Heart Of The Beast

This is a version of a review airing on ABC Victoria's Statewide Mornings program on October 1, 2026.

(M) ★★★

Director: David Ayer.

Cast: Brad Pitt, JK Simmons, Anna Lambe.

"You got you're own driver? And a masseuse?"

In years to come, if people remember this film at all, they'll remember it as the Brad Pitt Dog Movie. This is largely because the real title of the film isn't great.  

But will they remember the film at all? Heart Of The Beast (to give it its actual title) is a decent movie without being exceptional. It's a survival adventure, but little more, and its obstacle/action sequences are great, but the whole thing never leaves you with a wow factor. Rather, it leaves you with the feeling you know exactly where this is going, partly because the movie opens with a scene from the end of the film, which is infuriating and pointless. 

Pitt stars as James, a retired Green Beret, who goes on a camping trip in the Alaskan wilderness with his also-retired combat dog Odin. When things turn bad, man and dog must work together to overcome incredible odds to make it back to civilisation.

Aside from some flashbacks and an early encounter between Pitt's James and Simmons' grizzled gold miner Watkins, the majority of the film is Pitt and dog trekking through the wilderness, hitting one life-threatening obstacle after another. It's intense, edge-of-your-seat stuff, and done well. The stunts are excellent, the CG tasteful, and the sense of danger and tension is excellent.

Pitt is also excellent, utterly believable as a soldier/survivalist. With just a dog (who admittedly is pretty good) to bounce off, Pitt shows he still has the magnetism to carry a film.

Heart Of The Beast is a decent film but never anything more. An end text suggests the film is an ode to combat dogs, which is nice, but it's part of the film's attempts to push aggressively at your emotional buttons. Throw in an at-times OTT soundtrack (and a horrendous end credits cover of Stand By Me), and you can't help but feel manipulated, as opposed to just feeling the feelings. The ending is bold but still felt pushy, not emotional. Usually I'm the first person to cry at a movie. Maybe I'm not enough of a dog person, but Heart Of The Beast felt like it was trying too hard to make me cry. But maybe that's just me - there were certainly other people in tears at the screening I attended.

I may be completely wrong about this (and I often am about these things), but this strikes me as the kind of film I will have completely forgotten about in five years time. It's solid, and does a decent job at what it sets out to do, but I can't shake the feeling that it wanted more from me as a viewer and I didn't feel the film earned it.

The DCEU - From Best To Worst

Artwork by The Imaginative Hobbyist

Now that the DCEU is dead, we can properly appreciate what an abject failure it was, from start to finish.

It's incredible that it took four films for them to make a good movie. It's bizarre that two films have basically the same title. It's ridiculous that there's an entire film that was pretty much completed yet never released (RIP Batgirl). It's insane how many DCEU films were in various stages of production (Wikipedia lists 39 projects). It's patently dumb that Warner Bros released a non-DCEU Batman film and two Joker films at the same time it was trying to build a unified cinematic universe (although two-thirds of those non-DCEU films are outstanding).

 

The whole pursuit was an unfocused, unmitigated disaster. DC tried to copy Marvel's homework but changed it so much they threw out all the right answers. Of the 15 films (16 if you count the Snyder Cut), only six or maybe seven made their money back, and that might be a generous interpretation. And critically speaking, only eight films were rated "fresh" on Rotten Tomatoes, and one of those is the Snyder Cut.

Which brings me to the fact I'm not bothering to include Joss Whedon's Justice League in this list. Now the Snyder Cut is out there, there is no reason for the patently inferior Whedon Cut to exist, so let's pretend it doesn't and move on, shall we?

The DCEU is dead, long live the DCU.

1. The Suicide Squad 

It's kinda hilarious that the best film and the worst film of the DCEU are basically the same film. James Gunn's crack at the Suicide Squad concept is so much fun, it's ridiculous. Ultra-violent, ultra-funny and ultra-unhinged, it works where the first version didn't because it has stakes, it has strong characters, it has style without forgoing substance, it's hilarious, and it has a bit of complexity to it. It makes the most of its idea and has a unique feel to it - something few other films in the DCEU accomplished.

2. Wonder Woman

Read my full review here.

After three misfires, the DCEU finally produced a good film. Wonder Woman worked because its themes and characters were so beautifully delivered and intertwined. The naive Diana and the war-weary Steve looked at the insanity of WWI through fresh eyes because of each other's presence, and this helped make this story something special. Gal Gadot is truly wonderful, has real chemistry with Chris Pine, and Patty Jenkins delivered not just a great superhero movie, but a great movie. The No Man's Land sequence remains one of the best of the DCEU.

3. Blue Beetle

Family. You can't have a Fast & Furious movie without it, and it's the secret sauce to this Latino-themed adventure. Funny, heartfelt and exhilarating, Blue Beetle deserved a better fate than to be a late franchise bomb. It's got more heart and guts than just about anything in the DCEU, and it's hard to see how the new DCU could reboot this and do a better job. 

4. The Flash

A surprisingly well-plotted and fun dive into DC and its multiverses that bombed in no small part because of Ezra Miller's alleged criminal active and generally insane behaviour and also because some of its CGI looked crap. It's a shame, because separated from that, it's one of the best DCEU films, thanks in so small part to Miller's dual performances. Throw in the return of Michael Keaton's Batman, an interesting twist on the Superman story, some clever time travel shenanigans, and the best bunch of super-cameos outside Deadpool & Wolverine, and you've got an unexpected DCEU gem.

5. Shazam!

Read my full review here.

Origin tales are a dime a dozen, but none are as fun as Shazam's. Zachary Levi brings great joy to the role of a grown-ass superhero who is actually a 14-year-old kid, and the scenes where he tests his powers and uses his adult persona to buy beer are hilarious. While it descends into a typical rock-'em-sock-'em showdown against a so-so villain (played well by Mark Strong), it's sweet little foster family subplot gives the film an edge over most of the rest of the DCEU.

6. Zack Snyder's Justice League

Read a kind of belated review here.

Given time to breath and exist, Snyder's four-hour epic is actually a fine piece of superhero melodrama. Cyborg's origin story and character arc elevate the film, but everyone benefits from the expansive runtime, even Steppenwolf, who becomes infinitely more interesting. Snyder's vision is a half-hour prune away from being elite, but it manages to be a solid take on the Justice League and a surprisingly decent pay off on the unfortunately terrible films that preceded it.

7. Birds Of Prey (And The Fantabulous Emancipation Of One Harley Quinn)

The most stylish of the DCEU films, this is some seriously blood-splattered popcorn. It's not quite all style, no substance (although the ending absolutely is) - most of the film succeeds when Harley Quinn  unleashes her emotional problems in wholly unhealthy ways. Margot Robbie shines, and the film juggles her various sidekicks and their back stories reasonably well. All in all, a fun mess.

8. Shazam! Fury Of The Gods

Better than many people would have you believe, Shazam 2 is packed with heart, humour and a half-decent plot about pissed-off gods trying to reclaim their powers from the brats that got said powers out of nowhere in the first film. Despite the horrible miscasting of Lucy Liu and Helen Mirren (Mirren at least gives it her all), the film gets a long way on the what-the-hell-are-we-doing charm of its heroes and the theme that makes every Fast & Furious film tick - family. The number of fun DCEU movies is quite small, but this is one of them.

9. Aquaman

Read my full review here.

While it succeeds in making its fish-controlling hero a badass (full points to Jason Momoa), Aquaman struggles to live up to its expectations. Painted into a corner by having already introduced the character in other films yet trying to tell his origin story here without actually telling his origin story, but also struggling under the weight of its mythology and its quest to find the right tone, it's as if this CG-drenched tsunami was dead in the water before it started. Yet it does a semi-splendid job at times, almost making this the one that got away, were it not for an often turgid script, and the non-existent chemistry of Nicole Kidman and Temuera Morrison.

10. Man Of Steel

Read my full review here.

Henry Cavill was a great Superman - it's a shame he never got a great movie to go with his chiseled jaw and impressive presence. Snyder's attempt to make an oh-so-serious Kal-El film leaves the audience strangely bored, as the film gets bogged down in repetition and absurd dialogue. It has its moments and Michael Shannon's Zod is great, but it doesn't thrill like it should (or like James Gunn's 2025 Superman did). Eventually its violence and dour tone becomes overwhelming, and not even Cavill's charm can save the day.

11. Black Adam 

Better than expected, due to the fascinating ambiguity of its anti-hero, and a colourful array of side characters. But the latter are wasted and even Dwayne Johnson's star wattage can't overcome the fact this devolves into a boring punchathon where it never ever feels like Black Adam can be harmed, let alone killed. There is the kernel of a good movie in here somewhere, and that good movie would definitely have more of Pierce Brosnan's Dr Fate in it.

12. Wonder Woman 1984

Read my full review here.

Similarly to Black Adam, there is a great idea hiding in this mess of movie - what would happen if everyone in the world got what they wanted? Led by an enigmatic turn from Pedro Pascal as Maxwell Lord, Wonder Woman 1984 is so close to being a worthy follow-up except that its worldwide disaster emerges almost without explanation, its 1984 setting proves meaningless, and the return of Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) never feels right. Gal Gadot does her best, but the film even fumbles what Wonder Woman represents, reducing her to a lovelorn puppy still mourning someone who died 60 years earlier.

13. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

Read my full review here.

"Wait - your Mum's name is Martha too?". Leaving aside this fumbled attempt at finding a shared humanity between its titular heroes, BvS fails spectacularly and repeatedly with its scattershot plotting, misjudged characters, and by trying to force a narrative that never sticks, all the while winking maniacally at the audience. Jesse Eisenberg's portrayal of Lex Luthor is never scary and Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman feels wedged into the film out of contractual obligation. Things spark up in the third act, but it's a gruelling trek to get there, and by then you're wondering why they bothered.

14. Aquaman & The Lost Kingdom

If the DCEU wasn't dead already by the time this limp Aquaman sequel dived into the franchise, this would've been the film that killed it. Poorly plotted and terrible to look at, you actually feel for the actors as they go through their paces trying to save this damp mess. Jason Momoa and Patrick Wilson struggle to make the film's failed humour work, while Nicole Kidman again seems to have wandered in from different movie. Only Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Randall Park acquit themselves well, and they struggle against the naff plot and dodgy dialogue. There are elements of the story that are cool, but the whole thing is a big dumb mess.

15. Suicide Squad

Read my full review here.

A chaotic mess of a shambles of a binfire of a film that takes forever to get going, then goes nowhere. The only saving graces are Robbie's Harley Quinn and a vaguely charismatic turn by Smith as Deadshot. All set-up, no plot. All style, no substance. All sizzle, no sausage. If not for Quinn, you wouldn't bother at all.

Oasis: Don't Look Back In Anger

This is a version of a review airing on ABC Victoria's Statewide Mornings program on September 17, 2026.

(MA15+) ★★★★

Director: Will Lovelace & Dylan Southern.

"What'd ya say, ya fookin' fook?"

The intro to Don't Look Back In Anger spins through the Oasis story at breakneck speed - they wrote some good songs, became the biggest band in the world, then broke up in 2009 because the Gallagher brothers were a pair of hot-headed twats. The end.

Then in 2024, it was announced that hell had indeed frozen over, pigs were flying, and the Gallaghers were getting the band back together for a 41-date world tour the following year. Cue much derision from the media about how many dates Oasis would get through before one Gallagher bottled the other and the whole thing got called off. 

But this doco, which covers the rehearsals and reunion tour, manages to (miraculously) rewrite the Oasis narrative. Despite its prickly start, this is not a fly-on-the-wall expose of everything going wrong, but rather a tale of forgiveness, redemption and two dickhead brothers maturing just enough to realise they created something that actually means something to people.

Don't Look Back In Anger doesn't do anything extraordinary compared to other music docos, but it has great content it uses wisely, building momentum throughout to end with something kinda magical. Of course the film is a celebration of Oasis, but what it captures is a band in the process of rewriting its own history, and an adoring fanbase ecstatic to see it happen.

The performances are shot well, though Oasis were never an exhilirating live band - Liam just stands there and occasionally puts a tambourine on his head, Noel just plays his guitar. What really sells the many live bits is a) these are great songs made for arena-sized singalongs, and b) the fan responses. There are countless shots of fans weeping with joy at the experience. Outside the stadiums, fans liken the reunion to the second coming of Jesus, gather on hilltops outside the arena to listen, and repurpose Oasis songs to fit their soccer team. It's like a religion.

The community of music is a key element of Don't Look Back In Anger. But even better is the story of the Gallaghers, who never say sorry or talk out their differences. Instead they just somehow get over all the bullshit and discover a newfound respect for each other and their music. Having tens of thousands of people singing your songs back to you every night, after an absence of 15 years, is bound to do that to you, but seeing it happen is oddly heartwarming.

In between the fans and gigs, we get to hear from the Gallaghers. Liam is still a twat, Noel slightly less so, but somehow they're endearing and offer something vaguely appproximating maturity. The fact that the doco contains their first joint interview in over 15 years tells you everything you need to know.

In a somewhat contrived but utterly perfect part of the film, a priest gives a sermon to a handful of parishioners about forgiveness, redemption and respect. It's an ideal summary of the doco. 

If you can tolerate the music (and you should because Noel writes bloody great songs), then this is a must-see music documentary.

The Dog Stars

This is a version of a review airing on ABC Victoria's Statewide Mornings program on September 3, 2026.

(MA15+) ★★★

Director: Ridley Scott.

Cast: Jacob Elordi, Josh Brolin, Margaret Qualley, Guy Pearce, Benedict Wong, Allison Janney.

Not pictured: the stars.

Ridley Scott knows a thing or two about survival - Alien and The Martian are among two of the best survive-against-all-odds movies of all time. 

But rarely has surviving the end of the world seemed so languid, bucolic and rural as it does in The Dog Stars, Scott's adaptation of the post-apocalyptic novel of the same name by Peter Heller.

There are moments of terror (including a truly creepy end to the second act), but for an end-of-days situation it's surprisingly chill. What this leaves room for are some thoughtful takes on whether kindness and goodwill can survive the apocalypse.

Aussie actor Elordi stars as Hig, a pilot/mechanic who is one of the few survivors of a killer pandemic. He lives in a self-sustaining compound in Colorado with a former soldier named Bangley (Brolin) and a dog called Jasper.

While Bangley is content to see out the post-doomsday days in their easily defendable ranch, Hig wonders if civilisation still exists, and whether it's even worth carrying on.

This post-armageddon world seems fairly pleasant and survivable. There's fishing trips with your dog, flying your plane over beautiful landscapes, hanging out with the nearby Mennonite community, and visiting your oddly untouched family home. Yes, there are marauding hordes and some truly abominable horrors out there, but in The Dog Stars they tend to feel like they've been dropped in from a different film. The horrors of survival are not the major danger - it's the yearning that'll get ya.

The film kinda ambles along until it hits its truly messed up section, which tips proceedings into horror territory briefly. These moments are the ones that are going to stick with you the longest after the credits have rolled.

That's partly because everything else is weirdly nice. In between the psychotic gangs roaming the landscape, this is a futuristic film yearning for a simpler time, in a roundabout way. It enjoys its beautiful landscapes (Italy standing in for Colorado) and wonders what it's all about. At its heart it questions whether survival is compatible with kindness. 

Elordi carries the film well, Brolin is great in slightly one-note roll of the grizzled war vet, while Pearce and Qualley add a spark to things when they turn up. 

The Dog Stars is Scott's 30th film as director. He's made some real stinkers from time to time (The Counsellor remains one of the worst films I've ever seen), but this ain't one of them. It's mid-tier Ridley - not his best work, not his worst. Just nicely in the middle. And oddly pleasant for a post-apocalyptic vision.

Yesterday Island

(MA15+) ★★★★

Director: Sam Voutas.

Cast: Ivan Aristeguieta, Florence Noble, Francis Greenslade, Genevieve Neve, Luke Saliba.

"Last time I order a bucket of KFC on Uber Eats."

It's one thing to have a great high concept, it's another thing to turn it into a great 90-minute film.

The elevator pitch for Yesterday Island is basically "Groundhog Day: The Island", but it's more than that. This tightly contained Australian comedy also happens to be a cunning morality play thanks to its neat plot mechanic - the only way off this time-loop isle is to find someone to replace you. So who would you doom to a single eternal day on a sub-Antarctic island in exchange for your own freedom?

Yesterday Island doesn't labour its ethical quandary but makes it work. There are a few leaps of faith for the audience, but by and large it's successful in making you laugh and think.

Amos (Aristeguieta) is the poor sucker lured onto the island and forced to figure out its riddle, then find someone to take his place on the ever-repeating isle. But how do you con someone you don't like to visit you on an island south of Tasmania? And how do you just leave them there?

Yesterday Island's very dry, straight-faced sense of humour helps sell its fantastical plot, while also making the most out of it. Running gags are the order of the day, and they make the film's deliberate repetition work in its favour.

The entire movie is compact - one set, few locations, small cast, tight story-telling - which adds to the claustrophobic nature of it all. The feeling of being trapped shines through, bringing a neat sense of tension to this absurd comedy.

Its solid cast of little-known actors (Mad As Hell's Francis Greenslade is potentially the biggest name here) does a great job, particularly Aristeguieta, Noble, and Neve. Aristeguieta has the difficult task of carrying the toughest part of the film and manages it pretty well, Noble bounces nicely off Aristeguieta when the story turns into a two-hander, while Neve's role as a sort-of-villain adds spice to the final act.

There are a few lines that clunk here and there, the ending is wild, and the film's internal logic strains at times, which may leave you scratching your head after the credits have rolled. But this indie comedy-sci-fi poses fascinating questions, has a few laughs along the way, and shows that you don't need big bucks to tell stories with big ideas.

The End Of Oak Street

This is a version of a review airing on ABC Victoria's Statewide Mornings program on August 20, 2026.

(M) ★★★

Director: David Robert Mitchell.

Cast: Anne Hathaway, Ewan McGregor, Maisy Stella, Christian Convery.

No pants, just sacks.

I've often wondered why there aren't more movies about dinosaurs outside of the Jurassic Park series. Dinosaurs are cool, yet they don't seem to turn up in a lot of films. Or not enough for my preference.

Part of the problem no doubt is how to wedge them into a plot in a new way - we've done de-extinction (the Jurassic Park series), dino planets (65), and lost worlds/islands/jungles (going all the way back to The Lost World in 1925).

So full points to The End Of Oak Street, which takes a novel approach to injecting dinosaurs into a film - by transplanting an entire neighbourhood from 1982 into the Mesozoic Era via a loosely explained phenomena.

This temporal displacement puts regular 1982 dysfunctional family the Platts on the menu for a huge number of dinosaurs, as their once-quiet suburban home becomes an apocalyptic nightmare.

If you watched this trailer and expected this to be some kind of slightly dark but slightly funny family adventure, you'd be dead wrong about the second bit. The End Of Oak Street is a daylight horror with next-to-no sense of humour. It's more of a survival film than anything else - once the "event" happens and the dinos appear, this is a balls-to-wall nailbiter.

It's a shame because a sense of humour or at least a sense of self-awareness might have elevated this to something truly special. Instead this is a serviceable actioner with a surprising brutality to it, yet is oddly po-faced in the face of its plot's absurdity.

McGregor and Hathaway are totally comfortable playing this straight, especially the latter, who channels the great scream queens with a touch of Sigourney Weaver's Ripley - she effortlessly switches from terrified to gun-toting and back again in the face of the insanity. In between, they're a believable couple going through a very rough patch in their marriage, thrown into a prehistoric nightmare.

With most of the action taking place in sunlit suburban streets, so there's no hiding the CG in the dark or the rain, but there's no fear because the effects look great. It's also in the film's favour that we see things we've never seen before. An allosaurus and a titanoboa star in two of the most nail-biting scenes, which will live long in the memory.

Maybe the rest will prove memorable as time goes on (even its bold-if-questionable ending). But for now this surprisingly grim dino-thriller is a good time-filler, without being as fun as you'd think.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day

This is a version of a review airing on ABC Victoria's Statewide Mornings program on August 6, 2026.

(M) ★★★★

Director: Destin Daniel Cretton.

Cast: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Sadie Sink, Jacob Batalon, Jon Bernthal, Florence Pugh, Tramell Tillman, Mark Ruffalo, Marisa Tomei, Liza Colón-Zayas, Michael Mando.

"Can those who want to stab Spider-Man please form an orderly queue?"

There must be written on a wall at Sony somewhere the maxim "When in doubt, make a Spider-Man movie". It's more than likely that same maxim is now pinned to the walls of Marvel Cinematic Universe HQ.

For Sony, Spider-Man has been its golden goose. Not even its rotten-egg Spidey spin-offs (Kraven, Morbius, Madame Web) have been able to taint the webspinner's appeal, and the studio has continually been able to wallcrawl its way back to Queens, make another Spidey movie, make a shit-ton of money, and feel good about its lone Marvel property all over again.

But over at the MCU, an unexpected malaise has set in. Despite great reviews for Fantastic Four: First Steps and Thunderbolts*, the only film out of the last five MCU outings to make mega-bucks (or break-even) was Deadpool & Wolverine. And so, when in doubt....

Thus we have the fourth stand-alone Sony/MCU Spider-Man outing. Given how good of a send-off No Way Home was, one could cynically presume Brand New Day has been driven more by Sony and the MCU's desire to make serious bank than scratching a creative itch.

But that's too cynical, even for me. Because, wouldn't you know it, Brand New Day is actually really, really good. Some fans and critics are calling it the best Spidey film to date, and while it doesn't top No Way Home for me, it's another great example of a movie that understands its hero and its audience, and delivers in spades.

Picking up some years after a spell wipes Spider-man's true identity from the collective consciousness, Peter Parker (Holland) finds himself alone, and throwing himself into being Spidey more than as being himself. But when his own powers start to evolve, he begins to question who he even is anymore, and whether he really can do everything all by himself. 

The first solo Spidey outing in five years features a more adult Peter Parker than we've seen before, and that plays into the movie's themes of evolution and growth. There are some other spoilerific ideas that this feeds into as well, but the main aim of the film seems to be "what does Spidey do when he was no one around him?".

The answer is a fascinating snapshot of the very problem facing a lot of lonely young men - they get angry, frustrated, and violent, and lash out at the world. While for Spidey, much of this is a manifestation of his powers mutating, it's hard to ignore the underlying "angry young man" subtext permeating the film. Throw in that Punisher is the ghost of Spidey Yet To Come, and that the villain is on a similar course of lashing out, and you get yet another Spidey sequel with good thematic depth to it.

Another new aspect to Spidey is that he's far more "street-level" in Brand New Day than he's been for a while. No more multiverse shenanigans or SHIELD missions - he gets around in his home-made (though admittedly hi-tech) suit, works with cops, and swings around the streets of New York. It's a satisfying throwback to the characters origins, as are the cameos of Punisher, Hulk, and Black Widow, which help to make the film feel part of the MCU, without labouring the point.

Holland is an exceptional actor and we've seen that in and out of the MCU. Brand New Day is no exception. With minimal Aunt May, MJ or Ned to bounce off, Spidey is on his own a lot, or flitting from one encounter to the next, meaning that Holland has to do more heavy lifting here than in any previous Spidey-film. And he's great, carrying the film with ease, as the cameos wander in and out of the movie.

There's a more down-to-Earth approach in Brand New Day than we've seen in a Spidey-film for a while, even compared to Homecoming. And it's great. It really feels like the Spider-Man comics of old, where he would swing through the skyscraper canyons of New York, catch a villain, chat with a cop, bump into the Punisher or Black Widow and swing off on his merry way to his next adventure. There are even plenty of Easter eggs to old-school comic book covers to really drive that point home.

Even with this street-level approach, there are some killer action sequences. A battle with Hulk, another with the Hand, and street-chase involving a tank and the Punisher are among the highlights. It's fun, it's action-packed, and it rarely feels long despite its two-and-a-half-hour run time.

Tom Holland can't be Spider-Man forever, but so long as he keeps starring in films this good, I hope he is.

 

The Odyssey

This is a version of a review airing on ABC Victoria's Statewide Mornings program on July 23, 2026.

(M) ★★★★★

Director: Christopher Nolan.

Cast: Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, John Leguizamo, Himesh Patel, Lupita Nyong'o, Samantha Morton, Zendaya, Charlize Theron, Jon Bernthal, Bill Irwin, Elliot Page, Benny Safdie.

"Verily, we have defeated the broom people, and taken their heads for our hats."

No other story could be more fitting for the talents of one of history's greatest directors than one of the greatest stories known to humankind. And the fact that the resulting film is one of the greatest movie adventures of all time should also come as no surprise.

What's truly fascinating about Christopher Nolan's absurdly good take on Homer's The Odyssey is how Nolan has tweaked a millenia-old story and actually improved it. The story skips about fluidly and its pieces fit together perfectly. He repurposes parts of the story to make them resonate deeper and hit harder, somehow creating the definitive version of one of history's tales, reaching into the narrative to pull out themes that might not have been there to start with. 

For those who don't know their Iliad from their Odyssey (ie. me), this is the story of Odysseus (Damon), who leads an army to Troy, hides in a giant wooden horse, defeats the Trojans, and then tries to go home, which turns out to be more difficult than fighting the Trojans. 

  

Nolan's screenplay and directorial vision are impeccable. The way he positions the sacking of Troy in the story, the way he uses it to feed into the wider themes, the way he reconfigures the lotus-eaters and Calypso (Theron) - it's perfect. He folds elements of the original story into each other to make something whole and flawless from a story and thematic perspective. The Odyssey becomes so much more than an episodic monster-of-the-week story, and instead becomes a tale of how when we undo the niceties of society, we undo society itself, how when we turn gifts and kindness into tricks and war, we unmake the world, how when we treat the less fortunate with contempt, we insult the gods themselves. It's a powerful message in any time, let alone the present. 

Nolan, aside from pulling together an utterly compelling story, delivers it on the big screen with sombre skill. The sun rarely shines in this world - it's an often overcast and grey world, but one that still somehow looks amazing. His preference for practical effects and real locations shines through too. There are obvious CG moments that are impossible to pull off otherwise (the cyclops Polyphemus and the many-headed monster Scylla for example) but where it can be done for real, he does it. 

The sacking of Troy, for example, is one of those sequences that many directors would turn into a CG bonanza that makes it look like every other CG bonanza going 'round. If Nolan has used a lot of CG, it's unnoticeable. It looks like he built Troy and he burnt Troy. And every scene is lit with subtlety - this is definitely not Kubrick shooting Barry Lyndon by candlelight, but it give the same vibe, and it's beautiful to behold.

The cast is as exemplary as you would expect. Damon is his usual respectable, dutiful self. We tend to underappreciate his performances and status as an actor because his filmography isn't littered with flashy character roles or Oscars wins. But he's great at what he does, and he does it magnificently here, bringing gravitas and vulnerability to the role of Odysseus.

He's surrounded by stars delivering great but unflashy performances - Hathaway, Pattinson, Holland, Leguizamo, Bernthal, Theron, and Patel are all fantastic. No one outshines anyone, and all deliver.

Nolan's tale keeps the gods themselves at arms length, but embraces enough fantasy to make it feel mythological and enough reality to make it feel real. Despite its runtime, it never feels long, and there are odd moments of humour to leaven the heavy tone.

This is the best blockbuster of the year, and it's likely to be as big as Ben Hur when awards season rolls around, which it thoroughly deserves.

Supergirl (2026)

This is a version of a review airing on ABC Victoria's Statewide Mornings program on July 9, 2026.

(M) ★★★★

Director: Craig Gillespie.

Cast: Milly Alcock, Eve Ridley, Matthias Schoenaerts, Jason Momoa, David Krumholtz, Emily Beecham, David Corenswet.

Supergirl inspects a bus of the future in Supergirl: Buses Of The Future.

DC faces a tough task - reboot an entire superhero megafranchise in the midst of a culture suffering from "superhero fatigue" (a fatigue's that's been around for over a decade, apparently).

But they've started strong with last year's Superman, and are two-from-two with this Superman-adjacent sequel, which has been unfairly derided by many.

Combining the goofy space hi-jinks of Guardians Of The Galaxy and some apocalyptic baddies and moods out of Furiosa, Supergirl is a surprisingly dark sci-fi adventure that does a good job of making a character with goddess-like powers feel very human (and surprisingly easy to defeat), while creating a universe that's both fun and scary to play in.

This ain't your parents' version of Supergirl though. In this outing, she's an alcoholic, hiding from her powers, her destiny and her cousin (Corenswet's Superman). That's until a big bad named Krem (Schoenaerts) kills the parents of Ruthye (Ridley) and threatens Supergirl's beloved dog Krypto.

 

In what looks like being the first of a bunch of ambitious choices by DC's head creative James Gunn (the next film is Clayface, a lesser-known Batman villain), the darker angle is an interesting and welcome one for Supergirl. Painting her as a hard-drinking quasi-nihilist is fascinating, and though the inevitable softening comes, there is still a nice Mad Max aesthetic and attitude to the baddies that ensures the blood never really washes off the storyline completely.

Aussie actress Alcock does a fine job in a complicated role. While her drunk acting leaves a little to be desired, she conveys the inner turmoil of her character well, and ensures Supergirl comes off as a layered individual. Less so, the big bad, though this is not the fault of Schoenaerts, who does a fine job in making Krem dispicable. It's just a shame the character has no other qualities about him, other than looking like a Mad Max extra and being a horrible person. 

The only other main character is Ruthye, and Ridley does a fine job (especially for a kid) at giving her character depth. There are cameos that are interesting as well, helping to flesh out the bigger universe, and Momoa's short visits as Lobo certainly light up proceedings.

But the key thing to appreciate here is the tone. Supergirl treats its characters seriously, makes its world feel lived in, and even works hard to find ways to limit the heroine's limitless goddess-like powers. It can feel contrived at times but it all seems to fit, and it makes a good fist of its themes around seeking revenge and meaning in a life. Supergirl carries around a lot of grief related to where she's come from, and how that manifests, especially compared to Superman, is interesting to explore.

It's easy to knock this film. I did see one writer belittling a scene where Supergirl screams her pain into the soundless reaches of space, but I liked that scene. So maybe this isn't to all tastes, and maybe this is a genre in which I'm happy to accept more readily than others. But Supergirl is fun, with a weirdly dark undertone, and its lead character is interesting and complex and begs for more adventures. So that's a pretty strong pass in my book.

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 (it's 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

September 1966

The Beatles, The Beach Boys and how the albums of 1966 changed music