Tag Archives: Tig Notaro

Zootopia 2 – Movie Review

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TL;DR – Zootopia 2 captures what made the first film such a joy. Full of energy, full of chaos, and full of delight. But it is also asking the important questions.  

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

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

Zootopia.

Zootopia 2 Review Introduction –

There were several thought processes that happened when I started writing this review. The first was discovering that the original Zootopia came out nine years ago, and also that is how long I have been writing reviews for this site. It was an odd moment of reflection, but also a profound look at one of the issues of modern Hollywood, in that it takes forever in between iterations. Well, let’s dive in and see if one of the most stacked cast lists this year can make up for all the time.

So, to set the scene, things have been going well in Zootopia (or Zootropolis, depending on where you live) since the incident that brought partners Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman) when now former deputy mayor Dawn Bellwether (Jenny Slate) tried to start a war between the herbivore and carnivore members of the mammal city. After a mission goes wrong, Hopps and Wilde are sent to therapy with Dr Fuzzby (Quinta Brunson), which is make-or-break to see if they can continue being partners in the ZPD. But while the mission might have been a bust, some clues, like some scales, show that there may be more than just mammals in the city of Zootopia and with the Zootenial Gala coming up, is someone about to strike at the heart of the city?

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Star Trek: Discovery – Life, Itself & Season 5 – TV Review

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TL;DR – While you can tell this was never meant to be a season finale, it did still give us a lovely swan song for the series.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

The Binary Blackholes.

Star Trek: Discovery Review –

All good things come to an end, and while it was never meant to be the final episode, it is the end. In today’s review, we will first look at how the episode works as a finale. Then, we will take a look at Season 5 as a whole. Finally, we will take a moment to look back at the series in its entirety, the bastion of a new wave of Star Trek during the second golden age of Sci-Fi.    

So to set the scene, after spending all season trying to track down the Progenitor tech, the crew of the USS Discovery-A finally made it to the end of the treasure hunt. However, the Breen beat them to it in Lagrange Point. But as the portal to the tech gets flung into the binary black holes, Michael (Sonequa Martin-Green) and Mol (Eve Harlow) get trapped inside. Now, the Discovery is trapped outside with an angry Breen dreadnaught and a new fleet on its way if Saru (Doug Jones) can’t stop them. Now, we will be looking at the Episode, Season, and Series as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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Star Trek: Discovery – Labryinths – TV Review

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TL;DR – A fun action romp of an episode.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

The Breen Mourn.

Star Trek: Discovery Review –

We are getting to the pointy end of Discovery’s final season, and so far, I have been enjoying our treasure hunt across the galaxy. However, as we come towards the final piece in the puzzle, we need to ask, will the treasure be worth the hunt?

So to set the scene, in Erigah, two significant events happened. First, the Breen went from being mysterious and dangerous to being outright hostile, with the knowledge of what The Federation was seeking. Secondly, the crew finally unlocked the answer to take them to the final clue. This time, it was hidden in the Eternal Gallery and Archive in the book Labyrinths of the Mind. The Gallery is hiding in The Badlands, and hopefully, the USS Discovery-A can get to them before the Breen. Now, we will be looking at the episode as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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Star Trek: Discovery – Erigah – TV Review

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TL;DR – A very Star Trek episode all about whether violence or diplomacy is the best way forward.  

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

USS Locherer catches up with Moll and l'ak.

Star Trek: Discovery Review –

We are starting to get into the back half of the season, and you can feel things starting to come ahead. This would be tense in any season, but given this is the final season of Discovery, you can feel that being amplified even more so because the Breen are coming.  


So to set the scene, after finding the next clue in an abandoned weather tower, the next hint was some sort of Betazed text inscription. But when the USS Locherer catch up with Moll (Eve Harlow) and L’ak (Elias Toufexis), the Discovery jumps straight there and beams them to their sick bay. L’ak is in bad shape and needs emergency cryo-therapy at Starfleet HQ before he dies. But the Breen knows where they are and are coming for Starfleet HQ with a dreadnaught, and everyone can feel that we are at a tipping point. Now, we will be looking at the episode as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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Star Trek: Discovery – Face The Strange – TV Review

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TL;DR – A fun romp through the past.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

Moll and L'ak

Star Trek: Discovery Review –

As we continue our tour through the greatest hits of Star Trek Discovery, today’s episode takes that view almost literally. All of this is wrapped around one of Star Trek’s most tried and true go-to stories: Time Travel.

So to set the scene, at the end of Jinaal, we found that the next clue in the mission was in Tzenkethi space. However, before they left Trill, Moll (Eve Harlow) smuggled a Krenim time bug onto Adira (Blu del Barrio). On board, the bug runs around the ship until it gets to Engineering, where Stamets (Anthony Rapp) notices it just before it activates. Luckily, Michael (Sonequa Martin-Green) and Rayner (Callum Keith Rennie) were trying to teleport when the bug activated because they were now lost in time and constantly shifting as well. Now, we will be looking at the episode as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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Star Trek: Discovery – Jinaal – TV Review

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TL;DR – We continue our quest in Trill, where all may not be what it seems, and the game of politics continues.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

the caves of Trill

Star Trek: Discovery Review –

As we fly through the galaxy on this quest, it has been interesting to see just how much this season of Discovery is linking itself back to the past series of Star Trek. It has always felt like it has been pushed there by many people into being more of its own thing. But now, it is embracing its place in the Star Trek world, and I, for one, would love to see it.

So to set the scene, last week Under the Twin Moons, we discovered that the next clue in the treasure hunt was not hidden on Betazed as it first seemed, but was instead on Trill. This was possibly great news for Adira (Blu del Barrio) because Gray (Ian Alexander) has been studying there to be a Guardian. However, as the race heats up, the question is, how will they find the next clue when it has been 800 years since it was hidden? Now, we will be looking at the episode as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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Star Trek: Discovery – Full Season 4 – TV Review

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TL;DR – A season that is equal parts uplifting and frustrating  

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

The crew get lifted into the air by a gravity wave.

Star Trek: Discovery Review –

When I was doing an overview of the site, I realised that there were a couple of missing moments that I was not able to tie up due to things happening at the time. Well, given that today is a public holiday, I thought it would be time to correct this, and the first thing we should do is look back at Season Four of Star Trek: Discovery. When I look at this season, what I see are two distinctly different parts, one which might be the best Star Trek has to offer, and the other which was an unfortunate anchor that weighed the entire series back, and today, we will break those two halves down.  

So to set the scene, after saving the galaxy by finding the cause of “The Burn” in Season Three. The USS Discovery-A has settled into being the leading edge of the resurgent Federation. Negotiating with new members and helping distribute dilithium. However, when a mysterious force destroys the entire planet of Kwejian, there is a race to try and work out who is scouring space before another planet is destroyed. Now, we will be looking at the season as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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We Have a Ghost – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A frustrating film sometimes, but when it finds its feet, you feel its strength and spooks.   

Rating: 3 out of 5.

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

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

The house at night before all hell breaks loose.

We Have a Ghost Review –

I always like to see when a filmmaker takes a spin on what they are known for. Christopher Landon has a long career in horror space with Paranormal Activity and Happy Death Day, but could he make a more family-orientated supernatural film land as well? Well, this is the question we ask as we dive into a world of ghosts, or well at least a world of a ghost.  

 So to set the scene, one night, while the Moon was full, all was quiet until screams erupted from a house bathed in eerily green light. All at once a family rushes to their car and drives away, and the house closes itself up. Kevin (Jahi Di’Allo Winston) and his family move into the rundown house one year later. There is a lot of tension between Kevin and his father, Frank (Anthony Mackie), over the move, as it is one of many the family has gone through. But as Kevin walks through the house at night, it suddenly gets cold, a chair starts moving by itself, and then a spectral presence explodes out of the walls. But instead of being scared, Kevin laughs, beginning a very different relationship with the ghost Ernest (David Harbour) as they team up to help each other.     

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Star Trek: Discovery – Species Ten-C – TV Review

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TL;DR – An episode that is equal parts uplifting and frustrating  

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

Star Trek: Discovery – Species Ten-C. Image Credit: Paramount+.

Star Trek: Discovery Review –

As we reach the pointy end of the season, it is time for everything to get put into focus. This focus applies both to the season’s narrative and the strengths and weaknesses of the narrative choices that led to this moment. Here, we can find some of the very best that Star Trek has to offer and also some of the most frustrating aspects.

So to set the scene, after breaching the Galactic Barrier, the crew of the USS Discovery were both literally and metaphorically in uncharted space. In Rosetta, Captain Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) took a gamble and made a slight detour to a solar system near the Hyperfield. Here they found the remains of a Gas Giant whose atmosphere had been blown off by a series of asteroid impacts. It was also the original home of Species Ten-C. in the ruins of the former society. They found a nursery and hydrocarbons that form part of the species’ emotions. With that knowledge obtained, the crew make their way to the Hyperfield, only to get sucked in and the power shut off. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Star Trek: Discovery – Rosetta  – TV Review

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TL;DR – Preparing for the end by going into the belly of the beast  

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

Star Trek: Discovery – Rosetta

Star Trek: Discovery Review –

This season we have gotten a combination of some of the best Star Trek has to offer attached to what feels like story elements that just exist to pad out time. Thankfully, the strength of the characters and the production has smoothed over some of those issues, but as we rocket towards the end, I have begun to be a bit concerned. But this week, we finally got some answers about the nature of the 10-C.

So to set the scene, after the colossal stuff up of Book (David Ajala) and Tarka (Shawn Doyle) led to the 10-C not only replacing the anomaly but shifting it to the Alpha Quadrant in direct line to Earth and Ni’Var. The USS Discovery, its crew and the delegates onboard raced through the Galactic Barrier to attempt diplomacy before the deaths of billions. When they breached the barrier, they discovered a solar system near where 10-C live. It soon becomes apparent that the 10-C used to live here, as the corpses of their species litter the surface. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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