Favorite films

Recent reviews

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  Thunderbolt and Lightfoot 1974

  ★★★★ Watched 23 Mar 2025

  Haven’t seen this for at least 30 years. Very early 70s, great fun, and then a left-field ending is completely forgotten. Early evidence that Jeff Bridges has never been anything less than completely magnetic

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  Anora 2024

  ★★★★ Watched 23 Mar 2025 1

  Terrific. 

  The kind of film Uncut Gems so entirely failed to be.

Popular reviews

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  Alien: Covenant 2017

  ★★ Watched 13 May 2017 2

  Oh for Christ’s sake, Ridley. 

  It’s a monster movie. Stop taking it all so fucking seriously. (Or do that a whole lot better.) You have incredible production design, a budget of squillions, a very able cast and a monster so genuinely iconic it still has the potential to shock. And apart from a jump or two, I spent this movie more or less blandly engaged, and never once properly tense or excited. Because you’ve decided it's all about god, or…

• 

  A Very English Scandal 2018

  ★★★★½ Added

  TV rather than a film, obviously, but what a supremely entertaining and startling tale, brilliantly told.

  Overall, it's a masterclass in nuance and grey areas: neither of the main characters is remotely 'hero' or 'villain'. Both are convincingly trapped inside complex emotional knots – some of their own making, others imposed by class, culture and – of course – ludicrous laws around their shared sexuality.

  Likewise, the piece managed somehow to walk the tightrope between horror and farce, balancing tenderness,…