Monthly Archives: December 2017

Movie Review – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

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TL;DR – It is a heart-breaking story of broken people trying to find hope, justice, belonging in a deeply broken world.

Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. Image Credit: Fox Searchlight.

Review –

What would you do when your daughter is brutally murdered and the police either can’t or won’t find her killer? This is the question Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri askes. What do you do when the power structures that are there to protect you, instead fail over and over again? Add to this living in a small town where everyone knows everyone, and people are not ready to question the power structure that they live in. All of this creates a powerful world to tell a story of broken people trying to do their best in a broken system and it was fascinating to watch. So today we are going to look at the acting and set the scene, though towards the end of the review we are going to talk about the film’s ending, so be prepared for some spoilers incoming. Also before I start, I’m not a big fan of warnings really, that’s what movie ratings are for, but I will say if you are someone who struggles with their physiological health, then you may want to read up on some of the content of this film before you go see it. This is because there are some things that are depicted quite graphically, and if you are concerned please talk to a trained professional.

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Movie Review – Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle

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TL;DR – This film is an hour and a half of pure fun, and probably the first video game film to work in a very long time, and some of the best casting I have seen in a while

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

Jumanji Welcome to the Jungle. Image Credit: Sony.

Review –

So to be honest right from the start this was a bit of a surprise. It has not been a good year for remakes in 2017, for example, The Mummy (see review) or the Ghost in the Shell (see review) all fell a bit flat on release. Add to this, it has been over twenty years since the first film, and all the information in the lead up to its release did not display Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle in a flattering light at all. Indeed, it felt like this was going to be another case of reheating an old franchise rather than trying to do something new, and we are getting a bit tired of this. However, none of this came to pass, instead what we got was a fun romp through the jungle, with superb casting, and sense of knowing exactly what it wanted to do and succeeding in it.

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Movie Review – Star Wars: The Last Jedi

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TL;DR – The Last Jedi is charting its own story and this is where its strengths and faults lie.

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

Star Wars The Last Jedi. Image Credit: Disney/Lucasarts.

Review –

Ok here we go, I didn’t think The Last Jedi was a fantastic film, nor did I think it was a really bad film. It was a film which had some aspects that really worked and some things that just didn’t, which made it a fascinating film to watch. However, this was also a problem for me because I wasn’t sure just how I felt about this film, and indeed for the first time this year, I actually went and saw the film twice before writing my review because I wanted to be sure about my feelings. Now in today’s review, I am going to set the scene and then give a general overview, and then we are going to go full spoiler with my analysis.

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TV Review – Ultimate Beastmaster: Season 2 (No Surrender)

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TL;DR – The second outing is a much more streamlined production, learning from the mistakes from the first season, but falls a bit in its casting.

Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars

Ultimate Beastmaster Season 2

Review –

So at the start of the year a small little gem dropped on Netflix called Ultimate Beastmaster, a show clearly inspired by Ninja Warrior but with a big twist. This time around it was a multi-national competition with competitors and hosts from six different countries, with each country getting a different final cut. Some hailed it as the beginning for a new age of global television, I wouldn’t go that far, but it was a nifty concept. Well, it is the end of the year and Netflix has given us a little end of year surprise with Season 2 dropping much earlier than I expected it to. So today we are going to take a look at the highs and lows of Season 2 of Ultimate Beastmaster.

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TV Review – Doctor Who: Twice Upon a Time

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TL;DR – The beginning of the end, and the start of the new beginning, this shows what Doctor Who can be when it is firing on all cylinders.

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

Review –

Twice Upon A Time banner

It is the end of an era as Peter Capaldi and Steven Moffat say goodbye to Doctor Who (this is not a spoiler because this was announced 6 months ago) but while it is the end, it is also the start, and that is what is amazing about Doctor Who. So today we look at the last story of the Twelfth Doctor, and a new story of the First Doctor, and also the first story of the Thirteenth Doctor, it was a packed episode.

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Article – Crash Course in Christian Music for Christmas Time

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Crash Course in Christian Music for Christmas Time

TL;DR – Getting you ready for waling into a unknown church this holiday season

Article –

So it is that time of year again, when people are flying back to their parent’s homes, or staying with friends and whether by design or surprise they may find themselves heading off to an unfamiliar Church for some kind of Christmas service.

Like all social institutions Churches have their own rituals and formats, and so can end up being daunting Matrix slow-mo bullet dodging exercise trying not to look like a fool, but this where we are here to help. Indeed you may get lucky and all they will sing is Christmas carols that you are used to, unless you work in retail in which case this might be the opposite of lucky for you.

But today we will go through a selection (not all) of the types of music you are likely to encounter these holidays so that you can be better prepared for what is coming. So let us begin.

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Movie Review – Bright

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TL;DR – It is only the power of Will Smith and Joel Edgerton’s acting, plus some great makeup and prosthetic work, that drags this film out of being a complete write off.

Score – 2.5 out of 5 stars

Bright. Image Credit: Netflix.

Review –

Ok, I want to start this by saying smashing genres and worlds together is kind of my jam, I love the worldbuilding, and taking something familiar and twisting it into something new. So when I heard the setting for Bright I was really excited. Taking those familiar fantasy setting, themes and races and transporting them into the modern world, it’s like Max Landis wrote a film just for me. But, and oh it is a big but, for the most part, it just does not work, and at best we get a mediocre C-List film with a B-List budget and A-List leading stars.

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Movie Review – Paddington 2

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TL;DR – I don’t think I can say it as good as the first one, but what I can say is that it is full of joy, laughter and feels, and I would recommend it for everyone

Score – 5 out of 5 stars

P.S. – There is a mid-credit scene

Paddington 2. Image Credit: Studio Canal.

Review –

Ah, Paddington, I do love this film series, I saw the first film when I was a chaperone for a group of teenagers going to see it at the local drive-in theatre. I had no idea what to expect, but the first film was filled with such joy and was genially one of the funniest films I have ever seen. I found it so funny that at one point one of the teenage girls I was with yelled out “IT’S NOT THAT FUNNY BRIAN” … but it was, oh it was. So I was delighted to hear that there was a new movie coming out, but could it live up to the first film, well no, but that doesn’t mean it was not a delightful ton of fun.

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Movie Review – The Disaster Artist

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TL;DR – The Disaster Artist is … Well, it is certainly … Well um … what did I just watch?

Score – I have no right idea out of 5 stars

P.S. – There is a very odd post-credit scene

The Disaster Artist. Image Credit: A24.

Review –

Ok let’s get this out of the way right from the start, I have never watched The Room the film by Tommy Wiseau on which The Disaster Artist based on. Have I heard about it? Yes of course, whenever there is a discussion of worst films or scenes or actors or scripts or well you name it The Room is there. So while I have not watched it, I am familiar with it, but I have never felt the need to watch it all the way through. Look I know it has become a bit of a cult classic, but unlike films that have become cult classics like the Rocky Horror Picture Show or Tron, it always felt that people were more than a little mean-spirited watching something just to make fun of how bad it is. But here we are 20 odd years later and so let’s take a dive into the production of what is considered the worst film ever made by some.

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Movie Review – Olaf’s Frozen Adventure 

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TL;DR – Honestly this is stock standard children’s entertainment, it is shallow, with no stakes, has no character progression, and tries to distract you with as many songs as possible, I expected better.

Score – 2 out of 5 stars

Olaf's Frozen Adventure. Image Credit: Disney.

Review –

Ok, I might be one of the few dozens of people left on this planet that has not seen Frozen, but from my understanding, it is a more or less a charming story about the bonds of sisterhood overcoming all opposition. So when I was in watching Coco (see review) and it opened instead with a Frozen short I was like ‘sure whatever’ you know sometimes these can be really good like Lou (see review) that was on before Cars 3 earlier this year … unfortunately, this was not one of the good ones.

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