Secret Service

Since the beginning of 2026, or almost, I have been binge watching spy thrillers. It seems to be my new pastime: watch and read spy fiction. And I found one recently in ITV that I wanted to mention here: Secret Service. It's with Gemma Aterton, a former Bond girl who made quite a nice little career since then. She is not my favourite actress, but I like her. She plays Kate Henderson, an MI6 agent in charge of the Russian desk, who finds out that one of the candidates for the position of UK prime minister might be a Russian mole. But she doesn't know which one. It's nothing too original, it has a few plot holes and you need to suspend your disbelief at times, but it's a solid and fairly well written thriller nonetheless. So yes, if you are living in the UK, I suggest you give it a go.

About The Night Agent

I blogged a week ago about The Night Agent, a spy TV series on Netflix which I thoroughly enjoyed its first two seasons. The first season is based on a novel of the same name (which I intend to read one day), I understand the second and upcoming third ones are completely original stories. So yeah, as you know, there is an upcoming season three and I am quite excited about it. I watched the new season trailer yesterday and yes, it seems promising. There is just one thing that disappoints me: the absence of Rose Larkin, the character played by Luciane Buchanan. In the first seasons, Rose was not merely the love interest for the hero Peter Sutherland and occasional damsel in distress. She was also a civilian caught in a dangerous game of violence and espionage, an outsider who had to learn on the spot how to play. She was also a de facto audience surrogate. So I fear we will lose a bit of the show's humanity with her absence. I understand putting continuously a civilian in a world she does not belong to would stretch credibility. However I hope she shows up in later seasons, because she does bring a lot to the series, contributing to its relatability.

Hamlet on stage

It struck me recently: I haven't seen a play in a long while. Not since I am a dad, at least. A few years ago, I used to go and watch them whenever I could. I need to put this on my new year's resolutions list: go and see some plays. And I also found out, thanks to the Facebook page of the National Theatre that they are making a production of Hamlet. It is the very first play of Shakespeare I read and maybe my favourite one. Yet I don't think I have ever seen it performed on stage, only in films. So I might see if I can watch it on cinema screen, like I did for many NT productions a decade or so ago.

Travelling to Antarctica

No, no, don't worry, I don't intend to do it. Not yet anyway. But you may remember back in May 2024, I mentioned that I discovered thanks to Where'd You Go, Bernadette? with my favourite actress Cate Blanchett that you could take holiday trips to Antarctica. Well, a few days ago, during the school run, I heard on the radio an advert about such holiday. I didn't hear much about it, except that they were advertising travelling to Antarctica, but it must have got some traction to be advertised on the radio. If you have ever been, or are considering it, or have seen similar adverts, please let me know in the comments.

"La pièce qui tourne mal"

 Des fois, on donne à des choses des titres prédestinés. Enfin bref, j'ai appris dans la grosse Presse, grâce à mon frère PJ, qui m'a refilé la nouvelle, que le comédien Guillaume Lambert s'était blessé à Drummondville lors d'une représentation de... La pièce qui tourne mal. Ça ne s'invente pas. C'est pour ainsi dire tenter le sort. Blagues à part, je lui souhaite un prompt rétablissement. Autre détail anecdotique: j'ai déjà connu un Guillaume Lambert. Mais non, ce n'était pas le comédien.

Queen Cate

I almost forgotten it: today is Cate Blanchett's birthday. I will spare you a long post, just watch this clip from Elizabeth. Don't you dare tell me she wasn't robbed from an oscar that year.

Cate Blanchett VS leaf blowers

 Just when I thought I could not love Cate Blanchett more, she says something that makes me positively adore her. She recently said that leaf blowers should be eradicated. Yes, yes, yes, YES! I hate them, hate them, hate them! They are loud, polluting and useless. Nobody needs leaf blowers, a good old rake does the job, if a job needs to be done, and the rake does it quietly. And, it allows you to exercise. That said, I think dead leaves should stay on the ground, where they belong. But anyway, since Cate Blanchett might be retiring from acting, I think she should enter politics and promise to make leaf blowers illegal. I'd vote for her.

Is Cate Blanchett retiring?

 I wanted to commented on some recent news (although they might not be so recent now) that got me sad, or at least worried: Cate Blanchett is considering retiring from acting. I don't know if it is a serious and permanent decision or merely bad moment (everybody can get tired and fed up from their job from time to time), but I hope we will see her again. She does not need to work, she has nothing to prove anymore, she's been snubbed every time she was nominated for a price she didn't win (no but seriously, I am still angry that she lost the Oscar for Best Actress in 1999), yet it would be a great loss for us all if this was her final decision. SoI am potentially devastated.

Cate Blanchett in a spy thriller(!)

Sometimes I wish I could go to the cinema more often. I was discussing with a friend over WhatsApp recently (my Italian friend from my years at uni) and she reminded me that there was a spy film released recently, Black Bag. I have read very little about it, I read none of the reviews, in fact I only saw the trailer. But I know Cate Blanchett is in it. And I always wanted to see my favourite actress in a spy thriller. I think she was born to play in one. Well, she was born to play in all genres, she's an actress after all, but I love spy fiction as a genre and it's one genre I haven't seen her in yet. I doubt I will find time to watch it while it is still in cinema, but who knows. In any case, it is on my to watch list.

Dr Strangelove on stage

 You may know that I'm a fan of Stanley Kubrick. He is my favourite director. I recently found out, to my delight, that the National Theatre has made a stage adaptation of the Cold War dark comedy Dr. Strangelove. Maybe my favourite film comedy. generally, I am not keen on these kinds of remakes and re-adaptations and re-imagining, or whatever the name they give them. But I have seen the trailers and some videos and it looks promising. I also think that Kubrick's direction was often very theatric and stagy, in all his movies and this one in particular, so it makes sense to have the story adapted for the stage. So yeah, I will try to go and watch it.

RIP Julien Poulin

Je suis un brin en retard dans les nouvelles, mais je voulais rendre hommage au comédien Julien Poulin décédé récemment. Pour moi, comme dautres de ma génération, il a d'abord été Elvis Gratton, mais pas que lui. Voici le topo de Rad-Can, qui selon moi a été le meilleur:

Holidays in Antarctica?

 I recently watched Where'd You Go, Bernadette? Because it stars Cate Blanchett. Well, of course. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, which I had wanted to watch since its release five years ago, but that's not what I wanted to blog about today. I discovered, thanks to it, that you can travel as a tourist in Antarctica. Call me silly or uneducated, but I had no idea. You can a bit of info in this Wikipedia entry, but a quick Google search online should show you many companies offering trips to the continent. In the film, it was a ship, but I understand there are other means of transport. I don't think I would dare to go, I am far too much of a wuss, and I love far too much my comfort. Beside, a certain graphic novel scared me of Antarctica for good. That said, I find the concept of traveling to the most remote and cold part of our planet, just for the pleasure of being there, fascinating. It must be quite an experience. And you, would you consider it? Tell me in the comments.

Jaguar Versus Caiman

 Oh the excitement one can find when one watches animal documentaries. Wolfie and I are really into the Netflix docu series Our Living World, narrated by Cate Blanchett. My favourite actress. I blogged about it already, see this post. Well, in one episode, we saw a jaguar (the animal, not the car) trying to hunt a caiman (the reptile, not the islands), on the caiman's own environment. I don't want to spoil it for those who have not seen the episode, but it was one epic fight. A short but gripping action scene. Hollywood has nothing on mother nature. I mean, you have in the South American jungle a young jaguar going after another apex predator, earth and water colliding, an unstoppable force against and immovable object, blood in water, the lot. Oh, and Cate Blanchett telling the tale, like she did when she was Galadriel. The series is worth watching just for that brief encounter. On a side note, the animal Wolfie and I were rooting for won. So we were very happy.

A Clockwork Orange and... David Bowie

You know I am a fan of A Clockwork Orange, both film and novel. Iam howevernot a fan of David Bowie. I don't dislike him, I'm just not a fan or anything. I never cared all that much about his music. Well, I learned recently that David Bowie and I have a point in common: we are both fans the film. To the point that he even imitated the Yorkshire accent of Malcolm McDowell. Well, I once spoke nadsat, but I never went as far as trying to mimick McDowell's accent.

The voice of Cate Blanchett (and our world)

 A bit of fun news about my favourite actress Cate Blanchett: she is narrating the Netflix docu series Our Living World. You can read a review here, to give you an idea. I started watching it with Wolfie and we are both enjoying it. In fact, I can safely say that Wolfie is fascinated by it, mostly because the images are so perfectly gorgeously lush. It is a nature/wildlife documentary series, but with a twist: it shows how seemingly unrelated phenomenons and actions are interconnected. So it is worth a watch in itself, for its educational value. For its beautiful images too, like I said before. Plus, you have the voice of Cate Blanchett for the narration. If Mother Earth had a voice, it would be hers.

ATJ as James Bond?

 I am late commenting on it and, as I am typing this the night before this post will be published, I am also share some views that will be proven innaccurate when you will read it. But anyway, as you probably heard, actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson has been rumoured to be the next James Bond. According to some sources, it is a done deal, or almost. I, like many Bond fans, am skeptical about the news. For a number of reasons: as far as we know, there is, as far as we know, no script and no director. The casting of the main actor would start once this has been sorted, not before. So I think it is a rumour that has been blown out of proportions, although it is very likely that ATJ is among the potential candidates for the role, should there be auditions in the near future. As for the actor himself, I don't know him much to give a full appreciation of his skills. I think if nothing else, he has the right look and age. However, I find his voice too high. But a proper audition would determine that. And of course, whatever happens and whoever is cast, I will be watching the next Bond movie. And you, what do you think of this rumour?

La pièce de Noël

Photo de la pièce familiale, je la partage ici car elle sert mon propos. Enfin, c'est lié un peu. Cette semaine, nous avons pu voir une crèche vivante. Enfin, façon de parler: petit loup a joué dans sa pièce de Noël, qui est bien entendu une pièce de la Nativité. Cette année, il faisait un berger. C'est je crois une promotion: l'an dernier il faisaitun chameau et l'année d'avant, un mouton. Mais il n'a guère aimé l'expérience. Nous ne savons pas trop pourquoi, mais il y est allé à reculon. Dommage, car je sais qu'il peut être un excellent acteur. Je le sais parce que: 1)des deux côtés de sa famille il y a des gens avec un talent pour le théâtre et 2)lorsque nous jouons à ses jeux de guerre, il peut faire plusieurs personnages avec des personnalités très différentes. Peut-être qu'il avait le trac, je ne sais pas. Ou alors son athéisme se manifestait par un dédain du sujet de la pièce. Enfin, c'est fini jusqu'à l'an prochain.

Shining City

Today's countdown to Halloween reading suggestion, or rather watching suggestion, as it is a play: Shining City by Conor McPherson. I saw it thirteen years ago on stage in the Lake District and loved it so much that I bought the play that very night. It's a sober but very efficient ghost story set in contemporary Dublin (the shining city of the title). In it, therapist Ian, former Jesuit with a few inner demons of his own, is treating a new patient. It's John, an ordinary man if there ever was one, claims to have seen what seems to be the ghost of his recently deceased wife. As he tells his story and as we follow in parallels the troubled life of Ian, the existence of ghosts, whatever their true nature may be, seems less and less implausible. In a world where normality is often oppressive and corrosive, guilt becomes a presence, a force that can break you. It's for you if you like psychological horror (like me) and it is all the more fitting for the season that Halloween comes from Ireland originally.

Un spectacle de nuit pour l'Halloween

Je partage encore une fois aujourd'hui une photo d'une page dans Les dires de Piloé, la première de leur pièce de l'Halloween intitulée... La Nuit de l'Halloween. Dire que j'ai aimé cette pièce et y jouer (mon premier vrai rôle au théâtre) serait un euphémisme. Je vais peut-être la montrer en entier un jour sur Vraie Fiction, d'ici là je compte la lire à petit loup, peut-être faire un spectacle pour lui avec les toutous et les jouets en guise de personnages, ce serait bien. Mais enfin bref, l'idée suggérée dans cette page, d'un spectacle de nuit pour l'Halloween, je trouve que c'est une idée inspirée. J'en ai vu un il y a une quinzaine d'années, c'était assez génial. Ca peut prendre la forme d'une histoire effrayante pour adultes ou une pièce pour les enfants comme celle-ci, mais ce serait une bonne idée.

The Signalman at Didcot Railway Centre

We went to the Didcot Railway Centre only once, but I have been wanting to go back ever since and I found another very good reason to go there again. On Saturday the 24th of June, Gerard Dickens will be performing a dramatisation of his great, great grandfather Charles Dickens' The Signal-Man. Like in many adaptations, it has been retitled The Signalman, but I digress. I have read the original ghost story and seen a stage adaptation of the story nearly ten years ago. I throughly enjoyed it. Enjoyed them, I should say: I loved both the original and its adaptation. Ghost stories and trains, these are two of my favourite things, here wrapped up together. When technology meets the supernatural. On my countdown to the countdown to Halloween (or my officious countdown that starts whenever I feel like it), this would be the perfect day out. That said, given that Wolfie might be a bit young for such scary story, I will probably give it a pass, even though the shows are in daytime. But hey, maybe some of my readers can see it. If you can, tell me how it went. Lucky you.