Grant Watson
@fictionmachine.bsky.social
Rotten Tomatoes-accredited film critic. Award-winning playwright. Noted international education analyst. Serviceable theatre director. Has multiple sclerosis.
www.fictionmachine.com
www.fictionmachine.com
"Man, I had a tough week, my job is crazy."
(Meanwhile, in the Taiwanese Parliament.)
(Meanwhile, in the Taiwanese Parliament.)
February 13, 2026 at 4:03 AM
"Man, I had a tough week, my job is crazy."
(Meanwhile, in the Taiwanese Parliament.)
(Meanwhile, in the Taiwanese Parliament.)
NEW REVIEW! Ozu Yasujiro's first talking picture sees the director emerge effectively fully-formed in terms of style, tone, and content. It's a modest and heartfelt family drama.
fictionmachine.com/2026/02/12/r...
fictionmachine.com/2026/02/12/r...
REVIEW: The Only Son (1936)
Ozu Yasujiro’s The Only Son – his first talking picture – is an efficiently composed, modest gem. It tells a short, simple story but tells it very well. One can see the artist tha…
fictionmachine.com
February 12, 2026 at 9:54 PM
NEW REVIEW! Ozu Yasujiro's first talking picture sees the director emerge effectively fully-formed in terms of style, tone, and content. It's a modest and heartfelt family drama.
fictionmachine.com/2026/02/12/r...
fictionmachine.com/2026/02/12/r...
What's the difference between a Looney Tunes and a Merrie Melodies cartoon, you may ask.
Warner Bros owned a very large catalogue of musical works. Merrie Melodies were set up to exploit this catalogue, while Looney Tunes were established for more generic animated short films.
So now you know.
Warner Bros owned a very large catalogue of musical works. Merrie Melodies were set up to exploit this catalogue, while Looney Tunes were established for more generic animated short films.
So now you know.
February 12, 2026 at 1:41 AM
What's the difference between a Looney Tunes and a Merrie Melodies cartoon, you may ask.
Warner Bros owned a very large catalogue of musical works. Merrie Melodies were set up to exploit this catalogue, while Looney Tunes were established for more generic animated short films.
So now you know.
Warner Bros owned a very large catalogue of musical works. Merrie Melodies were set up to exploit this catalogue, while Looney Tunes were established for more generic animated short films.
So now you know.
NEW REVIEW. To an extent, James Vanderbilt's Nuremberg is just another glossy Hollywood courtroom drama, but a series of small moments and a blunt, factual representation of Nazi horrors elevate it to a higher quality.
fictionmachine.com/2026/02/11/r...
fictionmachine.com/2026/02/11/r...
REVIEW: Nuremberg (2025)
James Vanderbilt, who wrote the screenplay to Zodiac (2007), has now written and directed the historical drama Nuremberg (2025). It actually makes a lot of sense, and I feel one can sense both film…
fictionmachine.com
February 11, 2026 at 10:50 PM
NEW REVIEW. To an extent, James Vanderbilt's Nuremberg is just another glossy Hollywood courtroom drama, but a series of small moments and a blunt, factual representation of Nazi horrors elevate it to a higher quality.
fictionmachine.com/2026/02/11/r...
fictionmachine.com/2026/02/11/r...
RIP James Van Der Beek.
February 11, 2026 at 8:35 PM
RIP James Van Der Beek.
Given how good the Darabont film of The Mist is, this new adaptation is honest-to-god a waste of everybody's time. Flanagan's, King's, the audience's. Everybody's.
deadline.com/2026/02/step...
deadline.com/2026/02/step...
Mike Flanagan & Stephen King Back In Business With ‘The Mist’ Movie For Warner Bros
Warner Bros is reuniting frequent collaborators Mike Flanagan and Stephen King on a new adaptation of The Mist, based on King's 1980 novella.
deadline.com
February 10, 2026 at 11:07 PM
Given how good the Darabont film of The Mist is, this new adaptation is honest-to-god a waste of everybody's time. Flanagan's, King's, the audience's. Everybody's.
deadline.com/2026/02/step...
deadline.com/2026/02/step...
NEW REVIEW! "Series Acclimation Mil" is a near-perfect episode of Starfleet Academy in every respect bar timing.
fictionmachine.com/2026/02/10/t...
fictionmachine.com/2026/02/10/t...
TV REVIEW: Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, 1.5 “Series Acclimation Mil”
First broadcast 5 February 2026. I have sat on writing this review for longer than usual, because “Series Acclimation Mil” is easily – for good or bad – the most interesting…
fictionmachine.com
February 10, 2026 at 10:42 PM
NEW REVIEW! "Series Acclimation Mil" is a near-perfect episode of Starfleet Academy in every respect bar timing.
fictionmachine.com/2026/02/10/t...
fictionmachine.com/2026/02/10/t...
I'm not quite sure this means entirely what you think it means, Nuremberg.
February 10, 2026 at 8:48 AM
I'm not quite sure this means entirely what you think it means, Nuremberg.
This rather misleading headline neglects to include that the cases were dismissed because they were filed in the USA but the alleged crimes occurred in New Zealand.
www.theguardian.com/books/2026/f...
www.theguardian.com/books/2026/f...
US judges dismiss lawsuits accusing Neil Gaiman of sexual assault
Former nanny Scarlett Pavlovich filed suit in three US states alleging author assaulted her in New Zealand in 2022
www.theguardian.com
February 10, 2026 at 12:58 AM
This rather misleading headline neglects to include that the cases were dismissed because they were filed in the USA but the alleged crimes occurred in New Zealand.
www.theguardian.com/books/2026/f...
www.theguardian.com/books/2026/f...
NEW REVIEW! Hosoda Mamoru's new anime feature Scarlet is a dizzying and ambitious epic riff on Shakespeare's Hamlet. It is screening now in Australian cinemas.
fictionmachine.com/2026/02/09/r...
fictionmachine.com/2026/02/09/r...
REVIEW: Scarlet (2025)
It is difficult to imagine that William Shakespeare, when writing the playscript for Hamlet around 1600, could imagine it would still be getting fresh stagings and adaptations 425 years later ̵…
fictionmachine.com
February 9, 2026 at 10:53 PM
NEW REVIEW! Hosoda Mamoru's new anime feature Scarlet is a dizzying and ambitious epic riff on Shakespeare's Hamlet. It is screening now in Australian cinemas.
fictionmachine.com/2026/02/09/r...
fictionmachine.com/2026/02/09/r...
Congratulations to my wife Sonia Marcon and her very talented co-stars for their Outstanding Ensemble nomination in this year's Green Room Awards for Melbourne experimental theatre. Flesh Mirror was an amazing show, and their nomination is so well deserved.
February 9, 2026 at 3:19 AM
Congratulations to my wife Sonia Marcon and her very talented co-stars for their Outstanding Ensemble nomination in this year's Green Room Awards for Melbourne experimental theatre. Flesh Mirror was an amazing show, and their nomination is so well deserved.
Hong Kong courts have sentenced Jimmy Lai to 20 years in prison; effectively a death sentence, given his frail health and age (78).
February 9, 2026 at 3:09 AM
Hong Kong courts have sentenced Jimmy Lai to 20 years in prison; effectively a death sentence, given his frail health and age (78).
The City of Melbourne published a closing date for applications to their quick response art grants program, and then spontaneously closed to applications three weeks early due to "volume of applications". That is staggeringly unprofessional, and a slap in the face to Melbourne's artists.
February 8, 2026 at 11:38 PM
The City of Melbourne published a closing date for applications to their quick response art grants program, and then spontaneously closed to applications three weeks early due to "volume of applications". That is staggeringly unprofessional, and a slap in the face to Melbourne's artists.
NEW ESSAY! A new essay, published today, takes a look at Naruse Mikio's 1945 samurai drama A Tale of Archery at the Sanjusangen-do: shot during the waning months of World War 2, it was one of only two period dramas that Naruse directed in an 89-film career.
fictionmachine.com/2026/02/08/n...
fictionmachine.com/2026/02/08/n...
Naruse During Wartime | A Tale of Archery at the Sanjusangen-do (1945)
Any discussion of Japan’s finest film directors must surely include Naruse Mikio. Naruse started his career as what one might call a director’s director – loved by his fellow artists, but not…
fictionmachine.com
February 8, 2026 at 10:08 PM
NEW ESSAY! A new essay, published today, takes a look at Naruse Mikio's 1945 samurai drama A Tale of Archery at the Sanjusangen-do: shot during the waning months of World War 2, it was one of only two period dramas that Naruse directed in an 89-film career.
fictionmachine.com/2026/02/08/n...
fictionmachine.com/2026/02/08/n...
A modern Muppet Show guest you wouldn't think of, but who'd knock it out of the park.
Rob Zombie.
Rob Zombie.
February 8, 2026 at 10:53 AM
A modern Muppet Show guest you wouldn't think of, but who'd knock it out of the park.
Rob Zombie.
Rob Zombie.
NEW REVIEW! Ellie and Dina's arrival in Seattle is a time for truth-telling, heartfelt moments, extreme violence, and American national treasure Jeffrey Wright. It's "Day One", episode 4 of The Last of Us Season 2.
fictionmachine.com/2026/02/08/t...
fictionmachine.com/2026/02/08/t...
TV REVIEW: The Last of Us, 2.4 “Day One”
First broadcast 4 May 2025. In “Day One” Ellie (Bella Ramsey) and Dina (Isabela Merced) begin to explore Seattle, and stumble into a pitched street war between the WLF and a post-apocal…
fictionmachine.com
February 8, 2026 at 6:28 AM
NEW REVIEW! Ellie and Dina's arrival in Seattle is a time for truth-telling, heartfelt moments, extreme violence, and American national treasure Jeffrey Wright. It's "Day One", episode 4 of The Last of Us Season 2.
fictionmachine.com/2026/02/08/t...
fictionmachine.com/2026/02/08/t...
Is there a specific computer game or videogame you've played, where from the first moment you were like: "OMG it is like they reached into my head and made the perfect game for *me*".
For me it's Shenmue on the Sega Dreamcast.
For me it's Shenmue on the Sega Dreamcast.
February 7, 2026 at 10:43 PM
Is there a specific computer game or videogame you've played, where from the first moment you were like: "OMG it is like they reached into my head and made the perfect game for *me*".
For me it's Shenmue on the Sega Dreamcast.
For me it's Shenmue on the Sega Dreamcast.
If anybody wants to creepily stalk my viewing habits, I record the films I watch on Letterboxd and the TV episodes on Serializd.
www.serializd.com/user/angriest
letterboxd.com/fictionmachi...
www.serializd.com/user/angriest
letterboxd.com/fictionmachi...
February 7, 2026 at 4:12 AM
If anybody wants to creepily stalk my viewing habits, I record the films I watch on Letterboxd and the TV episodes on Serializd.
www.serializd.com/user/angriest
letterboxd.com/fictionmachi...
www.serializd.com/user/angriest
letterboxd.com/fictionmachi...
Really not sure how to review this week's Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, because it was a great episode for *me* but not necessarily an appropriate episode for the fifth week of a new series.
February 7, 2026 at 4:00 AM
Really not sure how to review this week's Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, because it was a great episode for *me* but not necessarily an appropriate episode for the fifth week of a new series.
NEW REVIEW! The second film in Anno Hideaki's four-part Evangelion reboot is superior to the first, boasting strong animation, great ideas, but a dizzyingly incoherent story.
fictionmachine.com/2026/02/06/r...
fictionmachine.com/2026/02/06/r...
REVIEW: Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance (2009)
Anno Hideaki’s four-part film remake of Neon Genesis Evangelion was originally envisaged as a quick and cheap affair, with each digest film hitting cinemas at a rate of one every six months. …
fictionmachine.com
February 6, 2026 at 11:26 PM
NEW REVIEW! The second film in Anno Hideaki's four-part Evangelion reboot is superior to the first, boasting strong animation, great ideas, but a dizzyingly incoherent story.
fictionmachine.com/2026/02/06/r...
fictionmachine.com/2026/02/06/r...
NEW REVIEW! Scott Derrickson's horror sequel Black Phone 2, looks great, plays great, and steals liberally from Wes Craven - but the dialogue's a shocker.
fictionmachine.com/2026/02/05/r...
fictionmachine.com/2026/02/05/r...
REVIEW: Black Phone 2 (2025)
Scott Derrickson’s Black Phone 2 (2025) is a rock-solid example of how to take a highly self-contained horror film, without any clear avenues for extensions or follow-ups, and produce an effe…
fictionmachine.com
February 5, 2026 at 11:00 PM
NEW REVIEW! Scott Derrickson's horror sequel Black Phone 2, looks great, plays great, and steals liberally from Wes Craven - but the dialogue's a shocker.
fictionmachine.com/2026/02/05/r...
fictionmachine.com/2026/02/05/r...
Out in general release in Australia this week: Zak Hilditch's excellent zombie drama We Bury the Dead. I really liked this one, and encourage you to check it out. fictionmachine.com/2025/08/08/m...
MIFF REVIEW: We Bury the Dead (2025)
Australia’s recent run of world-class horror cinema continues with We Bury the Dead, a hugely inventive and effective zombie thriller from writer-director Zak Hilditch. Starring Star Wars alu…
fictionmachine.com
February 5, 2026 at 3:22 AM
Out in general release in Australia this week: Zak Hilditch's excellent zombie drama We Bury the Dead. I really liked this one, and encourage you to check it out. fictionmachine.com/2025/08/08/m...
Out in Australian cinemas today, Bradley Cooper's Is This Thing On. My non-entirely-charmed review is linked here.
fictionmachine.com/2026/01/18/r...
fictionmachine.com/2026/01/18/r...
REVIEW: Is This Thing On? (2025)
Bradley Cooper’s new comic drama Is This Thing On? is far from being a terrible movie, but it is important to note it is hardly a great one either. For one of Hollywood’s more enthusias…
fictionmachine.com
February 5, 2026 at 3:21 AM
Out in Australian cinemas today, Bradley Cooper's Is This Thing On. My non-entirely-charmed review is linked here.
fictionmachine.com/2026/01/18/r...
fictionmachine.com/2026/01/18/r...
The Rankin-Bass animated film The Last Unicorn (1982) was animated by a Japanese company named Topcraft, who were subsequently hired by producer Suzuki Toshio to animate Miyazaki Hayao's Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind.
February 4, 2026 at 9:19 PM
The Rankin-Bass animated film The Last Unicorn (1982) was animated by a Japanese company named Topcraft, who were subsequently hired by producer Suzuki Toshio to animate Miyazaki Hayao's Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind.