If you grew up in the 80's then the release of a Steven Spielberg movie was always the highlight of the year. ET, Goonies, Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park and the list just went on. You knew that there would be an adventure, special effects and characters that you would become iconic. While still producing and directing amazing movies, the adolescent magic went missing. That is until Ready Player One. There appears to be a lot of push back from those who have read Ernest Cline's novel of the same name. I am not one of those fans so I watched this movie with no pre-conceived ideas of what to expect. I have to say that I left the theatre with nostalgia having experienced the joy that comes from being fully entertained, having been taken to a world where I don't live but would love to visit. The story is set 30 years in the future where the world has experienced some major setbacks and people are relegated to experiencing happiness and self-worth in a virtual universe, known as the Oasis. Here you can be who you want and forget the hardships of life. The main character is Wade (Tye Sheridan) who takes on the persona of Parzival as he takes on the challenge to find the three hidden keys that will unlock the ownership of the Oasis and virtually the world. Opposing him is Sorrento (Ben Mendelsohn) who is the corporate tyrant who hates the Oasis but wants the control that it will give him. Parzival has a number of friends and allies in the Oasis who have their own persona but have never met Parzival's Wade in the real world. As Parzival uncovers the clues and is awarded the 'keys' to the kingdom, he is caught up in the politics of who will come to own the Oasis and how will impact the world. The film itself is breathtaking in the graphics that are used to portray the Oasis. I felt that I was strapped into the best gaming machine in the world. The car race scene is spectacular and will appeal to any gameboy or gamegirl. But if you are not the owner of a Play Station, Nintendo or Xbox don't worry as there is plenty of storylines to follow without being nerded out. The movie has a soundtrack stolen from the 80's, plenty of pop culture and an amazing reference to 'The Shining' movie. As our characters enter a simulation of the Overlook Hotel and a yellow tennis ball rolls along the hall, stopping at their feet, you could feel the anticipation of the audience. Would they meet the twins or enter Room 247? While we meet most of the characters initially in the Oasis, the personalities that you have become familiar with are visible in the real-life characters when they are…

My interest in this movie was aroused when I first saw the trailer and was preparing to see it at the theatre only to find it pop up on Netflix. Apparently, it flopped so badly in the US that they didn't bother to release it commercially here in Australia. So with this in mind, I had no expectations of what to expect. It is made by Alex Garland who is responsible for Ex -Machina. The plot revolves around an event that is of an alien nature that impacts a small area of unpopulated coastal America. A curtain rises around the area, known as the Shimmer, that allows people to enter but not return. Kane, played by Oscar Issac, is a member of a military special ops team that leaves for a mission but never returns to his wife Lena, Natalie Portman. After a year of believing that he is missing in action, Kane returns to the home but is not well. Lena rushes him to the hospital but on route, they are intercepted by members of an agency and taken to a facility near the Shimmer where Kane's condition is getting worse. Lena is told of the Shimmer and that they are planning to send another team to discover its secrets. However rather than a military team, they are sending in a group of women with scientific and medical backgrounds, including characters played by Jennifer Jason Leigh and Gina Rodriguez. Lena is recognised not only as a former army officer but also as a biologist and wants to find out what happened to her husband she agrees to join the project team. As they enter they lose radio contact with the outside, their compasses don't work and it doesn't appear that they are able to keep track of time. As they travel closer to the genesis of the Shimmer they come across stranger anomalies and personal threats. With about 1/2 hour to go, it turns all 'Twilight Zone' with very surreal imagery that I feel I have seen before but I can't remember if it was pictures of modern art or another movie. The presence of the alien, what it wants to do and whether it achieves it are the questions asked but I still am not sure of what the answers were. So why am I reviewing a movie that was so badly panned it skipped directly to Netflix. I am not sure exactly, but I know that while I was watching the story unfold I found something in the story telling that captured me even if the story may not have been that good. Am I starting to sound like one of those pretentious movie reviewers I have rebelled against? If you have time to kill and access to Netflix, give it a try and let me know what you think. I'm not…

I believe that your acceptance of the new Tomb Raider franchise will be determined by whether you can accept Alicia Vikander as the athletic, intelligent and very English action hero. Unfortunately for me, Alicia does not fit my image of the famous Tomb Raider. Now before you pin a #metoo badge on my lapel, I am not talking about the Angeline Jolie curves. This movie is a prequel to the original meeting and so this version of Lara Croft is supposed to be around 21 years old and yet to take on the villains of the world. Alicia Vikander is close to 30 and while looking young she does not have the swagger or mental toughness that you identify with a Jennifer Lawrence in Hunger Games or Shailene Woodley in Divergent. With so many talented young females around I have to question why Alicia Vikander. Having not accepted this version of Lara Croft I then found that the rest of the production seemed very lazy. The jungle sets looked as if they had been stolen from an old King Kong movie and the special effects from a MacGyver episode. Lara survives a shipwreck, falls down a rock face, thrown down a raging river, escapes the crumbling ruins of an old aeroplane and then parachutes through the thick canopy of the rainforest and comes out the other end with a small graze on her cheek. Not only does our star escape any major blemishes but her shorts and singlet also survive without tears or holes. The plot is set to explain how Lara Croft became the tomb raider that she is famous for. We see her close relationship with her father even though he is always away and sends her off to boarding school for most of her life. We are asked to believe that she has all the skills of a tomb raider by watching her get beaten in a martial arts bout with another woman, shoot an arrow at an apple that is stationary and ride a bike really fast before crashing into a car. After thinking her father is dead she finds his secret work room and discovers that he is a modern-day Indiana Jones. So ignoring her father's instructions to destroy all his work she decides to try and find him although he has been missing for over six years. Her early adventures lead her to an uninhabited island off the coast of Japan where a famous queen that has 'the touch of death' is buried but being sought by an unknown evil villain. Without giving away the plot she takes on the bad guys and this leads to more lazy story writing. She arrives on an island that is populated by multiple males that have been stranded there for years but not one of them even gives her a second look…

Everyone has one of those friends who is extremely competitive at indoor games. The type that brings out the rules book and keeps a Scrabble dictionary on the coffee table. Game Night centres around one such couple, Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams, who love to host game nights for their friends. This group consists of another couple who have been together since school, a brain dead guy who brings a different blonde as his date to each session and the strange policeman that lives next door, but has recently split from his wife, and to his disappointment and is no longer invited. The regular format is changed when Bateman's older brother comes to visit. A rich successful businessman who has a much more exciting life than his brother offers to host the next games night and promises something special. The added bonus is the winner of this activity will take home his sports car. It is explained that Bateman resents that his brother has a glamorous life but being competitive can't resist the challenge. They all turn up, the dumb guy brings a much smarter date this time, to be told that the brother has organised a fake abduction and the couples have to follow the clues to solve the puzzle. From this point on the game goes out the window as the brother is abducted for real and the game night crew have to solve a real mystery if they are to save him. During this rescue mission, each of the couples also has to work on saving their relationships as they are confronted with different scenarios. Some of the scenes were funny and the film has a real twist that I didn't see coming but the prolific swearing and schoolboy humour spoiled what could have been a good plot. The scene stealer is Jesse Plemons who plays the disturbing neighbour and policeman If you are a fan of The Hangover, Couples Retreat and the like this may appeal to you but if not don't bother and host a Game Night with your friends instead.