Box Office Flop or Blockbuster 2020? - The Grudge (2020 film)

In 2004 Sarah Michelle Gellar was one of the biggest names in horror, in 2020 her hit film The Grudge has been remade.



So is it a Box Office Flop or Blockbuster? Firstly what is going on with film reviewing in January 2020, most films I have seen recently have hovered around the 20% mark on Rotten Tomatoes. So critically it's a flop, however it has already done $40M @ the box office. For a budget of $20M that ain't bad!

Yes The Grudge is back with Andrea Riseborough, Demián Bichir (the Bridge, US version), John Cho, Betty Gilpin, Lin Shaye, and Jacki Weaver. Go Jacki Weaver!

No Sarah Michelle Gellar however in 2020, however I still did jump a few times! So for a horror film to get those jump scares it sort of gets a pass right?

We all know the story, so this film cuts to the chase fairly fast. I also give it points for remaining around the 90 minute mark.

Like comedies, horror films do not need to exceed two hours.

The Grudge opened today, with a few sessions each day and my random 5pm session was fairly poorly attended however some people are still working at that hour!

So what is the score for this reboot/remake, well it made me jump, it's creepy and that's what horror is all about, 2.5 Stars.

Triple J's Hottest 200, 2019

OK, so around one month ago, here was my 101-200, is there something in common with 101 on my countdown and Triple J's? Yes the Billie factor, my strange addiction, I picked it, #101! Even the Warmest Tuna's picked Adrian Eagle and that was with a pile of data!

OK so other than that little guess, the Hottest 200 on Triple J featured a number of my favourite tunes.

From Billie to Tyler, The Creator's great I Think (#104) to Joji's beautiful Sanctuary at #112, there were some solid songs in the list.

It was great to get a double from Allday and The Veronicas at #116 (Restless) and #130 with the beautiful Like a Version of Big Yellow Taxi.

I was happy to see Benee from NZ slay at #126 with Supalonely, following the great Tones & I hit The Kids are Coming at #125.

Finally Northeast Party House made the list (twice) at #128 (Magnify) and #133 (Dominos) both from their album Shelf Life arriving next month!

Thelma Plum and Confidence Man gave us great hits at #137 and #138 in the top half of the second countdown.

Whilst #167 was one of my favourite "rock" songs, On the Luna from Foals.

I thought Location {Feat. Burna Boy} by Dave would have placed higher than #173 considering all the airplay and hype JJJ announcers gave it.

Great to see Lizzo and Missy Elliot's Tempo drop in at #174. What a JAM!

Sadly Charli XCX & Christine and the Queens Gone only made it to #188, it was a tune I voted for so at least it made the list. Unlike Channel Tres :(

So Fidlar's By Myself was my highest ranking song I voted for, coming in at #12.

Here is the full Triple J lists, Top 100, Top 200. Happy reading friends.

Box Office Flop or Blockbuster 2020? - Like a Boss

Oh dear, is it two end of January flops in a row? What happens when I ask is Like a Boss a Box Office Flop or Blockbuster in 2020?

Here is the rude trailer first up...



So looking at it's box office ($22M) versus budget ($29M) things are not looking good. Whilst the reviews aren't much better. Sorry Rose I think Bridesmaids set the bar a little too high for chick comedies. Bridesmaids when it came it was a first, it was raw, laugh out loud funny whilst also having heart. Now in 2020 we get Like a Boss.

After the week I had, Like a Boss however was refreshing. A strange few castings like Jimmy O Yang and Salma Hayek, however Billy Porter and Tiffany Haddish shone.

Rose Byrne of course was sensational, not to mention Jacob Latimore (The Chi) was damn fine!

Jennifer Coolidge also needs a call out, some of her lines went down literally like a lead balloon. Her character was honestly the worst.

This all taken into account it's only 83 minutes while at least the first half is enjoyable the second half sort of drags a bit. Leave the emotions out, it's a comedy!

I'll pass this and a little bit, because the start of 2020, we need a laugh, Hollywood more comedies please. Like Now! 3 Stars.

Box Office Flop or Blockbuster 2020? - Underwater

2020 has been an interesting start to the year for film. Honestly this Lunar New Year long weekend's films are really nothing to get too excited about. I read somewhere January was a bit of a dumping ground for films, honestly looking at the Hoyts website right now, I think the below films are being dumped by their respective studios -

Dolittle (huge critical and box office flop)
Go! (sad the only Aussie film on at present has such a limited presence this long weekend)
Just Mercy (looks interesting but way too serious for a long weekend after our wicked Summer thus far)
Like a Boss (looks like it has potential, however most of the funny bits may very well be in the trailer)
My Spy (the trailer, the poster, it all looks wrong)
Spies in Disguise (do I need to say more...)

and finally today's film, Underwater.

Answering the question Box Office Flop or Blockbuster? Well....



Financially it's a monster flop, not to mention it's very limited sessions week one of release. Actually all the new movies have limited sessions versus Bad Boys for Life.

So Underwater, it's enjoyable, to the point but something about Kristen Stewart is just not right. After her last major flop Charlies Angels (the reboot no one asked for) you would think she would try to redeem herself?

Well honestly this film was a lot more enjoyable, however Stewart is just not that likeable, why? I can't put my finger on it.

At least the film sticks to a tight 90 minutes. It's fast paced, however it's pacing is not the major issue, it's cast are mismatched. TJ Miller delivers some fun lines whilst Stewart just looks grumpy.

Jessica Henwick (Iron Fist) is a little deer in the headlights, but overall on a hot summers day, it was enjoyable to watch an underwater disaster film.

Is it telling mining companies but drilling into the ocean could only release dangerous beasts killing entire crews? There could be an environmental message in there too.

Either way, it's not amazing, it's not bad, it gets a pass mark (or even just slightly above) 2.75 Stars.

Triple J's Hottest 100, 2019

So I posted a few lists over New Year's, they were my 200 best songs of the year. The songs I liked whilst also being extremely successful either in Australia or across the Globe in Tones & I's case.

This weekend whilst Triple J has unveiled it's Hottest 100 (Hottest 200 on Monday) I have now completed my Best 100 tunes of the past decade.

There is two parts so, for Part One 100-51 click here or Part Two 50-1 go here.

For a recap here is the links to my best 200 songs of 2019 -

1-100, 2019
101-200, 2019

Now a quick reaction to the Hottest 100 for 2019 on Triple J.

So of course Billie Eilish deserved number one, I just thought the first ever female act to top the list would be Australian, most likely from Unearthed? Anyone Tones & I still got a solid three tracks in the countdown. However Billie went off, five tracks in the top 100!

Billie still has a song or two up here sleeve, with my strange addiction missing in action. However clearly releasing everything i wanted in mid November was good scheduling for the countdown voting. It blasted in at number 16! From memory only The Weeknd's current tune Blinding Lights (number one now on my Fresh Friday Countdown) was released after everything i wanted. Hitting the stands on November 29th.

Aussie songs completely slayed with 65% of the first 100 being Australian! Shame my favourites (at present) Northeast Party House missed the boat so far. Here is hoping for some big entries between 101-200 on Monday.

Thelma Plum also made history yesterday, becoming the highest ranking Indigenous Australian artist in Hottest 100 history. Man I remember when her beautiful first track Father Said broke my heart. I remember hearing her voice on the radio thinking, damn she is ace!

G Flip (legend!) and Lime Cordiale also had great days, getting four tunes each in the countdown, however one can not look past Flume. He released an experimental mixtape, joint EP and a few singles last year, however with no full length album he still got so close, he came in at number two.

Rushing Back with Vera Blue from Flume clearly was a dark horse of a tune, I loved it, but did not think it was going to reach number two. I do feel however Lizzo should have been top 10 or at least top 20 with Juice, it came in at 28 with very little airplay on Triple J but a lot of love on sister station Double J.

Speaking of 28, I though 27 Vossi Bop from Stormzy would have been top ten for sure. That tune was massive in April/May upon it's release.

Other thoughts, I just can't wait till Monday, I generally love the 101-200 list, some of my votes are currently missing. Let's hope Charli XCX and Christine and the Queens awesome Gone will be number 101!

The Witcher...

Of all the Summer TV series I have smashed through, I could only commit to one episode of The Witcher. Not even Henry Cavill could save this dud, Entertainment Weekly critic Darren Franich said of the series, "my destiny is to never watch this borefest ever again", awarding the first season an F rating. I agree 100%

If I can save you around 8 binge hours, here it is.



The Witcher hopes to be the next Game of Thrones, fantasy favourite, however it's more of a fantasy fail. Only for fans of the book, or for those with extremely low expectations. #AVOIDTHE WITCHER

#SUMMER-BINGE-FEST - Unbelievable

It has to be said, I have been smashing a number of series of late and Netflix has been on high rotation this week. First The Crown, now Golden Globe and SAG nominated Unbelievable.



Starring Aussies Toni Collette as Det. Grace Rasmussen and Danielle Macdonald as Amber alongside Nurse Jackie's Merritt Wever as Det. Karen Duvall. The story revolves around Kaitlyn Dever as Marie Adler a victim of sexual abuse based on "An Unbelievable Story of Rape" (2015), a Pulitzer Prize-winning article by T. Christian Miller and Ken Armstrong for ProPublica and The Marshall Project.

Unbelievable is 8 outstanding episodes of television for Netflix, critically acclaimed whilst according to Netflix (they seldomly do this) 32 million subscribers have viewed this series.

Admittedly the series was released around peak US season so I am late to the show. However I think I had all eight episodes done and dusted in 3 days.

Landing on streaming service Netflix on September 13, this show is already a critical hit as well as a much talked about series, you know in the office when someone says, have you seen ..... on Netflix yet? Well this series is one most people in and around my office space had either heard of, or watched.

It's only mid way through the summer binge period, however with a number of shows returning I may have to slow down my current binge speed. Station 19 and the spin off of 9-1-1 starting next week, along with the superhero CW shows also back, I may slow down.

However I will continue to bring you more TV and film reviews as I go.

So if you are free this weekend and the rain that is forecast falls, Unbelievable is totally watchable over the weekend.

Till next time, TGIF...