Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy: A Circus In Pandemonium

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

There is a mole somewhere in British intelligence and a veteran intelligence officer is brought out of retirement to find out who it is.

This film is basically a who’s who of older British leading men they are all there and are all excellent. I thought it was nice to see Colin Firth and Mark Strong share the screen together, several years before they would do so superbly in the first Kingsman film, they have great chemistry. I think Gary Oldman ends up stealing the show with this performance, though it is a very close race as there is a lot of talent on display here.

I found the mystery to be engaging and surprisingly well structured, it kept me guessing right up until the end, I did not figure it out. I thought the reveal we got was satisfying in the end, though I thought the tease we got throughout the film of who could it be, With each agent looking guilty at different times was equally as enjoyable.

I found the film to be paced well for the most part with the mystery being enough to keep me engaged throughout, with the reveals and revelations being spread out enough for each section of the film to feel like it matters. The one thing I would say is that there are a few dialogue scenes in the midsection of the film that do run a bit long in terms of keeping you, or at least me, interested, they could have done with being shortened.

Overall, a strong British spy mystery film.

Pros.

The acting

The mystery

The pacing

Oldman steals the show

Cons.

A few slow dialogue scenes

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American Horror Stories: Drive In

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

The screening of a rare, and supposedly cursed, film turns the audience into black eyed demonic murderers.

The premise of this episode felt a little familiar I felt like I had seen it somewhere before, but I can’t quite put my finger on it……… Oh wait Demons in 1986. Yes in many ways this film is a carbon copy of the Lamberto Bava film with only the slight difference of the fact that the character here aren’t implied or called demons.

Moreover, unlike Bava’s film the ending to this is easy, far too easy. It ends when the main couple survives and kills the director of the film supposedly ending the curse only to then have the film pop up on Netflix and wreck the world anyway. It lacks any kind of personality or soul and just feels like a cliff-hanger for the sake of it.

I thought the horror on display here was quite good and the drive in setting added a claustrophobic element to it which enhanced it. There were quite a few good scares present, though some were a bit too obvious and clearly telegraphed; yes I am talking about the blow job scene.

I thought this episode suffered from a weak cast. Compared to the Rubber Woman two part opener, this episode really showed itself up in the acting department. Other than the AHS veteran John Carrol Lynch, this episode is devoid of good performances and it often becomes painful to watch especially when the leads are trying to have a serious moment and their inability deeply weakens the scene.

Overall, a step back from the opening two parter but there are still some solid scares here.

Pros.

The scares

John Carroll Lynch

The comments on classic Hollywood

Cons.

The rest of the cast are awful

It is a blatant rip-off of Lamberto Bava’s Demons

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The Sparks Brothers: Committed To The Music

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A look at the career so far of the Sparks Brothers, known more widely as the rock duo Sparks.

This documentary made me aware of and listen to Sparks for the first time so in that regard it is a huge success. I found the documentary to be different to the standard life of x musician fare that often clogs up the genre and thought that this was a breath of fresh air. I enjoyed the more out there and experimental visuals that this film employs to relay its history to us, it made everything pop just that bit more and become more memorable.

I thought the documentary did a very thorough job of covering the lives and careers of the Brothers Mael and its attention to detail really helps to paint a picture for us the audience, helping us to better understand the brothers both as artists and as people. I also enjoyed the various famous faces giving their own stories about how the brothers have impacted them in separate ways. It is clear to see that a personal attachment has been made.

The strongest part of this film is by far its soundtrack. Even if like me you start this film not knowing who or what Sparks is, by the end you will be dancing along. I found myself being given an auditory crash course on all things Sparks as I learnt about the life and times of its members, it was a very effective conversion; like I said earlier, I have since been listening to them fairly often since watching.

My one criticism, and it is fairly large, is that this film is on for far too long. Though I enjoyed the presentation and the soundtrack and the story itself I feel it could have been condensed down. What we are presented with is simply too long, and though I was still enjoying the music by the end my mind was elsewhere.

Overall, a good music documentary that manages to separate itself from the pack, though it could have done with being shorter.

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Transformers The Last Knight: Everyone You Have Learnt About In History Class Was In Fact A Transformer

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Transformers meets King Arthur Legend Of The Sword.

What is this film? To me this film feels like about three or maybe even four separate film pitches crammed into one film, because why not. There is no reason at all that this film is on for over two and a half hours it does not have the story for it, and it is beyond indulgent. A tip for time conservative readers, start the film from about forty five minutes in, you wouldn’t miss much, and you will easily be able to work out what is going on- which is nonsense bang bang.

However, that is not to say this film is all bad. For reasons I don’t fully understand or want to think much about, I actually found parts of this enjoyable to watch. It helps if you take this film as a joke, view it as a comedy or a parody and it becomes much easier to watch. I found the idea of Transformers throughout time to be interesting and I would like to see more of that. Moreover, when the film finally allows us to spend some time with Optimus Prime, when he is not evil, he hits the emotional heart strings and the nostalgia just right.

Mark Wahlberg is fine. However, the real star of the show is Laura Haddock. Haddock has been excellent for some time now however she is yet to make it big in Hollywood, yes, she was in this and Guardians, but in this she is second fiddle to Wahlberg and in the latter she is in the film for all of five minutes. Cast her more because she is excellent is my point, watch Da Vinci’s Demons. She does scene steal a lot and has quite a few funny and memorable lines. My one criticism is that the camera does like to ogle her and she is dressed for parts of the film in a way to appeal to Michael Bay’s core audience, teen boys, and I wish this wasn’t the case. The character is actually quite well written and funny, it is a shame the film objectifies her, but this is a Bay film so what did you or I expect?

Overall, not as bad as you have heard but certainly not good either. My main take away from this film is that I would like to see an actually good King Arthur film, preferably with Laura Haddock in a large role.

Pros.

Haddock

Optimus Prime, when he is good

The ending/ the dumb silliness of it all

Cons.

It is way too bloated

It is icky towards Haddock

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Tuca And Bertie: Sleepovers

2/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Bertie has a hard time being alone and Tuca finds it hard to balance her friendship with Bertie and her new relationship.

I honestly can’t tell at this point whether it is the friendship between Tuca and Bertie that is toxic or each as individuals. Neither can seemingly let the other be happy or live/ enjoy life without the other constantly with them, which of course means sabotaging anything that might separate the two of them. I understand there will be friendships like that out there, but it makes the characters and their friendship hard to root for.

Moreover, I am starting to find the show a little immature. Yes it does now and again touch on some very adult themes and issues and handles them well, but my issue comes from how the characters behave on an episode by episode basis. We are expected to view these characters as mature after all they have been through, however they act like children often. This episode is the perfect example of this behaviour, whereby Bertie essentially has a temper tantrum because Tuca is not giving her enough attention.

The one pro I would say for this episode is I liked what they did with Tuca’s storyline. I thought the exploration of her new relationship was interesting and seeing whether she can allow herself to be happy and seeing whether the other most important bond in her life will also become toxic were interesting questions to ask. I thought the cliff-hanger ending worked well, and I am intrigued to see how the series will resolve her arc.

Overall, the characters and their friendship are becoming more and more toxic, though I do like the arc that is being set up for Tuca.

Pros.

Tuca’s storyline

The ending

Cons.

Bertie

Their friendship is toxic, I’d rather see them drift apart or fall out then resume the status quo

The Bertie storyline is surprisingly immature

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Rick And Morty: Rick And Morty’s Thanksplotation Spectacular

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Rick wrongs the President again and has to go undercover as a Thanksgiving turkey in order to try and secure a pardon, things quickly spiral from there.

Meh.

This was a very throwaway episode of Rick and Morty, destined to be no one’s favourite. Though I did enjoy what the episode did with the exploration of Rick and the President’s relationship and potentially budding respect for each other/friendship. I like the idea of Rick learning to like people more and maybe even having friends, other than the few we have already met who are now mostly dead, in later seasons.

Other than that though I thought there was nothing much interesting about this episode. The plot about evil turkeys just feels thrown together at the last minute in order to have a Thanksgiving episode, as it serves no real purpose as it neither provides us with a fun adventure nor does anything to push the cannon forward.

I would have liked to see more of the siege of the Smith’s house by the president and how it affected various members of the Smith family, we know that it affected Jerry’s cooking but that’s about it. I think buried under all the schlock and monsters for the sake of monsters there is something interesting in this episode that is left mostly unexplored which is a shame.

Overall, not a bad episode but certainly weaker.

Pros.

Rick and the President’s arc

It is very watchable

The end credits scene is a good laugh

Cons.

It feels slapped together

It is incredibly forgettable

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Jungle Cruise: The New Pirates Of The Caribbean?

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Based on the Disney Park ride, Jungle Cruise sees an adventure, Emily Blunt, and her well-meaning brother, Jack Whitehall set off into the heart of the jungle to find a mythical treasure.

If I had to describe this film in a few words it would be dumb fun. Really it is neither hugely good, nor hugely bad, it is just dumb watchable entertainment that passes a few hours.

Certainly this film is trying to be the next Pirates of The Caribbean, you can feel it throughout, and though the film has similar vibes to POTC it lacks the compelling edge. The story for the most part is very throwaway action fare; a group of people head out looking for a mythical treasure and get into high jinks along the way- nothing new.

However, the cast do manage to elevate it somewhat. Rather surprisingly Dwayne Johnson is not on top form here and though he is passable enough in the lead role, he is increasingly out done at nearly every turn by Blunt. Blunt really is the star of this film and her presence helps it immensely. Originally, when I heard that Jack Whitehall had been cast in this I was expecting a disaster, as though he is hilarious he is not a proven actor by any means, however, this film entirely convinced me that he can hold his weight with the big guys and made me feel a lot more confident about his Clifford film.

I won’t go into the villain issue here but suffice it to say it is bad. There are two villains, one of which is entirely needless, and the other is Jessie Plemons who looks like he is having fun, but the film doesn’t know what to do with him.

Overall, a fine film to watch once.

Pros.

Blunt

Whitehall

The world

Cons.

Johnson is off form

The villains

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Batman The Long Halloween Part Two: DC Animations Best In Years

4.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Part Two finally brings to light the identity of the Holiday Killer, as well as seeing many of Batman’s most well known villains take to the streets of Gotham to wage war on the Falcone crime family.

This is the best thing out of DC animation in a while, a long, long while. By this I mean both parts of The Long Halloween viewed as one complete piece, but still on merit this is a strong second half. Not only is it a compelling mystery that gives us quality time with almost all of Batman’s rogues gallery, but it is also a surprisingly strong crime film.

I enjoyed the world set up by this film. I thought it made several changes to the source material and comics cannon that work well in this new context and serve to better the film. The films make the Falcone’s so interesting that you are almost sorry they didn’t split the graphic novel into three films, so you get to spend more time with them.

Furthermore I enjoyed the animation style and thought it looked just enough like the classic cartoons of my youth to be fondly remembered whilst also having more than a little clear anime inspiration. Both elements work well together and create for an animated feature that is a delight to watch.

My one slight criticism of this film would be that Batman gets beaten a lot. Now this might be my own fault for not knowing the timeline, but surely this happens after Year One, so it makes little sense to have a Batman that is clearly still very green in a lot of ways. Batman gets beaten by almost every villain in this film and yes I get that the film is trying to show us an inexperienced Batman but instead he comes off as almost out of his depth.

Overall, one of the best DC animated films in years.

Pros.

The animation

The world

The character development of the Falcone family

The story itself

Cons.

Batman is a little too easily beaten

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Limbo: The Struggle To Start Over

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Limbo tells the offbeat story of a refugee’s experience in rural Scotland.

I think this film needs to be seen. It should be mandatory viewing for just about everyone, as it shows the horrors that refugees have to go through once they arrive in the country: everything from the uncertainty of their asylum status to visits from the police to be deported back to the country they fled. It is heart-breaking and moving.

However, I don’t want this review to make the film sound too dower and serious, there are also a number of light hearted moments that provide some much needed respite and allow us to feel a sense of hope for proceedings again. I thought the ending of finally having Omar, Amir El-Masry, play his oud again was a wonderful choice as it highlights this enduring sense of optimism that maybe everything can be okay.

I think this film is incredibly timely and will open your eyes to something you may perhaps have never thought about before. I think it’s message is needed, now more than ever.

The performances across the board were all terrific with every single member of the cast having their own time to shine and individual moments that really help to make each character standout and be memorable.

Overall, I can’t recommend this film enough and though it might not always be the easiest of watches it is very needed.

Pros.

The message

The performances

The ending

The powerful emotion

Cons.

It is bleak at times, truly bleak

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The Bad Batch: Infested

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

The Batch are forced into a gang drug deal between various underworld figures and groups in order to save Cid.

This episode is interesting as it brings back the Pikes, which means the possibility of seeing a return of Maul and Crimson Dawn depending on how things shake out in the timeline. I think the Pikes really add something to this episode and serve to be great antagonists. There is a part of me that wishes the Batch hadn’t tied things up with them neatly, and that we could possibly explore a gang war between the Pikes and The Batch/Cid, ah well.

I think the action for the episode was solid, there was a good amount of tension in the closing showdown as there feels like there is a real threat to Omega’s wellbeing. Moreover, I thought the cart chase scene was well done and used the setting well within the sequence.

I enjoyed that this episode explored Cid’s character a bit more and gave her more to do as up till this point she had only really been a background character. However, this episode does not give the Batch much to do and for the most part they are just along for the ride: if we could have put some character development in their for them that would have made the episode stronger.

Overall, an episode that has promise, however it needs more development.

Pros.

Cid

The action

The Pikes

Cons.

The Batch are more of a footnote in the episode

The final scene of the episode between Omega and Hunter

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