A year ago, the man who penned the script to the opening ceremony wrote euphorically in the Observer about the spirit of the Games. We should not despair, he says, if that spirit has come up against harsh reality
I'm ridiculously proud of being a writer. When strangers ask me what my job is, I say "writer", very much in the manner of Matt Damon saying "Texas Ranger" in True Grit. They then inevitably spoil my moment with: "Written anything I might have read?" And I'm left to mutter: "I'll get my coat", very much in the manner of Mark Williams's socially gauche Brummie in The Fast Show.
This past 12 months, it's been different. For the last year, I've been able to answer with a modest smile: "Actually, I was the writer for the 2012 London Olympic Games opening ceremony." I use the full title just to make it last,...
I'm ridiculously proud of being a writer. When strangers ask me what my job is, I say "writer", very much in the manner of Matt Damon saying "Texas Ranger" in True Grit. They then inevitably spoil my moment with: "Written anything I might have read?" And I'm left to mutter: "I'll get my coat", very much in the manner of Mark Williams's socially gauche Brummie in The Fast Show.
This past 12 months, it's been different. For the last year, I've been able to answer with a modest smile: "Actually, I was the writer for the 2012 London Olympic Games opening ceremony." I use the full title just to make it last,...
- 7/13/2013
- by Frank Cottrell Boyce
- The Guardian - Film News
The Girls creator hits back at a porn parody of her comedy show, Doug Stanhope wades into the Oklahoma God debate, and Dutch TV is slammed for satirising the Woolwich murder
This week's comedy news
In a week when Jerry Lewis told the world that female comedy "bothers [him]", two tales of fightback – of a sort. Girls creator Lena Dunham has criticised news of a pornographic parody movie of her hit HBO comedy. "Most TV shows have been turned into gross and weird porn parodies," the Splitsider website tells us, but Dunham isn't prepared to shrug this one off. "Girls is, at its core, a feminist action while [the XXX film's producer] Hustler is a company that markets and monetises a male's idea of female sexuality," wrote Dunham. And also, "a big reason I engage in (simulated) on-screen sex [in Girls] is to counteract a skewed idea of that act created by the proliferation of porn."
Meanwhile,...
This week's comedy news
In a week when Jerry Lewis told the world that female comedy "bothers [him]", two tales of fightback – of a sort. Girls creator Lena Dunham has criticised news of a pornographic parody movie of her hit HBO comedy. "Most TV shows have been turned into gross and weird porn parodies," the Splitsider website tells us, but Dunham isn't prepared to shrug this one off. "Girls is, at its core, a feminist action while [the XXX film's producer] Hustler is a company that markets and monetises a male's idea of female sexuality," wrote Dunham. And also, "a big reason I engage in (simulated) on-screen sex [in Girls] is to counteract a skewed idea of that act created by the proliferation of porn."
Meanwhile,...
- 5/28/2013
- by Brian Logan
- The Guardian - Film News
Legendary comic writer Eddie Braben, who worked with acts such as Morecambe and Wise, Ken Dodd and Ronnie Corbett, has died aged 82.
Braben's manager Norma Farnes confirmed that the writer had died this morning (May 21).
In a statement, Farnes said: "The writer Eddie Braben, the third man behind the success of Morecambe and Wise, died this morning at the age of 82 after a short illness.
"It was Billy Cotton Jnr at the BBC who recognised the brilliance of Eddie's writing was the ideal marriage that would guarantee the success of Morecambe and Wise.
"He is survived by his loving wife Dee, three children and six grandchildren."
Braben started working with Morecambe and Wise in 1969 and was regarded as a key member of their writing team and one of the most gifted comic talents of his era.
In recent years, the writer has revealed how he suffered from stress and nerves...
Braben's manager Norma Farnes confirmed that the writer had died this morning (May 21).
In a statement, Farnes said: "The writer Eddie Braben, the third man behind the success of Morecambe and Wise, died this morning at the age of 82 after a short illness.
"It was Billy Cotton Jnr at the BBC who recognised the brilliance of Eddie's writing was the ideal marriage that would guarantee the success of Morecambe and Wise.
"He is survived by his loving wife Dee, three children and six grandchildren."
Braben started working with Morecambe and Wise in 1969 and was regarded as a key member of their writing team and one of the most gifted comic talents of his era.
In recent years, the writer has revealed how he suffered from stress and nerves...
- 5/21/2013
- Digital Spy
London — Eric Sykes, the widely-acclaimed British comedy actor and writer, died Wednesday. He was 89.
Sykes was one of the most popular comic actors of his generation, appearing in shows in London's West End into his 80s. He began his career writing scripts for BBC shows, co-writing 24 episodes of the classic radio comedy "The Goon Show" with the late Spike Milligan.
He appeared in the "Sykes and a" sitcom about a brother and sister living together in west London, which ran in the 1960s and 1970s. He went on to write and act in theater shows and movies, including an appearance in "The Others" starring Nicole Kidman and in the Harry Potter film "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire."
Sykes also wrote scripts for Peter Sellers and other major British actors.
Manager Norma Farnes said that Sykes died following a brief illness and was with his family when he passed away,...
Sykes was one of the most popular comic actors of his generation, appearing in shows in London's West End into his 80s. He began his career writing scripts for BBC shows, co-writing 24 episodes of the classic radio comedy "The Goon Show" with the late Spike Milligan.
He appeared in the "Sykes and a" sitcom about a brother and sister living together in west London, which ran in the 1960s and 1970s. He went on to write and act in theater shows and movies, including an appearance in "The Others" starring Nicole Kidman and in the Harry Potter film "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire."
Sykes also wrote scripts for Peter Sellers and other major British actors.
Manager Norma Farnes said that Sykes died following a brief illness and was with his family when he passed away,...
- 7/5/2012
- by AP
- Huffington Post
Comedy writer and actor who starred in 70s sitcom Sykes and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire has died after a short illness
From writing a film where the only word uttered is "rhubarb" to creating one of TV's most popular sitcom partnerships, Eric Sykes – who died on Wednesday aged 89 – will be remembered as one of Britain's finest comedy actors and writers.
Tributes came in thick and fast for a man who was seldom off radios, stages or screens in a career spanning 60 years that will spark different memories for different generations.
Some will know him best for writing and directing the silly slapstick film The Plank while others will remember his sitcom partnership with Hattie Jacques, who played his perpetually exasperated sister.
More recently, in the face of near total deafness and blindness, Sykes appeared in the fourth Harry Potter film and, in 2007, the British comedy Son of Rambow.
From writing a film where the only word uttered is "rhubarb" to creating one of TV's most popular sitcom partnerships, Eric Sykes – who died on Wednesday aged 89 – will be remembered as one of Britain's finest comedy actors and writers.
Tributes came in thick and fast for a man who was seldom off radios, stages or screens in a career spanning 60 years that will spark different memories for different generations.
Some will know him best for writing and directing the silly slapstick film The Plank while others will remember his sitcom partnership with Hattie Jacques, who played his perpetually exasperated sister.
More recently, in the face of near total deafness and blindness, Sykes appeared in the fourth Harry Potter film and, in 2007, the British comedy Son of Rambow.
- 7/4/2012
- by Mark Brown
- The Guardian - Film News
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