So farewell, then, Barry Norman. The sharp and drily humorous film reviewer sat in his director's chair at the BBC for the last time on Sunday night, having presented his show for almost three decades. He is moving to Sky Movies - not least because of the substantial six-figure salary he has been offered, although he never made any secret of his annoyance with the way the BBC shifted his show around, regularly moving it into the graveyard after midnight slot on Monday nights.
I've enjoyed knowing Barry Norman for many years, and his company is always a pleasure. Inevitably, we have disagreed on many films, but to my mind, nobody has done better when it came to discussing movies in the broadcast media. It's very hard to imagine the BBC finding someone to match him. The word is that they're looking for a young presenter to replace the 64-year-old Norman, and the word is not good with the irritating and unconvincing Jonathan Ross said to be heading the list of heirs apparent. Another name being mentioned is Johnny Vaughan, who would appear to have found his metier in Moviewatch and The Big Break- fast. A much better choice would be the bright, articulate Mark Cousins from Belfast, who introduces Moviedrome with such engaging enthusiasm on BBC 2. And why not?
Dublin's Rive Gauche
Set in Paris in the 1860s, Paul Unwin's film of the Henry James novel The American is about to enter its fifth and final week of principal photography on location in Dublin and at Ardmore Studios. Matthew Modine, Brenda Fricker and Diana Rigg head the cast of Unwin's film, and the novel has been adapted by Michael Hastings. The production involves Irish Screen, the BBC, and WGBH in Boston.
The pride of Canada
TO celebrate Dublin Pride, the IFC tonight will present a special one-off screening of John Greyson's film, Lilies. Greyson, who earlier directed Zero Patience, received four of Canadian cinema's annual Genie awards for Lilies. It is described as "an emotional tale of love, betrayal and revenge, in which one man's past comes home to haunt him" when a gay, ageing convict has his confession heard by a bishop who has secrets of his own.
Looking west
Galway Film Fleadh update: Roger Michell's Titanic Town has now been set as the opening presentation on Tuesday, July 7th. Set in Belfast in 1972, it features Julie Walters as a housewife who initiates a peace movement, and Ciaran Hinds.
The Brazilian film-maker, Walter Salles, who will be in Galway with his latest film, Central Station, which won the Golden Bear for best film at the Berlin festival in February, will give a masterclass on film direction on the afternoon of July 11th. Admission will be limited to 25 emerging Irish directors. Selection will be on the basis of a written application outlining experience in film and television, and a £50 fee will be payable upon confirmation. For information, call 091-751655.
Bloom cartoon
Animator Tim Booth - who so imaginatively interpreted Yeats's The Lake Isle Of Inishfree in his animated short film The Prisoner - has produced what's described as "a brief encounter with James Joyce's Ulysses" in the new, five-minute animated short, Ulys. The film has been running since Bloomsday at 101 Restaurant in Dublin's Talbot Street, where the film's artwork is on display and VHS copies of the film are available to purchase.
