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
NEW REVIEW! A neighbourhood parking dispute grows terribly unhinged in Son Hyeon-woo's South Korean thriller No Parking.
fictionmachine.com/2025/11/15/r...
fictionmachine.com/2025/11/15/r...
REVIEW: No Parking (2025)
Director Son Hyeon-woo aims for bold, pulpy suspense in the Korean thriller No Parking, but it seems the results fall somewhat short of expectations. Enjoyable to an extent, this new feature feels …
fictionmachine.com
November 15, 2025 at 7:03 AM
NEW REVIEW! A neighbourhood parking dispute grows terribly unhinged in Son Hyeon-woo's South Korean thriller No Parking.
fictionmachine.com/2025/11/15/r...
fictionmachine.com/2025/11/15/r...
Nakadai Tatsuya has passed away, aged 92. He was one of the greats of Japanese screen actors, appearing in The Human Condition, Harakiri, Kwaidan, Ran, Sword of Doom, When a Woman Ascends the Stairs, The Tale of Princess Kaguya, and many, many others.
November 11, 2025 at 3:32 AM
Nakadai Tatsuya has passed away, aged 92. He was one of the greats of Japanese screen actors, appearing in The Human Condition, Harakiri, Kwaidan, Ran, Sword of Doom, When a Woman Ascends the Stairs, The Tale of Princess Kaguya, and many, many others.
More holiday filler while I am on vacation: here's an older review from The Angriest, on René Clément's late career thriller The Deadly Trap (1971).
fictionmachine.com/2025/11/11/r...
fictionmachine.com/2025/11/11/r...
REVIEW: The Deadly Trap (1971)
Jill (Faye Dunaway) cares for her two children while her talented scientist husband Philippe (Frank Langella) works in Paris. Jill’s memory is slipping and Philippe is growing concerned with …
fictionmachine.com
November 11, 2025 at 3:27 AM
More holiday filler while I am on vacation: here's an older review from The Angriest, on René Clément's late career thriller The Deadly Trap (1971).
fictionmachine.com/2025/11/11/r...
fictionmachine.com/2025/11/11/r...
Doctor Who's 6th season reached its climax with "The Wedding of River Song" - but was it any good? fictionmachine.com/2025/11/09/t...
TV REVIEW: Doctor Who (2005) 6.13, “The Wedding of River Song”
First broadcast 1 October 2011. It is the final episode of Doctor Who Season 6, and that means it is time to throw everything at the wall and see what sticks, including past episode references, ans…
fictionmachine.com
November 10, 2025 at 3:19 AM
Doctor Who's 6th season reached its climax with "The Wedding of River Song" - but was it any good? fictionmachine.com/2025/11/09/t...
Hey, Rambo prequel director Jalmari Helander, gimme a quote showing your lack of understanding of the character.
“It won’t be as dark as the last two Rambos. It’s going to be a little more adventurous, and I hope to inspire a new generation of 10-year-olds to go into the forest to play Rambo."
“It won’t be as dark as the last two Rambos. It’s going to be a little more adventurous, and I hope to inspire a new generation of 10-year-olds to go into the forest to play Rambo."
November 8, 2025 at 12:51 PM
Hey, Rambo prequel director Jalmari Helander, gimme a quote showing your lack of understanding of the character.
“It won’t be as dark as the last two Rambos. It’s going to be a little more adventurous, and I hope to inspire a new generation of 10-year-olds to go into the forest to play Rambo."
“It won’t be as dark as the last two Rambos. It’s going to be a little more adventurous, and I hope to inspire a new generation of 10-year-olds to go into the forest to play Rambo."
Reposted by Grant Watson
Japanese jazz biopic Between the White Key and the Black Key does not quite manage to pull itself together, but the ambition in its structure is admirable.
fictionmachine.com/2025/11/07/r...
fictionmachine.com/2025/11/07/r...
REVIEW: Between the White Key and the Black Key (2023)
Jazz and crime have gone together in Japan ever since the musical genre was adopted by post-war teens to rebel against their more conservative parents. One of my favourite Japanese films is Kurahar…
fictionmachine.com
November 7, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Japanese jazz biopic Between the White Key and the Black Key does not quite manage to pull itself together, but the ambition in its structure is admirable.
fictionmachine.com/2025/11/07/r...
fictionmachine.com/2025/11/07/r...
Reposted by Grant Watson
If you ever question if your fanfic is too self indulgent please remember that’s actually the point of fanfiction
November 6, 2025 at 2:56 AM
If you ever question if your fanfic is too self indulgent please remember that’s actually the point of fanfiction
Japanese jazz biopic Between the White Key and the Black Key does not quite manage to pull itself together, but the ambition in its structure is admirable.
fictionmachine.com/2025/11/07/r...
fictionmachine.com/2025/11/07/r...
REVIEW: Between the White Key and the Black Key (2023)
Jazz and crime have gone together in Japan ever since the musical genre was adopted by post-war teens to rebel against their more conservative parents. One of my favourite Japanese films is Kurahar…
fictionmachine.com
November 7, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Japanese jazz biopic Between the White Key and the Black Key does not quite manage to pull itself together, but the ambition in its structure is admirable.
fictionmachine.com/2025/11/07/r...
fictionmachine.com/2025/11/07/r...
Oh waiter, a shot of your finest plum wine - I need to clean some coins.
November 7, 2025 at 12:13 PM
Oh waiter, a shot of your finest plum wine - I need to clean some coins.
RIP Pauline Collins.
November 7, 2025 at 1:52 AM
RIP Pauline Collins.
Doctor Who's "Closing Time" tries to repeat the success of "The Lodger", but fails to achieve the same results.
fictionmachine.com/2025/11/04/t...
fictionmachine.com/2025/11/04/t...
TV REVIEW: Doctor Who (2005) 6.12, “Closing Time”
First broadcast 24 September 2011. There is always a problem when an experiment works out; one tends to try performing it again. Season 5’s episode “The Lodger”, written by Gareth…
fictionmachine.com
November 4, 2025 at 4:57 AM
Doctor Who's "Closing Time" tries to repeat the success of "The Lodger", but fails to achieve the same results.
fictionmachine.com/2025/11/04/t...
fictionmachine.com/2025/11/04/t...
Very sad to hear of Peter Watkin's passing. Here's a review I wrote of his revolutionary docudrama Culloden. fictionmachine.com/2020/07/21/r...
REVIEW: Culloden (1964)
In April 1746 Scotland’s Jacobite army – exhausted, starving, and on the run – was intercepted by the British royal army on a sodden field near Inverness known as Culloden. Over t…
fictionmachine.com
November 3, 2025 at 1:24 PM
Very sad to hear of Peter Watkin's passing. Here's a review I wrote of his revolutionary docudrama Culloden. fictionmachine.com/2020/07/21/r...
What I read was "disability access nightmare".
Okay but hear me out:
An abandoned lighthouse that’s converted into an independent bookstore.
An abandoned lighthouse that’s converted into an independent bookstore.
November 2, 2025 at 4:44 AM
What I read was "disability access nightmare".
Let's keep it short and simple: Chinese fantasy adventure The Girl Who Stole Time is the best animated film I have seen in 2025.
fictionmachine.com/2025/11/02/r...
fictionmachine.com/2025/11/02/r...
REVIEW: The Girl Who Stole Time (2025)
In recent years, Chinese theatrical animation has been growing in leaps and bounds, not simply in terms of popularity – Ne Zha 2 is the highest-grossing film of the year to date – but a…
fictionmachine.com
November 2, 2025 at 4:42 AM
Let's keep it short and simple: Chinese fantasy adventure The Girl Who Stole Time is the best animated film I have seen in 2025.
fictionmachine.com/2025/11/02/r...
fictionmachine.com/2025/11/02/r...
RIP Tchéky Karyo.
November 1, 2025 at 1:47 PM
RIP Tchéky Karyo.
Filmed in 2021, released in an early form in 2023, and then finally in cinemas in 2025, Vital Signs bears all the hallmarks of a deeply censored work.
fictionmachine.com/2025/10/31/r...
fictionmachine.com/2025/10/31/r...
REVIEW: Vital Signs (2023)
Ma (Louis Koo) is a career paramedic and widower, who struggles to balance his job with caring for his daughter (Ariel Yin). While planning to emigrate from Hong Kong to Canada, Ma is paired up at …
fictionmachine.com
October 31, 2025 at 3:14 AM
Filmed in 2021, released in an early form in 2023, and then finally in cinemas in 2025, Vital Signs bears all the hallmarks of a deeply censored work.
fictionmachine.com/2025/10/31/r...
fictionmachine.com/2025/10/31/r...
I don't think its controversial to name Peter Weir as Australia's finest film director, but I'd be interested in your alternative picks.
fictionmachine.com/2025/10/28/r...
fictionmachine.com/2025/10/28/r...
REVIEW: Dead Poets Society (1989)
All praise Peter Weir. He’s possibly the most talented Australian director of all time. No, not possibly, he is our greatest-ever film director: incisive, inventive and thoughtful. He worked …
fictionmachine.com
October 28, 2025 at 2:55 AM
I don't think its controversial to name Peter Weir as Australia's finest film director, but I'd be interested in your alternative picks.
fictionmachine.com/2025/10/28/r...
fictionmachine.com/2025/10/28/r...
A love for John Candy and his work pours forth from Colin Hanks' new documentary, but it has very little to actually say.
REVIEW: John Candy: I Like Me (2025)
The late Canadian actor John Candy was very talented at performing in comedy. He was a tremendously nice guy and a decent father. He was also plagued with anxieties, stemming from both the way othe…
fictionmachine.com
October 27, 2025 at 2:03 AM
A love for John Candy and his work pours forth from Colin Hanks' new documentary, but it has very little to actually say.
RIP Nabil Shaban, Jordanian-British actor and iconic performer with disability. Founded the Graeae disability theatre company. Appeared in City of Joy, Wittgenstein, and Children of Men. Famously played the capitalist alien banker Sil in Doctor Who.
October 26, 2025 at 12:44 AM
RIP Nabil Shaban, Jordanian-British actor and iconic performer with disability. Founded the Graeae disability theatre company. Appeared in City of Joy, Wittgenstein, and Children of Men. Famously played the capitalist alien banker Sil in Doctor Who.
Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart headline the 2016 comedy Central Intelligence, but when the outtakes are funnier than the film you know you have problems.
fictionmachine.com/2025/10/23/r...
fictionmachine.com/2025/10/23/r...
REVIEW: Central Intelligence (2016)
In high school Calvin Joyner (Kevin Hart) is the most popular boy in class. By contrast Robbie Weirdicht (Dwayne Johnson) is an overweight bullied teen who gets stripped naked and thrown in front o…
fictionmachine.com
October 23, 2025 at 4:42 AM
Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart headline the 2016 comedy Central Intelligence, but when the outtakes are funnier than the film you know you have problems.
fictionmachine.com/2025/10/23/r...
fictionmachine.com/2025/10/23/r...
How the fuck has Yamada gone until 2025 to win the Lifetime Achievement Award? The dude is 94 years old, and his 90th film is screening at the festival.
variety.com/2025/film/fe...
variety.com/2025/film/fe...
Yamada Yoji to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award at Tokyo Film Festival
Yamada Yoji to receive Lifetime Achievement Award at Tokyo Film Festival's 38th edition where latest film 'Tokyo Taxi' screens as Centerpiece.
variety.com
October 22, 2025 at 6:50 AM
How the fuck has Yamada gone until 2025 to win the Lifetime Achievement Award? The dude is 94 years old, and his 90th film is screening at the festival.
variety.com/2025/film/fe...
variety.com/2025/film/fe...
Budget cuts were always expected on Tron 4.
October 22, 2025 at 5:40 AM
Budget cuts were always expected on Tron 4.