House Of The Dragon: The Princess And The Queen

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A time jump highlights the breakdown in relations between Alicent, played by Olivia Cooke, and Rhaenyra, played by Emma D’Arcy, meanwhile Daemon, played by Matt Smith, grieves.

I think again this was a slower paced episode but also one that featured a lot of great performances. Emma D’Arcy is magnificent in every scene they are in, and can communicate a great deal with even the smallest facial gesture, Cooke is also excellent and her character is quickly becoming a love to hate villain.

I thought the Dameon side plot was a little out of left field, but it was nice to see him actually happy with his lady wife as it adds some greater depth to his character. I do think the asides the episode makes to check in with his character slow it down a lot and not in any kind of good way.

The final battle/ red wedding esque fire scene was a very fitting end for the episode and really helped to make it feel as though things are ramping up as we head into the final few episodes of the season.

Overall, a good episode but definitely slower and less interesting than some of the others.

Pros.

Exploring new depths with Daemon

D’Arcy

Cooke

The ending of the episode

Cons.

It is quite slow paced

Some of the breaks away to focus on Daemon’s new life feel quite dull

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Smile: Bathsalts Will Do That To A Person

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A therapist, played by Sosie Bacon, becomes the victim of a curse.

Originally I had very low expectations for this film after seeing the trailers, but then I started to read the early reviews and my expectations went up. However, now after having seen it I can say to temper your expectations, don’t go in expecting the world and you will like this film well enough.

The two major pros of this film are Sosie Bacon’s lead performance and the final third of the film, which like Hereditary, is truly a sight to see. In terms of scares this film does manage to be quite creepy and unsettling at times and the films monster will be one that sticks in your mind long after watching. However, I did find that this film was far too reliant on jump scares to the point where they lost all effect.

In terms of the negatives about this film things are far simpler, the issues all stem from just how similar to other horror films this is. To call this an original film is quite a stretch. It takes several films such as The Ring, Truth Or Dare, Hereditary and It Follows and strips them for parts which it then sows together into a Frankenstein’s monster which then becomes this film. Moreover, because this film is so derivative there are no real surprises, everything happens exactly as you would expect it to.

Overall, better than average but far too familiar.

Pros.

A few good scares

Bacon

It is very watchable

Cons.

It is far too familiar

It is entirely predictable

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Bullet Train: Lock Stock Meets John Wick

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A group of hitmen and murderers gather together on a bullet train, each has their own mission.

I didn’t catch this one in the cinema so I was waiting for the digital release, and now that I have seen it I am somewhat disappointed. Not because it is a bad movie, because it isn’t, but because it tries to be two very different things and didn’t do either of them enough, and to make matters worse these two elements badly clashed with one another. The film certainly has charm but it also has a lot of issues.

The two things this film tries to be to me, is on one hand a Guy Ritchie crime film with the quippy comments and colourful characters and then on the other it tries to be an incredibly stylised action film ala John Wick. The issue with the former comes as the tone can’t seem to maintain its quippy nature throughout and at times tries to go serious and dramatic, this derails it. The problem with the stylised action is that there isn’t very much of it, the film really goes out of its way to set up all these oddball characters with different backstories but then realises after it has done that that there isn’t any runtime left. The action we get is fairly tame and forgettable.

Brad Pitt is still a strong lead, and in that he does make an interesting entry point into this world.

Overall, there are some things to like about this film, namely Pitt, but there are also a lot of problems.

Pros.

Pitt

A few funny moments

It has a nicely lively pace

Cons.

The tone doesn’t quite work

It feels mismatched

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The Sandman: Bring Me A Dream

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Morpheus, played by Tom Sturridge, the Lord of the Dreaming is captured and kept in isolation for a century, once he escapes he finds things have fallen apart in his kingdom and need to be restored.

I am a big, big, big fan of the Sandman comic, and also of its author Neil Gaiman as such I have been eagerly awaiting this show for a long time. The reason this review is quite past the time of the series release is because I wanted to reread the comic run along side watching the episode of the show, as such things were slowed down but I don’t regret it for a second.

Never before have I seen an adaptation which so perfectly brings the comic book it is based on to life. As I was reading the comics in between watching episode I saw whole series of panels be brough to life almost identically and I think that is one hell of an achievement. Likewise the casting is spot on, Sturridge is a fantastic Dream, Boyd Holbrook perfectly captures the Corinthian and Jenna Coleman and Gwendolyn Christie bring fantastic new takes on characters that I was really quite attached to in Sandman but also their own Vertigo comic runs.

My only criticism of this show, and it is minor, is that some of the new additions for the show that veer ever so slightly away from the comic do produce somewhat of a jarring effect. Like I said before most of the changes, updates and swaps work incredibly well but a few don’t luckily I could ignore it for the most part. Furthermore, the first episode is quite slow, but I suppose it had to be to be able to bring in a casual audience that knew nothing going in, I was expecting it to hit the road at full speed but that was perhaps a little rash of me.

Overall, easily the best thing on Netflix in years.

Pros

The casting

A new take

Bringing over panels seamlessly

The ending and things to come

Cons.

Some of the changes don’t work

The first episode is quite slow

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Ticket To Paradise: A Holiday To The Cinema

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Two bitterly divorced parents, played by Julia Roberts and George Clooney, must team up to try and prevent their daughter, played by Kaitlyn Dever, from getting married.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time with this film. It was nothing new or particularly surprising, but it was comforting. It was like a warm mug of soup on a hot day, you have had it before but it provides a nice escape from the winters day outside. In my mind this film did what all good films should do, it provided you with a nice breezy escape from reality. It entertains you for a few hours and ultimately it doesn’t need to do more than that.

I think George Clooney and Julia Roberts have great chemistry together, and the formers case it made me realise just how much I had missed seeing him on-screen. I think if the film had different leads it would have worked a lot less and the cornier elements of the narrative might have stuck out more for the wrong reasons, as it is the two bring a lot to the film. An interesting thing to note in terms of performance is that Dever gets totally out shone by Billie Lourd who plays her best friend. Dever doesn’t bring much to the film and could have easily been replaced by a number of other actors to minimal effect, Lourd though however is a scene stealer across the film.

Overall, this film feels like a warm hug from a friend you haven’t seen in a while.

Pros.

Roberts

Clooney

Lourd

It is a lot of escapist fun

Cons.

It is nothing new

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The Munsters: Use My Body To Keep You Alive

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Rob Zombie brings back The Munsters.

I saw a few episodes of the original series when I was a kid, but outside of that I have come to this project with very little familiarity with the IP. Mainly I came because I am a big fan of the films of Rob Zombie, also I wanted to see how his first foray into the world of family filmmaking went. In all honesty this film is a mixed bag, and if you aren’t a fan of Zombie’s style then you will almost certainly not like it.

I think that Zombie’s sensibilities work better outside of the family genre, I think now after watching this that Zombie needs the gore and the mania as compliments to his work. That is not to say that this is entirely without charm, to the contrary I found myself quite enjoying some of the more out there nods and jokes here and Sheri Moon Zombie is as delightful as always. However, on the whole I would say the film’s comedy left me freezing cold.

I do question who this was for, was it for the original fans? New ones? Who? I don’t think the film at all justifies its existence, even though it has many opportunities to in as the film is seemingly on for eons- maybe it just felt that way.

A saving grace of this film was the score, it gave me something to latch onto.

Overall, the only reason this film gets a slightly better than average score from me is because I am a Zombie fan and really appreciate his signature style, most other people would rate in lower.

Pros.

Zombie’s direction flair

The zaniness of it

The score

Cons.

It is too long and doesn’t justify its existence

The comedy doesn’t work, and the family friendly feel holds the film back

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She-Hulk: Just Jen

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Jen, played by Tatiana Maslany, goes to a wedding.

Compared to a lot of the other episodes of this season I actually thought this was somewhat better. I liked the focus on Jen rather than She-Hulk and thought that Maslany got a lot of moments to shine wherein her charm really did come out. I think it is hard to watch this episode and not like the character of Jennifer Walters.

That said it is far from perfect. They bring back the dumpster fire that is Titania, played by Jameela Jamil, who ruins the wedding scenes which she is in and also gives us one of the worst fight scenes ever in the history of the MCU. Moreover, they also have a b plot about a guy being sued by a bunch of his ex-wives and the joke is that he is terrible. To me this just came across as man hating plain and simple, it seems that it is very hard for this show to have any male characters, that isn’t already an established part of the MCU be shown in a good light.

In addition they also draw attention to the fact that even though last week’s episode ended with a tease for Daredevil that this episode would just ignore that. As I have said before drawing attention to your bad writing doesn’t suddenly make it good it is just doubly bad and lazy. I really do think that this show has to use the promise of Daredevil as a crutch to get people to keep watching, if they announced tomorrow that Daredevil had been cut from the show I bet the viewership would quickly nosedive.

Overall, better than the last few episodes but still troubled.

Pros.

Maslany is very charming

A lot of the jokes land

It makes me warm to Jen as a character

Cons.

Titania is still awful

The b plot is just garbage

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Confess Fletch: Who Doesn’t Need A Whole Bunch Of Fake Identities

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Retired investigative journalist Fletch, played by Jon Hamm, explores an art world mystery.

I will open this review by saying that I have no fondness for the Chevy Chase Fletch films. They were before my time and upon watching them in a more modern context the humour just didn’t land for me at all. However, I am pleased to say I enjoyed this film much more than the older Chase films.

I thought all of the performances across the board were great most noticeably Lorenza Izzo and Jon Hamm, but all of the characters were very easy to warm to. I thought this film had a lot of old school charm and reminded me of comedy crime films of yore, the sort that someone like Steve Martin would have made. However, unlike those movies a lot of the more toxic and problematic elements of those films were cut out here, much to the betterment of the film.

Moreover, the central mystery is pretty solid I did not guess it which is a sure sign of quality. In addition the humour of the film was more hit than miss for me and quite often made me laugh, I think Hamm in particular has great comedic timing.

Overall, a fun and enjoyable film that won’t set the world on fire.

Pros.

Hamm

Izzo

The humour

The mystery

Cons.

A few pacing issues

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Rick and Morty: Bethic Twinstinct

2.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Beth, voiced by Sarah Chalke, begins an affair with her clone and the rest of the family try and process it.

I think that for a while now Rick and Morty has become more and more mean spirited and depressing, I know there has always been an element of it in the show, but now it is getting hard to watch. The way non-space Beth treats her husband her is really quite unpleasant and makes the whole thing hard to watch.

I enjoyed the Summer, voiced by Spencer Grammar, and Morty, voiced by Justin Roiland, b plot slightly more. I thought the idea of hyper realistic videogames was cool and I enjoyed how the episode showed them reacting to their mum’s affair. I thought they became great stand-ins for the audience here.

Overall, mostly just a depressing episode.

Pros.

The videogame stuff was interesting

Summer and Morty had some good moments

There were a few funny jokes

Cons.

It feels mean spirited

It is quite uncomfortable viewing

It isn’t enjoyable

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Andor: The First 3 Episodes

4.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Cassian Andor, played by Diego Luna, searches for answers in the early days of the Empire.

This review will be a little different from my standard pattern, rather than review the first batch of episodes individually this will instead review them all together.

I think if you compare the first episodes of this show to Obi-Wan Kenobi or God forbid The Book Of Boba Fett then it is night and day. Where they felt cheap and low rent, with a seeming fear of anything approaching moral ambiguity, this show feels cinematic and asks some hard questions making us reflect on whether Cassian is a hero or not. In truth he is what modern Lucasfilm seems terrified of, an anti-hero.

I heard on a Youtube review on these opening episodes that some people are annoyed that within them there is no mention of the Force or of the Jedi/Sith. However, I for one think that is a great thing, I want to see what the wider Star Wars universe looks like, I am bored of the same old same old and would like to see other aspects of the Rebellion.

I also really appreciated the moody tone of these episodes with their being an almost Peaky Blinders esque feel to it at times. I think that Luna is already doing a terrific job and I can’t wait to see more from him as the series progresses.

Overall, the best thing Lucasfilm has done since The Mandalorian

Pros.

The moral ambiguity

The tone

Luna

The wider Star Wars universe

It feels fresh

Cons.

A bit slow in places

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