(courtesy IMP Awards) Good lord but there such an infectious vibe to people who know and love themselves. In the nicest, least aggressive of ways (we’re not talking unreconstructed narcissists here), they own who they are, celebrate what they do and don’t feel the slightest need to begin to apologise Continue Reading
TV
Star Trek Strange New Worlds S4 E1-2 review: “Valles Marineris” and “The Griffin Incident”
(courtesy IMP Awards) Episode 1: “Valles Marineris” Happy days! Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is back for its penultimate season and it kicks off with an episode that ———- SPOILER ALERT !!!!! ———- sends the Enterprise and its crew back 65 million years! Hurrah for fiery galactic anomalies and their Continue Reading
A torrent of TV trailers: Ted Lasso S4, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power S3, Yaga, Neuromancer + Blade Runner 2099
(via Shutterstock) Am I overwhelmed by how many TV-streaming shows are out and about and that I want to watch? YES. Do I want to keep adding to the list anyway, in the feverishly excitable hope that I will one day get to them all? Also YES. I am nothing Continue Reading
Christmas in July animated movie review redux: The best Christmas tree he can be: The festive adventures of Albert
This review was first published on 23 December 2019. Christmas television is usually pretty inspirational stuff. It makes sense – if you’re going to set a story at the most, magical time of the year, it’s almost impossible for it not to be uplifting in some fashion. Comes with the Continue Reading
Timing is everything … thoughts on Two Years Later
(courtesy IMDb (c) Paramount+) There is a trick, a gloriously clever and grounded trick, that sits at the heart of all the very best romantic comedies or romcoms. On the surface, and this is true of any story which looks flawlessly simple and easy but which is anything but when Continue Reading
I decorated my 2026 Christmas in July tree with the Tenth Doctor Who, Bluey, Home Alone, Scooby-Doo and Snagglepuss … and more!
(via Shutterstock) When you love Christmas, it’s hard having it pop just once a year. Rather happily, some inventive soul somewhere decided that Christmas in July would work quite nicely, especially in the Southern Hemisphere where it’s cold and wintery and just right for a traditional festive celebration (though we Continue Reading
Trailer, trailers, so many streaming trailers! Check out Alley Cats, Lucky and Stuart Fails to Save the Universe
(via Shutterstock) I am, at heart, a vibrant and sustained optimist. I know not because, in the face of a thousand million things to the contrary (there may be some hyperbole there but not much), I still think life is wonderful and has so much to offer. And, and really, Continue Reading
UPCOMING READS: pop culture synergy fun as The Muppets Take the Marvel Universe
(courtesy Nerdist (c) Marvel) SNAPSHOTThe iconic heroes of the Marvel Universe will soon join forces with none other than Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Gonzo, and all the other Muppets. Coming in September is The Muppets Take the Marvel Universe #1, from a creative team that includes writers Chip Zdarsky, Continue Reading
132 rooms. 157 suspects. 1 Dead Body: thoughts on The Residence
(courtesy IMP Awards) I know it’s become exhaustingly cliche to say your late to the party on something because surely storytelling, viral sensationalism aside which is hideously transitory, but in the case of The Residence I am absolutely very much way behind the curve. Now, while it’s unlikely my tardy, Continue Reading
“Make a choice: your friend or this organisation.” Trailer drops for Ride or Die series
(courtesy First Showing) SNAPSHOTRide or Die is a comedy series following the best friends Debbie Claybourne (Octavia Spencer) and Judith Burton (Hannah Waddingham) who thought they knew everything about each other, except Judith turns out to be an international assassin. When a mysterious figure emerges from Judith’s past and a Continue Reading