While a lot of these are predictable and open to opinion (for my part, I found the acclaimed Bridesmaids wearily depressing and relentlessly unfunny) I have to admit that it never remotely occurred to me, while watching the pretentious and dreary Force Majeure, that it was ever meant to be a comedy. While I also…

It's good, and I really do like Anna Friel, but it's also very, very frustrating, and right to the end there are unexplained (or maybe too obscure for my brain) plot points. I'd welcome a second season just to try and work this out.

Can I do it 'til I need glasses?

This is just brilliant. I really didn't take to the book, so wasn't expecting much from this, but it's done with a real flair, with a superb balance of drama and humour. Marc Warren as the Gentleman is great, so different from his usual cockney wide-boy roles, and Henry Carvell also leaves his usual creepy upper…

Well, that's what Kureshi said, so I went with that. Up until then, I can't say I'd given it much thought.

I think I have seen Gumshoe. It was one of those films I wanted to see for years, I took it out on DVD and watched it, but don't remember much about it. I really liked a lot of Frears' later work, and Kureshi's too (to my surprise, I loved "Sammy and Rosie Get Laid") but haven't actually read anything by him.

They are very different kettle of fish, but my point was that people are so agog that they dare to tackle a subject that (even today) is brave and different, they overlook the fact that the execution itself it quite poor.

Good point - I am pretty old, but not that old. I guess I meant the idea of them not being young, which is the default setting for sitcoms.

Sorry, I missed this, so the moment may have passed but…no, I really liked the Missing finale. It stretched credibility a tad but I thought the image of Nesbitt still searching was a great, uncompromising one. Yes, he was great in Jekyll. He gets a lot of flack over here for being "cosy" and can certainly cost a…

Intensely so.

I only saw Ferris Bueller recently, and the thought did occur to me that Bueller was a figment of Cameron's imagination. Good to read that I'm not alone in that.

I saw this film when it first came out, on a double bill with Frears' Bloody Kids, which was a marvelous, low-budget, brilliantly acted piece of cinema. Hopes were high for Laundrette, especially given the reviews it had gotten. My heart sank from the stupid opening credits, through Day-Lewis' awful "working class"…

Great film, and Cagney is incandescent. It should be pointed out, though, that he copied his dancing style closely on that of Cohan himself, with that stiff-legged gait and striding across the stage. There are still some clips of Cohan performing in one of his rare films, "The Phantom President", and it's quite…

I wanted to see this on its original release, but missed it and caught up with it on DVD, instead. And, to my surprise, hated it and its overlong, bloated, self-important sentimentality. Years later, I came back and watched it again. And still hated it. I wouldn't make my kids watch it even as punishment.

Was there a stylistic change? As far as I could hear, it was just like the others, but I@m actually finding this one quite interesting for a change.

Babylon's well worth a look - I was underwhelmed by the pilot, which seemed a rather damp squib and a squander of a lot of talent, but the series has been thoroughly enjoyable. If you're looking for other Brit stuff, I highly recommend "The Missing", as well, also starring James Nesbitt, which is complex (two and…

English proggers Gentle Giant, in their twilight years, did a song called "Thank You", as well as another simple, acoustic ditty called "Friends", both giving thanks in the most irony-free and unimaginative way possible. Both songs are also dire, lacking any of the character or spirit that made the band what they…

Actually, I liked what Whedon did with Dollhouse. Sure, it could have been better but, given the circumstances, I think he made something genuinely strange and interesting out of the abrupt truncation. Here in the UK, we saw the Epitaph episodes and, while somewhat jarred, I admired the boldness and imagination of…

Shaun Dooley is one of those much underrated character actors who keeps getting cast as bullies and/or weaklings. Generally, if you're watching a mystery and he hoves into view, the first thought is "He's a bad 'un". I hope he gets to spread his wings a bit more here.

This looks great - why haven't we seen it over in the UK?