If you grew up watching Hollywood films from the 1950s and 60s, as I did, you will be familiar with the actor Gregory Peck. You might have seen him in any or all of the following: “The Guns of Navarone”, “To Kill a Mockingbird” (for which he won an Oscar, as the lawyer Atticus Finch),… Continue reading Gregory Peck and my father
In search of family viewing, and after a false start, we watch “Breaking Away” (the 1979 film directed by Peter Yates) in memory of my father. Last week’s ITV drama “Quiz” was a real treat. It was based on events related to the quiz show “Who wants to be a millionaire?” nearly 20 years ago… Continue reading “Breaking Away” and “feel-good” movies
Here’s a picture of Connector, a childhood toy that we were given back in the 1960s. As I recall, it was a joint present for my brother and me. Our birthdays are two days apart, so bigger gifts like this were usually given jointly rather than to one or other of us. As the box… Continue reading Word of the week: Connector
This time last year we were regular viewers of the US sitcom “Friends”, 25 years after it was first broadcast. I wrote it about it from time to time, first of all here, and later in pieces like this one about the word “Hibachi”. While we were working through all 10 series, I noticed that… Continue reading The 10 Oscar-winning “Friends” actors
Later tonight in Los Angeles the latest set of Academy Award winners will be announced. It will be the early hours of Monday morning here in the UK, and I will be asleep. The films that win over the next few hours were all released in 2019. As I wrote in this piece two years… Continue reading Up to date with Oscar winners, for a few more hours at least
We are half-way through the latest series of “Strictly Come Dancing”. As noted before on this Blog, this BBC1 show is the most-watched TV programme here in the UK, and constitutes a large part of our family viewing. Most Saturday evenings the four of us are gathered in the living-room for the live show, and… Continue reading Word of the week: spoiler
We have become Netflix subscribers, for a month at least. As you probably know, Netflix is a streaming service, allowing you to watch films and TV programmes via the internet. It also produces new content, dramas like “The Crown” and movies like “Murder Mystery” starring Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler. Over the weekend my daughter… Continue reading Word of the week: Netflix
In January 2016, a few weeks after this Blog was set up, I wrote this piece, “You always have time to pee”. It brought together two things (a story that was in the news and a personal memory) to illustrate what we have tried to teach our children throughout their young lives: there is always… Continue reading “You always have time to pee” revisited
Back in September I wrote this piece about “The Clock”, Christian Marclay’s installation at Tate Modern here in London. As I noted, using words from the Tate’s website, it is “a montage of thousands of film and television images of clocks, edited together so they show the actual time. It is a thrilling journey through… Continue reading Beaten by “The Clock”
Cast your mind back 40 years, if you can. You arrive in November 1978. “Rat Trap” by the Boomtown Rats is at #1 here in the UK, having displaced “Summer Nights” by Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta after its 9 weeks at the top. Jim Callaghan is still prime minister. In the US Donna Summer… Continue reading 40 years ago, and 40 years before that
