Seasoned film critic. Gives a great interview. Penchant for horror. Unashamed fan of Michelle Pfeiffer and Jason Momoa.
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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 …
Read More
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…
Read More
Quickly rising to fame as one half of the comedy duo Armstrong and Miller in the late 90s alongside fellow English talent Alexander Armstrong, Ben Miller has amassed a plethora of famed and acclaimed credits, including the Johnny English films, Paddington 2, and as Lord Featherington in Bridgerton. Currently on our screens in Professor T….
Read More
If you browse long enough on Twitter, sorry, X, you’ll note that there’s still chatter and self-diagnosed “hot takes” regarding Taika Waititi‘s 2019 outing Jojo Rabbit. The film already had its share of detractors in the immediate aftermath of its release, but an Oscar win for Best Screenplay and the general good word for its…
Read More
And just like that, the DCEU comes to a close with a droplet rather than the splash we were expecting a decade ago. In 2013, when Man of Steel premiered, there was the promise of an exciting future of storytelling to be told for the variety of characters within the DC lore. There was rousing,…
Read More
There’s been a lot of chatter around Wish and the fact that its release celebrates Disney’s centennial, where the major theme across a heft of the studio’s films – that of wishes being granted – would be tied together. It’s a sweet notion, without question, but it would appear that the creatives behind the film…
Read More
In a year that was ruled by Barbenheimer and mortally wounded the once-unstoppable superhero genre, 2023 definitely saw audiences shift their minds (and money) towards more original content. Perhaps an indication as to where the industry should place its focus, The AU’s best of list similarly echoes the sentiment that bigger doesn’t always mean better,…
Read More
Like his previous works that celebrate their fantastical, absurdist nature with a certain gravitas, Yorgos Lanthimos grounds Poor Things, an undeniably wild, oft-offensive, sexually liberated black comedy, with a stirring sense of emotion and topical commentary. In 19th century London – or what such a time period looks like within Lanthimos’ vivid imagination – the eccentric…
Read More
Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell may be generating plenty of heat throughout their new romantic comedy Anyone But You, but there’s some distinct Australian flavour ready to challenge the duo in the form of one Joe Davidson. The Queensland-born actor, who looks as if he’s a long-lost brother to the famed Hemsworth clan, has snared…
Read More
Even if Anyone But You isn’t the type of film that would ordinarily interest you, it’s difficult to not know about Will Gluck‘s frisky romcom due to the “Are they/aren’t they” chemistry of stars Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell, two impossibly gorgeous actors who leaned into their own sex appeal during the filming in Sydney…
Read More
Given how implicitly we (mostly) trust those in the medical profession it makes sense that such praise could give way to their intentional negligence. And such is the case with the stories behind Dr. Death, a (now) anthology series that takes its inspiration from the Wonderey podcast that detailed egregious cases of medial malpractice. The…
Read More
Given that Migration, the latest animated offering from the Illumination collective (the production company behind such successes as Despicable Me and the inexplicable Minions), is penned by White Lotus creator Mike White, it makes sense that the film manages to make us care about its characters, rather than just be mildly amused at their comedic…
Read More
Whilst Dermot Mulroney won’t exactly see a career shift in the same manner as Liam Neeson did as an action-heavy persona in the wake of Taken, his rough and ready stature as a vigilante wrestling coach in Ruthless certainly works in his favour, and proves the film’s only true saving grace. Directed by Art Camacho…
Read More
This holiday season, Illumination, creators of the blockbuster Minions, Despicable Me, Sing and The Secret Life of Pets comedies, invites you to take flight into the thrill of the unknown with a funny, feathered family vacation like no other in the action-packed new original comedy, Migration. The Mallard family is in a bit of rut….
Read More
Whilst it made sense for a character such as Jack Reacher to be opted for big screen treatment, it wasn’t quite as clear as to why he was realised through Tom Cruise. From an action capability view it worked, and no one could ever question Cruise’s ability to get butts on seats, but the character…
Read More
This autumn, for the first time in almost a decade, comedy icon Jack Black returns to his role as Po, the world’s most unlikely kung fu master, with a hilarious, butt-kicking new chapter in DreamWorks Animation’s beloved action-comedy franchise: Kung Fu Panda 4. After three death-defying adventures defeating world-class villains with his unmatched courage and…
Read More
Given how important a person’s online presence (or persona, even) is in this age of social media, and that “influencer” is now apparently so prime that it can be considered a career, it’s not surprising that such a topic is readily explored in other forms of media. In the case of Alex Haughey‘s Under the…
Read More
From Atlantis to Waterman’s Cove, Warner Bros. Pictures’ Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom will preview footage from the film on 9m high wall of water, as the character’s own 7m gold trident sets for display in Sydney’s Barangaroo from the 14th to 17th of December, 2023, ahead of the film’s release on Boxing Day. The…
Read More
Have you got what it takes to be Australia’s Reacher? To get Australians PUMPED for the release the second season of the Amazon Original series Reacher – set to stream on Prime Video from December 15th, 2023 – Prime Video are inviting locals to test themselves against the ultimate Reacher Fitness Challenge at North Bondi…
Read More