Monthly Archives: November 2016

Movie Review – Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

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TL;DR – Is Fantastic Beasts a perfect film, no, but it is a really entertaining one, and it is a good continuation of the Harry Potter universe

Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Image Credit: Warner Bros.

Review –

I came late to the whole Harry Potter universe, I didn’t read the books growing up, and in fact, I was quite old when I eventually read them all. If memory serves me correctly, I read through them all back to back, and watched all the films, in-between Deathly Hallows Part 2 being in the cinemas and when it was out on DVD. So I have always come to the Harry Potter Universe in a different manner, so for me, the books dramatically improve after that twist at the end of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire because I liked the more mature tone. But I know that for many people the opposite is true, so I was interested to see how I was going to respond to this newest entry into the Harry Potter Universe – Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them – The first film in this universe I got to see at the cinemas.

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Movie Review – Mercenary (Mercenaire)

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TL;DR – A powerful story of exploitation, honour, family and what it means to be free and does it come with a price

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

Mercenary (Mercenaire). Image Credit: Ad Vitam.

Review – Recently I was able to go along to the Pasifika Film Festival here in Brisbane put on by Event Cinemas, the NRL, Screen NSW and West Sydney University. It was a really interesting insight into Pacific culture and stories, the universal medium of expression. There was a selection of fascinating films from right across the Pacific and I was able to so see the amazing Mercenary of which we will be talking about today.

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Movie Review – The Accountant

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TL;DR – When people ask me what a close but no cigar film is I will now be able to use The Accountant as my go-to example, it’s an ok film, but it could have been so much more.

Score – 3 out of 5 stars

The Accountant. Image Credit: Warner Bros.

Review – The Accountant is a really interesting movie, it has one of the strongest cast in cinema at the moment, and has some fantastic set piece action sequences, and some really important representations. However, and I am sorry to have this however so close to the start, as a movie it just doesn’t quite work. So in this review, I am not just going to review the film, but also break down why the film just doesn’t work as well as it could have.

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Movie Review – Arrival

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TL;DR – A beautiful story of loss, change, the role of language,  and how it’s better to work together than apart, a movie we kind of need at the moment.

Score – 5 out of 5 stars

Arrival - Image Credit: Paramount Pictures

Review – Arrival, based on the short story by Ted Chiang, is a really interesting movie as it looks at issues that are not usually covered in science fiction or indeed movies in general. It is a fascinating look into language and its role in shaping culture and society but also what happens when the unknown actually happens and how do we respond to that. While I loved Arrival its one of those movies that I think will be quite polarising as you may indeed find it either meditative or ponderous, I myself fall into the first camp.

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Movie Review – Hacksaw Ridge

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TL;DR – Hacksaw Ridge might be one of the best war movies I have ever seen, stunning visuals, a strong cast and emotive storytelling, I highly recommend going to see Hacksaw Ridge

Score – 5 out of 5 stars

Hacksaw Ridge. Image Credit: Lionsgate.

Review –

So here we are in 2016, the Cubs are doing well at baseball, England voted to leave the European Union, and I’m talking about a Mel Gibson directed film which may just be my film of the year … ok at this point we all just have to agree that 2016 has been a really weird year. But strange as it may be, nothing can take away from the power that is Hacksaw Ridge, it is a stunning film, but also a really emotional film, and all of that comes down to the amazing power of the cast, the work of Mel Gibson with direction, and the rest of the crew in producing such a powerful film.

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