Silver Screen Queens

Reviewing movies and the culture that surrounds them.

This podcast is no longer in production.

214: Cars 3

Published 21 June 2017 • 39 minutes, 51 seconds

Pixar’s Cars franchise has never been a hit with critics, but kids have long enjoyed the antics of Lightning McQueen, and made him one of the biggest-selling toys on the market. When we began seeing trailers a few months back promising the kid equivalent of a “gritty reboot” to the franchise, we were intrigued. Lightning McQueen is now a veteran race car, and he’s finding it hard to keep up with the new kids on the block. When an accident puts him out of action, he must find his way back to the podium.

213: The Mummy (2017)

Published 14 June 2017 • 45 minutes, 22 seconds

Universal is attempting to make a ‘Dark Universe’ happen, and they are starting with this remake of The Mummy. Most people our age have fond memories of the 1999 movie of the same name, so how does this high-octane Tom Cruise-led remake stack up?

212: Wonder Woman

Published 7 June 2017 • 54 minutes, 39 seconds

We’ve waited a long time for this: Wonder Woman has her own live action film. The DC universe did not fill us with confidence in the lead-up to Wonder Woman’s release, but the reviews were good, so we crossed our fingers and showed up on opening night.

211: Life

Published 31 May 2017 • 47 minutes, 12 seconds

A few weeks back we saw LIFE, an ALIEN ahem tribute, starring Ryan Reynolds and Jake Gyllenhaal. While the movie itself was unoriginal and clichéd, we had a LOT of fun talking about it.

210: John Wick: Chapter 2

Published 24 May 2017 • 32 minutes, 49 seconds

John Wick was a sleeper hit in 2014, so the team has scrambled to put together a sequel that’s longer, louder and freer of dog violence. If you liked the first one, this offers more of the same, without trying to get clever about it. The fight choreography and stunt work is well worth the price of admission.

209: Alien: Covenant

Published 17 May 2017 • 49 minutes, 11 seconds

Ridley Scott returns to the Alien universe, with a sequel to the 2012 prequel PROMETHEUS. It features good performances from Michael Fassbender and Katherine Waterston, but it doesn’t add anything to the legacy of the early films.

208: Colossal

Published 10 May 2017 • 38 minutes, 16 seconds

Otherwise known as ‘that Anne Hathaway movie where she discovers she is controlling a giant kaiju with her mind’, Colossal lured us in with its fantastic poster, and gave us plenty to think about with its interesting take on what seemed like a silly premise.

207: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

Published 3 May 2017 • 1 hour, 4 minutes

Marvel’s fun space franchise is back. We liked the first one, but not enough to be over-excited about its sequel. Pleasingly, it addresses some of what we thought were weakness in the first movie, with a stronger story and less mean humour. While it isn’t perfect (why so little Rocket and Groot?!), it is good fun and, as with most of Marvel’s output, even an average Marvel flick means a fun night at the movies.

206: Get Out

Published 26 April 2017 • 45 minutes, 27 seconds

Due to Australia’s interesting (cough racist cough) film distribution system, we didn’t get GET OUT for nearly two months after it became the sleeper hit of 2017. We finally watch it, and see whether it lives up to they hype. See it (at a cinema, seriously, trust us on that) before you listen to this episode.

205: The Fate of the Furious

Published 19 April 2017 • 1 hour, 1 minute

We generally enjoy The Fast and the Furious movies, and after the emotional high of Furious 7 there was no way were missing the eighth instalment. Unfortunately, the pudding has now been over-egged, and the result is this over-long outing that struggles to recover from the loss of the Dom-Brian dynamic, despite the brilliant supporting cast.