Seasoned film critic. Gives a great interview. Penchant for horror. Unashamed fan of Michelle Pfeiffer and Jason Momoa.
Though its working with the elements of a dark comedy, a political thriller and topical social commentary, Bruno Mourral‘s Kidnapping Inc. manages to navigate its multiple themes and transition quite successfully from its farcical opening to its more stirring, sobering close. Set in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince (the film utilising both the Creole and…
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Though it’s an at-times lively and emotionally affecting tale, with a slew of stand-out performances across the board (Taraji P. Henson and the rightfully Oscar-nominated Danielle Brooks, for starters), the reimagined The Color Purple can’t help but catch itself between honouring its source material (Alice Walker‘s 1982 novel and the original 1985 film) and the…
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Expect the unexpected. Take it outside. Be nice. These are the 3 simple rules of Road House, and just a slew of the Easter eggs and throwback references to the Patrick Swayze original that the freshly unveiled one-sheet for Doug Liman and Jake Gyllenhaal‘s reimagining is teasing ahead of its global release on Prime Video…
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Thanks to Universal Pictures Australia we have 5 double digital in-season passes (Admit 2) to see Matthew Vaughn‘s razor-witted, reality-bending, globe-encircling spy thriller Argylle, starring Henry Cavill, Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Rockwell, John Cena, Dua Lipa, and Samuel L. Jackson. Bryce Dallas Howard is Elly Conway, the reclusive author of a series of best-selling espionage…
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There’s a lot at play throughout the 122 minutes of Antonis Tsonis‘ Brando with a Glass Eye, a bizarre hybrid of a movie that deserves recognition for so confidently going against the grain, even if it doesn’t always successfully lands its execution. It’s offbeat – to say the least – and the opening minutes very…
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Though it leans into the action/thriller genre with a supreme wink, Thelma, Josh Margolin‘s frequently hilarious, always poignant ode to his own grandmother (and, clearly, a love of the action genre), is never spoofing the films it so evidently is earning its laughs from; and it’s that sweetness and keen sense of reinvention that helps…
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Whether it’s something we admit to or discuss or not, the idea of how one might kill themselves and the practical considerations that follow is something I’m sure we’ve contemplated. However morbid it may be to even suggest, pondering what you might jot down in a suicide note or even how many people would come…
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An emotional expedition outlaying the effects of dementia on both the mind its crippling and the hearts of those baring witness, Parida Tantiwasadakran‘s Young People, Old People & Nothing In Between is an affecting short that makes for a large impact. At the centre of the film is young Juice (Deedee Piamwiriyaku), 7-years-old and full…
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Melbourne’s new next-level cinema experience is unveiled today, with FoMo Cinemas opening its East Brunswick doors. A haven for cinema and food-lovers alike, FoMo Cinemas brings together the best of the silver screen with an elevated in-cinema food offering in a first for Australian movie-goers. Housed in the newly opened East Brunswick Village precinct by…
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Following on from last year’s announcement of the “This Is Me…Now” musical experience, which encapsulates both her forthcoming album and the visual film inspired by the music, Jennifer Lopez has released the This Is Me…Now full length trailer ahead of its anticipated February 16th global release on Prime Video. This Is Me…Now: A Love Story…
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For his debut feature, 2011’s Martha Marcy May Marlene, writer/director Sean Durkin specified that the actions that unfolded weren’t moulded after any one specific cult – the film centred around a young woman suffering from delusions and paranoia after returning to her family from an abusive cult in the Catskill Mountains – and that he more based his narrative after his…
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As someone who lost their father at a young age, and therefore never had the conversation regarding my sexuality (and all that could possibly entail), the thought process throughout and inability to hold back my emotions during All of Us Strangers was palpable. Adapted by writer/director Andrew Haigh (Looking: The Movie) from Japanese author Taichi…
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In December last year, The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) proudly announced the debut of the AACTA Festival, a four-day celebration of Australia’s vibrant screen industry that promises an immersive experience for all, from industry professionals to film enthusiasts, school-leavers, families, and aspiring creatives. The festival, including the AACTA Awards presented by Foxtel Group, will be…
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It goes without saying that the premise for Role Play is one that has been explored on multiple occasions. The marriage-on-the-rocks-is-rocked-even-further-by-realising-one-half-is-an-assassin is a narrative utilised by such stellar genre examples as True Lies, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and Nobody, and to less grand effect in Apple TV’s recent misfire The Family Plan. Role Play sits…
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Children can be such monsters. After a group of would-be criminals kidnap the 12-year-old ballerina daughter of a powerful underworld figure, all they have to do to collect a $50 million ransom is watch the girl overnight. In an isolated mansion, the captors start to dwindle, one by one, and they discover, to their mounting…
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If there’s one thing we can rely on Jason Statham for, it’s B-movie cheap thrills that epitomise the term “guilty pleasure”. Escapism in its purest, bloodiest form, The Beekeeper (Statham took the B-movie memo a little too literally, it would seem) is a ridiculous actioner from proven genre director David Ayer (End of Watch, Fury,…
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After the misstep that was 2017’s ambitious Downsizing, writer/director Alexander Payne returns to more familiar territory in The Holdovers. Familiar in the sense that the high-school setting brings to mind his biting 1999 black comedy Election, his lead, Paul Giamatti, is a pitch-perfect educator, like his 2004 standout Sideways, and the dialogue peppered throughout is…
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Like many a millennial, the original Mean Girls from 2004 holds a special place in the depths of my queer, quote-filled heart. It’s why there was sense of trepidation in coming into the new iteration of Tina Fey and Mark Waters’ high-school comedy. Now, I was actually fully aware that this particular version was a…
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A lost father, a mute brother, a recovering addict mum, a heroin dealer for a stepfather, and a notorious criminal for a babysitter. Eli Bell is just trying to follow his heart and understand what it means to become a good man, but fate keeps throwing obstacles in his way. Based on Brisbane author Trent…
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There comes a point in Boy Swallows Universe – Netflix’s splashy adaptation of Trent Dalton‘s semi-autobiographical novel of the same name – where you beg for the creators to let the show’s lead feature, 13-year-old Eli Bell (a standout Felix Cameron), earn a moment to catch his breath. Sure, it’d let us as viewers do…
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The Holdovers reunites Sideways’ director Alexander Payne and Paul Giamatti in a holiday story of three lonely, shipwrecked people at a New England boarding school over winter break in 1970. Giamatti stars as Paul Hunham, a curmudgeonly instructor who is forced to remain on campus during Christmas break to babysit the handful of students with…
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The Holdovers reunites Sideways’ director Alexander Payne and Paul Giamatti in a holiday story of three lonely, shipwrecked people at a New England boarding school over winter break in 1970. Giamatti, in his Golden Globe Award-winning role, stars as Paul Hunham, a curmudgeonly instructor who is forced to remain on campus during Christmas break to…
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In the same week that Ferrari arrives in Australian theatres, Race for Glory: Audi vs. Lancia hits American multiplexes, digital and On Demand (an Australian release is yet to be determined), showcasing a more accessible racing story and the men driving such to fruition. Creative licence and enhanced melodrama are unavoidable in telling this particular…
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Plastic is forever! To celebrate the release of MEAN GIRLS, with thanks to Paramount Pictures and Superdream, we are giving away 5 double in-season passes (Admit 2) to see the fetch new comedy from Tina Fey, based on the MEAN GIRLS stage musical, and starring Angourie Rice, Auli’i Cravalho, Reneé Rapp, Jaquel Spivey, Avantika, Bebe…
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There’s nothing wrong with a movie being nice, but George Clooney‘s old-fashioned drama The Boys in the Boat is a little too sweet and tropey for its own good. Based on Daniel James Brown‘s best-selling nonfiction novel of the same name, the 1930s set tale feels as if it’s been made in that era through…
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Given the calibre of horror talent on board with Night Swim (between them, producers Jason Blum and James Wan have such genre treats as the Halloween series, The Conjuring films, M3GAN and Malignant), as well as the fact that the short film it’s based on earned critical acclaim upon its release a decade ago, one…
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Following his interviews with executive producer Ryan Turek and writer/director Bryce McGuire, Peter Gray wrapped up his talks for the forthcoming Night Swim with the film’s lead actors, Wyatt Russell and Academy Award nominee Kerry Condon. Based on McGuire’s acclaimed short film, Night Swim stars Russell as Ray Waller, a former major league baseball player…
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Compared to the other “exceptional man” biopics of the last year (Oppenheimer, Maestro, Napoleon), Michael Mann‘s Ferrari is, sadly, the least interesting. Whilst it doesn’t take an entirely traditional narrative – the film only shows us a certain chunk of the man’s life – and Adam Driver does his best with his showy role, to…
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Based on his own acclaimed 2014 short film, Night Swim high dives into the deep end of horror as it takes the most banal pleasure of suburban life and transforms it into a wellspring of demonic evil in a movie that combines the style, impishness and wicked world-building that audiences have come to expect from …
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A backyard swimming pool. A symbol of youth, status and wish-fulfillment, quintessentially American yet universal in its shimmering appeal. A life-enhancing luxury to those who can afford the cost, an absolute necessity for those poor souls who live in the most hellishly hot of places. A heavenly playground for people of any age, a devilish…
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