Category Archives: 2021 Reviews

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

Disclosure – I paid to see this film.

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.

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

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 out of 5.

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

Warning – There is extensive use of strobe lighting effects

Disclosure – I paid to see this film.

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.

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

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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Doctor Who: Revolution Of The Daleks – TV Review

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TL;DR – This was a perfectly okay episode, but I wish it could have been more than that

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Disclosure – Watched on ABC IView

Doctor Who: Revolution Of The Daleks. Image Credit: BBC.

Revolution Of The Daleks Review –

Well, before we start, I need to be honest with something, I had utterly bounced off Doctor Who. I had liked Jodie Whittaker’s performance, and the characters, but something about the stories that just fell flat for me. I didn’t watch the last season and from the sounds of things that was for the best. I was honestly going to give the New Year’s special a pass, but then they had to go announce that a certain Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) is back, and well if I am not a sucker for things like this.

So to set the scene, in the aftermath of a Dalek attack on Earth, the body of said Dalek is taken away to be stored in deep storage. However, on the way to Depository, 23, the transport driver is incapacitated, and the corpse is stolen. Sometime later the Technology Sectary Jo Patterson (Harriet Walter) meets with disgraced businessman from Arachnids In The UK Jack Robertson (Chris Noth) who has a new crowd control invention, which just so happens to be an AI-controlled Dalek. Meanwhile, 79 billion light-years away The Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) is stuck in prison and has been there for a while, just waiting for someone to break her out. From this point onwards we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Star Trek Discovery: There Is A Tide … – TV Review

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TL;DR – The awkward middle-episode of the three-part season finale

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

Star Trek Discovery: There Is A Tide … Image Credit: CBS Studios.

There Is A Tide Review –

As we rush towards the end of the season, we spend a little time exploring the consequence of the crew’s actions to this point, their impact on the galaxy, and the damage they could wreak.

So to set the scene, in last week’s Su’Kal, we ended on a cliff-hanger with Discovery under the control of Osyraa (Janet Kidder) and jumping right to Federation Headquarters. Leaving Michael (Sonequa Martin-Green) and Book (David Ajala) stuck on his ship and the rest of the away team down in the radiation infested ship. Jumping into Federation space Osyraa create a ruse getting them inside the headquarters shield but not before Book and Michael crash land in Discovery’s perpetually open shuttle bay. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.   

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