films

My favourite things of 2023

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Covers for books I read in 2023, including These Impossible Things by Salma El-Wardany and Third Eye by Felicia Day

There’s only 32 hours of 2023 remaining in my timezone, so it’s time to review the things I’ve consumed this year and pick out my favourite content.

Note: all links below marked with a * are Amazon referral links, and so I receive a small amount of commission from any purchases. But please feel free to buy these from a local, independent tax-paying shop, or borrow them from your local library, as I did with several of these recommendations.

Favourite book of 2023

So far I’ve read 95 books this year, although to be fair, quite a few of these were bedtime stories for our eight-year-old. Those aside, my favourite book was ‘These Impossible Things’ by Salma El-Wardany*. It tells the story of three young British Asian women, who are navigating the divide between family and cultural expectations, and life as a young person in the UK in the 21st century. It’s very well-written, with very relatable characters. This is El-Wardany’s debut novel and so I’m interested to see what comes next.

Honourable mentions: There were a few books that I awarded five stars to on Goodreads this year:

Favourite film of 2023

We haven’t been able to watch many films this year, and those that we have seen at the cinema have tended to be child-friendly films. We’re also behind on Marvel films and haven’t seen any in a couple of years. Of those that we have seen, probably my favourite was the Barbie movie, which was just hilarious all the way through. We saw it a few weeks after it came out and there were several of us laughing out loud in the cinema.

Honourable mentions: Dungeons and Dragons: Honour Amongst Thieves* was fun, and it was good to see Hugh Grant playing an antagonist for once. And it was nice to finally see a sequel to Chicken Run – I had the first film on VHS, which gives you an idea of how long ago since that came out, and meant I’ve had to explain to our eight-year-old what a ‘VHS’ is.

It’s also worth noting that we are planning to see Wonka tomorrow.

Favourite TV show of the year

Again, we’ve not had much time to watch TV this year. When you work full-time in a different city to where you live, and have a child who has school and homework and weekend activities, there’s not a lot of time to keep up with TV. Of the shows that I have seen bits of, The Repair Shop has filled that niche of being interesting, comforting and educational.

Favourite audio series of the year

Okay, so I basically created this category so that I could tell you about Felicia Day’s ‘Third Eye’*. It’s an Audible exclusive, and is more akin to a radio play rather than an audiobook. But, it has a narrator in the form of Neil Gaiman and is split into chapters. Felicia Day wrote the script for TV several years ago, and although no TV channels picked it up, it’s become a very good audio series with Day playing the lead character. London Hughes, Alan Tudyk and Wil Wheaton provide some of the other voices.

So – these are the things that I have watched, read and listened to in 2023. Next year, I’m hoping to catch up with the Marvel films we’ve missed (especially now that the pace of release has slowed down) and continue to read more things. Maybe I’ll manage 100 books across the year this time?

Netflix – 8 tips to get the most from your subscription

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A screenshot of the Netflix home page when logged in

We’re a few months into our Netflix subscription and on the whole we haven’t been getting as much value out of it as I expected us to, which is a shame. I had considered cancelling it, as it’s not worth paying for something that I don’t use. And whilst I’m still open to that idea if we’re still not using it much in a few months’ time, I decided to rethink how we’re using Netflix rather than going for the nuclear option straight-away.

So, here are my tips for making the most of your Netflix subscription.

1. Add lots of titles to your list

Netflix has a ‘queue’ of sorts, called My List, where you can add films and shows that you want to watch. These could be films that you haven’t seen before, or TV shows that you want to watch again, or children’s’ shows that your kids want to watch over and over again. Keeping lots of titles here will mean that you avoid the situation where you open Netflix to watch something but then can’t immediately think what you want to watch.

2. Add TV shows to your list

Netflix, despite its name, isn’t just about ‘flicks’, i.e. movies/films. There are plenty of TV shows on there, and in some cases you can watch every season. So add a few TV shows to your list as well as films – that way, if you don’t have enough spare time for a whole film, then you can watch a quick half hour TV show.

3. Install Netflix’s mobile apps to add to your list on the go…

Let’s say you’re out with your friends, and someone recommends a film or TV show to you. If you have the Netflix app on your phone, you can simply add it to your list there and then. No need to write it down or try to remember it and then forget it. And then you can watch it when you have the time to do so.

4. …or to watch things on the go

Admittedly, watching films and TV shows on a smartphone screen doesn’t make for a good experience. But if you have a generous data allowance on your mobile contract and nothing better to do, then why not pass the time with a quick TV show? Even better if you have a tablet with a larger screen. And it’s great for sick days when you can’t face getting out of bed to watch TV.

5. Watch films in bits

Netflix remembers your position when watching content, even if you break off and have to do something else. So if you don’t have time to watch a full feature-length film, just watch a bit of it. Then, pick it up again when you have some more time. The position will synchronise between the web site and apps, so you could start watching a film on your Roku or Apple TV, then watch a bit on your iPhone before finishing it off on the web site.

6. Build up your taste profile for better recommendations

One of Netflix’s big selling points is its ability to recommend films and TV shows to you that you may not have come across. As you watch content on Netflix, it learns what you like and, over time, its recommendations should improve. However, when you first get started Netflix may struggle to suggest anything sensible, so spend some time on the ‘taste profile’ tab on the web site to refine its suggestions. Or just browse around and rate any films and TV shows that you have already seen.

As Netflix’s recommendations improve, you’ll hopefully find some interesting new content to add to your list.

7. Find out when new releases are available using Netflix Notifier

Netflix Notifier is a third-party site which lets you create a watchlist of films that you want to see, but that aren’t on Netflix yet – and then emails you when they become available. I reviewed it in July when I added four films – of those, so far only Hunger Games: Catching Fire has become available to watch in the UK.

Note: since this blog was written, Netflix Notifier has closed down.

8. Use a VPN to access another country’s library

Because of the weird and wonderful world of international copyright licensing agreements, the selection of films and TV shows differs between each country that Netflix operates in. A way around this is using a VPN – a Virtual Private Network – to fool Netflix into thinking you’re based somewhere else. So a British user could use a VPN located in the US to watch shows that would be otherwise unavailable. Be aware that you’ll probably have to pay extra for a decent VPN connection. And bear in mind that film studios are pressuring Netflix to block access from VPNs – whilst it would be impossible to block every VPN, some of the more popular ones may get locked out.

How to work out whether Netflix is worth it for you

Netflix is basically an all-you-can-eat buffet, when compared to ‘a la carte’ services like Google Play and Blinkbox where you pay for each individual episode or season. To take the example of Channel 4 show Misfits, Blinkbox charges £1.89 per episode or £8.99 per series; if you watch four episodes in a month, then Netflix is cheaper as it costs £5.99 per month. Films on Blinkbox are typically around £2.50, or more for new releases.

So if you’re watching, say, two films, or four TV shows, or a film and two TV shows each month, then you’re probably getting your money’s worth. If not, and you’ve tried all of my suggestions above, then you may wish to reconsider whether a subscription service like Netflix is best for you. You may get better value from other sites where you pay for each show individually.

Films that I own on DVD and haven’t yet watched

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Here’s a list of films that I’ve bought on DVD, but, so far, I haven’t actually watched:

  • Shrek 3
  • Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
  • Hellboy
  • Nacho Libre
  • Family Guy presents Blue Harvest

Of those, I haven’t even seen 3 of them at the cinema/on TV.

This is mostly a mental note to make sure that next time there’s nothing good on TV, I get around to actually watching these films – after all, I’ve paid money for them.

Films of 2007

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Back in April, I wrote a list of 8 films I was intending to see this year. Of those, I haven’t seen Hot Fuzz or 28 Weeks Later, though I should be getting the former to rent sometime soon, and I haven’t seen The Simpsons Movie because it isn’t out yet.

Yesterday Hari and I killed 2 birds with one stone and saw both Shrek the Third and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix on the same day (taking a break in between to go for dinner). Shrek 3 isn’t quite as good as 1 and 2 but it’s still a very good film, and Harry Potter 5 is as least as good as the first 4 films. The fact that this is the fifth film in a series and it doesn’t totally suck is a testament to J K Rowling’s writing and the directors/screenplay writers – pity the same can’t be said for films like Police Academy V…

Hari and I also went to see Wedding Daze (also known as The Pleasure of Your Company) a few weeks ago, mainly because we wanted to go on a date and that was all that was on at the cinema at the time that interested us, but actually it was quite enjoyable, if rather random.

There are, of course, other films that we’re considering going to see this year:

  • Transformers – I’ve heard some very mixed reviews of this film and so we may be renting it rather than going to see it in the cinema.
  • Ratatouille – Pixar make good films and the reviews suggest this is no exception, but alas us Brits have to wait until mid-October before this film is out here.
  • Stardust – saw the trailer for this before Shrek 3 yesterday and it looks pretty good, and it’s based on a Neil Gaiman novel.
  • Evan Almighty – I enjoyed Bruce Almighty so with a bit of luck this won’t disappoint. Again, the US gets this first, it’s not out here until August.
  • The Golden Compass – the film based on Northern Lights by Philip Pullman. Not out until December.

Films I am intending to see this year

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  1. Hot Fuzz – no, I haven’t see it yet.
  2. 28 Weeks Later… – the sequel to 28 Days Later.
  3. Sunshine – another Danny Boyle film which Gia has been involved in.
  4. Spiderman 3 – coming out this summer, at last.
  5. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End – which is out around my birthday.
  6. Shrek the Third – enjoyed the first two and has some interesting cameo voices.
  7. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – because it’s Harry Potter. No David Tennant this time though.
  8. The Simpsons Movie – Not the biggest fan of The Simpsons (prefer Futurama/Family Guy) but should be good.

And next year we have The Chronic-what-cles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, which hopefully will be as good as the first one.

Side note: My British English spelling dictionary in Firefox does not recognise the word ‘movie’.