My search for literary representation mostly involves a lot of waiting, and waiting, and rejections on geographical or organisational basis, and more of the waiting kind, etc. etc. But last week, I—or, I guess, my new play The Sentiments got the best compliment yet from a literary agent: “[I] found [the play] a heartfelt, carefully [...]

The return of Film Ratings! Unfortunately, because a lot of films had to be skipped, I was left with a lot of mediocre films. Terminator Salvation, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and It’s Complicated are just three major disappointments on schedule here.

We’ve been told that “Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel” is Mariah Carey’s attempt to deliver an album that brings back her 90s sound. The comparisons between her presence at the start of her career and the current-day personality she has become have even surpassed the music alone—her appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show took everyone [...]

“You! Yeah, you in the suit! Take a shower, hippie!”— Carl Fredricksen Carl Fredricksen is one of the most endearing characters in recent film history. He’s a grumpy old and eccentric man who loved his wife beyond everything. And he hates people who bother him. (Who doesn’t?) It also helps that Fredricksen was partly based [...]

“Are you kidding me? RoboCop?!”— Anchorwoman There is only one good scene in RoboCop 3; an anchorwoman recites the fabricated news that RoboCop has once again killed a lot of people. Then, in the best performance of the film, her face turns to puzzlement and, while standing up, she shouts to her colleague, “C’mon, this [...]

Trust me when I say that Lee Daniels’s Precious will be one of the best films of 2009. Yes, I’m making that statement by only having seen the trailer — sue me. Gabourey Sidibe is fierce, believable and incredibly talented as the main character, Precious Jones. If this girl is willing to work for it and to take good acting decisions, I’m foreseeing a great career for her.