Nuremberg: DVD Review

Cast: Rami Malek, Russell Crowe, Leo Woodall, Michael Shannon, John Slattery, Colin Hanks, Lydia Peckham

Director: James Vanderbilt

With its message of how Nazi propaganda can spread through charismatic mouth pieces, there couldn't be a more timely film than James Vanderbilt's Nuremberg.

Set at the end of the Second World War, the film begins with Russell Crowe's narcissistic Hermann Göring being arrested as he tries to escape. Assigned a psychiatrist, Douglas M Kelley (played with style and a wide-eyed smirk by Rami Malek throughout), the pressure begins to build a case against the surviving members of the regime.

But it's not just the pressure on Kelly - with a cross-international group looking to prosecute the war criminals, there's a lot hanging on this. A successful win will crush Germany and its legacy once and for all; however failure will leave the allies unable to ever take the high moral ground and prevent any further prosecution of other war criminals...

Nuremberg is a prestige piece of cinema that works solidly as a piece of fictionalised drama and one which is backed up by the impressive work of the cast within. Crowe underplays the role and creates a genuine feeling of a monster whose haughty beliefs delude him into thinking he's above everyone. There are chilling moments and Crowe does well to not overemphasise some of the elements. Equally, Malek is strong as Kelley, and Shannon makes the most of his screentime as the lawyer given the unenviable job of prosecution.

A kind of Silence of the Lambs relationship builds between Kelly and Göring, but it's a softer one that sees both actors channelling some of their best work in their shared scenes.

Yet, there's a somewhat glib atmosphere hanging over the dramatisation of the build-up to the Nuremberg trials that makes the initial part of the film feel like it's playing fast and loose with the devastating legacy of the Nazis and what they wreaked on the world.

Add to that the fact that the one surviving leader of the atrocities, the commander in chief of the Luftwaffe and the Nazis' second-in-command, Hermann Göring is humanised as a man separated from his wife and family, and suffering from a heart condition, plus the fact there are some obvious scripting gags early on, it begins to feel like Nuremberg is a little too knockabout for the weight of its subject matter.

If anything, most of the film spends a lot of time showing that Hermann Göring's family is human, papering over some of the more horrifying truths as Kelly goes back and forth to them delivering letters, drinking tea and listening to piano lessons from his daughter.

With Trumpian allusions and a courtroom scene that echoes Jack Nicholson's cross-examination in A Few Good Men, Nuremberg feels more like a broad film aimed at wanting to echo the warnings of the past to the widest audience possible. (A sentiment that is admittedly noble by any consideration.)

It's not a disaster by any stretch of the imagination and its 150-minute runtime hurtles past at speed. Plus its end is shocking to those who don't know the outcome - a devastating reminder that evil seems to triumph long-term, no matter what.

But it is extremely telling that in among all the acting that's going on, the one moment that speaks the most is genuine footage from survivors of the concentration camps that's played as evidence during the trial. With emaciated bodies, hollowed out eyes and piles of corpses being shifted by diggers, it's absolutely horrifying compelling imagery that still (rightfully) hurts decades on.

Daredevil: Born Again: Season 2 Review

The second half of the Daredevil Disney+ revival goes deeper into the battle between Vincent D'Onofrio's Wilson Fisk and Charlie Cox's Matt Murdock aka Daredevil.

But more so, it offers a chilling look into the cost of a personal crusade against others and the cost of whether it's worth taking a side in battles that will ultimately destroy you and those around you.

As the first season ended, Fisk had taken the mayoral office in New York and was in the process of extending martial law and expanding his Anti Vigilante Task Force to ensure law and order in the city. However, when Daredevil discovers a shipment of arms on a boat heading into the city, it sets in motion a chain of explosive events and personal showdowns as the battle between Fisk and Murdock intensifies.

There's a brooding malevolence to Daredevil: Born Again: Season 2 - and while the idea of task forces seizing "illegals" off the streets isn't the stuff of fiction anymore, the timeliness as ICE raids happen in the US and a former New York boss wields ultimate power in the White House, the fact the series expands and deepens the world makes for this feeling like a natural progression of events, rather than a timely cash-in.

Once again, the action in Hell's Kitchen is bone-crunchingly violent, brisk and brutally effective but it's in the story's quieter moments and psychological edges that Daredevil: Born Again: Season 2 feels like it's matured.

There's less of the legal edges of the first season, and while this is in many ways a continuation of the story that began with the death of Murdock's friend Foggy, it gives everyone a chance to breathe and their characters arcs to invest in. (Though, it has to be said, Matthew Lillard's character feels like an important addition to begin with, before falling off to the wayside.)

From Michael Gandolfini's adviser to the Mayor who is having doubts about which side to be on to Deborah Ann Woll's Karen who leads the resistance against both the mayor and Murdock's ideology, there's much Shakespearean tragedy to be wrought from the story.

But central to all of this is the push-and-pull relationship between Fisk and Murdock. There's a quiet intensity to how it plays out and measured performances from both Cox and D'Onofrio make their clashes a bittersweet and brutal tete-a-tete. Both seize on every opportunity they're gifted and it makes for genuinely unsettling viewing as it plays out - a final sequence in episode 8 alone is just horrific.

Ultimately, Daredevil: Born Again: Season 2 is a sterling accomplishment from all involved. Its darker edges and its tale of the cost of pursuing one's own vendetta aren't exactly new to the Marvel genre, but with an elegant approach and an excellently executed run of episodes, this is the kind of gritty TV you shouldn't be without.

All eight episodes of Daredevil: Born Again: Season 2 were viewed for the purposes of this review.
Daredevil: Born Again: Season 2 begins streaming on Disney+ from Wednesday, March 25.

They Will Kill You: Movie Review

Cast: Zazie Beetz, Myha'la, Paterson Joseph, Tom Felton, Heather Graham, and Patricia Arquette
Director: Kirill Sokolov

Mixing the demented with the disposable, They Will Kill You's penchant for predicating laughs and horror is an intriguing one, albeit one that never quite comes together in ways you'd hope.

Beetz plays Asia Reaves who one night turns up at the Virgil hotel, expecting to start a new job as a maid. However, on arriving at the hotel which rose to prominence during the gentrification of New York, she's attacked by a group of hooded individuals, all wearing pig masks.

But the group's underestimated Asia - and her reasons for being there - and soon she fights back in ways they'd never have expected.

They Will Kill You's element of surprise works well to start off with.

With twists and turns, the film's desire to mix Quentin Tarantino violence with Ready Or Not devil-related shenanigans, mixed in with John Wick The Continental's hotel aesthetics promises to deliver much by mixing the genres.

However, what emerges is more a splatter-fest suited to midnight film festival screenings than a broad and inventive movie that'll garner a wider audience. It doesn't help that the film never really creates an image of its own, pretending instead to project homage after homage as it plays out.

Beetz is a punkish, belligerent presence, whose mission and layers gradually reveal, but it takes time to warm to her, and with only 90 minutes to play with, there's little of that on hand. Even flashbacks which are meant to flesh out her character feel more like storyboard-led images that don't give enough depth to the story.

Along with Arquette's dodgy Irish accent, They Will Kill You never quite makes a strong case for its own existence. When it cuts loose, the choreographed violence is impressive enough to behold and occasionally inventive, but with underwritten characters that exist only to spout exposition, it's a diminishing return as the film carries on.

Bait: Review

Whilst it's hooked around the tease of who will be the next James Bond, Riz Ahmed's six-episode series Bait is about more than the coveted role of 007 - and that serves more as an entrance point to get viewers in, rather than a raison d'etre.

Ahmed is struggling actor Shah Latif, a Pakistani who comes from a good family, who all have their own issues and who is constantly bombing out when auditions offer him opportunities. However, when he deliberately chooses to put his own name out into the world in connection with the high-profile role, Shah begins to discover his life is falling apart and he's the only one who can fix it - not a golden role in Hollywood.

What's fascinating about Bait is how it emerges as a commentary on identity, on your place in society and in many ways, what it means to be British as well.

Self-sabotaging Shah may be, but Ahmed makes his character feel like he's stuck in a maelstrom of his own making, a man who continuously trips himself up when all others would seize on the moment and make it their own.

As a result, what starts out as a bit of a comedy farce in the first episode develops into something more psychologically intriguing, a tale of claiming identity among the chaos of your own demons.

Taking place over a four-day period and coinciding with the ceremony of Eid, Bait becomes more of a discussion about immigration, bullying and abuse as well as self-doubt and despair; what it means for a person of colour to play James Bond and to be a Pakistani in London. The series takes in some lesser-seen locations around the capital, giving it a sense of a world that's lived-in and real as Shah shambles from one moment to the next.

While everything resolves a little too neatly and this isn't some kind of subtle exclamation of who the next James Bond will be, Bait is an enjoyably bingeable enough show that excels because of Ahmed's performance and the very real imposter syndrome fears many of us face on a daily basis.

Bait begins streaming on Prime Video from Wednesday, March 25.
All six episodes of Bait were viewed for the purpose of this review.

What's streaming on Shudder in April

Here's everything that's streaming on Shudder in April.

Deathstalker – Shudder Exclusive Film

New Film Premieres Exclusively on Shudder and AMC+ Friday 3 April

When Deathstalker (Daniel Bernhardt, John Wick, Nobody), recovers a cursed amulet from a corpse-strewn battlefield, he's marked by dark magick and hunted by assassins. To survive, he must break the curse and face the rising evil. Featuring Patton Oswalt as the voice of the wizard Doodad.

Dolly – Shudder Original Film

New Film Premieres Exclusively on Shudder and AMC+ Friday 24 April

A young woman, Macy (Fabianne Therese, John Dies at the End), fights for survival after being abducted by a deranged, monster-like figure who wants to raise her as their child. Starring Seann William Scott (Final Destination), Ethan Suplee (American History X), and pro-wrestler Max the Impaler.

NEW ADDITIONS TO SHUDDER’S FILM LIBRARY

1 April

Psycho Therapy

A writer in a creative crisis befriends a retired serial killer, who becomes his marriage therapist and consultant for a new book. But his wife begins to suspect she might be a target. 

Osiris

Special Forces commandos are abducted mid-operation by a mysterious spacecraft and, upon awakening, find themselves prey to a relentless alien race in a fight for survival. 

Death Warmed Up

A kid is hypnotized by a scientist to kill his parents and ends up in a mental institution. As a grown-up, he returns to seek revenge over the scientist.  

Restraint

A young couple on the run hole up in a country estate with a hostage in tow. 

Luther and the Geek

A psychotic killer convicted of multiple murders is released on parole after spending twenty years in prison. His psychosis immediately takes over and he goes on a killing spree.

Willard (1971)

A social misfit uses his only friends, his pet rats, to exact revenge on his tormentors. 

Ben (1972)

A lonely boy befriends Ben, the leader of a violent swarm of killer rats.  

Diary of the Dead

A group of young film students run into real-life zombies while filming a horror movie of their own.  

Survival of the Dead

On an island of the coast of North America, local residents simultaneously fight a zombie epidemic while hoping for a cure to return their un-dead relatives back to their human state. 

Frontiers

A gang of young thieves flee Paris during the violent aftermath of a political election, only to hole up at an Inn run by neo-Nazis.  

High Tension

Best friends Marie and Alexia decide to spend a quiet weekend at Alexia’s parents’ secluded farmhouse. But on the night of their arrival, the girls’ idyllic getaway turns into an endless night of horror. 

9 April 

Shiver

Wendy Alden, a young secretary in Portland lacking in self-confidence becomes victim of a savage killer who has claimed the lives of a number of other women. Somehow Wendy finds the resources of courage to fight back and escape. 

20 April 

Bridge to Nowhere (Please note new date, previously listed in March highlights)

Kids on an outing in the forest come up against a mysterious hermit who lives on the other side of a bridge, and he is definitely not happy to see them. 

What's on Prime Video in April

Here's everything that's streaming on Prime Video in April.

This April, The Boys returns for its fifth and final season, raising the stakes for an all-out, no-holds-barred endgame; new comedy chaos unfolds in Balls Up and survival thriller Greenland 2: Migration continues the story with a high-stakes journey through a fragile, post-disaster world.

All this and more, streaming this April on Prime Video.

THE BOYS SEASON FIVE

STREAMING FROM WEDNESDAY 8 APRIL

In the fifth and final season, it’s Homelander’s world, completely subject to his erratic, egomaniacal whims. Hughie, Mother’s Milk, and Frenchie are imprisoned in a “Freedom Camp.”  Annie struggles to mount a resistance against the overwhelming Supe force. Kimiko is nowhere to be found. But when Butcher reappears, ready and willing to use a virus that will wipe all Supes off the map, he sets in motion a chain of events that will forever change the world and everyone in it. It’s the climax, people. Big stuff’s gonna happen.

The Boys Season Five is based on The New York Times best-selling comic by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, who also serve as executive producers, and developed by executive producer and showrunner Eric Kripke. Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, James Weaver, Neal H. Moritz, Pavun Shetty, Phil Sgriccia, Michaela Starr, Paul Grellong, David Reed, Judalina Neira, Jessica Chou, Gabriel Garcia, Ori Marmur, Ken F. Levin and Jason Netter also serve as executive producers. 

The Boys is produced by Sony Pictures Television, Amazon MGM Studios with Kripke Enterprises, Original Film, and Point Grey Pictures.

The Boys Season Five stars Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Antony Starr, Erin Moriarty, Jessie T. Usher, Laz Alonso, Chace Crawford, Tomer Capone, Karen Fukuhara, Colby Minifie, Nathan Mitchell, Cameron Crovetti, Susan Heyward, Valorie Curry, Daveed Diggs and Jensen Ackles.

BALLS UP

STREAMING WEDNESDAY 15 APRIL

In this raunchy, over-the-top comedy, marketing executives Brad (Mark Wahlberg) and Elijah (Paul Walter Hause) go “balls out” and pitch a bold full‑coverage condom sponsorship with the World Cup. After their drunken celebration in Brazil sparks a global scandal, they must outrun furious fans, criminals, and power-hungry officials to salvage their careers and make it home alive.

Balls Up stars Mark Wahlberg, Paul Walter Hauser, Molly Shannon, Benjamin Bratt, Eric Andre, Daniela Melchior, and Sacha Baron Cohen.

THE HOUSE OF THE SPIRITS

STREAMING WEDNESDAY 29 APRIL

The House Of The Spirits is a magnificent family saga that tells the epic tale of a proud and passionate family, secret loves, and bloody revolution. The Trueba family's passions, struggles, and secrets span a century of violent social change, culminating in a crisis that hurls the proud, tyrannical patriarch and his beloved granddaughter towards opposite sides of the fence.

The House Of The Spirits stars Alfonso Herrera, Dolores Fonzi, Nicole Wallace, Juan Pablo Raba and Fernanda Castillo.

NBA

STREAMING THROUGHOUT APRIL

The 25/26 NBA on Prime regular season is coming to an end with a double header on Friday April 10 with the Celtics vs Nicks (9:30am AEST // 11am NZT) Lakers vs Warriors (12pm AEST // 2pm NZT), and Hawks vs Cavaliers (9:00am AEST // 11am NZT) and Thunder vs Nuggets (12pm AEST // 2:00pm NZT) on April 11.

The 2026 Play-In Tournament will be broadcast exclusively on Prime Video featuring six games on April 15, 16 and 18. The tournament features the Nos. 7-10 teams in each conference vying for the 7th and 8th NBA Playoff seeds.

AMERICAN GLADIATORS

STREAMING FRIDAY 17 APRIL

American Gladiators is created and executive produced by Johnny C. Ferraro. Daniel Calin serves as the series Showrunner and Executive Producer, alongside Barry Poznick. Susan Janis-Mashayekhi, Sarah Happel Jackson and Adam Cooper serve as co-executive producers. The series is directed by Ramy Romany.  American Gladiators is produced by Amazon MGM Studios.

American Gladiators stars Rocsi Diaz, Jessie Godderz, Kailey Farmer

KEVIN SEASON ONE

STREAMING MONDAY 20 APRIL

Loosely inspired by a real life break-up and the cat who was caught in the middle, Kevin is a hilarious and heart-warming story about finding where you belong in the world. After the unexpected break-up of his human "owners," Kevin moves into a local pet rescue in Astoria, Queens where a chaotic band of misfit animals will help him to figure out what he really wants out of life.

Kevin Season One stars Jason Schwartzman, Aubrey Plaza, Whoopi Goldberg, John Waters, Aparna Nancherla, Gil Ozeri, Amy Sedaris. 

GREENLAND 2: MIGRATION

STREAMING MONDAY 27 APRIL

The surviving Garrity family must leave the safety of the Greenland bunker and embark on a perilous journey across the decimated frozen wasteland of Europe to find a new home.

Greenland 2: Migration stars Gerard Butler, Morena Baccarin, Roman Griffin Davis.

STREAMING ON PRIME VIDEO

NIPPON SANGOKU: THE THREE NATIONS OF THE CRIMSON SUN S1 (SERIES) — 6/04/2026

13 GOING ON 30 (MOVIE) — 7/04/2026 

THE BOYS S5 (SERIES) — 8/04/2026 

FIST OF THE NORTH STAR S1 (SERIES) — 11/04/2026

SARAH'S OIL (MOVIE) — 15/04/2026

BALLS UP (MOVIE) — 15/04/2026

VENGANZA (MOVIE) — 17/04/2026

AMERICAN GLADIATORS S1 (SERIES) — 17/04/2026

MATKA KING S1 (SERIES) — 17/04/2026

KEVIN S1 (SERIES) — 20/04/2026

AFTERBURN (MOVIE) — 24/04/2026

NOW YOU SEE ME: NOW YOU DON’T (MOVIE) — 26/04/2026

GREENLAND 2: MIGRATION (MOVIE) — 27/04/2026

DRIVER'S ED (MOVIE) — 29/04/2026

THE HOUSE OF THE SPIRITS (SERIES) — 29/04/2026

Bugonia: Blu ray Review

Cast: Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Aidan Delbis
Director: Yorgos Lanthimos

The latest film from Yorgos Lanthimos hues a fairly straight path initially as it peddles its simple story of  CEO Michelle Fuller (Emma Stone) being abducted by a conspiracy theorist Teddy  (Jesse Plemons) and his under-the-thrall cousin Don (Aidan Delbis).

It starts off innocuously asimages of bees pollinating flowers pervade the screen, but as it cuts to the absurdity of the pair rehearsing their plan while Michelle works out and practices a corporate video detailing the levels of diversity her pharmaceutical company has taken, it's clear there's a very dark vein of humour coursing through here.

Convinced Fuller is an alien from Andromeda, Teddy demands they be taken on her ship as the impending lunar eclipse nears...

While initially the film feels like the characters lack some depth and are painted in very broad strokes, Lanthimos' clever slow-burn approach complete with an ambiguity of who's right here plays out to intriguing effect.

It's best to go to Bugonia unspoiled, and while it packs a narrative that would probably only work once, the English-language remake of South Korean film Save the Green Planet! certainly feels like an oddity in terms of today's box office fodder.

But perhaps that's its biggest charm.

Lanthimos has an eye for the absurd and the off-kilter and with both a steely Stone and a determined Plemons, the film's butting of heads and ideologies certainly leaves you guessing throughout.

A softer Delbis adds a more human touch to proceedings, and there's an underlying sadness that he appears to feel pity for his cousin who's become alienated from his family.

Yet Lanthimos skirts a fine line here, not gifting either side the moral edge or any of the high ground. Large parts leave you wondering who's who, what's what and more importantly, whereall this could end up.

But deep within, there's a subtle (and perhaps softer than the original) takedown of humanity as a whole. Whether it's the business approaches we impose on others (Fuller spends much time telling colleagues that it's after 530pm and they can go, unless they have work to do) or the rabbit holes that conspiracies send others down, it's a fascinating journey that Lanthimos has laid out for viewers.

With a crashing soundtrack that blisters proceedings and gifts the film with a sonic edge that's hard to shake, Bugonia is one of the more original films to be released this year - and proffers up a point of difference that makes the 2 hour ride more than worth taking.