Cinema Slut #2019 - Avengers Endgame

Since 2008 we have been waiting for the Endgame. Iron Man was the first Marvel film that captured audiences worldwide, then came Iron Man joining Captain America, The Hulk, Thor, Black Widow, Hawkeye and a few other agents of S.H.I.E.L.D along the way for good measure.

We have finally got to a point where Thanos left us in the half baked Avengers: Infinity War.



I will keep this spoiler free and main plot point free zone. Honestly after missing out Wednesday/Anzac Thursday last week I was scared I would find out some major spoilers however I stayed clear of spoilers.

I do love Captain America, but love the latest additions to Avengers more, like Black Panther and most recently Captain Marvel.

With a Spiderman film just around the corner I expect many more Marvel films to come. With Captain Marvel alone in Australia taking over $40M big ones!

This film is one of the first films I have had to book in advance and scroll through multiple sessions to get a decent ticket. Hoyts and Event Cinemas have really just rolled over and given almost every available session to the last/latest Avengers film.

Ok so was this any good? Yes and no, the first half drags, the second half goes into overdrive, real fast! The conclusion is great, the action scenes are well done and the additions of Captain Marvel, Spiderman, Black Panther and The Guardians gang make for a jam packed line up.

I don't recall a film with this many characters jammed in, ever. Dr Strange seems to be one of the Marvel universes less successful efforts (still it made almost $700M at box office) and it does appear at times it is a little out of place.

Avengers Endgame is epic whilst also being a cinema event which will lead to sales outside of the cinema, toys from the game, DVD's and more.

The movies needs this right now, strong box office results and even stronger candy bar sales. Avengers Endgame gets 4 Avengers signing off stars.

(Mini) Sunday Spotlight: Nick Murphy

It's a Chet Faker free zone this Sunday with only music from Nick Murphy's new album (out Friday) and the 2017 Missing Link EP.

Run Fast Sleep Naked, landed Friday, released via Future Classic, the label housing so many legends like Flume, Wafia, Touch Sensitive, Ta-ku, G Flip, Hayden James and more!

I usually reserve the mini profiles for newer artists however changing his name as persona from Chet Faker (at the peak of his fame) is a bold move. As Nick Murphy he has worked with the brilliant Kaytranada on the Missing Link EP (Your Time) whilst travelling the world he created Run Fast Sleep Naked.

Whilst scoring the feature album on Triple J this week, I for one hope Nick will head out on the road real soon to showcase his new music.

Let's take a listen to the record and some earlier work from Nick below. Happy Sunday, PS a five day working week awaits us next week....

Your Next Binge | SPECIAL

Have you ever wanted a Netflix series you could binge and not feel guilty for sitting for eight hours straight? How does eight episodes of around 14-15 minutes sound? SPECIAL.



SPECIAL is not your usual Netflix series, it's raw, funny and real with swearing, good jokes and the gay world on show for one and all.

Being gay and disabled would not be easy and Ryan O'Connell uses his novel I'm Special: And Other Lies We Tell Ourselves to now star, write and produce this mini show. It's mini cause literally the next episode in 5,4,3,2,1 button comes up so gosh darn fast.

SPECIAL is touching, funny and refreshing, Punam Patel is delightful as Ryan's one true friend and the show as a whole is just a good easy watch.

Honestly make this your next binge, you want regret it.

* Following up recent post - Santa Clarita Diet Season 3 I did in fact watch the last episode of the show, it has been on Friday (USA time) cancelled. I asked myself at the start of the post whether that was the end, well I was too right. In other TV news, things are not looking good for the tattoo lady on Blindspot, the show is being held for a few weeks. And finally I was very disappointed with the finale of Gotham, after five seasons and a ten year time jump, I must say things could have ended better. Will FOX however run with a Catwoman spin off???

69th post for 2019, OHH WEE

It's only three days until the return of the (Mini) Sunday Spotlight, this week I will go local, Nick Murphy formerly known as Chet Faker will serve as the returning edition after our jumbo April holidays season.

I can believe I'm almost at 100 posts for 2019, I am sitting at 104 posts on my music blog Flashing off the Record as I celebrate more Australian music and also get ready to return to the Fresh Friday Countdown..

So after a quick trip to the USA it's back to the grindstone, it's time to get saving for my mid year trip and pray for a decent tax return in coming weeks to pay off my incoming holiday.

The final Avengers film has also landed, and it's almost all that is showing this long(ish) weekend in all cinemas. I am hoping to take it in and will bring you a review ASAP.

For now I celebrate 69 posts thus far in 2019, it's not even May yet so expect at least another 69 more in 2019!

It's nearly the weekend, YASS!

Santa Clarita Diet Season 3.

With no fourth season in sight for the Netflix series, did I just watch the last ever episode of Santa Clarita Diet?

Three seasons in this dark comedy series is one of my favourite thirty minute Netflix originals.

Drew Barrymore is wonderful as an undead member of Santa Clarita, maybe the new Walking Dead female led series should cast Drew as a main cast member? Yes can you believe The Walking Dead are working on another spin off? Fear the Walking Dead isn't even that popular!

Anyway Timothy Olyphant and Liv Hewson make up the other two Hammonds in this dark and sometimes brutal family-romance comedy with a difference. Skyler Gisondo rounds up the main cast as the cute (but interesting looking) boy next door, romance additional living character.

The show has been critically acclaimed for all seasons, however are the viewers there, is the data supporting a fourth series? Netflix never ever reveal this deep state secret type shit, so who knows. Not me.

Santa Clarita Diet is perfect binge viewing over this massive block of public holidays. Give it a go, if you love Drew, you'll love this addictive undead season.

(Mini) Easter Monday Spotlight: Sloan Peterson

Joe Jackson AKA Sloan Peterson is this Easter Monday's very special edition of the (Mini) Easter Monday Spotlight.

Sloan's debut EP Midnight Love was released back in 2017, on Good Friday Sloan released Midnight Love, Vol.2. Another great mini album/EP.

I was reading a review of the second volume and “Very Like You” was suggested as the highlight track of the EP. You can however stream the whole EP below or check out some of the visuals from both EP's.

Like me I hope you made the most of your Easter super long weekend and got to discover some great new music. Next week everything is semi back to normal so there will be a Sunday (Mini) Profile as normal. Until then, ciao.

USA Today - Pictures

As promised...

USA Today One of Two for 2019

So it's a four day JUMBO long weekend in Australia, however like most Sydneysiders I have fucked off out of that cesspool to call Hawaii home for the Easter season.

This marks my first of two trips to the Former Democratic States of America, with Part II in their summer, our winter.

Yes The Kahala in Honolulu is my first stop and I may bore you tomorrow with some holiday snaps, however for now, it's just a brief incoming warning there is no (Mini) Sunday Profile tomorrow. It's moved to Monday, being renamed (Mini) Monday Profile. Featuring the terrific talents of Sloan Petterson.

Hope you are enjoying the Easter break and I cannot wait to update you on all things, U S A in the coming days. Bye for now...

Guava Island

Childish Gambino/Donald Glover and Rihanna's movie/long TV episode/musical screenplay is out now on Amazon Prime.


Following the first weekend of Coachella over the weekend Gambino launched Guava Island. Featuring previous singles This is America, Feels Like Summer and Summertime Magic, this was a fun tropical visual experience.

Gambino teams up with visual collaborator Hiro Murai the pair have worked together on music videos and the hit series Atlanta, now time for a musical film.

This is America is one of the biggest songs of the last three years, it is also a huge statement about gun violence and race in America. The This is America scene was awesome, however the beach scene with Summertime Magic is literally magic.

Gambino can dance man, his vocals on this song are wicked, he really is a triple threat.

Guava Island is one for the fans and those lucky enough to get the free version of the weekend, good on ya, otherwise get onto Amazon Prime, you will also score Homecoming, The Man in the High Castle and Jack Ryan.

Cinema Slut #2019 - The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part

The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part is here and ready to entertain the School Holidays masses!

I went to see Little during the week which was amazing, positive School Holidays fun! So how does The latest Lego Movie do? Well I actually never saw the first one, however I loved the Batman Lego movie a few years back in Bangkok. Which apparently has a sequel in the works!

Here is the trailer and a look ahead at the film!



So is this any good? Yes, it's fun, covers a lot of pop culture references whilst having a bit of a Bruce Willis gag the entire film through.

Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Jonah Hill and a pile more famous folks help voice the characters and you really get a sense of the fun they are having.

This film was a pile of fun, I laughed, enjoyed the references to the DC films, the acknowledgement that Marvel is not on board with Lego in the same way DC is.

The music is high camp, loud and super pop-tastic! This along with bright colours, a wide array of characters from Batman, Aquaman, Wonder Woman and even Bruce Willis, makes for a wide appealing action animation extravaganza.

It's school holidays, kids need entertainment and this is perfect entertainment.

3 Stars.

(Mini) Sunday Spotlight: Gold Fields

Indie-pop quintet Gold Fields have just release their sophomore album Dalawa on Friday.  The album was produced by Malcolm Besley (Northeast Party House, City Calm Down) and mixed by Tony Espie (The Avalanches, Cut Copy, Architecture in Helsinki)

The follow up comes 6 years after her debut album in 2013.

Mark Robert Fuller, Vinci Andanar, Luke Peldys, Rob Clifton and Ryan D’Sylva make up Gold Fields, who originating in Ballarat, the five-piece now call Melbourne home.

Between Spotify and YouTube alone, Gold Fields have over 13 million streams, if we added Apple Music, Amazon and Google Play who knows how many streams they would have.

Take a listen to Dalawa (meaning two in Tagalog) below and check out a few visuals below. It's time to meet your next favourite group NOW!

Iron Fist - Conclusion

After a bloated first season of thirteen episodes, they dropped Iron Fist back to ten episodes for the second and final season.

Iron Fist saw himself across three Netflix/Marvel series, two solo ones and the one ill fated The Defenders red hot mess.

I first looked into this show mid May, 2017 and was mildly impressed, over time that has not changed much. It's more interesting than Jessica Jones, Colleen Wing is the best offsider of all Marvel/Netflix series, however for me the best of these seasons was in fact a spin off, The Punisher.

I managed to smash The Punisher so easily, this on the other hand has been on my continue watching..... list for sometime now.

The multi villain, multi who's good who's bad was interesting mainly for Mary Walker. Davos and the Meachum family got a bit tired especially next to the fun Mary Walker brought to the show.

Overall the two seasons (plus lame Avengers lite, The Defenders) of Iron Fist is far from Netflix best work, however it's a decent background show to avoid the final dull week of MKR season 10 after an exhausting 43 episodes to date, yes forty fucking three!

Check out the trailer for season two below....

Cinema Slut #2019 - Little

Cute, it's School Holidays again. Already, shit!

Well this is actually a good, cute and responsible PG film out just in time for those rug rats to head to your local DFO.

Little stars shining stars Regina Hall (who just slayed on Black Monday) and the amazing Issa Rae from Insecure.



Little has been done a few times before, 17 Again, Big (Tom Hanks) and 13 Going on 30. However Little is the first time this story has had true sass and style.

With great music throughout, Leikeli 47, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, DMX and more this movie at times also feels like you are off to the underage disco.

Justin Hartley, Tone Bell and Star star Luke James are there too for eye candy.

Little has some sweet messages and it's totally family friendly as well as great seeing Issa Rae in a different role. Speaking of HBO where is Insecure season four please?

Little is not going to break box office records nor (most likely) make my end of year list for best of 2019 films, however this film was cute.

I liked it for a Thursday treat film, 3 Stars.

Bad Mothers - Finale

Pre Easter Channel Nine is clearly the stables, huge performer and maybe the years biggest reality hit, MAFS finished the other night as did drama sleeper Bad Mothers.

Kicking off with a killer song by The Presets and a jog along the beach scene, one thing must be said, the music used on the show has been first rate and a good bit of exposure for some Aussie groups.

The murder of Charlotte (Melissa George) was the underlying mystery throughout the series, though this often took a back seat with the "Bad Mothers" having some rocky relationships.

Unfortunately the show never held it's lead audience from MAFS and at times the show dipped below 500K viewers.

I am not sure this will be as lucky as Playing for Keeps scoring a second season. Despite having one of the strongest and most popular casts seen on a local drama, the show failed to capture a lot of eyeballs.

I am not 100% sure if it was the script or lack of compelling drama that failed for the local drama.

It's been a tough year thus far for Aussie drama's, the revamped Channel 7 version of Ms Fisher's Modern Murder mysteries wasn't much of a hit over it's brief four week run and Secret City : Under the Eagle despite being brilliant appeared to have fallen under the radar.

Bring on Wentworth Foxtel and bring on the next chapter of The Heights on iView. The ABC have really kicked goals (even though the ratings weren't there) with The Heights. Finally a 30 minute soap/drama for all Australians.

Related post - My early review of Bad Mothers, March, 2019

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina | Part II

One of Netflix's strangest programming choices and airing dates is Sabrina, or Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. With 20 episodes (Part I & II) now on the streaming giant we first meet this new, darker, Riverdale companion series back in October 2018 around Halloween.

We got 10 episodes first, an 11th episode for Christmas and the second part last Friday.

Over three delivery dates the show has keep fans happy with more episodes to binge on regular occasions. Like fan favourite Sense8 we waited around 18 months from it's first season to a fill the gap episode and another 6 months to a full 10 episodes. Finishing with a one episode conclusion a whole year later.

The new Sabrina is so much better than the original Melissa Joan Hart version and I do wish it would crossover with Riverdale. This season of Riverdale has really gone down the witchcraft path and you could tell The CW were onto a good thing with this show, however with it's final home being Netflix it can be a lot more gritty and a little more violent/spooky.

Ambrose is still my favourite and midway through the season I am worried about his future. Slight spoiler alert.

I am not yet at the final episode, but as I write this around six episodes in, this season has been worth the short wait. Already renewed for Parts III and IV, I hope this make their way online sooner rather than later.

Sabrina is a teen drama/thriller for a modern age, tackling, sexuality, gender, coming of age and family drama, all with a bit of witchcraft thrown in for good measure. Continued props for our own outstanding Miranda Otto too, what a fab diva. Go Miranda!

(Mini) Sunday Spotlight: I Know Leopard

Touring next month I Know Leopard have just released their debut studio album. After a couple of EP's an album finally sees the light of day. Love is a Landmine is an 11 track effort hiring some big talent to help them along the way.

Produced by Jack Moffitt of The Preatures and mixed by Adelaide producer/artist Luke Million this album is fronted by talent and has a lot of talent behind the scenes.

Based in Sydney the group have been kicking around for some years now, you can check out their beginnings on their Triple J Unearthed page.  So as we do most Sunday's (no mini profile coming up on Easter Sunday) it's time to discover your new favourite act, or in the case of I Know Leopard discover a full body of work. Here are some of the highlights of their career thus far.

Cinema Slut #2019 - Shazam!

OK two points, Shazam! is -

a. Not the best comic book movie EVER
b. Nowhere near as crap as the below trailer makes it out to be



Ok so DC have trailed a long way behind Marvel when it comes to the big screen. Recently Captain Marvel just ticked over 1 billion dollars at the box office, yes ONE BILLION dollars and The Avengers Endgame is set to follow suit, maybe even take more than one billion dollars during it's stay at the cinema.

So DC has a lot of catching up to do, Wonder Woman and Aquaman have definitely been a step in the right direction and Birds of Prey is already gaining excitement around the project.

But now to the said Shazam! film. It's weird, it's got a lot going on, but is way better than the trailer would have you believe. Yes it's more friendly (with a few swear words thrown in for good measure) and like most superhero films, it also gives the viewer a moral compass to try and follow. Love thy family, embrace diversity etc. Which is a good thing.

As Shazam!/Billy Batson discovers his powers after a bit of an origin/discovery build up, we get to know the young Billy before he Shazams! into a muscle bound superhero with skills like Superman, Batman and even The Flash.

It's a bit of fun and I don't want to do many spoilers, it is void of a massive star like Captain Marvel with Brie Larson or Aquaman with Jason Momoa and Nicole Kidman, so it kind of feels like a second tier superhero film, wedged within Marvel releases Captain Marvel and The Avengers: Endgame.

All in all Shazam! is fun, never takes itself seriously and has a pile of superhero references (mainly Superman and Batman with a tad bit of Aquaman in the final credits scene).

Shazam! rates three big muscle bound red stars.

Cinema Slut #2019 - Pet Sematary

I had a rather upset gut during this film (over sharing, well maybe, everyone in my team at work has had one thing or another wrong with them this week) so I am not sure whether it was my gut or the film in general as to why I didn't love this film.

A remake of a 1989 film (which got a sequel) and a book by the king of horror Stephen King, Pet Sematary is the latest horror film to hit our screens. Spoiler alert the below trailer acts as a check box to what scares are to come and how the film plays out. So warning do not hit play unless you wants serious spoilers.



Now I give it up to Aussie Jason Clarke and the legend John Lithgow for giving this film a big crack, but I had seen the trailer a number of times and had enough of an idea of what the next scare was that I could almost tune out for entire scenes.

After the brilliance of Us last weekend, this just came in short, very short.

Horror is the genre of the moment with Ma on the way soon, The Curse of the Weeping Woman out next weekend, The Dead Don't Die also coming in June along with Child's Play (Chucky is back) and another Annabelle film. And that is only till June! Holy shit, is the world this bleak?

The dead cat in this film just needed the big old Grinspoon classic track to play DCX3, and at times as much I am a dog person, this cat did not scare me much.

The whole idea behind the film got a little tired by the end of the film and even John Lithgow could not save it.

This will not be my favourite horror film of the year but I will pass it, 2.5 dead cat, three times Stars.

Splendour (BENDER) In The Grass 2019 line-up MixTape

Good god, this is huge, full line up here, broken down by day here.

Here are some of the tastiest treats performing at this years MASSIVE festival! Let's just say this is gonna be huge. Bring on the Sydney sideshows ASAP!