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Category: list

list, opinionLeave a comment

Favourites of the 1990s: #275-251

March 1, 2023March 1, 2023 Grant Watson

The 1990s is probably my favourite decade for cinema, in no small part because it was the decade in which I really started to engage with film beyond simply enjoying the movies. This is the second set of 25 great … Continue reading Favourites of the 1990s: #275-251

list, opinionLeave a comment

Favourites of the 1990s: #300-276

February 23, 2023 Grant Watson

Back in 2019, I marked the end of the decade with a huge countdown of my favourite films of the 2010s; Debra Granik’s Winter’s Bone was my top pick. I figured it was about time to run another massive countdown of my … Continue reading Favourites of the 1990s: #300-276

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10 great films from 2022

January 7, 2023January 7, 2023 Grant Watson

It is that time again for me to select 10 films that I particularly enjoyed from the past year. Calling such a list a “year’s best” always strikes me as disingenuous and unhelpful. For one thing, while I am fairly … Continue reading 10 great films from 2022

list, opinion3 Comments

100 Years of the BBC: #10-1

October 26, 2022 Grant Watson

10. Porridge (1974-1977) Ronnie Barker was one of the UK’s most outstanding comedic actors, and Porridge represents his personal master work. Written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, it featured Barker as professional burglar Norman “Fletch” Fletcher, sentenced to five … Continue reading 100 Years of the BBC: #10-1

list, opinion7 Comments

100 Years of the BBC: #20-11

October 25, 2022October 25, 2022 Grant Watson

20. Colditz (1972-1974) Major Pat Reid, imprisoned by the Germans during World War II, eventually wrote a successful memoir of his experiences as a prisoner-of-war, and that hugely successful book inspired the feature film The Colditz Story in 1955. Almost two decades … Continue reading 100 Years of the BBC: #20-11

list, opinion2 Comments

100 Years of the BBC: #30-21

October 23, 2022 Grant Watson

30. Wolf Hall (2015) The BBC do period drama like nobody’s business. Wolf Hall, broadcast in 2015 and based on the novels of the late Hilary Mantel, is one of the very best. Both books and series focused on Thomas Cromwell, first … Continue reading 100 Years of the BBC: #30-21

list, opinion5 Comments

100 Years of the BBC: #40-31

October 19, 2022October 19, 2022 Grant Watson

40. All Creatures Great and Small (1978-1990) Veterinary surgeon Alf Wright, writing as James Herriot, had made a lucrative career out of a series of semi-fictionalised memoirs about caring for animals in the Yorkshire Dales. While his work had already … Continue reading 100 Years of the BBC: #40-31

list, opinion4 Comments

100 Years of the BBC: #50-41

October 18, 2022October 17, 2022 Grant Watson

50. This Life (1996-2007)As the mid-1990s saw the United Kingdom succumb to the Britpop explosion, so television and film evolved to accommodate this new music-inspired craze for youth and drug culture. In 1996 audiences got Trainspotting in the movie theatres, … Continue reading 100 Years of the BBC: #50-41

list, opinion4 Comments

100 Years of the BBC: #60-51

October 14, 2022October 19, 2022 Grant Watson

60. Challenge Anneka (1989-1995) This entertainment program was devised specifically as a vehicle for Anneka Rice, who had become very popular in the UK off the back of the Channel 4 game show Treasure Hunt. The concept was trialled in 1987 as … Continue reading 100 Years of the BBC: #60-51

list, opinion5 Comments

100 Years of the BBC: #70-61

October 12, 2022October 12, 2022 Grant Watson

70. Cracked Actor (1975) Tasked with covering David Bowie’s Diamond Dogs tour, director Alan Yentob (later controller of BBC1 and ultimately creative director of the whole BBC) was granted full backstage access. Combining behind the scenes observations, sit-down interviews, and excerpts from … Continue reading 100 Years of the BBC: #70-61

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