Tag Archives: review

The Diplomat: Season 3 – TV Review

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TL;DR – While there is joy in watching this cast eat up the screen in every frame, this is a messier season as they try to transition to something different.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

Warning – Contains scenes that may cause distress.

Military Helicopters flying over Big Ben.

The Diplomat Review –

My background is in International Relations, and it does not come up here as much as I would like, other than the occasional The Hitman’s Bodyguard jaunt. Well, today, given the situation of the world, I thought I would take a chance to have some wishful thinking in a world where the right things still matter, integrity still matters, to pretend for a couple of hours that everything hasn’t just gone to shit everywhere. But to understand why Season Three feels so volatile, we need to look at where Season Two left us.

So, to set the scene, at the end of Season Two, things went from bad to worse when the person, Grace Hagen Penn (Allison Janney), behind the scheme that blew up the British Ship in Season One has become the new President of the United States after the former suffered a heart attack during a conversation with Hal (Rufus Sewll). What was the conversation you ask? Well, it was informing him that his Vice-President may have committed a terrorist act on an ally, that very same Vice-President who is now the President of the United States. This is not a good day for Kate (Keri Russell) because the person she wanted removed just became the most powerful person in the world. Now, from here, we will be looking at the series as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Heated Rivalry: Season 1 – TV Review

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TL;DR – This is a profoundly compelling if fundamentally risqué series that explores relationships in the harshest place through the lens of a visionary auteur.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the HBO Max service that viewed this series.

Hollander on the back of a jersey.

Heated Rivalry Review –

When people were mapping out what would be the go-to pop culture event for the end of the year, it would have been a safe bet to pick something like the final season of Stranger Things, or maybe the bombastic Avatar. Few predicted that the year’s breakout cultural moment would come not from a blockbuster franchise but from a modest Canadian drama. Well, if you spend any time on the internet, you know how successful it has been in cutting through the noise of the algorithm, so let’s have a look and see.

So, to set the scene, in 2008, Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) has had one drive all his life: to be the best hockey player of all time. But on the cusp of being drafted, he meets the new Russian prodigy Ilya Grigoryevich Rozanov (Connor Storrie) at the International Prospect Cup final. Six months later, they have been drafted to rival teams, Boston Raiders & Montreal Metros, of the Major League Hockey (MLH). When the two of them meet again, they find they have undeniable chemistry, and one thing leads to the other. But there are no out gay players in the MLH, so the two keep this tryst/relationship/booty call/whatever you want to call it a secret, lest anyone find out and their careers are ruined. Now, from here, we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Dogpile – Video Game Review

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TL;DR – Charm from the first click to the last.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for this game.

A sleeping dog.

Dogpile Review Introduction –

Every now and again, you don’t need a hundred-hour RPG or twitch shooter or even a dudes diving into an asteroid to mine dig-fest, what you need is something quaint and full of charm. The sort of charm that knocks your socks off or makes you say audible ‘awwww’. Well, today we look at just such a game, one that has charmed me all week. It is also interesting that two of the games that I have gotten the most out of this year, this and Peak, have been indie-studio collaborations. I am not sure what that means, but it is a fun anecdote for me.

So, to set the scene, you run a kennel where many dogs with many different behaviours come to be found. You’ll need to keep everything from spiralling out of control, while making sure you get to the dog wash, buy items in the shops to help you, and also, don’t forget to give your dogs all the pats in the world.

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Savage Hunt – Movie Review

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TL;DR – It commits one of the most cinematic of crimes: it makes a film about a bear on a slashing spree dull.

Rating: 1.5 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I was sent a screener of this film.

A blood stained torch.

Savage Hunt Review Introduction –

Unfortunately, today, we are looking at a film that flounders at almost every single possibility. Partly because of the budget, I assume, and also because the narrative and the characters are written in such a way that I found every single one of them insufferable before the end credits rolled.   

So, to set the scene, we open on a forest being cut down to build a new resort and spa. But deep in these woods might lurk something that you don’t want to disturb, something that might be stalking you, hunting you, and if you are not careful, killing you. When a man walks into the construction site covered in blood and clearly mauled by an animal, the local rangers get called in, shutting down the site, but not even they were prepared for what is out there.

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Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale

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TL;DR – An odd finale full of charm from start to finish, but also a great deal of awkwardness.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

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

Downton Abbey.

Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale Review Introduction –

It looks like we have reached the end of the grand experiment that was the Downton Abbey cinematic experience. After the original Downton Abbey film in 2019, and the follow-up Downton Abbey: A New Era back in 2022, I had wondered if there would be any more, especially after the passing of Maggie Smith’s character, who was such an anchor for the series. Well, today we get to see if they will land this series in a triumph or worse with an uninteresting thud.

So, to set the scene, it is now the 1930s, and grand changes are looming on the horizon of both England and the world. In Downton Abbey, this is marked by Robert Crawley, 7th Earl of Grantham (Hugh Bonneville), hoping that Lady Mary Crawley (Michelle Dockery) will be ready to take over running the entire household. This was meant to be a great handing over from one generation to the next. However, a scandal erupts throughout higher society when it is announced rather publicly in the press that Lady Mary is getting a divorce, an unmitigated scandal for those prim and proper people in polite society. Now the entire household has been shunned, and the question remains if this will be enough to shut down Downton Abbey for good.  

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Kangaroo (2025) – Movie Review

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TL;DR – This is a profoundly Australian film, and in that I mean more its structure than the narrative. But once it gets going, you can’t help but get caught up in the charm, because it has it in spades.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid to see this film.

Joeys.

Kangaroo Review Introduction –

While Australia is known as a place where big-budget films come to film, where you can walk down the street of Brisbane one day and suddenly it is New York for Thor. However, we also have a vibrant domestic film culture, or we do at the moment, looking at you politicians not doing enough to support the local industry. However, there are times when you could tell a film is Australian, even if no sound of an accent passed your ears, and today’s film is a good example of this.  

So, to set the scene, Chris Masterman (Ryan Corr) is the local weather reporter for Channel 6’s Rise and Shine Australia. He wants to be more than the person they cut to in the morning when they need someone to get a bucket of water thrown at them. But no one takes him seriously. Well, Chris is going to change that when the opportunity to go viral presents itself. Unfortunately, it blows up so spectacularly in his face that not only is he not up for promotion, but he is fired and put on the instant reject list for every production team in Sydney and beyond. He has one shot to get his career back on track, and that is to drive to Broome and do some regional work. But when his car accidentally hits a kangaroo on the outskirts of Silver Gum, he is stuck in the small town waiting for his car to be fixed, but also looking after a now orphaned joey with the help of Charlie (Lily Whiteley).

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Holy Cow (Vingt Dieux) – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A delightful romp set in the French countryside, in a world of cheese, stock cars, and the perils of growing up.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film.

Comté cheese.

Holy Cow Introduction –

One of my favourite films to review is when directors/writers have been putting in the work to build their craft and finally get the chance to bring their first feature outing to the big screen. Today’s entry is just such a film, with Louise Courvoisier bringing so much of herself to the big screen. Well, it is time to fly to rural France and into the world of cheese.  

So, to set the scene, Totone (Clément Faveau) has just left school and is enjoying that time in his life where all he needs to do in a day is have fun, go drinking with his friends, and occasionally get into fights with kids from the other village. However, his entire life is upended when his father is killed in a car crash, and suddenly, he must care for his young sister Claire (Luna Garret). Totone must sell almost everything to survive; however, when he discovers there is a €30,000 prize for the best Comté cheese. Well, Totone takes it upon himself and commits some minor theft to make the best cheese in the valley.

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Foundation: A Song for the End of Everything – TV Review

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TL;DR – A solid introduction that promises a lot, but is more about the vibes than detail.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Apple TV+ service that viewed this episode.

Exposition in a garden.

Foundation Review –

Well, it is time to jump back into the world of Foundation, a series I am fascinated by for how it adapts a classical work for a modern audience. The original series is one of its time, and it chopped and changed as Isaac Asimov charted a more serialised work. But this new adaptation has found ways to run through that narrative to give it a connection. Some of these have worked, and others have been failures. As we shift into the next phase of the series, it will be interesting to see where we land.   

So to set the scene, it has been 152 years since the Second Crisis, and while The Empire continues to collapse, The Foundation grows, expanding further out of the outer reach. Now both the Empire and The Foundation are fighting to control Kalgan, a pleasure planet, and the key to controlling The Middle Band. But there may be a third player out there, ready to tear everything up. For after much prediction, or perhaps, not enough prediction, The Mule (Pilou Asbæk) is on the move, and both sides should fear him. Now, from here, we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.    

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PEAK – Video Game Review

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TL;DR – An enjoyable single-player experience that comes alive with a group.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for this game.

Looking down to the shore from the PEAK.

Peak Review –

One of the events I find fascinating is Game Jams. These are where developers set themselves a short period, usually a day or two, to see what they can build in that time. Here, time forces you to be creative and many weird and wonderful games, from Goat Simulator to Thomas Was Alone and everything in between, have been spawned. Usually, game jams spawn ideas that later become something grand. Still, I have never seen a game conceptualised in February and then released in June before, which is what we will examine today.

So, to set the scene, you are just a happy little guy going on a flight to a new tropical destination on Bingbong Airlines. But disaster strikes, and your plane crashes into an unknown tropical island. What do you do? Well, Scoutmaster Myers’ Wilderness Handbook Vol. 1 advises in How Not to Die, to run, not walk, and “You’ve gotta get to High Ground”. Looking around, you see a high peak in the distance, so it is time to collect supplies, gird your lions, and start climbing.

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Escape – Movie Review

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TL;DR – While it dabbles in exploitation, the film never really comes together as a whole.

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Disclosure – I was sent a screener of this film.

Warning – Contains scenes that may cause distress.

A woman running towards a cabin in the desert.

Escape Review –

So, to set the scene, we open with a woman running for her life in a desert as she is being chased by a truck. 24 hours earlier, while a bunch of women have arrived at a luxurious island hideaway for a holiday, at a workshop, a comically evil trafficker is setting out the rules to his henchmen. They need ten women captured to be shipped off by Friday. The women are having a blast, not knowing they are walking into danger.  

Well, there is a lot I can say about this film, but I want to highlight some of its strengths. They make the most of their shooting location on the Canary Islands, which helps the narrative or at least makes it more energetic. I also liked that, on the whole, the women were written as out of their depth but not entirely stupid. For example, realising that maybe having a wrench would be a good idea. However, I think they would have preferred being kidnapped and wearing more practical footwear.

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