Movie Review: The Drama

 Movie Number 14 of 2026

The Movie: The Drama

The Cinema: Hoyts Victoria Gardens

Runtime: One hour 45 minutes

Stars: 3

I don't really get the hype around The Drama. 

It's a lot of not particularly nice people behaving strangely. Even if it is pretty to look at and the cast is pretty good, it doesn't have that many redeeming features. Maybe it's because if my friends started acting like these people, I'd tell them where to go. 

Even stranger, this has got a very good metascore on RottenTomatoes.com, although if you look at some of the reviews, you can see that what I'm about to say about this film. 

It's a bit of a dog. A dog with fleas, despite the good ratings on the major movie websites. I don't really get it. 

The synopsis is fairly straight forward. 

At the start of the film, we meet Emma (Zendaya) and Charlie (Robert Pattinson) who are on the brink of getting married. They appear to be the perfect couple with the perfect life. Living in Boston, they have a lively and varied life. 

At their rehearsal dinner with their best friends Rachel (Alana Haim) and Mike (Mamoudou Athie) they play a game of "What's the worst thing you've done?" The group make their confessions. Some are truly awful, others, childhood slights. When Emma provides her worst moment, the group erupts. (I'm not going to give a spoiler on this, needless to say, I think what Rachel did was worse)

From here, everything spirals. Emma and Charlie's relationship falters and a lot of rather silly things happen right up to when they get married. 

Even though the movie, though Kristoffer Borgli's script and direction, to view where their line may be, this didn't ring true for me at all. As the cards started to fall, so too did my belief in any of the characters thanks to their dodgy behaviour. 

What surprises me is how popular this movie is proving. When we went the largish cinema was three quarters full. Maybe it's the star power, Zendaya and Robert Pattinson having quite a lot of pulling power. 

And sure, the acting isn't bad and the film is pretty to look at, but this didn't ring true for me. It's a film of a lot of people behaving like children in many respects. 

I'd wait for this to go to streaming to see this.  

Today's song:

Movie Review: Project Hail Mary

 Movie Number 13 of 2026

The Movie: Project Hail Mary

The Cinema: Hoyts Victoria Gardens

Runtime: Two hours 36 minutes

Stars: 4

To read the book, or not read the book? That is the question. Whether it is nobler to see a film on spec, or to slug through a tome before seeing said movie. It is a universal question. 

Blarney and I went to see the film this weekend. I've read the book (well, I listened to it as an audiobook - and it was excellent) Blarney hadn't. We both really liked the movie, however, having read Andy Weir's novel of one man saving the world from space, my views were a little more skewed. 

Don't get me wrong - this is a very good film. But you're always going to get more out of the book. 

Thankfully, the film follows the book closely and hits most of the major plot points. Not that movie goers really don't need to know that. 

For a short synopsis, Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling), a middle-school teacher with a PhD in molecular biology finds himself in deep space, alone, wondering how the hell he got there. Over time, he regains his wits and memory and goes about discovering how he's going to save the world. You see, the sun is dimming thanks to these alien microbes which are eating the sun. Other stars in the galaxy are also diminishing. Something has to be done.  Over the two hours and 40 minutes of the film you see him discover alien life in the form of Rocky (the voice of James Ortiz) and the two work out to save both of their planets.

In the background, we're taken back to Grace's memories where the enigmatic Eva Stratt (Sandra Huller) runs the Project Hail Mary who press-gangs Grace into working on the project. 

It's a simple story, very well executed. What's essentially a monologue for a lot of the film until Rocky's arrival brilliant viewing. Grace, and Rocky, have a lot to work out, from how to communicate, to how to survive in each other's atmospheres, to conflicting scientific beliefs. Somehow, they manage it. 

This is where the book comes into its own. Through the book, you get more of an insight into how Grace and Rocky develop their communication, and the science, and the situation to hand. I remember listening to the book being on the edge of my seat wanting to know how these strange bedfellows were going to get out of their predicament. The movie glosses over a lot of this. An eight-episode series would have had the space to investigate everything in the book. 

Yet, Project Hai Mary is a very good film. The set up, the cinematography, the animatronics in the way they created Rocky, the sets - they're all excellent. For a longer film, the time goes quickly. And don't be afraid of the science - it's adequately explained (where the book delves deeper into the concepts.)

What it missed for me was the depth of Grace and Rocky's relationship, which felt a bit rushed in the end. You don't get the gravitas of Rocky's predicament, having his large crew die around him and being stuck at Tau-Ceti for years alone. Nor do you feel Grace's final response when they realise that they've messed up and there are only two solutions - go home - or save your friend. 

Also, I wasn't thrilled with the way they tried to intimate that Grace and Stratt had more than platonic feelings for each other. 

Regardless, I really recommend seeing this on the big screen. Drew Goddard and Andy Weir's script is fast paced, funny and moving. Phil Lord and Christopher Miller's direction keeps this feeling very real. 

Project Hail Mary is best seen on the biggest screen you can find. It's great. (And if you haven't seen The Martian, look it up - same author, similar set up, just as good.)

But read the book. You'll get a lot more out of the experience. 

Today's Song: 

Sunday Stealing is FAB

 Happy Easter. 

It feels funny to be saying this in a secular country in a place where everything is closed on Good Friday. It's a bit bizarre. 

Anyway, I've got a busy day, so here are this week's questions, supplied, as always, by Sunday Stealing. I like these easy fallback questions. 

F. Film: What movie or tv show are you watching? 

I'm just about to go off with Blarney to see Project Hail Mary at the cinema. 

There's also talk of going to see The Drama tomorrow. I loved the book of the former. The latter just looks interesting. 

Currently, as I'm writing this, I'm watching The Ballad of Wallis Island. I think I need to give it more attention. 

I've also started watching Shrinking on Apple TV. 

A. Audio: What are you listening to?

I've been a bit remiss with music of late. I saw an artist called Irish Mythen at a local pub the other week. They were great. This song has been played at both Stockholm and Boston cathedral. 

B. Book: What are you reading?

At the moment, on paper, I'm reading the amazing Heather Rose's A Great Act of Love. She's a Tasmanian author and one of Australia's best. 

On audiobook, I gave into the hype and I'm listening to Allen Levi's Theo of Golden, which is a delight. 

I hope to have both of these finished by Friday so I've got something new to read/listen to on the way to New Zealand. 

Today's song:

Bring a Sweet

There's a barbeque today. 

I laid in bed this morning thinking about the day, only to remind myself that there is the barbeque  and my instructions are to bring some dessert. 

Bring on the ADHD rejection sensitivity and the feeling that anything I do or bring will be judged. Fun, eh!

Making matters worse, yesterday, being Good Friday, nothing was open. Could I get anything to make a dessert? No. Could I make something from what I had in the cupboards? Maybe. Would it be what I would normally make? No. 

See, I've got a reputation as the dessert queen. I make a great tiramisu. My lemon polenta cakes are legendary. I bake a decent chocolate cake. There's little you can do when the supermarket is closed and you can't pick up the lady finger biscuits, marscapone, almond meal, fresh eggs or whatever else you might need to make such a concoction. 

Added to this is the Gen-X guilt of not being a good enough home maker. 

I was discussing this my friend last night and she sympathised, but recommended popping into Aldi and get one of their apple streudels from the freezer section. Or even better, go and find a Vienetta. So very retro. 

I made a compromise. I did went apple strudel route as I passed an Aldi on the way home from meditation. 

The other thing I did, to keep up with the CWA guilt, was made some biscuits. Nagi from RecipeTinEats had a recipe for three ingredient peanut butter cookies. Peanut butter (crunchy preferred) a cup of brown sugar and an egg. Mix. Refrigerate for a bit. Roll into balls and bake for 10 minutes in a medium over (180 degrees). Perfect. I cooked it myself (See how clever I am?) and I'd filled the brief. 

I rocked up to Blarneys with the Apple Strudels and the biscuits. It seems somebody had brought over an apple pie and Blarney had made a large apple crumble that could feed an army. 

Ah well. I put the apple strudels back in their freezer and got on with my day. 

Today's song: 

Comedy Review: Wankernomics Show V4.1 _Final_UseThis

 The Show: Wankernomics Show V4.1 _Final_UseThis

The Event: Melbourne Comedy Festival

The Space: The Athenaeum Theatre, Collins Street

Stars: 4

Until 5 April (although their tour goes around Australia. See their website for details.)

I go to the Comedy Festival with one particular friend, who I tend only to see at the Comedy Festival, then we catch up the following year. The conversation flows, even though we only see each other annually. I let her choose the shows. Having the reputation of going to the opening of an envelope and the ability to laugh at most things, it's a good trade off. We will have dinner at China Red, where you don't have to interact with wait staff - using the electronic pad to do the ordering. And I, of course, will have chilli wantons, because they are ambrosial and add to the meaning of life. 

Anyway, tonight we went and saw the Chaser boys do their new show, Wankernomics Show V4.1 _Final_UseThis. 

If you work in, or have worked in, any sort of corporate environment, you WILL be triggered. James Schloeffel and Charles Firth provide an hour of merriment as they navigate the current corporate jargon environment, from the technology of reviews (What did you think of our service?) to people on LinkedIn (Oh, shite, not that dude again), to agitators, thought leaders, to the shitfuckery that is the modern office, where consultants are paid more to conceive the build that the people actually doing the job. 

James' bio on the website says a lot. It has the following paragraph:

'A renowned transformational strategist and growth alchemist, he has a proven track record of formulating results-focused, forward-thinking, environmentally-aware, value-driven, outcomes-centred, solution-led hyphenated adjectives, and putting them into complex sentences that at first seem impressive, but then just trail off at the..."

Having spent the last six months working on a technology project aligned to an HR function a lot of this was utterly relatable. It's all the stuff I roll my eyes at and find myself biting my tongue over. Like speak English and go stick your value statement up your bum! It's a matter of tolerating this behaviour to survive. But it's great to laugh at it. Oh, and they're still taking the piss out of Arts graduates (Mine's a double espresso...)

And it's based around the concept of Death by Powerpoint.

Yes, this is a bit triggering if you work in a multi-national filled with consultants, the "Big 4" and back to back meetings, where people have non-sensical job titles. 

It's also the perfect piss take. 

Today's song: 

Panic Buying

 What is the factor, the gene, the familial traits, which make us prone to panic buying? 

Tonight, being the night in questions. I was out at dinner when I was reminded that the shops were closed tomorrow. It's Good Friday. We can't have the shops open on the day Jesus died, can we?

Anyway, a quick inventory was taken. The shops not open for a day. The two things I require to make Friday comfortable is almond milk and salad, having used the last of my stocks today. I resolve to pick up these items on the way home, once my Canard a l'Orange and Iles Flottante are in my belly (Le Bon Matin do a lovely dinner - Marc-Antoine is brilliant.)

Anyway, it's about 8.30 pm, dinner is settling nicely, I go to the supermarket. 

It's full! The supermarket is heaving! People everywhere. With full trolleys. 

The supermarket is going to be closed for one day. You really don't have enough in the house to keep you going for a day? 

And everybody was in a daze. The number of people in there just staring at the shelves. 

I went in, got my almond milk, my bag of salad and some rice cakes (how exotic)  and made my way to the self-checkouts - where there was a small queue. 

This was 8.45 pm on the night before Good Friday.

Do we, as a country, really have such a feeling of lack, of food insecurity, that we need to hoard for a day off? Is this something to do with our convict roots, or boomer parents who faced rationing back in the day. 

Is this the reason there's been a run on petrol in the last few weeks. 

I find the psychology of supposed lack most interesting. I'm trying to understand why this happens. 

Regardless, I paid for my almond milk, bag of salad and a packet of rice cakes and went on my way, happy that I was away from the crowds. 

Today's song: 

Choices

 Two jobs. 

Both short term with a view to some longevity. 

One is paying a lot better than the other, but they're looking into it. 

One at a bank, the other a software firm. 

One place I've worked at before. The other I've worked with the directors. 

I didn't apply for either role - rather I've been contacted with the offers. 

Both interviews went well. One online, one face to face. 

Both aim to start around the same time. 

One is in an environment I know well. The other in an industry I know well.

Taking either will mean cutting my current role short by a week or two. 

Too much to think about today. 

Today's song: