The Mandalorian and Grogu (Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu) – Movie Review

Posted on by
Reply

TL;DR – A generally solid, if only occasionally ambitious Star Wars film, but can’t quite escape the feeling that they took a season of television and smashed it into a film.  

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

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

Grogu and The Mandalorian look over a sand dune.

The Mandalorian and Grogu Review Introduction

Today, we have an interesting film, as it has so many competing factors needed for it to work as a film. The Mandalorian and Grogu have to be a conclusion to a whole range of Disney+ television series, it has to be a tent-pole production bringing the cinematic glam back to the Star Wars Universe, and it has to be a good film in its own right. That is a lot of different tasks, all with their own baggage being brought to the table. Add to this a rapidly changing cinematic landscape in general, Disney+’s hit-and-miss aspect to its stories, and their profound inability to confront the toxic aspect of their own community. So yes, I’m concerned. But let’s see if they’ve managed to stick the landing.
 
So, to set the scene, since retiring from pulling bounties for more despicable people, The Mandalorian Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal/Brendan Wayne/Lateef Crowder) and his apprentice Grogu (Himself) have begun working bounties for the New Republic. Capturing those of the Imperial Remnant before they can cause more harm. But Colonel Ward gives Din Djarin a new mission deep in the territory of the Hutts. He needs to rescue Rotta the Hutt (Jeremy Allen White), but that might mean making deals with the exact people he has tried to stop working for.

Continue reading →

Finding Emily – Movie Review

Posted on by
Reply

TL;DR – An oddly charming film that transcends some of the potential limitations by grounding the characters in a clear sense of time and place.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

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

A poster with "Missing, A Digit of Emily's Number!, you gave me 10/11th's of your number on MONDAY you were a FAIRY I was the guy with no bottle opener who'd really like to see you again Meet ME Where you found me ANY NIGHT 7pm"

Finding Emily Review Introduction

When you have been writing reviews for a while, one of the issues that comes up is that you tend to have seen everything under the sun already. It is like that friend who always knows who the murderer is five minutes into a murder mystery. However, every now and again, a film will catch you off guard, and that is what we are looking at today.   

So, to set the scene, Owen (Spike Fearn) is a caring guy trying to make a life as a sound engineer when one night at a club he is working in, he runs into Emily (Sadie Soverall). They immediately hit it off with an almost electric chemistry. To the point he almost loses his job from having a good time. But late at night, before the clock struck 12, Emily had to run off with her friends to another party, but since they were having such fun, she put her number in Owen’s phone. The next morning, Owen’s brother, Matt (Jack Riddiford) and his partner, Freya (Isabella Laughland), did find a bit of glee when Owen discovered Emily had only given her 10 of the 11 digits of her phone number. But Owen was determined, and Manchester is a university town, so someone must know who she is, right? His first attempt was a failure, but Emily Raine (Angourie Rice) was nice enough to help him on his mission, but her motives might not be all that altruistic.

Continue reading →

Mixtape – Video Game Review

Posted on by
Reply

TL;DR – A joyous exploration of that cliff in time when you transition from one stage of life to the next, full of its promises, dangers, and the desire to look back while you are hurtling forward.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for this game.

The characters flying through the air.
It is the details that matter. Image Credit: Annapurna Interactive.

Mixtape Review Introduction

Every form of art throughout history has explored that threshold on which a child becomes an adult. That moment when you become a complete being, more than just the sum of your family circumstances. In cinema, we are served a plethora of powerful examples: 10 Things I Hate About You, The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, The Edge of Seventeen, Booksmart, The Princess Diaries, & Clueless, to name just a few. But until today, I have not seen a video game really get into the weeds of that genre; well, this changes now.  

So, to set the scene, Stacey Rockford (Bella DeLong), Van Slater (Max Korman), and Cassandra Morino (Jessica Ma) are three best friends living in the mountainous north of California in the early 1990s. They are cruising through the streets of their town on skateboards, celebrating the end of High School. But this is also a crossroads; some are leaving their claustrophobic town, some are staying, with all three being pulled to different parts of the country. Stacey’s life revolves around music, and she has created the perfect playlist for their last full day together, but fate might have different ideas.    

Continue reading →

Sydney Trip Day 1 – Explore-It

Posted on by
Reply

TL;DR – Arrival, Opera House, Taronga Zoo via ferry, Sealife Aquarium, and fried chicken to end a long first day in Sydney.

Disclosure – I paid for my entry and everything you see purchased in this article.

Exploring Sydney  –

Well, it has been a while since I jumped into the world of an Explore-It, and now is as good a time as any to explore a trip I took a bit ago to the most populous city in Australia [for the time being] Sydney

Continue reading →

Citadel: Baked Alaskas [S2:E1] – TV Review

Posted on by
Reply

TL;DR – A stronger start, but the jury is still out if it can rebound from a very mixed first outing.  

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Amazon Prime service that viewed this series.

A computer screen with information on Frank Sharpe.

Citadel Review Introduction

Back in 2023, one of the few ambitious projects in the streaming era started. I mean, what is the point of having a global streaming conglomerate if you are not going to do something with it? Citadel and its Spyverse were going to be a worldwide streaming universe where different countries would add to the growing lore. Conceptionally fascinating, practically quite a mess, with Season One devolving into massive expensive reshoots, which didn’t help the promotion of the spin-offs Diana & Honey Bunny. But the series has been improving with each iteration, so it is time to see if the original series can continue the charge, or if this is the last hurrah.

So, to set the scene, everyone has gone into hiding after the events of Season One. But the reach of Manticore is large, and soon, nowhere is safe to hide. In England, a smuggler is enjoying a party only to have his entire security taken out by Hutch (Jack Reynor), for he is hunting for Paolo Braga (Gabriel Leone), who didn’t suspect that the item that was being smuggled was none other than Bernard (Stanley Tucci). Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

Continue reading →

Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie – Movie Review

Posted on by
Reply

TL;DR – A wild, chaotic, Canadian ride from start to finish, where you will not know where the film will pivot to next.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film.

Bird erupt as two men push a wheelbarrow through the city.

Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie Review Introduction

There is one film this year that has been recommended by every single person who has watched it. I tried to catch it in cinemas, but the times never lined up. However, it is finally out on digital I have a roast cooking in the oven, and winter has hit so you want to be inside watching something wild. It is the perfect combination to see if my friends were right about this film or not.
  
So, to set the scene, 17 years after trying to play a gig by their band Nirvanna the Band at the Rivoli, Matt Johnson (Matt Johnson) and Jay McCarrol (Jay McCarrol) have finally come up with a plan to get the gig. It might involve jumping off the CN Tower to advertise their band to a baseball stadium, and they might not have told anyone about it, and no one at the CN Tower knows what is about to happen, or that they are filming a movie.

Continue reading →

The Sheep Detectives – Movie Review

Posted on by
Reply

TL;DR – Who knew if you smashed Knives Out into Chicken Run, you would create something so profoundly charming.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a post-credit audio sting, but you don’t need to stay for it.

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film.

A sheep swings in a tire.

The Sheep Detectives Review Introduction

It has been a long time since a film charmed me to the core. However, that is just what happened today. Look, if you told me at the start of the year that a Hugh Jackman sheep film would be scoring high on my end-of-the-year list, I would have called you foolish. But the only fool would have been past-me, and present-me is already quite annoyed at past-me, so we can just add this to the list.  

So, to set the scene, in the charming little English town of Denbrook, lives a farmer called George (Hugh Jackman) and his flock of sheep. George loves all his sheep equally and gave them all names, because they are all special. But he also feels that Lily (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and Sebastian (Bryan Cranston) are the most special. Everything was going swimmingly at the farm, bar all these weird grudges that seemed to have come out of nowhere. However, one night, after reading the sheep their nighttime story, Lily woke to find George lying in the field dead … murdered. Was it the besmirched innkeeper Beth Pennock (Hong Chau), the failed shepherd Caleb (Tosin Cole), the duplicitous priest Reverend Hillcoate (Kobna Holdbrook-Smith), the grumpy butcher Ham Gilyard (Conleth Hill), or the mysterious Rebecca Hampstead (Molly Gordon)? Whatever the case, the sheep can’t leave the case to local police officer Tim Derry (Nicholas Braun), because he is plainly useless. No, if someone is going to step up and solve this murder, it is going to be someone with four hooves, copious wool, and a penchant for baaing.   

Continue reading →

Mortal Kombat II (2026) – Movie Review

Posted on by
Reply

TL;DR – A bloody fun time, if you don’t think about the plot at any point during the runtime.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

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

Johnny Cage at a con booth.

Mortal Kombat II Review Introduction

I think it is safe to say that video game adaptations can be fraught. Indeed, even when we get a solid first entry, the follow-up can often flounder. Back during the height of COVID, we got this bombastic first entry in the Mortal Kombat series. However, it was missing something very important to the game: A Tournament. Well, they are back for round two, and they are ready to fix that omission.   

So, to set the scene, in the days since the first film, everyone realised that they are down one champion after Shao Kahn’s (Martyn Ford) pre-emptive strike. This somehow did not break the rules of the tournament. There are 8 billion humans in Earthrealm, and for some reason, the Gods chose washed-up Hollywood actor Johnny Cage (Karl Urban). He thinks he’s having an aneurysm, but reality hits hard when Johnny is zapped off Earth to face Kitana (Adeline Rudolph), Shao Kahn’s adopted daughter, whose blades cut deep.

Continue reading →

Apex – Movie Review

Posted on by
Reply

TL;DR – An interesting, if very convoluted, survival-horror film.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix service that viewed this film.

Warning – Contains scenes which may cause distress.

Sasha hiding in the water.

Apex Review Introduction

As horror still comes in leaps and bounds in 2026, there has been an uptick in the survival-horror space. Today’s film is absolutely playing in that space as it pits two of Hollywood’s biggest stars in a fight across the Australian landscape. And well look, as far as pitches for a film go, that is a solid one.  

So, to set the scene, deep in the grand mountains of the Troll Way of Norway, Sasha (Charlize Theron) and Tommy (Taron Egerton) are making their ascent to the summit. They are the sort of people who find it exhilarating to sleep on the side of a cliff. When the weather turns, they decide, with some reluctance, to head back down, but it is too late, and in the calamity, Tommy does not make it. Months later, Sasha is trying to move on from the tragedy in Australia, out where the terrain is tough, and the satellite signal is poor. Stopping off for supplies, a local, Ben (Taron Egerton), recommends a secluded camping spot, not as secluded as advertised. But worse, as Sasha goes deeper into the bush, she quickly realises that help might not be friendly, and there is something sinister hiding in the bush, something that will give her to the end of a song to run, and then the hunt is on.      

Continue reading →

Touch Me – Movie Review

Posted on by
Reply

TL;DR – While this is a profoundly weird and visually interesting film, the subject matter almost became a walking red flag, undercutting any progress the film could make.

Rating: 1.5 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I was sent a screener of this film.

Warning – Contains scenes which may cause distress.

The four main cast illuminated in red light.

Touch Me Review Introduction

I will always prefer a film that takes risks rather than playing it safe, like having one man battle Hundreds of Beavers or piercing the veil of nostalgic memory through old videos in Aftersun. However, when you make a big swing at doing something profoundly odd, sometimes you miss, and I feel that is the sort of film we are looking at today.
 
So, to set the scene, we open with Joey (Olivia Taylor Dudley) engaging in some immersion therapy, recounting the story of the time she met and then ‘met’ an ‘alien’ called Brian (Lou Taylor Pucci). Joey has been trying to move on with her life, but she keeps getting brought back to that night, bringing with it many conflicting memories. But when her and her roommate Craig’s (Jordan Gavaris) house floods from a non-water plumbing issue and becomes uninhabitable, she has only one choice left, to go back to Brian.  

Continue reading →