Recent reviews

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  Catfish 2010

  ★★★★ Rewatched 05 Sep 2020

  I hate the term 'guilty pleasure', but if I had to name my favourite 'trashy pleasure', it would probably be the MTV docu-series Catfish. In the TV show, the host Yaniv 'Nev' Schulman and a co-host dig into a case where someone has built up an online friendship or romantic relationship with a person they've met online, but isn't sure if the person they're speaking to is presenting themselves honestly. I find the series fascinating as an examination of how…

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  Sunshine on Leith 2013

  ★★★★ Watched 09 Aug 2020

  In recent decades a tradition has developed of structuring a musical around the back catalogue of a popular band - Abba and Mamma Mia are the most famous and I think the first major success to result from this approach. This type of musical - apparently known as a 'jukebox musical' has been around since the 1970s, but there seems to have been an explosion inspired by Mamma Mia's success.
  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jukebox_musical

  From a purely capitalist perspective this approach makes a…

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  Evolution 2001

  ★★★★ Watched 08 Aug 2020

  Evolution is a film which could have been a much bigger hit than it was. An alien invasion comedy starring the star of The X-Files, directed by the director and co-star of Ghostbusters, it has elements of both. David Duchovny plays a disillusioned university professor who gets tangled up in a supernatural threat which threatens to cause disaster - it's easy to see the comparison to Reitman's earlier work.
  I had expected Evolution to be a broader comedy than it…

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  Black Panther 2018

  ★★★★½ Watched 26 Feb 2018

  Given that Black Panther has become a cultural phenomenon, there's been a lot of hype and backlash around the discussion of the film. Stripping all that away, how good is it?

  Firstly it's a good example of an action adventure - the characters are likeable and spark off each other; there's a compelling story that flows through the film and doesn't overstay its welcome; the locales (in both Wakanda and South Korea) are colourful and engaging; and there's some really…