Tuesday, 14 December 2010


It appears to be an act of treason, punishable by very messy death, to reveal anything about Catfish, the documentary that's taken every festival by storm in the last few months. In fact I'm not even sure I'm allowed to say that it's called Catfish, so I'm already risking life and limb with this post.
I will just say, then, that it's very good, although its capacity to convince you that it's deffo for realz one minute and clearly a load of old Joaquin the next does get distracting. It's also been hideously mismarketed as some kind of The Blair Witch Project for the tenties (that's what we're calling this decade, right?), whereas the truth is that it's a much more ordinary story about... well... people. And stuff.

Still, it is gripping, touching, bizarre, full of likeable characters / real people (delete according to opinion), and features some award-winning chest hair.

Something That Might Be Of Interest
If you're in London this Thursday evening, why not pop down to the ICA to see a preview of Catfish at the Ultra Culture Cinema Christmas Party, an event destined to become almost as thrilling and legendary as the time the odometer in my car ticked over from 99999 to 00000. You will see a good film, you will probably have fun, you might get a free gift and you won't catch any socially unacceptable diseases, provided you use adequate protection. Deets here.

See you there! Or, see you somewhere else. Or, more likely, never.


  1. I believe the years in this decade are 'The Twenty Tens'.

    The Catfish makers are being sued for using music without permision. They say it is a work of fiction. The makers swear it is genuine.Well, it keeps the catfish legal team on their toes.

    My view? The camera always lies.

  2. Nice non-review there! I thank you most sincerely for not spoiling it for the minions.

  3. I saw it this evening, and I'm tying myself in Vizzini-like knots over whether it's a fake or for real? All "where's the poison?", and it's actually poisoning my enjoyment of the film. It's good in how it raises questions like this, but I'd like it more if I knew one way or the other. Tony Cox's comment above only confuses matters even further.
    Difficult to talk about when no one wants to have it spoiled, mind.