Category Archives: Movie Reviews

Movie Review – Deadpool 2

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TL;DR – Takes everything that worked in the first film turns it up to 11 and then gives it real emotional stakes.

Score – 4.5 out of 5 stars

Post-Credit Scene – there are two mid-credit scenes

Deadpool 2

Review –

Back in 2016, there was this little film that could that exploded out into the zeitgeist of the film world. The first Deadpool (see review) was a passion project for all involved because it took years to get it greenlit, indeed, it took test footage being leaked to finally convince the studio to start it, and even then they cut the budget drastically before shooting because they had fears about what an American R-rated film would make at the box office. Well as we know it make bank at the box office and now we get to see the fruits of that decision with Deadpool 2, well also it probably helped convince 20th Century Fox to finally let them do Logan (see review) as they really wanted, so thanks for that too. So today we are going to look at the follow up to the merc with the mouth, can they capture that same feeling that exploded out on screen both literally and metaphorically, well let’s dive in and see.

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Movie Review – Chappaquiddick

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TL;DR – A film that exposes what is at the heart of politics, power and privilege, and how you can use that to get away with

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

Post-Credit Scene – No end credit scene

Chappaquiddick

Review –
In the late hours of July 18th, 1969, a car drove off the side off a bridge on Chappaquiddick Island. There were two people on board and only one survived and so would start a political scandal because the one that survived had the surname Kennedy. For those who might not know, which is fine by the way, the Kennedys are a political dynasty that has been a key factor in American politics since the 1930s including the 35th President of the United States. Today we are going to explore an incident that had the potential to destroy that political dynasty.

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Movie Review – Breath

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TL;DR – This is a film exploring the beauty of the Australian coast, the trying to find your place in the world, and the damage manipulation can do.

Rating: 2 out of 5.

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

Breath

Review –

When you are growing up there is always those moments that define your life, the first time you do something, the friends that you ride with, and the experiences you find yourself in. However, it is also a time of great fear, what sort of person will you be, what is your future outlook going to be, and how are you going to be remembered. It is an almost universal rite of passage, but it can also lead to devastating outcomes if it all falls apart. Today we look at one of these stories set as the 1970s come to an end in the quiet coast of Western Australia. It is also a film that spends most of its time out in the open deep ocean, so there is like one of my big fears up there on the screen.

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Movie Review – Gurrumul

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TL;DR – This might be one of the most important cultural touchstones of Australian cinema that I have ever seen, a beautifully honest look at the intersections that exist in Australia, and a powerful call to action.

Score – 5 out of 5 stars

Post-Credit Scene – Watch all the credits

Gurrumul

Warning – Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers should be advised that the following review contains depictions, images and voices of people who have died.

Review –

I truly did not know what to expect when I walked into the cinemas today. I had heard of Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu but I honestly to my own shame while I had heard of some of his more famous songs, and the work he did in the opening song for Cleverman, it is clear that this has barely scratched the surface of his body of work. What I was not expecting was that I was about to have one of the most emotional experiences that I have ever experienced watching a work of cinema. I think I spent most of the film with tears rolling down my face. So today we will look at what I feel is one of the best cinematic touchstones to encapsulate Australia, its past, present, and future.

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Movie Review – Avengers: Infinity War

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TL;DR – Infinity War brings everyone together and then tares them apart leaving you with a foreboding as to what will happen next, but also an excitement as they try to work it all out.

Score – 4 out of 5 stars (this is a tentative score, it might change after Part 2)

Post-Credit Scene – There is an end credit scene

Avengers Infinity War Banner

Review –

It should be no surprise that I have been eagerly awaiting the new Avengers film. In preparation not only did I map out the Marvel Cinematic Universe (see here) but I also ranked every film released in the build-up (see here). However, if I am to be perfectly honest, part of this stemmed from a nervousness, could they stick the landing, could they create a story that would give justice to all the desperate characters they were involved, could they actually bring on Thanos? Well as you can probably tell I have seen the film now, so I can now answer those questions … sort of. Now a quick note today, there will be [SPOILERS] for several of the recently released Marvel films including Thor: Ragnarok (see review) and Black Panther (see review). As well as this, I will try to avoid most of the major spoilers until a paragraph at the end when we discuss the ending, but because of how quick the film moves this is just a general [SPOILER] warning if you have not seen the film yet.

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The Marvel Cinematic Universe Movies Ranked from Best to Last

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When I was putting together my map of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (see here) as a way of ignoring the fact that Infinity War is coming this week and I’m not ready, I knew that at some point that I would have had to look at the MCU as a whole. There is always trepidation when looking at lists like this because first how do you actually nail down your top five and then not want to change it moments later. As well as this, these are deeply personal films for people and my list is not going to look anything like your list, maybe, maybe not.

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Movie Review – Super Troopers 2

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TL;DR – Canadian jokes, American Jokes, and an absurd set up that somehow still works by letting all the characters shine in the absurdness of it all, oh my.

Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars

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

Super Troopers 2

Review –
When a cult classic has a sequel, especially a sequel after a long time, there are the usual questions as to can it strike lightning again? Now, this is always an unfair question because if they just do the same thing as before you get hit for not innovating, and if you change it up you get hit for not respecting the original. So how do you approach a sequel with this minefield ahead of you, well the first thing is you engage with the fans from the start, which a well-crafted Indiegogo campaign clearly did, but also it is to know your strengths and play with them and Super Troopers 2 is a great example of this. Also releasing on the 4th of April, I see what you did there Super Troopers.

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Exploring the Past – Super Troopers (2001)

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TL;DR – A combination of off-brand Afghani animation, smugglers on the border, and all the shenanigans.

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

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

Super Troopers banner

Review –
Super Troopers is one of those little films that could. Fighting hard to get it financed and being turned down at every point and then finally getting it greenlit but you only have $1.2 million to put your passion project together. Well after many years a sequel is about to be released so I thought it would be good prep to take a look down memory lane at a world full of shenanigans, so, many, shenanigans.

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Map-It – Mapping Infinity: The Cartography of the MCU

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TL;DR – Today with the next Avengers release imminent we take a look at where on Earth we have visited during Phase One, Phase Two, and Phase Three

Avengers 1Article –

I like I think a lot of people have been sitting around with nervous excitement/suspense for Infinity War that drops next week at the time of writing and I thought it best to funnel that nervous energy into something productive. So since I like maps and I like the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I thought it would be interesting to map out where the MCU has visited during its three phases up to this point.

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Movie Review – Rampage

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TL;DR – Rampage knows what it is and leans into it hard, with giant monsters crashing into buildings and Dwayne Johnson being his charismatic best

Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars

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

Rampage

Review –

Now, this is the point at the start of the review where I talk about how there has never been a great movie adaption of a video game so far, and I talk about the problems about adapting and trot out examples like Assassin’s Creed (see review) and Tomb Raider (see review). However, this time around I don’t think I have to do that because while this is by no means a masterpiece I think it is the first film to really crack that adaption puzzle or at least the one who has got the closest to it. With that in mind, today we are going to enter the realm of giant monsters crashing into buildings, and who doesn’t love a giant monsters crashing into buildings.

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