timesofmalta.com

Piaf songwriter Moustaki dies

AP — Fri, 24 May 2013 08:51:00 +0200

Georges Moustaki, an Egyptian-born composer, singer and poet who wrote songs for Edith Piaf and other French stars, has died aged 79. He died at his home in Nice overnight after a long illness, said Marie-Ange Mirande of Moustaki’s Paris-based production house. A memorial ceremony is planned for Monday at the famed Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris. Tributes poured in from France’s political and cultural leaders for Moustaki. Among songs he wrote for Piaf was Milord. Moustaki told French radio RTL in December that he wanted to be buried in Alexandria, Egypt, where he was born in 1934, and where “there is a cemetery that is the cemetery of free thinkers, and it is there that I want to rest for eternity”.

S.W.A.T. actor Steve Forrest dead at age 87

Eric Kelsey, Reuters — Fri, 24 May 2013 09:46:00 +0200

US actor Steve Forrest, who was best known for a leading role on the short-lived 1970s television drama S.W.A.T., has died at the age of 87 in Thousand Oaks, California, near Los Angeles, his wife Christine said yesterday. Forrest appeared in 1954’s Prisoner of War, which also featured Ronald Reagan, who was later elected US President. In 1960’s Flaming Star, he played alongside Elvis Presley and Barbara Eden. Forrest’s older brother, Dana Andrews, was the star of 1940s films Laura and The Best Years of Our Lives. Forrest died peacefully on May 18, his family said in a statement. No cause of death was given. He gained a following as Lt Hondo Harrelson on the ABC crime drama series S.W.A.T., which ran for 37 episodes from 1975 to 1976 and was produced by Hollywood titans Leonard Goldberg and Aaron Spelling. Forrest made a guest appearances in the 2003 film adaptation of the series. The actor, who fought in the US Army at the Battle of the Bulge in World War II, got his big break when actor Gregory Peck saw him in a theatre production in 1950, which led to a contract with film studio MGM. Forrest also starred in the 1965 British TV spy thriller series The Baron, which was one of the...

Contemporary Italy laid bare

Alexandria Sage, Reuters — Thu, 23 May 2013 00:02:00 +0200

Paolo Sorrentino’s The Great Beauty, a nostalgic, melancholic ode to the eternal city Rome, is one of several films that touch on the unravelling of contemporary Italy in the official selection at the Cannes Film Festival this year. Also competing for the prestigious Palme d’Or award to be handed out on Sunday is Un Château en Italie (A Castle in Italy) by Franco-Italian director Valeria Bruni Tedeschi about the demise of an aristocratic family. Italian actress Valeria Golino makes her directorial debut with Miele (Honey) about a woman who helps terminal patients end their lives. The movie is competing in the Un Certain Regard category for emerging film-makers. Bathed in the beautiful Roman light of yellows and golds, La grande bellezza (The Great Beauty) is a lush, sweeping film that both critiques the emptiness of life and revels in it. We first meet protagonist Jep Gambardella, played by Toni Servillo, at a late-night bash that makes the famed “bunga bunga” parties of Silvio Berlusconi look tame. Jep is living the high life on the laurels of a famous novel he wrote 40 years ago, and now at 65 is stuck in a rut. As he reflects on the possibility of writing again, he questions...

Liberace film throws spotlight on gay rights

Belinda Goldsmith, Reuters — Thu, 23 May 2013 00:01:00 +0200

The relationship between the flamboyant pianist Liberace and his young lover dazzled at the Cannes Film Festival and threw the spotlight on gay rights at the movie industry’s largest annual gathering. Director Steven Soderbergh said he struggled five years ago to secure funding for Behind the Candelabra because some financiers thought the film would only appeal to a gay audience and, at a cost of $25 million, would be a financial risk. Eventually he received financing from Time Warner’s HBO cable channel and made the film with Michael Douglas playing Liberace and Matt Damon as Scott Thorson with whom the pianist had a secret five-year affair. Soderbergh said it was a coincidence that the film was being released during a global debate on gay rights and same-sex marriage but acknowledged that it was very timely. France last month became the 14th country to legalise gay marriage, a move also taken in the US by Washington DC and 12 states. Liberace, a huge celebrity during his lifetime, publicly denied his homosexuality at a time when being gay was widely considered taboo. “In making the film, the sociopolitical aspect of it was not really in my mind but I was focused on... trying to...

Cow handbag design offal-y daring

Hugh Boag, PA — Thu, 23 May 2013 16:29:00 +0200

As fashion designs go, some might say it is just offal. An Edinburgh-based student is certain to divide opinions after creating a handbag line using the stomach lining of a Highland cow. Jocelyn Mather, a fourth-year design student at Edinburgh Napier University, said: "My lecturer kept saying they would look great on Lady Gaga." Her four statement bags, which will go on display at the university's Creative Degree Show from tomorrow, were all hand-stitched. The collection ranges from a formal clutch to a dainty handbag, with tripe either used as a lining or outer material. The fastenings are also made using the animal's horns and bull-ring. But the 23-year-old student hit a hiccup along the way when her flat was raided by wildlife officers. "My letting agent had been carrying out an inspection in my flat and had obviously come across a pair of cow horns", she said. "He had thought they were ivory tusks and called the police. I was terrified but they just laughed when they saw the horns." Ian Lambert, art design and communication subject group leader, said: "Jocelyn's designs are thought-provoking and like much of the work set to go on show, executed to a high standard." The show...