After nearly 40 years of trading, historic London prop house A+M Hire is permanently closing its doors due to the development of the UK government’s second High-Speed rail line (HS2).The West London-based company, located in a sizeable building near the Willesden Junction tube station, is being forced to close to make way for one of the main HS2 construction sites.In a statement posted online, A+M founder John Mantle said that the company had attempted to secure a new location but that the “vision ended as a result of a combination of events beyond our control” which had made relocating “impossible”.As a result, the company ceased taking bookings from January 2 this year and now only remains open to receive returning goods. It will be officially closed from March 31.Mantle also noted that the HS2 team had been “supportive” throughout the entire process and had assisted in supporting relocation efforts. “We so nearly made it,” he … [Read more...] about Historic London prop house A+M to close due to HS2 development (exclusive)
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Paul Thomas Anderson on the challenges of filming ‘Phantom Thread’ in the UK: ‘London was rough’
Paul Thomas Anderson and Daniel Day-Lewis spent many months embroidering Anderson’s initial outline for Phantom Thread, the master collaborators drawn back into action 10 years after There Will Be Blood.“There was a mutual interest in wanting to work together again,” Anderson says when Screen International meets him in November. “I remember being the one putting rules to us and saying we had to talk every week and do it like this and play loose with the idea — just come up with things. Because I knew both of us well enough to know we’d get preoccupied and start wandering off.”The idea for the Focus Features drama came after 2014’s Inherent Vice, a “mentally so challenging” adaptation of Thomas Pynchon’s trippy detective story. “The instinct is to just do something as opposite to that as possible, so the premise of creating a being in a glamorous world with ball gowns and things like that and focusing on a single … [Read more...] about Paul Thomas Anderson on the challenges of filming ‘Phantom Thread’ in the UK: ‘London was rough’
London Police Open New Investigation Into Kevin Spacey
London police have opened another investigation into Kevin Spacey for alleged sexual assault, making the total number of cases three, Scotland Yard confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter. "On 13 December we received an allegation that the man sexually assaulted a man (Victim 3) in 2005 in Westminster," Scotland Yard said in a statement. "Officers from the Child Abuse and Sexual Offences Command are investigating."No further information was released. The two-time Oscar-winning actor has been accused of sexual assault by numerous men in the U.S. and England.The two other investigations by police in the U.K. concern another alleged sexual assault by Spacey in 2005 and one in 2008. Star Trek: Discover actor Anthony Rapp who the first to come forward and claim Spacey assaulted him when Rapp was 14.In the subsequent fallout, Spacey was fired from House of Cards and replaced in Ridley Scott’s All the Money in the World.Since his initial, highly … [Read more...] about London Police Open New Investigation Into Kevin Spacey
Trump Blames Obama and New Embassy For Cancelled London Trip: ‘Wanted Me to Cut Ribbon-NO!’
President Donald Trump took to Twitter on Friday to explain why his planned trip to visit the United Kingdom was cancelled.Trump, who was expected to visit London to open the new U.S. embassy in February, said on Twitter that he had cancelled his trip because he is “not a big fan of the Obama Administration having sold perhaps the best located and finest embassy in London for “peanuts,” only to build a new one in an off location for 1.2 billion dollars.”“Bad deal,” the president continued, “Wanted me to cut ribbon-NO!”:Though the president is blaming a shoddy real estate deal for his cancelled trip, reports suggest that Trump was concerned about being met with a “hostile reception” at the capital and a lack of “bells and whistles.”And indeed, it’s not clear that Trump’s allegations of a “bad deal” on the new embassy passes the sniff test. First off, the decision to move the embassy was made … [Read more...] about Trump Blames Obama and New Embassy For Cancelled London Trip: ‘Wanted Me to Cut Ribbon-NO!’
Lin-Manuel Miranda Changed Three ‘Hamilton’ Lyrics for London Run
Hamilton has traveled across the pond — with a few tweaks.The musical's creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda, tweeted on Tuesday morning that "three tiny lyrics" were changed for the open-ended London run, which officially started Dec. 21 at the Victoria Palace Theatre.A handful of expert fans noted that they caught the changes. First, in "Take a Break," Alexander Hamilton's John Adams reference has been clarified to now reference the man's job title ("Angelica, tell my wife, Vice President isn’t a real job anyway").The other two tweaks are in lyrics sung by Aaron Burr: in the climactic song "The Room Where It Happens," the line “Well, I propose the Potomac” has become "Invite him over, propose it" to no longer reference the Potomac River. Likewise, Burr's duel proposal in "Your Obedient Servant" more broadly points to New Jersey instead of just the town of Weehawken ("New Jersey, dawn, guns drawn"). Of the latter, Miranda noted that Londoners "thought it was … [Read more...] about Lin-Manuel Miranda Changed Three ‘Hamilton’ Lyrics for London Run