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!