"This is such a fiery and entertaining crime film. It’s epic yet completely domestic and simple. While it’s somewhat of a departure from his canon, Kurosawa’s stamp is everywhere. He manages to expertly adapt American source material and place it in Japan (the irony, of course, being that America would adapt his stories for years to follow).Passionate, personal, and uplifting documentary filmmaking. This is a true example of the power of the art form, and a terrific movie too. Rarely do you find filmmakers with such an insight to the world of sports, and the ability to examine the personal politics that run underneath it. This should be required viewing for any sports or film fan."

"Since I started writing about politics full time (a terrible place to live!), I always, always, always have a fantasy novel queued up in my audiobooks app. I listen to snippets when I’m getting dressed or washing the dishes or driving, and I set the sleep timer for 15 minutes every night so I can fall asleep in a story, whether my husband likes it or not. Shadow and Bone—about a young woman who discovers remarkable powers in a world plagued by darkness—is a flawless escape: adventure, romance, a captivating magic system, and enough emotional complexity that it stays under your skin even when you’re back in the real world. "

"McCarthy are indie icons of ours – we’ve covered at least three of their songs. They showed how you could fuse music and politics. They were one of the great protest bands but it was never the gurning, spittle-in-your-face confrontational stance that some bands take. There was always some kind of sarcasm in there that would cut its subject down to its knees, and this lyric is a perfect example of that. It talks to working-class disaffection and foreshadows New Labour’s obsession with gentrification and trying to drag people into the new culture with Wi-Fi and coffee houses everywhere: “Once there was class war/ But not any longer/ Because, baby, we are all bourgeois now.”"