TET.Life (The Extraordinary Tourist Life)

T his is the first time in quite a while we've seen a live action Spider-Man that is, essentially, a fully formed, grown up superhero, fighting crime on his own terms rather than looking to mentors to guide him.  In  Spider-Man: Brand New Day  it's four years after the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home . No one knows who Peter Parker is but Spider-Man has become a local legend, helping to keep New York free of crime. Personally, Peter is still struggling with not reconnecting with his former friends, whose lives are again put at risk when a new foe crosses his path. If you're a fan of Tom Holland's Spider-Man films, and the MCU in general this film should not only not disappoint, you may even consider it to be one of the best MCU films you've seen in a while. I really enjoyed all the quick cameos by small time Spider-Man villains even though I don't know many of them. Their inclusion really started to broaden the scope of the character, despite this installment ...

T his was a movie that I was always interested in but was never going to see in theatres. I think that's the same for a lot of people judging by how well Masters of the Universe didn't do at the box office, while, as I write this, it is the number two most popular new release on Amazon Prime Video in Australia. In cinemas the reception seemed mixed but generally positive. The movie didn't seem to get bad reviews, rather reviewers said overall it was quite fun but flawed in what it was trying to be. I would agree. It's very much a movie that doesn't really know its audience, and is really trying to have something for all ages while simultaneously not delivering fully for any age group. It's too violent and adult for younger audiences (the ones that would play with the toys now) but not grown up and adult enough for older audiences (the ones who used to play with the toys back in the 80s). It comes off as trying to be a family film, with things that a younger aud...

T his wasn't a movie I particularly wanted to see even though it's right in my wheelhouse, realistic Sci-fi. However, after Project Hail Mary did so well in theatres it became a movie I wanted to check out once it reached streaming. In this case I watched it on Amazon Prime Video. It wasn't really on my radar because, on the surface, it's not anything I haven't seen before, even quite recently. Lone astronaut goes on some kind of mission, mission fails, astronaut tries to salvage the mission and somehow finds a way home. However, in my opinion, what makes this film different is in the detail. There are a lot of often seen tropes here presented in new ways, that may capture your imagination. The movie opens with science teacher, Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling), waking up from deep sleep on a spaceship, far from Earth, with no memory of why he is there. Presumably a side effect of basically being put in storage while the spaceship travels across vast distances. From the...

I 've never read 'Woman of Tomorrow', the Tom King comic book miniseries that  Supergirl  is supposed to be inspired by. In fact I've never read a Supergirl comic at all. Which means I have no expectations for this movie to live up to. Much like all the comic book characters I love on the big and small screens - I've barely read any of their comics (even when I was in my prime comic book years of my youth. I read more Archie comics than anything because I could get their book collections for free - and my comic of choice was Mad Magazine so... there's that). All this to say, I can only judge these comic book characters from what I've seen before on screens. I've seen the original 80's Supergirl movie with Helen Slater (she's fine, the movie not so much). I've watched at least the first season of the CW Supergirl show with Melissa Benoist (Melissa's awesome in the role - she really commits to it, easily going from sweet to I'll burn...

I 'm like a lot of people whose first experience of Spider-Noir was in 2018's,  Spider-man: Into the Spider-verse animated feature film, where the character was voiced by Nicolas Cage. Prior to that I'd never heard of Spider-Noir. While the character was good in that movie I wasn't so impressed that I was clamoring for any kind of movie or TV series featuring the character. However, the moment I heard Nicolas Cage was doing a live action TV series based on Spider-Noir, I was in. Cage is one of those actors who always goes all in on a role, with interesting ideas that can be hit or miss, but you appreciate his commitment, even when it's a miss.  Thankfully in  Spider-Noir  (Amazon Prime) Cage, who is a fan of old Noir films and Comic books, doesn't disappoint. For reasons that are explained over the course of the series, this isn't Peter Parker Spider-Noir (known as just 'The Spider' in the show). Instead we get Ben Reilly (Cage), a seasoned, down-on...

T his is another movie that I've finally got around to seeing.  Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die  (2025) caught my attention because Sam Rockwell is in it, and it is a time travel movie. Despite not being particularly successful upon release, it's not a bad movie by any means. It can be somewhat confusing and a little disjointed with it's frequent flashbacks, but there are definitely some interesting ideas and visuals to enjoy. The film opens when a man enters a Los Angeles cafe, late one evening, claiming to be from the future. He says, within the cafe is just the right combination of people who can save humanity from  a massive technological error that will doom humanity.  He could be telling the truth, except he looks rather a lot like a crazy homeless man, and he does claim the device he's wearing is a bomb, initially, to stop patrons from just walking out. It's a great premise that easily draws you into this, possibly crazy, man's dilemma. Sam Rockwell pr...

D ave Filoni continues to mine his one idea for Star Wars animation with his latest ten part series,  Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord . Not that I have a big problem with that. At this point I'm hooked on all his Star Wars animated shows, but I do wish he would try something different with the basic story structure every now and then. However, young, inexperienced apprentice, either already teamed, or looking to be teamed with a Jedi Master (or in this case, reluctantly with a former Sith Lord) is a main character combination that just keeps giving in the Filoni-verse. The difference between shows is in the detail. Maul - Shadow Lord focuses on the Star Wars Underworld, local law enforcement, and the aforementioned Jedi Apprentice. As well it includes Star Wars lore that is usually less prominent in the animated shows, specifically the dominance of the Empire and how it changes a society once its ideology is imposed.  If you've only ever watched the feature films you'll likel...

W hen I first saw the trailer to Caught Stealing  I was immediately interested in seeing the film. It looked like it was going to be something of dark, edgy, gangster, comedy film, with twists and turns, very much in the vein of Guy Richie's Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels  (1998) movie, which I really enjoyed. Obviously, I didn't see this in theatres, and am reviewing it now because I've finally caught up with it on Amazon Prime. (As a side note, my local cinema closed down so seeing things in cinemas is a little more of a luxury these days). I was also interested to see Austin Butler in a staring role post Elvis (2022) because I think he's definitely an actor to watch after that performance. In Caught Stealing, former rising star baseball player, Hank Thompson (Butler) is unknowingly drawn into a world of late 1990s gangsters, when he, under protest, agrees to look after his dubious punk rocker neighbor, Russ' (Matt Smith) cat, while he rushes off to attend ...

F or those of you that aren't adverse to your superhero content being a little more character driven and a lot less big action set pieces then Marvel's TV series, under the 'Marvel Spotlight' banner, Wonder Man , is a real underrated gem. Wanna-be actor, Simon Williams (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) is a suspected superhero in hiding who believes, he was born to play the title role in a new superhero movie, Wonder Man. A chance meeting with fallen actor, Trevor Slattery (Ben Kingsley), formerly known as 'The Mandarin', at an audition, puts them both on a path to success but, everything isn't quite as it seems. While you will certainly relate very quickly to Trevor if you know his past from the movie Iron Man III , or, to a lesser extent, Shang-Chi , neither are essential viewing. You get all you need to know about Trevor as the series unfolds. That said, Ben Kingsley must have jumped at the chance to play Trevor a little less as the comic relief, and a little more ...

D espite being in the middle of Summer, and experiencing some record temperatures across the state, we got a perfect day for the South Aussie leg of Jimmy Barnes' Working Class Man 40th Aniversay Tour. Lightly overcast. Almost no chance of rain. The cloud cover taking all the edge out of the sun, which was still quite fierce during the brief moments when it did break through the clouds for a little while. Guest artists supporting the show included, Jon Rooney, Kate Ceberano, Ian Moss, and Ice House.  Unfortunately, while my partner and I had every intention of being at the concert  when the show actually started, so did quite a lot of people. We didn't quite anticipate the traffic getting into the venue, Peter Lehmann Wines, Barossa Valley, and we certainly didn't expect the 5-10 minute hike from the carpark to the concert area itself. Kate Ceberano By the time we found our seats, Kate Ceberano was already part way through her set. Prior to this concert, I certainly knew w...

J ames Cameron's Avatar movies are one of the few I'll pay to watch in a cinema without knowing anything about the story. Largely because I know they'll at least be visually interesting and worthy of seeing on a big screen.  That was the case for the third installment,  Avatar: Fire and Ash . I may have seen a trailer at some point in the lead up to its release but I'm not sure? All I could definitely tell you is, in the second movie we were introduced to water tribes, and in this movie we were going to be introduced to fire tribes. Which is really all you need to know in hindsight. The movie does get you up to speed with the key throughlines from Avatar: The Way of Water pretty quickly (well quickly for a three hour Avatar movie). You may even be able to watch this without seeing the first two because it's not entirely necessary to know the history of the characters for this installment. Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and his family are still being pursued by Colon...

I  am surprised I did not review Merry Little Batman (2023), the animated movie from Amazon Prime that clearly proved to be so popular they turned it into a ten episode series titled, Bat-Fam (2025). While neither the film or the series are intended for adults, they're still very watchable for older fans. Making them a great family experience for parents looking to introduce their younger children to the more fun aspects of Batman lore. Both kind of fill a similar space that Adam West's 66 Batman did, except I don't think, even young children, would take Bat-Fam as seriously as young kids took the 66's Batman series back in the day. It's been a couple of years since I watched the original Merry Little Batman movie (but it's a fun Christmas movie, and I highly recommend it), so I'm not going to review that here. You don't need to have seen it but it does give you some context for Damien (Yonas Kibreab) being 'Little Batman' rather than Robin. Be...

I 've previously written about why I didn't see Fantastic Four in cinemas , essentially the movie being released too close to Superman  (2025), to which I gave priority. Since I have a Disney+ subscription for this exact reason (to watch Marvel movies), I've finally seen Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025). I'm not disappointed I chose Superman to see in cinemas. Set during the 1960s, Fantastic Four is a cliff notes origin story for Marvel's first family before they are thrust into solving world ending events at the hands of a god-like alien, Galactus (Ralph Ineson), who is heralded in by his assistant (I guess?), the Silver Surfer a.k.a. Shalla-Bal (Julia Garner).  While this movie is definitely a step up from previous Marvel films of late (though I'll maintain Thunderbolts  (2025) is a better film than this on a character level), it's kind of a return to the Marvel Phase One Superhero formula too. That is, set up who the heroes are, bring in the threat, ha...

W riter/director Kevin Smith's, The 4:30 Movie plays like a prequel to his original first film, Clerks (1994). While the main cast are not the same characters as those in Clerks, if you renamed them, and squinted a bit, they're not that far removed. That and, if you've listened to Kevin's many podcasts for a long time, you'll know the central character here, Brian (Austin Zajur - who recently became engaged to Smith's daughter Harley Quinn Smith - playing Sister Sarah Wallace in this film), draws inspiration from teenage Kevin Smith, who also liked recording his thoughts randomly throughout the day - and see movies. To make the final case, it could be a prequel, you'll have to see the ending. With that out of the way, I'm getting around to reviewing this now because the film only recently came to a streaming service I'm subscribed to (Prime Video). I wouldn't have minded to see it in a theatre when it was originally released but, if it even cam...

I f I'd known  Superman: Man of Tomorrow  (2020 WB Animation) was essentially a Superman origin story I would probably have skipped it. I'm sure anyone who reads comics would've known that but I make no secret of not reading comics. I used to read them as a kid and, even in my early teens, however, the comics I read were all given to me, and not that many were superhero comics. The only 'comic' I bought regularly was 'Heavy Metal' because it had grown up stories, and such a wide and varied range of artists. My fandom of superheros came through Saturday morning cartoons and the Batman, and Superman 60's TV shows. At that time I was too young to know there were comic books of these characters, and I didn't have any money to buy them with anyway. When my Dad did buy me a comic book of Batman, it was all in black and white, with a story that was completely inaccessible to me as a 7 year old. Not to mention that Batman looked nothing like the TV show and ...

I t was with good reasons I didn't see the Joker  (2019) sequel, Joker: Folie à Deux , in cinemas.  While I did like the first film, I've never rewatched it, and have no desire to see it again any time soon. It was a little too graphically violent and generally a depressing story overall for me. Add to that, every single review I read for the sequel effectively panned the film, with the common theme being "...this movie is a big middle finger to DC fans." Subscribing to HBO Max, for season 2 of Peacemaker , gave me access to the Joker sequel. Time to see if this movie was really as bad a everyone said it was. Joker: Folie à Deux centers around Arthur Fleck's (a.k.a. The Joker) (Joaquin Phoenix) trial for the murders he committed in the first film, along with his growing relationship with a fellow, female inmate at Arkham Hospital, Lee (Lady GaGa). While I can definitely see why DC fans thought this movie was a complete misfiring train wreck of a film, I'm goin...

I  would not call myself a comic book fan of Hellboy. I've never read a single comic about him. My sum total knowledge of the character comes from the first two live action films, Hellboy (2004) and Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008), staring Ron Pearlman in the titular role. Essentially I'm a fan of those two films. Particularly Ron's portrayal of the character. I've been wanting to see the two later reboot attempts, in particular, David Harbor's run at the character in, Hellboy (2019), but reviews suggested I'd be disappointed if I spent any extra on them beyond a streaming service subscription. I missed David's Hellboy when it was on streaming, and currently I think you can only rent or buy it. However, Hellboy: The Crooked Man (2024) surfaced, at no extra cost on Amazon Prime, so I decided to give it a go. The poster says it's the fourth installment in the franchise, so I guess these films are loosely set in the same continuity and are all the sa...

O ne of my most anticipated movies for 2025 was the new Fantastic Four movie . Unfortunately I wasn't able to go and see it because my other most anticipated movie of 2025 was Superman , released just a week or so before.  I chose to see Superman because he is one of the DC trinity of heroes, which is my core interest in superhero movies. While Marvel movies have been great, any of DC's big three (Batman, Superman, or Wonder Woman) in a movie will have my attention over anything else. I don't know what Kevin Feige's strategy is, releasing Marvel movies so close to DC movies (this isn't the first time he's done this, it seems to be a thing?) but I can't afford to go see a movie in the cinema twice in the space of a month. No doubt I'm not the only one in this economy. I imagine Kevin is trying to capture the repeat viewers. Instead of seeing Superman again, let's go see this whole new superhero film instead. Except the new normal for comic book movie...

B efore James Gunn's Superman Movie was released there was a whole rumor going around that the movie would feature monkeys on computers trolling Superman's social media, sparking much outrage. #supersh*t. I didn't know this was even a thing until just prior to writing this article. I did a search to see if anyone had posted a clip of the monkeys scene from the movie and got pages of discourse featuring videos and articles prior to the film. Most of it from Gunn detractors (let's say) seeing it as some kind of childish swipe at them... well not them specifically but, you know, those other people who have every right to hate on anything sight unseen. Anyway, I'm not going to give even one such example a link or air because it's kind of sad watching someone devote so much commentary to a throw away gag that is absolutely a nod to James Gunn's Superman trolls.  The whole reason this post exists, is to say I loved the joke, because fourteen years ago, and I...

T he one thing I like about James Gunn as a comic book movie director is that he leans into the comic book nature of the world and the characters.  He's not trying to do a realistic take on any of the characters. He's simply bringing the comics to life. It's still his take on the characters, but he doesn't shy away from their comic book origins. James Gunn's  Superman  is very much a comic book movie in every sense. Nothing is off the table because it's too 'comic-booky' and might look silly in a live action film.  To me that's incredibly liberating. It lets James actually tell a proper Superman story that isn't hamstrung by reality, or tip toeing into the fantastical just enough to allow Superman to exist in the real world. Superman begins in the middle of a battle. Metropolis is under attack by a super powered being known as 'Hammer of Boravia', however everything is not as it seems, and Superman (David Corenswet) must work with other s...