Living legend Ray Harryhausen signing at Forbidden Planet London
RAY HARRYHAUSEN and TONY DALTON will be signing An Animated Life at the Forbidden Planet Megastore, 179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, WC2H 8JR, on Saturday 24th October 1 – 2pm.
The last great animator before the introduction of CGI, Ray’s book takes us through sixty years of bringing dreams to life. From harpies and skeletons in Jason and the Argonauts to the six-armed Kali in Sinbad, Ray explains the films’ journeys, from original concept through to the critics’ reviews, as well as the basics of special effects and stop-motion animation. Now re-issued in softcover, An Animated Life is a wonderland guide through a golden age of SFX magic.
Mr Harryhausen is responsible for the barrier breaking animation in much loved classic films such as; Clash of the Titans, Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger, The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, One Million Years B.C., First Men in the Moon, Jason and the Argonauts, Mysterious Island, The 3 Worlds of Gulliver, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad and many more.
Where
Forbidden Planet London Megastore
179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, WC2H 8JR
When
1-2pm Sat 24 Oct, 2009
The 2009 David Lean Lecture given by Atom Egoyan
The David Lean Lecture
The lecture series serves to carry on the legacy of the great director David Lean, one of the founders of the British Film Academy (as it was then known) in 1947 and continuing inspiration to many through his exceptional body of work. The David Lean Lecture in 2007 was presented by American Director David Lynch.
Previous lectures have been delivered by:
2007: David Lynch
2006: Oliver Stone
2005: Woody Allen
2004: John Boorman
2003 Ken Loach
2002 Robert Altman
2001 Sydney Pollack
The 2009 lecture will be given by Atom Egoyan. Over the course of three decades at the forefront of the international film industry, Egoyan has become one of contemporary cinema’s most celebrated auteurs. With feature films including The Adjuster, Calendar, Exotica, The Sweet Hereafter, Felicia’s Journey, Ararat, Where the Truth Lies and 2008’s Adoration Egoyan has garnered countless prizes and nominations, led by Grand Prix and International Critics Awards from the Cannes Film Festival and two Oscar® nominations for The Sweet Hereafter.
Egoyan’s elegant and inventive films feature lonely hearts and isolated figures of unfulfilled desire in often surreal and gloomy scenarios, yet all of his characters are redeemed by his extraordinary compassion for them and insight into their thoughts and feelings. His films are a rare mix of intellect, style and great heart.
Following the UK premiere of his Chloe at the London Film Festival, Egoyan joins the Academy for the prestigious Lean Lecture. With generous support by the Lean Foundation, the lecture is an event in which the world’s most celebrated and compelling directors provide insight into their experiences and into their unique take on cinema and the industry.
Where:
BAFTA
Princess Anne Theatre, 195 Piccadilly, London W1J 9LN
When:
7:45pm Friday 23 Oct, 2009
SCI-FI-LONDON: OKTOBERFEST 2009 Festival
Every October SCI-FI-LONDON hold OKTOBERFEST, a Sci Fi based extravaganza. Arguably the most fun and varied Sci-Fi festival in the world. This year you’ll be able to catch special events, screenings and their popular All-nighter events.
This year they have some really cool stuff happening including “a co-production we are doing with the Royal Observatory Greenwich. Yup, the home of GMT and all things astronomical, we have created SCI-FI-UNIVERSE, a planetarium show from an SF perspective. Also, at the Observatory we will have some talks and a writing workshop. And to celebrate the release of the DVD and Blu-ray, we will do an invite only screening of the new STAR TREK. Click here for details of how to register for this screening and how to buy tickets for this unique night at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich Park. Buy a planetarium ticket and you can attend on of the talks or workshop for free – places are very limited and on a first-come-first served basis, so get there early.”
This years line up:
Friday 23rd October, 2009
Events held at the Royal Observatory Greenwich
6.30pm: Sci-Fi-Universe
8.15pm: Star Trek (2009)
Saturday 24th October, 2009
Events held at the Apollo Piccadilly Circus
9:00pm: SCI-FI-STAND-UP
Midnight: Anime All-nighter
11:00pm: Aliens and Predators All-nighter
11:30pm: MST3K All-nighter
A Christmas Carol Comes To London
Disney’s A Christmas Carol World Premiere and London’s Christmas Light Switch-Ons
London will celebrate the launch of a traditional festive season with one of the capital’s biggest-ever Christmas events on 3 November. This year, the Christmas Lights across the West End and in the City of London will be switched on simultaneously.
There’ll also be a fantastic Christmas concert, and a unique light show at St Paul’s Cathedral.
All this will be followed by the world premiere of Disney’s A Christmas Carol, attended by the major stars of the movie.
Where & When
Christmas Lights Switch-on and Street Concert
London’s Christmas lights will be switched on alongside street concerts between 5pm and 6.30pm on 3 November. Three locations across the city will come together to create London’s first ever co-ordinated street concerts and Christmas light switch-on.
- Oxford Circus – live concert with major performing artists from 5pm, switch-on of Disney’s A Christmas Carol lights by Jim Carrey – finishes at 6.30pm
- Regent Street – live concert with major performing artists from 5pm, switch-on of Disney’s A Christmas Carol lights by Colin Firth and Robin Wright Penn – finishes at 6.30pm
- St Paul’s Cathedral – live concert with major performing artists from 5pm, light show on St Paul’s Cathedral switched on by Bob Hoskins
All events are free to the public – get there early to grab a good viewing spot.
Sing Your Way into the Record Books
Following the Christmas lights switch-on, the three stages will be linked for Londoners to join together to break the Guinness World Record for the largest number of people carol singing at one time! The singing will be led by the St Paul’s Cathedral Choir.
The World Premiere of Disney’s A Christmas Carol: Leicester Square 7.30pm
After the Christmas lights switch-on, the focus will shift to Leicester Square for the world premiere of Disney’s A Christmas Carol.
The film’s world premiere will be one of the most glittering and star-studded premieres that London has ever seen, attended by all the major stars including Jim Carrey and director Robert Zemeckis.
The film will be screened in three of London’s leading cinemas – the Odeon Leicester Square, the Empire Leicester Square and the Odeon West End, all in cutting-edge Disney Digital 3D – creating the biggest-ever 3D screening.
For more info click here!
Classic Screening: The Prisoner (All Nighter)
No Man Is Just A Number.Become a part of world history! To mark the Blu-Ray release of The Prisoner the first 125 Network customers who pre-order the Blu-Ray edition from the Network web site will receive a pair of tickets to “The Prisoner All Nighter”, an all night extravaganza taking place at the Prince Charles Cinema in Central London on Saturday 26th September 2009 starting at 8.30pm, where every episode of The Prisoner will be screened in High Definition for the first time anywhere in the world. Will you still feel like a free man after being subjected to 17 TV hours in the village plus special guests who appeared in the show?
To obtain tickets you simply need to purchase a copy of The Prisoner the Complete Series (RRP £59.99) fromwww.networkdvd.co.uk.
• Tickets to this event for the pre-order DVD will be issued on a first come first serve basis.
• As well as these special tickets each attendee will also receive a 1967 reproduction ITC brochure exclusive to this event.
The Prisoner All Nighter will be opened by Prisoner Loudspeaker Announcer Fenella Fielding and closed by an additional special guest. Attendees will also be entered into a prize draw t win some unique Prisoner merchandise.
Please note the Prince Charles Cineme are NOT taking any bookings for this, to obtain a ticket you MUST go via www.networkdvd.co.uk
Where
The Prince Charles Cinema
7 Leicester Place, WC2
Just north off Leicester Sq & up from Häagen-Dazs
When
8:30pm, Saturday 26 September, 2009
Hitchcon'09 – Celebrating 30 Years of The Hitchiker's Guide To The Galaxy
Get yourself a ticket for the biggest party the unfashionable end of the galaxy has ever seen and join best-selling author Eoin Colfer – creator of criminal mastermind Artemis Fowl – and actor Simon Jones, the original Arthur Dent, in a celebration of 30 years of the late, great Douglas Adams’ classic British comedy. This’ll be your first chance to see, hear and buy the sixth instalment, And Another Thing… by Eoin Colfer.
With other out-of-this-world entertainment throughout the day – including special free screenings of the Hitchhiker’s series in The Clore Ballroom – this is one event no self-respecting lover of classic British comedy will want to miss.
One of the best dystopian sci-fi movies to come out of the 70s, Rollerball focuses on an ultra-violent sport used to keep an overpopulated planet under control and probes its links to politics, the media and big conglomerates. When a star player refuses to obey the owners of his team, the stage is set for a Gladiator-like confrontation between a rebellious individual and the corporate power that seeks to crush him.
Events include:
Photo Call
Start the day at a photocall of the largest number of Hitchhiker’s fans ever.
Session 1: The Douglas Adams Chat Show
A full panel of Hitchhiker’s experts and friends of Douglas Adams discusses the great man and his work.
Booksigning: Mega-signing of the fantastic new edition of the first five Hitchhiker’s novels.
Sessions 2 & 3 (And Another Thing… & Hitchhikers Live On Stage!)
The sixth book in the series, special guests and a live gig – Sessions 2 & 3 of our day-long celebration of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
Booksigning: Eoin Colfer
Buy the new sixth book in the series a day before everyone else and get it signed by Eoin Colfer.
Where
The Southbank Centre
Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX
When
Sunday 11 October, 2009
Exhibition Bridget Bardot and the Original Paparazzi.
Coinciding with the 75th Birthday of Brigitte Bardot on 28th September 2009, James Hyman Gallery presents an exhibition of 75 vintage photographs by some of the most famous paparazzi photographers.
Presented at the same time as London Fashion Week (18-22 September) Brigitte Bardot and the Original Paparazzi focuses on one of the greatest fashion icons of the twentieth century.
Brigitte Bardot . In her day she was quite something, as this exhibition of vintage photos shows. She had a very different relationship to the paparazzi than today; no peeping nips here, she oozed coquettish sophistication.
The word paparazzo in fact is derived from a character in Fellini’s La Dolce Vita, and in this context it’s redolent of a time when the paps mixed with the likes of Sinatra and Bardot on the Côte d’Azur. Come see some marvellous photos of Brigitte in her prime and also some amazing candid shots from films such as Le Mépris – one of the top ten movies ever – in which cinematic glamour went hand in hand with art-house cool. Runs until 3 October.
Where
James Hyman Gallery, 5 Savile Row, W1
When
10-6pm Monday-Friday, 10-2 Saturdays
Preview of Le Donk & Scor-zay-zee and Q&A
Preview of Le Donk & Scor-zay-zee and Q&A with Shane Meadows, Paddy Considine and Mark Herbert.
Rock roadie, Le Donk, has lived, loved and learned. Along the way, he’s lost a classy girlfriend but gained a sidekick, Scorz-Ayz-Ee. He sets out to make Scorz a star with a little help from the Artic Monkeys.
A freewheeling, no-budget experiment by one of the UK’s most prominent and successful producer/director teams, LE DONK was born out of Shane Meadows’ and Mark Herbert’s frustration at the sheer expense of time and money required to get a new project off the ground. Why not just get together an enthusiastic team (including the actor often cited as the De Niro to Meadows’ “Scorsese of the Midlands”, Paddy Considine), cobble together a skeleton script, and simply play for a few days? So, Considine broke out an earlier comic creation of his, an endearing/repellent rock’n’roll roadie known as Donk; an Arctic Monkeys gig provided the backdrop; and Meadows played himself, as a documentary-maker seeking to capture the secrets of a life lived just beyond the reach of the bright lights. Irrepressible fun.
When:
Curzon Soho
99 Shaftesbury Avenue, London ,W1D 5DY
Where:
Sunday 11 October, 4:00pm
Curzon Screen Salon: Special Preview of The Imaginarium Of Dr Parnassus
THE IMAGINARIUM OF DR PARNASSUS AND THE FANTASTIC WORLDS OF TERRY GILLIAM
This Curzon Screen Salon will look back over Terry Gilliam’s career, which has featured as many tragedies and disappointments as it has successes. The Curzon Screen Salons are a series of illustrated lectures before our regular screenings hosted by Ian Haydn Smith, Editor of the International Film Guide.
Dir: Terry Gilliam Starring: Christopher Plummer, Heath Ledger, Tom Waits,
A director seemingly affiliated with bad luck, that Terry Gilliam got to complete this at all is a minor miracle. A fantastical morality tale set in present-day London (for the most part at least), the alternate realities Gilliam spins will be more than familiar to fans of TIME BANDITS and BRAZIL. With more than a hint of Doctor Faustus, the film’s kernel is an ambitious travelling magician whose ambition has caused him to enter a number of deals with the devil, the most personally damaging of which has seen Parnassus (played impeccably by Plummer, THE NEW WORLD) trade immortality for his daughter (Lily Cole) on the occasion of her 16th birthday. A characteristic feast for the senses, the film is a fitting epitaph to Ledger, whose character is also ably portrayed in its transformative states by Jude Law, Colin Farrell and Johnny Depp. Extremely entertaining, the film also has at its heart a larger than life turn from Tom Waits as the devil
Where:
Curzon Soho
99 Shaftesbury Avenue London W1D 5DY
When:
Sunday 11 September, 5pm
Classic screening: The Rocky Horror Picture Show
Restoring the Midnight Movie to Chelsea, Curzon’s popular strand of late-night attractions hosts a special screening of cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show, with full audience participation. Join Janet and Brad as they enter the musical world of alien transvestites and Time Warps in one of the must-do events in life! Dressing up is essential and don’t forget to bring the essentials: rice, newspapers, water pistols, torches, rubber gloves, confetti, toilet paper, toast, party hat, bells and cards. Plus, all ticket holders receive a complimentary Jameson cocktail.
Where:
Curzon Cinema Chelsea
206 Kings Road
London
SW3 5XP
When:
Friday 18 September,10:30pm
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