THE FRENCH Prime Minister, Lionel Jospin, has provoked an outcry in France with his informal pardon of soldiers who mutinied during the First World War.

Review

Toilet humour has an ancient and honourable lineage. No, really

Ever since Steven Spielberg's harrowing Second World War film, Saving Private Ryan, was released in the United States, the online newsgroups have, bizarrely, been buzzing with opinions about how the film compares with, of all things, Stanley Kubrick's Vietnam epic, Full Metal Jacket (right).

The spectacle of Joyce Maynard trilling away about her ancient affair is a highly distasteful one

Classical? Pop? Jocelyn Pook's work defies labelling. Which is why Stanley Kubrick signed her for his new film.

This photograph, part of The Independent and the Hulton Getty Picture collection's 98 For '98 - The Century in Photographs, shows what we know nowadays as a bimbo punching the air. Apparently. However, she was dressed like that for a reason, protesting against the Miss World contest and making the point that judging on appearance tells only half the story.

Art or pornography? The debate continues as a new 'Lolita' prepares to hit the big screen. Paul Vallely reports

STANLEY KUBRICK by John Baxter, HarperCollins pounds 20

Despite being in the clutches of a property developer over the last seven years, Elstree Studios have avoided being turned into a supermarket. In fact, they made a momentous comeback earlier this year in the shape of Watch That Man starring Bill Murray. The studio is now celebrating its 70th anniversary at the Barbican with Elstree Calling, a two-week season of film screenings and Elstree-related events.

Warren Clarke has got one of those "it's on the tip of my tongue" faces. You've seen him in hundreds of things before, but you can't quite put a name to him. He's solid rather than starry - and admits as much. "Thank God, most of the time I'm unrecognisable," he laughs. "I've even been accused of not being Warren Clarke. Somebody once came up to me for an autograph and said, `I love all your work, Mr Elphick'. I could have said, `I'm not Michael Elphick, I'm Warren Clarke', but it wouldn't have been worth it. They'd just have said, `Warren Who?'"

The launch of theTitanic musical on Broadway has already inspired a flotilla of showbiz folklore which the unexpected death of Michael Braun joins. Braun, found dead in his apartment on the first day of rehearsals, was prominently featured on the musical's advertising as one of its two producers but, if his exact role now seems ambiguous, it is nothing compared to the machinations of Braun's own mythic existence.

Jack Nicholson, Hollywood's joker in the pack, is 60 next month. In this exclusive interview, he talks frankly about his extraordinary upbringing, his long career and - oh dear - his views on the sex war

Carol Allen talks to Patrice Leconte, director of 'Ridicule'