Iron Lady is one of those films, and that’s why I think it deserves some blog time. In case you haven’t heard of it, Iron Lady tells the life story of Margaret Thatcher who was leader of the Conservative party and Prime Minister in the 1980s. ‘MT’ was played by Meryl Streep and this week it’s been announced that her performance has been nominated for a BAFTA.

Thatcher has always had a mixed reception, being the country’s first female PM, making the decision to go to war over the Falklands and for her seemingly harsh privatisation policies. Regardless of your opinion of the lady, the film is well worth a watch. As a self sufficient female I was able to empathise with her passion to succeed for herself. She did well to get so far in a world dominated by males. Of course she cannot really be put on the same level as the suffragettes, who fought tirelessly for universal suffrage, but she did make history and gave many young ladies a hope that they could (and should) be more than just housewives.

The film did however depict how she let the power go to her head once she was PM. The stubborn attitude that enabled her to progress so far in politics, later became her downfall when she disregarded her colleagues’ opinions. But, deeper than this, the film also shows her in later life struggling to come to terms with the death of her husband and the onset of dementia. It’s an extremely moving and memorable film, I recommend you see it, as soon as possible!

I went to see it on Orange Wednesday – the cinema has become so expensive that it’s only worth going if you go on Orange Wednesday (buy one get one free for Orange customers). It’s quite a long one so make sure you have a nice free evening, and also make sure you take some tissues along. Although there are lots of laughs, it is a pretty hard hitting story line, strengthened by the fact that it’s true. The basic storyline (without giving too much away) is that a local (white) journalist realises that the life situation for black American women in her town is a pretty bleak one. She experiences the prejudices they live with on a daily basis and feels their hardships should be recorded. She asks the maids or ‘the help’ if they’ll open up about their torture at the hands of their white bosses. Reluctant at first, the maids slowly open up to ‘Skeeter’ and an anonymous book is produced outing the white women as tormentors.

Needless to say, the release of the book causes uproar in the community but Skeeter’s courage is eventually rewarded. It really is a delightful film – I suggest you see it at the soonest available opportunity.

It’s taken around 26 months, but our nearest neighbour will be at perfect opposition to the sun on January 29, at which point it will be the brightest object in the evening sky except for Sirius. If you’re hoping to catch a glimpse of Mars, be advised that it will rise in the evening and appear overhead at around midnight, which should be a good time to get a clear view if you can stay up.

Down from the heavens and back to events on terra firma, I’ve been using time which I would normally have spent watching the sky to enjoy some new hobbies (as you’ll know from my last few posts) and also to catch up with some friends.

First port of call was the cinema, where we watched Avatar. It’s great, especially in 3D, and I wholly recommend you go and see it (as you can tell I’m going to apply for Jonathon Ross’s job on The Film Programme when it becomes vacant). My friends and I also went back to the bingo club we visited before Christmas. Apparently bingo Manchester has been a bit quiet of late because of all the snow and bad weather but we were among those who braved a less treacherous night and actually went to a club.

As it goes, it was worth the visit, I won £10. Which is not bad considering the amount of fun we had. Considerably less fun was trying to get home afterwards – getting a taxi during the cold snap was a nightmare.

I also took the opportunity to speak to my friends about my potential move to Hebden Bridge. I’m starting to think that I might be having second thoughts, not just because of the potentially slower broadband but also because I think I’d miss town and my friends if I moved over there. I will have to continue mulling it over, but I don’t think anything will happen before summer at the earliest.