Category Archives: 2019 Reviews

TV Review – Star Trek Discovery: Brother

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TL;DR – New faces, old friends, and a new dilemma, sign me up.

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

Star Trek Discovery: Brother. Image Credit: CBS Studios/Netflix.

Review –

The first season of Star Trek Discovery was one that started of interesting, took a bit to find its feet, but by the end of the Season a bunch of people had become a crew, and I was there for it. Tonight we dive back in with a bit of trepidation because they ended the season face to face with the most iconic starship in Star Trek history the original USS Enterprise. So where do you take the story from here, well into some very new territory it seems. 

So to set the scene, at the end of Will You Take My Hand? the USS Discovery was on its way to Vulcan to both drop of Sarek (James Frain) and also pick up their new captain. Well before they got there, they had to drop out of warp due to an emergency distress beacon coming from the USS Enterprise. In Brother, we start right from where we left off, trying to hail the ship when nothing else worked it was Morse Code that made it through and the Enterprise informed them that Captain Pike (Anson Mount) and two others were coming on board. Well, both Sarek and Michael (Sonequa Martin-Green) know who severs on the ship, but Spock is not there. Pike informs everyone that he is taking over command of the ship because of an emergency, you see seven lights just blared into existence across the galaxy, at the same moment, thousands of light years apart. Well since they just got out of a war The Federation is understandably nervous about what this might mean because this is not a natural phenomenon. Well off The Discovery goes, once more unto the breach, which turns out to be literal when they drop out of warp behind a fracturing asteroid. Now we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

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TV Review – The Orville: Nothing Left On Earth Excepting Fishes

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TL;DR – In many respects, this is the most Star Trek-like episode I have seen so far, but in that it feels just okay and that it is missing something.  

Score – 3 out of 5 stars

The Orville: Nothing Left On Earth Excepting Fishes. Image Credit: Fox.

Review –

This is a great time for Sci-fi for tonight I get a new episode of The Orville and Star Trek Discovery. All of this is made all the more interesting because tonight’s Orville feels more like an episode of Star Trek than any so far this season. This gives some characters the chance to shine, but it also feels a bit odd.

So to set the scene, the USS Orville is once again being rerouted to a Starbase to help out rather than exploring, something that is starting to get on everyone’s nerves. But for Ed (Seth MacFarlane) it is all fine because he is using his love smile with Lt. Tyler (Michaela McManus) and Kelly (Adrianne Palicki) can see it. Well, after much thought they decide that it is time to make it public, always a big deal on a ship of this size, and celebrate this by taking some shore leave. Time to get away, see the sights, get harried by some Krill fighters, wait get harried by some Krill fighters. Soon both Tyler and Ed are captured and Ed has to make a choice, will he sit back and watch the love of his life get tortured, or will he give up everything he believes in and hand over his command codes. Now from here on in, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, and as such there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

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TV Review – Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Hitchcock And Scully

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TL;DR – Today we go back into the deep past and explore 1980s NYPD while also dealing with the ramifications of today.

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

Hitchcock And Scully, Image Credit: NBC.

Review –

One of the great boons of having a new season of Brooklyn Nine-Nine is that you get to explore new stories and in this case that is explore the backstory of two of the shows amazing cast Hitchcock (Dirk Blocker) and Scully (Joel McKinnon Miller).

So to set the scene, the aftermath of Honeymoon, when Captain Holt (Andre Braugher) stood up to the new Commissioner John Kelly (Phil Reeves), has been a rough transition for the team. This is because Kelly has gone out of his way to punish the 99 for Holt’s deference in his public questioning the return to Stop and Frisk. This has meant that floors have been shut down and space has become a precious creating friction among the detectives and uniformed officers. This is bad enough, but the next round of Kelly’s punishment has arrived when he gets Internal Affairs to look into a case from 1986 run by a young Hitchcock (Wyatt Nash) and Scully (Alan Ritchson). Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.  

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Movie Review – Mary Poppins Returns

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TL;DR – This is a film with two halves, the beautiful story of a family coming together in the face of a crisis with the help of Mary Poppins, but also a story about how it is individuals and not big corporations that are bad … from Disney … umm  

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

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

Mary Poppins Returns . Image Credit: Disney.

Review –

Mary Poppins is a movie that is quite dear to me. When I was a child it was one of those films that we would watch as a family on a Saturday night. I honestly I was not really all that on board with the remake/sequel hybrid film all the trailers seemed to imply that we were about to get. As well as this, I am starting to get a little tired of Disney’s ‘Weaponised Nostalgia Era’.  Well, that is what I thought walking in, but then a wave of joy enveloped my life leaving a smile on my face and tears rolling down my face.  

So to set the scene, it has been a number of years since the first film and the Banks’ children have grown up. Michael (Ben Whishaw) is, well was, a painter, who married and had three lovely children Annabel (Pixie Davies), John (Nathanael Saleh) and Georgie (Joel Dawson) before his wife tragically died. This has understandably sent ripples through the family, made all the worse when there is a knock on the door and we discover that the bank is foreclosing on the house because Michael has fallen behind paying back a loan, the same bank his father helped run, and the same bank he currently works for. Well, the whole family, including his sister Jane (Emily Mortimer) helps to look for their father’s shares in the bank in the last ditch effort in saving the house, when who should appear at the end of a kite, none other than Mary Poppins (Emily Blunt) herself.

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Movie Review – The Kid Who Would Be King

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TL;DR – It has a good message, and I give it full props for trying something new even if it does not all completely come together

Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars

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

The Kid Who Would Be King. Image Credit: 20th Century Fox.

Review –

Due to the vagaries of international copyright law, there are some stories that you will see over and over again because they have had the good grace to enter the public domain, which is becoming more and more difficult to do. This means that anyone can make a film based around the King Arthur mythology, and there have been a lot of them, including King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (see review) from a couple of years ago, which I really liked, but I think I was alone in that. Well, today we get a new film based around this mythology, which is trying to do something a little different, even if it doesn’t all quite come together.

So to set the scene, we open with a really well designed animated sequence that gives you in a couple of minutes a quick overview of this particular film’s take on the Arthurian mythology. With Arthur banishing Morgana (Rebecca Ferguson) under the Earth, but in a last act of defiance, she cursed the world that one day when the country was leaderless she should return and take what is hers. Flash forward to 2019 and England is just as she predicted … looks at today’s news … yikes they really timed this film well. Well out in Britain there is still but a hope because one Alex Elliot (Louis Ashbourne Serkis) runs into a construction yard after being chased by some bullies and finds a rock with a sword in it … yes, that sword … and like all true and noble heroes, he is able to pull it from the rock. This puts in motion a series of events because in four days there will be a total solar eclipse and Morgana will rise.    

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Movie Review – Storm Boy (2019)

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TL;DR – A movie that has good moments, but is hamstrung by its narrative framing device that was unhelpful and unneeded     

Score – 3 out of 5 stars

Post-Credit Scene – There is a post-credit scene but not one you need to stay back for

Storm Boy. Image Credit: Sony.

Review –

When you grow up there are these touchstone moments as you discover the world of cinema. For me, and I would say a lot of people in my generation that grew up in Australia, the original Storm Boy movie was one of those moments (well until you have to write an essay on it for English, which was the worst. Well, it has been many years since I have watched the original, so I was really interested when I heard they were remaking it, well that was until I saw it.

So to set the scene, we do not start with the story of the pelicans, but instead, we begin many years later when Storm Boy has grown into being an old man (Geoffrey Rush). He is back in Australia because his son-in-law (Erik Thomson) is holding a vote to allow mining on his company’s pastoral land. The old man’s granddaughter Madeline (Morgana Davies) is very much opposed to it, but he is all just a bit ambivalent to it because it is not really his business anymore. But before the vote could be cast a storm damages the building and we get a day’s pause. It is during this time that he decided to tell his granddaughter the story of when he was a child (Finn Little) and he and Fingerbone Bill (Trevor Jamieson) found some baby pelicans, orphaned after hunters killed their parents.

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Movie Review – Instant Family

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TL;DR – There are some moments of real humour and it can be really heartfelt, but it has also be smashed into a rigid three-act structure to the point that you can see the plot beats coming a mile away.    

Score – 3 out of 5 stars

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

Instant Family. Image Credit: Paramount Pictures.

Review –

Adoption and foster care are two very important issues in society today. There are not enough foster parents for all the kids in the system, meaning that they get bounced around from house to house, or left in a worst state than when they came in. Which is a tragedy because these are some of the most vulnerable members of society and we need to be protecting them. Today we look at a film that explores this issue by looking at what happens when you go from having no kids to having three.

So to set the scene, Pete (Mark Wahlberg) and Ellie (Rose Byrne) are a couple going through life that seemingly has it all. They run a successful renovation business where they buy down and out houses and then do them up to flip them for a profit. This helps gives their lives purpose, until one day Ellie’s sister mentions that they are never going to have kids and a look ensues. This leads to them having a look at adoption websites and being overcome by the need. So they attend training run by Karen (Octavia Spencer) and Sharon (Tig Notaro) and on a lunch playdate/get to know all the kids/totally weird event, they come across Lizzy (Isabela Moner) who everyone else is ignoring because they don’t want teenagers. They really like Lizzy but there is one catch, she comes with two siblings Juan (Gustavo Quiroz) and Lita (Julianna Gamiz) and all of a sudden they become a family of five.

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TV Review – Star Trek Short Treks: The Escape Artist

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TL;DR – What happens when you let Rainn Wilson run riot, well you get a fascinating moment in Star Trek history.  

Score – 4.5 out of 5 stars

Star Trek Short Treks: The Escape Artist. Image Credit CBS Studios.

Review –

We finish our run through the Star Trek Short Trek mini-episodes by looking at the episode that brings back one of the best guest cast members from Star Trek Discovery’s first season.

So to set the scene, we open inside a ship crewed by a Tellarite bounty hunter Tevrin Krit (Harry Judge) who is having a very good day because he was about to come into possession of Harry Mudd (Rainn Wilson) a man who has done great harm to his family. It is with joy that he takes Mudd from the broker (that gave me odd Breen vibes) to the nearest Starfleet vessel to claim the significant bounty, as Mudd pleads for his life every step of the way.

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TV Review – Star Trek Short Treks: The Brightest Star

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TL;DR – We explore the difficult past of one of Discovery’s officers and learn once again that hope is better than fear.

Score – 4.5 out of 5 stars

Star Trek Short Treks: The Brightest Star. Image Credit CBS Studios.

Review –

Our next dive into the Star Trek Short Trek series takes us into the past to let us know more about a character we know very well in Star Trek Discovery and what is driving him forward.

So to set the scene, we open in on Kaminar a planet never visited before in Star Trek and homeworld of USS Discovery first officer Saru (Doug Jones). Though at this moment he is not in Starfleet because his people are part of a pre-warp society, which is a big no go area in Federation law. The Kelpien people live in small villages along the coast where they harvest seaweed and grasses, as well as the flowers of the jungle. However, while Saru looks up at the stars and sees hope, the rest of his people see fear because the Ba’ul are coming for their harvest.

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TV Review – Star Trek Short Treks: Calypso

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TL;DR – When it is working in on the relationship between the two characters it shines, but it does present some interesting implications that I am not so sure about.  

Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars

Star Trek Short Treks: Calypso. Image Credit CBS Studios.

Review –

We continue our dive into the world of the Star Trek Discovery Short Treks by looking at the episode that is to date is the furthest we have been on the official timeline (depending maybe on that one Voyager episode).

So to set the scene, The USS Discovery has been sitting in a nebula for 1000 years when a surprise escape pod comes across it in the dark. When Craft (Aldis Hodge) awakes he find no one on board bar just a voice called Zora (Annabelle Wallis) who explains where he is and he lets her know that the world has dramatically changed.

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