mrdanielkanewilliams Reviews

The American Barbecue Showdown (2020– )

A delicious, fiery BBQ competition show

[8/10 · 2 June 2024]

Each series starts off with 8 BBQ chefs who are all at least quite good and in every episode they must complete a challenge and at the end of every episode the judges choose a winner who should win a prize but doesn't and a loser who goes home. But there is a big prize of 50,000 dollars for the winner of the last episode which does make the competition exciting.

The main reason why I enjoyed this show is because almost every episode has a completely unique challenge. For example in one episode the chefs have to cook with chillis and make their own hot sauce. This challenge is particularly difficult for some of the chefs because some of them don't like spicy foods and are quite unfamiliar with using these ingredients. In another episode we see the chefs having to cook for 50 people and I hope I get to see more episodes in future where they have to cook for large groups. And also in quite a few other episodes we see the chefs cooking on open fires (again I hope I get to see more of this in the next series) and using unique cooking methods from countries like Argentina and Japan. These unique cooking methods and the cooking facts that pop up on the screen also made me walk away from the show not only feeling we entertained but also like I had learnt something.

The judges are also choosen wisely in this show because unlike some cooking shows on Netflix they are talented chefs who know how to judge the different tastes and textures of every delicious looking dish. On the other hand, the judges don't always agree on things like who will go home and this makes the competition seem a bit unfair because in one episode when they can't decide, the bottom two chefs start the next episode by going head to head in a fun BBQ Breakfast challenge, but in another episode where they can't decide both of the people at the bottom just go through to the next episode.

I also didn't like the hosts because they have very little cooking knowledge and try to tell a lot of jokes that don't land. Although, despite these bad hosts I found this show a joy to watch and I look forward to the next series.

Second Act (2018)

This film is great, that is a lie. This film is quite enjoyable, that is the truth

[6/10 · 2 June 2024]

In this dramatic comedy we meet Maya (Jennifer Lopez) who after missing out on a promotion in her retail job decides to go for a job interview for a successful cosmetics company but what she doesn't realise at first is that her friend has completely changed her resume to make it look she had a lot of qualifications, is quite well travelled and has even met Obama.

I quite enjoyed this film because even though the plot is a bit unoriginal I was interested to know what would happen if the truth about who Maya is came out. Especially when we find out that one of Maya's new co-workers, Zoe (Vanessa Hudgens) is her daughter who she gave up for adoption when she was very young. And Maya's not sure if she wants the truth to come out because she thinks her daughter will be ashamed of her.

There were also several bits of this movie that made me laugh but it's a shame one of these best funny moments is near the beginning when Maya walks out of her old job and trys to look cool but ends up falling over. But I think this could have been improved slightly if Maya had done something like swear at her old boss. After this there are still some other bits that made me laugh like when Maya's new co-workers find out that on her fake resume it says she is good at canoeing so she tries to canoe with her new boss and a few other colleagues but ends up capsizing their boat.

I also think the ending, which I don't want to spoil too much, could have been improved slightly because it was still nice but I was expecting to go in a different direction. But overall I had fun with this film and I might watch it again.

She's Out of My League (2010)

She may be out of your league but this film definitely shouldn't be

[8/10 · 2 June 2024]

In this romantic comedy we meet Kirk (Jay Baruchel) who works in airport security and meets Molly (Alice Eve) when she leaves her phone at the airport. Shortly after this Molly and Kirk start dating but Kirk's low self-esteem and his friend's comments about the fact that Molly is a hot 10/10 and Kirk is a 6/10 at best slowly chip away at the relationship.

I really enjoyed this film because even though the plot isn't original unlike most romantic comedies it made me laugh from start to finish and didn't get too romantic. One part that really made me laugh is when Kirk takes Molly to meet his family and they all can't believe how hot she is and some of them even try flirting with her in quite ridiculous ways. Shortly after this Molly takes Kirk back to her place and unfortunately after they start making out Kirk gets a little too excited and pre-ejaculates in his pants which might not have been too bad if Molly's parents didn't walk into the apartment with their big dog straight afterwards.

Another part that made me laugh out loud was when Kirk decides to impress Molly by shaving his balls and asks one of his male friends to help.

I also mostly liked Kirk and Molly's personalities because Kirk just bes himself and doesn't go over the top or try to be someone else to impress Molly. And Molly is a nice girl on the inside who turns out to have a lot in common with Kirk. But I would have liked Kirk a bit more if he had been a little less shy. Also towards the end of the film it gets a bit less funny and far fetched when Kirk and Molly have an argument over something stupid and Kirk gets back with his ex. But towards the end I did enjoy seeing Kirk get more confident in a scene that was a bit predictable but also still made me laugh. And overall I really enjoyed this film and I would happily watch it again and again.

Atlas (2024)

I was hoping Jennifer Lopez would kick some more ass after seeing her in "The Mother" and Atlas does not disappoint

[6/10 · 27 May 2024]

This film is set in a distopian future where the human race has been pushed to the brink of extinction after the robots they created to help them turn on them. Luckily the nations unite together in a group called the International Coalition of Nations (ICN) and force the leader of the robots, Harlan (Simu Liu) to go to space. And 28 years later it seems like AI is no longer a threat until a robot called Casca (Abraham Popoola) is found and hunted down by a swat team in a great action scenes which shows how tough these robots are.

After this action scene we meet Atlas (Jennifer Lopez) an analyst in the ICN who is definitely not a soldier but is put in charge of interrogating Casca because the ICN suspects that Harlan is planning something. After the interrogation Atlas leads a team of rangers to a harsh planet where Harlan is hiding. But Harlan has planned for this and after an intense battle scene Atlas is the only survivor and in order to reach the escape pod she'll have to trust this giant robot that she has escaped in. But Atlas has trouble trusting robots because the last robot she trusted to was Harlan before he turned into a terrorist.

I enjoyed this film because after Atlas escapes in this giant robot the action really gets going and we soon find out that this robot is armed with some explosive guns that make for some good shooting scenes. There are also some good fighting scenes like when Atlas has to take on Harlan and the giant robot has almost no ammo left.

But I think Atlas' character should have been at least a bit tougher because there are several times where she says she is just an analyst and there is one scene in particular where she looks like a cry baby after injuring her leg. She also only survives so long because she is in a giant robot which for some strange reason seems a lot tougher than all the other robots that the other rangers on the team are using and it would be nice to see her do some fighting by herself.

I also thought the beginning was a bit slow and complicated but when the action got going I enjoyed the film which is why I would watch it again but I'm not desperate to see it again so I wouldn't buy it if it came out on DVD.

Dead Boy Detectives (2024– )

A Deadly and spooky mystery series

[8/10 · 26 May 2024]

In this series we meet 2 ghosts, Edwin (George Rexstrew) and Charles (Jayden Revri) who call themselves the Deadboy Detectives, because they solve ghostly mysteries for undead creatures. And I liked the mystery solving part of the this series because there's a good variety of mysteries for example in the first episode they help a Psychic called Crystal (Kassius Nelson) who has been possessed by a demon and then Crystal persuades them to let her tag along whilst they save a little girl who has been kidnapped by a witch. There's also another episode where an abandoned house is being haunted by ghosts and they need to try to find out why the ghosts haven't moved on to the afterlife yet.

Whilst solving these mysteries Edwin and Charles have to make sure that they don't draw too much attention to themselves because Edwin has just escaped from hell and the only reason he went there was because in 1916 he was sacrificed to a demon. After escaping from hell Edwin met and formed a friendship with Charles. So they both don't want to move on to the afterlife because Edwin will go back to hell and Charles will be separated from his only friend. But the night nurse (Ruth Connell) works for the lost and found department of the afterlife and it's up to her to make sure that ghosts don't stay on earth and during the series she tries to hunt them down.

So will Edwin and Charles be able to solve these mysteries without being sent to a worse fate than death by the night nurse or another terrifying creature...well you'll have to watch the series to find out.

If all that sounds a bit too scary or complicated don't worry there are some good funny moments in the series for example a character that I liked was Niko (Yuyu Kitamura) who helps Charles and Edwin on a few cases after they stop her from being possessed by goblins. And during one of these cases she says that, "solving mysteries in real life is definitely not as easy as they make it look in Scooby Doo." But even though all that sounds exciting there is some things that I don't like about the series for example some of the creatures that we meet from the afterlife aren't that scary like the demon that possesses Crystal and the goblins that possess Niko are just played by actors that aren't even in spooky costumes. And the night nurse is about as scary as a strict school teacher. Although in episode 6 and 7 there are two very creepy creatures including a giant spider made out of dolls' heads.

But I would definitely watch this series again and I hope they don't just make a second series but also make up for the lack of spooky creatures by doing a prequel series about Edwin's escape from hell.

Tarot (I) (2024)

A goodish read

[6/10 · 15 May 2024]

In this film Haley (Harriet Slater) and her friends have rented a cabin for the night to celebrate someone's birthday, but things start to go bad when they run out of beer and they start to look around the cabin for some more. But they find some mysterious objects in the basement one of which is a deck of old tarot cards. Haley then gets asked to read everyone's horoscope and at first it seems fine but after they all leave the cabin they start to die in mysterious ways.

At first I enjoyed this film because the first two deaths happened like accidents from a final destination film and the only thing that made them imperfect was a little lack of gore. But the 3rd death just involves a demon killing the girl and the 4th death drags on too long. The 5th death is much better though, although I would have liked to have seen a bit more gore. Another thing I didn't like about the deaths was that just before they happened some ghostly voices started reminding us of the tarot readings and this wasn't scary it was just annoying and could have been cut out because the audience would have at least remembered some if the tarot readings.

But overall I enjoyed this film, I might watch it again and there is a part that mentions that similar things have happened with this tarot deck before and I might be interested in seeing a prequel about these previous events. But if they make a prequel the deaths need to seem more like final destination accidents and be more gory.

Knuckles (2024)

Ok for kids but I think teenagers and adults would enjoy a knuckle sandwich more

[5/10 · 15 May 2024]

This series takes place just after the 2nd sonic movie and Knuckles (Idris Elba) now lives with Sonic and Tails. But he is finding life a little boring with no bad guys and after an amusing scene where he beats up some "threatening" construction workers and tries to turn Tom's (James Marsden) living room into a gladiator arena he goes off to train Deputy Wade Whipple (Adam Pally) to be a warrior, but Wade is a bit a wimp. And meanwhile they are being hunted by a guy played Rory McCann who used to work for Dr Eggman and wants Knuckles' power.

At first I really enjoyed this series because the first 2 episodes were funny, had lots of action and even a few throwbacks to the sega mega drive games. But the 3rd episode where Wade and Knuckles go to hideout at Wade Mum's (Wendy Whipple - Stokkard Channing) house is a bit slow. Although at the end of this episode there is a good fight scene.

And I hated the 4th musical episode. Another thing I didn't like is the boring side plot where Wade and Knuckles are trying to get to a bowling tournament and when they eventually get there not much bowling is shown just a few strikes. I would have preferred it if at least one bowling match was shown where Wade had to make a great comeback by scoring a 7-10 split. There's also a very small boss fight at the end which I would have liked to have been a bit longer.

So overall I didn't enjoy this series and probably won't watch it again. Although I would like to see a prequel series about Knuckles before he came to Earth.

Obituary (2023– )

If you liked the Wednesday series, you should like this

[6/10 · 15 May 2024]

Meet Elvira (Siobhan Cullen) a normal girl, apart from she's obsessed with death, who has just been accepted for her perfect job as an obituary writer. But she soon finds out that obituary writers don't get paid very well especially in the small town where she lives because not many people die. So Elvira decides to start killing people, but so she doesn't get caught she makes the deaths look like accidents or suicides and only kills people that deserve it.

I enjoyed this series, because it's funny in a dark way and there are several parts were Elvira nearly gets caught and this adds tension and also sometimes adds to the comedy. But I do think there should have been more murders and at times I did find the series a bit slow.

The pace of the series also wasn't helped by this side plot where a new reporter (Emerson - Ronan Rafferty) is investigating a mysterious murder that happened 5 years ago. Although this side plot does lead to a good twist at the end I often found it uninteresting.

Although overall I enjoyed this series and I would happily watch a second series if they made one.

Life on Mars (2006–2007)

A good cop series that makes you completely question reality

[8/10 · 6 May 2024]

Meet Sam Tyler (John Simm) a cop who thinks he is from 2006 until he gets hit by a car and somehow goes back to 1973. And now he's he's got to work out if he's gone mad, in a coma or really somehow gone back in time.

I really enjoyed this series mainly because the possibility that he might be in a coma and imagining all this is woven into the plot because 1973 Sam keeps hearing voices on the radio and TV who appear to be from relatives and doctors talking to 2006 Sam and trying to wake him up. There is also one episode where 2006 Sam is accidentally injected with the wrong drugs and that makes 1973 Sam feel sick and have hallucinations. There is also another episode where a criminal who has been arrested by 2006 Sam is getting revenge by hurting him whilst he's in a coma and this is also hurting 1973 Sam. But whilst experiencing this pain 1973 Sam has to try and arrest a younger version of this criminal.

1973 Sam also meets younger versions of other people like his parents, his girlfriend's Mum and Glenn Fletcher who has only just started being a cop in 1973 but in 2006 he's very experienced and he teaches Sam how to be a good cop. I liked meeting these characters because you learn that they're not as perfect as Sam thought they were, but even though they have flaws they aren't all bad.

Another character from 1973 that has flaws is Sam's boss, Gene Hunt played by Philip Glenister who is a very corrupt cop but sometimes he does the right thing and gets a good result. And this character does make me laugh, but he is contradictory because at the beginning of some episodes he'll be corrupt and then at the end he'll learn to do the right thing but then in the next episode he'll be completely corrupt again.

Another character from 1973 that is confusing in one episode is Police Officer Ray Carling, played by Dean Andrews who nearly gets blown up by a car bomb and Sam keeps saying that he needs therapy because he has PTSD, but then in the next episode he seems completely fine.

But the explosive bombs in this episode and the exciting shoot outs, gory crime scenes and painful punch ups that 1973 Sam experiences throughout both seasons made me sit on the edge of my seat and not want to turn the programme off until I reached the end even though the whole 1973 world might be fake.

But when I reached the end it got way too confusing because it suggested that that there might another possibility which is that Sam is really from 1973 and he is only imagining he's really in a coma in 2006. This possibility seemed way too far fetched, confusing and definitely didn't fit in with the rest of the episodes.

Although, despite this ending I would watch and enjoy this series again.

In the Land of Saints and Sinners (2023)

An okish assassin movie with more misses than hits

[4/10 · 28 April 2024]

CAUTION this review contains light spoilers but I don't think I've spoilt the whole film.

This film stars Liam Neeson who is playing his typical role of an assassin (called Finbar) who has recently retired but then decides to help a young girl who is being abused by her Mum's brother in law (Curtis June - Desmond Eastwood.) And he helps the girl by killing Curtis in a scene which builds up a little tension because Curtis attacks him with a knife. But this part also makes Finbar seem unprofessional and frail.

After Curtis is killed his friends, who unfortunately are terrorists, come after Finbar. This leads to another scene that makes Finbar seem unprofessional because he gets caught following Curtis's friend (Doireann McCann - Kerry Condon.) And this could have esculated into a fight but instead Finbar and Doireann just arrange to meet later in a bar.

Finbar's plan for meeting Doireann also doesn't work which again makes him seem unprofessional. But this does lead to a good shoot 'em up scene where Finbar and his new sidekick (Kevin Lynch - Jack Gleeson) have to take on all 3 of Curtis's friends. Even though I mostly enjoyed watching this shoot out there are a few bad things about it one of which is when Kevin gets shot and this makes him seem unprofessional. Although Kevin does also say something after he gets shot that made me laugh. This shoot out does also have a good explosion near the end but after this explosion there is a chase which makes the shoot out go on for a bit too long. After this shoot out the film also drags on for about 10 more minutes which makes it seem too long.

Another thing I didn't like about this film is that it's set in Ireland in the 1970s and Finbar and some of the other actors talk in very fake Irish accents that I struggled to understand.

On the other hand another thing that works mostly well for this film is that Kerry does well at playing a bad guy, but even this doesn't work 100% of the time because at the beginning Doireann and her friends set off a bomb and she feels guilty because a family gets killed in the explosion, but then she doesn't feel bad about hurting Finbar's friends who have nothing to do with Curtis's murder.

So overall I didn't enjoy this film and the only part of it that I might rewatch is the shoot out at the end.

Good Luck to You, Leo Grande (2022)

A goodish, sexy comedy

[6/10 · 19 April 2024]

In this film Nancy Stokes (Emma Thompson) is a widow who has hired an escort called Leo Grande (Daryl McCormack) to give her a crash course in pleasure because her 31 years of marriage were very sexually unsatisfying and she's never even had an orgasm!

And during the first two acts of the film there are loads of one liners that made me giggle but not really laugh out loud. One that stood out is when Leo Grande admits that his Mum thinks he works on an oil rig. But in between these one liners are some awkward sex scenes. Although one awkward sex scene that made me laugh was when Nancy keeps trying to work up the confidence to give Leo a blow job, but she keeps getting interrupted by things like a phone call from her daughter. And the film gets more awkward in the 3rd act when Nancy and Leo have an argument and Leo storms out. And the film gets more and more awkward until it's conclusion where I think they missed a good opportunity to do one last joke.

But I think the reason why this 3rd act wasn't changed was because it showed that sex and life in general isn't always perfect, sometimes it's really awkward and messy but that doesn't mean it can't be enjoyable. And we're all human and we have flaws and needs and they're nothing to be ashamed of. But even though this is an important message, I think the film got too serious when it tried to portray it and I think the film would have been wetter if it had have stuck to being a light-hearted comedy.

Although overall I did have fun watching this comedy and I might watch it again. I do also think that Emma Thompson and Daryl McCormack should be praised because for about 90% of the film it's just them two talking in a hotel room and I think they did very well to keep this mostly entertaining.

Cleaning Up (2019)

Don't trust the cleaners

[6/10 · 16 April 2024]

In this series Sheridan Smith's character is an office cleaner called Sam who works in a stock broker's office. One night she over hears an office worker called Blake (Doc Brown) on the phone talking about a company who's shares are about to go up. And that's when Sam and her friend Jess (Jade Anouka) decide to put a listening device in Blake's office so they can listen to all the information about who's shares will go up. During the part where Sam and Jess plant the listening device the series gets intense, but the side plots drag this series out and make me think that this would have worked better as a mini series of 3-4 episodes or a 90-120 minute film.

One side plot that doesn't work is Sam's gambling addiction because this just makes her an unlikeable character, because any money she gets, including money from her ex-husband's Mum that she was supposed to use to get a present for her youngest daughter, she just gambles away.

Other side plots include two about Sam's other daughter (Alice - Kirsty Philipps) who is 15 years old and is dating a 17 year old man despite the fact that Sam and ex-husband (Dave - Matthew McNulty) don't want her to. And another about Alice finding out about her Mum's gambling addiction and trying to help her.

And there is also another side plot about a loan shark called Warren (Neil Maskell) who is constantly chasing Sam for the thousands of pounds that she owes him.

But one of side plots that works well is when Sam tries to make a bit extra money by making her daughter's sleep in the same bedroom so she she has a spare bedroom to sub-let behind her Landlady's back. This works because she lets it out to a guy called Glyn (Roberts Emms) who is a very funny character. One funny thing in particular that Glyn does is develop a crush on Jess after helping her and Sam with the listening device and Sam lies to him and says that they're going to use it to spy on Jess' boyfriend who she thinks is cheating on her.

But even though these side plots do drag the series out I did find some bits of the series intense, especially when Sam has to keep lying to make sure she doesn't get caught. I also found the last episode very intense because Sam has to think fast to stop her whole plan from falling apart. The last episode also leaves the door open for a second series which I would like to see.

Love, Divided (2024)

An average comedy that made me chuckle a few times, but my neighbors couldn't hear me laughing through the walls.

[5/10 · 15 April 2024]

In this film Aitana plays a girl called Valentina who thinks she's found a nice apartment to move into, but she soon finds out that she can hear everything her neighbor (David - Gullar Fernando) does in his apartment because the walls are very thin.

The film starts off funny because David wants complete silence for his scientific work but Valentina can't provide this because she is trying to be a professional pianist, so they start trying to make each other move out by creating as much noiseas possible. But this joke ends a bit stupidly when Valentina "ups her game" by just doing something small that's not really funny and probably wouldn't have bothered most people.

This joke lasts about 25 minutes and then are still some other jokes and they made me chuckle but not laugh out loud.

Another part that I found quite funny is when Valentina and David start to get to know each other but they decide that they shouldn't meet and should just get to know each other through the thin walls. So they both try to cook lasagna and David's turns out perfectly but Valentina's keeps getting worse and worse.

But overall this film has too much romance and not enough comedy so I probably won't watch it again. And even some of the romantic parts look silly, for example towards the end of the film, David and Valentina have a fight and David does something romantic to win her back but it just came across as more stupid than romantic. Although it might still be a fun movie to watch on a date night.

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023)

I can't believe this film is drowning in bad reviews, I really enjoyed it

[8/10 · 13 April 2024]

This film starts off with Black Mantha (Yahya Abdul Mateen II) looking for Atlantean technology so he use it to get revenge against Aquaman. And whilst looking for it he finds a trident that possesses him with an ancient evil spirit when he touches it. This ancient spirit not only makes him get revenge but also try to destroy the planet. And for some strange reason Aquaman (Jason Momoa) decides that the only person who can help him stop Black Mantha is his brother (Ocean Master - Patrick Wilson.) Even though I didn't fully understand the reason why Aquaman had to free his brother from prison, I did enjoy the prison escape scene because it involved Aquaman and his brother getting chased by the monsters who guard the prison. I think it's this intense chase and another scene later on where Aquaman and his brother are getting chased by giant bugs in a forest that really make this film a good watch.

There are also some goodish laser battles which I enjoyed but I was let down when Aquaman, his brother and his wife (Mera - Amber Heard) all seem to recover really quickly from their injuries. And this makes the match between Aquaman and Black Mantha seem a bit unfair.

But overall I did enjoy this film and I would happily buy it on DVD.

Heart of the Hunter (2024)

A good action film that gets your heart pumping

[8/10 · 7 April 2024]

This film is about a retired spy called Zuko (Bonko khoza) who gets asked to do one last job to protect his family. And I know that storyline doesn't sound original at all, but I really enjoyed this film. It's not quite as good as some of Netflix's top action films such as The Interceptor or Extraction but I would still recommend it and if it gets taken off Netflix and given a physical release I would definitely buy it.

I enjoyed the action in this film because there was a good mixture of fist and gory knife fights and there was also some good shooting action as well. But some of the shooting was a bit unrealistic because even the highly trained bad guys couldn't seem to shoot Zuko from a couple of feet away.

It was also a nice surprise when one of the bad guys turned out to be a double agent and she showed that she's not just a damsel in distress, but I would have liked to have seen her do a bit more fighting and/or killing.

The Bad Guys (2022)

Good for kids, badish for adults

[5/10 · 6 April 2024]

The film starts off good by introducing the bad guys, Wolf (Sam Rockwell), Tarantula (Awkwafina), Sr Cobra (Marc Maron), Shark (Craig Robinson) and Mr Piranha (Anthony Ramos) in a bank robbery and a car chase that should at least mildly entertain the whole family.

After the car chase the bad guys get arrested and decide to try to get away with getting arrested by suggesting that they turn good, but the public don't know that there real intention is to pretend to be good so they get a chance at performing a big heist.

When the bad guys pretend to be good the story gets a bit far fetched because after a little act of kindness everybody starts liking them, but in reality I don't think this act of kindness would have made up for a lifetime of crime.

Although there are some funny moments when the bad guys turn good for example they try to save a bunch of hamsters from an animal testing facility but Sr Cobra ends up eating the hamsters.

Towards the end there is also another good car chase and a twist that might surprise the whole family. And overall I had some fun with this film and if my daughter's want to watch it again I might look forward to it.

Glass (2019)

A fragile ending to a good trilogy

[6/10 · 6 April 2024]

In this film you see David (Bruce Willis) take on The Beast/Kevin and it is good to see Bruce Willis as one of the main characters in a film, but even though this film starts off good there are some slow bits. The film starts off good by drawing you in and telling you that The Beast has kidnapped another four girls and it's up to David to save them before it's too late. When David finds them there is a good fight between him and the Beast and in this fight you can see that they're just as strong as each other which makes it a good match.

After the fight Kevin and David both get arrested and put in the same psychiatric facility that Mr Glass (Samuel L Jackson) was put in shortly after he set off the bomb in the Unbreakable film. At this point the film does slow down, but it is clever how the staff at the facility are keeping Kevin and David locked up even though they are very strong. You also do wonder how Mr Glass is escaping from his room and wondering around at night.

At the end there is a good showdown between David and The Beast, but even though this showdown has some action and introduces some good twists the climax to this showdown isn't very good. I think this film would have worked better if David and Kevin hadn't have been arrested at the start, then they could have been fighting or looking for each other throughout the film. But overall I found this film watchable and when I re-watched Unbreakable and Split, I might feel like watching it again but I'm not going to rush out to buy it. I also think that there is potential to make a spin-off in the future which I would be interested to watch.

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024)

A roaring good monster movie

[7/10 · 29 March 2024]

This film starts off by showing how Kong is adapting to living in middle earth, how people are watching Kong to make sure he's ok and also how they are watching Godzilla to make he's keeping humans safe by fighting monsters. Whilst watching Kong a strange signal comes from middle earth and a team of people decide to go down and see what's causing this signal. And they find out that the signal is a distress signal, but what is calling for help and why are they calling for help?

Whilst the team of people is exploring middle earth to find out what this signal is the world looks amazing, especially in 3D. And there are some fight scenes between Kong and other monsters and we also see glimpses of Godzilla fighting monsters as well, but I felt like some of these fights were cut short.

One of the humans that's exploring middle earth is called Trapper (Dan Stevens) and the jokes he cracks are good. Trapper is also a vet who helps Kong with his arm after it gets injured in a fight with a monster and he helps by giving him this robotic arm. Again gadgets like these are something I would have liked to have seen more of.

Even though I thought some of the fight scenes were cut short I did enjoy the monster battle at the end, but one of the monsters in this final fight is Mothra and I would have liked to have seen her do more. Overall though I had a good time watching this film and I'm looking forward to the next film in this series.

Cat and Dog (2024)

A "comedy" that's a bit ruff around the edges

[5/10 · 28 March 2024]

In this film Frank Dubosc plays Jack, a jewel thief who's priceless ruby gets swallowed by a stray dog and now he has no option but to adopt this dog and wait until it poos out his ruby. And shortly after adopting the dog he gets chased by police officer, Brandt (Philippe Lacheau) to a crowded airport where he meets a famous cat called Diva (voiced by Ines Reg) who gets glammed by her owner (Reem Kharki) so she can post videos and pictures of her on Instagram. Unfortunately after Jack and Diva's owner board a plane to New York, Diva and Jack's dog fall out of their cages. And Jack and Diva's owner try to catch them but Diva and Jack's dog think that their owners have flown to New York so they try to make their own way there.

And at first I was enjoying this comedy but a 1/3 of the way into the film some of the jokes aren't funny at all for example I thought it was weird when the dog thought his name was poo poo because his owner kept telling him to poo. And this is followed by some really bad acting. And also by the end the really bad CGI cat and dog annoyed me.

But during the last 2/3s of the movie there are some bits of the film that made me chuckle slightly for example there is this part at the end where Jack and Diva's owner are in a van and Brandt tries to pull Jack out but he ends up getting dragged along and hit in the balls by a pole.

But overall I was only kept mildly entertained throughout the film and I probably won't watch it again or even recommend it to a kid because there's better kids films on Netflix.

Just Like Heaven (2005)

A dead goodish comedy

[6/10 · 28 March 2024]

Meet Elizabeth (Reese Witherspoon) a workaholic nurse who finally decides to have a social life and go on a blind date, but on her way to meet her date she has a horrible car accident.

Meet David (Mark Ruffalo) a man who's just split up with his girlfriend and has found the perfect apartment for a fresh start, right?

Wrong, shortly after moving in he starts seeing Elizabeth disappear and re-appear like a ghost. And at first this is quite funny because Elizabeth won't accept that she's dead and tries to make make David leave, but David is determined to stay in this nice apartment.

But when Mark and Elizabeth start to try to find out why Mark is the only person that can see Elizabeth's spirit is when the film starts to get less funny and a bit soppy especially towards the end.

But there are some funny bits in this part of the film, for example there's a scene where Mark tries to convince Elizabeth's sister (Abby - Dina Spybey) that he can see Elizabeth's spirit and she thinks that he's crazy and threatens to take him out with a machete unless he leaves her house immediately. And overall I was kept entertained for most of the film and I would probably watch it again on Netflix, but I wouldn't buy it on DVD.

The Mother (2023)

A good (but not great) action film, Jennifer Lopez show that she not only knows how to shake her ass but also how to kick ass

[7/10 · 27 March 2024]

In this film Jennifer Lopez plays an unnamed marine operative who gets romantically involved with an arms smuggler called Hector Almarez (Gal Garcia Bernal) and after falling pregnant she finds out that he is also involved in child trafficking. So she decides to go to the FBI as an informant and whilst they are questioning her in a "safe house" they get attacked by Hector and his henchmen. During the attack the mother saves officer William Cruiser's life (Omari Hardwick) and also gets stabbed in the stomach. Because of the stab wound the mother is forced to give birth prematurely and decides that her baby isn't going to be safe with her so she waives her parental rights and let's Cruise watch the baby from a distance on three conditions. 1. The baby gets as ordinary a life as possible, 2. The mother gets a photo of her every birthday and 3. Cruise must call the mother immediately if the baby's life is in jeopardy.

After this the film goes forward 12 years to when some of Hector's men have been arrested and during the arrest police find a picture of the daughter, Zoe and Cruise decides to call Zoe's mum. The mother then comes out of hiding to make sure Zoe is safe and whilst watching Zoe from a carpark she sees her get kidnapped by Hector's men.

During this scene you find out how skilled the mother is with a sniper rifle and she pulls off some magnificent shots. There is also a scene shortly after this where the mother does some even better sniper shots. And these shooting scenes are my favourite thing about the movie.

But the film does slow down a little where Zoe and her mum are forced to hideout in the mother's secret house in Alaska. And during this scene the mother tries to toughen Zoe up by teaching things like how to shoot a gun. During this part there is some bad acting and it isn't as action packed as the beginning but you do still get the feeling that soon Hector and is henchmen will find them soon which is exciting.

At the end there is a good action scene where the mother has to fight off the last of Hector's henchmen and during this scene there is a fist fight between Hector and the mother and I would have liked to have seen more fist fights throughout the film but overall I enjoyed watching this film and would happily watch it again and again.

Is It Cake? (2022– )

A unique baking show that makes you question everything

[7/10 · 21 March 2024]

A delicious, unique baking show that you can join in with at home and/or enjoy in the background whilst doing some housework. But just like most cakes, there is always room for improvement.

In this baking show, 10 amateur bakers compete to win a 50,000 dollar jackpot by making cakes that look like everyday objects. In the first round a selection of the bakers try to find an illusion cake amongst a bunch of everyday objects all of which have a certain theme like a camping site or a college bedroom. You can join in with this round but I sometimes think it is rigged for example in the 1st series there are always 2 bakers who get the answer right. In this round whoever finds the cake the fastest gets to choose which kind of illusion cake they will try to make in the 2nd round where they have to try to fool 3 judges to get through to the 3rd round.

The 2nd round is good because you get to see how the bakers make these cakes and some of the flavours sound delicious. But I don't enjoy the part of this round where you meet the judges because most of these judges are minor celebrities which are sometimes funny but I've also never heard of them and it would be better if they were chefs or contestants from a previous baking show like British bake off. The winner of this round is the person who manages to fool the judges and if more than one person fools the judges then the judges will make a decision about which cake is best vision and taste wise. I do also think that this round is sometimes rigged because if the judges get it wrong their 2nd guess usually seems to be correct.

The winner of the 2nd round wins 5000 dollars and goes through to the 3rd round where they have to try to choose which object full of money is real and which is cake so they can win another 5000 and if they don't win this 5000 rolls over on to the next show. This is good because it sometimes makes the prizes really big and exciting. And even though sometimes the first two rounds seem rigged I still enjoy the show and can't wait until the next season because I still think you can join in with the guessing at home.

I also like the host of this show because he is really funny but I think it would be better if he had some baking experience, because sometimes when he's talking about baking he sounds like an idiot.

Saw X (2023)

A bloody goodish horror movie

[6/10 · 10 March 2024]

Compared to Saw 1-7 and Spiral this gory movie is pretty average but it is still watchable and does have some unique gory twists.

This slice of Saw is set in between Saw 1 and 2 and tells the story of when John Kramer (Tobin Bell) was told about a group of doctors who can perform successful miracle surgeries on cancer patients. But it turns out that the doctor's isn't real and they're just taking money off these poor, desperate patients. Although when John finds out that it's all a scam he decides to get revenge.

At first this film does seem a bit slow because it just shows how John is coping with having cancer and how he finds out about these doctors. The film does try to entertain you with a short gory game near the beginning but the ending to this game is disappointing.

When John finds out about the scam and kidnaps the doctors the games he makes them play are unique and gory but they are also a bit short. I think it would have worked better if the film had started off with the doctor's getting kidnapped, then you could have done a longer, gorier game and mixed it in with some flash backs showing why and how John choose these doctors.

Another thing that let this movie down was that John and his accomplice, Amanda (Shawnee Smith) looked quite a bit older than they do in the other early Saw films, which I know is gard to correct because they were made quite a while ago, but i think they could have looked younger or maybe the writer's could have chosen different actors.

There is also a goodish twist at the end which brought back memories of how the Saw games in the early movies kept me wondering what was going to happen next. But this twist also made John and Amanda look a bit unprofessional especially if you compare it to how they kept fooling the police in the early Saw films.

Overall though I did have fun watching this film but I'm not sure if I'll watch it again, because when I feel like watching a Saw movie I'll probably just watch either Saw 1-7 or Spiral.

Mea Culpa (2024)

More of a rubbish porn film than a court drama

[3/10 · 8 March 2024]

A really bad court drama with only a few interesting moments and mostly comes across as more of a bad porn film.

The film is about a lawyer called Mea Culpa (Kelly Rowlands) who is a bit desperate for money because her boyfriend lost his job. So she tries to defend Zyair Malloy (Trevante Rhodes) who has been accused of murdering his girlfriend. And even though there is a lot of evidence that might prove that he did it, he seems more concerned with seducing Mea than he does about whether or not he is going to end up in jail. This mostly makes the film seem silly and laughable.

Even the way Zyair seduces Mea isn't romantic so I don't think it would even be a good film to watch when you and your partner are in a romantic mood on a day like Valentine's Day. And also the sex scenes do seem weird which again makes it a bad film to watch even when you're horny.

There a few positives in this film, for example it starts off good when Mea and her private detective friend, Jimmy (RonRaeco Lee) are investigating the murder and find out some surprising things about Zyair's girlfriend. But this part is dwarfed by the weird ways Zyair tries to seduce Mea which takes up most of the film. The film does also get a bit more intense and introduce a good twist in the last 10-20 minutes. And even though there is a good fight scene in this bit, I was very bored and had almost turned it off by then. Also after watching this film once I know what the twist is so I don't even think I could fast forward through the bad bits during a second viewing and have a mildly entertaining time.

Wicked Little Letters (2023)

A goodish who wrote it mystery/comedy

[7/10 · 6 March 2024]

This is a quite good comedy that made me chuckle a lot, but didn't make me laught out much. However I probably would watch it again if it got put on Netflix.

The film is set in the 1920s when Edith Swan (Olivia Coleman) starts receiving annonymous letters full of rude insults. After the 19th letter her father, Edward Swan (Timothy Spall) decides to go to the police. Straight away next door neighbour, Rose Gooding (Jessie Buckley) is accused and everyone thinks she is the culprit apart from female police officer, Gladys Moss (Anjana Vasan) but no one will believe her, especially not her superiors.

I enjoyed the mystery element of this film because even when you find out who's sending the letters you wonder if they'll get caught and if so, how? I also enjoyed when these letters were read aloud because the writer's insults do go into quite a lot of detail. And even though the jokes surrounding these insults do seem a bit repetitive at times, they do lead to some very funny parts towards the end. However the ending is let down by some unbelievable bits.