Monday, April 7, 2025
Sunday, April 6, 2025
Post Holiday Blues Streaming 25' - Fallout - Season One
My three week long Japan trip is over. Did I keep up/catch up on sometime. Yass sir.
Fallout was a full one season binge for me.
Ceated by Graham Wagner & Geneva Robertson-Dworet, streaming on Amazon Prime Video. Fallout is based on the role-playing video game franchise created by Tim Cain and Leonard Boyarsky.
Fallout stars Ella Purnell, Aaron Moten, Kyle MacLachlan, Moisés Arias, Xelia Mendes-Jones, & HBO favourite, Walton Goggins.
Jonathan Nolan directs the first three episodes, with me being late to this Amazon party. As the series landed around a year ago, receiving generally positive reviews, with praise for the performances (particularly of Purnell, Moten, and Goggins), writing, visuals, production design, and faithfulness to the source material.
Thankfully, the series was renewed for a second season. No streaming date has been provided by Prime as yet.
Fallout was also nominated for 17 Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Drama Series and Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for Goggins.
Giving Westworld/end of times vibes, this was a perfect and easy eight episode binge whilst overseas.
Randomly I watched this series after attending the sad memorial for an actual atomic bomb. Now if you are late to the Fallout party, well watch out, there are spoilers about the finale below. However like me, you have had a year right! So are they really even spoilers?
Lucy and Norm, independently, learn the truth of the war, while the Ghoul also reminisces about that truth.
Pre-War, Cooper eavesdrops on Barb and her colleague, Bud Askins, to his horror learning they are explicitly managing Vault-Tec's plans to start a nuclear war to eliminate its competitors.
Cooper also meets young Betty Pearson and Hank MacLean.
Norm discovers Vault 31 contains the cryogenically stored junior executives of Vault-Tec, overseen by the cyborg brain-on-wheels of Bud, who traps Norm in Vault 31.
Lucy turns the head over to Moldaver, who reveals that Rose had fled Vault 33 with her children years earlier.
Hank tracked her down and was responsible for the nuclear bombing of Shady Sands, turning Rose into a feral ghoul.
Maximus is forgiven by the Brotherhood and joins the battle against Moldaver's forces. Lucy convinces Hank to give Moldaver the code activating her cold fusion reactor. Maximus frees Lucy's father but attacks him after learning Hank's role in Shady Sands' destruction.
Lucy disowns Hank for his actions after he attacks Maximus. The Ghoul, believing his family might still be alive, invites Lucy to travel with him and Dogmeat to find Vault-Tec's leaders.
Lucy kills Rose and takes the Ghoul up on his offer. Moldaver activates the fusion reactor, powering Los Angeles just before she dies from her wounds.
The Brotherhood forces assume that Maximus is responsible for Moldaver's death and acclaim him as Knight Maximus.
Hank flees to the remains of New Vegas.
Can I wait for season two? Hell no! Finally Amazon has some worthwhile content. Just in time for MAX to launch in Australia. Oh that's right, this also gives The Last of Us vibes. Season two will officially only stream on MAX. Poor Binge.
Friday, April 4, 2025
Thursday, April 3, 2025
Film Influencer 2025 - Mickey 17
Mickey 17 sees the return of Bong Joon Ho. The science fiction black comedy film is written, produced, and directed by the Parasite legend! Not to forget Snowpeircer (the film, not the series).
The film is (of course) based on the 2022 novel Mickey7 by Edward Ashton.
Starring Robert Pattinson as various (spoiler alert) Mickey's. The film also stars Naomi Ackie, Steven Yeun (HOT!), Australia's favourite daughter, Toni Collette, & Mark Ruffalo as a Trump figure. That may or may not be true.
OK so it's raining for maybe the third day in a row in Shinjuku, hence me seeing three films across all Japanese cities and not hanging out with the Cherry Blossoms. Well I did one day, then the rain came.
Honestly was lucky to get so much in before the weather turned. Like Snowpeircer Shinjuku station has to be seen to be believed. Hectic AF!
Mickey 17 is set in the year 2054, the plot follows a man who joins a space colony as an expendable, a disposable worker who gets cloned every time he dies for research purposes.
The film deals with many social issues (like Parasite and previous Bong Joon Ho films) which is great in this current world we live in.
Like Mark Ruffalo's Trump like dictator, this film explores Elon's plan to just give up on Earth and relocate to another planet to fuck it up. Well basically.
Mickey 17 has received generally positive reviews from critics but was a box office bomb, grossing $121 million worldwide, losing Warner Bros. an estimated $75–80 million during its theatrical run. Now following Snow White, the box office is not having such a good time.
It feels a little like after COVID when cinemas were desperate to get us back but the content wasn't right and people generally over that two year period moved to Netflix (and chill) and Uber Eats. It's had socially engineering people to go back to the cinemas, now every streaming service seemingly offers you box office films a lot quicker than we got them back in the video store or DVD days.
Times have changed, the cinema game has to as well.
I have received countless emails for cheap cinema tickets/vouchers while I have been away, which usually means the upcoming movies are average, at best.
However back to Mickey 17, I liked it. It wasn't great, it was way too long, but it was decent. Robert Pattinson has come along way since Twilight.
3 Stars.
Tuesday, April 1, 2025
#RATED - Summer Streamin' 25
Summer still lingered on well through March. The humidity, the heat, the tropical rain showers. Fuck me with a chainsaw. What an unpleasant few months. Then that mid-March heatwave! FUCK! Are you sure climate change isn't real Rowan Dean?
With US network series back on the streamers, a number of shows are getting ready to wrap up their latest (or last, depending on the networks mood) seasons.
Again there were loads of Aussie series returning or new titles across the last three months. ABC was going off with the final season of The Newsreader, while Netflix gave us the brilliant Apple Cider Vinegar. Black Snow also delivered for QLD and Bump wrapped, with a movie to come this year.
HBO has also finally returned with the brilliant Thai based season of The White Lotus. Look out for that next quarter, along with The Last of Us returning and the final season of the hit and miss The Righteous Gemstones.
Paramount+ has also been busy with a Dexter prequel, the brilliant Landman wrapping it's first season and new spy series The Agency scoring an early renewal.
Back to HBO real quick though, this is the last quarter HBO series will stream on Binge. Yes MAX is coming to Australia. Not another fucking streaming service I hear you say! Yes another fucking streaming service. While Binge will lose a shit tonne of PREMIUM content. This should be worrying for Binge bosses!
Anyway, here are my top 33 shows of Summer Part II below.
For a full double summer list, keep an eye out. If you need more series to catch up on, below are my previous RATED's:
So live from Japan, Australia has delivered some top notch content this past quarter. I will from April till June catch up on Ten Pound Poms, NCSI: Sydney, The Last Anniversary and maybe even Darby and Joan LOL. Sorry Star Wars, but Skeleton Crew was the WORST!
1. Apple Cider Vinegar - Miniseries (AU)
2. Landman - Season One
3. Big Boys - Seasons One - Two
4. The Newsreader - Seasons Three/Series Finale (AU)
5. Black Snow - Season Two (AU)
6. Paradise - Season One
7. Dexter: Original Sin - Season One
8. Bump - Season Five/Series Finale (AU)
9. Optics - Season One (AU)
10. On Call - Season One
11. Squid Game (Korean: 오징어 게임) - Season Two
12. Clean Slate - Season One
13. Invisible Boys - Season One (AU)
14. The Chi - Season Six
15. Human Error - Miniseries (AU)
16. The Sex Lives of College Girls - Season Three/Series Finale
17. Disclaimer (stylised as DISCLAIMER*) - Miniseries
18. How to Die Alone - Season One/Series Finale
19. Reacher - Season Three
20. Bookie - Seasons One - Two/Series Finale
21. Tokyo Vice - Season Two/Series Finale
22. Hysteria! - Season One/Series Finale
23. Extraordinary - Seasons One - Two/Series Finale
24. The Lake - Seasons One-Two/Series Finale
25. The Way Home - Season Three
26. Severance - Season Two
27. The Agency - Season One
28. Interior Chinatown - Miniseries
29. Silo - Second Season
30. School Spirits - Season Two
31. Prime Target - Miniseries
32. Cobra Kai - Season Six/Series Finale
33. Star Wars: Skeleton Crew - Season One
Monday, March 31, 2025
Sunday, March 30, 2025
Summer Streamin' 25 - Reacher - Season Three
In the recent third season of Reacher, this is based the novel from the series, Persuader. Where Reacher hurtles into the dark heart of a vast criminal enterprise when trying to rescue an undercover DEA informant whose time is running out.
There, he finds a world of secrecy and violence and confronts some unfinished business from his own past.
Reacher has streamed weekly on Amazon Prime Video for the past few weeks. Based on the Jack Reacher book series by Lee Child, it stars Alan Ritchson as Reacher.
Who is a self-proclaimed hobo and former U.S. Army military police officer with formidable strength, intellect, and abilities. During his travels, Reacher crosses paths with dangerous criminals and battles them.
Ahead of the third season premiere, the series was renewed for a fourth season. While, a spinoff series, Neagley, is currently in production. Aimed to stream in 2026. No news when Reacher's fourth season will stream.
However from all accounts this is a popular title streaming on Prime. One of few services you can continue to stream without issues when travelling. Disney+ sometimes gives you titles Australia cannot access yet, while Apple TV+ and Prime are mostly similar. That is what I have noticed anyhoo.
Now to that BIG finale. Titled, Unfinished Business, read below for spoilers and that's a wrap on my Summer Streamin' 25 blog series. SPOILER ALERT! Below the trailer.
Quinn's henchmen ambush the ATF team and eliminate them all, but Reacher, Duffy and Villanueva eliminate the henchmen and save Zachary, while sparing one of Quinn's drivers to sneak back into Zachary's home.
Reacher fights Paulie until he gets Paulie to kill himself after rigging the LMG at the front gate.
Duffy saves Teresa from the buyers, while Villanueva finds Richard. Reacher eliminates Quinn's henchmen in the house one by one, leading Quinn to kill the buyers, take their money and take Richard hostage.
Quinn is confronted by Zachary holding him at gunpoint with the toy gun, which falls apart, leading Quinn to fatally shoot Zachary before escaping without the money or Richard.
Quinn is confronted outside the house by Russian mafia debt collectors. Reacher and Neagley offer them the buyers' money in exchange for Quinn and they accept.
Reacher reminds Quinn about Kohl before executing him. In the aftermath, Reacher says farewell to Neagley and Duffy, Richard takes his father's leftover cash before disappearing, Duffy returns Teresa to her grandmother before resigning from the DEA, she and Villanueva pay their respects to Eliot's parents, Villanueva reunites with his wife, and Reacher rides off on a motorcycle from Zachary's garage.
The main event in the finale was that Racher/Paulie biff. It was a HUGE ongoing fight scene, that went for a large chunk of the episode. It has been hugely popular online with it becoming its own WWE moment.
For me this was pure escapism. Prime seems to love its macho male action series like this, Jack Ryan and The Boys. With The Boys and Upload wrapping soon and Citadel in production hell, Amazon will most likely stick to Reacher (and potential spin-offs) for sometime.
I do look forward to seeing Neagley's first season land next year.
For now that is Summer Streamin' 25 all wrapped up. I also caught up with Fallout but will save that for my next TV blog series. Man that was a wild ride!
See you soon!
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