Veteran actress Dame Judi Dench has joined a campaign to save a small cinema in Scotland.
By becoming a patron of the Highland Theatre in Oban, the actress has followed in the footsteps of other celebrity supporters like Tilda Swinton, Dougray Scott, Robbie Coltrane and Rowan Atkinson.
The venue closed last summer after the owners went into liquidation, reports the Daily Star.
Officials at Santander bank, which has now taken over ownership, have agreed to postpone an auction to sell off the cinema so local residents can try and raise enough cash to buy it.
Scottish neighbours are hoping to raise 20,000 pounds to place a deposit down on the theatre, and hope to eventually collect the full 195,000 pounds asking price.
And Dench is now leading the campaign with her new patron status.
Town centre manager Campbell Cameron is hoping to reopen the Highland Theatre as the Phoenix Cinema.
"We are delighted that Dame Judi Dench has given us her support. She has an affinity with the area because she comes up here on her holidays," Cameron said.
It cannot get any bigger or better than this! Two icons of Bollywood and a heavyweight Hollywood A-lister are coming together to support the cause of education among the underprivileged in India.
Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan and Judi Dench will be working in tandem to promote education among the low-income groups of the country with the sole aim that when these kids become bread-winners, they will have a better life and in turn provide better opportunities to their children.
And bringing these top actors together is none other than the Oscar-winning sound engineer Resul Pookutty. His foundation has been silently working towards bettering the socio-economic conditions of the poverty struck groups but he believes that the time has come to go top gear. "It is unimaginable that even in the 21st century there is rampant illiteracy in India. We are making our presence felt in the world and this aspect is something that should definitely be tackled. Along with economy and cultural boom, India should not be spoken as a country that is also illiteracy stricken," Resul told TOI.
He added, "Without Amitabh Bachchan's blessing, my project would have not started at all. He has helped me with funds and goodness. It is time to implement new things. Just when I was planning different things, Judi Dench came to my rescue. She had spent eight weeks in the country while shooting her Hollywood project in Rajasthan. She saw the rich and the poor and was touched by the work that we were doing."
According to Resul, Judi will play a very active role in the project. "Judi has told me to draw plans and just tell her what is to be done and she will try her level best to do more than what has been asked of her," he said. SRK's inclusion certainly bolsters the plans further. "I have met Shah Rukh while working on his movie Ra.One.
I told him all about our charity that is being supported by two big luminaries and he was more than keen to support. SRK is a silent benefactor and he too will be with us in this cause," Resul added. Check out Shah Rukh Khan's homepage
The new James Bond 007 "Quantum Of Solace" movie trailer does not have the crash and bang action impact as the first one, but it does give some new clues to the whole "Quantum of Solace" mystery.
The film picks up an hour after the end of "Casino Royale", and revolves around the adventures of James Bond in a manipulative and dangerous mission of uncovering the truth behind the organization which blackmailed his former lover, Vesper Lynd, while fighting the urge to avenge his broken heart.
It seems that some bad guy desires "the world's most precious resource" and it's up to James Bond to stop him and his lively gang with an assortment of gut punches, flying kicks, jumping motorcycles, soaring speedboats, swooping helicopters, massive explosions, clever gadgets and the occasional look that kills.
Daniel Craig stars as the infamous James Bond, while Judi Dench heads up the Foreign Intelligence wing of Her Majesty's Secret Service as "M". The highlight of the new move trailer is when James Bond falls off a balcony while fighting with a bad guy. The lowlight is the opening segment of the clip with what looks like a high-tech car commercial.
But the plot seems to be a bit clearer now: On a mission that leads him to Austria, Italy and South America, James Bond discovers that Greene (Mathieu Amalric), is conspiring to take total control of one of the worlds most important natural resources, and is forging a deal with the exiled General Medrano.
Using his associates in the organization, and manipulating his powerful contacts within the CIA and the British government, Greene promises to overthrow the existing regime in a Latin American country, giving the General control of the country in exchange for an apparently desolate piece of land, which is a main source of the South American water supply.
In a web of deceit, murder and deception, James Bond (Daniel Craig) partners with old associates in a battle to uncover the truth. As Bond gets closer to finding the man responsible for the betrayal of Vesper, 007 must keep one step ahead of the CIA, the terrorists and even M, to unravel Greene's sinister plan and stop Quantum from getting its way.
"Quantum Of Solace" is due in theaters November 11, and has had its share of production problems along the way. Craig was rushed to hospital in June after hurting himself on-set in South America, and was recently seen nursing a bruised eye and broken arm, expensive set vehicles malfunctioned causing accidents, and fires here and there slowed production for weeks.
We suspect it will be worth the wait, even if just to hear the new soundtrack and theme song written by Jack White and Alicia Keys.
