I work in a bookshop in England.  I haven't read any kids books myself but as far as popularity goes (recent books/authors/series):

Badlands

Maybe a bunch of people knew the association and assumed it was a conscious reference.  You wouldn't have wanted to go up to, like, Jay-Z and say: "I have an important issue to raise with you regarding the phrase Magna Carta, there was actually a major constitutional document in England with that name, written in…

They should call it The Butler Tppretjnjgkbjbgjkhnxblgnkox, so everyone in practice just calls it The Butler.

(Thinks:) "Is he still talking about zombie architecture?"

You have incorrectly stated that "Timothy Dalton was a wimp" there.  Just thought I'd bring that to your attention.

Yes, the "no such thing as society" idea that has taken hold in the culture is a misrepresentation of what Thatcher said, but that's the interesting thing about it.  It isn't some sort of sinister lying-leftist plot to twist the truth, it is that the misrepresentation speaks to the deeper truth about the meaning of…

Isn't he thought of as horridly right-wing over there?  I seem to remember that Lukas Moodysson and Roy Andersson both hate him and hate it when foreign journalists ask them about him.  I suppose it's fitting for the ssons to rebel against the man.

Darius Khondji is awesome

Bunuel made movies in three different countries over the years.  Although two of those countries spoke nearly the same language.  The slacker.

That's true.  Anyone I meet from another country I do sort of think of as a cast-iron infallible expert about that country whereas most people I meet from my own country I would probably assume are living in some kind of personal bubble of delusion when it comes to their perception of life here.

Though I guess that wasn't really for a specific foreign audience, more a general worldwide arthouse audience.

Peter Strickland's first film Katalin Varga was in Romanian and was very well received over here (Britain.) 

I swear there's something about subtitles that make a film seem better than it would if it was in one's own language.  I'm not talking snobbishness, I mean I think because one's brain receives the dialogue information in a different way it seems like a totally different (deeper, more subtle) film.  I think if this…

Rugby came late to America, and came wrong

Rugby came late to America, and came wrong

"Y'know, I'm actually the bravest boy some people have ever met."

"Y'know, I'm actually the bravest boy some people have ever met."

"Hey baby, get your coat… it's cold"

"Hey baby, get your coat… it's cold"