May 25, 2025 – SparklyPrettyBriiiight

(courtesy IMP Awards) OOOO OOOO

“It’s not about surviving. It’s about taking our home back.” Thoughts on The Eternaut (El Eternauta)

(courtesy IMP Awards) OOOO OOOO

Book review: The Teller of Small Fortunes by Julie Leong

(courtesy Hachette Australia) There is an inestimable joy to finding your people. We all start out in life with a family into which we are born, which can either work for us or not, but along the way, if we’re lucky enough, we accumulate friends so close they become that Continue Reading

“Please, open the door for me …” Jurassic World: Rebirth puts the fear of dinosaurs in everyone all over again (new trailer + poster)

(courtesy IMP Awards) SNAPSHOTThis action-packed new chapter sees an extraction team race to the most dangerous place on Earth, an island research facility for the original Jurassic Park, inhabited by the worst of the worst that were left behind. Five years after the events of Jurassic World Dominion (released in Continue Reading

The humour and heart of humanity: Thoughts on Murderbot S1, E1-2

(courtesy IMP Awards) Watching a literary adaptation spring to life is always a fascinating exercise. Will it spring fully formed from the page like the visual manifestation of all the little films your mind inevitably feeds you as you read or will it feel like another story entirely, one that Continue Reading

New places to go, a new mystery to solve … Zootopia 2 releases new trailer + poster

(courtesy IMP Awards) SNAPSHOTZootopia 2 is directed by Jared Bush and Byron Howard, written by Bush, and stars Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, Shakira, Ke Huy Quan, Fortune Feimster, and Quinta Brunson. In the film, detectives Judy Hopps (voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin) and Nick Wilde (voiced by Jason Bateman) find themselves Continue Reading

Book review: Alice Austen Lived Here by Alex Gino

(courtesy Scholastic) If you have grown up and are comfortably ensconced as a member of the heteronormative majority, you will have likely seen little to trouble your secure worldview. Almost everything caters to the idea that society, and indeed civilisation as a whole, has been shaped in its entirety by Continue Reading

Eurovision 2025 wrap-up: No “Wasted Love” as Austria wins this year’s contest

(courtesy Eurovision.tv) We’re off to Austria! The superbly passionate and gloriously operatic performance by Austria’s JJ aka Johannes Pietsch, a singer at the Vienna State Opera, garnered 258 points from the international jury vote, which was allocated first by the traditional appearance of representatives from all 37 competing countries, and Continue Reading

Building something … ICONIC: First trailer lands for Ironheart

(courtesy First Showing) SNAPSHOTSet after the events of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Marvel’s Ironheart series pits technology against magic when Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne)—a young, genius inventor determined to make her mark on the world—returns to her hometown of Chicago. Her unique take on building iron suits is brilliant, but Continue Reading

We reach the end … or is it the end of the beginning? Thoughts on Andor S2, E10-12

(courtesy YouTube (c) Star Wars/Disney+) One of the enduring strengths of the flawless perfection that has been Andor right throughout its two superlatively good seasons has been its attention to detail when it comes to joining up the dots with Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Star Wars: A Continue Reading

Take a big swing … the heartfelt trailer for Stick

(courtesy First Showing) SNAPSHOT“His comeback is a long shot.” In Stick, Owen Wilson stars as Pryce Cahill, an over-the-hill, ex-pro golfer whose career was derailed prematurely 20 years ago. After the collapse of his marriage and getting fired from his job at an Indiana sporting goods store, Pryce hedges his Continue Reading