Tag Archives: Drama

Tár – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A phenomenal performance in a severely dull film   

Rating: 3 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid to see this film

Records on the floor.

Tár Review –

This will be a difficult film to review because it is a movie of two very distinct parts, performance and narrative. Thus it becomes a work of incredible highs and deep lows, and trying to pass that feels like climbing a mountain. But climb we will as we dive into this fascinatingly frustrating film.

So to set the scene, Lydia Tár (Cate Blanchett) is at the height of her career. She is the first female chief conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic, being asked to do masterclasses at the Juilliard School, she has a book coming out Tár on Tár, and she has a beautiful homelife with her wife Sharon Goodnow (Nina Hoss) and daughter Petra (Mila Bogojevic). But there is a growing sense that Tár is walking on shifting sands as actions of the past start bubbling to the surface.     

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Creed III – Movie Review

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TL;DR – Creed III is electric, every punch matters, every emotion hits, and I was captivated from start to finish.   

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.

Creed III Review –

If there was ever a film to remind you not to judge a book by its cover, it is the first Creed film. Creed I was a film that, on the surface, felt like it would not amount to much. A spin-off of a film series that itself had already gone well past its prime. But boy, was I wrong. That first Creed was an emotional punch to the stomach while also being a technical masterclass in how to film boxing for cinema. Then they followed it up with Creed II, which came out swinging just as much as the first. Now, Creed III is one of my most anticipated films this year as we see if they can pull off a hat trick.    

So to set the scene, since winning his rematch with Viktor Drago (Florian Munteanu), Adonis “Donnie” Creed (Michael B. Jordan) has been going from strength to strength on and off the ring, especially in his family life with Bianca Taylor (Tessa Thompson) and their daughter Amara (Mila Davis-Kent). But when he finally retires, his past comes back to haunt him. When Donnie (Thaddeus James Mixson Jr) was young, he had a friend Dame (Spence Moore II). But, unlike Donnie, Dame never got a lifeline and has spent a long time in jail. Now he is out, Dame (Jonathan Majors) is looking to show the world that he deserves to be in the ring, that it was not handed to him, and now former friends find each other on opposite sides.

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Women Talking – Movie Review

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TL;DR –  A stunningly devastating film, brimming with empathy and power in equal measures  

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 – This film contains scenes that may cause distress

A mother comforts her daughter.

Women Talking Review –

When I walked in to see Women Talking, I was unsure exactly what I would see. Oh, I expected it to be heavy in tone and subject matter. But I had no idea how they would address that subject, given the immense complexities baked into the scenario. A scenario that was inspired by actual events of the worst kind. However, as I walked out of the theatre, I knew I had witnessed something profound.   

So to set the scene, in an isolated Mennonite colony in rural USA, the women have been plagued by attacks where they wake up covered in bruises on their legs. The community leaders say it is demons or that the women are making it up until one of the attackers is captured trying to sneak into a teenager’s bedroom. The police round up many of the community’s men accused or fingered in the attacks, but instead of supporting their women, the men gather up everything they can sell to go into town and post bail for the attackers. They will return in two days, and the women must forgive the attackers or be excommunicated. They have three choices, do nothing, stay and fight, or leave, which have dramatic repercussions on their lives.

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Magic Mike’s Last Dance – Movie Review

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TL;DR – Third time is the charm, as the latest entry finds the right balance between fun and drama    

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid-credit sequence

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

Warning – There is scenes with flashing lights

The Rattigan.

Magic Mike’s Last Dance Review –

A press screening invite rarely comes with homework, but when I sent the invitation to see Magic Mike’s Last Dance, I realised that I had never watched the previous films Magic Mike and Magic Mike XXL. I had heard of them and seen moments like the petrol station dance. However, in all that time, I had not actually watched them. Well, this weekend, I fixed that oversite, and well, they were fine, but not exceptional, but can the third time be the charm?

So to set the scene, it has been years since Mike Lane (Channing Tatum) gave up the world of stripping, even longer since he made the fateful final ride with his friends from the Kings of Tampa. These days Mike is working as a bartender in Miami when he runs into Maxandra Mendoza (Salma Hayek Pinault) and lets her get a taste of his talents. Seeing his skill first-hand, she asks him to come to London to The Rattigan to help put together a performance that will stay with people for years to come. 

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True Spirit – Movie Review

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TL;DR – An impressively acted story that is let down by forced conflict and unnecessary padding.     

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid-credit sequence

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

The Pink Lady leaves Sydney Harbour.

True Spirit Review –

There are these moments that you remember because they touched all of society when they happened. Usually, these are moments of tragedy that cut through the world, but for Queensland and Australia, we had the moment built on triumph. Today’s film is based on that long journey by Jessica Watson across the planet.

So to set the scene, Jessica Watson (Teagan Croft) grew up on the Sunshine Coast of Queensland, Australia, where water was always on your doorstep. She learned how to sail on the open ocean, catching the wind and riding the waves here thanks to her coach Ben Bryant (Cliff Curtis). Jessica had one dream: to sail around the world by herself, which took a bit of a beating when her boat was severely damaged by a cargo ship in the 2009 trail run. But with everything going against her, Jessica is determined to make the trip before the government legislates that she can’t go.

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Knock at the Cabin – Movie Review

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TL;DR – An intense, claustrophobic look at the potential end of the world    

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is an audio queue at the end but not something you need to stay for.

Disclosure – I paid to see this film

Warning – This film contains scenes that may cause distress.

The Cabin.

Knock at the Cabin Review –

If you look across the media landscape, the post-apocalypse is all the rage at the moment, but what about an excellent old-fashioned apocalypse? A film about struggle against all odds, looking doom in the face, and maybe not getting out alive in the end. Today we look at just such a film that both embraces and is a bit sly about it simultaneously.

So to set the scene, Eric (Jonathan Groff), Andrew (Ben Aldridge), and Wen (Kristen Cui) have gotten away from the world and are spending some time relaxing in a cabin in the middle of the countryside. A perfect escape from the world, so remote there is no cell service among all the trees and picturesque lake you can swim in. It is a delight until one moment, Leonard (Dave Bautista) walks up to Wen when she is collecting grasshoppers. He tells her not to be afraid, but he and his friends need to get into the cabin her fathers are in, and they need the whole family for something special to stop the end of the world.

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Spoiler Alert – Movie Review

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TL;DR – Well, if ugly crying in the cinema surrounded by people ugly crying in a cinema is a recommendation for you, then here it is.     

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

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

A bubble being blown.

Spoiler Alert Review –

I am someone who does not mind a good cry in the cinemas. It can be cathartic and shows that the filmmakers have connected with you on an emotional level. However, there is a difference between having a good cry and being so emotionally devastated that you are ugly crying in a room full of strangers. And when I say ugly cry, I mean ugly. Well, today, we are looking at a film that did just that.

So to set the scene, Michael Ausiello (Jim Parsons) focuses his life on his work, like ranking all the Gilmore Girls from Best to Rory [which like fair]. But one night, after being dragged out to a club, he spots a man across the dance floor that smiles at him, so he waves back. Actually, Kit Cowan (Ben Aldridge) was smiling at his friend Nina (Nikki M. James) at the bar, but he took up the bait. It is the perfect meet-cute, bar the fact that, spoiler alert, we know from the start that this relationship is destined for tragedy.

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The Post-Truth World (罪後真相/Zui Hou Zhen Xiang) – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A compelling tale of murder and coverup, where there are many potential suspects, and in the end, the truth might be the biggest casualty.     

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

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

The computer monitor.

The Post-Truth World Review –

One of the most essential topics in modern times is the notion of truth and whether we can find it in our news anymore. Can you trust what you see in the news, read in the papers, or skim from the internet? With people yelling fake news at everything, how can you find the real in all the noise? Does the media care about the truth or just a narrative that can sell papers or subscriptions? It is within these questions we find our film today.  

So to set the scene, it is 2012, and all the bases are loaded, as a stadium dresses in yellow to support their team. As the game plays out below, different people’s lives start intersecting and collapsing. It is here where Zhang Zheng-yi (Edward Chen) walks out covered in blood, the blood of his now-dead girlfriend Wang Shi-yun (Tzu Hsuan Chan) and is promptly arrested and incarcerated for life. In 2019, Chang escaped jail by luring Liu Li-min (Joseph Chang), a journalist who ran the popular Dissecting the Society program back in 2012 and was at the stadium at the time of the murder. Today Li-min is trying to get a new title, True Standpoint, off the ground, and the biggest story of the year just kidnapped him. As the city begins a manhunt for Li-min, it is a moment of reflection on whether the truth matters.        

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Transfusion – Movie Review

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TL;DR – It is a film trying to explore some essential issues. However, it felt like we only got a surface-level analysis.    

Rating: 3 out of 5.

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

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

Blood in the sink.

Transfusion Review –

It is one of modern society’s great tragedies, actually no, not a tragedy, embarrassments, that we send people off to war and wars with dubious pretensions, and then we ignore them when they return home. We give lip service to trying to do something about it, but the damage remains. Today’s film shines a light on that trauma and how it can have generational effects.     

So to set the scene, an Australian special forces team in The Middle East infiltrates a secured compound at night. The mission was a success until a surprise combatant sneaks up on the team, and Ryan Logan (Sam Worthington) is shot protecting his team. Back home, Ryan must adjust back to life with his wife Justine (Phoebe Tonkin) and son Billy (Gilbert Bradman), but where the trauma of the past still lingers. But when tragedy strikes, the bond between a father and a son is stretched to breaking point.     

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The Last of Us – When You’re Lost in the Darkness – TV Review

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TL;DR – A faithful and tense introduction to the series.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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

The Last of Us Review –

I came into this week’s The Last of Us with some trepidation. On the one hand, the series, especially the second game, holds a special place in my heart as it was the streaming event that sucked me into this world. However, since then, many shows have come into this post-apocalyptic space, and some, like Station Eleven, have been transcendent. My question is, has The Last of Us missed the bus, or is it the perfect time to jump back into this world?   

So to set the scene, it is September 26th, 2003, in Austin, Texas, and there is a sense of strange calm as Joel (Pedro Pascal), and his daughter Sarah (Nico Parker) celebrate his birthday as the news reports something weird happening in Jakarta. Joel and his brother Tommy (Gabriel Luna) have to work a double shift to get the house they are working on fixed. While Sarah is out getting her father’s watch mended, police start tearing up the streets. Hours later, things move from bad to worse as the city implodes, and Joel desperately tries to get his family to safety. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead for the show and Schindler’s List.    

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