Miss Fisher & The Crypt Of Tears (2020) - Movie Review

Time to get into another cinematic continuation of an Aussie TV show that my overseas readers likely won’t have heard of, and despite me working on more local ground, I’m about as familiar with the source material as they are. Aside from vague memories of seeing my nan watching it out of the corner of my eye, I have no experience with the escapades of 1920s-era detective Phryne Fisher.

However, over the last few years, I’ve taken definite notice of lead actor Essie Davis as one of the best Australian actors working today, between her phenomenal turns in The Babadook and True History Of The Kelly Gang. As such, familiarity or no familiarity, I knew I wanted to check this out.

Fantasy Island (2020) - Movie Review

Jeff Wadlow just continues striking out these days. I mean, when trailers for this film first reached cinemas, as soon as I saw this guy’s name attached, my expectations for it nosedived pretty much instantly. I’d say the dude is in the middle of a slump, but to be honest, I question if he even had a high point in the first place. Between True Memoirs Of An International Assassin, Truth Or Dare, and even his earliest feature-length outing with the embarrassingly twee Cry Wolf, he gives the impression of someone desperately trying to find his niche through attempting just about anything he can get his hands on, only for the end result to truly bring out his ‘master of none’ status. And oh boy, does that come to a head with his latest.

Downton Abbey (2019) - Movie Review

In quite a few ways, I was not looking forward to this one. While part of that could be due to my inexperience with the series this film spawned from, it’s not as if that’s been an issue in the past. I haven’t seen any episodes of Dance Academy or Sword Art Online, and yet I left those films quite pleased with the results.

No, my apprehension here is more to do with the genre, as I have stated in previous reviews that costume dramas really aren’t my thing, and the writer and director bringing it together. Between Crooked House, which was less film as it was malformed audiobook, and The Chaperone, which as a possible road-test for Downton Abbey-style storytelling in a feature-length production ended up crashing into a ditch with all its wheels punctured, I wasn’t expecting much out of this. And yet, while still not entirely being on board with it, I walked away from this a lot more chipper than I would’ve guessed.