Good Morning! Stripey tabby tuxedo cats Joe and Jake are back on their throne and keeping their eyes on the windows in case of interlopers. When they were born, nobody wanted them, and they lived outdoors feeding off scraps in the cat colony. Now the boys live comfortable lives indoors. Namaste!

As a kid, I was shocked to by the entire concept of Jack Arnold's The Incredible Shrinking Man. If the radioactive cloud doesn't get you, giant cats and spiders will, with a transcendent ending where you become one with the universe. Mind-blowing stuff. 4 out of 5 film-authority.com/2026/06/29/t...

With FIFA forcing the Iranian football team home at the first opportunity, racism and sport jump the shark together at the world cup. Many thought these battles fought and won years ago; tv show Goolagong recounts the story of an Aboriginal Australian tennis champ. film-authority.com/2026/06/29/g...

As a number of you have noticed, stripey tabby tuxedo rescue cats Joe and Jake are the brains behind my film criticism blog. Here's a rare shot of the process in action; just a look at Gerry Butler as Pope Boniface VIII in In The Hand of Dante has sent Joe the cat into a complete spiritual collapse.

The ongoing war between men and women has many more male aggressors than female; that makes Erick Zonca's 1998 French movie The Dreamlife of Angels something of a truth-teller when it comes to detailing an ongoing crime-scene. A moving, troubling film. 4 out of 5. film-authority.com/2026/06/28/t...

I saw Village of the Damned, Wolf Rilla's version of John Wyndham's The Midwich Cuckoos on BBC tv at 6 years old. With alien sexual reproduction by stealth, child murders + a suicide bomber climax, The Beeb imagined this prime-time family viewing in 1974-4 out of 5 film-authority.com/2026/06/28/v...

It's #Caturday, and your tuxedo tabby pals Joe and Jake are here to light the way to the weekend. Our hipster cats offer another of their album cover poses; this one is for their eagerly awaited dubstep-jazz funk, funk jazz-fusion double album which is entitled Honkytonk Frontbum III Pre-order now.

Film of the day at 4.35pm! @talkingpicturestv.bsky.social have a welcome revival of Two Way Stretch, a classic comedy with Peter Sellers and Bernard Cribbins. ‘You can come and empty my dustbin at any time!’ coos a cheeky Irene Handl-4 out of 5 #TalkingPicturesTV film-authority.com/2025/08/04/t...

In The Hand of Dante is a Netflix honkers-bonkers fiasco for the ages, an oddball meta-movie starring Oscar Isaac, Al Pacino, Gal Gadot, John Malkovich and Jason Momoa. Martin Scorsese is Father Abraham from The Smurfs+Gerry Butler is Pope Boniface VIII. 2 out of 5 film-authority.com/2026/06/27/i...

Top Cats the most effectual Top Cats whose intellectual The indisputable leaders of the gang They're the boss they're the pip They're the championship They're the most tip top Top Cats They're the chief, the king But above everything They're the most tip top Top Cats Joe and Jake wish you the best!

James Gunn's Chapter One; Gods and Monsters Universe for DC Comics continues at a hectic pace; 12 months after a more politically astute Superman, Milly Alock plays Supergirl in a fresh reboot. Flying dogs, Jason Momoa, Wet Leg, it's all enjoyable stuff. 3 out of 5 film-authority.com/2026/06/26/s...

Good morning, world! Giving off real 'first day at school' vibes, Joe and Jake line up for their first breakfast of the day, with little white collars and paws neatly together. You wouldn't think them capable of epic wrestling matches from this pic; butter would not melt in their mouths. Namaste!

Completing our double bill of Olivia Newton John musicals that are not Grease, we'll follow up Tomorrow with 1980's Xanadu, with Michael Beck and Gene Kelly in a tale of roller-skating gods. It doesn't work, but some scenes are amazing. 3 out of 5 for camp value. film-authority.com/2026/06/25/x...

The BFI show their hip, groovy side with a new 4K restoration of Tomorrow, a 1970 sci-fi musical from minds behind James Bond and The Monkees. Olivia Newton John leads a student band who are beamed up by aliens from the Camden Roundhouse. 4 out of 5 for camp value. film-authority.com/2026/06/25/t...

My wee Scottish cats Joe and Jake come and sit with me every morning as I publish my blog online. They've already had their first 2 breakfasts, so they really don't need anything from me. They could sit anywhere in the house, but they choose to keep me company and I treasure their input. Namaste!

On Hulu in the US, Disney+ in the UK, Alice and Steve sees Clerkenwell Films follow-up Baby Reindeer with more relationships gone bad. Jemaine Clement plays Steve, best pal of Alice (Nicola Walker), but no more after he starts sleeping with her daughter. 4 out of 5 film-authority.com/2026/06/24/a...

Currently gaining an audience on the BBC iplayer, Sean Durkin's The Iron Claw is the Zac Efron wrestling drama you didn't know you needed. The Bear's Jeremy Allen White steals the show in a moving story, but get out your handkerchieves, you'll need them. 4 out of 5 film-authority.com/2026/06/24/t...

Every morning I post a film review, and a pic of Scottish cats Joe and Jake, pictured here with their favourite tartan blanket. They're almost identical- Jake has a white medal and a mark on his nose. Yesterday the boys got 1400+ likes; for two little raggamuffins, it's a dream come true. Thank you!

Edgar Wright+ Sydney Sweeney are planning a remake of Barbarella, written by Jane Goldman and her daughter. I didn't like this movie first time around, when Jane Fonda suffered various indignities, and I'd pay actually money to stop this reboot happening-2 out of 5 film-authority.com/2026/06/23/b...

Robert Altman's California Split is an influence on 2015's Mississippi Grind, a downbeat character study about gamblers starring Ryan Reynolds and Ben Mendelsohn. If you've only ever seen these guys in blockbusters, their performances are a revelation. 4 out of 5. film-authority.com/2026/06/23/m...

Good Morning to all friends of Joe and Jake, two little cats who mean no harm to anyone. They live in a haunted railway station in Scotland after being rescued from a bin. They feel very fortunate to have found a community of friends on bluesky, and wish every single one of you a very happy Monday.

Not trying to be a contrary Mary, but I haven't liked any version of Clarice Starling in prose or film since The Silence of the Lambs. Originally made in 2021, Clarice is a far more sober take on the Thomas Harris character, but for my money, a good one. 4 out of 5 film-authority.com/2026/06/22/c...

Jodie Foster returns to the psychological thriller in A Private Life, an elegant mystery movie out in the UK on Friday (June 26th) from @altitudefilms.bsky.social Director Rebecca Zlotowski made the excellent Grand Central and it's well worth your time. 4 out of 5. film-authority.com/2026/06/22/a...

Can't be unseen. As Ripley says about the aliens, 'At least you don't see them f*cking each other over for a goddamn percentage'

It's the longest day of the year, and Joe and Jake are ready to celebrate the summer solstice by kicking back to enjoy the puddles of sunshine which come through the windows. These brave cats congratulate you on getting this far, and wish you all the very best of luck for the second half of 2026!!!!

Why can't we all just get along? 1995's black comedy The Last Supper sees liberal pals murder an unexpected visitor (Bill Paxton) for his politics; they feel justified, but where does their intolerance end? Cameron Diaz stars in a smart, neglected movie. 4 out of 5 film-authority.com/2026/06/21/t...

American football spawned plenty of cheesy movies; 1979's North Dallas Forty isn't one of them, it's a thoughtful look at professional sportsmen. Nick Nolte+Mac Davis give their all for the fictional Dallas Bulls NFL team in a study of flawed machismo. 5 out of 5. film-authority.com/2026/06/21/n...

Just another crushing #Caturday for stripey cats Joe + Jake, adrift in their little lifeboat of dreams. It's not the men, it's the stairs, but it's hope that kills you in the end. The boys will dust themselves down and keep on keeping on; they wish all their many bluesky pals the very best of days.

Saturday night is sorted on @talkingpicturestv.bsky.social - at 9.05pm, they have The Odessa File, a Frederick Forsyth adaptation with innocents Jon Voight and Mary Tamm discovering war criminals hand-in-hand with corporate interests-5 out of 5 #TPTVsubtitles #TPTV film-authority.com/2025/08/16/t...

Completing a double bill of angst about technology in our lives, 1984's Electric Dreams imagines AI seeking to interfere with our romantic lives. From Richard Branson's Virgin label, this is a silly movie that at least gave birth to a banger of a tune. 3 out of 5. film-authority.com/2026/06/20/e...

The tech vs toys theme is ideal for hopeless 2026; I returned to the multiplex where I saw Toy Story for the fifth instalment of the Pixar franchise. In the darkness, I found a familiar scene of laughing children, held tight by weeping, emotional parents-4 out of 5 film-authority.com/2026/06/20/t...

Back on the BBC this week, talking football with top man Stephen Jardine. The topic was our world cup B-team and I went for the hirsute beefcakes of Uruguay, partly the inspiration for Ted Lasso's ”Fútbol is life!' There's a link to our august chat in the article. film-authority.com/2026/06/19/t...

Joe and Jake return with another of their wry hot-takes on pop culture. Today, the talented cats have trained their sights on the Pet Shop Boys album actually with this cheeky tribute to Neil and Chris.

With James Cameron threatening to bring Avatar-level technology to a remake, let's take a Fantastic Voyage back to retro-future 1966. And it IS fantastic; Raquel Welch, Donald Pleasence and more take a miniature submarine journey inside the human body. 4 out of 5. film-authority.com/2026/06/19/f...

Joey, do you like films about gladiators? Have you ever been in a Turkish prison?' Alan Parker's Midnight Express, I must confess, is a guilty pleasure; the dubious messaging on racial and sexual politics isn't great, yet it's still a compelling watch. 3 out of 5 film-authority.com/2026/06/19/m...

Hello. We are Joe and Jake, and welcome to our mysterious world. We'll be tackling unsolved mysteries like the red dot on the tv, what is the postman, and what was that man who came to service the boiler? Nobody knows what these events mean, but we'll be trying to make sense of them... Join us!

In the UK, ITVX are currently showing an unexpected passion for art-house cinema with Portrait of a Lady on Fire. There's beautiful Brittany locations as Noémie Merlant and Adèle Haenel star in a moving love affair, plus Valerie Golino from Hot Shots... 4 out of 5. film-authority.com/2026/06/18/p...

Back in the 70s, the BBC felt that Burt Reynolds in White Lightning was worth screening on national tv 4 times in 7 years; it's peak Burt, a credible lead long before he became a parody of himself. Corrupt sheriffs, good-old boys and car chases delivered-4 out of 5 film-authority.com/2026/06/18/w...

I wonder what furry pals Joe and Jake are up to today? Let's start our morning off with some fun, and a little glimpse into their... ...oh, SORRY boys, we'll come back later, I'll make sure I knock next time.... Joe and Jake like their privacy, I shouldn't intrude on their private time! Namaste!

Let's crack open some good stuff after a run of duds; Brian De Palma's 1974 musical Phantom of the Paradise is a wonderfully dark, original movie with a slew of dynamite songs from the great Paul Williams. I arrived late to this wild party, but adore it. 5 out of 5 film-authority.com/2026/06/17/p...

My hat-trick of terrible films ends with 1975's British pop-culture abomination Side By Side, featuring Terry Thomas and Barry Humphries as nightclub owners cashing-in on the hip sounds of upstart bands like Mud, Fox, Kenny, The Cream and many many more. 2 out of 5 film-authority.com/2026/06/17/s...

It's impossible for me to stress how mutually co-dependent stripey cats Joe and Jake are; they literally can't live without each other. The boys sleep wrapped up in each others arms and legs, clinging tightly onto to each other as they doze for 18 hours a day in their lifeboat of dreams. Namaste!

I'm no fan of vanity projects, and it's beyond me why popular singer Pharrell make a self-regarding biopic of himself out of Lego, and yet here we are. 2024's Piece by Piece is the kind of ego-centric fluff-piece which does my scone in. Review below. 2 out of 5 film-authority.com/2026/06/16/p...

It's a tough life for Oliver Reed completists; he performs his role in 1983's dubious VHS adaptation of John Cleland's 1748 novel in a Daffy Duck voice, presumably as a private bet. I wrote the one and only review of this dismal film on Rotten Tomatoes. 2 out of 5 film-authority.com/2026/06/16/f...

Is it safe to come out yet? Scottish cats Joe and Jake faced severe disruption to their sleeping schedule this weekend, and are keen to make sure that they, and you, have access to 18 hours a day eepy time. Joe managed to poke his head out, but it's too noisy and bright for him just now. Namaste!

Alternatively, if you enjoy the spectacle of men hitting each other with hammers, you'll love The Furious, a ground-breaking Hong Kong martial-arts flick, out now in the USA and next week in the UK. It's the best thing of its kind since The Raid 1 and 2. 4 out of 5 film-authority.com/2026/06/15/t...

Out this Friday in the UK, Australian adult LGBTQIA+ feature Lesbian Space Princess is an antidote to the celebration of men's soccer at the world cup; this debut picture ploughs a fairly unique furrow in animated feature history. At Vue and Picturehouse-4 out of 5 film-authority.com/2026/06/15/l...

Stop the Count! Scotland's soccer-ball team have topped our World Cup group; proud Scots Joe and Jake really did stay up to silly o'clock to watch on tv. As a result, the boys have very sore heads and are turning down the brightness on everything. May all your sweetest dreams come true. Namaste!!

A movie that dares to tell the truth about Scotland's love of football + Rod Stewart, Mike Myers' So I Married an Axe Murderer is a wonderfully daft, macabre romcom about a young man with a Scottish heritage, based on the Canadian comic's own upbringing. 4 out of 5 film-authority.com/2026/06/14/s...

In an unexpected change to the schedule, we're celebrating all things Scotland + football with a Scottish double bill. First up, Bill Forsyth's 1980 comedy Gregory's Girl is a beloved story of a gauche young man who has to buck up his ideas about women-4 out of 5 film-authority.com/2023/09/11/g...