The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie – Movie Review

TL;DR – A fun pomp back to that past nostalgia, which, while not quite having the strength to get all the way to the end, was still a blast when it leaned into the looney side of the toons.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film.

Daffy Duck and Porky Pig

The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie Review

Unfortunately, if there has been an entity that has been the most affected by this current blight of shelving products for tax purposes, it has been the Looney Tunes. So, to see one of those fallen products escape containment and get a release was reason enough to make it down to the cinemas. My big question was: could it connect with a new audience? And I was fascinated to see the outcome.  

So, to set the scene, Daffy Duck (Eric Bauza) and Porky Pig (Eric Bauza) have grown up together under the guidance of Farmer Jim (Fred Tatasciore). But with him gone and suburbia encroaching on their former farm, they are stuck with a profound predicament: find $10,000 to fix a hole in their roof, or their house will be condemned. But what caused the hole? Why is that scientist (Fred Tatasciore) covered in goo? And does it have something to do with Petunia Pig (Candi Milo), who just walked into the coffee shop?

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Jurassic Park Review (1993) – Exploring the Past

TL;DR – A masterpiece in cinema that still moves you thirty years later.    

Rating: 5 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film.

the entry gate to Jurassic Park.

Jurassic Park Review –

Some films captivated you the first time you watched them, getting your claws into you and never letting go. As a kid, one of those films was Jurassic Park. It delighted and terrified in equal measure. But even though it is in my Top 10 Films of All Time, it is a film I never watched on the big screen because I was far too young when it was released. But on the 30th anniversary of its release, it was back in cinemas, and it was time to rectify that.

So to set the scene, on a remote island off the coast of Costa Rica, an animal transfer at a new type of zoo goes terribly wrong. Investors start to panic, so John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) and his lawyer Donald Gennaro (Martin Ferrero) bring in three experts: Dr Alan Grant (Sam Neill), Dr Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern), and Dr Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) to give the park their stamp of approval. But why would a zoo need palaeontologists? Cue the John Williams soundtrack.   

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Space Jam (1996) – Exploring the Past

TL;DR – A blast from the past that has unfortunately lost a bit of its sheen. 

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is an End Credit scene

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

Space Jam. Image Credit: Warner Brothers.

Space Jam Review

When Space Jam first came out in cinemas, I was in primary school, and I can remember that it was a film that teachers would put on when they needed a break from us but not that much more. It has been over a decade since I have seen the film, and besides the occasional look at the old website, I hadn’t thought about it much. However, then they went and made a sequel. I felt I had to give it another watch for due diligence to see just what it was that captured people all those years ago.

So to set the scene, in 1973, a young Michal Jordan (Brandon Hammond) is practising at his home well after midnight. When talking to his dad, the one thing he wants to be is a champion and play on a championship team. One montage of Jordan’s career later, and a now champion Michael Jordan (Michael Jordan) is retiring from basketball to join baseball. But on a planet in deep space, a theme park boss is Swackhammer (Danny DeVito), is trying to find a new attraction, and he decides to steal all the Looney Tunes. But instead of being captured, Bugs Bunny (Billy West) cons them into playing a basketball game for their freedom.   

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Countdown – My Personal Top 10 Films of All Time List

TL;DR – Today we countdown my Top 10 films of all time; from towns where there are a lot of ‘accidents’, to all forms of Sci-Fi, to do you know the man with six fingers on his right hand, and everything in between.

Countdown

Recently I watched the CineFix crew countdown their Top 10 films, and it had me thinking what are mine? Now it was at this point where I of course naturally spiralled as how can you reduce thousands of films that you have seen into only a Top 10. Just before I threw my hands up in resignation and chucked in the towel I happened to catch an episode of Movies with Mikey on how he determined the best sequel. With this in mind I wondered if there was a set of criteria that I could use to categorise the films into a list that I would be happy with, and after some work, I came up with the following criteria that work for me.

  • Films that are beautifully constructed
  • Films that mean something to me
  • Films that are always re-watchable
  • Films that have added to my love of the craft of cinema

With this criterion in mind I went through all the likely candidates and with a bit of a struggle I think I have been able to come to a final list, well at least until I change my mind next week, which is always a chance.

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Movie Review – Hail Caesar

TL;DR – Hail Caesar is an interesting film, with a lot going on, but that is much of the problem, its scattershot nature means the film lacks real substance, but it still has a lot of spectacle to make up for it.

Score – 3 out of 5 stars

Hail Caesar. Image Credit: Universal.

Review

This is an interesting film, but it is also a very flawed film and that makes it quite difficult to review, or at least score. There are some really interesting ideas at play here, and there are also some amazingly wonderful set pieces throughout which are a joy to watch. However, it is trying to do so much, that it just can’t do any of the ideas justice, so it just feels like a scattershot of a film, which is a bit a disappointment.

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