This was my first John le Carré novel, and I listened to it as an audiobook in the car. It was read by Michael Jayston (known to Doctor Who fans as the Valeyard), who was superb at conveying subtle shades of emotion among men trained…

I’d hoped to watch The Spy Who Came In From the Cold as this week’s movie, but I still had about an hour to go on the audiobook and I wanted to wait till I was done. So I looked into Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy,…

Anyone who’s heard the title of this film more than once knows the two words that come after it, so when I sat down to watch it earlier this week, I was worried that it would be ruined by knowing the secret from the outset….

Last time I tried to watch this, I really wasn’t in the mood. Today I was. I liked it. The first half hour or so was still a bit rough going. I didn’t particularly like any of the people I was meeting or any of…

For the last October movie of the week, I let myself bend the rules and watch a movie I’ve already seen. This was partly a birthday present to myself, and partly a chance to spend some long-distance quality time with my girlfriend. We kept a…

Last Sunday’s movie was supposed to be Lair of the White Worm, but since Netflix didn’t have that, I took my girlfriend’s sage advice and watched Tales from the Hood instead. I’m glad I did. Not because it was a great movie, but because half…

I may have to change these to “movies of the week,” since Sundays are shaping up to be busier than expected. I got this one out of the way early just in case. Unfortunately, I didn’t like it quite as much as I’d hoped to….

This is the second Woody Allen movie I’ve ever seen. I was much more impressed by this than I was by Sleeper. The shots were so unusual and well-composed — characters speaking out of frame, or seamlessly taking focus at exactly the right time —…