You’re welcome, @blenkinsopthebrave and all! It’s rare that a Christmas film holds me spellbound, from beginning to end, the way this one did, so I felt a need to recommend it. It was such a pleasant and unexpected surprise to come across this film I’d never heard of, and discover a (sadly) hidden gem.

Living in Canada as I do, many of the…[Read more]

I love “Listen” … but I admit it doesn’t quite come together, given all that transpired later, in a satisfactory way. There are lots of loose ends, and no matter how I try to make it work in my mind, the realization that Orson Pink cannot be a direct descendant of Clara and Danny leaves me feeling like there was a missed opportunity. Granted,…[Read more]

We love Turner Classic Movies’ Noir Alley program. Eddie Muller’s intros and outros give so much insight into these amazing films. If you want a real after-Christmas treat, you should look up the one they showed a week ago. It’s called “Cash on Demand” and was produced by Hammer Film Productions. Yeah, that Hammer Film Productions, with the…[Read more]

Someone is advertising his web design business here.

@missy If I hear Mayor I think it’s a man. Very confusing when it’s a female. The same applies (in my book) to all the other titles which are being changed to the male title. Isn’t that sexist? How strange that these females who are so determined to stamp out sexism, decide to use the male title? Perhaps they would prefer to be blokes? Or perha…

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@janetteb Back when I was working in hospitality we all objected to the suggestion that we be called by the gender neutral, “waitrons”. naturally we all immediately pretended to be robots. We much preferred the more human sounding waiter and waitress because being identified as female was fine.

In recent years I’ve heard the gender-neutral ter…[Read more]

@missy So, what is the difference between an actor and an actress? If the only difference is the sex of the one doing the acting, then it strikes me as a silly distinction. I’m fine with calling them all actresses, as long as everyone gets the same designation. (Though, from a linguistic standpoint, words ending in -er or -or have a sensible…[Read more]

@missy Please don’t worry about thanking me. But (being horribly redundant), thank you for thinking of it. Being all over the place is very, very understandable in your circumstances. Blood clots in his lungs? Oh no, that’s serious. I’m sure you are going through unbearable stress right now.

Oh, and I apologize for my earlier typo. Heartbreaking…[Read more]

I agree with that, @winston. I never understood why female actors had to be called actresses. They’re actors. It seems to me that some terminology became unnecessarily restrictive as women entered those fields. Maybe all firefighters used to be men, but they’re not all men now, so it makes no sense to call them firemen. Language evolves for all…[Read more]

@missy Such hearbreaking news for you and your OH. Prayers that treatment is successful, and complete, hard though it may be. And may the inevitable not happen. Not too soon, anyway. No good way to word that. I know you understand that so many of us are standing by you in this virtual realm. It’s good that your housing is not as huge a worry as it…[Read more]

@ichabod Thank you for that history lesson. I’m old enough to know … but a reminder of the context certainly helps. That awful “PC” backlash has really muddied the waters, to the point where everyone forgets that it’s mostly about trying to put oneself in the other person’s shoes, and imagine how we would feel if we were called (fill in the…[Read more]

@pedant My husband and I watched Chernobyl a few weeks ago and were absolutely blown away by it. As @miapatrick noted, they never descended into preachiness. And their portrayals of the effects of radiation on the human body were excruciating to watch … but important to see so that we understand the gravity of the situation. There was so much I…[Read more]

@craig We just started watching Killing Eve last night, and you’re right. It’s superb!

Not so great has been Star Trek Discovery, which has had a very uneven second season. It’s like the show can’t make up its mind what it is: pure comic book, trying to pay homage to the series’ canon or soap opera. Every time I got my hopes up that finally the…[Read more]

Well, all I can say is that I enjoyed this season. It had its ups and downs, but then I can say that about every season of Doctor Who I’ve watched. Apparently I must not be a proper sci fi fan.

I just watched it again, and now I think it was the right call to save Aaron. As Ryan told him, he’d been running away and hiding for all of Ryan’s life. To have him sacrifice himself at the end would have been, in a way, too simple. Not easy, mind you. But it would have allowed Aaron another escape, of sorts, when now is the time for him to be…[Read more]

By the way, who is narrating the beginning of this episode? The voice sounds to me like Aaron’s.

@miapatrick Well … I thought I understood the bit about the Doctor’s and River’s timelines, but now that I’ve read your description, I realize I don’t. And I’m too hopelessly mired in my own linear thinking to understand it, so I won’t even try. Just enjoy their story on its own merits, and leave it at that.

As for this episode, I actually…[Read more]

@magickirin You will find plenty of folks around here who disagree with your opinion of Peter Capaldi, and also Bill Potts (portrayed with refreshing deftness by Pearl Mackie) … myself included.

@pedant Thank you for sharing that! Lisa Morton makes a very good case for why she was not a Whovian before, but is now. I wholeheartedly agree with her five points.

@ichabod There was a pretty key difference in the two films, and I’m sort of reluctant to discuss it without some sort of spoiler tag (for anyone who hasn’t seen the director’s cut of Blade Runner). If you haven’t seen it, and want to, then don’t venture beyond this point:

***SPOILER***

In the original theatrical release with…[Read more]