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Sydney Morning Herald

Friday October 31, 2008

With Emily Dunn & Garry Maddox

Ink and injuries on red carpet

Daniel Craig had his arm in an elegant sling and Judi Dench sported a temporary 007 tattoo on her neck at the world premiere of the James Bond film Quantum Of Solace in London.

Dressed in stylish black tie, the latest Bond was showing the signs of an operation on a shoulder he hurt doing stunts. Also at the charity premiere on Wednesday were the new Bond girls Olga Kurylenko and Gemma Arterton, princes William and Harry, the actor Robbie Coltrane and the model Elle Macpherson.

The 22nd Bond film begins just an hour after the end of the last instalment, Casino Royale, with a heartbroken 007 seeking revenge for the death of his lover Vesper Lynd.

Asked what the title meant, Craig told AFP: "It's basically the moment of peace in yourself - if you can find your quantum of solace, it means you've figured out what life's about. It's the moment in a relationship if you don't have it, it's over."

Dench, who plays M again, paid tribute to Craig's acting skills, adding it was "lovely" to be part of another Bond movie.

In Sydney Quantum Of Solace was well received at a low-key first screening for cinema operators and the media yesterday. It opens in cinemas next month.

For the 10 Greatest Moments in Bond History, don't miss Spectrum tomorrow.

MOLLOY'S PLOY

If Shane Warne makes a comeback to the Test team for the next Ashes series, Mick Molloy will be taking the credit.

Playing golf together this week, the comic and Crackerjack star pressed the champion leg-spinner about a return to the national side.

"Over the course of 18 holes, I put him under incredible duress," Molloy told SiT. "It was nothing but 'so what would be the circumstances under which you'd come back?'.

"I kept telling him he's yet to take five wickets in an innings at Lords. I saw his eyebrows raise at that suggestion."

Molloy is making his own cricket comeback for a celebrity Twenty20 match on Victor Trumper Day at the SCG on Sunday. "Fitness could be an issue here," he said. "I could crack a stitch on the walk out to the middle. I'll probably feign a shoulder injury so I don't have to bowl."

Away from the cricket field, Molloy is performing stand-up comedy in Melbourne and writing a new film. "I'd rather not reveal the subject matter just yet but I will give you this: we were watching the muck-up day antics quite closely," he said.

Molloy has also taken an option on Gideon Haigh's book The Vincibles, about a season in a suburban cricket club, and plans to make either a film or a TV series.

Also turning out for the celebrity match are the former yellow Wiggle Greg Page, ABC broadcasters Adam Spencer and Andrew Daddo, The Chaser's Craig Reucassel, Tim Farriss from INXS, and the former Test players Stuart McGill, Mike Whitney and Greg Matthews.

PAT TO JUDGE FIELD

She is the woman responsible for such trends as tutu skirts and large floral accessories - and that's just for breakfast.

Now Patricia Field, the celebrated designer and stylist from Sex And The City, is bringing her fashion eye to Australia as a judge at the Melbourne Cup's fashions on the field.

In Sydney yesterday, Field visited Myer's city store, where she officially unveiled Destination Style New York, her collection of clothing inspired by some of the famous wardrobes on the television series.

"When we started out, we thought, everyone is going to copy the clothes anyway, so why not just make them ourselves," Field said. "We have been able to make them accessible."

Still planning her outfit for tomorrow's Derby Day in Melbourne, Field said she was looking forward to judging and was looking for outfits that defied convention. "How can you have fun if you have to follow a set of codes," she said.

LIFE OUTSIDE TARDIS

Big news for Doctor Who fans! The latest actor to play the Time Lord, David Tennant, has announced he will leave the hit series at the end of next year.

The Doctor's 10th incarnation, Tennant has proven popular since taking over from Christopher Eccleston two years ago. A BBC report said he would leave the role after shooting four special episodes.

"I've had the most brilliant, bewildering and life-changing time working on Doctor Who," Tennant said. "I have loved every day of it. It would be very easy to cling on to the Tardis console forever and I fear that if I don't take a deep breath and make the decision to move on now, then I simply never will.

The executive producer and writer, Russell T. Davies, who is also leaving the show, joked that he might drop an anvil "or maybe a piano; a radioactive piano" on the Doctor's head.

GLITTER'S GOLD

The sex offender Gary Glitter is expected to receive up to #100,000 ($248,000) in royalties after a computer firm used one of his songs in an ad.

A cover of Glitter's 1973 hit Do You Wanna Touch Me was used by Hewlett-Packard to promote its new touch-screen model, TouchSmart TV, in ads airing across the US. While the version of the song used in the ad was performed by the US singer Joan Jett in 1982, because the song was written by Glitter all royalties go to him.

Glitter, whose real name is Paul Gadd, returned to Britain in August after spending 27 months in a Vietnamese prison for abusing two girls.

FASHIONPOLICE

Halloween chic

USUALLY the only bones you see on the catwalk are the protruding ribs, shoulder blades and hips of the skinnier-than-thou models. Recent spring runway shows in the US and Europe, however, show the Skeletor trend is rubbing off on the clothes. The gothic trend for lace and tulle has developed into an obsession with skin-and-bones, just in time for Halloween.

The US design duo Kate and Laura Mulleavy, of the label Rodarte, used exo-skeletons as inspiration for their shredded designs and the bad-boy British designer Alexander McQueen printed X-ray images, complete with sutures, onto his runway offerings - perfect for that next spring garden party - while Christian Lacroix used torso-length, rib-cage-style necklaces.

If such high-fashion offerings don't tickle your Halloween funny bone, you can always take a leaf out of Dita Von Teese's book. The burlesque performer - once married to Marilyn Manson and famous for her manicured 1940s screen-siren style - told Britain's Channel 4 this week that for Halloween, she planned to dress "like a normal girl, put some bronzer on, some spray tan on and wear some jeans ... people will ask me where my costume is! I would never do this in normal life, that's why I'll do it at Halloween. It's a bit funny and people think I'm not wearing a costume, but I really am."

THREE QUESTIONS

Christine Andreas

Do you ever sing in the rain? Yes, but I prefer hailstorms and a good tornado.

What musical would best describe your life?

Considering the velocity of my life and the fact that I've been on four different continents in the last three weeks, I'd say Stop The World: I Want To Get Off.

What is your biggest fear?

On opening night, three minutes before curtain, I go to put on my one and only costume and realise it is at the cleaners. This actually happened on opening night at the famous Cafe Carlyle in New York, but luckily I had been singing in the rain, so the next day my photo in The New York Times captured me on top of the piano in my lovely olive green raincoat.

The Broadway soprano Christine Andreas performs at City Tattersalls Club tonight and tomorrow.