The media I love

This is the one part of my website which I am reserving to just gush about things I really love, so if you're trying to get a handle on the kind of person I am you'll find what you're looking for here. Good luck wading through the cranberry bog that is my brain.

There's a lot that could go here so I'm just going to choose some of my alltime favourites in each category and pop in a quick summary for each. These aren't ordered lists, and the entries here will likely shuffle and change a bit depending on my mood on any given day. This is just the stuff that most consistently lands at the very top.

Games

Believe me, it was incredibly hard to choose just five. Of these lists, this is the one most subject to change. If you changed the prompt by a single word, the list would look completely different. However, I've tried very hard to just pick my top five overall favourite games. That said, a few honorable mentions are Ratchet & Clank (2002), Spec-Ops: The Line, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag and BPM: Bullets Per Minute.

1. Disco Elysium

I'm a huge fan of detective fiction, as you'll see later on in this list, and Disco Elysium is some of the best detective fiction I've had the pleasure of experiencing. It's an example of a game which knows exactly what it wants to be, and does exactly that.

A game in which a significant proportion of playthroughs start with the player character turning on the light and it stressing him out so much he has a heart attack and immediately dies is, indubitably, a masterpiece. But the game follows through on this by drawing you into the world with this cast of beautifully realised characters, and this has only got better since the Final Cut edition of the game added spectacularly good voice acting for every line of dialogue in the game.

It's heartbreakingly sincere in one moment and darkly hilarious in the next. If you haven't already played Disco Elysium, please do yourself a favour and give it a go.

2. Bloodborne

I could make a case for pretty much any of the 3 Dark Souls games or Elden Ring to be up here instead of Bloodborne, but for its elegant design and unique style of cosmic horror, I think Bloodborne is the one I'd most highly recommend.

It's not without flaws and boy does it need some love and attention from Sony, but that doesn't change the fact that it's an exquisite piece of action horror. With some of the best narrative design and worldbuilding this side of the 7th generation of consoles.

It starts with a fairly typical Victorian Gothic setting, which FromSoftware absolutely nailed. Yharnam is dripping with atmosphere and the tropes are played just straight enough that you don't think about it too much. From about the end of the first act, however, things start to devolve into complete cosmic horror. The story is fairly easy to pick up, in comparison to Dark Souls and Elden Ring at least, and I think that makes the game more approachable for people not familiar with FromSoft's particular style of storytelling.

3. Subnautica

Subnautica is probably one of the most important games to who I am today. Back in 2015, not long after it first went into early access, I was just starting to discover a passion for games and their history. I saw some "let's play" videos of the game and remember being so absorbed by the premise and gameplay I followed the game pretty much through to release in 2018.

I've played it through a bunch of times, and am often sucked back in because it's just top notch in every degree. It starts with the premise: something causes your ship to crash land on an alien planet. Then it sucks you in with an addictive core gameplay loop, and just as you're getting settled into that, it starts pushing you deeper into the ocean with mysterious story beats. Absolutely fantastic design, very much a comfort game of mine.

4. Spiritfarer

What can I say about Spiritfarer? This game is important to me for so many reasons. In Spiritfarer you maintain a boat while ferrying passengers around and completing their last wishes before putting them to rest. I first played it through while hanging out on the phone with my partner, Eva, in the evenings after college. She'd be doing some drawing, some knitting, or playing some Minecraft, and I'd settle in for a few hours of Spiritfarer. I'd often keep playing long after she'd gone to bed, eventually looking at the clock and realising "oh heck, it's tomorrow."

Partly this game is important to me for those memories, but also I just felt like I connected with game itself in a very meaningful way. As a developer, I think it's amazing how games can emotionally engage people, and Spiritfarer is so much the embodiment of that for me.

In case you can't tell, I am unable to talk or write about Spiritfarer without descending into quite a long ramble. So cutting this off before I get even worse.

5. Elite Dangerous

Elite Dangerous is one of those games that I can scarcely believe exists. Presenting you with the infinite majesty of space, and then asking you to learn how to pilot a spaceship before sodding off to hang out on a menu labelled "training" is just incredibly ballsy game design which I not only adore, but hugely respect.

It's a game with a staggering depth of freedom in what you can choose to spend your time doing, but as long as you enjoy space and the "space-as-frontier" style of sci-fi as seen in things like Firefly, you'll probably enjoy this. One of my favourite descriptions of the game is from UpIsNotJump's video on it where, to paraphrase a quote slightly, he says "It's like being in one of the quiet episodes of Star Trek."

It's one of my favourite games to switch my brain off and relax with, quite often watching a movie or TV show in another monitor. It's a strikingly beautiful game in all aspects of it's presentation, and I highly recommend anyone give it a try.

Movies

1. Blade Runner: The Final Cut

Blade Runner isn't a very good film. Blade Runner: The Final Cut, on the other hand, is one of the best films I've ever seen. No, seriously, if you haven't seen this film, or have only seen the original version, give The Final Cut a watch.

I'm not about to tell you that the unicorn dream sequence answers every question you ever had, the slightly different ending and removal of Harrison Ford's slightly bored sounding voice over really transform the film. It's much more contemplative and engaging, in my opinion.

The world, atmosphere, writing and music all come together into one of the very best films I have ever had the pleasure of watching. I even listened to the soundtrack while writing this page!

2. The Princess Bride

It occurs now that I don't know how to sell someone on The Princess Bride if they haven't already seen it. It's one of the nicest, most charming, most quotable films I've ever had the pleasure of watching. The initial setup is that a boy is sick and his Grandfather, played by Peter Falk (Columbo), comes over to read him a story. That story is The Princess Bride.

I'll not delve into a full plot summary, but suffice it to say this film features one of the best choreographed sword fights I've seen put to screen, not in terms of flashiness but in terms of accuracy to actual sword fighting, it contains some of the best writing, funniest characters and most quotable lines yet written.

For instance, if you've ever wondered where the line "My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die." came from, it's this film. Just give it a watch, I promise you won't regret it.

3. The Thing

Like many others on this page, this is a bit of a double feature as it's also standing in for Ridley Scott's Alien. Both masterclasses in practical effects, tension and atmosphere, these films are always worth watching and rewatching. If you haven't already do yourself a favour, grab some popcorn, a beverage of your preferred temperature, and watch these two fantastic films.

4. The Blues Brothers

I actually first watched this film at quite a young age which, to anyone who's seen the film, is probably quite surprising. I don't know exactly how it happened but I ended up watching it with my parents. They had to fast forward through most of the film and just skip to the musical sequences. I didn't really care about the film though, I just wanted to watch the Rawhide section on repeat.

Since then I've properly seen it through 3 or 4 times, and every time it's a fantastic viewing. The performances between the entire cast seem to crackle and pop, the music choices are exquisite, and the way the action escalates to an utterly nonsensical degree will never fail to make me laugh.

5. A Touch of Cloth

A Touch of Cloth is a very very silly British detective serial spoof featuring the absurdist humour of things like Police Squad and Airplane. Of course, if you don't get much out of absurd or crude humour then these films will likely leave you cold, as they live and die on both of those things.

However, as long as you're not vehemently opposed to films being a little silly, I think there's a good chance you'll enjoy this trilogy. There were few moments in which I wasn't in tears watching these films.

Honorable mention here for Police Squad which I love just as much as A Touch of Cloth. The only reason Cloth won out is because I think it's probably less well known.

TV Shows

1. Better Call Saul

Where Breaking Bad was genre defining television, I think Better Call Saul managed to surpass it in almost every way. It's one of the best written, best performed, best edited, best shot pieces of television I've ever had the pleasure of watching.

From the first frame of episode one, to the final frame of the final episode, it's beautiful to watch, beautiful to listen to, and just incredible. If you somehow haven't seen either of these yet, I'd suggest starting with Breaking Bad, as I think BCS makes a lot more sense, and is likely to be more impactful, when viewed through that lense.

2. Doctor Who

I'm English, this is pretty much our primary cultural export. Plus it's sci-fi mystery stories, what's not to love? Good news for any US folks: if you have Disney+ you should be able to watch this pretty soon, as it'll be hosted there overseas.

It's fun, family friendly, science fiction with the tiniest bit of horror occasionally mixed in there. The writing definitely starts to decline in quality as the show goes on, especially in Chris Chibnal's series, but there's almost always fun to be found. All around good comfort telly.

3. Red Dwarf

Red Dwarf is a niche, British sci-fi comedy from the late 1980's. It was so well renowned that the original cast is still making new episodes of it from time to time over on the channel Dave. It's a crude, boyish, and deeply silly show which I adore. Even the new series are pretty consistently good, which is unusual.

The plot follows Dave Lister, the last human alive after Red Dwarf, the ship he was on, had a radiation leak which killed the crew. Lister only survived because he was in stasis at the time. 3 million years later he, along with a hologram of his dead bunkmate, a being that evolved from his pet cat, whom they name Cat, and later an android called Kryten are floating through space getting up to all sorts of nonsense.

4. Columbo

Here we come back to my love of crime fiction, but in a slightly less nihilistic format than Disco Elysium. Columbo is another comfort show for me. Unlike a lot of the other stuff on this list, I won't tell you that you must go and watch this because Columbo is really quite formulaic and if you've seen one, you've seen them all.

That being said, I never fail to get a kick out of watching Columbo bumble around getting in the way and annoying the killer, until you hear "Oh, uh, just one more thing...", and know that he's got it all figured out.

5. The Owl House

Ok, I understand that given the rest of my media tastes this one might seem a bit odd, but hear me out. A while ago my girlfriend introduced me to this using the age old technique of not telling me much in advance. I went in skeptical but polite, as this was clearly something she was excited for me to watch but, outside of rewatching old favourites from my childhood, I'm not particularly into cartoons these days. Well, I wasn't.

The Owl House took maybe two or three episodes to start worming it's way into my heart. Fit to bursting with likeable, relatable and well written characters, it really does something special. I was fortunate enough to watch series 2 and 3 as they came out, and being part of that experience with the community was really something. It manages to be aimed at kids without being patronising in messaging, which is very impressive and a big part of the reason I enjoy it so much. Big comfort TV for me, though I won't make you go and watch it yourself.

Music

Because I've got a pretty visual memory, I don't remember music as well as I remember games and cinema. Don't get me wrong, the rhythms and melodies of songs will get stuck in my head, but the names of the artists won't, and it'll often take me a while to remember the name of the song. As a result, I don't have the encyclopedic knowledge of music that I do of games. Still, I've done my best to pick out some of my favourite albums, and tried to elaborate why.

1. The Sisters of Mercy: A Slight Case of Overbombing

2. Metallica: Master of Puppets

3. Radiohead: OK Computer

4. Depeche Mode: Delta Machine

5. Nina Simone: The Very Best Of

Books

1. Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

Dirk Gently, as a character, is an unusual sort. He's not clever like Sherlock and he's not methodical like Columbo. He's erratic and foolish and bumbles around annoying people, buggering up and generally making a neusance of himself, and yet always seems to end up right where he needs to be.

This is not the first time, nor is it the last time that we will see silly detective fiction on this list. This one in particular takes several turns for the confusing, baffling and downright weird. I remember first reading the section where the monk is introduced, then reading it again, then once more, then looking at the cover of the book to make sure I wasn't going mad.

A nice easy read, but a satisfying one nonetheless.

2. The Wee Free Men

There was no way we'd finish this page without Terry Pratchett getting mentioned once. While I've only read the book once, I've listened to the audiobook version, narrated by Tony Robinson, more times than I can count. For me it's a story about setting your focus, and working hard to achieve your goals no matter how unachievable they may seem.

Tiffany Aching meets the Nac Mac Feegle, little blue men who were thrown out of Fairyland for being drunk and disorderly, and they have to help her to rescue her brother. A big part of the story is Tiffany learning to be a witch. She believes her late grandmother was a witch and wants to follow in her footsteps. It's a story about confidence, self discovery, and little blue men who drink and fight. A good story for all ages.

3. The Necronomicon: The Best Weird Tales of H.P. Lovecraft

It seems that no discussion of Lovecraft's work can take place without the writer or presenter acknowledging that he was kind of a terrible guy. The context of the creation of art should be acknowledged alongside whatever message that art seems to push, and is a good thing to do for media literacy. For instance, analysing the Harry Potter series with the context of what J.K. Rowling has later said is a good thing to do.

It's no secret among my friends and family that I'm a big fan of Lovecraft's writing. This does not mean that I endorse his views. I feel more comfortable enjoying Lovecraft's writing than I would Rowling, for instance, as Lovecraft is dead, I know that if I pay money for something with Lovecraft's name on it, he doesn't see any of that money and therefore cannot use it to spread his views, or use it as a statistic to gauge endorsement of his views.

I have now used all the space I had for this section explaining the difference between endorsing a dead terrible person and an alive terrible person so I'll just say Lovecraft's writing is great, if a little antiquated, and worth a read if you're interested in seeing where the Cthulhu mythos came from.

4. The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse

Imagine every single film-noire trope you possibly can. It's a rainy Chicago night in black and white, there's a hard boiled private eye sat in his office smoking a cigarette, and sipping a double of Jack Daniels or Johnny Walker Red. Now imagine that hard boiled private eye is, in fact, a teddy bear and he's not in Chicago. He's in Toytown.

That's pretty much the premise of Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse. It takes all the tropes of film noire, turns the violence and gruesomeness up to eleven and then pushes it through the filter of childrens stories and nursery rhymes. Mother Goose gets cut open, Jack Sprat gets fried, and Humpty Dumpty is boiled, if I recall correctly. It's brutal and darkly hilarious, and a brilliant murder mystery puzzle with a really engaging wrapping.

5. Nineteen Eighty-Four

1984 is some of the best dystopian psychological horror I have ever read. The first act establishes the world, the tone, and the characters, and gives Winston the first glimmer of hope. The second act builds on that hope. Perhaps Winston can be happy, find love, and even beat the terrible system he's been forced to live under.

The third and final act is a beautifully inscrutable piece of psychological horror fiction where it becomes clear nobody was ever on Winston's side, he was singled out and isolated for his dissenting opinions, and he is destroyed. He is broken down and built back up into a model citizen. Everything he hoped for and wanted is taken away. Rarely does a book invoke emotions like 1984 invoked in me.

Plus it makes all the memes that say something like "This is just like 1984. No I haven't read it, but I imagine this what it's like" 10 times funnier.

Conclusion

While I could continue to waffle on for a great many more pages, I think it's best I wrap this up before I start compiling lists of my top 5 actors, photographers, absurdist painters, and theramin players.

I love art in all it's forms and, while I absolutely have preferences for some over others, being able to appreciate artistic forms outside of my own is, in my opinion, an important part of being a well rounded person.

Creative expression is one of the most human things we have, and being able to appreciate the complexities and nuances in all forms of art can be really fun and interesting.

If you, for some reason, made it to the end of this word soup, I want you to find something new today and try to enjoy it. If you're looking for some inspiration and you already know everything in the list above, take a look at the paintings of Giuseppe Arcimboldo, or Eduard Wiiralt. If you're familiar with Hieronymus Bosch, it'll be weirdly familiar.