Tag Archives: reviews

Among Us (2026): Season 1 – TV Review

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TL;DR – This is an almost perfect adaptation of the original game, full of tasks, murder, and voting people to their doom.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

The whole crew around a pizza party table.

Among Us Review Introduction

Back at the heart of COVID in 2020, there were a few things that helped get us through it. One of those was this weird little hidden role game where you set yourself a bunch of tasks to complete on a spaceship while one or more of you are aliens trying to kill you. Now, I played a lot of Among Us during this time, and my self-reports were legendary. Which means I am very interested to see how this animated adaptation turned out.   

So, to set the scene, deep in an asteroid field, a bunch of new employees, Green (Elijah Wood) and White (Patton Oswalt), for the MIRA Corporation, have begun the trip up to their new ship. Fun. Engagement. Fun-Gagement. These are the pillars of MIRA. All they have to do is take this new Ore+ from the asteroid to Industria, a simple trip. As Orange (Yvette Nicole Brown) gives them a tour of the ship and the crew, including the doctor Blue (Dan Stevens), we find a whole bunch of quirky characters for a trip like this. It all looks to be going swimmingly, well, you would hate it if there was a secret imposter on board wanting to take everyone else out one by one. Now, from here, we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.   

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Masters of the Universe (He-Man and the Masters of the Universe) (2026) – Movie Review

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TL;DR – Well, never have I been so happy to be wrong. This film was a blast from beginning to end.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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

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

He-Man finds his power.

Masters of the Universe Review Introduction

Before we dive into the review proper, I think it is right to be a bit honest up front. I did not have high hopes for this film. It had been in production hell for an age and a half, the casting felt like a mess, it was hitting at a nostalgia that didn’t feel like it really existed, and it had a multitude of writing credits that made anyone concerned. Then there was the Jared Leto-sized elephant in the room. I was expecting a complete and utter disaster. Well, I need to go eat some humble pie, not because I like pie, I do, but because this was the most fun I have had in a cinema in an age.


So, to set the scene, Adam Glenn (Nicholas Galitzine) struggles a lot in Oklahoma City because people can never quite get close to him. Because sooner or later, he needs to tell them that when he was a child (Artie Wilkinson-Hunt), he was the Prince of Eternia, surrounded by magic, wonders, history, and the love of the people. But all of that changed one day when Skeletor (Jared Leto) attacked with his goons and captured his parents, King Randor (James Purefoy) and Queen Marlena (Charlotte Riley). They would have taken the young Adam to, in their search for the Sword of Power. However, the Sorceress (Morena Baccarin) saved him by sending him to Earth to keep the sword safe, but he lost it in transit. As you can imagine, that kind of story does not get you a second date and probably get you an awkward phone call cutting the night short. But things change when one day he gets a message that someone has finally found his sword, and Adam has a chance to return home.

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Backrooms (2026) – Movie Review

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TL;DR – This is a film built almost entirely on its vibe, and that is exactly why it works. Every small detail has been crafted to leave the hairs standing up on the back of your neck for the entire runtime.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

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

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film.

Cap’n Clark’s Ottoman Empire.

Backrooms Review Introduction

If you have ever dabbled in the online spaces, then you have probably come across the internet phenomenon that is the Backrooms. A slightly too illuminated or not illuminated enough office block that goes on for eternity, where things are just not quite right. It has the distinct visual style of being both familiar and also profoundly off-putting. Well, this has been bouncing around the World Wide Web for a decade or so, and one of the creators in the space has taken the jump to the big screen, so let’s take a look.   

So, to set the scene, in the 1990s, Clark (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is a generally frustrated seller of tired house furniture. He wanted to be an architect, but for many reasons, he could never make that work. The Cap’n Clark’s Ottoman Empire is bleeding him dry with all these electricity bills, which Clark knows are wrong because he might be currently living in the store after his wife kicked him out. He has been working through this with his therapist, Dr Mary Kline (Renate Reinsve), but nothing seems to stick. But then, one night, when he was sleeping in the store, he heard some odd electric noises from the basement. Going to investigate, nothing seems out of the ordinary until something caught the corner of his eye. An echo, a strip, a remembrance of a door that should not be there. It is an odd office-like space with yellow carpets and inconsistent fluorescent lighting. However, the deeper Clark goes, the weirder it gets.       

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Finding Emily – Movie Review

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TL;DR – An oddly charming film that transcends some of the potential limitations by grounding the characters in a clear sense of time and place.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

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

A poster with "Missing, A Digit of Emily's Number!, you gave me 10/11th's of your number on MONDAY you were a FAIRY I was the guy with no bottle opener who'd really like to see you again Meet ME Where you found me ANY NIGHT 7pm"

Finding Emily Review Introduction

When you have been writing reviews for a while, one of the issues that comes up is that you tend to have seen everything under the sun already. It is like that friend who always knows who the murderer is five minutes into a murder mystery. However, every now and again, a film will catch you off guard, and that is what we are looking at today.   

So, to set the scene, Owen (Spike Fearn) is a caring guy trying to make a life as a sound engineer when one night at a club he is working in, he runs into Emily (Sadie Soverall). They immediately hit it off with an almost electric chemistry. To the point he almost loses his job from having a good time. But late at night, before the clock struck 12, Emily had to run off with her friends to another party, but since they were having such fun, she put her number in Owen’s phone. The next morning, Owen’s brother, Matt (Jack Riddiford) and his partner, Freya (Isabella Laughland), did find a bit of glee when Owen discovered Emily had only given her 10 of the 11 digits of her phone number. But Owen was determined, and Manchester is a university town, so someone must know who she is, right? His first attempt was a failure, but Emily Raine (Angourie Rice) was nice enough to help him on his mission, but her motives might not be all that altruistic.

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Mixtape – Video Game Review

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TL;DR – A joyous exploration of that cliff in time when you transition from one stage of life to the next, full of its promises, dangers, and the desire to look back while you are hurtling forward.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for this game.

The characters flying through the air.
It is the details that matter. Image Credit: Annapurna Interactive.

Mixtape Review Introduction

Every form of art throughout history has explored that threshold on which a child becomes an adult. That moment when you become a complete being, more than just the sum of your family circumstances. In cinema, we are served a plethora of powerful examples: 10 Things I Hate About You, The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, The Edge of Seventeen, Booksmart, The Princess Diaries, & Clueless, to name just a few. But until today, I have not seen a video game really get into the weeds of that genre; well, this changes now.  

So, to set the scene, Stacey Rockford (Bella DeLong), Van Slater (Max Korman), and Cassandra Morino (Jessica Ma) are three best friends living in the mountainous north of California in the early 1990s. They are cruising through the streets of their town on skateboards, celebrating the end of High School. But this is also a crossroads; some are leaving their claustrophobic town, some are staying, with all three being pulled to different parts of the country. Stacey’s life revolves around music, and she has created the perfect playlist for their last full day together, but fate might have different ideas.    

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Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A wild, chaotic, Canadian ride from start to finish, where you will not know where the film will pivot to next.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film.

Bird erupt as two men push a wheelbarrow through the city.

Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie Review Introduction

There is one film this year that has been recommended by every single person who has watched it. I tried to catch it in cinemas, but the times never lined up. However, it is finally out on digital I have a roast cooking in the oven, and winter has hit so you want to be inside watching something wild. It is the perfect combination to see if my friends were right about this film or not.
  
So, to set the scene, 17 years after trying to play a gig by their band Nirvanna the Band at the Rivoli, Matt Johnson (Matt Johnson) and Jay McCarrol (Jay McCarrol) have finally come up with a plan to get the gig. It might involve jumping off the CN Tower to advertise their band to a baseball stadium, and they might not have told anyone about it, and no one at the CN Tower knows what is about to happen, or that they are filming a movie.

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The Sheep Detectives – Movie Review

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TL;DR – Who knew if you smashed Knives Out into Chicken Run, you would create something so profoundly charming.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a post-credit audio sting, but you don’t need to stay for it.

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film.

A sheep swings in a tire.

The Sheep Detectives Review Introduction

It has been a long time since a film charmed me to the core. However, that is just what happened today. Look, if you told me at the start of the year that a Hugh Jackman sheep film would be scoring high on my end-of-the-year list, I would have called you foolish. But the only fool would have been past-me, and present-me is already quite annoyed at past-me, so we can just add this to the list.  

So, to set the scene, in the charming little English town of Denbrook, lives a farmer called George (Hugh Jackman) and his flock of sheep. George loves all his sheep equally and gave them all names, because they are all special. But he also feels that Lily (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and Sebastian (Bryan Cranston) are the most special. Everything was going swimmingly at the farm, bar all these weird grudges that seemed to have come out of nowhere. However, one night, after reading the sheep their nighttime story, Lily woke to find George lying in the field dead … murdered. Was it the besmirched innkeeper Beth Pennock (Hong Chau), the failed shepherd Caleb (Tosin Cole), the duplicitous priest Reverend Hillcoate (Kobna Holdbrook-Smith), the grumpy butcher Ham Gilyard (Conleth Hill), or the mysterious Rebecca Hampstead (Molly Gordon)? Whatever the case, the sheep can’t leave the case to local police officer Tim Derry (Nicholas Braun), because he is plainly useless. No, if someone is going to step up and solve this murder, it is going to be someone with four hooves, copious wool, and a penchant for baaing.   

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Apex – Movie Review

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TL;DR – An interesting, if very convoluted, survival-horror film.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

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

Warning – Contains scenes which may cause distress.

Sasha hiding in the water.

Apex Review Introduction

As horror still comes in leaps and bounds in 2026, there has been an uptick in the survival-horror space. Today’s film is absolutely playing in that space as it pits two of Hollywood’s biggest stars in a fight across the Australian landscape. And well look, as far as pitches for a film go, that is a solid one.  

So, to set the scene, deep in the grand mountains of the Troll Way of Norway, Sasha (Charlize Theron) and Tommy (Taron Egerton) are making their ascent to the summit. They are the sort of people who find it exhilarating to sleep on the side of a cliff. When the weather turns, they decide, with some reluctance, to head back down, but it is too late, and in the calamity, Tommy does not make it. Months later, Sasha is trying to move on from the tragedy in Australia, out where the terrain is tough, and the satellite signal is poor. Stopping off for supplies, a local, Ben (Taron Egerton), recommends a secluded camping spot, not as secluded as advertised. But worse, as Sasha goes deeper into the bush, she quickly realises that help might not be friendly, and there is something sinister hiding in the bush, something that will give her to the end of a song to run, and then the hunt is on.      

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Biker (బైకర్) – Movie Review

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TL;DR – There is an interesting story here, if you are willing to sit through some of the more convoluted parts of the narrative.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix service to view this film.

Live to Ride, on the side of a motorbike.

Biker Review Introduction

It has been a while, but it is time to jump back into the world of Indian Cinema, with an interesting period sports film out of Tollywood. One of the things that I love about world cinema is seeing how different countries adapt themes that I have experienced in my local cinematic world. The differences and similarities, and it is that space that we work in today.

So, to set the scene, it’s 2003, in Hyderabad, India. Vikas “Vicky” Narayan (Sharwanand) is living with his wife Ananya (Malvika Nair) and son Ishaan (Shourya Chelemella). It is not a perfect life, as his son struggles in school, but it is one he loves. However, when the duplicitous Chairman of IGN, Indraneel Chirag (Atul Kulkarni), comes after Vicky’s estranged father Sunil Narayan (Rajasekhar/ P. Sai Kumar), Vicky must decide if he wants to save his father by jumping back into a world he had left behind: Motocross GP.  

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Michael – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A complicated film about a complicated person that stops just short of having to draw any lines in the sand by creating an interesting framing device for its narrative.

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.

Warning – Contains scenes which may cause distress.

Warning – Contains scenes with flashing lights.

The crowd cheers for Michael.

Michael Review Introduction

Ever since the onslaught that was Bohemian Rhapsody, the cinema space has been full of other musical biopics trying to recreate that lightning in a bottle, assuming you rate Bohemian Rhapsody highly in the first place. We had the fascinating Kneecap, the historically revisionist  The Greatest Showman, and the shameless Oscar grab of A Complete Unknown, to name a few. However, there are always new musicians out there ready for their musical biopic, and today’s entry takes us to the complicated world of Michael Jackson. Now, given this is a movie about a real person’s life, someone who lived not that long ago, we won’t be as stringent with spoilers in this review as we would for a fictional work.

So, to set the scene, throughout the history of 20th-century music, few people have had the same reach and popularity as Michael Jackson (Jaafar Jackson). Even as a child, Michael’s (Juliano Krue Valdi) talent was clear to anyone who could see or hear. But talent can be a gift, and it can be a burden. It can lift a family from obscurity into the lounge rooms of every house in America and the world, and it can also rip that family apart.

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