Steve
Pratt takes a look at the latest on the big and small screens
Blockbuster movie a step closer to filming
A COUNCIL is soon to receive the final plans that could see a North-East seafront transformed into 1940s Dunkirk for a £36m movie.
Tom cracks the Code
'Just a good story' is how The Da Vinci Code star Tom Hanks describes his latest project. He admits that, at one stage, he thought he was playing Leonardo Da Vinci until he sat down to read the book. Steve Pratt reports on the secrecy and strife that has finally led to one of the year's must-see films.
Top Ten To Rent
UK DVD/VIDEO RENTAL: 1 (-) Just Friends
The mother of all romantic comedies
Steve pratt talks to Meryl Streep and Uma Thurman about how starring roles in the romantic comedy Prime actually touched on real-time situations they were experiencing.
Top Ten To Rent
UK DVD/VIDEO RENTAL: 1 (-) Just Like Heaven
Impossible dream
It's taken a year longer than expected, but Mission Impossible III is finally delivering the action - with a TV series director at the helm. Steve Pratt listens as star Tom Cruise and director J J Abrams discuss the mission that almost became impossible.
Top Ten To Rent
UK FILM TOP TEN: 1 (1) Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
Top Ten To Rent
UK DVD/VIDEO RENTAL: 1 (-) Brokeback Mountain
Marriage lines
Her sister's disastrous wedding day prompted director Debbie Isitt to make a movie about a couple whose dreams are destined not to come true. She talks to Steve Pratt.
Spice is right for movies
A FEW months ago it wasn't the big screen version of Dallas but turning another old US television series into a feature film that was occupying Bend It Like Beckham and Bride & Prejudice director Gurinder Chadha.
Caught cold
Every dog has its day and action movie favourite Paul Walker tells Steve Pratt that he was happy to share the screen with eight huskies in sub-zero temperatures. Once Walker showed he wa a dog-lover then the job of rescuing a sled team was all his.
Top Ten To Rent
UK DVD/VIDEO RENTAL: 1 (1) King Kong
Killing time
Hugh Dancy talks to Steve Pratt about the second Hollywood attempt to tell the tale of Rwanda's terrible massacre of 12 years ago.
Top Ten To Rent
UK DVD/VIDEO RENTAL: 1 (-) King Kong
Top Ten To Rent
UK DVD/VIDEO RENTAL: 1 (-) The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe
Playing Hangman
Can the country's last public hangman be an uncomplicated character who you could bump into in the pub? Yes, Timothy Spall tells Steve Pratt as the tale of executioner Albert Pierrepoint reaches the big screen. On TV, Spall welcomes his first project with Jimmy McGovern.
Buried treasure
The one man you feel is tough enough to direct, produce, co-write and star in a memorable US movie is Tommy Lee Jones. The Oscar-winning actor talks to Steve Pratt about giving a film 'his best shot'.
Top Ten To Rent
UK DVD/VIDEO RENTAL: 1 (-) Flight Plan
Danger man
Director Eli Roth believes humans have always liked watching violence as entertainment and that's why his graphically gory horror movie Hostel has already proved to be a box-office hit in the States. He talks to Steve Pratt.
Dead Ringer
As he approaches 60, actor Brian Cox says he has no intention of retiring - and his latest film, in which he plays a seedy gambler who tries to fix the Special Olympics, is out this week. He talks to Steve Pratt about how his original portrayal of cannabalistic killer Hannibal Lecter on screen has always haunted him.
Top Ten To Rent
UK DVD/VIDEO RENTAL: 1 (-) Saw 2
Double delight
With leading roles in a Yorkshire stage premiere and a film, North-East actors Richard Glaves and David Leon are two of our brightest rising stars. Steve Pratt talks to them about Scuffers, playwrights and working with Lauren Bacall.
Top Ten To Rent
UK DVD/VIDEO RENTAL: 1 (2) Lord Of War
Vendetta red
Wearing a mask throughout an entire film led James Purefoy to quit V For Vendetta and be replaced at short notice by Hugo Weaving. The actor tells Steve Pratt about coming to terms with the mental and physical demands of becoming the facially unseen character V.
Top Ten To Rent
UK DVD/VIDEO RENTAL: 1 (-) The Legend Of Zorro
Shooting stars
A kangaroo western written by punk rock performer Nick Cave proved to be a tough Proposition for actor Guy Pearce. He talks to Steve Pratt about surviving the heat, dust and flies of outback Australia.
Son shine weather
In the comedy About A Boy, Nicholas Hoult played a child befriended by Hugh Grant. Now he's playing Nicholas Cage's son in The Weatherman and awaiting the release of a smaller movie. The rising young star talks to Steve Pratt about acting alongside some of Hollywood's big box office stars.
Top Ten To Rent
UK DVD/VIDEO RENTAL: 1 (1) Wallace And Gromit
Top Ten To Rent
UK DVD/VIDEO RENTAL: 1 (-) Wallace And Gromit: The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit
Ledger in love
Time for a costumed romp then for Aussie actor Heath Ledger as he takes on the love legend called Casanova straight after Oscar - nominated Brokeback Mountain. Steve Pratt talks to the actor and the production team about putting the world's best-known sexual adventurer back on the big screen.
Top Ten To Rent
UK DVD/VIDEO RENTAL: 1 (1) Bewitched
A real Bobby-dazzler
Steve Pratt talks to Tynesider Greg Wise about re-making the famous story of Greyfriars Bobby and about his marriage to leading British actress Emma Thompson.
Top Ten To Rent
UK DVD/VIDEO RENTAL: 1 (-) Bewitched
End games
Eric Bana isn't exactly laughing all the way to the bank, but the former stand-up comic is enjoying a series of film roles which include The Hulk and Speilberg's Munich. He talks to Steve Pratt about home in Melbourne and Hollywood.
Hot actress in a cold climate
A new movie with strong North-East connections and starring the rising actress Shirley Henderson opens in Newcastle this week. Steve Pratt talks to the star about her career and why she couldn't lose her Fleetwood accent during filming.
Top Ten To Rent
UK DVD/VIDEO RENTAL: 1 (1) The Island
Another shot at fame for 50 Cent
50 Cent's latest movie about an orphan street kid who gets gunned down before music saves his life mirrors the rapper's own tough upbringing, he tells Steve Pratt.
Tea's Cher horror
Dressing up as Sonny Bono proved to be quite a shock for Tea Leoni, she tells Steve Pratt, but not quite as bad as seeing fellow film star Jim Carrey dressed in drag for the remake of Fun With Dick And Jane.
Why 23 puts Jim in a spin
Jim Carrey the film prodicer is a lot more serious than Jim Carrey the actor. He also reveals to Steve Pratt why the number 23 means so much to him... to the extent of filming The Number 23 for Joel Schumacher.
To Ten To Rent
UK DVD/VIDEO RENTAL: 1 (1) The Island
Diamond geisha
Chinese actress Gong Li talks to Steve Pratt about her latest role in Memoirs Of A Geisha and how wearing a kimono made her feel like an empress.
Talking trannies
Cillian Murphy relished playing a transvestite in the film Breakfast On Pluto even if, as he tells Steve Pratt, he did turn out to look like his little sister.
A match made in London
The unexpected decision by Woody Allen to direct a movie in the UK has led to another film with his leading lady Scarlett Johanson. Allen even reviews his cast for Steve Pratt's benefit.
