The Quite Nerdy Blog

As you may know from last week, Fight Club is no longer my favourite film, it has been overtaken by Mulholland Drive. I'm sure it hardly disrupted your lives at all but for someone who spends most of his life talking, reading and watching films or film adjacent stuff, a disruption of the grand pantheon of my interests is big news. Now, I've always been pretty open to the idea that any list of favourite films is in constant fluidity. We, as humans, are works in progress and so any list that is such a reflection of the self is going to grow too. With that said, let's break down exactly what Fight Club did for me, what it doesn't do now and what Mulholland Drive does that better suits my tastes now. I apologise because this post may feel slightly indulgent but it's a quiet week. I promise, stick with it and not only will we try something new next week, you'll also be treated with a mildly spicy meme at the end. I don't like to talk about this a lot becau...

We are at that time of the year again, for my biennial tradition of running down my very favourite films as they stand right now. Strange as it sounds, there's something quite satisfying about doing this list every two years because it means that I get to track my taste in film over time. These last two years in particular are interesting because in that time, I've had my first two years at University, getting to study film more in depth than ever before. As a result, there's been a decent shake up. Six films from the list two years ago have left, three films I've seen for the first time in the last two years make their appearance and most of the holdover films have jostled around to new places. It is a bizarerely exciting time to be rehashing an old list so let's get straight into those honourable mentions, in no particular order of course. Paddington 2 (new entry) A perfect little bundle of joy of a film. Paddington 2 is a testament to all that is wonderfu...

As you probably know, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood  is the newest film from Hollywood auteur and genuine maniac Quentin Tarantino. This time, instead of being set in the old west, Nazi occupied France or a basement full of bleeding guys in suits, the film is set in Hollywood in 1969, around the time of the Manson murders. While there is that real life grounding though, we largely follow two fictional characters, those being Rick Dalton and his stunt double Cliff Booth. Rick is a washed up TV actor, caught between TV guest spots in which other actors outperform him and a potential future in Italy making trashy Italian movies. In the mean time, Sharon Tate has arrived in Hollywood and there is a dark energy coming from the gathering forces of the Manson family, both of which seem to be on some horrible collision course in the future. The thing is though, none of this really matters. Okay, a little bit of knowledge about the Manson murders won't hurt, but this is essentially a ha...

It's finally here: my review of what is, I am almost certain of, the most anticipated film in the history of the art of cinema (emphasis on art for obvious reasons). Yes, Hobbs and Shaw (or Fast and Furious Presents: Hobbs and Shaw  to give it its full title) has finally graced our screens and I could not be happier. I want you to know that I am going to maintain my journalistic integrity   whatever bloggers have instead of journalistic integrity and attempt to fairly review this film without letting my giddy joy take over me. So with that said, let us try and discuss, with a critical eye, the plot of Hobbs and Shaw . Hattie Shaw (sister of the titular Shaw) is part of some spy team, I forget which, where she has to steal a virus from Brixton, AKA "Black Superman". In running away, she decides to inject herself with the virus, meaning that Luke R Hobbs (yes, we find out what the R stands for) and Deckard Shaw must team up to get the virus out of her before it melts in...

Here we are then, on the five year anniversary of me starting this blog, and I figured I would do something big to celebrate. What with it being 20 years since one of the greatest years in cinema (and the births of me and probably many of you), I thought I'd do a really extensive list of the best films. What you get on the blog is going to be the same as usual (7 honourable mentions, 7 main films) but attached here is a list on my Letterboxd of everything from 1999 that I watched. That way, if you think there's something I missed, just double check it. I haven't made an entirely exhaustive list but it's certainly been an exhausting list and hopefully that is enough. If you want to read more about my thoughts on these films or any others on this list, most have at least one review so feel free to check those out. For the record, anything above Cruel Intentions  I recommend, Wonderland and above are highly recommended and once we get to  Election, they're all must wat...