Tag Archives: movies

Warfare – Movie Review

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TL;DR – An emotionally charged film that uses every bullet strike to bring you into this world, whether you are ready for it or not.  

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid for the Amazon Prime service that was used to view this film.

Looking down a sniper scope.

Warfare Review Introduction –

After Alex Garland came out swinging with Civil War in 2024, I was interested to see what he would follow it up with next. Unfortunately, I just was not able to get to a screening when it had its theatrical release, but before I put my best films of 2025 list together, I knew I had to make sure I crossed this one off the pile of shame.  

So, to set the scene, on November 19th, 2006, in Ramadi, Iraq, a Navy SEAL platoon took up sniper watch to support operations in the area. Two platoons take up position in an Iraqi family’s house to provide overwatch. Watching. Waiting. People peeking and probing their defences. All preparing themselves for that first shot or explosion.  

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Novocaine – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A chaotic ride from start to finish, with a cast that commits to the bit all the way.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid for the Paramount+ service used to view this film.

Warning – Contains scenes that may cause distress.

Jack Quaid showered in falling glass.

Novocaine Review Introduction –

It has been a gangbuster year for action in 2025, and before I write my best-of-2025 list, I knew I had to catch one more action beat from the year, or in this case, a beatdown. Jack Quaid is always a solid lead, as we have seen in the three other films he released this year [Companion, Neighborhood Watch & Heads of State], so it is only fair that we take a look at number four.  

So, to set the scene, Nathan “Novocaine” Caine (Jack Quaid) is, by all respects, just a normal, mild-mannered bank executive, other than the fact that he actually cares about his clients. He is more reserved than you would expect, but that is because he has a nerve issue where he can not feel pain. Which you would think would be a good thing until you realise just how much your interaction with the world is based on that. His self-imposed isolation is brought to a sudden end when he finds a kindred spirit in Sherry Margrave (Amber Midthunder), which is suddenly interrupted by Santa-dressed bank robbers who take Sherry as a hostage. Now, only Novocaine is available to save her.

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Roofman – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A slow meditation on isolation and despair when who you are is not who the world wants.  

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film.

Channing Tatum dancing through a Toys R Us store

Roofman Review Introduction –

Today, we are looking at a sort of odd film as we wrap up 2025. Going into Roofman, all the marketing implied that this was a quirky, fun romp of shenanigans. To be fair, there is some of that there. However, the film we got is very different from the one that was marketed.

So, to set the scene, in 1998, Jeffrey Manchester (Channing Tatum) made a living by breaking into McDonald’s via the roof. He felt it was the only way he could provide for his family after leaving the military. After being arrested, he is sent away for 45 years, but the same skills that allowed him to rob the burger places allowed him to escape prison. Prison plans and a truck trip later and he was a ‘free’ man, but with everyone looking for an escaped prisoner, Jeffery had only one place to hide, in a Toys R Us store.

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Sisu: Road to Revenge – Movie Review

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TL;DR – While it loses some of its drive halfway through, it is still the action romp that it needs to be as carnage stretches across Russia.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There are mid-credit sequences.

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film.

Sisu: A Finnish word that cannot be translated. It means the white-knuckled force of courage and unimaginable determination.

Sisu: Road to Revenge Review Introduction –

It is that time of year when I take a look back on 2025, and see all the films that I missed that I need to take a look at before I start my best of 2025 lists. I won’t get to all of them; there isn’t enough time. However, one film I knew I had to see was the follow-up to a Finnish gem from 2023. Sisu is one of the few films in the post-John Wick era that took the action style and improved on it. But can lightning strike twice?  


So, to set the scene, after WW2, Finland lost territory to the Soviet Union, and the Finns living there were forced to flee. In 1946, after finding all that gold in Lappland, Aatami Korpi (Jorma Tommila) returned to his home in Karelia, now on the wrong side of the border, to where his dead family once lived, hoping to take the house and rebuild it in a land of peace. But when Aatami crossed the border, his passport triggered a response in Soviet high command. The KGB (Richard Brake) tasks Igor Draganov (Stephen Lang), the man who killed Aatami’s family, to finish the job. But Aatami is a man who has left hundreds of Red Army and Nazi corpses in his wake, and he won’t go down without a fight.    

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Anaconda (2025) – Movie Review

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TL;DR – This is a wildly silly and meta film that holds back when it should dive all the way in.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid to view this film.

A production slate for Anaconda.

Anaconda Review Introduction –

Today, we are looking at a film that sold itself to me by its bonkers premise alone: what if the sequel to 1997’s Anaconda was a meta reboot about a group of filmmakers trying to film a sequel to 1997’s Anaconda. It is a premise so profoundly silly that you must see just how they pull it off, and the answer is very meta indeed.

So, to set the scene, Ronald “Griff” Griffen Jr. (Paul Rudd) is a background actor in Hollywood whose only notable role was a four-episode stint on S.W.A.T. Well, after another failed audition, he sees a poster for the 1997 film Anaconda and gets an idea. He returns home to Buffalo, New York, to inform his friends that he has secured the rights to the Anaconda franchise so they can make one of the films they used to make when they were kids. It is a profoundly silly idea, but soon wedding videographer Doug McCallister (Jack Black), recently divorced lawyer Claire Simons (Thandiwe Newton), and now Buffalo sober Kenny Trent (Steve Zahn) find themselves in Manaus, Brazil, looking at snake handler Carlos Santiago Braga (Selton Mello) and his pet anaconda. They take a boat deep into the jungle to start filming, but little do they know that when filming Anaconda, there may be an anaconda hunting them.      

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Avatar: Fire and Ash – Movie Review

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TL;DR – Avatar is pomp and circumstance like no one else in the business is doing at the moment, except maybe the other Avatar films, which are doing the same thing very much.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid to see this film.

Warning – Contains scenes that may cause distress.

The Wind Traders.

Avatar: Fire and Ash Review Introduction –

Truly, there is nothing out there at the moment with the ambition and multi-coloured excellence like Avatar. Just three hours of non-stop visual excellence for your eyeballs with a sheer tenacity that we don’t see come out of Hollywood much anymore. But, this is the third outing in the series, and the question is: can it keep feeling fresh coming back to the same world again and again? Before we jump in, I do want to make clear that for this review, we watched the standard presentation, so no 3D, 4DX or other extras other than the meal I ordered halfway through because I splurged on the nice seats. So, we won’t be able to comment on whether the 3D, etc., is worth the ticket price.

So, to set the scene, everyone is still reeling from the end of Avatar: The Way of Water, where to save his family, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri’s (Zoe Saldaña) son Neteyam (Jamie Flatters) sacrificed himself to save his family, and Spider (Jack Champion) no less. Everyone is grieving in their own way, and most of those ways are not very helpful. However, after some battery mix-ups show how vulnerable Spider is out here in the wilds. The parents decide it’s time to send Spider back to the researchers, where he will be closer to humans and safer. It is a long trip back, full of dangers, but not just from humans/sky people. For within the Navi, there are the Mangkwan clan led by Varang (Oona Chaplin), who are raiding and killing all those they come across.

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The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants – Movie Review

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TL;DR – An interesting concept for a SpongeBob Movie, that unfortunately, does not have the legs, or fins, or tentacle suckers to stretch to a feature-length movie.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

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

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

The Flying Dutchman on an eyrie sea.

The SpongeBob Movie Review Introduction –

Today, I think I need to preface everything that I am about to say with one clear addendum: I am not the target audience for this film. I feel I need to make that clear from the front because not every film will be written for you, and you should have the wherewithal to understand that before dumping on something. But then I did also sit through it all, so, as we are here …


So, to set the scene, after measuring himself every day, SpongeBob SquarePants (Tom Kenny) is finally a “Big Guy”. Someone tall enough to go on the adult rides at the local amusement park. But when SpongeBob is not able to find the courage to hop on the rides with his dear friend Patrick Star (Bill Fagerbakke), he is crushed. But that is when Mr. Krabs (Clancy Brown) tells him about his time as a swashbuckler with the crew of The Flying Dutchman (Mark Hamill). SpongeBob becomes enamoured with the idea of being a swashbuckler as the way to become a genuine big guy; however, Mr. Krabs might not have been telling the whole truth.

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The History of Sound – Movie Review

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TL;DR – It is both profoundly moving and also downright frustrating. The visual construction was some of the best all year, yet it pondered along, afraid to commit to what its thesis statement was.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

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

Warning – Contains scenes that may cause distress.

A river flowing in a forest.

The History of Sound Review Introduction –

Today, we are looking at a film that existed in a state of dissonance for me, from the heights of beauty that you see throughout, to the despair of frustration. Some of this dissonance is purposely built into the film, an intentional conversation in subtext. However, while that is important, you can’t forget the actual text.
 
So, to set the scene, Lionel Worthing (Paul Mescal) has always had a special relationship with music since he was a child, able to feel it, see it, and manipulate it. It was this gift that took him in 1917 from the rural farm in Kentucky where he grew up to the Boston Conservatory to study music. It is here that he came across fellow student and composer, David White (Josh O’Connor). They had an instant bond, but war broke out, and David was drafted. David returned in 1919 and asked Lionel to join him on a trip collecting and recording folk songs, a trip that would have a marked impact on both their lives.

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Wicked: For Good (Wicked: Part Two) – Movie Review

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TL;DR – While Cynthia Erivo & Ariana Grande still shine, the choice to split the film into two parts has had a detrimental effect on the pacing, narrative, and structure of the film.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

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

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

A propaganda poster of the Wicked Witch.

Wicked: For Good Review Introduction –

If I look back on the last twelve months, there may have been one film, outside of Chicken Jocky, that captured the imagination of people in the cinemas. It felt like everyone was holding space for Wicked, as it dominated the box office and broader pop culture. Thanks mainly to it being anchored by two of the best lead actors in the business for a musical film like this: Cynthia Erivo & Ariana Grande. But here’s the thing, and it’s a big one. The choice to end the first film at the traditional intermission moment meant that everything that the general public understood of Wicked was all in that first film, and thus, I was worried about how Part Two would go. I think I was right to be concerned.  

So, to set the scene, at the end of Wicked, Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) discovered that the Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Jeff Goldblum) is nothing but a fraud. Oz and his accomplice Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) needed Elphaba’s natural magical abilities, but not if she was a threat. So Elphaba escaped their clutches, but has now been branded the “Wicked Witch of the East” in a propaganda campaign that stretches across the lands. Everyone now has to live with the consequences of their actions. Glinda (Ariana Grande) always wanted to be in the spotlight, but is she willing to do what it takes to stay there when it means betraying her friends? And will Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey) discover his strength before it is too late?   

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A House of Dynamite – Movie Review

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TL;DR – As divisive as it is fascinating, anchored on understandable tension, and character performances that rocked me at times.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

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

Warning – Contains scenes that may cause distress.

Sun rising behind the Washington Monument.

A House of Dynamite Review Introduction –

We are getting to the pointy end of the year, and that means it is time to start catching up with a bunch of the films that I missed this year. This is made more apparent because I just spent a month away in Japan, and there are a bunch of films that I missed while I was away. The first cab off that rack is a political thriller that explores the calamity of nuclear weapons, which means that this is already 100% my jam.

So, to set the scene, it is just a typical day for people around the world, including those in the missile defence systems in Fort Greely, Alaska and those in the Situation Room in Washington DC. But tensions have slowly been growing around the world, and when you have a fuel around, all it takes is one match for it all to explode, which is when a ballistic launch is detected over the Pacific Ocean, heading right to the USA. A nuclear event that everyone has feared is now a reality.   

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