LX 2048 – Movie Review

TL;DR – This is a film that raised a lot of interesting ideas, but never gives the time to provide them with all the justice they need to work within the story.     

Rating: 3 out of 5.

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

LX 2048. Image Credit Quiver Distribution.

LX 2048 Review

As we move into the future, the digital and real worlds are blending more and more together. Add the fact that it looks like VR finally stuck the landing this time and the future is bright or maybe not. As that line gets fuzzier, what does that mean for human connection? This impasse is the question that the film we are looking at today is asking.  

So to set the scene, in the distant future, the world of the digital and the ‘in real’ have blended thanks to a world where the daytime has become toxic thanks to the Sun’s radiation. Indeed even the briefest exposure to the Sun can create instant and painful sunburn. We meet Adam Bird (James D’Arcy), who is getting the news you don’t want to hear, his heart is failing, and there is nothing anyone can do about it. Adam is one of the few people who go out in the day to a physical place to work and also kind of like to live in the real world. His desire to be in the real (among other issues) is why he is now separated from his family in his moment of need, because he does not want to die, or worse become a clone.

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Romance on the Menu – Movie Review

TL;DR – There are moments when this film comes together. Unfortunately, those moments are few and far between.    

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

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

Romance on the Menu. Image Credit: Netflix.

Romance on the Menu Review

Do long lost relatives ever give you a call to adventure in their wills, no you neither? Well, it does seem to be a ubiquitous plot point in films. Today we explore a movie that as fate would have it has that very set up, that takes our protagonist from the hustle and bustle of New York to the calm of Australia.

So to set the scene, Caroline (Cindy Busby) works as a professional chef running a kitchen of a fine dining restaurant. The one day she took off they had a food critic come and blast the food, so she spends all her time trying to make up for that. Caroline does not have any time for love because she is too busy. However, out of the blue, Caroline receives a letter from Australia, her late aunt had left Caroline her old café in Lemon Myrtle Cove. When Caroline arrives to look over the café to get it ready to sell, she makes a fool of herself in front of Simon Cook (Tim Ross) who is both her landlord and also the cook of The Seagull Café, and yes our love interest. Well, Caroline’s plan of finishing the sale as quickly as possible is put in jeopardy when no one will renovate the café to let her sell it, so she has to take drastic measures to keep to her timeline.     

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Love, Guns & Level Ups – YouTube Review

TL;DR – A series that charts the course of a relationship from the online to the IRL  

Rating: 4 out of 5.
Love, Guns & Level Ups. Image Credit: Fury Fingers.

Love, Guns & Level Ups Review

We live in a big weird connected world. I have good friends that I have never met in the real or only one time. I also have nemeses that I have never met in the real … you know who you are. This oddity, thanks to the internet, is a concept that I have seen a couple of attempts to explore. Still, it is usually from people who don’t understand the medium of video games and the relationships that can form because of them. Today we get to look at a series that    

So to set the scene, we open in on a chat log as two friends hop online to play Go-Go Soldier, a popular Battle Royale game. Amongst all the carnage of power-ups, dance bonuses, and just general chaos, two players Elliot or Mad_Martigan (Eduard Geyl) and Bree or GG_Gun (Lisa Fanto) eye the same bonus, a bow with a dynamite arrow. They get beaten to the bow by another player, but through some quiet communication, they choose to help take down the goon before a falling stick of dynamite separates them. They are pulled apart, but there is an instant connection which leads to some clear gun flirting a little later. Now from here, we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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Enola Holmes – Movie Review

TL;DR – A funny, engaging, and enjoyable film that casts a new spin on an old tale

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

Awards

Nominated: Most Fun.

Enola Holmes. Image Credit: Netflix.

Enola Holmes Review

As the march of the copyright extension powers forward more and more, few stories are both in the public domain and have enough thematic strength to be engaging after all this time. However, I should note that not even Sherlock Holmes is not entirely removed from this mess. One of the few stories that match both of these criteria is the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. We have reached the point that not only have we had the many different interpretations of the original stories but also original works within the universe. Today we look at an adaption of the later as we delve into a mystery at the heart of a family … well families.      

We open with Enola (Millie Bobby Brown) running through the English countryside giving us a back story of her life with her mother Eudoria Holmes (Helena Bonham Carter). A life that was full of mystery and joy. However, on the day of Enola’s 16th birthday, she woke up to find her mother missing. The only thing that was left was a single gift for Enola, a box of notes about flowers … or a box full of clues. Hoping to get some assistance she enlists the help of her two brothers Sherlock (Henry Cavill) and Mycroft (Sam Claflin) … and that goes about as well as you can expect.  

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Ambiorix of Gaul First Look and Analysis – Civilization VI: New Frontier Pass

TL;DR: The thirst is strong with Civ 6 with the addition of Ambiorix of Gaul

We are getting a new expansion for Civilization VI, well not quite, over the next year we have a season pass, the New Frontier Pass, which will give us several new Civilizations and Game Modes over the next year (which you can find out more information HERE). The next new Civilizations has been released so let’s dive into Gaul.

Ambiorix of Gaul Overview

Ambiorix of Gaul. Image Credit: Firaxis Games.
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The High Note – Movie Review

TL;DR – A completely charming film from start to finish    

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

The High Note. image Credit: Universal.

Review

Films about the music industry are tricky to pull off because they demand you have genuine emotion in a world of fake glitz and glamour. Indeed the best films in this genre either focus on a newcomer trying to break in or pulling back the curtain to reveal the reality of the industry. Today we look at a film that has elements of that outside story, but it takes a risk by centring it on the heart of the industry with all its glitz, glamour, and biases.

So to set the scene, Mags/Maggie/Margret (Dakota Johnson) works as a personal assistant to the great Grace Davis (Tracee Ellis Ross). Grace was a musical icon in her day, but these days she spends her time touring and releasing ‘best of’ albums. Maggie has been her PA for three years, but she wants to take her carrier to the next level and has secretly been remixing Grace’s new live album in her free time. This comes to a head when Grace’s manager Jack Robertson (Ice Cube) finally convinces Grace to get someone to produce the album and Maggie has to decide if she is going to stay quiet or speak up and take her chance.

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Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous: Season 1 – TV Review

TL;DR – This is a strong entry into the Jurassic franchise leaning both into joy and terror of dinosaurs  

Rating: 4 out of 5.
Bumpy in Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous. Image Credit: Netflix.

Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous Review

It should go without saying, I love Dinosaurs. I have loved them since I was a kid, and I still love them today. So I take whatever chance to watch, which unfortunately is few and far between. Well, today is one of those few times when I get to sit back and enjoy the world where Brachiosaurus loom over treetops, and you need to be careful at what goes bump in the night. [Insert T-Rex Roar sound here]

So to set the scene, we open with two people running through the jungle trying to reach an extraction before Raptors take one of them out. The other person who we see their point of view tries to escape before being cornered by a T-Rex. That is the point where the VR goggles come of, and we are introduced to Darius (Paul-Mikél Williams). He is trying to beat this apparently unbeatable game to win a ticket to Jurassic World’s new Camp Cretaceous because it was always his and his late dad’s dream to go. Well while tossing and turning in bed, he is woken from a dream and finally it all clicks, and he becomes the first person in the world to beat the game. With this, he books his ticket to Camp Cretaceous where absolutely nothing will go wrong … right …?  

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The Boys: We Gotta Go Now – TV Review

TL;DR – This is an episode of getting all our ducks in a row, but a good version of that.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
The Boys: We Gotta Go Now. Image Credit: Amazon Studios.

The Boys: We Gotta Go Now Review

In a world where superheroes have the power to do anything they want … what is to stop them from just doing it? This is the question that The Boys has been asking for a while, and this week we get to see that the answer to that is not a whole lot.

So to set the scene, in last week’s Nothing Like it in the World everyone’s world got turned on their heads. A-Train (Jessie T. Usher) got kicked out of the Seven, Homelander (Antony Starr) is continuing to lose his position on top, and Butcher (Karl Urban) lost everything because of his blind hatred of Supes. With everyone spiralling out of control, it is the perfect time for people like Stormfront (Aya Cash) to spill in and upset everything, which is precisely what happens. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna (Dejimon Adobenchā Last Evolution Kizuna/ デジモンアドベンチャー Last Evolution 絆) – Movie Review

TL;DR – A surprisingly mature and emotional end to a long

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There are images during the mid-credits through to the end

Awards

Nominated: Creative Animation
Winner: Creative Animation

Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna (Dejimon Adobenchā Last Evolution Kizuna/ デジモンアドベンチャー Last Evolution 絆). Image Credit: AnimeLab.

Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna Review

When I was growing up in the 90s, there was not enough time in the morning to watch Cheez TV, so you would stick the tape into the VCR and just waited all day to see what was taped when you got home. One of those shows that I still think back fondly on was Digimon Digital Monsters. It was this tale of these young kids getting trapped in a digital world, but they were not alone because they made friends with the local Digimon. It had two solid seasons where we followed their stories, but after that, they did the animated equivalent of Skins and shifted the whole world up and along the way I just got lost. Well, today I get to go back in time and revisit an old past with the conclusion to that story started so long ago. Just before we dive in (because I know this is important to some people), I watched the dubbed movie for this review, not the subbed. Purely because this is the version I grew up on, so this was the version I was going to say goodbye to.

So to set the scene, years have passed since the series and other movies and the DigiDestined have grown up and are going about their lives. However, across the world, an Aurora has been dazzling the night sky from New York to Tokyo. There is nothing to fear … the government says … right up until a portal to the digital world opens and Parrotmon (Yoshihito Sasaki) bursts forth. Luckily Tai (Joshua Seth), Matt (Nicolas Roye), T.K. (Johnny Yong Bosch) and Kari (Tara Sands) along with their Digimon can send it back to the digital world. However, in its wake, DigiDestined around the world have begun falling into a coma, and no one knows who will be next. Now in this review, I do want to spend some time exploring some of the themes, but that will head us into spoiler town real quick. So I will start with some general impressions before delving in more in-depth.

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Among Us – Video Game Review

TL;DR – A straightforward game that has layers of depth and works no matter what role you get

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
Among Us. Image Credit: Innersloth.

Among Us Review –

In the board game realm, there is a genre of games called ‘hidden role’ games. These are games like Avalon, Mafia de Cuba or Secret Hitler where on the surface all the players are trying to complete a task together. This task could be fighting an evil empire, hoarding your boss’ diamonds, or getting rid of the fascist elements of the government. However, around the table secretly, there are some players whose job is to do the exact opposite. I have seen many video games try to capture that feeling but never quite getting there, well that is until today.

So to set the scene, you and your fellow crewmate are on a drop-ship to a new location. It could be another spaceship, an aerostat military base, or a research station on a planet. Something has gone wrong, and your job is to work together to complete several tasks like refuelling the ship, clearing out the trash, or shooting down some approaching asteroids. All of this is very routine; however, among your crew, there is an Imposter (or Imposters) whose job is to stop you from completing the tasks by killing you off one by one.

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