Movie Review – Gringo

TL;DR – There are individual elements of Gringo that are interesting, but as a whole, the movie just doesn’t really work all that well

Score – 2 out of 5 stars

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

Gringo. Image Credit: Amazon Studios

Review

In some respects, Gringo is a really interesting film, because it is attempting something quite different from a narrative perspective, and it is clear that the cast is giving it their all. However, like a diver doing a front four and a half over-rotating and splashing into the pool, it just does not come together.

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Video Game Review – Beat Saber

TL;DR – One of the best rhythm games I have ever played, challenging but in a mostly fair way, and might be the first video game to ever give me a proper workout.

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

Beat Saber

Review –

I have a sort of love/hate relationship when it comes to rhythm games in general, I get the appeal of them, and I enjoy watching others play them, like LoadingReadyRun’s Rhythm Café. However, no matter how many times I have tried to get into them they never seem to click with my head. Now I was prepared for this just to be the reality of my existence because not every genre of game is going to work for every person, that’s just life. Well, that might be about to change as I was introduced today to a game that not only is a ball of laughs to watch people play, but it is also a game that I want to play, over and over again.

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Movie Review – Tag

TL;DR – Overall just a really fun silly film, that is made even sillier by the fact that it is based on a true story. It is just a pity that not everything works.

Score – 3 out of 5 stars

Content Warning – One of the side plots revolved around an extending sequence about a potential miscarriage

Post-Credit Scene – There is something you’ll want to see in the credits.

Tag. Image Credit: Warner Bros.

Review

You know when I think back to my school years there were people, really good friends, that I spent nearly every day of my life with who I now have no idea where they are and what they are doing with there lives. As we grow older it is natural for people to grow apart, even with the digitally connected world we live in today where you can be Facebook acquaintances with most of the people of your past. Today we are looking at a story about a group of friends that decided to buck this trend in a really odd yet charming way. Now just before we jump in, for the first time I am giving a content warning with regards to this film because one of the plot lines is dealing with a miscarriage that kind of comes out of nowhere in the film and it may be quite traumatising for some people.

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Movie Review – Upgrade

TL;DR – Bloody, gory, and brutal, yet also funny, insightful, and emotional. It blends an interesting concept, with great acting, and fantastic cinematography to create a really compelling work of cinema.

Score – 4.5 out of 5 stars

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

Upgrade banner

Review

I walked into Upgrade not really knowing what to expect, I knew about some chip in some guys back and the death of his wife but nothing much else. What I was not expecting was to see a deeply emotional work of art, which does so much with its shoestring budget that I was shocked to see it only cost five million to make. It delves into the world of post-humanism that we are rapidly approaching as technology and biology blend together. But with all that at its heart is a story about a man losing everything he loves and trying to live in a world where nothing will bring the love of his life back.

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TV Review – Westworld: Kiksuya

TL;DR – In a dramatic return to form, Westworld shows that when it is firing on all cylinders it can be so very good, and this week we see it as we focus in on only one character.

Score – 4.5 out of 5 stars

 

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Review

Well, this was a complete surprise and I honestly didn’t see it coming. In a season that has all been about jumping timelines, exploding trains, mystery boxes, and rampaging warriors. However, this week we take a step back and focus in on really only one character someone who has been there all season on the periphery and now we find out that there I much more to their story.

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Movie Review – Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms (Sayonara no Asa ni Yakusoku no Hana o Kazarō, さよならの朝に約束の花をかざろう)

TL;DR – While it can be frustrating at times, it is a beautifully created animated film with an emotionally resonate heart that will punch you right in the feels at times.

Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars

Post-Credit Scene – There is a final frame after the credits

Maquia banner

Review

‘Animation’ is a genre that does not get the credit it deserves, for many it is just the purview of children and as such it is not something of quality. However, this is a real shame because we have seen with films like Coco (see review), Moana (see review) and Studio Ghibli that even when aimed at children, they can still be works of art. As well as this, there are more and more fascinating animated films that are targeted at adults and today we are looking at one such with Maquia.

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TV Review – Westworld: Les Ecorches

TL;DR – As we move towards the end of the season the different timelines have started to fall into place and I can see the heart of the story it wants to tell, but I don’t know if I am in for the ride to the end.

Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars

 

Les Ecorches banner

 

Review

At the end of last week’s Phase Space (see review) I was beginning to wonder how all the timelines crashing together was going to work given what we knew already this season and I postulated that there must be either multiple copies of some of the hosts or that the timelines were not adding up. Well today in Les Ecorches we discover that I was both wrong and right, as we find out that there were two different occupations of the Mesa that included Charlotte (Tessa Thompson) and Ashley (Luke Hemsworth) that had been spliced together, however we do discover that someone has had a couple of clones made, so part marks? And as always a reminder that we will be looking at the episode as a whole so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

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TV Review – Mystery Road: Season One

TL;DR Mystery Road is a mystery ‘who done it’ where every reveal has weight and you have to watch every episode just to see what happened next.

Score – 4.5 out of 5 stars

Mystery Road

Review

Australian TV is kind of going through a period of uncertainty, how does it adapt to a changing global marketplace where streaming services are the new norm, or to governments that do not feel like supporting the arts is a good thing any more. Indeed, when you look at the list of currently running drama series in Australia it is almost anaemic compared to even ten years ago. Within this world, it is an unfortunate reality that you have to make each chance count, and with today’s Mystery Road we have a show that does just that. Now before we move onto the review proper just a couple of points. Firstly, this is based off a series of films created by Ivan Sen that I have unfortunately not seen, however, if you are like me in this regard, don’t worry because anything you do need to know about them is told in the show so you are not missing out. As well as this, we will be looking at the series as a whole so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead, but we will leave discussions about the final episode to a paragraph all to itself so you can skip that if you don’t want to find out the conclusion.

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Movie Review – Fahrenheit 451

TL;DR – While it is wonderfully acted and beautifully filmed, unfortunately in the attempt to update the source material it loses some of the core parts of the narrative in the attempt to tell a more straightforward narrative.

Score – 2.5 out of 5 stars

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

Fahrenheit 451 banner

Review

Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 is one of those titan works of literature that kind of looms over narrative and speculative fiction genre. It was both miles ahead of its time but also very much a product of its time, making it a difficult work to adapt especially as time has gone on. It is one of those books that is weird and at times off-putting but entirely compelling as it sucks you into a world without books. When I heard that they were going to do a remake of it starring Michael B. Jordan I was really excited because it held such promise and now that I have seen it well, I don’t know, but somewhere along the way, it lost something. Today we are going to look at just what that might have been and yes I am writing this from the perspective of someone who has read the source material, and if you have not you might get something completely different from the film and that is completely fine. I am not someone who believes that you have to read the book before seeing it updated, but seeing that I have it shapes the way I experienced the film.

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TV Review – Westworld: Phase Space

TL;DR – It is the second half of the season and finally the timelines are starting to crash into each other in interesting yet not completely clear ways

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

 

Phase Space banner

 

Review

One of the things Westworld is known for is its many intersecting storylines and timelines, and Season Two has been no exception up until now. We have the story of Dolores’ (Evan Rachel Wood) rebellion as she builds an army to possibly take over the world, also Maeve (Thandie Newton) and her hunt to find her missing daughter as she puts together a ratbag team to help her, we have the Man in Black (Ed Harris) trying to get to the heart of the final narrative Robert (Anthony Hopkins) planned for him, and then we also have Bernard (Jeffrey Wright) whose history database got messed up by the head shot and so we see him jumping across different timelines. Well in today’s episode we not only get all of these stories we get them just as timelines come crashing together … maybe.

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