The reason This Country worked so well is because Daisy May Cooper and her brother Charlie truly lived the life they depicted. They had very few credits between them, and wrote a sitcom about the area they grew up in. It feels very lived in and avoids many of the usual pitfalls of the mockumentary (mostly by casting…

So you saw your father getting shot in the face? That must have been wild...

This aired last year in the UK. It’s not bad, nothing revolutionary but solidly funny, the cast are all decent, and it’s surprisingly good as a thriller. 

Indeed. Colin Farrell was floundering in the early to mid 2000s as leading man in films like SWAT and Phone Booth. It seems like after In Bruges showed how funny and off-kilter he could be, he stepped back from big roles in mainstream films to become a really interesting character actor who occasionally takes on…

Like another very famous Irish heartthrob, Jamie Dornan strikes me as somebody who needs an edge or a twist to his roles to really shine in them. Give him a generic American accent and put him in the leading role, he comes across as bland and forgettable. Let him cut loose and keep his accent, and he’s a really…

What’s happened to the AV Club is so sad, and I really hope you and all the other talented writers leaving find your feet and keep writing great articles like this elsewhere. I appreciated the lack of A’s because, as you said, if a film got an AA Dowd ‘A’ (or even a B+), I knew it was worth looking out for.

I am so sad this column is coming to an end. I love that it’s a serious analysis of a lot of films which often get overlooked or treated with disdain, and there’s been a good mix of classics I’ve seen, underrated gems I want to see, and some really terrible pieces of work. Another one bites the dust...

I feel like almost anyone who was a teenager and watched Jackass was at some point inspired to make their own version of Jackass with their friends.

As great as Jackass is, I think Bad Trip takes the basic idea and elevates it so much. It’s genuinely one of the most ingenious comedies of the last decade.

It’s amazing how many of cinema’s greatest directors used to make incredible romantic comedies. Billy Wilder, Ernst Lubitsch, William Wyler, Howard Hawks etc.

It’s what Louis CK did too. If he had shut up and gone away for a few years, he could have come back and got back to a similar level as before.

I would have included Mare of Easttown’s ‘Illusions’, which had what might be the tensest TV scene in years. If you’ve seen the show, you’ll remember the moment. Absolutely masterful.

Her career trajectory from beloved star of British TV comedy (Peep Show, Green Wing) to Best Actress winner at the Oscars is properly remarkable. I can’t think of many other people whose careers I have literally watched go from strength to strength, but it seems like ever since she gave one of the most harrowing…

Still the greatest finale of any series ever IMO. Thematically perfect and just devastating whilst also somehow feeling hopeful and uplifting and just every emotion. I cried for about two days afterwards.

Huh, this is the only negative review I’ve seen of this one so far. I’m always in the mood for a dark christmas comedy so I’m still intrigued.

I think it’s fair to say Season 3 has been flawed so far. Still great dialogue and performances, and just an amazing control of tone where you’ll be howling with laughter one second and then devastated the next.

One of the greatest music documentaries of all time. I still can’t believe they actually allowed it to be released.

I feel like it makes a lot of sense that Paul became the leader when you look art the rest of the band. Ringo is quite chill and happy to go along with anything, John is obsessed with Yoko and heroin to the point where he’s pretty unreliable, and George is an amazing songwriter but always strikes me as a bit shy and…

My main ‘revelation’ from watching this is actually realising just how young they were through old. Ringo is the old man of the group and he’s only 28. George is writing Something and All Things Must Pass, and he’s only 25. Paul is taking up the slack and becoming the leader and he’s still only 26. It’s just insane…

I mean, I think this should be for the diehard fans. What non-Beatles fan or even casual fan would want to watch this for more than 90-120 minutes anyway?