No film school. No press passes. Just a technology architect reviewing movies through the eyes of somebody who spends his life analysing systems, decisions, governance, risk and user experience.
1977
The Empire spent billions building the Death Star. The Rebels spent one afternoon reviewing the documentation. Guess who won. Nearly fifty years later people are still talking about it. That's usually a sign the architecture was sound.
2023
Napoleon should have been fascinating. Instead it became one of the very few films I've willingly abandoned halfway through. A perfect example of what happens when people are allowed to run free, assume they know what everyone wants, and continue delivering without challenge or governance. Also: unexplained ice logistics.
1983
A fantastic conclusion to the trilogy. As a governance review, it raises significant concerns. The Empire possesses superior infrastructure, superior resources and superior security controls — yet loses because it places too much faith in assumptions and too little attention on governance, adaptability and basic access management.
1980
One of the greatest films ever made and a textbook example of unmanaged risk, uncontrolled scope creep, changing contractual terms and the consequences of ignoring a well-maintained RAID log.
1988
Willow isn't the biggest fantasy film ever made, nor the most technically impressive. What it delivers is something much more valuable: heart. You care about the characters, you enjoy the adventure, and by the end you're rooting for the farmer nobody believed in.
1990
One of the best submarine films ever made. Intelligent, tense, and brilliantly acted. At its core, this entire film is simply a highly complicated organisational transition programme with a nuclear submarine attached.
2026
By the Power of Grayskull... I would not watch this again. A two-hour assault on nostalgia featuring questionable dialogue, relentless one-liners, and a villain who makes world domination look less appealing than a Monday morning Teams meeting. The 0.1 is awarded entirely for Battle Cat (briefly, near the end, and a bit meh) and Dolph Lundgren.
1987
A perfect blend of fantasy, romance, adventure, comedy and revenge. The Princess Bride should not work on paper, which is exactly why it works so well. Every time I watch it, it is still effortlessly entertaining.
2025
Visually polished but emotionally empty. Tron: Ares looks like a high-budget transformation program that kept the branding and lost the soul. Also, no Daft Punk.
2010
Stylish, entertaining and visually stunning. The story is fairly straightforward — good guys, bad guys, try not to get derezzed — but sometimes that's enough. The real star isn't Sam Flynn, Kevin Flynn, or even CLU. It's Daft Punk. And that soundtrack is worth the price of admission alone.