Movie review - "Much Ado About Nothing" (1993) ****

 Everything clicked for Ken with this one - location filming, high spirits suited his direction, everyone in the cast is hot. Keanu Reeves is game but Ken gets him doing monologues while stripped and covered in oil. Denzel Washington adds gravitas to a tricky role (Don Pedro). Emma T is splendid with her hair and tan; Ken terrific; Robert Sean Leonard and Kate Beckinsale are as cute as a button and thick as two planks which is what those roles require.

Movie review - "Fright Night" (1985) ***

 A turning point in Richard Franklin's career - he elected not to make this and do Link instead which was a disaster. Tom Holland turned director and while he does a competent rather than good job there's enough perfect stuff in the movie for it to work. William Ragsdale, Stephen Geoffrey, Amanda Bearse and especially Chris Sarandon and Roddy McDowall are great fun. Very satisfying.

Movie review - "Gremlins 2: The New Batch" (1990) ****

 Fun, anarchic, great gags, plenty of imagination. Doesn't quite build pace wise like the first. Maybe lacks a true villain - John Glover is kind of a goodie. Phoebe Cates sweet. Christopher Lee fun.

Play review - "Broken Glass" by Arthur Miller (1994)

 Probably the best known of Miller's later plays, about a Jewish couple in 1938 New York where the wife is paralysed due to psychosamatic reasons, which is a little unlikely but dramatically works. Sex is big - he says they do it a lot she says never, a shrink loves her, the husband dies as the wife walks, there is talk of Hitler. It works on its own terms and is entertaining.

Movie review - "Valley Girl" (1983) ***

 I think I was too young when I first saw this - there wasn't enough broad humour and gags. Time having passed the movie has aged well and I appreciate it more: the chemistry of the leads, the charm of Deborah Foreman (was bothering me who she reminded me of... Zoe Deutsch!), the solid support of Frederic Forrest and Colleen Camp, the way the script emphasises the importance of friends as a form of pressure.

Book review - "Sitcom: a Memoir" by Chuck Lorre (2026)

 Highly entertaining. Short. Full of gossip. Charlie Sheen was good for seven years then went heywire. Brett Butler was mad from the get-go. Cybill Shepherd went mad after one season. Casey-Werner backed the stars. Ana Faris was... unspecified problems. Les Moonves comes out of the book bad but also good. Lorre's career was amazing. It's a type of TV that doesn't exist anymore. Entertaining. Wobbly written in a few places, his inexperience with prose shows. The scripts at the end was so tight and good - that's his real strength.

Play review - "Whom do I have the honor of addressing?" by Peter Shaffer (1989)

 Radio play which is a suicide note of an uptight woman who went to work for a Hollywood star. Beautifully acted by Judi Dench. Maybe a little slight at the end.