Tag Archives: Film Review

Movie Review – Once Upon a Time in… Hollywood

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TL;DR – I have used many adjectives to describe Quentin Tarantino’s films before but dull is a new one here.    

Score – 2.5 out of 5 stars

Post-Credit Scene – There is an end-credit scene

Once Upon a Time in... Hollywood. Image Credit: Sony.

Review –

Quentin Tarantino is a very specific kind of director and sort of puts him in a category where I find a lot of people either love or hate his films. I have found myself falling into both categories in the past with me adoring some of his films like Django Unchained and really not liking some of his other works like The Hateful Eight. However, whatever the case may be, I have always walked out of his films with strong feelings one way or the other, but not this time, this time I walked out looking at my watch to see how much time that took.

So to set the scene, we open in on Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) star of the most popular show on TV Bounty Law as he gives an interview with his long-time stuntman Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt). Flash forward to the end of the decade and after a failed swing at movies Rick has been demoted to playing the bad guy or ‘heavy’ in other people’s shows and Cliff is still there as his driver and assistant. Well, one day a new opportunity arises for Rick, a real chance at something, but what neither Rick nor Cliff knows is that there are people out there that do not have everyone’s best interests at heart and a friendly smile might hide violent personality.

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Movie Review – The Little Switzerland (La Pequeña Suiza)

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TL;DR – A fun little film about small towns and that chaos they can cause for themselves.

Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars

Post-Credit Scene – There is an end-credit scene

The Little Switzerland (La Pequeña Suiza). Image Credit: Netflix.

Review –

Ah, small-town life. If there was ever a concept that can transcend language and culture it is the chaos that a small town can find itself in if properly motivated. Today we get to look at a film that has one of the more interesting setups that I have seen and uses it to tell a delightful story about what happens when many competing visions clash together.   

So to set the scene, we open in on the town of Tellería which is located in the Castile-León Automatous Community of Spain but they feel they should be in Basque given the vast majority of the town identifies that way. For years the town has campaigned for this and just when it looked like it would finally happen, politics above their heads means that they are stuck as part of a compromise. Well all is not completely lost, because on that same day as the great embarrassment, local son Gorka (Jon Plazaola), heritage specialist Yolanda (Maggie Civantos), and priest Don Anselmo (Secun de la Rosa) stumble across a secret tomb in the local church in it is the grave of the son of William Tell the famous Swiss hero and reveals that it is a lost Swiss Canton. Now, the town has an option because all of a sudden that is more Swiss than Spanish even though they are Basque.          

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Movie Review – Invader ZIM: Enter the Florpus

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TL;DR – A blast from the past that does the twin jobs of bringing closure to the past but also propelling the series forward.     

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

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

Invader ZIM: Enter the Florpus. Image Credit: Netflix.

Review –

Back in the day, there was an irreverent, abstract, absurd series about an alien trying to conquer the world. Who spends more time yelling at the camera that accomplishing anything. This was a show that created a world that was based around a power hierarchy of who is the tallest among them and it just works. It was a series that was a half-ridiculous and half-scathing commentary on the modern world. However, it was a show that kind of just ended rather than going out on a strong note. Well, it seems this is the year of the rebooting old cartoon shows, and I could not be happier.    

So to set the scene, it has been ages since the alien Zim (Richard Steven Horvitz) and his companion Gir (Rikki Simons) have been spotted on Earth. While he has been hiding, his nemesis Dib (Andy Berman) has been focused on nothing else, including staying on a chair watching cameras forgoing all things like bathing. But when Dib was at his lowest, Zim returns because Phase 1 is complete and Phase 2 ready to start … if Zim could just remember what Phase 2 actually was.

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Movie Review – Toy Story 4

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TL;DR – A fitting end to a series that I have loved   

Score – 4.5 out of 5 stars

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

Toy Story 4. Image Credit: Disney/Pixar.

Review –

I am not sure if I have ever walked into a cinema with as much trepidation as I did when seeing Toy Story 4. I have mentioned in the past how much I adored the conclusion to the trilogy in Toy Story 3, indeed it is one of my favourite animated films of all time. Given they had wrapped everything up so neatly in 3 I was wondering what was going to be the point? Was this just a cheap cash grab, was this going to be a victory lap or was this just an epilogue? Well, it ended up being a combination of the last two and thankfully not the first.

So to set the scene, it has been a little while since Toy Story 3 and Woody (Tom Hanks), Buzz (Tim Allen) and the rest of the gang are getting settled in their new home with Bonnie (Madeleine McGraw). It has been a difficult transition for Woody because he is no longer the leader of the group of toys anymore. Well, Woody needs to be helping so he sneaks into Bonnie’s first day of school and to comfort her he sneaks her some crafting supplies. All good, Bonnie is happy and Woody was not caught, so no problems. Okay, so there is one small hitch because Bonnie created a new friend Forky (Tony Hale) and he just came alive and he is about to go AWOL during their family vacation.

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Movie Review – The Faceless Man

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TL;DR – A film with some good ideas that is unfortunately bogged down some truly frustrating elements    

Score – 2 out of 5 stars

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

The Faceless Man. Image Credit: Chapter 5 Studios.

Review –

This is one of those films that is really difficult to review for a number of reasons. First I feel that I am far from the target audience also I am not an expert in Ozploitation sub-genre of horror films. However, while I might not be able to be as sophisticated in my critiques as usually, I’ll give it my best.

So to set the scene, we open in on Sophie (Sophie Thurling) as she sits in a hospital waiting for treatment for cancer. While she waits a man comes up to her, her father Harrison (Brendan Bacon) and it is clear from the first moment that their relationship is very estranged. Three-years-later and Sophie have beaten cancer enjoying a life of alcohol and drugs and living every moment. She, Kyle (Lucas Pittaway), Dave Eddison (Martin Astifo), Chad Blavinski (Sunny S. Walia), Brad Barns (Daniel Facciolo), and Nina Hancock (Lorin Kauffeld) head off into the countryside to Orange Lodge to have a quiet weekend only to find themselves in the crossroads of different warring parties.

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Movie Review – Late Night

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TL;DR – It has strong characters, a great story, and some of the best laughs so far this year while still having substance behind it.   

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

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

Late Night. Image Credit: Amazon Studios.

Review –

Well, 2019 has not been the best year for comedy, with very few films getting that double goal of being both funny but also having some substance to it. However, when I walked into Late Night I was more than a little optimistic about its prospects. That is because the writer and star Mindy Kaling is an amazing comedian and Emma Thompson is always bringing her A-game. Well, as I walked out it was nice to realise that I was able to get at least something right this year.

So to set the scene, Katherine Newbury (Emma Thompson) is the first-ever female host of a late-night talk show and has been a mainstay of the late-night world for decades. She has won multiple Emmys and awards but the show has stagnated over the last couple of years and her new boss Caroline Morton (Amy Ryan) is looking to shake things up with a replacement host. Meanwhile, Molly Patel (Mindy Kaling) works at a chemical plant and uses the plant’s connections to interview for a job she has always wanted as a writer at a late-night comedy show. Her interview went poorly, but Katherine now needs to shake things up and well this might be it.

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Movie Review – Uyare (Rise)

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TL;DR – A powerful look at overcoming adversity thrust upon you by a cruel and uncaring world     

Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars

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

Uyare (Rise). Image Credit: S Cube Films.

Review –

Today we are looking at a film that charts the lows and highs of someone who is recovering from one of the worst breaches of trust imaginable. This is a film that knows how to cast a light on a real problem in society by creating strength rather than spectacle.  

So to set the scene, we open in as Pallavi Raveendran (Parvathy Thiruvothu) who is taking her first flight in a plane and in that moment she found that joy that is discovering your passion. This is what she wanted to be when she grew up and she focused her life on becoming a pilot. When she finally gets to flight school, everything is going well until her boyfriend Govind (Asif Ali) could no longer accept the fact that she is the successful one in the relationship.  

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Movie Review – Jaoon Kahan Bata Ae Dil

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TL;DR – It is said that a film succeeds if it makes you feel something, well if that is all it took than this film would be a success, but considering this made me feel revulsion and anger, I think it takes more than that.    

Score – 1 out of 5 stars

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

Warning – This film contains extensive scenes of abuse

Jaoon Kahan Bata Ae Dil. Image Credit: Netlifx.

Review –

Okay I’m going to be honest right from the start, I am coming to this film as someone who is from outside of India and does not have the most extensive experience with Indian cinema, so there may be some context I am missing. Also, by writing this review I feel like I am positioning myself in the same position as some of the people criticised in the film, an irony that is not lost on me. But all of that being said, you can skip to the end if you want because I do not in any shape or form recommend this film.

So to set the scene, we open in on a couple a man (Rohit Kokate) and women (Khushboo Upadhyay) who are walking along a coastal boardwalk in Mumbai. They are in a relationship but they are not married so they need to be discreet given the conservative aspects of Indian society. But as they talk it is clear that both of them want different things out of the relationship.

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Movie Review – Rocko’s Modern Life: Static Cling

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TL;DR – This is a very interesting reboot of a beloved cartoon from the 1990s but I am not sure that it hit its mark.  

Rocko's Modern Life: Static Cling. Image Credit: Netflix.

Review –

I grew up in the 1990s, so for me when I think about those cartoons that situated my life for the weird and abstract toons of the peak-Nickelodeon. Shows like Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, The Angry Beavers, and of course the weirdly absurd Rocko’s Modern Life were very much a part of that. Rocko’s Modern Life is/was a show that used its abstract art style and storytelling to shine a light on the world. Now, it has been years since I have watched an episode so when a new special was released, well I knew it was time to jump back in.  

So to set the scene, since the end of the last season of Rocko’s Modern Life, Rocko (Carlos Alazraqui), Heffer Wolfe (Tom Kenny), Spunky, and Filburt (Mr. Lawrence) have spent the last twenty years flying around space after a rocket took their house into space. After all that time, at least their mutual love of the Fat Heads brings them together. But tragedy strikes when the VCR of the show dies, the one thing keeping them sane. Thankfully, at that moment they find the remote for the rocket lodged in Heffer’s posterior. But when they arrive back to O-Town, a lot has changed.

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Movie Review – Pegasus (Fei Chi Ren Sheng, 飞驰人生)

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TL;DR – An exploration of what it means to come back from nothing, good at times, but always held back a little bit from being great    

Score – 3 out of 5 stars

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

Pegasus (Fei Chi Ren Sheng, 飞驰人生). Image Credit: CMC Pictures.

Review –

I am and always will be a sucker for a good redemption story, where someone comes back from nothing only to triumph. Today we get to explore this idea through the lens of professional racing. Which is always good because at the very least you will get some good car scenes throughout. However, while Pegasus is an interesting film, it is always holding itself back just that little bit more than it should have.

So to set the scene, Zhang Chi (Shen Teng) was one of if not the best rally car driver in all of China. However, one day he decided to take part in an illegal street race that was intercepted by the police. Five years later after serving a suspension, and having to sell everything to pay off his debts, he is a free man. He wants to get back behind the wheel and reclaim his championship for his son but in those five years the game has changed and there is a whole patch of new young drivers.  

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