An Oscar for a Belfast film-maker whose work concentrates on the violence of the Troubles was yesterday welcomed across the political and religious divide in Northern Ireland.

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Uggie the Dog is chewing over the bitterness of being not invited to the Oscars

Not invited? You're not alone. Neither is Uggie the Dog

Even the best get overlooked and humiliated at times. So, join the snub club

Robert Pattinson and Philip Glenister star in Bel Ami

Heads Up: Bel Ami

Fangs away but love still has bite for raunchy R-Pattz

Time to call cut on long film titles

Have some sympathy for cinemagoers who make the mistake of booking their tickets over the phone in the next few weeks. Quite apart from the purgatory that is the multiplexes' booking systems, they'll also have to contend with titles that will leave them breathless.

DVD: Chatroom (15)

Four middle-class Chelsea teens are lured into an online chatroom by William (Aaron Johnson), who proceeds to prey on their weaknesses – and finally attempts to drive one of them to suicide.

Please put the camera away, darling...

When couples collaborate on screen the results are usually disastrous, says Ben Walsh. So why do they keep on doing it?

Chatroom (15)

Starring: Aaron Johnson, Imogen Poots, Matthew Beard

Imogen Poots - A blooming English Rose

At 21, Imogen Poots is already an old hand at period dramas and she's just shared her first on-screen kiss with Michael Douglas. James Mottram meets a rising star

'Today' reveals its guest editors (and Jordan isn't one of them)

Listeners to BBC Radio 4's flagship Today programme will not be treated to a special edition guest edited by the model Katie Price, although the show confirmed yesterday that it was "talking" with the television star about how she could teach it about "a world a million miles away from the one that Today usually occupies".

DVD: Kick-Ass, For retail & rental (Universal)

"How come nobody tries to be a superhero?" wonders Dave Lizewski, teen nerd.

DVD: Kick-Ass (15)

"A putz in pantyhose," is how Mark Strong's wise-guy crook, Frank D'Amico, describes Kick-Ass, a crime-buster in a green wetsuit (snapped up for $99 on the internet) and yellow rubber gloves.

Diary: Boris Johnson and Kelly Brook launch London's Sky Ride

Boris Johnson and Kelly Brook linked arms yesterday to launch the 2010 Mayor of London's Sky Ride, a free mass-participation cycling event to be held in the capital this weekend. Speaking to James O'Brien of LBC Radio, Mr Johnson mentioned that a "very vociferous heckler" had done their utmost to disrupt the event. "But Kelly... showed the sangfroid worthy of a Napoleonic battlefield in the face of the hurly-burly of British politics." Having consulted a linguist, I shall attempt to deconstruct Mr Johnson's convoluted simile: I believe "sangfroid" refers to the "cold-bloodedness" of the troops who suffered through the emperor's many violent campaigns, and to the calmness of the Mayor's comely companion. One imagines that, while considering Ms Brook's suitability for 19th-century warfare, he was thinking of the bitterly cold, featureless landscapes of Russia, as opposed to, say, the battlefield of Napoleon's greatest victory – at Austerlitz, the location of which is famed for its twin mounds, Santon Hill (700ft) and Zuran Hill (850ft).

Younger men are queuing up for a cougar to love

Older woman's allure is not just a Tinseltown fad

Baby girl for director Sam Taylor-Wood and fiance



Artist turned film-maker Sam Taylor-Wood has had a baby girl with her 20-year-old fiance Aaron Johnson.

Hollywood takes on a strong British accent

Brawny Stallone-style heroes have fallen out of favour as American audiences go for the well-brought-up boy-next-door look
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Day In a Page

Grace Dent: If you were on your first foreign trip for 24 years, would you want Bono to be a part of the package?

Grace Dent

If you were on your first foreign trip for 24 years, would you want Bono to be a part of the package?
Ireland's austerity D-Day: How much pain can it take?

Ireland's austerity D-Day: How much pain can it take?

After years of savage cuts, the Irish now face a stark choice: do they hand over control of their economy to Europe – or go it alone without the safety net of future bailouts?
Is doctors' fixation on treatment making us ill?

Is doctors' fixation on treatment making us ill?

Advances in medicine have made the impossible, possible. But an over-reliance on healthcare threatens to bankrupt the world – and make all of us sick
The most complained-about advertisements of all time

The most complained-about advertisements of all time

The ASA has received 430,000 complaints during its existence, with a record 31,548 in 2011
Olympians: They're fit and don't we just know it

Olympians: They're fit and don't we just know it

From Tom Daley's six-pack to scantily clad volleyball players, Olympic athletes are being sold on their sex appeal. Why can't we appreciate talent, not totty?
Return of the unacceptable face of capitalism?

Return of the unacceptable face of capitalism?

Sir Richard Needham's resignation from the board of Lonrho brings back bad memories of the group's controversial past
Off the rails in Bermuda

Off the rails in Bermuda

Best known for beaches, it's also home to a stunning hiking trail that follows the route of an old railway line
Get ready for a royal good time

Get ready for a royal good time

There are plenty of events to help you fly the flag during the Diamond Jubilee long weekend and half term
Spain: World football's marathon men

Marathon men: Are Spain running out of puff?

They have every right to be exhausted after four taxing years of almost non-stop action but the chance to claim a unique treble is spurring them on
Usain Bolt: The Bolt show runs on

Usain Bolt: The Bolt show runs on

Friday's 'slow' 100m has done nothing to dent Jamaican's supreme confidence he will triumph in London
The weirdest and most wonderful Diamond Jubilee memorabilia

Weird and wonderful Jubilee memorabilia

Coronation Chicken ice cream and Jubilee jelly moulds
'I may be deaf, but you can still talk to me'

'I may be deaf, but you can still talk to me'

Being a teenager is hard enough – for those with hearing loss, it can be even more complicated
A right royal trip down the river

A right royal trip down the river

A new exhibition celebrates the glory days of London's mighty Thames
The 10 Best lawn mowers

The 10 Best lawn mowers

From petrol-fuelled to self-propelled
Every second counts

Why does life appear to speed up as we get older?

Matilda Battersby finds out how the clock plays tricks with our minds