Category Archives: 2017 Reviews

Movie Review – God’s Own Country (2017)

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TL;DR – Much like the Yorkshire Moors that is filmed on, this is a film that is both harsh and yet filled with moments of beauty   

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

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

God's Own Country. Image Credit: British Film Institute.

Review –

My family originally came from Yorkshire, so when I spot a film set in the region I always give it a watch to try and connect with my past. Well, I am not sure what I expected when I loaded up God’s Own Country, but what I got was a film that was both frank and also a little optimistic in a world of bleakness.

So to set the scene, Johnny lives and works on a farm with his father Martin (Ian Hart), and his grandmother Deirdre (Gemma Jones). He spends all day grafting on the farm and all night in the local town drinking. Wake up, chuck out the contents of his stomach and repeat. Most of his friends have gone off to university, however, because his dad had a stroke and can’t work the farm like he used to, Johnny has to step up and take all that pressure. Given some issues, Martin calls in some help, as they are about to go into calving season, and Gheorghe (Alec Secăreanu) a Romanian farmhand takes the job. There is instant tension between the two because Johnny sees Gheorghe has a manifestation of his failure but he needs the help.

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TV Review – The Orville: Season One

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TL;DR – While at first look this might have been just a Star Trek homage or at worst a blatant rip-off. Instead, it finds its feet and becomes a charming exploration of the future and the mess and opportunities that could come.

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

 

The Orville. Image Credit: 20th Century Fox & Fuzzy Door Productions.

 

Review –

I have been wanting to catch The Orville for quite a while but there was no streaming or TV that picked it up here in Australia, so I was expecting this was something that I might only get to see when it dropped on Blu-Ray. But with SBS announcing they had picked it up and would be showing Season Two I jumped on a watched the whole first season in one night, which meant that clown appeared at a very confronting time late at night. But binged the first season I have, and now it is time to jump in and see if it was worth the wait. Now before we dive in, a quick reminder that as we will be looking at the season as a whole, there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

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TV Review – The Punisher: Season One

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TL;DR – This is a show that works just because of the charisma of its lead, however, it would have been better if it was more condensed

Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars

The Punisher

Review –

Without a doubt, The Punisher might be the most difficult character to get right in the Netflix TV Marvel Universe. How do you make a man who murders a lot of people, a lot of people, yet still keep him a relatable character. Revenge driven storylines are thus really hard to make work because of this and for every Punisher or John Wick you have a plethora of others that don’t stick the landing. So the Punisher or Frank Castle first appeared in Season Two of Daredevil (see review) where he was one of the best parts of the entire season. However, the question is can a character like Frank work in a series all by himself? Well, that is what we will be looking at today.

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My Top 15 Films of 2017

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TL;DR – 2017 was a great year in film and here are our favourites
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Countdown –

So here we are at the end of the year, the sound of fireworks still ringing in our ears, the excess of Christmas just a faint memory, and the realisation just dawning that you probably won’t get your money’s worth out of that gym membership you bought for your New Year’s resolution. However, it is also a time of reflection, a look into the past and the hope for the future, and while 2017 has been not great internationally, there were some great moments in cinema, and this is what we are celebrating today.

So far in our end of year countdown we have had Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4 of our Key Moments in Cinema in 2017 over the last couple of days, also we have looked at the Bottom 10 Films of 2017, but today it is all good all the time, so let us dive in.

Before we start we are going to take a few moments to clarify our criteria for the entries on this list so you understand why a film may or may not appear here. First, it has to be one of the 84 films we review in 2017 (To see all the films we reviewed this year Click Here). Now this means a couple of things, first you may see some films here that were released in 2016 where you live, but were not released until 2017 here, as well as this, a number of the films in contention for Oscars this year like Lady Bird and Call Me By Your Name have not been released yet here, or not released widely, as such they won’t appear on this list (we will hopefully be reviewing them later in January). Also shout out to Ali’s Wedding, Baby Driver, Detroit, Jasper Jones, Power Rangers, Star Wars: The Last Jedi & The Lego Batman Film who were close to making it onto this list.

Now just a warning we will be discussing these films, and some of them are still in cinemas, so be careful because [SPOILERS] are incoming. So without any further ado let us begin the Top 15 Films for 2017.

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My Bottom 10 Films of 2017

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TL;DR – Not everything in 2017 was great, here are the cinematic missteps that happened along the way

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Countdown –

It’s the end of one year and the start of another and among the fireworks, booze, and celebrations there is one tradition that transcends all and that is the tradition of end of year lists and who would I be to buck this trend, even if I am a little late. So over the next two days, we will be seeing the best and worst that 2017 had to offer with regards to movies. Tomorrow we will have the all-important ‘Top Films of 2017’, also we have had Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4 of our Key Moments in cinema in 2017 over the last couple of days. However, today we start with the opposite, with the worst or most disappointing films of 2017.

Now before we start I just want to make a clarification on the criteria I used to categorise the following entries. The films on this list had to be films that I reviewed in 2017, now this means there may have been worse films out there but if something is clearly a train wreck then why subject yourself to it, so you can consider The Emoji Film and Fifty Shades Darker to be honorary members of this list and shout out to Olaf’s Frozen Adventure, for just missing the cut-off. Also just to be clear there will be spoilers here.

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Awards – Key Moments in Cinema in 2017 Part 4

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TL;DR – This is the end of the year, so let’s take a look back at the year that was by examining twenty categories across cinema, ranging from exquisite to the obscured and all between
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Awards –

It is the end of the year (well a bit later than that but life happened) and while I will have the traditional Best of 2017 and Worst of 2017 lists, I have found that both of those lists miss some of the important facets that make films work, or not work. To eligible for these awards, they simply had to be a film I reviewed in 2017, and there may be some notable absences simply because we have not got those films here yet. So in Part 4 of 4, we look at five different categories that deal with the cinema of 2017.

  • The characters that I loved
  • The biggest surprise
  • The best team up
  • The best villain
  • The most emotional film

So let’s dive into TL;DR Movie Review’s Awards of 2017 Part 4

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Awards – Key Moments in Cinema in 2017 Part 3

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TL;DR – This is the end of the year, so let’s take a look back at the year that was by examining twenty categories across cinema, ranging from exquisite to the obscured and all between

Awards Banner

Awards –

It is the end of the year (well a bit later than that but life happened) and while I will have the traditional Best of 2017 and Worst of 2017 lists, I have found that both of those lists miss some of the important facets that make films work, or not work. To eligible for these awards, they simply had to be a film I reviewed in 2017, and there may be some notable absences simply because we have not got those films here yet. So in Part 3 of 4, we look at five different categories that deal with the cinema of 2017.

  • The films that were just fun
  • The films that dragged on too long
  • Masterclasses in film
  • Recurring themes
  • Stupid Character Deaths

So let’s dive into TL;DR Movie Review’s Awards of 2017 Part 3

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Awards – Key Moments in Cinema in 2017 Part 2

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TL;DR – This is the end of the year, so let’s take a look back at the year that was by examining twenty categories across cinema, ranging from exquisite to the obscured and all between

Awards Banner

Awards –

 

It is the end of the year (well a bit later than that but life happened) and while I will have the traditional Best of 2017 and Worst of 2017 lists, I have found that both of those lists miss some of the important facets that make films work, or not work. To eligible for these awards, they simply had to be a film I reviewed in 2017, and there may be some notable absences simply because we have not got those films here yet. So in Part 2 of 4, we look at five different categories that deal with the cinema of 2017.

  • The films that just didn’t quite work
  • The best line of dialogue in cinema
  • Movie trends that I am really sick of
  • The grossest moments I had to sit through
  • The films I will go to bat for

So let’s dive into TL;DR Movie Review’s Awards of 2017 Part 2

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TV Review – Star Trek Discovery: Season 1; Chapter 1

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TL;DR – A fascinating start to the new show, and a great platform to develop and move forward with.

Score – 4.5 out of 5 stars

Star Trek Discovery

Review –

So today we are going to take a quick look back at Chapter One of Star Trek: Discovery’s first season. Look to be honest, straight from the start I am just glad that I get to talk about Star Trek, and not just Star Trek, but really good Star Trek to boot, and I’ve not really been able to say that since Deep Space Nine. In our review today what I want to do it take a moment to look at four facets of Chapter One that I found really interesting, the story, the enemies, the technology, and then talk a bit about the future. Now let’s dive in and take a look at the story, and of course, because we are looking at this part of the season as a whole, there will [SPOILERS] here, so proceed with caution if you have not watched the whole season. To read our reviews of each of the episodes of Season One so far: See Here.

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Movie Review – The Villainess (Ak-Nyeo, 악녀)

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TL;DR – Some of the most fascinating actions sequences I have ever seen, sandwiched between one of the dullest stories I have ever watched. I don’t think I have reviewed a film with such extremes in quality before, it was both fascinating and disappointing all at once.

Score – 2.5 out of 5 stars

Post-Credit Scene – No

The Villainess (Ak-Nyeo, 악녀). Image Credit: Well Go.

Review –

Wow, I don’t think I have ever come across a film like The Villainess before that had the ability to both deeply interest me and also deeply bore me all in the same film. In a story of two halves, you have some of the most fascinating action sequences I have ever seen put to film, and in the other half a spy revenge tale that was just a slog to get through. On the one hand, having such a discrepancy is interesting to talk about, but also it was really frustrating because you could see such potential squandered so badly.

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