Day: May 15, 2020

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Movie Review

Red Rover (2018) Movie Review

Director: Shane Belcourt

Writer: Shane Belcourt, Duane Murray (Screenplay)

Starring: Kristian Bruun, Cara Gee, Meghan Heffern, Anna Hopkins, Morgan David Jones

Plot: After feeling he has nothing left to live for on earth, a lonely geologist tries to qualify for a one-way mission to Mars with the help of an offbeat musician who is just as lost as he is.

Runtime: 1 Hour 35 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Realistic Look at Recovery

Story: Red Rover starts as we meet Damon (Bruun) a geologist who lives with his ex-Beatrice (Heffern) and her new partner Mark (Jones) who want to by him out of the mortgage, he meets Phoebe (Gee) who travels around in her own astronaut costume, where she explains about the Red Rover mission to Mars.

Damon decides to start training for the program with Phoebe helping him sound like a more likely candidate to travel to Mars, which will see the two become friends and support going into the future.

Thoughts on Red Rover

Characters – Damon is a geologist who has been through a break-up, he has moved into the basement, while his partner has started dating again, he is feeling helpless until he meets a stranger who shows him something to aim for, being part of a space mission to Mars, all while opening his mind to the world once again. Phoebe is a Red Rover sales person who becomes friends with Damon, she always brings a positive side to the conversation, even though she is going through her own battles and needs the friendship just as much as Damon. Beatrice is the ex of Damon, she has moved on, but has remained close to him, as their friendship is still strong, she does offer to buy him out of the house to help him move on with life too. Mark is the new boyfriend of Beatrice, he does have a lot of differences to Damon, always making him feel insecure.

Performances – Kristian Bruun is great in the leading role, which sees him show the heartbreak in life and the struggle to continue until something new comes his way. Cara Gee is great too, showing all the positivity her character needing to cover up her own pain. The rest of the cast work well for the story, while letting Kristian take the centre stage.

Story – The story here follows a man that seems to have lost everything in his personal life searching for something in life, which he finds in Phoebe who shows him an idea of a mission to Mars, which gives him a chance to escape his pain. This is a story that shows us just how difficult life can be when you feel like you have lost everything, including finding hope in a location you would never have imagined too. The way the story is told shows us just how difficult change will be going forward and needing to find that thing that will give you strength that can help you get through.

Comedy/Romance – The comedy in this film does come from seeing the different events that Damon goes through, with the romance showing us just how difficult love can be in a realistic way.

Settings – The film does us the settings to show first the awkward situation Damon finds himself in, as well as him searching for an outlet.


Scene of the Movie – Decision time.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Mark is annoying, even though he is meant to be.

Final Thoughts –This is a strong look at how love can be taken away when you least expect it and finding a new direction in life can be harder than you would think, but it will be worth the wait.

Overall: Fun Rom Com.

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Movie Review

ABC Film Challenge – World Cinema – O – Outlaws (2017)

Director: Stephen McCallum

Writer: Matt Nable (Screenplay)

Starring: Ryan Corr, Abbey Lee, Simone Kessell, Josh McConville, Matt Nable, Aaron Pedersen, Sam Parsonson

Plot: 1% is set within the primal underworld of outlaw motorcycle club gangs. It follows the heir to the throne of a motorcycle club who has to betray his president to save his brother’s life.


Tagline – 99% of motorcyclists are law-abiding citizens.

Runtime: 1 Hour 32 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Sons of Anarchy Australia

Story: Outlaws starts as two rival biker gangs clash with the temporary leader Paddo (Corr) being forced into making a deal with the rival leader Sugar (Pedersen), only the real president of the club Knuck (Nable) isn’t taking any type of deal.

With the new deal off the table Paddo is left in the middle of no mans land because the deal was only in place to save his brother Skink’s (McConville) life after he was caught stealing from the rival gang, leading him to need to turn on Knuck.

Thoughts on Outlaws

Characters – Paddo has always looked out for his little brother, when he finds himself in trouble once again through a rival biker gang, he makes a deal to try and create peace between the two sides, only he is left in the middle of the two gangs when the president of his current gang doesn’t want the deal. Paddo must put family and a future at risk to escape this criminal world. Katrina is the girlfriend of Paddo, she believes they have worked too hard to walk away from, she wants him to take over after all the extra work they have put into the operations while in charge. Hayley is the wife of the current president, she isn’t happy with the changes in the club and pushes for Knuck to put Paddo back in his place. Skink is the brother of Paddo, he has a drug problem which has led to the deal being put in place, his behaviour continues to cause the problems between the leaders. Knuck is the president of the gang, he has been in prison, which has seen changes in his club, one that he wants to return to its former strength.

Performances – Ryan Corr, Josh McConville and Matt Nable are all believable as the bikers trying to prove who is the most dominate in the gang, the problem comes more with the characters are basic enough and unlikable, while the actresses Abbey Lee and Simone Kessell do well with their roles too.

Story – The story here follows biker gang that ends up getting caught in the middle of who is going to be in control of the gang going forward after the president is released from prison. This is a basic story of power within a biker gang, it is never implied just how much they are doing on the criminal side of things which doesn’t show just how much power they have, it just feels like a basic and it could just be an extended version of a Son of Anarchy just being angry bikers fighting for the sake of it.

Crime – The crime world we enter shows us just how the bikers are operating through the world and how they don’t care if they get caught.

Settings – The film is set in what feels like Australian suburbs which shows how the gangs can be in any location.


Scene of the Movie – The bar fight.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Not very interesting characters.

Final Thoughts – This is a biker fighter gang that doesn’t seem to make us care about the characters and just seems like angry men fighting for no reason.

Overall: Basic biker battle.

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Movie Review

Horse Camp: A Love Tail (2020) Movie Review

Director: Joel Paul Reisig

Writer: George Saunders (Screenplay)

Starring: Richard Karn, Jason London, Jo Ambrosia, Kristin Mellian, Teri Lee, Kristen Ryda, Rachel Sowers

Plot: It’s a new year at summer horse-riding camp but everything is different this time—a new head counselor, new friends to make, and to spice things up, the ranch hand (Richard Karn) has a crush on the head riding instructor (Terri Lee)! When he is too nervous to reveal his feelings, the campers put competition aside and rally together to help him win over her heart while building friendships that will last a lifetime.

Runtime: 1 Hour 21

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Coming-of-Age 101

Story: Horse Camp: A Love Tail starts as we see Kimberly (Ambrosia) return to a horse camp Black River Ranch, one of the most prestigious ones for young women. She wants to reconnect with the old friends, only they barely remember her, to add to the drama the head rider Stacy (Ryda) finds herself replaced by Bonnie Lightyear (Lee) a rider with a huge amount of experience.

As the summer continues, the girls get to learn the valuable life experiences they needed to learn about at the life as they look to step into adulthood.

Thoughts on Horse Camp: A Love Tail

Characters – Kimberly is returning to horse camp for the first time in years, she wants the friendship to once had with the other girls and doesn’t take long to fit back in. Riley is the popular one who believes she is better than the rest of the girls, she learns quickly how to enjoy herself with the other campers. Jerry works on the camp and falls for the new experience trainer and needs the campers to help him make his move, Bonnie is the experience rider that is one of the best in the world, she is her to teach not only the instructors but the campers, while catching the eye of Jerry. Stacy is the social media celebrity that has been waiting for the chance to be head rider, not happy about it, but learns from Bonnie through the summer. One of the few weaknesses of this film is the pure number of characters we do meet, we have too much going on with the different characters certain characters don’t get to see the growth they require.

Performances – We have a big cast in this movie, nobody stands out above the rest of the cast, while nobody looks out of place, everybody in the film is good through the film and showing us the different problems they are facing and chemistry they have between themselves.

Story – The story here follows the members of a prestigious horse camp, from the owner, counselors, instructors down to the campers as they spend the summer here learning about life and finding directions in their own lives. This is a nice tale about learning who you are in a location that encourages people to come together in life, through summer camps. We do have a lot going on with the pure number of characters we have, which doesn’t always give all the characters enough time to shine. We do get the overall lesson about doing the right things in life, learning to better themselves for the future.

Settings – The film is set entirely on the horse camp, it shows the location everyone will be spending the summer away from the busy life.


Scene of the Movie – Learning the lessons.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – We do have too many characters who could get lost in the shuffle of the story.

Final Thoughts – This is a good coming of age movie, it does show us just how important life can be for everyone around you, even if we do end up with a couple too many characters.

Overall: Enjoyable coming of age story.