The Influence of Letterboxd on the Film-Watching Experience

Since I started using Letterboxd (four years ago), an unconscious tendency I developed when watching films is that, throughout the film, I’ll think about what Letterboxd rating I’m going to give it. If the start of the film starts really well and feels unique and perfectly attuned to my sensibilities, then I might think, This…

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Social Media and the Ethics of Comedy Theft

Joke theft is a massive taboo in the comedy world. When a stand-up comedian does it, they’re vilified and seen as a hack – unable to come up with any original and funny material of their own. But more than that, joke theft is seen as morally wrong, and it’s easy to see why. It…

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Algorithmic Visions: Weighing the Benefits and Costs of Psychedelic AI Art

Psychedelic AI art is everywhere – or at least, I’m seeing it everywhere (because many accounts/people I follow on social media are focused on psychedelics). I see psychedelicised AI art used as images for social media posts, blog posts, event listings, websites, and podcasts – in all kinds of online content, really. I mentioned one…

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The Horror of Eternal Isolation: Apeirophobia in Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s ‘Pulse’ (2001)

Pulse (Kairo) is a 2001 Japanese techno-horror film directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa. After having watched Kurosawa’s 1997 psychological thriller Cure (Kyua), widely regarded as a masterpiece, I was keen to check out more of his work. (Cure was inspired by David Fincher’s crime film Se7en; it likewise follows a series of gruesome murders and detectives…

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AI Should Be a Writing Tool, Not a Ghostwriter

In a few previous blog posts (see here, here, and here), I discussed the pitfalls of AI-generated written content. I’ve taken a pretty anti-AI stance in that respect. When I see this kind of content online, I don’t want to read it (I imagine many people also spot it as AI-generated and, once realising it…

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