John Hodson
banner
mgcroadster.bsky.social
John Hodson
@mgcroadster.bsky.social
Journalist since '73, now retired, film geek for longer. Rejoiner, lefty, love films of all eras. Recovering Man Utd. fan of six decades. Uses admiration of John Ford as a Rorschach test. No followers without a profile - sorry!
Pinned
If you can, please support this; from his early teenage years, our late son James did what he could to support Manchester's homeless, whether it was a gift, food, or simply a kind word. It's a charity that means a lot to us & we give every year...
Done all your Christmas shopping but still have that one person left to buy for?
Gift a Bed! 🎁

For £32, you can provide a night of much needed rest for someone who would otherwise have nowhere safe to sleep.

Save the stress and gift a bed today.

www.gmmayorscharity.org.uk/gift/p/gift-...
Reposted by John Hodson
🎬 Criterion brings "Classe tous risques" to 4K Blu-ray, Mar 17! 🕵️

Newly restored in 4K w/ Dolby Vision & LPCM mono

Extras: Excerpts - ou La magie invisible (2003), interview (novelist/co-screenwriter), Lino Ventura interview, trailers + printed essays/tribute 💿

Pre-Order!
bit.ly/48ZFt7b

#FilmSky
🎬 "Classe tous risques" will be out on 4K Blu-ray, March 17 from Criterion! 🇫🇷 🕵️ 🇮🇹

New 4K restoration with Dolby Vision and LPCM mono

Extras: Documentary excerpts, José Giovanni interview, Lino Ventura footage, trailers + printed essays/tributes 💿

Pre-Order!
bit.ly/48ZFt7b

#FilmSky
February 15, 2026 at 1:39 PM
Reposted by John Hodson
Reform UK quietly withdraws all its libraries from Library of Sanctuary scheme
Reform UK quietly withdraws all its libraries from Library of Sanctuary scheme
This week's newsletter corrects the record
lancashire.thelead.uk
February 15, 2026 at 12:32 PM
There's no managerial revolving door at Notts Forest - it's a sink waste disposal...
February 15, 2026 at 12:34 PM
Drop an album that was important to you when you were nineteen.
February 15, 2026 at 12:22 PM
Reposted by John Hodson
... and Bob Rafelson...
February 10, 2026 at 11:38 PM
Reposted by John Hodson
Loved Small Prophets. I wonder if it was commissioned as something for Christmas, but was deemed too dark. “Father Christmas” in his “grotto” here. >
February 15, 2026 at 10:40 AM
Reposted by John Hodson
Ficelles Picardes courtesy of my friend Meryl (Grandma Abson's Traditional Baking) It is a traditional recipe from the Picardy area of northern France. They are well worth it. Visit 2/2 grandmaabson.blogspot.com/2012/02/for-... #ShroveTuesday #Pancakes #FoodandDrink
Something different for Pancake Day ‘Ficelles Picardes’
Ficelles Picardes -   Delicieux ! On Pancake Day or   Shrove Tuesday   I love to cook this fabulous recipe my French friend, Francoise ...
grandmaabson.blogspot.com
February 15, 2026 at 11:12 AM
Reposted by John Hodson
"In Britain as a whole, you are never more than six feet from a rat. In Westminster, you are either right next to a rat or, as is more likely, you are actually a rat and haven’t realised."
www.thenerve.news/p/stewart-le...
👇
February 15, 2026 at 11:12 AM
Reposted by John Hodson
Goodness me! What an utterly sensual delight and the best combination of high romance and haute cuisine since THE AGE OF INNOCENCE - to the iPlayer for Juliette Binoche and Benoît Magimel in THE TASTE OF THINGS... #FilmSky www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m002rlpp
The Taste of Things
French romance set in 1889, focusing on the enduring bond between gourmet chef Dodin and his cook of 20 years, Eugénie. Dodin resolves to woo Eugénie by cooking for her.
www.bbc.co.uk
February 14, 2026 at 11:56 PM
Reposted by John Hodson
First watch: The Souvenir (2019). First of a two-part, semi-autobiographical drama written and directed by Joanna Hogg. As elsewhere in Hogg's work, class privilege might prove an obstacle to some people's sympathies but I thought this was really absorbing. 1/5
February 15, 2026 at 10:23 AM
Reposted by John Hodson
Manchester Mill find the small group of Reform activists includes several with v overt prejudices. They fairly note that Goodwin can't be expected to vet them all in advance. To date, the site report he is not willing to criticise ant of it once revealed either
manchestermill.co.uk/goodwins-gan...
'I wouldn't touch a Jewish woman': Meet the Reform team in Gorton and Denton
Members of Reform's campaign team shared racist content online and aligned themselves with far-right groups
manchestermill.co.uk
February 15, 2026 at 10:41 AM
Like the first cuckoo of spring, is the introduction to the [checks notes] Mens Mixed Skeleton the first time the BBC decide now is the time for Ennio Morricone..?
February 15, 2026 at 10:39 AM
Reposted by John Hodson
Almodovar’s debut is chaotic, rough, vulgar and captures post-punk, post-Franco Madrid. Dodgy sexual politics aside, its female characters and settings herald Almodovar’s signature. #Filmsky boxd.it/d8gt1l
A ★★★ review of Pepi, Luci, Bom (1980)
MUBI HD streaming Pedro Almodóvar‘s debut is a post-punk tale of excess that epitomised the post-Franco transition to democracy in Spain and the La Movida Madrileña movement that began in Madrid and s...
boxd.it
February 15, 2026 at 8:36 AM
Reposted by John Hodson
First watch: Election (1999). Funny to think of this coming out the same year as American Pie and even sharing an actor (Chris Klein). Although it shares much of the idiom of the high school gross-out film, it becomes archetypal Alexander Payne cringe-core about a (early) middle-aged loser... 1/2
February 15, 2026 at 9:56 AM
Reposted by John Hodson
Catherine Wheatley is worth reading on this and other films: www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-so...
The Taste of Things review: a feast for the senses
Juliette Binoche and Benoît Magimel share a delicate chemistry in a French culinary romance that communicates the passionate artistry of cooking.
www.bfi.org.uk
February 15, 2026 at 10:06 AM
Reposted by John Hodson
Or Babette's Feast. The sensual delight of #TheTasteOfThings runs deep.
Goodness me! What an utterly sensual delight and the best combination of high romance and haute cuisine since THE AGE OF INNOCENCE - to the iPlayer for Juliette Binoche and Benoît Magimel in THE TASTE OF THINGS... #FilmSky www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m002rlpp
The Taste of Things
French romance set in 1889, focusing on the enduring bond between gourmet chef Dodin and his cook of 20 years, Eugénie. Dodin resolves to woo Eugénie by cooking for her.
www.bbc.co.uk
February 15, 2026 at 9:08 AM
Paul Simon - Obvious Child (Official Video)
YouTube video by PaulSimonVEVO
music.youtube.com
February 15, 2026 at 8:33 AM
This is really generous of Ian, and a gorgeous spot. From here, @thedukeslancaster.bsky.social staged the climax to their 1990 'Play In The Park', Prospero climbing high to the tower at dusk to weave one last spectacular act of magic in their fabulous production of 'The Tempest'...
In four weeks time it will be Mothering Sunday. It can be hard if she's no longer around. As usual I will read out the names of our Remembered Mums. This year, instead of reading the names in church I'll be sounding them out from the balcony of THIS, the grand old Ashton Memorial in Lancaster. [1/2]
February 15, 2026 at 8:28 AM
Reposted by John Hodson
In four weeks time it will be Mothering Sunday. It can be hard if she's no longer around. As usual I will read out the names of our Remembered Mums. This year, instead of reading the names in church I'll be sounding them out from the balcony of THIS, the grand old Ashton Memorial in Lancaster. [1/2]
February 15, 2026 at 7:52 AM
Goodness me! What an utterly sensual delight and the best combination of high romance and haute cuisine since THE AGE OF INNOCENCE - to the iPlayer for Juliette Binoche and Benoît Magimel in THE TASTE OF THINGS... #FilmSky www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m002rlpp
The Taste of Things
French romance set in 1889, focusing on the enduring bond between gourmet chef Dodin and his cook of 20 years, Eugénie. Dodin resolves to woo Eugénie by cooking for her.
www.bbc.co.uk
February 14, 2026 at 11:56 PM
Reposted by John Hodson
Roxy Music ~ Avalon (HQ Audio)
YouTube video by steelyman08
youtu.be
February 14, 2026 at 10:47 PM
Reposted by John Hodson
Small Prophets: How a Humble Garden shed Steals the Show

When you think "star of a BBC sitcom", you don't usually picture a slightly ramshackle garden shed (or maybe 1930's once a garage now defiantly a shed). Yet in Small Prophets, the new Mackenzie Crook comedy, Michael Sleep's shed quietly…
Small Prophets: How a Humble Garden shed Steals the Show
When you think "star of a BBC sitcom", you don't usually picture a slightly ramshackle garden shed (or maybe 1930's once a garage now defiantly a shed). Yet in Small Prophets, the new Mackenzie Crook comedy, Michael Sleep's shed quietly becomes the show's true leading location - part laboratory, part sanctuary, part shrine to bad decisions. A show built on grief, hope… and jars…
www.shedblog.co.uk
February 10, 2026 at 7:24 AM
Reposted by John Hodson
Haunting and lyrical. Beautifully told. It has a musicality to the accents that replaces any score. A tape deck that plays an incongruous selection of music. And everything is washed out with bone-deep loneliness. It could chill you to your seat but Bill Forsyth has too much heart.
Tonight's film
February 14, 2026 at 9:48 PM