Watching - April 2026

Zootropolis 2 (2025)

Lots of fun, and full of background jokes and moments that would make it worth rewatching and pausing. But there's too much going on in the plot and it all feels like they're trying a bit too hard. Good to watch with the family over cocktails though!

Man on the Run (2025)

Surprisingly low-key but engaging documentary about 70s era Paul McCartney, mostly as a member of Wings. I'm not sure if this was self-commissioned, as seems to be all the rage these days, but McCartney is credited as an exec producer, so what you gain in access to private films and photos you lose in objectivity. Nevertheless, it was an OK watch.

The Other Bennet Sister (2026)

This took a little while to warm up, but it developed into a sweet, if slightly predictable, period drama with an enjoyably different perspective on a familiar story. A few minor quibbles: Ella Bruccoleri as Mary Bennet could have used a few more facial expressions - the pained look on her face was perhaps understandable given her situations but became over-used; and Mrs Bennet (Ruth Jones) was too much of a pantomime dame yet again (I blame Alison Steadman). But that didn't stop this being a good watch that C, K and I binged over three nights.

Taskmaster (season 15, 2023)

I would say this was a good series but honestly, I remember very little about it now. Continues to be good watching over lunch.

McCartney: The Hunt for the Lost Bass (2026)

A perfectly good 20-30 minute YouTube video forced to parade around in the costume of a "major documentary" with a heavily padded run time. What is it with the constant dramatisation of events? I have a good imagination, I don't need to be shown a broken padlock on the ground to know what is meant by "they broke the padlock". And the way they dragged out the fairly simple chain of events might have worked if there was more detective work actually involved, but either they fudged the telling or there just wasn't that much to tell. All that said though, I wasn't particularly bored and quite enjoyed it all.

Point Break (1991)

One of the ultimate boy's films. Patrick Swayze glamorises crime and walks a bit funny, but he's still commanding, and Keanu Reeves does Keanu to perfection.

Dave (1993)

A quiet gem of a film, in my opinion. Kevin Kline is understatedly superb, never leaving you in doubt of which of the two characters he is at any moment by using the subtlest of facial expressions. The plot is slightly preposterous but hey, it's a comedy!

The American President (1995)

It's a little depressing to realise that this film is thirty years old and yet the issues being discussed haven't shifted an iota, and neither have the morals of the right wing improved. Richard Dreyfuss is excellent: two shades off from being a pantomime villain and yet entirely believable as a Republican senator and amoral arsehole (the two being seemingly synonymous - both in this film and real life, I'd contend) who sees nothing wrong with making appalling personal slurs and does so with apparent impunity (remind you of anyone?). Anyone not suffering from the US's bizarre cultural gun fetish would applaud the final scenes, so to learn that someone as apparently enlightened as Barack Obama described the film as a "liberal fantasy" tells you everything you need to know about US politics and culture.

Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)

I was very happy to be able to introduce another person to a classic, and glad to say they enjoyed it very much.

Live and Let Die (1973)

So, so dated, and not really doing much for race relations either. But if you can ignore that then it's mildly entertaining.

Agatha Christie's Poirot (season 4, 1992)

Three feature length episodes of pretty famous books, told pretty faithfully. Nice to see the stories respected rather than mangled (I'm looking at you, Kenneth Branagh).

Taskmaster (season 16, 2023)

I couldn't quite understand what Julian Clary was doing on this as he never seemed to be interested, but overall it was just as funny as usual.