Tag Archives: American Cinema

Stop! That! Train! – Movie Review

Posted on by
Reply

TL;DR – The idea of Airplane! reimagined through the lens of Drag is an interesting concept, but unfortunately, everything about this film is so one-note that it is not enough to hide the many issues.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film.

Many faces of RuPaul.

Stop! That! Train! Review Introduction

I had the afternoon off, and it is cheap Tuesday at my local cinemas, so I decided to go in blind and see what movies were available that I have not watched before. Today’s review was the first of those possibilities, which started strong, but I am not sure it ever delivered.

So, to set the scene, Tess (Ginger Minj) and DeeDee (Jujubee) are working on Stank Rail as train stewardesses when suddenly the train line is shut down. Not wanting to get broken up, they hear that the luxurious Glamazonian Express, the only high-speed railway in the USA, needs two fill-in stewardesses. Well, they jump at the opportunity. But what they don’t know is that in the United States Train Command Center, Donna Dusk (Rachel Bloom) has discovered that the Glamazonian Express is heading straight towards a rare Stormaganza, a weather event that few have lived to talk about.   

Continue reading →

GOAT – Movie Review

Posted on by
Reply

TL;DR – While not a revolutionary story, the gorgeous animation and heartwarming fun make it a lovely watch.  

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid for the Amazon Prime subscription used to watch this film.

the Glasshouse, the home court of the Thorns in Vinetown.

GOAT Review Introduction

It is the time of year when you feel a bit reflective and need to catch up with everything you might have missed throughout the year. There is one film from earlier this year that a lot of people have recommended that I needed to give a watch. It doesn’t hurt that my current sports team is also at the bottom of the ladder fighting for it all, which means it is a perfect window for today’s film.  

So, to set the scene, in a world filled with sentient animals, there is one sport that unites the world: roarball [basketball]. However, it is a sport only played by bigs; the smalls have to watch. Will Harris (Caleb McLaughlin) is a goat who has always dreamed of playing, but he is a small. It doesn’t help that the local team, the Thorns under Jett Fillmore (Gabrielle Union), are at the bottom of the ladder. But when opposition player Mane Attraction (Aaron Pierre) starts dissing the local team in Vinetown, their own home, Will steps up and scores on him. This creates a viral moment that team owner Flo (Jenifer Lewis) uses to get more people in seats, but no one was expecting them to do well. The team had other ideas.

Continue reading →

Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender – Movie Review

Posted on by
Reply

TL;DR – A beautifully animated entry into a series steeped in friendship and a sheer optimism that you need now and again.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid for the Paramount+ subscription used to watch this film.

An old Air bending temple.

Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender Review Introduction

Well, it is time to jump back into the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender. It has been a long time since I dabbled in this universe, but I remember it being a fun time. While it was very much focused on a younger audience, the themes of working together, finding yourself, and building a better future rang true. Now it is time to see if this world can still have an impact in the current world.
 
So, to set the scene, it has been a while since the events of The Last Airbender, and Aang (Eric Nam) has been collecting any remnant of the Air Nomads that he could find. While returning the artefacts to an ancient temple, Aang is attacked by an insurgent group known as the Denied. They were looking for a map to an ancient staff, from a time even before the oldest Avatars Aang can reach. The one clue that he can find leads him to the top of Mount Baihu, where Aang finds not a staff but something potentially more powerful.  

Continue reading →

The End of Oak Street – Movie Review

Posted on by
2

TL;DR – This 80s homage film triumphs on one important facet: Anne Hathaway fighting dinosaurs.  

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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

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

A dog looks up to see a weird light.

The End of Oak Street Review Introduction

Now, if you know me, I make absolutely no apologies that I am a dinosaur fiend when it comes to media. Give me your Jurassic Parks, your Dinotopias, heck, you want to add dinosaurs to Star Trek, I am here for it. But if you are going to add dinosaurs to a film, they can’t just be a token addition; they need to mean something, and thankfully that is not an issue today.

So, to set the scene, in 1982 there is a quintessential suburb in America called Flowervale that does all the stereotypical things. They have block parties, the kids ride around on their bikes, and neighbours get upset with dogs pooping in their yards. On Oak Street in this suburb lives the Platt family: wife Denise (Anne Hathaway), husband Greg (Ewan McGregor), daughter Audrey (Maisy Stella), and son Brian (Christian Convery). They are the perfect nuclear family on the surface, but in private the cracks in Denise and Greg’s relationship are threatening to become a gorge. But all of that changes one night when the lights start to flicker, everyone’s ears pop, and odd noises start coming from the forest. That’s when the screams start.

Continue reading →

Greenland 2: Migration – Movie Review

Posted on by
1

TL;DR – A quasi-religious themed sequel doesn’t live up to the first film, unfortunately.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid for the Amazon Prime subscription used to watch this film.

John escapes from a radiation storm.

Greenland 2: Migration Review Introduction

Back in 2021, I was entirely surprised by a film. Greenland took what could have been a run-of-the-mill disaster/apocalypse film and filled it with real emotional weight. It even made it onto my best film list for that year. Since then, I have been wondering if they would go back to that world, and while we didn’t get an Australian release, I am glad to finally be getting a look at it today.  

So, to set the scene, in the five years since the Clarke devastation, fragments still impact the Earth, causing all sorts of radiation issues. John Garrity (Gerard Butler), his family, Allison (Morena Baccarin), and Nathan (Roman Griffin Davis) are still living in the bunker under Thule Airbase in Greenland. But things have stretched on longer than anyone expected, and they are now surviving by salvaging the ruins of humanity that wash up. The hope was to wait for the radiation levels to drop, but already large areas of North America have been made uninhabitable due to it. But when the tectonic plates shift and the base is destroyed, the Garrity family and the handful of survivors must make a mad dash across a waring Europe to reach the Clarke creator, the one place potentially free of radiation.  

Continue reading →

Solo Mio – Movie Review

Posted on by
1

TL;DR – It has a level of heartwarming charm I was not expecting but was grateful to experience out in the Italian countryside.  

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid for the Amazon Prime subscription used to watch this film.

Being left at the altar.

Solo Mio Review Introduction

Well, it is the middle of the year, well more than the middle, and it is at this point and time that I start to get a bit reflective on the time that has passed and the coming storm that is the end of the year. It is the time of year when you want something that is just full of charm, and I think that will be the type of film we will look at today.

So, to set the scene, it was the perfect romance right up until Matt (Kevin James) was left at the altar by Heather (Julie Ann Emery) at their Italian destination wedding. As you can imagine, that is the perfect kind of embarrassment at any time and place, but there is an extra level of disaster when you are in a foreign country. Even worse, when your entire honeymoon package is 100% non-refundable. What is Matt to do? Well, it is paid for, and you can’t get your money back; well, you might as well enjoy it.  

Continue reading →

The Dink – Movie Review

Posted on by
Reply

TL;DR – A delightful romp across the court

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid for the Apple TV subscription used to watch this film.

Dusty losses it on a pickleball court.

The Dink Review Introduction

Have you ever had just one of those weeks when nothing catastrophic happened in your life, but each and every aspect of your life is difficult for some reason? It is one of those weeks when you need to sit down and watch something with joy, something with fun. With that in mind, I thought it was time to sit down and watch the latest Jake Johnson joint.

So, to set the scene, Dustin ‘Dusty’ Boyd (Jake Johnson) grew up as ‘The Hammer’ and smashed his way into the world of tennis. That was before an injury cut short his promising career. Now Dustin teaches little kids at his dad’s (Ed Harris) tennis centre, boring the children and antagonising those using the Pickleball courts. Tennis is the king, but pickleball is on the rise, and they want more and more courts. Thus, there is only one solution for this dilemma: a duel.    

Continue reading →

The Last House – Movie Review

Posted on by
Reply

TL;DR – This is a film that is trying something, but it is working in a space where other contemporaries have excelled.  

Rating: 3 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix subscription used to watch this film.

Water filling in the cracks of shattered glass.

The Last House Review Introduction

Today we are looking at something that is becoming increasingly rare in modern cinema: a genuinely original film. Not adapted, not spun off, and not based on a toy from 50 years ago. Given how uncommon these projects have become, I knew I had to give The Last House a watch.

So, to set the scene, one Sunday morning a surprise rainstorm appeared on the horizon. It felt like a normal day, but then the internet failed. But even stranger was the fact that none of the doors or windows would open. That’s okay, because you can break windows, right? No, the glass cracks but doesn’t break. Now, you and everyone you know are stuck in their houses, with only the food you happened to have inside.

Continue reading →

One Night Only – Movie Review

Posted on by
1

TL;DR – This is such a silly premise for a film, but goodness does the chemistry and commitment of the cast make it work.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

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

Owen pushing Allie out of the way.

One Night Only Review Introduction

Today we are looking at a film that might have the most preposterous premise for a story, and that is me taking into account that the ridiculous becoming normal is very much the nature of existence in this time we live in. But can you do something interesting with a preposterous premise? A Dystopian Romcon? That is what we will look at today.  

So, to set the scene, in the not-too-distant future, the United States has outlawed sex outside marriage and enforces this via sensor data chips implanted in every person that sends information about your bodies back to the government via 5G. However, for one night a year, the ban is lifted. It is here where we meet Owen (Callum Turner), who is about to propose to his girlfriend (Maya Hawke) over dinner and Allie (Monica Barbaro), who is tired of meaningless hookups and is hoping to find something more meaningful on this of all nights. That is their plan, but like an old general once said, no plans survive first contact with the enemy.

Continue reading →

Spider-Man: Brand New Day – Movie Review

Posted on by
1

TL;DR – While there are limitations from a narrative perspective, the core strength of the characters shines through in a compelling way.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is an end-credit sting.

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film.

Spider-Man sitting upside down on a skyscraper.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day Review Introduction

This was a bit of an odd film for me, because of a number of factors. The first being my love of the MCU has been waning; I have not had the time or strength to keep up with its Disney+ outputs, and some of its recent films have been profoundly lacklustre. To add to this, I found the resolution of the last film, Spider-Man: No Way Home, to feel more like corporate maintenance than compelling storytelling. But given half the cast of the Odyssey is here, I thought it prudent to give it at least a go on its own terms.
 
So, to set the scene, it has been a hard couple of years for Peter Parker (Tom Holland), while Spider-Man (Tom Holland) has been out there becoming the hero of New York as he always wanted to be. Peter has lived a closed-off life, as the memory of the loss of Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) looms large. It doesn’t help that his two best friends, MJ (Zendaya) and Ned (Jacob Batalon), both forgot who he was and went off to live their own lives. But when an unknown entity starts attacking the Department of Damage Control by jumping between people, Peter realises there could be a dangerous enemy afoot, unless the imbalances in his own body take him down first.

Continue reading →