Cat Person is sadly not as good as I thought it was going to be.
Based on the 2017 short story of the same name by Kristen Roupenian, starring Emilia Jones, Nicholas Braun (Succession), Geraldine Viswanathan, Hope Davis, Fred Melamed, and Isabella Rossellini.
This film gives you the dating icks. A LOT!
Cat Person is based on a 20-year-old sophomore college student Margot has a brief relationship with Robert, an older man who frequently visits the movie theater where she works.
It escalates, it deescalates then nothing the credits roll. I felt the film was bloated at the beginning and middle then the ending was just a rush job.
I really wanted to like this and I did try, however it's just not great. Maybe this belongs as a "straight to streaming" release? In a world of streamers and their OG movies, this just didn't feel like cinema quality.
Nicholas Braun AKA Greg from Succession, did well as a total creeper. However this is not Succession heights of highs. I will pass it though, as if any younger person takes something out of this film, there are some life lessons. Street smarts even.
So there it is 2.5 Stars on the eve of Summer. Yep officially it's Summer tomorrow, despite me selling it for months as part of my streaming blog series. Speaking of another Australia series will get the spotlight next time around.
Still Up grabbed me on Apple TV+ via a trailer or something. The series started back in late September, concluding it's eight episodes last month. So I was fairly across it.
Starring Antonia Thomas and Craig Roberts, Still Up follows the fluctuating late-night relationship of free-spirited illustrator Lisa (Antonia Thomas) and Danny (Craig Roberts), an agoraphobic journalist.
Lisa and Danny are both insomniacs, and while the world sleeps, they stay connected and talk for hours despite having only met once.
Being on Apple TV+, there is a lot of use of iPhones and earphones, all being connected in the wee hours of the morning.
Lisa is dating Veggie (yes that's the characters name) played by Blake Harrison, which causes some tension. Mainly because Lisa and Danny share everything overnight whilst he sleeps.
It's a simple little series, however it has a whole lot of heart. Was it perfect? Far from it, but I am finally getting into English series now! It has only taken months of no new US content, to get onboard!
Still Up is sweet whilst being non-offensive, funny at times, leaving me ask the question will Apple TV+ give this a second go? I am not 100% it will, but for now, this is a nice little pre-Christmas warm blanket to wrap yourself up in on these hot (almost) summer days/nights.
Stan is back with another original (following the excellent Scrublands) along with another, annual holiday flick, Jones Family Christmas. This comes as we wind down to the silly season, Thanksgiving has come and gone, Halloween is done and the race that doesn't stop the nation, the Melbourne Cup is done.
Christmas parties are in full swing, with HR departments on high alerts for cock flashings and office hook ups. Or is that just at Sky News?
This warm, feelgood holiday streaming picture was released last week, so after a Sunday shift I needed something light to watch.
However the Jones Family Christmas deals with natural disasters, social issues and life in Australia throughout the holiday season. All included with a side of gastro. Which is on the rise at present IRL.
Heather (Heather Mitchell) is delightful as the matriarch of the family. Quiet husband, Brian (Neil Melville), along with daughters Alex (Max McKenna) and Christina (Ella Scott Lynch). Christina's husband Mishan (Dushan Philips) and their son William (Anay Gadre) also return from the UK. Where Heather is too scared to fly to.
While son Danny (Nicholas Denton) and new girlfriend Felicity (Tahlee Fereday), joins the Christmas table.
So it's a packed house, a packed Christmas. Could there be family drama? Fuck yes, with a side of bushfires.
As the family is forced to evacuate due to the fires, they join a talented crew (book club) at the fire plan venue. Genevieve Morris, Marg Downey, Tanya Hennessy, Bev Killick, Fiona Choi and Jimmy Rees.
Heather Mitchell is a bit of an iconic for me. I worked on a show (a long time ago) where she played an iconic role as Shirley Hastings from Strictly Ballroom. In this instance, the musical. Heather is a kind, caring, beautiful soul, so I may be a little bias with this review. Full disclosure though!
Full a full review on the film streaming now, click here.
My review/star rating though, is a solid 3.5 Stars. Heather Mitchell is divine, the rest of the cast excellent too. With social issues, environmental issues all tackled with a side of Christmas cheer. That is an achievement in my books. Well done. Long may Stan continue to bring us, excellent local stories!
SkyMed is the Canadian version of RFDS. Well they are very different, but travelling doctors and nurses on planes is common between the two series.
In Australia you can stream season one on Paramount+ whilst in native Canada, it airs on CBC Television.
SkyMed centres on the nurses and pilots working for an air ambulance service in remote northern Manitoba. So visually its totally stunning.
Well the male cast are not too bad on the eye too!
The series has been renewed for a second season, which is commenced in October, concluding this weekend. So hopefully it will land on Paramount+ soon, as I really enjoyed this.
While I am missing my other first responder series like 9-1-1 (and the Texas spin-off Lone Star), Station 19 along with the latest Fire Country.
Although all of these (aside from 9-1-1 Lone Star) will be back in the first quarter of 2024.
While I am playing catch up on all the series I have missed, it has been a great opportunity to catch up on series like this. As this did air all the way back in July 2022 originally.
Like some network TV, this is non offensive, rather warm and like Station 19 full of hook ups and diversity. The inclusion of indigenous/first nations culture and language is impressive. Indigenous stories are told well, in a caring manner.
SkyMed is a show I found myself easily going "next episode" without even thinking about it.
I sped through all nine episodes in record time. It was an absolute easy watch (as above) with some really delicious eye candy.
I seriously think this is a contender for the top 10 of my RATED for Sizzlin' Summer Streaming 23'. That will be coming next month or early January 2024.
Until next time. Stay cool. It actually is Sizzlin' (not even) Summer yet today!
Thanksgiving is not like Valentine's Day and those star studded rom-com films. This is straight up horror!
This latest slasher film directed by Eli Roth, is based on Roth's fictitious trailer of the same name from Grindhouse.
It is the Fourth feature-length film to be adapted from one of the fictitious trailers in Grindhouse after Robert Rodriguez's Machete.
Starring former McDreamy doctor Patrick Dempsey, Addison Rae, Milo Manheim, Jalen Thomas Brooks, Nell Verlaque, Rick Hoffman, and Gina Gershon.
I literally saw Thanksgiving on the United States holiday, yesterday.
This film goes hard.
From the store crush, to some serious death scenes. Thanksgiving is a bold new, killer whodunnit. Unlike some horror films, this skips the supernatural. It goes back to back basics.
This felt like Scream (OG) horror shit.
I actually really liked this. It is gory so does deserve every inch of its R rating. However the crazy start of the Black Friday sales crush at the store, feels real. The crazy crowd, seeking cheap waffle makers. In this "cost of living" crisis, this seemed realistic.
Also no SPOILERS but revenge as a motive for a crazed killer. It's old school, but real.
Surely Saint X is more of a miniseries and not an ongoing story? But online all I can see is this potenially has more life in it on Hulu. Its not yet renewed or cancelled. However after a three-way cancellation spree on Amazon today, maybe Hulu will do a Thanksgiving Eve clear out tomorrow?
Anyway Saint X based on the novel of the same name by Alexis Schaitkin. Started streaming late April of this year. This psychological drama follows the story of Emily Thomas on her dangerous mission to find out the truth what happened to her older sister, Alison, who was brutally murdered and raped on an idyllic trip to the Caribbean 20 years earlier.
It has heart, along with David Duchovny's daughter West in this lead as the Alison in the past. In the future Australian Alycia Debnam-Carey stars as Claire Emily Thomas.
Streaming in Australia on Disney+, this is far from the best Sizzlin' Summer Streaming 23' series I have watched this blog series. Also it has a poor man's White Lotus vibe with annoying rich asshole Americans at a hotel in paradise.
The themes of race and entitlement come up a bit, while as we peel back the episodes and get deeper into the eight episode season, we discover Gogo and Edwin have their own secrets from the past. Not just from the fateful Alison evening.
If you are waiting for your favourite US network series to return, or for another series to come back, this might fill the void if you need something you can whack on in the background. Also Australian TV is heading into a long, hot summer of the old non-ratings period. Although with shit like Big Brother and the cricket on, you could be mistaken for thinking we are deep in the midst of the non-ratings period already.
Either way next up I will finally get onto Amazon's Australian series The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart.
Okay biased. I do love Awkwafina and Sandra Oh. However together, they make an awesome team.
The film also stars Jason Schwartzman, Holland Taylor, Tony Hale, Jon "Dumbfoundead" Park, and Will Ferrell.
Quiz Lady landed a little earlier this month on Disney+, however it is my goal to get through a few more home streaming films, over the next few weeks. To build up my Stay in da House Cinema 2023 series.
So what's this cute little comedy about? Anne (Awkwafina), a tightly wound, game show-obsessed young woman, receives a call notifying her that her gambling addict mother has fled to Macau.
This news reunites her with her estranged and reckless older sister, Jenny (Sandra Oh).
So part road movie, part comedy/chick-sister2sister film. Awkwafina is always delightful while Sandra Oh is definitely not in Killing Eve anymore.
So if you need to leave your brain at work (or elsewhere), you need to check out, zone out or bliss out. Quiz Lady is a really fun little feature.
Currently on Rotten Tomatoes, it scores 80%. Saying Quiz Lady's perfectly matched leads help Jessica Yu's occasionally uneven comedy overcome its periodic wobbles and land on the right side of hilarious and heartfelt.
I enjoyed this sister bonding Who Wants to Be a Millionaire style comedy. Awkwafina was always fun as Nora from Queens, however I think she can move away from Queens to bring us other amusing little comedies like this.
After eight long season, Fear the Walking Dead's final season has now come to a close.
Commencing mid-May this year, they dragged it out in two parts to conclude last night/yesterday on Binge.
The OG spin-off to The Walking Dead, FTWD first started all the way back in 2015. No breaks for COVID or the writers/actors strike. FTWD ran a long race. With hardly any OG characters making it to the finish line.
This (final) season takes place seven years after season six finale, having the (remaining) characters living on the island known as "PADRE".
So how does episode 12 of season eight go down? There is a great review plus hilarious online comments on TV Line's recap HERE.
Other SPOILERS INCOMING.... Now convinced that trying to help others only gets people killed, Madison attempts to set out with Tracy to find Alicia, putting Madison at odds with her friends.
Russell reveals that Alicia might still be alive before launching an attack on PADRE with thousands of walkers in retaliation for Troy's death. Tracy shoots Madison and puts down and buries a zombified Troy before later being found by Strand.
Strand reveals that although PADRE was destroyed, everyone escaped because Madison, having been protected from the bullet by Alicia's St. Christopher's medallion, had once again seemingly sacrificed herself to destroy the herd the way that she did at the stadium.
Renaming the organization MADRE in honor of Madison's sacrifice, the group splits up to use MADRE's supplies to build new communities and honor Madison's ideals of trying to build something better.
June decides to return to John Dorie's cabin with Odessa and to provide medical attention to those in need while Dwight and Sherry set out to find the still missing parents of PADRE's children, intending to rebuild the Sanctuary with them.
Daniel and Strand finally make peace before parting ways and Daniel is reunited with his long-lost cat Skidmark.
Madison is rescued by Tracy and reunites with a still alive Alicia who reveals that she is not Tracy's mother. Madison and Alicia let Strand know that they survived, but choose to keep their survival a secret otherwise. Madison decides to return to Los Angeles with Alicia and Tracy to help rebuild their old home.
Oh well that was a waste of time. At least it's all over.. well until the next Walking Dead spin-off lands in late February 2024. Yes Rick Grimes is back!
A dying town. A killer's truth. The brand new Stan Original Series Scrublands premiered last Thursday. By sometime Saturday I had concluded the new Stan miniseries. Similar vibe to The Dry, this was high quality drama.
Like yesterday's film review (Saltburn), Hollywood should be a little scared post the strikes. Whilst I am excited some of the network shows will return for some mindless TV fun. The scripts and drama really don't compare to good Aussie yarns like this.
Scrublands was the first novel by Australian author Chris Hammer. So what's the drum with the four part series? In a small rural town arrives Sydney Morning Herald journalist Martin Scarsden (Luke Arnold), sent by his editor (Nicholas Bell) to do a puff piece on the recovery of the town.
Its been 12 months since local cop Const. Robbie Haus-Jones (Adam Zwar) was forced to shoot Father Byron Swift (Jay Ryan) dead after killing five locals,
Other character is Mandy (Bella Heathcote). Who of course is also a romantic interest for Arnold.
The cast are all excellent including shooter Jay Ryan, who is hunky AF whilst being a killer. While Arnold sadly only has one shirtless scene.
Stan have a habit of making great dramas. Prosper will land the other side of the silly season. Which in my mind will be another excellent little run.
There is another large run of Aussie content right now, with even more on the way. Paper Dolls next month on Paramount+, another season of Bump will land on Stan in the future. Whilst The Last King of The Cross will also have a second season. RFDS will also return in the future following a third season green light at the recent Channel Seven upfronts.
It has been a solid year for Aussie content. Scrublands joins a list of brilliant Australian series of 2023.
Saltburn is maybe a return to cinema greatness for a year that has struggled to impress me. Other than Aussie horror film, Talk To Me.
With a massive soundtrack including the most wild dance, solo scene to Sophie Ellis-Bexter's Murder on the Dance Floor. Wild!
Starring an all star cast, Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi, Rosamund Pike, Richard E. Grant, Alison Oliver, and Archie Madekwe.
The film is set in England in 2007, it follows a young university student who becomes infatuated with his aristocratic schoolmate and his wealthy but eccentric family. Now this is where Hollywood and the writers/actors strike is falling behind.
Because those big blockbusters are becoming more and more forget-able. Whilst original, fun films like Saltburn appear to be what audiences and critics are in search of. With The Marvels opening to the worst Marvel opening weekend of all time. Comic book films are on a serious decline. After the dreadful Blue Beetle. I was so happy to see something fresh and provocative in Saltburn. Which had its world premiere at the 50th Telluride Film Festival on August 31, 2023, and was released in the United Kingdom on November 17, 2023, and in the United States via a limited theatrical release the same day, before expanding wide on November 22, 2023.
With a limited release in the US means this film may not have been exactly what US audiences are able to understand or find as enjoyable as another disposable Hollywood blockbuster.
Struggling to find his place at Oxford University in 2006, Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan) finds himself drawn into the world of the charming and aristocratic Felix Catton, who invites him to Saltburn, his eccentric family's sprawling estate, one summer.
The final scene is a Midsummer's Night's Dream-themed party, with each guest dressed to match their character.
I was hooked. The dialogue was sharp, the music (as above) was banging. From Princess Superstar to MGMT and all the indie favs of the mid 2000's.
This was a return to great cinema. Crowds are going due to the talking points, the wild finale and a stellar cast. The same can not be said about recent duds like Freelance.
Hollywood, the strikes may be over but you have a lot of work to do to get crowds back to cinemas.
Saltburn was great fun, 4.5 Stars. On par with this years best which I am proud to say is an Australian film!
Slip premiered on BINGE in early May this year. Of course back in May there was no writers/actors strike and the 2022-2023 US TV season was concluding. Before a complete drought of new content.
So now while the strike drags on and CBS have announced short, late starting seasons for their scripted series. My shows Fire Country and The Equalizer return mid-February 2024. So still a bit of a wait.
So what is Slip? It's a comedy series created by Zoe Lister-Jones, also starring Lister-Jones as Mae.
Restless in her marriage, follows Mae through a surreal journey of parallel universes, married to different people, trying to find a way back to her partner, and ultimately, herself.
We see Mae have multiple orgasms as she rediscovers herself.
Critically it is sitting at 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. Not bad!
It did definitely get better as the easy, breezy less than half-an-hour episodes slip (sorry) by. Best of all there is only seven episodes to smash through. So an easy pre-holiday season binge. Which is interesting as it streams now on Binge in Australia!
The third season of Apple TV+'s hit series The Morning Show is back. Well season three just concluded. As the network struggles for viewers for its subscription service and contemplates a take-over by tech titan Paul Marks. I smashed this back to back to back. No week to week for me with the third season of Morning Wars or is it The Morning Show.
Either way it's been renewed for a fourth season at Apple TV+. Thanks for the price increase too Apple TV+!
In the seasoner opener it's two years following the pandemic's tipping point, UBA returns to the studios. Bradley received a coveted spot at evening news while Alex remained as TMS host together with Yanko and their new co-host Christine Hunter and is preparing for a space flight in a rocket belonging to billionaire Paul Marks.
She also hosts her variety show podcast Alex Unfiltered on UBA+. At her interview with psychologist Esther Perel, a staggering question brings the feeling of loneliness to Alex.
Cory remains as UBA's lead, cutting costs from all its divisions for the sake of keeping UBA+ afloat, seeing backlash from Cybil.
Alex keeps demanding unprecedented extra privileges from him, while Bradley struggles to put through a report on abortionist Luna Garcia. As Alex, Cory, Stella and the crew of TMS head to Texas to cover Alex's spaceship launch, they meet Paul Marks in person.
During the private conversation with Alex, Paul mentions that he and Cory had been secretly finalizing the deal to integrate UBA into his corporation and the flight was crucial to make it happen.
Meanwhile, Luna is detained and Bradley also comes to Texas to make an unauthorised on her. Alex and Chip also leave to cover her detention without notice hours before the liftoff.
A desperate Cory approaches Bradley as she walks from the airport and persuades her to replace Alex in the spaceship. She passes an express training and is launched into space alongside Cory and Paul. As the shuttle approaches the Kármán Line, the connection with Earth disrupts.
So after a two year absence the drama is BIG in season three.
With Trump's election steal, abortion rights, the decline in network/streaming platforms. It's corporate warfare at UBA.
Jon Hamm, Nicole Beharie and Tig Notaro joined the growing cast of the third season. The Morning Show has one of the biggest ensemble casts on TV right now.
Of course Aniston and Witherspoon steal most scenes they are in. However it is Witherspoon's season with her drama/scandal unfolding with her brother Hal. Along with that COVID flashback episode.
The Morning Show's third season is an excellent, easy binge. It should rank highly in my RATED post for this season. Until next time, summer is coming!
A third season of American Horror Stories landed on Binge, late October. This season served as a four-episode Halloween event.
With an all star cast, including many familiar faces this season. Jessica Barden, Emma Halleen, Amrou Al-Kadhi, Allius Barnes, Gwyneth Paltrow, Reid Scott, Annie Hamilton, Christopher Fitzgerald, Maury Ginsberg, Lisa Rinna, Laura Kariuki, Rob Yang, Hazel Graye, Raúl Castillo, Emily Browning, Havana Rose Liu, Susan Pourfar, Jeff Adler, Drew Moore, Patrick Breen, Maria Tucci and Laila Robins all star across the four episodes.
Take a look at the spooky trailer below!
Episode one, Bestie actually scared me! When Shelby moves to a new house and school after her mom dies due to cancer. She is quickly picked on by a group of kids due to her appearance and takes her anger out on her father.
While watching her favorite YouTube show Anna Rexhia, another watcher named BFF4EVA contacts her wanting to videochat.
It's revealed that the person is a deformed teenage girl who quickly befriends her and the two-bond due to their loss of mothers and annoyances of their dads. BFF4EVA/Bestie later encourages her to be more confident and do a series of escalating pranks like shoplifting, getting in fights with her dad, and poisoning the entire cast for a school play into vomiting on opening night.
She finally goes overboard when she goes as her music teachers' stillborn baby on Halloween and is locked in the basement by her dad as punishment. Bestie calls her on an old laptop and tells her to break her arm to get out.
This is the breaking point as it makes Shelby re-evaluate her relationship and stops being friends with bestie. She apologizes to her father and teacher and befriends a boy named River who bonds with her due to having an open heart and a hatred to the kids who bullied her.
One day River takes her to a house that he believes to be haunted but while there, Shelby realizes it's Bestie's house after recognizing the scenery. Bestie appears and Shelby tries to flee but River stabs & kills her, revealing he is another one of Bestie's "friends". The two walk out towards the sea and hug.
This episode features: Jessica Barden, Emma Halleen, Seth Gabel, Jeff Hiller, Amrou Al-Kadhi, Allius Barnes, Grace Aiello Antczak
Episode two Daphne may have been my favourite. While also being slightly disturbing!
In a world where a new pandemic causes everyone to be in lockdown, art curator owner Will Caswell is given a high-tech assistant named Daphne. Daphne is voiced by none other than Gwyneth Paltrow. While Veep superstar Reid Scott is Will.
As he is alone with only Daphne for company, he lets her in and she proceeds to make his life better: changing lights in his home, raising prices on virtual art auction, and helping him sleep.
When lockdown is lifted due to a vaccine, she grows upset when he is intimate with his girlfriend Sarah. She first tries to sabotague their relationship by admitting that she faked an orgasm and then not making dinner reservations.
Later she replaces her takeout with food cooked in peanut oil which results in her dying.
At a physical art show, Will brings Daphne who ends up killing everyone at the show, except for him as he left the room. Upon returning home, he is arrested for Sarah's murder due to footage showing him changing out Sarah's food order and the murder of the art goers due to his tampering with the room.
At the precinct, he learns that Daphne had been a gag gift and for others didn't work the way it did for him. He continuously tries to get Daphne to talk for the police while the device remains silent.
This episode features : Gwyneth Paltrow, Reid Scott, Annie Hamilton, Christopher Fitzgerald, Maury Ginsberg
In episode three, it is truly shocking, titled Tapeworm. A peppy woman named Vivian attempts to audition for a role at Vogue but an agent named Sheila Klein tells her she's too fat to be a model. Her friend Heather gives her a card to a weight lose doctor named Dr. Thaddeus Leu who gives her medication called Modify that cause her to lose weight and later on she gets a job at Vogue.
However, during a photo shoot, she faints and breaks her nose. During a checkup with Dr. Leu, it turns out that she has a heart condition that could be fatal if she keeps taking the shots. He gives her another option which is a tapeworm that would eat anything she eats and never give her any weight, but she must not overeat.
She does so anyways and later on as she continues to get more jobs, the worm begins to cause her to change in her eating behavior and personality causing her to yell at her coworkers and Heather. The worm causes her to lose so much weight that she becomes very skinny.
After meeting with Leu, he gives her a serum that will cause the worm to exit through her anus and at home, she takes the serum and pulls the worm out. Unfortunately, the worm is still alive and then kills her.
When Heather comes back to get her stuff, the worm attacks her and inserts itself into her through the mouth. Later Heather auditions for Vogue and gets in claiming that she's starving starting the cycle all over again.
This episode was totally full on. However this has easily been the best season of the American Horror Story spin-off.
This episode features : Lisa Rinna, Laura Kariuki, Rob Yang, Hazel Graye
The last of four episodes was the weakest (sadly). However Raúl Castillo is excellent. Aussie Emily Browning also gets her first American Horror appearance.
Organ is about Castillo, a selfish womanizer pays the piper for his actions after getting one of his kidneys stolen after a hookup.
It was the shortest of all four Halloween episodes.
This episode features : Raúl Castillo, Emily Browning, Havana Rose Liu, Cameron Cowperthwaite, Susan Pourfar, Jeff Adler, Drew Moore, Patrick Breen, Maria Tucci, Laila Robins
American Horror Stories streams on Binge. If you need to start somewhere, start with season three. It is miles ahead of the past two seasons. That should now conclude my horror TV series posts for a while.
The second season of Loki, has just concluded. Friday was a huge day for streaming finales. Upload, Power Book IV: Force alongside Loki concluded. Across Amazon, Disney+ and Stan I have three less shows on rotation.
Based on Marvel Comics a spin-off from the Thor movies. Thi season we see Loki working with Mobius M. Mobius, Hunter B-15, and other members of the Time Variance Authority (TVA) to navigate the multiverse in order to find Sylvie, Ravonna Renslayer, and Miss Minutes.
Tom Hiddleston returns as Loki, starring alongside Sophia Di Martino (Sylvie), Wunmi Mosaku (Hunter B-15), Eugene Cordero, Neil Ellice, Owen Wilson (Mobius), Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Renslayer), Tara Strong (Miss Minutes), and Jonathan Majors.
New additions to the growing season two cast, Rafael Casal, Kate Dickie, Liz Carr, Ke Huy Quan, and Richard Dixon.
The second season landed on Disney+ early October, concluding Friday as part of Phase Five of the MCU.
OK, I have no idea what happened this season. Also this concludes just in time for the Marvels film to land at the cinema. Marvel is all over this Disney world domination.
SPOILERS about the season/series (not yet renewed/not yet on the 2050 Disney planning roadmap) BELOW
As we enter episode six, the title Glorious Purpose has something final about it, right? So Loki time slips to the moment before the Temporal Loom's explosion.
Despite his attempts, the Loom always fails as it cannot accommodate the infinite branches. Loki slips to the moment before Sylvie kills He Who Remains, who tells Loki that the Loom is a fail-safe; overloading it protects the Sacred Timeline by deleting the branches along with the TVA.
He Who Remains suggests Loki kill Sylvie to save the Loom, which Loki rejects. After speaking with Mobius and Sylvie at different moments in time, Loki replaces Timely in approaching the Loom. Loki destroys the Loom, magically revives the dying timelines and rearranges them into a tree-like structure, committing himself to oversee the branches in solitude at the End of Time.
The TVA accepts the growing branches and now tracks He Who Remains' variants, with Mobius reporting one of them has been stopped at Earth-616's "adjacent realm". B-15 becomes one of the TVA's leaders.
Ouroboros reactivates a now-friendly Miss Minutes and writes a new TVA Guidebook with Timely as co-author. In 1863, Timely does not receive the TVA Guidebook. Renslayer awakens in the Void and encounters Alioth. Mobius retires from the TVA; he and Sylvie observe Don and Don's children.
So will this be the last time we see Loki on the small screen? Will he return to the big screen? Time will tell....
Power Book IV: Force is in my mind the best of the Power spin-offs since the OG series concluded sometime ago.
Never fear though, Power Book III: Raising Kanan commences early next month.
Force had a giant, action packed second season. Unfortunately as I write this, the show has not yet been renewed for a third season. However episode ten, Power Powder Respect, left us on a real cliffhanger.
Also how many bodies piled up in this second season. I felt like every week there was a semi major character biting the dust. Or in Tommy Flanagan's as Walter Flynn midway through the season we saw a major hit.
The second season commenced on September 1, on Stan in Australia, Starz in the USA.
Joseph Sikora as Tommy Egan is extremely charismatic as the lead gangster. Tommy's family expands in Chicago following his departure from New York.
Following his cameo in Power Book II: Ghost, Tommy really started to fire up Chicago.
This was an extremely enjoyable, brisk season. With only one week off the season, all ten episodes have now wrapped. I am really hoping we get to continue Tommy's adventures across Chicago. Also is his mum OK? Where is Mireya Garcia?
Still more of a story to come here. Stan really do rely heavily on this Power franchise. So for Stan's sake, give it another go Starz. Please!
Amazon Prime Video's Upload has just concluded its third season with a double episode finale.
Airing over four weeks, the eight episodes aired week to week in double instalments. Apparently Greg Daniels mentioned in an interview with Collider that he was hopeful for a fourth season and that the writing process would begin during November 2023.
However the science fiction comedy-drama series has not officially been given the go ahead for a fourth season. It ends on a bit of a cliffhanger, so maybe we will see a fourth run? Maybe a nine episode season since the first was ten, then we got seven, now eight this season.
Starring Robbie Amell and Andy Allo the series gives us hope for (some kind of) life after death.
This season questions who should be entitled to this (privilege)?
I can't really remember the second season, however I did like the first seasons original idea. I do feel as though if it does return for a fourth season, it should probably be the last.
With so many finales today (Power: Force and Loki) you will see a number of Sizzlin' Summer Streaming 23' over the next few days. I am also hoping to see a more impressive film over the weekend, after last night's horror, Freelance.
Christian Slater is totally making a comeback in 2022/2023! But why oh why are John Cena and Alison Brie wasting their talent on this film.
John Cena could have been filming the second season of Peacemaker for HBO Max, instead he starred in Freelance.
Alongside Cena, Brie and Slater, Juan Pablo Raba star in this absolute dud.
The film has been was universally panned by critics, while also appearing to be a box office bomb.
The plot is your generic action film. So I won't beat around the bush. Check out the trailer for the best/worst bits of Freelance below. Star rating below.
0.5 that is half a star out of five. 2023 is not a great year for cinema. Weeks left, I may struggle to fill in Best of cinema for the previous year. Last year was bleak, this year could be worse....
At least today it looks like the actors strike is done!
Landing late August on Paramount+, the NZ six part true crime miniseries is based in 2016, a comically inept gang smuggled half a billion dollars worth of meth on to New Zealand shores. Kiwi couple Ed and Heather (Temuera Morrison, Robyn Malcolm) end up helping the police foil the plan.
Ed a 70-year-old diesel mechanic, and Heather aqua aerobics instructor wife, with a lovely dog are a sweet couple who come across a Tongan-Australian gang land in Aotearoa for a once in a lifetime drug deal.
Far North is described as a saga of screw ups, as everyday people strive to foil an international drug cartel’s largest ever drug deal in the Pacific; the cops’ trip themselves up; and gangsters chase a payday with zero discretion leaving a trail of wreckage you can see from space.
Look I really wanted to love this, but struggled to get into it. I did start episode one a while back, coming back to it this week after finishing off a few other titles.
I enjoyed some of the comedy, although it does also take some dark turns with the Chinese drug gang lords.
Paramount+ is really serving up some decent treats deep into the actors strike. With NCIS Sydney launching this Friday.
Far North isn't the best miniseries (or series) I have watched this Sizzlin' Summer Streaming 23' blog series (RATED for Sizzlin' Summer Streaming 23' coming late 2023, early 2024) but it did get better as the episodes rolled on. Hopefully I can get off to a movie tomorrow night!
The Lovers is a sweet little rom-com series starring Johnny Flynn and Roisin Gallagher.
The series comes from Sky Studios, streaming on Binge in Australia. The series landed earlier in September.
It's a basic plot with two central characters. They are a foul mouthed supermarket worker (Gallagher) begins an unexpected relationship with a political television broadcaster (Flynn).
Seamus and Janet are separated at the start of the six episode run by Alice Eve as Frankie. Frankie is well... Seamus's famous girlfriend.
I enjoyed the funny little one liners along the way, however the romance side of things was mega predictable. It's one of those series that lives on Binge but hides behind, The Last of Us, Game of Thrones, Real Housewives of Sydney and more.
Episode six does live us with a bit of a cliffhanger around Janet's past. However I am not sure Sky Studios would be rushing out to get season two into production.
Until next time. A heads up it's a huge week of finales with Loki season two concluding, Tommy's Power: Force season two also coming to an end while the third season of Upload concludes its third season run with a double episode.
Gen V the spin-off of The Boys is based on The Boys comic book story arc "We Gotta Go Now".
Gen V serves as the third entry in The Boys franchise.
Streaming week to week on Amazon Prime Video, the first season just concluded. Gen V is set concurrently with the fourth season of The Boys.
Commencing late September, less than a month after its premiere, the series was renewed for a second season. A basic plot line for season one is, young adult superheroes (supes), are tested in battle royal challenges at the Godolkin University School of Crimefighting founded by Thomas Godolkin run by Vought International.
It's as vulgar, raw and violent as the parent show, just set in a uni. Below the trailer for the season are serious spoilers about the first season's finale. BE WARNED
Airing last Friday, Guardians of Godolkin was a wild ride of a season finale. While Ashley Barrett meets with the trustees of Godolkin to arrange PR handling of Golden Boy's suicide, Cate and Sam return to the Woods to free the remaining captives. They embark on a murderous rampage across the campus, killing every non-Supe staff member on sight.
Marie, Jordan, and Emma attempt to stem the tide of raging and mind-controlled supes, with Marie demonstrating increased mastery of her powers. Sam begins to have hallucinations of his brother, telling him that he should not harm people and confessing he killed himself out of guilt at killing Brink; but Sam pushes him away and allows Cate to destroy his ability to feel emotion.
Andre learns that his father's seizure was the result of brain damage caused by his powers, and his father declares that Andre will inherit the Polarity costume and name; he returns to help fight the rampaging supes.
After Marie rescues Jordan from the inmates and sees Cate approaching to mind-control him, she uses her powers to explode Cate's arm, leaving her screaming on the ground just as Homelander - called by Ashley - arrives on the scene.
Homelander accuses Marie of "attacking her own kind" and laser blasts her. Marie, Jordan, Emma and Andre awake in a sealed hospital room in an unknown location, and a news broadcast identifies them as responsible for the deaths, declaring Sam and Cate the new "Guardians of Godolkin".
Homelander smiles with satisfaction at the broadcast. Butcher is seen walking through the remains of the Woods.
So will Gen V characters/supes crossover to The Boys season four when it ever returns? Only time and Amazon can answer that.
For now Gen V is perfect pre-Christmas, post Halloween viewing!
Oh the DREAM! Elite (Spanish: Élite) is back for season seven.
Streaming on Netflix, all seven seasons are filled with sex, drama with a side of romance.
Two weeks after the events of the season six, Omar, who is at the university, has the opportunity to join a stage at Las Encinas, having also to deal with a depression which began one year before, when Samuel died.
He has a boyfriend, Joel, who begins to attend Las Encinas. Patrick, Ari and MencÃa have moved away from Madrid, and, in the meantime, Iván is recovering after the accident.
Isadora continues her difficult relationship with Didà c. Sara has also to deal with her toxic relationship with Raúl.
Nico, Sonia and RocÃo have to deal with their problems too. They are greeted by an eccentric new student, Chloe, and her strange mother, Carmen. Also Nico's cousin, Eric, beghine to attend Las Encinas.
Despite drama being at the centre of Élite. As it always is, this is the first season not to have a flash-forward event. We do get the taste of a flash forward event in the final episode.
Back in July, it was announced the show would receive an eighth season. Seeries veteran Mina El Hammani set to reprise her role as Nadia Shanaa.
Then in October, Danna Paola stated that she is most likely to return in some capacity as Lucrecia for the eighth and final season of the series.
Yes in 2024 we will see the final season of the racy Spanish drama.
Where will the final eighth season take us? Who knows? After 56 episodes this show really does push the sexual boundaries, whilst also being super filled with young drama.
Ending the season with an iconic Florence and the Machine tune really made the season for me. With mental health really in the spotlight. The season dealt with big issues along with lots (I mean lots) of sex in measured ways.
SBS is back to their old tricks. Being known for screening Sex Before Soccer, Erotic Stories is eight half-an-hour episodes of sex. Many forms of different sex. From sex toys to fetishes to squirting and more.
The Aussie cast is impressive AF! Frances O’Connor, Mark Coles Smith, Kate Box, Tim Draxl, Danielle Cormack, Alex FitzAlan, Rärriwuy Hick and Catherine McClements all star across the episodes.
With Erotic Stories double episodes screening 9:30pm Thursday on SBS, the traditional old school way to consume TV. Or all episodes at SBS on Demand right now! I smashed them super quickly. Directly after Stan Aussie/US series Wolf Like Me.
So a very different double Aussie series back-to-back.
Episode one kicks off with Catherine McClements stars as Sam, a jaded journo directed by her editor to write an advertorial about a high-tech sex toy, or risk losing her job.
Episode two is titled The Deluge. One of two lesbian steamy stories. With recently-single Cara (Kate Box - Wentworth and Deadloch) tries to reignite her sex life with a casual hook-up with Lili (Emily Havea).
There is a Wentworth connection in this episode with her bestie in the short tale, Ginger being played by Bee Smith, I mean Danielle Cormack.
There are deeper connections with bestie Ginger, than Lili. Yep it's high lesbian drama.
We have had straight, lesbian, so now let the gay men hump free in episode three Bound.
Dating apps and straight up sex happen at the start of the episode for CJ (Joel Lago).
CJ is also hiding his leg braces from his hook-ups. Yep gay and disabled. The diversity boxes are very much being ticked.
Until hun of burning love, Jet (Tim Draxl) comes across CJ on public transport. Which I think was the Lilyfield light rail line. Yep that's right this is all filmed in Sydney with plenty of familiar places I have been to.
When CJ gets to the nightclub, and the upstairs fetish sex space, will challenge them both.
Erotic Stories, would have been a nightmare for an Intimacy Co-Ordinator in these me too times.
Even with two gay stories, two lesbian stories, a first nations story, it doesn't help the scenes get a little racy.
I really enjoyed episode five, Walking Gambit. It was moving, touching, whilst also being sexy AF.
Mark Coles Smith was also handsome AF in Imperfect Paw Paw. I think eight eight was my least favourite episode Masc Up. Come as You Are was also a sexy workplace sex fest.
If you like Aussie content, some sexy times and a short story, this could be for you on SBS on Demand. It's free while having an incredible cast. From Wentworth all stars to upcoming and coming new faces of Australian content.
OK yesterday was Sizzlin' Summer, however apparently today is cooler. So from now on all my TV blog series will be quarter based in 2024. So Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4. I may come up with some silly name per quarter. Time will tell. Until next time. Later!
