Monthly Archives: October 2019

TV Review – Star Trek Short Treks: Q&A

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TL;DR – This is a great episode that shows the strength of the Short Trek formula with some truly delightful moments

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

Star Trek Short Treks: Q&A

Review –

We are back with another season of Short Treks, one of the more novel experiments that have come out of this third Star Trek TV resurgence. These are a number of shorts in and around the Star Trek universe (mostly but this season not exclusively around Star Trek Discovery). Like last year’s The Escape Artist that looked at Harry Mudd. Today we get to dive back into this world with a fun look at someone’s first day on the job.

So to set the scene, it is Ensign Spock’s (Ethan Peck) first day on the job. After a long flight to Starbase 40, he beams aboard and is welcomed by Number One (Rebecca Romijn). After some pleasantries, Number One decides to show the new ensign the Bridge only for the turbolift to fail on transit giving them a lot of time to chat.

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Movie Review – Quantification Trilogy

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TL;DR – A fascinating experimental film that I think would work much better as three short films that one complete future    

Score – 3 out of 5 stars

Warning – There is extensive use of Strobe Lighting in the second part of the trilogy.

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

Quantification Trilogy. Image Credit: Jeremy Shaw.

Review –


Today we look at a film that is truly experimental in scope and form. It is a film that has taken footage from the past (I believe) and then repurposed it into something new. This transformation in tone and purpose through editing is not something I have seen before.

So to set the scene, in the distant future the human race has become extinct, replaced instead by quantum humans and their universal connection to the hive. However, there are some quantum humans that due to a genetic quirk have reverted a little back to their long-dead human ancestors. These Quickeners have gathered together in Area 23 in the long-abandoned American continent to practice old rituals and to find some meaning away from the hive.

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TV Review – Carpark Clubbing

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TL;DR – This might be the most joyous, charming, and a little bit absurd series I have seen in a very long time.

Score – 4.5 out of 5 stars

Carpark Clubbing. Image Credit: ABC.

Review –

Comedy is one of those genres that is so difficult to get right. Sure it is not hard to make people laugh uncomfortably at gross-out jokes and the like. But for something to be truly funny you have to care about the characters involved. This is how shows like Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Good Place, Parks and Rec, and Futurama (to name but a few) work. Today I get to look at a show that did all of that and more, but it did it in only 8 minutes.

So to set the scene, we open in Western Sydney in a carpark of the local doughnut stand Double Dee’s. Bonita (Monica Kumar) and her friends are getting ready to go out to the city when a mixup at the shop leaves her doughnuts with Sokhey (Sophea Op). Hoping on over to her car to sort it all out she gets left behind by her friends and decides to wait there while her Uber is coming. Which is the point when Nashrah (Tasnim Hossain) gets kicked out of her learner driver lesson and then there was three.

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Movie Review – End of the Century (Fin de Siglo)

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TL;DR – A very erotic look at the past and what choices led us to where we are and where we could have been    

Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars

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

End of the Century (Fin de Siglo). Image Credit: Stray Dogs.

Review –

So when you blindly pick from a film festival line up without researching anything about films you are about to see, there are some interesting choices that you could end up watching. For me, it was sitting down at watching what might be the most erotic film I have ever seen in a cinema. Like I don’t think you could show this film on late night SBS. But while there is that component it was also a look at what could have been.

So to set the scene, Ocho (Juan Barberini) is an Argentinean poet now living in New York. After reaching the end of a 20-year long relationship he has decided to take a short vacation to Barcelona after having to do some work in Madrid. While looking out the balcony of his Airbnb he notices Javi (Ramon Pujol) walking by in his Kiss shirt and well one thing leads to another (this might be the most glossed over of details sentence that I have ever written in a review). But as they are talking Ocho discovers that this is not the first time they have met.

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Movie Review – Noblemen

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TL;DR – A deeply painful and confronting film about the damage we cause to others and more the damage we do to ourselves.      

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

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

Noblemen. Image Credit: Yoodle Films.

Review –

Oh boy, is this a difficult film to digest, it is one of those films that deal with very important issues in a way that you cannot hide from them. But because you can to hide from them they are shown without restraint and that is really difficult to sit through. An important film dealing with important matters and it made me feel joy and real pain. I also should say right from the start that there are some very confronting scenes in this film and that some people should be careful to check out a more detailed plot summary before watching.

So to set the scene, in a private school in the mountains of India Shay (Ali Haji) is constantly bullied by the upperclassmen as a way of ‘making a man out of him’ but there is one ray of hope because he has just been cast as the lead in the school play of Merchant of Venice. The only problem is the best friend of his main tormenter Arjun (Mohommad Ali Mir) also wanted the role and Baadal (Shaan Grover) will stop at nothing to get it. But that is easy for the upperclassmen, they just have to torment Shay until he relents. Which starts a cycle with lasting consequences.

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TV Review – The Good Place: A Girl from Arizona Part 2

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TL;DR – A strong follow up at the start of the season with some really powerful moments.  

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

The Good Place: A Girl from Arizona Part 2. Image Credit: NBC.

Review –

We continue our look at the final chance to save humankind and … well … it’s not been going well so far. With the clock both figuratively and literally running out for both the character and us the viewers it makes even the smallest set back feel larger and that is only the first few minutes.

So to set the scene, at the end of Part 1, we got a bit of a reset with The Bad Place’s mole being discovered. However, all the problems still remain, Simone (Kirby Howell-Baptiste) still thinks this is all the figment of her imagination and is acting accordingly with chaotic abandon. Also Brent (Ben Koldyke) is a mediocre white man from privilege, so of course he thinks the world revolved around him. It is a tough nut to crack but at least Eleanor (Kristen Bell) has the backing of the team … right … Just a reminder that we will be looking at the episode at the whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Movie Review – In the Tall Grass

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TL;DR – An interesting idea, and full-on creepy, but it did leave me feeling a bit hollow at the end.    

Score – 3 out of 5 stars

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

In the Tall Grass. Image Credit: Netflix.

Review –

Well it is October and that means it is Halloween month, so it is time for the many, many new horror films to make their way into the world. It is the perfect time for horror and what goes bump in the night but it can be hard to get your head above the crowd. However, if there is any way to do that basing your work on something written by Stephen King is sure one way to do it.

So to set the scene, we open in on a brother Cal (Avery Whitted) and sister Becky (Laysla De Oliveira) as they make their way across the country to San Diego. They are moving to a new life, getting ready because Becky is quite pregnant. They stop on the side of the road because Becky gets morning sickness and needs to let heave. As they wait they hear a voice call out from the long grass on the side of the road. A young boy called Tobin (Will Buie Jr.). They run into grass to try and help the boy but get separated, but that’s okay because they are really close. But soon voices get warped, people get moved around, and there is more than whispers out there in the long grass.

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Movie Review – Solteras (Ready to Mingle)

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TL;DR – An interesting concept that is held back by deeply unlikable characters.     
Score – 2.5 out of 5 stars

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

Solteras (Ready to Mingle). Image Credit: Netflix.

Review –

I should open this up with the clear proviso that I am not the target audience for this film so that might have had a big impact on my enjoyment or lack therefore of. However, I really struggled with this film from the start until maybe the last ten minutes.

So to set the scene, Ana (Cassandra Ciangherotti) is the last of her friends/cousins to get married, but that is okay because she is in a long term relationship with her boyfriend Gabriel (Pablo Cruz). Well she was right up until he dumped her in the middle of a wedding. Well, during the middle of the alcohol drinking stage of her break up she discovers her ‘less attractive’ cousin Tamara (Lucía Uribe Bracho) is also getting married. After an altercation, Tamara gives her the details and she shows up not quite ready for what is about to happen.

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TV Review – The Expanse: Season 3

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TL;DR – This is and continues to be the gold standard to adaptations of literature, capturing the heart of the books, even if it does not hit every plot beat along the way.  

Score – 4.5 out of 5 stars

The Expanse. Image Credit: Amazon Studios.

Review –

I mentioned back in my look at the New Golden Age of Science Fiction that The Expanse is one of the best adaptations on TV at the moment. Here in Australia, I got to watch the first two seasons on Netflix and was constantly entranced with just what a good job they did of bringing James S. A. Corey’s books to life. The third season has been tricky to find but today I was able to hunt it down on Amazon and gave it a watch. Well, how does it do? Well, I can tell you that I watched the entire first arc of the season in one session, being so completely engrossed that I didn’t realise how late in the evening it had gotten … so that it is always a good sign.

So to set the scene, we open in the aftermath of season two and the turn that put Chrisjen Avasarala (Shohreh Aghdashloo) from a position of absolute power to her running for her life after being betrayed by Sadavir Errinwright (Shawn Doyle). Stuck on a ship that has just been fired upon by her own side there is not much hope for escape but then that is why she brought Bobbie Draper (Frankie Adams) a former Martian marine along. They manage to escape, but they are still under pursuit, and while they were gone the whole solar system has erupted into war and the Jupiter planetary system is ground zero for the conflict. Meanwhile, on the Rocinante the crew are dealing with two big problems, the fact that Naomi (Dominique Tipper) lied to them, and they have done nothing really to help Prax (Terry Chen) find his daughter. With everything falling apart the question is: will James Holden (Steven Strait) going to step in and help stop this war, or is he going to sit back and let others make the tough calls?    

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