her white birth mother and Nigerian birth father, and about the many layers of identity. She has a rare ability to portray sentiment with absolutely no sentimentality. Isabel Wilkerson's The Warmth of Other Suns (Random House) is a fresh and wonderful history of African-American migration. Chang-rae Lee's The Surrendered (Little, Brown) is a grave, beautiful novel about people who experienced the Korean war and the war's legacy. And David Remnick's The Bridge (Picador) is a thorough and well-written biography of Barack Obama. The many Americans who believe invented biographical details about Obama would do well to read it.

Nobel Prize-winning poet Seamus Heaney has brushed off claims that he is a supporter of bullfighting after being targeted by an animal rights protester. Sheffield-based ex-teacher Paul Hurt, 62, travelled 414 miles to a Suffolk reading with leaflets attacking Heaney in protest against the poet's alleged support of the sport in his 2006 poem 'Tate's Avenue' and a 1976 essay on W.H. Auden, The Daily Telegraph reports. Event organiser Jonathan Reekie, Aldeburgh Music chief executive, said: "Mr Hurt obviously has very strong beliefs against bullfighting which I wholeheartedly understand and support. "But unfortunately he has come to the mistaken belief that Seamus Heaney (more)...

Architect Norman Foster and author Margaret Atwood to spearhead partial tie-up between festivals

Norman Foster and Margaret Atwood are to star in a collaboration between two of Edinburgh's largest festivals as part of a new initiative to expand the reach and audience of the city's international book festival.

In a joint project with the Edinburgh film festival this August – the first on this scale attempted by two of the city's 12 annual festivals – Foster and Atwood will be amongst a number of prominent guests exploring the different techniques film-makers and writers use for biographies.

The events will be staged at the Filmhouse cinema complex, where this year's film festival is now taking place, as part of plans by the new director of the city's international book festival, Nick Barley, to develop an event based for nearly 30 years in a "tented city" in the gardens of Charlotte Square in the city's Georgian New Town.

He has been compared to Bruce Springsteen and Tom Waits, yet the very prolific singer-songwriter Matthew Ryan has eluded pop stardom. Since 1997, almost annually, he has released a new album, and 2010's Dear Lover delivers his most cohesive and enjoyable set to date. The following is an interview with the artist. Mike Ragogna: Why is your best album, Dear Lover, not on a major label? Matthew Ryan: Oh man. Mike, I appreciate hearing that. My goal was to always keep getting better. I think part of what destabilized my career early on is that I didn't feel like I'd created a great piece of work. It's a process, something I read recently in a Seamus Heaney book called Preoccupations. Heaney is a great Irish poet, but he had this one book where he writes about other people's poetry. It's absolutely...

The winners of the 2010 Celtic Media Festival have been announced. The Torc winners at this year's event include several Irish projects such as 'Seamus Heaney: Out of the Marvellous', 'The Secret of Kells' and 'Seacht' amongst others. The Torc Awards are presented as part of the Celtic Media Festival, which ran from 21 – 23 April in Newry. Abú Media's 'Mobs Mheiriceá' for TG4 saw a win for Brid and Eileen Seoighe in the category of Factual Series and TG4 had further reason to celebrate when the station won in the Titles, Stings, Idents and Promos group.

Several Irish productions from various media sectors have been selected to compete at the Prix Europa Festival in Berlin which will take place from 17 – 24 October. The Prix Europa festival seeks to strengthen the personal dialogue between the creative minds of the international media market. In 2008, more than 1,000 delegates from over 40 countries attended the event. Tanya Doyle's documentary 'The House' has been selected from 465 entrants in over 40 countries to compete for the Best TV Documentary, as has Charlie McCarthy's 'Seamus Heaney: Out of the Marvellous'. Director Tanya Doyle and Producer Daniel Hegarty will present a screening of 'The House' at the festival.

New feature length documentary, 'The Boys of St Columb's', directed by Tom Collins (Kings) finishes editing this week. The film, which follows the return of remarkable group of boys who went to the school in Derry, is scheduled to screen at summer festivals as well as broadcasting on BBC on 15th August and then on Rte in October 5th. St Columb's College - over looking Derry's Bogside - was unusual for the crop of talented boys attending around the same time: poet and Nobel Prize winner Seamus Heaney; novelist Seamus Deane; author, and political activist - Eamonn McCann; songwriters, Phil Coulter and Paul Brady and Ambassador James Sharkey. It is the only school in the world which can boast two past pupils as Nobel Prize winners: John Hume and Seamus Deane.

To celebrate the 70th birthday of the Nobel Prize winning poet Seamus Heaney, - broadcasters BBC Ni and Rte will pay tribute to the globally renowned poet in their forthcoming schedules. 'Seamus Heaney: A Life in Pictures' to air on Wednesday, April 15 at 10.45pm on BBC One Northern, will focus on Heaney's television career. Heaney made his television debut in 'Door into The Dark' in 1970 marking one of the first times that a Northern Ireland writer wrote and presented a television programme. During his years on television he became a respected commentator and interviewee on the social and political situation in Northern Ireland. Produced by Stephen Douds and directed by Johnny Muir for BBC Ni, contributors to the programme come from those who have worked or have interviewed him including Melvyn Bragg, Kirsty Wark, John Kelly and producer Derek Bailey.

But don't forget: you and I reached this conclusion nearly 50 years ago, in the Union, over a cup of coffee, listening to the chimes of Altgeld Hall. So we beat on...

That cup of coffee in the Union cemented one of my oldest friendships. Bill Nack was sports editor of The Daily Illini the year I was editor. He was the editor the next year. He married the Urbana girl I dated in high school. I never made it to first base. By that time, I think he may have been able to slide into second and was taking a risky lead and keeping an eye on the pitcher. We had a lot of fun on the Daily Illini. This was in the days before ripping stuff off the web. He insisted on running stories about every major horse race. We had only one photo of a horse. We used it for every winner.