Tag Archives: Drama

The Airport Chaplain: God Complex [S1E1] – TV Review

Posted on by
Reply

TL;DR – This premiere was a good grounding episode for all the drama, conflict, and vibes of the series.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I watched this on SBS On Demand.

Airport Chaplain written on the back on a vest.

The Airport Chaplain Review Introduction

When you hear that Hugo Weaving is popping into an SBS series all about being an eccentric airport chaplain, well, you need to see what all that is about. It is one of those odd combinations that draws you in, and I am glad that it is also interesting.

So, to set the scene, it is a chaotic day at a Melbourne airport: planes are being delayed, a flight from Shanghai has been circling for half an hour with a dead body on board, and there is a security incident happening. It is one of those days when you need a fixer to help smooth these things over, which is a good thing: Airport Chaplain Tobias Wallace (Hugo Weaving) is on the case. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

Continue reading →

The Dog Stars – Movie Review

Posted on by
Reply

TL;DR – A fascinating exploration of what it means to be human.

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.

A ruined Denver City Hall.

The Dog Stars Review Introduction

In recent years we have seen a large rise in post-apocalyptic stories, especially around viruses, making their way onto the screen. Some of these are incredibly thought-provoking works of art, such as Earth Abides, Station Eleven, PLUR1BUS, and season 1 of The Last of Us. But others still have not hit the mark, such as Greenland 2, Silent Zone, In the Lost Lands, and season 2 of The Last of Us. At their core, these stories work best when they are interrogating humanity once all the niceness has been stripped away, and I hope this is what we get today.        

So, to set the scene, the world ended. A flu pandemic ripped through the world before we knew what was happening; most of humanity was dead. Hig (Jacob Elordi) was a commercial pilot in the old world, a world where his wife and child once lived. Now, he is mostly alone, using his plane to go out and hunt for supplies for himself and Bangley (Josh Brolin). They are surviving, but they are not living. Can you move on after such a tragedy, when there are human raiders or worse waiting out there? Can you find hope in a humanity that has been brought to the precipice of extinction? Now, before we jump into the review proper, I want to make clear that I have not read the book this is based on, so my review will not be covering the adaptation, but I have added the book to my reading list after watching the film.  

Continue reading →

Tuner – Movie Review

Posted on by
Reply

TL;DR – A fascinating exploration of a man at the precipice of a bad decision for good reasons.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film.

The locking mechanism of a safe.

Tuner Review Introduction

There are some people you know that when they give a film recommendation, you need to check it out, because whether you vibe with a film or not, their recommendations are always interesting. Today is just such a film, one that has intrigued me from afar, but even more so now that I have seen it up close.

So, to set the scene, deep in New York City lives famed piano tuner Harry Horowitz (Dustin Hoffman), who is training his apprentice, Niki White (Leo Woodall). Harry has progressive dementia, and Niki has perfect pitch but lives with hyperacusis, a sensitivity to sound, which means that he must wear hearing protection for most of his life, especially around loud noises. After being forced to come back to a house late at night to tune a piano when all the tradespeople have gone, he may have helped some criminals crack a safe. It is something that he would entertain, until Harry is hospitalised, money is needed, and maybe this is his way out.  

Continue reading →

We Bury the Dead – Movie Review

Posted on by
Reply

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.

Continue reading →

The End of Oak Street – Movie Review

Posted on by
1

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 →

The Odyssey (2026) – Movie Review

Posted on by
1

TL;DR – The Odyssey is a rare blockbuster that combines spectacle, emotion, and myth in equal measure. It left me awestruck, unsettled, and completely engrossed from beginning to end.

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.

Warning – Contains scenes which may cause distress.

Warning – Contains scenes with flashing lights.

Ships on the ocean at sunset.

The Odyssey Review Introduction

There are many foundational myths across the world, such as the Epic of Gilgamesh, Kebra Nagast, and Beowulf, to name a few. Each is written in a style of myth and history in a way that evokes the human condition. Today we look at Christopher Nolan’s dive into this world, taking on the unenviable task of bringing The Odyssey to the big screen.  

So, to set the scene, it has been twenty years since Odysseus (Matt Damon) left on the command of Agamemnon (Benny Safdie) to siege Troy and return the ‘kidnapped’ Helen (Lupita Nyong’o) to Menelaus (Jon Bernthal). However, it has been eight years since the city fell to the Trojan Horse gambit, and Odysseus has still not returned home to his wife Penelope (Anne Hathaway) and son Telemachus (Tom Holland). This has been enough time for new suitors to start sniffing around, trying to gain the kingship of Ithaca via marrying Penelope. She has held them off for years, even as they use Zeus’ Sacred law to bleed her dry with banquet after banquet. Penelope holds on, partly because she knows they will kill her son as soon as a new heir is born, but also because deep down in her heart, she knows that Odysseus is alive out there somewhere.

Continue reading →

Disclosure Day – Movie Review

Posted on by
Reply

TL;DR – I can see this being a very divisive film, but it completely captured me. Hook, line, and sinker.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

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

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

Camera flashes go off.

Disclosure Day Review Introduction

When someone tells you that Steven Spielberg, David Koepp, John Williams, and the gang are teaming up for what might be the last time, it doesn’t matter what the film is, you know you must see it. I don’t think I have ever said yes to an invitation as quickly as I did here. And it was so worth it.
 
So, to set the scene, we open in a crash of bodies as a wrestling match is in full swing. But we are not here for the clashing brawny men; we are here for a man with a backpack that looks out of place. For Daniel Kellner is not here for sport; he is here to be part of an exchange. All the highly classified information he stole from the Wardex corporation was for his partner Jane (Eve Hewson). But Daniel is not just a helpless analyst; he has seen the information he stole, so he knows exactly what pressure point to use against the head of Wardex, Noah Scanlon (Colin Firth), and soon everyone is on the run.

Continue reading →

Touch Me – Movie Review

Posted on by
Reply

TL;DR – While this is a profoundly weird and visually interesting film, the subject matter almost became a walking red flag, undercutting any progress the film could make.

Rating: 1.5 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I was sent a screener of this film.

Warning – Contains scenes which may cause distress.

The four main cast illuminated in red light.

Touch Me Review Introduction

I will always prefer a film that takes risks rather than playing it safe, like having one man battle Hundreds of Beavers or piercing the veil of nostalgic memory through old videos in Aftersun. However, when you make a big swing at doing something profoundly odd, sometimes you miss, and I feel that is the sort of film we are looking at today.
 
So, to set the scene, we open with Joey (Olivia Taylor Dudley) engaging in some immersion therapy, recounting the story of the time she met and then ‘met’ an ‘alien’ called Brian (Lou Taylor Pucci). Joey has been trying to move on with her life, but she keeps getting brought back to that night, bringing with it many conflicting memories. But when her and her roommate Craig’s (Jordan Gavaris) house floods from a non-water plumbing issue and becomes uninhabitable, she has only one choice left, to go back to Brian.  

Continue reading →

Michael – Movie Review

Posted on by
1

TL;DR – A complicated film about a complicated person that stops just short of having to draw any lines in the sand by creating an interesting framing device for its narrative.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

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

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

Warning – Contains scenes which may cause distress.

Warning – Contains scenes with flashing lights.

The crowd cheers for Michael.

Michael Review Introduction

Ever since the onslaught that was Bohemian Rhapsody, the cinema space has been full of other musical biopics trying to recreate that lightning in a bottle, assuming you rate Bohemian Rhapsody highly in the first place. We had the fascinating Kneecap, the historically revisionist  The Greatest Showman, and the shameless Oscar grab of A Complete Unknown, to name a few. However, there are always new musicians out there ready for their musical biopic, and today’s entry takes us to the complicated world of Michael Jackson. Now, given this is a movie about a real person’s life, someone who lived not that long ago, we won’t be as stringent with spoilers in this review as we would for a fictional work.

So, to set the scene, throughout the history of 20th-century music, few people have had the same reach and popularity as Michael Jackson (Jaafar Jackson). Even as a child, Michael’s (Juliano Krue Valdi) talent was clear to anyone who could see or hear. But talent can be a gift, and it can be a burden. It can lift a family from obscurity into the lounge rooms of every house in America and the world, and it can also rip that family apart.

Continue reading →

Deadloch: Season Two – TV Review

Posted on by
1

TL;DR – This is a series that fires more chaos at you in the space of thirty seconds than I have ever seen fired at you in thirty seconds.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

Warning – Contains scenes which may cause distress.

A Crocodile.

Deadloch Review Introduction

I had no idea what I was getting into when I sat down to watch a Nordic noir translocated into the Tasmanian wilderness, and the crazy turned up to 11. Season 1 was a wild ride, but it was very Tasmanian-coded. So, I was a touch concerned when they relocated the series up north, literally as far as you could get from Tasmania from a distance, weather, temperature, and general humidity perspective. However, given how well the first season went, I had to find out if it could survive the shift, and I can now say that it has not lost one iota of momentum when it comes to the chaos.  

So, to set the scene, up in the Northern Territory, in a town called Barra Creek, a local croc tour is taking a bunch of tourists out on the river. But tragedy strikes when they find the local bull-crocodile has been murdered, but even more concerning was what was in the late crocodile’s mouth. Thankfully, Dulcie Collins (Kate Box) and Eddie Redcliffe (Madeleine Sami) were already in the area and were able to give a hand before the local detective looking into some missing Swedish backpackers came and made a mess of everything. The only issue, okay, one of many issues, is that Eddie used to live here back in the day. Now we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there may be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

Continue reading →