Chris Singh is an Editor-At-Large at the AU review, loves writing about travel and hospitality, and is partial to a perfectly textured octopus. You can reach him on Instagram: @chrisdsingh.
Documentary Keep On Keepin’ On is rather naive in the way it was made. Director Alan Hicks and his cinematographer Adam Hart had never really worked on any similar projects before, so they just kept on shooting until they could piece together a film. It took five years for them to make Keep On Keepin’…
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An incredibly insightful and deep look into something so very positive and important. This is how I would describe my chat with Alan Hicks, an Australian drummer and surfer who moved to New York at the age of 18 before happening to fall under the wing of one of the most prominent figures in jazz…
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As glowing reviews continue to pour in for Locke – and in particular, Tom Hardy’s stunning performance – The Iris caught up with the film’s co-producer Guy Heeley for some more insight into the unique process from which this film was made. The entire thing took a little over a week to shoot, a set…
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Director Brendan Muldowney has crafted something both beguiling and disturbing with film Love Eternal; he has done so in a way that adds a layer of beauty on top of something which would unnerve a lot of viewers. Muldowney loosely based this film on the novel Loving the Dead by Japanese author Kei Oishi, who…
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So it ends; Game of Thrones’ excellent fourth season has come to it’s 10-episode conclusion, closing the book on George RR Martin’s A Storm of Swords and signalling a huge expansion in Season 5. Two pivotal characters – and consistent fan favourites – are now on journeys to places we never expected them to go;…
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When we see those pre-empting words of ‘based on a true story’ at the beginning of a film, we are usually left thinking about how much of what we see is fiction, and how much is fact. In the case of Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter, the latest offering from the Zellner Brothers, the protagonist is…
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Is it too much of a stretch to imagine a crowd of rabid soccer fans turning into a mob of hyper-violent, destruction-hungry rioters? Such is the question when gearing up to watch a two-part French horror film which quite proudly displays it’s mixed-genre glory in it’s trailer. It isn’t hard too understand what’s going on…
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Director David Michôd has been in high demand ever since the stunning Animal Kingdom was unleashed in 2010. So it’s pretty much a given that his 2014 follow up The Rover be met with the same ecstatic enthusiasm with which AK was received. With positive reviews pouring in from every corner in response to to…
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Chris Singh caught up with lead actor Ellar Coltrane and producer Cathleen Sutherland of the unique film Boyhood to gain some insight into how this unprecedented project came together during the 12 years it took to make, what Ellar’s mentality was like during filming, and what they have both learnt from working on it. Directed…
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Much like ‘Blackwater’ from Season 2 “The Watchers on the Wall” was big, cinematic, and focused on just one of the many poly-rhythmic arcs dancing around Westeros. While this season has remained consistently exciting throughout, some story lines have been relatively muffled and haven’t been as fleshed-out as they have been in earlier seasons; Jon…
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The 61st Sydney Film Festival has been dazzling the city so far with an excellent curated line-up of films. Due to popular demand, the 12-day event has announced additional screenings of three SOLD OUT sessions; all of which are on sale now. Fela Kuti documentary Finding Fela!, Australian documentary China’s 3Dreams, and Palo Alto will…
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John Donne once famously wrote that “a man is not an island”, referencing the many connections that seep into even the most insular of spaces and tug at certain sides of our human psyche even at times when we are physically alone. It’s a sentiment which rings entirely true in Locke, a truly fascinating minimal…
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Viewers are gifted a film which is undeniably Nick Cave with (sort-of) rock bio-pic 20,000 Days on Earth ditching everything we have come to dread of rockstar-centric films and giving us something which truly seeks the mind of this infinitely interesting artist. Filmmakers Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard employ various techniques to twirl around an…
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Well I sure feel like one of those beatles Tyrion was so eloquently advocating for in “The Mountain and The Viper”; even if you knew what was coming, the sheer brutality of it all was shockingly affecting and – even though it crushed me – was beautifully done. Many characters moved forward in leaps and…
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With Boyhood, director Richard Linklater further asserts himself as one of the most innovative in the business, his body of work – which includes Before Sunrise and it’s sequels – already coated with more acclaim than most of his peers. He excels with minimalist plots, painting seemingly dull and everyday occurrences as happenings which are…
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I’m only half way through the first Game of Thrones book, taking my time because my schedule doesn’t exactly allow for intense bouts of reading anymore. Meanwhile, those who have read far ahead of me take pride in knowing what comes next; smugly dictating my journey throughout the show whenever they want by throwing a…
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X Men: Days of Future Past focuses heavily on the concept of time travel , and in a similar fashion to the penultimate season of Lost, approaches it with a sense of playful irreverence as we are given something much lighter than the previous X Men installment (First Class). Mystique plays a central role in…
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Acclaimed director Guillermo del Toro and executive producer of Lost Carlton Cuse have joined their creative minds to bring a new vampire horror series to cable channel FX. Titled The Strain, the series looks to be about parasitic creatures which spread out on a doomed flight and cause an apocalyptic outbreak. The official trailer is…
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Instantly recognisable, the gigantic monster that is Godzilla has stalked remakes of the original Ishiro Honda classic for 60 years now, and while results have varied, the tale remains a classic. Gojira was originally conceived as a response to the tragedies which devastated Hiroshima, Negasaki, and Bikini Atoll, serving as a metaphor for the destruction…
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The Iris takes you behind-the-scenes in this exclusive three part series of the SBS 2 Australian series “The Feed”, which is celebrating a year on the air! In part two, we join the team on a Wednesday afternoon as they prepare the show for their nightly broadcast. We find out what it takes to get…
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As we all enjoy watching Parv, Gonzo and Nick travel around the USA in the new SBS2 series Unplanned America (screening every Monday night at 9.30pm), we reflect on ten TV series that will help give you your own tour of the varied and wild landscape that the USA presents to us travellers. We start…
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“The Laws of Gods and Men” threw us a little courtroom drama to further foreshadow the downfall of the Lannister dynasty. Conflict between siblings, a terribly stern father, and wishes of death are circulating heavily between the four main players in House Lannister; all the while King Tommen sits on his iron throne, relatively innocent…
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Woody Allen stars in this rather strange sex-fuelled love story, harking back to his prime with his classic awkwardness as he tries to navigate the fact that he is now actually a pimp. Yes, a pimp. A pimp who encourages his florist friend – playing by the brilliant John Turturro (who also directed and wrote…
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Sure, some may find it easy to dismiss Bad Neighbours as just another comedy driven by Seth Rogen’s awkward humour – nothing we haven’t seen before. However, what really makes this film work – and possibly places it as one of the finest comedies of the past few years – is the on-screen chemistry Rogen…
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With the release of Someplace Else, the new short film directed by Riley Blakeway, we celebrate the subcultures that sit hand in hand with the breezy Corona Extra lifestyle. Here you will find the joys encompassed in one week, lost and found, in the unique area of Mexico. Presented by Corona Extra, Someplace Else is…
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Presented by Corona Extra and Directed by Riley Blakeway, Someplace Else features Ozzie Wright, Dylan Graves, Hanni El Khatib, Rose Ashton, Jeff Canham and Andrew Brophy. Corona Extra pulled together this eclectic group of individuals for the ultimate road trip along the Mexican coast. They piled into a transporter bus for 7 days and 7…
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Directed by Riley Blakeway, Corona Extra Presets Someplace Else is a special short film which follows an eclectic group of artistic individuals as they embark on the ultimate road trip along the Mexican coast. They piled into a transporter bus for 7 days and 7 nights, traveling the coast, meeting locals along the way while…
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These episodes are being welded together as they both serve the purpose of re-arranging the show after Joffrey’s shocking death in “The Lion and The Rose.” While we are seeing Dany get a bit more innovative with her “roam around freeing slaves” shtick, “Oathkeeper” gave us one of her weaker sequences. It was a grand,…
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It’s a film which has been mostly panned by critics, but Wally Pfister’s directorial debut, the Johnny Depp-fronted Transcendence doesn’t fail to at least keep engagement consistent until the very end. Although clunky at times, and full of half-excellent performances, the film finds it’s feet in cinematography, speaking highly for Pfister’s unquestionable talent. Though visuals…
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Premiering Monday 12 on SBS 2, a new six-part Australian series will follow three friends – Gonzo, Nick, and Parv – on the road less travelled in the expansive United States of America. Unplanned America is about the in-depth exploration that evolved from a lack of travel books, an aversion of backpacker guides, and seemingly…
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