It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, but a lot of holiday movies deserve a lump of coal. Here are 10 Christmas movies that are actually great.
Source: Universal Pictures
We watched the new Lego Star Wars Holiday Special last night and it was a decently amusing love letter to Star Wars. Of course, it’s also 3000 times better than the original Star Wars Holiday Special which even George Lucas may or may not have said he would take a hammer and destroy every last copy of it. That said, the original did actually give us Boba Fett and result in the events leading to the creation of the currently brilliant The Mandalorian, so good job, Star Wars Holiday Special. You get a Baby Yoda toy for Christmas this year.
The world of anime has brought us some bizarre, over-the-top, and absolutely awesome entertainment. Here are 15 amazing shows from Japan.
Source: Toho Animation
Growing up in Australia there was an old show called CheezTV. If you were under 15 anywhere in the country, you were probably up in the mornings before school getting introduced to this whole new world of TV from The Land Of The Rising Sun thanks to this show. And then something amazing happened – Cartoon Network launched Toonami, their bold venture in exposing the Western world to a lot of the animation that no one else had seen before, and our worlds were never the same.
I really try to avoid hating on things, but with #CancelNetflix and Cuties trending like mad around this film and after seeing in more detail why, I really need to say something. Here is my response to #CancelNetflix and Cuties.
Source: Netflix
Mature written content warning
Foreign film Cuties stirred a lot of controversy on original screening and even moreso when Netflix released a poster seen to be hyper sexualising children. After a brave reviewer shared a 90 second clip from the movie this morning, I’ve gotta say…
The old poster is really tame in comparison, and the true problem with that controversial poster is this: it’s actually from the movie. I was wondering how a marketing department could misrepresent something in such great detail, and now I see that the image was missing the true extent of the gratuitous depiction of young children that’s actually on display. If they used another shot you may have thought you just saw a child’s genitals by accident.
This review was inevitable. On the way to being the highest grossing film ever made, the arrival of Thanos is sending the world wild. Does Avengers: Endgame live up to the hype? Here’s my spoiler review for Avengers: Endgame.
Source: Disney
It’s been a little while! I was tossing up between doing this one and writing about some of our great experiences across New Zealand last year for all the travel bloggers out there, but having just seen the movie for the second time with the in-laws last night, I thought it would be worth doing a review of Avengers: Endgame. The New Zealand one will be coming soon!
Hakuna Matata and eating bugs accompanied by utter devastation. Here’s why Timon and Pumbaa are the true villains of The Lion King… and of the lives of many of us.
Source: Disney
I had the awesome privilege of getting to witness the Aladdin musical featuring The Genie from Broadway last week. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. You get the point. It was stupendous. The sets, the songs, the costumes (!!!) were all top notch. Yes, I did cry… but it was from laughing so hard during the song High Adventure. People missed Abu but his replacements are quite hilarious. And the set they used for The Cave Of Wonders is something I won’t soon forget!
Unfortunately, I have yet to see The Lion King on stage yet, but definitely one for the list. What a timeless story that one is. Full of adventure, family, love, friends, conquering evil…
Oh yeah, and some of the most devastating villains in cinema history. Continue reading
The latest episode in the space drama has got nothing on these. Jumanji, The Greatest Showman, and Your Name are three movies better than Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
For the record, I enjoyed The Last Jedi. I saw it three times in the cinema. I wrote one of the few fan reviews in favour of the film. But I’ve gotta say, there were two movies in the same holiday window that really took me by surprise.
The first one, Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle was one the lady and I thought would be a bit of a fun night out. Little did I know it would be one of the funniest and most memorable comedies in recent years.
The other, The Greatest Showman, is gunning for awards, and could possibly be in the upper echelon of musicals put to film.
Why am I comparing these two movies to Star Wars? Simply because Star Wars, especially as a big fan, was the movie in this holiday season I was expecting to enjoy the most. Now after seeing these two other films, I have been really looking forward to writing about them, and putting in a strong recommendation for each as they aren’t getting the press they deserve.
There was a third movie that I saw over in the last few weeks that absolutely took my breath away and that I’ve really wanted to write about too, so I thought I’d add it into the list. That is the award winning anime movie, Your Name, released in 2016.
So here’s my triple review of three movies better than Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and really, just an excuse to talk about these movies that I enjoyed in the last few weeks. With all these movies, there wasn’t much I didn’t like about them, so I’m pretty much going to just list the things I really enjoyed. Hard to do a triple review without blowing out a word count that will bore you if I listed negatives, plus to be honest I really didn’t have much of a problem with anything in these movies. Continue reading
Much like the galaxy itself, the fans are more divided than ever. But put down the pitchforks, kids – The Last Jedi isn’t the worst movie ever.
Source: Bioware
Moderate spoilers for Star Wars:The Last Jedi to follow. None of the major reveals will be mentioned, but some of the sequences and themes will be discussed in depth.
Feeling old yet? Here are 10 things in our lifetime that have already been replaced.
Hide The Pain Harold knows what I’m talking about here
I recently celebrated my 29th birthday, meaning the big 3-0 is right around the corner. People dread their 30s arriving with fear, as its the years when life usually hits you and very sternly asks you what you’ve been doing for the past three decades or so. But I’m actually looking forward to the 30s. Bring it on.
The last little while, I’ve been thinking about all the things that use to exist that I remember seeing introduced in my lifetime, or around the time I was born, and now seeing those things as being redundant or distant memories. People older than me might be surprised to think of someone my age as having things I’ve seen replaced, but there’s actually a whole heap of things that used to be part of daily life that are no longer with us. Here are 10 things in our lifetime that have already been replaced. Continue reading
Tale as old as time… but is it worth seeing again this time? Here’s my Beauty and the Beast 2017 Review.
Source: Disney
I have the great fortune of living walking distance from a cinema. Granted that it’s a 20 minute walk up and down some hills that even some cars will struggle on, but even so. Tonight as I was choosing a movie to watch, I was easily able to extend my selection to those at my local Event given its proximity. I chose to brave the rain and have a look at Disney‘s latest live adaption remake in a string of remakes that won’t be ending any time soon. It’s Beauty and the Beast.
Everyone has seen this movie. It’s an award winner. I’ve seen the original movie so many times I could play it with my eyes closed and recite all of it. I own the extended cut, and even have seen it at local theatre productions on a few occasions. You could say I’m quite well versed in the lore. Continue reading
Before it came out I was apathetic, when I started it I was amazed, but after the credits roll I am… conflicted. Here’s my Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Review.
I am a massive Legend of Zelda fan. Most people who come over my house will comment on the giant Ocarina of Time poster on my back wall, as well as the large number of Zelda games in my collection. A few Zelda games made it into my top 10 favourite games of all time, and I’ve replayed all the games extensively (well, most of them).
And so you may already know that I’m not a huge fan of the Nintendo Switch. I had some concerns before its launch that seem to be true so far from what people have been saying, and I wasn’t going to spend $470 AUD for a console to play one game. I picked the game up on release day for the Wii U, although it was more out of “3D Zelda Fan” obligation more than anything – the game didn’t really look that great to me, even in anything I saw of it. Continue reading
