| Ratings war to erupt with new shows SEVEN Nine and Ten will contest a 'fierce fight' for the final six weeks of ratings after the Commonwealth Games ends on Thursday. news.com.au |
Revealing documentary shows unguarded side of Lord Mandelson • The then-business secretary allowed filmmaker Hannah Rothschild to shadow him for eight months leading up to May• Guardian has exclusive footageA fly-on-the-wall documentary about Peter Mandelson, filmed in the dying days of the Labour government, is expected to cause a political sensation when it is screened later this month.The Guardian has been given an exclusive preview of the film, which includes remarkably candid footage of sensitive meetings with Labour's high command as the election campaign unravelled, as well as private telephone calls with Gordon Brown and the editor of the Times, James Harding.Mandelson allowed the filmmaker Hannah Rothschild – sister of financier Nathaniel Rothschild – to film his inner circle in the eight months leading up to the general election in May.Mandelson ran into controversy in 2008 when he stayed in Corfu on the yacht of Russian aluminium tycoon Oleg Deripaska as a guest of Nathaniel Rothschild.On the same holiday Mandelson was accused of dripping "pure poison" into George Osborne's ear about Brown.Hannah Rothschild's access was unfettered: Mandelson is shown at home in his dressing gown, wrestling with his dog, Jack, and standing in his underpants in his office as he hurriedly tries to change into a tuxedo.The documentary captures an acidic confrontation between Mandelson and Osborne, who is now the chancellor, and Labour's frenzied attempt to manage the fallout from Brown's unguarded comments about the Rochdale pensioner Gillian Duffy.Several Downing Street aides and most of the cabinet make what seem to be unwitting appearances in the documentary, but only one senior Labour figure – Alastair Campbell – questions exactly what Rothschild was doing shadowing Mandelson with a camera.Rothschild, who makes films about music and art, wrote to Mandelson in October last year asking if he would be the subject of an observational film. Although she had met Mandelson several times socially through her brother she was surprised when he told her to begin filming immediately."I would never have given such access to a political or current affairs documentary maker," Mandelson said last night. "I would not have trusted them to do it without their own spin or prejudice. Hannah came to it with an open mind."He added: "I was busy all the time or in a rush or under pressure and after a while I forgot she was there."Whether by accident or design, Mandelson allowed Rothschild to accumulate over 200 hours of revealing footage from the election campaign. Her film, Mandelson – The Real PM?, premiers at the London film festival this month and will be broadcast by the BBC in November.The film, exclusive clips of which are being broadcast by the Guardian, is likely to ruffle feathers in the Westminster establishment.The documentary opens with the then-business secretary in his ministerial car, speaking to an unidentified official over the phone. "How is the eye?" he asks, in an apparent reference to Brown's faulty eyesight. "Is he worried about going out with it?"Mandelson is later shown speaking to the prime minister over the phone, reassuring him about his performance in the first televised debate. "There are certain adjustments you can make – tone, style or whatever – and all those can be programmed in," he tells the then prime minister.Another scene likely to irk Brown reveals concern among his advisers about his unpopularity with the electorate. In one strategy meeting at which Brown was not present, David Muir, his director of political strategy, says the public sees the prime minister as "beaten up and lacking in confidence"."We can't construct a campaign which on paper gives him definition – as a brand – if it actually saps his energy and saps his confidence," he said.Mandelson replied that the public "don't like him terribly" and "certainly wouldn't like to go down the pub with him"."He can have his braininess – he can be as brainy as he likes," Mandelson adds, "but what I also want him to be is sufficiently relaxed and approachable that people can conclude that he is a human being."During another meeting – less than a month before election day – the senior Downing Street adviser Patrick Diamond confides in Mandelson that the party's manifesto spending plans "don't add up"."Personally I think we are in a real mess over social care," Diamond said. "We've now discovered that we need £1.5bn to fund the next parliament, but we've discovered since a £3.8bn black hole in the funding for maintaining the current level of social care provision."The film repeatedly shows Mandelson's famed ability at managing journalists, including a bruising encounter with Harding. Angry over a critical editorial in the newspaper, Mandelson calls the Times editor and rebukes him over the phone."I mean I thought it would be a brilliant idea if you actually heard what my views are, and my policies and my ideas, from me, before slamming me for what I don't think, and I'm not doing, for motives I don't possess," he told the editor.Perhaps the most revealing insight into the modus operandi of the so-called Prince of Darkness comes from his encounters with Osborne, at that time shadow chancellor. The pair have had a fraught relationship since their 2008 encounter in Corfu.In the film Mandelson is shown theatrically mocking Osborne in front of journalists in the "spin room" during the first televised debate.Spotting the shadow chancellor in private conversation with the Daily Telegraph's deputy editor, Benedict Brogan, Mandelson shouts across the room: "Is he the only person you have to talk to, George? Come on – this isn't fair!"In a more private moment after the third debate, the two men are seen sitting together waiting to be interviewed by the BBC. Osborne sarcastically asks: "When are we going to see your film, Peter? June? July?"Speaking in almost a whisper, Mandelson replies: "I have decided to extend it. We're taking it to Corfu."• This article was amended after publication to remove an inaccuracy that was introduced during the editing processPeter MandelsonGeneral election 2010Politics pastGordon BrownGeorge OsborneLabourDocumentaryLondon film festivalPaul Lewisguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Slapstick Humor: 'Jackass 3D' and Its Comedy Tradition From the clowns of the Renaissance to the Moulin Rouge's fartomaniac, slapstick humor has been around for longer than you might think feedproxy.google.com |
Paranormal Activity 2 – review | Phelim O'Neill This 'found footage' follow-up is from the 'bigger and more' school of sequels. The extra effort isn't wastedIt can be tough to repeat the "found footage" routine that the first Paranormal Activity used. It's quite limiting; the bag of tricks can be pretty exhausted after one hefty dip into it. Book Of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 dropped it entirely in favour of making a more conventional horror film sequel that hardly anyone could be bothered with, while the Spanish film [Rec] 2 was more successful in replicating its source's charm by having two teams of video recordists at play.Paranormal Activity 2 follows the "bigger and more" ethos of sequels, while sticking to the ground rules laid down by the first surprise hit of a film. Of course "bigger and more" is a relative term. Here we get a slightly bigger home to be confined in and more people: two parents, a teenage daughter, a maid, an infant and a dog. The latter two make good use of the rather spooky thing that babies and pets do when their attention is fixed on something invisible to others. More cameras too: instead of the one image of the bedroom we get to cycle through six static security cameras (brought in by the family when they return to find their furniture and belongings in disarray, seemingly following a burglary, although nothing was taken). These changes aren't enough to distort or taint the basic premise.This time out we are with the family of Kristi (Sprague Grayden), the sister of Katie (Katie Featherston) who surprisingly pops in for a visit very early on, looking like she hasn't a care in the world. It's quickly revealed that the events we are watching are happening 60 days before the climax of the previous film.The sequel goes for the same slow burn and build up. There are plenty of times where there is very little activity, paranormal or otherwise, but these are there to lull you into a routine, to get the viewer used to the quiet, to scanning the slightly more elaborate framings, to lean into the movie. It all pays off when things start going bump in the night (very loudly. Like the first one this has a great soundscape, up there with Robert Wise's The Haunting).They could have very easily got away with a straight rehash, but here they've tried to expand on things, successfully, with a film that complements and connects, in both story and style, with its predecessor. As well as playing on the common fear of all the noises a house can make during the night – this time, with a baby involved, it's even more harrowing for parents – there are also some nice nods to Spielberg's Close Encounters and Poltergeist, effectively adapted to this far less showy film-making technique.It was never going to have the same shock of the new that the first had, but there are at least half a dozen moments that really suck the air out of the room with a collective audience gasp, and plenty of scenes that string out the dread. It has to work a little harder and, with more characters and cameras as well as a little more humour, it really pays off.Rating: 4/5HorrorPhelim O'Neillguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
LeBron James' Heat and What Else to Watch in 2010-11 NBA Season Whether the love-'em-or-hate-'em new Dream Team in South Beach lives up to its All-Star billing is just one of several good story lines fans will be watching and gabbing about all season long. Here are 10 of them feedproxy.google.com |