This year's London Film Festival has Ben Affleck, Dustin Hoffman and the Rolling Stones _ and it's bookended by one of the city's premiere cinematic couples.
A man of the left renowned for the piercing honesty of his thought and writings, particularly in his novels "Animal Farm" (1945) and "Nineteen Eighty-Four" (1949), English novelist and journalist George Orwell (1903-1950) has earned the admiration of millions of readers across the political spectrum. One admirer, conservative champion Russell Kirk, went so far as to claim that no 20th-century novelist exerted a stronger influence upon political opinion in Britain and America than did Orwell.
Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight is a reflection of the world he lives in, a defender of security and calm in an era of uncertainty and instability — a dark anti-radical who is not part of any revolution, but leading the charge against it, one Bam!, Pow! and Whap! at a time.
Charles Dickens would have recognized the sad story of Maudie Pettit, a 16-year-old rape victim who gives birth to her son Eddie in a stable with Bess the mare as her only witness.
"The Amazing Spider-Man" — Marc Webb's reboot of Sam Raimi's 2002 kickoff to the popular and profitable superhero franchise — has managed to charm critics and audiences despite the fact that, almost to a man, everyone who has seen the film has declared it unnecessary.
Chita Rivera will get some help from Stephanie J. Block, Jim Norton and Will Chase when "The Mystery of Edwin Drood" begins flummoxing audiences this fall.
"The Solitary House" (Delacorte Press), by Lynn Shepherd: The star of Lynn Shepherd's intriguing mystery novel is mid-century Victorian London, depicted in all its filthy glory and without a hint of the jolly charm that found its way into the tales of Charles Dickens.
The timeless Chita Rivera is returning to Broadway in a murder whodunit musical that's perfect for this new age: It's interactive.
In 1849, London's Fraser's Magazine had high praise for the author of the recently published "David Copperfield." "There is not a fireside in the Kingdom," proclaimed Fraser's, "where the cunning fellow has not contrived to secure a corner for himself as one of the dearest, and by this time one of the oldest friends of the family."
