Haven’t seen a single correct ranking of all the Paul Thomas Anderson movies, so here is the actual right order. (Everything from Magnolia up is a 9/10 btw)

Tonight’s the night

Tonight’s the night

Apple Music finally removed the corny AI snow from this Bob Dylan album cover art 😍 who told them it looked like absolute shit?!

Smashed the gravy boat just as we’re about to enter prime Sunday roast season.

Made it all the way to Tulsa, Oklahoma and excited to be presenting a paper tomorrow at the World of Bob Dylan 2025 conference!

It’s raining

Talkin’ CV3 Binley Mega Chippy Blues

Had a great time presenting at the #CST conference yesterday, looking at the rise of live broadcasts on streaming platforms. Saw so many great papers!

Whenever there’s a guy you’ve never seen in your life getting a little too much screen time in a Mission Impossible movie, you just KNOW it’s Tom Cruise in a mask.

A new podcast conversation between Jose Arroyo and James Taylor, focusing on James’ new book, ‘The Superhero Blockbuster: Adaptation, Style, and Meaning’. Listen here: notesonfilm1.com/2025/06/06/j...

LEAKED IMAGE FROM INSIDE THE CONCLAVE

Binged all of Netflix’s The Four Seasons. Feels like a welcome throwback to their earliest original programmes where a lot of money is spent sending famous stars to exotic locations.

In a crazy but completely on-brand turn of events, I’ll be presenting at the 2025 World of Dylan conference in Tulsa, OK. My paper is titled - ‘Stare into the vacuum of his eyes’ - Looking at Bob Dylan and the reaction shot in A Complete Unknown. Thrilled to be accepted and explore the archives!

Mid 00s was a great time for weird DVD cover art where they didn’t just copy the poster but cooked up something like this. Please show me your fave weird dvd art.

I hit a few shots as bad as McIlroy when I played 9 holes on Friday. Maybe this means I could one day also win the Masters.

You will see the most guys who look like other guys in the queue for Record Store Day. Is that Greg from The White Lotus? Is that Brett Goldstein? No it isn’t. It’s just guys.

It’s the masters baby ⛳️ ⛳️ ⛳️

What if I told you in 2006 that these three were dominating the media landscape, 20 years on?

We’re so back

Today sees the digital publication of James C. Taylor’s monograph, ‘The Superhero Blockbuster: Adaptation, Style, and Meaning’ You may already be able to access via university affiliation at the following link: www.jstor.org/stable/jj.25... Physical copies will be available in 2 weeks.

Huge congratulations to Chris O’Rourke for winning the Best Article Award at BAFTSS 2025!

Presenting as part of the Comedic Aesthetics panel at #BAFTSS2025 tomorrow! My paper is called ‘It’s Not TV, It’s A24’ and will be looking at how A24 have positioned themselves as a producer of televised stand-up comedy and the ways in which this reinforces their strong brand identity.

I thought this was Bono

James MacDowell’s new article, ‘Breaking (and making) the Fourth Wall on YouTube’ is now published (and is open access) in the Quarterly Review of Film and Video. Read below: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Severance S2:E10 is kind of a perfect finale right? Stakes are raised to new highs, answers many (but not all) questions, introduces ideas which complicates things for the future but also wraps things up to a degree that I’d be fine if it ended there for good.

Staying up late tonight to watch Netflix’s first attempt at a live late-night talk show. I can’t see myself making this commitment every week but feel like the inaugural effort deserves my attention, especially seeing as I’ll be discussing the topic later this year at the CST conference!

Took this pic 5 years ago today

Jesus Christ, my body is rotting away

Referring to ‘my wife’ pre-2006 was good harmless fun, but it’s impossible to do in today’s world without receiving accusations of borat.

Speaking very briefly about claymation in tomorrow’s lecture, which I think is enough to justify using this clip in my PowerPoint: youtu.be/2jqKiVHS6x4?...

Hello friends, I’ll be on Capital FM radio at various points throughout the morning sounding very tired recapping some of the biggest moments from last night’s Oscars.

Oscars happening before the clocks go forward is giving me life. I remember the days of the 1:00-5:00am coverage.

It might be Oscars weekend, but the results are now out for Warwick Film and TV’s annual Alternative Oscars, voted for by the staff and students of the department. View the results and read the excellent write-up by Ethan Jones here: reeltalk0.movie.blog/2025/02/28/r...

Severance Fridays and White Lotus Mondays have got me like:

I can’t deal with these White Lotus accents

Voting soon closes for Warwick FTV’s annual Alternative Oscars! Vote here: moodle.warwick.ac.uk/mod/questionna…

2025 is the year of funny rock criticism review titles.

The Reel Talk student blog have launched their annual Alternative Oscars poll today with an editorial piece highlighting six selections overlooked by the academy: reeltalk0.movie.blog/2025/02/13/e...

Made £40 on Superbowl bets

Never understood the doubt around Anora being a serious contender for Best Picture. Saw it back in November and it clearly seemed like a top 2/3 frontrunner. It’s helped by this being a weaker year than usual and the absolute shitstorm of controversy surrounding the other competition.

Had to do it

Most valuable grown-up skill I’ve acquired isn’t anything to do with productivity or managing finances but knowing which valve to turn under the boiler when there’s no hot water. Use this a few times a year, hugely satisfying W.

A range of emotions for John Mayer

We’re so back

Not Jake from The Traitors wearing my wedding suit on the aftershow.

Wrote a little something something about this year’s Oscar noms. warwick.ac.uk/newsandevent...

Life hasn’t really been hitting the same since Costco discontinued their bbq chicken pizza