Rick and Morty: Rickdependence Day

3.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Morty uses a piece of surgical equipment for elicit means and creates a worldwide disaster, that leads to humans having to patch up their long standing feud with the subterranean CHUD people.

This was a fun episode of Rick and Morty,not too heavy and mostly just throw away fun. The premise of the episode is a little icky for my tastes, but I enjoyed how they built the reveal of the sperm monsters origins as a point of tension between the titular pair as Rick did not know what Morty had done.

Moreover, I thought Summer and Beth really stood out as characters here. Their comments on sexism and how women and their ideas are often overlooked and basically ignored were both insightful as well as humorously delivered.

I thought the episode had a few funny moments such as the joke at the expense of Marvel frontman Robert Downey Jr, but struggled to keep that comedy up throughout. For the most part a lot of the jokes in this episode just left me cold and were a little bit too gross out for my tastes.

I thought the CHUD people were an interesting addition to the episode, and it made for a great Rick moment at the end. However, I am starting to become perturbed by how this show keeps creating new characters and civilisations and then never references them again, it feels a little throwaway and I prefer it when the show builds up a character or group and makes them important to the wider narrative of the show.

Overall, a fun episode of Rick and Morty that struggles to be anything more.

Pros.

The Robert Downey Jr joke

Summer and Beth

The tension between Rick and Morty

The ending/ The CHUDs

Cons.

Some of the characters feel throwaway

Not all the jokes land

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Ride The Eagle: The Best Film Of The Year That You Have Not Seen

4.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A man must complete his deceased mother’s to do list in order to receive her cabin as his inheritance.

There is so much depth, heart and soul to this film- it is beautiful. This film made me cry and I would wager it would do the same for you, as it strikes the feels harder than ever the saddest of Pixar films. However, that is not to say this film is sad, far from it. If anything this film is a joyful embrace of life, living in the moment and chances taken.

The performances across the board are terrific. Jake Johnson excels in these intimate character driven indie comedies and he really brings a rawness to his performance here that makes it instantly memorable. J. K Simmons is also strong here though he only has a very minor role, whilst he is on screen he does steal the scenes and has a few good lines. The same can be said for D’Arcy Carden, who has a really strong chemistry with Johnson, so much so that I would like to see the two star in more things together.

The ending is both heart-breaking and also smile inducing and is almost certainly going to make you feel something. A big part of this is the wonderful performance by Susan Sarandon who plays the deceased mother through a series of VHS tapes she has left behind for her son to watch, Sarandon’s acting is powerful, and I challenge you not to cry in the film’s final ten minutes.

Overall, an indie gem that you need to see.

Pros.

Johnson

Carden

Sarandon

Simmons

The ending

Cons.

It won’t be to everyone’s taste

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Escape Room Tournament Of Champions: Minos Is Basically God

2.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

The survivors of all the previous Minos escape rooms are brought together to see who is the best at solving life and death puzzles.

After watching the first film on New Year’s day I was very excited for this sequel I thought that the first film set up a very interesting conspiracy and I wanted answers. We do get some answers here, but for the most part the conspiracy is pumped up to a laughably degree. In the first film Minos were simply a group of wealthy people who are betting on which of the kidnapped participants will survive to the end of the escape room experience. Here they now have untold power over the world at large and control the police the transportation networks and can get you at any time. They have more than overdone it, to a point where the characters basically can’t win.

Moreover, the film ends rather abruptly, the characters are just starting to win and fight back against the system, when bang it is all over and they are at a police station telling their story and you think ‘wait what is that it?’, it is jarring.

I did not like the twist at the end as I have previously said it now makes the threat of Minos simply ridiculous and their ability to stay covert even more so.

The acting is okay here but the cast is mostly wasted, for the most part everyone is only here to be used as fodder for the various rooms. They even bring back Deborah Ann Woll’s character from the first film, who was my personal favourite however, she only gets five minutes of screen time and is then quickly forgotten about.

Overall, a needless sequel that struggles to live up to the first film. If they do a third film I won’t rush out to see it.

Pros.

The escape rooms are neat

It is nice to see Deborah Ann Woll’s character return

Cons.

The ending

It feels rushed

They ruin the threat of Minos

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The Forever Purge: Hasn’t This Happened Already

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Turns out one night of purging is not enough for some people, so they have now decided to make it all year round.

I think out of all the films in the Purge franchise this is the scariest. The reason for that being that this is the most true to reality, in that in could happen; and some might say it already has. The frightening thing about this film is how much of an accurate reflection of our own reality it is.

I don’t like how this blatantly throws the third film, Election Year, to the wolves: for those of you who don’t know the series, the third film saw the purge be brought to an end and NFFA be voted out of power. Within the first few moments of this film that is just undone and ignored, which feels like a lazy write around. Though that said it does work as a comment on the cyclical nature of modern politics.

Though the action in this film does feel a little repetitive at times, it is still done in a very tense way that forces you to sit up and take notice. There is a moment in this film where one of the character is stook in a trap and is about to have a whole put in her head, and honestly you can feel it as you watch. It feels traumatic.

The ending of the film does pose and interesting question as to where the series is going to go from here. I would like to see the fight between the NFFA and the far right radicals that were born out of their movement, or perhaps a worldwide purge. However, one thing is for sure the franchise still has a lot of life left in it.

Overall, a lot better than I was expecting. Powerful and honestly very damning of our current world.

Pros.

The social commentary

The ending

The friendship between the two men and its take on modern day racism

Tense and hard to watch at times

Cons.

It ignores Election Year

It does get a little repetitive

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Here Today: Don’t Eat The Lobster

2 /5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A faded comic with early stages of dementia struggles to come to terms with the changes in his life, until he meets a young woman who becomes a powerful friend and companion.

This film will either work for you or not based on how much you like the comedy shtick of Tiffany Haddish. Haddish is quickly becoming a Jack Black type, meaning that she plays the same character in everything. She arguably can’t act and continues on by reusing and regurgitating the same jokes and mannerisms. To go back to my previous comparison, the same can be said of Jack Black though the difference is that he is likeable.

Honestly, though I like Billy Crystal both his and Haddish’s roles could have been played by almost anyone else and it would have provided the same, if not better, results. Neither of the actors truly made the part their own or did anything to impress me.

Furthermore, the storyline seemed very familiar. There have been quite a lot of films about dementia, and other memory conditions, released over the last few years and they are all starting to get quite similar. Case in point there were scenes in this film that I am now struggling to remember whether I saw in this film or one of the others, they are all just so similar.

Overall, with different leads and a more original story this film could have been something, but as it stands it is disappointing on multiple fronts.

Pros.

One or two funny moments

The pacing is fairly okay

Cons.

Neither of the leads are particularly good

Haddish is annoying

The story is overly familiar

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The Invitation: Drinking Wine And Confessing To Killing Your Ex Wife, The Standard House Party Activities

1.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A man goes to his ex-wife’s dinner party after years apart. Once there he starts noticing strange behaviour from her and her new guy and becomes increasingly agitated.

I red a piece somewhere that said this film was trying to be like Vinterberg’s Festen, the hubris of that statement is only amplified when watching this deeply mediocre film.

Firstly, this film seems to think it is far deeper than it actually is. I often say that a film feels in-love with itself or perhaps that it has its head up it’s own rear end, both would be applicable to this film. The weighty elements to this film all feel incredibly predictable and played out, everything that happens is written on the wall from the start of the film- the twist is blinding.

Secondly, the film only starts to ‘get good’ around the reveal of the cult twist, which comes in the last fifteen to twenty minutes of the film. The rest of the film is a slog to get through, with the film only really switching between slow and tedious during this time period. Once things start to get crazy at the end it finally becomes somewhat watchable, but by then it is too little too late.

Thirdly and finally, I am a big Logan Marshall-Green fan and think that often he is a terrific character actor. However, here he is given nothing to work with and as such he gives a bland going through the motions sort of performance that will quickly be forgotten about- Upgrade this is not.

Overall, this is everything wrong with try hardy art house horror

Pros.

Logan Marshall-Green is trying

The last twenty minutes are entertaining

Cons.

It is slow

It is pretentious

It is boring

It is no way scary

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Monsters At Work: Welcome To Monsters, Incorporated

2/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A new character who has always dreamed of being a scarer, has to come to terms with the change in direction at Monsters Inc and try and find his place.

So this show is exactly what I was expecting it to be- needless. There is no reason for this show to exist at all, did we really need to see how the business would run once they switched over to laugh power instead of fear? The answers we get are boring and easily guessable.

Furthermore, the new characters, whose names I cannot even remember are also entirely pointless. Clearly they are being written to fill the whole in the show that comes as a result of Mike, Billy Crystal, and Sully, John Goodman, taking a reduced role. Can they even hope to be worthy replacements? If this first episode is anything to go by no.

Finally, I am left to wonder who is this for? If it is for long time fans who loved the film when it came out and have then grown up with it why only have Mike and Sully in such small roles, if this is to attract new people then why not just create a fresh idea altogether. As it stands this show is for no one.

Overall, the only reason it got a 2 is because the animation is good, and the score is suitably jazzy.

Pros.

The animation

The score

Cons.

The new characters are bland and uninteresting

Why does this exist?

It answers questions no one asked

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The Bad Batch: Devil’s Deal

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

We leave the story of Hunter and Co, as we instead follow the series return of Hera Syndulla.

This is the first episode of The Bad Batch to barely feature the titular heroes themselves. Instead the gang play second fiddle to the origin story of a young Hera. We see her early experiences with the Empire that would be instrumental in forging her into the Resistance warrior we know and love.

Surprisingly, I thought the change of pace worked quite well for the series, showing that maybe we don’t need to follow the Bad Batch every week. This episode has a lot of stakes, perhaps the most of any episode of the series so far as we see a whole planet on the brink of war, with no doubt the Batch having to come in next week to save the day.

I would say that is the big issue with the episode, though it is nice to see Hera and her family return this whole episode just feels like set up for next weeks’. Furthermore, this idea then suggests that Hera and her family are basically being used as plot devices within the driving heroic narrative of the Bad Batch themselves. I would like to see the situation resolve itself with minimal involvement from our heroes.

Moreover, this episode brought back Crosshair which is always a good thing in my book. The series is at its best when he is around, and they should use him more rather than just ignoring him for vast numbers of episodes at a time.

Overall, an interesting episode but one that ends up feeling like filler.

Pros.

Crosshair

Hera’s Origin

Less involvement from The Bad Batch themselves

Cons.

It feels like filler

The Omega ‘friend’ sequence felt awkward and forced

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Twins: Two Brothers Who Are Perhaps Too Close

2.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito are twins made in a lab experiment who find each other after years apart.

I understand this film is considered by some to be a classic, but personally I struggle to see it as anything above average.

Yes, Schwarzenegger and DeVito have strong chemistry together on screen and a rather impressive back and forth but that only goes so far. I didn’t find either to be hugely funny, and for the most part the jokes of the film left me cold.

Moreover, there were a number of lines that were troublesome for a plethora of reasons, and yes though some will say ‘oh it was made in a different time’ that is still no excuse. Whilst the icky jokes and comments didn’t put me off the film they were enough to be jarring and to take me out of it.

I would say I preferred DeVito’s character to Schwarzenegger’s as he had numerous funny lines and was written as a more interesting character with layers, as opposed to Schwarzenegger’s who was very one note.

Another issue I had with the film was the wider story. Beyond the twins meeting and then setting out on an adventure together the rest of the story here is a mess. It is one of the most overly convoluted plots I have seen in a while, with twists and a needlessly large amount of side characters stuffed in to try and make the film as confusing as possible.

Overall, though watchable and at times even moderately entertaining there is no way this is a classic.

Pros.

DeVito

A few funny lines

DeVito and Schwarzenegger’s chemistry together

Cons.

It is convoluted

There are too many side characters

Some of the lines are icky

The jokes mostly don’t work

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No Sudden Move: HBO MAX Are Desperate

2/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Usually Steven Soderbergh crime films are an interesting gift to audiences, however something is not quite right with this one and it ends up being anything but. I can’t help but feel like people knew this film wasn’t good as it was not marketed at all, anywhere.

For the talented cast involved you would expect something good, however the whole affair is just very mediocre. The acting was all fine no one really blew me away. However, the thing that really stood out to me was how predictable and thrill-less the film was. Everything is very clearly signed posted from the get-go and the story only gets more obvious as it goes along.

The real issue here is that this film does not feel special. It feels like a hundred other crime films that are churned out year after year, there is nothing to make this film standout and ultimately it doesn’t. Watching this it could have been any number of other films. The film is watchable don’t get me wrong, but it is deeply generic.

Overall, I found this film very hard to finish as it was so bland that it almost put me to sleep.

Pros.

It is watchable

It is nice to see Brenden Frasier back on our screens

Cons.

You have seen this film before

It is boring and predictable

There is no passion here it just feels like it was churned out to fill out the catalogue of content for HBO Max.

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