Tag Archives: Stephen Root

Heads of State – Movie Review

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TL;DR – I was honestly surprised about how much I liked this film, John Cena and Idris Elba are a blast, the action scenes are solid, and it makes a couple of solid points with its story.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

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

John Cena and Idris Elba hold hands.

Heads of State Review –

There has been an interesting trend in action films recently. Back in the 1990s, it was common for the US President to be an action star, think Air Force One or Independence Day. But it has been a long time since I have seen it outside of some ‘has fallen’ films. But in the last year, we have gotten Rumours, Captain America: Brave New World, and G20, to name but a few. Now we get to see what John Cena and Idris Elba do in this world of a good old-fashioned UK-USA team-up.   

So, to set the scene, we open in Buñol, Spain, as La Tomatina is in full swing, where Noel Bisset (Priyanka Chopra Jonas) is working a case for MI6/CIA to take out Russian arms dealer Viktor Gradov (Paddy Considine). It was going well until her entire team was murdered in the street. Meanwhile, in London, embattled Prime Minister Sam Clarke (Idris Elba) is getting ready to meet US President Will Derringer (John Cena), a former action film star. After a disastrous press conference, the minders agree to diffuse the situation with the two jointly taking Air Force One to the NATO conference in Trieste. But when the plane is attacked, they are pushed out of the aircraft in parachutes; the only problem is that the attack has put them over Belarus, hostile territory.    

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Dog Man – Movie Review

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TL;DR – This is a profoundly silly premise. However, they commit to it with such gusto that you can’t help but be brought along with it.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I was given a free ticket to see this film.

Dog Man jumping in the air.

Dog Man Review –

There are animation studios out there that are defined by the visual style that they use in their films. You can look at a Studio Ghibli or Pixar film and know it comes from one of those studios. This was once the case for DreamWorks Animation. However, in recent years, I have been fascinated by the different experiments that they are taking with their animation styles. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, The Wild Robot, and The Bad Guys have all shown this in action. Today, we get to see the next entry in this experiment with Dog Man.   

So, to set the scene, Ohkay City is under threat from Petey (Pete Davidson), the world’s most evil cat. Chief (Lil Rel Howery) sends out the only team that can take Petey down, Officer Knight (Peter Hastings) and his Golden Retriever Greg (Peter Hastings). They may be a menace, but they are the only hope the city has, that is, until tragedy strikes. A bomb set by Petey explodes badly, injuring Knight and Greg. There is no hope until a nurse has a bright idea: why don’t we attach the good dog head and the good human body, and Dog Man (Peter Hastings) was born?     

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Star Trek: Lower Decks: Starbase 80?! – TV Review

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TL;DR – A weird little fun episode that gets to put the cap off the running joke of Starbase 80

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Paramount+ streaming service that viewed this episode. 

Starbase 80.

Star Trek: Lower Decks Review –

One of the recurring jokes on Star Trek: Lower Decks is that no one ever wants to get transferred to Starbase 80. The very joke of it is enough to put a pause on any dubious activity. We have known how bad it was since way back in Season One and now it is time to find out if the legacy lives up to the reality.

So, to set the scene, after cataloguing a bunch of algae on the ocean planet Piskes 9, the USS Cerritos was meant to head to a Captain’s Conference on Casperia Prime. However, after a navigation malfunction, the ship had to drop out of warp because they were flying blind. That is no problem. There is a Starbase they can reach by impulse. The only problem is that base is Starbase 80: Insert creepy music here. We will be looking at the episode as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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The Book of Boba Fett: Chapter 3 (The Streets of Mos Espa) – TV Review

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TL;DR – We get a lot more action this episode, but it did feel like it lost some of last week’s substance.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ subscription that viewed this show.

The Book of Boba Fett: Chapter 2 (The Streets of Mos Espa). Image Credit: Disney+.

The Book of Boba Fett Review –

In Chapter 1, my big concern was that the show would keep navel-gazing too much into the past. While in Chapter 2, the show went almost full-past and was better for it. All of this has put my first thoughts in harsh contrast because this week, we get the reverse, with most of it being in the present, yet I think this was the weakest episode so far.

So to set the scene, last week we discovered that all was not as it seems in Mos Espa, as the Mayor (Robert Rodriquez) had let slip that others were looking to take over Boba Fett’s (Temuera Morrison) territory. Jabba had family, and just that moment, The Twins arrived with their Wookie bodyguard Black Krrsantan (Carey Jones). Boba is looking to try and stamp his authority on the city with everything in flux when vassal Lortha Peel (Carey Jones) arrives and explains that social order is collapsing and a new gang is in town. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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Movie Review – Life of the Party

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 TL;DR – A fun uplifting comedy that I found myself smiling all the way through.

Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars

Post-Credit Scene – There is no Post-Credit Scene

Life of the Party

Review –

To be perfectly honest I was not actually planning to go see Life of the Party, because of a couple of reasons. It came out during a particularly big work week for me, and also from the trailers, it looked like many, many other comedies I have sat through over the last couple of years. But I had some free time today and it was on so I thought what the hell, and I am actually really glad that I did.

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Movie Review – Get Out

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TL;DR – Get out is a masterpiece in tension, cinematography and action, it is perfectly cast, amazingly directed, and deeply affecting.

Score – 5 out of 5 stars

Get Out. Image Credit: Universal.

Review –

Wow, I had no idea, absolutely none, about just how good this film would be, and from a first-time features director no less. Get Out is a masterpiece from the acting, to the cinematography, to the music, everything, seriously this is the first 5 out of 5 film for 2017. Now because of the type of film that it is I can’t really discuss it without immediately getting into spoilers, so because of this, and also because it has been out in the rest of the world for months, this is going to be a [FULL SPOILER REVIEW] so if you have not seen it beware that we will be holding nothing back and it will be best if you go in as spoiler free as possible, a sentiment not held up by the trailer it seems. So if you want a non-spoiler review let me just say no movie has affected me in this way in a very long time and I highly recommend it as it is a masterpiece of cinema. So with that in mind, this is your last chance because we go full spoiler now.

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Movie Review – Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates

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TL;DR – About as enjoyable as an overseas destination wedding

Score – 1.5 out of 5 stars

Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates. Image Credit: 20th Century Fox.

Review –

You know this is a movie I have seen so many times now, to the point I was going to have my review be same as – The Night Before, Dirty Grandpa, Grimsby and on and on and on. It feels like when The Hangover exploded on the screens, and Hollywood realised that people would go watch an R-rated comedy they decided that this would be the only type of R-rated comedy that would sell, so they change the setting and the cast, well actually no, not the cast because you see the same cast members over and over again, I’m looking at you Zac Efron, and the same wacky adventure, with the same jump scare humour, the only difference is trying to outgross the last successful film to see where the line in the sand is. All of this, at best, gets quite boring to watch, and at worse can actually drag down really important issues with it, see Bad Neighbours 2. I would like to say Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates breaks this trend and tries to do something different like Deadpool, but alas not, it is the same old shtick with a new colour of paint over the top.

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