Has there been any progress on getting the activation email thing working? I see Ang is now in the member list but shows as account not activated.

Sinners begins with twins Elias and Elijah (both played by Michael B Jordan) returning to the Mississippi Delta from Chicago ("Is it true they ain't got no Jim Crow in Chicago? A man's free there to do what he wants?") with mysteriously acquired wealth with which they intend to open a local juke joint.
Very usefully it transpires that their cousin Sammie (played by Miles Caton, with beautifully sonorous voice) is becoming an accomplished bluesman, and will likely be an asset in their coming venture. But just to be sure, they conscript local drunken stalwart Delta Slim (Delroy Lindo, in typical scene-stealing mode) by promising him as much Irish beer as he can drink.
On opening night it looks like some locals have heard the music coming over the breeze, and just want to join in "'cause we're musicians too." They are, ahem, strongly encouraged to find what they're looking for elsewhere, but they stick around, and there comes a point where it no longer seems such a bad idea to relieve them of their cash - which comes in the form of unsettlingly gleaming gold coinage.
From here on it's something of a wild ride, with the juke joint patrons ending up fighting the enemy without and within - but who is compromised and who remains to be trusted? From here on, they've serious reason to be grateful for local wise woman Annie (Wunmi Mosaku) an old flame of Elijah, who's well versed in the ways of the occult.

I'd recommend Sinners, but I'll stop just short of a five-star rating - although if I was rating just the music, it would be five stars all the way. Bloody rollicking entertainment with a justifiably unsubtle metaphor at its heart.

Just wanting to check if the old Palimpsest logo is appearing for users, rather than the default MyBB logo. I changed it earlier in the week but had to refresh browser cache to get the image to change/show.

This is a cold war thriller bang slap in the middle of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy territory. It has a fantastic cast, including Brian Cox as the patriarchal Head of Department (literally codenamed Daddy), Tom Hughes as our handsome, morally ambiguous lynchpin, Victoria Hamilton and Jonathan Aris as the established couple who trust each other with their lives (or do they?) and the much-missed Simon Ritter as the ambitious middleman who wants Daddy's job.

Oh and I just remembered Rachael Stirling's in it as well, and is it even possible to tell which side she's on? 

There's a doomed love affair with a Russian asset, discovery of a plot by the Soviets to trigger WW3 by having an American nuclear missile detonated in Britain, attempts to unearth a mole (of course), and lots of delicious moral compromise along the way. 

Seriously, if you haven't watched this already, do. You won't regret it. It's still on iPlayer right now.

*****

I'll include streamed movies here if for any reason they seem significant.

3. Sinners ****
2. The Amateur **
1. Black Bag ***

All the films I've watched in 2025

07. A Real Pain (2024, dir: EISENBERG, Jesse)
06. The Woman in the Yard (2025, dir: COLLET-SERRA, Jaume)
05. Grand Theft Hamlet (2024, dir: CRANE, Sam; GRYLLS, Pinny)
04. Conclave (2024, dir: BERGER, Edward)
03. The Brutalist (2024, dir: CORBET, Brady)
02. Vivarium (2019, dir: FINNEGAN, Lorcan)
01. Better Man (2024, dir: GRACEY, Michael)

This is going to also include plays that we are watching this year via a subscription to National Theatre at Home, because many of them are also shown in cinemas as 'National Theatre Live'.





13. Amadeus (NT@H)
12. Under Milk Wood (NT@H)
11. Godspell
10. Paddington in Peru
9. The French Connection
8. Fiddler on the Roof
7. G20
6. Present Laughter (NT@H)
5. Vanya (NT@H)
4. The Other Place (NT@H)
3. Nye (NT@H)
2. The Crucible (NT@H)
1. Conclave

CURRENTLY READING
--- His Beautiful Hands: The Short Fiction of Oscar Cook, Johnny Mains (ed.)
--- You Bright and Risen Angels, William T. Vollmann
--- The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, Bettany Hughes
--- My Life in Movement, Margaret Morris
--- In the Land of Time and Other Fantasy Tales, Lord Dunsany

READ
06. The Friday Girl, R.D. McLean
05. A Journal, J.M. Walsh
04. Withered Hill, David Barnett
03. Money to Burn, Asta Olivia Nordenhof
02. After Sundown: New Horror Short Stories, Mark Morris (ed.)
01. Let Earth Be Conquered, Frank Belknapp Long

23. My Brilliant Friend - Elena Ferrante
22. Infernal Devices - Philip Reeve
21. Predator's Gold - Philip Reeve
20. The Ricardian Century - John Saunders
19. Unwell Women - Elinor Cleghorn
18. Vox - Christine Dalcher
17. The Explorer - Katherine Rundell
16. Can You Forgive Her? - Anthony Trollope
15. Unkind - Victoria Smith
14. The Wood at Midwinter - Susanna Clarke
13. The Man Who Pays the Rent - Judi Dench
12. We Solve Murders - Richard Osman
11. What Matters in Jane Austen - John Mullan
10. Mortal Engines - Philip Reeve
9. Conquest - Juliet Barker
8. Politics on the Edge - Rory Stewart
7. The Story of the Amulet - EE Nesbit
6. Faith, Hope & Carnage - Nick Cave & Sean O'Hagan
5. The Sisters Who Would Be Queen - Leanda de Lisle
4. Sorry for Your Trouble - Richard Ford
3. Lower Than the Angels - Diarmuid McCullagh
2. The Haunted Wood - Sam Leith
1. Richard III's Books - Anne Sutton & Livia Visser-Fuchs

Please could we have another category in 'Lists' for Filmimplists?  ?