I’ve been in the UK for the last week, and I am exhausted in the best possible way. Spent time with family, went to a castle, went to a museum, went to the shops, found a few movies I’d been hoping to find — and one I figured I’d never get my hands on. So that’s been great. Less great is the heat, which may be dry but still melts you. I took three showers on Saturday. Or maybe it was Sunday. Possibly both.

I’m coming home today, and landing in time to introduce tonight’s Harbourfront Free Flicks screening of Chicago at 8:30 pm. That’ll be fun! But first you should listen to a brand-new episode of Someone Else’s Movie, in which Vancouver director Gloria Mercer joins me to talk about Robert Altman’s Thieves Like Us, a film that doesn’t directly inform her first feature, A Safe Distance … but it doesn’t not inform it, either.

Give it a listen on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Podcasts or your podcatcher of choice, or download the episode directly from the web and listen to it while you circle the block waiting for your pals to come strolling out of the local depository with big bags of loot.

And if you’re in the Montreal area you should go see A Safe Distance at Fantasia, where it’s having its Canadian premiere Thursday night, with a second screening Friday morning. It’s good!

Things have been a little quiet on the Shiny Things front, since I’ve been largely AFK over here, but paid subscribers did get my exclusive reviews of William Woods‘ The Outer Threat and the new Prime Video series Ride or Die; sadly I wasn’t provided with an advance look at the new season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds but I’ll get to that this week. Make sure you don’t miss it by upgrading that subscription! But if you just want the free stuff, I understand. Times are tough for everybody.