Author Archives: tldrmoviereviews

Warfare – Movie Review

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TL;DR – An emotionally charged film that uses every bullet strike to bring you into this world, whether you are ready for it or not.  

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid for the Amazon Prime service that was used to view this film.

Looking down a sniper scope.

Warfare Review Introduction –

After Alex Garland came out swinging with Civil War in 2024, I was interested to see what he would follow it up with next. Unfortunately, I just was not able to get to a screening when it had its theatrical release, but before I put my best films of 2025 list together, I knew I had to make sure I crossed this one off the pile of shame.  

So, to set the scene, on November 19th, 2006, in Ramadi, Iraq, a Navy SEAL platoon took up sniper watch to support operations in the area. Two platoons take up position in an Iraqi family’s house to provide overwatch. Watching. Waiting. People peeking and probing their defences. All preparing themselves for that first shot or explosion.  

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Novocaine – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A chaotic ride from start to finish, with a cast that commits to the bit all the way.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

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

Warning – Contains scenes that may cause distress.

Jack Quaid showered in falling glass.

Novocaine Review Introduction –

It has been a gangbuster year for action in 2025, and before I write my best-of-2025 list, I knew I had to catch one more action beat from the year, or in this case, a beatdown. Jack Quaid is always a solid lead, as we have seen in the three other films he released this year [Companion, Neighborhood Watch & Heads of State], so it is only fair that we take a look at number four.  

So, to set the scene, Nathan “Novocaine” Caine (Jack Quaid) is, by all respects, just a normal, mild-mannered bank executive, other than the fact that he actually cares about his clients. He is more reserved than you would expect, but that is because he has a nerve issue where he can not feel pain. Which you would think would be a good thing until you realise just how much your interaction with the world is based on that. His self-imposed isolation is brought to a sudden end when he finds a kindred spirit in Sherry Margrave (Amber Midthunder), which is suddenly interrupted by Santa-dressed bank robbers who take Sherry as a hostage. Now, only Novocaine is available to save her.

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Roofman – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A slow meditation on isolation and despair when who you are is not who the world wants.  

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid-credit sequence.

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film.

Channing Tatum dancing through a Toys R Us store

Roofman Review Introduction –

Today, we are looking at a sort of odd film as we wrap up 2025. Going into Roofman, all the marketing implied that this was a quirky, fun romp of shenanigans. To be fair, there is some of that there. However, the film we got is very different from the one that was marketed.

So, to set the scene, in 1998, Jeffrey Manchester (Channing Tatum) made a living by breaking into McDonald’s via the roof. He felt it was the only way he could provide for his family after leaving the military. After being arrested, he is sent away for 45 years, but the same skills that allowed him to rob the burger places allowed him to escape prison. Prison plans and a truck trip later and he was a ‘free’ man, but with everyone looking for an escaped prisoner, Jeffery had only one place to hide, in a Toys R Us store.

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Sisu: Road to Revenge – Movie Review

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TL;DR – While it loses some of its drive halfway through, it is still the action romp that it needs to be as carnage stretches across Russia.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There are mid-credit sequences.

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film.

Sisu: A Finnish word that cannot be translated. It means the white-knuckled force of courage and unimaginable determination.

Sisu: Road to Revenge Review Introduction –

It is that time of year when I take a look back on 2025, and see all the films that I missed that I need to take a look at before I start my best of 2025 lists. I won’t get to all of them; there isn’t enough time. However, one film I knew I had to see was the follow-up to a Finnish gem from 2023. Sisu is one of the few films in the post-John Wick era that took the action style and improved on it. But can lightning strike twice?  


So, to set the scene, after WW2, Finland lost territory to the Soviet Union, and the Finns living there were forced to flee. In 1946, after finding all that gold in Lappland, Aatami Korpi (Jorma Tommila) returned to his home in Karelia, now on the wrong side of the border, to where his dead family once lived, hoping to take the house and rebuild it in a land of peace. But when Aatami crossed the border, his passport triggered a response in Soviet high command. The KGB (Richard Brake) tasks Igor Draganov (Stephen Lang), the man who killed Aatami’s family, to finish the job. But Aatami is a man who has left hundreds of Red Army and Nazi corpses in his wake, and he won’t go down without a fight.    

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PLUR1BUS: Season 1 – TV Review

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TL;DR – A profoundly moving series exploring isolation, consent, and free will in the framework of an all-powerful and all-knowing Hivemind.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the AppleTV+ service that viewed this series.

Warning – This series contains flashing lights.

Warning – This series contains scenes that may cause distress

71D 13H 31M 30S.

PLUR1BUS Review –

To be honest, I was not sure what to expect when I sat down to watch Pluribus. I didn’t expect Pluribus to immediately contend for my favourite series of the year — though in hindsight, given the creative pedigree, perhaps I should have. But whatever the case, few shows have made me ponder like this.   

So, to set the scene, one evening, two SETI scientists find a repeating message coming from space. It is nothing bouncing off the Moon. It is a code repeated every 78 seconds and sent from 600 light-years away. As the scientists try to break the message, Carol Sturka (Rhea Seehorn) is busy signing the latest addition of her romance fantasy book. But little does anyone know that one bite and a kiss later, the entire world changes. Now, from here, we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there may be [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Fallout: The Profligate [S2E3] – TV Review

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TL;DR – This is the first episode of the season that has felt a touch on the messy side, more setting up pins down the end of the alley than hitting strikes, but that might just have been me not gelling with some of the plotlines.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Amazon Prime subscription used to watch this series.

Maximus not having a good time.

Fallout: The Golden Rule Review Introduction –

In the world of Fallout, there are a lot of pieces on the board, with people, factions, and forces unseen across the Wasteland that are all on the move. But when you have all those pieces moving around, it can be easy for things to lose traction, most notably your engagement with the narrative. I think that might have happened a touch today.

So, to set the scene, things have not been going well for Lucy (Ella Purnell) after she left The Ghoul (Walton Goggins) in the hospital. She did not know that the person she was helping was a member of The Legion, who did not find her musings on The Golden Rule very motivating. Meanwhile, the Brotherhood’s early musings of a civil war have hit a snag when Paladin Xander Harkness (Kumail Nanjiani) from the Commonwealth has arrived full of swagger and implied threats. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there may be [SPOILERS] ahead.   

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Percy Jackson and the Olympians: We Check In to C.C.’s Spa & Resort [S2E5] – TV Review

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TL;DR – Today, we get to one of the most iconic moments in the book while also dramatically shifting the narrative of one of the characters.  

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ service that viewed this series.

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

A bloodied helmet.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians Review –

When you knew that there was a second season to Percy Jackson and the Olympians, there was a certain glee because you knew that one of the milestones they had to hit was going to happen, and in this episode, we get it in all its glory. But even if you like something from a book, it does not always translate to the screen, and we will see how they do that today.

So, to set the scene, after the ironclad was exploded due to an interaction with an iron boiler and a bottle of wind, our heroes were left for dead. But thankfully, Percy (Walker Scobell) and Annabeth (Leah Sava Jeffries) wash up on an island, surviving but finding they might be in more danger than in the ocean. For they are in Circe’s (Rosemarie DeWitt) spa, a place of safety, but to continue their quest, they have to get past one thing … the sirens who lead everyone who ventures near to an untimely death. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Anaconda (2025) – Movie Review

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TL;DR – This is a wildly silly and meta film that holds back when it should dive all the way in.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid to view this film.

A production slate for Anaconda.

Anaconda Review Introduction –

Today, we are looking at a film that sold itself to me by its bonkers premise alone: what if the sequel to 1997’s Anaconda was a meta reboot about a group of filmmakers trying to film a sequel to 1997’s Anaconda. It is a premise so profoundly silly that you must see just how they pull it off, and the answer is very meta indeed.

So, to set the scene, Ronald “Griff” Griffen Jr. (Paul Rudd) is a background actor in Hollywood whose only notable role was a four-episode stint on S.W.A.T. Well, after another failed audition, he sees a poster for the 1997 film Anaconda and gets an idea. He returns home to Buffalo, New York, to inform his friends that he has secured the rights to the Anaconda franchise so they can make one of the films they used to make when they were kids. It is a profoundly silly idea, but soon wedding videographer Doug McCallister (Jack Black), recently divorced lawyer Claire Simons (Thandiwe Newton), and now Buffalo sober Kenny Trent (Steve Zahn) find themselves in Manaus, Brazil, looking at snake handler Carlos Santiago Braga (Selton Mello) and his pet anaconda. They take a boat deep into the jungle to start filming, but little do they know that when filming Anaconda, there may be an anaconda hunting them.      

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PLUR1BUS: We Is Us [S1E1] – TV Review

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TL;DR – A masterpiece in tension and build-up.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the AppleTV+ service that viewed this series.

Warning – This episode contains flashing lights.

439D 19H 56M 11S.

PLUR1BUS Review –

Today I begin my first dive into a work of Vince Gilligan. I know his work is quality, but unfortunately for me, by the time that Breaking Bad was accessible in Australia, it had already been mostly spoiled. It also meant I did not have the energy to explore Better Call Saul, even though I know it is excellent. But now it’s the time for fresh starts and as the show came highly recommended by my friends, and some dabbling into science fiction helps things along nicely. I found it the right time to press play.    

So, to set the scene, one evening, two SETI scientists find a repeating message coming from space. It is nothing bouncing off the Moon. It is a code repeated every 78 seconds and sent from 600 light-years away. As the scientists try to break the message, Carol Sturka (Rhea Seehorn) is busy signing the latest addition of her romance fantasy book. But little does anyone know that one bite and a kiss later, the entire world changes. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there may be [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Heated Rivalry: Season 1 – TV Review

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TL;DR – This is a profoundly compelling if fundamentally risqué series that explores relationships in the harshest place through the lens of a visionary auteur.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the HBO Max service that viewed this series.

Hollander on the back of a jersey.

Heated Rivalry Review –

When people were mapping out what would be the go-to pop culture event for the end of the year, it would have been a safe bet to pick something like the final season of Stranger Things, or maybe the bombastic Avatar. Few predicted that the year’s breakout cultural moment would come not from a blockbuster franchise but from a modest Canadian drama. Well, if you spend any time on the internet, you know how successful it has been in cutting through the noise of the algorithm, so let’s have a look and see.

So, to set the scene, in 2008, Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) has had one drive all his life: to be the best hockey player of all time. But on the cusp of being drafted, he meets the new Russian prodigy Ilya Grigoryevich Rozanov (Connor Storrie) at the International Prospect Cup final. Six months later, they have been drafted to rival teams, Boston Raiders & Montreal Metros, of the Major League Hockey (MLH). When the two of them meet again, they find they have undeniable chemistry, and one thing leads to the other. But there are no out gay players in the MLH, so the two keep this tryst/relationship/booty call/whatever you want to call it a secret, lest anyone find out and their careers are ruined. Now, from here, we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

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