May 2021 – NERVE.SQUID.PILOT

THE DRY (2020)

Small town murder mystery against the backdrop of Australian drought.

A well constucted thriller with solid performances, great cinematography and a permeating hostile atmosphere overlaying the modern case with a unsolved death in the town 25 years earlier.

The dry, dead isolation of inner coastal Australia is on full display, with dusty wide empty expanses and a penetrating, tinderbox feeling of heat and impending ruin. The town has known hardships, and those that live there are stretched thin.

For them, a second tragedy might be the tipping point that finally destroys the community, and Aaron (Eric Bana) returning to town only serves to open old wounds.

Not more to add that wouldn’t verge on spoilers, so if you know this is your genre fare you can’t go wrong with this one.

Recommended.

May 25, 2021 by Thomas Scott Holland

ARMY OF THE DEAD (2021)

Y’all, Zack Snyder is not a good filmmaker. I’m sorry if this is how you had to find out.

His pacing is awful, his characters are flat, and his one usual exception (that famous eye for dazzling cinematography, usually by filming comic compositions other people designed) is almost entirely absent here.

TL;DR: movie bad, too long, not fun, very boring, do not watch.

Otherwise, FULL SPOILERS AHEAD…

May 23, 2021 by Thomas Scott Holland

SOUND OF METAL (2019)

A metal/noise drummer suddenly experiences almost total hearing loss and has to deal with a complete upheaval of his nomadic life.

This came in with the 2021 Oscar for best sound design, and for good reason. Never treated like a gimmick, the audio design switches seamless from traditional cinematic mixing to diegetic character perspective to atmospheric sound that many of us would have taken for granted.

Riz Ahmed drops a fantastic performance as Ruben, drawing parallels with the drummer’s heroin addiction and the sudden withdrawal from that which had saved his life once before — music itself.

Comparisons are apt for 2004’s It’s All Gone, Pete Tong (a great mockumentary about a DJ undergoing a similar seachange following the loss of his hearing), but the ultimate trajectory, tone and message of the two stories are vastly different.

A powerful and moving, and at times abrasive, sensory experience. Well recommended.

May 17, 2021 by Thomas Scott Holland

THE MITCHELLS vs THE MACHINES (2021)

Sony Animation has really been knocking it out of the park lately!

Kinetic, hyperactive and full up with heart, this is the very definition of a modern family film run through a Gen Z TikTok filter and imbued with strong, colourful energy.

Hits all the usual beats of this sort of fare and does so with infectious enthusiasm and personality.

The animation style is brilliant, the voice cast is A-grade, the dog is hysterical.

FOR ALL MANKIND (s01/02)

An alternate history drama where the Russians landed on the moon first, kicking off a prolonged, multi-generational space race of one-upmanship sustained by the wounded pride of the United States.

It’s bloody great.

Moreover, it’s a fascinating exploration of human motivations to greatness and high ambition as well as being a very grounded look at the hardships of space travel and what might have been but only for a few key moments of our own history going slightly one way or another.

Highly recommended.

May 16, 2021 by Thomas Scott Holland

INVINCIBLE s01

It’s tough to really discuss what sets this apart from any other coming-of-age superpowered story without utterly spoiling the thing that sets it apart.

So more generally I can say that it has fun takes on a lot of well-worn tropes and has a couple of refreshing things to say on the way these sorts of stories play out.

The voice cast is incredible and the action is visceral, even if the animation outside of the grand set pieces can tend to sway on the cheaper side. Still, it didn’t detract.

You’ll know if you’re on board by the time the credits on the first episode finish rolling.

Absolutely not for kids.

Recommended.

SPOILERS AHEAD

May 7, 2021 by Thomas Scott Holland