News

Here's what Seb makes of the first trailer for NBC's forthcoming Hellblazer adaptation, Constantine...

Feature

Last time someone tried bringing John Constantine to the screen, in 2005's Constantine, Keanu Reeves took up the trenchcoat and Silk Cut for what was actually a pretty good film, but not in the slightest a good adaptation of the Hellblazer comic. The question of whether a successful screen take on comics' most charismatic chain-smoking demon-baiting bastard is even possible has therefore yet to be settled – but with the first trailer for NBC's upcoming Constantine TV series, we've been given our first glimpse of the latest attempt. Here, then, is a run through what we think the trailer below, consisting of clips from the recently-shot pilot, has taught us…

An Englishman Abroad

Well, this certainly isn't Keanu. Welshman Matt Ryan has the blond hair and the tan trenchcoat that were missing from the movie version...

Actor known for his roles as clergymen, favourite uncles and tragic-comic characters

There is a great tradition in the rotundity of actors, and Roger Hammond, who has died aged 76 of cancer, stands proudly in a line stretching from Francis L Sullivan and Willoughby Goddard through to Roy Kinnear, Desmond Barrit and Richard Griffiths, though he was probably more malleably benevolent on stage than any of them.

He reeked of kindness, consideration and imperturbability, with a pleasant countenance and a beautiful, soft voice, qualities ideal for unimpeachable clergymen, favourite uncles and tragic-comic characters such as Waffles in Chekhov's Uncle Vanya (whom he played in a 1991 BBC TV film, with David Warner and Ian Holm), a man whose wife left him for another man on his wedding day but who has remained faithful to her and forgiving ever since.

Hammond grew up in Stockport, Lancashire. His chartered accountant father was managing director of his own family firm,...

Having recently doubled up as Philadelphia for a Brad Pitt zombie movie, the city is about to transform into San Francisco

Glasgow in the chill air of autumn may not be your idea of a dead ringer for northern California. But the makers of Cloud Atlas, the film adaptation of David Mitchell's 2004 novel, disagree.

This weekend film crews begin shooting San Francisco-set scenes in the city with Oscar-winner Halle Berry; the film also stars Tom Hanks, Susan Sarandon and Ben Whishaw, and is co-directed by the Matrix trilogy's Wachowski brothers and German filmmaker Tom Tykwer.

It is only weeks since Glasgow was the location for another high-profile shoot, as scenes from World War Z, a zombie film starring Brad Pitt, were shot around the city's grandiose George Square, doubling as Philadelphia. Unlikely as it may seem, Glasgow appears to have become the latest favourite location for Hollywood producers.

Just...

Even if American television is going through a sort of renaissance at the moment, it still doesn’t operate with the sort of free form experimentation that’s allowed in other countries where programming is at least state-sponsored, which at least partially frees creative forces from having to make as many decisions based on the demands of reusable sets, actor contracts, and advertiser demands. This is especially true in Britain, where the active theater scene has taken at least partial root at the BBC, allowing playwrights to experiment with storylines that aren’t necessarily intended to go on to longer series. One of the more prolific and distinguished of these playwrights was Alan Bennett, the most notable of whose work is collected here in this set. Though the set is certain to intrigue those unfamiliar with the format, it is perhaps as unlikely to win over new fans to whom...

The weekend’s here. You’ve just been paid, and it’s burning a hole in your pocket. What’s a pop culture geek to do? In hopes of steering you in the right direction to blow some of that hard-earned cash, it’s time for the Fred Weekend Shopping Guide - your spotlight on the things you didn’t even know you wanted…

(Please support Fred by using the links below to make any impulse purchases - it helps to keep us going…)

Hank & Dean fans rejoice! Not only has the second half of Venture Bros.: Season 4 (Adult Swim, Not Rated, DVD-$19.98 Srp) hit standard DVD, but the entirety of Venture Bros.: Season 4 (Adult Swim, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$39.99 Srp) is now available in lovely high definition. Both releases sport audio commentaries and deleted scenes courtesy of Astrobase Go. In other words, buy them both. Now.

I know...

A TV sequel to The Naked Civil Servant, also starring John Hurt, will reveal how Crisp finally made amends for denying the impact of the disease that devastated the gay community

by Vanessa Thorpe

Arts and Media Correspondent

Quentin Crisp, the wit, gay rights campaigner and avant-garde performer made famous by the 1975 film The Naked Civil Servant, lived in cell-like simplicity for the last years of his life and secretly gave much of his money to Aids charities.

A new sequel to the film, to be screened on television this Christmas, sees the actor John Hurt reprising his celebrated early role, and will reveal Crisp's private attempts to make amends for denying the serious impact of the disease that was laying waste to young men in New York.

Hurt, who this time portrays Crisp in his final years, said he welcomed the chance to thank Crisp by helping to rehabilitate his image among gay men.

This outstanding four-disc box set contains much of Bennett's finest work, ranging in settings from Morecambe to Moscow and is testimony to his acute ear, sharp eye and generous mind and his belief in the old Yorkshire adage that "there's nowt so queer as folk". The dozen items include the first of his Talking Heads series (Patricia Routledge as A Woman of No Importance), and dramatic portraits of Kafka (Daniel Day-Lewis) and Proust (Alan Bates). Looking as good on the big screen as on the box, the films blur the line between TV and cinema and perhaps the best thing in this collection is the pair of films written nearly 20 years apart known as Single Spies: Alan Bates as the exiled Guy Burgess meeting Coral Browne in the Ussr in An Englishman Abroad and James Fox as Anthony Blunt discussing art with Hmq (Prunella Scales) in A Question of Attribution.