Martin McDonagh's "Coming Out"

Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson and Ralph Fiennes star in what looks to be an absolute riot of a movie.  I adore hitman comedies (the inclusive "hitperson" just does not sound tough, I've got to say - perhaps I'll use "assassin" or "hired gun" in the future).

Dead or Alive?

Because our household has long debated the merits of fake versus real Christmas trees, I thought I'd give the floor to a professional - the David Suzuki Foundation:

To tree or not to tree

Some of you may be wondering about what to do this holiday to honour tradition and protect the climate. We want to make it easy for you to do both. So what’s better – a live tree or a fake one? Here are our suggestions, listed from least to best option.

COMING IN LAST…Artificial trees are made from plastic, which is made from oil, and many are made in China. In fact, Christmas decorations are one of the biggest categories of China’s exports to North America, and that means shipping them here, burning more fuel and putting more CO2 into the atmosphere which leads to global warming.

A BETTER OPTION…Real Christmas trees are cultivated expressly for that purpose. (It takes between 10 and 12 years to produce something larger than Charlie Brown’s droopy twig.) Trees absorb carbon, produce oxygen and provide habitat for birds and animals. Douglas fir, balsam fir and black spruce are all native species. If you live in the west, avoid Norway spruce, which is an exotic import. But it’s at home in the eastern part of the continent. You can identify the Norway spruce by its soft needles.

AND THE WINNER… Planting a live native tree is a great way to help create biodiversity in your own backyard. If it’s already pretty crowded back there, you might be wondering about bringing a living tree inside, then back outside in January. It is possible, but Firs and pines need cold. Moving them from cold to warm or vice versa too quickly won’t make them happy.