Movie Review – Kingsman: The Golden Circle

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TL;DR – A great follow-up, but it does struggle to find its feet in places.

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

Kingsman The Golden Circle. Image Credit: 20th Century Fox.

Review –

So the original Kingman: The Secret Service was one of the first films we reviewed back in 2015 when we started (and you can read it HERE). Overall we really liked the film, it had great action, a fantastic cast, a magnetic lead villain, and it was a star-making turn for lead Taron Egerton. Overall the movie worked bar one ill-placed ‘joke’ at the end which was out of place, tacky, unnecessary, and literately brings the whole movie to a stop to get it out, but that didn’t stop Kingman from getting on our Top Films of 2015 list (see HERE). So I was wondering if they could make the follow-up as good as the first film and I think they may have just pulled it off.

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Movie Review – American Assassin

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TL;DR – Bland the movie

Score – 1.5 out of 5 stars

American Assassin. Image Credit: Lionsgate.

Review –

Well, I don’t know what I was expecting with American Assassin, maybe some excitement, maybe some competent action sequences, maybe an interesting character study, maybe even an interesting look at America’s involvement in global terrorism. Of all the things I was expecting, the last thing was a bland paint by numbers snooze fest, well not paint by numbers because that implies that there was some colour in there somewhere. So yer, let’s dive into our review of American Assassin a dull film if ever I saw one.

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Movie Review – mother!

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TL;DR – I have rarely left a movie being this angry, a pure waste of everyone’s time, if I was not reviewing this film I would have walked out before it ended.

Score – 1.5 out of 5 stars

mother! Image Credit: Paramount.

Review –

Well look, I know mother! has been getting some great reviews, but just to prepare you if you didn’t see the score above,  this is not going to be one of them. I know there is a trend for people to give bad reviews to popular films as clickbait, this is not one of those cases, I deeply disliked this film, and if you want to know why feel free to keep reading.

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Movie Review – The Hitman’s Bodyguard

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TL;DR – A good case study on why it is so important to get your casting right

Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars

P.S. – There is an end credit thingy

The Hitman's Bodyguard. Image Credit: Lionsgate.

Review –

Making a film is a very difficult process, at every point, there are decisions that you need to make, some of which can make or break your film, and you might not even know what the outcome is until the film is released. Should you rewrite your dark realistic film to be a comedy week’s out from shooting, it’s a big risk, but it is one that I think made The Hitman’s Bodyguard a better film, or at least a film that suited its cast much better. Though before we go on, while I kind of liked it, you need to know it is a type of film that I’m pretty sure the f@#$ counter is in triple digits, and you probably know just from that if this is a movie for you.

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Movie Review – Ali’s Wedding

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TL;DR – A good reminder that we are all united as one because we all do stupid, stupid, stupid, things for love

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

Ali's Wedding. Image Credit: Madman.

Review –

I’ve been sitting here looking at my screen on and off for the last hour wondering how to start this review. This is such an important film, a real water shed moment for Australian cinema, but how do you properly articulate that without sounding overbearing. To add to this, I am a white Australian with not a lot of experience with some of the cultural and religious iconography, this means that I am desperately trying not to accidentally say something truly stupid. So I hope you will excuse the lack of coherence and come with me as we jump into the world of Ali’s Wedding.

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TV Review – Game of Thrones: The Dragon and the Wolf

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TL;DR – Tonight is the beginning of the end, as people come together and others get wrenched apart

Score –  4.5 out of 5 stars

Stormborn

Review –

So today we have reached the end of Game of Thrones’ penultimate season, and more than probably any than have gone before the game has changed completely again, though the more things change the most they stay the same. Now, this is the final episode of the season, so now more than ever There Will Be [SPOILERS] Ahead, if you have not seen the final episode then I would recommend not reading any further.
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Movie Review – American Made

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TL;DR – This is a movie banking on the pull of its lead star, and in some respects it works, but also it leaves you wondering what was the point of it all.

Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars

American Made. Image Credit: Universal.

Review –

Ah the Cold War, once a time that we tried to ignore, that time when blowhards with nuclear weapons almost brought us all to ruin because of politics or ideology. We like to forget about it, but a lot of the problems of the world today can be traced right back to it, but still many don’t have a good understanding of the world that was. American Made is looking to change that, maybe, sort of, by shedding the light on some of the dirty dealings the Americans embroiled themselves in Central America, told through the story of Barry Seal (Tom Cruise).

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Movie Review – The Adventurers (Xiá Dào Lián Méng, 俠盜聯盟)

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TL;DR – Take Bond, True Lies & Oceans 11, add a strong Chinese sensibility, and a dash of French for good measure.

Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars

P.S. – There is a mid-credit scene

The Adventurers (Xiá Dào Lián Méng, 俠盜聯盟). Image Credit: IM Global.

Review –

Ah betrayal, nothing motivates a protagonist more than trying to find out who betrayed him and left him for dead in prison for five years. Indeed, this is at the heart of what makes The Adventurers work as it blends the gadget work of James Bond, with the camp absurdity of True Lies, and the best heisting from the Ocean’s 11 series, and somehow it all works. Indeed, this is the second heist film that we have had this month with Logan Lucky (review) also in cinemas, and I have to say I liked The Adventurers better.

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Movie Review – The Battleship Island (Gunhamdo, 군함도)

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TL;DR – A harrowing look at a moment in our past that we need to deal with if we want to avoid repeating our mistakes.

Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars

The Battleship Island. Image Credit: CJ Entertainment.

Review –

This year after watching the simply amazing Okja (review) and Train to Busan, a film that redefines a genre and one I really need to write something on, I decided to try and get out and see more Korean cinema. Now, unfortunately, it can be a bit difficult to find here in Australia, but thankfully a cinema near me does get some of the new releases from Asia from time to time. So today I continued my exploration of Korean cinema with the fascinating The Battleship Island. So what is the film about? Well how far would you go to protect your daughter from the world around her, what would you do break a revolutionary leader out prison, how far would you go to exploit the people under you to make a quick buck? These are some of the questions The Battleship Island tries to answer.

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Explore-It: ‘Marvel: Creating the Cinematic Universe’ Exhibit at the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) Brisbane

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TL;DR – Today I explore and muse on the current Marvel Exhibit at GOMA in Brisbane
GOMA Exhibit

Article –

One surprisingly warm winter day I went for a walk from the Central Business District across the River and down to Brisbane’s Cultural Precinct nestled along the river front. Among the brutalist style buildings that include the Lyric Theatre, State Library, and State Museum is GOMA or the Gallery of Modern Art. Now I am not just here because winter in the subtropics is a beautiful time of year to go for a walk, no I’m here to explore one of the exhibits they have on at the moment, ‘Marvel: Creating the Cinematic Universe’. Before we start just a heads up that there will be more than a few images in this article so you may want to double check that you have your phones on wifi, not mobile data.
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