Mike McCahill
@mikemccahill.bsky.social
Film and TV journalist for the Guardian, Telegraph and Little White Lies. A child of Richard Marx and Rola Cola.
Lynch last year, Béla Tarr this: we are losing those who've guided us through the darkness of this world at exactly the moment we most have need of them. (Can't some of those *responsible for* the darkness disappear into it?)
January 6, 2026 at 12:42 PM
Lynch last year, Béla Tarr this: we are losing those who've guided us through the darkness of this world at exactly the moment we most have need of them. (Can't some of those *responsible for* the darkness disappear into it?)
On the current Top Ten hit SARVAM MAYA, now showing: rb.gy/tabshp
Holy ghosts: "Sarvam Maya"
Sometimes a film gets you onside with a run of Scenes We Haven't Seen, something fresh, playful and funny. Akhil Sathyan's year-ending Malay...
rb.gy
January 6, 2026 at 11:18 AM
On the current Top Ten hit SARVAM MAYA, now showing: rb.gy/tabshp
"Turns out I'm the bingo now." First episode of S2 has more original and inspired comic ideas, images and music cues than anything else around. Heaven knows what the BBC is playing at, but in days of yore they would recognise and celebrate (and, y'know, *broadcast*) these things.
Found out thanks to Cookdandbombd that there's a new series 'just dropped' of Things You Should Have Done, with reportedly absolutely zero BBC promotion. I really enjoyed the first series, it had an inspired level of daft to it. Anyway, it's here: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...
Things You Should Have Done
Get a job! Pay the bills! Clueless Chi is forced to fend for herself when her parents die. To get her inheritance, the ultimate stay-at-home daughter has to step it up.
www.bbc.co.uk
January 6, 2026 at 9:56 AM
"Turns out I'm the bingo now." First episode of S2 has more original and inspired comic ideas, images and music cues than anything else around. Heaven knows what the BBC is playing at, but in days of yore they would recognise and celebrate (and, y'know, *broadcast*) these things.
Missed opportunities in the contemporary cinema. Frank Skinner on Elphaba and Prince Fiyero's kiss in WICKED: FOR GOOD: "I would have given the maker of that film fifty pounds if they'd pulled back and he was covered from head to toe in green paint."
January 5, 2026 at 3:55 PM
Missed opportunities in the contemporary cinema. Frank Skinner on Elphaba and Prince Fiyero's kiss in WICKED: FOR GOOD: "I would have given the maker of that film fifty pounds if they'd pulled back and he was covered from head to toe in green paint."
On the final UK chart of 2025, and the singles of the year: theeartrumpet.substack.com/p/week-52-de...
Week 52: December 26, 2025-January 1, 2026
Ravyn in the studio; single of the year; playlists for all
theeartrumpet.substack.com
January 5, 2026 at 11:04 AM
On the final UK chart of 2025, and the singles of the year: theeartrumpet.substack.com/p/week-52-de...
Reposted by Mike McCahill
Upset annoying acquaintances by commenting "AI slop" under pictures they share of their children.
January 3, 2026 at 11:16 PM
Upset annoying acquaintances by commenting "AI slop" under pictures they share of their children.
On Joachim Trier's SENTIMENTAL VALUE, now showing: tinyurl.com/ytk265mr
Minor mishaps: "Sentimental Value"
From afar, Joachim Trier's latest film Sentimental Value would appear ideal New Year's viewing, proposing as it does all of the following: ...
tinyurl.com
January 4, 2026 at 2:09 PM
On Joachim Trier's SENTIMENTAL VALUE, now showing: tinyurl.com/ytk265mr
World Darts final becoming so one-sided the crowd have taken to chanting "Keir Starmer's a wanker".
January 3, 2026 at 9:21 PM
World Darts final becoming so one-sided the crowd have taken to chanting "Keir Starmer's a wanker".
Reposted by Mike McCahill
Pretty good, but I didn't see this one:
Sparks - (Baby Baby) Can I Invade Your Country
Sparks - (Baby Baby) Can I Invade Your Country
(Baby, Baby) Can I Invade Your Country
open.spotify.com
January 3, 2026 at 5:37 PM
Pretty good, but I didn't see this one:
Sparks - (Baby Baby) Can I Invade Your Country
Sparks - (Baby Baby) Can I Invade Your Country
Footnote on tonight's first #TOTP of 1999: I hadn't realised Warners reissued Prince's "1999" at the end of 1998, only for Prince - then at war with Warners - to then flood the market with his own variations. (Which are now considered such legal hot potatoes they can't be sold/resold on Discogs.)
January 2, 2026 at 11:31 PM
Footnote on tonight's first #TOTP of 1999: I hadn't realised Warners reissued Prince's "1999" at the end of 1998, only for Prince - then at war with Warners - to then flood the market with his own variations. (Which are now considered such legal hot potatoes they can't be sold/resold on Discogs.)
We are an absurd and wonderful species.
January 1, 2026 at 12:59 PM
We are an absurd and wonderful species.
My Top 20 Films of 2025: cinesthesiac.blogspot.com/2025/12/my-t...
My Top 20 Films of 2025
20. Bogancloch The hermit as artist, the life as the art. Where to watch: Prime Video, BFI Player, YouTube (to rent) 19. The Seed of the ...
cinesthesiac.blogspot.com
December 31, 2025 at 8:04 PM
My Top 20 Films of 2025: cinesthesiac.blogspot.com/2025/12/my-t...
I am not a complicated man. (Necessary context: this video was directed by a woman, Paula Greif.)
youtu.be/t1tjQqWqqAA?...
youtu.be/t1tjQqWqqAA?...
December 31, 2025 at 6:08 PM
I am not a complicated man. (Necessary context: this video was directed by a woman, Paula Greif.)
youtu.be/t1tjQqWqqAA?...
youtu.be/t1tjQqWqqAA?...
I contributed to the Guardian's list of recommended New Year's Eve viewing: www.theguardian.com/film/2025/de...
Staying in with the old: the best films to watch on New Year’s Eve
For those not going out to celebrate, you can still party with Harry and Sally, play cards with Jack Lemmon and make merry hell at the Overlook Hotel
www.theguardian.com
December 31, 2025 at 3:54 PM
I contributed to the Guardian's list of recommended New Year's Eve viewing: www.theguardian.com/film/2025/de...
This was wonderful, and easily the best thing on TV over Christmas: www.channel5.com/show/geoff-c...
No access outside UK
www.channel5.com
December 31, 2025 at 1:25 PM
This was wonderful, and easily the best thing on TV over Christmas: www.channel5.com/show/geoff-c...
In case anyone was wondering how the new Ricky Gervais stand-up special is going.
December 30, 2025 at 6:44 PM
In case anyone was wondering how the new Ricky Gervais stand-up special is going.
"I was just one of those guys that the camera loved." Come for the Fellini and Brando impersonations, stay for some especially lucid insights into the art and craft of acting.
www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...
www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...
Scene by Scene - Terence Stamp
Actor Terence Stamp joins Mark Cousins to talk about his life and career. Together, they watch clips from Stamp's films, including Billy Budd, Far from the Madding Crowd and Blue.
www.bbc.co.uk
December 29, 2025 at 12:44 PM
"I was just one of those guys that the camera loved." Come for the Fellini and Brando impersonations, stay for some especially lucid insights into the art and craft of acting.
www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...
www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...
Anonymous responses to Smash Hits' music censorship debate, December 1985. (Paul Daniels catches strays.)
December 28, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Anonymous responses to Smash Hits' music censorship debate, December 1985. (Paul Daniels catches strays.)
Reposted by Mike McCahill
On AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH [below] and THE SPONGEBOB MOVIE: SEARCH FOR SQUAREPANTS, plus the weekend charts and picks: tinyurl.com/2j8jvurk
December 26, 2025 at 6:48 PM
On AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH [below] and THE SPONGEBOB MOVIE: SEARCH FOR SQUAREPANTS, plus the weekend charts and picks: tinyurl.com/2j8jvurk
On AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH [below] and THE SPONGEBOB MOVIE: SEARCH FOR SQUAREPANTS, plus the weekend charts and picks: tinyurl.com/2j8jvurk
December 26, 2025 at 6:48 PM
On AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH [below] and THE SPONGEBOB MOVIE: SEARCH FOR SQUAREPANTS, plus the weekend charts and picks: tinyurl.com/2j8jvurk
For the Guardian, on the new SPONGEBOB movie (opening today): www.theguardian.com/film/2025/de...
The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants review – swashbuckling, snicker-inducing silliness
With a turn by Mark Hamill and a saltily suggestive catchphrase for Patrick, the fourth SpongeBob film shows that anything can still happen in Bikini Bottom
www.theguardian.com
December 26, 2025 at 2:20 PM
For the Guardian, on the new SPONGEBOB movie (opening today): www.theguardian.com/film/2025/de...
On this year's Christmas chart: theeartrumpet.substack.com/p/week-51-de...
Week 51: December 19-25, 2025
Kylie tops the tree; Dermot and Frank bring up the rear
theeartrumpet.substack.com
December 22, 2025 at 9:33 PM
On this year's Christmas chart: theeartrumpet.substack.com/p/week-51-de...
Reposted by Mike McCahill
On DHURANDHAR, GOODBYE JUNE [below], BLUE MOON and SHOLAY: THE FINAL CUT, plus the Christmas charts and picks: tinyurl.com/2j8jvurk
December 21, 2025 at 4:43 PM
On DHURANDHAR, GOODBYE JUNE [below], BLUE MOON and SHOLAY: THE FINAL CUT, plus the Christmas charts and picks: tinyurl.com/2j8jvurk
Doing my usual post- #TOTP due diligence, and apparently there was a dance remix of "Merry Xmas Everybody" in the Top 40 at Christmas 1998? Altogether more Flush than Slade, I think; a humdrum day at the remixing factory.
youtu.be/gMUJac4W0Go?...
youtu.be/gMUJac4W0Go?...
Slade Vs Flush - Merry Xmas Everybody 98 Remix
YouTube video by irobm2
youtu.be
December 22, 2025 at 12:19 AM
Doing my usual post- #TOTP due diligence, and apparently there was a dance remix of "Merry Xmas Everybody" in the Top 40 at Christmas 1998? Altogether more Flush than Slade, I think; a humdrum day at the remixing factory.
youtu.be/gMUJac4W0Go?...
youtu.be/gMUJac4W0Go?...
On DHURANDHAR, GOODBYE JUNE [below], BLUE MOON and SHOLAY: THE FINAL CUT, plus the Christmas charts and picks: tinyurl.com/2j8jvurk
December 21, 2025 at 4:43 PM
On DHURANDHAR, GOODBYE JUNE [below], BLUE MOON and SHOLAY: THE FINAL CUT, plus the Christmas charts and picks: tinyurl.com/2j8jvurk