TL;DR – A fascinating look at the birds that live along the USA/Mexico border Score – 4 out of 5 stars
Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene
Review –
I love a good wildlife documentary, where you dive into a place in the world
and explore the glory that you find. Even more so when it is an area of the
world I don’t have a lot of experience with. Today we get just that with an
exploration of the birds along the Texan/Mexican border.
On the border of the United States of America and Mexico is the Rio Grande/Río
Bravo River. These days it is more the focus on human migration however while
this is an important area of discussion it is also the site of another
migration, birds. This is a look at the people whose lives revolve around the
birds, protecting them from the many dangers focusing on this precious
land.
TL;DR – A solid horror film, with a good premise that meanders a bit in the middle before coming back strong in the end.
Score – 3 out of 5 stars
Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene
Review –
I have to admit that I am not as big of a horror aficionado as a lot of the
critics out there. I prefer the tension and suspense of a film like Get Out
over a horror gorefest. However, I have made it a plan to try and broaden the
films I see and also if you ever want me to see a film having the story by Guillermo
del Toro is a great way to do it. With that in mind let’s have a look at a film
that champions what goes bump in the night.
In 1968 a lot of things are happening, the Vietnam War is in full swing, Richard
Nixon is up for re-election, and in a small town called Mill Valley in
Pennsylvania, the local residents are getting ready for Halloween. Stella (Zoe
Colletti) does not want to go out but is coaxed out by her friends Auggie (Gabriel
Rush) and Chuck (Austin Zajur) because this might be their last Halloween
together. After running into local bully Tommy (Austin Abrams) who is on a date
with Chuck’s sister Ruthie (Natalie Ganzhorn) they hide in Ramón’s (Michael
Garza) car. Ramón is from out of town, so Stella suggests they take him to the
Bellows’ House, the town’s local haunted house. Legend says that the family
that founded the town locked their daughter Sarah (Kathleen Pollard) in the
basement but she would tell stories through the wall to local children and then
the kids would die. Everything is going fine until Stella finds a book, a book
of Sarah’s stories, a book that is still writing more stories one by one.
TL;DR – This is an
interesting concept, with some powerful performances, but I am not sure three episodes
was enough time to really show it off.
Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars
Review –
Netflix as the premier multi-national streaming juggernaut (for the time being)
has been doing a lot of experimenting in recent years. With Black
Mirror: Bandersnatch they gave the world a choose your own adventure in
cinematic form and with Ultimate
Beastmaster they produced different versions for each of the countries
participating. Well today we get to take a look at the next experiment with
Criminal a series that produced four different versions for France, Germany,
Spain, and the UK. Well today we are going to take a look at the UK version to
see how this experiment works out.
To set the scene, we open in on DI Natalie Hobbs’ (Katherine Kelly) team as
they begin an interview with the suspect of a murder. For you see her team are experts
in interrogation, so they are used when there is a time crunch or a serious
case that needs their attention. The first of these involves a doctor (David
Tennant) that is accused of molesting and then murdering his step-daughter. The
interview has been going for hours and time is running out because if they can’t
find some way to get him to crack he could walk free. Now from here, we will be
looking at the season as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS]
ahead.
TL;DR – This is a film of two halves that actively make each side worse for being there. This film was a frustrating experience from start to finish.
Score – 1.5 out of 5 stars
Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid and a post-credit scene
Review –
There are a lot of ways movies come into being, some come from novels, some
from comic books, and some are even original ideas. However, there is a new
trend of finding popular content from the internet and turning it into the new
hotness. Well if you are going to head in that direction then one where you can
have every celebrity cameo under the sun is a good place to start.
So to set the scene, up in North Carolina there is Flinch Public Access
Television and here we find a TV show host Zach Galifianakis (Zach Galifianakis).
For years he has produced the Between Two
Ferns with Zach Galifianakis, an interview show that is truly horrible.
Well after years of doing the show, a camera crew is here to film how the show
is put together. Interviewing Producer Carol (Lauren Lapkus), Cam the cameraman
(Ryan Gaul), and all the guests. However, things go wrong when a leak in the
celling destroys the studio forcing him to go on the road fulfilling Will
Ferrell ludicrous demands.
TL;DR – A truly charming film from start to finish.
Score – 4 out of 5 stars
Post-Credit Scene – There are some pictures during the credits that tell a story.
Review –
Films targeted at children often have a perception that they are of lower
quality than other forms of cinema. Indeed some of the trailers for upcoming
films I watched before this backed that assessment up. But every now and again
a film casts off those assertions and shows that if you focus on quality it
should not matter whom your target audience is. Well, today we get just such a
film, as we explore a monster on the run through China.
So to set the scene, we open in a laboratory in Shanghai scared and alone and
not knowing where we are. After hearing Dr Zara’s (Sarah Paulson) intentions
for us we flee captivity and that is when you discover the animal fleeing is a
yeti. Everest (Joseph Izzo) flees into the city and tries to hide after being
hit by a truck only to end up on the roof of Yi’s (Chloe Bennet) apartment complex.
Yi is focusing all her life on doing odd jobs so she can earn enough money to
go on a tour of China her dad always promised to take her on. But when she
finds the injured Everest there is only one thing on her mind, getting him to
his home.
TL;DR – A stunning film exploring the world of one man as it all falls apart around him
Score – 4 out of 5 stars
Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene
Review –
Goodness, it has been a while since I have watched a film quite like this. Where
we dive straight into the mind of one character and follow their drive through
a slowly deteriorating experience. I think the last film that I watched that
was able to pull this off was Arrival
and you get hints of that here as well. With that in mind, let’s dive into a
murky world of space exploration and the legacy/damage of our parents.
So to set the scene, we open in the near future where humankind has made their
first steps into the solar system. One of the main drives is to find out if there
is any other intelligent life out there in the universe but of course like all
things mining and profit are not far behind. Major Roy McBride (Brad Pitt) is
working on the large space antenna that goes all the way up into
low-Earth-orbit when a cosmic storm hits and he is thrown from the structure. Landing
thanks to a parachute he is taken to Space Command Headquarters where he finds
out that his long lost dad Clifford (Tommy Lee Jones) might be alive and might
also be the one behind the surge that has killed 40,000 people and climbing. So
Roy hops on a rocket for the Moon only to discover not all is what it seems.
TL;DR – One of those films that are close but no cigar, but you have to admire that they go at 100km an hour from start to finish
Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars
Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene
Review –
One of my true joys in life is watching and witnessing a new work of glorious Science
Fiction for the first time. Like those moments when you watched Farscape
for the first time or watched the flaming guitar in Mad
Max Fury Road explode out into the desert sun. However, sometimes it
can be just as interesting to watch a film/TV show that is close but just not
quite there and today we take a look back at just such a film.
So to set the scene, we open in on Jupiter Jones (Mila Kunis) who lives with
her extended family in Chicago after her father Maximilian (James D’Arcy) was
murdered back in Russia and her mother Aleksa (Maria Doyle Kennedy) fled to the
States. Jupiter spends her time cleaning rich peoples houses and dreaming of
getting out of it all. Well one day she gets that wish after a genetic test
shows that she is the perfect reincarnation of the old matriarch of House
Abrasax, an ancient alien dynasty that seeded life on Earth all those years
ago.
TL;DR – This is an
interesting take on the End-Of-The-World genre
Score – 4 out of 5 stars
Review –
When I say to you Zombie Apocalypse, I think for many people the first thing
you would do is suppress a sigh. As a genre, it has been used multiple times
and these days one could say that it has been done to death as long as they immediately
followed it up immediately with ‘pun not attended’. However, every now and again,
a new show will use the setting to explore something new and today we get to
look at just such a show.
So to set the scene, we open in on Day 42 with Jack Sullivan (Nick Wolfhard)
the only known survivor in his town. 42 Days ago portals opened up over his
town and monsters and zombies came flooding out attacking the town. Some escaped,
some were rescued, but more still were turned into zombies to roam the streets.
Abandoned by his foster family, Jack survives by hiding in his foster brother’s
treehouse and using that as a base of operation. He is trying to find his best
buddy Quint (Garland Whitt) and rescue his flame June (Montse Hernandez), but
first he needs to survive being hunted by a monster angry because Jack poked
its eye out.
While I was not alone here, I know when I walked out of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom I was greatly disappointed at all the talent that went into what felt like a missed opportunity. It was a film that had an end goal in mind but not how to get to that goal in an organic way. Well, today a little surprise was dropped on the internet with a short film showing the aftermath and if anything it shows just how good the goal they were shooting for was.
The setup is really simple, you have family with a Father (Andre Holland) and Mother (Natalie Martinez) cooking food from their three children (Melody Hurd, Pierson Salvador, Noah Cole & Ethan Cole). There is the usual bickering with a little extra edge because this is still a family coming together when the father notices that nobody is outside anymore and that is when you hear the first rumble.
TL;DR – An ambitious series
drawing inspiration from multiple religious and mystical frameworks that while
pioneering in many respects, completely fails to stick the landing
Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars
Review –
Today I get to finally explore the third pillar of 1990s sci-fi anime with the
massively influential Neon Genesis
Evangelion. For me, this was almost a form of closure given how much I have
watched the other two pillars Cowboy
Bebop and Ghost in the Shell but
I never got to see Evangelion. It was
also interesting to see a show that has been massively influential to the genre
but watching it with 20 years of extra context on top of it. Well if nothing
else, the ending stinger to last year’s Desert Bus now makes sense. With
that in mind, let’s dive in and explore Hideaki Anno’s work of gods, and
angels, and science, and man.
So to set the scene, in the year 2000 a great calamity arouse across the world
when the second impact occurred in Antarctica blasting the icy continent to
ruin and melting all its ice causing extensive flooding across the world. The
UN authority declared that the cause was a giant meteorite impact, hence common
term of it being ‘the second impact’ (okay sort of, but also sort of not, it
gets complicated). However, this is all a cover, because what really happened
is that a creature of great power was discovered under the ice, this Angel was
called Adam and something the researchers did trigger him destroying
everything. 15 years later, Shinji Ikari (Megumi Ogata/ Spike Spencer/ Casey
Mongillo) is running through deserted streets to a pick-up location. The whole
area has gone into emergency lockdown for some unknown reason, and that reason
turns out to be a second angel that everyone kind of expected was coming. Just
before he is crushed, Shinji is rescued by Captain Misato Katsuragi (Kotono
Mitsuishi/ Allison Keith/ Carrie Keranen) and taken to Tokyo-3 where a
secretive organisation Nerv has their headquarters. The leader of Nerv is
Shinji’s father Gendo Ikari (Fumihiko Tachiki/ Tristan MacAvery/ Ray Chase) who
is at best distant, but a more fair description would be icy or even abusive.
However, Shinji does not have time to process that because he is announced to
be the Third Child, and one of only a few people that can pilot an Evangelion
which he has to do like now.
