Category: reviews

BETWEEN TWO FERNS: THE MOVIE (2019)

Basically a dozen or so new interviews loosely hung together by a pretense that’s flimsy enough not to really matter overall.

I mean, you’re just here to watch Zach Galifianakis be mean to celebrities, right? In that regard, it’s hilarious. If you can make it through without cracking up at something, I don’t know what to tell you.

Wall-to-wall cheap jokes. Misspelled names gave me the snorts. Will Ferrell as Will Ferrell But On More Cocaine was also great. The over-credit outtakes absolutely destroyed me.

Good for a rainy day or a drunk watch.

by Thomas Scott Holland

DISENCHANTMENT s02 (2019)

EDIT: I had originally labelled the show as Disenchanted, which is something that I’ve noticed a whole lot of people have also done. Whether that’s a reflection on the title or our collective brain-fart, I dunno. But…

A step up from the first season, but still kinda middling.

Feels more like late-game Simpsons than any of the really good Groening stuff, and has a tendency to explain or vocalise a joke rather than trust in itself or let it play as a visual gag.

You could skip it.

by Thomas Scott Holland

WILD WILD COUNTRY (2018)

The first on a long backlog of Things Thom Meant To Watch But Is Just Now Getting To is this Netflix documentary charting the rise and fall of a commune in Oregon during the 80s.

An absolutely fascinating look into an absurdly ambitious project, even more so when you consider the disconnect between the fears the locals had of being overrun by an incoming foreign culture they didn’t understand and… well… *gestures broadly at The United States*.

Just the logisitics alone of building such a thing in so little time is captivating, even considering the darker turn things inevitably take.

It’s six eps at around an hour apiece, really starts to twist the knife about halfway through.

Definitely worth a look.

by Thomas Scott Holland

MOONRAKER (1979)

Of all the Bond films, this is probably the series at its most absolutely ridiculous and is all the more hilarious and charming for it.

It’s got it all! Casual sexism, bad green screen, a laser battle, hot astronauts, a guy popping out of a coffin in a gondola throwing knives only to be killed by his own knives, a doomsday/repopulation plot, terrifying clowns, another gondola that transforms into a hovercraft that causes a pigeon to do a double-take…

Seriously, if you want to settle in with a bottle of wine and be wildly entertained for two hours, get on it.

Casual observation: I wonder how much Peter Dinklage’s Tyrion Lannister draws from the mannerisms and tone of Hugo Drax? Actor Michael Lonsdale even bears more than a passing resemblance, it’s uncanny.

by Thomas Scott Holland

REVIEW SPECTACULAR 5: 2019 EDITION

If you’re just now dropping in on these:

I’ve been doing quick reviews/recommendations via FB for years but have finally decided to move them over to the blog here.
There are five collections dating back to 2016 posted now, but from here on out each new review will get its own post so follow my various social medias for notifications!
I try to stay mostly spoiler free and give my impressions and broad recommendations over any in-depth discussions of plot etc. So much of the fun is going into a film or series knowing very little, but there’s always exceptions.
No ratings as they’re too reductive.
I don’t always watch things right when they come out and I don’t always watch everything.
Sometimes I’ll have rewatched something and have noted what I thought that time.

Here’s all of my 2019 watches so far, starting from the most recent:

IT: CHAPTER TWO (2019)
GLOW s03 (2019)
DARK PHOENIX (2019)
MINDHUNTER s02 (2019)
MEN IN BLACK INTERNATIONAL (2019)
ROBIN HOOD: MEN IN TIGHTS (1993)
INVADER ZIM: ENTER THE FLORPUS (2019)
TRAIN TO BUSAN (2016)
THE BOYS s01 (2019)
ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD (2019)
THE WAILING (2016)
THE LION KING (2019)
DUMBO (2019)
DETECTIVE PIKACHU (2019)
HELLBOY (2019)
HALLOWEEN (2018)
SHAZAM! (2019)
STRANGER THINGS s03 (2019)
MIDSOMMAR (2019)
SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME (2019)
OVERLORD (2018)
BLACKKKLANSMAN (2018)
VEEP (s01-07)
CHERNOBYL (2019)
JOHN WICK 3: PARABELLUM (2019)
GODZILLA: KING OF MONSTERS (2019)
ALADDIN (2019)
AVENGERS: ENDGAME (2019)
mY GAME OF THRONS REVEIW (2019)
BUMBLEBEE (2019)
PET SEMATARY (2019)
ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT s05 (2019)
AQUAMAN (2018)
BLOOD MERIDIAN or THE EVENING REDNESS IN THE WEST – Cormac McCarthy (1985)
US (2019)
LOVE, DEATH & ROBOTS (2019)
MUPPET TREASURE ISLAND (1996)
CAPTAIN MARVEL (2019)
RUSSIAN DOLL s01 (2019)
ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL (2019)
LOST IN SPACE s01 (2018)
VELVET BUZZSAW (2019)
GHOST STORIES (2018)
BLACK MIRROR: BANDERSNATCH (2018)
THE BALLAD OF BUSTER SCRUGGS (2018)
MOWGLI (2018)

Enjoy!

Continue reading “REVIEW SPECTACULAR 5: 2019 EDITION”

by Thomas Scott Holland

REVIEW SPECTACULAR 4: STILL SPECTACULAR IN 2018

Continuing on, here’s the 2018 batch (and some of late 2017)!
Click through for the reviews.

SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE (2018)
THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE (2018)
CASTLEVANIA s02 (2018)
DAREDEVIL s03 (2018)
VENOM (2018)
THE PREDATOR (2018)
IRON FIST s02 (2018)
THE NIGHT IS SHORT, WALK ON GIRL (2018)
DISENCHANTED s01 (2018)
THE MEG (2018)
JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM (2018)
BLOCKERS (2018)
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: FALLOUT (2018)
READY PLAYER ONE (2018)
PACIFIC RIM: UPRISING (2018)
SORRY TO BOTHER YOU (2018)
A QUIET PLACE (2018)
ANT-MAN & THE WASP (2018)
THE EXPANSE s03 (2018)
THE INCREDIBLES 2 (2018)
WESTWORLD s02 (2018)
LUKE CAGE s02 (2018)
HEREDITARY (2018)
SOLO (2018)
DEADPOOL 2 (2018)
AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR (2018)
THE TERROR s01 (2018)
THE MAGICIANS s03 (2018)
THE RITUAL (2017)
RED SPARROW (2018)
TOMB RAIDER (2018)
ANNIHILATION (2018)
BLACK PANTHER (2018)
BRIGHT (2017)
THE GOOD PLACE s02 (2018)
THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EPPING MISSOURI (2017)
LADY BIRD (2017)
THE SHAPE OF WATER (2017)
JUSTICE LEAGUE (2017)
COCO (2017)
BLACK MIRROR s04 (2017)
WIND RIVER (2017)
LOGAN LUCKY (2017)
THE SINNER (2017)
THE PUNISHER s01 (2017)

Continue reading “REVIEW SPECTACULAR 4: STILL SPECTACULAR IN 2018”

by Thomas Scott Holland

REVIEW SPECTACULAR 3 (years since the last one)

I’ve been trawling through all of my old reviews in the interest of gathering them in one place, so if you’ve ever wondered what I watched in 2017 and what I thought of it then wonder no longer!
I don’t have any sort of “Jump To:” feature available, so here’s a list of everything posted below:

LOVING VINCENT (2017)
GERALD’S GAME (2017)
THOR: RAGNAROK (2017)
STRANGER THINGS s02 (2017)
BLADERUNNER 2049 (2017)
mother! (2017)
IT (2017)
SENSE8 s01/02 (2017)
DEATH NOTE (2017)
RINGS (2017)
THE DARK TOWER (2017)
VALERIAN & THE CITY OF A THOUSAND PLANETS (2017)
WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES (2017)
THE MUMMY (2017)
SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING (2017)
BABY DRIVER (2017)
WONDER WOMAN (2017)
ALIEN: COVENANT (2017)
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL.2 (2017)
GHOST IN THE SHELL (2017)
YOUR NAME (2016)

Continue reading “REVIEW SPECTACULAR 3 (years since the last one)”

by Thomas Scott Holland

REVIEW SPECTACULAR 2: The Reviewening

It’s that time again! Moving the backlog over from my Facebook page, here’s a gathering of various reviews over the past few months all together in one handy post! Get amongst it:

PREACHER s01 (2016)
ONE PUNCH MAN s01 (2015)
POPSTAR: NEVER STOP NEVER STOPPING (2016)
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES 2: OUT OF THE SHADOWS (2016)
WARCRAFT (2016)
THE LOBSTER (2015)
MACBETH (2015)
GODS OF EGYPT (2016)
KEANU (2016)
X-MEN: APOCALYPSE (2016)

Continue reading “REVIEW SPECTACULAR 2: The Reviewening”

by Thomas Scott Holland

REVIEW SPECTACULAR

I’ve been randomly posting short reviews here and there for films and music and books and such over the years. It’s also where the updates to this page go when I fire them off into the internet stratosphere, so it’s far easier to have that page followed than it is to continually check in here for new posts, otherwise I’ll aim to do a collection like this a few times a year here. For the most part I try to skirt around spoilers, unless otherwise noted.
Meanwhile, here’s a copy/paste recap of the lot back to December 2015.
Click through for the full reviews.

CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR (2016)
THE JUNGLE BOOK (2016)
ZOOLANDER 2 (2016)
10 CLOVERFIELD LANE (2016)
BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE (2016)
KRAMPUS (2015)
THE VVITCH (2016)
DEADPOOL (2016)
THE LAST WITCH HUNTER (2015)
THE PEANUTS MOVIE (2015)
SPECTRE (2015)
THE REVENANT (2015)
STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS (2015)
FARGO s02 (2015)

Continue reading “REVIEW SPECTACULAR”

by Thomas Scott Holland

“VALIS” — Philip K Dick (1981)

“Reality it that which, once you stop believing in it, does not go away.” — PKD, Valis, 1981

Having been an ardent fan of Philip K Dick for most of my lifetime, it actually took me quite a while to get around to VALIS amongst his catalogue of work. If I had arrived at it earlier, certainly it would have coloured much of my perception of the man going on to his other stories, because I’m now utterly convinced that this is where he went off the rails. The first in a series of novels that he never completed due to his death prior to the release of BLADE RUNNER – an adaptation of his vastly superior novel DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP? – perhaps I’m selling the story short overall given that the complete narrative has not and will not ever have a chance to come full circle.

Continue reading ““VALIS” — Philip K Dick (1981)”

by Thomas Scott Holland