Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – Valles Marineris [S4E1] – TV Review

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TL;DR – An opening episode that both delighted and profoundly frustrated me.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

Pike riding across an alien planet on a horse.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Review Introduction

Today is a little bit of a bittersweet moment. For we have new Star Trek, which is always a delight; however, it is also the start of what we now know is a countdown to the end of an era, with no new Star Trek shows currently in production. Still, with three seasons left to enjoy, it is time to jump into this latest adventure, complete with a touch of time travel.

So, to set the scene, we open on horses cruising across an alien landscape after Pike (Anson Mount) undertakes a little undercover Prime Directive shenanigans. The USS Enterprise has spent six months on non-stop missions, giving the crew little time to dwell on the events of New Life and New Civilizations. But waiting for Pike when he comes back is Admiral April (Adrian Holmes) with a recommendation for a promotion; he has to make up his mind after the next mission. A completely normal mission that should not go wrong; it is just a subspace storm after all. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

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The Odyssey (2026) – Movie Review

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TL;DR – The Odyssey is a rare blockbuster that combines spectacle, emotion, and myth in equal measure. It left me awestruck, unsettled, and completely engrossed from beginning to end.

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.

Warning – Contains scenes which may cause distress.

Warning – Contains scenes with flashing lights.

Ships on the ocean at sunset.

The Odyssey Review Introduction

There are many foundational myths across the world, such as the Epic of Gilgamesh, Kebra Nagast, and Beowulf, to name a few. Each is written in a style of myth and history in a way that evokes the human condition. Today we look at Christopher Nolan’s dive into this world, taking on the unenviable task of bringing The Odyssey to the big screen.  

So, to set the scene, it has been twenty years since Odysseus (Matt Damon) left on the command of Agamemnon (Benny Safdie) to siege Troy and return the ‘kidnapped’ Helen (Lupita Nyong’o) to Menelaus (Jon Bernthal). However, it has been eight years since the city fell to the Trojan Horse gambit, and Odysseus has still not returned home to his wife Penelope (Anne Hathaway) and son Telemachus (Tom Holland). This has been enough time for new suitors to start sniffing around, trying to gain the kingship of Ithaca via marrying Penelope. She has held them off for years, even as they use Zeus’ Sacred law to bleed her dry with banquet after banquet. Penelope holds on, partly because she knows they will kill her son as soon as a new heir is born, but also because deep down in her heart, she knows that Odysseus is alive out there somewhere.

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Enola Holmes 3 – Movie Review

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TL;DR – This is one of the films where the presentation almost makes up for the lack of narrative substance, almost.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

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

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

Enola looks through a porthole.

Enola Holmes 3 Review Introduction

I think one of those rare lingering joys of this streaming era is when they go full tilt into an odd concept with full vigour. One of these rare examples is the Enola Holmes series. Every few years, Millie Bobby Brown gets to pop into some amusing action and talk to the camera like she was auditioning for The Office, and it has been a delight. I quite liked Enola Holmes and Enola Holmes 2, so let’s see if the third film sticks the landing.   

So, to set the scene, in a beautiful cathedral in the heart of Malta, there is a wedding incoming. One slight problem: the bride is having second thoughts, mainly about losing her identity. Or at least the name on which she had built everything. But as Enola (Millie Bobby Brown) makes her way through the countryside to Tewkesbury (Louis Partridge), she is intercepted by Dr Watson (Himesh Patel) to inform her that Sherlock (Henry Cavill) is missing, not just missing, but kidnapped.  

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Moana (2026) – Movie Review

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TL;DR – For better or worse, it is almost beat-for-beat the same film as 2016.

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.

Moana and Tala walk along the beach.

Moana Review Introduction

Well, here we are with a live-action remake of an animated film that was only released ten years ago. Disney’s track record with live-action remakes is not great, and that is before we even consider the ones they quietly dumped onto Disney+ like straight-to-DVD sequels. Which puts me in a kind of odd situation, as I am on record with how much I like the original Moana; indeed, it is still one of My Personal Top 10 Animated Films of All Time, and I even kind of liked the flawed sequel. However, last year’s How to Train Your Dragon showed that you can make that transition work, so I am here to see if You’re Welcome lands as well in 2026 as it did in 2016.  

So, to set the scene, deep in the Pacific Ocean, the demi-god Maui (Dwayne Johnson) attempted to harness the power of life from the goddess Te Fiti. He steals her heart, but instead of having the power over life, Maui is instantly defeated by the lava demon Te Kā and the heart and his magical fishing hook are flung into the ocean, separating Maui from his power and releasing death into the ocean. Or at least that’s the story that Tala (Rena Owen) tells to scare the children of the village, but it has been so many years since then, and surely these are just stories. But it is these stories that drive Moana (Catherine Laga’aia) to see what exists outside the reef that rings her island; however, her father Tui (John Tui), the chief, has banned people from leaving the island and the protection of the reef because of the dangers that lurk in the open ocean. But when death and disease come to her island, Moana will have to make a journey past what she knows and into the great abyss that surrounds every island.  

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Supergirl – Movie Review

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TL;DR – Not a bad film, but still a completely forgettable outing, saved by its lead, who is doing all of the heavy lifting.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

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

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

A chunk of Kypton protects itself.

Supergirl Review Introduction

Today, we begin our next instalment in the very interesting DCU, not a full-reboot, but definitely more than a soft-reboot. An odd feeling all around, without the hard cut of a proper break-up. However, we have gotten some good out of it already with Superman, so let’s see if they can land another goal.

So, to set the scene, it is coming up to Kara Zor-El / Supergirl’s (Milly Alcock) birthday, a sensitive time for her, given she has no place that feels like home. To help her deal with this, she has taken herself off to a system with a red sun so that she can get absolutely wasted. However, on this planet, the brigand Krem of the Yellow Hills (Matthias Schoenaerts) has just made Ruthye Marye Knoll (Eve Ridley) an orphan, and she is after revenge, but also completely in over her head, which drags Kara into a whole world that she is not ready for.

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Minions & Monsters – Movie Review

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TL;DR – Whether you like this film or not will depend on whether you think the Minions are charming or the death rattle of the end of Western Civilisation.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There are several mid-credit scenes.

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

Minions & Monsters Review Introduction

Over the years, I have been a strong proponent of how much I do enjoy the Despicable Me universe, even if Despicable Me 4 did start to show its age. Part of that is the chaotic energy that is infectious, the bright colours, and a heavy helping of quality slapstick comedy. It doesn’t hurt that I don’t have kids, so I only have to watch them once. But can a spin-off of a spin-off have the power to work? This is what we will look at today.

So, to set the scene, we open as a new museum is opening in Hollywood, looking back at some of the greats of cinema history, for example George Lucas (George Lucas). But the tour group was perplexed to see a statue of two Minions sitting in the exhibition. Well, the tour guide (Allison Janney) said, it is time to get an education about the history of Hollywood. The Minions have one goal: to find a big bad to work for, but one of the Minions, James (Pierre Coffin), had more of a creative side. When they end up in Hollywood, James finds his moment working with Max (Christoph Waltz), a noted film director. But to make James’ magnum opus, they needed a monster, and well, the Minions might have the evil spell book to pull that off.

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Toy Story 5 – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A perfectly adequate addition to the series with the odd tender moment, and a lot of coincidence, so much coincidence.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

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

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

Lillypad.

Toy Story 5 Review Introduction

Look, I am just going to make it clear from the get-go that I walked into this film with the strong belief that it was not only unnecessary but profoundly detrimental to the franchise. Toy Story 3 is one of my Top 10 Animated Films of All Time and is the perfect ending to the series. I sort of worked my way through Toy Story 4, which, when you think of it, is more of an epilogue than a standalone film. I didn’t feel there was enough left in the tank to justify a fifth entry, and I think I was right.

So, to set the scene, Bonnie (Scarlett Spears) has been growing up fast, but still loves playing with her toys every day. But Jessie (Joan Cusack) and the gang have been trying to get her out of her shell so she can make some new friends. What Jessie does not know is that there is a storm brewing, and that storm is tech. Across the neighbourhood, toys are being abandoned as kids turn to tech to entertain themselves. But what was a neighbourhood problem is now in their house as a new Lilypad (Greta Lee) device has arrived, and it does not play fair.

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Disclosure Day – Movie Review

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TL;DR – I can see this being a very divisive film, but it completely captured me. Hook, line, and sinker.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

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

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

Camera flashes go off.

Disclosure Day Review Introduction

When someone tells you that Steven Spielberg, David Koepp, John Williams, and the gang are teaming up for what might be the last time, it doesn’t matter what the film is, you know you must see it. I don’t think I have ever said yes to an invitation as quickly as I did here. And it was so worth it.
 
So, to set the scene, we open in a crash of bodies as a wrestling match is in full swing. But we are not here for the clashing brawny men; we are here for a man with a backpack that looks out of place. For Daniel Kellner is not here for sport; he is here to be part of an exchange. All the highly classified information he stole from the Wardex corporation was for his partner Jane (Eve Hewson). But Daniel is not just a helpless analyst; he has seen the information he stole, so he knows exactly what pressure point to use against the head of Wardex, Noah Scanlon (Colin Firth), and soon everyone is on the run.

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Two Years Later: Season 1 – TV Review

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TL;DR – I was surprised just how quickly this series got its claws into me as I watched all the dates pan out.  

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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

A bus driving across a bridge.

Two Years Later Review Introduction

Today, we look at a series that hits maybe a touch closer than I was expecting. There is nothing quite like a show that dives into situation that I live each day, set in the city I live in. I mean, not the romance thing, but the same bus each day, on the cusp of COVID in the city of Brisbane. This is a feeling that I found myself in when I loaded up that first date and was transported kilometres rather than continents.  

So, to set the scene, in early 2020, Emily Wright (Phoebe Tonkin) and Ryan Wright (Brenton Thwaites), no relations, are busmates in Brisbane, who take the same bus every day. They are good friends, well as good as you can have in just a bus situation. However, with the growing tide of masks and threats of lockdown, you never know when you will see someone again. Two years later. They find themselves on the same bus again for the first time. Taking a gamble, Ryan asks Emily out on a date or maybe eight, and for the first time, they share something as intimate as a phone number. But did they just destroy their bus-thing, or start something new?  

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Among Us (2026): Season 1 – TV Review

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TL;DR – This is an almost perfect adaptation of the original game, full of tasks, murder, and voting people to their doom.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

The whole crew around a pizza party table.

Among Us Review Introduction

Back at the heart of COVID in 2020, there were a few things that helped get us through it. One of those was this weird little hidden role game where you set yourself a bunch of tasks to complete on a spaceship while one or more of you are aliens trying to kill you. Now, I played a lot of Among Us during this time, and my self-reports were legendary. Which means I am very interested to see how this animated adaptation turned out.   

So, to set the scene, deep in an asteroid field, a bunch of new employees, Green (Elijah Wood) and White (Patton Oswalt), for the MIRA Corporation, have begun the trip up to their new ship. Fun. Engagement. Fun-Gagement. These are the pillars of MIRA. All they have to do is take this new Ore+ from the asteroid to Industria, a simple trip. As Orange (Yvette Nicole Brown) gives them a tour of the ship and the crew, including the doctor Blue (Dan Stevens), we find a whole bunch of quirky characters for a trip like this. It all looks to be going swimmingly, well, you would hate it if there was a secret imposter on board wanting to take everyone else out one by one. Now, from here, we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.   

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