Alistair Owen
@alistairwriter.bsky.social
Author & Screenwriter alistairowenwriter.com
I reviewed my favourite reads of 2025 for Shepherd Books: Year of the King by Antony Sher from @nickhernbooks.bsky.social, Karla's Choice by @nickharkaway.com and The Proof of My Innocence by @jonathancoe.bsky.social. I was asked to rank them, but all are first class...
shepherd.com/bboy/2025/f/...
shepherd.com/bboy/2025/f/...
November 7, 2025 at 3:28 PM
I reviewed my favourite reads of 2025 for Shepherd Books: Year of the King by Antony Sher from @nickhernbooks.bsky.social, Karla's Choice by @nickharkaway.com and The Proof of My Innocence by @jonathancoe.bsky.social. I was asked to rank them, but all are first class...
shepherd.com/bboy/2025/f/...
shepherd.com/bboy/2025/f/...
🎂 Happy 2nd Birthday to my 5th Q&A book, #TheMirrorAndTheRoad: Conversations with William Boyd. Observer, Independent, iNews & TLS all called it "fascinating", and Slow Horses author Mick Herron hoped to find it in his Christmas stocking. Cheers to that! 🍾
www.alistairowenwriter.com/the-mirror-a...
www.alistairowenwriter.com/the-mirror-a...
The Mirror and the Road — Alistair Owen
An exclusive series of interviews with bestselling author and screenwriter William Boyd
www.alistairowenwriter.com
November 2, 2025 at 10:55 AM
🎂 Happy 2nd Birthday to my 5th Q&A book, #TheMirrorAndTheRoad: Conversations with William Boyd. Observer, Independent, iNews & TLS all called it "fascinating", and Slow Horses author Mick Herron hoped to find it in his Christmas stocking. Cheers to that! 🍾
www.alistairowenwriter.com/the-mirror-a...
www.alistairowenwriter.com/the-mirror-a...
Reposted by Alistair Owen
Every word... more people with RTD's clout and influence need to be standing up and speaking out in this way. "Censorship is in us." TV needs leaders and champions who stand up for the world we want to see and be. "TV is a light in the dark and we must not let that flame go out!"
Part of Russell T Davies' speech on being awarded Outstanding Contribution to Television at the Bafta Cymru awards. (via www.instagram.com/baftacymru)
October 7, 2025 at 10:33 AM
Every word... more people with RTD's clout and influence need to be standing up and speaking out in this way. "Censorship is in us." TV needs leaders and champions who stand up for the world we want to see and be. "TV is a light in the dark and we must not let that flame go out!"
I've now talked to three different people with very varied tastes and, like me, they all gave up on The Thursday Murder Club after 20 minutes. Does Netflix's "No. 1 in Movies" algorithm tell them when viewers have bailed on a film cos it's unmitigated shit...?
September 1, 2025 at 10:01 PM
I've now talked to three different people with very varied tastes and, like me, they all gave up on The Thursday Murder Club after 20 minutes. Does Netflix's "No. 1 in Movies" algorithm tell them when viewers have bailed on a film cos it's unmitigated shit...?
🎂 My second literary birthday this week - 5 years since I published my debut novel, The Vetting Officer, first on Kindle and later in paperback. Part spy yarn, part love story, it earned a "Bravo!" from William Boyd, and a modest sense of pride from me! 🍾
www.alistairowenwriter.com/the-vetting-...
www.alistairowenwriter.com/the-vetting-...
The Vetting Officer — Alistair Owen
A story of secrets and second chances
www.alistairowenwriter.com
March 20, 2025 at 9:19 AM
🎂 My second literary birthday this week - 5 years since I published my debut novel, The Vetting Officer, first on Kindle and later in paperback. Part spy yarn, part love story, it earned a "Bravo!" from William Boyd, and a modest sense of pride from me! 🍾
www.alistairowenwriter.com/the-vetting-...
www.alistairowenwriter.com/the-vetting-...
"I watch her. I assume she watches me."
Everything you might expect from director Steven Soderbergh and Panic Room writer David Koepp, and perhaps a little bit more: sleek, smart, stylish, slyly witty and coolly seductive. Mr & Mrs Smith meets Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, by way of The Ipcress File.
Everything you might expect from director Steven Soderbergh and Panic Room writer David Koepp, and perhaps a little bit more: sleek, smart, stylish, slyly witty and coolly seductive. Mr & Mrs Smith meets Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, by way of The Ipcress File.
March 17, 2025 at 7:58 PM
"I watch her. I assume she watches me."
Everything you might expect from director Steven Soderbergh and Panic Room writer David Koepp, and perhaps a little bit more: sleek, smart, stylish, slyly witty and coolly seductive. Mr & Mrs Smith meets Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, by way of The Ipcress File.
Everything you might expect from director Steven Soderbergh and Panic Room writer David Koepp, and perhaps a little bit more: sleek, smart, stylish, slyly witty and coolly seductive. Mr & Mrs Smith meets Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, by way of The Ipcress File.
🎂 Happy 20th birthday to my third Q&A book, Hampton on Hampton - conversations with playwright, director & Oscar-winning screenwriter Christopher Hampton. A book of the year in the Observer, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ on Amazon & also available from @faberbooks.bsky.social. 🍾
www.alistairowenwriter.com/hampton-on-h...
www.alistairowenwriter.com/hampton-on-h...
Hampton on Hampton — Alistair Owen
Conversations with Christopher Hampton
www.alistairowenwriter.com
March 17, 2025 at 11:54 AM
🎂 Happy 20th birthday to my third Q&A book, Hampton on Hampton - conversations with playwright, director & Oscar-winning screenwriter Christopher Hampton. A book of the year in the Observer, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ on Amazon & also available from @faberbooks.bsky.social. 🍾
www.alistairowenwriter.com/hampton-on-h...
www.alistairowenwriter.com/hampton-on-h...
"I'm a story that I tell people..."
Like Jason Bourne with laughs or Quentin Tarantino with heart, this super-stylish 6-parter from @joebarton.bsky.social is even more entertaining on 2nd viewing - episode 5, in particular, funnier than most romcoms amid the gunplay and bloodshed. Season 2, please!
Like Jason Bourne with laughs or Quentin Tarantino with heart, this super-stylish 6-parter from @joebarton.bsky.social is even more entertaining on 2nd viewing - episode 5, in particular, funnier than most romcoms amid the gunplay and bloodshed. Season 2, please!
March 11, 2025 at 7:04 PM
"I'm a story that I tell people..."
Like Jason Bourne with laughs or Quentin Tarantino with heart, this super-stylish 6-parter from @joebarton.bsky.social is even more entertaining on 2nd viewing - episode 5, in particular, funnier than most romcoms amid the gunplay and bloodshed. Season 2, please!
Like Jason Bourne with laughs or Quentin Tarantino with heart, this super-stylish 6-parter from @joebarton.bsky.social is even more entertaining on 2nd viewing - episode 5, in particular, funnier than most romcoms amid the gunplay and bloodshed. Season 2, please!
Starting shortly after he swapped the Westminster village for a walled garden in Northumberland, and ending on the day the Queen died, the fourth volume of diaries by @chrismullinexmp.bsky.social is as invaluable as its predecessors in tracking where we are as a nation, and how on earth we got here.
March 10, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Starting shortly after he swapped the Westminster village for a walled garden in Northumberland, and ending on the day the Queen died, the fourth volume of diaries by @chrismullinexmp.bsky.social is as invaluable as its predecessors in tracking where we are as a nation, and how on earth we got here.
The Owen oeuvre, canon, or body of work. #worldbookday
March 6, 2025 at 4:34 PM
The Owen oeuvre, canon, or body of work. #worldbookday
"All I am is what I'm going after."
Epic in scope, intimate in detail, and crafted with breathtaking precision, Michael Mann's crime classic hasn't dated a day in nearly three decades - and makes most current Hollywood movies look pretty puny by comparison.
Epic in scope, intimate in detail, and crafted with breathtaking precision, Michael Mann's crime classic hasn't dated a day in nearly three decades - and makes most current Hollywood movies look pretty puny by comparison.
February 24, 2025 at 2:10 PM
"All I am is what I'm going after."
Epic in scope, intimate in detail, and crafted with breathtaking precision, Michael Mann's crime classic hasn't dated a day in nearly three decades - and makes most current Hollywood movies look pretty puny by comparison.
Epic in scope, intimate in detail, and crafted with breathtaking precision, Michael Mann's crime classic hasn't dated a day in nearly three decades - and makes most current Hollywood movies look pretty puny by comparison.
"The less you know, the better you sleep."
Series 1 of Ben Chanan's conspiracy thriller was good. Series 2 is better: tense, twisty and unsettling - though it's ironic that a drama about data manipulation has been quietly recut from a neat 6 parts to a messier 8 on its way from the Beeb to Netflix.
Series 1 of Ben Chanan's conspiracy thriller was good. Series 2 is better: tense, twisty and unsettling - though it's ironic that a drama about data manipulation has been quietly recut from a neat 6 parts to a messier 8 on its way from the Beeb to Netflix.
February 16, 2025 at 1:01 PM
"The less you know, the better you sleep."
Series 1 of Ben Chanan's conspiracy thriller was good. Series 2 is better: tense, twisty and unsettling - though it's ironic that a drama about data manipulation has been quietly recut from a neat 6 parts to a messier 8 on its way from the Beeb to Netflix.
Series 1 of Ben Chanan's conspiracy thriller was good. Series 2 is better: tense, twisty and unsettling - though it's ironic that a drama about data manipulation has been quietly recut from a neat 6 parts to a messier 8 on its way from the Beeb to Netflix.
"It's always the question that involves the listener. It's never the answer."
The opening is so dry (even after skipping the titles) that I nearly gave up. But then I'd have missed a mixture of Kubrick's formalism, Polanski's suspense and Todd Field's own brand of cool detachment. Compellingly odd.
The opening is so dry (even after skipping the titles) that I nearly gave up. But then I'd have missed a mixture of Kubrick's formalism, Polanski's suspense and Todd Field's own brand of cool detachment. Compellingly odd.
February 10, 2025 at 1:29 PM
"It's always the question that involves the listener. It's never the answer."
The opening is so dry (even after skipping the titles) that I nearly gave up. But then I'd have missed a mixture of Kubrick's formalism, Polanski's suspense and Todd Field's own brand of cool detachment. Compellingly odd.
The opening is so dry (even after skipping the titles) that I nearly gave up. But then I'd have missed a mixture of Kubrick's formalism, Polanski's suspense and Todd Field's own brand of cool detachment. Compellingly odd.
🎂 Happy 22nd birthday to my second Q&A book, Story and Character: the first (and, to date, only) book of interviews exclusively with British screenwriters - including Lee Hall, @frankcottrellboyce.bsky.social, Shawn Slovo, Hossein Amini and Neal Purvis & Robert Wade. 🍾
bit.ly/story-character
bit.ly/story-character
Story and Character: Interviews With British Screenwriters : Owen, Alistair: Amazon.co.uk: Books
Story and Character: Interviews With British Screenwriters : Owen, Alistair: Amazon.co.uk: Books
bit.ly
January 20, 2025 at 11:43 AM
🎂 Happy 22nd birthday to my second Q&A book, Story and Character: the first (and, to date, only) book of interviews exclusively with British screenwriters - including Lee Hall, @frankcottrellboyce.bsky.social, Shawn Slovo, Hossein Amini and Neal Purvis & Robert Wade. 🍾
bit.ly/story-character
bit.ly/story-character
"What a lovely thing she was..."
The story is absurd, the characters cardboard, the dialogue clunky and the direction workaday, but I love it anyway - for Alec Guinness's moving cameo, for John Barry's magnificent score, for the Titanic surfacing again. A not-so-guilty pleasure.
The story is absurd, the characters cardboard, the dialogue clunky and the direction workaday, but I love it anyway - for Alec Guinness's moving cameo, for John Barry's magnificent score, for the Titanic surfacing again. A not-so-guilty pleasure.
January 13, 2025 at 2:48 PM
"What a lovely thing she was..."
The story is absurd, the characters cardboard, the dialogue clunky and the direction workaday, but I love it anyway - for Alec Guinness's moving cameo, for John Barry's magnificent score, for the Titanic surfacing again. A not-so-guilty pleasure.
The story is absurd, the characters cardboard, the dialogue clunky and the direction workaday, but I love it anyway - for Alec Guinness's moving cameo, for John Barry's magnificent score, for the Titanic surfacing again. A not-so-guilty pleasure.
"Certainty is the enemy of unity."
The best adaptation so far, by far, of a Robert Harris novel, thanks to a taut script by Peter Straughan, powerful direction by Edward Burger, towering performances across the board - and a twist that stuns even more on screen than it did on the page. Riveting.
The best adaptation so far, by far, of a Robert Harris novel, thanks to a taut script by Peter Straughan, powerful direction by Edward Burger, towering performances across the board - and a twist that stuns even more on screen than it did on the page. Riveting.
December 10, 2024 at 5:36 PM
"Certainty is the enemy of unity."
The best adaptation so far, by far, of a Robert Harris novel, thanks to a taut script by Peter Straughan, powerful direction by Edward Burger, towering performances across the board - and a twist that stuns even more on screen than it did on the page. Riveting.
The best adaptation so far, by far, of a Robert Harris novel, thanks to a taut script by Peter Straughan, powerful direction by Edward Burger, towering performances across the board - and a twist that stuns even more on screen than it did on the page. Riveting.
Just realised that last Wednesday was the 24th birthday of my 1st book, Smoking in Bed: a distillation of 30 hours of wine-fuelled conversations between a wide-eyed film fan and the cult creator of #WithnailAndI. So, belatedly - chin-chin, Mr Robinson!🍷
November 26, 2024 at 2:53 PM
Just realised that last Wednesday was the 24th birthday of my 1st book, Smoking in Bed: a distillation of 30 hours of wine-fuelled conversations between a wide-eyed film fan and the cult creator of #WithnailAndI. So, belatedly - chin-chin, Mr Robinson!🍷
"You can't collaborate in anything without love."
David Hinton's feature documentary, passionately fronted by Martin Scorsese, is a wonderful, beautiful love letter to British cinema, right up there with the AFI's classic film about cinematography, Visions of Light. Moving, thrilling and inspiring.
David Hinton's feature documentary, passionately fronted by Martin Scorsese, is a wonderful, beautiful love letter to British cinema, right up there with the AFI's classic film about cinematography, Visions of Light. Moving, thrilling and inspiring.
November 25, 2024 at 9:13 PM
"You can't collaborate in anything without love."
David Hinton's feature documentary, passionately fronted by Martin Scorsese, is a wonderful, beautiful love letter to British cinema, right up there with the AFI's classic film about cinematography, Visions of Light. Moving, thrilling and inspiring.
David Hinton's feature documentary, passionately fronted by Martin Scorsese, is a wonderful, beautiful love letter to British cinema, right up there with the AFI's classic film about cinematography, Visions of Light. Moving, thrilling and inspiring.
"The world's a hungry place."
Bridging the gulf between Stephen King and Stanley Kubrick's visions of The Shining, Mike Flanagan's 3-hour cut of Doctor Sleep is a tour-de-force: ambitious, disturbing and, when it finally goes where you hoped it would, oddly pleasurable. An adaptation like no other.
Bridging the gulf between Stephen King and Stanley Kubrick's visions of The Shining, Mike Flanagan's 3-hour cut of Doctor Sleep is a tour-de-force: ambitious, disturbing and, when it finally goes where you hoped it would, oddly pleasurable. An adaptation like no other.
November 17, 2024 at 7:26 PM
"The world's a hungry place."
Bridging the gulf between Stephen King and Stanley Kubrick's visions of The Shining, Mike Flanagan's 3-hour cut of Doctor Sleep is a tour-de-force: ambitious, disturbing and, when it finally goes where you hoped it would, oddly pleasurable. An adaptation like no other.
Bridging the gulf between Stephen King and Stanley Kubrick's visions of The Shining, Mike Flanagan's 3-hour cut of Doctor Sleep is a tour-de-force: ambitious, disturbing and, when it finally goes where you hoped it would, oddly pleasurable. An adaptation like no other.
"We're all just looking out for something real."
Drawing as much on Stanley Kubrick as Ridley Scott, this is a rare sequel that equals and even surpasses the original - director Denis Villeneuve crafting Hampton Fancher and Michael Green's script into a cerebral, ethereal and truly monumental work.
Drawing as much on Stanley Kubrick as Ridley Scott, this is a rare sequel that equals and even surpasses the original - director Denis Villeneuve crafting Hampton Fancher and Michael Green's script into a cerebral, ethereal and truly monumental work.
November 15, 2024 at 10:13 PM
"We're all just looking out for something real."
Drawing as much on Stanley Kubrick as Ridley Scott, this is a rare sequel that equals and even surpasses the original - director Denis Villeneuve crafting Hampton Fancher and Michael Green's script into a cerebral, ethereal and truly monumental work.
Drawing as much on Stanley Kubrick as Ridley Scott, this is a rare sequel that equals and even surpasses the original - director Denis Villeneuve crafting Hampton Fancher and Michael Green's script into a cerebral, ethereal and truly monumental work.
"Nothing can atone for a wasted life."
Mannered, melodramatic but intensely immersive, Alfonso Cuarón's adaptation of Renée Knight's novel is driven by mesmeric turns from Blanchett, Kline and - almost unrecognisable in a serious drama - Sacha Baron Cohen. A real kettle of fish.
Mannered, melodramatic but intensely immersive, Alfonso Cuarón's adaptation of Renée Knight's novel is driven by mesmeric turns from Blanchett, Kline and - almost unrecognisable in a serious drama - Sacha Baron Cohen. A real kettle of fish.
November 11, 2024 at 9:17 PM
"Nothing can atone for a wasted life."
Mannered, melodramatic but intensely immersive, Alfonso Cuarón's adaptation of Renée Knight's novel is driven by mesmeric turns from Blanchett, Kline and - almost unrecognisable in a serious drama - Sacha Baron Cohen. A real kettle of fish.
Mannered, melodramatic but intensely immersive, Alfonso Cuarón's adaptation of Renée Knight's novel is driven by mesmeric turns from Blanchett, Kline and - almost unrecognisable in a serious drama - Sacha Baron Cohen. A real kettle of fish.
"When the skies are grey, hope finds a way."
Paddingtons 1 & 2 were full of energy, tightly controlled. With a different director at the helm, and a bevy of writers on board - plus a new Mrs Brown - this charts a more wayward course, but remains a joyously entertaining journey.
Paddingtons 1 & 2 were full of energy, tightly controlled. With a different director at the helm, and a bevy of writers on board - plus a new Mrs Brown - this charts a more wayward course, but remains a joyously entertaining journey.
November 10, 2024 at 3:51 PM
"When the skies are grey, hope finds a way."
Paddingtons 1 & 2 were full of energy, tightly controlled. With a different director at the helm, and a bevy of writers on board - plus a new Mrs Brown - this charts a more wayward course, but remains a joyously entertaining journey.
Paddingtons 1 & 2 were full of energy, tightly controlled. With a different director at the helm, and a bevy of writers on board - plus a new Mrs Brown - this charts a more wayward course, but remains a joyously entertaining journey.
"I'm vengeance."
Each version of Batman is darker than the last; this, from writer/director Matt Reeves and co-writer Peter Craig, is like The Godfather meets Se7en: an epic, Gothic crime saga, sumptuously designed and photographed, and richly scored by Michael Giacchino. Riveting.
Each version of Batman is darker than the last; this, from writer/director Matt Reeves and co-writer Peter Craig, is like The Godfather meets Se7en: an epic, Gothic crime saga, sumptuously designed and photographed, and richly scored by Michael Giacchino. Riveting.
November 3, 2024 at 9:47 PM
"I'm vengeance."
Each version of Batman is darker than the last; this, from writer/director Matt Reeves and co-writer Peter Craig, is like The Godfather meets Se7en: an epic, Gothic crime saga, sumptuously designed and photographed, and richly scored by Michael Giacchino. Riveting.
Each version of Batman is darker than the last; this, from writer/director Matt Reeves and co-writer Peter Craig, is like The Godfather meets Se7en: an epic, Gothic crime saga, sumptuously designed and photographed, and richly scored by Michael Giacchino. Riveting.
I wrote about my 3 favourite reads from the past year for Shepherd Books: Cimino by Charles Elton (discovered via @drjonty.bsky.social's Writers On Film podcast); Hits, Flops, and Other Illusions by Ed Zwick; and Word Monkey by Christopher Fowler...
shepherd.com/bboy/2024/f/...
Want to know Alistair Owen's Top 3 Books of 2024?
Alistair's top 3 reads of 2024 include Cimino and two other amazing books. Discover what makes these books unmissable!
shepherd.com
November 3, 2024 at 10:46 AM
I wrote about my 3 favourite reads from the past year for Shepherd Books: Cimino by Charles Elton (discovered via @drjonty.bsky.social's Writers On Film podcast); Hits, Flops, and Other Illusions by Ed Zwick; and Word Monkey by Christopher Fowler...
shepherd.com/bboy/2024/f/...
🎂 Happy Birthday to my Q&A book with William Boyd, #TheMirrorAndTheRoad, a whole 1 year old today - and still on display, for its proud author to take photos of, in the Biography and/or Essays and/or Literary Criticism sections of discerning bookshops! 🍾
bit.ly/mirror-road
bit.ly/mirror-road
The Mirror and the Road: Conversations with William Boyd: Amazon.co.uk: Owen, Alistair, Boyd, William: 9780241987339: Books
Buy The Mirror and the Road: Conversations with William Boyd by Owen, Alistair, Boyd, William (ISBN: 9780241987339) from Amazon's Book Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.
bit.ly
November 2, 2024 at 10:39 AM
🎂 Happy Birthday to my Q&A book with William Boyd, #TheMirrorAndTheRoad, a whole 1 year old today - and still on display, for its proud author to take photos of, in the Biography and/or Essays and/or Literary Criticism sections of discerning bookshops! 🍾
bit.ly/mirror-road
bit.ly/mirror-road