Anomalisa is one of those films where – after viewing – you need to have a little think to decide how you feel about it. It’s certainly well crafted, but I can’t help but feel slightly indifferent towards it.

It’s a stunningly bleak film and one of the most reflective pieces I have seen in a long time, with multiple avenues of interpretation; perhaps it’s a commentary on the monotony of life; or possibly a story of a man so warped by the falseness of the service industry, he has become disassociated with a faux society; or perhaps it’s a tragedy with deep psychological roots.

There are many layers to Anomalisa and I’m sure it will grow ever-more profound and poignant to those who enjoyed it, but come the end it felt rather insipid to me. I absolutely appreciate the themes, the writing and the animation, but it failed to rouse my emotions. I didn’t find it at all gripping and though I feel it has reasonable substance, I have no desire to watch it again. It left me thoroughly conflicted.

A mildly entertaining yet fairy unexceptional film. Don Jon is coherently put together and features some incredible talent, but never quite piqued my interest enough. Feels like it contained some important messages about vanity and the age we live in, but I just couldn’t bring myself to care. Scarlett’s character had a very nice watch, though.

In my ‘Watched This Year’ blog post at the end of 2015, I wrote about how I finally wanted to get around to The Grand Budapest Hotel. Well, I watched it a day later and I loved it. Ralph Fiennes and Tony Revolori were absolutely riveting together and then there’s the phenomenal supporting cast – phew!

An absolutely marvellous film full of character. I enjoyed The Life Aquatic and loved Moonrise Kingdom, but The Grand Budapest Hotel trumps them both. It’s high time I delved into the rest of Wes Anderson’s catalogue.

My favourite animated film of the year thus far and it’s going to take an awful lot to dethrone it. The Little Prince is utterly beautiful and completely solidifies my belief that Mark Osborne is an extraordinary filmmaker who has yet to put a foot wrong.

Or ‘Snoopy and Charlie Brown: The Peanuts Movie’ as it’s melodically called in the UK. An adorable film, lovingly written and pays homage to the original comic strip and television series while also appearing modern and fresh. Gutted it was overlooked at the Oscars. What a bunch of blockheads.

Slowly working my way through Christopher Nolan’s filmography. The Prestige is a fantastic film; exquisitely performed and well written, with many unforeseen twists. It hasn’t stuck with me as much as I anticipated, though. Insomnia remains my favourite thus far, with only Memento left to view.

The day after seeing The Grand Budapest Hotel, I watched The Royal Tenenbaums and my admiration for Mr. Anderson grows evermore. A superbly charming film with such absorbing characters brought wonderfully to life.

A tremendous film on an incredibly sensitive subject. Kevin Bacon plays a convicted child molester recently released on parole. It’s an extremely thought provoking film, understandably so.

Bacon’s character is neither light nor dark – at times you feel disgust towards him, but at others you want to feel sympathetic and sometimes you feel as though you need to second-guess his actions – which produced very conflicted and nervous feelings from me as the audience.

Kevin Bacon delivers an Oscar-worthy performance and the writing and subject matter are both handled sensibly. The Woodsman is certainly a film for a rational audience and one of the more powerful and pensive movies I have seen in recent times.

A cliche-ridden mess, with dialogue that made me wince and characters so banal there’s more originality in a re-run. The humour is tasteless and repetitive and while the setting has traces of intrigue, everything else is so drab and tiresome that it never amounts to anything.

There was some clunky dialogue, a little forced exposition and a couple of far-fetched coincidences, but I absolutely see what makes Fargo so popular. On the whole, it is an all-around fantastic show. For the few lapses in the writing, there are so many highs; some truly shocking moments of tension, utterly wonderful flows of dialogue – effortlessly delivered – and remarkable characterisation. Martin Freeman is perfect as Lester Nygaard – so absorbing that I actually missed him whenever he was off-screen – and Billy Bob Thornton is incredibly villainous yet so charismatic and fascinating, that you almost want him to get away with everything so his devious antics never end. A thoroughly tremendous first season.

Took everything that made the first season so fantastic and elevated it to even greater heights. The story has an arguably larger scope than the first season and I was slightly hesitant that could possibly detract from the shows quirky, small town tone, but despite all the differences, it never lost that Fargo ambiance. The cinematography and editing were always on-point, with the split-screen effect an unconventional but entirely fascinating way to present a number of sequences. The ending seems like it would perhaps split audiences, but I adored it. I also appreciate that the audience are never spoon-fed any details; a lot of it is in the subtext and I loved that some of the more unusual moments go without explanation.

This season is – in ways – a prequel to the first, as there are a couple of recurring characters. Due to this, I thought much of the tension could be potentially lessened given that the audience already has a good idea of who will come out alive, but I was shocked to find this wasn’t the case. The writing never falters and when Fargo gets tense, your heart will need some recuperation time afterwards. Rarely have my eyes been so glued to the screen during a TV show. Furthermore, the cast absolutely shine. In the first season, Martin Freeman was my captivation; it was never dull and the other characters were compelling in their own ways, but I was always very glad whenever it returned to Freeman. In season two, however, every single character had a compelling persona and a comprehensive back-story or part to play. Had I actually watched the second season of Fargo when it was broadcast last year, I would have undoubtedly placed it as my favourite series of the year (which I eventually gave to This is England ’90).

Watched season five for the second time as my girlfriend wanted to catch up with the series before season six. My thoughts remain generally the same; it’s a strong season with some tremendous moments (especially in the last three episodes), just not as great as it has been. It’s always more satisfying being able to marathon it, though. The earlier episodes didn’t feel as though they dragged like I seem to remember.