The bfi London Film Festival was a good place to be last night if laughter, music and uplifting times are your thing - and, let's face it, whose thing *aren't *they? Don't answer that, Justin Lee Collins.
Two uplifting dramas, one slightly more comedic than the other, took a bow on the West End red carpet. Providing soulful uplift and all-round gala glitz were Chris O'Dowd and his cast of golden larynxed songstresses The Sapphires, including Deborah Mailman of Rabbit-Proof Fence and The Secret Life Of Us fame and her three Aussie co-stars.
On the other side of town, Dustin Hoffman was busy introducing his directorial debut to the UK filmgoing world. Like The Sapphires, **Quartet **also has a musical thrust, giving Brit thesps Maggie Smith, Tom Courtenay, Pauline Collins and Michael Gambon the chance to pair up with Billy Connolly to make sweet music of an operatic nature.
{Quartet LFF}
The Sapphires will be landing in our cinemas on November 7, with **Quartet **clearing its throat politely in advance of a January 4 release date.