Tag Archives: Movie Review

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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Movie Review – Enter the Anime

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TL;DR – This is a film that blends the idea of an advertisement with the presentation of a documentary and works about as well as you would expect    

Score – 2.5 out of 5 stars

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

Enter the Anime. Image Credit: Netflix.

Review –

Growing up, one of the touchstones in my early cinematic life was anime, you would get it in the morning on TV, which I had to tape on VCR for watching later. Indeed, I think every one of my generations loathed those opening sounds of the first episode of Pokémon because it meant that Cheez TV had run out of new episodes and was starting it from the beginning again. As I grew up, it was a part of my cinematic world that I just couldn’t keep up with, and every time I go to conventions I see an array of cosplayers showing my just how many shows I have missed. Well when I saw that there was a new documentary about anime on Netflix, I was really interested because it would be nice to walk down memory lane and to explore the future again. Unfortunately, that is not quite what we got.

The premise for this documentary is that Netflix set the director Alex Burunova of working out the answer to a question ‘What is Anime’? Alex, having no experience with the genre other than a tangential understanding of its influence decided to throw herself into the world of anime and manga and the sub-cultures that consume and make it. This, of course, meant going straight to the source and talking with the directors and animators where it is all made in Japan. It is good that right from the start, they make it clear where the genesis of this project came from, it was a Netflix project and Alex was hired to make it. So when the documentary goes to Adi Shankar the creator of the Castlevania Netflix series as its first interview it feels like the right jumping-off point for the show. Well instead of jumping off from there, this is where the show stayed.

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Movie Review – No One Will Ever Know (Nadie Sabrá Nunca)

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TL;DR – A film that sines in those moments that display the contrasts in our lives.    

Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars

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

No One Will Ever Know (Nadie Sabrá Nunca). Image Credit: Netflix.

Review –

Today we continue our dive into Latin cinema, this time moving away from Mexico and across the Atlantic to Mexico. Unfortunately, I have even less experience here, besides last year’s seminal Roma. Well, today we start to rectify today by exploring a look at colliding worlds at a time of great change.   

So to set the scene, in Mexico, not that long ago, Lucía (Adriana Paz) lives in the rural countryside with her husband Rigo (Jorge A. Jimenez) and her son Braulio (Luciano Martínez). Lucía wants to move to Mexico City and take over a commercial property that her sister Sara (Claudia Santiago) found, but her husband will hear nothing of it. Lucía feels trapped where she is, and there is nothing she can do, well there is one thing, and that is escaping into her own mind, a world of intrigue and mystery.

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Movie Review – Otherhood

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TL;DR – A strong cast, dealing with important issues, even if not all of it works.

 Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars

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

Otherhood. Image Credit: Netflix.

Review –

To be honest, motherhood is not something I have a lot of experience with, so there is a little disconnect coming into a film all about that. But loneliness and frustration at your life choices, well that’s my jam. This all means that I am coming into this film with some interesting overlap. Well, let’s dive into a world of really, really, awkward conversations.  

So to set the scene, for years three women have grown up as friends brought together because their sons were best friends. However, as life has moved on all their boys Matt (Sinqua Walls), Daniel (Jake Hoffman), and Paul (Jake Lacy) have left home and now live in New York City. While they move on with their lives, their mothers Helen (Felicity Huffman), Gillian (Patricia Arquette), and Carol (Angela Bassett) feel left behind especially on mother’s day when no one calls. Well on that day, they have an annual tradition of getting together to catch up and talk about their lives over a lot of bourbon. Well, this time, they decide that enough is enough, and get in a car and drive down to the city to surprise the boys … and well that goes about as well as you can expect.    

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Movie Review – The Red Sea Diving Resort

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TL;DR – A really ambitious film that unfortunately falls into the same traps as a lot of Hollywood films do when depicting Africa’s history.    

Score – 2.5 out of 5 stars

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene but some pictures of the resort during the credits

The Red Sea Diving Resort. Image Credit: Netflix.

Review –

Tonight we take a look at a film that attempts to discover a part of our history that has not been explored at all. However, Hollywood has a very poor history in exploring Africa’s history with film after film glossing over the complexities for hero moments of usually a white protagonist saving the day. While The Red Sea Diving Resort attempts to step away from this past it can’t help but fall into the same traps.

So to set the scene, in the 1980s Ethiopia was tearing itself apart during a bloody civil war, a lot of the innocents were being caught in the crossfire, especially minority groups. One of those groups that were targeted was Ethiopia’s Jewish community. However, there is some hope with Israel’s Mossad sending agents like Ari Levinson (Chris Evans) in to help them get to refugee camps in Sudan. However, this is just a temporary measure, they need a way to get them out of the country. So a plan is set in motion to set up a fake resort on the coast of Sudan as a front to help them smuggle them out to waiting boats. However, this is not something that you can do forever without attracting notice, made worse when actual tourists arrive at the fake resort.

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Movie Review – Hobbs & Shaw (Fast and Furious Presents: Hobbs and Shaw, Fast and Furious: Hobbs and Shaw)

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TL;DR – A film that soars when it is in the banter/action grove but falters when it needs to move the story forward.     

Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars

Post-Credit Scene – There are multiple mid-credit scenes as well as an end credit scene

Hobbs & Shaw. Image Credit: Universal Pictures.

Review –


 To be honest, if I have a blind spot in modern cinema it is the Fast and Furious franchise. When the films started to come out, I didn’t really jell with the super-serious machismo in what was an inherently silly premise. This looked to be the way for all the films but when The Fate of the Furious came out two years ago, I thought I would give it another watch. Well about the time they used a car to take out a submarine I realised that they had finally realised just how silly it all was and had leaned into it, and that is something I can get behind. That being said, a spin-off the film is still a bit of a gamble, but given how well the director and cinematographer are at actions filmmaking, I walked in being quietly optimistic and with the action, I was not let down.

So to set the scene, two years since the last adventure and Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) is enjoying his life as a DSS agent and a father to his daughter Sam (Eliana Su’a). However, at that moment in London, an MI6 team is taking out a band of mercenaries that have a manufactured virus and who are about to sell it on the black market. After a clinical takedown of the gang, all is right but then a mysterious figure (Idris Elba) arrives and single handily kills all of the MI6 bar Hattie (Vanessa Kirby) the lead agent. Fearing the virus would get into the hands of evil people Hattie injects herself with the virus to hold on to it while she escapes. The MI6 think she has turned rogue and the CIA, MI6, and the criminal organisation are now hunting her. The only chance she has is if Luke teams up with Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) and well that has disaster written all over it.

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Movie Review – Djali (2019 AACTA Awards Short Film Competition)

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TL;DR – A poignant look at what rock bottom feels like  

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

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

Review –

Today we continue our dive into the 2019 AACTA Awards Short Film Competition by exploring a short film from one of Australia’s up and coming actors Hunter Page-Lochard. Here we look at what life is like when you hit rock bottom and that moment where you realise that you need to climb up.

Djali looks at the life of Johnny (Hunter Page-Lochard) who is an inspiring dancer and really good at it until he received an injury to his leg. However, this is just the first in many setbacks as we see him hiding in a dark room reminiscing about the past. Only for his brother Harry (Rhimi Johnson Page) to come and try and shake him out of his funk.

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Movie Review – Booksmart

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TL;DR – While it follows a lot of the plot beats of similar films, it stands out on its own by focusing on the characters that are the heart of the movie.      

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

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

Booksmart. Image Credit: Annapurna Pictures.

Review –

There are some scenarios that you see get plaid out in cinema over and over again. Indeed, one of the most popular scenarios is looking at that last few days before you graduate high school. I think it is so popular because it is something that nearly every person in the target audience has or will go through. So it becomes a nexus of past nostalgia and future promise. Either way, it is a scenario that I have seen put to film over and over again, especially in the R-rated comedy genre. However, in all the scenarios, I have never seen a film quite like this.

So to set the scene, high school is drawing to a close and class valedictorian Molly Davidson (Beanie Feldstein) and her best friend Amy (Kaitlyn Dever) are getting ready to survive the final day of classes. Molly is going to Yale and spent all her time at school making that happen, and Amy is getting ready to spend a summer in Botswana as an aid worker. However, Molly’s certainty about her past is shaken when she discovers that all the kids that partied throughout high school also got into top universities. Well, there is only one night left before graduation and Molly know just what to do, she needs to go to Nick’s (Mason Gooding) party so she can have the full high school experience and she is dragging Amy along with her.

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Movie Review – Boi

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TL;DR – An odd little film that I don’t think every quite found its footing but left me feeling intrigued    

Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars

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

Boi. Image Credit: Netflix.

Review –

Back in my ¡Ay, Mi Madre! review I mentioned that I wanted to explore more of Spanish cinema, what I didn’t realise was just how quickly the next film would roll around. But less than a week later a thriller set in Barcelona arrived on my desk, and I knew I had to check it out. Well, Boi is many things and thankfully interesting is one of them. 

So to set the scene, Boi (Bernat Quintana) is starting his first day as a private chauffeur in Barcelona, but he has a lot on his mind. Including caring for his Aunt (Fina Rius) and a breakdown in his relationship with his partner Anna (Miranda Gas). All of this leads him to completely getting the time wrong of when his first clients were arriving in the country so he has to rush and bluff his way into picking up Gordon (Adrian Pang) and Michael (Andrew Lua) two Chinese businessmen from Singapore. But that is only the start of three very long days.

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