Chris Flackett is a writer for 25YL who loves Twin Peaks, David Lynch, great absurdist literature and listens to music like he's breathing oxygen. He lives in Manchester, England with his beautiful wife, three kids and the ghosts of Manchester music history all around him.
Album Reconstruction is an attempt to right the “wrongs” of those album song selections that frustrate, divide and prevent good albums from becoming great ones. In this edition, Chris Flackett looks to combine the best of Radiohead’s Kid A and Amnesiac to make the super album…Kid Amnesiac! I know this might be sacrilege to a […] More
You have to feel sorry for the hosts of Westworld. No matter where they are—the park, the so-called “real” world—they cannot outrun the boundaries of their own identity crises, particularly in Westworld S3E3. First, it was the realisation that what they took for reality were just programmed narratives keeping them trapped in pre-ordained roles for […] More
If we were to ask ourselves which character is the real heart of Westworld, who would we say? The focus has certainly been on Dolores, but she has become as much of an extreme (the destruction of humanity) as the park guests (the degradation of the hosts). Not a lot of heart and warmth there. […] More
Previously on Westworld: The hosts’ rebellion ended either in death or redemption through “The Door,” a virtual promised land. Dolores Abernathy meanwhile managed to sneak herself off the island in a copy of Charlotte Hale’s body, taking a selection of host consciousnesses with her. We know Dolores is back in her own body, and that […] More
—It’s a controversial argument, but it was Mark E. Smith that gave the most accurate description of what rock and roll is, at heart, and often isn’t allowed to be: “Rock & roll isn’t even music really. It’s a mistreating of instruments to get feelings over.” What feelings? No James Taylor was Mr. Smith; no […] More
“He was never looking to be compared to any other lyricist.” James Dean Bradfield “I’d forgotten how much I missed him as a lyricist, how much a fan I am of his intellect, his fierce, rigorous critique of culture.” Nicky Wire “Youth culture has always been controlled by the same people, selling the same goods […] More
Let me start with a confession (there’s no other way around it): I am not an unconditional fan of Lost. In fact, as far as the work of Damon Lindelof, one of Lost’s main showrunners, is concerned, I think The Leftovers (where this article has taken its title from) is not only better than Lost, […] More
October 5th 2019 marks the 50th anniversary of the Monty Python troupe’s collective debut, with the first episode of the television show Monty Python’s Flying Circus airing on BBC1 at 11pm on October 5th 1969. There was little fanfare and the Radio Times entry at the time suggests little anticipation or excitement. But from such […] More
Welcome back to the Winden woods. Time has looped you back to me, but I bring not a copy of Tannhaus’ Journey Through Time (though a fine read I’m sure) but the second part of my look at angst and Weltschmerz in Netflix’s hit sci-fi drama Dark. Last time I looked at how the show reflects […] More
“Far away across the field The tolling of the iron bell Calls the faithful to their knees To hear the softly spoken magic spells…” It’s as stark, clean, totemic and ambiguously powerful as the monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey. An unflinchingly black background, perhaps space, perhaps not, provides a hushed, mysterious canvas for a […] More
The kind of long narrative of serialized TV can be wonderfully immersive, but here at 25YL we also recognize the value of a great standalone episode. Join us as we explore horror and sci-fi anthologies old and new, along with some other standout episodes of shows you love. This week, Chris Flackett examines an episode […] More
He is of this cursed ghost town, and will remain of it, part of all these things that are so much greater than he. Look, I say to you. Look with him as he closes his eyes, as he dies, knowing that in the sleep of death no more dreams will come. – Rory Maclean, […] More
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