Consistently funny throughout, but I forgot we only lasted one film in the LEGO Movie franchise before the stop motion realism was dropped.
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The dog was a very good boy, yes he was, yes he was.
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A lot of time for this - quietly understated, and Ronan is as good as ever. Love the hair colour as chronology device, whilst still leaving a decent amount of ambiguity up to interpretation.
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Does not feel its runtime (a compliment!). It’s a whole load of stuff thrown at the screen and a good amount of it sticks.
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Rewatched for the first time in quite a while - still a big fan of a lot of it, even if maybe not as enamoured as back in 2014.
Hmm. Was hoping for more, but fun in its own way.
Rewatched at the Watershed post its big win, with Alasdair. I think the way it bifurcates is beautifully done and adds a remarkable amount of heft to the final scene. Ruined by George Ferguson’s wife sat next to me talking all the way through it.
Watched at the end of a very long, stressful week, and felt all the better for it.
Kind of dramatically inert for a lot of it, as you’re waiting for the other shoe to drop. It doesn’t, not really, but maybe?
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Won me over eventually, at the point at which I just decided to stop caring to try to track every bit of detail and just let it wash over me instead.
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Inevitably remarkably one-sided, but a perfectly serviceable mid-budget drama.
Really liked this for the majority of its runtime until the epilogue which really rather soured me on the whole thing. Unlike the rest of it, it was showy for showiness’s sake, and completely self indulgent, which you’d almost be able to get away with if it wasn’t after 3 hours of the rest of the film.
You know what, I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. It’s fun to look at, but it’s all empty calories.
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Solidly good fun, moreso when it’s just enjoying the premise rather than getting bogged down in the details.
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Suffers a little from “The Zone Of Interest syndrome” - it feels like a lot of the rapturous reviews (and just look at the distribution of ratings on Letterboxd) are conflating being good and being important. It is at least more narratively compelling than Zone, but come on, this is not the 100th best film ever made just because it deals with a historic atrocity.
Sue me, I like Sorkinesque harried backstage “before the big show” drama
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Having absolutely no particular interest in the veracity of this as a representation of Bob Dylan’s life story, I enjoyed this. It left me wanting to actually go and listen to his music, so that’s a win, and Chalamet is typically strong. Elle Fanning takes the cake, though.
Not as bad as everyone else says - if you think this is the worst film you’ve ever seen, you need to watch more films. But! That doesn’t mean it’s good! Or should be nominated for Best Picture! Quite the surprise to me that the least explicable musical moment in a film where a song about gender reaffirming surgery is performed in a Bangkok clinic with the lyrics “from penis to vagina” is that, at one point, a swing version of Supreme by Robbie Williams features heavily.
As someone who actively avoids looking in a mirror if they can help it, this.. this was a difficult watch at times. Profoundly affecting, and a real measure of Lynch’s ability for self-restraint.
It’s fun, in retrospect, watching the three of Coogan, Bryson, and Winterbottom figure out what would become the cornerstone of The Trip in realtime.
(Absolutely no recollection of having watched this for a second time in like the third week of uni, according to Letterboxd)
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Suitably interesting, if mostly for the guided but light touch questioning that prompts the direct narration from John himself. I love how much he loves new acts, to be fair. A really interesting moment where he takes against, instinctively, an artist self-describing as “queer”, and watching David Furnish explain it is, hmm. Yeah. Fascinating.
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In an effort to avoid the rain and to kill time between dinner and a show, the nearest thing to the theatre is Ole & Steen. I have a peppermint tea because sometimes I don’t have a hot chocolate, and a chocolate mousse-y cake-y thing, which to be fair is quite nice, if way too rich (admittedly after a quite rich dinner, so maybe that’s on me).
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So preoccupied with how to stop Donald Trump and the far right from stealing an election, they forgot to consider that people might just vote them in anyway.
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On the whole enjoyable, leaning more into the drama than the previous series, but with some wonderfully comic moments throughout. It’s not that I dislike Lenny Rush elsewhere, but yeah, you really remember why he’s hitting it big when you watch him in this. I think I still don’t fully buy some of the character motives, which is difficult when, as mentioned, it starts to care more about plot than comedy, but it just about holds up that end.
Rewatched as a light thing to have on in the evening with a bad cold, and this was just the thing. It’s adorable, and it’s such a shame that Pixar’s three-film late resurgent period coincided with a global pandemic and thus shunted straight to streaming. This, Soul, and (to a slightly lesser extent) Turning Red deserve more credit.
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The first First Friday Social at work for the year. A smallish turnout, but a perfectly sized one. We play some pool, I have a couple of pints (but not my usual Lilley’s mango cider, because for some reason I think it’s just going to be too sweet for me tonight), and make my way home at a reasonable hour (if later than originally planned).
Had my doubts before it started - Amanda not being my favourite character in Motherland - but this so quickly falls into the strengths of the original that you could easily have kept the title. Siobhan McSweeney is so very good as a stand-out in an excellent ensemble, and Peter Serafinowicz throws the whole thing into a new loop. I would watch this for years.
A warm refuge from the cold after wandering around the Bristol Light Festival. Some old favourites (fried chicken with a beautiful soy and honey glaze, katsu sauce-d fried which looked initially stingy on the sauce but soon revealed a deep well underneath the surface), and this time trying the Korean corn dogs, doused in chipotle mayo and a sweet ketchup. The doriyaki, with a green tea filling and cherry couli, hit the spot for dessert nicely.
I wouldn’t change it, lord no, but my god the score is so hilariously 90s.
More two-episode miniseries, please. Or, I mean, just make it a film? I dunno. The kind of show that is absolutely reliant on the performance of its leads, and luckily both Coogan and Walter show up. Walter especially, given the long list of previous Thatchers. I don’t know if it really says much about the rise and fall of long-form political interviews on television, but it’s entertaining to watch another Thatcher downfall.
Incredibly horny, to the extent that I don’t think it really does what it wants to do.
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Grabbing a quick bite after walking Alasdair over to a gig on Wapping Wharf, I have to pick and instinct takes me to Pigsty for the first time in just over five years. I figure I can get in and out in 20 minutes, a theory which is confirmed when I enter to find I am literally the only customer at 7.30 on a Thursday night. Oh boy. The Proper Cow burger lives up to its name - the bacon is a tad much and too crispy (from someone who really does prefer it crispy), but the duelling chimi mayo and chipotle honey ketchup call it a hard-fought draw, the patty itself is rich and deep, and the fries are nicely seasoned.
Surprisingly charming, given how much the trailer for Memoir Of A Snail has rankled me.
I know they’re obviously distinct things, affecting different people, but oddly I think Nickel Boys did this more effectively.
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Fair enough, I was tearing up at the doorman phonecall. It is not, in the scheme of things, much consolation, but it is still nonetheless a relief that through him and the unseen veteran reporter, there are men here who, y’know, care. Shouldn’t have to be noteworthy in 2025, but here we are.
Just as bad as 7 years ago! Baffling at every single possible opportunity. Alasdair asked me to pause it at 30 minutes in because he was convinced it must somehow nearly be over. But no.
Raph and I go for a quick drink after coffee at the Bristol Loaf, because for some reason he wants to come here. I have never felt less welcome in a pub! It’s incredibly intimidating being two outsiders in a pub blaring Marilyn Manson at four in the afternoon on a Sunday, one of which (yours truly) ordering an orange juice. I shan’t recount Alasdair’s anecdote about it - that’s his to tell.
Time to catch up with Raph for the first time since Christmas, swapping the traditionally belated presents. I have a perfectly ok hot chocolate and a quite nice croissant, and that’ll do fine. I’m normally a bit more adventurous with the Loaf (their crumpets are excellent), but we got there just as the kitchen was closing, so alas no. Another time.
We braved Cribbs on a Saturday in January and true to that experience, we had a Burger King in the food court. Where 20 years ago I might have told you that Burger King was superior to McDonald’s, that has long since passed - the burgers are practically atomic, the chips few and far between, and this time when I chose to splurge beyond a basic combo meal, they couldn’t even correctly give me onion rings. Ah well.
A quick bite to eat before Alasdair’s preview as part of the (don’t rant, Sam, don’t rant) Bristol Comedy Festival. I do like a banh mi; I’m not an expert, but I don’t think fried chicken is necessarily the most traditional filling - but still. It’s good stuff. It’s well-adorned with veg and chilis, but it’s over-stuffed and the bread is a little too tough, or at least insufficiently brittle, to avoid the filling going everywhere upon bite. The fries a good, if a little overly paprika’d.
If this had been made 10 years ago, everyone would be describing it as Allenesque and I do find that funny. A really lovely set of performances, in various levels of subtlety and broadness, bringing the most out of a strong script and inspired direction. That last shot!
It’s fun and not without its charms, but it never quite clicks in.
As the rest of it does, admittedly, get stale, Dictionary Corner remains arguably one of the best showcases of comedians who don’t quite make sense in the panel show format. Take, for example, Ewins - he needs the tech, that’s his USP, and that would never fly on Mock The Week or WILTY or anything. But a space of just “you get three minutes with no constraints within the format”? Perfect. Him, Campbell, The Delightful Sausage, ABK. And, of course, the show’s poet in residence, Dr. John Cooper Clarke.
Big bold dancey stuff, I can see why she’s supporting Caribou, and that alone has tempted me towards getting a last minute ticket. Initial standouts: Broken, Onwards, Combat
I was doing so well, but I was so hungry as I returned from the Watershed that temptation overtook me. The Mucker remains one of the best burgers in Bristol (and, believe me, I’ve checked). It’s the bacon and caper aioli that does it, so much so that I get extra on the side for the ancho fries. The lemonade always hits the spot - the classic for me, although it was a treat to overhear multiple people question what echinacea lemonade is. I remember when these burgers were impossibly wet to eat; how they managed to reduce that whilst keeping it as delicious is a scientific feat of our age.
It’s fun and not without its charms, but it never quite clicks in.
Take the post-rock backing of something like Godspeed or Explosions In The Sky, chuck some Grimes vocals on top, and you’ve got what feels like a very deep pool to dive into and bathe in. Initial standout: Sungazer, Milk, Kenopsia
We pop in for a quick drink as part of Maddie’s goodbye celebrations. I get as far as ordering a Jubel Peach before Alasdair reminds me that it’s still Dry January, so a ginger beer it is. I know I am normally the first person to argue that actually gentrification isn’t all bad, but this is one of the few examples where I do think we need pubs like the old Colosseum. Now it’s just any other pub. Bring back the Queen fruit machine.
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Need to listen to this again to get a better impression. Initial standout: Irreversible Damage
The perfect film to watch on a TV with motion smoothing turned on and your boyfriend’s mum talking over.
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Big fan of having them see The Importance Of Being Earnest at the theatre. Otherwise, wonderfully Wilde.
An odd set of spoken word dotted around this, and tonally different to what I (very vaguely) remember of them in the Louisiana like 6-7 years ago now. Good for them! Initial standout: Night Of The Skinwalker
Feel like I got scammed when I realised Them There were completely uninvolved in this. Some good gags dotted throughout.
Grabbing a quick bite to eat after the train up to Birmingham. I note they’re now selling the MOTH cocktails, but alas, Dry January. I have my normal order - the Shackmeister, a perfectly unhealthy cheeseburger with a very nice, creamy, tangy sauce and crispy shallots; the crinkle-cut fries; and a lemonade, a little less nice than usual. Equally, the burger a little overdone on the edges. But, did the job and hit the spot and I’d prefer it to a McDonald’s any day.
Always nice to have new EITS, even just a soundtrack. An interestingly wider palette compared to their album work. Initial standout: Memories
The usual haunt for the OPPO new year’s drinks, so I pretty much uniformally am on the mocktails. Definitely feels over-priced for what it is, and the ambience is, eh. But it’s tradition, now.
A suitably cheap set menu for a section lunch at work. I play it safe with what I assume Bella Italia can not go too wrong doing - garlic doughballs to start, a chicken milanese for the main, a brownie for dessert. They are all the Fisher Price versions of those things - recognisable enough for a child to point to, but uninspiring.
Milquetoast landfill indie that is mostly about their mates. Initial standout: Perfect Me
Complicated feelings about this one! About pretty much everything other than the cancer. Does at times feel like the trailer existed first and someone thought “that looks great, flesh that out another 1h45 and we could have a film on our hands”.
Not the platonic ideal of my standard order of a house burger (today, a slightly over-toasted bun and under-chees-ed patty), but it’s always something of a treat to kick back on the sofa with this before a film. The chips are surprisingly good, or at least hit some specific spot. The construction of the burger appears to be different every time, so it’s nice to add a frisson of chance into the mix.
It does feel somewhat tossed off, and yet he does seem to care more about this than The Strokes. Still, a couple good songs. Initial standouts: 7 Horses, Spectral Analysis
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Nasty, brutish, and oddly compelling. Initial standout: OILED ANIMALS
Complicated feelings about this one! About pretty much everything other than the cancer. Does at times feel like the trailer existed first and someone thought “that looks great, flesh that out another 1h45 and we could have a film on our hands”.
Still watching
Begrudgingly, I quite enjoyed this. Amiable Sunday afternoon fare, and honestly amazed it wasn’t longer, which is a higher compliment than it might seem.
Took about an episode to ramp up, but it grows from a lot of deliciously written lines, to wonderful scenes, to tightly drawn and lived-in characters. A charmingly bleak little thing.
Maybe I’m getting soft in my old age (31) but while the writing is still absolute dross, I didn’t mind it so much? I mean, still terrible.
Vapid, faux profundity with an affected voice. It’ll keep the Idles crowd happy. Initial standout: Love
Soothing little puzzle game, wonder if it’ll be any more than that by the end
Solid if occasionally stolid album 20 years in. Initial standout: Build It Up
Really liked this. The use of first person POV is handled incredibly deftly, with the right level of subtle and unsubtle cues to indicate transition in viewpoint. Some really fascinating choices in service of deeper story telling (older Elwood’s “perspective” being more removed and how that came to be, the use of doubling up moments without cutting but with different outcomes) that I’ll be thinking about for a while.
A voice where I can’t tell if I like it or not and won’t be able to for some time. Initial standout: No One Else
Oh this is horrifically addictive and I am going to have to be very careful about how much or little I play this.
Initial standout: Alone
I mean, sure. It’s All Born Screaming but she’s singing in Spanish. Initial standout: Tiempos Violentos
I remember vaguely being aware of WHY? from an Acaster pre-show mix. I have now actually listened. Initial standout: Later at the Loon
An idea from a pub conversation that has got massively out of fan. Stupidly fun. I forgot how intense Adam Riches’ eye contact is. Enjoyed how much John Kearns enjoyed Alasdair enjoying a line about the agricultural revolution. Spent the whole show very conscious that Ed Gamble and Rosie Jones were in my eye line on the other side of the stage.
Early (comparatively, to what I listen to), Steve Albini-produced post-rock, lovely for reading to on a train. Initial standout: Sea Above, Sky Below
There’s a moment in Hollywoodgate where the Taliban laments that if they had had all these resources that the Americans had had, they would be ruling the world right now. The remaining 90 minutes somewhat casts that into doubt.
I think it must be about 7 years since I last watched this, and I love how happy I am every time I remember a character. Much soapier than I remember, and I don’t mind it! The music is gorgeous. David Lynch passed away between us starting to (re)watch this and finishing this season, so that’s added a whole new weight to it.
Replaying this for the first time in years, this time on the Switch. I forgot how quickly the death count racks up, but amazed at how much muscle memory I’ve retained. Wonder if that’s true for Super Hexagon.
Swedish power pop in the vein of The Beths (no bad thing). Initial standouts: Headache, I’m So Sorry
Watched in 35mm at the Watershed. Gorgeously shot, fascinatingly monochrome throughout in different ways.
Gone are the heady early days of the long queues to get in here - it’s not too late in the day and it’s comparatively quiet. Killing time between being in town and Nosferatu at the Watershed, we figure that Tonkotsu’s boast of the importance of the 42 second ramen means we should be in and out quickly. Less so than you’d hope, but here we are. It’s still up there for me (although not the best in Bristol), with a delightfully creamy base, and an extra egg for ol’ me. Chicken karaage on the side is beautifully done likewise. We don’t have time for an ice cream sando, but next time, next time.
Surprisingly vital for this stage of Jack White’s career, I can see why the buzz about the cramped gigs last year was what it was. Initial standouts: Bless Yourself, What’s The Rumpus?
Maddie is trying to fit in as many social engagements as possible before leaving for Seattle, and I am delighted to abet. We go for lunch with Alasdair at Oowee, all of two minutes down the road, which is dangerous when there’s an £8.95 lunch deal and the frequency with which I work from home these days. I try not to make it a Friday regular. Today, though, I eschew the lunch deal and splash out on a Big Cheese - a patty and baconaisse-spread bun practically glued together by a mix of American and Swiss cheese (forever chasing that high of the original Moor Burger, Please from Burger Theory), with some Marmite waffle fries on the side. It is all too much, and absolutely cannot become habit.
Initial standout: Black Ribbon
I miss when Letterboxd wasn’t overrun by gen z
Initial standout: The Birds in Birmingham Park
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The annual tradition continues, thank you Mum. The platonic ideal was still the one like 4 years ago with a good short story, and I refuse to believe it’s just because I’m 31 now.
A cracking edition of this, to be fair. A good cast who enjoy the studio and can relax into themselves. Would I want a full series with them? Maybe not, but that’s what this is for.
Oh god, it’s still one of the best things on TV. Claudia Winkleman is perfect for it and I cannot believe the formula keeps working. The producers are definitely playing with the contestants’ expectations more, which is a lot of fun.
Happy new year indeed. Tell me more of the man who just had half a phone handed to him. 6 years ago I apparently wrote that this might be PTA’s most ambiguous film, and I think I stand by that.
Odd, almost Bon Iver-ian folky/autotune from Menorca. Initial standouts: Heu and M’agrada s’espigolar
I enjoy a café trip on New Year’s Day to walk off the hangover. This used to be Flour House as a staple, but now I live quite far from there, it doesn’t quite seem worth it. We strolled down North Street to take in the options and settled on Tin Can. And so 2025 begins with their house baked beans on toast, with added hash browns and sausage. I object - genuinely - to paying £3.50 extra for a single, solitary sausage, and it genuinely is not worth it. The sourdough toast retains just about enough bite post-bean-slathering, and it’s nicely topped off by the herb oil. This won’t - I hope - be the best thing I eat in 2025, but it’s a suitable start before an abandoned walk round the park.