Tag Archives: Jessica De Gouw

The Union – Movie Review

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TL;DR – While it is a perfectly okay spy film, all it does is remind me of better films.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

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

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

Shooting targets.

The Union Review –

Today, we look at a film that should have everything going for it. Big names to anchor the proceedings, big action scenes, car chases, hopping across the world. Everything that you would want from a Spy Film. However, while watching it, I just kept thinking the whole time that I have seen this done better elsewhere.  

So, to set the scene, Agent Hall (Halle Berry) is working on what should have been a simple extraction of an asset from a hotel Trieste. However, just as they are about to leave, things start falling apart as the team is picked off one by one. Soon, all but Hall are dead, and the hard drive is taken. Meanwhile, in New Jersey, Mike McKenna (Mark Wahlberg) is living his life, working on bridges, being a good friend, and living paycheck to paycheck. When Roxanne Hall, his old high school flame, walks into the same bar. It is time to reconnect, time to get knocked out, and time to get kidnapped by the not-CIA spy agency, The Union. Because they need skills, only Mike has: a nobody with no history.

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The Portable Door – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A delightful romp through a world where coincidence can be bought and manipulated.     

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film

The portable door.

The Portable Door Review –

Few things get me into the cinema as quickly as ‘made by The Jim Henson Company’. No matter what they are involved in, you know it will be fascinating to watch. But add in some lovely Magical Realism and a cast of zany characters, and you have a must-watch.

So to set the scene, Paul Carpenter (Patrick Gibson) is down on his luck and trying to find a job to pay the bills before he gets kicked out of his flat. All he has to do is get to the café. What could go wrong? Well, everything, apparently. Both shoelaces might break, the trousers might have a stain, and a dog might run off with your scarf. But what if, coincidentally, running after the dog, you find a small door for applicants, and what if you find yourself in the company JW Wells and Co that is expecting you even though you never applied for something? But what if, in that interview, you notice that the cracks in the wall remarkably resemble a map of London? You might find yourself employed by a company that believes that coincidence can be manipulated and controlled.   

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The Drover’s Wife: The Legend of Molly Johnson – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A heart-wrenching look at life in Australia on the cusp of the 1900s and at issues that are just as relevant today.    

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

Warning – This film depicts scenes of abuse

Disclosure – I paid to see this film

Sheep being headed across the plains

The Drover’s Wife: The Legend of Molly Johnson Review –

There are many touchstones in Australian literature that you must look at in school, and one of the big ones from the 1800s is Henry Lawson. One of their more famous works is that of The Drover’s Wife, a story of life on the ‘frontier’ in 1983. It is an interesting tale of survival against the elements, but it also glosses over many realities of the time. Today we are looking at a film that takes that central premise and then reinterprets the story from a different perspective.

So to set the scene, it is 1893, and high up in the Snowy Mountains, a lone mother, Molly Johnson (Leah Purcell), is watching over her home and four children while her husband is away droving sheep on the high plains. Her husband is away for months at a time, so she has to be resourceful, like when she takes out a wandering bullock that was about to attack her kids. But as she is cooking the meat, the new town Sergeant Klintoff (Sam Reid) and his wife Louisa (Jessica De Gouw) arrive destitute after losing it all in the river. Molly helps them and sends them on their way because they can take her kids to town, so she can give birth uninterrupted.

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