TL;DR
– A visually beautiful and fun game, even though
there are still a couple of rough edges in places.
Score – 4 out of 5 stars
Review –
Last year the world was introduced to Sea
of Thieves a game about sailing the open seas, digging for buried treasure,
and sinking pirate vessels. As a concept, it looked like a great idea, and I
watched a couple of streamers like Stephanie Bendixsen have a lot
of fun on the open ocean. However, while it looked like a really fun game the
price point was just too high here in Australia for me to be able to dive into
it myself, something that has only be amplified by being out of a job for four
months. Recently the game released its one-year anniversary update which seemed
to add in a lot of the features people mentioned were missing, so I was glad the
game was getting continued support. But one day I opened up my email to find a
surprise, my friends had bought me a copy of the game. This meant that for the
first time I got to explore the world and discover the highs and lows of Sea of Thieves.
TL;DR – While there has been patchy moments this season, I do think they stuck the ending.
Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars
Review –
Well, here we are, the final ever episode of Game of Thrones (if you don’t count the multiple prequels in
preproduction at the moment). I can still remember that day when I first
watched the very first episode as a group of men from The Watch go north past
The Wall and discover there was something worse than wildlings waiting for
them. A lost queen forced to marry into a barbarian horde to secure her ungrateful
brother an army to retake their throne. A drunkard ruling a kingdom though all
he wants to do is hunt and joust and fornicate with people who are not his
wife. A family of noble people trying to do what is right, especially when it
is hard, and being woefully unprepared for the mess they were walking into.
Also, the things we do for love. All of those years of story have been building
to this final episode, and I wonder can they stick the landing?
So to set the scene, during last week’s The
Bells a lot of things happen and a lot of people died. After the death
of Missandei (Nathalie Emmanuel) in The
Last of the Starks, Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) had become inconsolable,
and Missandei’s final word Dracarys sat in her mind so that even when she heard
the bells of surrender Dany decided to burn Kings Landing to the ground, not
really caring who or what got in her way. The complete slaughter of the capital
is something she has threatened since she arrived and finally showed what
damage even one dragon can do, insert the nuclear weapons analogies. The
capital is in ruins, Jon (Kit Harington) tried to do the right thing and
failed, Cersei (Lena Headey) and Jamie (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) had their whole
worlds crash down on them, oh and Euron (Pilou Asbæk) is finally gone. We open
with the aftermath as ash and snow still fall in the ruins of Kings Landing and
the dead and dying lay among the wreckage. Here Tyrion (Peter Dinklage), Jon (Kit
Harington), and Davos (Liam Cunningham) walk and see the damage their actions
have wrought and the potential hell that they have unleashed. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode
as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.
TL;DR – After a season of fun Brooklyn Nine-Nine comes
to a close in what would have been a great series finale if we didn’t have an
amazing season seven in store.
Score – 4 out of 5 stars
Review –
Today is an interesting review to write because I know that it would be a very different
tone if it was not already announced that a Season Seven is on the way. It
would be a review of closure and looking back. However, today, while there is a
bit of closure we instead get the joy of looking forward to what is still yet
to come.
So to set the scene, underneath all the hijinks, crimes, heists, and murders
this season has been an overarching story about two futures for the NYPD. There
is the future under John Kelly (Phil Reeves) which was looking back at Stop and
Frisk and other outmoded forms of policing and the future under Raymond Holt (Andre
Braugher) that is looking forward. At the start of the season in Honeymoon,
it was clear that Kelly had won, and that he would make the 99 pay for getting
in his way. After a season of back and forth, it finally comes to a head when
Kelly puts Jake (Andy Samberg) right in the middle of their feud where he has
to choose between following Holt and saving lives. Just a reminder as we dive
into both Sicko and Suicide Squad we will be looking at the
episodes as a whole, that there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.
TL;DR – It takes everything that worked in the last two films and took it up to 11
Score – 5 out of 5 stars
Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene
Review –
One of the first reviews we ever wrote back in the day was for the first John Wick
film and since then we have really had a love affair in this world of under the
table dealings, societies in this world but out of this world, visual
storytelling, and neon rock operas. This is a world that is told in
part by creative directing, interesting stories, and also the sheer determined
strength of character that is Keanu Reeves and everyone in the whole cast and
crew that make the character of John Wick shine. Today we get to look at the
third film in the series that has John at his lowest and discovering there are
more places to fall.
So to set the scene, at the end of John
Wick Chapter 2, John found himself in a very precarious
position. Someone had Marker on John (Keanu Reeves) forcing him to do his
bidding (killing his sister) and then turned on John putting a contract out on
his life for the before mentioned killing of his sister. After fighting his way
through New York he arrived back at The Continental Hotel and though warned by
the Manager Winston (Ian McShane) John killed the man on hotel grounds one of
the few unbreakable rules in their universe. Winston gives John one hour of
life before he is excommunicated from the organisation and this is where we
open. John is running through the streets of New York as the skies bucket down
because the Gods are at war. He is trying to get to the New York Public Library
but as one of the Bowery King’s (Laurence Fishburne) henchmen calls out tick
tock, tick tock John.
TL;DR – The rushed final
season is starting to show its issues … badly.
Score – 2.5 out of 5 stars
Review –
I have honestly been really happy where the final season has been going so far.
I liked how Winterfell and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms were these
slow-burn episodes giving us some much-needed character development and
interaction. I found The
Long Night to be a really emotional experience as the dead came
and slaughtered. I was ever really jiving with The
Last of the Starks up until that last 15 minutes. It was like a
speed boat suddenly threw out its anchor grinding everything to a halt. This
means for the first time, I am coming into an episode of this 8th
season, and the penultimate episode at that, with a lot of hesitation and I
don’t know how to feel about that.
So to set the scene, last week everyone was celebrating their win over the dead
and the Night King (Vladimir Furdik) but there was still one big threat on the
horizon. Cersei (Lena Headey) still controls King’s Landing, and with it the legitimacy
of the throne. Just one problem Cersei captured Missandei (Nathalie Emmanuel)
and beheaded her in front of Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) and well that did not go
down well. So we begin today with everyone getting ready for the final push but
some people have reservations and one of them is Lord Varys (Conleth Hill) who
is finally caught out. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a
whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. This week we are going to
do something a little different and focus our review on different character relationships
because it is through these relationships we see the very highs of this episode
and the real lows.
TL;DR
– We explore the
wonders of Ramin Djawadi’s musical score through the lens of Light of the Seven
Article –
Today we are starting out the first entry in a series about modern cinematic composers. For me at least, one of the factors that emotionally connects me to a piece of visual media, whether that be, a video game, a television show, or a film is the music. The right musical choice can make or break scenes and can be one of the factors that make these moments resonate across the media landscape. We all remember that first time we heard the Imperial March or The Avengers theme explodes onto the screen. They help us get lost on the high seas, traverse galaxies far, far away, or in our first example help us delve into a world of fire and ice. Because this is an article about music, I have added links to the songs in question so you can listen along.
Ramin Djawadi is a German/Iranian composer and the key musical voice of Game of Thrones, the hugely successful HBO series based of George RR Martin’s Song of Fire and Ice series. As a composer, Ramin has been working for a long time in the musical world starting first as an assistant and then creating addition music for films such as Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and Ned Kelly, working under one of the defining voices in modern composition Hans Zimmer. Before moving onto working on his own films like Iron Man and Pacific Rim.
TL;DR – It explores what happens when a hitman’s work and life collide
Score – 3 out of 5 stars
Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene
Review –
The hitman is a character that has been around as long as cinema has been a
medium. Sometimes they are the bogeyman lurking in the shadows, sometimes they
are a threat to contend with in running gun battles, and sometimes you kill the
wrong person’s dog and you forfeit your life. One area that does not get as
explored as much as it should is what happens when the hitman goes home and how
does that affect their lives. How can you kill people by day and go home to
your family at night and what happens if those worlds collide together? Well,
today we look at a film that explores this intersection with Chase.
So to set the scene, we open in as Chase (Damien Puckler) and his best friend
who is also his sort of boss Miles (Aries Spears). Chase and Miles have been inseparable
since they were 15 and ran off from foster care together. Miles is the boss and
always seems to be in the position to manipulate the people around him and Chase
is his best hitman. Chase has a simple system, he has a flat rate, double for
women, and triple for kids and his only rules that he is paid in full up front,
he not a repeat service so you will never see him again, and that he does not
leave orphans. Chase has been living that life for a long time but in recent
years he has found two attachments, his girlfriend Blair (Jessica Morris) and
their child Micah (Eli Michael Kaplan). However, while Chase is good at compartmentalising,
Miles thinks he is going soft and well as you can imagine this is a recipe for
disaster.
TL;DR – While there are some good ideas here, what we have is a film of two halves that don’t quite work well with each other.
Score – 2.5 out of 5 stars
Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid-credit scene
Review –
Today I have an interesting task in reviewing someone’s first ever feature film
which actually puts me in an odd position. That is because while there are some
really good ideas here in places and the core concepts are sound, a lot of this
film does not quite come together. We need more creatives taking those first
new steps because that is where all of our greatest filmmakers started. With
that in mind explore the world of a horror aficionado and the chaos they leave
in their wake.
So to set the scene, we open in on Zoe (Aida Valentine) as she is preparing for
her last day at school for the term and by preparing I mean setting up a horror
scene of a wedding, including an exploding bride. This is a frustration to her
father Sal (Greg James) who is trying to raise her and run a business as a single
dad. All of this comes to a head when Zoe’s older sister Zilla (Sam Kamerman)
returns home to announce that she is getting married, oh married to a women Lu
(Mia Allen), oh and all of Lu’s family have made the trip from New York to
Portland to come over for dinner, oh they are all super conservative, and oh
the wedding is in a couple of weeks.
TL;DR – It is a film with one of the best comedic casts in the industry, but it just meanders a bit too much.
Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars
Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene
Review –
Turning 50 is one of those big moments in your life that makes you think back
at everything that has led you to this point. The friends you made, the choices
you made or didn’t make, how your bodies do or don’t hold up. It is a time of
friendship, reflection, and a lot of wine, like a serious copious amount of
wine.
So to set the scene, a long time ago in a pizza joint in Chicago a group of
friends came together. Since then Abby (Amy Poehler), Naomi (Maya Rudolph),
Rebecca (Rachel Dratch), Catherine (Ana Gasteyer), Val (Paula Pell), and Jenny
(Emily Spivey) have been inseparable even though they have all moved to different
cities and have had very different lives. First the first time in a long time
the whole group is coming together to celebrate Rebecca’s 50th
birthday. The group booked out a house in Napa Valley for a weekend of wine,
lots of wine, a very tight schedule, and more wine. But as everyone’s lives
have moved in different directions, the question is, have they moved on from
each other.
As a guy, it might not be kosher, but I love a good romantic comedy, one that
you can sit back, laugh, but also be moved by the characters. However, this is
a genre that has kind of been on the backburner in recent years with only Crazy
Rich Asians being the one to come to mind when I think of good
works to draw from. Today, thankfully, I get to add another film to this list
with the joy that is Top End Wedding.
So to set the scene, we open in on a couple living in Adelaide who are both
having very important days. Lauren (Miranda Tapsell) is having her first major
client meeting and if it goes well she will get a promotion for the firm she
works in under Hampton (Kerry Fox) who is often referred to a Cruella.
Meanwhile, Ned (Gwilym Lee) is trying to live up to his father’s memory in the
courtroom but finds the job difficult because he has no passion for it. Well,
Ned decides to quit his job and proposes to Lauren, the only catch is that
Hampton will only give Lauren 10 days off for the wedding, as in the next 10
days, and Lauren has always dreamed of having her wedding in Darwin where she
is from. While this should be easy to put together, things take a turn when she
arrives home to find her father Trevor (Huw Higginson) and mother Daffy (Ursula
Yovich) had recently separated and no one knows where her mother is.
TL;DR Movie Reviews and Analysis 