GANGS OF NEW YORK (18) Martin Scorsese returns to the mean streets of his beloved New York City for this 19th century tale of gang warfare and doomed love inspired by Herbert Asbury's book of the same name. Gangs Of New York is an epic undertaking, and
CITY BY THE SEA (15) The relationship between a father and son can be fractious at the best of times and in City By The Sea, those paternal bonds are tested to breaking point. A police officer discovers that his only child has been implicated in a murder
THE TUXEDO (12A) New York taxi driver Jimmy Tong (Jackie Chan) lands a prize job as the private chauffeur for playboy millionaire and ladies man Clarke Devlin (Jason Isaacs). Little does Jimmy know that Clarke is really a secret agent working for a covert
GANGS OF NEW YORK (18) Martin Scorsese's lavish epic of bloody gang feuding - see review. THE GOOD GIRL (15) Jennifer Aniston casts off her Friends alter-ego - see review. THE TUXEDO (12A) JACKIE CHAN dons the high-tech martial arts tux - see review.
LOOK at the time: 2003 already, and I still haven't put my clock forward from 1967. It's enough to make you grow older, so it is. I think I'll do just that. You're welcome to watch if you like, but I shouldn't have thought it'll be all that exciting,
Please spare a thought for your friendly local bookmaker who is trying to eek out a meagre living despite the ravages of the British weather. In September and October, racing was generally uncompetitive because it was dry and sunny and the ground was
The 2003 English Counties League season begins on Saturday with the West Dorset county squad playing at their new home venue at the Budmouth Community Sports Centre in Weymouth. Highly respected county coach Leanne Kerr is looking forward to her second
DORCHESTER Football Club made a trading profit of £41 in the last financial year, directors were told at the Magpies' annual meeting. But chairman Eddie Belt has warned that unless the club win promotion this season and get the boost of lucrative local
LAST year was a runaway success for Dorchester Arts Centre and, judging by the line-up pencilled in for the new season, 2003 looks set to be a cracker too. Top of the list must be the return visit by the Royal Shakespeare Company, which is bringing The
ARTSREACH has unleashed its new season upon the rural areas of the county. Things get started tonight with a performance of Robin Hood at Martinstown village hall at 7pm - telephone (01305) 889995 to book tickets. The show is popular theatre company Forest
A BRACE of concerts has been lined up for Weymouth and Dorchester over the coming week. On Wednesday at 8pm Graham O'Sullivan, Joseph Crouch and Matthew Halls will play sonatas by Bach, Handel, Leclair and Telemann in Dorset County Museum, High West Street
IF joining a choir is one of your new year resolutions, pop along to the Lighthouse, Poole, on Tuesday, January 21, where Bournemouth Symphony Chorus is holding an open rehearsal for new members. The chorus, which mainly works with the BSO, has a varied
THE adventures of Cervantes' windmill-whacking nobleman, Don Quixote, are revisited by students from Thomas Hardye School in Dorchester later this month. Dreaming of Don Quixote has been put together by pupils from each year of the school and combines
DORSET is unlikely to get more Government cash despite a last-ditch bid for fairer funding. A cross-party delegation of politicians united in London to demand more money from the Government to beat the county's council tax crisis. The group, including
FAMILIES are today celebrating a dramatic victory in their battle to scrap a Weymouth diversion which would have sent thousands of vehicles past their homes. Wessex Water has been under fire for months after work to install a new water main under Dorchester
THREE people were taken to hospital after a head-on collision near Dorchester that blocked the road and caused rush-hour delays. Police said a red Renault car registered to a Dorchester woman and a green Rover car registered to a Poole woman were involved
THE future of a famous landmark remains uncertain after Portland Town Council last night refused to take it over. The historic Portland Bill Obelisk, a Grade II listed building, is currently owned by Trinity House, which says they can no longer fund the
SOCCER legend Tony Adams may visit Dorchester - to hear Hardy poems that helped in his recovery from alcoholism. Organisers have invited the former England and Arsenal skipper to the Dorset County Museum for a series of lectures and a special study day
DORSET County Council is set to reshuffle the cash it gives to schools after finding itself near the bottom of the Government's funding table. The county discovered at the end of last year that it was to receive the lowest Government funding in the country
ALMOST £1,000 has poured in for research into meningitis in memory of talented Dorchester student Ben Vincent. Ben, 20, a former Thomas Hardye School pupil from Edward Road, died three weeks into a degree course at Cambridge University after contracting
DORSET-BASED UK communications firm Bistech is creating 50 new jobs. Bistech is bucking the current downturn hitting many other companies in the communications sector. The firm aims to double in size over the next two years, recruiting another 50 employees
INCREASING numbers of naval vessels are stopping over in Dorset to replenish their fuel and supplies. Portland last month saw more ships of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary than in any single month since the Royal Navy left the former naval base in July 1995
THE GOOD GIRL (15) Picture the scene: It's March 23, 2003, and the 75th Academy Awards are being presented at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. "And the nominees for Best Actress in a Leading Role are: Jennifer Aniston for The Good Girl..." It sounds like
ALL ACCIDENT and emergency patients should be seen, treated and discharged or admitted within four hours, under new national benchmarks being pursued by Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospital bosses. At the trust's first meeting of 2003, board members
TONIGHT (9) Chris Walker Quintet (Weymouth Arts Centre, Commercial Road, Weymouth): Exemplary New Orleans-style jazz from Radio Solent's expert of the genre. Music from 7.30pm; admission £5 and there is a bar. Ticket bookings and enquiries to (01305)
BASHLEY and Lymington and New Milton have held new talks regarding a possible merger of the two clubs. And officials confirm that they have not ruled out inviting Brockenhurst to take part in discussions about the formation of a New Forest super-club.
WIMBORNE AC star Louise Watton is setting her sights on European Junior Championship glory this summer after finishing last season as the top ranked under-17 javelin thrower in the country. Watton's season's-best throw of 46.94 metres, set at the English
A ROW has broken out between Dorchester and their Dr Martens Eastern Division promotion rivals Salisbury after the Wiltshire club allegedly blocked the Magpies chances of having a game on Saturday, writes David Swain. Dr Martens League secretary Dennis
PIRATES new boy Krzysztof Kasprzak has "shown his commitment to British speedway" by taking on an English tuner who will also travel with him to home and away meetings next season. One of the criticisms aimed at some Polish riders in the Sky Sports Elite
THE mother of missing New Year reveller Len Dennis is urging the public to keep eyes peeled for his body. "I just want him recovered and brought home," Maggie Dennis told the Daily Echo. The 20-year-old leisure industry worker was last seen jumping off
A TALE of magic and fantasy will be spun at Weymouth College theatre next Thursday when The Little Prince plays at the venue. A pilot crashes in the Sahara where he meets a strange little boy who tells tales of his home planet and his travels to earth
THURSDAY (9) PANTO: Robin Hood, Martinstown village hall PANTO: Cinderella, Pavilion Theatre, Bournemouth PANTO: Aladdin, Lighthouse, Poole FRIDAY (10) BSO Viennese Gala, Weymouth Pavilion Thorn Rose, Sturminster Marshall hall PANTO: Cinderella, Pavilion
DORCHESTER film-goers could soon be enjoying double the number of screens at the town's cinema. Bosses at the Plaza Cinema on Trinity Street have bought the former bingo hall next door and plan to set up two more screens and a wine bar. The news comes
Thursday 9 January: Crosscut Saw - Plough Inn, Tiptoe; Jazz in Mind - Long's Jazz Cellar; Rubber Soul: Thrive + Philtre + Subverge - Bartonka; The Dawn Parade + Texlahoma - Mr Smiths; Friday 10 January: Beyond Belief - O'Neills; Rex & The Recliners
PART of West Bay seafront remains cordoned off after warnings that a major rock fall could happen at any time. West Dorset District Council engineers put up barriers and warning signs on the western end of the promenade last week as ominous cracks appeared
POLICE Constable Steve Blackmore is set for a change to his normal beat by trekking for 18 days across Ethiopia. PC Blackmore will be swapping the cold winter climes of Weymouth next week for the searing temperatures of the north east African country
MUM Kim Comer today paid tribute to her mentally and physically disabled son, who died aged 24 in a Dorchester care home. Ricky Riddell was born with severe cerebral palsy but, with the help of staff at Leonard Cheshire Homes on Romulus Close, lived life
DESPERATELY seeking Thomas Hardy, Judge Jeffreys and King Alfred the Great - a new group wants enthusiasts to imitate their heroes in Dorchester. Organisers need the volunteers to bring famous characters from Dorchester's past back to life in a new boost
BARN owls Sooty and Sweep from the New Forest Owl Sanctuary at Ringwood are giving their stamp of approval today for the Royal Mail's first special philatelic issue of 2003. Birds of prey is the theme of the new stamps and barn owls feature on one of
