One Battle After Another – Movie Review

TL;DR – This is a chaotic, uncomfortable, taut, and downright weird film, but it is also completely captivating from the opening frame to the closing credits.  

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film.

A road meandering up and down over some hills.

Setting the Scene

2025 has been an odd year for noted Indie directors trying to tackle the political situation in America at the moment, because most of them have floundered in the attempt. They have been trying to capture the moment, but their stories get lost in comedic attempts or a poor understanding of the very topics they want to analyse. However, today we are looking at a film that just might have cracked the code with one secret weapon that gets lost in cinema at times, intentionality.   

So, to set the scene, we open as a number of self-labelled revolutionaries, including Pat Calhoun (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Perfidia Beverly Hills (Teyana Taylor), who are staking out an immigration detention facility near the border in California. In the middle of the night, they strike, liberating the camp and beginning their revolution against corporate and oppressive elements of America. The French 75 group places bombs in courthouses, robs banks, and causes general calamity. However, you don’t make that much noise without attracting foes, and little do they know that Colonel Steven J. Lockjaw (Sean Penn) is hunting them all down, or maybe just Perfidia.   

Continue reading

Paradise: Season 1 – TV Review

TL;DR – Cornerstoned by some fantastic performances, we explore a world where things might be perfect, as long as you don’t look any deeper.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ service that viewed this series.

Xavier walks up some stairs.

Paradise Review

It might just be the current climate, or the fact that rewatching The West Wing makes me feel a growing sense of naivety. But I have been trying to find a new political or politically adjacent series to stick my teeth into. My first attempt was the delightful The Residence, which made its mark. But I wanted to find something with a bit more bite, and today I think I found it.

So, to set the scene, Secret Service Agent Xavier Collins (Sterling K. Brown) was doing his usual daily rounds in the sleepy town of Paradise. The sort of town where you can jog to the President’s house as part of your morning commute. Xavier did the usual handoff to the agents on site, including Jane Driscoll (Nicole Brydon Bloom) and Billy Pace (Jon Beavers). However, something was off that morning, POTUS, Cal Bradford (James Marsden) was still in bed, which was odd even for a man who spends most of his day in a bathrobe. But as he goes into the President’s room, he is accosted by the sight of blood and the body of the President. Xavier should call it in right away, but he locks the site down before word can escape, and before he loses control of the first murder scene in Paradise’s history. Now, from here, we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

Continue reading