Housekeeping, clips, and reviews (oh my)

First, you might notice something different about the blog's landscape. Now that June is nearly busting out all over, and the 2008 Tonys are rapidly approaching, we've removed our '07 Tonys tribute to Jennifer Ehle from the "News" section. *sigh* The link to the acceptance speech video goodness is now located under "Essentials" for your repeated viewing pleasure.

Next, here are some great clips (some new, some old, now in one convenient place) from Before the Rains. Number 3 is of particular interest, as you can see.







Here's the latest from the critics:

• A not-very-nice review at Red Orbit is forgivable because of its reference to "an impressive performance by Ehle as Henry's betrayed wife."
• There are mixed feelings at Seattle PI and The Seattle Times. The latter explains:

  [...] While the casting couldn't be much better, there are only so many ways the talented Roache can register Moores' upper-class twitness before he turns into a Monty Python doll. As Moores' suspicious wife, Jennifer Ehle is slightly more sympathetic. [...]

• Past the Popcorn admires the beautiful cinematography and praises the technical merits of the film, if not the screenplay.
• Here's one blogger's opinion of the cast:

  [...] The acting overall was good. Rahul Bose does a good job of being the conflicted assistant– stuck between the world of his traditional family and his English boss. Nandita Das was surprisingly effective in her minuscule role of paramour. Linus Roache was good, but the actors who played his wife (Jennifer Ehle), son and the banker, were just as good if not better. [...]

• Another celebrity blogger from ABC 13 not only got the see Rains in Houston, but had his picture taken with Linus Roache, who was in town promoting the film. His verdict:

  [...] It's a very good film, and is beautifully shot. If you are looking for something a little more grounded in reality after Indy, you might want to check it out.

Other Rains-related tidbits:

• Santosh Sivan compares the arts of cinematography and directing at India Journal.
• There's a discussion of Before the Rains and colonialism in this review from The Stranger.

Finally, Edwin has alerted us to the fact that a new Region 2 DVD of The Camomile Lawn has just been released (May 19). If you don't already have a copy, now's the time!

P.S. For a slew of coincidences + a bit of CB hilarity on the side, read this article at The Daily Mail. More information can be found at Playbill.