Alternately described as the thinking woman’s crumpet and the universal lubricant — kids, ask your parents — Colin Firth really is as dashing in person as you may have heard, and his performance in “The King’s Speech” will very likely win him that Oscar he deserved last year for “A Single Man”.

We did a fine job of ignoring that sort of talk in our TIFF interview, which sees print in this week’s NOW (and also includes comments from the film’s director, Tom Hooper). The issue also includes a quick look at Toronto’s seasonal movie programming, since it’s our annual holiday special — and yes, someone’s screening “Die Hard”.

Online extras include a Q&A with Firth’s “King’s Speech” co-star, the very charming Geoffrey Rush, and my chat with visual effects god and gearhead supreme Douglas Trumbull, who’s going to be presenting a look behind the scenes of “Blade Runner” tonight at the Lightbox.

Fun fact: My sit-down with Colin Firth was actually our second meeting; we’d previously bumped into each other at the London film festival in 2007. Or rather, I bumped into him, very hard, opening a door into his face. You’ll be happy to know he accepted my (belated) apology most gracefully. He’s nice like that.