First Viewing Viewing Date: September 7th Via: iTunes Store Plot: In a world where people collect Pokémon to do battle, a boy comes across an intelligent talking Pikachu who seeks to be a detective. Rating: 7.3/10 You can read my review here
Revisit Viewing Date: September 6th Via: iTunes Store Plot: Singer Dewey Cox overcomes adversity to become a musical legend. Rating: 7.7/10
First Viewing Viewing Date: September 6th Via: iTunes Store Plot: When a young boy and his family attend a live taping of The Banana Splits TV Show, the mechanical characters begin to go on a murderous rampage. Rating: 6.9/10
First Viewing Viewing Date: September 6th Via: iTunes Store Plot: Vicenarian Richard travels to Thailand and finds himself in possession of a strange map. Rumours state that it leads to a solitary beach paradise, a tropical bliss. Excited and intrigued, he sets out to find it. Rating: 7.2/10
First Viewing Viewing Date: September 4th Via: Cinema Plot: Twenty-seven years after their first encounter with the terrifying Pennywise, the Losers Club have grown up and moved away, until a devastating phone call brings them back. Rating: 7.6/10
First Viewing Viewing Date: September 2nd Via: Blu-ray Plot: A female werewolf runs away from her family, and falls in love with a man who works in the movie business, while a sociologist who studies these creatures is looking for proof of their existence. Rating: 6.2/10 You can read my review here
An involving, at times horrifying animated classic
“A passion project for writer-director Martin Rosen, 1978's Watership Down is an adaptation of the treasured novel of the same name by Richard Adams, compressing the 413-page source into a streamlined 92-minute animated movie. At its core, this is a survivalist adventure picture with political undert” read more
First Viewing Viewing Date: September 1st Via: Google Play Plot: When Michael Kingley, a successful retired businessman starts to see images from his past that he can't explain, he's forced to remember his childhood and how, as a boy, he rescued and raised an extraordinary orphaned pelican, Mr Percival. Rating: 6.8/10
First Viewing Viewing Date: August 30th Via: Cinema Plot: Secret Service Agent Mike Banning is framed for the attempted assassination of the President and must evade his own agency and the FBI as he tries to uncover the real threat. Rating: 7.7/10
An undeniable classic of Australian cinema
“A seminal, award-winning Australian film which remains a classroom staple across the country, 1976's Storm Boy is an adaptation of Colin Thiele's beloved children's book of the same name, telling a sincere coming-of-age tale steeped in Australian culture. Scripted by Sonia Borg (Blue Fin, Dark Age) ” read more
First Viewing Viewing Date: August 29th Via: iTunes Store Plot: What if a child from another world crash-landed on Earth, but instead of becoming a hero to mankind, he proved to be something far more sinister? Rating: 6.6/10
A sincere and mostly effective romantic drama
“Romantic dramas involving terminal illness were popularised again with the 2014 box office hit The Fault in Our Stars, an adaptation of the popular young adult novel of the same name. 2019's Five Feet Apart ditches cancer in favour of cystic fibrosis, with screenwriters Mikki Daughtry and Tobias Iac” read more
First Viewing Viewing Date: August 28th Via: iTunes Store Plot: Toby, a disillusioned film director, becomes pulled into a world of time-jumping fantasy when a Spanish cobbler believes him to be Sancho Panza. He gradually becomes unable to tell dreams from reality. Rating: 6.2/10
First Viewing Viewing Date: August 24th Via: iTunes Store Plot: Fountain Lakes' foxy ladies who turn more than just heads when they go on an overseas trip and end up being the centre of their very own fairytale. Rating: 5.5/10
The first and only telemovie incarnation of Kath and Kim (the theatrical movie was to come seven years later), this de facto Christmas special represents a feature-length episode of the TV series - and that's totally okay with me. Although it could probably have done with being a little shorter, and excising the subplots creating break-up-to-make-up scenarios, there's still a lot to like and enjoy about this special. It carries the same wild energy, the same charm, and the same high level of laughs as the TV show, and we get to see how these characters deal with a family Christmas. Sharon still has no hope with the guys, and there are a few fun cameos sprinkled throughout to add further flavour to the production. This is well worth watching.
Viewed: Seasons 1-4
This is one of those Australian TV shows that was insanely popular and iconic back in the day, but I never actually got into. Watching all four seasons now, I'm disappointed that it took me so long to get to it - it's insanely enjoyable and frequently hilarious, peppered with memorable lines and uproarious non-sequiturs. I can also appreciate it on a new level in 2019, as it represents something of a time capsule which shows what suburban Australia was like in the early 2000s. The cast are completely game, with Jane Turner and Gina Riley disappearing into the titular roles (plus playing fun additional characters along the way), while Glenn Robbins is a pleasure to watch in anything (if you haven't seen All Aussie Adventures, fix that). The show is rarely dull throughout its consistent four-season run, and I already know that I'll be rewatching this for many years to come.