News about David Lean

BRIAN VINER: If I compiled my list again today, I still wouldn't have space for The Italian Job, Forrest Gump, The Great Escape, or Titanic, which all of which encouraged readers to write in. By the way, that doesn't mean I don't like or even love those photos (although not Titanic), which makes me wish the iceberg would strike a bit sooner). Here is a list of the Top 20 movies you should have included in my Top 100 list, as well as your reasons for... The Shawshank Redemption (left), Mary Poppins (right), and Saving Private Ryan (inset).

Michael Culver, a British actor best known for his cameo appearance in the epic science fiction epic The Empire Strikes Back, has died at the age of 85. Culver's death was announced by his handler on Wednesday, the actor's illness had lasted for a long time. His cause of death has not been identified.

Here are 100 films that I believe every person should see at least once in their lifetime, and all of them should make you laugh, cry, gasp, or think. In some instances, perhaps all four are present. I hope my list would bring you some good cinematic treats, or better still, introduce you to them. Happy viewing!

Sir Ranulph Fiennes' corking biography gives a modern yet no less moving account of Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Lawrence's life and legend (right and inset). And who better to look at the unique challenges that Lawrence faced than Fiennes? Fiennes, a young Army officer, was seconded to the Gulf state of Oman in 1967. He sent an Arab guerrilla group to fight off violent Marxist rebels determined to overthrown the Sultan. Lawrence's life is chronicled every so often, with parallels to Fiennes' own experience. They don't look too alike - the same fine-boned appearances - but their heights are quite different: Lawrence's Fiennes was barely built at 5ft 5in. Both of them have a passion for high adventure. Peter O'Toole is the film's lefty.

Academic commentators of the notable work have referred to the decision by including a trigger warning in the US version of EM Forster's A Passage To India by publishers The Modern Library has been described as 'troubling' by academic followers of the valuable work. The warning, they say, is "completely unnecessary" and that the job is being "dragged into a culture war with no connection to the subject matter.' The book is set against the backdrop of the British Raj and the Indian independence movement in the 1920s, and it is notable for its critique of imperialism and depictions of Indians as culturally equals.

There is no greater authority than Mark Smith for the inside track on the world's best rail journeys. He used to be station manager at London's Charing Cross, Bridge, and Cannon Street stations, but now runs his website, named after his favorite Eurostar seat, full time. Read more about bucket-list trips of a lifetime.

When watching the first episode of the BBC1 series on Sunday night, dissatisfied Great Expectations viewers said they'switch over'. Many who attended Charlies Dickens' 1861 novel complained that it was too dark, had too much swearing, and was unrecognizable from the original story. The novel has been rewritten by Peaky Blinders creator Stephen, but those watching this version at home were unimpressed.

Ever since Lamduan Seekanya, 36, of Thailand, was discovered semi-naked in a stream at a Yorkshire Dales beauty spot in 2004, her murder has been a mystery. She was unidentified and buried in a churchyard with just the word 'Lady of the Hills' inscribed on her gravestone, fifteen years after she was discovered by ramblers. Now, after her British husband, university lecturer David Armitage, 59, refused to speak with detectives from North Yorkshire, who fled to Bangkok to inform him of the baffling investigation, the Thai government has announced that it could open an investigation into the tumultuous case under a law that allows murders of Thai civilians.

The audience at the Royal Command Performance at the Odeon Leicester Square was greeted with David Lean's triumphant labour of love, Lawrence Of Arabia, which had cost more than $100 and belonged to a dazzling cast including Peter O'Toole (far left), Alec Guinness, Omar Sharif (second from left), Anthony Quinn, Anthony Quayle, and Jose Ferrer. During filming, O'Toole developed an instant rapport with Sharif, his Egyptian co-star, who was terrified ahead of the rousing Aqaba raid scene in which their characters, on camels, were to lead 400 extras on a mile-and-a-half charge (pictured below). They both slid back several glasses of brandy and milk, with the result that Sharif, who was still on rope, slowly slid upside down as the charge was carried out. O'Toole stayed upright until the end, when he collapsed and was nearly killed by the extras' stampeding horses.

BRIAN VINER: Despite actor Chadwick Boseman's death in August 2020, who played the title role for the first time round, a sequel was inevitable as the African sunrise. Nevertheless, writer-director Ryan Coogler had to rewrite his script and restart again after the untimely death of his leading man at the age of 43. The end is Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and cynics' top word in that description is 'Forever.' Those of superhero movies are likely to be confused by the likes of David Lean, who created epic epics the length of short holidays. Coogler is no exception. At last week's London premiere, Chelsea and England footballer Mason Mount was sitting right in front of me, and he seemed remarkably upbeat as the film progressed to a third period of extra time. If only we'd have figured out the penalty scheme. Despite this, the key terms for the less cynical are still 'Black Panther.'

In the jet crash that broke up in mid-air at the Farnborough Air Display, John Derry's plane smashed to the ground (right) and smashed to pieces. On the day, pictures of terrified people (top right) were taken, where they were trying to help the injured and see the dead.

Dogs loved the Common Travel area between Ireland and the UK before Brexit. But traveling with four-legged friends isn't as straightforward as John McEntee found out. In addition to ordering rabies and worming injections, he had to get an eight-page travel paper from a UK vet in advance. The total bill was more than £200. Once all the boxes had been ticked, they hopped on an Irish Ferries service from Pembroke to Rosslare, with highlights from their docked voyage including being immersed in Atlantic breakers at Inch Beach (top right) and viewing jaw-dropping views of Dingle Bay (main).

RICHARD KAY: It was a tale with unending tension for a master storyteller. The Horse Whisperer, Nicholas Evans' (right) 1995 debut book, has sold 15 million copies. It was turned into a film directed, produced, and starring Robert Redford (centre), as well as Kristen Scott Thomas (top left image, right) and a young Scarlett Johansson (bottom left). A visitor selects some wild mushrooms and brings them home to fry them in butter and parsley for the family's supper while rambling over the Scottish estate of his wife's brother and sister-in-law. All four of the diners are critically ill and racing by ambulance to hospital a day later. Their dinner-table mushrooms were not edible at all, but their bodies were already ravaged by poisonous toxins. The man who mistakenly poisoned his family is aware that each couple's will have the other child's custody in the case of death hovers between life and death with acute renal disease. He calls his solicitor, afraid that all their children will be orphanaged soon, and a new will will be sent to his bedside.