Entertainment & Arts News

Rylance gives away his Tony Award

2011-08-01T23:59:00.000-07:00

28 July 2011 Last updated at 10:59 GMT Mark Rylance said Micky Lay "deserves" the Tony award Actor Mark Rylance has given his Tony Award for his role in the Broadway hit Jerusalem to the man who partly inspired it.

The actor said Micky Lay, from Pewsey, Wiltshire, had helped him research his character Johnny "Rooster" Byron.

Jez Butterworth set his play in the small town of Flintock - which is based on Pewsey, where he lived in the 1990s.

Rylance has had his Tony engraved with the words: "To Micky and Scotty Lay from Mark Rylance".

It will be presented to the pair later in a pub in Pewsey.

Butterworth's play focuses on Byron - a charismatic character who lives in a run-down caravan on the edge of Flintock and is facing eviction by the council.

In June Rylance, the Bafta award-winning actor, beat Al Pacino to win the 2011 Tony Award for best actor in Jerusalem.

In an interview, he told broadway.com he wanted to give the Tony "to the guy in Wiltshire [Micky Lay] who very much inspired Jez to write the play".

He said: "I think he'd really like it. He was very generous with me and invited me into his house and talked with me for six hours or so on different occasions about his life as a Romany Gypsy man in England.

"And I think without those interviews I wouldn't have found such a thing.

"So I think he deserves it."

Last week, the award was handed over to a "surprised" Jerry Kunkler, who runs Mr Lay's local pub, in New York.

Mr Kunkler, landlord of the Moonrakers, in Pewsey, had been watching the Broadway production of the play when he was invited backstage to meet the cast.

"I went to America to watch the play and Mark Rylance gave it to me then," he said.

Award 'a secret'

"He gave it to me in a bag and said it was a present for Micky and he'd had it engraved for him.

"I was terrified going through customs with it."

Until now, Mr Lay has had no idea he is to be presented with the award.

"I couldn't say to him - here have a pint, oh and by the way here's a Tony," said Mr Kunkler.

"So I've kept it quiet and told him to make sure he's around on Thursday."

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Franco 'back at General Hospital'

2011-08-01T22:55:00.000-07:00

29 July 2011 Last updated at 14:06 GMT James Franco first appeared on the soap in 2009 James Franco, star of 127 Hours, is to return to US daytime soap opera General Hospital, it has been reported.

US network ABC confirmed the Oscar-nominated actor would be reprising his role as the serial killer artist Robert "Franco" Frank, TheWrap.com said.

It will be the fourth time the Spider-Man star has appeared in the soap since 2009.

The character will return to the show from 20 September, as part of a long-term storyline.

'Frank' will return to the show as the object of his character's affection - hit man Jason Morgan - prepares to marry fiance Samantha McCall.

An ABC spokesman said it would be the character's "most twisted plan yet".

Franco first appeared on the soap for two months in 2009 and was last seen in February, in a two-day stint which coincided with him hosting the Oscars with Anne Hathaway.

It is not known how long Franco will star in the soap during his forthcoming run.

The actor is due to appear on Broadway this autumn opposite Nicole Kidman in a revival of Tennessee Williams' Sweet Bird of Youth.

Franco will next be seen on the big screen in Rise of the Planet of the Apes, which is released in the UK on 12 August.

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US film producer Polly Platt dies

2011-08-01T21:55:00.000-07:00

29 July 2011 Last updated at 09:50 GMT Platt was married to director Peter Bogdanovich Hollywood producer Polly Platt, who was nominated for an Oscar for art direction, for Terms of Endearment, has died aged 72 in New York.

Platt, who was formerly married to film director Peter Bogdanovich, produced a string of successful movies including Broadcast News and War of the Roses.

Her daughter, Sashy Bogdanovich, said Platt died on Wednesday of a form of motor neurone disease.

Platt leaves two daughters and three grandsons.

Born in Illinois, she studied art at the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh, before she began her career as a costume designer for the stage.

She worked with husband Bogdanovich, as a set designer, on films including The Last Picture Show, but they separated following his affair with the film's star Cybill Shepherd.

After the divorced in 1971, however, they maintained a working relationship on hit films such as What's Up Doc?, starring Barbra Streisand, and Paper Moon.

Platt was also known for her long professional association with Terms of Endearment director James L Brooks, and was executive vice-president of his production company, Gracie Films.

In the early 1980s she presented Brooks with a cartoon strip written by the then-unknown Matt Groening - who would later go on to create The Simpsons. Brooks went on to become a long-standing writer and developer on The Simpsons series.

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Madonna film to screen at Venice

2011-08-01T20:43:00.000-07:00

28 July 2011 Last updated at 10:42 GMT Madonna previously directed the 2008 comedy romance Filth and Wisdom Madonna's film about King Edward VIII's romance with American divorcee Wallis Simpson will have its world premiere at this year's Venice Film Festival.

W.E, which the singer directed, screens out of competition at the event, which runs from 31 August to 10 September.

British actress Andrea Riseborough plays Mrs Simpson in the film, which contrasts her scandalous relationship with a contemporary romance.

In all, 21 titles will compete for the prestigious Golden Lion award.

The new film version of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy - starring Gary Oldman as John le Carre's legendary spy George Smiley - features in the competition line-up.

It is joined by Andrea Arnold's new adaptation of Wuthering Heights, Roman Polanski's new film Carnage, and Shame, the latest film from Turner Prize winner-turned-director Steve McQueen.

Other titles in contention include A Dangerous Method, David Cronenberg's new film about the conflict between the psychoanalysts Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung.

Viggo Mortensen and Michael Fassbender play Freud and Jung, while Keira Knightley plays a troubled patient who comes between them.

Fassbender also appears in Shame, a family drama about a wayward brother and sister in which he stars opposite Carey Mulligan.

Polanski's and Cronenberg's films are both based on plays, by Yasmina Reza (God of Carnage) and Christopher Hampton (The Talking Cure) respectively.

Newcomer James Howson plays Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights

Kate Winslet and Jodie Foster appear in Carnage, about two sets of parents who come together after their children fight at school.

New works from Abel Ferrara, Exorcist director William Friedkin and 'indie' film-maker Todd Solondz further swell the diverse line-up.

As previously announced, this year's festival will open with The Ides of March, a political drama which Venice regular George Clooney directs, produces, co-writes and appears in - also in contention.

Actor Al Pacino will be honoured at the event, while Black Swan director Darren Aronofsky will chair the competition jury.

Pacino's film Wilde Salome - an adaptation of Oscar Wilde's notorious 1891 play - will receive an out of competition screening, as will Steven Soderbergh's virus-based thriller Contagion.

The festival will close with Damsels in Distress, the latest feature from US film-maker Whit Stillman - his first film as writer-director since 1998's The Last Days of Disco.

The festival in Venice, together with the Toronto Film Festival - which runs concurrently - are often used as launch-pads for films hoping to triumph during the forthcoming awards season.

Last year's festivities saw Sofia Coppola - daughter of US film-maker Francis - receive the Golden Lion for her semi-autobiographical drama Somewhere.

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Ronson dedicates gig to Winehouse

2011-08-01T18:45:00.000-07:00

By Greg Cochrane
Newsbeat music reporter Mark Ronson has paid tribute to Amy Winehouse by performing a number of her songs at a show in London.

In his first gig since her death, the British producer and songwriter invited members of her backing band on stage for a version of Valerie.

Mark Ronson played the same song at the start of the gig with The Zutons' singer Dave McCabe, who originally wrote the song, on vocals.

"She made brilliant music, more than I'll make in my entire life," he said.

He co-produced Winehouse's successful second album Back To Black and peppered the gig with references to the singer.

He played her hit single Rehab during a short DJ set in the middle of the concert and was joined by Charlie Waller, lead singer of The Rumblestrips, for a full band cover of Back To Black.

'Genius'

"It's really lovely getting to play some music here for you tonight," Mark Ronson, 35, said from the stage. "That's what makes everything better.

"I went to her service yesterday (Tuesday) and there was a rabbi that spoke and he said that somebody's life is measured in deeds and not years and that's the best thing I heard yesterday.

Dave McCabe (right) from The Zutons sang Valerie with Mark Ronson

"The genius in that woman and what she shared with us is pretty special.

"I'm not going to get all morbid on you. It's just nice to be playing music to people who like good music. She is my sister, wherever she is."

The concert was held as part of the Greenwich Summer Sessions festival.

Fans who made it to the gig said Mark Ronson had got the tone just right.

"I thought he was quite respectful of her and her family," said Sasha Waxman from Lincolnshire. "It was quite emotional."

Neely Hannah from Skegness added: "The mood was sombre to start but he did well with it. When her former band members came on, that was really nice. It wasn't upsetting, it was quite uplifting."

Mark Ronson attended Amy Winehouse's funeral on Tuesday in north London with her family and close friends.

Police will have to wait up to four weeks for the results of toxicology tests to find out her cause of death.

The singer had recently cancelled all European tour dates after a concert in Serbia where she was booed off stage.

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Back to basics

2011-08-01T17:24:00.000-07:00

29 July 2011 Last updated at 12:00 GMT By Fiona Bailey Entertainment reporter, BBC News Adam Ant found fame in the 1980s with his band Adam And The Ants.

For a short period, striding the stage in his brocaded Hussar jacket and facepaint, he was ubiquitous. His string of top 10 hits included three number ones: Stand and Deliver, Prince Charming and Goody Two Shoes.

But in 1982, just two years after their first major hit, the group disbanded.

Ant went on to launch a solo career and turned his hand to acting.

However in 2003 his career took a nosedive, following two arrests - one for pulling a replica gun in a pub, and another for stripping off in a cafe.

The singer was subsequently sectioned under the Mental Health Act.

Eight years on, he has put all that behind him and has returned to his roots, concentrating on music.

"People might ask 'what does the guy with the stripe over his nose look like 32 years later?'," he says.

"He's a bit more rough and ready, a bit madder, and a bit wiser."

Forthcoming reunion

The 56-year-old singer - real name Stuart Goddard - is currently writing a new album, in preparation for the Ants reuniting.

"That's in the pipeline now. I own the name and the brand, and it's my baby. I am going to take certain members of the original band and release our fourth album."

But unlike the first time around, when Ant claims that he was underpaid - this time he maintains he will be banking all the profit.

"Back then I was working for a ridiculously low percentage for the record company. I was getting 9% - which is not enough - and I was financing everything out of that.

"I was financing the video, the tours... and you get deeper and deeper in, because I didn't want to just stand in front of a brick wall and do a video.

"So every time a record sold for ?1, I'd get 9p. Now I've got 100% of the company shares."

However, the star still has his reservations about the music industry.

"It's all got a little bit lazy," he says.

"It's gone a little bit Opportunity Knocks and kids get the idea that you go on a TV show and six weeks later you're a star."

With his latest record, Adam Ant Is The Blueback Hussar In Marrying The Gunner's Daughter, he is going back to basics.

"I'm not going to do downloads on my album. I'm doing vinyl, CD and cassettes," he reveals.

"I want to make a point, because I don't get paid when people [illegally] download my records.

"Personally, I want something tangible in my hand. I also think vinyl is going to come back in a very big way in the future."

This weekend, the star is preparing to play The Vintage Festival, which takes place at the Southbank Centre in London.

The event, now in its second year, was set up by designer Wayne Hemingway to celebrate the history of music and fashion - and open the doors to people who embrace the Rockabilly era.

Adam Ant had several big hits in the early 80s

Following a 30-day tour of the UK, Ant - who has come to cherish his downtime after the intensity of the 80s - will play just two songs at the event.

"I took 11 days off in three years with Adam And The Ants," he recalls. "Now I'm back, I'm not going to do things that I don't think are necessary."

The twice-divorced star completely withdrew from the music industry for five years to help bring up his daughter Lilly.

"I think 30 years of non-stop work catches up with you," he says, in an oblique reference to his battles with depression.

The musician has talked in the past about having bipolar disorder - but his take on his health issues is typically idiosyncratic.

Having previously described himself as "physiologically allergic" to anti-depressants, he says he no longer takes medication because he believes prescription drugs "literally take away the highs and the lows".

He goes on to say he believes the medical approach to dealing with mental health is "unutterably archaic", although he concedes that medication is necessary in some instances providing it is "monitored very, very carefully by your GP".

Instead, he chooses to use homeopathic methods: "I need to be up and down - I'm an artist," he insists.

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ITV to pilot online 'pay trial'

2011-08-01T16:04:00.000-07:00

28 July 2011 Last updated at 12:26 GMT Online users won't be charged for catching up on shows like Coronation Street ITV is to trial charging online viewers for bespoke content and archive material from the new year.

The proposed charges could come into play for downloading things from the channel's back catalogue of drama, and for special "webisodes" of shows like Coronation Street.

However, viewers will not pay to catch up on weekly shows on the ITV Player.

Chief executive Adam Crozier has said the network is to "diversify its revenue streams".

ITV are understood to be trying to establish what viewers would be willing to pay for. Any trial could involve a one-off payment or a subscription fee.

The trial will start privately, before being rolled out to the public.

On Wednesday, the broadcaster said its advertising revenue had fallen 6% in the three months to 30 June, having risen 12% in the previous quarter.

However it experienced a rise in pre-tax profits from ?97m to ?181m for the first half of the year.

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Hudd to donate collection to UEA

2011-08-01T14:46:00.000-07:00

30 July 2011 Last updated at 17:41 GMT Roy Hudd has amassed a collection of 30,000 pieces of sheet music Veteran actor and comedian Roy Hudd is to hand over his vast collection of sheet music to the University of East Anglia (UEA) in Norwich.

Mr Hudd, 75, who worked as a Butlin's redcoat before finding fame on 60s satire show That Was The Week That Was, has 30,000 pieces in his collection.

Mr Hudd, who lives in Suffolk, said the UEA had agreed to take the collection and allow public access to it.

The entertainer was awarded an honorary doctorate in law at the UEA in 2007.

Speaking on Danny Baker's programme on BBC Radio 5Live, he said sheet music had always been his greatest interest.

Music hall

"I'm so delighted because I have found out last week that they have been working on it for about six months at the University of East Anglia to get the whole of my collection when I snuff it," he said.

"I have agreed and said the one proviso is the public must be allowed access to it - not one of those things they put in a basement where you have got to be a bona fide student.

"If people want to get hold of the music they can, and they have agreed to do that."

Mr Hudd, renowned as an expert on music hall entertainment, said the Heritage Lottery Fund had agreed to finance the cataloguing of the collection, which includes music from 1840 to the present day.

Mr Hudd said he would be donating the "priceless" collection to the university.

"Music hall was the entertainment of the masses. Lots of people still do it, and they often come to me for sheet music," he said.

'Ball in motion'

"It's important to me that people can access it without a lot of red tape."

The logistics of exactly where the collection would be stored were still to be worked out, he said.

"I'm delighted to have got the ball in motion," he added.

Mr Hudd, appointed an OBE in 2003, hosted popular radio comedy show The News Huddlines from 1975 to 2001.

He has also starred in his own TV series and West End revues, as well Coronation Street and dramas including Dennis Potter's Lipstick on Your Collar.

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Abbey to host Bush's Bible show

2011-08-01T13:00:00.000-07:00

28 July 2011 Last updated at 14:40 GMT Bragg, Kwei-Armah and Winterson (l to r) are among the many talents involved London's Bush theatre is to present its next show - a celebration of the King James Bible - at Westminster Abbey, in an overnight performance this October.

Sixty-Six Books will see 66 novelists, playwrights, poets and authors respond to each of the 66 books in the historic Bible to mark its 400th anniversary.

Kwame Kwei-Armah, Billy Bragg, Carol Ann Duffy and Jeanette Winterson are some of the many talents involved.

The event starts at 1900 on 21 October and runs until 0700 the following day.

Sixty-Six Books will be the first production to be staged at the Bush theatre's new premises in west London, in a former library near its old Shepherds Bush site. It will debut on 14 October.

A week later, an international cast will present the work at the Abbey in a specially extended promenade performance before an audience of 200 people.

A selection of works from Sixty-Six Books has been specially chosen for the occasion.

Literary highlight

It was at Westminster Abbey in 1611 that a group of scholars gathered together in the Jerusalem Chamber to translate key passages of the Bible for King James.

Subsequent centuries have seen this book become one of the most significant works of literature in the English language.

The newly-announced show follows In the Beginning, another Bush work marking the Bible's quatercentenary staged at Westminster Abbey in March.

Christopher Eccleston, Tamsin Greig and Ralf Little appeared in the piece, which saw small groups taken into areas of the London landmark rarely shown to visitors.

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Marvel wins hero copyright claim

2011-08-01T11:24:00.000-07:00

29 July 2011 Last updated at 15:25 GMT Spider-Man is one of Marvel's most lucrative characters Marvel has won a legal battle to retain copyright of its lucrative comic book characters including Spider-Man and The Incredible Hulk.

The company sued the family of late co-creator Jack Kirby last year after they laid claim to copyrights for work he created from 1958 to 1963.

However a New York judge ruled Kirby's illustrations of characters like Iron Man had been created "for hire".

A lawyer for Kirby's estate has said they will appeal the ruling.

Other characters at the centre of the dispute included The Fantastic Four, The Mighty Thor, The X-Men, The Avengers, Ant-Man, Nick Fury and The Rawhide Kid.

"This case is not about whether Jack Kirby or Stan Lee is the real 'creator' of Marvel characters,'' US District Judge Colleen McMahon wrote in her 50-page ruling.

"It is about whether Kirby's work qualifies as work-for-hire under the Copyright Act of 1909.''

'Respectfully disagree'

The judge said the contracts she reviewed made it clear that all of Kirby's work for publications owned by Marvel was work for hire.

She noted the artist - who died in 1994 - said in a 1986 sworn statement that he did his work at a time when it was common practice for vested ownership of his creations to belong to the company that paid him to draw.

She added Kirby had also signed a written agreement in the spring of 1972 admitting that he was not entitled to retain ownership of the work.

The judge therefore concluded Marvel was considered the author and owner of Kirby's creations because the characters were made at Marvel's expense.

"We are pleased that in this case, the judge has confirmed Marvel's ownership," a statement from The Walt Disney Co, which purchased Marvel in 2009, said.

Marc Toberoff, a lawyer for the Kirby estate, told Hollywood Reporter: "We respectfully disagree with the court's ruling and intend to appeal this matter."

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Da Vinci works to come together

2011-08-01T09:25:00.000-07:00

27 July 2011 Last updated at 14:44 GMT The National Portrait Gallery's version of the work will be loaned to The Louvre London's National Gallery and The Louvre in Paris have announced plans to unite both versions of Leonardo da Vinci's Virgin Of The Rocks.

The Louvre is to lend its version to the London gallery where it will be displayed as part of a new exhibition.

In return, the gallery will lend the French institution its cartoon called The Virgin And Child With Saint Anne And John The Baptist.

National Gallery director Dr Nicholas Penny said they are "delighted".

He said that his colleagues were grateful to their French counterparts for the loan of the "celebrated painting" which was created 25 years prior to the National's Virgin Of The Rocks Together work.

The two exhibitions will mark the artist's career and will provide a "unique chance" for visitors to study his work.

The Louvre's director Henri Loyrette said the "exceptional collaboration" between the two galleries will provide the "historical juxtaposition long desired by art historians".

The National's Painter Of The Court Of Milan exhibition will start in November and run until February next year.

The Louvre's show will start in March and will continue until June.

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Crypt may yield Shakespeare clues

2011-08-01T07:48:00.000-07:00

28 July 2011 Last updated at 13:11 GMT It is hoped a marriage licence will be found in the crypt Clues as to where Shakespeare was married could be revealed when a crypt is opened in a Grade I listed church in Warwickshire, a charity has claimed.

The Churches Conservation Trust (CCT) is opening the crypt later on Thursday in All Saints in Billesley to inspect the state of the church floor.

It said it was possible a marriage licence could be found there offering proof of where he wed Anne Hathaway.

The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust said a licence was unlikely to have survived.

'Lost papers'

The CCT said All Saints in Billesley dates back to the 11th Century and was one of a handful of churches in the area, including Temple Grafton, Luddington and Holy Trinity in Stratford-upon-Avon, that laid claim to being the possible venue where Shakespeare was married.

A spokesman for the CCT said: "There is evidence to suggest that Shakespeare's granddaughter, Elizabeth Bernard, was married at Billesley and rumour has it that the crypt beneath All Saints Church holds the answer to the mystery of where Shakespeare was married, possibly in the form of lost papers or parish registers.

"Investigations, looking through the floor, have reported two sarcophaguses and a chest. But no-one has ever been into the crypt."

Records show that a licence was issued for Shakespeare's marriage to Anne Hathaway on 27 November 1582, who was mistakenly recorded as Anne Wakely.

People want to know everything about Shakespeare's life, the trust said

The following day a bond was issued to men who testified that the couple would stand by the terms of their marriage licence, but it did not specify where the couple were married.

A spokesman for the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, a charity that promotes the works, life and times of William Shakespeare, said: "People want to know where Shakespeare was married because it is a mystery and it is the missing piece of the jigsaw about his life."

He said St Andrew's Church in Temple Grafton, Warwickshire, was Anne Hathaway's parish church and the most likely place for the couple to have wed.

The spokesman said the marriage licence would normally have been given to the couple and in some cases a copy would also have been stored in the parish, and where these survived they would have been given to the local authority's record office to store.

He said no such documents had yet been found.

"There is no reason to believe those documents would survive or be kept in a tomb," he added.

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London Calling

2011-08-01T06:45:00.000-07:00

28 July 2011 Last updated at 10:31 GMT A version of The Clash song London Calling was used as part of the countdown coverage to the 2012 Olympics. But is it the best advert for the city, asks Alan Connor.

Food shortages, floods and "zombies of death" - welcome to London. The Clash's breakthrough single is enough to start a housing crash and send tourists fleeing.

Even so, it's easy to understand the branding appeal. As it starts, we hear a bass line reveille before Joe Strummer yowls the title, like a radio transmission demanding the listener's attention.

Of course, this is deliberate. The phrase "London Calling" was previously associated with wartime BBC broadcasts to occupied countries - "The news from Britain - up-to-the-minute, truthful".

The Clash were supporters of pirate radio and considered launching their own station - this love song to the wireless signal recounts what, in punk terms, is up-to-the-minute and truthful news. But it isn't saying "come and enjoy the canoe slalom".

In Joe Strummer's mind, in fact, conflict is back. The second line is, "Now war is declared, and battle come down". Engines have stopped running and meltdown is expected.

So what's caused this war, perhaps a Third World War?

It's partly down to resources - a kind of unnatural disaster. The Clash were part-band, part-reading list, and the lyrics distill the gloomiest headlines of the 1970s.

The United Nations was tackling food shortages - as the chorus has it, "the wheat's growing thin". The Three Mile Island reactor leaked radioactive steam ("a nuclear error"). Newspapers suggested that the inter-glacial period might end sooner rather than later ("the ice age is coming"). At times it's unclear whether the city's getting too hot or too cold ("the sun's zooming in"), but either way the outlook is poor.

And so London Calling is a post-apocalyptic radio message to the survivors, a concept familiar to anyone who's seen a zombie movie or any of the 1970s' abundant disaster fiction (see box, right). There's even, at the end, guitar feedback sending a signal in Morse code - naturally, "SOS".

Continue reading the main story 1974: Work begins on the Thames BarrierNov 1974: UN World Food Conference, RomeJan 1975: BBC children's dystopian serial The ChangesApr 1975: BBC post-plague drama SurvivorsApr 1976: Sterling crisisAutumn 1978: UK 'winter of discontent'Mar 1979: Nuclear leak at Three Mile IslandApr 1979: Green Party political broadcasts on TVJun 1979: Iranian revolution prompts 50% oil price riseThe other sound-effect-of-sorts makes this a very personal portrait of the city by songwriter Strummer. What sounds like a wolf's howl is revealed by early demos as seagulls - the birds Strummer heard from his home in the World's End estate by the bank of the Thames.

"I live by the river" might now be the boast of a mega-mortgage condo-owner - in 1979 it was a shout from a part of the city ravaged by the Blitz.

On top of all that, the song sent another message when broadcast on the real-life radio to real-world listeners - a punky-reggae rallying call to "come out of the cupboard, you boys and girls". That message starts with a repudiation of the Carnaby Street depiction of London, dismissing "phoney Beatlemania" and insisting that the only thing swinging about the capital in 1979 is a policeman's truncheon.

London Calling had been associated with wartime BBC broadcasts to occupied countries

The song calls time on red-bus, groovy-baby London branding - the type of thing we saw at the closing ceremony of the 2008 Olympics, and the type of scenes that London Calling is nowadays used to soundtrack.

Young listeners are instructed not to relive the past (particularly the 1960s, an implied swipe at the band's rivals the Jam) and don't lose yourself in drugs - the second verse is Strummer's rebuke to those who, he later explained, were "getting down on heroin at the time" rather than engaging with that "battle come down".

And an early draft has another target. In his book on the Clash, Route 19 Revisited, music writer Marcus Gray describes Strummer's irritation at London's crowds of visiting sports fans - happily for the 2012 campaign, the thought didn't make the recorded version.

Continue reading the main story UK No 11 (Dec 1979)Reissued May 1988 and Jun 1991No 9 in NME Greatest Singles of All Time (2002)Quotes Tommy Steele's Singing The Blues (1956)QPR terrace favourite at Loftus RoadAdvert for Jaguar X-Type (2002)Title of Joe Strummer's BBC World Service programmeSo why has this excoriation of everything the London Tourist Board stands for ended up a feel-good anthem? The corporate-run world inside Stratford's blue perimeter fence seems unlikely, after all, to resemble the Strummerville campfire at Glastonbury.

One reason may be the band's decision to up their sonic game from more punky beginnings. By their next LP, the Clash's producer was boasting of "more guitars per square inch than anything in the history of Western civilisation". London Calling offers so much to listen to that it's possible to miss most of the words between the opening line and the end of the chorus.

The title phrase also lives on in its BBC, non-seditionary sense and it seems that when headline-writers and copywriters type the word "London", "calling" can follow almost unthinkingly. The song is now often not much more than the audio equivalent - a jingle that says "hey, it's London".

"London Calling is a classic example of a song that has become so familiar that its original meaning has been lost," says Gray. "It's instantly recognisable and superficially the perfect invitation to the capital and the world's premiere sporting event, but it's actually about the end of the world, at least as we know it."

The same has happened to other tracks as they become "golden oldies", but that label doesn't quite fit London Calling. In 2011, you can hardly hear a song featuring nuclear accidents, food crises and civil unrest and dismiss it as dated.

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Adele lined up to perform at VMAs

2011-08-01T05:42:00.000-07:00

Adele has previously spoken about her stage fright in front of large crowds Adele is set to perform at this year's MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs).

The singer will make her first appearance at the awards ceremony alongside Chris Brown and Lil Wayne who've both performed before.

Adele, who's up for seven VMAs, said recently her fear of playing in front of huge crowds means she won't perform at festivals or arenas.

The ceremony, which takes place in LA on 28 August, will be broadcast live in the US.

Katy Perry leads the field at this year's awards with nine nominations, including video of the year for Firework, best pop video and best special effects.

Adele and Kanye West have both picked up seven nominations each.

Amy Doyle, executive vice president of music and talent at MTV, said Adele would "bring chills down everybody's spine, if not bring them to tears, too".

'Life changing'

Other multiple nominees include Lady Gaga, Beyonce, and Bruno Mars.

Speaking of Chris Brown's appearance, Doyle added: "He is having a moment with multiple hits this year, and he always delivers on the VMA stage."

Lil Wayne, who described the opportunity to perform as an "honour", is set to release ninth studio album Tha Carter IV in the same week.

Adele announced earlier this month that she'd been given the all-clear to sing after recent problems with her vocal cords meant she had to reschedule a number of concerts.

She recently described her performance at this year's Brit Awards as one of her career highlights, adding: "I was so frightened.

"I've never actually been so scared in my life but it ended up being the most life changing night of my life.

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Controversy street

2011-08-01T03:48:00.000-07:00

29 July 2011 Last updated at 10:55 GMT By Clare Spencer BBC News This week the city fathers of Aberdeen, Washington, decided it might not be wise to name a bridge after Kurt Cobain. So what are the perils and pitfalls of renaming things after famous people?

There are some very famous places named after famous people. A famous renaming can quickly erase what went before.

How many foreigners flying into New York's JFK airport remember it used to be Idlewild airport?

We name places after people to recognise their achievements. Alexander the Great liked to found cities and name them after himself, in honour of his own achievements. But mostly it's done by other people.

Every act of naming is pregnant with meaning. In the 1980s, the UK had a wave of renaming places after Nelson Mandela. With then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher reportedly regarding Mandela as a terrorist, such namings were often by more left-wing councils and groups. The trend was immortalised in the sitcom Only Fools and Horses for the block of flats the Trotters lived in.

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It is about remembering the specific person but it is also about making sure there is a greater democracy in how cities look”

End Quote Derek Alderman Geographer Today, of course, Mandela is an uncontroversial figure, hailed from all parts of the political spectrum.

A similar flurry of renaming streets after Martin Luther King has happened in the US.

But many figures are inherently more controversial.

It's easy to see why Aberdeen decided to hold off on honouring Kurt Cobain. A great musician to some may be seen by others as a drug user who falls short of role model status. Instead the bridge will now stay as Young Street Bridge. But it's still named after a person - Alexander Young who built the first saw mill.

Attitudes to people can change over time. It used to be common to name streets after notables of the British Empire. In 2002, efforts were made to change the name of a street housing a large Sikh temple in Southall, west London. Havelock Road was named after Sir Henry Havelock, who was prominent during the Indian Mutiny of 1857.

Some have even suggested that Liverpool's Penny Lane, made famous by the Beatles, is insensitive. It commemorates James Penny, an 18th Century slave trader.

Kurt Cobain is a controversial figure to some

The point is that attitudes change over time, says Derek Alderman, professor of geography at East Carolina University. He has been tracking the US streets named after Martin Luther King. So far he's counted over 900.

For Alderman, addresses are an everyday reminder of people's history in a way a museum can't be. "Think about all the times you use a street name in a day from catching a cab to putting it in your GPS."

In this way it can do much more than a monument and, he suggests, it is a cheaper option.

And older names are useful because they "force people to talk about their history".

People's reputations are constantly being reassessed, adds Alderman. He notes George Washington, once celebrated as presiding over the creation of the US constitution, is now also criticised by some for his association with slaves. He observes a trend in avoiding naming schools in the US after people in order to stay away from controversy.

But the debate, for Alderman, gives an opportunity to work out what the popular view of a person is. "If a city decides they are going to name a park after [Kurt] Cobain they will talk about why that person is important. In doing so they are going to talk about that person's legacy and so they have to come to a consensus about the meaning of that person."

Martin Luther King, on the other hand, has his own national holiday

Location names for Alderman can have political motivations. "Renaming a street is about claiming a certain voice, and a certain power over how your city looks. It is about remembering the specific person but it is also about making sure there is a greater democracy in how cities look."

Liam Scott-Smith at think tank New Local Government Network goes one step further. He thinks naming a place after someone can "reward good behaviour". This recognition, he thinks, could create a virtuous circle where people aim to get this kind of recognition.

Scott-Smith's think tank started a campaign in 2008 for more British roads to be renamed after modern people. Their report at the time claimed Britain is far behind America and France in doing this. But he says it should be encouraged for local celebrities to be named as "you have a strong affinity with someone in the area and that builds civic pride".

He does warn against fads, though, confessing that at the time the report was launched they suggested naming roads after David Beckham.

Remember Downing?

Figures can rise and fall in the public consciousness. Leeds University's student union once had a section called the Harvey Milk Bar, but many of the 18-year-olds arriving there for the first time would have been unaware of the life of the assassinated, gay 1970s San Francisco politician. After Sean Penn's recent high-profile movie, knowledge of Milk's life will have again spread.

Others maintain a steady level of fame. The officials who named streets in Italy, the Netherlands and Spain after George Orwell seem on safe ground.

Others can disappear into obscurity. How many people stopped in London's Whitehall, would be able to tell you much about the life of George Downing, after whom Downing Street is named?

Etymologist Tania Styles says that the people cities, towns and villages are named after have been forgotten over time without much consequence. That's because, she says, place names become a labelling function and the name "may as well be arbitrary".

Historians have struggled to find the Padda after whom Paddington is named, or indeed the Bucca who gave us Buckingham.

But she warns that nowadays the associations of the names will persist much longer. "In this day and age I can't imagine that kind of information will be forgotten."

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Plays help West End bounce back

2011-08-01T02:23:00.000-07:00

29 July 2011 Last updated at 11:12 GMT Danny Boyle's Frankenstein starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller helped attendances London's theatreland has recovered from a slump earlier this year, seeing box office takings between April and June up by 2% on the same period in 2010.

The industry had braced itself after a drop in takings between January and March of 6% and a 10% audience lull.

But figures have increased, due in particular to attendance of plays, which rose 13%.

So far, 2011 receipts total ?250.5m - 1.7% down on last year but on track to break the ?500m mark for the full year.

Plays featuring star performers such as Kevin Spacey's sell-out run in Richard III have been attributed to the boost in audience figures.

Other star performances included Jonny Lee Miller and Benedict Cumberbatch in Danny Boyle's Frankenstein and David Tennant and Catherine Tate in Much Ado About Nothing.

The boost to London tourism during the time of the royal wedding is also credited with helping increased takings.

Society of London Theatre (Solt) chief executive Julian Bird said he was "cautious, but optimistic" about prospects for the remainder of the year.

"There's a very healthy raft of shows being announced across the autumn and into the winter," he told The Stage trade paper.

"It shows that London theatre is giving people something they really want and it shows that people continue to want to spend money on a great night out."

Mr Bird added advance takings were also "substantially" up on both last year and 2009.

The figures cover theatres that are members of Solt, which include the 52 major theatres in the capital as well as major grant-aided institutions.

Total box office revenues in 2010 bucked the recession, taking a record ?512.3m, with attendances totalling 14,15m.

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Saxophonist Bernal dies aged 80

2011-08-01T00:58:00.000-07:00

28 July 2011 Last updated at 08:29 GMT US saxophonist Gil Bernal, who worked with artists such as Spike Jones, Lionel Hampton and Ry Cooder, has died in Glendale, California aged 80.

Bernal died in hospital of congestive heart failure on 17 July, his family told the Los Angeles Times.

The Los Angeles native performed on 1950s track Smokey Joe's Cafe and worked with Cooder on his 1997 Cuban music album Buena Vista Social Club.

He also performed on Cooder's 2005 concept album Chavez Ravine.

According to Mike Stoller, co-writer of Smokey Joe's Cafe, Bernal "could take eight bars and make it very exciting in a middle of a vocal performance".

Bernal is survived by his wife Harriet, two sons and three daughters.

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U2 film to open Toronto festival

2011-07-31T23:56:00.000-07:00

27 July 2011 Last updated at 11:51 GMT The U2 film is the first documentary to open the Canadian movie gala A documentary about rock band U2 will open this year's Toronto International Film Festival.

The festival also features the world premieres of films by Luc Besson, Terence Davies, Francis Ford Coppola and Michael Winterbottom.

Davis Guggenheim's From The Sky Down, which charts the release of U2's Achtung Baby in 1991, is the first documentary to open the festival.

The gala, opening on 8 September, is a key event ahead of the Oscars.

Last year Toronto's top audience prize went to The King's Speech which went on to win the Academy Award for best picture.

Among the world premieres are Luc Besson's The Lady, which tells the story of Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her husband Michael Aris. The film stars Michelle Yeoh and David Thewlis.

Clooney drama

Thewlis also appears alongside Rhys Ifans and Vanessa Redgrave in Roland Emmerich's Anonymous, which premieres in Toronto.

Set in Elizabethan England, the film speculates that William Shakespeare may not have been the true author of his plays.

Terence Davies' The Deep Blue Sea will also be unveiled, starring Rachel Weisz as a wife who walks out on her High Court judge husband (Simon Russell Beale) to be with her lover, a young ex-RAF pilot played by Tom Hiddleston.

Festival-goers will also get a first look at The Descendants, starring George Clooney and Lasse Hallstrom's Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, starring Ewan McGregor, and Michael Winterbottom's Trishna.

Based on Thomas Hardy's novel Tess of the d'Urbervilles, Trishna is set in contemporary India and tells the tragic love story between the son of a wealthy businessman and the daughter of a rickshaw driver.

The film stars Slumdog Millionaire actress Freida Pinto and Riz Ahmed.

Francis Ford Coppola - the director of The Godfather and Apocalypse Now - will premiere Twixt, a murder mystery with Val Kilmer.

Of his opening U2 documentary, Guggenheim said: "In the terrain of rock bands - implosion or explosion is seemingly inevitable.

"U2 has defied the gravitational pull towards destruction, this band has endured and thrived. The movie From The Sky Down asks the question why."

Guggenheim won an Oscar for An Inconvenient Truth, his documentary on climate change featuring former US vice-president Al Gore.

A second rock documentary, Pearl Jam Twenty by director Cameron Crowe, will also have its world premiere at the 10-day festival, which was founded in 1976.

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Closure of music hall is averted

2011-07-31T22:56:00.000-07:00

27 July 2011 Last updated at 17:24 GMT The venue became one of the World Monuments Fund's 100 locations of cultural importance in 2007 An entertainment venue in east London which failed in its applications for Heritage Lottery funding has raised enough money to continue operating.

Wilton's Music Hall, which is close to Tower Bridge in the East End, had been seeking ?4m for restoration work.

About ?500,000 has been donated in two months, which will pay for initial assessments of the dilapidated site.

The building was part of the first generation of public house music halls which opened in London in the 1850s.

By the start of the 20th Century these had all closed and this particular site remained neglected until 10 years ago.

Wall 'collapsed'

In 2007 it was listed by the World Monuments Fund as one of 100 locations of cultural importance which were under threat.

Since then, however, two bids for lottery funding for the Grade II listed building have come to nothing and it was feared the venue would have to close if it could not undergo badly-needed repairs.

Frances Mayhew, its artistic director, said it was "amazing" that so much money had now been raised through donations.

"The building was getting in a worse and worse state, and about three weeks ago, when it was raining very heavily, one of my walls disappeared.

"It just collapsed because it had been getting wetter and wetter.

"Now I'm finishing the surveys as to where and how the damage has been recurring over many years and we'll start the repair work in mid-September."

It was hoped trusts and foundations would provide further donations, she said, and the ?4m total may be revised down to between ?2m and ?2.5m as work progresses.

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New deal for F1 rights announced

2011-07-31T21:06:00.000-07:00

Ecclestone on new Formula 1 TV deal

The BBC and Sky Sports will broadcast Formula 1 in the UK between 2012 and 2018 under a new rights deal.

The BBC has been the exclusive broadcaster of F1 in the UK since 2009 but its contract with Formula One Management was due to expire after the 2013 season.

Sky Sports will show every race, qualifying session and practice live.

BBC Sport will broadcast half the races live, as well as the qualifying and practice sessions from those races.

Both companies will broadcast in high definition.

Deal keeps F1 with BBC for longer, says director of sport Barbara Slater

Races screened by the BBC will be live on the BBC Sport website for UK users.

The BBC will have highlights on TV, online and mobile for any race it is not showing live, and all races will be broadcast on BBC Radio 5 live.

Barbara Slater, director of BBC Sport, said: "We are absolutely delighted that F1 will remain on the BBC.

"The sport has never been more popular with TV audiences at a 10-year high and the BBC has always stated its commitment to the big national sporting moments.

"With this new deal not only have we delivered significant savings but we have also ensured that through our live and extended highlights coverage all the action continues to be available to licence-fee payers."

Races shown live on BBC TV will include the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, the Monaco GP and the concluding race of the season.

Barney Francis, managing director of Sky Sports, said: "This is fantastic news for F1 fans and Sky Sports will be the only place to follow every race live and in HD.

"We will give F1 the full Sky Sports treatment with a commitment to each race never seen before on UK television."

Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone told BBC Sport: "It's super for F1. It will mean a lot more coverage for the sport.

"There'll be highlights as well as live coverage on two different networks now, so we get the best of both worlds."

Christian Horner, the team principal of world champions Red Bull, said it would have been a "disaster" if F1 was no longer on the BBC.

"The BBC sets the standard for F1 coverage across the world," Horner said.

"This is an agreement that safeguards the sport on the BBC, albeit reduced from what we are used to. And Sky opens up new avenues. So rather than losing the sport from the BBC, I think this was the most sensible way to move forward."

Reaction to new F1 rights deal

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Carracci ceiling to be restored

2011-07-31T19:09:00.000-07:00

28 July 2011 Last updated at 10:13 GMT The Carracci frescoes took 11 years to complete Annibale Carracci's frescoed ceiling in Rome's Palazzo Farnese - home of the French Embassy - is to be restored, it has been announced.

Thought to be one of the most influential Renaissance commissions in Italy, the project is expected to cost 1m Euros (?870,000).

It is being funded by the World Monuments Fund, the French Embassy in Italy and the Fondation de l'Orangerie pour la Philanthropie Individuelle.

Work is set to begin later this year.

In 1597 Carracci was commissioned to decorate the ceiling of the palace using the theme, the love of the Gods.

Cardinal Edoardo Farnese chose the subject of love to mark the wedding of the Duke of Parma to the grand-niece of Pope Clement VIII, Margherita Aldobrandini.

The work, which includes a series of mythological scenes and the Triumph of Bacchus and Ariadne, took 11 years to complete.

Carracci's brothers helped him complete the work, along with artists Giovanni Lanfranco and Domenichino.

Work to stabilise the fresco cycle was first undertaken in the late 17th century by artist Carlo Maratta.

Further work was carried out in 1923, 1936 and 1994.

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Money spinner

2011-07-31T17:53:00.000-07:00

28 July 2011 Last updated at 11:54 GMT By Lucy Wallis BBC News New Dragon Hilary Devey 'doesn't breathe fire'

Hilary Devey, the multi-millionaire CEO of a freight haulage firm, is determined to make her mark as the new Dragon in the Den.

"I would not say I'm ruthless at all - and never have been - but I'm quite capable of telling people what I think," says Devey.

As the new Dragon, you could be forgiven for thinking that the 53-year-old might feel apprehensive. But she maintains she is not one to be intimidated by co-stars Duncan Bannatyne, Peter Jones, Deborah Meaden and Theo Paphitis:

"I wasn't nervous at all. I know I can compete with them on a commercial level any day of the week.

"It was just kind of the 'new girl at school' scenario - dropped into the middle of it, with people who had worked together as a team and knew each other's idiosyncrasies," she adds.

"To put a less strong character in there than myself would not have worked. I had to fight my corner."

Fair and firm

Devey replaces entrepreneur James Caan on the show and said she hopes the public react well to her.

"I hope that I come over as what I really am - which, I think, is fair and firm," she said.

"I have got genuine compassion for people and I genuinely like to help, but I'm also very much a commercial animal."

Devey says she is more likely to invest in the person, as well as the product.

She says she wants to find entrepreneurs who share the same work ethos, passion, drive, enthusiasm, tenacity and focus as her.

But she does not suffer fools gladly.

"I would not make a very good poker player, as when I'm angry I just shout."

Devey has had to overcome many challenges on her path to success.

Three years after her birth, in Bolton in 1960, her father's heating business went bankrupt, prompting a dramatic change in the family's living conditions.

"One minute we'd got a nice comfy sofa and a television, and the next minute we'd got orange boxes with jaffa signs on the side of them," she says.

Her father was unable to own any assets and so took on the tenancy of a pub in her mother's name, which gave the family a home and an income. Devey worked from the age of seven in the business.

Self-sufficient

Growing up she had aspirations to be a vet or a writer, but claims her father did not believe in educating girls.

"Unfortunately I had a very northern, misogynistic father who said: 'I'm not paying for your education - because you're a girl and some man is going to come along and marry you, and he'll keep you,'" she recalls.

"I'm still waiting for that man to come along."

At the age of 20, with no formal training, she went to work as a sales clerk in the offices of a distribution company and from there began her journey, working her way up in the logistics industry.

In 1996, she launched her own business, Pall-Ex - a pallet distribution company which she has turned into a multi-million pound empire.

Working out of a disused aircraft hangar, it was a struggle in the early years.

Continue reading the main story For impressing in an interview/pitch: Be concise, confident, do not over-complicate yourself or your product. Also, know your business model.For running your own business: Focus and tenacity: Understand the market, people, competition and the opportunities.For surviving the recession: Think laterally and globally. Up-sell wherever possible, as it costs nothing.For winning investment: A business plan prepared with a realistic projection that is accurate, concise and encompasses all aspects of your business.For making millions: Do not chase money, it runs away."I literally did everything myself. I couldn't afford typists, I couldn't afford to even photocopy documents.

"And it was quite challenging, juggling three dresses to make myself look smart and presentable every day."

Working within a male-dominated industry, she also faced some hostility, but dealt with it in a matter-of-fact way:

"I shrugged my shoulders, laughed and got on with it.

"When I was asked 'can you drive a truck?' I'd say: 'No love, I can't, but I can run your business better than you can.'"

As a single mum, Devey said her main focus was to feed son, Mevlit, and keep a roof over their heads.

But discovering that Mevlit had become addicted to heroin, at the age of 17, was one of the hardest times of her life.

"Getting [Mevlit] off heroin and going with him on that journey - and seeing your child weeks away from death - is probably the most challenging time in my life," she says.

Her world was further shaken when, in 2009, she suffered a stroke.

"To wake up the following morning and not even be able to spell the word 'the'... to have your brain scrambled so I couldn't even talk coherently… is something that nobody can comprehend unless they've actually gone through it," she says.

The stroke left her arm paralysed and she lost her peripheral vision, and she is now a keen supporter of The Stroke Association.

So - with all that life has thrown at her - what is the secret to Hilary's success and fortune?

"I have a capacity for work that can be seldom equalled," she says.

The new series of Dragons' Den begins on Sunday 31 July at 2100 BST On BBC Two and BBC HD

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Pesci sues Gotti film producers

2011-07-31T16:17:00.000-07:00

28 July 2011 Last updated at 08:56 GMT Pesci, 68, won an Oscar in 1990 for his role in crime drama GoodFellas Actor Joe Pesci has taken legal action against the producers of a film about US mobster John Gotti, claiming they have reneged on their pledges to him.

Pesci claims production company Fiore Films used his name and likeness to promote the project but does not want to honour its original offer to him.

He is seeking the $3m (?1.8m) he claims he was promised to play the role of a childhood friend of John Gotti Sr.

Fiore Films have rejected the claims, saying Pesci "walked away" months ago.

Company CEO Marc Fiore said he had received correspondence from the actor's representatives saying Pesci was pulling out of the project until the original director, Nick Cassavetes, was replaced.

Pesci's lawyer has disputed that statement, saying Pesci had been offered a lesser role for a reduced salary of $1m (?612,275).

According to the actor's legal action, Fiore Films had "no intention" of paying Pesci $3m to play the role of Angelo Ruggiero, a trusted Gotti advisor.

Instead, it alleges, the company "secretly planned to use [Pesci's] name and likeness to promote the film".

Weight gain

According to Fiore Films' website, the film - to be called Gotti: In the Shadow of My Father - still has the GoodFellas star attached.

John Travolta, Al Pacino and Kelly Preston have also been cast in the biopic, set to begin shooting in January, with director Barry Levinson at the helm.

According to Pesci's legal action, the actor gained 30 lb (13.6 kg) to play Ruggiero, who died in prison in 2002.

Travolta is set to play John Gotti Sr in the film, which will explore his relationship with the son, John Gotti Jr, who went on to follow in his father's footsteps in the criminal underworld.

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Tate commissions Keiller artwork

2011-07-31T14:51:00.000-07:00

28 July 2011 Last updated at 10:33 GMT 2010's Robinson in Ruins is Keiller's third film to feature the eccentric Robinson Artist and film-maker Patrick Keiller, will create a new installation for the Tate Britain Commission next year, it has been announced.

Keiller, who has not revealed exactly what the artwork will be, will develop the piece for the neoclassical Duveen galleries.

He said he was "delighted" to be asked. His work will be unveiled on 27 March.

Every year Tate Britain commissions an artist to "develop a new work in response to the Tate Collection".

Artists who have previously taken on the Duveens Commission include Eva Rothschild, who filled the galleries with a huge black sculpture.

Over the past 30 years Keiller has made several documentary films, including The Dilapidated Dwelling and Robinson In Space.

"As someone most usually involved with images and the linearity of narrative, I'm delighted by the invitation to devise an exhibit for a sculpture gallery," he said.

Tate Britain director Penelope Curtis said: "Patrick Keiller's sustained interest in understanding the British landscape, and how it is represented, strikes a perfect chord with the Tate Collection.

"We are delighted that he has accepted our invitation to work with us in compiling a new installation which brings the old and the new together, and shows how similar concerns run through time."

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Nature's way

2011-07-31T12:53:00.000-07:00

28 July 2011 Last updated at 08:18 GMT By Liam Allen Arts reporter, BBC News Biophilia will be Bjork's seventh studio album Biophilia, Bjork's fusion of nature and machines, marks the singer's latest foray into electronic music.

The ambitious project, from Iceland's most famous export, includes a forthcoming album with 10 songs - inspired by the natural world - with corresponding iPad and iPhone applications.

It also features, among other things, educational workshops and a series of live concert residencies in major world cities, which began at the Manchester International Festival at the end of last month.

Fittingly, it was in that rainy city - 20 years earlier - that a young Bjork fell in love with the dance and electronic music that has become so central to her success.

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I remember going to Manchester and 808 State taking me around and me just seeing things that I'd never seen that I'd hoped existed”

End Quote Bjork She was there to record a guest vocal for seminal Manchester band 808 State, who were at the forefront of the city's house music explosion in the late '80s and early '90s.

Their collaborations Ooops and Qmart appeared on the band's 1991 album ex:el.

"I remember going to Manchester, and 808 State taking me around, and me just seeing things that I'd never seen - that I'd hoped existed," says the singer, who enjoyed early success with indie band The Sugarcubes.

"So I would be up until early morning... sometimes from just the enthusiasm for the music."

The four-to-the floor rhythms were a big influence on her 1993 solo album Debut, a number three UK hit which spawned singles including Big Time Sensuality, loved by underground and radio DJs alike.

"You would go to a cellar at like 5 or 6 in the morning, some DJ would go on and he would just mix together two wrong songs that were not supposed to be," says the singer, recalling some of her favourite moments in the city.

"And he would have this synthesizer and play on top of it, and you just really felt that no one had done that before."

Bjork sees those times as "my roots" and "definitely one of the things that brought me up, and formed me".

While all her albums have followed Debut into the UK top 10, she's under no illusions that the Biophilia album - which will be released on 27 September - together with its myriad of multi-media spin-offs, is an easy sell.

"Unfortunately, when people are writing about the project, it comes across as being extremely complicated," she says.

"But actually, the intention is to simplify things through touch-screen."

Continue reading the main story ... fame: "I lived here and I guess I was an A-lister and at one point I had 20 paparazzi in my garden."... bridging divides: "I'm trying to find a new touching point between acoustic and electronic, and pretending I'm sort of a Kofi Anan."... partying: "I felt like the English nation was offering me an invitation to become their little A-list villager. I took a part of it for a year and it was fun, fun, fun."... her Biophilia project: "I thought first it would be a music museum for kids in Iceland. Then, for a year or so, I thought it would become a 3D movie."The abum was inspired by touchscreen devices which preceded the iPad, enabling musicians to play sounds by pressing the screen.

"Because I don't play the piano or guitar, and usually I've always written my music when I am just walking outside, I've finally found something that's appealing to me as an accompaniment," she says.

"I can just scrabble with my fingers - it's a breakthrough for me."

Algorithms from nature can be fed into software to create a musical pattern which is then manipulated through the touch-screen, she says.

"They can take the algorithm of gravity or a pendulum - which is pretty complex - and then put it onto a touch-screen, and you can play with it with one finger."

Each of the album tracks - which include Thunderbolt, Virus and Moon - have "a different programme based on that natural element.

"You've got 10 songs with 10 natural elements; their structure is that natural element."

Beautiful ballad

Yet, despite the seemingly complex nature of the songs', the two tracks released as singles so far are eminently listenable.

Bjork's biggest UK hit was It's Oh So Quiet, which reached number four in 1996

Crystalline - "underneath our feet, crystals grow like plants" - begins with naturalistic chiming bells before developing into a full-on drum and bass rock-out.

Cosmogony is a beautiful ballad, complete with full brass backing, which compels "heaven, heaven's bodies" to "whirl around me".

While one reviewer described the Manchester world premiere of the songs as "massively self-indulgent", many more were gushing in their praise of "moments of simple, transcendent beauty".

But with more concert residencies to be announced, other cities may struggle to match Bjork's Manchester experience.

"It was excellent to be there, especially for a whole month, being with all my old mates. We had the wrap-up party with Graham Massey from 808 State DJing and old friends came along - it was amazing."

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