Cinema Effect

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol is the point in the franchise where they finally realised its best to drop the numbered titles. This time around Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his team are forced to go rogue after being framed for bombing the Kremlin! What ensues is the globe trotting espionage this franchise is known for, including its most heavily marketed set piece: the Dubai tower climb. Direc...

Yes, we have in fact now amazingly been doing Cinema Effect every week for 5 years! So for this 5th anniversary special, we’re taking on the ultimate challenge: pitting every movie we’ve ever reviewed against each other in a massive bracket tournament to determine the best film in Cinema Effect history. With so many incredible movies to choose from, the debates get heated as we’re forced to make i...

George Lucas' American Graffiti (1973) is a consistently entertaining ride through one night of cruising and teenage shenanigans in the early 60's. Featuring a sharp script and great performances from the likes of Richard Dreyfuss, young Ronnie Howard, and Harrison Ford, this is a defining work of Lucas’ early career before Star Wars. The film was a massive success at the box office and re...

Experiencing Close Encounters Of The Third Kind (1977) for the first time was fantastic, as Steven Spielberg’s sci-fi classic delivers a wonderful blend of atmosphere, mystery, and awe. Richard Dreyfuss stars as Roy Neary, an ordinary man drawn into an extraordinary encounter with extraterrestrial life. Also featuring in the cast is French auteur François Truffaut. And shout out of course to One T...

JJ Abrams makes an explosive feature directorial debut with Mission Impossible III, and proved he has the chops for the big screen. Tom Cruise returns as Ethan Hunt, facing off against one of the franchise’s top villains, Owen Davian, played menacingly and memorably by Philip Seymour Hoffman. The film delivers thrilling set pieces, from a chaotic bridge attack to a high intensity helicopter extrac...

With Zac and Liam on an indefinite Hiatus, a new Cinema Effect crew was assembled and recorded one of the podcasts most perfect episodes yet for a discussion on Wim Wenders' Perfect Days. The slice of life film follows the rhythmic routine of Hirayama, a Tokyo toilet custodian working with some of the most architecturally famous bathrooms in the world. The film is meditative and stunning and s...

For our second Bob Dylan film review, we dive into A Complete Unknown, a very well crafted biopic directed by James Mangold. The film chronicles the formative years of Dylan's career with Timothée Chalamet delivering a phenomenally convincing portrayal of the iconic musician (the best performance of his career!). From the impressive singing to the subtle prosthetics (real or not, they’re worth...

Over two decades later, we recruited a special guest to revisit Disney Animation's Brother Bear, a deeply nostalgic childhood favourite that most of us haven’t seen in many years. The film follows Kenai (voiced by Joaquin "Wacky" Phoenix), a young man transformed into a bear as punishment for his ignorant actions, embarking on a journey of self-discovery and brotherhood alongside the...

Let's do our best to get through Mission Impossible II so we can get to the good stuff in this franchise. In this (arguably) campy sequel, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) teams up with Thandie Newton to stop a deadly bioweapon. But unfortunately their whirlwind romance feels contrived at best and cringey at worst. From an absurd car chase to melodaramtic villainous monologues, the movie delivers some...

Now that we're officially 25% through the 21st century, its time for Cinema Effect to return to your ears for another year. Our first episode back for 2025 dives into Conclave, a gripping conspiracy thriller that takes viewers inside the secretive process of selecting a new pope. With sharp dialogue and great performances from a stellar cast that includes Ralph Fiennes (the GOAT), Stanley Tucc...

Welcome to the grand finale of Cinema Effect’s huge 2024 season! It's time for the fifth annual Cinema Effect Awards, the most prestigious event in the world of movie and TV podcasts. In this special ceremony, we unveil our top picks for the biggest and most influential films and TV shows of 2024, setting the stage for awards season and beyond. Whether you're a fan of blockbusters, indie hits, or...

The countdown to The Final Reckoning has begun. Because we’re going back to where it all began with the first Mission Impossible (1996), the film that laid the groundwork for one of our favourite action franchises. Directed by Brian De Palma, this sleek and streamlined spy thriller follows Tom Cruise (played by Ethan Hunt) as he unravels a web of betrayal within the IMF after a mission goes catast...

This week we’re reviewing 2024's Drive-Away Dolls, a quirky road trip comedy from Ethan Coen. The film follows two mismatched women on a (barely) cross-country adventure that spirals into shenanigans when they cross paths with a couple of dull criminals seeking some thick cargo. Despite a cast featuring Margaret Qualley, Matt Damon, and Pedro Pascal, the humour often misses the mark, and the story...

We’re diving into Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby, a huge adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel that immersed us in the extravagant world of the roaring 1920s in New York. With Baz’s confident direction and bold world-building, featuring lavish sets, a modern soundtrack, and extensive CGI, the film captures the opulence and decadence of Jay Gatsby’s quest for the American Dream. Leonar...

Who could have possibly predicted that certified Gladiator haters like us would take a trip to the cinema and have a blast with Gladiator II. Because in our view, the long-awaited sequel surpasses its predecessor in almost every way, especially when it comes to the action set pieces. Directed by the legendary Ridley Scott, now an astonishing 87 years old, the film is a masterclass in epic storytel...

In anticipation of checking out the much anticipated sequel next week, we’re entering the colosseum to take on Gladiator, one of the most beloved and iconic movies of all time. Ridley Scott’s epic follows Maximus (Russell Crowe), a betrayed Roman general-turned-gladiator, on a quest for vengeance against the corrupt Emperor Commodus ("Wacky" Joaquin Phoenix). The film certainly boasts a grand scal...

In our effort to watch more 2024 releases, we're diving into Love Lies Bleeding, a dark romance that elicited a different response from all three of us. The film follows a bodybuilder (Katy O'Brian) and her partner (Kristen Stewart) as they get caught up in some brutal family drama which pushes their relationship to the edge. Featuring the likes of Jena Malone, Ed Harris, and Dave Franco, Love Lie...

We’re returning to the works of Steve McQueen after a long hiatus, this time diving into Widows. This heist drama follows four women who, after their criminal husbands are killed in a heist gone wrong, are forced to finish the job in order to save their lives and secure their futures. With a cast that is stupidly stacked like no other, the film stars Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debi...

Millions of teenage girls waited over five years for this movie. And now it is finally time for Cinema Effect to review The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2. The final chapter in the Twilight series brings Bella, Edward, and Jacob to the ultimate showdown with the Volturi, complete with shocking twists in the epic finale that had fans (and Zac) gasping. We dive into the intense vampire drama, d...

Welcome to Boston. The city of thick accents and the world of The Departed, Martin Scorsese's Oscar-winning crime thriller that pits undercover cop Leonardo DiCaprio against police mole Matt Damon, with both men racing to uncover each other's identity. With an absolutely stacked cast featuring Jack Nicholson, Martin Sheen, Marky Mark and others delivering fantastic performances, we break down the...

It's time to have our way with Joker: Folie à Deux, the controversial follow-up to Todd Phillips’ Joker, which brings a musical twist to the unsettling journey of Arthur Fleck. Wacky Phoenix returns to the role that won him an Oscar, and this time he gets to bond with Lady Gaga's iteration of Harley "Lee" Quinn. We will debate whether the film’s questionable narrative direction and musical numbers...

What’s going on inside our heads, and why is one of those voices Nostalgia in our early twenties!? This week, we dive into Inside Out 2, Pixar’s 2024 sequel that’s officially the highest-grossing animated movie of all time! Set during Riley’s teenage years, the film introduces new villainous emotions like Anxiety and Envy (immaculately voiced by Ayo Edebiri) to her already complicated inner world....

Before we get too fed up with the Twilight Saga, allow us to sink our teeth into Breaking Dawn Part 1, the penultimate chapter of the epic vampire series. The film follows Bella and Edward’s long-awaited wedding and honeymoon, which quickly take a dark turn when Bella discovers she’s pregnant with a half vampire, half human baby (cue the hilariously creepy CGI infant). We dive into the film’s most...

Let's take another look back at the peak year for movies that was 2007. This time for Ridley Scott’s American Gangster, a crime drama inspired by the true story of Harlem drug lord Frank Lucas. Starring Denzel Washington as Lucas and Russell Crowe as detective Richie Roberts, the film follows Lucas’s rise in the heroin trade, and Roberts’ determined efforts to bring him down. The film offers a...

This week on Effect, Cinema Effect. We dive into one of cinemas longest running franchises with the first entry in Ian Flemings' historic character James Bond. 007's first feature film sees him in what is probably his most stripped back expedition, as Sean Connery's Bond investigates the disappearance of a colleague in Jamaica. Whilst the film doesn't feature the globe trotting mod...