Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny – Movie Review

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TL;DR – While some aspects don’t quite work, I would say this is a nice epilogue to the Indiana Jones franchise.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid to see this film.

Indy in a tomb.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny Review –

We have seen many films try to recapture the past with a middling effect, hoping that nostalgia will lead to a quick buck. But rarely do you see them try to pivot that nostalgia to create a swansong for a character. Well, that is sort of what we get today, with a legacy film that is not looking to pass the torch but raise one last drink before the bar closes.

So to set the scene, it is the closing months of WW2 and Indy (Harrison Ford) is trying to infiltrate a castle in the French Alps that the Nazis are using as a staging post to ship back all their looted goods as France is reclaimed. He and Basil (Toby Jones) are after the Lance of Longinus [the spear that pierced Christ’s side], but it is whisked away on a train. While the Spear turns out to be a fake, on the train, Nazi physicist Jürgen Voller (Mads Mikkelsen) discovers something much more valuable. It is now 1969, and Indy is feeling bitter with the world after the death of his son and the failure of his marriage, but when Basil’s daughter and his god-daughter, Helena (Phoebe Waller-Bridge), arrives looking for the item they stole from that train, darker forces might be just on her heals.

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How a World Map Got the Barbie Movie Banned in Vietnam – Map-It

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TL;DR – We explore the context behind why the Barbie movie got banned in Vietnam.

Barbie Land.

Barbie World Map Time –

When you dive into the world of media classification, many odd things can get a movie/show/game banned in a particular country. Pepper Pig could have an episode on Spiders are Friends, which you understandably don’t want to air in Australia. Or Zoolander being banned in Malaysia, which is fair given the country’s depiction. But can a film be banned for a map? Well, yes, as the Barbie Movie has found out today.

This leads us to have a bit of a different Map-It than usual as I combine my twin loves of Pop-Culture and International Relations to explain what has happened. To start with, what happened? Yesterday it was announced by Vi Kiến Thành, head of the Department of Cinema under the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, that National Council for Film Appraisal and Classification had banned the Barbie film after a review of the movie [1]. But why could a map get a film banned? Well, can I introduce you to the Nine-Dash Line and Exclusive Economic Zones.

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FUBAR: Season 1 – TV Review

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TL;DR – Arnold Schwarzenegger’s charisma goes a long way with this spy series, but odd structural choices and a middling narrative hold it back from reaching its potential.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

Explosion

FUBAR Review –

Between The Diplomat, The Night Agent, The Recruit, and more, it feels like we are going through a renaissance of Spy shows on TV. This has been a nice turn of events as someone who grew up on Spy shows like Get Smart, Chuck, and Alias. So, When I heard that Arnold Schwarzenegger was jumping back into this genre, well, you know, I had to check that out.

So to set the scene, Luke Brunner (Arnold Schwarzenegger) has worked at the CIA all his life. Because of that, he has become divorced from his wife Tally (Fabiana Udenio) and has a bit of a fractious relationship with his daughter Emma (Monica Barbaro) and son Oscar (Devon Bostick). But after a long career, Luke is finally retiring and can focus on his family and maybe winning the love of his life back now that she has started dating Donnie (Andy Buckley). But before he can officially spend his years doing up his boat, he is called back to active duty because Boro Polonia (Gabriel Luna), the son of an old arms dealer that Luke secretly killed, has started building pocket nuclear weapons. The CIA puts a spy in his organisation, but they are about to get outed, and Luke has to go in because Boro still remembers Luke fondly. All Luke has to do, is go to their compound in Guyana and get the undercover agent out … the only problem is that the secret agent turns out to be Emma. Now from here, we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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Nimona – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A delightful tale of two misfits that find each other when they need them the most.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

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

Nimona shapeshifts into a Whale

Nimona Review –

Very rarely does a cancelled film get a second chance at life, even less so with animation, but this is what we are getting today. Coming back from the dead with an interesting animation style and a story that takes no prisoners.   

So to set the scene, a long time ago, there was a kingdom at peace, but there was a monster waiting to attack, and attack it did. A glorious hero Gloreth defeated the monster and put in place champions to make sure this never happened again. One thousand years later and the new knights are about to be knighted, where generations of tradition are being put aside as a commoner Ballister Blackheart (Riz Ahmed) might become the champion over other nobles, including Gloreth’s own descendant Ambrosius Goldenloin (Eugene Lee Yang). But when Ballister’s blade was bobby trapped, and the Queen (Lorraine Toussaint) is killed, he has to go on the run when he comes across his biggest ally or trap in the shapeshifting Nimona (Chloë Grace Moretz).  

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Silo: Outside & Season 1 – TV Review

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TL;DR – Kept me on the edge of my seat until the credits rolled

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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

They see all.

Silo Review –

I was unsure what to expect when the first episode of Silo, Freedom Day, dropped. I had not read the original novels by Hugh Howey, so when we went down the rabbit hole that was the mystery of the Silo, I was captivated about which turns the show would make. Now that we have seen the first season, I am even more fascinated by where the show can go from here. In today’s review, we will first explore the season finale Outside, before looking at the season as a whole.

So to set the scene, things are looking dicey for Juliette Nichols (Rebecca Ferguson) as she fights to save her life as the judiciaries Robert Sims (Common) and secret lord of the Silo Bernard Holland (Tim Robbins) chase her down, trying to contain the information she knows. It is a race against time, but Juliette does not know just how much the chips are stacked against her. 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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Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow – TV Review

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TL;DR – An interesting episode on its surface narrative, but even more intriguing once you think about the ramifications.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Paramount+ streaming service that viewed this episode. 

The USS Enterprise.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Review –

If there has been one thing that Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has excelled at, it is making the most out of its ensemble cast. Nearly every central cast member gets to play a role in the A or B story for the week. However, they also make sure that everyone gets their own focus episode. [well, almost everyone, shout out to Ortegas (Melissa Navia)]. This week it is La’an turn to shine as we get whisked away from the Enterprise to somewhere a bit closer to home.  

So to set the scene, La’an Noonien-Singh’s (Christina Chong) role as chief of security means that she has the unfortunate job of knowing everyone’s business, even when they don’t want it, which is amplified given her mixed emotions regarding Una (Rebecca Romijn) and her behaviour when Una came out as a modified Illyrian. But as she was walking the deck of the USS Enterprise, a white light exploded out from another room, and a gentleman in a suit and a gun wound walked out, talking about an explosion that she had to stop. He disappears in another bright light, but when La’an makes it to the bridge, James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley) is now the captain and no one knows who she is. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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Secret Invasion: Promises – TV Review

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TL;DR – This episode felt like it was just moving things around to get them ready for the rest of the season

Rating: 3 out of 5.
Gravik stares down the Skrull Council

Secret Invasion Review –

Well, I was not sure how people would take the first episode of Secret Invasion, and wow, did the internet rip them apart. I think part of that was justifiable with those awful AI opening titles, and others less so, given I feel like a lot of it was just a significant tone shift than what people were used to. But after being much stronger on it last week, the follow-up was a bit more disappointing.  

So to set the scene, in 1997, in Brixton, London, two years after the events of Captain Marvel, the Skrulls are back on Earth after finding no home. Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) promises those who had made the trip that if they help him on Earth, he will find them a new home. Thirty years later, we see the aftermath of that broken promise, forgotten in the time of the Snap. As people, including Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders), lies dying in the square after the successful terrorist attack in Moscow and Fury is bundled into an FSB car as the Russians start arresting all those they think carried out the attack. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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Skull Island: Season 1 – TV Review

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TL;DR – This is a perfectly watchable show, but it never reached its potential, with some odd tone issues and a lacklustre narrative holding it back.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

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

King Kong's foot print.

Skull Island Review –

When  Kong: Skull Island came out in 2017, I was delighted with the world they created, full of mystery and wonder. This meant I was slightly disappointed when they killed off the island with one line of dialogue in Godzilla vs. Kong. However, there is clearly still a lot of space in the Monsterverse, and today we look at more adventures on an island where nearly everything wants to kill you.   

So to set the scene, we open on a research boat of some sort in the South Pacific Ocean. There is a loud commotion when a girl named Annie (Mae Whitman) in handcuffs tries to escape the crew hunting her down. She makes her way onto a lifeboat in a last-ditch effort and drives into the storm. Meanwhile, on an exploration boat, Charlie (Nicolas Cantu) and his father, Cap (Benjamin Bratt), have a significant conversation about going to college. As Charlie’s friend Mike (Darren Barnet) consoles him, Charlie notices a girl floating in on some wreckage. It is quite a commotion, but while Annie is concerned about the mercenaries chasing her, she is even more concerned about what lurks in the deep. Now from here, we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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Silo: The Getaway – TV Review

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TL;DR – Much like the staircase that stretches from the top to almost the bottom, the situation in the Silo is starting to spiral out of control.  

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

Red Level Relic 18

Silo Review –

While Silo started to lose its way, a touch, in the middle, like many shows before and after it, last week’s Hanna felt like an immediate return to form as the show threw off its restraints and started running at 100km an hour. This week continues that same pattern as we barrel along to the season finale.  

So to set the scene, all seems lost as Bernard Holland (Tim Robbins) reveals that as well as being the Head of IT, he is also in charge of the secret force that maintains order in the Silo. He and Holston Becker (Common) lie that Juliette Nichols (Rebecca Ferguson) said she wanted to go outside, a death sentence. There was one hope, as Nichols was being marched up the central staircase, she realised that Paul Billings (Chinaza Uche) was having one of his tremors and used it to escape his grip, grab her bag with the hard drive and dived off the staircase. Thankfully landing on one of the cross-struts and not plummeting to her death 70-odd layers down. But now she is on the run, and almost everyone in the Silo is after her and the secrets she holds. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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Red, White & Brass – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A film that brings you joy from the moment they start in a house covered in Tongan flags till those final credits roll.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film.

The band performs.

Red, White & Brass Review –

There are many emotions that cinema can bring forth, and if I am honest, my favourite is joy. You are just sitting there beaming with a smile stretching from one side of your face to the other. It is so easy for films to come off as disingenuous that it is hard to nail joy in its purest form. However, today, we look at a movie that not only nails it, it revels in it.

So to set the scene, it is Wellington, and the 2011 Rugby World Cup is descending on New Zealand. Flags are popping up all across the city as everyone gets into the celebratory mode. But Veni (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) was not quite prepared to find his house covered, and I mean covered, in the red/white cross of Tonga’s flag. His best friend Maka (John-Paul Foliaki) has been trying to get enough money so all of his church can see the Tonga v France match live. However, when several of his schemes fall through, he discovers a way forward, but it just means getting everyone to become a proficient brass band, oh and only in a couple of weeks.

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