Author Archives: tldrmoviereviews

News of the World – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A compelling ride through the 1890s with a man trying to his best in difficult circumstances    

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix subscription that viewed this film.

News of the World. Image Credit: Universal Pictures.

News of the World Review –

There are few actors around that you know going in will always give their best performance no matter what film they are in. One of those few is Tom Hanks who gives his all even in movies that are not that great. Today we get to explore a film that puts him right in the centre of a world going through a difficult transition.

So to set the scene, we open in Wichita Falls, North Texas, 1870, on a cold a rainy night. Here we find a Captain Kidd (Tom Hanks) speaking with the fine folks of the town. They are cut off from most of society, so he lets everyone know the news of the time, like a local fever going around or river crossings being cut, for a fee of 10c. On the way to the next town he stumbles across a black man who had been lynched, and the young girl Johanna (Helena Zengel) who he was carrying. She had been taken in a raid by the ‘Indians’, and she had been brought back to what was left of her family. When some Cavalry riders arrive, we discover that Captain Kidd served with the Confederate Army in the Civil War. They tell him to take the girl to the next town, but things are never as easy as that.

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Space Sweepers (Victory, Seungriho, 승리호) – Movie Review

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TL;DR – An odd film that I loved from start to finish   

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

Nominated: Most Fun & Fascinating Worldbuilding

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix subscription that viewed this film.

Space Sweepers. Image Credit: Netflix.

Space Sweepers Review –

I have seen a lot of excellent Science Fiction in the last little while. However, I have been looking forward to something different, something odd, something that does not fit the mould. Well, today we get just such a film out of Korea that blends the farcical with the serious all while screaming around Earth’s orbit.  

So to set the scene, in 2092 the biosphere started to break down on Earth, soon deserts spanned the globe as the plants died off. But all was not lost, led by UTS and its company director James Sullivan (Richard Armitage) people were able to escape into space. Well, the rich anyway got to flee to orbital biospheres in orbit while 95% of people are left on Earth or work on ships clearing up space debris hoping to earn enough money to buy UTS citizenship and escape. One such crew is of the ship Victory, including Captain Jang (Kim Tae-ri), pilot Tae-ho (Song Joong-ki), engineer Tiger Park (Jin Seon-kyu), and android Bubs (Yoo Hae-jin). All is going, well not well, when they open up a ship they salvaged and found Dorothy/Kot-nim (Park Ye-Rin) an android girl that everyone in the system is after.

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WandaVision: On a Very Special Episode… – TV Review

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TL;DR – This week, everything changes again as we take a right turn into “did that just happen!”

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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

WandaVision: Episode 5. Image Credit: Disney+.

WandaVision Review –

There are days when you sit down to watch a TV show where you kind of know what you will get before you click play. Well, WandaVision is not one of those shows. We have already seen in change on a dime, and this week we get another example as the show starts to dark fast.

So to set the scene, in last week’s  We Interrupt This Program, we left The Hex and found out what had been happening in the world around. We see the road that Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) took to being a player in the weird TV show that Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) is creating in Westview. This week we dive into the 1980s, but things are not the same as Vision (Paul Bettany) has started to see something is not right with this world. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some MAJOR [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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Greenland – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A disaster film that leans into the emotion and is better for it.    

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid for the Amazon Prime subscription that viewed this film.

Greenland. Image Credit: STX Films.

Greenland Review –

After falling off the face of the Earth, disaster films have started to make a resurgence in the cinemas. There have been good disaster films and bad, but one of the core similarities is that a bunch of them have stared Gerard Butler. Well, we now have another entry into this particular genre so let’s dive in.  

So to set the scene, we open in Atlanta, Georgia as architect John Garrity (Gerard Butler), is trying to keep things as normal as possible for his son Nathan (Roger Dale Floyd) after his marriage with Allison (Morena Baccarin) fell apart. While this is happening, all of Earth is looking up at the Clarke Comet that was picked up only weeks ago. The scientists say it will burn up in the atmosphere and make a great light show, but after John gets a Presidential Alert, he realises that something more is going on and then the first boom hits.

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The Expanse: Nemesis Games – TV Review

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TL;DR – Today we see the end to it all and the start of something new.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Amazon Prime subscription that viewed this series.

The Expanse: Nemesis Games. Image Credit: Amazon Studios.

Nemesis Games Review –

Wow, we have reached the end of Season Five, and what a wild ride it has been. In today’s finale, we get to see the culmination of where the plot was screaming towards and the inevitable fallout from when it all goes wrong, or right depending on your perspective.

So to set the scene, in last week’s episode Winnipesaukee, Naomi (Dominique Tipper) was desperately trying to let people know that her ship was a trap, without the ability to change this ships thrust or use a radio. This worked, but in that it only made people race to her faster as something was clearly wrong. It is in this race that Marco (Keon Alexander) sends Drummer and her family to intercept the Roci and end James Holden (Steven Strait) for good. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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First Blush – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A film looking at people trying to find other people to plug that hole in their lives   

Rating: 3 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I was sent a screener of this film.

First Blush. Image Credit: Gravitas Ventures.

First Blush Review –

There has been a lot of reframing of traditional relationships in the post-modern era. However, when cinema has started to explore this realm, it rarely explores this world’s realities. Today we have a film that gives it a solid try if nothing else.

So to set the scene, Nena (Rachel Alig) and Drew (Ryan Caraway) are a mostly happy married couple living in Los Angeles. While everything is good, it does feel like they are sleepwalking through their lives until one day Drew plans a surprise birthday party for Nena with her annoying friend Carrie (Jordee Kopanski). The party is a bit rubbish, but while they are there, Carrie runs into Olivia (Kate Beecroft), and soon their worlds come crashing together.      

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WandaVision: We Interrupt This Program – TV Review

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TL;DR – This week the veil is removed, and we start to see just what is going on  

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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

WandaVision: Episode 4. Image Credit: Disney+.

WandaVision Review –

One of the core conceits in this series is that while we are getting the sitcom joy of WandaVision, something else is going on, something unsettling. This has all been hinted at so far, well today we go from hinting to laying it all out for you.

So to set the scene, at the end of Now in Color, Geraldine (Teyonah Parris) mentions to Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) that Ultron killed her brother. This does not go well for Geraldine as Wanda turns on her and boots her out of the town. At the start of this week’s episode, we get to see all of the context leading up to this as Geraldine/ Monica Rambeau blips back into existence in a hospital in chaos. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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The Expanse: Winnipesaukee – TV Review

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TL;DR – Today we start to see a glimmer of hope amongst all the destruction

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Amazon Prime subscription that viewed this series.

The Expanse: Winnipesaukee. Image Credit: Amazon Studios.

Winnipesaukee Review –

When those first asteroids dropped on Earth in Churn, you knew this would be a dark season for the show, which is amplified by the fact that our Roci crew was all spread to the winds when the attack happened. In today’s episode, we get to see the first little hope on the horizon that things might be getting better.

So to set the scene,  at the end of last week’s Hard Vacuum, Naomi (Dominique Tipper) had been able to interfere with Marco’s (Keon Alexander) automated message that he set up to lure people into a trap. We see at the start of this week’s episode that Naomi’s plan worked … sort of. On the Screaming Firehawk Bobbie (Frankie Adams) noticed that something was amiss, and even Holden (Steven Strait) on the Roci. But the question is, will they see it for the warning it is or think something has gone wrong and hurry into the trap? Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous: Season 2 – TV Review

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TL;DR – This is a strong entry into the Jurassic franchise leaning both into joy and terror of dinosaurs and what it takes to survive in this world alone.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix subscription that viewed this series.

Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous: Season 2. Image Credit: Netflix.

Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous Review –

Last year, a weird experiment actually kind of worked – what if they made animated kids orientated series based around Jurassic Park. It is one of those suggestions that on the face value sounds untenable, but the more you think about it, the more interesting it becomes. The first season was a fascinating ride, set during the fall of the park in Jurassic World. With a strong opener, I was interested in seeing where they could go with it next.

So to set the scene, at the end of last season the group Darius (Paul-Mikél Williams), Brooklynn (Jenna Ortega), Kenji (Ryan Potter), Yaz (Kausar Mohammed), Sammy (Raini Rodriguez) and Ben (Sean Giambrone) were rushing to try and make it to the evacuation ferry. Unfortunately, they missed the boat and more than that. Ben fell to his death from the tram into the jungle below. Left on the island, the group have to find a way to survive and get a message out of the island. The only problem is that between them and the emergency broadcast beacon is a T-Rex who has happily built her nest out of the past world’s detritus. Now from here, we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.     

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Snowpiercer: The Time of Two Engines – TV Review

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TL;DR – Conflict switches from the internal to the external as Snowpiercer comes under attack from Big Alice

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix subscription that viewed this series.

Snowpiercer: The Time of Two Engines. Image Credit: Netflix.

Snowpiercer Review –

Last year there was an odd experiment that hopped on our screens. It was to take a cult classic film and re-imagine it into a TV show. Overall, I felt that Season One had some interesting moments but never got the heights it was aiming for. However, there was some promise here, and that promise was enough to make me want to have a look at Season Two.

So to set the scene, at the end of last season after a protracted revolution Melanie Cavill (Jennifer Connelly) and Andre Layton (Daveed Diggs) agreed to fix the society that runs on steep class divisions. However, a surprise appears with another train coming into the mix at that moment of triumph, an old supply train that somehow has survived the seven years of cold. On that train is none other than Mr Wilford (Sean Bean) who is here to take back the train stolen from him. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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