Author: Peter Gray

Seasoned film critic. Gives a great interview. Penchant for horror. Unashamed fan of Michelle Pfeiffer and Jason Momoa.

Film Review: Carnifex is a serviceable man vs. beast outing that embraces tension over gore

You’d think people would learn by now that no good comes from hoping to find a new species.  Or, in the case of the trio at the centre of Australian creature feature Carnifex, an endangered species they’re hoping may still be alive in the aftermath of a bushfire-ravaged Australian forest. There’s been some controversy surrounding…

Read More

Interview: Elizabeth Banks on directing Cocaine Bear; “I felt like this film was almost the opportunity to make a revenge movie for the bear.”

Inspired by the 1985 true story of a drug runner’s plane crash, missing cocaine, and the black bear that ate it, Cocaine Bear is a wild dark comedy that finds an oddball group of cops, criminals, tourists and teens converging in a Georgia forest where a 500-pound apex predator has ingested a staggering amount of…

Read More

Film Review: Violent Night is a brutal, seasonal delight

‘Tis the month before Christmas and in Tommy Wirkola‘s sight, is a deliriously entertaining seasonal film called Violent Night. Taking a few cues from Die Hard and embracing the brutal mentality of Home Alone – here you’ll see what would actually happen to someone if they were pummelled by bowling balls – director Wirkola (Dead…

Read More

Interview: John Leguizamo on playing Violent Night‘s villain; “The most fun you can have as an actor is chewing the scenery and having tantrums.”

As Violent Night looks to spread some seasonal beatings this year, Peter Gray spoke with the upcoming shock comedy’s own Grinch – John Leguizamo. From 87North, the bare-knuckle producers of Nobody, John Wick, Atomic Blonde, Deadpool 2, Bullet Train and Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, Violent Night is a coal-dark holiday action-comedy that…

Read More

Interview: Tommy Wirkola on Violent Night, balancing comedy and tension, and how Home Alone informed much of the film’s brutality

When Peter Gray last spoke to Tommy Wirkola, the director had just released the trailer for his anticipated seasonal action/comedy Violent Night. Now with the film –  centred around a team of mercenaries who break into a wealthy family compound on Christmas Eve and find themselves unprepared for a surprise combatant in Santa Claus (David…

Read More

Blu-Ray Review: Beast is an entertaining and emotional creature feature

Given that we’ve had a share of snakes and sharks and bears (Oh My!) over the years as the creatures that have opted to stalk various familiar-faced talent, it’s only fair that the majestic king of the jungle get their due too. If the circle of life taught us anything, it’s that what goes around…

Read More

Film Review: Meet Cute; a time travel comedy you’ll want to go back and warn yourself from watching

Live. Date. Repeat. The ideal first date and that titular mentality that so many romantic comedies bank on is a concept that, in real life, we wish could be so cinematically charming.  And the idea that a film would take such a concept and build a time travel-influenced narrative around it sounds incredibly promising.  What…

Read More

Interview: Krew Boylan on “becoming” Dolly Parton in Seriously Red; “(She’s) a real critical part of my creativity.”

A festival darling for 2022, Seriously Red, a Dolly Parton-centric comedy from the mind of writer/actress Krew Boylan, is finally taking centre stage in Australian cinemas this week. In this rowdy and rambunctious musical dramedy, Red (Boylan) is a vivacious, clumsy and occasionally misguided redhead who is at a crossroads in her life. After misreading…

Read More

Film Review: Seriously Red is an easy crowd-pleaser that gets by on its inspirational-quote mentality

Though Seriously Red is a film that has its heart in the right place and explores the rather fascinating world of celebrity impersonators and, by extension, what that does to one’s own identity, Gracie Otto‘s musically-inclined comedy never quite digs deep enough regarding its thematics. Otto’s film centres itself around Raylene “Red” Delaney (Krew Boylan,…

Read More

Film Review: Bones and All is horrifically, tenderly unique as it blends carnage and courtship

It goes without saying that there’s a certain irony in Luca Guadagnino helming a cannibalistic tale in the wake of one of his his Call Me By Your Name stars being ousted for their abusive, sexual fantasies involving such anthropophagous tendencies; Armie Hammer, for those who perhaps haven’t heard, having been banished from the industry…

Read More

Interview: Luca Guadagnino on new romantic horror film Bones and All; “We wanted to underline the idea of the love story.”

Bones and All is a story of first love between Maren (Taylor Russell), a young woman learning how to survive on the margins of society, and Lee (Timothée Chalamet), an intense and disenfranchised drifter… as they meet and join together for a thousand-mile odyssey which takes them through the back roads, hidden passages and trap…

Read More

Film Review: Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery; Rian Johnson has his cake and eats it too with bigger, better sequel

Rian Johnson had far too much fun paying homage to the works of Agatha Christie in 2019’s star-studded crime comedy Knives Out.  To say he executed it perfectly would be putting it mildly, but whilst a sequel to such a set-up seemed like a given, how anything secondary would be navigated was another mystery in…

Read More

Interview: Hushidar Kharas, head of Prime Video Australia and New Zealand, on searching for “the Prime Video Buff”

Australians are obsessed with content, with new research from Prime Video Australia revealing the average Australian has watched 67 movies and TV series this year alone. With tens of thousands of titles to choose from on Prime Video, choosing what to watch can be hard. And let’s be honest, sometimes you just want to leave…

Read More

4K Ultra HD Review: The original Scream remains a horror classic as it upgrades its specs for killer home release

Releasing a horror movie only days out from Christmas doesn’t seem like the smartest marketing ploy.  Add to that a slasher example of the genre at a time when “horror” was a bad word – and so often relegated to the straight-to-video treatment – and you had, essentially, a film slashed dead on arrival.  Such…

Read More

Film Review: Disenchanted sadly lacks the magic of its predecessor

With Hocus Pocus 2 proving a sizeable success, The Princess Diaries 3 now officially in the works, and both Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan discussing their interest in a Freaky Friday sequel, the House of Mouse is more than proving itself in the business of revisiting original titles for the sake of nostalgia, fan…

Read More

Film Review: The People We Hate at the Wedding lives up to its title as it wastes a talented cast on a tired premise and unlikeable script

Well, we can’t say we weren’t warned that with such a title as The People We Hate at the Wedding we’re unprepared to be subjected to people at a wedding that we do indeed hate.  A “comedy” that commits the cardinal sin of trying to make its hateful characters relatable and forgivable of their actions,…

Read More

Film Review: The Menu is an eat-the-rich black comedy that’s prepared and plated to near-perfection

A satire surrounding the wealthy, faux celebrities, foodies and their misplaced importance, or chefs with a God complex seems far too easy to execute for a mock artist.  For director Mark Mylod (What’s Your Number, TV’s Succession) and screenwriters Seth Reiss (TV’s Late Night with Seth Meyers) and Will Tracy (TV’s Succession) it’s low-hanging fruit…

Read More

Amazon Australia announce first stop-motion holiday movie to help raise money for Starlight Children’s Foundation

Amazon Australia has today released a heart-warming stop-motion film with the help of the Amazon Playmakers – ten kids selected by Starlight Children’s Foundation to be the official toy testers for Amazon’s annual Top 100 Toy List. The Playmakers were sent a selection of the top 100 toys to test and review to help Australians…

Read More

It’s Magic Mike’s Last Dance for Channing Tatum in threequel’s first-look trailer

The gang isn’t all here, but the ultimate front-man is in Magic Mike’s Last Dance, the third installment in the Magic Mike franchise from Channing Tatum and director Steven Soderbergh. Just in time for Valentine’s Day next year, “Magic” Mike Lane (Tatum) takes to the stage again after a lengthy hiatus, following a business deal…

Read More

Interview: Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor on breaking the silence of abuse with She Said

Not only were they voices that spoke loud enough to break a cycle of abuse within the Hollywood system, they are now the faces of a ceiling-breaking movement that has forever changed the entertainment industry. Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey were the New York Times journalists who investigated the abuse allegations against mogul Harvey Weinstein. …

Read More

Interview: Patricia Clarkson, Andre Braugher and Jennifer Ehle on She Said; “It’s very hard to meet heroes and play them.”

In our continued coverage for She Said, the new drama from Universal Pictures detailing New York Times reporters Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor and their breaking of one of the most important stories of a generation, one that helped launch the #MeToo movement and shattered decades of silence around the subject of sexual assault in…

Read More

Interview: Carey Mulligan, Zoe Kazan and director Maria Schrader on She Said; “I think it changed our own awareness of what’s going on around us and our own behaviour.”

New York Times reporters Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor broke one of the most important stories in a generation – a story that helped launch the #MeToo movement and shattered decades of silence around the subject of sexual assault in Hollywood. This story that altered American culture forever is being detailed in the new film…

Read More

Film Review: She Said speaks to the strength of female silence-breakers in the face of abuse and corruption

Given the weight and influence that came with the #MeToo movement – founded in 2006 by American activist Tarana Burke – and, by extension (and association), the overwhelming allegations of sexual assault against once-famed producer Harvey Weinstein, it makes sense that a film detailing as such has come to fruition.  Based off the 2017 New…

Read More

Blu-Ray Review: The Invitation‘s “Unrated Edition” adds extra blood but not enough bite

It’s all too easy to wax lyrical these days about trailers spoiling and “giving too much away” for the keyboard warriors who oft decide they hate a film before they even see it.  Whilst the jury is still out on how many will dislike The Invitation, I can attest that, as far as spoilers go, Jessica M….

Read More

Win a double in-season pass to see Bones and All starring Timothée Chalamet

Thanks to Warner Bros. Australia and Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures we have 5 double in-season passes (Admit 2) to see the cannibalistic romance Bones and All, the latest film from acclaimed director Luca Guadagnino (Call Me By Your Name), in Australian cinemas from November 24th, 2022. Bones and All is a story of first love between Maren…

Read More

4K Ultra HD Review: Bullet Train‘s bombastic energy is enhanced by neon visuals and booming audio

The Hitman Vs. Assassin subsect of the action genre is one that rarely deviates from its rather tried and true formula; aside from a hefty injection of cash and a star-studded cast, something as recent as Netflix’s throwaway actioner The Gray Man is proof that the genre, even in 2022, seems comfortable resting on its…

Read More

Interview: Claudia Doumit on labour of love, Dylan & Zoey; “This film feels like a safe space for trauma.”

Australian-born Claudia Doumit may best be known for her deceptively sinister turn as Victoria Neuman in the television series The Boys, but it’s roles in films such as Dylan & Zoey that should truly keep her on the map. As the indie drama releases in US theatres and On Demand, Claudia spoke with our Peter…

Read More

Film Review: Dylan & Zoey tackles sensitive subject matter in an intelligent fashion

Initially, it can’t be denied, Dylan & Zoey does adhere to certain rules that the “Indie film playbook” so often lays out for new filmmakers to navigate.  This is by no means a criticism of Matt Sauter‘s film, merely an observation that the simplistic settings, dialogue-heavy characters and their societal views, and “me against the…

Read More

4K Ultra HD Review: Nope is a visual and technical wonder

It’s understandable to be going into a film like Nope and be expecting horror greatness, given that it’s stemming from the mind of Jordan Peele, who, with both Get Out and Us, redefined the genre with his “woke” sensibilities and penchant for symbolism and commentary. Ominous alien invasion is seemingly what’s promised here.  The trailers (at least initially, before the studio…

Read More

Interview: Deirdre Mullins on female-centric horror film Mandrake and equal representation within the industry

Premiering exclusively on Shudder from November 10th, Mandrake is a Northern Irish folk horror tale that marks the directorial feature debut of Lynne Davison. Premiering earlier this year at FrightFest Glasgow the film follows probation officer Cathy Madden (played by Scottish BAFTA-winner Deirdre Mullins), who is given the task of rehabilitating notorious killer ‘Bloody’ Mary…

Read More
giriş casibom giriş casibom casibom giriş casibom giriş casibom casibom giriş casibom casibom giriş casibom giriş bahsegel casibom casibom giriş