Robert Sharp

Now You See Me: Now You Don't (2025) ⭐ 5.9 | Crime, Thriller 1h 53m | PG-13

NOW YOU SEE ME: NOW YOU DON’T (2025) www.imdb.com/title/tt4712... Ridiculous but fun.

I won the Diamond Tournament Finals on Duolingo!

Hooray!

Plus a post on my own blog, contextualising with other recent open justice judgments. www.robertsharp.co.uk/2026/02/17/o...

Here's a short judgment summary from me on @familylawweek.bsky.social www.familylawweek.co.uk/judgments/je... Open Justice in the Family Courts.

Scooby-Doo (2002) ⭐ 5.4 | Adventure, Comedy, Family 1h 26m | PG

SCOOBY-DOO (2002) m.imdb.com/title/tt0267... I said last month that there comes a point where you cannot date a film by its SFX. I don’t think we’re quite there with this one: the dog and the monsters aren’t quite real, more like projected ghosts - apt, given the subject matter.

The 2025 thread is here, by the way. Threads for previous years were, and indeed still are, over on Twitter. bsky.app/profile/robe...

Dial M for Murder (1954) ⭐ 8.2 | Crime, Drama, Mystery 1h 45m | PG

Okedokey, 2026 films.

www.imdb.com/title/tt0046... DIAL M FOR MURDER (1954) - I do not think I have ever watched a Grace Kelly film before. She’s just gorgeous, isn’t she? This is a simple play on celluloid but the artistry of shot is fascinating.

Father Christmas Is Back (2021) ⭐ 4.6 | Comedy 1h 45m | PG-13

www.imdb.com/title/tt1310... FATHER CHRISTMAS IS BACK (2021) This is a very confused film, every character a one-dimensional terrible cliche.

Jingle Bell Heist (2025) ⭐ 5.8 | Comedy, Crime, Romance 1h 36m | TV-14

ww.imdb.com/title/tt2485... JINGLE BELL HEIST (2025) Good twists but it felt a bit formulaic. Too easy for the board to be set.

W: Robert (1013)
B: Jesse White (1046)
1. e4 e5 2. f3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bb5 a6 5. Ba4 d5 6. d3 dxe4 7. dxe4 Bd6 8. Bg5 O-O 9. Nge2 Bc5 10. Nd5 Be6 11. Nxf6+ gxf6 12. Bh4 $9 Nd4 $6 13. Nxd4 exd4 14. O-O b5 15. Bb3 Bxb3 16. cxb3 b4 17. h3 c6 18. a3 bxa3 19. bxa3 a5 20. e5 fxe5 21. Bxd8 Black resigns

Where Do You Stand? On ghosts

open.substack.com/pub/hyperdim...

White: Robert
Black: James
1. e4 e5 2. f3 Nf6 3. c3 b6 4. d4 c5 5. dxe5 Nh5 6. Qd5 Nc6 7. Bb5 Bb7 8. Bc4 a6? 9. Qxf7#

White: Robert
Black: Allann 1. e4 e5 2. f3 Nf6 3. c3 Bc5 4. d4 exd5 5. cxd4 Bb6 6. Bg5 h6 7. Bh4 0–0 8. Bb5 a6 9. Ba4 c6 10. Qd3 d5 11. exd5 Nxd5 12. Bc2 Qe8+ 13. Ne2 Nf4 14. Qh7#

Yep! It’s not bad at teaching occasional players like me some of the intermediate techniques.

White: Robert (961)
Black: E (982)

1. e4 b6 2. f3 d5 3. c3 Bb7 4. d4 dxe4 5. fxe4 c5 6. Bb5+ Nd7 7. Nd2 f5 8. Qh5+ g6 9. Qg5 h6 10. Qxg6#

But I’d say that stops being possible in the mid noughties and only the actor’s ageing face can date it.

Something to do with CGI and the abandonment of celluloid for digital?

From the dawn of cinema, there were sufficient innovations in film stock, editing, cinematography and special effects that one can pretty accurately date a film as 50s, 60s, 70s, etc.

War of the Worlds (2005) ⭐ 6.6 | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi 1h 57m | PG-13

WAR OF THE WORLDS (2005) m.imdb.com/title/tt0407... Another of those ‘wow, this film is already 20 years old?’ moments. A couple of epic long shots where the threat is stylishly off camera, and we see only the devastation it wreaks.

Our Little Secret (2024) ⭐ 5.7 | Comedy, Romance 1h 41m | TV-14

OUR LITTLE SECRET (2024) www.imdb.com/title/tt3102... I know that Lindsey Lohan has a reputation for being a hot mess with a criminal record, who got punched in the face by a Syrian refugee mother.

But I still think she’s a good actress and I’d like to see her in more than just Romcoms.

Code 46 (2003) ⭐ 6.1 | Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi 1h 33m | R

CODE 46 (2003) www.imdb.com/title/tt0345... Morton a little bit manic-pixie-dream-girls here.

Annabelle: Creation (2017) ⭐ 6.5 | Horror, Mystery, Thriller 1h 49m | R

ANNABELLE: CREATION (2017) www.imdb.com/title/tt5140... Usially pretty-but-disabled main characters have a sort of plot armour. Not so here.

The Conjuring 2 (2016) ⭐ 7.3 | Horror, Mystery, Thriller 2h 14m | R

THE CONJURING 2 (2016) www.imdb.com/title/tt3065...

Annabelle (2014) ⭐ 5.5 | Horror, Mystery, Thriller 1h 39m | R

ANNABELLE (2014) www.imdb.com/title/tt3322... Same fictional universe.

The Conjuring (2013) ⭐ 7.5 | Horror, Mystery, Thriller 1h 52m | R

Haven’t uploaded to this thread in a while, I’ve probably forgotten a couple.

www.imdb.com/title/tt1457... THE CONJURING (2013)

White: Maximus (917) on Duolingo
Black: Rob (953)

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 f6 3. d4 Nc6 4. d5 Nb4 5. c3 Na6 6. b4 c5 7. b5 Nc7 8. a4 a6 9. b6 Nb5 10. axb5 axb5 11. Rxa8 c4 12. Na3 Qxb6 13. Rxc8+ Ke7 14. Rb8 Kf7 15. Nh4 Bd6 16. g3 Bxb8 17. f4 Qc5 18. fxe5 Ba7 19. e6+ dxe6 20. dxe6+ Kxe6 21. Nf5 Qf2# 0-1

White: Rob
Black: Wez on Duolingo

1. e4 Nf6 2. f3 e5 3. c3 Be7 4. d4 Nxe4 5. fxe4 Bh4 6. g3 Be7 7. Nh3 O-O 8. Qh5 Nc6 9. dxe5 d6 10. Bg5 dxe5 11. Bc4 Be6 12. Nd2 Bxc4 13. Nxc4 Qd3 14. Rd1 Qxe4 15. Ne3 f6 16. Rd7 Qxh1 17. Nf1 Qe4 18. Ne3 fxg5 19. Nxg5 Qxe3 20. Kd1 Rad8 21. Qxh7#

69. Kd2 Kb1 70. Kd3 a1=Q 71. Kd2 Qa2+ 72. Ke1 Rc1# 0-1

46. Rf3+ Kxb4 47. Rf4+ Kc5 48. Re4 a5? 49. Rxe7 b4 50. Re8 Rxf7 51. Ra8 Kb5 52. Kxh4 a4 53. Rb8+ Kc4 54. Kh5 b3 55. Kg6 Rf1 56. Rc8+ Kb4 57. Ra8 Ra1 58. Rb8+ Ka3 59. Kf5 b2 60. Ke4 b1=Q+ 61. Rxb1 Rxb1 62. Kd3 Rb3+ 63. Kc2 Ka2 64. Kc1 a3 65. Kc2 Ka1? 66. Kc1? a2 67. Kc2 Rb8 68. Kc1 Rc8+

22. Rd4 Bb4 23. Rexe4 Ref8 24. Rf4 Rd8 25. Rfe4 Rhg8 26. f4 h5 27. g5 h6 28. h4 hxg5 29. f5 gxh4+ 30. Kf1 h3 31. Rh4 h2 32. Bxg8 Rxd4 33. Rxh2 Rf4+ 34. Rf2 Rg4 35. f6 Rxg8 36. f7 Rf8 37. Rf5 h4 38. Kg2 Be7 39. Kh3 Kc6 40. b4 b5 41. a3 a6 42. Rf4 Kd5 43. Rf5+ Kc4 44. Kg4 Kb3 45. Kh3 Kxa3

White: Gael Gawww
Black: RS

1. d4 d5 2. c4 f6 3. Nc3 dxc4 4. e4 e5 5. dxe5 fxe5 6. Bxc4 $9 Nh6 7. Nf3 Bg4 8. O-O Bxf3 9. Qxf3 Qh4 10. h3 Nc6 11. Bxh6 gxh6 12. Qf7+ Kd8 13. Nd5 Nd4 14. Nxc7 Rc8 15. Ne6+ Nxe6 16. Qxe6 Qxe4 17. Rad1+ Kc7 18. Qd5 Qxd5 19. Rxd5 e4 20. Re1 Re8 21. g4 Bd6