Maria

It seemed impossible, but Chuck Norris is gone. I have fond memories of spending an oversized day with him in 2007, sitting with Norris and his family in a huge stadium in Austin, where he was guest of honour at a World Combat League tournament. The event played up to his rep as the ultimate badass - he strode on stage to Prodigy’s Firestarter, and Chuck Norris Facts were blasted onto bombastic screens. But off stage he was genuinely sweet and sincere: he gave me a lift to the event in his family SUV and remains the only person I’ve interviewed who asked to pray together first. I also enjoyed the fact that this Terminator-esque figure’s exclamation of choice was the Ned Flanders-ish “Holy mackerel!” While his political views definitely skewed to the right, something reflected in his pumped-up, nationalistic action flicks, he was a quiet figure off-screen who was close friends with Steve McQueen and Bruce Lee. And happily made fun of himself in the likes of Dodgeball (“Fuckin’ Chuck Norris!”) and The Expendables 2. If you want to check out a Chuck, I recommend Lone Wolf McQuade, Way Of The Dragon, or Code Of Silence (made by a pre-Fugitive Andrew Davis), for my money his best performance.

This lovely cinema in Oxford would appreciate your support change.org/p/save-the-ult…

Oh man, not Catherine O’Hara. One of the true comedy greats, hilarious across six decades, from SCTV to the Guest mockumentaries to Schitt’s Creek. And most recently in The Studio, firing out lines like, “You’re not as dumb as you look. Which is not saying much considering how dumb you look.” Gone way too soon.

I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to see The Ballad Of Wallis Island - such a sweet, funny, tender comedy in the tradition of Local Hero and I Know Where I’m Going - and Tim Key is a genius

In what is maybe the oddest literary segue, I’ve just finished The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and now about to start Arundhati Roy’s memoir 😅.

A quick but impassioned shout-out to this book: it’s disguised as a story about stories, but it’s really a story about being human. Terrific.

Two festive crackers - wrap, read and rejoice!

and to think we only got this beautiful scene because rob reiner met his future wife during when harry met sally’s production and fell so in love that he changed the ending so harry and sally could end up together too. rip rob reiner and his wife michele :(

Had the opportunity to speak to Rob Reiner a year ago for Spinal Tap II, and came away beaming. Such a warm, decent, funny man. What a shock and loss.

I started this month trying to be healthy before *all of it*. Then @NickdeSemlyen brought home the Tom Cruise cake. Sorry, but this cake has no business being as good as it is. It’s obscene. If anyone’s seen my willpower, hit me up!

@destreej @picturehouses It is because I managed to do it and my subscription expires in April.

@JohnnyGirl1982 @picturehouses I did the same - got so excited by the offer that I renewed early and didn't think of reading the T&Cs first... > Offer not available to Members with an existing recurring annual subscription. :( :( :(

This @picturehouses deal is so good, I had to renew early. If you go to the cinema more than 4 times a year - AND YOU REALLY SHOULD! - it pays for itself.

RIP the legendary Tom Stoppard. Among his more famous achievements, he radically rewrote Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade (under the pen-name Barry Watson), adding most of the thrilling beats and hilarious gags. One of my favourites: the cut to Brody, after being hyped up as a master of spycraft, lost and blithering in a Turkish market.

Quite happy, personally, that my tax money feeds all of London's primary school children, and doesn't force kids from poorer backgrounds to feel singled out.

Carol from Pluribus watching Golden Girls non-stop is a mood

Somehow I don’t think Michael Rosen is the enemy here…

My prep for covering The Odyssey… Folio Society version (hard) Stephen Fry version (medium) Kids’ book version (easy) The Folio Society edition is BEAUTIFUL. Heartily recommend you all get yourself a copy: foliosociety.com/uk/the-odyssey

The first images from The Odyssey. The first interviews with Christopher Nolan and Matt Damon. I was fortunate enough to get to fly to Nolan’s LA office and talk to him at length – as well as to see six minutes of the film. And spoke for an hour to an exuberant Matt Damon, who says he’s never had a better experience making a movie than this one. We’re so excited to be lifting the veil of secrecy on this truly epic and immense-looking film. Prepare to set sail…

A hearty thank you to the inimitable @toffs for not only serving me and @NickdeSemlyen after hours, but for kindly giving us a free bag of delicious chips. More than made up for the interminable Northern Line train delays! We ❤️ Toffs.

@toffmazery @kidz_ink It’s going great, thank you! I hope all’s well with you too.

@JohnnyGirl1982 @kidz_ink how’s kidzink going!

I wrote some words on the 11-Plus, an exam that has given me a career @kidz_ink, but can sometimes stress out parents and students to an unfair degree. A giant well done to every single student who tried this year - *tried* always being the operative word.