Hugh Grant said it was “fun” play a darker role on Cloud Atlas

Hugh Grant said last night it was "fun" to bring out a darker side for his multiple roles in the screen adaptation of Cloud Atlas, rather than the bumbling English gent he normally plays.

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Cover of That Near-Death Thing book - by Rick Broadbent

That Near-Death Thing, by Rick Broadbent

Critics of the Isle of Man TT races might argue this book should be entitled That Actual-Death Thing. Since the first fatality in 1911, more than 230 riders have been killed in racing or practice, and thousands have suffered serious injury.

Mum’s the word: Sadie Frost performs ‘Touched... Like A Virgin’

In the groove with pop and pregnancy

Sadie Frost's one-woman show mixes Madonna and motherhood. By Charlotte Cripps

Spotlight on: Harvey Weinstein, Co-chairman, the Weinstein Company

And the winner is... Yes, after the Oscars, who can doubt that the brothers Weinstein, Harvey and his younger sibling Bob, are back on top in Hollywood? The Weinstein Company distributed The Artist in the US, and orchestrated its campaign to win Best Picture, and that wasn't the only one of the firm's movies taking plaudits.

Grant will be at birth of Bridget Jones's Baby

The production company behind the Bridget Jones's Diary movies was yesterday forced to deny reports that Hugh Grant had quit the third instalment because of issues with the script.

Meryl Streep looks and sounds like Margaret Thatcher, but also suggests her vulnerability

The Iron Lady, Phyllida Lloyd, 105 mins (12A)

Meryl Streep is superb, but the story is of one woman fulfilling her destiny rather than the pell-mell of politics

Oscar winner Meryl Streep, left, transformed for her role as former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, right

Portrait too blue to be true

There is one very good reason to see The Iron Lady, perhaps good enough to neutralise the reasons to feel annoyed by it. Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher gives a performance of uncanny exactitude and command that overleaps the bounds of mimicry: despite a face encrusted with prosthetics and make-up, Streep somehow conveys through outward presentation (clothes, hair, voice) the inward drive of her personality. Strictly as an impersonation it will be seen as definitive for years to come.

The Iron Lady (12A)

Starring: Meryl Streep, Richard E Grant, Jim Broadbent, Anthony Head

Video: Exclusive Interview With Simon Pegg and Nick Frost about 'Paul'

Simon Pegg and Nick Frost (Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead) reunite for the comedy sci-fi Paul as two geeks whose pilgrimage to America's UFO heartland brings them face-to-face with the titular alien.

Looks like another alien encounter for Sigourney

Their output to date includes the zombie comedy Shaun of the Dead and the action comedy Hot Fuzz. Here Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are pictured arriving at the world premiere of their latest film Paul with co-star Sigourney Weaver last night.

DVD: Any Human Heart (15)

Rarely is the interplay of form and narrative function so fittingly enacted as in William Boyd's TV adaptation of his own 2002 novel.

Another Year (12A)

Starring: Jim Broadbent, Ruth Sheen, Lesley Manville, David Bradley

Mike Leigh - Secrets and Leigh lines

As Mike Leigh's new film, Another Year, is released, James Mottram explores the rigorous processes behind the performances his work is famed for, while stars reveal the demands involved.

DVD: Perrier's Bounty (15)

Two thugs scrunch pistachio nuts in front of Cillian Murphy's petrified low-life, Michael.

Moby Dick, Lyric Hammersmith, London

"Call me Ishmael" goes the famous opening line of Moby Dick. "Call me a taxi," I muttered under my breath. To be fair, it gets better, as the quartet of performers in Spymonkey warm to their task of doing a sort of Marx Brothers meets Hellzapoppin' job on Herman Melville's epic, the joke being, of course, that the whale is a rubber duck and Captain Ahab's a delusional idiot.

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Special report: How my father's face turned up in Robert Capa's lost suitcase

Special report: How my father's face turned up in Robert Capa's lost suitcase

The great war photographer was not one person but two. Their pictures of Spain's civil war, lost for decades, tell a heroic tale
The unmade speech: An alternative draft of history

The unmade speech: An alternative draft of history

Someone, somewhere has to write speeches for world leaders to deliver in the event of disaster. They offer a chilling hint at what could have been
Funny business: Meet the women running comedy

Funny business: Meet the women running comedy

Think comedy’s a man's world? You must be stuck in the 1980s, says Holly Williams
Wilko Johnson: 'You have to live for the minute you're in'

Wilko Johnson: 'You have to live for the minute you're in'

The Dr Feelgood guitarist talks frankly about his terminal illness
Lure of the jingle: Entrepreneurs are giving vintage ice-cream vans a new lease of life

Lure of the jingle

Entrepreneurs are giving vintage ice-cream vans a new lease of life
Who stole the people's own culture?

DJ Taylor: Who stole the people's own culture?

True popular art drives up from the streets, but the commercial world wastes no time in cashing in
Guest List: The IoS Literary Editor suggests some books for your summer holiday

Guest List: IoS Literary Editor suggests some books for your summer holiday

Before you stuff your luggage with this year's Man Booker longlist titles, the case for some varied poolside reading alternatives
What if Edward Snowden had stayed to fight his corner?

Rupert Cornwell: What if Edward Snowden had stayed to fight his corner?

The CIA whistleblower struck a blow for us all, but his 1970s predecessor showed how to win
'A man walks into a bar': Comedian Seann Walsh on the dangers of mixing alcohol and stand-up

Comedian Seann Walsh on alcohol and stand-up

Comedy and booze go together, says Walsh. The trouble is stopping at just the one. So when do the hangovers stop being funny?
From Edinburgh to Hollywood (via the Home Counties): 10 comedic talents blowing up big

Edinburgh to Hollywood: 10 comedic talents blowing up big

Hugh Montgomery profiles the faces to watch, from the sitcom star to the surrealist
'Hello. I have cancer': When comedian Tig Notaro discovered she had a tumour she decided the show must go on

Comedian Tig Notaro: 'Hello. I have cancer'

When Notaro discovered she had a tumour she decided the show must go on
They think it's all ova: Bill Granger's Asia-influenced egg recipes

Bill Granger's Asia-influenced egg recipes

Our chef made his name cooking eggs, but he’s never stopped looking for new ways to serve them
The world wakes up to golf's female big hitters

The world wakes up to golf's female big hitters

With its own Tiger Woods - South Korea's Inbee Park - the women's game has a growing audience
10 athletes ready to take the world by storm in Moscow next week

10 athletes ready to take the world by storm in Moscow next week

Here are the potential stars of the World Championships which begin on Saturday
The Last Word: Luis Suarez and Gareth Bale's art of manipulation

The Last Word: Luis Suarez and Gareth Bale's art of manipulation

Briefings are off the record leading to transfer speculation which is merely a means to an end