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Patti Smith responded Saturday to Taylor Swift’s recent mention of her in the title track of her album, The Tortured Poets Department.

Swift name-drops Smith, a rock poet and artist, alongside poet Dylan Thomas in the chorus of her song “The Tortured Poets Department,” released along with its namesake album Friday. She sings, “I laughed in your face and said / ‘You’re not Dylan Thomas, I’m not Patti Smith / This ain’t the Chelsea Hotel / We’re modern idiots.’”

On Instagram, Smith posted a photo of herself reading a Dylan Thomas collection on Instagram, writing: “This is / saying I was / moved to be / mentioned in / the company / of the great / Welsh poet / Dylan Thomas. / Thank you, Taylor.”

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Thomas, a 20th century writer, was famous for his poem “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night,...

Richard Burton was one of the most influential actors of the 60s and one of the highest-paid actors at the time. He was known for his signature baritone voice and became a Shakespearean actor. He played Hamlet in the 1964 Broadway production of the popular play by William Shakespeare, where his performance was lauded by the general public.

Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor in 1963’s Cleopatra

He has also been nominated for an Oscar many times in his career for his great performances in many films. However, his most popular aspect that made headlines was his turbulent relationship with Elizabeth Taylor. Now, a new book based on their life together suggests that Taylor is responsible for the downfall of Burton’s time as a classical actor.

Meeting Elizabeth Taylor Reportedly Put an End to Richard Burton’s Broadway Career Richard Burton as Hamlet in the 1964 Broadway play of the same name...

Jones sang ‘Delilah’ with opera star Luciano Pavarotti at the tenor’s annual charity concert in aid of Afghan refugees.

In 1992, Jones recorded a version of “All You Need Is Love” for ChildLine and performed in a live stage performance of Dylan Thomas’ “Under Milkwood” to benefit the Prince's Trust. He also supported the Prince’s charity in 2001 at the London fundraiser “Party In The Park”.

In 1993, Tom recorded version of the Rolling Stones’ classic “Gimme Shelter” to benefit the UK homeless charity, Shelter, and sang at Sting's annual show at Carnegie Hall to benefit his charity, The Rainforest Foundation.

Charities & foundations supported

Tom Jones has supported the following charities:

Bridge SchoolCash For KidsComic ReliefElton John AIDS FoundationGRAMMY FoundationHelp for HeroesHoping FoundationMusiCaresNordoff RobbinsPrince's TrustSmall Steps Project Read more about Tom Jones's charity work and events. Related articles Elton John, P. Diddy and Andrew Lloyd-Webber to Celebrate Life of Princess...

In 1973, the killer of Welsh teenagers Sandra Newton, Pauline Flynn and Gwendoline Hughes was not caught, despite a high-profile and widespread investigation by South Wales Police. The girls’ families spent the next three decades not knowing who was responsible for brutally taking the lives of their loved ones, or whether he still lived alongside them in the local Neath and Port Talbot communities.

In 2002, a development in forensics changed everything. The cold case was reopened with much pared-down resources, and crime scene DNA was successfully used to identify Wales’ first recorded serial killer. Steeltown Murders is the story of the loss, guilt and suspicion that followed the 1970s murders, and of the perseverance of the officers who were eventually able to provide the victims’ families with the answers they’d been denied years before.

Here are the actors making up the cast behind Steeltown Murders‘ dramatisation of real-life figures and events.

Ivana Miloš, Poppy of the Underworld (2022), monotype, gouache, and collage with poppy flower heads on paper.Sleeping Beauty"And now my beauties, something with poison in it I think, with poison in it, but attractive to the eye and soothing to the smell . . . poppies, poppies, poppies will put them to sleep."—The Wicked Witch of the West, The Wizard of OzThose who came back from the cave of Hypnos, god of sleep, couldn’t tell their kings and families waiting in the world above about its entrance, which was covered with bright red poppies drawing water from the flowing stream of Lethe, the river of forgetfulness. They simply forgot or were found in a strange trance mumbling in foreign tongues, somnambulant shadows of their former selves, wearing a distant but happy smile on their petrified faces. When faced with the seductive, herbaceous plants, which tilted their head to the ground...

Picturehouse Entertainment has debuted a new trailer and poster for the forthcoming haunting slow-burning horror ‘The Feast’, and we’ve got the exclusive just for you.

Filmed in the Welsh language, the story unfolds over the course of one evening as a wealthy family gathers for a sumptuous dinner in their ostentatious house in the Welsh mountains. The guests are a local businessman and a neighbouring farmer, and the intent is to secure a business deal to mine in the surrounding countryside. When a mysterious young woman arrives to be their waitress for the evening, the family’s beliefs and values are challenged as her quiet yet disturbing presence begins to unravel their lives – slowly, deliberately and with the most terrifying consequences.

Written and directed by Lee Haven Jones (Doctor Who) – who makes his directorial debut with the feature – the film stars Annes Elwy (Little Women), Nia Roberts (Under Milk Wood...

Directors are queueing up to work with the Welsh actor about to hit the big time in her first lead role, in acclaimed psychological thriller Saint Maud

When Morfydd Clark was 16 years old, she crashed out of school. “After my GCSEs I just couldn’t go back,” she says. “I tried for a term but didn’t do any work and my mum said: ‘Why don’t you just drop out? There’s no point in being there if you’re going to be like this.’ So I spent a month in my pyjamas in my bedroom with the heating on, eating chocolates, and then she said: ‘Right, you’ve got to do something. You like acting, don’t you?’”

The reality was that Clark had barely done any acting since she was 13, when she had tottered around in high heels as a “hilariously sexualised” Mrs Dai Bread Two in...

Bankside Films has boarded sales on Welsh-language contemporary horror “The Feast” (Gwledd), the directorial debut of Lee Haven Jones. Bankside will be talking to buyers about the project and showing a promo during the Virtual Cannes week, which starts on June 22.

Best known for his directorial work in television, Haven Jones has helmed episodes of “Doctor Who,” “The Bay” and “Vera.”

“The Feast” was written by Roger Williams, who also produces through production outfit Joio. It stars Annes Elwy (“Little Women”), Nia Roberts (“Under Milk Wood”) and Julian Lewis Jones (“Justice League”), alongside Steffan Cennydd (“Last Summer”) and Sion Alun Davies (“The Left Behind”).

The film unfolds over the course of one evening as a wealthy family gathers for a sumptuous dinner in their ostentatious house in the Welsh mountains. The guests are a local businessman and a neighboring farmer, and the intent is to secure a business deal to mine in the surrounding countryside.

Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce, arguably two of the greatest actors ever to come out of the British Isles, have surprisingly only worked together once before. The two Welshmen collaborated on a special one-night production of Dylan Thomas’s Under Milk Wood in the presence of Prince Charles in December 1992. But as they gather to discuss their latest collaboration on The Two Popes, Hopkins has to remind Pryce that he had directed Pryce’s work in the show.

Why has it taken them this long to find a pair of roles—one German and one Argentinian Pope—that brought them together in a major way? Perhaps it was divine intervention. In Anthony McCarten’s delectably literate and entertaining screenplay, The Two Popes, directed with style and grit by Fernando Meirelles, they both get to roll off dialogue that would be the envy of any actor, and both have landed deserved...

Did you know the acting talent in the Hoult family extends beyond established movie star Nicholas? Meet the Mad Max: Fury Road star's older sister Rosanna, who had a small role in Captain America: The First Avenger and co-starred with Nicholas in the 2015 dark comedy Kill Your Friends. Here are five things to know about the up-and-coming actress: She was bit by the acting bug after winning a national singing competition at age 7"I'm focusing on acting at the moment but if the right part came up I’d be tempted," Hoult tells People of potentially tapping back into her vocal talents.

Did you know the acting talent in the Hoult family extends beyond established movie star Nicholas? Meet the Mad Max: Fury Road star's older sister Rosanna, who had a small role in Captain America: The First Avenger and co-starred with Nicholas in the 2015 dark comedy Kill Your Friends. Here are five things to know about the up-and-coming actress: She was bit by the acting bug after winning a national singing competition at age 7"I'm focusing on acting at the moment but if the right part came up I’d be tempted," Hoult tells People of potentially tapping back into her vocal talents.

If the Academy is on the same time table they were last year with the Foreign Language Film volunteer committee we should know the 9 finalists from the 80-wide foreign submission list before the weekend. But before we get there, let's look back on where we've been. It's the most coverage we've ever done for one of our favorite categories so we hope you've been reading along and trying to see what you could (these films are often elusive, we know).

Much thanks to Jose who has been invaluable in seeking out interviews. Catch up on the coverage like so...

"everything u ever wanted to know about the foreign film category *...but were afraid to ask" Pt 1 81 Trailers | Pt 2 Female Directors & Debuts | Pt 3 Zoology | Pt 4 I know that face! | Pt 5 More Trivia!

goodnight mommyTHE Films

Afghanistan, Utopia Disqualified | Albania, Bota | Algeria, Twilight of Shadows

Argentina, The Clan Reviewed | Australia, Arrows of the Thunder Dragon

Austria,...

Rhys Ifans is persuasive and Charlotte Church game in this raucous Dylan Thomas adaptation

Concluding the 100th anniversary celebrations of Dylan Thomas’s birth, here is a ramshackle visualisation of the poet’s 1954 radio drama. Thomas’s Under Milk Wood has spawned diverse adaptations and tributes – stage productions, a ballet, Stan Tracey’s revered jazz suite and a 1972 film by Andrew Sinclair, starring Elizabeth Taylor, Peter O’Toole and the original radio narrator, Richard Burton.

Probably few other versions are as raucous as this offering from Kevin Allen, who made his name with 1997’s laddish Cardiff romp Twin Town. That film’s star Rhys Ifans persuasively channels Burton’s night-deep tones in his voiceover, as well as playing the haunted seadog, Captain Cat. Also starring is Charlotte Church, more pert than earthy as local siren Polly Garter, but undeniably game for the revelry.

Continue reading...

Spectre | Under Milk Wood | Taxi Tehran | Black Souls | Vaaliba Raja | Fresh Dressed | The Vatican Tapes | Outcast | Do I Sound Gay?

After the upheaval of Skyfall, the hallmarks of the traditional Bond movie are very much back in place here – and the good news is, Bond’s lightened up a bit too. There’s the expected polish to the action set-pieces and international intrigues, which acknowledge both Bond movies past and the post-Snowden present. On the downside, there’s little for the women to do apart from look alluring, and a lot of nonsense to forgive in a plot that feels more retro-fitted than meticulously planned.

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Catherine Shoard and Henry Barnes join Xan Brooks for our weekly round-up of the big cinema releases, including Jafar Panahi's vibrantly defiant Taxi Tehran and Charlotte Church in a wonky adaptation of Under Milk Wood

Catherine Shoard and Henry Barnes join Xan Brooks for our weekly round-up of the big cinema releases. In a week in which Spectre has scared off all but the bravest of indie releases the team take a joy ride with Jafar Panahi in the jubilantly defiant Taxi Tehran; watch Charlotte Church and Rhys Ifans chase the spirit of Dylan Thomas into the sea in Under Milk Wood; and pay their respects to a new family of Italian gangsters in the fearsome Black Souls. Plus, a tribute to the late, great Observer film critic Philip French

• Watch the video version of this week's show

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Xan Brooks, Catherine Shoard and Henry Barnes review Kevin Allen’s adaptation of Dylan Thomas’s classic work, originally a radio play. Charlotte Church and Rhys Ifans are among the actors playing the wandering villagers of Llareggub, with Captain Cat (Ifans) lost in tales of his seafaring days and Polly Garter (Church) determined to find herself some fun. Under Milk Wood is released in the UK on Friday 29 October

Watch the full Guardian film show Continue reading...

Catherine Shoard and Henry Barnes join Xan Brooks for our weekly round-up of the big cinema releases. In a week in which Spectre has scared off all but the bravest of indie releases the team take a joy ride with Jafar Panahi in the jubilantly defiant Taxi Tehran; watch Charlotte Church and Rhys Ifans chase the spirit of Dylan Thomas into the sea in Under Milk Wood; and pay their respects to a new family of Italian gangsters in the fearsome Black Souls. Plus, a tribute to the late, great Observer film critic Philip French

Continue reading...

To create a film that is befitting of original prose by the formidable poet Dylan Thomas, is a near impossible task that has been undertaken by Kevin Allen in his adaptation of the Welsh wordsmith’s radio drama Under Milk Wood. It’s the second time it’s been attempted, following Richard Burton’s 1972 endeavour, and while

The post Under Milk Wood Review appeared first on HeyUGuys.

★☆☆☆☆ In his childhood town, in his beloved Wales, Dylan Thomas is spinning in his grave. In what may be one of the most perverse and unusual approaches to unfurling a poetic work across the big screen, Under Milk Wood (2015) makes a great effort to little reward. It's a disorienting adaptation and not in an amusing mid-century, stream-of-consciousness manner. This is the second time Thomas's lyrical radio play has been brought into the cinemas but this second effort is reaching for recognition and offering little in return.

Rhys Ifans and Charlotte Church star in the film which hopes to be the first Welsh contender since 2000

A Welsh language adaptation of the Dylan Thomas play Under Milk Wood has been selected as the UK submission for the best foreign language category at next year’s Oscars.

Related: Under Milk Wood review - Rhys Ifans in a highly coloured fever dream

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I wonder if Oscar’s ears were burning. A day after I took a preliminary look at the Best Foreign Language Feature race, the Academy has gone ahead and revealed the 81 countries, and as such 81 titles, that will be competing for a citation at their ceremony. It’s a large slate, full of pretenders but also more than its fair share of contenders as well. The 88th Academy Awards will be announce their nominations on January 14th, with five of the 81 set to go for the gold. A handful of players seem likely to be nominated, but at this stage in the game…anything is possible, give or take one very big frontrunner. Of the 81 countries, only one is a first time submitter, and that’s Paraguay, oddly enough. Everyone else here has been competing for Oscars before, regardless of if they’ve been given nominations before or not. It...

Dylan Thomas’ celebrated radio play has been energetically adapted to the big screen with Charlotte Church among the gallery of fun performances

The spirit of Richard Burton looms large over any rendering of Under Milk Wood: the actor’s sonorous vowels, on display in what has hitherto been considered the definitive cinematic version from 1972, somehow seem to perfectly embody Dylan Thomas’ effusive, garrulous poetry. It would be enough to put anyone off even having a go, but Rhys Ifans has stepped bravely up to the plate for this hyperactive, highly coloured adaptation directed by Kevin Allen.

Under Milk Wood, famously, originated as a radio play that Thomas wrote for the BBC, and was first broadcast in 1954 after the poet’s death. With its discursive verse style, it’s a resolutely uncinematic text, for all its evocative qualities: the addition of actual images, you would suppose, would be superfluous. Allen...

Suffer the First Vision: Goddard’s Debut Anchored in Episode of Literary Distress

Doomed Welsh poet Dylan Thomas gets a contemporary biopic treatment in Set Fire to the Stars, taking its name from the last line of his poem “Love in the Asylum.” The film marks the feature debut of British television alum Andy Goddard (“Torchwood,” “Downton Abbey”) and is presented in striking black and white, giving the visual attributes a dramatic edge over the familiar succession of beats often evidenced in these portraits of mad artists. Told through the perspective of poet and literary critic John Brinnin, the man responsible for bringing Thomas to the Us for the first time, the treatment is based partially on his highly criticized account, Dylan Thomas in America. Goddard and co-writer Celyn Jones (who stars as Thomas) don’t appear to take many liberties and/or risks, despite some slight implications concerning Brinnin’s latent desires.

Exclusive: Rhys Ifans and singer Charlotte Church star in Edinburgh-bound drama.

Metrodome Distribution has acquired UK and Ireland rights to the feature version of Dylan Thomas classic Under Milk Wood from Metro International.

Rhys Ifans (The Amazing Spider-Man) and singer Charlotte Church star in the drama, which will debut at this month’s Edinburgh International Film Festival.

Kevin Allen (Twin Town) directs the surreal story in which Blind Captain Cat (Rhys Ifans) is tormented in his dreams by his drowned shipmates, and the innermost thoughts of the inhabitants of a fictional small Welsh fishing village Llareggub.

The deal was negotiated by Metrodome MD Jezz Vernon and Metro International’s head of sales Natalie Brenner.

The film adaptation, from wrtiers Murray Lachlan Young, Michael Breen and Allen, is the first of Thomas’ classic 1954 radio drama since Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton’s 1972 feature.

Under Milk Wood is presented by fFatti fFilms and Metro International, in association...

Ewan McGregor, Jane Seymour, Malcolm McDowell and Hong Kong director Johnnie To among the guests set to attend the festival.Scroll down for competition titles

The line-up for the 69th Edinburgh International Film Festival (Eiff) has been unveiled this morning by new artistic director Mark Adams.

This year’s Eiff (June 17-28) will comprise 164 features from 36 countries, including 24 world premieres, eight international premieres, 16 European premieres and 84 UK premieres.

Highlights including the UK premiere of Asif Kapadia’s documentary Amy, about the life of singer Amy Winehouse; the latest Disney-Pixar animation Inside Out; Arnold Schwarzenegger in zombie drama Maggie; comedy The D-Train, starring Jack Black and James Marsden; and a biopic of The Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson, Love & Mercy, in which John Cusack and Paul Dano play different aged versions of the musician.

Classic Screenings will include a rare outing for Noel Marshall’s Roar, a cult 1981 big cat movie.

Star power

This year’s Eiff will present...

In 1953, the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas premiered his masterpiece, Under Milk Wood, in front of a live audience at New York's 92nd Street Y. In celebration of Thomas's centenary, this beloved 'play for voices' will come full circle this afternoon, October 26 - when actor Michael Sheen directs and stars in a live broadcast reading of Under Milk Wood at 92Y.

Wales' most famous literary son, Dylan Thomas (A Child's Christmas in Wales, Under Milk Wood) led a relatively short life, but a successful one, one that has not, until now, appeared much on screen. Set Fire to the Stars premiered earlier this year at the Edinburgh International Film Festival and is set for release in the UK on November 7th.The film stars Elijah Wood as John M. Brinnin, an American poet and critic who is put in charge of organizing Thomas' first Us tour. Thomas (Celyn Jones) proves more than a handful, and the two go into retreat, where Brinnin must save his hero and get him stateside.The film is directed by Andy Goddard (Torchwood, Downton Abbey), and rounding out an excellent cast are Shirley...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

In 1953, the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas premiered his masterpiece, Under Milk Wood, in front of a live audience at New York's 92nd Street Y. In celebration of Thomas's centenary, this beloved play for voices will come full circle on the afternoon of October 26 - when actor Michael Sheen directs and stars in a live broadcast reading of Under Milk Wood at 92Y.

Masters of Sex star Michael Sheen will celebrate the 100th birthday of his fellow Welshman Dylan Thomas with an October 26 live reading of Thomas’ Under Milk Wood at the 92nd Street Y’s Kaufmann Concert Hall that will be simultaneously broadcast on BBC Radio Wales. Thomas’ play, which chronicles the dreams and lives of the people in the fictional town of Llareggub, premiered in 1953 at the same venue where Sheen will direct a group of Welsh actors and read the role of the “First Voice,” the New York Times reported.

“It’s a real honor and an absolute thrill to...

First image released of Rhys Ifans in the new film adaptation of the iconic work by poet Dylan Thomas.

Principal photography on a feature film version of Dylan Thomas’s iconic work Under Milk Wood has wrapped in West Wales, it has been announced by Ffatti Ffilms, S4C, Goldfinch Pictures and Ffilm Cymru Wales.

Based on Thomas’s classic radio drama, the film stars Rhys Ifans (The Amazing Spider-Man 2) as First Voice/Captain Cat, an old sea captain who dreams of his deceased crew members and lost love.

Directed by Kevin Allen, who made Ifans’ breakthrough film Twin Town, the six-week shoot took place in the tiny harbour village of Solva, in Pembrokeshire.

Singer Charlotte Church co-stars as Polly Garter, a woman pining for her lost lover. Other roles are taken by a host of Welsh actors with guest appearances from rugby legend Gareth Edwards and former Labour leader Lord Kinnock.

Allen and Ifans...

Festival will also see director Rowan Joffe and novelist Sj Watson present Before I Go To Sleep, starring Nicole Kidman, Colin Firth and Mark Strong.

The 34th edition of the Cambridge Film Festival (Aug 28 - Sept 7) is to open with The Kidnapping Of Michel Houellebecq, Guillaume Nicloux’s comedy-drama based in part on true events.

It recounts the disapperance of reclusive French novelist Michel Houellebecq during a book tour in 2011. The rumours of his whereabouts led to endless speculation, including a kidnapping. The film, which stars the novelist as himself, will be presented at the festival by Nicloux.

Special guests at this year’s festival include writer-director Rowan Joffe and novelist Sj Watson who will present Before I Go To Sleep, an amnesiac thriller starring Nicole Kidman, Colin Firth and Mark Strong.

Skip Kite will present his timely tribute to late politican Tony Benn: Will and Testament, while Andrew Sinclair, director of 1972’s...

New films on Screenbase this week include thriller Long Time Coming and a new adaptation of Dylan Thomas’s Under Milk Wood.

UK thriller Long Time Coming – North vs South recently, from writer-director Steven Nesbit and producers Benjamin Foottit and Mark Foligno, recently wrapped shooting.

Cast on the feature includes Bernard Hill, Steven Berkoff, Greta Scacchi, Keith Allen, Steve Evets, Elliot Tittensor, Charlotte Hope, Geoff Bell, Oliver Cotton, Brad Moore, Freema Agyeman and Sydney Wade.

The film focusses on the battle between a group of brutal northern hard men and their southern criminal enemies, during which two star-crossed young lovers from the rival families carry out an illicit affair.

Dylan Thomas adaptation

Principal photography on an adaptation of Under Milk Wood, starring Rhys Ifans, has begun in Wales.

Based on Dylan Thomas’s classic radio drama, the film stars Ifans as First Voice/Captain Cat, an old sea captain who dreams of his deceased crew members and lost...

Charlotte Church has joined the cast of an upcoming Dylan Thomas film.

Rhys Ifans leads the cast of Welsh stars in a movie version of Thomas's Under Milk Wood.

Former Labour leader Neil Kinnock and rugby star Gareth Thomas have also joined the cast in guest roles.

Ifans will play the narrator in the film, previously played by Richard Burton in the original radio play and the 1972 version.

Church is to appear as Polly Garter, who is pining for her deceased lover.

The project is being filmed over six weeks in Solva, Pembrokeshire, with villagers to appear as extras.

Director Kevin Allen told BBC News: "We want to veer away from delivering a dull, literal reflection of Thomas's original work, intending instead to explore some of the more erotic, visceral elements of the richly funny, filthily fluid, magical dreamscape - whilst not stooping to mess with Thomas's original text.

Principal photography on an adaptation of Under Milk Wood, starring Rhys Ifans, has begun in Wales.

Based on Dylan Thomas’s classic radio drama, Under Milk Wood stars Ifans as First Voice/Captain Cat, an old sea captain who dreams of his deceased crew members and lost love.

Directed by Kevin Allen, who made Ifans’ breakthrough film Twin Town, the shoot in the tiny harbour village of Solva, in Pembrokeshire, will last six weeks.

Singer Charlotte Church will co-star as Polly Garter, a woman pining for her lost lover. Other roles are taken by a host of Welsh actors with guest appearances from rugby legend Gareth Edwards and former Labour leader Lord Kinnock.

Allen and Ifans are producers of the film, along with Stephen Malit, producer of Julien Temple’s London – The Modern Babylon. Allen also contributed to the screenplay, written by Murray Lachlan Young with Michael Breen.

DoP is Andy Hollis, production designer...

Exclusive: Dylan Thomas drama starring Elijah Wood gets UK sales company.

UK sales outfit The Works International has picked up rights to Dylan Thomas drama Set Fire to the Stars, which will receive its world premiere at the Edinburgh Film Festival next week (June 23).

Based on John M Brinnin’s account of the hell-raising poet’s first visit to New York in 1950, the film is the feature debut of director Andy Goddard (Downton Abbey) and stars Elijah Wood, Celyn Jones, Kelly Reilly, Stephen Mackintosh and Shirley Henderson.

Written by Andy Goddard and Celyn Jones and produced by A J Riach (Battle of the Sexes) and Andy Evans, the drama is a Mad as Birds Films presentation.

Wood will attend the Eiff premiere, along with Jones and Goddard. Following the screening there will be a performance from Gruff Rhys, lead singer of the Super Furry Animals, who composed the original score for the film.

Clare Crean, head...

The Cambridge Film Festival to be held earlier than in previous years and will include a focus on the early silent films of Gerhard Lamprecht.

The 34th edition of the Cambridge Film Festival is being moved forward from its traditional dates in mid-September to the end of August. For its 2014 edition, the festival will run from Aug 28 to Sept 7 at the Arts Picturehouse and other venues in Cambridge.

Highlights from the 2014 programme include a focus on Gerhard Lamprecht. Marking the 50th anniversary of German film archive Deutsche Kinemathek, the early silent films of Gerhard Lamprecht - founder of the Kinemathek - have been digitally restored.

These titles include In The Slums Of Berlin (1925), Children Of No Importance (1926), People To Each Other (1926) and Under The Lantern (1928). The restored films, which centre on people on the margins of society, will be presented with new scores and live accompaniments by Guenter Buchwald.

Marking the Dylan Thomas centenary year, the festival...

The Cambridge Film Festival to be held earlier than in previous years and will include a focus on the early silent films of Gerhard Lamprecht.

The 34th edition of the Cambridge Film Festival is being moved forward from its traditional dates in mid-September to the end of August. For its 2014 edition, the festival will run from Aug 28 to Sept 7 at the Arts Picturehouse and other venues in Cambridge.

Highlights from the 2014 programme include a focus on Gerhard Lamprecht. Marking the 50th anniversary of German film archive Deutsche Kinemathek, the early silent films of Gerhard Lamprecht - founder of the Kinemathek - have been digitally restored.

These titles include In The Slums Of Berlin (1925), Children Of No Importance (1926), People To Each Other (1926) and Under The Lantern (1928). The restored films, which centre on people on the margins of society, will be presented with new scores and live accompaniments by Guenter Buchwald.

Marking the Dylan Thomas centenary year, the festival...

Entertainment accountancy firm Nyman Libson Paul has launched an innovative new funding initiative called The Movies Begin Ltd (Tmb), intended to help producers at the early stages of financing their films.

Tmb will allow producers to borrow against their expected film tax credits and Vat repayments.

Unlike similar, existing tax credit loans, Tmb will not routinely wait until shooting begins to release the money and nor will it insist on a completion bond in every case.

The project is being led by Kirsty Bell, a film specialist and chartered tax adviser at Nyman Libson Paul, herself a producer.

“Producers are under massive financial pressure in the early stages of making a movie. More and more, agents and other contractors want money up front,” Bell noted. “What Tmb allows producers to do is to borrow against the money that everyone knows will flow back into the project in the late stages via Film Tax Credits and Vat.”

Tmb...

Entertainment accountancy firm Nyman Libson Paul has launched an innovative new funding initiative called The Movies Begin Ltd (Tmb), intended to help producers at the early stages of financing their films.

Tmb will allow producers to borrow against their expected film tax credits and Vat repayments.

Unlike similar, existing tax credit loans, Tmb will not routinely wait until shooting begins to release the money and nor will it insist on a completion bond in every case.

The project is being led by Kirsty Bell, a film specialist and chartered tax adviser at Nyman Libson Paul, herself a producer.

“Producers are under massive financial pressure in the early stages of making a movie. More and more, agents and other contractors want money up front,” Bell noted. “What Tmb allows producers to do is to borrow against the money that everyone knows will flow back into the project in the late stages via Film Tax Credits and Vat.”

Tmb...

Rhys Ifans will reportedly play poet Dylan Thomas in a biopic called Dominion.

The indie drama, which takes place in 1953 New York, focuses on the final days of the poet's life. Thomas died at the age of 39 after a number of visits to White Horse Tavern in Greenwich Village.

John Malkovich and Diego Luna will also star in the upcoming movie, which will be written and directed by Steven Bernstein, reports Variety.

Thomas died a few weeks into a Us tour of poetry readings. Records suggest that Thomas was not well during the tour, but continued to consume large amounts of alcohol.

Ifans is currently working on numerous projects about Dylan Thomas. He will star in a new film adaptation of his radio play Under Milk Wood, and will front an upcoming documentary about the poet's life.

Dominion will begin shooting later this month.

John Malkovich will also star in biopic about the New York death of hard-drinking Under Milk Wood writer

Rhys Ifans to star in adaptation of Under Milk Wood

Rhys Ifans will play Dylan Thomas in a biopic set during the days leading up to the death of the iconic Welsh poet, according to Variety.

Ifans, who is also appearing in a new film adaptation of Thomas's radio play Under Milk Wood and is presenting a documentary about the poet, will join John Malkovich and Diego Luna in Dominion, which is being directed and written by Decoding Annie Parker's Steven Bernstein. Dominion will be set in 1953 in New York, where Thomas, who had alcoholism, died at the age of 39 after multiple visits to White Horse Tavern, in Greenwich Village. He'd also received from a local doctor a series of "injections" designed to help him complete public performances of Under Milk Wood.

Tom Jones, Sian Phillips & Michael Sheen Join ‘Under Milk Wood’ Cast Tom Jones, Sian Phillips and Michael Sheen have joined the cast of Under Milk Wood, BBC Wales TV’s adaptation of Dylan Thomas’ “play for voices.” Jones stars as the blind and tormented Captain Cat, with Sheen among several actors playing First Voice and Second Voice, including Matthew Rhys and John Rhys Davies. The cast also includes Jonathan Pryce, Ioan Gruffudd and opera star Bryn Terfel. Since its debut on radio 60 years ago, the tale of the residents of the fictional Welsh village of Llareggub has been adapted as a stage play, an opera, and a 1972 starring Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. Marco Frazier Upped To Svp At AMC/Sundance Channel Global AMC/Sundance Channel Global has promoted Marco Frazier to Svp Global Distribution, Emea. Based in Italy, he will oversee the channel’s distribution in the region. Frazier...

Michael Sheen, legendary singer Tom Jones and acclaimed veteran actress Sian Phillips have joined the cast of "Under Milk Wood" for BBC Wales TV.

The project is an adaptation of Dylan Thomas' "play for voices" with Jones starring as the blind and tormented Captain Cat.

The tale follows the residents of the fictional Welsh village of Llareggub. Sheen is one of several actors playing First Voice and Second Voice, as is Matthew Rhys and John Rhys Davies.

Jonathan Pryce, Ioan Gruffudd and opera star Bryn Terfel also star.

Source: Deadline...

Sir Tom Jones, Michael Sheen and Katherine Jenkins are among the Welsh stars that will take part in a one-off performance of Under Milk Wood.

BBC Wales is putting on a production of the famous "play for voices" from Welsh playwright Dylan Thomas, to mark the 60th anniversary of the first BBC radio broadcast of the play in 1954.

It also marks 100 years since the birth of Thomas, who was also famous for his plays and other radio broadcasts.

BBC One Wales will air the performance in early May, while the rest of the UK will be able to access it via BBC iPlayer.

Matthew Rhys, Griff Rhys Jones, Aneurin Barnard, Ioan Gruffudd, Charlotte Church and Eve Myles are also part of the cast.

Tom Ellis, Iwan Rheon, Kimberley Nixon and Aimee-Ffion Edwards will also play their part in the celebratory performance.

Katherine Jenkins said: "It was wonderful to be involved...

The last time we saw Rhys Ifans on the big screen, he was turning into a scaly lizard man and causing trouble for The Amazing Spider-Man. It's a fair bet we'll have 100 per cent fewer reptilian attacks when he stars in the new film adaptation of the Dylan Thomas story Under Milk Wood.Ifans is also co-writing the project, based on a script that's also by director Kevin Allen, Michael Breen and Murray Lachlan Young. Originally written as a radio drama in 1954 by poet Dylan Thomas, the story has been adapted for the stage. It's all set in a fictional small Welsh fishing village called Llareggub (read that backwards to see the gag) and finds an omniscient narrator called First (Ifans) allowing a peek into the thoughts and dreams of the citizens across a night and a day.Among the residents are Captain Cat (also Ifans), a blind old sea...

Lit buffs rejoice! Iconic Welsh poet Dylan Thomas' 1954 radio play "Under Milk Wood" is slated for a new film adaptation, with Rhys Ifans tapped to star. It will be shot back-to-back in both English and Welsh for seven weeks this summer. Kevin Allen, who will direct and produce, and fFATTI fFILMS announced this morning that they finally secured the UK and international film rights to Dylan Thomas' wondrous literary work about the inner lives of the denizens of a fictional Welsh town.  In this "Play for Voices," Ifans stars as First Voice, a role once played by Richard Burton alongside Elizabeth Taylor in director Andrew Sinclair's 1972 film version. This latest iteration of "Under Milk Wood" will take a dark, dreamlike approach to the source material, while maintaining Thomas' bawdy sense of humor.  Ifans is Welsh himself and knows a thing or two about working with literature, as...

London – Director and producer Kevin Allen, best known for the Welsh cult comedy thriller Twin Town, has secured film rights to poet Dylan Thomas' iconic work, Under Milk Wood. Allen and fFatti fFilms inked a deal for U.K. and international rights to Thomas' brilliant, haunting "play for voices," after what the filmmaker and partners described as a "lengthy negotiation process." Under Milk Wood was first performed in 1954 and is set in the fictional Welsh seaside town of Llareggub. Story: Elijah Wood Leads Cast of Dylan Thomas Pic 'Set Fire to the Stars' Allen aims to shoot a movie adaptation

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Crawlspace

Michael Vartan ("Alias," "Bates Motel") has scored the male lead in Phil Claydon's "Crawlspace" at New Line. Filming begins March 24th in Los Angeles.

Vartan will play a widower with a daughter who gets remarried and the opportunity for a new start in a new house in the suburbs. Trouble is the house has a very disturbing secret from the past that rears up. [Source: Deadline]

American Sniper

Jake McDorman ("Greek," "Shameless") and Sammy Sheik ("Lone Survivor") in talks to join Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller and Cory Hardrict in Clint Eastwood's "American Sniper" at Warner Bros. Pictures and Village Roadshow. Filming begins next month in Morocco.

Several real-life Navy SEALs are expected to co-star in the movie in which Cooper plays decorated marksman Chris Kyle, a man credited with the most sniper kills in U.S. military history. McDorman will play Kyle's comrade Ryan 'Biggles' Job who is the film's comic relief.

Exclusive: Welsh broadcaster S4C commissions feature from director Kevin Allen.

Welsh broadcaster S4C has commissioned a film version of classic radio drama Under Milk Wood, set to star Rhys Ifans.

The feature update of poet Dylan Thomas’ classic story about the inhabitants of a fictional Welsh fishing village has been ordered by S4C’s drama commissioner Gwawr Martha Lloyd and will be directed and produced by Kevin Allen (Twin Town).

Director Allen, uncle of singer Lily Allen, secured the UK and international film rights to the radio drama after lengthy negotiations with the Milkwood Trust.

Ifans will play the roles of First Man and Captain Tom Cat, the parts played by Richard Burton and Peter O’Toole, respectively, in the 1972 feature adaptation, which also starred Elizabeth Taylor.

The six-week shoot is due to get underway this summer on the west coast of Wales, with English and Welsh-language versions filmed back-to-back. Casting on the...

Exclusive: Welsh broadcaster S4C commissions feature from director Kevin Allen.

Welsh broadcaster S4C has commissioned a film version of classic radio drama Under Milk Wood, set to star Rhys Ifans.

The feature update of poet Dylan Thomas’ classic story about the inhabitants of a fictional Welsh fishing village has been ordered by S4C’s drama commissioner Gwawr Martha Lloyd and will be directed and produced by Kevin Allen (Twin Town).

Director Allen, uncle of singer Lily Allen, secured the UK and international film rights to the radio drama after lengthy negotiations with the Milkwood Trust.

Ifans will play the roles of First Man and Captain Tom Cat, the parts played by Richard Burton and Peter O’Toole, respectively, in the 1972 feature adaptation, which also starred Elizabeth Taylor.

The six-week shoot is due to get underway this summer on the west coast of Wales, with English and Welsh-language versions filmed back-to-back. Casting on the...