Category Archives: Got My Cry On

Project Hail Mary – Movie Review

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TL;DR – Project Hail Mary is everything a sci-fi film should be: bold, evocative, immersive, and wonderous.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film.

Warning – Some scenes contain flashing lights.

Warning – Contains scenes which may cause distress.

The Hail Mary floating next to a much larger alien ship.

Project Hail Mary Review Introduction –

As I sit down to write this review, I feel like I am floating a touch on air, as if I had just witnessed something glorious to behold. Something I hoped would be good, but which delivered in ways not even I was expecting. It’s a rare film that not only meets expectations but exceeds them.   

So, to set the scene, a man wakes up sealed in a bag, not able to talk, and is accosted by some persistent medical device. He does not know who he is. He does not know where he is. He does not know why there are two dead bodies with him. And you better believe he does not know why he is on a spaceship, or why the star he is looking at is not Sol. There are flashes of memory, of a dying Sun, a Petrova line to Venus, and microbes called Astrophage eating it away. But the man whom the computer says is Dr Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) doesn’t have much time to think about things when the computer alerts him to Blip-A, and he realises he is not the only spaceship out here.     

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Paradise: A Holy Charge [S2:E4] – TV Review

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TL;DR – This is the episode that reminds us that there are some things about today’s society that we take for granted, and we really shouldn’t

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ service that viewed this series.

They arrive at the bunker.

Paradise Review –

Well, the first opening triplet of Graceland, Mayday & Another Day in Paradise, is behind us, and it is now time to build upon that foundation and dive full-bore into this season’s main storyline. But as we get into the world proper, one devastated fully, we need to see who lives in a broken world.  

So, to set the scene, nothing quite says “you have to lie down and rest” like getting six stitches in your spleen, but that is the world that Xavier (Sterling K. Brown) is living in. He is forced to rest after taking a knife to the side to protect some kids. Luckily, he was found by Annie (Shailene Woodley), who had some medical training before the world fell apart. Unluckily, she wants Xavier to take her back to Colorado and not to Atlanta. Now, from here, we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

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The Long Walk – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A brutal, uncomfortable film that is anchored in some of the best performances I have seen all year.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film.

Warning – Contains scenes which may cause distress.

The group walking through a field.

The Long Walk Review Introduction –

Few people have had as many adaptations to their name as Stephen King. Indeed, we already got The Running Man this year. However, before I wrap up my 2025, I knew I needed to explore the other adaptation out this year. A film full of brutality and also camaraderie in a combination that I don’t think I have watched before.   

So, to set the scene, after suffering a brutal civil war in the 20th century, America now lives under a brutal military regime amidst an economic collapse. As a way of ‘bringing the country back together’, every year there is The Long Walk, where one boy from each state has to start walking and keep walking at three miles an hour until there is only one left. If they win, they win money for their family; if they stop, they “get their ticket taken”. Raymond “Ray” Garraty (Cooper Hoffman) is assigned number 47 under the harsh visage of the Major (Mark Hamill). One gunshot, and the slow march begins with all 50, but it doesn’t take long for the first ticket to get punched.

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Hamnet – Movie Review

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TL;DR – This film emotionally wrecked me. It’s raw to the bone and yet also one of the most cathartic works of cinema I have ever witnessed. Full of unbelievable pain and yet also moments of absolute joy. It exists as both a stunningly beautiful work of art and a profoundly haunting treatise on trauma.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film.

Warning – Contains scenes which may cause distress.

The Globe Theatre.

Hamnet Review Introduction –

Okay … phew … deep breath … I can do this. In my time, I have watched a lot of films that have made me emotional in the cinema. Indeed, including at least one time when I ugly cried so much the old lady sitting next to me asked if I was okay, oh, and that time when Pixar made us think they were going to kill all the toys in the furnace, I have still not forgiven you for that, Pixar. However, I have never experienced emotions quite the same way as I sat down to watch Hamnet, a film steeped in both beauty and trauma.  

So, to set the scene, we are in a small town in Elizabethan England, where, while tutoring some boys in Latin, a young William (Paul Mescal) sees an enigma walk out of the forest. Agnes (Jessie Buckley) is nothing like any of the other women he has met, understanding the ways of bees, knowing the curative power of herbs, and being the master of birds of prey. It is the combination of traits that makes the town whisper unseemly things behind your back. But when an expedited wedding is needed, a new complicated family is born. But life can be hard in this era, and you never know when it will sneak up on you, no matter how well you prepare.

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The History of Sound – Movie Review

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TL;DR – It is both profoundly moving and also downright frustrating. The visual construction was some of the best all year, yet it pondered along, afraid to commit to what its thesis statement was.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film.

Warning – Contains scenes that may cause distress.

A river flowing in a forest.

The History of Sound Review Introduction –

Today, we are looking at a film that existed in a state of dissonance for me, from the heights of beauty that you see throughout, to the despair of frustration. Some of this dissonance is purposely built into the film, an intentional conversation in subtext. However, while that is important, you can’t forget the actual text.
 
So, to set the scene, Lionel Worthing (Paul Mescal) has always had a special relationship with music since he was a child, able to feel it, see it, and manipulate it. It was this gift that took him in 1917 from the rural farm in Kentucky where he grew up to the Boston Conservatory to study music. It is here that he came across fellow student and composer, David White (Josh O’Connor). They had an instant bond, but war broke out, and David was drafted. David returned in 1919 and asked Lionel to join him on a trip collecting and recording folk songs, a trip that would have a marked impact on both their lives.

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Regretting You – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A delightfully funny film filled with earnest emotion.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film.

Standing at the town limits.

Setting the Scene

In my line of work, you tend to get a good sense of a film before you have even walked into a cinema, that is because so much of it gets released in the marketing process. However, today we have one of those gems that I knew nothing about before walking in, other than what you could glean from the theatrical poster. So, I could be completely surprised by the fun yet emotional romp I was about to watch.  
 
So, to set the scene, back in the day when they were teenagers, Morgan (Allison Williams), her sister Jenny (Willa Fitzgerald), and their boyfriends Chris (Scott Eastwood) and Jonah (Dave Franco) were inseparable. But when Morgan gets accidentally pregnant, she and Chris build a life together. Seventeen years later, Jonah has popped back into Jenny’s life after being away for over a decade, and they now have a new baby, Elijah (Ryan Conner Simmons/ William Burnham Simmons). Also, Morgan and Chris’ baby Clara (Mckenna Grace) is now all grown up and giving lifts occasionally to the cutest boy in the school, Miller (Mason Thames). Everyone is content with their lives, knows what their future will be, which is the right thematic moments for a tragedy to rip that all apart.

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Kangaroo (2025) – Movie Review

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TL;DR – This is a profoundly Australian film, and in that I mean more its structure than the narrative. But once it gets going, you can’t help but get caught up in the charm, because it has it in spades.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid to see this film.

Joeys.

Kangaroo Review Introduction –

While Australia is known as a place where big-budget films come to film, where you can walk down the street of Brisbane one day and suddenly it is New York for Thor. However, we also have a vibrant domestic film culture, or we do at the moment, looking at you politicians not doing enough to support the local industry. However, there are times when you could tell a film is Australian, even if no sound of an accent passed your ears, and today’s film is a good example of this.  

So, to set the scene, Chris Masterman (Ryan Corr) is the local weather reporter for Channel 6’s Rise and Shine Australia. He wants to be more than the person they cut to in the morning when they need someone to get a bucket of water thrown at them. But no one takes him seriously. Well, Chris is going to change that when the opportunity to go viral presents itself. Unfortunately, it blows up so spectacularly in his face that not only is he not up for promotion, but he is fired and put on the instant reject list for every production team in Sydney and beyond. He has one shot to get his career back on track, and that is to drive to Broome and do some regional work. But when his car accidentally hits a kangaroo on the outskirts of Silver Gum, he is stuck in the small town waiting for his car to be fixed, but also looking after a now orphaned joey with the help of Charlie (Lily Whiteley).

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Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – What is Starfleet? [S3E7] – TV Review

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TL;DR – An experiment that has its frustrating points but is made better with one of the best performances in Star Trek history.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Paramount+ streaming service that viewed this episode. 

In Accordance with the United Federation of Planets " Freedom of Information Act" This documentary includes security footage that has been declassified by Starfleet Command in the spirt of Transparency"

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Introduction –

One of the lingering plot points that has been bubbling away since Wedding Bell Blues is that Beto Ortegas (Mynor Luken) is going to film a documentary. What kind of documentary he’d make has been debated. In a world where ‘following orders’ faces growing scrutiny, it feels like a timely reminder.    

So, to set the scene, the USS Enterprise has been tasked by Starfleet to lend aid to the Lutani, a people that had been previously hostile-adjacent to the Federation, but who are now under attack from the nearby Kasar people trying to lay claim to their home system and all its resources. Millions have died. However, there is a quandary with The Enterprise’s orders; they have to deliver ‘supplies’, obviously weapons, but also help escort the Jikaru, which is an ethical time bomb waiting to go off. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

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The Life of Chuck – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A profoundly weird film, steeped in sadness, leaving you disconnected, right up until the moment you find yourself captured by the story.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film.

Warning – Contains scenes that may cause distress.

Chuck with hands on either side of his head.

The Life of Chuck Review –

When I walked into the cinema last night, I had no idea what I was expecting. I knew that Tom Hiddleston was in the film because that was the only thing of note on the posters. But I was not prepared for what I was going to see, a feeling that was confirmed the second the ‘Act 3’ appeared in the opening moment.   

So, to set the scene, we open as Marty Anderson (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is desperately trying to get his students interested in Walt Whitman. However, the class is disrupted by the news that an earthquake has struck Los Angeles and California is slipping into the ocean, which is when the internet fails for the final time. In the past 14 months, the world has degraded after wave after wave of disasters have stretched everything to breaking. But amongst all the disasters, something odd is happening. Throughout the town, signs bearing “Charles Krantz: 39 Great Years! Thanks, Chuck!” begin appearing in honour of Charles “Chuck” Krantz (Tom Hiddleston). But no one knows who Chuck is.   

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Elio – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A charmingly beautiful film about finding yourself and also a love letter to Science Fiction.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film.

Elio sitting in an 'abduct me' sign written in the sand.

Elio Review –

To say that Pixar has had a bit of a rough time recently is a bit of an understatement. Where they are not pushing out okay sequels to their classic films; they are trying to find original voices with mixed success. But when I heard that some of the creatives behind Turning Red, Bao, Coco & Luca were coming together for a new film, I knew something special was afoot, and I am glad that I was right.

So, to set the scene, Elio (Yonas Kibreab) does not have the easiest life with the loss of his parents, the two people in the world who could connect with him. His Tia Olga Solís (Zoe Saldaña) has tried, but there has always been this barrier that never could completely come down between them. However, one day, when he is at the Montez Space and Air Museum, he discovers a love for what might be out there, and might it be life that will actually understand him? For everyone else, this was a pipe dream of a difficult child. For Elio, it was everything, but I am not sure anyone was expecting the boy to be right. Or that the aliens might accidentally think he is Earth’s leader.

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