For the Bazinga Arcade and store, you’ll find it located above Little Rockets Play Cafe at Munno Para. follow the signs to the staircase and as you head up, you will be greeted by some huge superhero statues and you just get the vibe you are in for a great time. Opening up to a really spacious area, the fabulous arcade just sucks you in like Dyson V12, with a great mix of modern and retro gaming to choose from as well as air hockey tables (loved the double table too!) to remind the kids who exactly is boss of the house. One thing we loved? Tokens. No swipe card for your gaming dollars or time, its an old fashioned bucket with tokens and we are here for it! Win your tickets and then pick out some sweet little prizes from the prize counter. Plenty to pick from and the kids always love walking away with a few lollies for the drive home.

As comic fans we really enjoyed the comic area, with plenty of comics to read from on comfy lounges and disappear into your comic fantasy. Love it! The retail area is broken up into 2 separate spaces, with a collectable and trading cards section merged into the arcade space, where you will find all your pop culture awesomeness to grab something really funky, or the sports memorabilia section housed in its own room. So many fantastic items to browse here and we may or may not have picked up a couple of nice NBA hats (we did…..so good!) at very competitive prices.

We love everything about this place. The owner Geoff is very passionate about the experience he puts on and it is obvious he wants his customers to enjoy the products as much as he does. It really is a case of him sharing his passions and as customers who share the same passion, it made for such a memorable and enjoyable visit.

BAZINGA CARDS, COLLECTIBLES & ARCADE AND BAROSSA NINJA – NURIOOTPA

Open on Aug 10th 2024 and located in the Barossa Co-Op Shopping Centre in Nuriootpa, this brand new indoor entertainment precinct has something for the whole family. Step inside and you’ll find:

• Little Rockets Play Cafe
• Barossa Ninja
• Bazinga Cards, Collectibles & Arcade

This is HUGE. Younger kids will be able to have tons of fun in the Little Rockets Play Cafe while Mum & Dad enjoy a coffee and snack. Older kids will LOVE Barossa Ninja with a 21×5.5m, 3 lane, (17+ interchangeable events) ninja course with a warped wall. It’s for brand new ninjas through to the most experienced. The course has something for everyone for ages 6+ and a new fitness adventure for teens & adults..

Of course you will also be able to pick up all of your sports and pop culture memorabilia and merchandise from Bazinga too. While you are there, make sure you have a go on all the Arcade Games including a Giant Connect Four and VR Machines!

The cafe menu is massive and includes heaps of options including burgers, hot dogs, salads, seafood and even a whole breakfast menu!

The whole complex is such a great addition to the Barossa and we are sure many local and city families will have hours of fun there!

Did we mention the Bazinga Parties? Because in a nicely renovated private party space, in a brightly lit and decorated room you can hold your own birthday party at either the Munno Para or Barossa venue! Arcades, parties, prize shops and more. What a spot!

Bazinga Trading Cards, Collectibles & Arcade
10 Unity Way, Munno Para

Bazinga Trading Cards, Collectibles & Arcade + Barossa Ninja
1 Murray St, Nuriootpa

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What is it exactly? Well it’s a great quality, powered coated, lockable, steel tech storage box. It’s stylish and it obviously has has capability to charge up to ten devices at any one time (depending on the size etc that you select). It comes in some beautiful colours, or simply opt for unicorn white. (Scroll down for photos.)

Now we get it, all families will have different rules and boundaries when it comes to tech use and screen time limits, and if you are any thing like us, some times our own rules are not consistently enforced. Especially in school holidays. Gaahhhh, that’s fine, we are not here to tell you how to parent, or to preach. Do what works for you. One thing we do manage to pull off in our family is no devices in the bedroom overnight, and this godsend of a box is helping support that expectation by providing a clearly defined place where the devices should be after dinner. We haven’t needed to lock the box, however it’s great to know that it’s an option.

We are loving the centralised charging point for every one / every thing. Tech clutter be gone. I don’t know about you, but kids seem to move chargers around like nobody’s business here and that’s been completely eliminated too. If your device needs charging, it goes in the box, end of story. So yeah, the reduction in benchtop clutter is sparking massive joy.

So what can you put in you ask? Well you can charge any thing that plugs in to a USB style port. We have been putting the phones, iPads, my apple watch, charging headphones and even the tv remote (not that it needs charging). People also use it for gaming controllers or consoles.

A few last things….. Inchargebox is designed and created in Melbourne – love an Aussie brand. It’s compatible with all electronic devices, Australian standard tested and certified and the charging is FAST – Qualcom, with the latest updated USB ports.

Thanks Inchargebox for the opportunity to road test this system. It’s a solid five star review from us, and just in the nick of time with summer school holidays on our doorstep. We also feel like this would be brilliant to implement at the start of the new school year. New year, new habits and all that. Maybe your kids even got new devices or a phone for Christmas. I can assure you – this box is going to be helpful for setting tech boundaries that work.

Check out all of the info and purchase online

A Very Jonas Christmas

Runtime: 79 minutes
How to watch: Disney +
Rating: PG
Short version ā€“ Are we Jonas Brothers fans now? Seems like we are.
Suitable For: Everyone. Jonas fans will love it of course and non-fans probably won’t hate it.

Everyone knows the Jonas Brothers right? This generation’s version of the Hanson brothers have gone a step beyond being one hit wonders with long hair, to branching out to movies, solo careers and now are taking over Christmas. Join the talented trio as they finish a European tour and struggle to get back home in time for Christmas. Road trip hijinx ensue, with a few gags here and there and boom, Christmas is saved.

Now the die hard fans will eat this up but for the non-fans, this is surprisingly enjoyable. The trio make a few funny pot shots at themselves and their very public personal lives, and are not afraid to look like idiots, which in fact makes it a nice laugh at times. In saying that, the musical numbers that scatter the movie are well and truly skipped through, which is a perfectly reasonable thing to do. In fact if you don’t skip these, then I have concerns.

The plot isn’t really much to write home about, but with a bunch of celeb cameos throughout to drag you away from doom-scrolling long enough to go ‘oh hey its that guy from that show’, we actually think the whole fam will get around this one. Give this one a go to break up the Hallmark repetition of ‘Big city corporate girl goes to small town, finds hot guy who runs a bauble painting/pottery/xmas tree farm and join forces to save the big christmas fair/ruin the developers plans for a condo complex’.

2.5 out of 5 Jonas Brothers – Apparently there is a 4th brother. Who knew hey!

A Merry Little Ex Mas

Runtime: 91 minutes
How to watch: Netflix
Rating: PG
Short version ā€“ Melissa Joan Hart AND Alicia Silverstone…..if your back hurts on a cold night, this one is your era.
Suitable For: The whole fam. Its not quite Hallmark level on the inoffensive scale, but this is good clean fun for all ages.

Gee has it been a year already? It feels like only yesterday we were gorging on mince pies, trying to convince ourselves that the pastry wrapped morsels of mince are going to help us shred for the summer. Suppose we can’t go to the beach this year so may as well smash them down by the dozen. Anyway apart from food, Christmas movie season is our favourite part of the holiday season so lets kick it off.

90s cult icons Alicia Silverstone and Melissa Joan Hart supplement their residuals by teaming up in this Netflix special. Old mate Cher Horowitz has split with her husband in a ‘conscious un-coupling’ (a nod to the Martin/Gwyneth split), but when he hooks up with the super talented Jameela Jamil (If you haven’t seen her in the Good Place you haven’t lived….soooo good), the green eyed monster arrives and you can guess the rest.

Funny and with an awesome cast, this won’t take home the Golden Santa for best xmas movie this year, but it is a solid start that will make you forget that you went and saw Tron Ares.

2.5 out of 5 Mince Pies…….which coincidentally is significantly less than were consumed whilst watching this one.

Christmas with You

Runtime: 89 minutes
How to watch: Netflix
Rating: PG
Short version ā€“ Is it any good? No. Does Freddie Prinze Jr look exactly like he did back in ’98? Also no.
Suitable For: Its actually perfect family fare. Freddie Prinze fans will also think they are right back in the late 90s….a simpler time.

And we are back with our first review of the 2022 Christmas movie season and what a way to kick things off but with a Freddie Prinze Jr led movie no less! You remember FPJ right? He was the heart throb in every teen movie of the mid to late 90s and married the one and only Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Sarah Michelle Gellar! They have turned into being the most wholesome Hollywood couple, defying the odds to be together to this day (if this review jinxes that and they split…soz). Now rumour has it that Freddie, who has basically vanished from movies following his iconic turn as Fred in Scooby Doo, took this role to show his daughter the reality of acting so could see it for herself. Dammit Freddie, stop being so perfect.

So did Freddie return in an Oscar winning epic? No. In this standard Netflix Christmas Movie fare, he plays a widowed dad (now this is a bit morbid but in these movies there is always a dead parent. Always. Plus a sassy in-law) whose tween daughter DMs a pop star on the brink of being ‘past her prime’. Basically Madonna….but like late 90s Madonna. Not current Madonna. That is scary. You can kind of guess where this goes, they meet and realise that Freddie is a music teacher who never fulfilled his dream of performing (because of course he is) and bing, ba-da boom, movie magic is made.

This was actually bloody good value for a Sunday night family movie night, snuggled up with some snacks and a blanket. For our snack of choice we currently can’t go past lindt chocolate balls. Haven’t always been a fan of old lindt, but they stuck around and have worn me down.

2.5 out of 5 Christmas Trees…..because like every great Netflix Christmas movie, about 287 Christmas trees were used in the making of this movie.

Princess Switch 3: Romancing the Star

Runtime: 106 minutes
How to watch: Netflix
Rating: PG
Short version ā€“ By 2028, Princess Switch 9 will see an army of Vanessa Hudgeons, leading to a collapse of the Hudgeons Multiverse.
Suitable For: Everyone. It is THE pinnacle of ‘get your family around to enjoy the trashiest of all the xmas trash…together’.

This is the one we have been waiting for. Netflix have pulled out all the stops for what will (please god let it be) the last chapter in the Vanessa Hudgeons cinematic universe trilogy. Haven’t seen the first 2? No matter. The movie spends a few minutes reminding you anyway, but Hudgeons’ OG character is a baker, who competes in a baking contest in Bulgravia or some generic invented European Monarchy. She looks identical to the Queen, trading places (but not terrible accents) and hilarity follows. THEN they added a third Vanessa Hudgeons in the second installment, this time a blond Russian version. So many outfit changes. So many atrocious accents.

The plot here doesn’t matter, someone stole a jewel or something. It makes no sense but that is half the fun. Mocking the ridiculous plot, the dialogue that makes no sense and my personal favourite…..counting Christmas trees in each scene. Try it. There would actually be 4 Christmas trees in every scene, to the point where this palace would likely require a storage facility as big as Ikea just to store their trees each year. Does any of it make sense? No. Is it one of the highlights of our family Christmas calendar, stocking up on all the snacks and everyone laughing their Hudgeons off at the sheer madness of this movie? Yes. Yes it is.

We do have to give Hudgeons some credit here, she has made herself sort of the Eddie Murphy of bad Christmas movies and we are down for it. In fact we were a little disappointed we didn’t have at least one of 2 more Hudgeons in this movie…..we would have killed for an Australian accented cousin, probably named Sharon, who needed to help rescue the stolen star. Speaking of which, we have to point out our favourite plot mystery…..its a spoiler but stuff it. 24/7 high end security guarded this priceless jewelled star, yet in the end they just leave it high up on a tree as a Christmas Star for everyone to have access too. Why use a priceless jewel for a star? Just grab some light up stars from Bunnings and lock away the jewel for safety! These and a hundred other questions will bother you for days after you watch this piece of cinematic history.

3 out of 5 Vanessa Hudgeonses….Whats the plural of a Hudgeons? Hudgii?

Love Hard

Runtime: 104 minutes
How to watch: Netflix
Rating: M
Short version ā€“ Its no Holidate but its a good opener to the Netlifx Crap Xmas Movie Season.
Suitable For: Teens and over….but most kids saw Squid Game so stuff it. Let everyone watch it.

Welcome to the 2021 Netflix Christmas Movie Season! To get things rolling Netflix have released this Tinder/Stalking themed tale, with a cast full of ‘where do I know them from’ types. Its the tale as old as time this one, boy meets girl (on tinder), girl flies across the country to surprise him for Christmas after having never met him, realises boy has catfished her, concocts cunning plan to find true love…..hilarity follows. Sort of. If you have ever watched the show ‘Catfish’, this is like that, except with a happier ending and less trailer parks.

Join Natalie, who has made a journalism career out of her bad dating stories, but now is sort of exploited by her boss into constantly going on bad dates to keep that good content coming. Wonder what her job title would be on her email signature? These are the questions you should be asking yourself when you watch these movies. Why are there 3 Christmas Trees in that room? How many gold medals have Bulgravia won at the Olympics? But we digress. So Natalie, after chatting to Josh (because its always Josh isn’t it) for about a week finds out he was actually using the photos of a guy named….get this for the best name in Netflix Christmas Movie History…..Tag! T-A-G! Let me know what you think Tag is short for. My best guess it is short for Staggering….meaning ‘it is Staggering you would use Tag for a name’.

You sort of see where this is going, leading to the sort of final act ‘life lessons learnt’ that seasoned Netflixers will see a mile away. So where does this sit amongst of our Netflix Christmas Faves? It isn’t a ‘so bad its good’ fave like Princess Switch, and it isn’t anywhere near as funny as Holidate…..so its just sort of ‘meh’. We watched it with tweens and teens, who after having been recently desensitised to life after watching Squid Game (jokes…they didn’t watch it. Don’t cancel me), didn’t have too many ‘cover your ears and eyes’ moments. Little kids will neither be entertained or grossly offended, so chuck them to bed before you crank out the movie snacks and tiny hands try and steal your fruchocs.

2.5 out of 5 Bags of Fruchocs…..Because that is best movie snack. Period. Also, why wasn’t Dolly Parton in this? We want Dolly!

Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square

Runtime: 98 minutes
How to watch: Netflix
Rating: PG
Short version ā€“ Dolly is an icon. The Steve Irwin of country music. She is also immortal.
Suitable For: Everyone. Except people who hate Dolly Parton, which is of course, nobody.

To be fair, this is a tough movie to review because on one hand Dolly Parton is such an ageless icon (seriously…she is immortal. Have a look at her pic and then guess her age. She looks 23) that you can’t criticise anything she touches, but on the other hand this movie is hilarious and not always in a good way. Dolly is brilliant as always, this time playing a homeless angel who is either dressed in rags or floating around in a sparkly white dress on a cloud. There is no inbetween with our Dolly. She is either a homeless wreck or a cloud angel. Sort of sums up this year nicely. I have either been dressed up and off to work, or a homeless hobo hitting up the zoom calls working from home.

Be warned, this is a Christmas musical (plenty of original Dolly songs for the die-hard fans), where a greedy developer returning to her home town wants to evict everyone on Christmas Eve so she can build a mall. Now here is where the plot gets murky. If she evicts the whole town, who will actually be around to go to the mall? These are the things that keep me awake at night. Most of the cast are hilariously camp and over the top, but the pastor and his wife just hit it out of the park every scene with Meryl Streep level acting (joking. They are atrocious but also hilarious) and an ability to create accents never before heard on screen. The highlight for me was Dolly floating on a cloud, in a never-to-be-repeated take on the Ebenezer Scrooge tale (wonder if Dickens imagined this version when he wrote it?).

It obviously didn’t have a budget much bigger than a public school Rock Eisteddfod performance, but a lot of people will love it for the good vibing story, others will love the over top acting and others will just fast forward to the Dolly songs. What was most remarkable was how friendly the towns folk were with someone who was essentially making them all homeless with 24 hours notice. Can’t say my first response would be to break out in song with a bunch of my mate but, this is Dolly’s world and we just live in it.

How good is it? Well it will make you feel good. Probably. Unless musicals make your skin crawl with anger, then maybe not so much. But it has such an upbeat and happy feel, that even if you hate it more than pineapple on a pizza within the first 5 minutes, by the end of the first hour you will be genuinely concerned about where these poor people will live after the eviction. Give it a try. Try it with wine if necessary. In fact, that is a direction.

3.5 out of 5 floating Dolly’s on a cloud – She is 74. 74 years old! What the actual fire truck!

The Christmas Chronicles 2

Runtime: 115 minutes
How to watch: Netflix
Rating: PG
Short version ā€“ Kurt Russel is officially Santa forever. Sorry Tim Allen but you’re outta here.
Suitable For: At a nudge under 2 hours, its long. Little ones will get restless but nothing scary to worry about. The CGI elves are interesting enough to keep them entertained. Older crew who aren’t teenage grinches will be all over it like Santa on a cookie platter.

Didn’t see The Christmas Chronicles 1 a couple of years ago? You missed out. It was a beauty. Probably the best Christmas movie since The Santa Clause series back in the late 90s. Kurt Russel was an awesome Santa, because he kind of had a hard streak which made him scary AF but also kind of magic and awesome. Pretty tough mix to nail to be honest….a bit too much angry and suddenly he is Billy Bob Thornton in Bad Santa!

The first movie was about a couple of kids, one true Santa believer and one who stole cars, who steal a ride on Santa’s sleigh, ruin Christmas and then have to fix it again. Standard Christmas movie fare really, but it worked. Harry Potter fans (me) will be excited to know that Chris Columbus directs this one, and he pretty much just cut and pasted the feel from Harry Potter 1 and 2 into a Christmas movie with a bunch of elves. Not complaining mind you. Love me some Harry. They have added in Goldie Hawn as Mrs Claus, because well she is awesome and Tyrese has shifted gears from the Fast and the Furious (see what I did there) to be the new step dad.

What I loved about this, without spoiling the plot (come on, what do you think happens? Santa, kids, something bad, christmas threatened, fixed, happy days), they turned this into a sort of Santa superhero origin story which was kind of cool. Who would have thought Santa was just some dude doing his thing in ancient Turkey until he was given some sort of magic star or something. Personally, his choice to use that power to create a magical toy factory at the north pole so he could live with a million tiny elves and deliver presents once a year was an odd one. I would have just gone down the Aladdin path and made myself Sultan and married Princess Jasmine. But whatever Santa, you do you.

So is it good? Yeah it rocks. Best family Christmas franchise in ages. Get the whole fam around this, rewatch the first one and roll into this one. Eat all the mince pies, just really go all out and see how many you can smash in The Christmas Chronicle movie double. The record is 8.

4.5 out of 5 sort of angry Santas – If you are wondering, which you would be, you know the angry elf as the funny kid from Hunt for the Wilderpeople. You’re welcome.

The Princess Switch 2: Switched Again

Runtime: 98 minutes
How to watch: Netflix
Rating: PG
Short version ā€“ The Nutty Professor…..if Eddie Murphy played a heap of Christmas princesses in the same movie.
Suitable For: 10s and up will love it more than the younger ones, who will get bored and wonder why all the actors are the same person.

Covid has hit every industry hard. With budget cuts now in full effect, poor Vanessa Hudgens has had to cover about a third of the cast herself, even playing a large letterbox seen in the background during the first half hour. This is the movie equivalent of the group project in high school where one kid does all the work (Hudgens) and everyone else in the group (rest of the cast) ride off her work and get all the glory. What am I on about? Glad you asked. In this sequel to Princess Switch, Hudgens plays a baker who looks identical (because you know…its the same person) to a Queen of Bavarian or some other cheesecake sounding made up country. So they swap for reasons….blah blah true love.

In this instalment, the lookalike baker and the Queen find yet more people who look like them and hilarity follows. Well by hilarity I refer mainly to Hudgen’s attempts at a posh Euro accent. It comes across a bit like a fancy Borat, but she is playing 94 characters so good on her for giving her all. In the scheme of cinematic history, this won’t be saved to the National Archives alongside Citizen Kane and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, but in a lockdown themed bullcrap Christmas, it is a good family night in. It won’t be the best Christmas movie you watch this season but it won’t be the worst either (Christmas Made to Order….thats your prize)

For my Netflix Christmas Nerds (big shout out), pay attention to the crowd in the end scenes because the Netflix Christmas Cinematic Universe is NOW A THING!…you will recognise some familiar faces from other Netflix Christmas movie trash and your mind will be blown by the cross over opportunities this presents!

3 out of 5 Vanessa Hudgens – She got a point for every character she played.

Alien Xmas

Runtime: 42 minutes
How to watch: Netflix
Rating: G
Short version ā€“ Space Grinch who stole Xmas
Suitable For: Nailed it for the perfect xmas flick for the under 7 crowd. Older ones will get bored without their phone.

Its funny how movie plots could either be a horror movie or kids xmas classic, just with a tweak of the tone and some bright colours. Alien forces invade the Earth intending to steal the planet’s gravity and steal all of the presents from the North Pole. Sounds almost like a Will Smith movie from the mid 90s but this is in fact a claymation (you know, Shaun the Sheep, Wallace and Grommet etc) kids xmas movie! There you go.

Remember that old Rudolph claymation from 1980 they played every xmas? This is way better than that. Alien Xmas, brought to you from the maker of The Mandalorian (so you know it will be good), revolves around a race of thieving aliens (Kleptos….because Kleptomaniac….I see what they did there) who have pretty much stolen everything worth stealing and decide that Earth is their next target. Cue little alien meets loving elf, discovers love and friendship and all the feels. It is short, sharp, very well made little kids fare that they will actually bloody love. Mr 6 couldn’t get enough of it and watched it twice in 2 days.

Unlike a lot of little kiddie flicks, the ‘message’ (because there always is one) isn’t shoved down your throat in an annoying way so you will be able to explain to your kids the perils of consumerism and the importance of friendship and love at the end if you so desire. Or you can give them a biscuit. Each to their own. I chose the biscuit.

4 out of 5 alien grinches – Fun Fact….the claymation is done by the same crew who did the claymation for the classic Elf!

Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey

Runtime: 122 minutes
How to watch: Netflix
Rating: PG
Short version ā€“ The Greatest Showman – Christmas Edition.Runtime: 122 minutes
Suitable For: All ages. Little ones will enjoy the colour and magic.

Dear Netflix. Thank you for releasing this epic Christmas movie for the whole family right when we needed it most. Turns out we didn’t really need a $200, 000 shiny metal giant pigeon to make us smile, but we instead needed the most magical Christmas movie since Die Hard (yes. yes it is a Christmas movie yippee ki yay).

Jingle Jangle is the story of Jeronicus Jangle, a toy maker/inventor and probably a wizard if we are honest, who in the 1800s owned a lot of very bright clothes and defies the laws of physics…a lot. But within the first 5 minutes you will just be in love with this soon-to-be family classic. This is the classic Christmas story, wizard toy maker creates an evil ‘Chucky’ style doll that happens to have fantastic ability to dance whilst being evil, which is in turn stolen by his scheming apprentice. Yada yada yada, journey to re-discovering magic, yada yada yada The End. Roll credits.

This has an all star cast and is a big budget extravaganza which is a feast for your eyes. Also have a feast for your stomach at the same time because Covid YOLO. My snack of choice is Pringles, which are specially designed to make it impossible for you to eat too many, because your big old fat hand won’t fit in the tiny little tube anymore. Perfect snack for the diet conscious. (Pringles hack: Tip them out onto your stomach). Starring the always awesome Forest Gump Whitaker, plus “you done messed up A-A-Ron” (google it. Best comedy skit ever) and some fab supporting peeps including the Earl of Grantham himself! This really is one of the best family Christmas movies in years and the whole clan will get around it.

4.5 out of 5 magical flying toys – They also sing. A lot. Fast forward those bits. You won’t miss much.

Operation Christmas Drop

Runtime: 195 minutes
How to watch: Netflix
Rating: pg
Short version ā€“ Based on a true story too! Not the love part. Love always fails. But the Air Force dropping of presents thing. Which was nice.

Netflix Christmas season is in full swing with the release of this pearler. Starring, Cato the evil district kid from The Hunger Games as a ‘heart of gold military pilot guy’, along with ‘I think she is probably famous but I never watched the Vampire Diaries’, these two star in what turns out actually to be not too bad a Christmas flick.

Some of these B grade trash Netflix movies seem to have the budget of an SAFM Rock Eisteddfod show, but they have really stretched the dollar here with exotic location shoots on the tropical islands of Guam. Join Erica, a career driven politics type who is hell bent on closing down Andrew’s Air Force base because….reasons. Her angry boss said so? Either way the best way to save money is to send someone on a tropical holiday for a week it seems, and low and behold who should chaperone Erica around the base but old mate Andrew. Yada yada yada, true love blossoms which was as anticipated as Trump going loony after losing the election. The Christmas Drop thing revolves around the dropping of supplies at Christmas to the surrounding islands. Go good guy Andrew…. you show Erica the true meaning of Christmas!

These certainly aren’t M. Night Shyamalan twist style movies. You can predict the plot from the opening credits. That isn’t where the fun is with these movies, it is the low budget and corny thrill ride where we arrive at the expected destination of true love. Thankfully this is no different but it really isn’t as corny and shite as some others I have watched this season on Netflix and chosen not to write about (Christmas Made to Order….what the actual shizenhouse was that? They literally went out and cut down a live tree and put up a fake one! Like we wouldn’t notice! Then there was literally 5 Christmas trees in EVERY room of the house. At all times. Madness)

So if you have watched Holidate, this is more of the ‘romantic’ and less of the ‘comedy’ but you know, 2020 has been anubis horribilis so lets enjoy every light hearted movie that comes out because it really is all we have at the moment!

3 out of 5 Tributes – I will never watch The Hunger Games and be angry at Cato again.

Holidate

Runtime: 103 minutes
How to watch: Netflix
Rating: M
Short version ā€“ Don’t watch it with the family. Unless you are the Addams Family

2020 has taken away so much from us but they won’t take away our goddam Netflix B Grade Christmas trash movies. Our guilty pleasure, with all those actors that sort of ring a bell but you can’t quite put a name to the face. They suck so hard but at the same time they are so bloody good. Holiday In the Wild has to be the best Netflix Christmas movie ever….it is the tale as old as time. Divorced New York vet travels to Africa for a solo safari after her husband leaves her, and ends up living in a tent on an elephant reservation …..over Christmas! Anyway moving on….

Holidate stars an unknown Aussie hunk dude who could well be a lost Hemsworth….lets call him Steve Hemsworth, paired up with an Anna Kendrick’ish lead as they play 2 singles who can’t be bothered finding dates over the holidays, so they promise to be each others plus 1 for different events. Sounds fairly shite right? Here is the real Christmas miracle, it is absolutely hilarious. I mean it is crude as all hell, so please don’t sit down and watch this with your 15 year old daughter unless you want to have some REALLY awkward conversations within the first 3 minutes and then pretty much every 7 minutes after that. Really awkward.

These movies are supposed to be terrible, which is half the fun. The fact that this is surprisingly probably the best romantic comedy of the year is harder to believe than the fact the Crows finished last this year. Surely that was a dream right? The trailer is linked below but don’t watch it, just go into this colder than your mother in law and ride it out. You won’t be disappointed. Unless you don’t like crude humour, in which case prepare to be extremely disappointed. Like a Crows fan every year since 1998. The leads are brilliant and we laughed the entire way through, even through the usual romantic boring bits at the end when they kiss and blah blah love blah blah. The supporting cast are also fabulous and honestly, it is almost worth a rewatch.

If you need to sell this to an unwilling partner….describe it as a bit of American Pie and Hangover mixed with Bridesmaids and a dash of Love Actually. I would almost guarantee they will like it.

4 out of 5 Ugly Christmas jumpers – Watch the first scene or 2….you will know what we are talking about.

This sweet story invites parents to revisit their childhood memories of Christmas traditions, while children can delight in the simple yet beautifully crafted narrative that captures the excitement leading up to Christmas Day.

The pictures are well illustrated with lots of colour to capture the littlest of eyes. This story is for the whole family to enjoy.

A book is the perfect gift to give this festive season. Order your copy in time for Christmas.

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Kids in 91¹ū¶³“«Ć½ Review

Mud pies, anyone? Letā€™s be real – kids have been making them forever, and this setup just takes that to the next level. Thereā€™s something so simple but wholesome about kids mixing up ā€œmud cakesā€ and ā€œsoupā€ using dirt, water, flowers, and anything else they can get their hands on.

We were recently gifted a fantastic outdoor mud kitchen from The Crafty Beardsman, and to say the kids love it is an understatement! If you have little adventurers who thrive on messy, outdoor fun, this mud kitchen is perfect for letting them dive headfirst into nature play. Whether youā€™ve got a big garden or just a small courtyard, this kitchen brings the magic of childhood and outdoor creativity right to your doorstep.

Having a working tap is such a bonus – just connect your hose, and the waterā€™s ready for all the muddy experiments they can dream up! Plus, right in the middle, if you lift the lid, there’s a section for sand. Itā€™s a thoughtful design feature that keeps it clean, ready to be used again and again. A mud kitchen is more than just fun, itā€™s actually good for them! It helps with fine motor skills, gets them thinking creatively, and, letā€™s not forget, a bit of dirt is great for the immune system.

What I love most is how open-ended the play is. Thereā€™s no right or wrong – just mix, pour, and create. Itā€™s awesome to see their imaginations run wild as they make up all kinds of recipes and games. Plus, itā€™s a great way for them to learn to problem-solve and work together (when theyā€™re not arguing over who gets the spoon, of course).

What we’ve learnt so far:

1. Raid the kitchen and give them a few simple tools like old pots, mixing bowls and spoons and let them collect ā€œingredientsā€ from the garden or while youā€™re out on a walk – things like pine cones, leaves, or flowers.
2. Donā€™t stress about what they make; itā€™s all about the process.
3. Make sure theyā€™re dressed for it. Nobody likes a cold, wet, muddy meltdown.
4. AND join in every now and then – itā€™s actually pretty fun to get a bit dirty!

At the moment, our mud kitchen is still looking brand new (emphasis on at the moment), but I know itā€™s only a matter of time before itā€™s properly muddy and well-used. Weā€™ll definitely keep you posted once itā€™s been thoroughly ā€œlovedā€ by the kids.

The Crafty Beardsman


Email: thecraftybeardsmanau@gmail.com | Phone: 0403 049 963

The youngest is 8 years old, the oldest isā€¦.. (donā€™t worry weā€™ll keep that a secret Nanna)
Weā€™ve all had different opinions on it. No one hated it, most of us loved it, a couple of us thought it was good but not as great as was hoped, and isnā€™t that in itself actually just brilliant.

Weā€™ve all been out with our families this weekend, to see a movie on the big screen at the cinema (and not at home) and afterwards weā€™ve all had pretty robust convos about it. Why we liked it, why we didnā€™t, asked questions, gave opinions.Ā 

Well played Barbieā€¦ā€¦well played.

Without giving away any spoilers this movie was not the story I thought it was going to be;

ā€“ Itā€™s bigger
ā€“ Itā€™s more thought provoking
ā€“ Itā€™s more relatable (sometimes unfortunately)
ā€“&²Ō²ś²õ±č;And itā€™s definitely PINKER!

I laughedā€¦..many times, I bopped along in my seat, I felt like my eyes almost popped out of my head a few times and I reckon a little pink glimmering tear welled at one point too.

I loved the visual feast this movie is but also appreciated the very clever way this movie discusses the patriarchy, body image, relationships, gender roles, friendships and feminism. I really enjoyed it, but I also know that some people will be uncomfortable with it……..Like I literally can list the people I know will be uncomfortable with it, but I think that’s a great thing. They need to go see it and let it make them feel uncomfortable, and then talk to their kids about it after.

Hey Dads, go see this with your daughters!

Kids aged 8 – 12ish will love this movie for the sheer Barbie-ness of it. The sets, the costumes, the characters, the songs and the most epic Ken dance off E-V-E-R. Itā€™s so over the top and so entertaining. Miss 11 and her friends said they thought it was “SO MUCH FUN” and loved the whole afternoon out.

I also thoroughly enjoyed the walk down Barbie’s very pink memory lane and ā€œWeird Barbieā€ will be one character surely everyone has their own story about. We sure doā€¦ā€¦ šŸ‘‡šŸ¼

Kids any younger just wonā€™t get it. Thereā€™s really nothing offensive or inappropriate in the movie….unless you’re the kind of parent who doesn’t like to use the words vagina and penis out loud and if that’s the case, well let’s just say that you and your child probably won’t get the Barbie experience you’re hoping for from this movie. Itā€™s also a solid 2 hours (or very close to). Iā€™m sure some younger ones will sit through it, but no way my 5 year old (even though she’s a Barbie super fan) would. Go see it with your adults friends instead.

In short, I think;

šŸ’—Greta Gerwig is a movie making master. 
šŸ’—Ryan Gosling is utterly utterly Kentastic. A true ten. 
šŸ’—Allan was a complete mystery to me, but gosh I loved him.
šŸ’—And Margot, oh Margot you and your perfectly arched feet bloody nailed it. 

Just go see it. At the very least itā€™sĀ fantastically FUNĀ with a capital FĀ (or B)Ā and a joy for the eyeballs, but itā€™s also a story about much much more than that.

The icon herself, Dolly Parton (on a screen) opens the show and sets the scene for a joyful and colourful couple of hours of singing and dancing. Similar to the movie this story is set in an American office in the 1980’s. Violet, Doralee and Judy unexpectedly join forces to fight their way to the top of their male dominated office, head up by the truly gross boss man Franklin Hart Jnr, played “perfectly” by Eddie Perfect (yes that’s Mick from Offspring)

The movie version was released forty two years ago and unfortunately a lot of the equality issues the storyline discusses we’re STILL talking about in 2022 (sigh) but boy it’s great to see a show so fiercely led by some incredible female leads. Whoever cast this show…..nailed it!

Marina Prior is wonderful as Violet, the strong, sassy, single Mum with her eyes on the prize of being the first female CEO of the company. Doralee Rhodes (Dolly in the movie) is played by Erin Clare. She certainly had some big diamante high heel shoes to fill and she did it to perfection in some excellent outfits.

But the true stand out for me was Casey Donovan as Judy. GURL. CAN. SING! Her performance of Get Out and Stay Out was flawless and had some of the audience on their feet.

Another worthy mention is the hilarious character Roz (played by Caroline O’Connor) Infatuated with her boss, she brought so many laughs to the show and her writhing performance of Heart to Hart had everyone in stitches.

This show is an absolute joy, but what else would you expect from a show that starts and finishes with Dolly Parton?!

9 to 5 the musical opens in 91¹ū¶³“«Ć½ from October 8 at the 91¹ū¶³“«Ć½ Festival Centre.

Given movies don’t exist anymore apart from B Grade Christmas Netflix trash, when a good quality series comes along (not looking at you Tiger King…you only got us because we were weak and quarantined) it really stands out. Sometimes it will be in a genre that you least expect. I can’t remember the last time I watched a great mini-series about an orphaned 1960s Chess Grandmaster/fashion icon, but this is certainly the best one I have seen.

“But I hate chess, its boring and I don’t understand it anyway, surely I can just watch the new season of Below Deck instead?” Well internet friend, yes, yes you can watch Captain Lee and his impeccably manicured beard, but I have to keep you informed on what you are missing out here. This isn’t really about chess. Sure it is a central plot point, but Anya Taylor-Joy is simply sensational in this and whether it be chess, lawn bowls or competitive knitting, you will just get hooked in by the fantastic performances and very well written characters. But I like chess so that was cool to watch too.

So what is it actually about? Taylor-Joy stars as Beth Harmon, an orphaned chess child prodigy who fights her way through a male dominated world to try and dominate her state, then the country and onto the world. But it is mainly about the relationships she builds from her time in the orphanage, right through her life. The performance is so good, that you actually get excited when she wins chess matches. Crazy hey. Not sure if that is the quarantine talking but watch it and see if you agree.

The supporting cast is top notch, with a large group filtering in and out to support Taylor-Joy, but the biggest shock was to see good old Dudley Dursley all grown up and moved on from annoying Harry Potter all day. Bit of a glow-up too, perhaps not on the Neville Longbottom level, but he would be in the top 3 former HP stars. Also keep a look out for one of the wildlings from Game of Thrones…he wears a funny hat so isn’t hard to spot!

This is the sort of show that has you crying out for a season 2, but the story is so beautifully finished and tied up in a nice little bow by the end of the series, that it just wouldn’t do it justice. So set aside about 7 hours of your life, put on your comfy pants and just know that by the end of hour 7 you will have downloaded ‘chess with friends’ onto your phone.

5 out of 5 pawns – Just brilliant. If you love Anya Taylor-Joy go watch her in Emma. We reviewed that here

MathsOnline works using the Australian curriculum using online video tutorials to teach maths to primary and secondary aged kids K-12, including Year 11 and 12 general, advanced and extension maths.

We gave it a try with my 7 year old and the first thing we liked is that the tutorials are short (4-9 minutes) and very clear and easy to understand and follow. There’s not too many fancy animations, sound effects and other distractions, they’re short, sharp and shiny. Learning online this way also means you can pause, rewind and reply where you need to. You can go over and over until you get it and work at your own pace. So great for kids who have trouble keeping up in class or are too shy to ask lots of questions or ask for help.

Following each tutorial there is a test or printable worksheet to make sure kids have understood properly what they have just learned. The results are saved to your profile to keep a record of their progress and help to identify areas that might need a bit more work.

The program works on all devices, we used a laptop and also the iPad and both worked well.

Not only is this program a great one to have for our current home schooling situation it would also be a great extra to have for kids who are struggling with maths and need some extra help, kids who are great at maths and need some extension or want to jump ahead a bit and I imagine it would also be a very handy tool for parents who have older kids doing Maths they can’t help with. (coming from the Mum who had to google “non standard partition” today – I feel this will be me!)

There’s lots of further information, testimonials and examples on the MathsOnline website. I’d suggest just signing up for their FREE trial and giving it a go for yourself.

Take a look at

How is it humanly possible to describe this insanity? Lets go with this.

Do you enjoy;
True Crime
Nature docos
Jerry Springer
US American reality shows on HayU where people have like 5 wives but its pretty much just a cult.
If you answered yes to one or all of these questions then do I have a show for you. Do I ever.

Tiger King tells the story of quite possibly the most insane group of whack jobs ever assembled on screen at one time. Its sort of like The Avengersā€¦..with meth and tigers.

Focusing on Joe Exotic, who once upon a time owned what can loosely be described as a zoo that housed a bucketload of tigers, but is more accurately described as Jerry Springer with tigers, Tiger King just needs to be seen to be believed.

Donā€™t get me wrong, Joe is stark raving bonkers, but he is not alone here. Everyone in this show is nuts and a criminal. You will finish this show and realise that you arenā€™t really rooting for a good or bad guy, but just kind of trying to work out the ranking of ā€˜Who is the least-bad person in this showā€™.

A little guide to the main players in this feast for your senses;

Joe Exotic – Has 2 husbands who he sort of keeps as drugged up play things in his backwater ā€˜zooā€™. He also has a Prince Albert. Spoiler alert. But his music clips are a thing of beauty. Whack ā€œHey Kitty Kittyā€ into You Tube. You can thank me later.

Carole Baskin – Legitimately insane. Scares the shit out of me. Has eyes like a Great White Shark. Wedding photo had her husband on a leash wearing tiger print. Also Joe Exoticā€™s mortal enemy because he kept saying she killed her first husband and fed him to a tigerā€¦which I have no doubt she did.

Bhagavan ā€˜Docā€™ Antle – The Harvey Weinstein of the big cat world. Just runs a sex cult where he sort of enslaves young vulnerable women, but apparently its OK because ā€œoh hey look at the tiger cubā€. 

Jeff Lowe – Now this is the baddest bad guy. If you hate ā€œdudes who tell their heavily pregnant wives to hit the gym straight after whilst simultaneously searching for “hot nannysā€ then you will really hate this guy. Pretty sure he totally planned the whole murder too in a plot to steal Joeā€™s zoo just quietly.

James Garretson – The scene in Ep 7. Him on a jetski for like 2 minutes. Incredible. Openly called himself a federal informant on cameraā€¦.is probably now dead.

Kelci Saffery – The only person in this whole shitshow that actually cared for the animals. She was a zookeeper who had her arm bitten off by a tiger and was back at work in 7 days. Makes me taking a week for man flu seem a bit soft on reflection. 

John Finlay – One of Joeā€™s husbands. Has 3 teeth in total. Never wore a shirt for any interview. Rumour is he now has had his teeth done. Look out for the dodgiest tattoo cover up in the history of body art towards the end.

The beauty of this show is that there are a heap of other cast members not mentioned above just ramp up the crazy. Like the Detective and his masks on his wall, or the ā€˜hired hitmanā€™ who did an interview in a bath. The whole thing is one giant WTF. But you will love it.

5 out of 5 batshit crazy methheads who own a bucketload of tigers.