I'm very surprised, by the way, that there hasn't been a Newswire about the 'Ding Dong' thing.

'Babel' was a bit ropey but the scene where Rinko Kikuchi takes Ecstasy and goes to the club, with the intro of 'Boogie Wonderland' slowly building, perfectly captures the euphoria of 'coming up' - er, I'm told.
Oh, and Richard Jenkins' double take at dinner table in 'Flirting with Disaster'

Listened to lots of of Thatcher-era protest sounds; The Specials, The Smiths, Billy Bragg and The The ('Heartland' still chilling); watched Doctor Who which was thankfully less shrill and rushed than previous two episodes, took advantage of long-awaited arrival of Spring in UK and sat in garden with copy of 'Three…

I didn't even know they did this - bizarre! I would have thought that was part of the charm.

I really liked this but that sequence which deals with the lead's troubled past is so harrowing it upsets the balance of the film. Good for Loach for tackling it head on and all, but its pretty jarring and, for me, casts a long shadow over the rest of the picture.

I thought this was better though: http://www.thedailymash.co….
They don't even mention it specifically.

Last year I saw Cave looking through the pink sweaters in Uniqlo on Oxford Street. Pink!

The Lion King scene is the best bit - touching but horrible in light of what Ahmed's character is really talking about.
And Puffin Party of course.

And for that genius camp goth character who turned up for one episode per series.

Cockney seems to be the main stumbling point - I'm looking at you Van Dyke and Cheadle.

What happens to the monkey though? Is there a 'Planet of the Apes'-style sub-plot?

That actor (Michael Sheard) also played the dictatorial teacher Mr Bronson in kids TV show 'Grange Hill' so it was doubly sweet for us Brits.
He was in 'Empire Strikes Back' too playing a space Nazi.

He has a tiny uncredited cameo in 'Dick Tracy' as a gangster ' Shoulders' - think Bowie with a melted face.

Major Misunderstanding is a character in the UK comic Viz, who is constantly… well, the clue's in the name

'Funtime' is the most joyless party tune ever - which is why I love it.

Winstone is also amazing in the Gary Oldman directed 'Nil By Mouth', the cockney  caaahnt!

Presumably 'Life on Mars' was also inspired by the one-off Viz comic story 'Time Sweeney' in which Reagan and Carter go back in time to investigate Jack the Ripper.
*Spoiler - it's Prince Albert but they have to let the case go: 'This one comes from upstairs Jack.'

I was really disappointed with this; lovely to look at and all but otherwise a deathly dull and mannered Hitchcock rip, completely lacking the Shakespearean sweep of Park Chan-wook's earlier work.

If Beyonce made an album as great as La Ross's 'Diana' or 'The Boss' I'd be delighted.

Are you able to catch Eurovision live now in the US? If so, any chance of doing a live blog for this year?