The need to belong is a fairly basic human imperative; it informs our drive to make friends, join clubs, fall in love and be a part of a family, among many other things. And it is the beating heart and soul of quite possibly one of the most wonderful Continue Reading
Phantom Boy: A heartwarming tale of one boy and his big secret
SNAPSHOT Leo, 11, spends his days in bed in a New York hospital due to a serious illness. He discovers he has an extraordinary ability to separate from his body and fly over the city while his physical body sleeps. Along the way, the boy meets Alex, a detective Continue Reading
Wayward Pines: “Bedtime Story” (S2, E10 review)
*SPOILERS AHEAD … AND THE END OF THE WORLD … AGAIN (SORT OF)* REM may have felt fine about the end of the world but not so much the morally-challenged folk of Wayward Pines who suddenly found just slightly less than half their number surplus to requirements. Yup, the Continue Reading
Smile! Bert and Grover are so hip they’re taking Instagram selfies
If you ever doubted how cool Bert and Grover are, and seriously why would you do such a horrible thing, then be sceptical no more. As it turns out, two of the mainstays of TV’s Sesame Street are very much to the social media groove, particularly that very funky Continue Reading
Hell No! Ingrid Michaelson joins with Deaf West Theatre Company for the ultimate break-up song
Love in its many forms is the staple of modern pop music. The meet-cutes, the getting-to-know-yous, the glories of true intimacy and of course the acrimonious break-up songs – they all form a solid basis for pop’s articulation of the highs and lows of getting to know someone really Continue Reading
Hilarious! Blooper/sizzle reels from Orphan Black, Game of Thrones, iZombie
What I love most about blooper reels, especially the ones from shows that are normally Deadly Serious – in many cases, quite literally! – is that they give you delicious insight into the people making the shows. Characters who are usually the very epitome of angst and gravitas are Continue Reading
Star Trek Discovery: A bold new take on a long-running journey
We’re boldly going into space yet again. But don’t go looking for Kirk, Picard, Janeway or Sisko to show you the way. In the next television instalment in Gene Roddenberry’s idealistic vision of a spacefaring future free from war, discrimination and want – although as Deep Space Nine showed Continue Reading
Book review: The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
Shakespeare may have been the one to remark on it in his play As You Like It, but the truth is all of us, at least the self-aware among us, have wondered at one time or another if we are merely playing the parts assigned to us and if Continue Reading
Superheroes arise! Trailers for Wonder Woman, Doctor Strange, Justice League #SDCC
We are drowning in superhero narratives at the moment (or is it that we’re drowning and the superheroes are coming to rescue us and …?). But that’s understandable. After all, they seize the imagination, takes on bold and imaginative journeys into ourselves, the human spirit, around the world and Continue Reading
Flintstones! It’s the re-imagined comic book Flintstones … wait, what?!
They were, as the jaunty theme song is fond of saying, “the modern stone age family”. But a lot of time has passed between the 1960s when The Flintstones debuted, inspired in large part by The Honeymooners, and while the cartoon re-runs are still a delight to watch with Continue Reading