Have you noticed how frequently characters in films and on TV open and close their laptops? Often, if someone is working away and is interrupted by another character, however briefly, they simply close up their computer. They don’t save their work, they don’t have to deal with any prompts onscreen, they simply flip the screen… Continue reading Flipping laptops
Sonofabitch (alternatively sunuvabitch, son-of-a-bitch or even “son of a bitch”) is an old-fashioned exclamation or term of abuse that I have been hearing a lot over the last month while I work my way, very happily, through all 11 series of the sitcom “Modern Family”. (I wrote about the show in this earlier post.) I… Continue reading Word of the week: sonofabitch
Last Saturday evening I watched the 1977 film “The Spy Who Loved Me”, Roger Moore’s third outing as James Bond. ITV have been showing Bond movies at weekends throughout this summer. I have caught an hour or more of several of these screenings but had not watched any of them all the way through. I… Continue reading Drinking with Bryan Marshall
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 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 many… 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
