The Laboratory

 If you're looking for something Christmassy to watch tonight, try "Christmas In New York: Inside The Plaza" on Channel 4, a documentary about New York's Plaza Hotel, which has the most seasonal decorations ever. Sarah is a big fan because she watched the Hallmark movie "Christmas At The Plaza" a couple of weeks ago, where Keira Knightley lookalike (and Agents of SHIELD star) Elizabeth Henstridge had to solve the mystery of the missing Plaza Hotel tree-topper while simultaneously finding love. We are already hooked on Channel 5's Christmas Movies (and the Sony Christmas Channel). Do you have a favourite you could recommend?

What are your best Christmas traditions? As regular readers will know, one of ours is the Christmas Radio Times: check you have the right ITV region remove the Radio Times Holidays section from the middle set to with the marker pens highlight stuff in the radio section that you will NEVER listen to Another is making sure the following films are on TV over Christmas Die Hard (of course) A Muppet Christmas Carol Scrooged Clueless (not seasonal but then again it's always sunny in California) any Hallmark Christmas movie about snowglobes or a character called Holly And of course, getting up the most garish decorations in the street. This year we have an eye-piercing blue neon wreath and window lights. But even that doesn't compare with the Loop Road extravaganza. Only snapped last night, here it is!

With visits to the cinema becoming few and far between (ironic given the Year of Film in 2003-4 where winning an unlimited cinema pass meant over 50 visits) I wanted to mark the latest blockbuster I've seen on the big screen. It's all about spectacle not subtlety, and is the third in what I call the Space Trilogy: Prometheus Gravity Interstellar Where the first of these was fatally marred by unscientific behaviour, and Scott not leaving his earlier greatness well alone, the second was like a road movie in the same way that Hanna was, with less emphasis on the science and more on the journey (physically and emotionally). Now Nolan (and Nolan) have their own space epic to promote, and they take a third route, that of explaining the metaphysical power of love. Spoilers abound, as there's no way I can write a review without talking about the plot. HATHAWAY I thought it was a particularly neat trick to give McConaughey a daughter who looked like a young Anne Hathawa...