Bad Wolf fan site has a new home & new name:

https://groups.google.com/g/cefansite

I’d love all of Chris fans to join.

Christopher Eccleston says Marvel was "dishonest" to him about Thor: The Dark World

http://www.digitalspy.com/movies/news/a843400/christopher-eccleston-marvel-were-dishonest-thor-the-dark-world/?src=social-email


Sent from my iPad

Christopher Eccleston and Aardman Animations team up to battle dementia

http://home.bt.com/news/uk-news/christopher-eccleston-and-aardman-animations-team-up-to-battle-dementia-11364034195394
Video on the above link.
The makers of Wallace and Gromit have produced a short film to address people's misconceptions about dementia.
The makers of Wallace and Gromit have produced a short film to address people's misconceptions about dementia. The online video from Aardman Animations features former Doctor Who star Christopher Eccleston, whose father Ronnie died following a 14-year battle with the illness. The 90-second film for Alzheimer's Research UK uses stop motion techniques to show an orange being stripped away to demonstrate how diseases that cause dementia physically attack the brain. The brain of an Alzheimer's sufferer can weigh around 140 grams less than a healthy brain - about the weight of an orange. Eccleston, 51, said he hoped the film would "fight the misunderstanding and fatalism that surrounds dementia in our society". He said: "We have to think differently about dementia. We have to stop believing dementia is an inevitability - something that simply happens to us all as we grow older. If we don't, we're never going to truly fight it. "Dementia is caused by diseases and diseases can be beaten. We've tamed diseases like cancer and heart disease and a diagnosis of either is no longer a certain death sentence. "People with dementia deserve this same hope. This film aims to show that dementia is caused by physical processes that scientists can put a stop to." Hilary Evans, chief executive of Alzheimer's Research UK, said: "Major breakthroughs have been made in the battle against Aids and cancer, and research will bring these same life-changing advancements in the field of dementia. "To get there, we must stop fearing dementia as something that just happens as we age, and focus on fighting the diseases, most commonly Alzheimer's, that are the root cause of it. "There are still no treatments that can slow or stop the disease processes in the brain, but with the support of a nation, Alzheimer's Research UK will win the fight against dementia." Aardman, the Oscar-winning animation studio based in Bristol, developed the film with Alzheimer's Research UK and creative agency ais London. Alzheimer's Research UK has asked people the share the video on social media by using the hashtag #sharetheorange.

 #sharetheorange

HBO announces premiere date for The Leftovers, a series about The Rapture, starring Justin Theroux, Christopher Eccleston, and Liv Tyler.

It’s the end of the world, but it’s not as we know it.

HBO has confirmed the premiere date for their new Rapture-themed original series, The Leftovers. The end is very nigh with its start date is locked in for June 15, 2014 at 10pm ET/PT, and we feel more than fine. In fact, the series, which is created by Damon Lindelof (showrunner on Lost) and acclaimed novelist Tom Perotta (on whose book of the same name the series is based), is so stacked with talent, we’re excited about these End Times.

With a cast that includes, Justin Theroux, Amy Brenneman, Christopher Eccleston, Liv Tyler, Charlie Carver, Max Carver, Carrie Coon, Ann Dowd, Michael Gaston, Emily Meade, Annie Q, Margaret Qualley, Amanda Warren, and Chris Zylka, there is so much talent aboard this ark that humanity may have a chance. Then again, this is not a strictly doctrinaire reading of the Book of Revelations when the logline includes, “The drama series is an original look at The Rapture…because it’s not entirely clear The Rapture happened.”

Based on the book, this series will be about people who did not make the Instant Salvation List. That would include Theroux as Kevin Garvey, a police chief and father trying to keep a shell-shocked society from going to the abyss and Eccleston’s Matt Jamison, a former reverend who has traded in the faith in favor for the sleaze of self-editing a local tabloid. Coon will play a mother whose children got into the party in the sky while she missed the invite.

HBO has confirmed that the first teaser for The Leftovers will air Sunday April 6, 2014 right before the Season 4 premiere of Game of Thrones at 9pm ET/PT. It will also be accompanied by the teaser trailer for the seventh and final season of True Blood, which you can already watch here.

Stanley Tucci, Christopher Eccleston to star in Sky Atlantic drama

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/news/a546228/stanley-tucci-christopher-eccleston-to-star-in-sky-atlantic-drama.html

Christopher Eccleston, Stanley Tucci, Michael Gambon and Sofie Gråbøl will star in Sky Atlantic's new drama Fortitude.
Jessica Raine, Johnny Harris, Richard Dormer, Luke Treadaway and Nicholas Pinnock will also star in the 12-part hour-long drama series.

© PA Images

© Rex Features / Ray Tang

Fortitude centres on a mysterious death in the Arctic Circle and will be filmed in Iceland and the UK.
Surrounded by the savage beauty of the Arctic landscape, Fortitude is one of the safest places on earth, until a brutal murder threatens the future of the entire town.
Game of Thrones actor Dormer will play local chief of police Sheriff Dan Anderssen, with Tucci cast as his new partner - DCI Morton, a newcomer to the town.
The town's conflicted governor Hildur Odegard will be portrayed by The Killing star Gråbøl, with Gambon as Henry Tyson, a wildlife photographer with only weeks to live.

© PA Images / John Phillips/EMPICS Entertainment

© Rex Features

Eccleston (Doctor Who) is scientist Charlie Stoddart - who works at the Fortitude Arctic Research Centre - with Treadaway as his new colleague Vincent Rattrey and Call the Midwife star Raine as Jules Sutter, who is married to Frank Sutter (Pinnock), Fortitude's chief search and rescue pilot.
"Our audience loves great, world-class story-telling and so Fortitude is a perfect fit for Sky Atlantic," said Julia Barry, Director, Sky Atlantic. "We're thrilled to welcome Stanley Tucci - in his first British television role – and the rest of this amazing group of actors to the channel."
Fortitude has been devised by Low Winter Sun writer Simon Donald and will air on Sky Atlantic in late 2014.

Damon Lindelof and Tom Perotta's The Leftovers to Premiere this Summer

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/tvnews.php?id=113286

HBO drama series "The Leftovers," from Damon Lindelof and Tom Perrotta, will begin production early this year for a summer debut.
The ensemble cast includes Justin Theroux, Amy Brenneman, Christopher Eccleston, Liv Tyler, Charlie Carver, Max Carver, Carrie Coon, Ann Dowd, Michael Gaston, Emily Meade, Annie Q, Margaret Qualley, Amanda Warren and Chris Zylka.
When 2% of the world's population abruptly disappears without explanation, the world struggles to understand just what they're supposed to do about it. Three years later, the new HBO drama series "The Leftovers" is the story of the people who didn't make the cut.
Damon Lindelof ("Lost") and acclaimed novelist Tom Perrotta (Little Children, Election) collaborate on "The Leftovers," which begins production of its ten-episode season in New York early this year for summer debut. Lindelof serves as the series showrunner.
Based on Perrotta's bestselling novel of the same name, "The Leftovers" is an original look at The Rapture... because it's not entirely clear The Rapture happened. Peter Berg directed the pilot from a script by Lindelof and Perrotta. Lindelof and Perrotta executive produce the series along with Peter Berg and Sarah Aubrey; Ron Yerxa and Albert Berger co-executive produce. The series is produced for HBO by Adventure Corps in association with Warner Bros. Television.
Set in a small New York suburb, "The Leftovers" follows Justin Theroux as Kevin Garvey, a father of two and the chief of police, who is trying to maintain some semblance of normalcy when the notion no longer applies.

Thor star Christopher Eccleston: All of my movie heroes as a kid were the bad guys.

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/entertainment/movies/thor-star-christopher-eccleston-movie-2641106

ECCLESTON has become a regular 'baddie' in blockbuster films and he admits he's rediscovering his early admiration for the bad guy on cinema.

CHRISTOPHER ECCLESTON endured hours in the make-up chair and then conquered a tongue-twisting language to be transformed into the most awesome villain to trade blows with the hammer-wielding big screen superhero Thor.

For the latest Marvel Comics movie blockbuster Thor: The Dark World, Christopher , 49, was given the most bizarre physical appearance of his career.

To become Malekith, the cold-blooded leader of the Dark Elves, who wants to plunge the universe into eternal darkness, the actor was given pointed ears, a scarred and charred face, piercing red eyes and a hairdo that looked like an 18th century powdered wig.

It was a look that took six hours to create every day during filming of the big budget adventure, which sees the return of Chris Hemsworth as our hero.

And on top of that, Christopher had to master a complex Elvish language that was invented just for the movie.

Not surprisingly, it was one of the most demanding roles ever tackled by the lauded actor, whose films include Shallow Grave and Let Him Have It and who starred in TV hits that range from Our Friends in the North and Cracker to Doctor Who.

“It was my first experience of prosthetics,” Christopher tells 7Nights when we meet at London’s Dorchester Hotel.

“I have a different shaped head, I wear a wig and a cage on top of the wig – it is very elaborate and transforming.”

And a very new experience for the talented and versatile actor.

He added: “In 24 years in the industry, I don’t think I ever spent any longer than 20 minutes in a make-up chair. Then suddenly I’m there for six hours at a time.”

When I say I admire the tolerance that he had to show every time he sat in the make-up chair, Christopher laughs.

“I don’t have that kind of patience. I had to learn it,” says the actor who had to sip his drinks through a straw as make-up was being applied.

Stripping away the layers of latex make-up after filming finished was another ordeal.

“It took 45 minutes to an hour just to take it off,” says Christopher. “There were usually pieces of the prosthetic mask falling off me in the car on the way home from filming.”

The discomfort involved in turning Christopher into Malekith could have been much worse.

The actor was delighted to report that unlike some, he didn’t suffer any nasty reaction to the make-up or the contact lenses.

“I am very fortunate,” he said. “I had worn lenses before when I played John Lennon in the TV movie Lennon Naked – and I never had any problem with them. And I was fine with the red lenses I wore for Thor.”

Understandably, Christopher had some concerns that he might be so submerged under all the brilliantly transforming make-up that he would be unrecognisable.

“But I was pleased that even with the prosthetic make-up, you still see it is me,” he added. “The first time you go through the make-up process and get out the chair to see yourself, you think, ‘Goodness, why did they employ me?’

But on the first day, I had to look on the monitor at the first stuff that I’d shot – and I’m not a monitor monkey, I’m not one for watching myself. Normally, I stay well away from them.

“But when I did look, I saw that it was clearly me and it was clearly a flesh and blood creature – if I can say that about an elf. So I was relieved.”

Another complication was thrown into the mix when it was decided that Malekith and his right-hand elf Algrim (played by Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) would speak in an outlandish tongue that was made-up for the movie.

Christopher agreed that it made sense because the weird-sounding language would help the audience to believe that this was a very different species.

“You are presenting an alternative race and if it sounds like two English guys who just happen to be in prosthetics, then it makes it hard to suspend disbelief,” he said.

“The invented language that we speak is based mostly on Finnish. So I found myself looking on YouTube, listening to people speak Finnish to try and pick up some of the rhythms.”

There was an added pressure because the decision to have an Elvish language was made quite late in the day.

“We were quite panicked because if you are learning English dialogue, then there is the memory of the word,” said Christopher.

“But it was almost impossible almost to remember this language. You had to learn it parrot fashion, just for recall. Then you had to overlay it with pronunciation.

“So it was very difficult but it was worth it. I was really pleased and proud of how it sounded.”

Christopher now takes his place among classic Marvel movie villains like Magneto, Doctor Octopus, Red Skull and Bullseye. Every one of these baddies is an exotic baddie.

But when he was a schoolboy, it was a different, more traditional breed of villain that made a lasting impression on Christopher.

“The first screen villain that made an impact on me was James Cagney in White Heat,” he said.

“I’m 49 now and I was watching all those old films on TV in the late 1960s. And I was, and still am, transfixed by Cagney as an actor.

“Another Cagney performance as a baddie that had a huge impact on me was in Angels with Dirty Faces.

“He was definitely a tough guy in that and then there was the ambiguity of him going screaming to his death in the electric chair after the priest has spoken with him. Was he actually terrified or was he acting it?

“I believed everything about Cagney – what a benchmark he was as an actor.

“If I had to choose one actor who made an impression on me as a screen villain, it would be Cagney. He was amazing.

“I also grew up with Edward G Robinson playing the heavy in films like The Cincinnati Kid or Ernest Borgnine in From Here to Eternity.

“Then there was George Kennedy, who although he becomes the best friend of Paul Newman in Cool Hand Luke, he is the bully.

“The fascination with characters like that is all rooted in our memory of being bullied at school.

“Later on, I was a huge James Bond fan and was knocked out by Gert Frobe, who played Auric Goldfinger.

“He was Teutonic, with a sense of humour and delicacy and he cheated at golf – which all the best villains do.

“Then there was Rosa Klebb (Lotte Lenya) in From Russia with Love and Scaramanga (Christopher Lee) in The Man with the Golden Gun and, of course, Donald Pleasence as Ernst Stavro Blofeld in You Only Live Twice.

“I was brought up on that quite understated villain, the smiling stiletto.”

Making Thor: The Dark World meant that Christopher worked alongside a star who had portrayed another of his favourite villains.

He added: “When I was working at the National Theatre, working as an usher selling ice cream and collecting tickets, Anthony Hopkins was there playing Lambert Le Roux in the play Pravda. Le Roux was a South African media mogul who was like Robert Maxwell and Rupert Murdoch in a car crash.

“I watched his performance many times and what I was struck by was how huge Anthony Hopkins seemed on that stage. He came on in a box suit and with his hair slicked back, he leaned forward on the tips of his toes and moved in a very reptilian way.

“Then I would see him in the National Theatre canteen eating beans on toast. It was a really important lesson for me, to see the smoke and the mirrors of the whole thing.

“You could see that this was a man who saw Laurence Olivier’s work. He had that kind of command on the theatre.”

Unfortunately, Christopher’s scene with Oscar winner Hopkins who plays Odin, the king of the Norse gods, finished up on the cutting room floor. “Hopefully it will be on the DVD, it is certainly on the DVD in my soul,” said Christopher.

There is more dark drama coming up for Christopher. He plays gambling club host John Aspinall in the television movie Lucan – about the British peer who mysteriously vanished after the murder of the family nanny and an assault on his wife.

He also stars in the powerful US-made TV series The Leftovers – which is about those left behind after The Rapture takes place and millions disappear from the Earth.

Christopher said: “I play an evangelical reverend, a guy who more importantly than having lost his God, is completely convinced that his God exists and he doesn’t want him. So I’d imagine he is going to be quite complex.”

- Thor: The Dark World is released on October 30

Latest additions to my Chris website.

Updated Chris interviews page to include interview for Thor & updated the miscellaneous photos page with a couple from Doctor Who.

www.bad-wolf.info

Interview with Christopher Eccleston, who plays Malekith in Thor: The Dark World.

See the Cast of ’28 Days Later’ Then and Now.

http://screencrush.com/28-days-later-then-and-now/?trackback=fbshare_top

Christopher Eccleston, Major Henry West

20th Century Fox/BBC

Then: The British star of ‘Shallow Grave’ and ‘Gone in Sixty Seconds’ lent his talents to ’28 Days Later’ as Major Henry West, commander of the not-so-friendly military unit that takes our protagonists hostage. Along with co-star Cillian Murphy and screenwriter Alex Garland, Eccleston co-wrote the scene in which he lays out his plans for Hannah and Selena.

Now: In 2005, Eccleston filled the legendary shoes of ‘Doctor Who‘ for the first season of the re-vamped BBC series. He also starred in ‘Heroes’ and ‘G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra,’ and you can catch him next as the evil Malekith in ‘Thor: The Dark World.’

(Another) Five minutes with: Christopher Eccleston

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/whats-on/film-and-tv/five-minutes-with-christopher-eccleston-4699527

Salfordian Christopher Eccleston, 49, has starred in some of the most critically acclaimed projects of the past 20 years, including Cracker, Our Friends in the North, and Doctor Who. ?But the highlight of his career so far was playing Hillsborough campaigner, Trevor Hicks

Christopher Eccleston

It's good to see a London-set film like Song For Marion, in which you play the son of a grumpy old man, who joins his wife’s choir, being shot in the north

We found great locations, expertise and personnel in Newcastle and Durham. The spirit of the places infuses the film. As for the difference between low budget and high budget, it’s a general rule of life, never mind the film industry, that people behave better the less money and power is around to be “had”.

Was there any one thing that attracted you to the project?

It was a good role; they were paying me; the film was about performance rather than special effects, and I’ve always been interested in the father/son dynamic.

Do you think films such as Song for Marion, and the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel are the start of a trend aimed more at a mature audience?

The industry is missing a trick if it doesn’t exploit what is undoubtedly a growing market. Culturally it’s very, very depressing when everything is about “youth” and “physical beauty”. To quote The Smiths, “It says nothing to me about my life...”

You're no stranger to working with movie legends, but how was it working with Terence Stamp and Vanessa Redgrave?

I loved working with both of them; it was an honour. Terence and I share a passion for table tennis.

Can you tell us anything about your work on Thor: The Dark World?

I play Malekith, a Dark Elf, the film’s villain. No smiling allowed.

If you could go back 20 years and offer the young Christopher Eccleston a piece of advice, what would it be and would you listen to your 40-something self?

I’d tell him that by the time he was 49, Manchester United would have won The Premiership 20 times and he would quite rightly think I/he was in mid-life crisis.

Career-wise, where and when were you happiest and why?

In 1996 I played Trevor Hicks in the drama/documentary Hillsborough. It is the most important piece of work I’ve been involved with, and the start of a great friendship with a very, very brave man. I hope this year Trevor and all the families will finally have justice.

Christopher Eccleston stars in Song For Marion, released on DVD and Blu-ray on Monday.

Thor: The Dark World official site now online.

http://marvel.com/thor

One .gif of note for Chris fans:

Doctor Who - Danny Boyle Opens Up About Christopher Eccleston Mortuary Fears.

Former Doctor Who star Christopher Eccleston was so afraid of getting locked in a real-life mortuary for a scene in Shallow Grave, director Danny Boyle had to ask a crew member to stand in the shadows and comfort the nervous actor.

The future TV time lord hated the idea of being shut in the final resting place, surrounded by dead bodies, so Boyle came up with a plan to make him feel more at ease.

He explains, "It was a real mortuary and there were real dead bodies in there. Christopher, who went on to be a future master of the universe said, 'I can't do this!'

"Eventually we agreed that we'd put one of the prop guys in there, so when the door is closed and it goes dark he wouldn't be alone with the dead.

"In fact, on the soundtrack when the door is closing and the lights go off, you can hear this guy going, 'It's alright Chris!'"

Interview: Christopher Eccleston

Best known for playing the Doctor in Doctor Who, Christopher Eccleston stars in the upcoming comedy drama Song for Marion.

Eccleston, who plays James in the film, described the subject of Song for Marion as a “spiritual awakening done in a very light comedic style.” He explained: “It’s a little bit like A Christmas Carol in a way. It’s about the awakening of a miserable old man to the possibilities of life.

“Arthur (Terence Stamp), my father in the film is married to Marion (Vanessa Redgrave). His wife is in a local community choir that get together and sing popular songs poorly. He’s very disapproving of this and distant from it as he’s been with his son all his life. I play the son.”

He continued: “During the course of Marion being involved in the choir, she realises that she’s got cancer and that she’s dying. This has a massive emotional impact on Arthur and his son, and increases the tension in their relationship, but Marion is increasingly involved in the choir.

“When she’s gone, there’s a gap and the young woman who runs the choir, played by Gemma Arterton, pursues Arthur to become involved, in order to help him deal with his grief and in order for him to shed some of his misery really.”

Eccleston, who has also appeared in Elizabeth, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra and The Others, said that working with Terence Stamp, Vanessa Redgrave and Gemma Arterton was a beneficial experience: “I looked at Terence’s character and I looked at Vanessa’s character and I had to decide how much each of them had influenced the psychology of my character James.

“I think it’s probably very difficult if your father’s distant, cold and unemotional. However, it seems that his mother was the complete opposite of that, which is often the case in couples, and she was very warm, very expansive, inclusive and optimistic. Based on this, I think I decided that my character was far more like his mother than his father.”

He added: “I only had one scene with Gemma but it was great to be around her obviously.”

Despite being set in London, Song for Marion was filmed in Newcastle and Durham, where the local community were “hugely supportive” of the film. Eccleston, who was born in Salford, explained: “You know you get a very specific generosity and warmth in the North of this country.

“It’s fact that people voted the Geordie voice as the friendliest on the telephone. We’ve got great locations. We were made to feel very welcome. It was a very positive experience up there.”

Song for Marion, also known as Unfinished Song, closed the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival, and has already received a “very positive” response. Eccleston explained: “You never get universal approval but generally people have responded really well to Gemma, Vanessa and particularly Terence’s performance, because he anchors the film.”

Song for Marion is released in cinemas on February 22^nd, 2013.

http://www.thenationalstudent.com/Film/2013-02-11/Interview_Christopher_Eccleston.html

The Trailer for Unfinished Song/Song for Marion.

The Weinstein Company has brought online the trailer for Unfinished Song, which was previously titled "Song for Marion." Starring Terence Stamp, Gemma Arterton, Vanessa Redgrave and Christopher Eccleston, the Paul Andrew Williams film opens on February 8.
Unfinished Song is a London-set comedic drama about grumpy pensioner Arthur (Stamp) who is reluctantly inspired by his beloved wife Marion (Redgrave) to join a highly unconventional local choir. At odds with his son James (Eccleston) it is left to choir director Elizabeth (Arterton) to try and persuade Arthur that he can learn to embrace life. Arthur must confront the undercurrents of his own grumbling persona as he embarks on a hilarious, life-affirming journey of musical self discovery.

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=98470

Videos From the Thor: The Dark World Set.

Some behind the scenes videos of Chris as Malekith here: http://youtu.be/kucjQavoWtM & http://youtu.be/wl19KuSxe0o

Found here: http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=97085

First Look At THOR: THE DARK WORLD Villain ‘Malekith’ & Army of Dark Elves Via Set Photos.

http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/MarvelFreshman/news/?a=70047

About filming Song for Marion.

Song for Marion: Christopher Eccleston is James

This is a scene from the then nine-year-old Orla Hill's first day's filming on Song for Marion, or any other movie. Previous professional experience: one voiceover for a pre-school children's TV show; one TV commercial for Argos. Orla is the little blonde thing, squinting in the sunlight. The other children and the grown-ups whose faces you can't see are people from the neighbourhood on the edge of Newcastle where the filming was taking place. The grown-up whose face you can see is, of course, Christopher Eccleston.

Partly, Christopher was doing what actors on film sets have to do quite a lot of - waiting for the director to be ready to ask him to act. But mostly he was doing something else he seems to do very well - being good to people.

In Song for Marion he plays James, the son of Marion (Vanessa Redgrave) and Arthur (Terence Stamp), and the father of Jennifer, played by Orla. When we rolled up - Mummy, Daddy and the small debutante in pink leggings - he wasted no time demonstrating that he is as generous and thoughtful as you somehow expect him to be.

The dark blanket you can just about see wrapped around Orla was his idea, to prevent her getting cold on what was a blowy day, despite the sun. His hands placed lightly on her shoulders as he talked to the other kids - about Doctor Who, mostly - demonstrated just the right, low key protectiveness towards the child with whom he would shortly walk towards a camera.

If Orla, though far less nervous than her parents, had needed a little no-fuss reassurance as she too awaited the director's call, Christopher was providing it. And when that call eventually came - it was a complicated shoot that day, not helped by the erratic weather - he told the other kids and their mums and dads not to go away, he'd be back in a few minutes to answer all their remaining questions and sign all the autographs they wanted. And he was, of course, as good as his word. Top man.

He and Orla got on very well throughout the making of the film, which included his teaching her how to play table tennis - speaking of which, this blog hopes in the future to provide exclusive video footage of a titanic, sci-fi ping-pong encounter between the heroic erstwhile Doctor and dastardly former General Zod. Bet you can't guess who wins.

This article was written in close, late night collaboration by the authors and publishers of this blog, Orla's parents Sheila and Dave. Coming soon: meeting Vanessa.

http://davehill.typepad.com/about-song-for-marion/2012/10/song-for-marion-christopher-eccleston-is-james.html

London Film Festival 2012: Song for Marion, review. Spoilers!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/london-film-festival/9620889/London-Film-Festival-2012-Song-for-Marion-review.html

At the heart of Paul Andrew Williams's film, Song for Marion, there are three performances precisely calibrated to get the tears flowing, writes Robbie Collin.

3

Dir: Paul Andrew Williams; Starring: Terence Stamp, Vanessa Redgrave, Christopher Eccleston, Gemma Arterton. PG cert, 93 min.

Nothing raises the stakes in a British film like the prospect of public embarrassment. From The Full Monty to Billy Elliot and Calendar Girls, comic dramas about everyday people risking humiliation for a good cause seem to strike a chord with cinema goers, both here and abroad, and Song for Marion is the latest film to pop up in the sub-genre.

Paul Andrew Williams’s picture is a softer, slighter work than those mega-hits above, but at its heart there are three performances so precisely, even mercilessly calibrated to get the tears flowing that the narrative fumbles soon vanish behind a gauze of sobs.

Terence Stamp is Arthur, a prickly congenital grump whose beloved wife Marion (Vanessa Redgrave) sings in an amateurish community chorus who are preparing for a choir of the year competition. Marion has cancer, and singing brings her a great deal of enjoyment in what both she and her husband tacitly acknowledge are her last days. Arthur, however, can’t bring himself to join in. “You know how I feel about enjoying myself,” he snaps at their semi-estranged adult son James (Christopher Eccleston), only half-joking.

Marion’s choir are called The OAPZ, “with a Z at the end to make it street,” as their ever-chirpy conductor Elizabeth (Gemma Arterton) explains. Much like their name, The OAPZ’s repertoire is laboriously offbeat, and hearing a band of pensioners crooning Ace of Spades by Motörhead and Let’s Talk About Sex by Salt-n-Pepa is funny precisely once per song.

By now the direction in which Song for Marion is headed should be clear, although if you are yet to connect the dots, it takes in heartbreak, redemption and reconciliation via a touching on-stage solo from Stamp.

Williams, whose past films include the crime thriller London to Brighton, a couple of grungy horrors and nothing even slightly like Song for Marion, sometimes plays it too broad for his own good. Few emotional moments are allowed to pass without a prod in the ribs from a tinkling piano, a trick that begins to grate as much as Marion’s cartoonish fellow singers; and the grand finale is marred by a last-minute setback too engineered even for The X Factor. But the emotional bonds between the three leads are so plausibly knotted (Eccleston, in particular, is unquestionably his screen father’s son) that it’s tempting to forgive the film the occasional off-key honk.

Now it's official: Marvel Comics News 8/2/12: Chris plays Malekith in THOR 2.

At nearly 9:00 p.m. last night, Deadline revealed that Christopher Eccleston ("DOCTOR WHO", "SHALLOW GRAVE", "G.I. JOE: RISE OF COBRA") has been cast as none other than Malekith The Accursed for the sequel (http://www.deadline.com/2012/08/we-have-a-thor-2-villain-christopher-eccleston-to-play-malekith-the-accursed/). In the Marvel Comics, Malekith is the leader of the Dark Elves of Svartalfheim (one of the nine realms of Asgard) who is vulnerable to iron and has vast magical powers. He is best known for appearing in Walt Simonson's career defining run on THOR in the 1980's and has also wielded the Casket Of Ancient Winters, which can literally freeze the earth. The villain appeared in an episode of the first season of "AVENGERS: EARTH'S MIGHTIEST HEROES" last year. "Thor 2" will star most of the key actors from the previous film such as Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Anthony Hopkins as Odin, Natalie Portman as Jane Foster and Jaimie Alexander as Sif. Also returning is Rene Russo as Frigga, Thor's mother, who has told Variety that she's brushing up on her comic book lore to prep for the sequel (http://www.vulture.com/2012/07/rene-russo-wants-to-brush-up-before-thor-2.html). The sequel will be directed by "GAME OF THRONES" director Alan Taylor.