Three Days of the Condor, starring the recently departed Robert Redford, turns 50 years old today.

Would Sadako be bigger if she crawled out of a huge tv?

Some pregnancies can be an absolute horror show. Brian Netto's Delivery (2013) uses the found footage format to literally turn a pregnancy into a horror show. Are you a fan of found footage movies? fictionmachine.com/2025/09/22/r...

What movie do you consider "perfect"?

The worst film I saw each year, 2018-2024, according to the votes on Letterboxd.

Whether it's your dream film or a love letter to the unloveable, how you take Steven Kostanski's Deathstalker is going to be down to you. fictionmachine.com/2025/09/22/f...

Pondering the future of my film review blog, because while it's on track to top 2024 in web traffic it's all old stuff. New reviews don't get 10% of the hits they were getting two years ago.

Sessue Hayakawa has been shot in THE CHEAT (1915)

Polish slasher flick 13 Days Till Summer (2025) is having its international premiere at Fantastic Fest. It's a surprisingly traditional and effectively performed work, with perhaps the most unsettling killer mask of all time. fictionmachine.com/2025/09/21/f...

Doctor Who's sixth season reaches its mid-season climax with "A Good Man Goes to War". If you've come expecting a lot of answers, you'll go away disappointed. fictionmachine.com/2025/09/19/t...

Where the separate divisions of ANTIFA landed on the beaches of Normandy on June 6, 1944:

For a country that's been sliding away from physical film media, Australia sure is releasing a lot of blurays on 8 October. 28 Years Later. Complete Elm Street on 4K. Breathless on 4K. F1. Ang Lee boxed set. Jurassic World Rebirth. A New Extremity boxed set. Superman. Three separate Imprint sets.

Here's a thought: was Easy A the last great American teen movie? fictionmachine.com/2025/09/18/r...

You can still buy all their work. Being a rude, abrasive loudmouth while trans is the only unforgivable sin to these people.

were to be around him at any time for any reason due to his habitual sexual harassment and assaults. Frank Miller released one of the most savagely Islamophobic comics of all time, HOLY TERROR, and still works with DC. There are pedophiles, war criminals, confessed sexual predators on staff.

One thing I'll say about DC not only canceling Red Hood, but recalling the first issue and refunding stores for buying it, is that you can still get Neil Gaiman's work through them. They still work with Otto Schmidt. Eddie Berganza worked there for years AFTER the formation of a policy that no women

Funny how the American right won't shut the fuck up about free speech, until it's someone else's right to free speech. variety.com/2025/tv/news...

New episode of The Muppet Show coming in 2026. variety.com/2025/tv/news...

Very cool to see bell hooks is now a Penguin Modern Classic.

Some news: yesterday was my last at Rolling Stone. For now, I'm going solo, doing all my TV reviewing, recapping, etc., at my newsletter. I hope you'll consider subscribing. Many more details here:

In remembering Robert Redford, it's worth listing some of the directors who won the Jury Prize at Sundance - often for their debut features. People like Joel Coen, Todd Haynes, Edward Burns, Todd Solondz, Karen Kusama, Kenneth Lonergan, Rebecca Miller, Debra Granik, and Ryan Coogler.

Madman are releasing a new Korean action flick on DVD today. It's worth noting - because the cover doesn't - that it's actually a sequel to another film, Veteran (2015), which was briefly released in cinemas 10 years ago but isn't available in Australia on home video.

On the blog: #StarTrekVoyager, "Workforce" part 1 - a story which has aged really well since it first came out, although part of me is like, "Wow, these exploited workers can afford to rent big apartments AND eat out? Sign me up!"

The Doctor (Matt Smith) has his own flesh duplicate to contend with in the concluding part of this two-part story. fictionmachine.com/2025/09/15/t...

We bought the cat a gym, so naturally she chooses to play in a bag.

Playing "where do I know that actor from?" Turns out ill-fated papal cleric Lorna in Doctor Who's "A Good Man Goes to War" is also La'an Noonien Singh in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" (actress Christina Chong).

Lost in Space celebrates its 60th anniversary today.

Out now on Hulu and Disney+, it's Eenie Meanie: the latest instalment of the "Samara Weaving spattered with blood" cinematic universe. fictionmachine.com/2025/09/15/r...

Bathos is a storytelling technique where one deliberately disrupts a serious tone with something absurd or ridiculous. The intended effect is the contrast: literally going from the sublime to the ridiculous. My favourite example: this scene in Alien 3. www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUZr...

Is it weird to be so fascinated by Biblical dramas and *not* be a religious person. fictionmachine.com/2025/09/14/r...

Acclaimed mystery writer Francis Durbridge wrote this six-part BBC series in 1966. It's dated, but retains a certain old-fashioned charm. fictionmachine.com/2025/09/11/t...

Been troubled all day at people noting that since Charlie Kirk mocked the idea of empathy they would show no empathy over his death. And I realised I *do* have empathy, because he was *wrong*. It is so sad he lived and died with such a heartless world view. Our greatest gift is our ability to love.

The Guardian is now reporting Charlie Kirk was literally answering a question about mass shootings when he died.

A loose remake of The Long Goodbye given a sleazy yakuza spin? This is the sort of film that makes me grateful for boutique bluray distributors like @filmsradiance.bsky.social fictionmachine.com/2025/09/10/r...

I am very sad for Charlie Kirk's family and friends, but I am also aware that he is the victim of a culture that he was aggressively contributing towards. Nobody deserves to die violently: not Kirk, not the 50 other people shot died in American gun violence during the past 72 hours.

This is a rough clip of daily hits on my film review website. That massive spike some weeks ago? The latest Hollywood blockbuster? Melbourne film festival titles? No. A quick slapped-up review of a fucking Elvis movie. Thousands and thousands and thousands of hits.

There's no point in beating about the bush: The Long Walk is hands-down the best film I have seen in 2025. fictionmachine.com/2025/09/10/r...

As is the custom of my people: screening photograph.

So, I had a yarn with the mighty @markhamillofficial.bsky.social re: his turn in the fantastic The Long Walk. If you only check out one Mark Hamill interview this week...hit up the @marcmaron.bsky.social one, obviously. But if you wanna hit two...

This is absolutely the title I would give a parody of Dan Brown. This must be the Danbrowniest of Dan Brown novels.

Slightly diminish a book: One Hundred Dalmatians

War-time thriller Moontide (1942) is a criminally underseen and underrated gem. fictionmachine.com/2025/09/08/r...

Momijigari, the oldest existing Japanese film: made in 1899, but not publicly exhibited until 1903.

RIP Supertramp co-founder and frontman Rick Davies.

A Quiet Place prequel Day One isn't a patch on the original, but then again it was never going to be. As a monster-infused disaster movie, it's enjoyable stuff. fictionmachine.com/2025/09/08/r...

Out now in Australian cinemas and strongly recommended: Eva Victor's Sorry, Baby. fictionmachine.com/2025/08/31/r...

I would be happy if I never heard the name Graham Linehan again, but I do feel the need to comment, because the nature of a lot of the abuse trans people receive is straight up sexual harassment, but is not recognized as such because the victim is trans. What Glinner is doing is sexual harassment.

Adrian Ortega's Westgate is a drama about a tragedy, but its power comes from the focus on family. @nadinewhitney.bsky.social reviews here: www.thecurb.com.au/westgate-rev...