kinuta

The documentary It's All True was also very interesting.

Besides Citizen Kane, much the same as everyone else. The Magnificent Ambersons, can only imagine what it would have been like without the studio's criminal butchery. Touch Of Evil Lady From Shanghai

I'm a'steady watchin'! Still not sure if Don ever comes back or not. After what happened to Tony Soprano (and how long it took to get a final answer), I'm betting nothing. I had similar thoughts, it would be an unexpected, whimsical and original way to bid farewell to DD. Somehow I doubt the producers have the confidence to leave well alone. I'm sure he'll be back for the, is it, final two episodes.

A great voice, a sad loss. Many fond memories of hearing all his classic 45's as a solo artist and with The Drifters for the first time. This will get a spin today.

From my experience of travelling extensively and teaching English as a foreign language, the two countries that might be called world champions of language ability are The Netherlands and India. Japan however gets the dunce's cap!

Played Ella's, Sarah's and Fred Astaire's versions and none start with the Sinatra intro. Probably it was his and Nelson Riddle's arrangement idea.

That may be false modesty. If you entered a decent school and applied yourself seriously, I think you'd be surprised how quickly you'd start to get a grip on the basics. Learning kanji is the major time consumer, there are no short cuts and without kanji you'd never get past basic level.

What you say is true but it's not the case in Japan. Compared to other asian countries, very few people here can speak English. Without a reasonable command of Japanese life here would be daunting.

I very much took English for granted before coming to Japan and didn't give much thought to the formidable problems involved in learning it as a foreign language. It was only after I started learning Japanese that my eyes were opened to the giant differences between the two languages and how little of what I assumed was actually true. My hat off to all non native speakers here, I actually do know the effort required to reach a bulletin board level of proficiency. I speak Japanese most of the time and though I don't encounter many snags I'm far from native speaker level. I tend to be better in areas that I've had most contact with, language learning and medicine in particular.

The Americans season finale. Never, ever confide in a teenage girl !

The Great War BBC 1964 Nearing the end. Epic and overwhelmingly powerful. One of the best documentaries ever made, only The World At War can compare.

I've been meaning to read this for a long time.

Crap, heavily overcast, rain and cold enough for winter kit.

Marvel's DareDevil Wow, didn't see this one coming. A dark and violent noir masquerading as a comic book superhero show. I thought the first two episodes were very good indeed and totally eclipse shows like the camp and unwatchable Gotham. Forget the silly superheroes who don't get their hair mussed, this is the real mcoy.

The Great War - BBC (1964) Rewatching this landmark 26 episode documentary at an episode per day. The definitive film record of WW1, it's power hasn't diminished after fifty years. None of the recent tv programmes on the event can begin to compare.

How is this book? I'd like to read something about Capra that delves a little deeper than the usual "Mr. Optimism" take. It delves very deeply into his character, forever dispelling the popular image of Capra as a Norman Rockwell type champion of the little man. It covers his life in detail, from his early life in Sicily to his death at 93. It puts his major films in clear historic and social perspective, shows what a disaster WW2 was for him, he never really found his feet again, apart from the final supernova of It's A Wonderful Life. The parts that cover the postwar years are depressing reading as it charts his decline and the fearful cloud of MaCarthyism and the House Unamerican Activities, studio blacklist era that really did much to destroy his spirit. His screenwriting collaborations are thoroughly covered. It's worth reading if you are a Capra fan and don't mind having the way you look at his films substantially altered. The same author has written two other important director biographies, John Ford and Stephen Spielberg. They are both on my reading list.

This week's episode of Elementary. I've watched the show since the beginning and it has steadily grown on me, I like the subdued mood. The stories are up to par without any flash and histrionics, quite often finishing in a minor key, which makes a nice change from the in your face tone commonly found.

A fast and easy read after the oppressive final parts of the Frank Capra biography.

All the best, Jeff.

I read the book, partly because I was impressed by his previous one, The Looming Tower. It was heavy going but pretty definitive and reinforced all my previous ideas about the cult. I can't see the documentary adding anything new but look forward to watching it asap.

The Americans Superb performance by Lois Smith. Whatever sympathy there might have been for the two is being ripped away week by week as the show enters new and disturbing territory. Kind of reminds me of Walter White.