Category Archives: Movie Reviews

The Delicate Cycle – Movie Review

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TL;DR – It makes the most of its one location to explore the emotions of significant life changes.     

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I was sent a screener of this film.

A washing machine about to start.

The Delicate Cycle Review –

While a short film can be constraining, those limitations can be turned into strengths. You can concentrate things down into their core forms. For example, that transient information that gets passed down from generation to generation. Today, we are looking at a film that is working in that space.  

So, to set the scene, it is just a typical day for Lance (Fred Mancuso) as he gets into the laundromat as early as possible to get his clothes done. Usually, there is no one there, bar maybe Anita (Yassmin Flores), but today there was someone new, a young kid called Adam (Dean Norris Jr.) who is in the process of trying to win at Ms Pacman but also struggling with his emotions.

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Twisters – Movie Review

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TL;DR – It has a lot of charm and action as long as you don’t dwell on the science for a moment.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

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

A tornado bares down on a truck.

Twisters Review –

Well, today, we look at a bit of an odd duck in that this could almost be classed as a straight-up legacy sequel to the seminal 1996 film Twister. However, bar one significant reference right at the start, you would be remiss to see any connection between the two films beyond vibes, narrative structure, and a deep love for tornadoes. But that love is still there, as well as a metric spoonful of unreserved swagger.

So, to set the scene, Kate Cooper (Daisy Edgar-Jones) is a whiz at tornadoes. She just has a feel for them and how they form. But growing up in Oklahoma, which is smack dab in the middle of tornado alley, Kate also knows the destruction that they can cause. To combat that, she and her team, including Javi (Anthony Ramos), Addy (Kiernan Shipka), Jeb (Daryl McCormack), and Praveen (Nik Dodani), have put together a plan to use reagents to suck the moisture out of a tornado. They planned to test it on a small EF1 tornado, but something went wrong, and the target intensified to EF5, and you can’t run from that. Five years later, Javi catches up with Kate, who works in New York. He needs her skill to help map a tornado using newly developed military technology. She is hesitant but agrees to come back for one week only. It is a week that just so happens to have some of the worst storms in living history, and where she comes face-to-face with the rascally Tyler Owens (Glen Powell), professional tornado chaser.      

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Kill – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A bloody rampage of action that perfectly uses the medium of a train to tell its story of revenge.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid to see this film.

Warning – Contains scenes that may cause distress.

Amrit, bloodied on the floor surrounded by bandits.

Kill Review –

There are times when you want to sit down and watch a bloody action romp on screen. Fists throwing, legs kicking, knives slashing, and all that jazz. But what if you could get that and get something a little new that you have never seen before? Well, that is what we are getting today with one of the bloodiest action romps I have seen in an age.

So, to set the scene, Amrit (Lakshya) and Viresh (Abhishek Chauhan) are captains and commandos in the Indian Army. When they return from the field, they find out that Amrit’s love Tulika (Tanya Maniktala) has been betrothed to another. Amrit and Viresh try to rescue her from the engagement party, but there are too many families with assorted weapons. However, the next day, Tulika, her sister Aahna (Adrija Sinha), her father Baldev Singh Thakur (Harsh Chhaya), and the rest of her family are taking an overnight train back to Delhi. So, Amrit and Viresh tag along, hoping for a better chance there. The only problem is that Fani (Raghav Juyal) and his extended family are also on the train, and they are about to rob it.    

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Arena Wars – Movie Review

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TL;DR – This is an ambitious film, and while I don’t think it ever reached that ambition, it was fascinating to watch.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a scene throughout the credits.

Disclosure – I was sent a screener of this film.

The Big F##king City

Arena Wars Review –

Today, we are looking at a difficult film to review because you get pulled in two different directions. On the one hand, as a critic, I need to review what is on the screen, but as a human being, you can also see the potential that could have been.

So, to set the film, it is 2045, and in The Big F##king City, there is only one way that convicted felons can get out: by appearing on Arena Wars, a TV show that everyone watches, well everyone used to watch. The convicts have to fight through seven different rooms with seven violent killers in them to be able to go free. The brand is on life support, and they need to win back the audience that is becoming bored of death. In the Rodimus Federal Prison in the Washington DC City State, Luke Bender (John Wells) is sitting with a 200-year sentence, covering for their superiors who stuffed up. But they need a hero for the arena, and Luke is in the wrong place at the wrong time.     

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Breakwater – Movie Review

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TL;DR – There are a lot of elements here that work; the cast is fantastic, and the setting lands. It is just the narrative glue that is meant to hold all that together starts peeling off far too early in the film.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I was sent a screener of this film.

A boat slinks through the sound.

Breakwater Review –

Today, we are looking at a film with two halves, a strong cast and setting, but then a narrative that misses the mark. Quite often, you will hear people say that a film really needs only one of the two. Well, today, we will see that feeling put to the test, and I am not sure it will hold up.  

So, to set the scene, it is Dovey’s (Darren Mann) last day at the St. Brides Correctional Facility and his mentor Ray Childress (Dermot Mulroney) gives him a mission. A storm washed an old ship mast up on the beach, and in the photo, Ray spotted his estranged daughter. As Dovey tries to reacclimatise to the world outside, he is haunted by what he had to do to survive. But Ray can’t wait for the year of parole to be up, so Dovey has to choose: not keep a promise or potentially go back to jail because he broke his parole conditions.

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Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F – Movie Review

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TL;DR – This is a film that entirely knows what it wants to be and completely nails that delivery. How much you will like that will depend on how you gel with the premise.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix service that viewed this film.

Detroit Jacket.

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F Review –

Well, here is a blast of the past, and even in our reboot-obsessed culture, this feels like a deep cut. Well, that is, until you hear the music, and then you 100% understand why. However, it had been 30 years since the last entry, and that is a lot of ground to make up for. There is only so much that synth can do, but let us see if there is a story that can work, given the shifts in the police force since the last outing.

So, to set the scene, Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy) is still a cop who is completely fine with causing mass destruction to capture his crooks in Detroit. However, times have changed; a snowplough is indiscriminate in its chaos, and this is the last time Jeffrey Friedman (Paul Reiser) can cover for him. But when an old friend (Judge Reinhold) lets him know that his estranged daughter Jane’s (Taylour Paige) life has been threatened in Beverly Hills. Axel takes the first flight back to his old stomping grounds, and they discover that they might be more alike than they want. They both know Detective Sam Abbott (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), but Billy is missing, and it might be time to cause some mayhem in Beverly Hills.      

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A Quiet Place: Day One – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A gripping work that holds onto you from those first minutes and never lets up as the world collapses around it.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid to watch this movie.

The Aliens arrive in the sky.

A Quiet Place: Day One Review –

It is time to step back into this universe that oscillates between complete quiet and a riot of explosions. I fundamentally enjoyed both A Quiet Place and its follow-up, A Quiet Place Part II. However, both of those films looked at how this apocalypse would affect a small town. It is now time to take this roadshow to a large city, which is, in fact, one of the largest cities in the world, and see just what would happen.

Sam (Lupita Nyong’o) lives in a hospice counting down her days on earth through the prism of forced poetry when one of the nurses, Reuben (Alex Wolff), convinces her and her support cat Frodo (Schnitzel & Nico) to come into New York City to see a play. While there, the puppet show had to be finished early because something was going down in New York, and the Hospice wanted them all home, which was when the first explosion hit.

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The Bikeriders – Movie Review

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TL;DR – While this film is a beautiful character feature, however, its pacing and subject matter make it difficult to connect and care.  

Rating: 3 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.

Tom Hardy rides into town.

The Bikeriders Review –

Today, we are looking at an interesting film because it has been a weird rollercoaster for me. When I first heard of the premise and cast, I was so giddy. It was a combination that had to be seen to be believed. But then that first trailer dropped … and it was not great. I came into this screening with more than a bit of apprehension that ended up being a little justified.

So, to set the scene, it is 1965 and fresh new journalist and photographer Danny Lyon (Mike Faist) is interviewing people from the Vandals motorcycle club. Of particular interest was Kathy Cross (Jodie Comer), who entered this world as an outsider before falling in love with the dangerous but charming Benny (Austin Butler). Everything is going well under the watchful eyes of leader Johnny Davis (Tom Hardy). But the question is: is that security earned, or is everything on the cusp of falling apart?

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Hundreds of Beavers – Movie Review

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TL;DR – It was a completely wild ride from start to finish. I am not sure I have ever seen a film like this before, and I doubt I will ever again.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I was sent a screener of this film.

Jean Kayak pops out of a hole.

Hundreds of Beavers Review –

For the last year, I kept hearing rumblings of this weird Beavers film that everyone needed to see. It is super low budget, weird in every way, yet utterly engaging. It is the sort of film that never gets a theatrical realise in Australia; well, that is, it does not usually get one. I was fundamentally surprised to see this was not the case here, but more than that, I was excited to see just how a film like this could come together, and I am not sure if anything prepared me for this.  

So, to set the scene, deep in the 19th century, Jean Kayak (Ryland Brickson Cole Tews) is an applejack producer, a very alcoholic liquor that everyone near and wide travels to, given how good it is. However, a stray beaver damages the giant kegs storing the Applejack, destroying the store and orchard in the process. Jean has only one option: get even with the beavers. The only problem is that he will have to survive first, which might be easier said than done. It is not like it is a brutally cold winter, and he has nothing to his name but the clothes on his back and the ability to carve interactive sculptures out of wood with his teeth.  

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The Convert – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A very compelling narrative of finding oneself far away from home.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid to see this film.

The New Zealand coastline.

The Convert Review –

There was a whole wave of unintended consequences when the British gallivanted around the world, sticking their flag on any spot of land that they could. You know, other than the conquest, murder, and resource exploitation, that is. In what is now New Zealand, one of these was the Musket Wars, where tribal structures across the islands were ripped apart. Today’s film jumps into the heart of this and the world it is creating.  

So, to set the scene, it is 1830, and Thomas Munro (Guy Pearce) is on a dangerous journey across the Tasman Sea to his new home on the Islands of New Zealand in the town of Epworth. He has been hired as the new lay preacher, but before he reaches there, he saves the life of Rangimai (Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne) as the rest of her town is slaughtered by the warlord Akatarewa (Lawrence Makoare). Even when in Epworth, danger lurks, and not just from the “savages” in the bush.

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