TL;DR – This series explores
the temptation and addiction that we can have with capturing the past. However,
while it introduces a lot of important themes, it does not really have the
space to digest them all.
Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars
Review –
If you could be young again for a day or so, would you take that opportunity,
would you try to fix some part of your life? However, what would you do to keep
staying young, would you hurt people, would you kill, what if going back meant
losing who you were? These are all really deep questions and I don’t know how I
myself would answer, but today we are looking at a show that posits these exact
questions and more.
TL;DR – With the last episode
for a year, we get the return of a villain past, and not really a whole lot
else, which leads to an interesting if forgettable episode.
Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars
Review –
The debut season for Jodie Whittaker and Chris Chibnall has come and gone, and while I generally enjoyed it, it has been divisive among the fans, and no not just because The Doctor is a woman now (though there are still those people, sigh). The show pretty much used this season as an opportunity as a soft-reboot and a good entry point for new people joining in without years of storylines to catch up on. All of this meant that we got some amazing episodes like Rosa and the Demons of the Punjab but there was also an awful lot of filler and constant use of ‘oh the bad guy is not the actual bad guy.’ All of this lead to many episodes feeling undercooked and the drive to have all new enemies for the series probably didn’t help. Well, today we look at the epilogue for the series and its first ever New Year’s special and see how well it does for the last Doctor Who episode for over a year.
TL;DR – This first episode was
all about us getting back into the groove with The Orville and its juxtaposition
of absurdity and sincerity, but not all of it works.
Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars
Review –
I finally got the chance to see Season One of The Orville early this year when it finally got a release down under, and I was struck by how funny and also how many serious issues it tackled. It was not just a Star Trek parody with the first officer and captain being exs, okay it is totally that, but it is also a beautiful sincere look at the work, with some fantastic characters and alien races. Now that Season Two is about to start, I am really interested to see how the show evolves going forward, and can it keep this interesting juxtaposition going.
A good Action sequence is something that is truly amazing
to watch, as it can be as expansive as explosions crashing across the screen,
or more intimate, like a duel between two people. This gives the best action
scenes such a range and in 2018 we were given some truly amazing spectacles.
For me the best action scenes are those that excel in every element, whether
that be live actions, special effects, digital effects, or animation and bring
every facet to shine. It is also the category that looks at some of the department’s people don’t often fully
understand like stunt coordination or the 2nd unit.
So without further ado, these are the moments of action that awed us in 2018.
Be warned that there may be some slight spoilers ahead for the films in
question.
Tension is one of the most difficult
facets of filmmaking to pull off because
it requires the script, direction, acting, and editing to all work in tandem to
evoke the perfect pace. If just one part of that group misses then the most
important part of the film falls apart.
In 2018 we continued to see some excellent use of tension used to build mystery, or to be the harbinger of the coming
dread, or even the ticking clock of inevitability.
So without further ado, these are the moments of tension that kept us on the
edge of our seats in 2018. Be warned that there may be some slight spoilers
ahead for the films in question.
Cinematography is an art form that
can be as bold as a gong crashing after a moment of silence, or as subtle as
the tide coming in. It is something that elevates
a film to the heights of accolade or turns a film into a frustrating mess when it misfires.
While at the heart of cinematography is the Director of Photography or
Cinematographer, to get something from the script to the final shot takes a
whole team of professionals, and it is their talent that we champion today.
So without further ado, these are the moments of cinematography that took our
breaths away in 2018. Be warned that there may be some slight spoilers ahead for the films in question.
TL;DR – At times funny, at times perplexing, and at times very dark, it explores the world of immense power and those who want to obtain it, and the damage that can do.
Score – 4 out of 5 stars
Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene
Review –
We live in a world where thanks to technology we can explore galaxies far away,
to fantasies imagined in every which way, but sometimes reality can be stranger
than anything we can muster. Today we are exploring a film that is set around
the power politics of last years of the House of Stuart as different people
position themselves in an ever-shifting
world. This would be interesting enough in itself, but in both a less and in
some cases more dramatic way this is what really happened (or at least what was
alleged to have happened) in real life. It is a snapshot of absolute power, but also of sadness, and
regret.
TL;DR – This is one of those films where you walk out thinking three things, 1) how dare you charge people money to see this, 2) I am embarrassed for everyone involved in the film & 3) how dare you charge people money to see this
Score – 0 out of 5 stars
Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene
Review –
Sometimes you see a film and you have to wonder ‘how did this get greenlit’, like people paid over 40 million dollars to put this together, agents recommended this movie to their clients, and they even got Alan Menken to write a story. However, instead of being excited when every big name cast member walked onto the film, you felt sad, like ‘oh no, they dragged Hugh Laurie into this mess too.’ Why is that, well this is because this is the worst film I have seen all year, and since I am writing this on the 31st of December, I doubt that will be surpassed because this is also the worst film I have ever reviewed. Hey good news Pixels, you are not on the bottom anymore.
TL;DR – While there is some clear potential in the interactive story model, my particular playthrough of Bandersnatch was less engrossing and for me more frustrating than anything else.
Score – 2.5 out of 5 stars
Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene
Review –
Black Mirror is a series that is always looking to be on the cutting edge of
narrative storytelling. It twists worlds
in on itself, leads the viewer down the garden path only to cut their legs out
from underneath them, or destroys the nostalgia we have for the past, or indeed
the hope we have for the future. So, when it dropped a couple of days ago that
there would be a feature-length episode, well
that was some interesting news, but then when it was announced that it would be
a ‘chose your own adventure’ with multiple endings and user interaction, well
this went from intriguing to must watch in a heartbeat. However, now that I
have seen it I feel that maybe the idea did not match the execution. Also,
because this is a chose your own adventure, it actually makes it difficult to
review because my experience is going to be possibly a lot different to what yours
will be. Maybe I just drew the short straw and hit all the frustrating options,
maybe you’ll be luckier than me, which from the discussions on the internet
might just be the case, I just simply do not know. Well with that in mind let’s
take a dive into a world with multiple paths and endings.
TL;DR – There are moments of real suspense, and Sandra Bullock is amazing, but the structure of the story holds it back by revealing its hand too soon.
Score – 3 out of 5 stars
Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene
Review –
2018 has been a good year for the suspense thriller/ horror films, we have built on the strengths of 2017, a produced such amazing films as A Quiet Place (see review) and Cargo (see review). I bring A Quiet Place up because after the first few minutes you can tell that this is the film Bird Box is going to be compared to the most, and that is not entirely unfair. As they are both suspense post-apocalyptic films where you have to cover one of your senses to survive i.e. sound, or in this case sight. However, this was less the case of copying a more the case of producers seeing that suspense films are back (also they never left but that is an issue for another day) and optioning different books at around the same time. However, while it is a bit unfair to compare the two while watching you can’t help but do so, especially when the differences between the two are probably the reasons why I liked one more than the other.
