Watching

My TV and film watchlist.

Currently watching

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    Can't Get You Out of My Head

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    Jujutsu Kaisen

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    Kaiju No. 8

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    Fooly Cooly

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    Takane no Hana-san

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    Pluto

Watched

  • Alien: Romulus

    Cosplaying the original two films like Goonies in Space. The set design and practical effects were superb but it all fell apart quickly. Shaking my head at facehuggers impatiently tapping their fingers for a snifter of heat, sound or sweat. Then shouting ‘oh come on!’ as ~50 of the creatures missed their targets like the aimless uzi spraying henchmen of an action movie. Cringing at the zero gravity acid ballet bullshit, the completely unnecessary Ash AI slop, the constant ‘bring me up to speed via the vid-screen’ recap, the accelerated gestation period. The actor playing the synthetic was a thin thread preventing the film from falling apart and me from switching off, until ‘get away from her [awkward beat] you bitch’ – Did he just look at the camera? He just looked at the camera! He winked! He fucking winked! URHG!!! – It took too much from the original while saying nearly nothing original. I kept thinking ‘what does this remind me of?’ and then I remembered. Star Wars The Force Awakens. Can you pander to hardcore fans while pulling in a whole new generation? No.

    • Type: Film
    • Watched: 2024-10-30
    • Rating: ★☆☆☆☆
    • Origin: 🇺🇲🇬🇧 United Kingdom, United States
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    📺 Sofa

  • HyperNormalisation

    Adam Curtis’ documentary that explores how we have come to exist in a ‘post-truth’ world.

    Trigger warning
    Themes may be triggering for some people; gore, violence, death.

    • Type: Film
    • Watched: 2024-07-03
    • Rating: ★★★★★
    • Origin: 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
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    📺 Sofa

  • All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace

    Adam Curtis’ documentary series that explores technology and its impact in how we perceive and interact in the world.

    • Type: TV
    • Watched: 2024-06-27
    • Rating: ★★★★★
    • Origin: 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
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    📺 Sofa

  • 🇯🇵️ リバー、流れないでよ

    River, Don't Flow, aka River

    More two minute time-loop fun from the people responsible for the excellent Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes.

    Trigger warning
    Themes may be triggering for some people; suicide.

    • Type: Film
    • Watched: 2024-06-16
    • Rating: ★★★★☆
    • Origin: 🇯🇵️ Japan️
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    📺 Sofa

  • Good Omens

    A cameo-packed extension of Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s original masterpiece novel. It had a lot of Pratchett’s humour, more than the first season from what I remember. But at times it did feel like a spin-off sitcom, possibly a result of the flat and featureless audio and sound design.

    Trigger warning
    Themes may be triggering for some people; gore.

    • Type: TV
    • Watched: 2024-06-15
    • Rating: ★★★☆☆
    • Origin: 🇺🇲🇬🇧 United Kingdom, United States
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    📺 Sofa

  • The Days

    A graphic dramatisation about the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami and resulting near reactor meltdown at privately owned TEPCO Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. A story about the desire for absolutes while in a context of ambiguity, the facade of public performance and back-channel truths. I hadn’t appreciated the amount of symbolism in Shin Godzilla reflected the events of this disaster, definitely time for a re-watch. As far as I’m aware, neither of these examples speak to the natural disaster simulation test results TEPCO were sitting on.

    Trigger warning
    Themes may be triggering for some people; death.

    • Type: TV
    • Watched: 2024-06-14
    • Rating: ★★★★★
    • Origin: 🇯🇵 Japan️
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    📺 Sofa

  • Grand Sumo – 2024 May Basho

    Another wild basho! Swooned as always by Ura, I thought this was his basho toward the end of week one but sadly not. An amazing performance by Midorifuji too, he’s so feisty!

    • Type: TV
    • Watched: 2024-05-26
    • Rating: ★★★★★
    • Origin: 🇯🇵 Japan️
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    📺 Sofa

  • 🇫🇷🇵🇱🇨🇭 Trois couleurs: Bleu / Trzy kolory: Niebieski

    aka Three Colours: Blue

    An astonishing visceral piece of cinema. The play of light and sound was sublime!

    Trigger warning
    Themes may be triggering for some people; death.

    • Type: Film
    • Watched: 2024-05-17
    • Rating: ★★★★★
    • Origin: 🇫🇷🇵🇱🇨🇭 France, Poland, Switzerland
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    📺 Sofa

  • Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

    Another fucking Marvel film? Why do I do this to myself‽ …for my family that’s why! I mean it was okay, better than the rest of the Marvage (see what I did there?) being churned out. Awkwafina was the only thing that kept me watching.

    • Type: Film
    • Watched: 2024-04-28
    • Rating: ★★★☆☆
    • Origin: 🇺🇸 United States
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    📺 Sofa

  • The Fabelmans

    My second time watching this after seeing it in at the cinema. Very well acted and some great moments of humour. A refreshing film that doesn’t take itself too seriously.

    • Type: Film
    • Watched: 2024-04-28
    • Rating: ★★★★☆
    • Origin: 🇺🇸 United States
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    📺 Sofa

  • American Fiction

    “Biting satire with a twist. Heartfelt performances that had me guessing where the caricatures began and ended. Had me squirming and laughing throughout.” says middle-aged middle-class white guy. Oh wait, hand on a minute…

    Trigger warning
    Themes may be triggering for some people; dementia, loss, death, racism.

    • Type: Film
    • Watched: 2024-03-24
    • Rating: ★★★★☆
    • Origin: 🇺🇸 United States
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    📺 Sofa

  • Avengers: Age of Ultron

    I’m so sick of the Marvel cash cow and all of the actors associated with it. Event the Spider-Verse seems to be disappearing up its own stylistic wormhole. Don’t let me down Deadpool 3!

    • Type: Film
    • Watched: 2024-03-24
    • Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
    • Origin: 🇺🇸 United States
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    📺 Sofa

  • Grand Sumo – 2024 March Basho

    Watching mostly on catch-up but occasionally live, this was the most entertaining and nail-biting basho yet. So much upset and surprise!

    • Type: TV
    • Watched: 2024-03-24
    • Rating: ★★★★★
    • Origin: 🇯🇵 Japan️
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    📺 Sofa

  • Inception

    Mind-bending epic from Christopher Nolan. A practical effect goes a long way. I might have to re-watch the South Park parody now.

    Trigger warning
    Themes may be triggering for some people; suicide.

    • Type: Film
    • Watched: 2024-03-16
    • Rating: ★★★★☆
    • Origin: 🇺🇸 United States
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    📺 Sofa

  • 🏆 Top Pick

    🇯🇵 怪物, Kaibutsu

    aka Monster

    Hirokazu Kore-eda’s modern-day Rashomon masterpiece. Utterly speechless.

    Trigger warning
    Themes may be triggering for some people; child abuse.

    • Type: Film
    • Watched: 2024-03-15
    • Rating: ★★★★★
    • Origin: 🇯🇵 Japan️
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    🎦 Cinema

  • Dune: Part Two

    Harkonnen would live in a house like this? My Fitbit says I slept through the entire 3 hours, I was most definitely awake. Desperately seeking closure on the trilogy… please tell me its only a trilogy!

    • Type: Film
    • Watched: 2024-03-10
    • Rating: ★★★★☆
    • Origin: 🇺🇸 United States
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    🎦 Cinema

  • 🇯🇵 海がきこえる, Umi ga Kikoeru

    I Can Hear the Sea, aka Ocean Waves

    A lesser known Studio Ghibli coming-of-age romantic drama, recalling the long-forgotten frustrations of youth. Worth a watch for the evocative animation of Japan’s everyday beauty and wonder.

    • Type: Film
    • Watched: 2024-03-08
    • Rating: ★★★☆☆
    • Origin: 🇯🇵 Japan️
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    📺 Sofa

  • Europa Report

    Well executed slow-burn sci-fi disaster movie in the found-footage style. A firm favourite I keep coming back to.

    • Type: Film
    • Watched: 2024-03-07
    • Rating: ★★★★☆
    • Origin: 🇺🇸 United States
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    📺 Sofa

  • 🇯🇵 カタクリ家の幸福, Katakuri-ke no Kōfuku

    aka The Happiness of the Katakuris

    Shallow Grave meets Sound of Music. As ludicrous as it sounds, a wonderful absurdist tale of family, death and deceit. From the twisted mind of Takashi Miike, expect over-the-top song and dance numbers, claymation and surreal cut scenes.

    • Type: Film
    • Watched: 2024-03-06
    • Rating: ★★★★☆
    • Origin: 🇯🇵 Japan️
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    📺 Sofa

  • The Fifth Element

    Luc Besson’s absolutely nails our not-too-distant future with extraordinary attention to detail. This viewing I couldn’t help but connect Chris Rock’s Ruby Rhod character with the vacuous and shallow personas of today’s Youtubers. I still find the hip-hop-era scene a bit cringy though.

    • Type: Film
    • Watched: 2024-03-01
    • Rating: ★★★★★
    • Origin: 🇺🇸️ United States
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    📺 Sofa

  • Perfect Days

    Wim Wenders’s mediative film about personal perspective and the pursuit of happiness. Exploring themes of class, acceptance, routine and change. Beautifully shot with elements of wabi-sabi weaved into its visual storytelling, especially the komorebi themed dream sequences. Perfect indeed.

    • Type: Film
    • Watched: 2024-02-24
    • Rating: ★★★★★
    • Origin: 🇩🇪🇯🇵 Germany, Japan
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    🎦 Cinema

  • The Hunger Games

    Muttering “It’s no Battle Royale!” to myself throughout. Some interesting blending of new/old aesthetics though. Meh, wouldn’t watch again.

    • Type: Film
    • Watched: 2024-02-16
    • Rating: ★★☆☆☆
    • Origin: 🇺🇸️ United States
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    📺 Sofa

  • My Neighbour Totoro

    Exceeded all of my expectations. An absolute treat for any Totoro or Ghibli fan. Worth every penny if you can afford the price tag. Pure magic.

    • Type: Theatre
    • Watched: 2024-02-10
    • Rating: ★★★★★
    • Origin: 🇬🇧️ United Kingdom
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    🎭 Theatre

  • Avatar

    Ethically and loyalty-challenged veteran bumbles between a scientist-military-bigCorp-indigenous love-hate tree-felling trapezium of grand proportions. The CGI still hold up strong in 2024.

    • Type: Film
    • Watched: 2024-02-09
    • Rating: ★★★☆☆
    • Origin: 🇺🇸️ United States
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    📺 Sofa

  • 🇯🇵️ チェンソーマン, Chensō Man

    aka Chainsaw Man

    The first four arcs of Tatsuki Fujimoto’s splatterfest manga Chainsaw Man leaps off the page an onto the screen. MAPPA studio did a fantastic job on the animation. Season two will be released as a film, I can’t wait!

    Trigger warning
    Themes may be triggering for some people; gore, violence, death.

    • Type: TV
    • Watched: 2024-02-09
    • Rating: ★★★★★
    • Origin: 🇯🇵️ Japan️
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    📺 Sofa

  • 🇯🇵️ 竜とそばかすの姫, Ryū to Sobakasu no Hime

    The Dragon and the Freckled Princess, aka Belle

    A visually stunning and at times hard-hitting retelling of Beauty and the Beast in the digital age. Mamoru Hosoda masterfully navigates themes such as childhood, identity, social networks, AI, accompanied by a moving soundtrack.

    Trigger warning
    Themes may be triggering for some people; loss, death, child abuse.

    • Type: Film
    • Watched: 2024-01-28
    • Rating: ★★★★☆
    • Origin: 🇯🇵️ Japan️
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    📺 Sofa