Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga – Movie Review

TL;DR – It is a film that roars to life and explodes on to the screen, captivating you with every turn.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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

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

Warning – Contains scenes that may cause distress.

Furiosa stands alone in the desert.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga Review

Well, this was always going to be an interesting film for me. The last entry in the Mad Max Saga, as we are now calling it, Fury Road, blasted onto the world and had a profound effect on me. It is one of those rare films that I have watched over and over again, and each time, I found a new detail I had missed before. It is in my Top 10 Films of All Time list for a reason. This means that there was some trepidation when I walked into the theatre wondering how a prequel to that film could stand up, but the second my seat reverberated with a motorcycle roar, I knew that I was in for something exciting.

So, to set the scene, a young Furiosa (Alyla Browne) is living in the green land of many mothers when she comes across three bikers who have discovered their hidden sanctuary. Being captured, her mother (Charlee Fraser) chases Furiosa across the desert till they make it to the roving camp of Praetorian Jack (Chris Hemsworth). He sees her value as the one person who knows where the place of abundance is and brings her into his collection, which is where she first meets the leader of the Citadel, Immortan Joe (Lachy Hulme).

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TV Review – SeaChange: Paradise Reclaimed, Part 1

TL;DR – Twenty years is a long time and while it is good to be back in Pearl Bay, some of the characters dragged us back to the 20th century.

Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars

SeaChange: Paradise Reclaimed. Image Credit: Channel 9.

Review

Let me take you back in time, a whole twenty years ago, which seems a lifetime now that I think about it. It was a quieter time in life, we had not yet dealt with either the millennium or even the Willennium yet. However, down here in Australia everyone and their mum’s was riveted by the story of the lost magistrate and her Diver Dan. A lot has changed in those preceding years, both in the real world, and the fictional one of the show, and it will be interesting to see if lighting can hit twice again.

So to set the scene, we open in with Laura Gibson (Sigrid Thornton) who is volunteering somewhere in Africa and not getting along with everyone, or anyone. She is throwing herself into her work to kind of distract herself for the fact that her marriage is tenuous at best, her daughter is in and out of trouble and that her career is not really going anywhere. After upsetting enough people the aid agency firers her and has her visa cancelled so she is forced to fly back to Australia to get it sorted out. With some time to kill, she decides to come back to Pearl Bay to visit her other daughter Miranda (Brooke Satchwell) who still lives there. Only to find out a lot has changed, such as her house got washed away.

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Countdown – My Personal Top 10 Films of All Time List

TL;DR – Today we countdown my Top 10 films of all time; from towns where there are a lot of ‘accidents’, to all forms of Sci-Fi, to do you know the man with six fingers on his right hand, and everything in between.

Countdown

Recently I watched the CineFix crew countdown their Top 10 films, and it had me thinking what are mine? Now it was at this point where I of course naturally spiralled as how can you reduce thousands of films that you have seen into only a Top 10. Just before I threw my hands up in resignation and chucked in the towel I happened to catch an episode of Movies with Mikey on how he determined the best sequel. With this in mind I wondered if there was a set of criteria that I could use to categorise the films into a list that I would be happy with, and after some work, I came up with the following criteria that work for me.

  • Films that are beautifully constructed
  • Films that mean something to me
  • Films that are always re-watchable
  • Films that have added to my love of the craft of cinema

With this criterion in mind I went through all the likely candidates and with a bit of a struggle I think I have been able to come to a final list, well at least until I change my mind next week, which is always a chance.

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