Movie: The Big Short A star-studded take on the Global Financial Crisis that’s part drama, part TED talk, and regularly breaks the fourth wall to help explain advanced financial concepts to the audience. Some needless adult content that seems to be included to push up the rating rather than help serve the plot. Perhaps its …
Author Archives: cafedave
stan: Ernest and Celestine
Stan: Ernest and Celestine Can mice and bears ever be friends? This charming animation (voiced by Forest Whitaker) tells a story of xenophobia, prejudice, and creativity. It’s a little scary for very small children, hence the PG rating.
Movie: The Hateful Eight
Movie: The Hateful Eight Tarantino’s latest movie is part mystery, part character study of awful people, part scenes of violence that are in keeping with his usual tradition. The cinematography is strong – especially for a film that’s so often set in enclosed spaces. There’s so much objectionable content, it’s hard to know where to …
Stan: Muriel’s Wedding
Stan: Muriel’s Wedding I’m not a completist when it comes to Australian films, but a couple of people had mentioned this film in a short space of time, and I had some spare time, so I sat down to watch it. If you haven’t seen it, it’s a time capsule of 1990’s Australiana. The ABBA …
Movie: The Good Dinosaur
Movie: The Good Dinosaur Widely reported as the first bad Pixar movie, this is a beautiful looking film that lacks the spectacular quality of character and story we’ve come to expect from Pixar. There’s a set-up, an unhappy event, and then a lot of travelling, and a resolution, but not much else. A little too …
Netflix: Cinderella
Netflix: Cinderella Director Kenneth Bramagh has made an earnest, good-and-evil adaptation of the classic fairy tale, and kept it G-rated throughout, despite the deep unhappiness that is the expected trajectory of Ella’s life.
Netflix: A Very Murray Christmas
Netflix: A Very Murray Christmas Moments of cleverness and an interesting experiment, but seems a bit too niche even for Netflix. Chris Rock and George Clooney are enjoyable in their scenes.
Three Little Bops
Watching the video for “Istanbul (not Constantinople)” I noticed that there’s a building called the “dew drop inn” which prompted me to look for this old Warner Bros classic (in this Three Little Bops video, with live jazz accompaniment). Bad theology aside, it’s a glimpse into the past, and a way to share Warner Bros …
Apple TV – Sherlock: the abominable bride
Watched Sherlock – the abominable bride with friends. The series continues its high-quality mysteries, keeps deepening the relationship between its principal characters and does it all with a clever twist on time-travel. If you like the series, this is more of the excellent same.
Underestimating the power of a fresh start
Today was a fairly poorly-considered start to the year. Instead of having a ready-to-use check list of all the things I want to do differently, I treated it as any other day. Failed attempt to sleep in – kids had other ideas. Attempts a Christmas present jigsaw puzzle that proved too hard for the kids. …
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