Films

Q: How often do you watch films? A: A couple of times a week, usually in the evening as a way to switch off. It's rarely a big event — more background company while I unwind than a dedicated night out. Weekends are the exception, when I might actually sit down and give something my full attention. Q: Do you prefer the cinema or home? A: Home, most of the time, purely for convenience — I can pause it, make food, not worry about anyone talking behind me. That said, there's something about the cinema, the size of the screen and the fact that you can't get distracted, that home just can't replicate. I probably go a handful of times a year for anything I actually care about seeing properly. Q: What kind of films do you avoid? A: Anything overly gory, mostly — I don't get anything out of violence for its own sake. I'm also not big on films that are trying very obviously to make you cry; I'd rather something earn an emotional reaction than engineer one. Beyond that I'm fairly open, genre-wise. Q: Has your taste changed since childhood? A: Massively. I used to watch almost exclusively animated films and anything with a clear happy ending, and now I gravitate toward things that are more ambiguous, slower, sometimes deliberately uncomfortable. I think as a kid I wanted films to resolve neatly, and now I find the ones that don't resolve neatly more honest, somehow.