I just had the loveliest time sitting down and talking with Kimmy Schmidt. Having devoured every available episode of her, naturally, autobiographical, post-being trapped inside a bunker by a pedophilic cult leader sitcom – yep, that’s the premise and it works like a charm, an hilarious mix of quirky Continue Reading
Can you tell me how to sing … 5 favourite Sesame Street musical moments
Sesame Street does so many things right. From its brilliantly-imaginative teaching of the ABCs and 123s to its hilarious parodies of pop culture touchstones through to its life lessons, it is the gold standard in education for kids (and more than a few adults too). To that illustrious list. Continue Reading
Celebrate the weird and let your freak flag fly: Ugly Dolls trailer + posters
SNAPSHOT In the adorably different town of Uglyville, weird is celebrated, strange is special and beauty is embraced as more than simply meets the eye. Here, the free-spirited Moxy and her UglyDolls friends live every day in a whirlwind of bliss, letting their freak flags fly in a celebration Continue Reading
The short and the short of it: The Visitor and the majesty of landscape
SNAPSHOT Armed with a camera drone, I travelled to Utah to capture the alienesque landscape of the desert on film. …Like many people, I’ve always wanted to visit Mars. But, it’s so far away. Last month I did the next best thing: I traveled to the deserts of Southern Continue Reading
Bright eyes return: New Watership Down animated series
As a kid, I read a lot of books. A LOT OF BOOKS. Despite the vast number, quite a few of them made a real impact on me including Richard Adam’s 1972 novel Watership Down about a burrow of rabbits struggling to survive as their beloved habitat faces destruction. Continue Reading
Book review: The Memory of Running by Ron McLarty
One of the curiously unexpected aspects of deep and prolonged grief is an unnerving sense of becoming unmoored from your life. One minute all the touchstones are in place, the things that give your life a sense of time, place and meaning, and the next? One crucial piece is Continue Reading
Some gifts are more than just a gift: This year’s John Lewis Christmas ad
SNAPSHOT Titled The Boy & The Piano, the 12th version of the department store’s iconic ad … tells the true story of how a Christmas gift – a piano belonging to Elton’s grandmother – went on to inspire the music icon’s life, working backwards chronologically from the present day Continue Reading
Movie review: Stan and Ollie
Comedy is one of the great joys of life, a chance to sit back and ignore the serious business of life for a moment in favour of poking fun at, musing on its ups and downs, and sometimes just being plain silly and goofy in a way that is Continue Reading
Now this is music #118: Wafia, Kero Kero Bonito, Dillon Francis, Demo Taped, Raleigh Ritchie
We’re in love. Out of love. Trying to find it. Watching others find it. Wishing we had some time in a tree (this will make sense later, trust me). As always, music has a way of taking myriad emotions, all of which swirl in and out of hearts and Continue Reading
Meet Ducky and Bunny! Toy Story 4 drops 3 new posters and a very meta trailer
SNAPSHOT Woody has always been confident about his place in the world and that his priority is taking care of his kid, whether that’s Andy or Bonnie. But when Bonnie adds a reluctant new toy called “Forky” to her room, a road trip adventure alongside old and new friends Continue Reading