Severus Snape has topped a poll to find the best loved 'Harry Potter' character. The wizard - played by Alan Rickman - received over 500 more votes than Harry's best pal Ron Weasley... more
And so we come to the end, thank Dumbledore! The eighth and final film in the Harry Potter franchise is where good and evil are told what's what and the central mystery is revealed... more
The novelist Dame Beryl Bainbridge, who won fame for her mordant wit and for never being awarded the Booker Prize despite five nominations, dies aged 75... more
Four sixth-formers have been thrown out of a top private school after being caught with cocaine as the end-of-year prom was marred by pupils' drunken behaviour... more
It’s taken him a while, but David Cameron has finally put his Boden sport shirts 'n' chinos at the back of the warderobe and succumbed to the formal embrace of the suit... more
So the City generates - or at least it did- £13 billion in income a year for other businesses, and, I am told, one hedge manager kept two other people in work... more
ARRIVING at the Royal Court last Friday to see Christopher Shinn's US election drama, Now or Later, we could tell something was in the air. True, it was a celebrity audience Alan Rickman, Kevin Spacey, Russell Brand but the Court is far too cool to make a fuss. But then we all froze, as the Prime Minister and his wife were ushered to their seats. Now this really was a turn-up for the books. Tony Blair's lack of interest in the arts was well-documented but here was Gordon making an effort to book a baby-sitter and put away the red boxes.... more
Tim Burton has a good stab at musicals in Sweeney Todd, Seinfield fans will get a buzz out of Bee Movie and My Kid Could Paint That may start an argument.... more
The premiere of Oscar-winning director Anthony Minghella's final film became a celebration of his life with tributes led by BBC Director General Mark Thompson... more
Lily Cole and Thandie Newton have attended a Vogue party to mark the forthcoming reopening of the Southbank Centre, after two years of redevelopment.... more
Perfume: The Story Of A Murderer features a serial killer who murders young women and dumps their naked bodies. The timing of its release couldn't be worse.... more
In Snow Cake, Sigourney Weaver triumphs as an obsessive-compulsive, autistic woman who is told by a toubled stranger that her daughter has died in a car accident.... more
It has taken 20 years to bring the 'unfilmable' bestseller Perfume to the screen. The Standard has had an exclusive preview and here we tell the intriguing story of how it was made.... more
Hollywood actress Sigourney Weaver hopes her latest movie will help improve people's understanding of autism. The 56-year-old said she believed Snow Cake would provide a new perspective on the condition.... more
Film news: Helena Bonham Carter has won the role of evil Death Eater Bellatrix Lestrange in the next Harry Potter film. The 40-year-old star will play one of Lord Voldemort's followers in the forthcoming Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.... more
Sound check: German industrial metal band Rammstein literally play with fire in their live performances - and now they are about to unleash their singeing spectacle on London. Watch out for your eyebrows
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