All User Reviews

I finally re-watched this movie in 2026, and I still like it really much. The story itself is simple: Animals need to get a ton of food so a bear doesn't kill them. (or, well, one of them) Along the story it has bits of trust, betrayal and, most importantly, "found family", which I consider lovely. The characters are fun and adorable. RJ and Vern kinda represent Woody and Buzz from Toy Story a bit, just with some personality pieces shifted around. Both are adorable in their own ways but also have their flaws to overcome. Mostly RJ. 😁 Stella is a lovely, strong woman that…

Strange little film that definitely could've gone on a bit longer just to add more narrative information (the how's and why's of this alternate reality world) but otherwise it was a very enjoyable crazy little film. Shout out to Tyler Labine doing a solid impression or really a mash up of the various faces of VICE magazine circa 2000. He was equal parts charismatic, and dispicable, pivoting from one pole to the next so you never really hated him but also didn't really love him. Just a drunken, drug fueled mess obsessed with gonzo journalism! Definitely one of those arty movies th…

Set to the familiarly mischievous overture from Rossini’s eponymous opera, this uses a rudimentary but still colourful and vibrant style of hand-drawn animation to tell us the tale of the revenge of the magpie. Everyone knows that these are birds that like to pinch what isn’t their own, so imagine how inventive they can be when they get fed up being shot at. The king and his hunting party are making merry on an hunt that is taking pot shots at not just it, but everything of the feathered variety that lives in the forest. He fakes his own demise and then craftily turns the tables on his erstwhi…

"The Wrecking Crew" is aptly named. This action flick, for me, early on wrecked any chance that I'd actually enjoy this film. I'll put my hand up and say I'm sick and tired of the gratuitous violence oozing out of Hollywood. The light, jokey tone of this film is at odds with oftentimes really ugly violence. Entirely smashing someone's upper teeth against a table in the opening scenes is one such example. It's not funny; it's not okay, its not entertaining, no matter who it's done to. Regrettably, given how violent US society is, perhaps I should not be surprised, but it's also one of th…

"Gomorrah" was, for me, a standout series. An easy 10/10 in the organised crime/mafia genre. Regrettably, the spin-off, "Gomorrah: The Origins", doesn't reach the same heights as its conspicuously superior predecessor. Set in 1970s Italy, this crime family origin story is riddled with overstated, posturing performances and set pieces. It exclaims, "Look, look, this is 1970s Italy!" The problem is, it's not. Indeed, the harder it tries, the more unconvincing it becomes. In reality this is a heavily scripted revisionist work that bears little in common with Italy at that time or the period i…

The Birdcage (1996) (rewatch) Directed by Mike Nichols Mike Nichols' The Birdcage is the American remake of La Cage aux Folles, with Robin Williams and Nathan Lane as a gay couple running a drag club in South Beach. When Williams' son brings home his fiancée whose parents happen to be ultra-conservative politicians (Gene Hackman and Dianne Wiest), the setup becomes a classic farce: can this flamboyant household pass for "normal" long enough to survive one dinner? Williams and Lane absolutely kick it. Both are tremendous actors and comedians, and both turn in top performanc…

The Farewell (2019) Directed by Lulu Wang Lulu Wang's The Farewell begins with a title card: "Based on an actual lie." The lie in question is both simple and profound: when Nai Nai (Zhao Shuzhen) is diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, her family decides not to tell her. Instead, they stage a wedding as an excuse to gather from around the world to say goodbye without her knowing it's goodbye. Billi (Awkwafina), raised in America, struggles with the deception, caught between her Western conviction that Nai Nai has a right to know and her family's insistence that this lie is an act…

Did you know that there used to be an Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs? Well they worked with Disney to construct this animated history of mankind’s use of corn, or maize, over the past 9,000 years. You see, it was some peckish hunters who realised that when game was scarce, they could rely on corn to sustain them. Now a lot of early bread tasted of fish because as each kernel was planted, so was a sardine as an offering to the fertility gods. (I know, why not just eat the fish?). Anyway, as the Aztecs and the Incas began more sophisticated offerings, including human sacrifi…

I watched this film because, well, Lily Gladstone. And honestly, she doesn't disappoint. But the film itself fails to find its bullseye. This is a film about two absolute truths: The first is that every person must grieve in their own way. That's why there's nothing we can say to ease their pain. The second truth is that you can never, ever know what another is truly thinking. Even if they tell you, the words have a different connotation colored by a different life. I wish Lily and Marrisa Maltz had just stuck to one of these truths as an anchor for the film. Both had potential, but together t…

Ok, so this is a fairly shameless piece of WWII propaganda, but it does ask one question. What chance if the animal kingdom was actually engaged in “stepping up production, by Uncle Sam’s instruction”, might they actually do a darn sight better job than us human beings? They can chop and gnaw, smelt and saw, lay and spray - hell, they can even smoke out the dreaded Japanese beetle. The sheep can keep us all warm while what looked like a guest appearance from “Touché Turtle” ensured we need never want for an helmet again. It’s teamwork, folks, that wins wars and any patriotic chicken, ant or ra…