While I take the point about Elizabeth's power deriving purely from her birth, let's not pretend that either Churchill or Eden were purely self-made men. Churchill was a member of the Spencer family, one of the most powerful and connected noble lines in England - their family seat is Blenheim Castle. And Eden,…

Kudos for leaving out the new song, "Human Again," which was added to the special edition (I think it was originally introduced in the musical version). It's such a disappointment - completely outclassed by the original Ashman songs (and performances), and breaking the flow of the story. When I rewatched the movie a…

I… honestly do not see how you can say that Gaston is more likable than the Beast. There are, obviously, some serious criticisms to be made of the Beast (though to my mind there are also answers to those criticisms), but Gaston is so undeniably worse in every respect. He's a bully who genuinely doesn't recognize…

I saw that same tweet, and it just reminded me of all the things that Trump voters were willing to brush aside to justify voting for him. Mocking the disabled reporter was just the beginning, but for any other politician (and certainly a Democrat) it would have been the end.

The first Culture novel came out in 1987, the same year that TNG started. So I don't think calling it a response to Star Trek is entirely accurate, since the original series's worldbuilding was quite different from TNG's. I tend to think of both the books and the TV show as a response to life in a late-era Cold War,…

And it's not as if Voyager and Enterprise were much better. Seven of Nine and T'Pol may not have been technically naked, but their skintight bodysuits were about as close to that as makes no difference.

In fairness, most of the (women's) costumes on the original series were crafted under the "principle of titillation" (that is actually the name the costumer designer gave it), which states that a costume is more alluring the more it looks as if it's about to fall off.

The Culture novels by Iain M. Banks. Actually quite similar to Star Trek in terms of their concerns - they're basically about how a post-scarcity society functions - but way weirder.

More broadly, the issue was the fundamental question of who is in charge, the monarch or the church. What Henry really wanted was an accommodating Pope who would give him an annulment that he clearly didn't deserve. Popes had done this in the past for probably more spurious reasons, but in this particular case,…

I'm basically taking this news as confirmation of AoS's cancellation. It was hanging by a thread already, but this really feels like ABC taking a do-over on the entire MCU concept.

As i said when ABC pulled the plug on Most Wanted, I'd be very surprised if she wanted to go back to AoS, where she was playing seventh banana to actors and characters well beneath her. Better to take her chances elsewhere.

To be honest, it sounds like you could tell a really fun palace intrigue/soap with that premise. But it would require the one thing that no Marvel property has been capable of - acknowledging that the protagonists of your story are not the good guys.

Except that no one's watching SHIELD, and the last thing ABC wants is to tie its latest attempt to cash in on the MCU to a fast-sinking ship. I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if, eventually, the show brings in some details or even characters from AoS, but the one thing that Marvel or ABC want to avoid as they announce…

My mother and brother have been nagging me to watch it for ages, and this week felt like the perfect opportunity on the grounds that I couldn't possibly feel any more depressed and hopeless about the future. So last night I watched the first season of Black Mirror. And yeah, I can see why people are so into it -…

I'm not even convinced that the enthusiasm gap theory is accurate. If you look at the popular vote margin, it's clear that a lot of people were galvanized by Clinton's campaign and happy to vote for her. What there was was an equal counterwight of dislike - fueled by the media - and a profound enthusiasm for Trump,…

I don't know. It looks like the narrative around Clinton's loss is starting to coalesce around Comey and the press's endless hard-on for the emails story. And if that's the case, then it strikes me as entirely plausible that Sanders could have won. It's just a completely different story from the "Bernie would have…

I think I'm going to go with "the rapist and bigot President Trump". Other adjectives might get swapped in from time to time - liar, fraud, bully, etc., etc.

Not just unheard of: the only precedent actually went against Elizabeth's decision. Victoria's children belonged to Albert's house, with the house of Hanover ending with her.

I don't know - I think Harry's popularity got a serious shot in the arm last week after his strident condemnation of the press and its hounding of his girlfriend. Who is, by the way, an American divorcee.

That seems likely, given that at one point the show just announces that Oliver has had one of his larger tattoos removed.