Beneath Us All – Movie Review

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TL;DR – While there was a lot of promise with this scenario, you can tell that there were factors like the budget that held it back.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I was sent a screener of this film

Warning – Contains scenes that may cause distress.

Left overs from a mauling.

Beneath Us All Review –

Today, we dive back into the world of Vampires, a world of shadows and screams. I have quite liked vampire films in the past because they are this blend of bloody action with profound lore. There are many versions of vampires, and I am interested to see where we will land in today’s film.

So, to set the scene, it is Scandinavia back in 912 AD when a child is ripped apart by a monster that appeared from the woods. The Monster (Yan Birch) was captured, but they could not kill him, so he was buried in a coffin, taken across the seas and then dumped in Vinland. In the modern day, Vinland is now North America and is full of rural Americans. Some of them are Todd (Sean Whalen) and Janelle Gibbs (Maria Olsen), who foster several kids and are not the nicest people in the world. But one day, their foster daughter Julie (Angelina Danielle Cama) is walking in the woods when a perceived noise impacts her head after she touches an amulet, which leads her to something buried in the ground.    

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The G – Movie Review

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TL;DR – This is a wonderful character piece that maybe promises a touch more on what it can deliver.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I was sent a screener of this film

Two men burring a person.

The G Review –

In the current cinema landscape, it can be easy to go for style over substance. We can do the flash and bang and also the alakazam, but we linger on the surface. Things only become interesting once you dig a little deeper. Today, we look at a film that completely understands that even if it does not quite stick that landing.  

So, to set the scene, we open with two men digging in the snow, only to find them burying a body. These are people who know how to get their way. Their next victim is Ann Hunter (Dale Dickey), an elderly retiree who cares for nothing but her granddaughter Emma (Romane Denis). She is struggling to cope with the pressures of looking after her ill husband Chip (Greg Ellwand), but her life is upturned when Rivera (Bruce Ramsay) pushes them into a home with a trumped-up court order so they can steal her house. But there is no way she is going to let them do that to her.    

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Borderlands – Movie Review

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TL;DR – While I will give it points for getting some of the visual style right, and something must have gotten that cast to sign up. But the final product was a soulless mess of nothingness.

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid-credit scene that you don’t need to stay for.

Warning – There is strobing effects.

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film.

Space Station around Pandora.

Borderlands Review –

For a long time, there has been a question about whether you can write an engaging video game adaptation? They have been hit and miss, and many were just made for tax write-offs [allegedly]. However, in recent years, we have found that you can make that translation on both TV and in the cinema, which makes it even more frustrating that we take a return to the past with today’s entry.  

So, to set the scene, we open around the planet of Pandora, where a secret vault containing alien information has drawn vault hunters for generations, leaving the planet trashed and strewn with violent gangs. One man who is after that power is Atlas (Edgar Ramírez), which makes it concerning when one of his own soldiers, Roland (Kevin Hart), kidnaps his daughter Tina (Ariana Greenblatt) and takes her into the quagmire. It has been months, and no one has been able to find her, which is when he goes to Lilith (Cate Blanchett), the one bounty hunter that can take on the planet because she used to live there.

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Walden (The Stenographer) – Movie Review

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TL;DR – While the premise is novel, the final product left me more frustrated than anything else.

Rating: 2 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I was sent a screener of this film.

Warning – Contains scenes that may cause distress.

The Alexandra Court House.

Walden Review –

When you make a film, you have the whole world to play in, and more really. However, when you touch on real-world issues, do you have an obligation actually to engage with them in a meaningful way? Today, we look at a movie working in that space to see.  

So, to set the scene, in the small town of Alexandria near the City of Atlanta, there is a court stenographer called Walden (Emile Hirsch). It is a job that he is good at, but it does mean that he sees the worst of humanity every day. When a particularly monstrous person tries to kill the judge in front of everyone, well, that changes someone, even worse when you discover you have a brain tumour. However, knowing you are going to die does have a clarifying factor on one’s life and goals. Suddenly helpless, Walden might not be so helpless anymore.    

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A Place Called Silence (Mo Sha, 默杀) – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A film that wanted to be murky in its depiction of crime but ended up being muddled and frustrating.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film.

WARNING – Contains scenes that may cause distress.

A Place Called Silence Review –

Today, we are looking at a challenging film because it is filled with grand highs and deep lows. Because of this, we get a movie that is frightfully uneven in all the worst ways, even though it deals with some significant subject material. Also, before we dive in, please do not skip over the warning above.

So, to set the scene, Doma City has gone through many struggles in the past, including devastating storms. It is here where Li Han (Janine Chun-Ning Chang) is working as a cleaner in a local school so she can help support her mute daughter Tong (Wang Shengdi). However, while she tries to support her daughter through her struggles, it is made worse by the sheer torment Tong receives from local bullies, including getting glued to a wall. But when the bullies start going missing, it drags more than just the police into the lives of those in the school.

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The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare – Movie Review

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TL;DR – Big personalities and a lot of action, but not a lot more than that.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

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

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

Anders Lassen looks through a porthole covered in blood.

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare Review –

If there is one film that people have asked me for, it is what happened to The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare? It looked like it was everywhere, and then it disappeared, but that cast and director should have cut through. Well, today, we have a chance to answer that question and give it a look as it finally got a release here in Australia.   

So, to set the scene, it is the height of WW2, and things are not going well for the Allies. In the middle of the Atlantic, patrolled by German U-Boats, a sailboat is being inspected by Nazis. The Nazi Commander does not like the laughing Swedes, even less when those Swedes mow down all his men. It is here that we discover just what is going on. The UK is the last significant power in Europe, not occupied by Axis Powers, and they are being cut off from the air and sea. Hitler is not playing by the rules, storing the rearming operations for the U-Boats in neutral territory. Well, then, it is time for the UK to retaliate with a group of soldiers who do not play by the rules. Led by Gus March-Phillipps (Henry Cavill), Operation Postmaster, all they have to do is sink an Italian Ship in neutral territory before the Nazis move it. To do this, they need a team: Henry Hayes (Hero Fiennes Tiffin), the navigator; Freddy Alvarez (Henry Golding), the explosives expert; Anders Lassen (Alan Ritchson), who is good with wet work, and Geoffrey Appleyard (Alex Pettyfer) intelligence. With Heron (Babs Olusanmokun) and Marjorie Stewart (Eiza González) embedded on the island of Fernando Po, it should all go fine … right …?   

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Star Trek: Prodigy – Ouroboros, Part I, Part 2, and Full Season – TV Review

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TL;DR – A beautiful end to a season, and hopefully not an end of a series.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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

A time portal opens up over Earth.

Star Trek: Prodigy Review –

Alas, we have come to the end of the second and hopefully not last season of Star Trek: Prodigy. What a season it was. We will take some time a bit later to explore the season as a whole, but before that, we need to dive into this incredible season finale that went places I was not expecting at all.

So, to set the scene, after Asencia (Jameela Jamil) attacked the USS Voyager-A and the USS Protostar, it became clear that something had to happen before she did irreparable harm to The Federation with her time weapons. The problem is that Starfleet is already spread so far that there is no one else about to get out that far to help them. The combined crews need to stop them fast because, little do they know, Asencia has captured Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton) and mined his mind for secrets she can use to cause galaxy-wide chaos. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode and season as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

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The Acolyte (Star Wars: The Acolyte) – The Acolyte & Season 1– TV Review

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TL;DR – While the finale felt incredibly rushed, I did find the series to be a grand entry in the franchise.  

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

Qimir tries to take the helmet of Osha.

The Acolyte Review –

Well, we have reached the end of what has surprisingly become one of the most controversial Star Wars entries since at least The Rise of Skywalker. I am not sure why a series that revelled in the mystical side of The Force that George Lucas loved garnered such a negative response, but here we are. Today, we will first pull apart the season finale before taking some time to explore the season as a whole.

So, to set the scene, at the end of Teach/Corrupt, Sol (Lee Jung-Jae) promised Mae (Amandla Stenberg) that he would tell her what really happened that one fateful night all those years ago. It was a sad series of consequences that led to Sol killing the twin’s mother in Choice. But while Mae has a revelation, Osha (Amandla Stenberg) wakes up in a cave on an unknown planet, where she is captured by Qimir (Manny Jacinto), who wants her to unlock her powers. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode and season as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Deadpool & Wolverine – Movie Review

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TL;DR – While it languishes in parts, the camaraderie and love for what they are doing is off the charts, and you feel that love in every part of the film.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film.

Lady Deadpool.

Deadpool & Wolverine Review –

Well, here we are, with a movie that is either the MCU’s latest desperate attempt to try and get either the multiverse or the mutants to work. Or a fun fourth-wall-breaking meta romp bro road trip through the Fox X-Men years via someone who liked that one bit in Loki season 1. Yet, somehow it is both of these things, and in the process, might be better than the sum of its parts.

So, to set the scene, after we deal with the ethical quandaries laid bare by the existence of Logan, we find that things have not gone well for Wade Wilson/Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) since we last saw him in Deadpool 2. While his friends always surround him, and he has made it along the way, no one in power trusts him, and rejection after rejection leads to him shutting himself off from people, especially on this birthday. But when henchmen from the TVA arrive to take Deadpool to see Mr Paradox (Matthew Macfadyen), he finds out that this timeline is dying, and the only way to save it might be to find himself a new Wolverine (Hugh Jackman).

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Civilization: Full Map (2024 Edition) – Map-It

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TL;DR – Every single feature of the Civilization Franchise (at the time of posting) in one Map

Back in 2021, during Civilization’s 30th Anniversary, we put together a map that charted every location that has ever been added to a Civilization Game. It was a fun exercise, well, other than trying to get Mesopotamia to work. But after I released the Map, it became clear that I had missed a couple of items. So, with the recent Civilization VII announcement, it felt like this was the right time to come back in and fill in those missing spots.  

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