WandaVision: On a Very Special Episode… – TV Review

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TL;DR – This week, everything changes again as we take a right turn into “did that just happen!”

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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

WandaVision: Episode 5. Image Credit: Disney+.

WandaVision Review –

There are days when you sit down to watch a TV show where you kind of know what you will get before you click play. Well, WandaVision is not one of those shows. We have already seen in change on a dime, and this week we get another example as the show starts to dark fast.

So to set the scene, in last week’s  We Interrupt This Program, we left The Hex and found out what had been happening in the world around. We see the road that Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) took to being a player in the weird TV show that Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) is creating in Westview. This week we dive into the 1980s, but things are not the same as Vision (Paul Bettany) has started to see something is not right with this world. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some MAJOR [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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Greenland – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A disaster film that leans into the emotion and is better for it.    

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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

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

Greenland. Image Credit: STX Films.

Greenland Review –

After falling off the face of the Earth, disaster films have started to make a resurgence in the cinemas. There have been good disaster films and bad, but one of the core similarities is that a bunch of them have stared Gerard Butler. Well, we now have another entry into this particular genre so let’s dive in.  

So to set the scene, we open in Atlanta, Georgia as architect John Garrity (Gerard Butler), is trying to keep things as normal as possible for his son Nathan (Roger Dale Floyd) after his marriage with Allison (Morena Baccarin) fell apart. While this is happening, all of Earth is looking up at the Clarke Comet that was picked up only weeks ago. The scientists say it will burn up in the atmosphere and make a great light show, but after John gets a Presidential Alert, he realises that something more is going on and then the first boom hits.

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The Expanse: Nemesis Games – TV Review

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TL;DR – Today we see the end to it all and the start of something new.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

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

The Expanse: Nemesis Games. Image Credit: Amazon Studios.

Nemesis Games Review –

Wow, we have reached the end of Season Five, and what a wild ride it has been. In today’s finale, we get to see the culmination of where the plot was screaming towards and the inevitable fallout from when it all goes wrong, or right depending on your perspective.

So to set the scene, in last week’s episode Winnipesaukee, Naomi (Dominique Tipper) was desperately trying to let people know that her ship was a trap, without the ability to change this ships thrust or use a radio. This worked, but in that it only made people race to her faster as something was clearly wrong. It is in this race that Marco (Keon Alexander) sends Drummer and her family to intercept the Roci and end James Holden (Steven Strait) for good. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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First Blush – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A film looking at people trying to find other people to plug that hole in their lives   

Rating: 3 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I was sent a screener of this film.

First Blush. Image Credit: Gravitas Ventures.

First Blush Review –

There has been a lot of reframing of traditional relationships in the post-modern era. However, when cinema has started to explore this realm, it rarely explores this world’s realities. Today we have a film that gives it a solid try if nothing else.

So to set the scene, Nena (Rachel Alig) and Drew (Ryan Caraway) are a mostly happy married couple living in Los Angeles. While everything is good, it does feel like they are sleepwalking through their lives until one day Drew plans a surprise birthday party for Nena with her annoying friend Carrie (Jordee Kopanski). The party is a bit rubbish, but while they are there, Carrie runs into Olivia (Kate Beecroft), and soon their worlds come crashing together.      

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WandaVision: We Interrupt This Program – TV Review

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TL;DR – This week the veil is removed, and we start to see just what is going on  

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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

WandaVision: Episode 4. Image Credit: Disney+.

WandaVision Review –

One of the core conceits in this series is that while we are getting the sitcom joy of WandaVision, something else is going on, something unsettling. This has all been hinted at so far, well today we go from hinting to laying it all out for you.

So to set the scene, at the end of Now in Color, Geraldine (Teyonah Parris) mentions to Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) that Ultron killed her brother. This does not go well for Geraldine as Wanda turns on her and boots her out of the town. At the start of this week’s episode, we get to see all of the context leading up to this as Geraldine/ Monica Rambeau blips back into existence in a hospital in chaos. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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The Expanse: Winnipesaukee – TV Review

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TL;DR – Today we start to see a glimmer of hope amongst all the destruction

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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

The Expanse: Winnipesaukee. Image Credit: Amazon Studios.

Winnipesaukee Review –

When those first asteroids dropped on Earth in Churn, you knew this would be a dark season for the show, which is amplified by the fact that our Roci crew was all spread to the winds when the attack happened. In today’s episode, we get to see the first little hope on the horizon that things might be getting better.

So to set the scene,  at the end of last week’s Hard Vacuum, Naomi (Dominique Tipper) had been able to interfere with Marco’s (Keon Alexander) automated message that he set up to lure people into a trap. We see at the start of this week’s episode that Naomi’s plan worked … sort of. On the Screaming Firehawk Bobbie (Frankie Adams) noticed that something was amiss, and even Holden (Steven Strait) on the Roci. But the question is, will they see it for the warning it is or think something has gone wrong and hurry into the trap? Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous: Season 2 – TV Review

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TL;DR – This is a strong entry into the Jurassic franchise leaning both into joy and terror of dinosaurs and what it takes to survive in this world alone.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous: Season 2. Image Credit: Netflix.

Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous Review –

Last year, a weird experiment actually kind of worked – what if they made animated kids orientated series based around Jurassic Park. It is one of those suggestions that on the face value sounds untenable, but the more you think about it, the more interesting it becomes. The first season was a fascinating ride, set during the fall of the park in Jurassic World. With a strong opener, I was interested in seeing where they could go with it next.

So to set the scene, at the end of last season the group Darius (Paul-Mikél Williams), Brooklynn (Jenna Ortega), Kenji (Ryan Potter), Yaz (Kausar Mohammed), Sammy (Raini Rodriguez) and Ben (Sean Giambrone) were rushing to try and make it to the evacuation ferry. Unfortunately, they missed the boat and more than that. Ben fell to his death from the tram into the jungle below. Left on the island, the group have to find a way to survive and get a message out of the island. The only problem is that between them and the emergency broadcast beacon is a T-Rex who has happily built her nest out of the past world’s detritus. Now from here, we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.     

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Snowpiercer: The Time of Two Engines – TV Review

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TL;DR – Conflict switches from the internal to the external as Snowpiercer comes under attack from Big Alice

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

Snowpiercer: The Time of Two Engines. Image Credit: Netflix.

Snowpiercer Review –

Last year there was an odd experiment that hopped on our screens. It was to take a cult classic film and re-imagine it into a TV show. Overall, I felt that Season One had some interesting moments but never got the heights it was aiming for. However, there was some promise here, and that promise was enough to make me want to have a look at Season Two.

So to set the scene, at the end of last season after a protracted revolution Melanie Cavill (Jennifer Connelly) and Andre Layton (Daveed Diggs) agreed to fix the society that runs on steep class divisions. However, a surprise appears with another train coming into the mix at that moment of triumph, an old supply train that somehow has survived the seven years of cold. On that train is none other than Mr Wilford (Sean Bean) who is here to take back the train stolen from him. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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High Ground – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A challenging and confronting film exploring a part of Australia’s history that we don’t like to talk about.     

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid to see this film.

High Ground. Image Credit Madman Films.

High Ground Review –

When I was growing up, every year at school we looked at the explorers that charted the coast, then the first fleet, finally the early penal colonies, and then we skip forward to Federation. At no time did we talk about the people who lived in the land before the colonists arrived, nor did we explore what happened to them as colonisation swept across the nation. The period known as the Frontier Wars was a bloody conflict about removing people from their land. In today’s review, we look at a film that explores this part of Australia’s history and all the ugliness that comes with it.

So to set the scene, in 1919 in Arnhem Land Australia, Gutjuk (Guruwuk Mununggurr) is being taught the dances of his people by his uncle Baywara (Mark Garrawurra) when they stumble across two men fleeing from troopers. They were accused of killing a cow, and they are allowed to stay the night, but then they must move on. However, before than can happen, the troopers arrive at the camp, but with a plan to discuss things peacefully. They were to move in as a group and announce their arrival. They brought the local priest Braddock (Ryan Corr) to help translate and if all went wrong the commander of the troop Travis (Simon Baker) was on the high ground overlooking the settlement and could fire down if needed. Well, that was the plan, but as Travis watches the group splits up, chooses to sneak up on the group, and ignore his command that only Travis can fire first. It is a recipe for disaster, and disaster is what occurs.

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Awards – My Top 15 Films of 2020

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TL;DR – 2020 was a great year in film and here are our favourites

So far in our awards, we have looked at Action, Animation, Best of Australia, Cinematography, Costumes, Emotion, Fun, Music, Tension, and Worldbuilding.

However, in this last entry into our Best of 2020 awards, we crown our winner of the best film of 2020.

Now all films are subjective, so our list might look completely different than yours. Also, we didn’t get to see every movie this year which means we will be only drawing our Top 15 from the 101 films we did get to see, which you can see a list of HERE. You can also click on the banners to go to the full review.

It was also a very odd year for cinema with many films getting postponed, or released in non-traditional means.

Okay with that out of the way let dive into the first entry in our list of Best Films of 2020.

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