Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A beautifully animated entry into a series steeped in friendship and a sheer optimism that you need now and again.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid for the Paramount+ subscription used to watch this film.

An old Air bending temple.

Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender Review Introduction

Well, it is time to jump back into the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender. It has been a long time since I dabbled in this universe, but I remember it being a fun time. While it was very much focused on a younger audience, the themes of working together, finding yourself, and building a better future rang true. Now it is time to see if this world can still have an impact in the current world.
 
So, to set the scene, it has been a while since the events of The Last Airbender, and Aang (Eric Nam) has been collecting any remnant of the Air Nomads that he could find. While returning the artefacts to an ancient temple, Aang is attacked by an insurgent group known as the Denied. They were looking for a map to an ancient staff, from a time even before the oldest Avatars Aang can reach. The one clue that he can find leads him to the top of Mount Baihu, where Aang finds not a staff but something potentially more powerful.  

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We Bury the Dead – Movie Review

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Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix subscription used to watch this film.

A zombie opens its eye.

We Bury the Dead Review Introduction

Today’s offering has been bubbling around in the Australian cinematic landscape for quite a bit before it got its theatrical release earlier this year. Unfortunately, while there were no well-timed screenings near me at the time, it has now made its way onto streaming, and this is the perfect time for me to give it a watch.  

So, to set the scene, one day an accidental detonation of an experimental weapon off the coast of Tasmania destroyed the capital city of Hobart. However, an EMP wave stretched further, destroying the brains of all living creatures on the island. It is a catastrophe of epic proportions, and a whole mobilisation effort has been activated to help identify and recover the bodies of the 500,000-odd dead. However, now and again, some of the dead wake up, and they are no longer themselves. Ava Newman (Daisy Ridley) is one of the volunteers, hoping to find out what happened to her husband, who was at a conference on the south of the island. Those who do reanimate are completely docile and not a problem, or so the Army says.

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Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – The Case of the Chiaroscuro [S4E4] – TV Review

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TL;DR – This could have been a very silly episode of Star Trek, but there was some real heart and design that helped elevate the story.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Paramount+ service used to view this series.

End Credit – There is a mid-credit scene

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Review Introduction

It feels like this season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has been all about the curveballs, and today’s entry is no exception. It uses sci-fi technobabble to explain why a whole episode is broadcast in black and white. But as silly as this sounds, it is a choice that I can’t help but love seeing played out.

So, to set the scene, the USS Enterprise is on a secret mission near the border of Klingon Space. The Angelo-1 probe lost power and slipped past the border near the Mat’Aaran system, which could reignite a war if found. Una (Rebecca Romijn), Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding), and M’Benga (Babs Olusanmokun) have slipped across the border in a shuttle hidden because the local sun puts out energy that affects visual receptors and makes things hard to spot on scanners. But that scanner issue can cut both ways, and the shuttle is forced to hide on Mat’Aar XII, an occupied Klingon planet, to avoid a D7 battle cruiser. The crew must blend in with the local population until a window of escape can be found. But Una discovers that she might be wrapped into the fabric of this world more than she expects. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

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The End of Oak Street – Movie Review

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TL;DR – This 80s homage film triumphs on one important facet: Anne Hathaway fighting dinosaurs.  

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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

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

A dog looks up to see a weird light.

The End of Oak Street Review Introduction

Now, if you know me, I make absolutely no apologies that I am a dinosaur fiend when it comes to media. Give me your Jurassic Parks, your Dinotopias, heck, you want to add dinosaurs to Star Trek, I am here for it. But if you are going to add dinosaurs to a film, they can’t just be a token addition; they need to mean something, and thankfully that is not an issue today.

So, to set the scene, in 1982 there is a quintessential suburb in America called Flowervale that does all the stereotypical things. They have block parties, the kids ride around on their bikes, and neighbours get upset with dogs pooping in their yards. On Oak Street in this suburb lives the Platt family: wife Denise (Anne Hathaway), husband Greg (Ewan McGregor), daughter Audrey (Maisy Stella), and son Brian (Christian Convery). They are the perfect nuclear family on the surface, but in private the cracks in Denise and Greg’s relationship are threatening to become a gorge. But all of that changes one night when the lights start to flicker, everyone’s ears pop, and odd noises start coming from the forest. That’s when the screams start.

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Reacher: City of Brotherly Love [S4E1] – TV Review

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TL;DR – Reacher has a nasty habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

Warning – Contains scenes which may cause distress.

The Philadelphia skyline.

Reacher Review Introduction

I was captivated by Reacher in its first two seasons. Season One was a breath of fresh air in a very stale genre, and Season Two escalated that to new heights. However, I came off Season Three with a real concern that the wind might be going out of this franchise. Well, today, we will dive into the first episode of the new season to see if it can buck off the languishing legacy of last season and forge new ground.

So, to set the scene, it is 2:18 am in Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love. Reacher (Alan Ritchson) is taking one of the last trains for the night when he notices a woman in clear distress, her hands hidden in a bag. Fearing the inevitable disaster, he tries to talk the lady down from the coming disaster. But when he lies to say he is a cop, hoping that will stop the escalation, it has the opposite result. Reacher feels like he failed the woman in her hour of need, but worse, every department in the federal government is now very interested in a suicide on an early morning train. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Greenland 2: Migration – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A quasi-religious themed sequel doesn’t live up to the first film, unfortunately.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid for the Amazon Prime subscription used to watch this film.

John escapes from a radiation storm.

Greenland 2: Migration Review Introduction

Back in 2021, I was entirely surprised by a film. Greenland took what could have been a run-of-the-mill disaster/apocalypse film and filled it with real emotional weight. It even made it onto my best film list for that year. Since then, I have been wondering if they would go back to that world, and while we didn’t get an Australian release, I am glad to finally be getting a look at it today.  

So, to set the scene, in the five years since the Clarke devastation, fragments still impact the Earth, causing all sorts of radiation issues. John Garrity (Gerard Butler), his family, Allison (Morena Baccarin), and Nathan (Roman Griffin Davis) are still living in the bunker under Thule Airbase in Greenland. But things have stretched on longer than anyone expected, and they are now surviving by salvaging the ruins of humanity that wash up. The hope was to wait for the radiation levels to drop, but already large areas of North America have been made uninhabitable due to it. But when the tectonic plates shift and the base is destroyed, the Garrity family and the handful of survivors must make a mad dash across a waring Europe to reach the Clarke creator, the one place potentially free of radiation.  

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Solo Mio – Movie Review

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TL;DR – It has a level of heartwarming charm I was not expecting but was grateful to experience out in the Italian countryside.  

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid for the Amazon Prime subscription used to watch this film.

Being left at the altar.

Solo Mio Review Introduction

Well, it is the middle of the year, well more than the middle, and it is at this point and time that I start to get a bit reflective on the time that has passed and the coming storm that is the end of the year. It is the time of year when you want something that is just full of charm, and I think that will be the type of film we will look at today.

So, to set the scene, it was the perfect romance right up until Matt (Kevin James) was left at the altar by Heather (Julie Ann Emery) at their Italian destination wedding. As you can imagine, that is the perfect kind of embarrassment at any time and place, but there is an extra level of disaster when you are in a foreign country. Even worse, when your entire honeymoon package is 100% non-refundable. What is Matt to do? Well, it is paid for, and you can’t get your money back; well, you might as well enjoy it.  

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The Dink – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A delightful romp across the court

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid for the Apple TV subscription used to watch this film.

Dusty losses it on a pickleball court.

The Dink Review Introduction

Have you ever had just one of those weeks when nothing catastrophic happened in your life, but each and every aspect of your life is difficult for some reason? It is one of those weeks when you need to sit down and watch something with joy, something with fun. With that in mind, I thought it was time to sit down and watch the latest Jake Johnson joint.

So, to set the scene, Dustin ‘Dusty’ Boyd (Jake Johnson) grew up as ‘The Hammer’ and smashed his way into the world of tennis. That was before an injury cut short his promising career. Now Dustin teaches little kids at his dad’s (Ed Harris) tennis centre, boring the children and antagonising those using the Pickleball courts. Tennis is the king, but pickleball is on the rise, and they want more and more courts. Thus, there is only one solution for this dilemma: a duel.    

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28 Years Later: The Bone Temple – Movie Review

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TL;DR – An incredibly confronting film that made me regret eating dinner but reveals a wealth of thematic depth beneath the gore.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid for the Amazon Prime subscription used to watch this film.

Warning – Contains scenes that may cause distress.

The Bone Temple at dusk.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple Review Introduction

Today we’re looking at an unusual sequel. After decades of waiting for 28 Years Later, The Bone Temple arrived so quickly afterwards that some audiences may have assumed it was the same film. I tried to watch it in cinemas, but the scheduling never worked out. But now it’s out on streaming, it’s time to give it a watch.

So, to set the scene, we open in the moments after the end of 28 Years Later with Spike (Alfie Williams) having to fight for his life in front of Jimmy (Jack O’Connell) and his cult of Jimmies. Meanwhile, around the Bone Temple, Dr Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) has made some odd discoveries about Sampson (Chi Lewis-Parry) that the alpha might indeed be his friend, or more importantly, the real person might still be in there. There is a bit of assumed knowledge going into this film, as it does expect that you have watched the previous film.

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The Last House – Movie Review

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TL;DR – This is a film that is trying something, but it is working in a space where other contemporaries have excelled.  

Rating: 3 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix subscription used to watch this film.

Water filling in the cracks of shattered glass.

The Last House Review Introduction

Today we are looking at something that is becoming increasingly rare in modern cinema: a genuinely original film. Not adapted, not spun off, and not based on a toy from 50 years ago. Given how uncommon these projects have become, I knew I had to give The Last House a watch.

So, to set the scene, one Sunday morning a surprise rainstorm appeared on the horizon. It felt like a normal day, but then the internet failed. But even stranger was the fact that none of the doors or windows would open. That’s okay, because you can break windows, right? No, the glass cracks but doesn’t break. Now, you and everyone you know are stuck in their houses, with only the food you happened to have inside.

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