Saw RZ on Rosie with pseudo-host Meredith Viera. Said they will *likely* do a BJD spoof on SNL. Wouldn't commit though. Showed the pants clip. No mention of Colin, but only one mention of Huge. Same old same old.

Looking at Renee on the Rosie show, I'm convinced she plays the "role" of a ditzy blond.We know from Sharon Maguire interviews, that RZ is a hard-working, serious actress; deliberate in nailing her role. You'd never know it from today's show. Didn't one of the articles mention that this is the first movie she's had to carry on her own? Didn't she carry NB? Though it didn't have the wide release tht BJD will have. Thanks for the Independent article, Mari. No one said BJD was another Citizen Kane.

Didn't she carry NB? Though it didn't have the wide release tht BJD will have. I think you've answered your own question.

Had a weird experience at the local multiplex this evening. No BJD trailer before the film and absolutely no posters or publicity in the foyer to indicate that the film opens Friday (well I guess they have previews from tomorrow). I went in the knowledge there would be some goodies and came away empty handed!

Why does HG get described as �a handsome bounder and total cad,� while CF is �a repressed barrister�a stuffed shirt and noble noodle�??? http://www.cbsnews.com/now/story/0,1597,284517-412,00.shtml

Renee might not be fully comfortable with interviews--particularly in front of an audience. She might just have been nervous. But, was Viera attempting a Rosie immitation? or was I imagining it?

*Sigh* Have just got home from "exclusive screening" of BJD, it was fantastic! The cinema was packed solid, some people had to stand at the back! From the very first the place was rocking with laughter. Surprised to see so many blokes in, but they seemed to be enjoying matters just as much as us girlies! Fave bits: 'Look' on stairs in BJ's flat, at Ruby wedding and ....well basically every look really Tom "Fight!" Fight scene in general- ROTF..."happy birthday whatsisname" *tee hee* and of course 'the end' *engulfed by warm fuzzy feeling* You should have heard the sharp intake of breath around the auditorium when DC arrives at the BJ Birthday Bash - it was wonderful to be in a crowd so involved. ODB gorgeous, RZ adorable and Huge ....just looked tired and floppy! Was great, at long last, to see a CF film so well received can't wait to see it again;-) (BTW : Ben - Crown Court would have been on Thames I think)

it was wonderful to be in a crowd so involved. } Now I'm jealous. The crowd I had was sparse and quiet :(

Wow! They allow standing room in your theatres!? Tom "Fight!" hee hee hee! I've been telling all the James Callis people that that one word gets the biggest laugh. So glad you got to see it, Tracy, with a big crowd. As Huge has been telling the interviewers, RZ is going to ram that criticism down your press' throats.

Not a good review from the Village Voice. She seems to be more miffed that RZ was able to lose her weight so quickly and didn't have Bridget's weight problems in real life. Bizarre. http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0115/taubin.shtml

From the Guardian: The real Mr Darcy: Barrister Mark Muller thinks the noble hero in the Bridget Jones's Diary film is 'a bit dull'. But wasn't the character modelled on him? Jess Cartner-Morley investigates 'Who would play you in a Hollywood film?' is not a question most lawyers ever need face. But Mark Muller, a barrister with chambers in Gray's Inn Square, London, knows the answer to that question: last week he watched Colin Firth play a character modelled on him at the premiere of Bridget Jones's Diary. With a lawyer's penchant for niceties, however, Muller is keen to point out that the 'real Mark Darcy' tag is overblown: he was a consultant, rather than the inspiration, for the character of Mark Darcy human rights barrister and noble, reticent rival to love-rat Daniel Cleaver as played by Hugh Grant. And he didn't actually get to pick the actor. Firth, the most English of sex symbols he made his name playing Jane Austen's Darcy on the Beeb, after all was part of the Bridget Jones phenomenon from the beginning, as a lust object for Bridget and friends, and so a natural choice for the big screen. Screen immortality notwithstanding, Muller has pressing concerns in the real world as chairman of the Kurdish Human Rights Project and vice-chairman of the Bar Human Rights Committee. In the film, Darcy is briefly seen defending a Kurdish revolutionary leader who is faced with extradition: this was based on a real case of Muller's, that of Kani Yilmaz. Muller is now representing the Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan in a case against Turkey, where he faces the death sentence. 'If we win, it will effectively abolish the death penalty in Europe, and the case will become the basis for argument against the death penalty in the USA and elsewhere.' Yesterday, Working Title films, the company that produced Bridget Jones's Diary, held a fundraising screening for human rights projects. Muller was approached to help the producers, directors and scriptwriters develop the character of Mark Darcy through friends in the film industry: it was on a Kenyan holiday in 1997 that included Eric Felner of Working Title that he read the first Bridget Jones book. 'I enjoyed it, but I remember thinking that beyond this idea of a human rights barrister as a noble beast there wasn't much content to the character.' Muller was unsurprised by Helen Fielding's choice of career for Darcy. 'If you're trying to create a character who's noble but also a bit dark, a barrister is not a bad one to go for. And if you're thinking about a modern day knight in shining armour, most lawyers don't fulfill that criteria, but human rights lawyers do: righting wrongs and representing people who are disadvantaged. Especially if they happen to come from a privileged background and they don't really need to do it.' The Mark Darcy you will see on screen Muller finds 'a bit dull'. He was surprised that straw polls at the premiere suggested an even split between those women who favoured Darcy, and those who preferred Bridget's boss, the dastardly Cleaver. 'Grant's character is the one most men like to see themselves as, I think, and I would have thought women would have found him more attractive.' In the interests of dramatic narrative, the two male characters are cartoonishly opposed: Darcy stubbornly upstanding and silent; Cleaver, sly, suave and silver-tongued. 'I got married two or three years ago. Before that I would have seen myself more like Hugh Grant; happily I'm more like Colin Firth now.' On first impressions, he seems somewhere in the middle. Tall and dark like both the film's male leads, he has the plummy voice of Grant but the solider presence of Firth. To cast on looks, you'd have to go for Tom Hanks. He is wearing a dark suit with a pale blue-and-white shirt in large check gingham, spotted tie fastened with a slightly outsize knot in the preferable continental style, rather than the hangman-tight knot favoured by so many Englishmen. It is a strikingly similar ensemble to Firth's best outfit of the film, when at a hellish dinner party crawling with 'smug marrieds' Firth almost finds the nerve to ask Bridget out but is swiftly collared by his terrier-like girlfriend. Perhaps Mark Darcy could do for lawyers what Al Pacino did for investigative journalists in the film The Insider make them sexy. But isn't the idea of a lawyer sex symbol a bit incongruous? 'There's a certain kind of English barrister who, like Darcy, can seem a bit stuffy. Barristers don't tend to wear their wackiness on their sleeve. But they can have a very dry sense of humour, and they can be very individualistic, very funny, often quite wild.' Muller is standing as a Labour candidate in the forthcoming general election. Finding himself 'ending up in the House of Commons a lot' through his human rights work, he would like to become an MP 'to have a public platform to put arguments forward about human rights and foreign policy. I don't intend to give up law and just become an MP.' He is standing in Windsor, where he spent part of his childhood. This geographical detail currently adds a further complication to his life. His wife, Catherine Maxwell Stuart, is also standing as a Labour candidate, near her ancestral home in Scotland. After meeting as students at the London School of Economics, the couple were friends for many years before marrying. Catherine was previously married to a mutual friend, and Muller became godfather to their daughter, Isabella. They became close after Catherine's first husband died soon after Isabella's birth, and have since married and had a child. Despite contracting food poisoning from the canapes at a local Labour party social the previous night, Muller manages to exude enthusiasm for the election campaign. 'It will be a challenge, of course, because it's a Tory establishment area. But I hope people in Windsor will see that Labour are now the natural party of government, the party of stability as well as the party of economic fairness.' Would not it be difficult to divide his time even further, given he already travels between London, and overseas commitments? He brushes such namby pamby worries aside. 'Well, you know, I'll manage, it's not so difficult.' He has little enthusiasm, however, for the prospect of further forays into the film industry. 'I'm not really interested.' 'Very busy,' he adds, sounding for a moment like a true Hollywood player.

Thanks for posting that Karen. Tracy, sounds like a wild time, so glad you have seen it. For me the atmosphere in the NY screening was wonderful, Brit audiences can be sometimes much more reserved and as you say it is just so great when everyone is involved in the plot/characters. Here's to many more "involved" BJD audiences. I am off to sample a Welsh audience's reaction at a preview, hopefully Ann Robinson is not expected to be in attendance!! Huge you are the weakest link....

According to the Hollywood Reporter (April 10): Date change for 'Diary' Miramax Films is booking the Renee Zellweger-Hugh Grant starrer "Bridget Jones's Diary" on an additional 500 screens in North America and moving up the film's release in its native United Kingdom to Wednesday. "Diary" was originally slated to bow in the United Kingdom for the minimajor on 600 screens day-and-date with its 1,500-screen U.S. release during the weekend but now will debut two days earlier. "Diary" is based on Helen Fielding's best-selling novel and follows Zellweger as Bridget, a single, thirtysomething Brit looking for love while trying to mind her alcohol intake, watch her weight and cut down on smoking.

Popcorn has a minisite for BJD. Nothing really new there, just a main page to lead into existing interviews, gallery, and review. http://www.popcorn.co.uk/cinema/features/feature.jhtml?id=3482

Anybody see Renee last night with David Letterman? She seemed more relaxed than with Rosie. She knows Dave personally, one could tell. And she teased *him* for a change. Mentioned Colin once as a co-star. The accent part came up,she was coached for 6 months.[I could have a Swahili accent in that time.] Said both leads were v. supportive of her accent.Didn't criticize her..in fact it was she who insisted on re-takes til she got it right. They showed a clip of the film...with Hugh as they are speeding off on the mini-break...no Colin and no Mark![Boo hiss]

(Evelyn) They showed a clip of the film...with Hugh as they are speeding off on the mini-break...no Colin and no Mark![Boo hiss] Actually, you do see the beginning of Mark's entrance. Shins on down... ;-D

The Sun has an item about Gabrielle (and a contest) which contained the following: Gabrielle missed the film's celebrity premiere due to illness - which meant she missed out on meeting her dream man. "I didn't get to meet Colin Firth," she says. "But I would have made a fool of myself. I think he's lovely.� http://www.the-sun.co.uk/news/13580169

I am SOOO envious of you all. My stupid local movie theater said that the sneak preview would be Sat (despite ads that said Fri), but when I got there on Sat night, they said "sorry, it was last night." Foiled again. Then Today didn't show the interview yesterday. I am suffering from Colin deprivation!! The NY site for CitySearch has a link to their Bridget Jones information. Nothing new, but they invite visitors to the site to post reviews. All seven are glowing reviews. i didn't have a lot of time to surf around citysearch, but I think BJD is the only big movie opening this weekend. That could mean good $$$numbers!!!!! Am counting the minutes until Friday, when I'm taking my sister-in-law to see the movie (she has promised to bring a roll of paper towels to wipe the drool off my chin!) I don't know if this link will work, but here it is. http://newsletter.citysearch.com/go/nycnyWP63/1/?nycnyWP63179281 If it doesn't work (sorry, am v. computer-illiterate), just go to citysearch. com and work your way to BJD from there.

Very interesting...the UK soundtrack CD has 19 tracks vs. 15 in the US. Still no Van Morrison or Diana Ross singing "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" but the additions are: Aretha Franklin (Respect) Andy Williams (Can't Take My Eyes Off of You) Artful Dodger (Woman Trouble) Aaron Soul (Ring, Ring, Ring)

Our local paper, the Lancaster (PA) New Era had this snippet last night, in their "People in the News" section: Firth Says Hollywood fame double-edged Although British actor Colin Firth says he's had "very little success in Hollywood," he's aware that the new movie "Bridget Jones's Diary" could change that--and complicate things in the process. Firth, 40, plays Mark Darcy opposite Renee Zellweger in the film, which opens in theaters Friday. Hugh Grant also co-stars. "(Brits) absolutely devour American culture," he tells Elle magazine in its April issue. "Yet there's a suspicion of Hollywood---an idea that it's vulgar and that if you court it you're selling out. Endorsement from America can be double-sided." Firth's previous films include "Valmont," "The English Patient" and "Shakespeare in Love".

I checked out imdb.com for reaction. Glowing comments, including the following from a Bill from Bloomington: The story is actually quite believable but still interesting. I wasn't sure until the end which guy she would pick but my wife figured it out. You don't say, Bill. Your wife's obviously a Firthette. They also break down their user ratings. The average score is 7.9/10. But there is some variation behind this. The lowest scoring groups is males aged 30-44 (6.0/10). The most generous? Women, 18-29 (9.2/10) and 30-44 (8.9). As a close observer of the Firthette mentality, I could have told males aged 30-44 NOT to go to the film with females aged 18-44. Or indeed females of any age. You are bound to suffer by comparison. My date movie? I don't know - something with PeeWee Herman, maybe.

Still no Van Morrison or Diana Ross singing "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" but the additions are: Hey...we wuz robbed. What a gyp. Think I'll get the British CD. But really pissed about Van Morrison and "Ain't no Mountain Higher"...that's a real important part of the film;-) The Gabrielle one sounds country western :-(

Speaking of the soundtrack, Karen, "Stop, Look, Listen" from Marvin and Diana is definitely in the film (scene of BJ and DC rolling on floor; you were undoubtedly under your seat hurling at the time;-) Here's a great review from Peter Travers in Rolling Stone, aimed especially at the male readership. 4.5 stars out of 5. On their website, you can post trivia questions about CF to see who knows more about him than you. We already know the answer is no one, so don't bother.;-) ***** It should have been no man's land: a movie based on a best-selling post-feminist novel about a year in the life of a thirty-something Brit career girl trying to kick her addictions to food, cigarettes, booze and male fuckwads while her self-esteem issues grow massive and unwieldy, just like her thighs. Instead, Bridget Jones's Diary delivers frisky fun for bruised romantics regardless of age, sex or nationality. OK, Bridget has a weakness for sentimental hokum that the film shares. The surprise comes in the brash wit that stings when it needs to and in the eye for social irony that has drawn comparison to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. When Helen Fielding's novel in diary form was published in 1996, Salman Rushdie - yes, that Salman Rushdie - called it "a brilliant comic creation" and added, "Even men will laugh." Well, the movie will make men laugh, too, at themselves as well as at Bridget. If His Satanic Verses Majesty can loosen up, so can you, dude. Here are five reasons why. (1) Renee Zellweger is irresistible. As Bridget, she had me from hello. Never mind all that go-home-Yank resentment over a twiggy Texan putting on twenty pounds and a British accent to portray a character that another actress - say, Kate Winslet - could step into without the heavy lifting. Zellweger nails the role. Barbara Berkery, Gwyneth's dialogue coach for Shakespeare in Love, rounded Zellweger's vowels; a diet of pizza and milkshakes rounded everything else; and an undercover stint at a London publishing house made her comfortable in Bridget's skin as a book publicist. What's great about Zellweger, besides the fact that she has the sexiest squint in movies (take that, Benicio), is the way she blends strength and vulnerability. Whether Bridget is singing along to self-pitying pop anthems like "All by Myself" or answering the phone - "Hello, Bridget Jones, wanton sex goddess with a very bad man between my thighs" - only to find the caller is her mother, Zellweger never hits a false note. Some people stil don't cotton to this actress, even after Jerry Maguire and Nurse Betty. On the first season of The Sopranos, Tony's wife, Carmela, ended her friendship with Father Phil when the priest brought her a DVD of One True Thing. "I told you I don't like Ren�e Zellweger," snapped Carm, who will now have to revise her opinion. After Bridget, Ms. Z is A-list all the way. (2) Helen Fielding, the journalist who dreamed up Bridget for a London newspaper column, has touched a nerve. Bridget's problem really isn't being what Fielding calls a "singleton" in a world full of "smug- marrieds." It's her shabby self-image. One diary entry says it all: "I will not sulk about having no boyfriend, but develop inner poise and authority and sense of self as woman of substance, complete without boyfriend, as best way to obtain boyfriend." Bridget, like the John Cusack character in Nick Hornby's High Fidelity, is at war with herself. Wisely, the spirited screenplay that Fielding has crafted with Richard Curtis (Notting Hill) and Andrew Davies (Circle of Friends) takes time to catch Bridget's loneliness in a crowd. Rather than settle for a trendy Brit gloss on Sex and the City or Ally McBeal, Fielding cuts deeper. (3) Sharon Maguire, the documentary filmmaker debuting as a features director, doesn't duck showing the elements that shaped Bridget. The melancholy of her dad (the superb Jim Broadbent) and the flightiness of her mum (Gemma Jones, brilliant as ever) are part of Bridget. That's where the importance of chums comes in. Maguire, a friend of Fielding's, is the inspiration for Shazza (Sally Phillips), one of Bridget's best mates - Jude (Shirley Henderson) and Tom (James Callis) are the others - who stays loyal when lovers disappoint. There's no showing off in Maguire's direction; her gift is making the film feel lived-in. (4) The men aren't all pricks. Well, they are, actually, but the actors who play them compensate nobly. Hugh Grant, dropping his dither, is suavely hilarious as Bridget's boss, Daniel Cleaver, a sexist pig who sends her dirty e-mails: "Love your tits in that top." That Bridget finds this charming is part of her problem. Barrister Mark Darcy (Colin Firth) makes a more likely prospect, but his haughtiness turns Bridget off until he helps her save a disastrous dinner party that ends in a brawl between him and Daniel. It's a funny scene, bolstered by a casting joke: In the novel, Bridget swoons over the 1995 BBC production of Pride and Prejudice, starring Firth as Mr. Darcy, a character who, like Mark, is considered a snob until events uncover his secret heart. Firth risks audience indifference with the slow build of his performance, but the payoff is delicious. (5) The film's psychobabble-bullshit factor is laudably low. There is a happy ending driven by box-office logic, but you don't need to read Fielding's sequel, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, published in 1999, to know that Bridget - a mass of lively contradictions - is too savvy to let herself be defined by a male fuckwit. Even men will laugh; they might also learn something. No amount of sappy excess can dim that defiant flash in Zellweger's eyes. Watch her closely. She does herself and Bridget proud. PETER TRAVERS

I saw RZ on Rosie yesterday also. Thought she was 110% better than she was on Leno a few weeks ago. Missed her on Letterman, though. Glad she managed to get Colin's name out there. (Lizza) hopefully Ann Robinson is not expected to be in attendance!! Huge you are the weakest link.... ...*Goodbye!* Not bloody likely, unfortunately...

Well I should have waited ..... or should I? I have been able to play the soundtrack constantly for a week already and havin seen the film could match each scene with each track. Prefer US cover anyway! Lizza *who's desperately trying to convince herself she hasn't wasted her money* My dream soundtrack would also contain Van, plus assorted audience whoops etc to pep up "It's raining men" when Huge gets dented.

Goodbye indeed Eileen!! Well we girls can dream can't we? After all we have been doing it on this site for several years and proved dreams do come true! (cue rev of volvo engines, mournful violins etc)

does anyone have any suggestions about e-retailers in UK who we should get the CD from? I was thinking Amazon, but I just wanted to see what everyone else's thoughts were.

(Mari) you were undoubtedly under your seat hurling at the time;-) Undoubtedly is reason. ;-D Another reason to go back and see it again... I really liked the Peter Travers Rolling Stone review too. So, what's on the cover of the British CD? Also, am wondering if there are 4 more tracks, i.e., is it true? The official site only shows the 15 songs. Will shortly be unveiling newest incarnation of "Bridget Reviews the Reviews" which was done with the very able assistance of LisaBridget and EmmaBridget.

Karen- So, what's on the cover of the British CD? Haven't actually seen a copy yet but from the adverts it looks to be Bridge on her own with diary to chest ;-(. Have ordered a copy from Amazon but it hasn't been despatched yet. BTW - is it my imagination but does MD look ever more intense every time one catches a glimpse of the poster (whereas DC looks more and more like an a***!) ?

Some funny anecdotes about the fight scene: The fight scene between Mark Darcy (Colin Firth) and Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant) - to the tune of Geri Halliwell's cover of the Weather Girls' It's Raining Men - is a comic departure from the book (in which the men never meet). The two leave Jones's birthday party for a brawl which takes them into the restaurant where Darcy becomes covered in taramasalata. The fight ends when the pair, played by stuntmen, exit the restaurant via the largest plastic window ever made. While the stunt went off without a hitch, the 'glass' proved less reliable. The first pane ordered by the art department shattered in transit and the second broke as it was being installed, disrupting the shoot. Veteran stuntman Peter Brayham (John Wayne's double in Branagan) choreographed the fight. He was particularly pleased with 'the bit where Grant has Firth in a headlock as they attempt to trip each other up across the street - like schoolboys'. Brayham taught them popular film punches, such as the 'straight-down-the-bottle' - which sends Grant reeling - and the 'haymaker', which floors him. Firth's only complaint was that he stank of taramasalata. 'I'll never eat that stuff again,' he vowed. According to stunt ace Brayham, both actors survived the experience relatively unscathed, though Grant was provided with a batsman's box at one stage - 'in case Firth missed.' 'We did say at the time," Brayham recalls, 'that the box had got to be worth a few bob. We even considered selling it afterwards.' [Too bad Rosie didn't know about it; otherwise, she would've wanted it for her charity auctions on eBay. She put a signed poster by RZ up right after her appearance.] Grant impressed him with his fitness, though he could not see why the women on the set swooned over Firth, who was, he says tactfully, 'a little on the slim side'. ~~~~~~~ I'm a big fan of Colin's 180 degree, arching punch inside the restaurant. He's come a long way from some of his sissy punches in the past.

Firth, who was, he says tactfully, 'a little on the slim side'. Yes, am surprised nobody has commented about this yet. He looks like superstickman in some of the clips I've seen, esp. at the T&V party. BTW, is a 'batsman's box' what I think it is? ;-)

(Eileen) BTW, is a 'batsman's box' what I think it is? ;-) What do you think it is? ;-D OK, new review page containing brilliant additions by Lisa and Emma is up: http://www.spring.net/karenr/mdbro/bjdrevsum.html

There's plenty from the premiere & party in this weeks Heat mag.

(Karen) What do you think it is? ;-D OK, what do you think I think it is? ooh, feel like Lucy Ricardo new review page containing brilliant additions by Lisa and Emma Is blurry brilliant! Hurrah!

Love the lovely review comments. I second that "Hurrah"!

New page is total triumph, thank you all 3 Bridget's. Will celebrate no. of times MD mentioned with chardonnay and also drown sorrows at just seen TV review. No of times MD mentioned in intro - 0 No of times DC mentioned- off the scale. Review conclusion- you don't want to know! But is silly programme for under 20 year old singletons with no brains!

Karen) What do you think it is? ;-D (Eileen)OK, what do you think I think it is? ooh, feel like Lucy Ricardo I dont' know what you're talking about,Eileen....need a picture ;-D Lisa, Emma...Congratulations...you too Boss.

Kudos to the review page team! Well done, Karen, Lisa and Emma. Love the rating system:-) Here's the AP review; critic is stick-up-his-ass expat know-it-all, but has proper proportion of MD mentions (6) vs. Fuckwit (3). At the Movies: 'Bridget Jones Diary' by MATT WOLF Associated Press Writer For a film whose heroine obsesses over her weight, it's a shame that ''Bridget Jones's Diary'' should be such a slim affair. That's unlikely to matter to the hordes of readers who turned Helen Fielding's 1996 chronicle of the lovesick Londoner into an international best seller. Told in diary fashion, the book charts a year in the life of the hapless publishing assistant who wants nothing more than to settle down with a man, cut back on cigarettes and booze, sort out her fractious relationship with her parents and lose some weight. Go for it, girl! Which is exactly what the Bridget of Fielding's delightfully larky book does, aided no end by her supportive trio of friends Shazza, Jude and Tom and some good luck in the romance sweepstakes. The novel even boasts an ending that manages to revel in the same swoony romantic literature -- complete with a four-poster bed -- that it gently sends up. Relationships are indeed possible, Fielding suggests, especially if you can manage not to judge a man by his sweater. In this age of the emaciated female star, Renee Zellweger displays real courage for someone in her thespian prime by parading thighs as fleshy as those that get mercilessly scrutinized by director Sharon Maguire's camera. And the accent will prove no obstacle to those in the United States. Britons may quibble, but in a class-conscious country the accent means so much more about where you're from and what your background is. More problematic is the fact -- at least to an American observer resident in London -- that although her vowel sounds are accurately pitched, Zellweger never really seems British. Partly, that's to do with a lot of ''face acting'' (scrunched-up cheeks, a downturned mouth and the like) that a different, more seasoned director might have toned down. And Zellweger hasn't quite managed to forsake the over-ingratiation so much used by American performers and so scorned by their British colleagues. It's as if no one trusted the very real charm of the book, whose 32-year-old heroine is sure she'll die ''fat and alone'' only to end up with the dishy Mark Darcy (played by Colin Firth). Zellweger projects eagerness in a most un-Bridgetlike way, insofar as this is a woman who imagines railway announcements blaring to all and sundry the state of her thighs. The aim, presumably, was to make ''Bridget Jones'' a lovable Brit-blockbuster on the order of ''Four Weddings and a Funeral'' and ''Notting Hill'' and with Hugh Grant once again on hand as the co-star. But the new film isn't as well written or directed as the earlier ones, and it's silly and not a little bit crude where those previous movies were blithe and breezy. Bridget's trio of chums seem to have been excised nearly to death in the cutting room, while the two men fare best, playing a complementary set of Cambridge buddies, each with a vested interest in Bridget. Firth's dourness has never been seen to such deliciously comic effect, and admirers of this actor will smile at his presence as another screen Darcy having already played Jane Austen's Mr. Darcy in the BBC's ''Pride and Prejudice.'' Grant is in terrific form as Bridget's boss and sometime bedmate, Daniel Cleaver. He is first seen to the strains on the soundtrack of ''Respect,'' looking as if he is suppressing a burp, and he ends up battling the bottled-up Darcy for Bridget's affections. The parental roles are particularly well filled by Jim Broadbent, with his comically bemused countenance as Bridget's father, and Gemma Jones as his flighty ''daft cow'' of a wife. No less crucial are the locations of a London where it seems forever to be snowing. So what if it the real London almost never sees the powdery stuff? ''Bridget Jones's Diary'' isn't meant to be taken literally or even all that seriously. The film is like a dusting of snow that melts in the mind the minute it's over.

(Mari) critic is stick-up-his-ass expat know-it-all You can say that again (mind your accent!). (Mr. Matt Bossybottom) insofar as this is a woman who imagines railway announcements blaring to all and sundry the state of her thighs. Hmm, wonder if he even read the book, in manner of the other critics who seem to think BJ drinks too much vodka. Note to self: next time at liquor store, check for 'Chardonnay' brand of vodka. At least he liked CF. Aargh, but he liked the Gnat too.

Batsman's box. See here for accurate definition: http://www.offthestreets.co.uk/cricket.htm I can vouch from painful experience that they are not always adequate. (If CF had really wanted to damage HG, a box would not have been adequate protection against a strategically placed kick). However, fashioned in a delightful cream or pink plastic, they are an eye-catching fashion accessory. So who cares whether they work or not?

For evidence of occasional inadequacy of box, see picture of Brian Lara (world's greatest batsman, under "box" entry, here: http://home.sprynet.com/%7Ehotoff/crickgl.htm

Here we call 'em jockstaps, and my son was complaining yesterday that his was too big for him. We still hold out high developmental hopes for his puberty, however.;-) Rex Reed has written a typically colorful review for the New York Observer. Ok, so he gets some of the facts mixed up and he thinks the final Kiss is sappy, but on big plus side, is first review to mention Huge as happy hooker procurer.;-) Proper descriptions of MD ("handsome human rights barrister") vs. DC ("narcissistic cad") and in right proportions.:-) A Diarist in Distress Ren�e Zellweger is a huggable human pastry everyone wants to take a bite of, and in Bridget Jones�s Diary she�s more delicious than ever. Having scarfed down a few hundred eclairs herself to gain the weight to play the single, 32-year-old, Chardonnay-swigging, chain-smoking, lovelorn title character in this lively film version of Helen Fielding�s bestseller, there is also a great deal more of her to hug. Cut from the same romantic taffeta as Notting Hill and Four Weddings and a Funeral, the movie is about a year in the life of a gal for whom the past is a zero and the future shows less promise than a winter in Vermont without snow. On New Year�s Day, as she endures another traditional turkey-curry buffet with her nagging mother, Bridget peruses her resolutions�to stop drinking, cease smoking, lose weight and find a responsible boyfriend�and starts a diary to improve her life. Unfortunately for her (but lucky for us), her character keeps getting in the way. Bridget works for a London publishing house, where she begins an e-mail flirtation and then a real after-hours affair with her boss (Hugh Grant). We know he�s a narcissistic cad before she does, but when she finds a naked woman in his flat, she dumps him and chucks her job at the same time. Newly ensconced as a reporter for a current-affairs show called Sit Up Britain, she gets a scoop while covering a political refugee�s trial when the defendant�s lawyer (Colin Firth) grants her an exclusive interview, and a new affair begins with this handsome human-rights barrister. Things are looking up. But life gets in the way. Her parents� marriage curdles when her flaky Mum (Gemma Jones) leaves her morose couch-potato Dad (Jim Broadbent) for a flamboyant poof who sells costume jewelry on the Home Shopping Network. The handsome lawyer dumps Bridget for an over-confident American girl. Making her mark on society by attending a chic garden tea, she shows up as a prostitute, mistakenly thinking it�s a costume party. Even when she does the Good Samaritan bit by dropping coins into a homeless couple�s cup, her charitable pride is crushed as she walks away, overhearing one of them say, �What a lovely, caring person!� �Yes,� says the other, �shame about the thighs.� Bridget Jones just can�t seem to get her moons in balance or her planets to align. No wonder she loses herself in vodka and Chaka Khan records before she sees the light. Regular bouts of public embarrassment and culinary disaster eventually force Bridget�s two admirers to duke it out with flying fists, leaving one of them to recognize her true charms. I won�t tell you which one. Suffice it to say it all ends up with Bridget, still a size 12 but working on those thighs night and day, chasing Mr. Right down the street in the snow in her skimpy knickers. The kiss, in that fadeout embrace, is right out of Barbra Streisand�s sappy fiasco The Mirror Has Two Faces�a small cavil, considering all the thorny and sympathetic humor that has preceded it. So the year in the life of a girl with low self-esteem ends in the kind of Hollywood finale Bridget has always dreamed of�but, we suspect, a new diary is just beginning. It�s fortunate that such a larky update of Jane Austen�s Pride and Prejudice manages to balance sentimentality with farce so skillfully. Neither Bridget nor her diary takes things the least bit seriously. Just as Candace Bushnell�s Sex and the City was based on a series in the pages of The New York Observer, Ms. Fielding culled the diary entries in Bridget Jones�s Diary from her own regular column in the Independent. Both deal with the concerns of career girls, anxiety-riddled and driven to comic despair by the need to �have it all.� The big difference is that Bridget is British. She makes impossible social blunders, rarely wastes time shopping, and celebrates failures at home and office with more irony than fury. The Brits are better at self-deprecating modesty (even on a big budget), and the efforts of everyone involved to poke fun at themselves are funny, engaging, and winning. I hadn�t thought about it, but one London critic was helpful in pointing out the puncturing of various illusions, beginning with Hugh Grant, whose real-life scandal with a Hollywood hooker is snickered over in the book, and who plays against type in the film with the prissy line: �I�m a terrible disaster with a posh voice and a bad character.� It�s also no secret that Colin Firth�s stuffy lawyer is named Darcy, and Mr. Firth played Jane Austen�s haughty hero Mr. Darcy in the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, a series that Bridget watches compulsively (and which was also written by Andrew Davies, a co-author of the Bridget Jones screenplay). For further puncturing of literary illusion, Salman Rushdie and Jeffrey Archer appear as themselves in none-too-flattering cameos. Richard Curtis, another of the film�s writers, is Helen Fielding�s real-life ex-boyfriend, and Sharon Maguire, making her debut as the film�s director, is the model for one of Bridget�s best friends, the man-hungry feminist Sharon (nickn med Shazzer). Art imitates life (or vice versa) on both sides of the Atlantic, regardless of accent. Which brings me at last to Ren�e Zellweger, whose accent is so perfect you�d swear she came right out of Hampstead on Heath instead of the University of Texas. More conventional casting would have landed Cate Blanchett or Kate Winslet the role, but Ms. Z. has an advantage: She seems more of an outsider trying to fit in. She�s as clumsy and gauche as a Texas armadillo, victimized by an endless stream of �bad-hair days� in clothes that make her look like one of the kids on Ding Dong School, but much more user-friendly with her studied accent and delightfully on-target timing. And, of course, there�s the unavoidable touch factor she�s always got going for her, which makes you want to pinch her first, then rub on the astringent before she bruises. She�s very good at the farcical elements, too, such as when, during a voiceover from her diary pledging to be sober, she falls out of a cab in a drunken heap, or mimes a song using a breadstick for a mike. The sweetness, the longing, the ability to laugh at her own pa hetic thirtysomething need to get her act together are beautifully modulated into a charming and dysfunctional character portrait that is nothing less than adorable. Bridget Jones�s Diary is a lighthearted, lightheaded burst of cool energy in a sluggish year. It�s the kind of film you can sip easily, like Bridget�s dry Chardonnay, and leave feeling dizzy.

We Bridgets thank you. Must put Mr Bossybottom's review in proper context. Anyone who writes in one-sentence paragraphs cannot be taken seriously, although he did call CF dishy (a plus). (Eileen) critics who seem to think BJ drinks too much vodka I wondered about all the vodka mentions myself early on. However, you do see vodka bottles (thrown into trash). Expect this was a case of *product placement* and no winery was willing to pay enough. Thanks for the illustrations, Ben. Have linked the posted article to the second glossary where there are pix. As CF has large feet and Huge...ahem..may not be, he could do damage real damage, similar to squashing a gnat. ;-D (Rex) The kiss, in that fadeout embrace, is right out of Barbra Streisand�s sappy fiasco The Mirror Has Two Faces Oh yeah!! I cried in that movie at pudgy Babs being rejected by hubby.

Mari, I'm surprised Rex Reed brought up Huge Gnat's (I love that name!) arrest, for wasn't Rex Reed arrested for shoplifting CDs at Tower Records a few years ago? Forgive me for digressing a bit, but I have to relate the following, which happened many years ago: The film, The Sting, featured the music of Scott Joplin, which prompted a renewed interest in ragtime. My friend's mother, a diffident and genteel woman, decided to purchase a ragtime record as a Father's Day gift for her husband. She proceeded to approach a sales clerk in a record store and asked, "Pardon me, but do you have any records by Jock Straplin?" Whoops.:-)

(Karen) We Bridgets thank you. I will second that....:-)

I take it Rex Reed must have seen an advanced print of the film, cause his description of the plot doesn't really match what I saw.

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, is he gorgeous or is he gorgeous. it can't get better than this, I am in heaven. You may have guessed I have just got back from a preview screening of BJD, and it is wonderful. Renee is wonderful, words fail me she is Bridget and can she act, you cry for her, you laugh with her you understand her. Hugh was okay, liked him better than in NH but he pales into insignificance against ODB, or am I biased. Can't wait to see it again. BTW my hubby loved it and so did the audience, which was a full house. Roll on Friday, when I am going again. Favourite shot of Colin, when he turns up before Bridget's party and she is covered in food etc, she opens the door ...and there he stands, there was a audible sigh from the audience. PS Thought Honor Blackman had a bigger part. Hope the video/dvd comes out pretty qauickly, must have two copies at least, in case one wears out.

(Ann) I take it Rex Reed must have seen an advanced print of the film, cause his description of the plot doesn't really match what I saw. Pretty much all the critics saw that version about two-three weeks ago. The homeless scene has been mentioned before. Seems like about 20 minutes got cut after that. :-( So I gather you liked it, AnnW? ;-D

Karen, what on earth gave you that idea!! Away to my bed, perchance to dream...

So I gather you liked it, AnnW? ;-D But....did you see Mark?

Brava, Karen! VVG girls. The homeless scene has been mentioned before. Seems like about 20 minutes got cut after that. :-( We will have to presure them to release a very long DVD. :-D

Where is Mark again?

Which brings me at last to Ren�e Zellweger, whose accent is so perfect you�d swear she came right out of Hampstead on Heath instead of the University of Texas. I have to comment about this (if it hasn't been mentioned already)... What's with the Brit press's obsession with Texas? I suppose it has to do with the idea that it's the most "extreme" American accent... I rarely heard the press obsess over Gwynnie's Southern Californian roots when she promoted 'Emma' or 'Sliding Doors.' I wonder if Renee has never felt more Texan than she does now.

(Ann) Where is Mark again? Probably asleep right. ;-D (Winter) I suppose it has to do with the idea that it's the most "extreme" American accent... Yes, they barely speak Amurican. v. cute article on financial management for Bridget in Telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk:80/et?ac=000576481449931&rtmo=fsNlvMNs&atmo=fsNlvMNs&pg=/et/01/4/11/cmbrid11.html Liked these: Bet Mr Perfectpants Mark Darcy doesn't forget to send in his tax form. But, then, bet he can also afford to pay the bill. Told her plan to marry rich man, but agreed that outcome of this strategy not necessarily guaranteed. Apparently should also build cash reserve "three times my normal expenditure". This must mean contents of vaults at Bank of England. Harharhar

I am a virgin to chat, will somone please help?

A review from The Times: Feeling single, seeing double BY BARBARA ELLEN Bridget Jones the movie is just like its heroine: lovable, funny and lumpy in places Charming romp from Four Weddings team When Helen Fielding sent her chardonnay-swigging,weight-obsessed relationship-junkie out into the world all those years ago, she could not have envisaged how quickly her creation would date, how vulnerable, twee and parochial Bridget Jones would seem by 2001, compared to the manicured witchery of Sex and the City, or the gym-fit surrealism of Ally McBeal. Back in the mid-Nineties, Bridget was British Everywoman, or at least Every Other Woman. Now, after the column, the book and the second book comes the movie. Watching it, it doesn�t take long to realise that, as well as being a textbook romantic comedy, Bridget Jones�s Diary is as valid a British period piece as Shakespeare in Love or Elizabeth. Somehow, just the way an early scene has Bridget coyly flirting with her caddish boss, Daniel Cleaver, via e-mail, takes one back in a celluloid Tardis to the mid-Nineties glory days of latte and pashminas. By the time we are halfway through, and Bridget is shown, sitting miserable, self-conscious and defensive, with some �smug marrieds� at a dinner party, the movie is screaming �Nineties!� in much the same way that Georgy Girl screamed �Sixties!�. Once you�ve accepted this, the movie works very well. [Ed note: Is this criticism??? So???] Directed by a first-timer, Sharon Maguire (Fielding�s friend, and the sharp-tongued Shazza of the story), and written by Fielding, Andrew Davies (Pride and Prejudice) and Richard Curtis (Four Weddings; Notting Hill), it emerges as an irrepressible romp that, in the main, sashays along beautifully. One huge plus with Bridget Jones�s Diary is that it never forgets that it�s a romantic comedy, displaying no pretensions to socio-cultural value whatsoever. The meat of the story is that dreamy singleton Bridget must choose between the dashing bounder, Daniel, played by Hugh Grant, and the seemingly crashingly dull Mark Darcy (a cheeky piece of casting with King of the Darcys, Colin Firth). And, well, that�s about it really. Spare me that guff about �The New Austen�, I�ve seen episodes of Coronation Street that are more densely plotted than this. The fun comes with Bridget�s innate innocence and eternal optimism. There�s her dirty weekend with Daniel (�This can�t just be shagging. A mini-break means true love�), the suffering-to-be-beautiful scenes (watch out for an eye-watering bikini wax) and the will-she-ever-realise-who-is-really-good-for her? cliffhanger (although this goes on far too long). Where the guys are concerned, it�s nice to see male actors relegated to the status of mere love interest. Firth is fine, though at times he underacts to the point where he evaporates altogether. However, Grant is a revelation as the naughty, predatory Daniel. It�s certainly the first time in an age that Grant has been sexy. Even better, he�s lost that miserable, embarrassed look he�s had in movies recently. The one that tells you that he�s bored with acting and wants out. Ultimately, however, what�s left in the final cut seems rather less important than what�s left out. Fieldingisms, such as �fwittage�, �singleton� and �v. gd� barely feature, if at all. Similarly, the diary itself hardly gets a mention. Ditto the famous Jones preoccupation with weight (more of which anon). Bridget Jones purists won�t be happy, but, maybe, like the heroine herself, they should think about getting a life. If some hefty filleting of the source text has gone on, most of it seemed necessary, and Fielding, Davis and Curtis should be commended for not letting sentiment get in the way. For her part, Maguire shows a feel for pace that belies her lack of experience. Unfortunately, there are always casualties in text massacres such as these, and, on this occasion, it�s Bridget�s social and family circle who catch the bullet. So vivid and amusing in the book, they mooch about in the movie like moody teenagers kicking their heels on a rainy day. It�s a criminal waste of Sally Phillips, who plays Shazza, and who barely gets a look-in. Gemma Jones and Jim Broadbent, as Bridget�s parents, likewise seem to be sharing half a plot-line between them. Jones, at least, gets some choice one-liners: �Don�t be silly, Bridget, you�ll never get a boyfriend if you look like you�ve wandered out of Auschwitz.� Sadly, we are not spared the obligatory stately-home scenes clearly deemed so vital for any British-based movie hoping to make a dent on the American consciousness. I suppose we should be grateful that we no longer have to witness every second British actor under 45 waltzing about with a Brideshead Revisited teddy bear tucked under his arm. However, it�s still annoying when, for no useful purpose, Bridget and Daniel are depicted rowing across a lake in a scene that appears to have been siphoned straight out of an old Merchant Ivory film. Like me, you might also be slightly alarmed to see Salman Rushdie�s smug visage rear up in an otherwise hilarious scene concerning Bridget making a speech on behalf of the publishing house where she works. It was jarring to suddenly see a �real person� and made no sense, except maybe some perverse desire on the part of the film-makers to flatter Rushdie. When Jeffrey Archer appeared seconds later, I felt as if I should be given a special prize for managing to hold on to my popcorn supper. As for Bridget Jones herself, we already knew that the Texan Ren�e Zellweger was a good actress, but would she make a good Bridget? Certainly there are occasions when her accent veers perilously close to a bygone Britain, reminiscent of a plucky Jenny Agutter flagging down the train in The Railway Children. This isn�t to say that I agree with all the Little Englander sniping about the casting of an American actress for Bridget. Zellweger has a fuzzy sweetness that is far more important to Bridget�s characterisation than Classless Britain vowels. Indeed, despite the wobbly table dialect, Zellweger is more than credible, only faltering when she appears to panic herself into impersonating one of the British actresses who were originally up for the role. A case of Ren�e Zellweger playing Kate Winslet playing Bridget Jones. When she relaxes, Zellweger more than passes muster, especially when swearing (which she does to a surprising degree, along with the rest of the cast). However, I would quibble with the �bravery� she is said to have displayed in putting on weight for the role. Yes, it�s evident that Zellweger did pile on some pounds, but calm down, people, it�s hardly Raging Bull is it? There has to be more to method acting than a few bags of doughnuts. So, like the heroine herself, Bridget Jones�s Diary emerges as lovable, funny and a bit lumpy in places. But is it relevant? The answer to this must be � hopefully not. As I said before, what makes Bridget Jones work is that it�s a period piece. Ergo, it has no business being relevant. What throws you off the scent is the fact that the film is set in recent history. There are no bushels or parasols to signpost the fact that we�re dealing with a different era. Just a nagging sense that, merely by paying your money and staring up at the screen, you are participating in a giant generational in-joke. And, what�s more, doing so happily, with something approaching the Blitz spirit. That�s why, in Britain at least, Bridget Jones�s Diary simply cannot fail. America could go either way (especially with all that swearing). By contrast, over here in Britain, it doesn�t matter that Bridget Jones is a slightly dated fictional underdog who swears too much. What matters is that she�s our slightly dated fictional underdog who swears too much. National affection for Bridget is such that, even if the movie had turned out to be a complete dog, we�d probably still have ended up sitting in cinemas, gunning for her. In today�s movie climate, you can�t buy that kind of goodwill, you can only pray for it. http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,142-113324,00.html

Gnat as a revelation? Purleeeeze! Think I will take your review over the Times anyday AnnW.

P.S Just love the new sweater pic boss! Yummy. Thanks

Saw BJD last night with my 20 year-old daughter. She thought it was the funniest film she had ever seen. I thought RZ was absolutely brilliant. One pick holes in her accent but really that misses the point, she was totally believable as an english girl (can't think of her as a woman). RZ is so warm and funny - quite brilliant. And as for CF well whewwwww! Reviewers with sense of humour problems can no doubt find things to carp about but BJD is not Shakespeare, it is just a very funny, heartwarming movie. Can't wait for the next viewing.

Found this exchange on a message board. If everyone reacts like this, there are going to be lots of new P&P converts! Has anyone caught "Bridget Jones' Diary" in preview? I dig Colin Firth, but if the movie sucks I probably won't bother. I saw it Saturday night and really liked it. It deviates from the book factually but not in spirit (imo). Colin Firth was great and worth the price of admission. I still can't get over that this is the same guy from "Shakespeare in Love". There was a lot more screentime in the movie of her actual relationships than time spent alone bitching with friends about said relationships, but still --it was a fun movie to watch. Renee Zellweger did a good job of portraying her. I hear she's signed up for a sequel, and I'm not sure how I feel about that as I thought the second book sucked. Have you seen Firth's "Pride and Prejudice"? I'm about to get it from Netflix and hoping it's as good as the reviews say it is... We'll be seeing BJD at the weekend! Our local newspaper reviewer said "I defy any woman to watch this film and not wish she was married to Colin Firth". Y-e-e-h, one for CF!

Good part toward the end... Ananova meets Bridget Jones director Ananova: Sharon, how did you get involved with the film? Sharon: I became involved with it because I was a friend of Helen Fielding's and she began fictionalising our lives really. There's a character in the book called Shazzer who I'm supposedly loosely based on. She began fictionalising our lives in a newspaper and column and the book and I loved them, despite being horrified sometimes to see some of my drunken rants in there. A few years later, once Helen had written a draft of the script, the producers were looking for a director. They spent a year looking, and I think Helen loyally said one time, 'Why don't you see my friend Shaz?' and they did. I made my pitch to them and eventually it must have worked because they said 'You can have it'. nanova: Was it strange directing Sally Phillips who plays a character based on you? Sharon: Yeh, I suppose it would seem bizarre. Everyone used to ask me 'Who are you going to cast as yourself?' and I'd sort of say ironically, 'Well, I might cast Catherine Zeta Jones but I'm not sure she's beautiful enough'. But in a way I was sort of distracting away from that whole dilemma of how do you cast somebody as yourself and then it just became quite easy really, it became an act of narcissism. I always liked Sally Phillips. I thought she was very funny and pretty and very intelligent, and I thought I would quite like to be her, so I know, I'll cast her as me! So that's how that came about really. I suppose I must have thought she had some of the qualities I had but hers were infinitely superior. Ananova: Was Renee Zellweger your first choice for Bridget? Sharon: We'd seen a lot of people, we'd been talking to a lot of people and when I met Renee surprisingly enough she was the strongest choice in my mind. I was quite surprised about that because I hadn't expected to cast an American. I'd seen her work, and I especially loved her work in Nurse Betty and Jerry Maguire. In those two films she was able to straddle comedy and emotional truth without tipping over the top on either side. That intrigued me a lot because I think that's a very difficult thing to do. When I met her she made me laugh like a drain because she's a kind of full-on Texan. She understood the book and the themes of the book, so that was a good start, but she has this inner goodness and warmth which I don't think you can train people to have. Coupled with that she has an irreverence which is very important. A lot of people think that Bridget has a tart tongue, that she speaks irreverently, but she doesn't - she only ever thinks it. Renee could convey that on her face very well. I thought, 'Oo Lord, I think she's gonna be great, but shit she's a Texan what are we gonna do now?'. It was like she knew immediately what I was thinking, and she said, 'If you cast me and it doesn't go right, we are so busted', and I thought, 'Yeh, we are'. And so in a way we had a shared responsibility to try and get it right and prove people wrong. Ananova: Were you prepared for the criticism for casting an American as Bridget? Sharon: Yes, of course I was prepared for that. I could understand some people's indignation that we cast an American in an English part. I would have wanted to say to them at the time, 'Look, if you meet her and you know where I'm coming from, I think you'll see that I'm not completely bonkers'. That's all I wanted to say to them but I never got the chance. Ananova: Was it a conscientious decision to cast Hugh Grant against type as Daniel? Sharon: I wanted to cast two male actors of stature. I particularly didn't want it to be seen as just a chick-flick because I wanted the men's confusions about where they should be when they're in their thirties and what they should be doing with their lives, I wanted that to be as prevalent as Bridget's confusion about all those things. So I cast two actors of stature really. Hugh plays a sexy cad and he was my first choice for that role because although he doesn't often play sexy cads. The public's preception of him is that he's a decent English gent. I thought that could play well for us really, so that everyone would think he was going to turn out decent. I knew a bit about him personally through friends, and I knew he had this blistering sense of humour and he was a bit of a sexy cad. I thought that humour was an asset and a weapon and Hugh and humour go together really. He's very funny in real life. When it came to Colin Firth, Mark Darcy in Helen's book is based on Colin Firth playing Mr Darcy in Pride and Prejudice, so it's a bit of an in-joke. It was impossible to ever read the script without seeing Colin in the role. The question was whether he would take the role because he's been swamped in Darcyness, but he was very game to do it because this time he gets to be aloof haughty Darcy, he gets to wear silly reindeer jumpers and we get to put him in ties with snowmen on and he gets to say the F-word, which Mr Darcy never got to say. He gets to snog and he's a good snogger. Not that I know from experience! Ananova: Before we close, will there be a sequel? Sharon: It's sort or early days really to talk about a sequel because I think the producers are waiting to see how this does. I think if it does okay, there will be talk of a sequel. Ananova: And would you direct it? Sharon: Dunno, depends if they ask me; depends how much they pay me as well. Watch Ananova interviewing Sharon Maguire (High bandwidth) http://www.ananova.com/entertainment/story/rtsp://stream.ananova.net/ananova/special/hi/bridgetjones.smi (Low bandwidth) http://www.ananova.com/entertainment/story/rtsp://stream.ananova.net/ananova/special/lo/bridgetjones.smi

Hmmm, video links do not work from here or from original page: http://www.ananova.com/entertainment/story/sm_241436.html?menu=

A number of reviews at the AICN site: http://www.aint-it-cool-news.com/display.cgi?id=8674 One guy's take: As for the leading men. Colin Firth - a great British actor, underused on film - takes on his cold but sweet character with perfact balance. You never know how his character will develop until it does and when it does you can believe it without a leap of faith. An ignoramus' take: Colin Firth - the good guy - also does alright though spending most of the film brooding. However from one of the female reviewer's: Colin Firth plays Mark Darcy, a human rights lawyer, who at first seems snobby and cold. Firth�s Darcy is exactly how he comes across in the book- an aloof, sharp-tongued guy on the outside that is really dying to break loose and have fun with someone like Bridget. However, in his upper crust circle that would be absolutely unacceptable so from the moment he meets her he tries to push her away. Firth does a great job portraying Darcy�s quiet, surprising wit. With a few choice comments here and there suffused with the right emotion and a few pained, longing looks Firth easily shows the audience Darcy�s hidden sensitivity and desires. Firth makes Darcy into just the kind of man Bridget wants and needs- if they can only get over the obstacles between them.

(Allison)And as for CF well whewwwww! In your reindeer jumper, Allison? Great new pic on Drool. Sometime can I have the one with my tie, pleeeze?

Thanks for clarifying 'batsman's box', Ben. Those pics are worth a thousand words *oof!*. BTW, think it's closer to what US athletes call a cup, not pliable jockstrap. Best to keep your son away from said cups 'til puberty hits, Mari. ;-) (Karen) However, you do see vodka bottles (thrown into trash). Yes, I caught that in a clip. My gripe goes to those critics who boast about having read the book then refer to the vodka, thus giving away that they in fact, haven't. ;-P Anyone who writes in one-sentence paragraphs cannot be taken seriously I think you might be on to something. Same goes for critics who have two first names. ;-) Thanks for posting all the reviews &etc., Mari and Karen. Glad you liked it Ann W...was there ever any doubt! *looking up to sky to catch Ann orbiting the earth* ;-D Am pleased to read all the great reviews and impressions of Colin from the UK and on-line. Am impatiently awaiting his acknowledgement from the US popular press ('icy', 'cold' and 'dour' don't count). BJD ad in my local paper features lines from the Rolling Stone review singling out RZ and The Gnat...no mention of the third star. Humph.

Eileen, have you seen latest commercials? I started seeing it last night. I'd say equal number of shots of Colin and Huge. v.v.g.

Huge will be interviewed on ABC's PrimeTime Thursday (tonight). (Evelyn) Sometime can I have the one with my tie, pleeeze? Sure, some time. But for now, that's the sweater he's wearing under mycoat.

Yes, forgot to mention that. Saw one this a.m. during Today Show! V.v.g. indeed--excellent progress, but we're not quite there yet. ;-) Re: HG on Prime Time tonite: *place your bets* Number of times Hughie mentions Princess Margaret = Number of times Hughie mentions SAS = Number of times Hughie tells Diane he taught CF to fight and/or that CF fights like a girl = Number of times Hughie informs the world it was his idea to bring in Richard Curtis, thereby saving the movie from mediocrity and/or doom =

Oops, should have added (she who is too quick with the submit button today): love the lovely new MD pic on the main page. Especially love it without the drawn-in beard and mustache! ;-)

(Eileen) Especially love it without the drawn-in beard and mustache! ;-) Errrr, that was going to be next. ;-D Nice article in USA Today. Mentions an early review by Christopher Tookey, of the Daily Mail: "Memo to diary: Have just seen romantic comedy that is going to be a whopping great hit this spring. Those who predicted Renee Zellweger wouldn't be able to do English accent about to eat words." How did we miss that? http://www.usatoday.com/life/enter/movies/2001-04-12-bridget-jones-brit-appeal.htm

(Eileen) Re: HG on Prime Time tonite: *place your bets* Number of times Hughie mentions ... I won't mind any of those mentions, just as long as no time is given to Elizabeth (makes me want to hurl) Hurley. :-)

Eileen, my bets are on Princess Margaret and "fighs like a girl." I don't think it's really HG. He has this robot clone that he sends out on the publicity rounds, and it goes into auto-program mode... I've missed a lot of the interviews, but even so, I've heard Princess Margaret 4 times, the SAS thing 3 times, fight like a girl only once (from him, but CF quotes him on it). The first time I heard the SAS thing was on ET or one of those programs. We'd just had supper, and my father was there. He heard the remark and said, "Wow! that guy was in the SAS? I never met anyone who qualified for that." Meanwhile, dumb American that I am, I had to ask what SAS is (I thought it was a Scandanavian airline?). Clearly, my father knows nothing of HG, so I had to explain why the comment was funny (or supposed to be). Love the fan Bethan found. I can't wait for my friends to see BJD and then I can be Smug Fan who noticed CF years ago! And this girl had never seen P&P? Where was she??????????????????????

The Hollywood Reporter's assessment of the weekend boxoffice: "Joe Dirt" is poised to wipe the floor with the competition this weekend. The Sony release about a janitor with a long-simmering case of parental-separation anxiety is the most promising of the four new films set to open nationally during Easter weekend. Universal's "Josie and the Pussycats" and Fox Searchlight's "Kingdom Come" debuted Wednesday along with "Dirt," while "Bridget Jones's Diary" from Miramax breaks Friday. That "Dirt" could clean up is based on its fervent following among young males, who, with most schools recessed for spring break, are free to indulge in the giddy pleasures of crass comedy. Expectations for business as a whole should be tempered by the warning that none of the four features is exhibiting breakout potential, however. [...] Renee Zellweger stars as the title character in "Diary," a romantic comedy set in London about a year in the life of a thirtysomething single woman whose personal peccadilloes complicate her quest to find the perfect man to marry. Sharon Maguire directed from a script co-written by Helen Fielding, whose 1998 novel is the source material for the film. Hugh Grant and Colin Firth co-star. "Pussycats" and "Diary" will play to women, though the former's following will be decidedly younger. "Kingdom" will draw from the upper age brackets of both sexes, particularly within the black community. In the broader market, the winners of recent weeks will likely continue to prevail. Miramax's "Spy Kids," which has earned about $55 million in two weeks, is a family favorite that should hold up well during the Easter period. Paramount's "Along Came a Spider" and New Line's "Blow" are generating good word-of-mouth while ranking higher on weekend wish lists than the majority of the new product. "Spider" did more than $20 million in its first week, while "Blow" opened to about $15 million.

Interview with RZ at Mr Showbiz. Contains the following question: Who would win in a death match between you, Colin Firth, and Hugh Grant? A: They don't stand a chance. http://mrshowbiz.go.com/interviews/599_1.html

There's a report that Colin was just announced on Rosie O'Donnell's show as being a guest on Monday. Seeing is believing, but hope Springs eternal!:-) Can anybody in a later time zone confirm that this was not a hallucination?;-)?

"Bridget Jones's Diary" from Miramax breaks Friday. I'm going tomorrow.Have to beef up the BO receipts. Hey if BLOW brought in $15 mil with lousy reviews ,BJD should do $25.Mil Cute interview... Q. How did you lose the weight? A. I went back to my normal lifestyle... Yeah...sure. I've been there honey...it's lettuce leaves and punishing excercise.

I get Rosie at 3:00 pm. Will be holding my breath. Hopefully, there will be a decent guest host but am not holding my breath for that. ;-D

(Lisa)Pardon me, but do you have any records by Jock Straplin?" Whoops.:-) LOL, Lisa! Love it. Yes, it was Rex Reed who was accused of pilfering some CDs, but he *says* he just forgot to pay for them. Balancing the infractions on the scales of justice . . .$20 hooker . . .$20 CD . . .$20 hooker . . .$20 CD . . .I'm inclined to give Rex the nod over Huge.;-) Eileen, love your idea to place bets on the Gnatisms. I'll go with Princess Margaret; slurred like a stroke victim; SAS; and add these to the mix--"I play a complete bahstard, which is my own personality, actually" and "I want to get out of acting and do something more grown up like writing or directing." Fine, I say, so let CF have About A Boy.:-( I see Huge is breezing back into NY to guest on Rosie tomorrow, so will also bet double or nothing that he shows up on RZ's SNL stint as they spoof BJD. There's a new commercial focusing on the fight, where Tom yells "Fight!" into the restaurant and off they go! (Karen quoting from HR)That "Dirt" could clean up is based on its fervent following among young males, who, with most schools recessed for spring break, are free to indulge in the giddy pleasures of crass comedy. Sure, and that's who flocks to the movies in droves. Josie and the Pussycats will do well with teenybopper girls--heavy promotion and merchandising tie-ins. Plus these films opened yesterday, giving them a big leg up on the long weekend numbers. Spy Kids will stay strong. So, BJD has an uphill battle for total $$$ but I think it will do well among its target audience. It's great reading all the good reviews on AICN from people who have been to preview screenings; reviews over there tend to be written by 16-year-old boys and consist of "It Rocked!" or "It Sucked, Man!" so it's good to see at least some support among that erudite group.;-)

(Mari) There's a new commercial focusing on the fight, where Tom yells "Fight!" into the restaurant and off they go! That's the one Karen (I think) and I are referring to...starts with 'GoGoGO' from the firehouse bit? BJD has an uphill battle for total $$$ Frankly, I was hoping for something more Notting Hill-esque. (One can dream...) There's a report that Colin was just announced on Rosie O'Donnell's show as being a guest on Monday. *blinking increduously at computer screen* Hmm, will keep my eyes and ears open, but find this too good to be true (especially if Rosie Frankenhand is still out sick).

Review from This Is London. Fat, sluttish and oh, so sexy! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bridget Jones's Diary by Alexander Walker The women who helped Helen Fielding create her heroine in print have taken the new movie to their collective bosom and rapturously hugged it almost to death these past few weeks. Now that the dust of battle has settled, now that the ranks of black-trouser-suited women, clutching Filofaxes, are all ensconced in middle or top management jobs enjoying the emotional bonus of pushing male weaklings off the ladder, now that the gender revolution is fading into history they can all of them lie back and relax - like Bridget opting to wear big knickers instead of sexy panties for her assignation because they keep her tummy in - and rock with hen-party laughter, affectionate but Oh! so relieved, at this insecure thirtysomething spinster who holds a fag as if it were a sixth finger, cups her mouth around the Chardonnay bottle in lieu of a man's lips and fears for the moment of truth when her number comes up on the bathroom scales. Bridget is the domestic slob who hides away inside every working girl. The Diary was her coming-out. The film is her enthronement. Just as Henry Fielding created an 18th century picaresque young rip and an icon of tearaway youth in Tom Jones, his homonym Helen has created a lovably screwed-up embodiment of the feminine psyche for the female battlers of our new century, whose only fear is how big their bum looks. It's to the movie's credit that Bridget, played by Ren�e Zellweger, survives in the flesh - all 136 chubby pounds of it, hamster-cheeked, snub nosed and either underdressed in microskirts or overdressed in what looks like a spare length of curtain material - and not just as a stereotype on the page of diary or newsprint. Yet in spite of its feminist insemination this is a very trad film, though to its credit not for one minute a tired one. It is constructed like an extended sitcom of reiterated embarrassments. Brian Rix made a seamless career out of constantly losing his trousers to fate or lechery. This male humiliation of farcical comedy is turned into the feminine gender and endlessly restated and rotated in the 95 minutes of the dysfunctional year Bridget spends putting her foot in it. Her self-esteem is lower than low, zero-level, yet her head is held high. Ren�e Zellweger, like the Shirley MacLaine of comedies such as The Apartment, manages always to look vulnerable and often foolish, but never ever pathetic. Her saving grace isn't exactly wit, though three writers - Helen Fielding, Andrew Davies and, perhaps most crucially, Richard (Four Weddings and a Funeral/Notting Hill) Curtis - are in attendance like fairy godparents to see she comes to no real harm. They toss her the one-liners (or even half-liners) to extricate herself from social doom, like upstaging a cameo'd Salman Rushdie at a book launch by enquiring where the loo is instead of feeding him the anticipated literary compliment. Even bereft of words, Bridget survives humungous humiliation, like appearing in a Playboy Bunny outfit at a country garden-party ignorant of the fact her hosts have cancelled their Tarts and Vicars theme and reverted to polite tweed-and-tulle convention. At such moments Zellweger wears the dignity of her own suffering: she plays it like a good sport, abashed but not flattened. Bridget's compensation is to be liked - and not in any condescending fashion - "for what she is". An idiot maybe; but her own kind of idiot. Two men tell her this in the course of her cockeyed twelvemonth. One is "Mr Danger", the office love-rat played by Hugh Grant as a loucher version of the caddish Englishman he portrayed in Woody Allen's recent comedy Small Time Crooks, who took Tracy Ullman's arriviste millionairess in that film for her money, much as he takes Bridget in this one for her willingness to let her defences down as readily as her knickers. Grant's ecstatic whoop of "Hellooo, Mummy!" as he gropes the voluminous undergarment is the film's ace joke. Bridget's other suitor is "Mr Safe", a stiff-necked, stuffed-shirt human-rights barrister called Darcy, after his ancestor in Pride and Prejudice, and played exactly that way by Colin Firth, all vestigial 19th century sideburns and we-are-not-amused deadpan-ness. Speaking for my own sex, I can't conceive either sort of fella falling for such an unsorted slut as Bridget Jones, for all that she's a good sport and possibly a better lay (we have to take that on hearsay). But the main appeal of such a creation is to women, not men, and precisely to the sort of woman who can imagine both of these fictitious lovers making a play for her, in spite of her lack of glamour, beauty, grace or any other quality that might reflect their own narcissism. The men in the film are feminine fantasy love-objects: one reason why I'll be interested to see whether blokes take to Bridget Jones's Diary as rabidly as their dates. Hugh Grant is our consolation. Though male bastions have been stormed and captured by the monstrous legion of working women, male bastards remain ready and able to subvert the enemy within the gates. Grant does this beautifully, secure in the knowledge that all the clumsy, awkward, tongued-tied passivity he'd taken out the patent on in Four Weddings and a Funeral has now been shifted on to the schlumpy shoulders of comedienne Zellweger, so he can hump poor trusting Bridget without a scruple. Firth isn't so fortunate. Mostly he does nothing, just stands there: a fine-looking figure of manhood, but more Jermyn Street than Notting Hill, if you follow me. The two men have a slugging match in the penultimate reel that's too brutal and long drawn-out for a film of this wacky kind. And the ending - at least the final, final ending after about four tries at an ending - is simply slick Hollywood. The social scene is tourist-brochure stuff: London, England, with gentrified boroughs, cosy restaurants where patrons exult at a running fight between Grant and Firth knocking over the tables, moveable dinner feasts presided over by Bridget's gabbling buddies, and a pre foot-and-mouth countryside replete with snowy carollers, cartooned upper-classes, and rural retreats with four-posters for weekend lovers. The film is extravagantly over-cast, by which I mean expensive talents have happily made do with (barely) supporting parts: notably Jim Broadbent and Gemma Jones as Bridget's erratic parents, whose own mid-life crisis suggests their daughter's inability to settle runs in the genes. Lord Archer has a non-speaking role, perhaps lest he incriminate himself. And the accents of all concerned, especially Bridget, are possibly posher than readers of the Diary were hearing in their mind's ear. Producers Eric Fellner, Tim Bevan and Jonathan Cavendish, and director Sharon Maguire have done well to hold the English fort considering they were working for such tough US paymasters as Universal Pictures and Harvey Weinstein's Miramax Films (who, of course, will see that 90 per cent of the profit goes States-side instead of staying in Britain, once the formidable �16 million budget has been covered). The US version of the film, by the way, is three minutes shorter than the British one: has Harvey been at the scissors again, I wonder? All in all, though, Bridget Jones's Diary does well to overcome the handicap of having to put flesh on a phenomenon - to be something to all women whose fears and fantasies are daily tested. It assures them you can be a domestic slut, a social embarrassment, a professional no-hoper and fat, too, and still have two handsome hunks fighting over you. Safe to go back on the scales, girls.

From The Independent: The good, the bad and the frumpy By Charlotte O'Sullivan 12 April 2001 It's a truth universally acknowledged that Jane Austen had a great way with an opening sentence. Less widely accepted, but equally pertinent, is the fact that she had the "feelgood" factor down to a fine art. So it really isn't anyone's fault but hers that Bridget Jones's Diary � based on Helen Fielding's louche retelling of Pride and Prejudice � is a tad short on suspense. From the minute that our ditzy PR heroine makes a twit of herself, and ace barrister Darcy (Colin Firth) looks intently at her across a crowded book- launch, you know He is the one for Her (if he had a club foot, we might think again, but he's sound of body and his locks are curly). Only one ending will do: Bridget left scribbling all alone? Bridget shacked up with Daniel (Hugh Grant), her unreliable, anal-sex-loving, boss? What do you think this is � Chinatown? Luckily, not everything about the film is so ho-hum, including the appearance of the American interloper herself, Ren�e Zellweger, who famously piled on the pounds to play Bridge. You literally can't take your eyes off her. With those prairie cheeks (the hairs on her skin look like cropped corn), that potato-blonde hair, and a way of moving through perfectly ordinary space as if she's being herded through a field, this woman couldn't be more natural, or vulnerable. Her plentiful flesh squished into industrial-strength knickers and tight bras (even in bed), she's struggling in a world that wants sharp urban lines. Primed by years of cinema-going for the Pygmalion-esque "transformation" scene, you actually wait for the double chin to melt away. It doesn't. Zellweger has always had it in her, of course. In the Farrelly Brothers' gross-out comedy Me, Myself and Irene, her character admits that when her modelling dreams went sour, "I got this eating disorder where I gained, like, 20 pounds... in a week". Or, as Hank, the cad in her life, puts it, "the only bright light you saw were the ones that hit you in the face when you opened the fridge". The difference is that this appetite is now on display and � surprise, surprise � Variety has already blamed the director Sharon Maguire and her crew for "going a bit too far in making [Zellweger] look unattractive". They take issue with Rachel Fleming's costumes, too. True, Bridget's outfits all look like things that have been hanging in a wardrobe for years, but that's what's so liberating. She even wears cardies from French Connection. How's that for cin�ma-v�rit�? Given that Zellweger still looks lovely by normal standards, it just goes to show that in show business, "normal" equals unattractive. Last year's High Fidelity put the case most clearly: in Nick Hornby's novel, the hero's gripe with his girlfriend is that she, like him, is so "ordinary"; in the film � hey presto! � she's a stunning, immaculately dressed blonde. That Zellweger can make us believe in Bridget's heaving inner world is par for the course � she's a supremely talented comic actress. That she was willing to risk her own status as sex symbol by looking like an everywoman is really impressive. Another shock is the liveliness of the writing. Working Title's previous hits, Four Weddings and Notting Hill, relied on slapstick, plus the words "fuck" and Billy Bunterisms like "crikey". The revised team � Richard Curtis, Helen Fielding, Andrew Davies � still lean heavily on all three (and many of the set-ups, a certain Vicars and Tarts tea-party, for instance, are milked to death), but have come up with a procession of bright one-liners, too. It's a neat touch that when, at the book-launch, super-suave Daniel has the chance to dance the verbal fandango with Salman Rushdie, he stammers "Er, do you know where the loos are?". Five minutes before, Jones said just the same thing and in a stroke, it becomes clear why she adores him � faced with a choice between fight or flight, he plumps as desperately for the latter as she. Such scenes owe everything to the great American sitcoms, though not the ones you might think. Bridget, it turns out, has less in common with brittle-skittle Ally McBeal or the pouty women in Sex and the City than Seventies klutz Rhoda (remember her � the one with the wayward hat?) or the fubsy Seinfeld crew. Asked by a "smug married" why so many women over 30 have trouble getting a man, Bridget replies, "I suppose it doesn't help that beneath our clothes, our entire bodies are covered in scales" � a line that could easily have emerged from Elaine's caustic New York kisser. Or, if the question had concerned the lack of options for tubby men with glasses, that of George. Forget women vs men, think underdogs vs the rest. That the film is so entwined with television does, of course, have its downside. Movies such as Annie Hall or Billy Liar, say, are as much about an eccentric place as an eccentric person: their landscapes prickle and whirr with life. In Bridget Jones's Diary, as so often happens on the small screen, everything looks like a dusty approximation. Also disappointing are the end credits, which offer up a TV-style montage of Bridget as she's appeared at various points in the film, so that you find yourself waiting for a smooth voice to intone, "...and you can see Bridget at the same time next week". Television has to recap because its audience is so distractable; movies can afford to be more laid-back. In not trusting that these images are already imprinted on our brains, the film's makers sell themselves (and us) a little bit short. There are other, more insidious problems. Like the film's suggestion that all high-powered career women are hard (while Darcy's brains don't interfere with his humanity, his fianc�e's intellect renders her a cold fish). Or that what women need is not a room of their own but a protector � Bridget's one career coup comes purely thanks to Darcy. Or that best friends are only good for emergencies, a lifestyle tip that feels especially retrograde. Bridget never really seems comfortable with her knowing singleton pals, wrinkling her nose whenever she drinks and handling cigarettes like Olivia Newton John in Grease. At least in Pride and Prejudice, the relationship between Elizabeth and her sister Jane was hugely important � none of Bridget's buddies figure in that same way. And then there's the little matter of Daniel, dismissed in the film's final seconds with a gag worthy of The Two Ronnies. Following the fairy-tale formula, this wolf is bolted from the door by the implication that he's basically not quite heterosexual. Fortunately, though, this particular ruse backfires. Without giving too much away, one thing that the film makes very clear is that Darcy and Daniel have exactly the same taste in lovers. It's not just that they both want Bridget and the "cruel Asian" woman we never get to see, note too that when Daniel acquires a fianc�e, she's a virtual clone of Darcy's � tall, skinny, olive-skinned. So if Daniel isn't quite as straight as he seemed, maybe Darcy isn't either... Funny, isn't it? In Zellweger's last movie, Nurse Betty, her character fell in love with a "perfect" soap-opera character, causing no end of chaos. In trying so hard to shore up Darcy's credentials, it seems appropriate that Bridget ends up demonstrating much the same thing � essentially, that there's no such thing as safe sex. But even if this film does get taken on face value, and even if women do emerge from the cinema murmuring, Nurse Betty-like, "I just know there's something really special out there for me", you forgive it everything because it has introduced you to Zellweger's Bridget. Because it's nice to go to the cinema and fall head-over-heels in love with a character. One who may not be much good at karaoke, but who can lip-synch to Celine Dion's All By Myself with the shambolic, gut-busting passion of Janis Joplin. A talent that just about sums up the joys of middle-brow, but not entirely middle-of-the-road, art such as this.

It assures them you can be a domestic slut, a social embarrassment, a professional no-hoper and fat, too Not to worry, ladies, I've asked my friend and former neighbor Tony Soprano to have a little 'tawk' with Alexander. Tony's bringing his baseball bat. ;-)

Thank you for all the reviews! What will the DB do on Rosie? I hope it's true. And if it is, that means that he will be doing other shows too. (Keeping fingers crossed) He gets to snog and he's a good snogger. Not that I know from experience! Heehee.

The US version of the film, by the way, is three minutes shorter than the British one OOooohhh, I wonder which extra bits we're seeing?

three minutes shorter?????????? (Walker) Speaking for my own sex, I can't conceive either sort of fella falling for such an unsorted slut as Bridget Jones, for all that she's a good sport and possibly a better lay (we have to take that on hearsay). How does a print critic get away with such stuff? (O'Sullivan) this wolf is bolted from the door by the implication that he's basically not quite heterosexual....So if Daniel isn't quite as straight as he seemed, maybe Darcy isn't either... Huh???? What movie did she see? Chinatown? I see Huge is breezing back into NY to guest on Rosie tomorrow, so will also bet double or nothing that he shows up on RZ's SNL stint as they spoof BJD. Huge was already on Rosie. Maybe he'll show up on The View tomorrow too. A surprise appearance on SNL seems likely too. There's a new commercial focusing on the fight, where Tom yells "Fight!" into the restaurant and off they go! The one I've been seeing starts with "Meet Bridget Jones... who finds out just being herself...."

Don't know which crack journalist will interview Huge tonight, but am personally hoping he/she asks: "So, Hugh, does it come as any surprise to you that you were able to overcome the shamefully bad publicity of picking up a hooker on Sunset Blvd?"

Since we're going to be in NYC, we were thinking about standing in line Sat AM for standby tickets to SNL. Has anyone done this successfully? Are we out of our minds for trying? I cannot believe CF is even rumored to be on Rosie. Hope we can find out before we leave so we can tape it! (Have excess VCR all ready to tape P&P-'cause you never know when you might need an extra, extra copy-in case the DVD breaks and the first VHS copy is loaned out.) (Frankenhand) ROF,LOL she has definitely lost it. It's not the show it once was. I thought HG was going to pass out in spite of his SAS training, when she made him look at it. I know I would have.

How does a print critic get away with such stuff? Amazing, isn't it? So insulting. The guy is a pig. Glad to hear Eileen and Tony are on the case: Alexander Walker sleeps with the fishes.;-) And then there's the little matter of Daniel, dismissed in the film's final seconds with a gag worthy of The Two Ronnies. Following the fairy-tale formula, this wolf is bolted from the door by the implication that he's basically not quite heterosexual. Could this be part of the missing 3 minutes? Could one of the UK folks stop over to 126 and tell us how your version ends? I forgot to add this to the list of Gnatisms. He already used in Biography mag last month. From NY Daily News: Hugh's Nose For Trouble Hugh Grant has had some unfortunate experiences. But his biggest regret isn't what you'd think � that tryst in a car with the prostitute in Los Angeles. No, his biggest regret involves an apple peel. The incident happened many years ago, when Grant was just a child. "I did, as a child, stick a lot of apple peel up my nose once, just out of interest to see what would happen," Grant says tonight during an interview on ABC's "PrimeTime Thursday." "Actually, it's horrible," he says. "It got right up almost to my brain and had to be removed by a very top London surgeon, and I remember regretting it." When asked what the happiest moment in his life has been, Grant responds: "Getting it out � the apple peel."

Since the show "Hollywood One on One" included a (one question) interview with Colin Firth in their Shakespeare in Love coverage, I wrote to see if/when they would feature BJD. Here's what the host said, no mention of CF. :-P "Hi Valerie, Our interview with Renee Zellwegger of Bridget Jones's Diary aired until yesterday morning. You may still get a chance to see it if you have Starz Theater. She is lovely in person...and just fabulous in the film. By the way I loved the film and urge you to see this one. Hugh Grant will probably air in a couple of weeks. Thanks for your comments on the show and please keep watching. Scott Patrick Hollywood One on One"

(Mari) Glad to hear Eileen and Tony are on the case: Alexander Walker sleeps with the fishes.;-) Have feeling that Bridget might go in search of Bullet Tooth Tony in the East End. Is closer. ;-D

Entertainment Weekly review. Pretty good, considering it's Lisa "I trash everything" S. Movie Review by Lisa Schwarzbaum Bridget Jones's Diary Renee Zellweger, Colin Firth, Hugh Grant EW GRADE: B Genre: Comedy, Romance On the page, Bridget Jones's most attractive asset is that she's a mess. The neurotic girl is kind, clever, funny, competent at her job, and a great friend to her fellow singletons; she also drinks too much, smokes too much, obsesses too much, chatters too much, eats junk, and when it comes to men, can't distinguish between trash (which, in the book, she dashingly calls ''emotional f---wittage'') and quality. Too smart to settle for the perks of ditzhood, she's also foolish enough to regularly sabotage opportunities for romantic happiness. She's a Jane Austen na�f in a ''Sex and the City'' world. When the book came out in 1996, readers went nuts. At last, an antirole model for the rest of us! On the screen, where Bridget Jones's Diary has been adapted from Helen Fielding's hilarious best seller by documentarian and first time feature director Sharon Maguire (an old friend of the author and model for the heroine's journalist pal Shazzer), Bridget's most attractive asset is that she's played by Ren�e Zellweger. There was a hoo and a ha when the Texas born Ms. Z was chosen, over plenty of terrific local talent interested in the plum role, to play a bird of such English habits (American women stopped smoking in movies ages ago -- bad for the product endorsement deals, babe). But Zellweger is, in fact, thoroughly charming and believably British in the role. Her confidence in her own flexibility as an actor has visibly grown in just a year following the great reviews she received for her performance in ''Nurse Betty,'' and she glows with the pleasing fullness of the 20 pounds she so famously added for the part, all angles softened. (This is not what ''fat'' looks like; this is what ripe, sexy health l oks like, and she needn't have dropped the weight afterwards -- except, perhaps, to eat lunch again in the demented, scale obsessed town of Hollywood.) Hugh Grant is charming too, luxuriating in naughtiness, taking a holiday from his usual floppy, velvet romantic image as Bridget's caddish boss, Daniel Cleaver, with whom the employee embarks on a bound for disaster affair. (''I've got a posh voice and a bad character,'' Cleaver admits, with Grant's full support and admiration.) Colin Firth is appealing as the decent, rich, upstanding Mark Darcy, his participation a cunning pretzel of allusive logic: Firth played Mr. Darcy in the exquisite 1995 BBC television adaptation of ''Pride and Prejudice,'' the Austen masterpiece on which ''Bridget Jones's Diary'' is anchored. (Jones also interviews Firth on a magazine assignment in Fielding's frustratingly weak follow up novel, ''Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason.'') The mess, though, where's the mess? The hysteria, the middle of the night jitters of loneliness? The mess of Bridget's life has been tidied, neatened into little piles of mirth and gaiety. The script, by the formidably bright team of Fielding, Andrew Davies (another pretzel -- he adapted that BBC ''Pride and Prejudice''), and Richard Curtis (''Four Weddings and a Funeral''), grins and cracks wise with pop cultural jokes and the pretty production values that made ''Four Weddings'' so appealing: Bridget's idea of a cozy evening is watching ''Frasier'' on the telly in her flannel pj's, and her idea of terror is a literary cocktail reception at which she has to make small talk with Salman Rushdie. (He appears as himself, doing a George Plimptonesque cameo, daring any ayatollah to track him down through his theatrical agent.) ''Bridget Jones'' shines with lemon scented polish and tootles along with a soundtrack that ain't too proud to use Jamie O'Neal's cover of Eric Carmen's ''All by Myself,'' Aretha Franklin's ''Respect,'' and Chaka Khan's ''I'm Every Woman'' as directional signals. But without mess and agitation -- without trusting viewers to withstand the sight of genuine heartache, and compulsiveness, and a glimpse of real self destructiveness (it needn't involve wrist slashing -- a simple hint of a devil in Miss Jones will do), this great screwup of a woman -- one of literature's best antidotes to self help hysteria in the 1990s -- is almost indistinguishable from, oh, the sylphy single woman played by Ashley Judd in ''Someone Like You,'' or by Gwyneth Paltrow in ''Sliding Doors,'' or by Hope Davis in ''Next Stop Wonderland,'' or by Ally McBeal or any sitcom sister anywhere in prime time. After Daniel Cleaver has dumped her (she's an old cow and he was looking for a new cow, to filch from the psychobabble in ''Someone Like You''), Bridget throws a dinner party to celebrate her birthday. She can't cook, true, but her lack of skill is endearing and everyone laughs, full of wine. Darcy can cook, he's gorgeous, and he thinks she's fab. ''To Bridget� who we love just as she is!'' her friends toast in her cozy little kitchen, each object in the room imported by the production designers to signify offbeat domesticity. Well, of course, why wouldn't they? The movie never shows us anything about Bridget that's remotely in need of psychological or physical fixing.

Yesterday�s L.A. Times print ad had this: Bridget�s Guide to the Movies! 1. Find responsible (and gorgeous) adult to accompany self to theatre. 2. Resolve to nor have anything to eat during movie. However�when you think about, popcorn is not fattening. 3. In Fact, might actually lose weight through eating popcorn as hand to mouth plus chewing motion will use up calories. 4. Remember, If nature calls, movie theatre bathroom lighting is stark and unforgiving. 5. Finally, a law should be passed that all theatres have soft back lit bathroom lighting in order to improve national morale, (as more easy to form relationship with gorgeous adult companion if feel confident about self). Starting Friday, Be Bold. Be Brave. Be Bridget!

Sounds like the clips over the end credits are different too. I had the "home movies", but one of the reviews above mentioned clips from the film. Anyone know what's going on with the Today Show? Is his appearance scrapped?

Mari, the UK version ended with B& MD kissing in the snow (sigh) and then the credits and then about 3mins of little snippetts from Darcy's parents, won't repeat what Mr. Darcy said, most out of character about the relationship between his son & Bridget. Everyone is congratulating the pair including Bridget's boss (Neil Pearson) and then HG introduces two new partners one turns out tobe a fella!! Some other people who I can't remember, will have to go back tomorrow. BTW Although HG was very good, and much better than FWAAF & NH, there is no way he can be compared with Cary Grant, imo. Finally I don't think I have seen Colin look more handsome, just hope some more leading romantic roles come alongafter this. This has to be my second favourite CF role after P&P.

Desson Howe of the Washington Post (generally my favorite movie reviewer) has his review up. Won't bother typing the dratted thing, as he sums up with the phrase "All in all, "Bridget Jones's Diary" comes as a great letdown, given all the anticipation that preceded its release." At least he writes "Firth is a favorite of mine." Pity that he then goes on to slam ODB's role. http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10317-2001Apr12.html I suppose this just goes hand-in-hand with the fact that the blasted preview audiences down here hardly laughed at all. Such a shame. May have to go see the movie every day this week to help compensate for low BO #'s in DC. Oh, the privation. ;)

the UK version ended with B& MD kissing in the snow (sigh) and then the credits and then about 3mins of little snippetts from Darcy's parents, won't repeat what Mr. Darcy said, most out of character about the relationship between his son & Bridget. Everyone is congratulating the pair including Bridget's boss (Neil Pearson) and then HG introduces two new partners one turns out tobe a fella!! Aha! Totally different here. ***SPOILERS***** After the great kissing in the snow, it goes to what looks like a home movie. It's little Mark's 8th birthday party, he's dressed in a suit and tie (predictably:-), while little Bridget is running around wildly, swigging from a wine bottle she swiped off the table. All the while, little Mark is giving her the eye, at one point, tugging on his collar as if he's getting hot over her. Then BJ lifts off her dress, goes into the paddling pool, not sure if Mark follows her, will have to see it again tomorrow! I have to say, I thought this ending was extremely funny, and the audience was in hysterics. This was/is truly a lifetime love!:-) Ann, was there any additonal Colin in your ending?

sorry

Analysts Predict Josie Will Top Easter Box Office Analysts are expecting Universal's Josie and the Pussycats to top a crowded list of new entries at the box-office this Easter weekend. The film, which opened Wednesday, is likely to face its strongest competition from Disney's Bridget Jones's Diary, from Working Title Films, the British company that produced Four Weddings and a Funeral and Notting Hill, the analysts said. However, "Diary" will open on only about 1,500 screens, compared with about 2,600 for Josie. Universal had timed the release of the teen-oriented Josie to coincide with Spring Break.

(Ann) Anyone know what's going on with the Today Show? Is his appearance scrapped? Someone on a CF mailing list reported that it was rescheduled for Monday, April 16. TV Guide online has this date listed as well.