SFW writing competition: deciding what to review

The Jacket (2005) directed by John Maybury, starring Adrien Brody and Keira Knightley.

Memento (2000) directed by Christopher Nolan, starring Guy Pearce and Carrie-Ann Moss.

Big Fish (2003) directed by Tim Burton and starring Ewan McGregor.

So you've read through the writing competition information back and you're in! The next step is deciding what film or television programme you will review.

Basically, anything goes as long as it relates in some way to the theme of [recall].

You might want to start with our inspirational terms and examples. We've included more than 50 words and phrases that relate to the word [recall] in some way and more than 50 films and television programmes.

Of course, you might want to review a film or television programme that isn't on the list and we are happy for you to surprise us. So long as your review is of a film or television programme that has something to do with [recall], you can pick whatever you like. ​

Pick something that you are able to watch more than once if you can. Repeated viewing really helps to pick out detail and strengthen your analysis. 

Pick a film or television programme that you feel something about. Your review needs to be more than "I loved this film" or "I hated this film" but feeling something about the film is a good start to writing a decent review.

Pick a film or television programme that you have something you want to say about it and the more you want to say about it, the better! It is always easier to edit a review down and make it more succinct than it is to inflate it if you don't have enough to say.

Now you've decided on your film or television programme, you can move onto the next step: watching it!