Tag Archives: 100 best films

Boy’s Best Friend Jessi-Cat named National Cat of the Year 2012

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A family puss who has transformed the life of a boy with a severe anxiety disorder has been crowned National Cat of the Year at Cats Protection’s National Cat Awards 2012.

Two-year-old Jessi-Cat was honoured for helping seven-year-old Lorcan Dillon cope with Selective Mutism, a condition which affects his ability to speak and express himself.

Thanks to his pet cat, Lorcan has finally been able to say “I love you” and learnt ways to share his emotions when he finds it difficult to speak to people.

Cats Protection’s National Cat Awards, sponsored by www.verdocatlitter.co.uk, is the UK’s largest celebration of real-life stories of companionship, bravery and survival in the cat world.

At a star-studded awards ceremony at London’s Savoy hotel yesterday (16th of August) winners were chosen in five categories – Best Friends, Hero Cat, Most Incredible Story, Outstanding Rescue Cat and Celebrity Cat.

Jessi-Cat was crowned overall winner after first winning the Best Friends category, chosen by celebrity judge, ex-YES keyboardist and star of Grumpy Old Men Rick Wakeman.

Cat lover Rick said: “All three cats have been a huge support to their owners, but Jessi-Cat is my winner. The bond between Jessi-Cat and Lorcan is incredible and it has clearly had a hugely positive impact on Lorcan’s home and school life. Jessi-Cat helps Lorcan to communicate and express emotions that ordinarily Lorcan wouldn’t be able to do.”

Other celebrity judges attending the ceremony – hosted by ‘Voice of the Balls’ on BBC1’s National Lottery TV programmes Alan Dedicoat – were comedian Ed Byrne, model Lucy Pinder and ex-BBC newsreader Jan Leeming.

Lorcan and his mum Jayne Dillon, 44, of Davyhulme, Greater Manchester, were at the awards ceremony to accept Jessi-Cat’s prizes – a star shaped trophy, three months’ supply of cat food, a year’s supply of Verdo Cat Litter and a framed photograph of Jessi-Cat.

She said the family decided to get a cat to help Lorcan communicate and cope with Selective Mutism, which makes it hard for him to speak to people and leaves him feeling isolated and lonely.

She said: “Lorcan is able to connect love to Jessi-Cat, something he can’t do with people and she’s been a great support to him when things have been really hard.

“He does not express his emotions, he would not say ‘I love you Mummy’, he just doesn’t do it. But with the cat he can cuddle her, he can stroke her, he can talk to her and he can say ‘I love you Jessi-Cat.’

“She is without a doubt the best friend a boy could have and has had a huge positive impact on his life. We’ve had her for a couple of years and in the last year alone he seems to be making excellent progress at school. In the past two weeks he’s started communicating with people he doesn’t know very well and even reads to one of the teachers now – something he’s never done before.”

Other category winners were:

Charley: Charley, of Haltwhistle, Northumberland, won the Hero Cat category after saving the day when owner Susan Marsh-Armstrong, 47, collapsed during a diabetic attack in the middle of the night. As Susan’s life hung in the balance, quick-thinking Charley repeatedly patted her husband Kevin on the face until he woke and then led him to the bathroom where he discovered Susan unconscious on the floor and administered a glucose injection to bring her round.

William: William, of Chorley, Lancashire, won the Most Incredible Story category after making a gruelling half-a-mile journey home on two legs after his back legs were horrifically injured in a dog attack. Despite having one leg amputated the brave puss has since made a full recovery.

Phoenix: Phoenix, of Ballymoney, County Antrim, won the Outstanding Rescue Cat category after she made an extraordinary recovery from horrific burns. She was just a few weeks old when she was found in a coal bunker with hideous injuries but survived against the odds.

Simon’s Cat: Scooping the award for the nation’s favourite Celebrity Cat – chosen in a public vote on Cats Protection’s Facebook page – was Simon’s Cat, the animated moggy made famous worldwide in Simon Tofield’s books and online cartoons.

According to Kate Bunting, the Awards organiser at Cats Protection, Jessi-Cat’s story was an inspiring one.

She said: “The bond between Lorcan and Jessi-Cat is exceptional and it is truly moving to see what an incredible impact a cat can have on the whole family, particularly children.

“We hear many amazing stories of how cats have transformed people’s lives, from elderly people living alone to children like Lorcan.

“There is no doubt that cats can have an incredible calming effect and their intuition, sensitivity and unconditional love can have an incredible impact on their owners.”

Jessi-Cat follows in the paw prints of a long line of feline heroes honoured by Cats Protection. Previous winners have included “moggy midwife” Marmite who loyally stuck by his owner’s side during a difficult pregnancy and labour, and Tee Cee who became a lifeline to his epileptic owner with his ability to detect when he was about to have a seizure.

Cats Protection, the UK’s leading feline welfare charity, has around 6,200 cats and kittens in its care at any one time and rehomes and reunites over 48,000 every year. To find out more about the charity, or to adopt a cat, please visit www.cats.org.uk or call the charity’s national helpline on 03000 12 12 12.

Thanks to Philippa Gedge Photography

Film industry names ‘Don’t Look Now’ as Best British Film

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Nicolas Roeg’s 1973 steamy gothic thriller tops Time Out’s 100 Best British Films

–A panel of film experts including Sam Mendes (Director of ‘American Beauty’), Wes Anderson (Director of ‘Fantastic Mr Fox’) and actress Sally Hawkins (‘Made in Dagenham’) have selected the 1970s steamy gothic thriller ‘Don’t Look Now’ as the Best British Film of all time, beating the likes of popular British movies such as Trainspotting and Four Weddings and a Funeral to the top spot.

The panel of 150 selected experts, which included directors, actors, heads of major cultural organisations and critics, was assembled by Time Out film editor Dave Calhoun. Each panellist nominated their 10 favourite British films which were then compiled to create a definitive list of Time Out’s 100 Best British Films.

Speaking about the selection as the Best British Film, ‘Don’t Look Now’’s director Nicolas Roeg commented ‘Well, it’s all very exciting indeed’. He continued ‘It’s almost forty years since I made the film now. It’s some time since I last saw it, but I see clips when I introduce it at festivals and it reminds me of that time and making it in Venice with Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie.’

Apart from the surprising ending of the film, one of the film’s most famous moments was the steamy love scene between Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland which Roeg believes helps today’s audiences connect with the film. Roeg told Time Out: ‘Sex, whether you like it or not, is the prime force of life. There is no other reason to be here. For me, sex is very rarely rude. It’s a fresh thing. I think people secretly connected to “Don’t Look Now”. Maybe that’s why, after all this time, people see the film more clearly. When it came out, audiences were less used to it. That scene would’ve been like someone bursting out of a cupboard and shouting “Boo!”.’

The top 10 from Time Out’s 100 Best British Films

Don’t Look Now (1973) – the terrifying Venice chiller starring Julie Christie
The Third Man (1949) – Graham Greene’s story stars Orson Welles in post-war Vienna
Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988) – moving Liverpool drama with the late Pete Postlethwaite
Kes (1969) – Ken Loach’s Northern Classic about a boy and his kestrel
The Red Shoes (1948) – a beautiful melodrama set in the world of ballet
A Matter of Life and Death (1946) – the greatest film of World War Two with David Niven
Performance (1970) – Mick Jagger and Anita Pallenberg rock and roll in 1960s Notting Hill
Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) – Alec Guinness in one of his finest comic roles
If… (1968) – a brilliant satire about a British boarding school with Malcolm McDowell
Trainspotting (1996) – the classic adaptation of Irvine Welsh’s novel with Ewan Macgregor

The full Time Out’s 100 Best British Films, featuring the top 100 along with panellists’ individual selections, can be found online by visiting: www.timeout.com/bestbritishfilms.

On the significance of Time Out’s 100 Best British Films, Time Out’s film editor Dave Calhoun comments: ‘This is a once-in-a-decade poll and it throws new light on the films which inspire our current actors, directors and writers. In the same week that the Bafta winners are announced, and as the British film funding landscape remains in flux, now seems as good a time as ever to think about British cinema in the context of over 100 years. Add to that the aggressive flag-waving over ‘The King’s Speech’, and you could say that such soul-searching isn’t just a good idea, it’s essential.”

To celebrate the outstanding achievements of the British Film industry Time Out Live will be launching the Time Out’s Film Club with a series of exclusive screenings of films from the 100 Best British Films at the Cineworld Haymarket in London. Starting from March 22, these special screenings will feature introductions from the likes of actors Jonathan Pryce (‘Pirates of the Caribbean’), David Morrissey (‘Doctor Who’) and Sally Hawkins (‘Happy-Go-Lucky’). For further information and tickets, visit www.timeout.com/filmclub.