Review

Film Review: The Re-Education of Molly Singer fails to pass the comedy genre test basics

Between No Hard Feelings, Joy Ride, and Bottoms, female-fronted comedy has had an admirable run in 2023, managing to balance crude humour with a sense of earnestness.  The Re-Education of Molly Singer, sadly, doesn’t continue that trend. With a narrative hook that isn’t too displaced from the aforementioned No Hard Feelings, whilst also owing a…

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Game Review: Mortal Kombat 1 builds upon its strong formula

I consider myself a casual fighting game fan. But for one reason or another, I find myself drawn to each and every Mortal Kombat iteration. Is it the gore? The unique and iconic characters? The wacky stories and alternate modes? It might just be all of them. Mortal Kombat 1 decides to reset the timeline…

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Film Review: Saw X is a gory reminder of what this sick series is capable of

Despite the fact that 2010’s 7th Saw entry was subtitled The Final Chapter, the little horror series that could has continued to soldier on with an additional 3 sequels, proving that positive financial returns will always take priority over creativity. Now, that’s not to say that The Final Chapter itself wasn’t somewhat creative – its…

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Film Review: The Creator is equally brilliant as it is flawed

Unless you’re a Spielberg or a Cameron, it seems increasingly difficult to launch an original, high-concept, sizeably budgeted film with major studio backing.  So, in that regard hats must go off to director Gareth Edwards for getting The Creator off the ground and into multiplexes; extra points for doing so with a film centred on…

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Tech Review: The BlueAnt X3i Bluetooth speaker provides both quality and value

I’ve checked out a few BlueAnt products over the years, including both Bluetooth speakers and soundbars alike, and can safely say that the brand is squarely focused on bridging the gap between affordable price points and competitive levels of quality. It is with that sentiment, that BlueAnt’s latest X3i Bluetooth speaker, comes out swinging, providing…

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Game Review : The Crew Motorfest revves up the open-world racer

Ubisoft has been a prominent player in the world of open-world racing games, and they’re back with their latest offering, The Crew Motorfest. As an avid racing fan, I couldn’t wait to dive into this title and experience its high-octane action. And after countless hours exploring its vast open world, competing in various races, and…

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Film Review: Bottoms is a wild, oft-violent, sexually liberated high-school comedy

There was something darkly, deliciously special about the way writer/director Emma Seligman and actress Rachel Sennott announced themselves with 2020’s Shiva Baby.  A claustrophobic black comedy that indulged in a spiralling, horrific temperament, their collaboration set a certain precedent for the boundary-pushing, topical humour that’s furthered in Bottoms, a wild, oft-violent, sexually liberated high-school comedy…

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Film Review: Slotherhouse; Curiously titled “slasher” flick fails to execute its farcical potential

With its ludicrous potential built right into its title, Slotherhouse nabs your attention immediately with its narrative hook.  A mammal as notoriously slow as a sloth surely can’t be fast enough to kill predatorial animals, let alone a house full of sorority girls, right?  It’s just so bombastically ridiculous that it could absolutely work as…

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Series Review: The Continental: From the World of John Wick relates to the acclaimed action films only by name and not nature

After 4 films that amassed acclaim, both critically and commercially, it only makes sense that the world created within the John Wick films be continued in some form separate from the series itself; even though many are hoping the titular character’s rather definitive send-off in Chapter 4 is somehow retconned. Next year will see the…

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Game Review: NBA 2K24 takes smaller, yet confident steps forward

While I appreciate each yearly NBA 2K iteration, it’s usually for something different each and every time. Be it a new and exclusive mode, deeper customisation and progression or new and enhanced gameplay mechanics, there’s generally something that keeps me around for the year to come. NBA 2K24 certainly provides enough in terms of variety…

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Film Review: Retribution; Disbelief suspension abounds in (another) Liam Neeson action outing

There’s something rather amusing about the fact that even though Liam Neeson has a vast career of playing everything from a Jedi master to historical figures, it’s the not-always-an-average-man-with-a-certain-set-of-skills archetype that he’s become synonymous with.  Ever since Taken proved that the then-56-year-old was a force to be reckoned with, the now 71-year-old has settled into…

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Film Review: In spite of Hilary Swank’s committed performance, The Good Mother can’t maintain its narrative grit

Though it isn’t based on a true story, Miles Joris-Peyrafitte‘s drama The Good Mother has an air of “real world” grit to it.  Of course, once the film commits to a certain narrative twist around the 1-hour mark it feels less organic, but its down-trodden location of Albany, New York, and the fact that its…

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Game Review: Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun is a solid, yet shallow retro shooter

I’ve never really been into the Warhammer 40,000 universe, aside from a few video game entries here and there; but would be lying if I said I wasn’t interested in the lore. Big, hulking soldiers equipped with chainswords, battling waves of enemy aliens? Sign me up. It is in that same thought that Warhammer 40,000:…

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Widow Clicquot is a tastefully made drama enhanced by the intoxicating presence of Haley Bennett: TIFF 2023 Review

There’s a certain period-piece sexuality billowing through Widow Clicquot that brings to mind other such similarly-set efforts as Atonement and Pride & Prejudice.  And given that those films’ second-unit director, Thomas Napper, is at the helm here, it makes perfect sense that such detail and intimacy is adhered to; fittingly, Joe Wright, director of the…

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Fitting In explores gender, identity, and how medicine can play such an affecting role in both facets: TIFF 2023 Review

Described as a “traumedy” and navigating a narrative I have no personal connection to – or even a right to comment on in all honesty – Molly McGlynn‘s Fitting In has the same footprints as a coming-of-age comedy, but laces such with a queer mentality and the potential dehumanising reality of when your body “rejects”…

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The interesting concept behind Tautuktavuk (What We See) isn’t quite realised through muddled execution: TIFF 2023 Review

Whilst the mass hysteria and government control surrounding COVID-19 has subsided, the trauma of the pandemic itself is still something that lingers for many.  Tautuktavuk (What We See) is a semi-autobiographical drama that looks at such an effect, furthered by the already isolated reality of the Inuit culture, co-directed by Lucy Tulugarjuk and Carol Kunnuk….

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Tech Review: The Aspera AS8 falters in places, but still provides incredible value

We recently took the time to check out and review Australian-owned Aspera Mobile’s latest entry-level handset, the AS5. While we found it far from perfect, it’s undoubtedly one of the best phones you can get for A$99, packing in an impressive amount of features like facial recognition and dual-sim compatibility. The AS8 is undoubtedly a…

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Film Review: Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken is a genuinely sweet and harmless outing fit for the whole family

Even though Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken‘s script is co-penned by Pam Brady, a scribe with South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut and Team America: World Police to her name, family audiences needn’t worry that her evident penchant for blue humour will seep through.  No, alongside Brian C. Brown and Elliott DiGuiseppi (the duo having collaborated…

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After the Fire is an infuriating, though necessary piece of cinematic storytelling: TIFF 2023 Review

A parallel between the systematic racism towards the Arab community in Europe and the fatalities experienced across the United States during the Black Lives Matter movement, Mehdii Fikri‘s After the Fire is an affective drama that commands conversation. Though a fictional story, the film’s credits take note that this is “based on the real struggle…

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Tech Review: The Aspera AS5 provides some impressive bang for your buck

To celebrate its 10th anniversary, Australian-owned company Aspera Mobile has launched the AS5, a new entry-level 4G handset with an impressive amount of features at just A$99. Yes, you read that right. It’s admittedly a great price for a phone that includes some nifty features like facial recognition and dual-sim compatibility, all while running on…

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Film Review: Blue Beetle succeeds as a film about family first and being a superhero second

It’s rare these days for the “superhero origin story” to deviate from a familiar path.  It’s what is done within and around said path that manages to make even the most tested of narratives somewhat exciting. Blue Beetle is another case of been there, done that, with its story centring around a symbiote that transforms…

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Film Review: A Haunting In Venice; Humour and light horror abound in Kenneth Branagh’s effective murder mystery

After the lush, star-studded class of Murder on the Orient Express (2017) and the campier inclinations of 2022’s Death on the Nile, it makes sense that Kenneth Branagh would again change the temperament of his latest Hercule Poirot mystery.  Adhering to a darker, more supernaturally-infused mentality, A Haunting In Venice is the most unsettling of…

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Game Review: Samba de Amigo: Party Central nails the beat

Sega is celebrating a return to form with Samba de Amigo finally getting a next-gen release on both Nintendo Switch and Apple Arcade, with a brand new rhythm-based game that takes on the likes of Guitar Hero and fuses it with the physical energy of Just Dance for an all-out party, which can be played…

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Film Review: Outpost is a promising, if divisive, debut feature from prominent comedic actor Joe Lo Truglio

It’s not uncommon for predominant comedic personalities to flex their talent in opposing genres.  We’ve seen the likes of Jordan Peele and Zoe Lister-Jones move from situational humour to helming their own horror works (the former with Get Out, Us, and Nope, the latter behind The Craft: Legacy) to varying degrees of success, furthering the…

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Game Review: Starfield charts a new course for both Bethesda and Xbox

Few games can capture the attention of an entire gaming generation. That being said, Bethesda has been able to do this with their previous titles, including The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Fallout 4. While Fallout 76 didn’t quite go to plan, the company seems to be back on track after their much-hyped and long-awaited…

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Film Review: The Nun II; Atmospheric sequel is a step-up from the scare-less original

If you, like I was, are hesitant in seeing The Nun II off the back of the original film failing to make good on the character’s horrific potential or because director Michael Chaves hasn’t exactly got the strongest track record in directing genre films under the Conjuring Universe banner – he helmed 2019’s largely forgotten…

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Game Review: Tunic is still as incredible as it was a year ago

I had played Tunic when it was released back in March of 2022, but must admit, I never really gave it the chance it deserved. I definitely liked it but simply didn’t put enough time into it in order to uncover its deeper notes and nuances. A year later, Tunic is one of the best…

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Film Review: The placid humour of My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 makes this one event you don’t need to RSVP for

Nia Vardalos truly caught lightning in a bottle when it came to My Big Fat Greek Wedding in 2002.  Produced on a miniscule $5m budget, it garnered favourable reviews from critics and audiences alike, eventually grossing over $365m globally; to this day it remains the highest grossing romantic comedy and, adjusted for inflation, the highest…

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Film Review: Biosphere; the less you know the better for this wonderfully strange tale

Whilst it’s a general rule of thumb that the less you know going into any movie is for the better, it must be said that it absolutely must be practiced when it comes to Biosphere. A wonderfully strange film, Mel Eslyn‘s two hander focuses on the friendship between Ray (Sterling K. Brown) and Billy (Mark…

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Film Review: Theater Camp is an affectionate, occasionally salty satire

“You guys are so talented.  So unbelievable.  This will break you.  This will fully destroy you.” Not exactly the type of words you expect to hear from the head of a theater camp said to a collection of young, eager pupils, but such is the way of creative existence at AdirondACTS Theater Camp where camp…

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