The AnswerBank Articles

Where can I download latest movies on the internet

A. There are several sites where you can download films and TV shows. Launched 10 months ago after the demise of Napster, MusicCity's Morpheus has become the most popular place on the internet to00:00 Mon 04th Mar 2002

What is treviso in a salad

A. The market gardeners of the Veneto region of Italy excel at cultivating the red leaves of the chicory family. Over the last four centuries, they have produced variations such as ruby-coloured00:00 Mon 04th Mar 2002

Who were the brains behind M*A*S*H

A. M*A*S*H - life in the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, where hurried surgery was performed - was set in Korea in 1950, but was really about Vietnam in the 1970s.The programme was devised by00:00 Mon 25th Feb 2002

Just how much cash has been made from Pop Idol - and who gets it

A. Pop Idol's creator, Simon Fuller, stands to make at least 10 million from the sale of the smash hit television format to the US. And when revenue from sponsorship, phone lines for voting, and00:00 Mon 25th Feb 2002

Why has it taken Hollywood so long to come up with a film about John Nash

A. The schizophrenic, Nobel prize-winning mathematician John Nash, revealed in Ron Howard's In A Beautiful Mind, lives up to Hollywood's idea of a genius - brilliant mind, but tortured personality. 00:00 Mon 25th Feb 2002

Is Ocean's Eleven the best movie made about Las Vegas

A. The remake of the 1960 movie Ocean's Eleven is a continuation of Hollywood's fascination with Vegas. The original rat pack film, which starred Frank Sinatra, helped establish the city as a00:00 Mon 18th Feb 2002

Which ad has attracted the most complaints recently

A. The controversial Yves Saint Laurent ad promoting the perfume Opium, which featured Sophie Dahl posing naked, drew a record 948 complaints. Members of the public complained the ad was offensive,00:00 Mon 18th Feb 2002

What kind of programmes will the new BBC4 show

A. The new channel, which has a 35 million budget, has been dubbed 'Radio 4 with pictures' by television critics. It will replace BBC Knowledge and will be broadcast each night from 7pm to 1am,00:00 Mon 18th Feb 2002

How many films has Dame Judi Dench made

A. Dame Judi's first big screen appearance was in Four in the Morning in 1966. She made a number of films during the Seventies and Eighties, including Dead Cert in 1974, and A Room with a View in00:00 Mon 11th Feb 2002

What were the highs and lows of TV is the Eighties

A. It was an important decade which shaped the television we watch today. Time diffferences meant for the first time television could bring pictures of earthquakes in South America before the rest of00:00 Mon 11th Feb 2002

Which British TV shows have made it successfully on the big screen - and which haven't

A. British film producers plundered TV comedy in the 1960s and 1970s. The result was a glut of fairly dire films which performed well at the domestic box office, but since television at this time00:00 Mon 11th Feb 2002

Was there ever a film made of Sergeant Bilko

A. There was a 1996 movie version of Bilko, which was directed by Jonathan Lynn with Steve Martin as the eponymous conman, but it was never a critical success. Q. What happened to Phil Silvers 00:00 Mon 04th Feb 2002

When did the movie industry's interest in Jack The Ripper begin

A. The first Ripper films were silent German flicks. Earth Sprint (1923), later remade as Pandora's Box (1929), and Waxworks (1924). Alfred Hitchock's The Lodger: A Story of The London Fog (1926) is00:00 Mon 28th Jan 2002

Why are the Golden Globe Awards so important in the Oscars race

A. The industry accepts that the Golden Globes are a pre-curser for the bigger and grander Oscars, which will be announced at a glittering ceremony in Los Angeles in March. Almost from the start of00:00 Mon 28th Jan 2002

Why has the film Kandahar sparked a terrorist hunt

A. The actor Hassan Tantai's role in the hit film Kandahar has caused a sensation, not for his performance, but because US prosecutors say he is an American fugitive wanted for killing an Iranian00:00 Mon 28th Jan 2002

Who's who in the new wave of directors hitting Hollywood

A. LA executives admit they are all searching for the next Steven Spielberg - many would be happy to find the next Steven Soderbergh, who has notched up recent hits, including Traffic, Erin00:00 Thu 21st Feb 2002

Why did All The President's Men matter so much to Robert Redford

A. The Watergate political scandal, which brought down US President Richard M Nixon, will be 30 years old this year. On 17 June, 1972, five people were arrested inside the Washington's Watergate00:00 Mon 21st Jan 2002

What's the connection between PG Tips, talking chimps, an owl - and Peter Sellers

A. The first tea-party advertisement for PG Tips tea was introduced by Peter Sellers in 1956. The ad showed an immaculately dressed 'boy' and 'girl' - the famous chimps - sitting at a Regency table00:00 Mon 21st Jan 2002

If a film flops in the US, can Hollywood make it a hit in the UK

A. It's a well-known fact that films which have had disappointing takings or a less-than-positive critical reaction undergo some kind of transformation crossing the Atlantic. In some cases, films00:00 Mon 14th Jan 2002

With which UK ad did Ridley Scott make his name

A. Director Ridley Scott became a household name when his company dreamed up the Hovis commercial, where a bike was pushed up a cobbled street, in 1975. The ad - along with Mr Kipling's 'exceedingly00:00 Mon 14th Jan 2002