2021

The Alpinist

84/100
Mountain Climbing doco's are fast becoming my favourite genre. It's almost like a sequel to Free Solo, which I'd definitely recommend you watch first.
Reviewed on December 31, 2021

Bo Burnham : Inside

86/100
Such a raw look inside someone's soul. I was thoroughly entertained by the songs, but it might be quite confronting depending on your lockdown experience.
Reviewed on July 20, 2021

Only the Animals

82/100
I loved the structure. The overlapping stories from different points of view meant you didn't find out what was really going on until later. Could've used some more believable stories though.
Reviewed on February 16, 2021

Pixie

63/100
It tries pretty hard to be a dark comedy like In Bruges or Lock Stock, but it pales so much in comparison it ends up more like a light drama.
Reviewed on February 2, 2021

Promising Young Woman

85/100
Tough not to get down on the male of the species, but it's smart and darkly entertaining. It's got a pretty important message, so the guys that will find it the most uncomfortable are really the ones that should see it.
Reviewed on January 9, 2021

The Dry

87/100
Having grown up in country Vic I'd get distracted looking at the scenery, but luckily Eric Bana had his Chopper voice going to grab my attention back. Best rural movie since Wolf Creek and The Dish, they had the slow pace and dry humour spot on.
Reviewed on January 3, 2021

The Truffle Hunters

62/100
It tried to walk the tightrope between interesting and tedious, but it fell off pretty quick for me on the tedious side and never got back up.
Reviewed on February 24, 2021

Minari

88/100
Can't tell if it's heartwarming or heartbreaking, but it certainly has a lot of heart. Hard to find movies you could describe as sweet and tender these days, but this is one of the best.
Reviewed on February 21, 2021

Another Round

80/100
I loved the premise and philosophy behind it, as I have felt the same way. But just like me, they couldn't stop at a reasonable alcohol level, so the movie started to struggle. The ending bumped it back up a few points though.
Reviewed on February 16, 2021

Raya and the Last Dragon

75/100
It was pretty heavy handed in it's messages of "You can't trust anyone" and "You have to trust people", so now I'm confused which one to do. It's good, but I guess not every show made for kids can be as great as Bluey.
Reviewed on March 23, 2021

Boss Level

78/100
Really fun in places, but it's a bit uneven. It kinda half arsed the comedy and the action, when they coulda picked one to full arse and made something great.
Reviewed on February 28, 2021

The Little Things

55/100
It's like they were at a script reading and passed their scripts to the person next to them for fun, but forgot to pass them back. They only realised 2/3rds into the movie, so they made the ending ridiculous to distract people from their huge mistake.
Reviewed on March 23, 2021

The Father

83/100
I enjoyed trying to fit the puzzle pieces together of the ifs, whens and whos from his unreliable point of view. Old age is pretty scary.
Reviewed on April 2, 2021

Nobody

72/100
I dunno. I thought it would good harmful fun, like a Kmart John Wick, but I didn't find it believable enough to be good or entertaining enough to be fun. So I was just left with the harmful.
Reviewed on April 2, 2021

Judas and the Black Messiah

77/100
Good, but I couldn't concentrate after a family came in just before the start and it took them ages to realise it wasn't Peter Rabbit. I got so upset with myself that I didn't ask them whether they were in the right movie. I'm sorry kids.
Reviewed on March 30, 2021

Godzilla vs. Kong

70/100
One of the most visually amazing movies I've ever seen, but it tries a bit too hard to justify it's ridiculousness rather than embrace it. If people start writing scripts that can utilise how good they can make movies look these days, look out.
Reviewed on March 29, 2021

A Quiet Place Pt II

72/100
I loved the first one and gave it 85. This was good, but not in the same league. The flashback start was the best bit, which made me wonder why they just didn't make a full-on prequel. Could've been far more interesting and believable.
Reviewed on May 21, 2021

June Again

78/100
Although it has the same starting point as The Father, for every zig that movie took to make it great and scary, June Again zags to make it nice and happy/sad. It's more enjoyable, but far less memorable.
Reviewed on May 11, 2021

Mortal Kombat

71/100
It looked and sounded great, so any South Aussies that were involved in the making of it should be very proud of themselves. Unless you wrote the script of course. Then I've got nothin' for ya.
Reviewed on May 11, 2021

Collective

79/100
Romanian doco about hospital corruption that was a bit hard to hear because the person in front of me was snoring. In her defense, it was a bit technical and repetitive early on before a new health minister showed up in the 2nd half that you could barrack for.
Reviewed on April 12, 2021

The Courier

81/100
For a spy thriller it wasn't overly thrilling, but I liked that it didn't go overboard trying to be something that it wasn't. It's just a solid story told well.
Reviewed on April 12, 2021

Escape Room 2

70/100
The same over the top thrills of the first one, just with a lesser cast. You could make such a good movie out of friends doing a normal escape room, but it takes out a lot of tension when they're strangers and every problem gets solved almost instantly.
Reviewed on July 2, 2021

The Killing of Two Lovers

81/100
It's got a low-key sense of dread that creates maximum tension. Sort of like an episode of Rectify crossed with Blue Ruin.
Reviewed on September 21, 2021

Nine Days

89/100
Simply brilliant. Fans of slow-burning, philosophical movies like Ex Machina should definitely check it out. Works like the opposite of Inside Out. They shoulda called it Outside In!
Reviewed on September 7, 2021

Reminiscence

77/100
Had some great early touches about the future and it looked like a movie right up my alley, but then it squandered a lot of it's potential because the story was a bit much.
Reviewed on August 19, 2021

In The Heights

82/100
Songs aren't anywhere near as catchy and smart as Hamilton, but it makes back up a few points with relatability and heart.
Reviewed on July 2, 2021

Nitram

73/100
I thought Snowtown was great, but it was very hard to recommend or want to watch again. This is pretty similar, but not as good. I would've liked to hear more Mess Hall style music than Mikado.
Reviewed on October 2, 2021

Riders of Justice

84/100
It's got Mads Mikkelsen in it, so of course I'm gonna think it's great. Kinda like Taken with an often Fargo-ish sense of humour.
Reviewed on October 2, 2021

The French Dispatch

70/100
Bottle Rocket is one of my favourite movies ever, but I feel like every Wes Anderson movie that comes out I'm less in on the joke. I'm way out at the moment.
Reviewed on December 14, 2021

The Worst Person in the World

82/100
Like binge watching a Norwegian season of Love Life with shorter episodes. More little laughs than tears, but I think I would've preferred a full length tv show version to flesh it out more.
Reviewed on December 14, 2021

The Many Saints of Newark

70/100
Too loosely connected to consider it a prequel. It's more of a so-so standalone movie that's sprinkled with impressions of characters from the Sopranos. Bonus points for giving me a reason to rewatch the show, but it doesn't add anything to it.
Reviewed on November 7, 2021

Spider-Man : No Way Home

76/100
Fantastic idea and has some really cool moments, but it's like a greatest hits album. Nice to have all the songs in one spot, but you've heard all the good ones and you can't fast forward the boring ones.
Reviewed on December 23, 2021