Showtime Networks Acquires British Hit Series Secret Diary of a Call Girl Dec 18, 2007
Silverapples Media optioned the original Belle de Jour blog and book and brought the project to Tiger Aspect. Silverapples specializes in Feature Documentaries -- (the award-winning Shadowing, The Third Man, Forever Ealing), Music, (Celtic Woman, Frankenstein, Series for PBS) and is now working in Feature Film and developing further drama projects. (Yahoo! Wire -- Entertainment News)
Piper to return as ITV2 call girl Nov 30, 2007
The show, which was based on an online diary written under the pseudonym Belle de Jour, attracted just under 2 million viewers on its debut in September. The new series, set to be broadcast next year, will see Belle's life get more complicated. (BBC News -- Entertainment)
'Callgirl' series worth a peak Nov 23, 2007
Adapted from the popular blogs and subsequent book penned pseudonymously by Belle de Jour, Secret Diary of a Call Girl is a good-looking - it would have to be, really - quick-moving ITV series that doesn't bother much with digging below the surface. What you see - which is a lot - is what you get. (Canada.com)
Whodunit tale of love lost straddles two cities, two eras Nov 22, 2007
Secret Diary of a Call Girl (Showcase, 10 p.m.) is a new Brit series based on a blog famous in Britain called Belle de Jour: Diary of a London Call Girl, which also became a bestselling book. Billie Piper, ex of Doctor Who, plays the main character - sweet, fun-loving Hannah by day, and shrewd hooker Belle by night. (Globe and Mail -- Entertainment)
What would the Doctor say? Piper production picked for porn prize Nov 21, 2007
Piper plays a high-class prostitute in the show, adapted from the best-seller pseudonymously penned by Belle de Jour. The eight-part series is the only mainstream production to receive a nomination at the UK Adult Film and Television Awards. (BBC News -- Entertainment)
Three cheers! Nov 15, 2007
SIGNATURE DRINK - BELLE DE JOUREastern Standard's Belle de Jour, a drink as gorgeous as Catherine Deneuve in the movie of the name, will impress co-workers with its festive hue and bubbly, sweet taste. 1/2 oz. brandy VSOP1/2 oz. Benedictine1/2 oz. fresh lemon juice1/2 oz. homemade grenadine3 oz. sparkling wine (such as cava brut). (Boston Globe)
Deneuve to be lauded at festival Oct 10, 2007
Deneuve, whose credits include Belle de Jour and Dancer In the Dark, was nominated for an Oscar in 1993 for her role in Indochine and has won two Cesars - France's equivalent of the Academy Awards. Last year she won a lifetime achievement award at the Bangkok Film Festival. (BBC News -- Entertainment)
YSL: On stage, screen and music hall Oct 5, 2007
The little black dress looks as prissy and pristine as when it covered Catherine Deneuve's sensual passion in "Belle de Jour." But those shoes ... Fascinating as the drawings and costumes are, the real surprise comes in the catalogue, which lists just how many productions Saint Laurent has done: 13 plays from 1964 to 1983; eight ballets in 14 years; 10 music hall productions, including one for France's perennial rocker Johnny Hallyday; and 10 movies, from "Belle de Jour" to Luc Besson's "Subway"... (International Herald Tribune)
Simon Hoggart: Tory debate is bonkers Oct 2, 2007
Or is she Belle de Jour, drinking champagne with millionaires in a luxury riverside duplex. Mr Brown must tell us. (Guardian Unlimited)
Billie Piper to marry her lover Laurence on New Year's Eve Sep 30, 2007
NAOMI SHOWS HER TEMPO. Naomi Campbell shows perfect footwork on the Italian Strictly Come Dancing. (Daily Mail)
Bird flu fear for unborn babies Sep 30, 2007
Belle De Jour actress Billie plots marriage to actor. and her ex, Chris Evans, is invited to the ceremony. (Daily Mail)
Last night's TV Sep 29, 2007
This is the dramatisation of the Belle de Jour blog/books with Billie Piper in the title role, in case you've been in solitary ... I have no idea whether Belle de Jour is real or an elaborate hoax, or whether happy hookers like her actually exist ... OK, maybe you guessed: I am in fact Belle de Jour, and the reason I'm down on the show is that I don't like what they've done to my work. (Guardian Unlimited)
Billie Piper drama is ratings hit Sep 29, 2007
The drama is based on an online diary, written under the pseudonym Belle de Jour, which became a best-selling book. These were entitled The Intimate Adventures of a London Call Girl. (BBC News -- Entertainment)
Red light spells danger? Sep 27, 2007
Billie Piper as Belle de Jour in the new TV drama Secret Diary Of A Call Girl ... The advert is certainly provocative, but since she gained a high profile, winning awards for best-written blog in 2003, the candid tales of twentysomething high-class London call girl Belle de Jour have been mired in controversy and, when the first episode of the small-screen adaptation of her story goes out tonight, the furore is likely to increase. (Scotsman)
Kate Middleton squeezes into the size zero debate Sep 24, 2007
As the diaries become a TV series, the real Belle de Jour reveals how she taught Billie Piper her secrets. Just days after Posh hit New York in a Herve Leger dress, Big Brother's Chanelle stepped out in a replica frock. (Daily Mail)
McCanns receive legal funding from double glazing magnate Sep 23, 2007
Belle de Jour the diary of an anonymous call girl caused a sensation with its sexual revelations. Now, as it becomes a TV series, the real Belle de Jour reveals how she taught Billie Piper her secrets. (Daily Mail)
Supercell donors offer a cancer lifeline Sep 23, 2007
ULRIKA: DON'T SHOOT ME. Ulrika Jonsson has vowed this time her marriage will last. (Daily Mail)
Billie Piper drama is accused of glamorising prostitution Sep 8, 2007
The Secret Diary of a Call Girl is based on an anonymous internet blog, Belle de Jour, which purportedly was written by a London prostitute who goes by the pseudonym Belle ... The Belle De Jour blog prompted a wave of literary sex memoirs said to be written by prostitutes. (Times Online)
Centre stage for Brit film Aug 31, 2007
Previous winners of the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival have included Vera Drake, Brokeback Mountain and Belle de Jour, so there is much reason to believe that this film marks an increasingly upward turn in the health of British cinema. With a plethora of genuinely talented young actors and actresses finally stepping into the shoes of some our trusted greats, it genuinely feels as though home-grown films are growing in depth and stature. (Norfolk Eastern Daily Press)
The biblical worldof Luis Bunuel Aug 28, 2007
Bunuel (1900-83) is best known to mass audiences for bashing the bourgeoisie, as in Belle de jour, his 1967 portrait of an upper-class housewife turned whore, or the drug-running toffs of The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972), which won him his only Oscar. Early in his career he produced the surrealistic short subject The Andalusian Dog in partnership with painter Salvador Dali, a shocker in 1929 but a bore today. (Asia Times Online)
'Natural flaws' inspired Chanel to make Knightley its new face Aug 14, 2007
from The Independent & The Independent on Sunday. Natural flaws' inspired Chanel to make Knightley its new face. (Independent)
Harry Potter and the blabber of secrets Aug 4, 2007
Is Belle de Jour editing the august organ of Middle England in Paul Dacre's absence. Today's page 3 featured a picture of a scantily-clad female golfer wearing some feathers - or "a winged dominatrix" as the Mail dubbed her. (Guardian Unlimited)
Playboy era revived in a feast for the senses Aug 1, 2007
Her desire takes her from a modelling agency to a brothel (where she renames herself Viva) to a nudist camp and into the arms of a supposedly sensitive hippy who turns out to be just as egocentric as all the other men in her life it's a little like Austin Powers meets Belle de Jour. Luis Bunuel's classic film about the doctor's wife who becomes a prostitute was the original inspiration for Biller's film. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
A Swede as a Spanish painter? 'Goya' vey Jul 21, 2007
Nor does "Goya's Ghosts" work as a metaphor for modern state-sponsored torture, although Forman and his legendary screenwriter Jean-Claude Carriere ("Belle de Jour ," "Cyrano de Bergerac ") certainly lay the groundwork. The problem is focus: The movie has none. (Boston Globe -- Living)
BELLE TOUJOURS Jun 8, 2007
UST because Manoel de Oliveira is 98 (yes, 98) years old doesn't mean the revered Portuguese filmmaker is ready for the rocking chair. He keeps turning out films with the frequency of. (New York Post -- Entertainment)
Trend starters May 29, 2007
Catherine Deneuve was memorably clad in primly impeccable Yves Saint Laurent suits and pillbox hats for her role as an icy desperate housewife moonlighting as a prostitute in Belle de Jour (1967). Richard Gere redefined sexiness in unconstructed Giorgio Armani suits as the titular American Gigolo (1980). (The Star Online, Malaysia)
Stealthy screen time: Prime placement for luxury brands May 29, 2007
There was also Catherine Deneuve wearing Roger Vivier's silver-buckled shoes for her seminal film "Belle de Jour." The film created a cult following for the shoes; now known as Belle Vivier, which continues to this day. And in 1980 Giorgio Armani seared his name into the collective American consciousness when he dressed Richard Gere in the film "American Gigolo.". (International Herald Tribune)
Cannes Film Festival May 25, 2007
It's the kind of pushing-the-edge part that is usually grabbed by Charlotte Rampling, and the transcendent star of "Belle de Jour" and "Repulsion" charges in with a daring and determination that makes one long to see her take on the Oresteia. Deneuve may have taken on a bit of matronly weight, but when she lets her hair down for a sensuous and disturbing final close-up, the good-old bad days of Buuel and Polanski come flooding back. (Newsday -- Entertainment)
'Belle Toujours' is an unsentimental lovers' reunion May 23, 2007
has dedicated his latest treat, "Belle Toujours," to Luis Bunuel and Jean-Claude Carri re 's erotic classic, "Belle de Jour.". Bunuel and Carri re's movie explored the kinky adventures of a bored housewife, whom Catherine Deneuve played with legendarily hot passivity. (Boston Globe)
Catherine the great Apr 6, 2007
In Belle de Jour, the film that made her an international star, Deneuve plays a wealthy, erotically driven woman who leads a secret life as a prostitute ... Nonetheless, Belle de Jour, and another movie made by Bunuel, Tristana, are now counted by Deneuve as among her best films ... Belle de Jour (1967). (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
Blooker prize honours best blogs Mar 31, 2007
Well-known blogs that have become books include Belle de Jour: The Intimate Adventures of a London Call-Girl. The 2007 Blooker is offering a total prize fund of $15,000 (7,750 ) for winners in the three categories of fiction, non-fiction and comics. (Yahoo News -- Literature and Authors)
Billie du jour Mar 16, 2007
" This weekend, Piper is back where she still feels most comfortable - on television, in an ITV1 adaptation of Jane Austen's Mansfield Park, in which she plays the sweet-hearted Fanny Price. She loves the fact that the film was shot on a hand-held camera "which makes it so much more watchable, because sometimes I think period dramas can be a bit dull and stuffy". Intriguingly, she's next signed up to play Belle de Jour, the anonymous sexual adventuress whose online blog earned her a reported... (Scotsman)
Piper picked for 'Belle' Mar 15, 2007
LONDON -- Much-in-demand British thesp Billie Piper will play an upmarket call girl in a British TV adaptation of "Belle de Jour," the blog-turned-book penned by an anonymous London prostitute ... "Belle de Jour" was one of several new projects announced Wednesday by ITV television topper Simon Shaps at a Broadcasting Press Guild lunch ... "Belle de Jour" is "based on the diaries of a working prostitute. It's a modern day 'Moll Flanders,'" he said. (Variety)
Billie on the brink Mar 7, 2007
Yet despite everything, Billie is still a bankable talent - due to appear in a forthcoming ITV adaptation of Jane Austens Mansfield Park and Channel 4 is said to be lining her up to play Belle de Jour, the prostitute behind a highly successful internet blog. But who knows whether the successes will last. (Daily Mail)
Some bloggers have no shame Feb 15, 2007
"Sex blogs offer people the opportunity to express themselves. Her blog (www.girlwithaonetrackmind.blogspot.com), one of several explicit Web diaries to be published as a book, offers a "non-sexist, feminist" view of sex the media ignores, she added. Another blogger, Belle de Jour, whose site (www.belledejour.co.uk) purports to chronicle her work as a London prostitute, said society has become more broad-minded. "I don't believe there is a single person in Europe or North America under the age... (Sydney Morning Herald -- Technology)
Billie The Call Girl Feb 13, 2007
Billie is in talks to play the leading role in a new TV drama Belle De Jour ... A production insider told The Sun: "We've been fascinated by Belle De Jour and thought it would be terrific TV. "Billie will be great in the role because she's naturally really flirty and mischievous. (Sky News)
Billie set for 'callgirl' role Feb 13, 2007
Billie Piper is set to play a callgirl in a TV adaptation of the best-selling book Belle de Jour, it was revealed today ... A Channel 4 spokeswoman said: The Belle de Jour drama is in early development and Billie Piper is attached to star in it. (Ireland Online)
Piper set for TV sex drama Feb 13, 2007
Belle de Jour began as a weblog, with an anonymous woman going into explicit detail about her sex life. Now it is "in development" as a TV show for Channel 4, with Piper "attached" to the lead role. (BBC News -- Entertainment)
Belle de jour Jan 28, 2007
Also in this section. When it comes to playing tortured heroines, the ethereally beautiful Jessica Lange has no equal. (Guardian Unlimited)
European film festival turns from the political to the personal Jan 20, 2007
Other festival highlights include two French films: "Belles Toujours," Manoel de Oliveira's homage to Bu uel's "Belle de jour"; and "Change of Address," a Parisian comedy of manners. "12:08 East of Bucharest" is Romanian Corneliu Porumboiu's farce about the revolution that deposed Ceausescu. (Boston Globe)
Miami Film Festival sets the scene Jan 11, 2007
Belle Toujours, an unofficial sequel to the 1967 Luis Bu;uel classic Belle de Jour by 97-year-old filmmaker Manoel de Oliveira, the oldest working director in the world. The Valet, the latest madcap comedy from France's Francis Veber (The Dinner Game, The Closet). (The Miami Herald)
Ken Russell: The film-maker laid bare Jan 6, 2007
Diehard Russell fans suggest that Altered States (1980) shares interesting territory with the baroque SF of early David Cronenberg, and Crimes of Passion (1984) with the Bu;uel of Belle de Jour. Thereafter, lurid self-imitation takes hold, although Hugh Grant's turn in the Bram Stoker-based horror Lair of the White Worm could appeal to some connoisseurs of camp classics. (Independent)
Book Review: Please, Mr. Einstein Nov 29, 2006
re comes with some serious mojo as a thinker and writer, having worked with the likes of Peter Brook on films like "The Mahabharata" and Luis Buuel on "The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie" and "Belle de Jour." He's obviously worth risking a few hours with, and I'm happy to report that he far exceeded my meager expectations. "Please, Mr. Einstein," unobtrusively translated from the French by John Brownjohn, isn't so much a novel about physics as it is a novel about how people feel about... (International Herald Tribune -- Arts)
Philipe's career cut short (Gary Arnold) Oct 12, 2006
She was destined to moonlight in occasional Hollywood movies, notably "Song Without End," "Youngblood Hawke" (a beloved howler in which she seduced James Franciscus as a fictionalized version of Thomas Wolfe) and "Grand Prix." She may or may not be remembered by art-house patrons as the stern madame of the brothel that employs Catherine Deneuve in Luis Bunuel's "Belle de Jour." Since it's difficult to find Mr. Philipe's better-known movies on DVD, old admirers and curious newcomers might want to... (Washington Times, DC)
Breathless Nic-lit reveals life more ordinary Oct 1, 2006
Then there are the pages (and pages, and pages) in which Thomson fantasises about remaking old films with Kidman as star - Rebecca, for instance, or Belle de Jour, of which he says: "I have dreamed this film with such intensity that it matters to me more than many films I actually have seen.". Right. (The Age, Australia -- Entertainment)
TideWell Hospice sends in the clowns as fundraiser Oct 1, 2006
She's doing J'ask Designs, which includes photo cards being sold at Belle de Jour on Pineapple Avenue, recently bought by Anna Taylor. Part of the shop is devoted to creations by local artists. (Herald-Tribune)
Hot air from a big fan Sep 25, 2006
Thomson has funny passages in which he fantasises about Kidman in a remake of Rebecca, and actually regales us with a dream he once had about being in the movie Belle de Jour, where Kidman is playing Catherine Deneuve's maid. Thomson has the grace to be reasonably embarrassed about Kidman's silly false nose playing Virginia Woolf in The Hours, and he makes a bold and generous case for her performance in Jez Butterworth's comedy Birthday Girl. (Guardian Unlimited)
Divas are for ever Sep 24, 2006
Passages such as this, and a peculiar chapter in which he recalls a dream of visiting the brothel from Buuel s Belle de Jour and finding Kidman dressed as a maid while Catherine Deneuve is being tormented by a Gestapo officer and an elderly Chinaman, give the impression that he has felt impelled to pad out his material. The point of this chapter, and of the book as a whole, is that the seductive actress of Kidman s youth has matured into that wondrous impassive depravity of Deneuve s , that she... (Times Online)
His object of desire Sep 24, 2006
He dreams his own version of Bunuel's Belle de Jour, with Catherine Deneuve as a prostitute and Kidman, who, for Thomson, is the rejuvenation of Deneuve, as her helpfully collaborative maid. Sometimes, the dream turns to a nightmare and Thomson wakes up abruptly. (The Observer)
A violent change of direction Aug 26, 2006
Kokkinos sees her work being in the tradition of such European films as Last Tango in Paris and Belle de Jour and she wants to shake audiences out of what she calls "a certain kind of complacency". The Book of Revelation is based on a novel, set in Amsterdam, by British author Rupert Thomson. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
TV and papers trusted over blogs Aug 21, 2006
----------------- RELATED BBC SITES. Last Updated: Sunday, 20 August 2006, 23:28 GMT 00:28 UK. (BBC News -- UK)
- Kira Cochrane Aug 17, 2006
Its arrival on our screens, however, coincides almost exactly with the publication of the Belle de Jour sequel - a book based on the supposed blog of a Bridget Jones-esque high-class British prostitute ... Respectable and Belle de Jour are the latest additions to a long, non-illustrious list, including the films Pretty Woman and Breakfast at Tiffany's, all of which depict prostitution primarily as a great lark, offering fun, flexible hours, and the chance to meet interesting, caring, fascinating... (Guardian Unlimited)
Venice film fest bets on world premiere lineup Jul 28, 2006
Outside the competition, Oliver Stone's "World Trade Centre", David Lynch's "Inland Empire" and Manoel de Oliveira's "Belle toujours" -- a sequel of Luis Bunuel's classic "Belle de Jour" -- are among the most attention-grabbing titles. RED CARPET. (Scotsman)
Deneuve to head Venice Film Festival jury Jun 15, 2006
Fabio Polimeni / APCatherine Deneuve, 62, starred in "Belle de Jour," which won the Venice Film Festival's Golden Lion in 1967 ... Deneuve, 62, starred in "Belle de Jour," which won the festival's Golden Lion in 1967. (MSNBC -- Movies)
Going sans makeup Jun 7, 2006
Deneuve, 62, the icily beautiful star of "Belle de Jour," was once considered so perfect that she was named France's "Marianne," the idealized embodiment of the French Republic. The face of Chanel in the 1970s, she recently was named the face of MAC's Icon cosmetics line. (AZCentral -- Style)
Review: Schickel on a War Classic May 6, 2006
Its based on a novel Joseph Kessel more famous for writing the book on which Luis Bunuel based Belle de Jour published in 1943, when he was himself a member of the resistance, and it was written and directed by Jean-Pierre Melville (also a resistance fighter) in 1969, a quarter of a century after he first decided that he somehow had to make a movie of this story. It now appears in the United States for the first time in an impeccable print (the images of cinematographer Pierre Lhomme are as... (Time.com)
S.F. film festival strikes out for new frontiers, across globe and across town (ever see a movie at a fire station?) Mar 30, 2006
The screenwriting honor will go to Jean-Claude Carrire, whose credits include "The Tin Drum," "Belle de Jour," "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" and the forthcoming "Goya's Ghosts.". The honorees will all be present at a fundraising event on April 27. (San Francisco Chronicle)
Deneuve collects Bangkok award Feb 26, 2006
The 62-year-old star, whose screen credits include Belle de Jour and Dancer In The Dark, was in the Thai capital to accept the honour. Other Golden Kinaree winners included Oscar hopeful Felicity Huffman for her role in Transamerica, and South African Presely Chweneyagae for Tsotsi. (BBC News -- Entertainment)
Wave of French avant-garde film set to roll out Feb 25, 2006
The society's 30-session programme, which runs from March 14 to October 31, with a break in July for the film festival, has films by Luis Bunuel, including the erotic classic Belle de Jour, and by Michael Haneke, the provocative Austrian who was named best director at Cannes for Hidden. Half a dozen films spanning 50 years are set in New York, and there are several German treasures and a couple of programmes of Kiwi shorts, live-action and animated. (New Zealand Herald)
Jean-Claude Carrière Feb 24, 2006
Carri;re, a vigorous 75-year-old with a classic Gallic beard and doleful-eyed countenance, is one of the world's most illustrious screenwriters: Bu;uel's collaborator for 18 years, with Belle de Jour, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, and That Obscure Object of Desire under his belt, plus other classics including Louis Malle's Milou en Mai ... His films include Belle de Jour (1967), The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972), The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988), and Milou en Mai... (The Independent, UK)
Sex diary grips the nation Feb 23, 2006
Is 'Faceless' the Belle de Jour of podcasts ... Will she, like the call-girl Belle de Jour, attract a publishing deal ... Is 'Faceless' the Belle de Jour of podcasts. (The Independent, UK)
Ruling urged on tsar's 'political death' Feb 23, 2006
Is 'Faceless' the Belle de Jour of podcasts. The stupidity and vanity of Prince Charles. (The Independent, UK)
People in the news Feb 14, 2006
Her screen credits also include roles in Belle de Jour and Dancer in the Dark. Also scheduled appear at the Feb. 17-27 festival in Thailand's capital are Vanessa Redgrave, Christopher Lee, Willem Dafoe, and Diane Ladd. (Sun-Sentinel.com)
A Touch of Evil (The Nation) Feb 10, 2006
But Reygadas further posits that Ana, like the protagonist of Belle de Jour, works in a brothel; that Marcos has the privilege of knowing this secret, and impulsively shares his own secret with her; and that this confidence somehow moves Ana to grant his dream and let him enter her bed. We are now deep into the territory of the unlikely--which Reygadas then denies by venturing on long, nonnarrative forays through the city. (RSS - Yahoo News - Opinion/Editorial)
- Katharine Viner Jan 21, 2006
The Sunday Telegraph offers its middle England readers sex tips from "Belle de Jour", an ex-prostitute who also gained a blog prize from the Guardian's website, and a book deal; the Observer presents the greasy-gloved Sebastian Horsley, a man who claims to have slept with 1,000 prostitutes and is given to saying things like: "What I hate with women generally is the intimacy"; "The whore fuck is the purest fuck of all"; and "The problem is that the modern woman is a prostitute who doesn't deliver... (Guardian Unlimited)
