Tag Archives: movies

Runner – Movie Review

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TL;DR – While I had some fun, this is one of those films where you will either be in for the ride or bounce off it so hard.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film.

The Brisbane sign.

Runner Review Introduction

Today we are looking at Runner, which should not be confused with The Runner that we looked at last week. This is a bit of an odd film for me because I am reviewing a movie not just filmed in my hometown, but actually set in it. Which brings a lot of joy when you see them in locations I know so well, but then also a real disconnect when the geography makes no sense. Let’s see how that juxtaposition pans out.

  So, to set the scene, Hank Malone (Alan Ritchson) is an ex-Navy SEAL living in Brisbane, Australia. Hank is one year sober and works as a runner, bringing items usually legal, sometimes not so, from one location to another as quickly as possible. A good example of this is a parrot from one divorced partner to the other. The day was meant to be over until an emergency last-minute parcel arrives via plane from Honolulu. But this parcel, an organ, comes attached to Ben Bishop (Owen Wilson). They just need to get the liver from Brisbane to the Gold Coast hospital before the time runs out. It is a simple run, well, it should be, but that is when some black SVUs filled with gun-wielding bikies start hunting them down.

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The Gentlemen: The Road To Kingdom [S2E1] – TV Review

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TL;DR – A delightfully terse and messy return to a fascinating series.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix service that I used to view this series.

The Price to buy a Cash-strapped Lord.

The Gentlemen Review –

Back in 2024, when I heard that they were going to make a spiritual homage to the movie The Gentlemen on a vibes level while keeping the title, I was a touch concerned. I shouldn’t have been, because Guy Ritchie’s works tend to be interesting if nothing else. The first season was full of style, but a bit uneven; it was absolutely enough to make me want to see where they go in a second outing.

So, to set the scene, we open with Edward “Eddie” Horniman, the 13th Duke of Halstead (Theo James), having a very, very, very bad day. Three months earlier, things are looking a lot better for the Duke, as he starts his manipulations for Susie’s (Kaya Scodelario) father, Bobby (Ray Winstone). All he has to do is grease Lord Richard Hawthorne (Hugh Bonneville) to get a peerage in the House of Lords, and keep his new Italian fixer Cico (Michele Morrone) in line. What is the worst that could happen? Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.  

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The Runner – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A conceptually interesting film that does not have the legs to make it to a full feature length.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid for the Amazon Prime subscription used to watch this film.

Gal Gadot running.

The Runner Review Introduction

Today we review a film with a very singular focus, a singular drive, it might be said. Where the title is not just a thematic exploration of the narrative, but a description of what we will be doing for the next ninety minutes. Such singular focus can work because you strip out every extraneous factor, but when you have borne your soul, you also have nowhere to hide.
  
So, to set the scene, Maia Marten (Gal Gadot) is a lawyer working in London who likes running, so much that she will fob off one of her clients to put another male runner in their place. But as she runs to the office one morning, A Caller (Damian Lewis) uses her son Noah’s (Rory Wilmot) phone. The kidnapper has two rules: Maia cannot talk to anyone else, especially the police, and two, Maia cannot bore him. She has an hour to kill a witness in her big case that only she has access to, or Noah dies.

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Ready or Not 2: Here I Come – Movie Review

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TL;DR – While it does not nail its universe-upscaling, it is still an entertaining, bloody action comedy.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ subscription used to watch this film.

Warning – Contains scenes which may cause distress.

All the representatives of the families.

Ready or Not 2: Here I Come Review Introduction

Ready or Not was one of those films I entirely slept on, which was a mistake. It was one of those few films that completely understood the power and limits of dark comedy. It was a riot of gory fun, but one of those films that I was surprised it got a sequel, but it did, and this time I am not sleeping on it.  

So, to set the scene, we start right after the end of Ready or Not as Grace (Samara Weaving) is rushed to hospital suffering from shock and blood loss. What she doesn’t know is that by winning the game of Hide and Seek, she has triggered a rare clause in the agreement that binds all the powerful families together. Now, ultimate power is up for grabs, and every family wants a bite of the apple. Grace was hoping to go home, but when her estranged sister Faith (Kathryn Newton) arrives at the hospital, none of them was ready to be kidnapped, dragged to the hotel of Chester Danforth (David Cronenberg), and forced to hide again, handcuffed together.

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Lanterns: Trust Fall [S1E2] – TV Review

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TL;DR – I feel that this episode is a good encapsulation of the style of story that we will be getting for the rest of the season, and if that is the case, I will be very happy.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the HBO Max service used to view this series.

End Credit Scene – There is a trailer after the end credits.

Hal Jordan walks into a town hall meeting about himself.

Lanterns Review Introduction

Well, the Pilot of Lanterns certainly landed a whole whack of mystery on us, intriguing at every turn. It is the kind of episode that says, “trust us, we know what we are doing”, and given the creator’s past work, you kind of believe them. But today we start getting into the weeds and seeing if that does start to pay dividends.  

So, to set the scene, at the end of Pilot we were hit with a flash forward to 2026 with a very dead Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) sitting on the high school stadium at Rushville, Nebraska. We start today back in 2016, with Hal berating John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) and sending him on busywork back to Coast City to get his Lantern. Meanwhile, Hal starts exploring the town, wondering why William Macon (Garret Dillahunt) knew to kill those four aliens, because that is not something you do on a hunch when he discovers the whole town in a meeting. This meeting is probably very much about him. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Fuze – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A profoundly fascinating heist film that never lets you settle as it shifts under your feet.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid for the Amazon Prime subscription used to watch this film.

The bomb starts ticking.

Fuze Review Introduction

Sometimes you sit down and have a feeling that you need to watch something you have not seen in a while, and for me that was a good heist film. I love the tension, the precision, the action; every part of a good heist is a delight, and I think we got a good one today.   

So, to set the scene, it’s construction time in London, England, and when digging out the foundation of a building, the diggers hit something you don’t want to find: an unexploded 500lb bomb left from WWII. It is one of those things that can shut an entire city down, as people must evacuate the potential blast zone. The Army, under Major Will Tranter (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), has been brought in to deal with the bomb while the police evacuate the city around it. But with entire blocks of London evacuated, and no one watching, that leaves an awful lot of unintended valuables lying around, and a lot of false alarms going off while hiding what you are doing.

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Normal – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A perfectly serviceable action film, competently constructed but with nothing remarkable to make it stand out.  

Rating: 3 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid for the Amazon Prime subscription used to watch this film.

Town of Normal welcome sign.

Normal Review Introduction

I decided today that I wanted to go on a bit of an action kick as this tends to be the time of year when they drop. However, today’s movie has the odd distinction of being both technically quite good, while also being an almost bland, if at best unremarkable experience.
 
So, to set the scene, we open in Normal, Minnesota, a very nice town … well, the parts that were not abandoned. Temporary Sheriff Ulysses (Bob Odenkirk) has arrived to fill in for the eight weeks before the town votes for a permanent replacement. The only odd thing is that this poor town does seem to have a lot of money for a town in a rural downturn, something that pulls on a thread for Ulysses that he can’t quite place. It was a perfect set-up, until some nobodies try to rob the bank and Ulysses’ life just got turned around.  

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Lanterns: Pilot [S1E1] – TV Review

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TL;DR – This first episode has me intrigued about the show, but not yet sold on it.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the HBO Max service used to view this series.

End Credit Scene – There is a trailer and a behind-the-scenes documentary after the end credits.

Hal Jordan flies through the air.

Lanterns Review Introduction

Today is an interesting one. We are continuing through the DCU’s great rebrand that had worked until the recent Supergirl misfire. But we are also focusing in on the one aspect of the DC Universe that I have very little knowledge of. The most I know about Green Lantern is that he appears and can do things with his ring; oh, and there was a version of one in Superman, which makes me interested to see if this show can capture someone who is not familiar with all the lore.  

So, to set the scene, in 1996 it has been ten years since Green Lantern made himself known to the world, and now it is time for Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) to reveal himself. In 2016, Hal has found himself training the next potential Lantern, John Stewart (Aaron Pierre), but they don’t quite get along. I.e. jumping from a moving car and letting John fly off a cliff, sort of don’t get along. But everything changes when an automatic system warns them that:  “There is hail in Rushville, Nebraska”. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

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GOAT – Movie Review

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TL;DR – While not a revolutionary story, the gorgeous animation and heartwarming fun make it a lovely watch.  

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid for the Amazon Prime subscription used to watch this film.

the Glasshouse, the home court of the Thorns in Vinetown.

GOAT Review Introduction

It is the time of year when you feel a bit reflective and need to catch up with everything you might have missed throughout the year. There is one film from earlier this year that a lot of people have recommended that I needed to give a watch. It doesn’t hurt that my current sports team is also at the bottom of the ladder fighting for it all, which means it is a perfect window for today’s film.  

So, to set the scene, in a world filled with sentient animals, there is one sport that unites the world: roarball [basketball]. However, it is a sport only played by bigs; the smalls have to watch. Will Harris (Caleb McLaughlin) is a goat who has always dreamed of playing, but he is a small. It doesn’t help that the local team, the Thorns under Jett Fillmore (Gabrielle Union), are at the bottom of the ladder. But when opposition player Mane Attraction (Aaron Pierre) starts dissing the local team in Vinetown, their own home, Will steps up and scores on him. This creates a viral moment that team owner Flo (Jenifer Lewis) uses to get more people in seats, but no one was expecting them to do well. The team had other ideas.

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Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A beautifully animated entry into a series steeped in friendship and a sheer optimism that you need now and again.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid for the Paramount+ subscription used to watch this film.

An old Air bending temple.

Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender Review Introduction

Well, it is time to jump back into the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender. It has been a long time since I dabbled in this universe, but I remember it being a fun time. While it was very much focused on a younger audience, the themes of working together, finding yourself, and building a better future rang true. Now it is time to see if this world can still have an impact in the current world.
 
So, to set the scene, it has been a while since the events of The Last Airbender, and Aang (Eric Nam) has been collecting any remnant of the Air Nomads that he could find. While returning the artefacts to an ancient temple, Aang is attacked by an insurgent group known as the Denied. They were looking for a map to an ancient staff, from a time even before the oldest Avatars Aang can reach. The one clue that he can find leads him to the top of Mount Baihu, where Aang finds not a staff but something potentially more powerful.  

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