NOT another streaming Movie - Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma

Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma is one of the weirdest fucking movies I have ever seen. If the title isn't weird enough, the movie itself was fucking bonkers. That said, the reviews have been insanely good.

Written + directed by Jane Schoenbrun, starring Hacks legend, Hannah Einbinder, with X-Files queen,  Gillian Anderson.

Jack Haven + Patrick Fischler, also have supporting roles. 

The film follows a filmmaker (Einbinder) who is hired to direct a new instalment of the slasher franchise Camp Miasma, and eventually becomes fixated on casting the actress (Anderson) who played the final girl in the original film.

Okay, so I loved Einbinder in Hacks. Easily one of the best comedies ever. Right up there next to Veep. However, I just couldn't get into this film.

Premiering at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival, as the opening film of the Un Certain Regard section, it won the Queer Palm.

A little more about the super random plot. A filmmaker is hired to direct a new instalment of the long-running slasher franchise Camp Miasma. The director becomes fixated on the prospect of casting the reclusive actress who played the final girl in the original film. 

As the two women begin to work together, they descend into a frenzy of psychosexual mania. Schoenbrun has described the film as their "best attempt at the 'sleepover classic': an insane yet cozy midnight odyssey that beckons to unsuspecting viewers from the horror section at the local video store."

I think I completely missed the point of this film. Honestly I left wondering going, what did I just watched.

Two stars. One each for the stars, Einbinder + Anderson.

Winter be Bingeing 26' - Power Book III: Raising Kanan - Season Five/Series Finale

Over the last two seasons of Power Book III: Raising Kanan, Kanan Stark has slowly learned the truth about not only his mother, but also himself. It has been a tortuous journey for him and everyone around him. With each new revelation, Kanan has been forced to confront his family’s seemingly never-ending web of secrets and lies. He has spent much of this time in a state of denial, but now, Kanan’s blinders are finally off, and he doesn’t like what he sees. 

In season three, Kanan finds himself grappling with the very notions of right and wrong. Good and evil. Fidelity and disloyalty. And he’s not alone. Every member of the Thomas family must confront an existential crisis that challenges their very identity. Whether it’s Marvin, who’s still trying to redeem himself, or Raq, who’s finally coming clean, or Lou, who’s wrestling with his own evil, or Jukebox, who’s simply trying to break free from her family’s pathology, they are all attempting to redefine and reinvent themselves. They won’t all be able to complete this intensely personal quest, but for those who do, the destination may reveal the most terrifying secret of all. 

There is no right and wrong or good and evil. There are no absolutes. In the end, there’s just you.

Power Book III: Raising Kanan, or simply Raising Kanan, concluded on Friday on Stan. In the USA, this story will continue on Starz, as the standalone prequel, second spin-off to Power, continues with Power: Origins, potentially next year.

Starz return to their other franchise, Outlander: Blood of My Blood. Their spin-off of Outlander is Starz other big franchise, next to the Power run. Power: Origins however, is the last Power standing, with Force ending earlier this year, now Power Book III: Raising Kanan concluding. Power: Legacy has been announced, continuing Tommy Egan and Tariq St. Patrick's journey.

Starz also have S.W.A.T. Exiles to stream later this year. The spin-off of S.W.A.T.. When the hell will P-Valley return????

So no spoilers, however this could have easily concluded with the fourth season, which streamed on Stan last March. The fifth + final season also was the shortest of all five seasons. With only eight episodes, a lot of this felt like filler, lead in to Power: Origins.

There is even an early Tommy meeting to we your whistle.

For me, the addition of Leslie Grossman as Florence "Flossie" Siegel was the highlight, alongside the excellent Patina Miller as Raquel "Raq" Thomas, Kanan's mom.

Does Raq survive though? I'll leave you to stream the final hour. However, in the end this felt more like a promotional vehicle for the next run of Power. How much longer can Starz keep the Power series alive? Time will tell.

Back to the movies tomorrow...

NOT another streaming Movie - Tuner

It's been a hot minute since I saw, The Odyssey at the cinema. With Spider-Man: Brand New Day sold out on the days/nights I can currently go, limited other films showing, it's been a little more tricky getting to the old cinema this August.

So it was off to my other local cinema, at Central Park. Tuner is a film, I saw the trailer for a while back and always wanted to see it. The crime/thriller starts out more chill, then escalates, fast.

Tuner stars Leo Woodall, Havana Rose Liu, Lior Raz, Tovah Feldshuh, Jean Reno and Dustin Hoffman. It follows a piano tuner, Niki White (Woodall), with a hearing condition that gives him heightened sensitivity to sound. When his mentor Harry (Hoffman) racks up a medical debt, White earns cash to pay it off by using his sensitive hearing to crack safes and becomes embroiled with a criminal group.

Niki is a gifted young piano tuner whose heightened sense of hearing draws the attention of criminals, who see his talents as useful for opening safes as for tuning Steinways. 

With his once-promising musical career over, he works across New York with his mentor Harry Horowitz (Academy Award-winner Dustin Hoffman), encountering a range of characters, including composition student Ruthie (Havana Rose Liu), with whom he forges an unexpected connection. 

Niki’s safecracking work threatens his budding romance with Ruthie and pulls him into increasingly dangerous territory. Blending romance, drama, and the taut suspense of a heist thriller, this film was a multi-genre fun return to the cinema.

I enjoyed Tuner, I wish my other local cinema gave it more session times. That said, it was nice to venture out to a different cinema for once.

It is nice being back in the cinema. 3 Stars.

Winter be Bingeing 26' - Elle - Season One

Elle (also marketed as Elle: From the World of Legally Blonde) serves as a prequel to the Legally Blonde. Taking place six years before the events of the first film and it explores the high school years of teenage Elle Woods (originally portrayed by Reese Witherspoon), portrayed by newcomer Lexi Minetree.

Production began in April 2025, season one dropping all episodes on July 1. In January 2026, the series was renewed for a second season. BRING IT ON!

A prequel to Legally Blonde, the series explores Elle Woods’ teenage years in the 1990s as a high school student in Seattle, long before she became the ambitious Harvard law student in the films.

So Seattle and 90's music! I am SOLD!

Alongside Minetree, June Diane Raphael & Tom Everett Scott were cast as Elle's parents, Eva and Wyatt. 

Chandler Kinney, Gabrielle Policano, Jacob Moskovitz, Kimberly, Liz, Miles, Zac Looker, Jessica Belkin, Logan Shroyer, Amy Pietz, Lisa Yamada, Chloe Wepper, David Burtka, Brad Harder, Kayla Maisonet, and James Van Der Beek, in what would be his final role before his death. It was very sad seeing Dawson's final role.

For season two, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan joined the cast as Sam.

In the finale, Elle's reputation is ruined so she and her mother move back to LA. Elle returns to her old life while interning at Cosmopolitan, but she feels uncomfortable with the familiar and safe setting. 

Meanwhile, the winter formal is canceled due to budget cuts, so Liz, Dustin, Miles and Kimberly, all missing Elle, host their own formal at CarpetMart as a fundraiser called "Winter Informal". 

Elle takes a risk at Cosmopolitan and wins a spot at the Golden Globes, but feels like everything has become too expected for her and misses the challenges of Seattle. Her boss convinces her to take challenges in stride and she convinces her mother to return to Seattle after an encounter with her father's failed nose job patient. Elle bids a heartfelt goodbye to Madison. 

Back in Seattle, Elle reconciles with Shannon, while Eva blames Wyatt for dictating how her life has turned out. Elle races to Winter Informal where Liz is performing, who just kissed Kimberly. Elle sees the layout and feels like she did make a difference. Everyone is happy to see Elle, except Dustin, who is upset that she left. He kisses her, which Miles sees, and both boys leave jealous, leaving Elle conflicted.

The love triangle fully explodes in this fun season finale. I enjoyed this fun, light, colourful first season.

Let's hope Amazon bring this one back next year. If you need something light, Elle is for you!

Winter be Bingeing 26' - Cape Fear - Miniseries

OK so I started Cape Fear on Apple TV back when I was relaxing, living my best life in Bali.

The ten episodes, conveniently play out over winter. Concluding on Friday, this miniseries could have been a little more mini. The bloated ten episodes, started strong, then the filler episodes kicked in.

The psychological thriller television miniseries created by Nick Antosca, based on the novel The Executioners by John D. MacDonald and its film adaptations in 1962 and 1991. The story revolves around, Max Cady, a vicious and unreformed ex-convict, is released from prison and sets about taking revenge on Anna Bowden, the lawyer who represented him 17 years earlier in court, by using his knowledge of the law to evade punishment.

Inspired by the 1991 remake directed by Martin Scorsese and produced by Steven Spielberg, a storm is coming for happily married attorneys Anna (Amy Adams) and Tom Bowden (Patrick Wilson) when Max Cady (Javier Bardem), the notorious killer they are responsible for putting behind bars, is let out of prison — and he wants vengeance. 

Alongside Adams, Wilson and Bardem, CCH Pounder, Anna Baryshnikov, Jamie Hector, Lily Collias, Joe Anders, Malia Pyles, Ron Perlman, Ted Levine, Jason Scott Morgan, Margarita Levieva & Patrick Fischler.

My personal favourite from the series was Juliette Lewis as Crystal Cady, Max's mentally unstable half-sister who is stalking Max. Lewis also starred in the 1991 adaptation.

Whilst this was creepy, with a mad menacing soundtrack across the entire ten episodes, the ten episodes felt bloated.

Towards the end there was only so much Max Cady to inflict on this one family. I wanted to love this, however towards the back end of the run, I was waiting for a resolution, a conclusion. 

Apple TV continue to serve up inspired and original stories, however, this wasn't their best work. The star power was real, the story really could have been wrapped up in 6 episodes.

Why can't the Americans follow the English.

This week Apple TV will welcome back Ted Lasso, whilst farewelling Sugar's second season. No word on a third run of Sugar yet, as I still wait to hear about Loot, Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed, Bad Sisters, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters and Hijack.

Last month of winter, let's go! 

Winter be Bingeing 26' - M.I.A. - Season One

M.I.A. is my latest binge over the past cold week in Sydney. Restless in the Florida Keys, Etta Tiger Jonze dreams of a life in Miami’s glittering, sub-tropical kingdom. But when her family’s drug-running business shatters in tragedy, Etta embarks on a dangerous journey through Miami’s neon-lit underbelly that will define who she is and what she’s ultimately capable of.

M.I.A. is another title for Peacock, streaming on Binge in Australia. Binge has a number of Peacock titles including Five Star Weekend, which they are airing week-to-week on Thursdays by now.

Stan also has a number of Peacock titles. The Miniature Wife, Twisted Metal, with Crystal Lake and Rose Byrne's, The Good Daughter coming later in the year.

M.I.A. is obviously set in South Florida, it stars Shannon Gisela as Etta Tiger Jonze, a young woman from the Florida Keys who goes after the cartel that murdered her family.

All nine episodes of the first season were released on Peacock in early May. I am a little late to the party, however there is no news on season two yet. To get extra eyes on the series, the pilot later aired on NBC.

Thus far, reviews were mixed, but the series topped Peacock's U.S. streaming chart on its first day. Still this John Wick, revenge style thriller does end on a cliffhanger, however I'm not sure if it was strong enough for a second outing.

The series stars Giselaas as Etta, with Maurice Compte, Danay Garcia, Cary Elwes, Brittany Adebumola, Dylan Jackson, Alberto Guerra, Gerardo Celasco, Marta Milans, Edward James Olmos, Sonia Brag, and finally Rich Delia.

With no major massive stars, this series also joins a long string of these revenge style Taken action, thrillers.

The twist at the end was a little fun. It could make for a more interesting second season, however time will tell if NBC have enough cash to keep the camera rolling on more M.I.A.

Winter be Bingeing 26' - New Zealand Spy - Season One

New Zealand Spy is my second New Zealand series of the week. That follows recent Kiwi series Blue Murder Motel, which has recently been renewed for a second season.

Ms.X also ended its run on Binge this, with New Zealand Spy streaming all six episodes on ABC iView right now.

Created by Paul Williams, written by and starring Williams, Rose Matafeo, Bret McKenzie, and Joe Thomas. The show premiered on TVNZ 2 on in April, and ABC recently.

The six-part comedy spy series, follows new recruits start at the New Zealand Intelligence Agency in the latter half of the 20th Century.

The cast also includes Claudia O'Doherty, Tim Key, Andy Lee, Tony Armstrong and Sam Campbell with Abby Howells, Guy Williams, Joe Daymond, Jackie van Beek, Jesse Griffin, Jay Ryan, Rhys Matthewson, Shavaughan Ruakere, Pax Assadi, Scotty Cotter and James Mustapic.

So like Blue Murder Motel, they lean into some Aussie talent, with Andy Lee, Tony Armstrong and Sam Campbell all giving Australian audiences some familiar faces. Or familiar voices if you used to listen to Hamish and Andy on the 2Day networks. Does anyone still listen to 2Day FM? Or RnB Fridays whatever it is.

Anyway I'm in love with Tony Armstrong. FACT. But I didn't love this. It felt a little B grade. Or maybe a lot B grade. I know it was trying to have fun and be playful. But this was a bit blah. Anyway. You can stream for yourself and make up your own mind.

It was easy winter comfort viewing. Blue Murder Hotel has to be my pick of Kiwi shows though of late.

That was good. Like Return to Paradise on ABC, just sent in NZ.

OK for now, enjoy the weekend. The nights/afternoons are getting longer. That means winter can fuck right off! Seeya!