Tag Archives: Theo Rossi

Carry-On Film Review: Tension and Action Combined

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TL;DR – This is a film that didn’t need to go as hard as it did, and I am glad that they went there.

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.

Security in an airport.

Carry-On Review –

Many films just cost on their generic action beats or their main cast and give you a substandard product. Add enough charismatic smiles, and it feels like you can get away with anything. When I came into this film, I honestly thought this was what I was going to get, and I am glad to say that I was wrong.

So, to set the scene, Christmas is upon us, and millions of people are making the trip home to see their families. Ethan Kopek (Taron Egerton) and his girlfriend Nora Parisi (Sofia Carson) both work at LAX, and Christmas Eve is the worst day for travellers. But as Ethan tries to step up in his job for the TSA thanks to his wife’s pending pregnancy. Little does he know that someone is coming through with a package that will change his life. All he has to do is ignore one package, just one package, and his girlfriend lives. Surely, that can’t be that hard.   

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The Penguin: A Great Or Little Thing & Full Season – TV Review

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TL;DR – A phenomenal ending to one of the great surprises of 2024

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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

Penguin wakes to see Sofia looking down on him.

The Penguin Review –

To say that the DCU has had a bit of a bad run up until now might be putting it mildly. Indeed, even this year, they had the absolute disaster of Joker: Folie à Deux. So, I am not sure that I had much hope in a television spinoff of The Batman, which was not even in the DCU as it was made during the bifurcation period. However, I have never been gladder to be wrong. In today’s review, we will first look at the season finale and then the season as a whole.

So, to set the scene, things are coming to a head in Gotham as the war between Oswald “Oz” Cobb (Colin Farrell) and Sofia Gigante (Cristin Milioti) comes to an explosive climax. Now Oz has been captured by Sofia and has been brought to a final confrontation with Francis Cobb (Deirdre O’Connell). Because a profound revelation is about to drop after some prompting from Dr. Julian Rush (Theo Rossi). Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode and season as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

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The Penguin: Top Hat – TV Review

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TL;DR – While this is an episode of big action beats, I was more interested in the small conversations that spoke loudly.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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

Oz returns home.

The Penguin Review –

Goodness, we are already at the penultimate episode of this series, which is astounding. This season has flown by, but it never felt rushed because it was always captivating. However, as main cast members start dropping like flies, can it keep what is unique about the show all the way to the end?

So, to set the scene, at the end of the last episode, things were starting to look precarious as Sofia Gigante (Cristin Milioti) walks into the house where Oz (Colin Farrell) is trying to keep his mother Francis (Deirdre O’Connell) safe. Vic (Rhenzy Feliz) doesn’t even see it coming, but Sofia does not kill the pair. Only take Francis hostage because she is the best bargaining chip, the only person in all of Gotham City Oz might actually care about. 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 Penguin: Cant’anni – TV Review

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TL;DR – This is phenomenal character work that had me on the edge of my seat, wondering just what would happen next.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

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

Sophia in Arkham.

The Penguin Review –

When I first started watching this episode, I mused to myself, ‘Oh, tis the seasons of flashback episodes’. While that first gut reaction did have some truth to it, it did not prepare me for what followed. The depths that we would go to, and how the episode ended.

So, to set the scene, everything was going well in Bliss. That is until Nadia Maroni (Shohreh Aghdashloo) arrives and drops the bomb that not only is Oz (Colin Farrell) playing the two families off each other but that he was the one who killed Alberto Falcone (Michael Zegen) back in After Hours. While Vic’s (Rhenzy Feliz) surprise entry into the scene saved everyone from an execution, it still rocks Sofia’s (Cristin Milioti) world, which was already precarious thanks to her time in Arkham. 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 Penguin: Inside Man – TV Review

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TL;DR – We get a quieter, more character-focused episode that shows us how wild the rest of the season will be.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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

Sofia Falcone

The Penguin Review –

The first episode of The Penguin After Hours had to do a lot of heavy lifting. It had to bring people into this world without the guarantee that they had watched The Batman. Now that we have situated ourselves in this world, it is time to explore some of the characters more deeply. Well, if that was the mission for the day, then the second episode did it in spades.

So, to set the scene, things are still tense in the underworld of Gotham City. The damage caused by The Riddler has created a lot of opportunities, but with the death of Carmine Falcone (Mark Strong), there is also a potential power vacuum. Well, nature abhors a vacuum, but when Oz Cobb (Colin Farrell) kills Alberto Falcone (Michael Zegen), well, there is only one outcome that can follow. The question is: will The Penguin be able to play the Falcone’s and Maroni’s off each other, or will he get taken out in the crossfire? Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Army of the Dead – Movie Review

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TL;DR – This film is like a shotgun of ideas slapped up on the screen, and none of it lands. 

Rating: 2 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix subscription that viewed this film

Army of the Dead. Image Credit: Netflix.

Army of the Dead Review –

I need to start this review with a little proviso about filmmaker Zach Snyder, the director, writer, and cinematographer of this film. I do think he can be a great filmmaker because when his particular style lines up with the right narrative, you can get great films like 300. Unfortunately, you need someone to help channel that style, or you get a bloated mess of a film, and I think we are in the latter today y’all.

So to set the scene, we open in as a military convoy with a high-value cargo leaves Area 51, transiting it somewhere safer. However, when a driver on an oncoming car becomes “distracted”, their car crashes into the convoy killing many soldiers. But just as the survivors regroup, something comes out of the cargo and rips them all to pieces. That would be bad, but what is worse is that those once dead come back alive, and Las Vegas waits over the horizon. Sometime later, after the government lost the battle and instead decided to wall off the infected town, a mysterious businessman called Bly Tanaka (Hiroyuki Sanada) enlists the help of Scott Ward (Dave Bautista) and his team to break into the city. Because there is a lot of money left in those casinos, and you might as well take it before the government nukes the place.

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TV Review – Luke Cage: Soul Brother #1

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TL;DR – This does everything you need the first episode of a new season to do.

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

Soul Brother #1. Image Credit: Marvel/Netflix

Review –

The first season of Luke Cage (see review) started off so strong, with such an amazing cast, and the first big dive into African culture for Marvel in the lead up to Black Panther (see review). However, like many of the Netflix/Marvel TV Shows it lagged in the middle, but unlike the other shows, it just could not stick the landing, with one of the most underwhelming season finales so far. However, while there were real issues, there was also such an amazing potential which we got to see a bit of in The Defenders (see review). So today we take our first steps in the follow-up season as a new player enters the scene in Harlem.

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TV Review – Luke Cage ‘Ep. 1, 2, and 3′ review

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TL;DR –  Luke Cage starts the season with a slow build, but the tension it creates is amazing, and more importantly it hooks you in for the long run.

Score – 4 out of 5 Stars

Luke Cage. Image Credit: Netflix/Marvel.

Review –

Well off the back of both a movie series that keeps going from strength to strength (Team Cap all the way) and some groundbreaking TV adaptions (like who knew that Daredevil could be likeable) Marvel is simply killing it at the moment. Indeed the Netflix experiment itself is still growing exponentially, it’s a service that can show everything from Chef’s Table to Stranger Things and all in between. Within all this, we get the next in the Marvel/Netflix joint project Luke Cage (after Daredevil and Jessica Jones), and like its predecessors, Luke Cage is provocative, but also brilliantly made. For this review we are going to look at the first three episodes ‘Moment of Truth’, ‘Code of the Streets’ & ‘Who’s Gonna Take the Weight’ because they clearly set the scene and the tone for the rest of the season. Now we are going to be talking about these episodes in detail, so to be clear spoilers are now in effect.

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