Reviews

TV Review: Amazon Prime Video’s Making The Cut Season 2 is an agreeable show for fashion-thinking audiences

Earning a more fruitful reaction and reputation over the similarly themed Netflix offering Next In Fashion (which only lasted one season), Amazon’s Making The Cut took the winning Project Runway duo of Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn and altered their mentor mentality to look for a fashion brand rather than just a designer. There’s no…

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First impressions: HBO’s The White Lotus is an understated representation of exaggerated comedy

The first episode of The White Lotus, the latest darkly comedic effort from the mind of Mike White (Enlightened), sets itself up as a more humorous Big Little Lies, offering a seasonal hook in the first few minutes that suggests the titular paradisal resort is anything but. A stoic Shane (Jake Lacy) sits at an…

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First Impressions: Pixar’s Monsters At Work is facile family viewing that should entertain young audiences

Supported by Pixar but not specifically animated by them, Monsters At Work serves as a direct continuation of 2001’s Monsters, Inc., picking up in the hours after learning the laughter of children is a much more efficient way to energise their city over the nightmarish screams they used to evoke. Despite the sequel feel of…

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First Impressions: Kevin Can F**k Himself is one of the season’s most original offerings

When Kevin Can F**k Himself begins you’d be forgiven for worrying that Annie Murphy, so great as the vapid Alexis Rose in Schitt’s Creek, has drastically reduced herself to playing the stereotypical put-upon wife in the all-too familiar sitcom set-up of schlubby husband acts like a man-child and gets away with it because he’s endearing,…

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Tribeca Now Showcase Review: In The Cards (Episode 1) makes a fine first impression in spite of its morally questionable characters

There’s something delightful in a comedy series basing itself around a person who’s, for lack of a better word, awful.  Maybe awful is too strong a word.  Let’s go with morally questionable.  Either way, In The Cards, from writer/director Colin Kane Healey, centres itself around a morally questionable type who most would agree deserves that…

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First Impressions: Marvel’s Loki delights in embracing the unexpected

Given how mischievous Loki (Tom Hiddleston) is as a character, it only makes sense that his namesake series follows suit.  A show that, from the first two episodes afforded to media ahead of its Disney+ debut, seems to absolutely delight in embracing the unexpected, Loki continues the more inventive, and oft-humorous, route that served the…

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Film Review: Zack Snyder’s Justice League is a vast improvement in every conceivable way

Let’s be honest; the 2017 version of Justice League was one of the biggest cinematic disappointments of the last decade. What should have been the glorious peak of the DC Extended Universe was ultimately a sloppy, disjointed mess that was the inevitable result of switching directors at the eleventh hour. After the tragic death of…

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First Impressions: Marvel’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is comforting in its canon familiarity

Right from the opening moments of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier – an extended action sequence amid rock formations spearheaded by Anthony Mackie‘s Falcon – it’s evident that the intent of this show is to link it to the prototype of the Marvel canon we’ve come to expect.  After WandaVision took bold swings, this…

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TV Review: The Sister elevates a standard premise with a supernatural element

A nonlinear storyline, a dash of supernatural suggestion, and committed performances across the board, The Sister switches enough of the standard murder-mystery thriller concept for it to earn viewer interest over the course of its four sharp episodes. Within minutes of Neil Cross‘s screenplay unfolding on the screen – the writer adapting from his own…

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First Impressions: Marvel’s WandaVision on Disney+ marches to the beat of its own bold, sitcom-celebrating drum

Given that 2020 was unable to give us the Marvel titles we had originally anticipated thanks to a certain pandemic – both Black Widow and Eternals were set for release – WandaVision has somewhat of an extra layer of pressure added to it, now that it is officially both the first taste of the MCU…

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The Mandalorian Season 2 Episode 8 leaves us on an unexpected different cliffhanger of sorts

In this high stakes season finale, Mando must try to rescue Grogu from the clutches of Moff Gideon. It won’t be easy and the odds are stacked against him. Can he manage to get the kid back safely or will he and his team be defeated? Beware spoilers ahead in this episode review. Din Djarin…

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First Impressions: The Expanse Season 5 reaffirms why it’s one of the best sci-fi shows ever

If you’re a fan of science-fiction, you’d be hard pressed to find a show that’s more faithful to the genre than The Expanse. Originally a novel series written by James S. A. Corey, the series is set in the far future where humanity has colonized various parts of the solar system. The series predominantly focuses…

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The Mandalorian Season 2 Episode 7 has a character take a surprising turn

The penultimate episode to season 2 has a few surprises but is nowhere near as outlandish as some of the previous episodes.  Beware of spoilers in the review ahead. Working at a prison scrapyard smashing up larger pieces of old Empire ships into smaller pieces, a prison droid approaches Mayfeld (Bill Burr) and orders him…

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The Mandalorian Season 2 Episode 6 has surprising reveals and raises the stakes

As we edge ever closer to the season finale of The Mandalorian it’s becoming apparent that the back half of this season has really upped the ante. We shift focus back to the quest at hand and knowing full well that a certain villainous ominous character is looming. Spoilers ahead if you have not seen…

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The Mandalorian Season 2 Episode 5 sees an animated fan favourite go live action

The latest episode of The Mandalorian sees creator / writer / director Dave Filoni not only get to bring a treasured animated character from 2D into live action 3D but simultaneously cement himself as a creative force to be reckoned with. Spoilers ahead with our episode review.  Mando (Pedro Pascal) and the Child have finally…

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The Mandalorian Season 2 Episode 4 has a big reveal that closes some canon gaps

We’ve now reached the halfway point of The Mandalorian Season 2 and interestingly this episode decides to return us to the planet where it all began. As we delve into this review, beware of spoilers.  The Razor Crest is in dire need of repairs and despite Mando (Pedro Pascal) wanting to find Ahsoka Tano he…

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The Mandalorian Season 2 Episode 3 has betrayals and double-crosses on sea and in sky

Mando’s quest continues in this episode as we finally reach Trask. This time around he is once again finding both himself and The Child in jeopardy. However there are plenty of other shenanigans going on in the galaxy and Mando once again ends up bartered into helping out. Spoilers ahead so proceed with caution. After…

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The Mandalorian Season 2 Episode 2 opts for sci-fi scares

Fans of The Mandalorian will now be settling in for a week to week drop of episodes now that Disney Plus has regained everybody’s attention. In the latest episode of Mando and the Child, the show throws a variety of things into the mix but the most prominent of all is it ramps up the…

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The Mandalorian Season 2 opener “The Marshal” leans into western themes and fan service

. Fans of The Mandalorian need wait no longer, the highly anticipated first episode of Season 2 is now available on Disney Plus. The return of the show comes amid a turbulent year for big studios and will be a welcome addition to Disney’s arsenal since they have had to shuffle some of their releases…

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Is The Walking Dead: The World Beyond worth watching?

There’s a scene in the second episode of The Walking Dead: The World Beyond where our four teenage protagonists are hiding from “empties” (walkers, zombies) in a treehouse, chewing through the short time by playing Monopoly and passing a bowling ball around while bellowing “Big Moe” – the ball’s given name. It’s amongst the most…

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TV Review: Amazon Prime Video’s The Boys Season 2 is just as foul and bombastic as its predecessor

For the majority of the first episode of this second season helping of The Boys, Karl Urban‘s mouthy, unpredictable Billy Butcher is largely absent.  And it’s with his absence from the titular crew – which also consists of Jack Quaid‘s Hughie, Laz Alonso‘s Mother’s Milk, Tomer Kapon‘s Frenchie, and Karen Fukuhara‘s Kimiko – that the…

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Will fans of The Boys be satisfied by Season Two?

Amazon Prime Video decided to take a leap last year into the superhero genre with The Boys, an adaptation of the comic book series by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. The series is set in a universe where superheroes are capitalized and monetized by the shady corporation Vought International, and led by the unstable and…

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TV Review: Amazon Prime Video’s World’s Toughest Race: Eco-Challenge Fiji takes a more grounded, inspiring approach to the reality TV format

“671 kilometers of jungles, rivers, ocean, and swamp.  And it is…brutal” So says World’s Toughest Race host (and producer) Bear Grylls to an accumulative 66 teams as they gather patiently to learn just what they’re in for over the course of the next 11 days.  And if there’s anyone who knows the extremities of the…

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Is Season 2 of The Umbrella Academy on Netflix worth watching?

There’s something weird, wacky and wonderful about a series that doesn’t pull its punches. The Umbrella Academy introduced us to a misfit family of people adopted and brought together for their special powers to try and stop the end of the world. Season 2 which has just landed on Netflix has us following the Hargreeves…

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First Impressions: Amazon Prime Video’s Alex Rider embraces spy genre tropes and overcomes them with rugged soul

Briefly branding Alex Pettyfer “hot property” off the film’s expected anticipation, and somehow managing to ensemble a cast of such weight as Ewan McGregor, Alicia Silverstone, Bill Nighy and Mickey Rourke, the Alex Rider name was an intended film series that floundered on arrival with the release of Stormbreaker back in 2006. Underperforming in its…

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Is Stan Original Relic worth watching?

Prior to watching Natalie Erika James’ Relic, I’d read constant comparisons to Hereditary and The Babadook. The former has too strong a grasp on literal malevolence to align in any way with James’ debut feature, but The Babadook certainly shares a great deal with this Australian-made indie-horror, given both are rooted in German expressionism and…

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Artemis Fowl

Is Disney Plus’ new kids film Artemis Fowl worth watching?

Based on the 2001 book series by author Eoin Colfer, Disney have finally released their latest adaptation onto their streaming service. The film was originally delayed from an August release last year to April 2020. Then the Covid-19 pandemic caused a closure of cinemas globally. Now, finally, the film finally receives a release on Disney Plus…

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Is Steve Carrell Netflix comedy series Space Force worth watching?

With the creative pedigree of both Steve Carrell and The Office’s Greg Daniels behind Netflix’s latest comedy series, and attach that to a send-up of the recently canonized Space Force, the newest military branch of the United States defence forces. The result is a series that doesn’t entirely misfire but also fails to reach the…

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Is Netflix’s The Lovebirds worth watching?

Not unlike fellow Netflix offering Murder Mystery, The Lovebirds adopts the tried and true premise of regular-folk-get-mixed-up-in-a-major-crime and hopes it has enough of a strong centre to overcome any unoriginality.  And whilst the screenplay from Aaron Abrams (a sometimes-actor whose credits include Resident Evil: Apocalypse and The Open House) and Brendan Gall (TV’s Blindspot) doesn’t…

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First Impressions: Amazon Prime Video’s Little Fires Everywhere overcomes its melodramatic state thanks to nuanced performances from Witherspoon and Washington

Perhaps as it should, Little Fires Everywhere does indeed start with a fire.  “There are little fires everywhere”, a fire marshal relays to a distraught Reese Witherspoon and a concerned Joshua Jackson, as they stare at their sprawling suburban home engulfed in flames.  The marshal’s statement indicates this was intentionally lit, setting up an immediate…

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