Comedy & Movie Reviews 2019

Woof-o-meter :-
0-Die Bastard : 1-Crap : 2-Rubbish(watchable) : 3-OK : 3.5-Nice : 4-Good : 4.5-Very Good : 5-WOW

Other Movies seen, but at home - Other Movies

27.12.19 : Jojo Rabbit - movie
Comedy, Drama, War : A kind-of sendup of the Hitler Youth. There was no hook the keep you interested, ie, the kid wasn't cute/charming, there was barely any comedy, and there wasn't much in the story. It seemed insensitive having a Hitler character until you find out he is a buffoon, but even with the buffoonery he just wasn't funny. I left after 1 hour due to nothing interesting happening, and I was one of only two people that chuckled occasionally. Skip it unless you have to see it. 1

26.12.19 : Jumanji: The Next Level - movie
Action, Adventure, Comedy : In Jumanji: The Next Level, the gang is back but the game has changed. This one felt less funny and too long, but that could've been from familiarity. Basically it doesn't have the surprise valve when you see this format being repeated. It's ok 3

20.12.19 : Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker - movie
Action, Adventure, Fantasy : The surviving Resistance faces the First Order once more in the final chapter of the Skywalker saga. It's kind-of ok, it's just the quest at the start, which is a CGI time-filler with no story, that makes it dull. 3

17.12.19 : A Very Merry Chr-ITS-mas! : Giant Dwarf Theatre
The first half was a improvised cheesy Xmas tale, which was rather good, and the second half was a musical improv troupe. The musical half started off with versions of Theatresports games, ie, they sang one song a verse at a time, then switched to a line at a time, and then finally a word at a time. After that there was an improvised Musical, but there wasn't many songs. There was a story, which wasn't that funny, but they only did 2.5 songs. They needed more songs to cover up the story, but there didn't seem to be any cues for songs, ie, sing about it, so it was mainly talking. They sing at a high level so should've used more of it. Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.25

14.12.19 : Cirque Du So Lamp : Giant Dwarf Theatre
Singing, dancing, drill through nose, just your usual variety show. It wasn't bad, it's just that it wasn't for me. The first 25 years of Jordan was fun, but now she changed to another demographic that I don't belong in. Crowd : na - Me : na

13.12.19 : Playing with Fire - movie
Comedy, Family : A crew of rugged firefighters meet their match when attempting to rescue three rambunctious kids. Being PG it was always going to be a bit simplistic, and it only has occasional laughs, but it's nice enough. 3

10.12.19 : Dragon Friends and Friends play Christmas Werewolf : Giant Dwarf Theatre
I don't think this werewolf game is enough to make a good live show, ie, it's not that funny, but that could be because I just don't get it. 10 players get random cards that assign 5 villagers, 3 werewolves, 1 doctor, and 1 detective. Everyone closes their eyes and the werewolves awake and secretly select a victim and close their eyes again. Then the doctor secretly picks 1 person to save, ie, immunity, and next the detective secretly picks a person to investigate. They all awake and start accusing each other of being a werewolf, and a person is picked and killed. The aim is to find the werewolves before all the villagers die, or the werewolves win. There is no way to weed out werewolves by logic so all the accusations are pretty circumstantial, and because everyone was packed so tight on stage they could feel which player moved when the werewolves were picking a victim. All the Xmas shows have been pretty average except the last one, so this is a change, but this show doesn't have many dimensions so I think I would get bored with this fairly quick. Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5

08.12.19 : The Good Liar - movie
Crime, Drama, Mystery : Consummate con man Roy Courtnay has set his sights on his latest mark: the recently widowed Betty McLeish, worth millions. Even though it's just a movie I find it hard to watch movies were innocent people get taken advantage of, so it's not my cup of tea. But for what it was, it kind-of was ok. The protracted ending that attempts to give the movie more credence dragged, so that is another negative point. Didn't hate it, ie, wasn't annoying, just not for me. 2.5

07.12.19 : Giant Dwarf Christmas Fundraiser Show! : Giant Dwarf Theatre
Looks like that is it for Giant Dwarf Theatre. It seams between the posting of this event and tonight, the owner/agent jacked the lease 150% and put up a for lease sign. Agents tend to push owners to jack rent so who knows what the owner will do if spoken directly to, because if you explain to him that he's better off with a 50% increase than a property that could be empty for 6 months, ie, lose 1000s, he might prefer the deal. There wasn't even bucket collecting like last time so everyone must have realised it's over, and because there wasn't a hard sell the show was quite good. It's a shame it's over. Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75

02.12.19 : Story Club - The End of the Line : Giant Dwarf Theatre
There was no repeat stories, and they were all good.
Hosted by Ben Jenkins - Working at a bar and trying to ban a drunk with his pants off, but the drunk calling his bluff
Jessica Tuckwell (Hot Mess, Les Norton) - Drunk and lonely at a wedding
Osher Günsberg (The Bachelorette, The Bachelor) - 14 year old Osher thinks he's in with two 16 year old girls, but they're hanging just to be nice.
Melina Wicks (The Weekly with Charlie Pickering , The Chaser’s Media Desk) - Buying a single brick from Bunnings.
Mark Sutton (Radio National, MICF, The Checkout) - Constantly having his food orders miss interpreted
Zoe Norton-Lodge - Being a people pleaser, Zoe encourages strippers that no one wants to see.
Crowd : 4.5 - Me : 4.25

29.11.19 : Two Tigers - movie
Comedy : Bumbling young man Fang Nan kidnaps businessman Zhang Chenggong for ransom. However, the captor becomes the captive when Zhang turns the tables on Fang and forces him to complete three tasks. It's starts off as a comedy, but then turns into self reflection of their lives. It's nice enough, and funny for the first half hour, but probably a bit too long. 3

28.11.19 : ITS Comedy Festival 2019! : Giant Dwarf Theatre
The first night was probably the better night because it had ITS Soap Opera, but this one was ok. The first 2 large Improv troupes were decent, but the third was a bit disjointed logically, ie, ideas not fully formed enough to be clear. The sketch was kind-of ok, but it was the standup that was good. Even though they were very new comics, the quick shorts sets keep the energy up. There was two Pros in Bec Melrose, who I didn't realise was such a strong standup, and Matt Okine with his new darker material. Matt's old silly food routines were light-hearted and blisteringly funny, but his new stuff is still ok. Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.25

28.11.19 : Knives Out - movie
Comedy, Crime, Drama : A detective investigates the death of a patriarch of an eccentric, combative family. I don't do murder mysteries so I don't know much about them, but to me the plot wasn't very remarkable. I guess I could see most of it coming. It's ok. 2.75

27.11.19 : ITS Comedy Festival 2019! : ITS HQ
Got there too late.

25.11.19 : Fisherman's Friends - movie
Comedy, Drama, Music : A city-slicker record executive tries to sign ten fisherman from Cornwall to record an album of Sea Shanties. It's kind-of sweet, but it's also kind-of sad-ish. It's nice enough, but it's probably for an older crowd. 3.25

24.11.19 : The Cranston Cup 2019 - 3rd semi final : Giant Dwarf Theatre
I guess it was a bit optimistic thinking we would get a level above 3 stars, because that is the highest you can expect thesedays. Cranston is always up and down, because there usually is 2 Pro teams and 2 armature teams. This had 3 newby teams and 2 semi Pro teams, but oddly enough it was 2 of the young teams that were the best. As usual the judges went with something different and went 1 newby team and 1 Pro team. Taking such a long break since seeing the last show makes you more tolerant, but to me it was the same as 10 years ago after all the Pros quit. Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 2.75

22.11.19 : 21 Bridges - movie
Action, Crime, Drama : An embattled NYPD detective is thrust into a citywide manhunt for a pair of cop killers. You can work it out beforehand, but overall it's a decent enough film. Not stellar but ok to watch. 3.25

19.11.19 : Ford v Ferrari - movie
Action, Biography, Drama : American car designer Carroll Shelby and driver Ken Miles battle corporate interference, the laws of physics, and their own personal demons, to build a revolutionary race car for Ford and challenge Ferrari at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1966. I knew the story except for one fine point, but I think it will be an interesting enough story for the general public. It had some "Hollywood" car racing fakery, ie, drivers talking to each other across cars while racing, but overall it's pretty decent. 3.5

14.11.19 : Charlie's Angels - movie
Action, Adventure, Comedy : When a young systems engineer blows the whistle on a dangerous technology, Charlie's Angels are called into action. It's ok, just not very interesting. I think they were going for something like the first Charlie's Angels (2000), ie, funny, fun, action, but every gag fell flat leaving dull spots between the conventional action. Basically it's not exciting enough.  2

12.11.19 : Dragon Friends5 - A Live D&D Comedy Show : Giant Dwarf Theatre
It was the final of the season, and it was packed out to the max with people. It was good, it's just that I think it ran 1hr longer than normal to tie up lose ends - I did kind-of notice it was past my bed time -. There was also a half-arsed Cosplay, which was good. Story wise it wasn't one of those super clever mucking-around ones, ie, armature theatre "Where's my cabbages", but it wasn't as pointless as characters purposely trying it kill themselves - this show was still ok, it just didn't have the meat of something clever -. It was pretty funny, it's just that it kind-of ended on a low. It's not the fault of the show because ups and downs do happen in D&D, so they can't all be uplifting. Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 4

07.11.19 : Last Christmas - movie
Comedy, Drama, Romance : A self-centred woman meets guy, and her life changes. Through most of it I was thinking that this is ok, just not magic, ie, emotionally warm and fuzzy. But half way you realise this is not a saccharine sweet, suck you in emotional RomCom, type film. Leaning toward real-ish, ie, serious, rather than pure RomCom. 3.5

04.11.19 : Story Club - Spookaween Specdracula : Giant Dwarf Theatre
Ben Jenkins - Blind confidence makes him do a comedy routine that he knows always bombs.
Alex Lee (The Feed, Dragon Friends) - Haunted Kookaburra
Patrick Lenton (Junkee) - Goes on a holiday, only to be ghosted by his employer like he never existed.
Phil Spencer (Griffin Theatre, FBi Radio) - Being told you are now the tomboy's boyfriend.
Eddie Sharp (Erotic Fan Fiction) - Going on a Tinder date with a homeless woman just to use the story for Story Club
Zoe Norton-Lodge - Haunted Hills Hoist swallows an unfaithful husband.
Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 3.75

01.11.19 : MACC MANIA X : 10th Anniversary Show : Giant Dwarf Theatre
This is what real comedy was like, ie, genuinely lol funny. Asian comedy is not PC so it's still very funny, but it's also refreshingly direct, ie, comically brutal. All 4 comics were good, but the standout was Douglas Lim, who had tons of very funny stuff - he's also an amazing Green Day impersonator -, and the direct medical comedy of Dr Jason Leong. He has this joke about his wife having a tumour that got cut out after 9 months, and found to be a girl. 10% was in a different language, and 10% they talked so fast I could follow - old person problems -, but that didn't detract from what was a very good show. Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75

01.11.19 : Terminator: Dark Fate - movie
Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi : Sarah Connor and a hybrid cyborg human must protect a young girl from a newly modified liquid Terminator from the future. I like how these new movies are more real, ie, serious, and less Hollywood, ie, exaggerated. Some very minor dry humour at the middle keeping with the serious theme - it was nothing like the gags in the old films -, and some character's view points being less than 100% logical, but overall I liked it just as much as the last one. 3.75

30.10.19 : Choose your own apocalypse : Seymore Centre
Hosted by Adam Spencer, and a foreword by Dr Karl Kruszelnicki, 4 Scientists put their case forward in a competition to find the most popular apocalypse for the earth. There was Professor Tania Sorrell arguing for a pandemic, Professor Dale Dominey-Howes for Global-Warming, Dr Emily Remnant for the global decline of insects pollinating plants starving us to death, and Professor Geraint Lewis for a meteorite or other space anomaly, with the winner of the audience vote being Global-Warming. It was good, in an apocalyptic kind-of way. Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.5

22.10.19 : Zombieland: Double Tap - movie
Action, Comedy, Horror : Columbus, Tallahassee, Wichita, and Little Rock move to the American heartland as they face off against evolved zombies, fellow survivors, and the growing pains of the snarky makeshift family. Initially it's fun, but it gets tiresome rather quickly due to there being not much in it. Plus the gags get kind-of weak. Ok. PS there is a Bill Murray gag after the credits. 2.75

19.10.19 : Kitty Flanagan and Sam Pang - 488 Rules for Life : Seymour Centre
How to get a book that doesn't exist to #1 best seller. Evidently the book didn't exist, it was just a prop for a sketch on The Weekly with Charlie Pickering. But then people started going into bookshops asking for it so the bookshops asked publishers for copies to sell, but there was no such book. So the publishers asked Kitty if she would write one, and now it's #1. An "in conversation" book-launch comedy show is different, but it was actually quite good. In fact the 1 hour seemed to fly past very fast, which is a sign it was good. Sam doesn't have live performing experience, so was a little stiff, but that just made it funnier. Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75

17.10.19 : Nailed It: The Live-Action Reboot : Giant Dwarf Theatre
I think it was good, ie, lots of applause, it's just that I was a little out-of-it. Maybe I'm too old, or can't think properly anymore, or don't get the references, or can't hear that well, or feel removed because of having to wear earplugs, but I think I should've been laughing more. I did laugh a lot a Jordan Raskopoulos's Rock, Paper, Scissors, routine - this was clever, unlike some of the crude stuff in his last show -, so I don't know if it was me or the show. Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 3.5

17.10.19 : Maleficent: Mistress of Evil - movie
Adventure, Family, Fantasy : Maleficent and her goddaughter Aurora begin to question the complex family ties that bind them as they are pulled in different directions by impending nuptials. I only went to the first one as a time filler, but it turned out surprisingly good. So I took another chance, and this one is also good. Looks good and has plenty of story for adults. 3.75

14.10.19 : Joker - movie
Crime, Drama, Thriller : In Gotham City, mentally-troubled comedian Arthur Fleck is disregarded and mistreated by society. I should've trusted my instincts and not gone, because the life story of a 2-bit secondary degenerate character from another franchise is just plain stupid. The hardships of a hero is inspirational, but the hardships of a turd is still going to be a turd, ie, you don't get emotionally invested in d!ck. I found the trowelling-on of despair and hardship so overdone and long, that I only lasted 30min before I walked out. 0

10.10.19 : Gemini Man - movie
Action, Drama, Sci-Fi : An over-the-hill hitman faces off against a younger clone of himself. I don't know what the critics were complaining about, because it's a pretty decent/intelligent for adults, action film. The only thing to fault is the CGI physics engine for body movement is a bit exaggerated, but then again super-human body movement is probably what they were going for. 3.75

08.10.19 : Dragon Friends5 - A Live D&D Comedy Show : Giant Dwarf Theatre
Two new characters try to kill themselves as quickly as possible. These-days it seems a contest of how mad a situation you can shoehorn into the storyline. The subtle ones are very clever/funny, like the amateur theatre play, but the blatant ones, like 2 characters trying to kill themselves, have so much mucking around you kind-of miss not having a storyline anymore. It was still funny, but we are never going to know about the 4 adventures the Draggo's are supposed to take to stop the cult opening the last 4 gates. Crowd : 4 - Me : 4

30.09.19 : Story Club - Working for the Man : Giant Dwarf Theatre
Ben Jenkins - Teaching bank employees Improv, due to someone's stupid motivational idea.
Annaliese Constable (Queer Activist, Writer & Comedian) - Faking a hip injury as a kid gets her hospitalised in traction for 3 weeks.
Rosie Waterland (The Anti Cool Girl) - The dreaded sucking of the knob.
Rebecca Huntley (The Full Catastrophe) - Snow White wasn't PC
Kate McClymont (Sydney Morning Herald) - Investigating a major drug syndicate that was laundering money through  corrupt horse racing.
Zoe Norton Lodge - Alcoholic and delusional denim boss.
Crowd : 4 - Me : 4

27.09.19 : Laugh Your Arts Off' : Giant Dwarf Theatre
That was high level laughs. It also helped that the crowd was good, because Carlo Ritchie's routine was funnier this time, and Ashlee Brown was way funnier than on the 25.09.19. Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75

25.09.19 : Ange Lavoipierre & Natalie Synnott - What is the Meaning of This : Factory Theatre
I tuned out straight away due to Nat using words with alternate meanings that I didn't know. Like "dumb bitch" is the opposite to "dumb frignn bitch". I don't know if they are well know meanings for the words, or whether she made them up, but for old people like me it was hard to follow. Young people were laughing.
I didn't know what most of Ange's show was about, so wanted to slip out. I think it was caricatures of important/bad people in her life, ie, religious nuts. The last 15min had something I could make sense of, but for the rest I didn't know what was going on.
Crowd : na - Me : na

25.09.19 : Ashlee Brown - Millennial Fatigue : Factory Theatre
There is a lot of stuff, ie, talking, but overall I would say mild. It didn't help that the crowd was so small, ie, no laugh track, but it's nice enough. Crowd : 3.25 - Me : 3
PS: saw her in the 27.09.19 with a large crowd and she was very funny.

24.09.19 : Break Out New Zealand : Factory Theatre
Ft The Fan Brigade, James Roque & Eli Matthewson
One guy was very charming and affable and funny at the start, but all his material was race prejudice stuff that became unfunny after a period. Two girls sang songs, where I couldn't hear the lyrics because of tinnitus. And the third guy didn't make it to Sydney in time. Maybe if the other guy made it it might be worth it, but it's probably not likely. Crowd : 3 - Me : 2.5

24.09.19 : Georgie Carroll - Off the Charts : Factory Theatre
Her first show was a riot, but this one was sparse and a lot less funny. You can't really tell anything with a material trial show, and in fact other pros haven't been much better, so maybe the full show next year might be good. Lets hope she's not like Ivan Aristeguieta, a debutante one show killer with all the rest being average. Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.25

23.09.19 : Rambo - Last Blood - movie
Action, Adventure, Thriller : Rambo must confront his past and unearth his ruthless combat skills to exact revenge in a final mission. Sadistic gang violence and a poorly made film, and I figured I didn't need to see the 2nd half. They try to illicit and emotional response with tragedy, but when the innocent part is seriously injured an audience loses all investment in the thing. Boring. 0

20.09.19 : Hungry Beast - Unplugged : Giant Dwarf Theatre
That was more fun than the TV show ever was. This show was all about the behind scenes stuff, like the auditions, trying to get stories through the screening process, their best and worst stories, etc. I watched all the episodes but never was a fan, and that's because it was more serious than funny. I think I watched it because Dan Ilic was in it and he was always funny, but when I found out last night it was an Andrew Denton show the seriousness made sense. Not many people in the TV show stood out to me, like there were people in that show that I know now, but didn't know they were in it at the time, like Marc Fennell and Lewis Hobba, so you can guess how little an impact it had on me. Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.75

20.09.19 : Good Boys - movie
Adventure, Comedy : Three 6th grade boys go to extreme measures to go to a kissing party. Fuk that was funny. It's one of those quick-fire comedies that are oh so funny. Good. 4.25

19.09.19 : Heath Franklin's Chopper - Giving it a Sniff : Factory Theatre
I'm not keen on Chopper anymore because I find it more Heath griping than Chopper comedy, but I figured it's cheap, and that I'm never going to a full expensive Chopper show again, so I went as a last hurrah. The first half was good but by half time I noticed I had stopped laughing, so ended up about the same as I thought. Ok, but I found the last quarter before the funny end jokes a bit tedious. Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.25

19.09.19 : Rose Callaghan & Suren Jayemanne - Joke Babies : Factory Theatre
There was only 4 people in the audience, and 1 was a boyfriend, but actually it was quite nice. I knew some of the gags, which was ok because it was a while ago, but it was the audience member that broke Tony Abbott's leg that made the show. Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.5

19.09.19 : Ad Astra - movie
Adventure, Drama, Mystery : Astronaut Roy McBride undertakes a mission across the solar system to uncover the truth about his missing father and his doomed expedition. I think they were going for dark, brooding, thought-provoking, mystery, but what they achieved was something slow and without much mystery. Basically art over entertainment value. The first half was just slow setup with lots of superfluous filler, with the second not being that eventful.Basically a 5 min not very Sci-Fi story stretched to 2 hours. Slightly boring, but not much value in seeing it. 2.5

18.09.19 : Matt Okine - Work in Progress : Factory Theatre
I must have seen Matt do general standup over 50 times, and even with the repeats he was brilliant. But then I saw his first full show, and it wasn't brilliant. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't the gagging laughs that I had always seen before. This work in progress, and it was funny, but it did have a serious element. Maybe that's the difference, standup is non serious fun, and full shows are  something serious. Either way it was better than his first full show, so it was quite funny. Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5

18.09.19 : Claudia Rae & Floyd Alexander-Hunt Split Bill : Factory Theatre
Quite good. I had seen Claudia before, but it must of been a while ago and only a short set because I only remembered the first 10 min. Floyd was funnier, but more strange, so some things were more odd than funny. Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5

17.09.19 : Alex Jae - Loosey Goosey : Factory Theatre
How good is my memory that I go and see the same show again. I guess the name is in my sub-conscience, and that I didn't expect someone to do the same show twice in two separate shows. It was better the first time, because I did know the gags. Crowd : 3 - Me : na

17.09.19 : Robyn Perkins - Mating Selection : Factory Theatre
If there is someone that knows how to perform, this is it. She kept you engaged with high energy, like what you would expect from a professional host/performer, and had a lot of well thought out material. Which is understandable when you find out she is a scientist. It a show based on trying to analyse a fluid factor, ie, love, and uses her experience in a blind date comedy show at the Edinburgh fringe festival. Funny and very professional. Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.75

16.09.19 : Little Women - movie
Drama, Family : A modern retelling of Louisa May Alcott's classic novel, we follow the lives of four sisters - Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy March - detailing their passage from childhood to womanhood. I had heard the name before, but not anything about it, and overall if felt weird. I had to look it up afterwards because it seemed written weird due to the scenarios, ie, things that don't happen thesedays, and that's when I found out it's 150 years old. It was ok, but to me it seemed like a story about an annoying obnoxious self-centred character. Ether way it does feel from olden times. 2.5

10.09.19 : Dragon Friends5 - A Live D&D Comedy Show : Giant Dwarf Theatre
Going to an armature play last week seemed stupid, but it made the show bonkers funny. This week wasn't as funny, but it was still good. An evil priest takes over the asylum, but the Drago's penchant for burning things down fries him in the first 5 min. They thought they stopped the 3rd prophecy, but the forces of darkness make a sacrifice and the end of the world continues. Crowd : 4.5 - Me : 3.75

10.09.19 : Dragged Across Concrete - movie
Action, Crime, Drama : Once two overzealous cops get suspended from the force, they must delve into the criminal underworld to get their proper compensation. The reviews are right, it's slow. It alternates between a small skerrick of interesting, followed by a long section of slow. By half way I figured it wasn't worth knowing what was going to happen if I had to endure another 1:30 of slow, so I left. Too slow, too long. 1

08.09.19 : Danii Jo - This Is Terrifying: How to Panic Usefully : Factory Theatre
It's mainly storytelling and some songs about bad things that happened. This one is more therapy for the performer than anything else, because repeating what happened is kind-of cathartic. I was in the mood for something else, but them's the breaks. Crowd : 3.5 - Me : na

08.09.19 : Claire Yistelle - Made in Paris : Factory Theatre
I got blinded by the attractive pic in the blurb, ie, attractiveness attracts, and didn't check what the show was about. It turned out to be my least favourite thing, magic. I don't like magic, but if you do it's probably ok. Oh well. Crowd : 4 - Me : 3

07.09.19 : Mitch Garling & Rachael Millanta - Always Check Your Eggs : Factory Theatre
Even though it's chuckle laughs, these multi bills are quite good because there is a lot of material. Basically beginners doing a solo show usually ends up being sparse. Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.

07.09.19 : Harry Jun - Did You Bring Enough For Everybody? : Factory Theatre
The subject matter comes from him being a young teacher, and what he has to deal with. It's quite different/interesting, because it's an angle that you never see. Quite good. Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 4

05.09.19 : Sci Fight Science Comedy Debate-Scientists should rule the world : Giant Dwarf Theatre
It shouldn't really matter who wins as it more entertainment, but it came down to 2 pretty funny debaters with facts, and 1 serious one, against 2 very funny debaters, and 1 serious one. Good. Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.75

04.09.19 : Lauren Bonner & Gerard McGowan - Islands In The Stream : Factory Theatre
I think I might have seen this show before, so familiarity with their names might have been why it triggered me to think I should see it. Either way it didn't matter, because I didn't remember any jokes, and they were rather good. This was supposed to be a trial show, which can be sparse, but it was their regular routine with added new stuff, and that made it rather packed with jokes. Best show in the festival so far. Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5

04.09.19 : KC Martin-Stone - I See Dead People : Factory Theatre
It started out good, but then it petered out. There were jokes at the start, be it with the occasional corny one due to her being a newby, but then it changed into more of a history lecture about the different ways different cultures treat their dead. Also it was a bit short at 35min, so an added Q&A or a what she's found digging for bones, would have been good. Crowd : 3 - Me : 2.75

03.09.19 : Luke Heggie, Alex Jae & Daniel Townes - Is it? : Factory Theatre
They were trialling new material - I should really check which shows are trials because I rather wait for the finished shows -, and it was ok. Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5

02.09.19 : Story Club - ..and it went everywhere! : Giant Dwarf Theatre
A lot of new stories and one repeat story that was delivered very well.
Ben Jenkins - Pissing in the Paris skull catacombs
James Colley (Gruen, The Weekly) - Selective psychotic goose.
Greta Lee Jackson (The Feed, Skitbox) - Henry the VII disappearing wives mug.
Lewis Hobba (Triple J) - Hypnotised custard
Laura Hart (The Checkout) - House hopping sharehouse madness
Zoe Norton-Lodge - Being irresponsible when you should be responsible.
Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 4.25

29.08.19 : Jordan Raskopoulos - Renaissance Hydra : Factory Theatre
The problem with knowing too much is you remember when it was brilliant, so when it's not, it becomes average. It's just random stuff thrown together, and for me it wasn't strong enough, or at least strong enough compared to the old days. The first half had a intro and a repeat story, and it was ok, but the second half had an erotic fan fiction. EFF is passe for me because it's usually just one dimensional penetration by different characters - you could physically hear only a few people laughing here -. Followed by a comedic song about something serious - this one was just me, as other people were singing along. Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 2.75

28.08.19 : Allison Tyra - Pussy Jokes : Factory Theatre
She says she rescues cats, but she's closer to a crazy cat lady. There's a lot of show/talking, which was good because it made the weaker jokes disappear, but it also made me think we were near the end when we were only halfway. Not a high end laugh-fest, but still very nice. Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.25

27.08.19 : ITS The News 2019 : Giant Dwarf Theatre
A panel discusses the news giving inspiration to improvisers. This time the Improv was better than the panel. It was ok. Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.25

22.08.19 : Angel Has Fallen - movie
Action : Secret Service Agent Mike Banning is framed for the attempted assassination of the President and must evade his own agency and the FBI as he tries to uncover the real threat. A bit of an implausible plot point, which you have to accept, drives the film, and action to keep you entertained. Basically it's your regular action film, just leaning to realism, ie, there's no cars jumping buildings type of fun. It's ok 3

20.08.19 : Bird evolution: from dinosaurs to DNA : Sydney University
Presented by Professor Scott Edwards, Harvard University
It was good, and a much more detailed and specific that the last general genetics talk I saw. You kind-of have to sit back in wonder at how qualified these scientists are, and the massive accumulation of information, and the need to mix different disciplines of science to make sense of it all, and the thought process they come too to come to a hypothesis, and the massive amount of time it took to learn all this. Basically you only have to go to one of these high end talks to realise what real science is, and who is talking out of their ass. It's only going to be me but I could just hear, so it was kind-of adequate, unfortunately it was such a low volume that the gravitas of the information didn't sink in. It was probably a good one, I just couldn't hear enough to be sure. Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.75

19.08.19 : Who You Think I Am(Celle que vous croyez) - movie
Drama, Romance : There is more to it than just this, but basically it's a 50 year old having a pseudo relation with someone that she accidentally Catfished. All the signs were there that this was a foreign film, but the quick glance and decision gave me the impression it was English. Either way it was quite interesting. Interesting/clever trumps millions of dollars of CGI again. 3.75

18.08.19 : The Colour of an Electron : Giant Dwarf Theatre
Presented by Dr Karl Kruszelnicki and Professor Geraint Lewis.
Way better than Dr Karl's yearly talk at Sydney Uni every year, because it was a higher level of science. I guess Dr Karl's Syd Uni talks are dumbed down for children, even though he always mentions sex in them, and this one was full of children too, but thankfully they talked at an adult level, be it an entertaining adult level. Even the question section was at a higher level, and that includes the children's questions. I wish they were all like this. Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 4

16.08.19 : Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood - movie
Comedy, Drama : A faded television actor and his stunt double strive to achieve fame and success in the film industry during the final years of Hollywood's Golden Age in 1969 Los Angeles. I knew all the references for the era, so it was good in that respect, but most of it is pointless meandering filler. Why we need to see someone fill a dog bowl for 10 min is a mystery, but the nothingness slows the film right down. It didn't have much story, yet alone meaningful story, so I skipped the last 30 min. I figured if nothing much happened in the first 2 hours, the end is not really worth knowing. A "nothing" film. 2

13.08.19 : Dragon Friends5 - A Live D&D Comedy Show : Giant Dwarf Theatre
This episode is why this format is way better for a general audience than the nerd D&D actual game play format. Basically it's a lesson on how to be entertaining. Watching people who's only objective is to win is boring, but watching people being silly to entertain is what a real audience wants. This ep was about 80% Improv comedy with about 20% game-play, where as the nerd ones are more like 75% game-play, and that makes it better to watch. This ep was about going to an amateur theatre production of "Who stole all my cabbages", and on a side note, how to stop the 3rd prophecy. Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 4.25

08.08.19 : Late Night - movie
Comedy, Drama : A late night talk show host suspects that she may soon lose her long-running show. This must have some sort of record number of written gags, it must also have some sort of record number of written gags that didn't work. Not the light giggles I expected, plus some minor technical annoyances, but overall I didn't hate it, so it is acceptable. 3

07.08.19 : This Sounds Like Science: Why Music is Maths : City Recital Hall
A bit sparse, but ok. I like it when there is a lot of info delivered fast, but this one could've had a lot more stuff - maybe it was for a younger audience -. I see Fourier transform in electronics all the time, now I know what it is. Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3

02.08.19 : Carlo Ritchie - Drinking For Two : Giant Dwarf Theatre
A lot of RMS Titanic, and a lot of bisexual. Good. Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.75

02.08.19 : Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw - movie
Action, Adventure : Lawman Luke Hobbs and outcast Deckard Shaw form an unlikely alliance when a cyber-genetically enhanced villain threatens the future of humanity. Action and some laughs, what's not to like. 3.5

27.07.19 : Noodle Girls - Shmood : Factory Theatre
There is a lot of girls running around in underwear, due to the full costume changes on stage every 5 min. I think the comedy is making fun of daggy things, like Country Road cloths, Ellen DeGeneres, etc. I found some old 3D glasses in the car so the lights in the face was acceptable, but I don't know if I couldn't hear - they didn't use mics, but I had to wear earplugs for the music -, or I wasn't in the mood, but I didn't laugh. I did laugh at the airport security sketch, and there was a few young people laughing - they might have been friends -, but overall most of the crowd was silent. Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3

26.07.19 : ITS Soap : Giant Dwarf Theatre
Maybe I should go more often because the Soap part seems to be very high-end funny - the 2 I've seen recently have been 4+ -. The second half is New scene, Old scene, which the crowd can shout if the want a new scene or to go back to an old scene, that is a bit more ramshackle with faster switches - the crowd change scenes before they get established -, and not as good. It's not bad, and is still entertaining, it's just that it's not as funny. Crowd : 4.5 - Me : 3.75

24.07.19 : Apollo 11 - movie
Documentary, History : A look at the Apollo 11 mission to land on the moon led by commander Neil Armstrong and pilots Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins. You saw more in this movie that we saw on our old B&W TVs at the time. Apollo 11 was massive at the time, and everyone followed it, but what we got was a lot of quite crude TV footage - newspapers had better photos -. We never got to see the better quality footage because people had lost interest in Apollo in the decade before better quality TVs were invented. We never knew about the 1202/1201 alarms at the time, which was the Apollo Guidance Computer AGC skipping routines due to being overloaded by the radar, so the 50th anniversary documentaries have been a wealth of info of actual proof of what happened. 3.5

23.07.19 : ITS The News 2019 : Giant Dwarf Theatre
A panel discusses the news, giving inspiration to improvisers to do small scenes. I found the panel the funniest, but some of the Improv was ok. Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.25

19.07.19 : Table Read with Alexei Toliopoulos & Aaron Chen : Giant Dwarf Theatre
It was a cast of about 11 people doing a table reading of the whole script for the movie Looking for Alibrandi. A static table reading is not going to be as good as the film, but some of the cast, ie, the improvisers, made it more fun by adding extras like accents and as many gestures as you could do seated in a chair. I remembering watching the movie and liking it a lot, but I saw it only once 20 years ago and didn't remember a thing. So for me it was 3 hours of trying to remember what each scene looked like in the movie, and coming up blank. I didn't remember the suicide, nor the major plot point that Josie - I didn't even remember her name - was a illegitimate daughter where the father turned up 15 years latter. It was more interesting for me than anything, but the crowd seamed to like it a lot. Crowd : 4.5 - Me : 3.5

17.07.19 : Stuber - movie
Action, Comedy, Crime : A detective recruits his Uber driver into an unexpected night of adventure. It's got laughs and it's fun, so it was good for me. 3.5

15.07.19 : Booksmart - movie
Comedy : On the eve of their high school graduation, two academic superstars and best friends realise they should have worked less and played more. I feel like going back to see it again, because there was so many fast funny back-handed put-downs that I couldn't keep up because I couldn't get a coffee to keep me alert. Not technical, but fun and lovable. Good 3.75

13.7.19 : Lizzy Hoo - Hoo am I? What’s my name? : Factory Theatre
I don't think this was for me because it wasn't funny enough, and I probably would've stayed if not for the bright lights pointing at the audience stinging my eyes. I lasted maybe 20 minutes, but even then I had trouble driving because of spots in my eyes. na

13.7.19 : Ibis - Your City Our Bins : Factory Theatre
An ibis tries to garner sympathy for the most reviled bird in Sydney. Stupidly I didn't go to the first run of this show because I hate ibises - emotion over logic problem - , but the show is actually quite good. My circumstances wasn't great because I was in a bad seat and couldn't see that well, I also couldn't hear everything so I missed some punchlines, and I could read the cards you are suppose to read. Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 3.75

09.07.19 : Dragon Friends5 - A Live D&D Comedy Show : Giant Dwarf Theatre
It was a return to that clever banter that is so incredibly funny. You don't even need anything to happen when they are being clever, like this episode was basically going on errands with supposedly simple interactions/conversations, but because they pulled out the smarts and clever lateral thinking, it was crazy funny. And then couple that with Carlo logic, ie, a sentence that sounds like a profound statement, but is totally nonsensical, it just made it better On a side note, everytime I try to watch DF when there is no audience, like the Twitch streams, I don't find it funny at all. But put and audience in there and it's funny. It's like they feed off it being live. Crowd : 4.5 - Me : 4.25

05.07.19 : After - movie
Drama, Romance : A young woman falls for a guy with a dark secret and the two embark on a rocky relationship. i know a movie has to have conflict or nothing will happen, but nearly everyone was a complete d!ck so there was no ups in the first half. I walked in the second because I didn't like the characters degrading someone's else's self-worth to bolster their own in their own mind. Not for me. 1

01.07.19 : Story Club - When We Were Young : Giant Dwarf Theatre
Ben Jenkins : Being the worse at Rugby, yet his father would still cheer him on.
Nikki Britton : Going to the rim of a volcano isn't good enough if you're mum misses out on the breakfast buffet.
Josh Lawson : A poem that was a metaphor for his father estranged relation with his 5 sons.
John Collee : Going to the wilderness in Canada and meeting a man who killed another in a brawl.
Cait Harris : Her beloved dog gets sick.
Zoe Norton-Lodge : Being bit on the ass.
Nice. Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75

01.07.19 : Spider-Man: Far from Home - movie
Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi : Following the events of Avengers: Endgame, Spider-Man must step up to take on new threats in a world that has changed forever. In the first half I was thinking this is ok but a bit basic, and with dull spots. Like is this a travel show or an action movie. But in the middle they put a twist, something it needed, but unfortunately it was a bit lame and clunkerly done. Probably better for someone younger, but I suppose it's ok. 3.5

28.06.19 : Yesterday - movie
Comedy, Fantasy, Music : A struggling musician realizes he's the only person on Earth who can remember The Beatles after waking up in an alternate time-line where they never existed Very nice, but not in laughs, more in a sweet/nice way. There's couple of small things they could've done better to give it more omph and realism, but it's not that important. 3.75

25.06.19 : The Secret Life of Pets 2 - movie
Animation, Adventure, Comedy : Max has a phobia of everything. It's better than the first. I remember the rabbit being annoying and the story boring in #1, but this one wasn't annoying or boring. It's ok. 2.75

14.06.19 : Giant Dwarf 5th Birthday Fundraiser : Giant Dwarf Theatre
It's a shame but it looks like Giant Dwarf has become unsustainable, so they are doing this fundraiser. That's the problem with theatre is it attracts an older crowd, and they eventually get commitments, ie, babies, etc, so their patronage declines. I saw a lot of music venues die, not because of pokies, but because the demographic went from mobile with a disposable income to a stagnant generation that gets their entertainment online. It wasn't pure entertainment, because of the fundraising, but it was ok. Crowd : 4 - Me : na

13.06.19 : Men in Black: International - movie
Action, Adventure, Comedy : A young woman, who had seen some M.I.B. agent when she was young, tries to join M.I.B. Based on the trailer I expected this to be more fun than it was, but basically it's just more of the same, ie, CGI gimmicks to distract you from noticing that the story is a bit plain. The reason it's not fun is that every gag that they thought was funny, wasn't. It's not boring, but it's nothing special either. 3

11.06.19 : Dragon Friends5 - A Live D&D Comedy Show : Giant Dwarf Theatre
From what I could tell, it was a glorious shambles. All they had to do was go to the castle and get the next clue, but they tried for 1 hour to get a bucket of water to put a fire out and three of them died. This was not D&D, but pure comedic Improv using D&D as inspiration. Meaning they took every opportunity to do the ridiculous to gain laughs. I watched the Twitch D&D with Alex in it, and I could tell straight away the other players didn't know a thing about entertainment. It was like it was a bunch of D&D propeller heads that thought D&D was real, so they played it as a game, and that makes it not worth watching for a general audience with no interest in D&D. It didn't even have any pace, so as to keep the excitement up, so I had to watch it at 1.5x speed. Dragon Friends is a universal show for any audience, so it can attract non D&D aficionados. There was a lot of laughing so it must have been good, and even though the sound seamed ok I couldn't hear what was going on that well. I guess I'll have to wait for the podcast to figure out what I missed. Crowd : 4.5 - Me : na

08.06.19 : Ange Lavoipierre - Final Form : Factory Theatre
It's not super funny, but it's nice enough for a first time viewing. Crowd : 3.25 - Me : 3

07.06.19 : X-Men: Dark Phoenix - movie
Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi : Jean Grey begins to develop incredible powers that corrupt and turn her into a Dark Phoenix. There are so many of these movies and so many characters - most are only bit players -, that it's hard to have any interest in any of these.  The first half is by the numbers, ie, the tragic story, but then something big happens, that might affect you if you are invested in the series, making the second half more interesting. Generally the reboot series is more interesting, so I might possibly remember this one after I have left the cinema, unlike any of the old original series. 3

05.06.19 : Vital Science with Dr Karl Kruszelnick : Seymour Centre
There was a lot of stuff on Dr Karl's trip to the Antarctic. There was the "Milankovitch cycles", which predicts when we get Ice Ages due to the orbit of Earth changing from elliptical to circular and the tilt of it's axis. Currently we are supposed to be heading to a Ice Age, but it doesn't look like we will get it due to global warming. The fake story that we only use 10% of our brain. The scientist that tested rats by removing parts of their brain found out any brain removal made the rats perform worse, but somehow the papers miss quoted it to say we only need 10%. The fake Bermuda Triangle story, where a squadron of rookies was taken up by a drunk instructor who had got lost 3 times before and had to be rescued after running out of gas and ditching in the ocean. Fake facts also told of the rescue plane disappearing, but people witnessed it explode on take-off because the plane was fuelled for 24hr flights and the pilot lit a cigarette that ignited a leak on a poorly built plane made during the rush for WWII.
Science is truth, but tonight it felt like the idiots that spout fake facts was winning. There was children coming up to the mic saying that they didn't believe Climate Change, something their parents was spouting as the kids aren't old enough to understand science reports. Like if the parents don't believe in science, why are they taking their kids to a science show. Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3

03.06.19 : Story Club - Look, I Can Explain : Giant Dwarf Theatre
It was ok, but some stuff wasn't that interesting for me and in one story I didn't know the references so didn't get the jokes.
Ben Jenkins : Doing a dump in front of a baby.
Emma Wortley : Over-reacting to a TXT sent to the work instead of a friend.
Summer Land : Going to a Halloween party dressed as a 8 year old Playboy bunny.
Todd Emerson : He told us about his show Hudson & Halls, a bickering gay couple on NZ TV that used to cook the blandest food.
Jordan Raskopoulos : Getting a job as the Beef Oracle.
David Marr : Election party. I didn't know the political references so I didn't get most of it.
Zoe Norton Lodge : Taking a sick child to hospital.
Fairly dead crowd that didn't clap much, so their score might be moot. Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.5

31.05.19 : Rocketman - movie
Biography, Drama, Music : I would have preferred factual Biography rather than this arty interpenetration of what happened, because the musical numbers and surreal dream sequences made you wonder what is real and what is made-up. You don't even know the time-line because there is no markers. Like I thought the story was nearly over, but it had only got to the marriage of Renata. Didn't love it, didn't hate it, and not any wiser to what happened. 2.5

30.05.19 : Godzilla: King of the Monsters - movie
Action, Adventure, Fantasy : Godzilla, yada, yada, yada. It's not Pacific Rim(2013) moronic, but some of the logic and characters are as annoying as hell. We knew is was going to be dumb going in, but I found it excruciatingly tedious as well. 1

29.05.19 : The light side: Illuminating life : University of Sydney - Charles Perkins Centre
Using illumination to better see details, eg, making cancer cell illuminate so that a surgeon can be sure they are all removed. More along the school kids level, so a bit simple for me, but it was ok. Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3

28.05.19 : Enmore Comedy Club : Factory Theatre
I think I've seen too much stuff, and know the jokes too well, because it was a bit mild in the first half. Alfie Brown (UK) was new and kind-of angry, and was ok but he made the mistake of insulting the crowd twice in a row. Once and the crowd take it as joke, but twice in a row and it can get insulting. Luke Heggie is always good, and Tom Ballard was good as well.  Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5

28.05.19 : Gloria Bell - movie
Comedy, Drama, Romance : A free-spirited woman in her 50s seeks out love at L.A. dance clubs. Not a feel good romance, but more about feeling worthless and invisible in the second half of your life. No comedy that I could see, even though one woman was laughing throughout, and bordering on sad for most of the time. 3

26.05.19 : Melting Pot Luck : Giant Dwarf Theatre
The novelty wore off this second viewing, and now I realise this show doesn't work. It's not as bad as Randling, where no-one knows any answer so it's all blind sh!t-house guesses, but it isn't that far away because it doesn't require correct answers, just approximations. Like pronounce words from another language by phonetically pronouncing what is written, which could or could not even be correct. Or, each team guesses the origin of a sausage of one of the other teams, which results in the last team guessing the country that hasn't been revealed yet by process of elimination. This is never going to make TV like it is. Crowd : 3 - Me : 1

24.05.19 : Brightburn - movie
Horror, Sci-Fi : The Superman story if the kid was a psychopath. It was so excruciatingly tediously boring, that I left after 1 hour. Same monotonous predictable age-old horror set-ups, makes this gratingly boring. 0

23.05.19 : Me & My Left Brain - movie
Comedy : The daily struggle with your own self doubt, and that annoying left brain. It was amusing, intelligent, and I liked it a lot. There wasn't anything I didn't like, but I think they should've made the Left Brain always wear black so  you don't forget LB is imaginary. Lots of scenes set in Enmore, and I think it was recorded late 2018. 3.75

20.05.19 : John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum - movie
Action, Crime, Thriller : Super-assassin John Wick is on the run with a $14 million price tag on his head, after killing a member of the international assassin's guild. I wasn't exactly 300 head-shots, some were knifes to the head, but it's pretty much the same standard as the others, ie, modern day B-grade. When the super assign looks awkward and clumsy, like there was no training for the film, or even practising of the hand-to-hand fighting, it makes it look a bit average. It's what you'd expect. 2

17.05.19 : Dave Hughes - Hairy : Enmore Theatre
Most of the material was from Dave's TV show, but it was still very good. The only downer was that I caught the flu and was feeling poorly. Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 4

16.05.19 : Lauren Pattison (UK) - Peachy : Enmore Theatre
You know that downer feeling you get when things go wrong, like one show was sold-out and another isn't as funny as you wished, so you get depressed and wonder why you do this. Then a show comes along that makes your day and picks you up, making it all worth while. It's super delightful, ie, warm, fuzzy, cute, and super smiley comedy, that just grabs you - maybe this is a boy thing -. And to top that off she talks very fast, which makes you feel like you are getting double your moneys worth because there is so much content. Loved it. Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.75

16.05.19 : Nikki Osborne - Bad Barbie : Enmore Theatre
She's is nice enough, and tries pretty hard, it's just that it's not that particularly funny. The crowd ad-lib was the best part. Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3

15.05.19 : Nina Oyama - Nina Oyama Needs A Lift : Factory Theatre
I continue this blog so I can check if I have seen a show before, and then I go and see a show I've seen before. Thankfully I didn't remember the details, except that it was about driving fines. Which is obviously in the title, so stupid that I didn't notice the repeat. It's good, she's good, it all good. Crowd : 4.25 - Me : na.

14.05.19 : Dragon Friends5 - A Live D&D Comedy Show : Giant Dwarf Theatre
This time I listened to the podcast of the previous episodes to prepare, but I found them more entertaining/funny than being there. I guess I'm getting too old for this. Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 3.5

12.05.19 : Sydney University Arts Revue - Live from the Grave : Factory Theatre
It's very beginner level, which is what you would expect. It kind-of makes you realise how important Project52 was, because nothing gets you good fast like writing and performing every week. The good bit was the Judith Lucy impression - poor Judith got hammered -, a existential German comic, and a small Dave Hughes impersonation. Crowd : 3 - Me : na.

11.05.19 : Rhys Nicholson - Nice People Nice Things Nice Situations : Enmore Theatre
That was Rhy's best full show. He is blisteringly funny doing short sets, ie, 5 stars, but long sets can have a dip in the middle. This was 5 stars, small 4 stars in the middle - not many comics can sustain 5 stars for an hour - and then back to 5 stars. Crowd : 4.5 - Me : 4.25

11.05.19 : Jack Gow - Weltschmerz : Enmore Theatre
He warns you this is going to be wordy and self-indulgent, and it kind-of is. One good laugh in the middle, but not really enough for someone that sees a lot of comedy. Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3.

10.05.19 : Pokémon Detective Pikachu - movie
Animation, Action, Adventure : A boy comes across an intelligent talking Pikachu who seeks to be a detective.It has Ryan Reynolds as Pikachu, but it wasn't funny like Deadpool. The redeeming factor is they used young adults, so the intelligence level is ok for adults because it not juvenile. I think it was the lack of laughs, and the fact that I don't know anything about Pokémon, but I found it hard to stay interested. Nothing bad, and ok to watch. 2.5

09.05.19 : Lawrence Leung - Growing Concerns : Factory Theatre
I guess that's the end of the super clever, brilliantly constructed, 5 star Leung comedy that was so, so funny, because it's now just plain standup story telling without much construction. The crowd was also a bit dead, so their score was lower than it usual. Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.25

09.05.19 : The Hustle - movie
Comedy : Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson star as female scam artists, one low rent and the other high class, who team up to take down the men who have wronged them. It's not a technically brilliant story - the fake sister skit was a little too improbable -, but it looks visually good so it's quite an attractive film. Basically "attractiveness attracts", ie, the ladies and scenery, so you don't mind the slight silliness. Not as much toilet humour than I was expecting, considering Rebel was in it, so it's not big laughs but more smile comedy. 3.5

08.05.19 : A Rational Fear : Giant Dwarf Theatre
ARF@GF v2.0 is better than v1.0 @GF, but it's still not as good as the heady days in Kings Cross. The bigger room and larger crowd helped, but I couldn't hear that well so missed some of it. Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.25

05.05.19 : The Game is Afoot! : Factory Theatre
The name of the show sounded familiar, but I was unsure of going because I didn't know who was in it. But when the Magee gang appeared I surmised that it should be good. And it was. Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 3.75

02.05.19 : Big Fancy Quiz : Factory Theatre
A lot of ad-libbing and mucking around, with not much quiz, and it was quite funny. Crowd : 4 - Me : 3.75

02.05.19 : Tom Walker - Very Very - Absolutely : Factory Theatre
Doing mimes the others dare not mime. I guess clown collage paid off when you mime breaking off your thumb and a woman screams because she thinks it's real. Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 3.75

02.05.19 : Long Shot - movie
Comedy, Romance : When Fred Flarsky reunites with his first crush, one of the most influential women in the world, Charlotte Field, he charms her. Not momentous, but still quite nice. It's hard getting over the visual disconnect of them dating, but that is the whole premise of the movie. Good 3.5

30.04.19 : Avengers: Endgame - movie
Action, Adventure, Fantasy : The Avengers assemble once more in order to undo Thanos' actions. It has the same big ending with all the character - half I didn't know because they are so obscure -, but the rest is more pondering than the occasional action fight like in Avengers: Infinity War (2018). Good enough that I'm not complaining 3.75

29.04.19 : Melting Pot Luck : Giant Dwarf Theatre
As a first timer I don't know what to think, but words like loose, rough, and even maybe schmoozle come to mind. I think they are aiming for TV game show because of some of the elaborate setups, but because it doesn't seam organised or rehearsed it feels rough. There is no use mentioning the faults when 7 of the 8 games needed tightening up, but Sam McCool was good. A second time viewing wouldn't be as bad because you know what it's like, but I hope the feel of the first time doesn't put people off. Might be ok with more work. Crowd : 3.5 - Me : 3

28.04.19 : David O'Doherty (IRE) - Ultrasound : Enmore Theatre
He was on-fire, and the jags were relentless from start to finish. I think that was his best one, or at least it was for me. Crowd : 4.75 - Me : 4.25

26.04.19 : Tom Allen (UK) - Absolutely : Factory Theatre
I didn't laugh as much as I wanted too, but that didn't detract from the show because Tom is quite good. He's not really like what you see on TV, he's very animated and has veteran skills, so is quite the showman. Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 3.75

26.04.19 : Felicity Ward - Busting A Nut : Giant Dwarf Theatre
They moved the show two days earlier and didn't tell anyone, so I missed it.

24.04.19 : Mark Watson(UK) - The Infinite Show : Factory Theatre
There are some comics that are pretty much guaranteed laughs, ie, David O'Doherty and Jason Byrne are nearly always a 4, and Mark is the same, just at a slightly lower level. It's not often you get to see real comedy, ie, laughs based on things that aren't serious, so it was quite fun. It took 5 years before he came back, but it was worth it. I rarely give more than 4 these days so 3.75 is pretty good. Crowd : 4.5 - Me : 3.75

12.04.19 : Little - movie
Comedy, Fantasy, Romance : A woman is transformed into her younger self at a point in her life when the pressures of adulthood become too much to bear. I knew from the promo that it was going to be lame, but I didn't expect so many excruciating uninteresting bits that made me think about walking out 4 times. 1

09.04.19 : Dragon Friends5 - A Live D&D Comedy Show : Giant Dwarf Theatre
It was good, especially for an opening episode, but I think I'm too old for this because I start fatiguing and tuning out. Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 3.5

05.04.19 : Shazam! - movie
Action, Adventure, Comedy : A foster kid can turn into the adult superhero by shouting out - SHAZAM!. Not as funny as Ant-Man, but along the same lines. Annoying illogical start, but it's fine after that. 3.5

01.04.19 : Story Club - More Fool Me : Giant Dwarf Theatre
3 I had heard, but they were so rare it was good to hear them again, and the other 3 were new, which is always good.
Ben Jenkins : Writing skits for a comedy show that is obviously going to fail.
Boaz Stark : Stealing money from his dad.
Susie Youssef : Pranking her parents for finical gain.
Patrick Lenton : Getting a job that your not qualified for.
David Cunningham : There is no gay porn.
Zoe Norton Lodge : All the clebs that I used to like are now all pedos.
Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 4.

01.04.19 : Five Feet Apart - movie
Drama, Romance : A pair of teenagers with life-threatening illnesses meet in a hospital and fall in love. It's hard to get motivated to go and see another version of this well worn story, but it looks professional and has attractive actors - a common hook with these -, so it sucks you in. The problem is that it has so many tragedies and downers - too many in a too long movie -, that you just want the lows to stop by the end. First time watchers of this story will like it. 2.75

15.03.19 : Fighting with My Family - movie
Biography, Comedy, Drama : A former wrestler and his family make a living performing at small venues around the country while his kids dream of joining World Wrestling Entertainment. I was disconnected for the first half the movie because I hate wrestling, but overall it's ok to watch, if maybe a bit slow. 2.25

07.03.19 : Captain Marvel - movie
Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi : Carol Danvers becomes one of the universe's most powerful heroes when Earth is caught in the middle of a galactic war between two alien races. I was wondering why this had a cheap/amateur feel to it, and then TV's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. turned up and made sense of the B-ish grade level. Leans toward the TV movie level - the dialogue and lame jokes certainly steer it that way -, but it's ok if you don't expect too much. 3.25

04.03.19 : Story Club - Buried Memories : Giant Dwarf Theatre
Three repeats, some real stuff, and a funny new one
Ben Jenkins - UBER rating got sinister.
Elaine Laforteza - Estranged father.
Dave Harmon - Lost friend.
Andrew Henry - Being a psycho Robbie Williams fan.
Jess Tuckwell - Dumping and being dumped.
Zoe Norton Lodge - Screaming does get things done.
Crowd : 3.75 - Me : 3.5

28.02.19 : King of Thieves - movie
Crime, Drama : A true crime film about a crew of retired crooks who pull off a major heist in London's jewellery district. There was conflicting blurb that this was a serious crime drama, yet the trailer looked like it was a light comedy. It was in fact both. The first half is fun, but the second half is serious and not fun. It's ok, but it would've been better if it stayed mild and fun. 2.5

26.02.19 : Fall in Love at First Kiss (Yi wen ding qing) - movie
Comedy, Romance : A not very smart high school student immediately falls in love with a very smart boy who has an IQ of 200. The story is a bit disjointed, but Yun Lin is amazingly expressive and over emphasises every physical movement in every scene, and that makes everything extremely adorable. Nice. 3

25.02.19 : Stan & Ollie - movie
Biography, Comedy, Drama : Laurel and Hardy, the world's most famous comedy duo, attempt to reignite their film careers as they embark on what becomes their swan song. Even though this is my thing, I can't say I felt that much with this film. It's basically two sort-of friends getting along kind-of ok, so it's kind-of neutral feeling. 2.5

19.02.19 : The Wandering Earth(Liu Lang Di Qiu) - movie
Sci-Fi : The sun was dying out, people all around the world built giant planet thrusters to move Earth out of its orbit. Large CGI disaster movie where a small group go on a rescue mission. The CGI is bigger than Hollywood, but the story, characters, and dialogue is not as good. If it had better writers and a scientist to correct the far fetched science, it probably would have been good. Looks good, just not good anywhere else. 2.75

18.02.19 : What Men Want - movie
Comedy, Fantasy, Romance : A woman is boxed out by the male sports agents in her profession, but gains an unexpected edge over them when she develops the ability to hear men's thoughts. Boy was that unfunny. It is a remake, so I knew the story, and I don't get the references and in-jokes of Black-American culture, because I'm not in those circles, but the real problem was the lack of any semblance of constructing the simplest bit of comedy. I shouldn't give it a 1, because it wasn't annoying, but I'm going to give it a 1 purely based on the total lack of any sort of comedy ability by anyone in control. 1

14.02.19 : Alita: Battle Angel - movie
Action, Romance, Sci-Fi : A deactivated female cyborg is revived, but cannot remember anything of her past life and goes on a quest to find out who she is. Saw some bad Manga recently that was very illogical and thought it was impossible to make a good live action Manga movie, but this had good action, good story, good execution, good logic..... good everything. This is a two parter, but that's not a problem because I would like to see even more of this. Good. 4

12.02.19 : Extreme Job(Geukhanjikeob) - movie
Comedy : A team of narcotics detectives goes undercover in a fried chicken joint to stake out an organized crime gang. My goodness that was a good film. It's funny/humorous - especially in the 1st half -, logical, and executed rather well. The only thing that was weird was the fighting was brutal, as opposed to stylised. But it doesn't detract, it's just weird for a comedy. 3.75

07.02.19 : Cold Pursuit - movie
Biography, Comedy, Drama : A snowplow driver seeks revenge against the drug dealers he thinks killed his son. It's kind-of stop start and weird, but not "funny weird", more "why did they make this movie that way" weird. Different feel/construction and a strange drug-lord character, but closer to 2.75 than 3.

04.02.19 : Story Club - True Grit : Giant Dwarf Theatre
Cait Harris - My dog is reincarnated River Phoenix
Kirsten Drysdale - Dealing with an old South African dementia patient
Holly McBride - stolen bag
Melina Wicks - Starting a band where no one wanted to learn an instrument.
Rob Carlton - Goodbye to dad.
Zoe Norton Lodge - Germ infested daycare centre.
Crowd : 4.25 - Me : 3.75

31.01.19 : Green Book - movie
Biography, Comedy, Drama : A working-class Italian-American bouncer becomes the driver of an African-American classical pianist on a tour of venues through the 1960s American South. I didn't want to go because I thought I would be incensed by the racism, but it wasn't that type of movie. It has lots of nuances, like it looks at things, ie, racism, but from other view points, ie, another less oppressed minority. Rather good. 3.5

22.01.19 : The Kid Who Would Be King - movie
Adventure, Family, Fantasy : A band of kids embark on an epic quest to thwart a medieval menace. There is always a risk going to a kids movie because it might be dumbed-down too much for adults, but this one was ok. More CGI than I expected for a British film, but it's not a must-see, more a decent time-filler. 3

17.01.19 : Glass - movie
Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi : Security guard David Dunn uses his supernatural abilities to track Kevin Wendell Crumb, a disturbed man who has twenty-four personalities. I can accept the logic that Zac Efron can be 17 Again, but I can't accept the logic in this series. Unbreakable was stupid at the end. I didn't see Split because it looked stupid. This one is logically stupid throughout. I didn't hate it, but it was slow, tiresome, and the minor twist at the end was boring. 2

10.01.19 : Instant Family - movie
Comedy, Drama : A couple find themselves in over their heads when they foster three children. The trailer looked bad because it was full of lame predictable gags, but the movie is quite decent. It's constructed kind-of like Scrubs, in that it has decent comedy punctuated by serious real life moments. Pleasantly surprised. 3.5

07.01.19 : How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World - movie
Animation, Action, Adventure : When Hiccup discovers Toothless isn't the only Night Fury, he must seek "The Hidden World". The story was passable, but the dark mood lighting spoilt the film. The early stuff was bright daylight and vivid colours, which was uplifting, but this one was set mainly at night or dark locations, so it felt dull and sombre. Even the daylight scenes had the light source behind the characters so their faces were always in shadows. It was a bit of a disappointment, but at least it wasn't depressing and serious, ie, death, like the 3rd. 3.5

02.01.19 : Aquaman - movie
Action, Adventure, Fantasy : Arthur Curry learns that he is the heir to the underwater kingdom of Atlantis, and must step forward to lead his people and be a hero to the world. They did a pretty good job with this one. I don't care if a movie is an intellectual masterpiece so long as it's entertaining, and this one was through it entirety. Nothing to complain about. 3.75