John and Alison talking, telling stories and enjoying life.
Click on the green links below to find out more about the topics various.
And get in touch by email at whatsthechatpodcast@gmail.com
Thanks to guests Film Producer Catherine Aitken for her tip tops for the weeks watching and our first Scots Awayhay when we visit Scots round the Globe John McMoreland of Sunburst Sailing in Croatia.
Recommended TV and Film this week,
UNFORGOTTEN ITV Monday 22nd February 6 weeks
New series 4 starts on Monday 22nd February. It’s a six parter tackling another cold case. The series starts off with a dismembered body being found in a scrap yard and turns out it’s been there since the 90s. Cue the team…Also available on the ITV Hub
New film this week is Tom Hanks in News of the World. The story follows a Civil War veteran, who travels from town to town reading the news to the populace. Directed by British director Paul Greengrass, famous for the Jason Bourne films.
Hanks is at his good egg best as he has to return a young girl, who was taken by Native Americans as an infant, to her last remaining relatives. Helena Zengel, plays the young girl has been nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance – she’s only 12. Lush photography, fabulous performances and a strong storyline – what’s not to like
Gerard Butler stars in this apocalyptic disaster pic, directed by Ric Roman Waugh – the two had teamed up before with Angel Has Fallen. The film follows a family who must fight for survival as a planet-destroying comet races towards Earth
Mark Kermode gives it 4 stars in his Guardian review. So if you’re looking for a popcorn cinema experience, switch your phones off and just watch for the thrill.
It’s the same team who brought Life In A Day 2010 - Oscar winning Scottish director Kevin Macdonald and produced by Ridley Scott. The team asked for films of daily life that had taken place on 25th July 2020. And the world responded - they got 334,000 from 192 countries to choose from.
It follows the same format as before, but this time I found it more engaging and moving as we go on a whirlwind of images, literally from all over the world. The pandemic seems to have connected us more than ever before, and although this isn’t about the pandemic particularly, it is in there and it’s a fabulous insight into this world of ours. A lovely watch.
SPIRAL BBC I player.
And if you’re running out of things to watch..
..get yourself to BBC iPlayer where you’ll find 8 series of Spiral:
This is a French television police procedural and legal drama series following the work and the private lives of Paris police officers - and lawyers and judges at the Palais de Justice.
For me it’s been the best detective series with a fittingly suspenseful and exciting series finale. Surely by the time you’ve watched that your French will be parfait and this lockdown will be over! Putain
Award winning broadcasters John Wood and Alison Craig....unedited, freewheeling, nonsense...a little light relief...when the world is going to hell in a handcart.