Cold Storage – Movie Review

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TL;DR – While filled with fascinating concepts, it becomes a film that is less than the sum of its parts.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film.

Warning – Contains scenes which may cause distress.

Masked troops drive away from a town being bombed in fire.

Cold Storage Review Introduction –

If you have been on our site before, you know that we are here for an interesting new Zombie work. While the genre can be overstuffed at times, the good films use the zombies as a reflection on society and have interesting things to say. Today, we are looking at a film that is filled to the brim with interesting concepts, but struggles to make a great film out of it, despite all the building blocks being there.  

So, to set the scene, when Skylab crashed into Western Australia in 1979, NASA thought it had collected all the debris, but it missed one. It housed a fungus they were experimenting on, but what went up was not what came down. Luckily, the canister landed in the barren Australian desert, though unlucky for the small township that needed to be napalmed to contain the spread. A small sample was kept in the top-secret Atchison Storage Facility in Kansas. But time is a fool to us all, and decades later, what was stored on sub-level 4 was forgotten, the facility was sold off to a self-storage company, and life went on. Well, it did right up until an internal warning system that has not been activated since the Cold War started blaring in Washington.  

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Hoppers – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A perfectly charming if conceptually muddied film.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid- and end-credit scene.

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film.

All the animals imitating a sound.

Hoppers Review Introduction –

There was a time when Pixar could do no wrong, when every film they dropped was gold, and they were adored at the box office. We are no longer living in that era, with several of Pixar’s recent films being dropped straight to Disney+, which is never a good sign. But we are now jumping back to the cinemas with an original story, and that is worthy of checking out.  

So, to set the scene, Mable (Piper Curda) always grew up with a special connection with her grandmother (Karen Huie). She would take Mable down to a local glade where she could find her calm, watching the animals go about their lives. Well, Mable is now 19, her grandmother is now gone, and the spiteful mayor of Beaverton, Jerry Generazzo (Jon Hamm), is trying to destroy the glade to put up an expressway. Mable is fighting with all her energy, but no one else seems to care, which is when she spots a lone beaver doing something odd. She follows it back to Beaverton University when she discovers her professor, Samantha “Sam” Fairfax (Kathy Najimy), has created Avatar technology allowing you to enter a robot animal and understand the world around you. Well, Mable just needs one beaver to move back into the glade, and she can stop the construction … So maybe it is time to download herself into a robot and try to find that one beaver who can make a difference.

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Project Hail Mary – Movie Review

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TL;DR – Project Hail Mary is everything a sci-fi film should be: bold, evocative, immersive, and wonderous.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film.

Warning – Some scenes contain flashing lights.

Warning – Contains scenes which may cause distress.

The Hail Mary floating next to a much larger alien ship.

Project Hail Mary Review Introduction –

As I sit down to write this review, I feel like I am floating a touch on air, as if I had just witnessed something glorious to behold. Something I hoped would be good, but which delivered in ways not even I was expecting. It’s a rare film that not only meets expectations but exceeds them.   

So, to set the scene, a man wakes up sealed in a bag, not able to talk, and is accosted by some persistent medical device. He does not know who he is. He does not know where he is. He does not know why there are two dead bodies with him. And you better believe he does not know why he is on a spaceship, or why the star he is looking at is not Sol. There are flashes of memory, of a dying Sun, a Petrova line to Venus, and microbes called Astrophage eating it away. But the man whom the computer says is Dr Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) doesn’t have much time to think about things when the computer alerts him to Blip-A, and he realises he is not the only spaceship out here.     

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A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: Season 1 – TV Review

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TL;DR – A concise, character-driven return to Westeros that proves how powerful focused storytelling can be.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the HBO Max service that viewed this series.

A horse walks through a forest at dawn.

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Review –

I am going to admit up front that I came into this series quite cautiously. The Game of Thrones universe has brought me much joy in the past. However, we have seen in the past with Season 8 of GoT and Season 2 of HotD that it is a very precarious world that can fall apart at short notice. Was I willing to let my heart be broken for a third time, because I think that makes it shame on me? Well, like a fool, I gave it a go, and I think that was the right choice.     

So, to set the scene, we open with Duncan (Peter Claffey) burying his Ser Arlan of Pennytree (Danny Webb) in the ground, now all alone, no real skills to call his own. While he may not have skills that would earn him honest employment, he could be a knight. Taking on the moniker of Ser Duncan the Tall, claiming that his master knighted him in his dying moments. There is a tournament in Ashford, which is a substantial risk, because he does not have the money to ransom back his horses even if he fails once. But maybe the young, orphaned Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell), whom he meets along the road and cons his way into being a squire, might bring the luck he needs. Or a complication that will completely change his life. One of the two probably … or, more likely, both. Now, from here, we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.  

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Star Trek: Starfleet Academy – Rubincon [S1E10] & Season 1 – TV Review

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TL;DR – The season finale sticks the landing by finding a very Star Trek way to resolve its big issue and also continue the saga of the Talaxian Furfly.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Paramount+ service that airs this series.

All the cadets taking their seats on the bridge.

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy – Rubincon Review Introduction –

Well, we did it, another new series of Star Trek has finished its maiden season, and what a time it was. We have big swings that didn’t always work, but at least they were not safe. They took moments to touch on major lingering threads from the past, and also had a running side plot about a Talaxian Furfly that made for entertaining viewing. But as we have reached the end, we will first take a look to see if the season finale stuck the landing and then look at the season as a whole. Okay, lets dive into Rubincon not Rubicon as all of my grammar software wants to change it to.   

So, to set the scene, things are not looking good for the USS Athena and its crew; it lost its drive and academy sections, and now they are stuck as the only ship on the safe side of the new border created by Nus Braka (Paul Giamatti). He has fenced the new Federation in, and if his mines go off, not only will the Federation be forever isolated, but all the systems near it will be destroyed, killing hundreds of billions of sentient creatures. While Anisha Mir (Tatiana Maslany) wants to kill Nahla Ake (Holly Hunter) for what she did to her family, their duel has to wait because Nus will find them, and sooner rather than later. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode and season as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Reminders of Him – Movie Review

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TL;DR – While conceptually interesting, I never bought the romance and the heart of the film, which is a problem when your film is all about the romance.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film.

An orange truck drives into the sunset.

Reminders of Him Review Introduction –

Having decided, probably wisely, to steer clear of everything to do with It Ends with Us, my first dive into the world of Colleen Hoover came last year with the very interesting Regretting You. It was a film that I fundamentally liked with interesting characters, so I was interested to see what other worlds she could create.

So, to set the scene, Kenna Rowan (Maika Monroe) is making a trip back to her hometown, but this is not a celebratory return. She has just been released from prison after serving 5–7 years for vehicular homicide. She is also not just returning to her hometown to reminisce, because the homicide was her former lover Scotty (Rudy Pankow), and their child Diem (Zoe Kosovic) now lives with their grandparents, Grace (Lauren Graham) and Patrick (Bradley Whitford). Kenna had her parental rights stripped from her, and now needs to reunite with her daughter. First step, finding a place to live, and a hotel aptly named Paradise is the place for that. The second step is finding a job, and that is where she runs into Ledger Ward (Tyriq Withers), Scottie’s old best friend.

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War Machine – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A solid military/sci-fi action romp.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix service to view this film.

A military car driving with explosions behind it.

War Machine Review Introduction –

Back in 2025, I didn’t get to see enough Australian films to put together a best of at the end of the year. As an Australian-based reviewer, that felt a little embarrassing, well, I am not going to let that happen in 2026, and today we start with our first entry with a military/sci-fi romp where many pine trees do not survive first contact.

So, to set the scene, we open with a convoy of Humvees leaving the protection of their home base in Kandahar, Afghanistan. They are off to provide support to another convoy broken down in a communications‑dead zone. Where a Staff Sergeant (Alan Ritchson) catches up with his younger brother (Jai Courtney) in the other convoy, it was all going well until an ambush takes them all out. Two years later, that same staff sergeant is in Colorado for Ranger training like he promised his brother. But here he has no name, just a number 81. Here it is time for eight weeks of the most gruelling training known, and this is his last chance before he ages out. But as they finish the end of their training with the famous ‘Death March’, the extra-solar asteroid RX-505-Polemas heading towards Earth makes its closest approach and starts breaking up for no reason.       

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Paradise: The Mailman [S2:E5] – TV Review

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TL;DR – While it had a strong start, I think I am starting to miss the focus of the first season, as we have another new start for characters.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ service that viewed this series.

Murals of the survivors on a wall.

Paradise Review –

This season of Paradise has been an interesting one because it does feel like we have had multiple starts. Everyone is about to make a journey, about to make a big change, about to find their wife. But nothing tangible ever coalesces, and I am not sure today’s episode will change anything.

So, to set the scene, in the before times, we are introduced to Gary (Cameron Britton), a mailman in Atlanta, Georgia, who is not very confident, but in his heart, he thinks he is a good man. He is quite lonely, with his only friends being on the computer. He has heard of this conspiracy theory of a volcano in Antarctica. Still, we know that this is not a conspiracy, and his turning the bunker in his mail office into a survival zone might just be the one thing that keeps a handful alive during the dark days of winter. Now, from here, we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Rooster: Release the Brown Fat [S1:E1] – TV Review

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TL;DR – While I am not sure it quite got its hooks into me in this first outing, it was more than enough to make me want to see where this goes from a character’s trainwreck perspective.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the HBO Max service that viewed this series.

Greg gives a reading to the class.

Rooster Review Introduction –

Today, we dive into the third Bill Lawrence-associated series to come out in 2026 [and yes, we will also look at Season 4 of Ted Lasso later in the year]. I was intrigued about this show, because the promos were not letting much out, but I do find comedies set in colleges that are not focused on the students can be real gems. But something about the presentation did give me a pause to be concerned. If I should be is what we will examine today.

So, to set the scene, Greg Russo (Steve Carell) is a novel writer who focuses on more pulp productions, fun to read on a holiday, but not that deep. Which is why he is nervous about being asked to go to a college to present his work to a classroom by Dylan Shepard (Danielle Deadwyler). But present he does, and is profoundly destroyed by the students. However, there might have been a slight ulterior motive for him coming to this college, because his daughter Katie (Charly Clive) works there and is going through a scandal as her estranged husband Archie (Phil Dunster) decided to have an affair with a grad student. And that is only the start of a very bad day for both of them. Now, from here, we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Paradise: A Holy Charge [S2:E4] – TV Review

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TL;DR – This is the episode that reminds us that there are some things about today’s society that we take for granted, and we really shouldn’t

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ service that viewed this series.

They arrive at the bunker.

Paradise Review –

Well, the first opening triplet of Graceland, Mayday & Another Day in Paradise, is behind us, and it is now time to build upon that foundation and dive full-bore into this season’s main storyline. But as we get into the world proper, one devastated fully, we need to see who lives in a broken world.  

So, to set the scene, nothing quite says “you have to lie down and rest” like getting six stitches in your spleen, but that is the world that Xavier (Sterling K. Brown) is living in. He is forced to rest after taking a knife to the side to protect some kids. Luckily, he was found by Annie (Shailene Woodley), who had some medical training before the world fell apart. Unluckily, she wants Xavier to take her back to Colorado and not to Atlanta. Now, from here, we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

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