Knowing: Nicolas Cage And His Piece Of Paper Are The Key To Stopping Climate Change

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Nicolas Cage finds a paper that when deciphered contains dates and revealing clues for global natural disasters.

You might have noticed above that I didn’t write the character’s name but rather I put that Nicolas Cage found the paper, that is because one can’t make an argument for Cage playing a role here he is playing full on Cage in a shoddy b-movie esque science fiction film complete with freak outs and random spurts of violence.

I found a lot of the ideas and concepts to be recycled, having been done better in other science fiction projects. Moreover, unlike other reviewers I didn’t think the ending saved the film but rather condemned it, that is because it is far too broad and open, though to some that can be a good thing I found it to be rather rambling and aimless.

The reason I have given this film mid marks rather than lower is because there is a lot of unintentional comedy here, which whilst clearly not what the filmmakers wanted, does make the film a lot more watchable and enjoyable. When I stopped looking at this film as a serious science fiction film and instead as a silly Nicolas Cage movie I enjoyed it a lot more.

Overall, Cage can be both a blessing and a curse to the projects he is in.

Pros.

It is unintentionally hilarious

It is watchable

Cage

Cons.

Cage

The ending

It feels generic

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Stranger Things Season 4 Volume 1: The Netflix Issue

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

The Hawkins gang are back for a series that feels forced and altogether needless.

Personally, I believe that the end of the last season was the perfect place for the series to end, the big bad of the Mind Flyer was defeated, the kids were going in different directions and the whole things had a very conclusive feel to it that would have worked well if it had been the end of the show. However, Netflix realising they don’t have much else decided to string it along for two more seasons.

I won’t sit here and tell you this season is bad, because that isn’t true there are some good moments here and there, there are just now also a lot of issues. The worst issue in my mind is the double whammy of having each episode go on for far, far longer than is necessary and also splitting the season in two, in a desperate attempt to keep people subscribed for longer. The episodes are at times off putting in their length and the binge as a whole this time around really asks a lot of you.

I enjoyed the body horror and the clear Nightmare On Elm Street inspiration here, however, I thought a number of the sub-plots either didn’t work or made no sense. The satanic panic idea that the Hellfire club some of the boys join being viewed by the towns people as a satanic cult just makes them all look really dumb, I understand this was a genuine thing that happened but still it makes no sense that the kids parents would actually go along with it. Worse yet the early season sub-plot about Eleven, played by Millie Bobby Brown, getting bullied just feels entirely needless. The first few episode progress incredibly slowly and the bullying subplot and several of the other teen angst directions they try and go in don’t work and feel like filler. You fill find yourself going please just get to it at times.

Overall, I am not saying it was a bad collection of episodes but I am saying this time around it felt far less needed and far more forced, which of course hurt the show.

Pros.

Steve and Robin

Some fun to be had

The more overt horror feel

Cons.

Needless subplots that feel out of place

The pacing and episode length

Obi-Wan Kenobi: Part II

3.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Obi-Wan Kenobi, played by Ewan McGregor, tracks Princess Leia, played by Vivian Lyra Blair, to the planet of Daiyu.

Reva’s parkour race/flip session was the most low budget goofy thing I have ever seen from Star Wars. Honestly whoever put that together should get fired.

I thought this episode was better than the first, though not by much. McGregor was on top from and I liked his back and forth with Leia. The two have great chemistry together and I hope they spend a lot more time together over the course of the series, though maybe not as Disney + Star Wars already has enough parent child dynamics.

Moreover, though I was initially disappointed that Kumail Nanjiani’s character wasn’t an actual Jedi, I do like the mystery of who these friends of Obi-Wan are. I liked Nanjiani and thought he was a welcome addition to Star Wars lore, again I hope we see more of him as the series goes on.

I thought Reva, played by Moses Ingram, continued to be a problem and that her conversation with the Grand Inquisitor, played by Rupert Friend, about her not being one of them and her being beneath them was so incredibly on the nose that I question if the writers even understand the concept of sub-text. Furthermore, her stabbing and seemingly killing the Grand Inquisitor at the end of the episode both further ruined him as a character and also made no sense in terms of the franchise’s cannon. We know he can’t be dead as he later appears in Rebels unless of course this show is going to retcon that. Reva makes it so that the Grand Inquisitor is no longer threatening in anyway and totally undoes a lot of the good character development.

Overall, Reva still continues to hold the series back in a big way and Ingram also comes off as the weakest member of the cast in terms of acting ability.

Pros.

Kenobi and Leia

Nanjiani

The Vader tease

Letting Kenobi fight and be badass

Cons.

Reva

Seeing Reva seemingly kill the Grand Inquisitor

The flips and parkour scenes

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Obi-Wan Kenobi: Part I

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Obi-Wan Kenobi, played by Ewan McGregor must come out of retirement to save a capture Princess Leia, played by Vivian Lyra Blair.

So this was a deeply mixed bag, though I would say there was slightly more good than bad.

The good first, I really enjoyed McGregor as Kenobi again he did a really great job of playing the broken Jedi who has all but given up. His interactions with the other characters always feel heightened by his acting prowess as well.

Moreover, I also enjoyed the tone and the more violent edge this series had, with the Inquisitors chopping off people’s body parts and actually feeling threatening. However, this was some what undercut by the fact that only one Inquisitor actually behaved as you would expect, that being Reva, played by Moses Ingram. I will get into later why Reva as a character doesn’t work and why it points out everything wrong with modern day Lucasfilm, but I will say that she was the only Inquisitor that acted the part wanting to hurt civilians for answers and being evil, the rest felt like they were holding back and the show didn’t explain why.

My issues with this series do mostly stem from how they use Reva, having her openly defy the Grand Inquisitor, played by Rupert Friend and thinking that she knows better than all of her male colleagues. A lot of very simplistic people online will scream that anyone who doesn’t like Reva is a sexist or a racist or both, however, I am here to tell you that these people are stupid and so obsessed with their own politics that they have to inject it into any media that they see. The reason Reva sucks is not because of the actor’s race or gender, it is because they have written her as one dimensional, her writing doesn’t feel in keeping with what has been established, by having her treat the Grand Inquisitor as her whipping boy it makes him lesser as a character; and his lack of violent response to her makes it worse. I thought we had all collectively agreed that the girl boss archetype that only existed as a shallow gesture within media to try and force in strong female characters was bad and tokenistic? Or did I miss the memo.

To move off Reva, this show continues another of Disney + Star Wars’ key issues and that is having humans be everywhere. Honestly, at times in this show you would forget it is supposed to be set in a wide interconnected galaxy and just think it was on Earth as humans are most of the characters you will meet. There are a few here and there peppered into backgrounds and in some small supporting roles but for the most part they don’t seem to exist.

Overall, I like what they are doing with Obi-Wan and the more adult tone, however, they need to do more with Reva to make her a better character, humble her and have her overcome something rather than just having her be super great at everything, oh and include some damn aliens in your space show.

Pros.

Obi-Wan himself

The more mature tone

The order 66 flashback opening

Cons.

Reva

The lack of aliens

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Navalny: Calling Up Your Would Be Murderers

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

This documentary follows Alexei Navalny in the aftermath of the attempt on his life by the Russian Government as he tries to find out who the assassins were and continues his fight against the Russian regime.

I thought this was a hugely eye opening documentary, not in that it revealed anything that I didn’t already know, but because it highlighted to me the impunity with which the Russian government is able to influence things abroad and the complete control they have at home. With the current war in Ukraine this feels especially relevant and chilling.

I thought the tone of the documentary was a nice mix of happiness and sadness, obviously a lot of the events depicted are manically depressing, but there are some moments of levity peppered throughout, such as the scenes with the pony which I particularly enjoyed. Moreover, on the pacing front I liked that this documentary didn’t spend very long at all explaining who Navalny was and assumed that its audience already had a degree of knowledge on the subject. It is nice for media to have that faith in the audience.

Overall, I think this documentary is a must watch, especially with the current geo-political situation being what it is.

Pros.

It is very informative

It is inspirational

It maintains a good tone and pace

The pony scenes

Cons.

Some of the scenes feel a little disjointed and out of place

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France: A Highbrow Satire That Won’t Leave Many Laughing

2/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A well respected French journalist, played by Léa Seydoux, decides to quit her job and seek new horizons after she has a road traffic accident that leads to someone else getting hurt.

In many ways I think the humour of this film just didn’t register with me, there were a few lines that made me laugh and I think the film did manage to formulate some competent satire of the modern media landscape at times, but for the most part the jokes left me cold. This could be humour lost in translation that if I was French I would understand and appreciate or it could just be my subjective comedic tastes not aligning with this film.

I think the biggest issues I had with this film is that the tone seemed so all over the place, at times coming across as a drama and other times as a dark comedy. The issue with trying for both is that often neither comes off well, this was certainly the case here as both the dramatic elements and the comedic elements felt underdeveloped.

The performances were good and I can’t fault Seydoux she did all she could to keep this film together, a valiant effort, however, it wasn’t enough.

The worst crime of this film is that it can be labelled as boring.

Overall, Seydoux tries her best but this film just doesn’t seem to know what it wants to be and comes across as boring.

Pros.

A few funny lines

Seydoux

Cons.

A lot of the humour doesn’t land

The split focus

It is boring

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The Innocents: Where Is The Line When Showing Animal Abuse On Screen?

0.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A group of troubled children develop otherworldly abilities and use their powers for sinister means.

I forget who said it now, but a reviewer of this film that enjoyed it far more than I did said of it something to the extent of ‘finally a film for adults’, no doubt in a jab at the mindless blockbusters many don’t view as true cinema. However, I want to pose the idea that if this often excessive and unpleasant film is true cinema then maybe it isn’t such a good thing.

There are two examples I would like to point to that soured the film for me, both happen fairly early on and it only gets worse from there. The first is when a heavily disabled girl is tortured by our lead, played by Rakel Lenora Fløttum, and the second is when the lead and her friend shove a cat into a sack and then drop it from a height onto the ground. I understand that these elements are to show that the child is twisted and sadistic, but in my mind this is communicated to the audience in a needlessly tasteless way. A defence for this could be that it is a horror film so we can expect sights that sicken and disturb us, however, at least for me this crossed a line.

Animal abuse in film is always hard for me to watch.

Overall, this film was a bit too rich for my personal taste.

Pros.

The child actors do feel genuinely menacing

Cons.

The animal abuse

Bad taste

Pacing issues

The plot feels overly familiar

Some meandering subplots

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Chip ‘N Dale Rescue Rangers: The Return Of Monstrous Sonic

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Yet another classic Disney property gets the reboot treatment.

I will preface this review by saying I did not grow up watching Chip an’ Dale and that this film was my first introduction to the characters. In that regard I felt like I understood who everyone was and what was going on so I appreciated that, there is nothing worse than watching a reboot and being entirely lost because it was based off an obscure property from a few decades ago.

Moreover, I did think this film had a few solid laughs, I enjoyed Ugly Sonic, voiced by Tim Robinson, and thought the film got a hell of a lot better when he was in it, I also thought J. K Simmons proved once again how great his comedic timing is and really shone as Captain Putty. The human characters fare far worse and really don’t need to be there at all, if KiKi Layne’s police officer character wasn’t in the film it wouldn’t really change it much at all.

I thought that the story structure and character arcs were a little generic and also far too overly familiar. I understand that expecting quality writing from an animated film aimed at children might be too much to ask for but I am still going to point it out.

Overall, it was a slightly above average film with a few good laughs.

Pros.

Ugly Sonic

Simmons
Samberg is always likeable

Cons.

Layne

The characters across the board feel generic and fairly two dimensional

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Everything Everywhere All At Once: Mothers Can Be Saviors Or Destroyers

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Evelyn Quan Wang, played by Michelle Yeoh, is a dissatisfied wife and business owner who becomes alerted to her multiversal significance.

In many respects the idea of multiverses in cinema is quickly becoming played out, a trend bound for death. However, I won’t be so cynical to say that the multiverse formatting can’t yet provide us with some interesting ideas, insights and emotions. This film proves that through the idea of a multiverse greater philosophies can be debated and explored, and the inner workings of the human mind can truly be taken apart and examined.

I really enjoyed the character work in this film as well as the mother daughter focus. Yes, I did think that having Evelyn’s daughter Joy, played by Stephanie Hsu, being the villain was a little obvious and on the nose, however, I also thought that despite this the film used their relationship to create fantastic emotional stakes and to nicely examine the concepts of motherhood.

The thing that many people will take from this film is how strange it is, there are often abstract and surrealist elements featured throughout the run of the film, and I think in many cases you aren’t supposed to fully understand what is going on so that you can form your own interpretation of events. I appreciated how strange this film got.

Overall, a fun film that won’t be for everyone but is well worth your time all the same.

Pros.

Yeoh

Hsu

The broader themes

The abstract strangeness

Cons.

The pacing, the film is on for way too long

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Star Trek Strange New Worlds: Ghosts Of Illyria

2/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A virus makes it aboard the Enterprise which leads to the crew desperately craving light, also there is something about genetic modification.

Did the writers go on strike or something? What was this episode? It felt like barely concealed filler, even in the worst episodes of Doctor Who they could come up with something better than a light crave virus, it is just lame.

Moreover, I am glad to see Rebecca Romijn’s Number One get more fleshed out on screen but this was not the way to do it. I felt like with the genetic modification point they were trying to convey some broader political or philosophical message but if they were it past right by me.

Furthermore, this episode seems afraid to give us any time with Pike, played by Anson Mount, and has him and Spock, played by Ethan Peck, marooned on a planet together, but for the most part just ignores this side plot.

Overall, a lame filler episode by definition.

Pros.

Romijn manages to keep the episode together

Pike and Spock have some fun banter in the short time we see them

Cons.

The main plot feels like it was made on the fly by people just writing down random words

The message and or point is missed

The ending

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