Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Lady Dynamite Season Two.


Enter the world of Maria Bamford (again) in season two's Lady Dynamite. I enjoyed series one and remember watching this (actually bingeing it whilst away in Cairns in 2016) and I had another weekend where I left the world and went into a Netflix vortex.

Aside from three group fitness classes and the odd meal out there were no movies of interest this weekend so I decided let's review my Netflix watchlist and smash some shit out.

An eight episode, 30 minute comedy series fit well, it's late November, the Christmas crazy period is coming early (Japan was OTT for the holiday season) and people are getting there cunt on HARD.

So Maria Bamford's comedy revolving around her real life experiences with bipolar and pugs was something I needed to see.

Unlike the first season being completely new ground, the second season was more of the same with some great cameo's and funny one liners, however I found myself easily distracted away from this seasons plot lines.

Netflix has been churning out some real gold of late and when you are launching so much content into the land of streaming there will be some misses. Lady Dynamite season two and some other series on the streaming giant just do not reach the highs of say Sense8 or pre Kevin Spacey dramas House of Cards.

This is a great pre-Christmas distraction series and look if you need a laugh you will find some here, it's also good to see mental health being covered in a different and fresh way.

Sunday, November 26, 2017

Slasher Season Two.


Gore, torture porn and a new mystery, that is what awaits you this season in Slasher. Season one of Slasher was like a B grade horror film, over eight episodes, season two also contains eight blood stained episodes.

Unlike the Executioner this time we visit a former Summer camp. Why are haunted houses, lake Summer camps and clowns always the spooky themes horror is drawn to?

Season to season like American Horror Story and American Crime (and Crime Story) this is another anthology series.

This season however you are left on a bit of a cliffhanger but if the show returns for a third season I'm sure we will never get an answer.

Netflix powers this Canadian horror series and I would not be surprised if it's back for a third outing, as if there is one thing the world loves right now, it's horror. Jigsaw, It, The Conjuring series and a number of one of films like Happy Death Day have dominated the box office in 2017. So if Netflix continues to want to dominate the small screen, they will need more horror.

Slasher season two at time had some scenes which were very hard to watch however for the most person I enjoyed the whodunnit aspect of these series.

I guess it's now time to move onto Lady Dynamite Season Two, I think I need something uplifting. God how many series have Netflix churned out the last few months...

Saturday, November 25, 2017

The Walking Dead Season 8.


Recently celebrating it's 100th episode at the start of the season, the season opened with a much smaller audience than season 7. Season 7 started with that gory violent, at times hard to watch opener. It spilt fans, many deserted the show although with over 17 million viewers it was a huge hit, this season episode 100 we saw around 11.5 million viewers.

There has been a lot of chatter about the shows relevance, does the show still hold the power it used to. Simple answer no.

The show is now looking stale, and like Fear the Walking Dead, the characters are very dull and unlikeable.

Without Glenn, with every humanly possible way to slay a zombie done and dusted we are running low on new ideas, Negan has also been absent from some of the season making for even less tension than last season. Unlike Shameless which I recently praised in it's eighth outing, The Walking Dead is taking it's show name a little seriously, it seems to be walking off into the dead, wastelands. Will it end on a high note or just fade into TV land.

Some shows should call it a day before it completely goes all Blindspot and jumps the shark, the one saviour for this series is it cuts it's season in half, after eight episodes (mid way) it will call it a day for 2017 on December 10. If it follows last seasons pattern it'll return mid February.

I liked the way the show used to show human nature, boldly and whilst experiencing a grave fate, now this show just jumps from season villain to villain, shelter to shelter and slay a few zombies on the way. It needs more substance, it needs relatable and relevant characters.

Rick Grimes pull your finger out, you need a strong second half of this season mate.

Wednesday, November 22, 2017

I Love Don Lemon.. Part Two


I blogged about Mr Lemon some time back, I said there would be more and here are some more reasons this CNN anchor is so DANG cuuuuutttttteeeee...



Tuesday, November 14, 2017

Silver Screen in 2017 {Happy Death Day}


Say what you want about Groundhog Day meets Scream film Happy Death Day but it's been a box office smash. With a budget of just under five million but taking in just under eighty million as of NOW!



You do the maths, no stars and nothing flashy just a better whodunnit (with a twist) than the movie I reviewed yesterday, Murder on the Orient Express.

Let's be honest the main character Tree is a cunt. She is horrible to her room mate, the guys she wakes up in his dorm room and everyone she comes into contact with. However as the movie kicks into gear you learn why.

She is no huge star, Jessica Rothe peaked with a small role in La La Land and Israel Broussard has had a few small roles on the big and small screen.

A sequel might be in the works and why not, this film is honestly a decent effort.

It's had decent reviews despite the trailer looking a little average, the scares are few and far between but it's done well, suspense builds and I enjoyed the twist I mentioned above.

Look I think I saw this right at the end of it's cinema run so maybe look out for this on you're streaming service or rental place of choice.

Happy Death Day is surprisingly good, 4 Stars.

Monday, November 13, 2017

Silver Screen in 2017 {Murder on the Orient Express}


I grew up loving whodunnit films, Clue and the accompanying board game Cludeo was my favourite thing as a child despite the film coming out originally when I was only 3.

Agatha Christie is the queen of whodunnit writing 66 novels and now Murder on the Orient Express gets a star studded 2017 remake. Originally on screen in 1974 and a TV remake in 2001we now see Johnny Depp alongside Penelope Cruz and even Dame Judi Dench.

Michelle Pfeiffer is having a fabulous resurrection after her role in the strange as fuck Mother! film.



I wanted to love this film, but I only liked this film. The start was slow drawn out and only saw us follow Kenneth Branagh and his wicked Mo, perfectly in time for Movember.

This is a fun film once the train ride and character development starts off and apparently the ending is slightly different.

I really found myself in the middle of a whodunnit weekend with my review for Happy Death Day coming tomorrow (hopefully) and I was surprised to enjoy Happy Death Day a little more than this.

There is nothing majorly wrong with it, just it's missing something, the start is terribly drab and also I found myself thinking about how much washing I had and how on Earth would I get packed in time for my flight to Japan Tuesday evening.

Yes that's right I'm off to Japan this week! SCREAM!

OK, I'm way off topic, hence my mind during this film, for the love of whodunnit, I'm being easy on this film 3 Stars.

Sunday, November 12, 2017

Shameless Season 8.


Outstanding is all I can say about the season opener of the eight season of this US adaption of the UK original series Shameless.

One episode in and Shameless has already been renewed for a ninth season! I can not believe it, nine seasons, that is incredible.

Showtime come to think of it, is a little low on content so renewals really are not that surprising, after we saw Ray Donovan get a sixth season following the shows major change in gears in the fifth season.

Homeland also has a few more seasons to go, it got renewed for a couple of seasons at once, will it continues to power along like Shameless? And The Affair is returning in 2018 long after the original affair has come to an end.



So Shameless in it's eighth outing, where are the Gallagher's now? Well they all have a shit tonne of Meth to sell and they are living large, well all except for Fiona. Fiona and Lip have always been my favourites and Lip just gets more handsome as time goes on. That is the thing with a family drama you seem they age, mature and in Lips case hit peak handsome status.

Shameless is an exceptional Drama-Comedy series, mixing real life issues (this time one issue is US officials deporting illegal workers) and comedy.

I have always loved this show and I can only see season eight becoming more outstanding as time goes on.

Thursday, November 9, 2017

Silver Screen in 2017 {Thor: Ragnarok}


The latest in a long run of superhero movies is the latest Thor film, the third recent Thor film.

With his big hammer and muscles Thor is joined by a number of friends and enemies in Ragnarok. The film has been meet with largely positive reviews (except for Judith Lucy's take on ABC's new show Screen Time) and praise for director Taika Waititi. Waititi is more famous in Australia and New Zealand for Boy and Hunt for the Wilderpeople, indie comedies with much lower budgets than the latest Marvel block



Currently slaying the box office Thor is a big film, but like recent Marvel films, despite this being a "standalone" superhero film, The Hulk and more minor characters are along for the ride.

Like the recent Captain America film where he was joined by Iron Man and in a less sense Black Widow, Thor got some help from The Hulk, Doctor Strange also made and appearance and there was some vision of Black Widow.

After all these useless facts was Thor any good? I might be a bit of a nae sayer this week with Melbourne Cup and everything else rolling on, but I have to agree with Judith Lucy. This was really just another big, dumb superhero film with the added exception of Cate Blanchett being Thor's evil sister Hela.

Loki is always annoying in my mind and unlike Taylor Swift I do not want to fuck Tom Hiddleston's dick off.

I was left a bit disappointed, I was promised a new take on an almost tired genre, Deadpool did a great job being rude, crude and slightly more realistic in the violence sense. Thor is unfortunately lacking, it will be interesting to see if the next Avengers film will improve on this. 

Waititi's Kiwi charm and rock character was a nice addition however the running time and stock standard action sequences make this, just another superhero carbon copy.

That said, I for the most part enjoyed parts and select characters in the film and Hemsworth is a tasty leading man, 3 Stars.

Monday, November 6, 2017

Silver Screen in 2017 {A Bad Moms Christmas}


I gave the original a huge 4.5 Stars, so can the Christmas edition beat this? Simple answer No, but maybe.



Receiving bad reviews and some wondering why? I actually enjoyed this on a Sunday morning. Double the mums, double the random sex jokes. Yes we enjoyed them the first time around (well I did), I love a good joke about sex, females doing it for themselves and it was a huge improvement on the Hangover films.

Mila Kunis is actually a great lead, her supporting moms have varied success, but Kathryn Hahn does really steal most scenes she is in. Not to mention Hahn's movie in the movie is the fabulous Susan Sarandon. The good thing about Susan is she is killing it right now, her role was small in Ray Donovan (wrapping up recently) and the main alongside Jessica Lange in Fued.

I really dislike Christmas, I think it's an over the top waste of money and when you don't have kids, it's kind of boring. I also hate forces Christmas gatherings and this movie summed up a lot of the awkward, less sexy stuff around Christmas.

I laughed out loud, had fun and really that's what we all need in 2017. It's no Oscar award winning film, it's no blockbuster, but god let's lighten up and have a good time y'all.

4 sexy stars..

Sunday, November 5, 2017

Silver Screen in 2017 {Tom of Finland}


A nude gay romp or a biographical film? What exactly is Tom of Finland? Well it is actually pretty brilliant, beautifully shot and the film (aside from all the hot men) looks wonderful.

Wasn't number one on my list of films to see this weekend (that was Bad Moms which you will read about tomorrow (fingers crossed)) but I actually really enjoyed this film out of Finland.




Touko Laaksonen AKA Tom of Finland loves a homoerotic drawing of a buff or leather bound gay and the US discovers him and he goes Global.

After returning from serving in World War II Laaksonen works as an artist but in his own time really creates something that has long been remembered after he passed in 1991.

This is the first biopic of Laaksonen and I think this has been done extremely well, mixing flashbacks to his time in the war to his peak popularity, this film is great.

I was lucky enough to attend it at the new Palace Cinemas, Central Park, Sydney. Nice job team I'll hopefully see you this Wednesday for Thor.

I rated Tom of Finland and I give it 4 rock solid erections, I mean stars.

Saturday, November 4, 2017

Blindspot Season 3.


Has Blindspot jumped the shark? Fluorescent tattoos, replacing the original tattoos which lead to clues to solving major crimes from a team lead by Aussie Sullivan Stapleton.

Jaimie Alexander is Jane Doe and the major attraction in this NBC series. Season one was huge, debuting to over 10 million viewers, this number dropped to just over 7 million for the debut of season two then last week just over 4 million tuned into to check out the latest range of tattoos.

The show in my mind did improve in season two, dropping the formula and having a season long terror group as the enemy.

Season three, who knows where it will go and starting later than most US series, we are only one episode in whilst How to Get Away with Murder and others are ready for Winter/mid season breaks.

I am hoping this is a shorter, less clunky season, some of these 22/23 episode action series show, suffer by having too many filler episodes. I am hoping like the third season of Quantico (apparently this is set to be 13 episodes as a mid season filler) this will be a shorter more snappy season.

The Blacklist (also on NBC and now weekly on Netflix - hooray!) improved as seasons went on and they dealt with the major mystery between Spader and the main lady.

So Blindspot is it suffering from it losing it's initial shine? Maybe, time will tell it's only episode two in Australia this afternoon, America on Friday night. That also in my mind is a concern, Friday night, isn't that where networks toss shows to die, a slow, painful death. Who has time for TV Friday nights anyhoo?

Actually that would be me. Go well dear readers...