Minor Annoyances (Vol 2)

[HarmonicGenerator]

10 minutes ago, Lorne Malvo said:

British-based publications/companies/etc doing 'Best of 2025' lists and including stuff that wasn't released in this county in 2025. 

BBC Culture's number 1 film of 2025 is Hamnet, which comes out here in January 2026. Gets my goat it does.

I suppose they use the excuse that films like this have screenings at the London Film Festival, which means technically you could have seen it here in 2025. I don't agree with it either - there were enough films actually released this year without having to cheat the list!

[Lorne Malvo]

30 minutes ago, HarmonicGenerator said:

I suppose they use the excuse that films like this have screenings at the London Film Festival, which means technically you could have seen it here in 2025. I don't agree with it either - there were enough films actually released this year without having to cheat the list!

It just reeks of film critics going 'ner ner I've seen this and you haven't'. 

[waters44]

13 minutes ago, Lorne Malvo said:

It just reeks of film critics going 'ner ner I've seen this and you haven't'. 

This reminds me of a very minor annoyance - I quite enjoy the Kermode and Mayo podcast, but it absolutely boils my blood when a Tamil film or other foreign film is high in the charts and his review is “Dunno, not press screened, haven’t seen it”. Then his next sentence is… “up next, a review of the Gabby’s Dollhouse film”. Argh, it’s absolutely maddening. Maybe skip the press screening of the latest kids bilge and pop over to Odeon to watch something worth hearing about?

[Lorne Malvo]

6 minutes ago, waters44 said:

This reminds me of a very minor annoyance - I quite enjoy the Kermode and Mayo podcast, but it absolutely boils my blood when a Tamil film or other foreign film is high in the charts and his review is “Dunno, not press screened, haven’t seen it”. Then his next sentence is… “up next, a review of the Gabby’s Dollhouse film”. Argh, it’s absolutely maddening. Maybe skip the press screening of the latest kids bilge and pop over to Odeon to watch something worth hearing about?

It's always quite surprising how many critics will flat-out refuse to review anything they don't have a free press screening too. I'm not saying they should spend their own money on every film that comes out - after all it's a job - but as for your example, you'd think somebody like Kermode might ocasionally pay a fiver to watch a highly acclaimed film rather than a snide moan about how they didn't get to see it for free.

[SuperBacon]

57 minutes ago, Lorne Malvo said:

It just reeks of film critics going 'ner ner I've seen this and you haven't'. 

THIS!!! I absolutely hate this particular writer who bangs on about albums he's heard for ages "can't wait for you all to hear this" 

Oh thank you Mr Music that you can't wait for the rest of us plebs ro hear it, aren't you special! (rent free in my head for sure)

[HarmonicGenerator]

1 hour ago, SuperBacon said:

THIS!!! I absolutely hate this particular writer who bangs on about albums he's heard for ages "can't wait for you all to hear this" 

Oh thank you Mr Music that you can't wait for the rest of us plebs ro hear it, aren't you special! (rent free in my head for sure)

The Pilot TV podcast are absolutely terrible for it as well, "I can't tell you what I think of it because of the embargo, but I've got the screeners for [new prestige show], it's not out until next May but obviously I watched all of it". Great, that's so great for you, thanks. 

[waters44]

1 hour ago, HarmonicGenerator said:

The Pilot TV podcast are absolutely terrible for it as well, "I can't tell you what I think of it because of the embargo, but I've got the screeners for [new prestige show], it's not out until next May but obviously I watched all of it". Great, that's so great for you, thanks. 

Even worse when they say all that but don’t even tell you the name of the show because even that’s embargoed. Such a waste of time

[waters44]

On 12/9/2025 at 10:42 AM, waters44 said:

Had a DPD delivery last week and the drivers name was CURLY. I was hoping it was your man from the cobbles but it was a big friendly bald bloke from Eastern Europe somewhere. 

We live at 278A and it drives me fucking mental how many packages get left at my house for 276. They run a business and get lots of deliveries so it’s constant. The delivery drivers must see 278 on next doors gate and just assume we’re 276 despite the big sign that you have to walk past to get to the house clearly saying 278A. It’s got to the point now where as soon as I hear footsteps on the drive I bolt down the stairs and shout at them as they’re running away, then they get annoyed that they have to walk round to next door with it. 

Oh for fu….

Spoiler

I’m so annoyed I’ve cracked the Xmas chocolate open to cheer up

Did your delivery ever arrive @BomberPat?

[Tamura]

On 12/9/2025 at 10:42 AM, waters44 said:

We live at 278A and it drives me fucking mental how many packages get left at my house for 276. They run a business and get lots of deliveries so it’s constant. The delivery drivers must see 278 on next doors gate and just assume we’re 276 despite the big sign that you have to walk past to get to the house clearly saying 278A. It’s got to the point now where as soon as I hear footsteps on the drive I bolt down the stairs and shout at them as they’re running away, then they get annoyed that they have to walk round to next door with it. 

Don't get me started on couriers. I live at 58B on the main shopping street in the town, in a flat over a shop. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out that if you're in front on number 58 on a street and there's two storeys above it, that those might just be A and B. But knowing how useless couriers are I even provide them with detailed instructions as to exactly where the door to my flat it (round the back of the shops) and how to get to it. Yet every single time they get to the main street, decide they can't find 58B and leave without even trying to find it. 

Edited December 10, 2025 by Tamura

[BomberPat]

To their credit, DPD were eventually able to sort it! Despite their live chat only ever saying that they couldn't do anything and I would have to raise it with the seller, I eventually got through to someone on the phone, who spoke to the depot, and I got a call back from customer services. They texted the driver and his manager, and he was able to come back and explain that he had left it behind a neighbour's fence (no explanation as to why, but no point interrogating if it's at least getting fixed), and he went off and got it and was able to deliver it. So it is actually all sorted now!

[HarmonicGenerator]

34 minutes ago, Tamura said:

Don't get me started on couriers. I live at 58B on the main shopping street in the town, in a flat over a shop. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out that if you're in front on number 58 on a street and there's two storeys above it, that those might just be A and B. But knowing how useless couriers are I even provide them with detailed instructions as to exactly where the door to my flat it (round the back of the shops) and how to get to it. Yet every single time they get to the main street, decide they can't find 58B and leave without even trying to find it. 

I know that feeling, we used to be a 37A/6 and only the most dedicated deliverers could figure out that 37A was after 37 but before 39, and 6 must be at the top. Most of them just did laps around the lane until I went outside to wave at them until they saw me.

[Devon Malcolm]

On 12/9/2025 at 11:29 AM, Lorne Malvo said:

It just reeks of film critics going 'ner ner I've seen this and you haven't'. 

And people on Letterboxd just posting "Embargoed" as their review. Wankers.

[CAREBEAR LUVVA]

On 12/9/2025 at 2:06 PM, HarmonicGenerator said:

The Pilot TV podcast are absolutely terrible for it as well, "I can't tell you what I think of it because of the embargo, but I've got the screeners for [new prestige show], it's not out until next May but obviously I watched all of it". Great, that's so great for you, thanks. 

I've had what you might call a "side hustle" in "the media" for the last 15 years. The thing about this sort of statement, right, is that 99.9% of the time it's complete bullshit. Unless you work for the absolute top media folks in the world, you're getting advance screeners to fuck all before anyone else - you'll get it when the media campaigns begin and literally everyone who works for any review-based publication will be offered links/discs/download codes/whatever. But regular folk don't know about that side of things, so when someone claims to have had some sort of privileged access, they lap this stuff right up and keep listening/reading/watching in case you let slip some sort of top secret information. But you never will, because you don't actually know anything. It's a bit like a variation of a clickbaity Youtube video thumbnail. Does wonders for "engagement", but you come across like a desperate attention-seeking wanker and anyone with half a brain will immediately put you on their ignore list. 

[air_raid]

On 12/10/2025 at 2:15 PM, Tamura said:

in a flat over a shop

Cut your hair and get a job.

[davertfnewman]

I had a recent addition to a wing of my minor annoyances, which is soundalikes on radio commercials or voiceovers. Many years ago the likes of Vic Reeves and Stephen Fry probably did one commercial for a company at a big cost but with the company's knowledge that what they spent now would pay off in the future. One in and done, they hire soundalikes from that point forward.

I do a lot more driving than I used to so hear more commercials. One particularly awful one was "Dwanny Dwyer" doing adwerts for "Skwy". Just heard who I assume isn't Tom Baker doing some awful bit for beans because even in the December of his life I'm sure he could act better. Makes you long for the strangely-understated Dexter Fletcher doing voiceovers for Maccies.