We Bury the Dead – Movie Review

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

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

A zombie opens its eye.

We Bury the Dead Review Introduction

Today’s offering has been bubbling around in the Australian cinematic landscape for quite a bit before it got its theatrical release earlier this year. Unfortunately, while there were no well-timed screenings near me at the time, it has now made its way onto streaming, and this is the perfect time for me to give it a watch.  

So, to set the scene, one day an accidental detonation of an experimental weapon off the coast of Tasmania destroyed the capital city of Hobart. However, an EMP wave stretched further, destroying the brains of all living creatures on the island. It is a catastrophe of epic proportions, and a whole mobilisation effort has been activated to help identify and recover the bodies of the 500,000-odd dead. However, now and again, some of the dead wake up, and they are no longer themselves. Ava Newman (Daisy Ridley) is one of the volunteers, hoping to find out what happened to her husband, who was at a conference on the south of the island. Those who do reanimate are completely docile and not a problem, or so the Army says.

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Two Years Later: Season 1 – TV Review

TL;DR – I was surprised just how quickly this series got its claws into me as I watched all the dates pan out.  

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Paramount+ service used to view this series.

A bus driving across a bridge.

Two Years Later Review Introduction

Today, we look at a series that hits maybe a touch closer than I was expecting. There is nothing quite like a show that dives into situation that I live each day, set in the city I live in. I mean, not the romance thing, but the same bus each day, on the cusp of COVID in the city of Brisbane. This is a feeling that I found myself in when I loaded up that first date and was transported kilometres rather than continents.  

So, to set the scene, in early 2020, Emily Wright (Phoebe Tonkin) and Ryan Wright (Brenton Thwaites), no relations, are busmates in Brisbane, who take the same bus every day. They are good friends, well as good as you can have in just a bus situation. However, with the growing tide of masks and threats of lockdown, you never know when you will see someone again. Two years later. They find themselves on the same bus again for the first time. Taking a gamble, Ryan asks Emily out on a date or maybe eight, and for the first time, they share something as intimate as a phone number. But did they just destroy their bus-thing, or start something new?  

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How to Make Gravy Review: A Deep Dive into Generational Trauma

TL;DR – I was not sure what to expect with this film going, but a deep exploration of generational trauma was the surprise that the film needed, that and gravy.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

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

Warning – Contains scenes that may cause distress.

Art of rescuing his dad from jail.

How to Make Gravy Review

One of the many odd traditions that happen in an Australian Christmas, along with seafood for Christmas lunch and the need to make Santa learn how to surf in his winter outfit for some reason, is that a song about making gravy becomes fantastically popular. It is a sad song of regret and longing for the family at a time when connections are fraught, and it has always felt like an odd choice for a Christmas song, but I didn’t get a say in that collective cultural choice. But will that song make a good film? Well, that is the question we will look at today.

So, to set the scene, last Christmas, everything changed, especially when it was the first Christmas without their grandmother. But no matter what happens, the family comes together and quietly judges that Joe (Daniel Henshall) lost his job. There is the joy of all the family coming together, but then the undercurrent of loss because one person is no longer there. Joe was struggling with everything and just does not want to talk to everyone, even though wants him to speak. Soon, a tipping point was reached, and Joe didn’t come home. Now, all his son Angus (Jonah Wren Phillips) wants for Christmas is to see his dad again.

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Movie Review – Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales

TL;DR – This is a paint by numbers film with no direction or heart, a real disappointment, and the better title is probably Pirates of The Caribbean: Coincidence on the High Seas

Score – 2 out of 5 stars

P.S. – There is a post-credit scene

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. Image Credit: Disney.

Review

So here we are looking at the fifth film in the Pirates of the Caribbean series, and I’m sitting here wondering where it all went wrong. The first Pirates of the Caribbean was one of those breaths of fresh air that pop up every now and again, a brilliant standalone film, reinvigorating a genre of film that had disappeared, and it had one of the greatest character entrances in film history. Its two follow-up films which completed a trilogy of sorts were not as good as the first but fine films in their own right. However, the last film felt more like a continuation out of necessity rather than a new story that they felt needed to be told, and this continues in Dead Men Tell No Tales. So at this point, it should be no surprise that I didn’t like the fifth Pirates of The Caribbean film so we’re going to break down what worked and what didn’t and one of those lists is going to be bigger than the other.

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Movie Review – Gods of Egypt

TL;DR – You will forget this movie within moments of watching it, I mean I had to take notes so I didn’t forget, average in every possible way.

Score – 2 out of 5 stars

Gods of Egypt. Image Credit: Lionsgate.

Review

Ah Gods of Egypt, you are the very embodiment of mediocracy, you are the ‘slice of white bread’ of cinema, nothing wrong with white bread, but it is inherently lacking in substance. So before I go ahead and rip into the film for the next few paragraphs I should make it clear that Gods of Egypt is just average, not necessarily bad, but just tremendously average. So what I am going to do is use Gods of Egypt as a case study on how an expensive film can come out just so bland.

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