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"The Paper" is the newest sitcom spun out of "The Office" universe, this time set at the Toledo Truth Teller, a scrappy local paper absurdly housed alongside a toilet paper company. It's bemusing, entertaining, and full of oddball characters you'd probably never want to work with in real life. Domhnall Gleeson is a standout; we've been so used to him as a villain that seeing him lean into pure comic energy is a treat. Sabrina Impacciatore (excellent in "White Lotus" S02 in Sicily) plays Esmeralda, a character some IMDb reviewers are inexplicably hating on, but I found her a terrific bit of comic relief. People forget how cringe Michael Scott was in those early seasons before he grew on you. Add in Oscar, everyone's favorite grouchy gay holdover, and you've got a cast that's fun, strange, and endearing. Local news jokes abound, and the result is a worthy workplace comedy.

During a recent (blissful) getaway to Pattaya, I read Lawrence Osborne's novel "The Ballad of a Small Player", then we watched the film adaptation written by Rowan Joffé when we got home. I've long admired Osborne's writing and even met him once at a party here in Bangkok, where he lives and moves in a writerly orbit I occasionally gently brush against. His lush, atmospheric prose brings Macau's gaudy glitz vividly to life, and the film captures much of that dreamy decay. Colin Farrell is magnetic as a gambler drowning in bad choices and ghosts, literal and emotional. It isn't really a film about addiction; it's about trying to repair what can't be repaired, chasing redemption you don't even believe in. Bleak, beautiful, and hauntingly honest, it lingers like cigarette smoke in a casino at 3 a.m. If you're a fan of Farrell or slow-burn character studies, it's definitely worth a watch.

Everyone seems to be talking about this film, so after a quick restorative break at Pattaya Beach a few weeks ago, we settled in for our Saturday night feature. "A House of Dynamite" is tense, tightly paced, and cleverly told from multiple perspectives. While some have kvetched about the ending, I thought it was earned and effective, especially given that we (most likely) know how history plays out. So, the hubby and I watched, said our quiet goodbyes to friends in Chicago, and braced ourselves for the end of the world. It's unsettling how close this feels to our present reality, with today's crop of authoritarians flexing across the globe. The film's deeper message hits hard: the only real path to reducing nuclear arms is by strengthening democracy, an idea that sadly feels out of fashion. As both political cautionary tale and gripping entertainment, this is a good, frightening watch.