Category Archives: Movie Reviews

Star Wars: Ahsoka – Part Eight: The Jedi, The Witch, and The Warlord & Full Season – TV Review

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TL;DR – A lacklustre conclusion to a solid season.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

A Star Destroyer docked at the temple.

Ahsoka Review –

Well, we have reached the end of what turned out to be Ahsoka’s first season, and I came into this series with a bit more trepidation than any of the other Star Wars series. I did not watch Star Wars: The Clone Wars or Star Wars Rebels growing up, and I wondered how much that would have hindered me starting here. But as we reach the end, I am a little more confident about where we are and, surprisingly, where we will go from here.

So to set the scene, after fighting, flying, and finding across multiple galaxies, Ahsoka (Rosario Dawson), Sabine (Natasha Liu Bordizzo), and Ezra (Eman Esfandi) are finally reunited on Peridea. However, while this is a joyous moment, there is no time to celebrate because time is running out. Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen) has been filling his star destroyer with its cargo, and it will soon be ready to fly back home. They must act fast to stop the tyrant and the last lingering remnant of the Imperial Order. But time is not on their side as their ship crashes to the ground. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode and season as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.  

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The Exorcist: Believer – Movie Review

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TL;DR – It is a stunningly tense affair that gets closer to the original than I think people expected.

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.

Katherine walks down the ailse of a church covered in communion wine.

The Exorcist: Believer Review –

One of the jobs I set for myself this year was to explore the world of horror more. It was an area that was a bit of a blind spot for me, and I needed to engage with it a bit more. While I am not sure if I have been as successful with that as I would have liked. However, M3GAN, Outpost, and Evil Dead Rise have helped. But I am not sure that anything will prepare me for The Exorcist.

So to set the scene, one morning, Katherine (Olivia Marcum) and Angela (Lidya Jewett) go to school, and they disappear, vanishing until they are found walking in the forest disorientated. The girls think they have been gone for hours but have been missing for three days. Their parents are just happy to have them home, that is, until they start acting odd, dangerously odd. For you see, it might not have been just the girls who returned home that evening, and traditional medicine might not have the answer.

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The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A fascinating literary turducken that captivates you.  

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.

A writers writing room.

The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar Review –

In the last week, we have looked at first The Rat Catcherand thenPoison, two fascinating adaptations of Roald Dahl’s short stories by Wes Anderson. It was at this point that I discovered that they were from a group of four that were released, and I had missed the first two. Well, that can not do, so we got back to the start with The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, which may have given some critical context for the ones that followed.

So to set the scene, we open with ‘a writer’ (Ralph Fiennes) explaining their process of getting ready to write when he introduces us to Henry Sugar (Benedict Cumberbatch). Henry is a rich man and one of the many useless rich people floating around like seaweed in the world. But Henry liked to bet. So, on one wet and dreary day, he drifted through a grand house till he came across a peculiar book in the library, A Report on Imdad Khan: The Man Who Sees Without His Eyes by Dr. Z.Z. Chatterjee, dated December 1935, Calcutta. Henry was immediately engrossed with the tale.  

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The Eight Mountains (Le Otto Montagne) – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A profound exploration of a deep plutonic friendship that lasts through the ages.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film.

The Sun rising over a mountain top.

The Eight Mountains Review –

Cinema has a long history of being able to chart romantic or sexual relationships. Indeed, we have entire genres dedicated to their exploration. But what we don’t see engaged with as often is close platonic relationships. Which is odd because everyone has them, but rarely do they become the focus of a film. Well, today, we explore a film that cuts to the heart of just such a relationship as two wayward souls crash into each other and spin apart.

So to set the scene, Pietro’s (Lupo Barbiero) family decided to get out of the clawing bustle of Turin in the summer and escape into the mountains. They picked a town almost abandoned by people leaving to find work to rent a house, which is where he meets Bruno (Cristiano Sassella). It would have been hard for them to miss each other as Bruno was the last child left in the village, but they soon became inseparable. But Pietro is just there for the summer, and Bruno is there for life, which sets them on two very different paths.

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Poison – Movie Review

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TL;DR – Tense, engaging, and captivating.    

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.

the bungalow.

Poison Review –

After watching The Rat Catcher last night, I discovered it was not just a one-off, with Wes Anderson producing several of Roald Dahl’s short stories. With that in mind, I needed to see if they were all as absurdly compelling as the first, and I jumped into Poison.  
                          
It was midnight when Timber Woods (Dev Patel) drove home, trying not to wake his roommate. He should not have bothered because Harry (Benedict Cumberbatch) was still awake. Perplexed, Woods stuck his head in to see how he was when a barely audible whisper sang out ‘Help!‘.  

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The Rat Catcher – Movie Review

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TL;DR – An uncomfortable tale that draws you in, holds you captive, and then leaves you thinking.    

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.

Richard Ayoade

The Rat Catcher Review –

As I sat down to wonder what I would watch as the weather wandered by and the well-lit day wound to a weary – what the word for end is that starts with a w would be that I can’t think of at the moment even though I scoured my mind looking for one. I looked at Netflix to discover that there is a Wes Anderson production of a Roald Dahl short story, and that is a combination you don’t say no to.

So to set the scene, one morning, an editor (Richard Ayoade) tells us of the life of a Rat Man (Ralph Fiennes) who has come on behalf of the town to a local garage run by Claud (Rupert Friend). He is a peculiar man who looks much like the prey he hunts. But then you see, rats are clever prey, as they are watching you as you pursue them.    

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The Equalizer 3 – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A solid conclusion to the trilogy that does not chart a new course but knows the waters it wants to stay in and revels in it.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film.

fireworks explode behind a religious statue.

The Equalizer 3 Review –

As I arrived a couple of hours early for the first The Creator session, I realised there was enough time to see another movie while I waited and scratch one of the current releases off my pile of shame. There were a couple of options until I saw The Equalizer 3. From memory, I liked The Equalizer 2, and I have often dreamed of living on the Italian coastline. But then I realised who the leading cast member was for this film and who it was for The Creator, and I knew that was a double bill that sold itself.

So to set the scene, a while after the events of 2, we find ourselves away from America and on the island of Sicily, Italy. An older man arrives with his grandson at a winery to discover all his henchmen are dead outside. Walking through the carnage down into the heart of it, we find one personal under guard. But that one person is Robert McCall (Denzel Washington), and a couple of guns will not stop him. Okay, a rifle to the back might. But when he is found by a kind a local carabiniere, Gio Bonucci (Eugenio Mastrandrea), after falling unconscious behind the wheel and saved from bleeding out by local doctor Enzo Arisio (Remo Girone). Robert takes a liking to the town and thinks this is where he could find some peace, and that was the wrong time for the mafia to try and muscle their way into the town.

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The Creator – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A phenomenal work of art that touches on all the emotions.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film.

A smiling synth.

The Creator Review –

There are many ways you can get me into a cinema, and chief among them is bringing a new Science Fiction film into the world. A new movie not attached to any existing IP. Do you know how rare that is today? But then also have it be the first significant follow-up of Gareth Edwards after Rogue One. Well, you have already sold me, but sure, add a cherry on the top. However, even then, I was unprepared for the beauty and ugliness I was about to watch.

So to set the scene, in the near future, AI, robotics, and synths will be a part of every facet of society. That is until that same AI launched a nuclear missile attack on Los Angeles in 2055. Millions died, and much of the world banned AI, but not New Asia. Ten years after LA and the war across New Asia rages, America tries to destroy the robotic resistance. Amongst all of this, Joshua (John David Washington) and Maya (Gemma Chan) live in a house on the beach and are expecting their first child when an American raid reveals Joshua to be a double agent. It is a disaster for Joshua, but five years later, as the last threat to the looming spaceship USS Nomad is identified, he is given a choice: Help a team find this weapon and maybe save his love. But no one was expecting what they found in that lab.

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We’re Back! – A Dinosaur’s Story (1994) – Exploring the Past

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TL;DR – A fascinating time capsule to the early 1990s, which might feel as far in the past as the dinosaurs featured. 

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no Post-Credit Scene.

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film.

Looking at a past Earth.

We’re Back! – A Dinosaur’s Story Review –

I always like plugging in gaps in my knowledge when it comes to cinema, especially when it hits one of those topics that I am deeply passionate about. Well, if you have dived into our site before, you will know that I love dinosaurs, and as someone who grew up in the 1990s, I thought I had watched all the tentpole dinosaur films from that era. Well, this week, I was reminded that this was not the case, and that was something that I had to fix pronto.

So to set the scene, Captain Neweyes (Walter Cronkite) and his assistant Vorb (Jay Leno) have a plan to bring dinosaurs from the past to the present and make them sentient. Thus Rex (John Goodman), Woog (René Le Vant), Dweeb (Charles Fleischer), and Elsa (Felicity Kendal) are ripped from their time and brought to the future. So many children wish to meet a dinosaur, and Neweyes has chosen to grant that wish, which is when he kicks the dinos out of his spaceship to parachute to New York City below.     

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Spy Kids: Armageddon – Movie Review

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TL;DR – While it does not quite hit the heights of the original, it was still a fun time.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

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

Map Room over lava.

Spy Kids: Armageddon Review –

All the way back in 2001, there was this oddly delightful film full of delight and odd clay hand monster abominations. Spy Kids was this strange series that was always on the cutting edge. I think I remember a smell scratch and sniff one time, and 3D before 3D, 3D’d. But it is also one of those series you don’t feel need a reboot. With that in mind, can they bring this franchise into the 21st century, or will it feel like a relic of a time past?

So to set the scene, the Torrez-Tango’s are a perfectly normal family bar for some overly dramatic tech lockdowns. Tony Torrez-Tango (Connor Esterson) likes to play the scoundrel using his tricks and cheats, while Patty Torrez-Tango (Everly Carganilla) likes to play fair with integrity. But little do they know that their parents, Nora (Gina Rodriguez) and Terrence (Zachary Levi), are spies. But when some malicious code is hidden in the video game, Hyskor steals the secret Armageddon Code. Well, it just might be the kids that come to the rescue.    

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