Watching - May 2026

Jet Lag: The Game (season 3, 2022)

I signed up to Nebula to watch Tom Scott's new series and in the hope that perhaps there might be something there that wasn't just YouTube junk. But everything I've found so far is also on YouTube. Still, never mind, it wasn't expensive. This was recommended to me by B and it passes the time nicely enough - not brilliant but an OK watch. I'll probably watch more at some point.

Ghosts (season 1, 2019)

Revisiting a family favourite. Just as good as I remembered and several classes above what I see of BBC1 sitcoms these days.

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017)

A fun and occasionally touching family-oriented action adventure.

The Sure Thing (1985)

Sometimes I just like to retreat to simpler times and this unassuming but incredibly sweet teen romcom is one of my favourites. I also found an early draft of the script online and the differences are really interesting.

Emma (1996)

This TV film makes four versions of Emma I've seen (excluding Clueless) and is probably the best and most faithful to the original book. While necessarily feeling somewhat rushed in the early stages - there's a lot to pack into one and a half hours - it doesn't feel like it's missing anything important. Kate Beckinsale is much better as Emma Woodhouse than any others I've seen and the production - by the same team coming straight from the previous year's legendary Pride and Prejudice - feels natural and realistic. If you don't know the book and want to start somewhere, this is where I'd recommend.

Taskmaster (series 17, 2024)

Reliably funny. I liked Nick Mohammed's good humour and occasional magic tricks, but the whole cast were good. Minor gripe though, and nothing to do with this particular season, but I do find it annoying that the last programme is always announced as the "grand final", when it's nothing of the sort: the competition is a league, not a knock-out.

Margin Call (2011)

I'd never heard of this film until I saw a couple of clips in a completely unrelated YouTube video, and so was pleased to find it streaming on Plex. If I remember correctly, The Big Short is a much better film about the 2008 sub-prime mortgage crisis but this is an interesting and different perspective from the inside of a fictional bank looking to save its own skin.

The Big Short (2015)

And just to check my memory, I re-watched this straight after. It's a brilliantly made film and an insane story, but what blows my mind the most is, bar a few name changes and one or two fictional scenes to make it a bit neater for film, it's all true. Information is Beautiful reports the film as 91% accurate (to the book, that is) and Steve Eisman - played by Steve Carell as "Mark Baum" in the film - recently did an interesting reaction video where he confirms most of his bits of the film, even the ones that you think are obviously just dramatic license.

Adam Hills: Inflatable (2011)

Amusing stand-up.

Iron Man 2 (2010)

Thor (2011)

Avengers Assemble (2012)

Still watching (gradually) the MCU films in order, but the problem with seeing them back to back like this is that they merge into each other slightly, which is a shame because they're all individually impressive, engrossing and beautifully made. They hit a certain spot like nothing else, I guess, but it's not always what I want to be seeing.

Our Welsh Chapel Dream (2026)

In which Keith finally gets to make some pots in his new pottery and Marj's glasses get improbably even larger. They seem a bit more present in this series, unlike last time when they felt like guests in their own documentary. They're both really sweet and it's gentle entertainment to see what they're doing. The intrusive and irritating recaps at the start of each episode and after each ad break need to go though. Are most TV viewers really morons with five second attention spans or is it just that documentary makers have a low opinion of their viewing public?

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)

Sunday's film night with Z, and what better to share with my youngest than this jolly tale of gambling, crime, drugs and guns? Still very stylish and blackly comic.