Silver Screen in 2017 {Get Out}

Okay Australia the time has finally fucking come for GET OUT to be released down under. With a February 24 release date overseas I have a number of contacts already watching this on the download so "advance screenings" this weekend seem a little "not so" advanced?



Okay there is my dig at Universal Pictures the distributor and non worldwide release dates. But now to the good news as this is the final day of Good News Month. Holy shit it's May tomorrow.

So the good news? This film is kick ass! It is of the highest quality and after the semi lame finale of Girls it was great seeing Allison Williams (Marnie) on the big screen!

Marnie was an annoying, way too skinny bitch on the final series of Girls and spoiler alert she is one of three characters in the final ever episode of the hit series which to me was a very average send off for the brilliant, ground breaking HBO series.

So seeing her in this very different and exciting role, AMAZING. Her boyfriend in the series is African American (and good looking as hell for the record) Daniel Kaluuya was in the UK Skins TV series so the main two characters have great TV shows in common.

The movie which gives a bit away in the trailer is epic and I want to give NO more spoilers, so without further ado, I LOVED THIS FILM. The last thirty minutes was so tense. I was a bit of a nervous wreck by the end of the film but I was so impressed the stress and not being able to poo was all good as the movie was seriously exceptional.

This is going to be an extremely difficult thriller to beat this year. It has been critically acclaimed worldwide, appeared at Sundance and has been a box office hit. For a budget of $4.5M it has already taken in close to $190M, great result.

I am going to cut the mustard here, Jordan Peele the writer/director of this movie is a genius. This is an easy 5 Stars to hand out, this is a well made, funny, scary, edge of the seat thriller. Get Out is the must see film of April/May.

Good News Month - Weekend Edition

Good News Month - today gets five nice news stories thanks to those cool dudes at Junkee.

Good News Month is coming to end but fear not May will bring another month of excitement here @ Randy Andy's Weak in Review!

Over at Flashing off the Record Sydney singer songwriter Dean Lewis is this week's number one on the Fresh Friday Countdown beating Lorde to the post and Adelaide's BAD//DREEMS are this weeks feature stars. It's heaps of really good Australian music all week long. Tomorrow however will be a Sunday Spotlight all over the GORILLAZ.

Have a great weekend dear readers...

Good Wentworth Month - Season Five

Good news came to our TV sets at the start of my Good News Month, April 4th to be exact. Wentworth returned for it's fifth and most engaging season yet. Yes every season builds but season five has had to deal with the blow of no more queen Bea Smith and also early on Maxine was leaving for another facility.

Both fan favourites were out two episodes in, however Franky has stepped up, The Freak is out of control and Sigrid Thornton's Sonia Stevens has really stepped up. Liz had been drifting and mainly due to Sonia's story seemingly going nowhere, but now we are in the midst of a new serial killer.



Franky Doyle has long been a fan favourite, however on the outside it was never as existing as when she was on the inside either fighting with Bea or generally running a muck.

With a foul mouth in tow again this year and things on the rocks with Bridget, a new alliance and relationship seems a shoe in with Bea's former flame Allie Novak.

Allie has also stepped up this season and one can only wonder what will become with her and The Freak.

Missing out on any Logies this year (what a CRIME) Foxtel's other terrific Aussie mini series Secret City beat them to the post.

Wentworth is a great news story for Australia TV. The acting and story lines are top notch and the more you watch the show the more it draws you in. This is up there with any high standard Netflix or HBO show. Well done Foxtel, now please give us the news Season Six is a sure thing, please?

Good Canberra Month - Anzac Day

Upon reading a piece by Bad News Month opinion piece writer Ms Miranda "Doom & Gloom" Devine one would feel Canberra is a utopia we all dream of, and for me the Canberra she painted sounded like heaven,

Paragraph one, good news points:

1. Fastest growing town - that's a positive right
2. Highest wages - good thing number two
3. Near record job growth - another goal for another major cities to aim for
4. Soaring house prices - good for owners, not renters or first time buyers, bad point one.
5. Extravagant retail sales - good for the economy, good point 4.5 in one paragraph.

Point 4 above is good for some and not others hence 4.5 good points in the first paragraph. But she turns sour (as she commonly does) when she claims "Smug, entitled public servants live high on the hog".

So highly paid people doing services for the community are public enemy one? Maybe not love, News Corp (your employer) has fallen on some tough times recently but is this due to poor business decisions, investments in Presto (weakest link in the crowded Australian streaming industry), Channel Ten and Foxtel is on the way out despite positive results at the Logies this week.

Opinions like Miranda's are quick to point the finger at:

1. The ABC
2. Government employees
3. Single mothers
4. Muslims
5. Minority groups
6. The Greens, The Labor Party or any independent who will stick it to the gambling industry, care about the environment or equality for all.

Miranda's piece on Canberra ticked a few of the above News Corp standard attacks. Canberra in my mind sounds ace and despite my negativity aimed at Miranda and her employer, here is some good news from Canberra:

- According to Miranda, there is no traffic in Canberra - CHA-CHING!
- Average annual earnings above $89,000 (I think it's $89,000-$110,000 but there was a print error in my printed copy of the tabloid)
- People leave work at 5:30pm - SHOCK HORROR, hold the phone, oh wait a minute I'm going to call Alan Jones. People are not still at work until 9pm, people are going to the gym and walking their dogs, OMG is Canberra ground zero for the real life Walking Dead! HOLY FUCK BALLS!
- Soy lattes are a thing, and yes Miranda some people like me, if we drink regular milk we will make Kleenex toilet tissues shares rise by 10% in a day. Not everyone is lucky enough to drink diary products some people can only drink soy milk.

Ok another solid gold four points and then your bewildering last paragraph:

"To anyone else Canberans have it made, but somehow they're still miserable"

Oh Miranda, have you even been to Canberra recently? Last time I went was a few Australia Days ok, yes it's dull, it's no Sydney or Melbourne or even Brisbane at a stretch but it's clean and in my mind changing for the better.

No city is perfect, but the city you paint is a damn sight better than Sydney, and this is the four points I have time for on Anzac Day and a month it's meant to be all about the good:

1. Poor traffic conditions
2. Poor customer service
3. High house prices and rent
4. A closed down CBD

Read her piece as part of the Sydney Comedy Festival HERE. I have said it before but Miranda your comic timing and writing is sensational. Would you like to do a soy latte one time?

Good Sophie Monk Month - Pre Anzac Day

I loved her on Hard Chat recently on the ABC and now THIS.



Holy shit Sophie Monk is on a total roll, going at this rate, this woman will be Australia's next female prime minister.

From one reality show and then into the spotlight (a dim light at times but none the less a light) to the star of one of TV's most dull reality shows.

Thank heavens Unreal is coming back soon.

Silver Screen in 2017 {Raw}

I had little to no expectations heading into RAW on a Saturday afternoon in the midst of Easter/Anzac Day holiday celebrations. Raw released only last month after appearing at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.



Raw is categorized as horror and ahead of going into the film I read two opposite reviews one giving it five stars and one giving it two stars. So where did I sit on the 1 to 5 star spectrum?

Well in all honesty somewhere in the middle.

I enjoyed the film but found some of the vet science school scenes a bit full on as an animal lover. I also found some of the violence, not over the top but in a way a little confronting as unlike US horror films, this was more raw (I know the film is called Raw) and less stylised and glamourous. Scream Queens in US TV made horror to be almost glamorous and fashionable.

33 year old director Julia Ducouranau is getting a world of praise for this film and rightly so, it is a neatly package film with a great ensemble of outstanding French talent.

I was impressed, compelled and left thinking about the film over dinner and hours after taking it in. That in itself in 2017 with throw away blockbuster after blockbuster and franchise after franchise films being released, week in, week out.

I said I went to the middle of the five star rating game, but actually I am going slightly higher and awarding this (if not for anything else, other than being 100% refreshing) 4 blood thirsty stars. A film simply well done and a coming of age for millennials growing up in 2017.

Good Nikki Webster Month - It's Friday...

Oh boy, thanks for sharing this Junkee and Sunrise, heave and pure gold is ONE click AWAY - CLICK

One more week left of Good News Month before we move into May, a month of Mother's Day and more birthdays than I can poke a fuckin' stick at.

Enjoy the weekend dear Good News readers...

Good Cherry Blossom Month - Post Easter

Easter is done, I for one ate way TOO many eggs, but nature has brought us some good news via the Guardian's photo series. Click HERE for some dreamy Cherry Blossoms across the globe.

Good Australian TV News Month - Seven Types Of Ambiguity

ABC continues to deliver GOOD (if not brilliant TV but it's all about Good News this month, hence the descriptive word GOOD) Australian dramas.

Barracuda, Cleverman, Glitch, Miss Fishers Murder Mysteries, Please Like Me, Rake are just a few of the good drama titles the national broadcaster has brought Australian (and international) audiences.



Seven Types of Ambiguity is one of those shows ABC has gone all Netflix on our arse and released this entire series on their iView platform.

I have only gotten into episode one but was pleasantly surprised by the pace and the brilliant script and acting. Alex Dimitriades, Hugo Weaving, Xavier Samuel, Susie Porter and Leeanna Walsman lead an all star cast and showcase some of their wonderful depth.

This is going to hopefully do well for the ABC across weekly broadcasts and iView plays. It's tricky to say whether this one episode airs on TV and then the rest are on available to stream at the viewers connivence.

In an era of Netflix and quality drama this is a great local effort and I am extremely proud of the ABC for bringing us more amazing local drama.

Silver Screen in 2017 {Dance Academy}

It's the end of Easter (sad face) and at one stage I thought it would never end, but hey we are here and out of four days I got through the two films I wanted to see, one The Fate of the Furious (review HERE) and now Dance Academy.



I've seen some great Aussie films already this year, Lion and Jasper Jones and Dance Academy is the first TV to film movie I have seen this year.

I have only watched bits and pieces of the show on TV so I have roughly 65 episodes to catch up on. Damn along with all my current US dramas and the Summer series on the way I am doomed!

Dance Academy is a lot of funny, although lead Tara Webster (Xenia Goodwin) is really not that likeable or enjoyable as a lead. Thomas Lacey is a lovely boy in real life and a nice addition to this film, however the real star and handsome character is Christian Reed, Jordan Rodrigues. He needs a haircut although his character and him in general, 100% adorable.

Keiynan Lonsdale as a gay is a little strange as he is kid Flash in the hit US superhero drama The Flash.

I enjoyed this over long episode of the hit ABC series and hope another film or TV series comes out of this. It was a good effort with a heap of great music thrown into the mix as well some hot as dancing.

This isn't perfect but it's damn sweet fun, 3.5 Stars.

Good Everest Month - Over Easter

More good news from the folks at ABC with their fancy new logos and the best news in Australia:

HERE

Silver Screen in 2017 {The Fate of the Furious}

It's a long weekend and no your normal three day long weekend, FOUR long days! Love it. And just ahead of Easter The Fate of the Furious arrived.

It has been two years since Furious 7 and a lot has changed.



It's still very sad without Paul Walker and this time around Vin Diesel goes all rogue as you will see in the above trailer.

So a 9th film is almost a given, the way it ends, the popularity of this series and spin off films are also apparently in the works.

So is this just over the top bloke action? Yes and no, I enjoyed this one a lot more than the last, maybe because I actually really liked Paul Walker or maybe because it was all so tragic around his death.

This film adds tanks, submarines and even more over the top action to this franchise. Look by film 8 you need to go hard as a mother fucker or go the hell home.

This series is really here to stay and the addition of Charlize Theron and Helen Mirren dropping the one F word of the entire film makes it with her English accent.

Young and handsome (for a white boy) Scott Eastwood has also joined the cast and almost with his white boy swag appears to be the young pretty male amongst the meat heads to appeal to some female viewers.

I saw the film with 9 others, a total of 10, easy maths it was 10% females, 90% men. This series is a rare franchise to be still kicking goals and getting shitloads of attention, not to mention the soundtracks usually also attract more financial gains for all involved.

The Fate of the Furious is actually a good action film in more standards, it feels a little darker than past films and a little more real. 3.5 Stars.

Good Garden Month - Wayside Chapel, Kings X

ABC brought this good Gardening news story to my attention and on the Wayside Chapel's official site you can read more HERE

I am loving this month and all the good news I am hoping over Easter to check in with a film (or two) so look out for a regular movie review post. Also I'm off to see the Play That Goes Wrong tomorrow night, so excited to see Brooke Satchwell live in the flesh!

Good Korn Month - Music Royalty revisits 90's Nu-Metal

Metallica are rumoured to be touring Australia again soon (last time they broke venue attendance records) and now in the only glowing news story this morning Korn are apparently still making music.

Metallica's bassist Robert Trujillo has a 12 year old son and this 12 year old is not playing Pokemon Go nor hanging out in his bedroom playing video games he is off to South America to play with 90's legends Korn.

Check out the full story here, it's a good one.

Good News Month is almost halfway through now, but still I have hope there will be more Good News I can bring y'all.

Good News Blooper Month - Love It

Good Morning ABC News 24!



God I love a good news blooper, they make life amazing.

Good News Month - Animal Photos

A picture does speak a million words and an entire Guardian gallery of animal photos, that is a new worthy and Good News Month piece if ever I have found one. HERE for Good News

Silver Screen in 2017 {CHiPs}

It's school holidays in NSW, parents are pulling there hair out with what to do with young children, and this my parents out there is not 101 minutes of school holiday entertainment, it's CHiPS.



Look I have not heard nor read a positive review about this film this week, but hey come on, it's got a red band trailer (above), it's going to be sexy and there is going to bit a shit tonne of swearing it, deal with it.

That's not the problem though (the sexy swearing and rimming talk) it's, the film just is not funny. Like seriously it's ok as a drama (but it's a action-comedy?), I sat there smirking like a 13 year old hearing about yoga pants as a turn on for the first time. Nice product placement for LuLu Lemon though.

Well maybe not as LuLu Lemon yoga pants actually encouraged public masturbation from Michael Pena. That is the problem too, Michael Pena is usually in better films, like The Lincoln Lawyer, End of Watch, The Martian, Ant-Man and I am yet to watch it but War on Everyone seemed a little similar to this film.

Look I hated seeing the lazy reviews this week and all I wanted to do was have a laugh this Saturday after a horrid news week leaving me unable to post many Good News Month posts.

This was a let down but mainly because the cast has so much potential between them, Kristen Bell, Pena, Adam Brody, Maya Rudolph and more.

Look it isn't much more than a 1 Star film but I like Michael Pena so I will give it a kind 1.5 Stars.

Good News Month - Girls does Golden Girls

With the week giving us distressing images from abroad and general bad news on the 24 hour news cycle this is a welcome six minutes of humour.

Lena Dunham has delivered for the past six seasons and continues to deliver, well done and the entire team behind Girls, in front of the camera and behind and all at the terrific HBO.

Good News Month - Zac Efron in the Baywatch Trailer

Hello NANA!

Silver Screen in 2017 {Ghost in the Shell}

Is Ghost in the Shell racist for using Scarlett Johansson as the lead role and is Ghost in the Shell a heap of shit? After viewing the trailer read what I have to say about it.



So Scarlett is cast in a female largely set in Hong Kong but filmed in New Zealand and set in the future where the future is robots and racism arises? Yes there are reasons Emma Stone still is a little on the nose to me after Aloha, one of the worst films ever to grace the cinemas.

This is not as badly cast as Stone in Aloha but I get peoples point of view, that said it is also sci-fi so the film is pretty much all over the shop in general.

This said after seeing easily one of the best pieces of theatre yesterday at STC, Chimerica it is easy to cast outstanding asians as roles meant for asians so maybe Hollywood needs to look at this a little closer next time around.

It looks great in parts but some of the CGI is a little rushed and the action scenes almost become like you are sitting on the couch playing a video game.

All in all this is a sci-fi action film so I think a few critics have been a little harsh on this Japanese manga film adaptation.

Ghost in the Shell this Good News Month is passable but not perfect, it has promise and Hong Kong's skyline is sensational in the future, 2.5 action packed (at times) stars.

Good News Month - Santa Clarita Diet - Renewed @ Netflix

Netflix series sSanta Clarita Diet, starring Drew Barrymore has recently been renewed for a second outing, to air in 2018. Not only is this good news heading into the cooler months in Australia as we borrow into our houses, but another nail in the coffin for reality TV.

This week in other news The Biggest Loser will now air weekdays at 1pm. Talk about a shit time slot.

So that's one to drama and zero to reality. That to me is good news.

Yes the first episode didn't grab me but it is a grower and I think that is a skill in itself for a show to start out slow and then grow and grow.



It's April Fools and a big welcome to good news month, where I endeavour to bring you exclusively good news.

In other news, my thoughts are with everyone (including my very own Uncle Harley and Aunty Judy) involved in the QLD & Northern NSW floods and natural disaster.