A little something for everyone

Something Old

• The Independent's review of The Real Thing from June 1999 popped up in my inbox (courtesy of Google alerts) the other day, so I thought I would re-post here it for your nostalgic pleasure.

Something(s) New

• The nominations for MOSAEC's second annual MAE Awards were announced on Jan 12, and Before the Rains garnered four of them, including Best Film (Drama): Before the Rains, Best Actress (Film): Nandita Das, Best Director (Film): Santosh Sivan, and Best Foreign Film: Before the Rains. According to PRWEB:
  
  

  [...] the MAE Awards were created to spotlight some of the best in arts and entertainment. Awards are given in two categories - Artistic and Entertaining - with the former category being similar to traditional "best of" honors. MOSAEC's Entertaining awards vary from year-to-year. 2009 marks the first time that readers will have their say in whom and what walk away with honors as the majority of the awards will be determined by the public with the remaining determined by a jury. [...]

  Go to MOSAEC's website to vote for your favorites (ahem Rains) on or before Jan 26. The winners will be announced on the 31st.
  


• If you've been paying attention, you'll know that Oscar and the Pink Lady, starring Rosemary Harris, opened at the Florence Gould Hall in NYC on Friday night. (See BroadwayWorld or Playbill for the details.) The play will run through Feb 1, so be sure to see it while you can. If you do have a chance to go, fan reviews are beyond welcome!
  


• Speaking of Rosemary Harris, The Winston-Salem Journal reports that US President-elect Barack Obama is featured in the latest edition of The Amazing Spider-Man comic book, and Aunt May herself has reserved a copy:
  

  Bret Parks figured the latest issue of the comic Amazing Spider-Man would draw lots of fans because it features an appearance by Barack Obama.

  That was never more evident than when actress Rosemary Harris, who lives in Winston-Salem, popped into Ssalefish Comics, the store Parks manages, to reserve a copy. Harris has played Aunt May in all three Spider-Man movies.

  When Harris came in, Parks said, "I was automatically reduced to a mumbling fanboy. That's probably the coolest thing that has happened so far." [...]

Something Borrowed

• Want to have a Pride and Prejudice-themed wedding? Then you are in luck because apparently you can rent some of the costumes from our beloved BBC movie. According to Stockport Express:
  

  [...] Newlyweds Denise and Stuart Vaughan dressed for their big day in the original costumes from the BBC production of Pride and Prejudice which starred Colin Firth as Mr Darcy and Jennifer Ehle as Elizabeth Bennet. [...]

  The couple were married on Dec 29 (coincidence??) and later couldn't resist posing for pictures at Lyme Park. Metro reports the same story.

Something Blue (er Blu)

• As far as I know, we haven't yet announced that Pride and Prejudice has gone blue; that is, it became available in Blu-ray format (region 2) in Oct 2008, and the region 1 version will supposedly be released in March of this year. The reviewers at Amazon.com/co.uk and IMDb are quite enthusiastic, claiming that the color has been restored to its original splendor. From an Aussie fan at Amazon.co.uk, for example:
  

  After two dreadful DVD releases (the first and the 10th anniversary edition) in which all of the warmth had been drained from the glorious original 16mm print as seen on TV and on VHS, the BBC and 2 Entertain have finally repented and this, one of television's most beloved series has been restored to its former beauty. In 2005 I foolishly bought the 10th Anniversary Edition as the cover art-work suggested that the problems with the original transfer had been corrected. Upon viewing it, I wrote to the head of BBC in Australia with the challenge that if she could find any of the colours on the packaging actually on the DVD, I would happily walk naked down a Melbourne street at peak hour. Luckily for the locals, none could be found, and the offending item was returned. Now I am delighted to say that the original warmth has been lovingly restored in the Blu-Ray edition. Yes, as previous reviewers have stated, it was not shot in HD, nor even in 35mm - just humble 16mm, and at times some of the long-shots are not entirely distinct - yet it is a small quibble, and this is well worth the purchase to be able to once again see this iconic series in the rich tapestry of colours in which it was originally made. Thank you BBC/2 Entertain for restoring a true gem.

  If you have a Blu-ray player, it sounds like this is worth the rubles.

P.S.

In case you're interested, the major reviews of the Bridge Project's production of Tom Stoppard's adaptation of Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard (starring three former Utopians) have been conveniently compiled by a blogger over at Critic-O-Meter.