Category Archives: 2021 Reviews

WandaVision: Episode 2 – TV Review

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TL;DR – This is where we start to see what is under the hood in this show, and it might be menacing.

Rating: 4 out of 5.
WandaVision: Episode 2. Image Credit: Disney+.

WandaVision Review –

We continue our dive into this odd show as we start to see the façade slip in places as things that should not be seen are seen. All of this starts asking some uncomfortable questions for our cast.  

So to set the scene, Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany) have started to become permanent fixtures in their little town of Westview. Wanda and Angus (Kathryn Hahn) come along to the local planning committee meeting to help with the talent show led by Dotty (Emma Caulfield Ford) the queen of the town. Meanwhile, Vision, is off to the local neighbourhood watch, after a tree branch scared them in the night.  Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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WandaVision: Episode 1 – TV Review

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TL;DR – This was fun, nostalgic, and also super odd all at once

Rating: 4 out of 5.
WandaVision: Episode 1. Image Credit: Disney+.

WandaVision Review –

Thanks to Covid it has been over a year since we have had anything set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (Spider-man: Far From Home for those playing at home). This makes it kind of odd that the first entry back into this world is on Disney+, but then this is a strange show, so it might fit.

So to set the scene, we open sitcom entrance where we see Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany) arriving at a new town. A newly married couple is settling into a small town where they are pretending that she is not a witch and he is not an android, but an average couple. Everything is going well until their neighbour Angus (Kathryn Hahn) comes over and helps Wanda plan her ‘anniversary’. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.    

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Outside the Wire – Movie Review

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TL;DR – An interesting film that attempts to integrates some complex issues, but could not make the landing stick.    

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

Outside the Wire. Image Credit: Netflix.

Outside the Wire Review –

I have been looking forward to an exciting action science fiction film for a long time. I do like that sort of real, sort of future, mash-up like we got in Edge of Tomorrow, but it is a hard line to get right. Well, today we get a film that walks that line into interesting, even if it clear that they don’t know a whole lot about Ukraine.

So to set the scene, it is 2036, and Eastern Europe (Ukraine) has collapsed into war with the USA controlling to the border to stop the chaos spreading. Along this border, a platoon comes under attack and Lt. Thomas Harp (Damson Idris), a drone pilot breaks with command to kill a potential target but taking out two marines as collateral. As a punishment, he is sent to the front line to meet Captain Leo (Anthony Mackie), an android military officer, to gain some perspective on war’s realities through first-hand experience.     

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The Heartbreak Club (Sobat Ambyar) – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A fascinating film of love, loss, and coffee.    

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a post-credit scene

The Heartbreak Club (Sobat Ambyar). Image Credit: Netflix.

The Heartbreak Club Review –

I have been recently part of a project that had me working on many regions of the world. One of the areas that we focused on was Indonesia, and I realised that I had not seen any of Indonesia’s cinema while I knew a lot about the country. In 2021, I wanted to change that, and today we have the first entry in that with The Heartbreak Club.   

So to set the scene, Jatmiko ‘Jat’ (Bhisma Mulia) was at the concert of Lord Didi (Didi Kempot) singing along. However, he becomes overwhelmed by the music and the emotion of his life. We go back in time one month and see Jat and his friend Kopet ‘Pet’ (Erick Estrada) run a coffee shop that no one goes to. When one day Saras ‘Ras’ (Denira Wiraguna) walks in, and their world changes forever as the crazy comes in her wake.  

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The Expanse: Oyedeng – TV Review

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TL;DR – This is Naomi’s episode from start to finish

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
The Expanse: Oyedeng. Image Credit: Amazon Studios.

Oyedeng Review –

The world of The Expanse is dramatically shifting under the feet of everyone in the Solar System. It is a dangerous time, a churn, with everything being up for grabs. It is in this chaos where we find our characters as the threat of death is very real.

So to set the scene, Naomi (Dominique Tipper) is still trapped on-board Marco’s (Keon Alexander) the Pella. While she was able to save The Roci and its crew from blowing up Tycho Station, it was at the cost of her freedom. But as she remembers better times, Marco comes in to let her walk free, of at least the ship. For there is something, he wants her to witness. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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Star Trek Discovery: That Hope is You, Part 2 & Season 3 – TV Review

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TL;DR – The series finale stuck the landing with heart and emotion

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
Star Trek Discovery: That Hope is You, Part 2. Image Credit: CBS Studios.

That Hope is You, Part 2 Review –

For more than we have seen in a while, this week’s episode had a lot to do with two competing storylines that had taken whole episodes to lay the groundwork. It was so much story that I wondered if they would have the chance to make it work, but they did. In today’s review, we will first look at the Season Finale That Hope is You, Part 2 and then we will look at more generally at the season as a whole.

So to set the scene, as we saw in Su’kal, Hugh (Wilson Cruz) and Saru (Doug Jones) are still stuck in the holographic program on the Dilithium Planet trying to reach Su’Kal (Bill Irwin) who has become petrified of the outside. While Adria (Blu del Barrio) was able to get them some more radiation medicine, but time is ticking down. Back on Discovery, Osyraa (Janet Kidder) has given up hope on an alliance with The Federation, and how wants to steal the ship and is happy to blast her way out of Federation HQ to do it. Michael (Sonequa Martin-Green) and Book (David Ajala) are captive on the bridge, but in the heart of the ship, the Bridge Crew and the Spore Data (Annabelle Wallis) have joined together to take the ship back. 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 Dry – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A film that captivates you in the first frame and never lets you go throughout the runtime.    

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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

The Dry. Image Credit: Roadshow Films.

The Dry Review –

The murder-mystery who-done-it genre is one that can captivate me as we see the mystery unfold or frustrate me as the film throws in silly narrative choices to pad out the run time. Today we get to look at a movie that does the first as it brings you into this world and does not let you go until the end.

So to set the scene, we open with long pans over a dry and parched landscape full of dust and brown. When in the background we can hear a baby crying, we see it in its crib, but something is amiss and as the camera pans out there is blood everywhere. A couple of weeks later we are in Melbourne where we discover there has been a murder-suicide with a father killing his wife and son but leaving the baby behind. Aaron Falk (Eric Bana) is now an investigator for the Federal Police, but he grew up in the town and knew the husband Luke (Martin Dingle Wall) as they were childhood friends. A letter compels him to return for the funeral, but coming back to town is harder for Aaron because of his past and the suspicious death of one of his friends that caused him and his family to flee all those years ago.   

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The Expanse: Tribes – TV Review

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TL;DR – Across the Solar System, everyone is trying to find their place in this new world

Rating: 4 out of 5.
The Expanse: Tribes. Image Credit: Amazon Studios.

Tribes Review –

When the rocks fell on Earth, the world of The Expanse changed forever. There are obvious things like the death and damage, and the fact that more death and damage are yet to come. But in the sense of things, how the Solar System works just shifted like pulling a rug out from underneath everyone’s feet.

So to set the scene, the carnage from Marco’s (Keon Alexander) attacks in Gaugamela have continued to reverberate across the Solar System. However, in last week’s Down and Out, we found the first wrinkle in his plan. He expected the Roci to explode and take Tycho Station with it. Marco is on the back foot for the first time, but maybe it won’t be long as he tries to bring Camina (Cara Gee) back into the fold. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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Monster Hunter – Movie Review

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TL;DR – This is a film dipped its toes into the weirdness, and I wished it had done a bomb dive of the highest platform into the weirdness instead    

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

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

Warning – There is extensive use of strobe lighting effects

Monster Hunter. Image Credit: Sony.

Monster Hunter Review –

Alas, another video game adaptation bites the dust. I wish this were something I didn’t have to keep saying, but time after time we see that adapting a video game to the big screen is a difficult job and very few films can pull it off. In today’s entry into the list, we have a film that should get credit for adding elements of the gameplay into the film and then frame it around one of the most generic action films imaginable.

So to set the scene, in some desert on Earth (there are actual GPS location coordinates but I was not quick enough to jot them down, if you got them, please let me know) a military expedition is out exploring trying to discover what happened to another of their teams. The United Nations team is led by US Army Ranger Captain Natalie Artemis (Milla Jovovich), and they find the last position of Bravo Team just as a large sandstorm appears out of nowhere. As Alpha Team tries to outrun the storm, markers on the side of the road start flashing, and then the world falls out from underneath them. They wake up on some sand dunes that look nothing like where they left, which is about the point where Alpha Team comes under attack from things that lurk beneath.    

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History of Swear Words: Season 1 – TV Review

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TL;DR – I found the show engaging, confronting, juvenile, overblown, and interesting, sometimes all at the same time.

Rating: 3 out of 5.
History of Swear Words. Image Credit: Netflix.

History of Swear Words Review –

Whether you call them ‘Swear Words’, ‘Curse Words’, or Profanity, every single person on the planet has used them at least once, some on a daily basis. But one of the things that I have always wondered was where the words came from because there are many stories, but they usually smell of the words they are describing. This is the series that looks six of the more popular terms of ill repute.

This series’ framing device is sitting down with a full suited actor Nicolas Cage in front of a fire with a drink globe nearby. It is the epitome of class, clearly positioned as a juxtaposition between the framing and the content. We then cut to a selection of experts and comedians as we explain the many different words.

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