Ranting Media

18/06/2025

The Phonecian Scheme: Review by Geoff Stevens

Myself, I feel very safe. You know what you’re getting into when you dive into a Wes Anderson film....(read more)

Myself, I feel very safe. You know what you're getting into when you dive into a Wes Anderson film. There's his quirky style (usually varying degrees of Pas

06/06/2025

We Crash The Cannes Film Festival - Critics Club by Geoff Stevens

Geoff and Jim (David’s off this week) crash the Cannes Film Festival 2025 and call out the hype. From Eddington to The Phoenician Scheme to Spike Lee’s latest, we break down what’s actually worth watching. No film school degree required—just press play....(read more)

Geoff and Jim (David’s off this week) crash the Cannes Film Festival 2025 and call out the hype. From Eddington to The Phoenician Scheme to Spike Lee’s latest, we break down what’s actually worth watching. No film school degree required—just press play.

01/06/2025

Doctor Who: Season 2 Review by Geoff Stevens

Well, the end of Season 2…Series 15? I don’t really know how to call these anymore. We’ll call them the Ncuti Gatwa seasons…of which there are two....(read more)

Well, the end of Season 2...Series 15? I don't really know how to call these anymore. We'll call them the Ncuti Gatwa seasons...of which there are two. Spoi

01/06/2025

Well, the end of Season 2...Series 15? I don't really know how to call these anymore. We'll call them the Ncuti Gatwa seasons...of which there are two.

Spoilers, sweetie: That's all there ever will be.

Let me just say that I really enjoyed Ncuti Gatwa as the Doctor--he was a firecracker, full of energy. I also feel like he was dealt a kind of bad hand. Russel T. Davies (henceforth known as RTD) took up the reins as showrunner again and shook up Doctor Who lore...by making David Tennant the 14th Doctor after Jodie Whittaker. Ncuti is technically the 15th Doctor. There's the whole bi-generation business--it's a lot of "boldness". It also felt kind of desperate--and what I meant by bad hand earlier is that Ncuti didn't really get the entrance that he deserved. He had to follow up a David Tennant reunion tour, which let's be honest, was really good. I really enjoyed those episodes with Donna! They were pretty fu***ng great.

But following that was always gonna be a bit of a mess.

Well, the end of Season 2...Series 15? I don't really know how to call these anymore. We'll call them the Ncuti Gatwa seasons...of which there are two. Spoi

30/05/2025

Is this anti-divorce propaganda? This was rough! I am NOT a child of divorce, but I can just imagine the visceral reaction I would have had to these situations unfolding in front of me. It's weird length just rough ending makes me feel like it isn't even a movie. Like I said, weird propaganda.

26/05/2025

Sometimes, it is A-OK to turn your brain off and enjoy some ultra-violence!

26/05/2025

Minimalism at its coolest and most awkward. Jarmusch delivers a slice-of-life road movie that drifts through moments of dry humor and quiet longing. Eva is easily the heart of this film—so likeable and earnest that you can't help but root for her. Willie, on the other hand, kind of sucks at communicating, which makes the whole dynamic frustrating in a strangely fascinating way.Also—woah! Is that Spike from the Super Mario Bros. movie?!

Minimalism at its coolest and most awkward. Jarmusch delivers a slice-of-life road movie that drifts through moments of dry humor and quiet longing. Eva is easily the heart of this film—so likeable and earnest that you can't help but root for her. Willie, on the other hand, kind of sucks at commun...

25/05/2025

Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning Review by Geoff Stevens

Please just let it be overMission Impossible–there are eight of these films in the ether now. That’s a lot of impossible missions....(read more)

Please just let it be overMission Impossible--there are eight of these films in the ether now. That's a lot of impossible missions. The latest one is what w

25/05/2025

Watched on Saturday May 24, 2025.

24/05/2025

This review may contain spoilers. In Late Night with the Devil, directors Cameron and Colin Cairnes deliver more than just a clever genre twist. They conjure a richly symbolic, savagely sharp critique of ambition, media, and the corrosive cost of success. Taking place a 1970s late-night talk show that go's spectacularly off the rails. The film offers a darkly satirical, supernatural exploration of one man's descent into literal and figurative hell in pursuit of relevance and to defeat the evil Johnny Carson.At the center of this descent is Jack Delroy (played by David Dastmalchian), a charismatic host desperate to reclaim his fading fame. Delroy’s show, Night Owls, becomes the battleground for something far greater than audience share. As the film escalates in intensity, so too does its central thesis: what happens when ambition overshadows morality, and the thirst for success blinds one to the cost?The symbolism is thick and deliberate.

This review may contain spoilers. In Late Night with the Devil, directors Cameron and Colin Cairnes deliver more than just a clever genre twist. They conjure a richly symbolic, savagely sharp critique of ambition, media, and the corrosive cost of success. Taking place a 1970s late-night talk show th...

22/05/2025

Calm. Kindness. Kinship. Love. I’ve given up all chance at inner peace. I’ve made my mind a sunless space. I share my dreams with ghosts. I wake up every day to an equation I wrote 15 years ago from which there’s only one conclusion, I’m damned for what I do. -Luthen Rael, Andor, Season 1

Spoilers for Andor Season 2 (and I guess Rogue One?)

I'm a little behind in finishing up my review of Andor Season 2. I took a bit of a break tonight to catch up and finish what remained of the season, knowing that all 12 episodes are now out. Suffice it to say, I was blown away by the scope and breadth the remaining episodes had in store for me.

I knew that leading up, where this was going to end, that it was going to merge pretty seamlessly into the very beginning moments of Rogue One, but there was still so much to wrap up. Luthen, Bix...Dedra. The Ghorman Revolution...and massacre. Moth's speech.

I’ve made my mind a sunless space. I share my dreams with ghosts. I wake up every day to an equation I wrote 15 years ago from which there’s only one conclusion, I’m damned for what I do. Read the review for the end of Andor: Season2

20/05/2025

This review may contain spoilers.

Who the hell am I supposed to root for in this? The AI robot that murders someone? Or the absolutely dogsh*t human beings that make up the rest of the cast? Everyone is either a manipulative as***le, a complete coward, or just straight-up unbearable.

It’s like the movie dares you to care, then punishes you for trying. You start off thinking, “Okay, maybe this is going somewhere,” and by the halfway mark you’re just hate-watching to see who gets wrecked next.

The writing feels like it was scribbled from a bunch of therapy sessions and Black Mirror episodes, then shaken up in a blender of emotional dysfunction. Somehow it’s both super serious and wildly stupid.

Best part? Matt McCarthy popping in at the end like he wandered in from Parts Unknown. It must have been 3:16am.

Honestly, Companion isn’t terrible—it’s just... kinda dumb, and full of people I wouldn't want to sit next to on a bus.

This review may contain spoilers. Who the hell am I supposed to root for in this? The AI robot that murders someone? Or the absolutely dogsh*t human beings that make up the rest of the cast? Everyone is either a manipulative as***le, a complete coward, or just straight-up unbearable.It’s like the ...