When I was 12 and the radio still had an antenna, I discovered a low quality frequency of BBC Radio 1 on my little portable FM radio in my parents’ house in Galway, Ireland. It was life-changing. Suddenly I had access to round-the-clock high energy pop radio, outrageous personalities and…

Although frequently the target of unparalleled levels of cynicism and contempt from my left-wing peers for the white liberal condescension his work often pushes, Aaron Sorkin remains probably my favourite writer working in Hollywood today. His grasp on character and dialogue in contexts typically seen as dull — political meeting…

Despite being the layman’s catch-all for the entire medium, there’s a very strong argument Netflix is the worst streaming service in terms of quality of output. With an internal emphasis on preventing churn (quarterly subscriber loss), there are two dozen half-assed projects dumped on the service for every film or…

While the final season of Breaking Bad was airing in summer 2013, AMC were heavily promoting a show called Low Winter Sun starring Mark Strong as a crooked cop that Bad would provide a lead-in for. It’s an old fashioned concept; using a massive show or TV event (often the…

They’re the most popular source of screen entertainment on the planet… but how many of the big hitters are actually any good? From Sam Raimi to Chris Nolan to, ugh, even Zack Snyder and Joss Whedon, some filmmakers have managed to squeeze solid material from the comic-book movie phenomenon. …

The summer is chugging along at a perfectly okay pace for movies, with mostly dull blockbusters and the occasional Jordan Peele treat on the calendar. But the later months of the year offer a much more appetising selection of big screen (and, in some cases, streaming) delights: new period epics…

I will always remember the summer The Dark Knight Rises was released as an unfathomable build-up of hysteria for this excitable 14-year old followed by a massive dose of reality. …

Clint Eastwood announces the winner of the Oscar for Best Picture… it’s The Godfather! Al Ruddy jumps from his seat and parades to the stage, a mountain of applause on either side of him, a spotlight lighting his path. It’s a Chariots of Fire moment, a triumph for artistic integrity…