Mail on Sunday

Tolkien Tale Should Run Rings Around Its Rivals ; Who Deserves an Oscar?

The frocks have been chosen, the votes counted, host Billy Crystal has written his gags. Now all that remains is for the names of the winners of the 2004 Academy Awards to be eased out of their golden envelopes and revealed to a tremulously expectant world. So, who is going to win at the Kodak Theatre tonight? Well, if The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King doesn't win Best Picture it will be one of the great injustices in Oscar history. Not only did it bring Peter Jackson's epic Tolki...

Meet the Slowest Guns in the West

Valentin (PG) ***** The Missing (15) The Last Kiss (15) Infernal Affairs (15) Jason Solomons Also Showing Ron Howard's new film, The Missing, is aptly titled it does, after all, lack a certain something. The story of brave Cate Blanchett and grainy old Tommy Lee Jones setting out across the Wild West to find her daughter (Evan Rachel Wood) who's been captured by Injuns is a decent enough tale.

Why the Royal Ballet Needs This Leap of Faith

Balanchine 100 Royal Ballet, Royal Opera House, London The other night, in one of those question-andanswer sessions that they have between celebrated creators and the audience at the National Theatre, I asked Matthew Bourne whether he thought the Royal Ballet was adventurous enough. We were about to watch Play Without Words, Matthew's brilliant balletic version of The Servant.

Fun-Loving Criminals

Hustle The Impressionable Jon Culshaw ITV1, Wednesday ***** Frasier BBC2, Wednesday ***** BBC1, Tuesday ***** The Deputy BBC2, Monday ***** My Week In The Real World C4, Wednesday ***** An actor's world is tough. Not as tough as being a miner or a sewage worker, but tough all the same.

Chutzpah, Charm and All That Jazz

Jamie Cullum Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham Wow!' Jamie Cullum exclaims as he scans the stalls of a packed theatre in Nottingham.

A Name to Build On. . .

English National Opera: London Coliseum reopening Building***** Entertainment***** The reopening of the Coliseum, the home of English National Opera, after its first major facelift in a century, is an occasion for rejoicing. There may be serious doubts as to the quality of the entertainment likely to be offered there, but Frank Matcham's marble and plaster evocation of the glories of ancient Rome looks wonderful after the expenditure of more than Pounds 40 million, half from the Lottery, half...

Perfectly Hideous . . .

Pre-Raphaelite Vision Tate Britain, London, until May 3 Personally, I'd always thought Holman Hunt's painting The Scapegoat the most hideous in the world. This exhibition of pre-Raphaelite, Victorian responses to Nature shows, very strikingly, that there is plenty of competition for that dubious honour.

What an Anticlimax

When Harry Met Sally Theatre Royal, Haymarket, London 2hrs 15mins (including interval) Oliver Twist Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, London, then touring 2hrs 15mins (including interval)

From Young Seedlings... ; Charlie Dimmock Shows How to Nurture Budding Gardening Talent

THERE'S a young lad I know who's very keen on gardening. I've met him several times at shows and garden centres, and he already holds a world record. He's grown more tomatoes on a truss than anybody else 185. He was really chuffed!

Bred of Heaven ; Welsh Singing Star Bryn Terfel Pens a Hymn to the Land of His Fathers On the Eve of St David's Day

MY international success as a singer has made me something of an ambassador for Welsh tourism. But I don't have to sell Wales on my travels people are already sold on it before I arrive to sing. I'm always described in the prepublicity as 'the Welsh bass baritone', so before I turn up people know where I come from. And I can always expect huge support from the Welsh nation anywhere in the world.

We're Away with the Fairies ; Giles Milton Takes His Daughters to the Dutch Theme Park That's Sure to Cast a Spell Over Any Girl

FAIRIES, pixies and elves have never been my thing. I don't have gnomes in my garden and I never quite saw the point of Smurfs. But when you have three girls under eight, you learn to live with fairy wings, glitter makeup and magic wands. ' Anyone fancy a game of football?' I ask forlornly. 'Go away, Dad, we're dressing up.' I had a cunning plan to wean them off fairies and elves. I would take them to Efteling in Holland, the fairy godmother of all theme parks. It's stuffed with more elves an...

Puccini's Passion and a Luxury Hotel Break ; Taking Off

STAY at the luxury Gore Hotel in Kensington, Central London, and see the latest production of Puccini's La Boheme at the Royal Albert Hall, just a few minutes' walk away. The opera will run until March 13 and the boutique hotel, which has silk-draped four poster beds and double baths, offers a one- night package for two people which includes breakfast and tickets to the opera from Pounds 275. Call

Set Sail for the Canaries ; Travel Selection

RELAX in style on this special trip to the Canaries on board the Fred Olsen flagship Braemar and you will see some beautiful sights and save money. Sailing from Dover, you will spend two days of this marvellous 13- day cruise unwinding as Braemar first makes her way to Lisbon.

Margaret's Mystique Lives On in Mustique ; Sharon Churcher Visits the Restored Caribbean Villa That Is Steeped in Royal Intrigue

PERCHED on a jungle-covered peninsula in Mustique, it was the only home Princess Margaret ever owned and she loved it more than any Royal palace. Les Jolies Eaux, an exquisite neo-Georgian bungalow, became famous as an exclusive wintering hole for the Princess and a coterie of famous friends regular visitors included Mick Jagger and the New York designer Tommy Hilfiger.

Get 20% Off Shopping at Debenhams

SPRING is in the air at Debenhams. So why not treat yourself to a new wardrobe full of this season's key fashions and save 20 per cent on your shopping bill? The Mail on Sunday, Daily Mail and Debenhams are giving you the opportunity to claim up to 20 per cent off in-store so you can treat yourself, your family and your home, too.

A Tragedy... ; but Nothing Will Ever Stop Me Skiing Neil English Reveals How Tv Presenter Matt Chilton Had a Terrifying Start On the Slopes

FOR millions of television viewers Matt Chilton is the face of skiing. As the co-presenter of the BBC's Ski Sunday, his boundless enthusiasm and outstanding ability have attracted thousands to the sport. Chilton's easy charm in front of the camera and his style on the slopes suggest a man for whom skiing has been a lifelong love.

Playtime with the Polar Bears ; Wendy Driver Takes a Thrilling Walk On the Wild Side in Canada's Frozen North

POLAR bears have a fearsome reputation. They are one of the largest, fastest and most powerful predators in the world. So it was with some trepidation that I found myself preparing to hike out on the tundra in search of them. I was staying at Dymond Lake, a wilderness lodge on the edge of Hudson Bay in the far north of Canada, probably the only place in the world where you can join guided walks to track the bears.

Hypocrite ; Labour Mp Who Exposed Ann Winterton Emailed Racist Jokes to 1,400 Constituents

THE Labour MP who exposed a Tory colleague's sick joke about the deaths of Chinese cockle-pickers himself broadcast tasteless jokes about Muslims over the Internet. Nick Palmer, an aide to Environment Secretary Margaret Beckett, made lewd remarks about the sexual habits of Arabs, mocked the Koran, joked about groping Muslim priests and ridiculed their custom of praying to Allah.

One in Four Tell Jokes Like Winterton

TASTELESS jokes like the one that got Ann Winterton expelled from the Conservative Party are rife across Britain. A Mail on Sunday poll today reveals the extent to which sick humour has become part of everyday life, with more than half of us having heard a gag about the death of 20 Chinese cockle-pickers in Morecambe Bay.

I'm a Friend of John Prescott, Boasted the Boss Who Spent Fortune On Call Girls

BUSINESSMAN Peter Lee, whose obsession with a Pounds 1,300a- night call girl cost the jobs of more than 100 of his loyal staff, boasted about his connections at the highest levels of government. After sex sessions with another prostitute, the father-of-two bragged about his relationship with Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott and recalled how he had met Tony Blair.