In this short commentary piece, the authors stand back from many of the specific details in the seven papers which constitute the special issue, and offer some observations which attempt to identify and assess points of similarity and difference amongst them, under a number of different general headings. To the extent that the "sociolinguistics of cinematic discourse" is an emergent sub- and inter-disciplinary specialism, it is not yet altogether clear what its overall ambitions might be, or how it might fit into the broader landscape of sociolinguistic study on the one hand, or film/television studies on the other. By organising the commentary along thematic lines, the authors hope at least to have indicated some of the contours of the current landscape, as represented in these particular contributions.