Review - Good Apr 11, 2009
Halder keeps seeing hallucinations in which groups of strangers sing old pop songs at him - a Dennis Potter touch. The action also trips around in time, so that it's not always clear where and when things happen. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
New on DVD: Go 'Wild' for Sean Penn's moving film Mar 7, 2008
Helen Mirren at the BBC (1974-82, BBC, unrated, $80): Yes, she's the babe who evolved into Queen Elizabeth II, but she also is the star of these nine theatrical productions from the BBC archives, from George Bernard Shaw to Dennis Potter. Due Tuesday: The Oscar-winning No Country for Old Men; Jerry Seinfeld's Bee Movie; Joan Crawford and Henry Fonda in Otto Preminger's Daisy Kenyon. (USA Today -- Life)
Hopefully, this celebrity is as quick as it is instant Jan 18, 2008
Nearly 14 years ago the British TV host Melvyn Bragg interviewed the writer and dramatist Dennis Potter on Channel Four. Potter thought popular journalism was much at fault and he pointed the finger at Rupert Murdoch for the "pollution of what was already a fairly polluted press" in Britain. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Opinion)
Turturro movie finally released Dec 22, 2007
" For years however the idea behind "Romance and Cigarettes" had been fomenting. Originally intended as a black comedy, Turturro incorporated music into his film after being introduced to the work of late British playwright Dennis Potter. "Some friends said I should take a look at Dennis Potter. I knew about him and I'd read about him but I'd never seen 'The Singing Detective. (iAfrica.com)
Dustin Hoffman talks death and Kierkegaard Dec 16, 2007
In both of our conversations, he refers to the final televised Melvyn Bragg interview with Dennis Potter, as the writer struggled with the pain of the psoriatic arthropathy that crippled him and the cancer that was killing him. It s an interview that had a profound impact on Hoffman. (Times Online)
Hang on to your bonnets ... Nov 18, 2007
The production values weren't great, but the acting was incredible and the writing (the screenplay was by Dennis Potter) was amazing. It really wasn't like a movie; there were two actors standing in front of each other acting in close-up. (Guardian Unlimited)
* Steve Martin's memoirs of an oddly successful career Nov 15, 2007
After The Jerk he made Pennies From Heaven, a film version of the Dennis Potter drama that was, he says, "audience-jarring," and he wishes now that he'd made The Jerk 2. "But by then I was tired of my own persona. I just couldn't do it. And Pennies From Heaven gave me a great gift of having my time completely occupied, learning to dance. Class every day, hours and hours and hours, and there was no time to over-think.". (Taipei Times, Taiwan -- World)
I fear that Thompson is in fact a Dalek Oct 25, 2007
Before long, there would be no room at the BBC for the deadly neologisms, euphemisms and bureaucratese that accompanied Birt on his mission to explain, earning him from the late Dennis Potter, the immortal sobriquet, "croak-voiced Dalek". Initially, Thompson gave every indication of being human. (Guardian Unlimited -- Media)
Mighty Boosh Oct 21, 2007
If this sounds like a move towards traditional sitcom territory, it's not: Fielding may call it a 'psychedelic Open All Hours' but director Paul King, who has worked with the Boosh since the early days, insists it's more of a homage to Tim Burton, Dennis Potter and the film Delicatessen. Taking a lunch break in his dressing room, Fielding sits cross-legged on a cheap sofa. (Guardian Unlimited)
Crime drama ''Viva Laughlin'' bets on songs to add pop Oct 18, 2007
And so even though "Viva Laughlin" is a crime drama, it feels so different from everything else on TV, although fans of "The Singing Detective" and "Pennies From Heaven," both Dennis Potter dramas with song and dance, will be somewhat familiar with the approach. Based on the British miniseries "Black pool," "Viva Laughlin" focuses on Ripley Holden (Lloyd Owen), who sells his convenience-store chain to take his slice of American pie - a casino of tumbling dice in Laughlin, Nev. (Boston Globe)
Sherrin obituaryThe renaissance man who left his mark on British artistic life Oct 2, 2007
TW3 also launched the careers of writers and performers such as Dennis Potter, Willie Rushton, Kenneth Cope, Lance Percival and Millicent Martin. The show was taken off after two years - it had proved too contentious, especially with an election approaching. (BBC News -- UK)
Broadcaster Ned Sherrin dies at 76 Oct 2, 2007
The first TV show to intelligently lampoon the political establishment, it proved hugely influential, gave Sir David Frost his big break, and provided a launch pad for a diverse and influential cast of script writers including John Cleese, Peter Cook, Richard Ingrams, Dennis Potter, John Betjeman, Frank Muir and many others. Mr Thompson, who said he was "deeply saddened" by the news of Sherrin's death, paid tribute to the show's far-reaching influence. (Guardian Unlimited)
More Murdoch Malefaction: Jun 6, 2007
"I call my cancer Rupert," said playwright Dennis Potter as he was dying. What would you call your cancer. (Slate)
Paxman to speak at TV festival May 14, 2007
The late writer Dennis Potter used his to denounce John Birt, then BBC director general, as a "croak-voiced Dalek". Paxman will deliver his speech on Friday August 26, the opening night of the festival, which runs until August 28. (Guardian Unlimited)
