Streaming guide: Shaun the Sheep to Mission Impossible Fallout
There’s something for everyone to watch this weekend with standout flicks like Shaun the Sheep: Farmageddon, Mission Impossible – Fallout, and Ride Like a Girl all hitting the streaming platforms.
Weekly Guide
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THE ONE RAISING THE BAA
SHAUN THE SHEEP MOVIE: FARMAGEDDON
****
rent via GOOGLE, ITUNES, YOUTUBE MOVIES
This new, sci-fi-inspired movie adventure for Shaun the Sheep and the Mossy Bottom Farm gang is even better than the first one. The story begins when Shaun notices that a sizeable percentage of the pizza he and his posse are ordering online is disappearing without trace. The perpetrator turns out to be a visiting alien being, Lu-La. Her ship has ditched itself on the farmlands of Britain at the worst possible time, especially now her presence has attracted the attention of a UK agency hellbent on capturing its first UFO. Naturally, it is up to Shaun and his barnyard battalion to come to Lu-La’s aid, not only keeping the government spooks at bay, but also finding a way to have her return home safely. The beauty of Farmageddon as a film is its simple, straightforward efficiency when it comes to entertaining viewers of all ages. Clay-mation specialists Aardman Studios (creators of Wallace & Gromit) never let anyone down, particularly the very young in the audience.
THE ONE WHERE CRUISE IS IN CONTROL
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FALLOUT
****
FOXTEL, AMAZON
Your cinematic mission, should you choose to accept it, should not be a matter of choice at all. For this is not only the best film to carry the M: I badge in the 22-year-old history of the Tom Cruise-led franchise. It is also the most ferociously realised action picture to storm the big screen since Mad Max: Fury Road. This hyperkinetic espionage adventure doesn’t just live up to the hype. It blasts right past it. Every shred of that high praise has been earned the right way and the hard way: with big ideas, brashly executed with little margin for error. 56- year-old Cruise impressively flings himself into the fray once again as daredevil IMF agent Ethan Hunt, pole- vaulting all over the atlas to stop some bad dudes from getting their grubby paws on some dirty nukes. The stunning design of the action set pieces – and the thrilling stunt work powering them – are gifts that keep on giving throughout. Co-stars Henry Cavill, Rebecca Ferguson, Simon Pegg.
THE ONE THAT’S OFTEN A REAL PAYNE
RIDE LIKE A GIRL (PG)
**
FOXTEL
Not really a recommendation, per se. However, Ride Like a Girl was the biggest Aussie release of last year, so some folks will be wanting to climb aboard now it is hitting the streaming platforms. This dramatised take on jockey Michelle Payne’s history-making 2015 Melbourne Cup win fluctuates throughout from quaintly endearing to faintly awful. Teresa Palmer as Payne never really convinces as a jockey, but does excel when it comes to conveying her character’s tough-as-teak personal ethos. The all-important racetrack sequences are passable at best. Not a total losing bet, but don’t splash out expecting much of a payday. Co-stars Sam Neill.
THE ONE GOING CRAZY ON THE PHONE
UNSANE (MA15+)
***1/2
AMAZON, GOOGLE PLAY, ITUNES
An attention-grabbing thriller boasting both one hell of a gimmick (it was shot entirely on an iPhone) and one hellish premise (the nightmare of not being able to leave somewhere you never should have been). Claire Foy (star of the Netflix series The Crown) stars as Sawyer, a nervy young woman still reeling from a bad experience with a stalker. While in search of a new therapist to treat an ongoing trauma, Sawyer finds herself accidentally committed to a private psychiatric facility. The more she protests her predicament, the longer her unsympathetic handlers extend her stay. Can it get any worse? Well, there’s a new male nurse on staff who Sawyer believes is her stalker. Then again, it could just be a figment of the potent medication pumped into her. The rustic, stressfully up-close shooting style of director Steven Soderbergh (Logan Lucky) does work over the viewer good and proper. Whether it papers over some rather large holes in the plot will be the maker or breaker for some, however.
THE ONE THAT WANTS TO GET VERY DEEP WITH YOU
UNDERWATER (M)
***
rent via GOOGLE, ITUNES, YOUTUBE MOVIES
A solid mid-range thriller with a setting so exotically remote (and relentlessly claustrophobic) that it dominates the entire picture. The liquefied locale you will be looking at is the famed Mariana Trench, a true geographic wonder of the world where the ocean floor plunges deeper than anywhere else on the planet. It is here, in the wake of a devastating undersea explosion, that the surviving crew members of a stricken drilling station must embark on a risky flight to safety. Stars Kristen Stewart.
THE ONE IN AN ESTATE OF SHOCK
THE GRUDGE (M)
**1/2
rent via GOOGLE, ITUNES, YOUTUBE MOVIES
A few decades ago, Japanese horror cut through to the mainstream with the rise of two powerhouse franchises: Ring and The Grudge. Both spawned many a sequel at home and in Hollywood. Now the Americans are at it again, popping the bonnet on The Grudge to see if the engine still runs. Turns out the motor goes all right, but just don’t go hoping this Grudge reboot is going to take you anywhere you haven’t been before. An interlinked collection of stories include a cursed piece of real estate, a detective (Andrea Riseborough) who believes it might be the missing link in a series of unexplained killings, and some of the gruesome deaths sitting inside her bulky file of cold cases. Co-stars John Cho, Jacki Weaver, Demian Bichir. **1/2
THE ONE NOT STRICTLY FOR THE BIRDS
SWALLOWS AND AMAZONS (PG)
***
NETFLIX
A charming, old-fashioned British family film, based on author Arthur Ransome’s much-loved novel for children. The year is 1935, and the five Walker children are on summer holidays with their mum (Kelly Macdonald) in the ultra-idyllic Lake District when they stumble upon a cute little boat named The Swallow. After impulsively setting sail for a nearby island for a camp-out, the impish Walkers cross paths with two feisty sisters who call themselves ‘the Amazons’. After becoming fast friends, the posse become embroiled in a genteel mystery involving spies, journalists and standover men of ill repute. The Enid Blyton-esque, picture-book-pretty vibe of the production is irresistible throughout.
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