Toy Story 5

This is a version of a review airing on ABC Victoria's Statewide Mornings program on June 24, 2026.

(G) ★★★★

Director: Andrew Stanton.

Cast: (voices of) Joan Cusack, Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Scarlett Spears, Greta Lee, Conan O'Brien, Shelby Rabara, Mykal-Michelle Harris, Craig Robinson. 

Ghosts were more hi-tech these days.

It's been 31 years since Toy Story changed everything.

While someone else would have made a fully computer-animated feature film eventually if Pixar hadn't in 1995, Toy Story's true legacy is that it's a genuinely fantastic movie, regardless of its status as a CGI first. This meant that the bar was set incredibly for all computer-animated films right from the get-go,  while simultaneously legitimising it as an artform from day one.

Then came the sequels, and each has been just as fantastic as the original. #2 upped the game massively with an even more compelling story and better animation even though only four years had passed, #3 is the peak of the series, taking the action, humour and pathos to new heights, and #4 is an hilarious but surprisingly compelling footnote to the series.

#5 is easily the worst film of the series, but when we're talking about Toy Story, that's not necessarily a putdown. The Toy Story franchise sets such a tough pass mark that #5 can be a genuinely great and enjoyable film, while still being the worst in the series. It's a four-star film in a five-star series, and that's nothing to be sneezed at.

The story centres on Bonnie (Spears) getting her first piece of tech - an iPad-like tablet called Lilypad, which throws the eight-year-old into a new world of online friends, cyber-bullying, and trying to fit in. As she ditches her toys for tech, cowgirl Jessie (Cusack) decides to fight back, unwilling to be left behind by another child.

With its central theme of "tech is ruining children", Toy Story 5 has a level of pontificating in its first half that none of the other films in the franchise have, making it feel like a belaboured after-school special initially. The lecturing sucks some of the humour out of proceedings, and it makes you fear you're in for the worst.

But the Pixar boffins are better than that and soon enough something more interesting emerges from the black-and-white tech-is-bad story. It means the film is a bit more of a slog in the first half, but it gets better from there, spreading its wings and soaring as the story becomes more nuanced.

The voice acting is brilliant as always, with Cusack's Jessie getting a bigger role, and O'Brien a welcome addition. It's interesting to see Woody (Hanks) and Buzz (Allen) as side characters somewhat, as it gives the film a slightly different feel. The old favourites are there such as Rex and Mr Potatohead, but the film is happy to move into new territory, with new characters, and it's not a bad thing.

Toy Story 5 offers everything you expect from the series. There are good laughs, interesting new characters, a surprisingly complex villain, some fun action set pieces, plenty of inventiveness, and the whole thing looks incredible. 

You could argue that the whole thing should have ended with #3, and that it would be folly to make #6, but the fact remains Toy Story has the best strike rate of any film franchise, and #5 manages to keep that streak alive. 

Masters Of The Universe (2026)

This is a version of a review airing on ABC Victoria's Statewide Mornings program on June 11, 2026.

(M) ★★★

Director: Travis Knight

Cast: Nicholas Galitzine, Camila Mendes, Idris Elba, Jared Leto, Alison Brie, James Purefoy, Charlotte Riley, Morena Baccarin.

This crew came to party.

He-Man, to me, was the toys and the original cartoon, which I was shocked to learn only ran from 1983-1985. I'd forgotten about the minicomics that came with the toys, and the She-Ra spin-off series, and I know I saw the 1987 live action film, though I have little-to-no memory of it.

But I was stunned to learn there was so much more Masters Of The Universe material out there: beyond the comics and video games, the cartoon was rebooted in 1990, 2002, and twice in 2021. Even She-Ra got rebooted in 2018.

It just goes to show that even as the Gen Xers moved on, there was something about the mythos and characters of Masters Of The Universe that endured, presumably beyond Mattel's desire for a never-ending cash cow. 

Perhaps the appeal lies in its oddball combination of sci-fi and fantasy, in a world where spaceships exist side-by-side with magic (without being too much like Star Wars). Or maybe it's in its dichotomy of good and evil - that the lazy Prince Adam could become the ultimate hero, and where the villian has a literal skull for a face and who wants nothing more than to rule the world. Or maybe it's the fact that just about everyone in the show has some kind of superpower, like some weird kind of X-Men in Space. Or maybe it's the campy silly fun of it all.

All of these things are what Travis Knight and Mattel appear to be aiming for in this long-gestating live action reboot (its been in the works for about 17 years). The new film acknowledges the goofiness of its source material (perhaps a little too much) but seems fully aware of what worked for the franchise in its many incarnations. It's definitely trying to have its meta-cake and eat it too, and is semi-successful in doing so.

The new film centres on Adam (Galitzine), a prince on Eternia but sent to Earth for his safety when Skeletor (Leto) turns up to take over as ruler. Adam is sent with a sword that holds the power of Grayskull - a force that has the potential to turn him into a god. If only he could find the damned thing and use it to get home to save the day.

Masters Of The Universe does its best to balance its source material and a modern sensibility, mostly through an offbeat sense of humour. The dumb names of characters - Ram-Man, Fisto, and, dumbest of all, He-Man - remain, but are dismissed as a childish lack of imagination. Skeletor's lack of character depth is a throwaway joke or two. The generally campy and silly vibe is offset by bursts of sci-fi violence. 

In doing this, the film tries hard to appeal to the Gen Xers that liked the IP in the first place, and to appeal to the next generation too. It's a fine tightrope to walk, and the biggest criticism is that it repeatedly stumbles in trying to do so. There are some truly horrendous jokes in the name of winking at the grown-ups, and some equally bad ones for the kids with the aim of being goofy.

But where the film works is in its sense of irreverent fun. It has a generally good sense of humour about it all, and is smart enough to know what to be slavish about with the source material and what to jettison. It keeps up a pretty good pace for the most part, barreling from one CG set-piece to the next, and has just enough character development to be interesting in between. 

The cast are the real highlight. Galitzine does a fine job as Adam/He-Man, Elba brings gravitas but also humour to Man-At-Arms, Brie is a joy as always despite being in the thankless role of Evil-Lyn, and Mendes is great as Teela. The absolute highlight though (surprisingly) is Leto - his Skeletor chews the scenery, leans into the camp, and manages to veer from ridiculous to evil perfectly. 

Masters Of The Universe is a fun outing. It's the kind of idea that would never get off the ground these days, so it's only the nostalgia that makes it fly. While we don't necessarily need more of it, we should at least be glad we got this one.

The Mandalorian & Grogu

This is a version of a review airing on ABC Victoria's Statewide Mornings program on May 28, 2026.

(M) ★★★

Director: Jon Favreau.

Cast: Pedro Pascal, Brendan Wayne, Lateef Crowder, Jeremy Allen White, Sigourney Weaver, Steve Blum, Jonny Coyne, Martin Scorsese, Shirley Henderson, Stephen McKinley Henderson.

Great day for birdwatching at the beach.

The Star Wars universe is many different things to many different people. 

To some, it's for kids - it's about Ewoks, The Phantom Menace and TV shows like The Clone Wars.

To others it's about more adult concerns of light vs dark, of authority vs rebellion - it's about The Empire Strikes Back, Andor and Revenge Of The Sith.

And for others still, it's just about high-energy excitement - it's about podraces, lightsabre battles, spaceships, weird aliens, and shooting laser pistols. Often all at the same time.

The Mandalorian & Grogu sits squarely in the final of these three categories, with a dash of the first. It's about the titular characters careening from one laser-filled shootout to the next, and ensuring the audience has a fun time in the process. There is also cuteness, because Grogu is the cutest creature this side of the Kessel Run. 

Basically, if you liked the TV show, you'll like this.

The story finds bounty hunter Mando (played variously by Pascal, Wayne and Crowder) and his adorable Force-powered sidekick Grogu hunting down Imperial warlords for the New Republic. This inadvertantly leads them to accepting a sidequest for a couple of evil Hutt crimelords, landing them in more trouble than they can handle.

The Mandalorian & Grogu is basically a fistful of episodes of the Mando TV show stuck together, and this is not a criticism. It's a great TV show, especially the first season, with high production values and, initially at least, a tone that was more Pale Rider than Pod Racer.

As time and seasons went on, the show became less of a space western and dug more into the Mandalorian mythology and broader lore of the Star Wars universe. Boba Fett popped up, then a major Clone Wars character, then a major original trilogy character. For better or worse, the cool unique tone of the first season made way for a toneless generic Star Wars vibe, which is what we also have in The Mandolorian & Grogu.

Again this isn't necessarily a criticism, but the best additions to the Star Wars franchise of late have found a unique place within the canon - Andor, Rogue One, Skeleton Crew and The Mandolorian's first season all did something different to stand out, using the backdrop of the much-loved universe to tell great stories in a fresh tone, as opposed to simply name-checking parts of the much-loved universe and forgetting to tell good stories (The Rise Of Skywalker, The Book Of Boba Fett, Obi-Wan).

All this is to say that The Mandalorian & Grogu isn't aspirational - it's just fun. It's a big-screen blast that looks like the small-screen version, and wants you to not take it all too seriously. Plotwise, it goes out of its way to add a sense of threat to the main character, who essentially wears a a suit of invulnerability that he never takes off.

Most of the film looks great, but some characters fall short. Rotta the Hutt (voiced by Jeremy Allen White) looks off and sounds wrong. The other main CG character Zeb (who adds little to the story) also looks not-quite-right. The only person who fares worse is Weaver, who gets little to do. She's basically the equivalent of the NPC who hands out side quests in a video game - not exactly the level of character worthy of a Hollywood great. Even Martin Scorsese gets more to do with a more interesting character.

The Mandalorian & Grogu is fine, mid-tier Star Wars content. It's fun, and rewatchable, and far better than The Rise Of Skywalker, The Book Of Boba Fett and The Phantom Menace. And maybe that's all we need in this beloved 49-year-old universe - for it not to totally suck.

Michael

This is a version of a review airing on ABC Victoria's Statewide Mornings program in April 30, 2026.

(PG) ★★★

Director: Antoine Fuqua.

Cast: Jaafar Jackson, Juliano Krue Valdi, Colman Domingo, Nia Long, Miles Teller, KeiLyn Durrel Jones. 

"Tippy toes!"

So let's get the icky stuff out of the way first. This film dodges the sexual abuse allegations against Michael Jackson by ending before the point in history where they happened. According to Variety, that's because "attorneys for the Jackson estate, which served as a producer, realized there was a clause in a settlement with one of the singer’s accusers, Jordan Chandler, that barred the depiction or mention of him in any movie". The film was supposedly originally going to be bookended by the allegations, but had to change tack because of the discovery of this settlement clause. 

So regardless of whether the film intended to include the allegations or not, the film I'm reviewing does not include them, nor does the film encompass a period in time where those allegations exist. Call it whitewashing, call it a hagiography, call it lying by omission - I don't disagree.

But the film before me is not about that. Instead, I'm reviewing a film about how a remarkably talented boy from Gary, Indiana, who was beaten and abused by an overly-driven father, became the biggest musical star on the planet, and who changed the face of music by being extraordinarily talented. What came after that (becoming a human punchline and being uncovered as an abuser of children) is not in this movie because it happened later.

Leaving all the discussion about what is and isn't in the film aside, Michael is a by-the-numbers biopic not a million miles from Bohemian Rhapsody. It ticks off its story beats and historic moments with a minimum of fuss or depth or examination, doing the bare minimum required to tell the tale of Jackon's progression from pint-sized prodigy global megastar. In that sense, it works - this is a beginner's guide to Jackson's life, and as such, it does that well.

The key arc is Jackson's attempts to free himself from his father. While it would have been nicer to dig into that further, and to get the perspective of his brothers (or even some understanding of who they are and what they thought of the whole thing), it does give the film an emotional anchor and a vague sense of tension.

Having said that, there's definitely a lack of depth to the film. It moves from one event to the next without ever really digging deep into the motivations or meaning of it all. Yeah, it's cool to see him bringing Crips and Bloods together for the Beat It film clip, but the film doesn't dare to draw a line between this and the own violence he experienced at the hands of his father, or to find any real reason for the out-of-nowhere peace move no one asked him to make.

What is truly amazing about the film though is Jaafar Jackson. He nails his uncle's speech patterns, voice, dance moves, and demeanour, and manages to never make it feel like a caricature, which is remarkable when you consider that Michael Jackson, for a lot of his life, seemed like a caricature to the world at large. Jaafar does a fine job at showing there was a human in there somewhere, at least as much as the script allows.

And there are some hints at the future weirdness. In Michael, Jackson has no friends, and he is most at home around children. His mother and his chimp Bubbles are the only people he has non-transactional relationships with. He's obsessed with perfection, is eternally trapped in his youth, and has a strange connection with Peter Pan. Again, none of this reaches the depths that are necessary, but at least the film acknowledges its protagonist is not a "normal" person by any definition of the word.

The other highlight is, of course, the music, though there's arguably too much of it in places - some songs make their point in the film, and then keep going. And going. But there is no arguing against the fact this is phenomenal music, and it would have been great to see more of how it was made, especially considering Jackson wasn't renowned as an instrument. Berry Gordy (Larenz Tate) and Quincy Jones (Kendrick Sampson) are set up, flitter into the film and then are gone, so more of them would have been amazing too. But maybe that's a doco for another day.

People will want to hate this because of what's not in the movie, and that's fair enough. But judging this film purely by what is on the screen, and the story it's setting out to tell... well, it's actually not a bad film by any stretch of the imagination (but then nor is it a thriller). Michael is a snapshot of Jackson's rise to the top, and it summarises that rise neatly, quickly, and with huge dollops of great music.

A History of Music

Supergrass, live at the Forum, Melbourne, 2025. Pic by me.

Here's a collection of my ABC articles on music:

April 2026
Is Something For Kate frontman Paul Dempsey Australia's best cover artist?

January 2026
The trends and records to watch in triple j's 2025 Hottest 100

August 2025
Paul Kelly's Rita Wrote A Letter the latest in a long line of sequel songs

August, 2024
Who's the biggest one-hit wonder of all time?

July 2024
triple j's One Night Stand is coming to Warrnambool, a region with a rich musical history

April 2024
What Taylor Swift's secret musical weapon has to do with Aussie comedy trio Axis of Awesome

January 2024
Kylie Minogue among potential record-breakers in triple j's 2023 Hottest 100 countdown

June 2023
Foo Fighters are grieving the only way they know how — through rock 'n' roll

January 2023
Could some records tumble during triple j's 2022 Hottest 100 countdown?

October, 2022
Revolver by The Beatles has just been remixed and re-released — but is it scraping the bottom of the barrel?

February, 2022
Dolly Parton finally receives nomination for Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Why has it taken so long?

Foo Fighters' love affair with Australia continues with gig in Geelong

January, 2022
The changing face of triple j's Hottest 100

November 2021
Midnight Oil announce final tour to coincide with latest studio album

September 2021
Rolling Stone magazine crowns Aretha Franklin's Respect the 'greatest song of all time'

MTV's Video Music Awards are on again. Here's why they matter

March 2020
From the mosh pit to the sandpit: Why kids' albums are the new rock 'n' roll

March 2019
Convict past explored and myths busted in all-star musical Vandemonian Lags

April 2018
The Simpsons, doom metal, and the seven stages of grief: The story of Dr Colossus

Sexism in Australia's music industry still rife, but change is coming

March 2018
The Thin White Ukes, paying homage to David Bowie on the ukulele

January 2003
From Delta Goodrem to Metallica, here are some of the biggest albums of 2003

July 2002
How Brisbane band george made classic Aussie album Polyserena

January, 2002
From Avril to Eminem, here are the best albums of 2002

January, 2001
From Kylie to Tool — here are the best albums of 2001

December, 1999
Today in History, December 30: Beatles star George Harrison stabbed at home

December, 1995
How Coolio’s Gangsta's Paradise became a 'solid gold classic'

October 1995
'The Wall for Gen X': 25 years of The Smashing Pumpkins' Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness

January, 1995
Nostalgia alert: Here are 30 big albums from 1995

April 1994
Kurt Cobain's legacy is evident in the music from the year he died

January, 1993
How Radiohead single Creep became a '90s classic despite being 'deleted' by their label

January, 1991
1991 saw the music industry turned upside down, and 30 years later, its echoes remain

November 1988
Celebrating 30 years of Aussie bands bringing live music to regional Victoria with The Push

January, 1986
From Madonna to Metallica, these are the big albums turning 40 this year

January 1983
40 years of Eurythmics' Sweet Dreams, the 'home recording' that took the world by storm

September 1982
Forty years ago, Goanna's Solid Rock took Indigenous rights to the masses

May 1981
In the Air Tonight's influence, intrigue, and THAT drum break that endures 40 years on

January, 1976

Fifty years ago, music was on the brink of major change 

September 1975
Pink Floyd's album and ode to Syd Barrett Wish You Were Here turns 50

March 1973
Pink Floyd's enigmatic, record-breaking album The Dark Side Of The Moon turns 50

November 1972
Fifty years of Carly Simon's You're So Vain and the mystery man at its heart

April, 1972
Rocket Man changed Elton John's career almost overnight — 50 years on, it remains an anthem

November 1971
Fifty years of Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven — the epic all epics are measured against

August, 1971
How Life On Mars? evolved from Sinatra revenge to Bowie epitaph over 50 years

July, 1971
Imagine 50 years of John Lennon's 'anti-religious, anti-nationalistic, anti-capitalistic' anthem

September 1969
John Lennon wanted The Beatles to make a follow-up to Abbey Road — this is what it might have sounded like

Animal Farm (2026)

This is a version of a review airing on ABC Victoria's Statewide Mornings program in May, 2026.

(PG) ★★

Director: Andy Serkis.

Cast: (voices of) Seth Rogen, Gaten Matarazzo, Woody Harrelson, Kieran Culkin, Glenn Close, Laverne Cox, Steve Buscemi, Jim Parsons, Andy Serkis, Kathleen Turner, Iman Vellani.

"And then I said, 'why yes, I do want to roll around in my own filth!'."

The idea of doing a modernised CG family-friendly adaptation of George Orwell's legendary fascism allegory Animal Farm sparks two major questions - how will they tone down some of the darker elements of the original story, and will that dilute the power of its message?

Director Serkis and screenwriter Nicholas Stoller have a decent crack at it here, and are willing push things in some cases. But ultimately this is a dark tale that feels largely too dark for young kids, yet not actually dark enough to do Orwell's story justice, making you wonder if this could ever really work for a family audience.

The story follows the animals of Manor Farm, who fight back rather than be sent to the slaughterhouse when their drunken owner Farmer Jones goes broke. Under the leadership of Snowball the pig (Cox), the animals begin to run the farm themselves, but things take a turn when a pig named Napoleon (Rogen) decides he would make a better leader.

Animal Farm has been adapted twice before, both times aimed at family audiences, to middling reviews and less than enthusiastic responses. This version is likely to receive about the same reception - it's too grim for the littleys, too kidsy for older kids, and too watered down for adults.

They get some things right though. The introduction of a new character, Lucky the pig (Matarazzo), to serve as audience surrogate is helpful, and many of the core elements of the book remain - the slogans, the fates of several characters, and the final image of Orwell's book, for example. 

But where the story tries to modernise, be cool, and appeal to a new young audience, the film feels off, like it has a trotter in two worlds. There are the obligatory dance bangers and pigs doing silly antics to appeal to the kiddies, but it's at odds with the central tale about how communism works in theory, but not in practice because power corrupts, money is the root of all evil, and people are pigs. The famous final image of Orwell's book where the humans and pigs are indistinguisbale from each other is not the end of the film, for example - instead the movie has to find a "happy ending", which is understandable, but this ain't it.

The voice cast is excellent though, and definitely elevate the production - Matarazzo, Turner, Rogen, Culkin, Vellani, Harrelson and Parsons are all great. 

Serkis and Stoller get points for trying, and they almost pull it off. There are moments of brilliance here. But getting Orwell's cautionary tale to work for all-ages on the big screen just ends up being a mismatch of dark tone and kidsy japes, with the political message lost in the scraps.

Hoppers

This is a version of a review airing on ABC Victoria's Statewide Mornings program on April 2, 2026.

(PG) ★★★★

Director: Daniel Chong.

Cast: (voices of) Piper Curda, Bobby Moynihan, Jon Hamm, Kathy Najimy, Dave Franco, Eduardo Franco, Aparna Nancherla, Tom Law, Sam Richardson, Melissa Villaseñor, Karen Huie.

"Wanna lick me? Parts of me are hallucinogenic."

Hoppers is bonkers. It has the most insane plot of a Pixar movie since Up, but it's also the best film the animation house has produced since Soul in 2020.

Part-eco-warrior fantasy, part-love letter to the good in people, part-animals-go-wild comedy, Hoppers has a lot to say, which it says in between manic bursts of hyperactive insanity. In other words, it's exactly the kind of film that Pixar does so well, dialled up to 11 in some places.

Hoppers is the story of Mabel (Curda), a teen desperate to save a small glade from destruction to make way for a freeway. While trying to protect the patch of woodland from the evil hands of City Hall, she stumbles on a piece of secret technology that will allow her to mentally inhabit a small robotic beaver - a move she hopes will save the glade and have no horrible repercussions whatsoever.

Like I said, the plot is bonkers. The only criticism is that its key plot point - the ability to transfer your consciousness into a realistic animal avatar - comes out of nowhere. There's no real set-up for it, no suggestion this is set in a world with far-out tech, or that the inventors of this tech are anything more than run-of-the-mill college professors. It means Hoppers' script asks for a massive leap of faith - it doesn't just want you to suspend your disbelief, but set it on fire and throw it in the river. If you're on board for this potential shark-jumping moment then you can properly strap in for the literal shark-jumping moments that come later.

This very, very important plot point is dealt with efficiently though, and getting it out of the way quickly helps because it means the film can get on with what it has to say, which is a lot. Yes, it's funny and it's madcap, but in that classic Pixar way it's about a hundred other things - it's about the environment, feelings of inadequacy, trust, the potential for goodness in people, biodiversity, the power of nature, the importance of place, working together, and the absolute shitshow of destruction humanity is raining down on the planet one glade at a time.

Yeah, there are preachy moments, but the script by Jesse Andrews delivers most of them with eloquence and poignance. Hoppers wears its heart on its beaver fur sleeve, and it's all the better for it. The emotional notes are big, but so are the laughs and the lessons.

As I've said a billion times in reviews about family films, the best ones are the films you can go back to at any age and get something out of. While this skews older than some Pixar movies due to the villainous escalation in the third act and its hefty environmental themes, it has most-ages appeal that ensure it will grow with its junior audience.

Like the beavers it stars, Hoppers is a fascinating beast - it's cute and interesting and strange, and the world is a better place for its existence.