#SUMMER-BINGE-FEST - Dirty John

Airing on Valentine's Day in Australia (so sweet) is a true crime story from the USA, Dirty John. Originally airing on the highly esteemed US network Bravo. Former scripted TV hits include Girlfriends Guide to Divorce and Imposters.

Bravo is the home of reality hits like Million Dollar Listings Los Angeles, Top Chef, Don't be Hardy, Vanderpump Rules and more!

Dirty John has had a lot of coverage online, people in the office were discussing it and finally as we concluded Summer I have binge watched the entire eight episodes this week.

It's easy to watch, great to see Eric Bana back on the small screen and Connie Britton is alwasy wonderful. From her abrupt wrap up on 9-1-1 this was a meaty true crime role for her to get her head around.



Dirty John follows crazed con artist John Meehan and his relationship with Debra Newell. It quickly goes pear shaped and we get to see a few flashbacks into his career as a con artist.

Veronica and Terra Newell were a little average and at times hard to watch but both actresses have had some fine roles in the past. Juno Temple has recently been in Vinyl as well as a pile of films and Julia Garner is best known as the girl with the foul mouth in Ozark.

Dirty John is a quality drama on a not so quality network, luckily in Australia it airs on Netflix.

Whilst this is not perfect, it's a damn easy watch, Dirty John is streaming now. This concludes my #SUMMER-BINGE-FEST as tomorrow is Autumn (in Australia).

Cinema Slut #2019 - Escape Room

I had Escape Room on my list of to see films since it landed. The sessions were reduced week two, so I was happy when I caught a 10.10am session Sunday.

Escape Room has actually been a box office smash, taking in almost $120M against a budget of slightly under $10M

The biggest star of Escape Room is Jessica from True Blood, Deborah Ann Woll or is she now better known as Karen Page from the Netflix Marvel shows?



Anyway Escape Room holds it's suspense, delivers a great thriller and avoids using over gory scenes that Saw used in the past. This was a fairly simple film but extremely well executed.

The editors also did a magic job keeping the plot rolling and film at a neat 100 minutes.

Films generally drag on for way too long, forget to get to the plot or deliver an unsatisfying ending, Escape Room succeeds on all these accounts.

Jay Ellis from Insecure continues to be a handsome almost lead and Deborah Ann Woll is extremely convincing in her role.

I enjoyed this thriller, it leaves it wide open for a sequel and like Happy Death Day, this is one of those low budget films that just seems to soar!

Well done, 3.5 Stars.

Cinema Slut #2019 - What Men Want

For Empire star Taraji P. Henson she was staying out of the headlines despite Jussie Smollett dominating the headlines. For Taraji she has long been the queen of Empire the diamond in the pack of the Fox show.

Cookie Lyon is one hell of a character and Ali Davis (Henson's lead) in What Men Want is a force to reckon with.

Along side Henson is Ariana's ex Pete Davidson, Erykah Badu, Silicon Valley's Josh Berner and a load more talented folk, even Shaq O Neil pops by.



This had a few laugh out loud moments, however it's feel good nature and fun approach to relationships made this a highly enjoyable Saturday night at the pictures!

What Men Want is a throwback to the 200 film What Women Want starring Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt. Honestly I vaguely remember this film but Mel has nothing on Taraji, her fashion, her sass and her on scene dominance is something else. It's the reason why Empire  is Fox's number two drama.

Along with some great scenes, the music dominates this film with hits by TLC, En Vogue, Salt N Pepa and Jill Scott.

What Men Want is a fun night out with a capital F, date night movie tick, feel good film tick and general all round decent night out flick tick, 4 Stars.

(Mini) Sunday Spotlight: Kehlani

Hailing from Oakland, California Kehlani has been ripping it up for a number of years now.

I was super lucky to see her support Halsey on one of her most recent visits to the nation. Kehlani demands attention and commands the stage when she performs. With a number of hits under her belt, working with Calvin Harris, Chance the Rapper and more Kehlani is a real talent to watch.

So this Sunday let's chill with some smooth sounding Kehlani, her latest mixtape While We Wait was definitely worth the wait with some great collaborations with 6lack, Ty Dolla $ign and more.

Take a listen, look below to the start of something special, it's Kehlani, it's Sunday, Good Morning!

#SUMMER-BINGE-FEST - The Cry

The ABC has over delivered in the drama department of late, Mystery Road has a monster year in 2018 winning a pile of awards, Glitch has also been a critical dream, Harrow, Pine Gap and Jack Irish all rounded off a solid list of Aussie dramas on Australian TV.

So in 2019 the ABC is out of the gate first with The Cry. A co pro with the BBC, hitting the airwaves and iView (to binge all four parts) ahead of Bad Mothers and Ms Fisher's latest outing on Seven was a bold and smart movie.

Only SBS on Aussie TV like the idea of a four part series, so this was a nice move for the ABC to venture into a mini series/self contained story.

The Cry stars some of Australia's most loved stars including Alex Dimitriades, leading male Ewen Leslie, Asher Keddie, Shareena Clanton (best known as Doreen from Wentworth, also screening past seasons now on Aunty) and English leading lady Jenna Coleman.

The Cry is captivating and on a quiet, cold (weird for summer) and wet Saturday it was an easy watch in one day. Yes I did all four episodes in one outing.

The show reminds me of The Bodyguard, leaving you waiting till the last very episode to figure out what is going on and what happened to baby Noah.

The Cry, it's decent viewing on a wet Summer's day and streams now all four hour long episodes on Australia's premier catch up service iView.

Is there TOO much Australian Drama for March, 2019???

With Netflix, Stan (owned by Channel 9), Amazon Prime and god knows what other streaming services dishes us up a serious amount of drama, do the latest commercial (ABC and Foxtel) Australian dramas stack up?

Ms Fisher's Modern Murder Mysteries commences this week, whilst Secret City - Under the Eagle begins in March and The Heights starts Friday nights (off time for a local drama). I did take a look at Bad Mothers which aired it's first episode on Monday.

And oh boy was it bad.

Why on Earth would Melissa George return for this? Like other recent series, Bite Club, some one about terrorism that got canned after one season, the first season will run for a compact 8 episodes.

Oh that other Channel Nine drama was Hyde and Seek remember that? Well you could think Bad Mothers is the same show, Mandy McElhinney has yet again been cast on Nine (formerly part of the long running Love Child) and a death occurred in episode one.

It's very easy to compare this trashy drama to Channel Ten's Playing for Keeps last year. Mothers/Wags add murder to the mix with a back drop of Melbourne. Fingers crossed for the Bad Mothers crew like Playing For Keeps it may get a second series. Channel Nine currently only has one other drama on the books Doctor Doctor with incoming reboot Seachange to air later this year.

Honestly Secret City - Under the Eagle is our best hope on Foxtel at a decent new drama. With reboots like the Ms Fisher's thing on Channel Seven and ABC's The Heights, I have the highest hopes for Secret City after the first fantastic six episode season.

Secret City commences with a double episode on March 4th. In a compact second season, the conclusion will air April Fools Day.

I may have been a fool as I have not had a chance to check out The Cry on iView yet, however want to. It has had good reviews and my own parents binged it in one weekend. Bless.

I welcome the drama back to Australian TV, but please as a self confessed enemy of average, please keep the quality high. Channel Nine you seldom make many dramas anymore so come on. Your strike rate ain't great lately, Channel Ten, I still have no idea why CBS brought this one trick Bachelor pony and Channel Seven (AKA Liberal propaganda network news network) let's hope the ABC spin off gamble works.

Whilst the reality giants remain Married at First Sight, My Kitchen Rules and Dancing with the Stars. Anything other than white people crying in a kitchen, cooking or otherwise is always welcome. So come on Networks don't disappoint. If all else fails you can make a drama about One Nation and Pauline's hunt for cane toads or the blood on her Canberra office, oh drama!

Cinema Slut #2019 - Happy Death Day 2U

Have you ever seen a sequel to a film and wished they had a quick recap?  Like... Previously on Desperate Housewives.

Well Happy Death Day 2U delivers this and more whilst ticking so many diversity boxes along the way.



The first film was a monster smash hit, it was a huge box office success story with a tiny budget of only $4.5M. The budget was doubled (and so it should for a sequel) for this film and it still keeps the fun however delivers very few scares.

Jessica Rothe and Phi Vu are outstanding in this sequel, the characters are likeable but the sci-fi element of the film was a little off.

A third film being set up via the end of credits clip could well be in the works.

I wanted to like this a lot and I did for the most part, however it had a bit of a random plot mixing sci-fi and teen-slasher horror together and I don't know if we needed some of the tech elements.

Either way this was a big of fun escapism.

3 Stars.

Cinema Slut #2019 - Cold Pursuit

So this film suffered the 2019 pile on the social media hate. Yes Liam Neeson had a seniors moment and he should have stuck to the film studios press junket script however he went rogue.

Now the movie is on track to be a box office bomb, so with all that aside is it any good?



I didn't even see the trailer before I knew I wanted to see yet another Liam Neeson revenge film.

Yes after Taken (the failed TV series) film trilogy, The Grey, Non-Stop, A Walk Among the Tombstones and The Commuter, Neeson was having a later life good run at the cinema.

He even popped up in the fab Widows late 2018.

Why on Earth would you in 2019 be cast as on of Neeson's children in a film. You clearly will end up being kidnapped, murdered or tortured.

Laura Dern and Emmy Rossum (Shameless superstar) both also pop up in this film along with a solid support cast.

There is a hilarious Vietnamese wife to one of Neeson's few allies in the film and there also is some random black comedy thrown into the killing mix.

Whenever a character is rubbed out (so to speak) there name appears with their religion of choices symbol appear. It's a fun game as sometimes this appears multiple times in some scenes.

Look it makes Denver and the Colorado ski resort town of Kehoe look fantastic, despite the fact it's filmed in Canada.

I enjoyed this despite the film and it's PR run. Can stars please now just act and shut the fuck up! This in time could end up costing studios millions and Netflix might end up being the only people releasing feature films.

3.5 Stars.

(Mini) Sunday Spotlight: Dear Seattle

Based on the Northern Beaches and getting a solid following throughout 2018, Dear Seattle have dropped their debut album, Don't Let Go.

Hitting Triple J back in late 2016, Dear Seattle are building a decent fanbase and honestly the single Maybe has one of the best opening lines in history. If you want to hear it stream below, or download for free from their Triple J Unearthed page.

Brae, Lachlan, Jeremy and Josh make up the 4 piece rock group Dear Seattle and I cannot wait to see where the boys musical future takes them.

So chill this Sunday, discover a new favourite Aussie rock quartet in Dear Seattle, I consider myself a fan, so I invite you to as well.

Online/Streaming... NOW! - Valentine's 2019 Edition

A HUGE week of new releases collides with Valentine's 2019, usually reserved for my other music BLOG, Flashing off the Record, here are this week's top releases.

After teasing us with a number of singles, The Cat Empire finally release Stolen Diamonds. One of Australia's most loved live bands can still kick it and honestly I am so excited to have The Cat Empire back in ur lives and on the radio again.

Tomorrow cop a load of Dear Seattle right here! Yes Don’t Let Go is the groups debut album and it's out now. Come back tomorrow for a Mini Sunday Profile on the Northern Beaches locals.

Next week on Flashing off the Record, Methyl Ethel's new record Triage will get a feature. Stream it now below and get ready for a big week of features!

They're back! Sweden's finest punks, Millenolin are sending out a SOS!

Tourist is back with a new record and before we get into the singles of the week, here is a track from Everyday.

Foals will have two albums out in 2019, here is another new taste, On The Luna.

Julia Jacklin's new record is out this coming Friday, here is another sample of it, Comfort.

Just in time for Mardi Gras season, Paul Mac has a new cut, it's Cataplexy.

Ninajirachi will be my feature EP over on Flashing off the Record next week. From NLV record label here is Lapland.

Rex Orange County are back with new music, it's no Loving Is Easy, however it could be a grower, New House is the latest from Rex Orange County.

Last but not least it's Mansionair with We Could Leave.

Cinema Slut #2019 - Green Book

Some films are outstanding and demand attention, Green Book is a little film with some much good content whilst being super easy to watch.

Mahershala Ali is so outstanding as real life musician Don Shirley whilst Viggo Mortensen is a real teddy bear as Frank "Tony Lip" Vallelonga.



Linda Cardellini as Dolores Vallelonga steals the show in her scenes and the American road movie is honestly just such a sweet ride.

I loved this film, from the minute Ali meet Mortensen and the friendship blooms it's just beautiful.

This is a sensational 4.5 Star film, great stuff, YASS!

(Mini) Sunday Spotlight: Billie Eilish

17 year old Billie Eilish is on top of the music game right now, so with a debut album and Groovin the Moo headline tour coming up, at 17 Billie is achieving more than most musicians do in a life time.

Her debut is titled When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go and will be released late next month. Ahead of that Billie has just released a killer new track Bury a Friend and been announced on the GTM 2019 lineup.

Billie has released a killer idea in 2017 Don't Smile at Me featuring that ear worm, Bellyache and Ocean Eyes.

Appearing on both 13 Reasons Why soundtracks and multiple other singles and appearances Billie is an artist in demand.

I can't wait to hear the entire record, but for now, let's enjoy what we have heard thus far. It's Sunday so chill with Billie.

#SUMMER-BINGE-FEST - The Punisher, Season Two (Final?)

Jessica Jones and The Punisher are the last two Marvel stars standing! Will The Punisher end up on the Daredevil, Luke Cage and Iron Fist Marvel scrap heap? They join Agent Carter from ABC with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D appearing to be the last one standing renewed through to 2020!



So season one was excellent, season two was action packed and it started strong, did it end the same way?

Well, thirteen episodes is a big call with these action series, also the two villain approach was a bit much at times as the stories all seemed to come undone by the final play.

Lady rivals Dinah and Krista was a bit much towards the end and slightly unbelievable.

Overall this was a lot better than the second season of Jessica Jones which I recently binged. Jon Bernthal is extremely attractive as The Punisher, although towards the end with all the shit he goes through, how is he still alive!

Verdict is not out yet whether the show will get third season, however if Daredevil and Luke Cage are dead and buried I am not sure I like it's chances.

The Punisher is streaming NOW on Netflix...

#SUMMER-BINGE-FEST - The Bodyguard

The BBC made a huge six part series in 2018 and I am only just catching up with it now.

Starring Richard Madden and Keeley Hawes, had the highest viewing figures for a new BBC drama in the multichannel era and the highest BBC viewing figures since 2008.

The show luckily appears on Netflix in Australia so I smashed the hell out of it this February.



A great thriller and a real rollercoaster ride (particularly episode six). I love the UK with there 6 or 4 part and done seasons/mini-series.

Bodyguard is one of those watercooler shows that has had everyone talking so I was glad to escape any spoilers, so to be fair there are no spoilers here.

If you love a good whodunnit, this is totally for you, if you like twists and turns this is your cuppa tea.

Bodyguard streams now in Australia and most parts of the world on Netflix.

Cinema Slut #2019 - Ben is Back

I did really take in three deep films over the weekend, The Hate U Give explored police brutality and race, The Mule looked into being successful at something late in life that was also highly illegal and Ben is Back is a deep dive into addiction.

Drugs specifically.

Julia Roberts like Nicole Kidman is only choosing good films to appear in from here on. Not only films, Homecoming (although she will not appear in the second outing, apparently) is excellent too on the streaming service Amazon Prime.

Taking change of the big screen and the small screen is no small feat, but Julia Roberts nailing it! Not only Ms Roberts but the brilliant Lucas Hedges. Not only did he break my heart in Boy Erased, but now he does it all over again in Ben is Back.



I'm not going to lie, I was close to tears twice in this mother/son holiday film. Yes if the holidays weren't bad enough imagine your drug addict son returning home for the holidays and literally all hell breaking loose.

It's a tough watch at times and Hedges really is an outstanding actor and should be in demand in 2019.

Boy Erased was a tough role but this one was just damn tough. Kathryn Newton was also brilliant as Julia Roberts other child in the blended family making the Burns.

Ben is Back is no Sunday stroll but it is a wonderful film, well made and a story that needs to be told. In Australia it's all pill testing and drugs are bad, but we need stories like these, real faces, names, not just opinions and people claiming people will one day just like that stop taking drugs.

Because guess what, they won't.

Hate to say it to the NSW Government but you need to act and NOW.

Ben is Back is a 4 star film, great job all involved.

Cinema Slut #2019 - The Mule

Clint Eastwood is 88 years old, 88 mother fucking years old and still making interesting films. The Mule is a slow burning road movie with a whole heap of shit going down.

But it's not all Clint Eastwood, the cast is a masterpiece in itself, Bradley Cooper, Michael Pena, Laurence Fishburne, Dianne Wiest and the terrific Taissa Farmiga.

Aside from a great cast this movie is actually based on a crazy true story!



I wanted to see this the minute I saw the trailer (much like next week's Cold Pursuit) I liked the feel of the film and despite Jersey Boys being a red hot mess, Clint Eastwood generally directs a damn fine film.

Following Cooper's performance in a Star is Born this is a perfect film for him to get back into the movie game.

I enjoyed the film also as Eastwood has learnt to edit the film down a wee bit, this was not three hours, it was slow paced but still slick.

The Mule is a good Summer film and my oh my if I am as good as Eastwood at 88, life is good. Damn good.

(Mini) Sunday Spotlight: Jarryd James

Hailing from Brisbane it's really into the business part of 2019 now, January is a decent memory, music releases are coming out thick and fast, one of which was a new single from Jarryd James.

Slow Motion arrived on Friday and was the full up to 1000x and his EP with some help from Broods and Joel Little.

You may remember Jarryd's biggest hit from 2015, Do You Remember. The song reached number two in Australia and number 7 in New Zealand.

Jarryd's debut album Thirty One even had a feature with Sydney's Julia Stone, the album like Do You Remember also peaked at number two on the Australian ARIA Album chart.

Here's hoping we get another album or EP (I'll settle for that) in 2019. In the meantime welcome to the first "offical" new(ish) artist (Mini) Sunday Spotlight. The full blown Sunday Spotlight on Flashing off the Record returns next month.

Speaking of Broods earlier, they will be the feature album over HERE too from tomorrow. On this BLOG it's all about the movies next week with reviews from tomorrow for The Mule and Ben's Back.

Cinema Slut #2019 - The Hate U Give

Released as part of the Toronto International Film Festival in 2018, Australia is finally getting to see The Hate U Give, which also spells THUG.



ABC News Breakfast gave this a glowing review, and Giles was not wrong! This is a great film, with a great cast and a particularly great soundtrack, perfectly matched with the film.

With seen a lot of films around gun violence, race relations in the former Democratic States of the USA and police brutality, however this is well and truly aimed at a teen market.

What goes on in the USA is fucking whack, it's primitive and the NRA wields way too much political power for their own good.

Amandla Stenberg is outstanding as the lead Starr, alongside her on screen boyfriend Kiwi and Riverdale lead K.J. Apa.

Algee Smith is outstanding as well as Starr's childhood friend and has the films most shocking moment.

The Hate U Give is at times hard to watch, it's brutal, it's honest and raw, this is one of those films with a big message to send, however it is delivered in a powerful, yet refreshing way.

The Hate U Give is pretty spot on perfect, 4 Stars.