Watching
My TV and film watchlist.
Currently watching
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The Armando Iannucci Shows
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Star Trek: Discovery – S02
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Sunny – S01
Watched
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Grand Theft Hamlet
Creativity through constraint. A visceral reminder of experience of the Covid 19 lockdown and the coping mechanisms we used or created to endure it. Clever, funny and poignant.
Trigger warning
Themes may be triggering for some people; mental health.- Type: Film
- Watched: 2024-12-18
- Rating: ★★★★☆
- Origin: 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
🎦 Cinema
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Venom: The Last Dance
Some hilariously awkward foreshadowing in the first three minutes that infected my thoughts throughout. Everyone looked very tired and glad it was over… or is it?
- Type: Film
- Watched: 2024-12-15
- Rating: ★★☆☆☆
- Origin: 🇺🇲 United States
📺 Sofa
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How to Blow Up a Pipeline
Low-budget youth-led environmental activism revenge movie. Not the finest acting but an heartfelt story with some interesting plot sleight of hand.
Trigger warning
Themes may be triggering for some people; death, alcohol abuse, terminal illness.- Type: Film
- Watched: 2024-12-13
- Rating: ★★★☆☆
- Origin: 🇺🇲 United States
📺 Sofa
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Mr. Robot – Season 02
Mind-bending follow-up to season one. I especially enjoyed the penultimate episode. Technically on point.
Trigger warning
Themes may be triggering for some people; mental health.- Type: TV
- Watched: 2024-12-08
- Rating: ★★★★★
- Origin: 🇬🇧🇺🇲 United Kingdom, United States
📺 Sofa
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🏆 Top Pick
The Franchise – Season 01
I’ve been waiting for someone to satirise the superhero movie franchise for a long time and The Franchise delivered big time. Who better than Armando Iannucci and co. to make such scathing commentary on the vacuous re-hashed content and well-observed dysfunctional culture of the film and TV industry. Bravo! Please don’t spoil it by commissioning a second series!
Trigger warning
Themes may be triggering for some people; mental health.- Type: TV
- Watched: 2024-11-30
- Rating: ★★★★★
- Origin: 🇺🇲 United States
📺 Sofa
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The Substance
Sunk cost fallacy in full effect! Wow, that was something else. A couple of plot holes and mechanics that broke flow but to be fair the thing was mad as a box of frogs.
Trigger warning
Themes may be triggering for some people; violence, gore.- Type: Film
- Watched: 2024-11-01
- Rating: ★★★★☆
- Origin: 🇺🇲 United States
📺 Sofa
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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
📺 Sofa
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Mr. Robot – Season 01
By all accounts, the most technically accurate depiction of hacker culture. Rami Malek plays the character of Elliot really sympathetically and is supported by a great cast. Gripping stuff, looking forward to season 2.
Trigger warning
Themes may be triggering for some people; mental health.- Type: TV
- Watched: 2024-10-30
- Rating: ★★★★★
- Origin: 🇺🇲 United States
📺 Sofa
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Star Trek: Discovery – Season 01
The first Star Trek series I’ve ever watched. I absolutely loved the world building, character development and pacing. The mycelium references were particularly interesting. A very solid first series.
- Type: TV
- Watched: 2024-09-29
- Rating: ★★★★★
- Origin: 🇺🇲 United States
📺 Sofa
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Train to Busan
A refreshing take on the zombie apocalypse, this time trapped on an express train with the undead. Pretty solid throughout with an ending you wouldn’t get from the west.
Trigger warning
Themes may be triggering for some people; gore, violence, suicide.- Type: Film
- Watched: 2024-10-07
- Rating: ★★★★☆
- Origin: 🇰🇷 South Korea
📺 Sofa
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The Quiet Earth
Post-apocalypse with a twist. Not Oscar worthy acting but it’s a unique story, told well. Probably one of my new favourites in the genre. Just watch it.
- Type: Film
- Watched: 2024-10-06
- Rating: ★★★★☆
- Origin: 🇳🇿 New Zealand
📺 Sofa
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Kneecap
Raucous and rebellious backstory of Irish group Keecap. Astonishingly well acted by the trio.
Trigger warning
Themes may be triggering for some people; violence, drug abuse.- Type: Film
- Watched: 2024-09-05
- Rating: ★★★★☆
- Origin: 🇮🇪🇬🇧 Ireland, United Kingdom
🎦 Cinema
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Wilding
The moving and inspiring story of the radical new direction of Knepp Estate. I didn’t care much for the reconstruction vignettes on the first viewing. Heartwarming and hopeful. More of this please.
- Type: Film
- Watched: 2024-08-31
- Rating: ★★★★★
- Origin: 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
🎦 Cinema
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Can't Get You Out of My Head
Epic six-part series of the relationship between technology and society.
Trigger warning
Themes may be triggering for some people; violence.- Type: TV
- Watched: 2024-08-20
- Rating: ★★★★★
- Origin: 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
📺 Sofa
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Carlos
The touching and tragic life story of musician Carlos Santana. I particularly liked the term ‘future pull’ to describe taking charge of your destiny.
Trigger warning
Themes may be triggering for some people; sexual abuse.- Type: Film
- Watched: 2024-08-11
- Rating: ★★★★☆
- Origin: 🇺🇲 United States
🎦 Cinema
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🏆 Top Pick
Hundreds of Beavers
Uncomfortably slow to build but then snowballs to maximum hilarity. Probably one of the most original and silliest things I’ve seen all year.
- Type: Film
- Watched: 2024-08-13
- Rating: ★★★★★
- Origin: 🇺🇲 United States
🎦 Cinema
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Deadpool & Wolverine
The opening Will Smith joke was sublime. Overall it suffered from and overwhelming The Lego Batman Movie joke pacing. I laughed at bits, not at others. I wouldn’t re-watch it.
Trigger warning
Themes may be triggering for some people; violence.- Type: Film
- Watched: 2024-07-29
- Rating: ★★★☆☆
- Origin: 🇺🇲 United States
🎦 Cinema
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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: TV
- Watched: 2024-07-03
- Rating: ★★★★★
- Origin: 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
📺 Sofa
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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
📺 Sofa
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🇯🇵️ 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
📺 Sofa
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Good Omens – Season 02
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
📺 Sofa
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The Days
A graphic dramatisation of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami that resulted in a near reactor meltdown at the 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 that 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
📺 Sofa
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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
📺 Sofa
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🇫🇷🇵🇱🇨🇭 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
📺 Sofa
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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
📺 Sofa
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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
📺 Sofa
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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
📺 Sofa
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Avengers: Age of Ultron
I’m so sick of the Marvel cash cow and all of the actors associated with it. Even 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
📺 Sofa
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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
📺 Sofa
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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
📺 Sofa
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🏆 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
🎦 Cinema
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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
🎦 Cinema
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🇯🇵 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
📺 Sofa
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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
📺 Sofa
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🇯🇵 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
📺 Sofa
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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
📺 Sofa
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🏆 Top Pick
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
🎦 Cinema
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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
📺 Sofa
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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
🎭 Theatre
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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
📺 Sofa
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🇯🇵️ 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
📺 Sofa
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🇯🇵️ 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
📺 Sofa