Tag Archives: Heather Mitchell

Two Years Later: Season 1 – TV Review

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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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Jones Family Christmas – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A fun, delightful romp through something we have all experienced, a big family Christmas dinner where nothing goes right.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

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

Warning – contains scenes that may cause distress.

The Australian countryside.

Jones Family Christmas Review –

It is getting to the end of the year, and one of the many constants is that Stan is going to release a Christmas movie. It is one of those odd Australian traditions that have started over the last few years, and they all tend to be charming in their own way. Well, it is time for 2023’s entry, where we end up in rural Victoria.
 
So to set the scene, it is coming close to Christmas time, and Heather Jones (Heather Mitchell) is rejoicing for the first time in the age all of her children Christina (Ella Scott Lynch), Danny (Nicholas Denton), and Alex (Max McKenna) are all coming home. There is tension because it is not good timing for many reasons. For some, it is their first time home from London. For others, they just got dumped, and others are just acting odd. But as all the usual family tensions arrive, the heat, the dryness, and the breeze bring the threat of bushfires to every rural location.

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Bosch & Rockit (Ocean Boy) – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A delightful meditative film that explores two damaged lives trying to find their way, and it shines when the film focuses on that.     

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid to see this film.

Walking into the surf with the sun setting in the background.

Bosch & Rockit Review –

I am not sure why Coming-of-Age films capture you as well as they do. Every part of a person’s life should be as interesting as any other, yet there is something about these stories that always captures your attention. This is probably why we see many of these films throughout the year, but some connect better than others, and today we get to look at just such a film.

So to set the scene, we open in on the New South Wales coastline as a young boy Rockit (Rasmus King), is surfing barrels in the waves. While he is struggling with school and wanting to spend time surfing, his father Bosch (Luke Hemsworth) makes money selling weed farmed from his property in the hills. Things are going well until Bosch’s partner and local copper, Keith (Michael Sheasby), brings in a new boss Derek (Martin Sacks), who wants them to sell coke as well. This is bad, but before Bosch can work a way out of this mess, a bush fire crashes down the hill and leads the cops right to Bosch’s farm. Knowing he is rumbled by the police, both legitimate and dirty, Bosch grabs Rocket and goes on the run, or as he calls it, ‘a holiday’.

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