Author: Peter Gray

Arguably one of the best marketing campaigns ever afforded for a blockbuster title, 2016’s Suicide Squad was ultimately a victim of its own hype.  After the DC brand suffered disappointment with the reaction to Batman v Superman, David Ayer’s impressively stacked line-up of second-tier characters and their super villainous mentalities seemed poised to right the…

As much as Jungle Cruise owes its filmic inception to the success of fellow Disney-theme-park-attraction-turned-blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean, this light-hearted, gloriously old-fashioned adventure is just as much in debt to such titles as The Mummy and The African Queen. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with honouring the spirit of those films in such a…

Given that Snake Eyes is releasing with the subtitle G.I. Joe Origins, it would appear that Paramount have faith that the G.I. Joe brand could possibly be retooled after the 2009 and 2013 efforts (The Rise of Cobra and Retaliation, respectively) failed to truly ignite as intended. It’s a bold strategy, especially as Robert Schwentke‘s…

There’s really no other way to say it – M. Night Shyamalan‘s Old is bad.  It’s very bad.  In fact, in some instances it’s downright awful!  Mirroring the same career slump he experienced after the 1-3 punch of The Sixth Sense (1999), Unbreakable (2000) and Signs (2002) with such misfires as The Lady in the Water…

As Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins prepares for battle in Australian cinemas this week, the cast were in promotion mode to discuss the choreography and camaraderie on set. Talking to our own Peter Gray, Andrew Koji (who plays Storm Shadow), Haruka Abe (Akiko) and Úrsula Corberó (Baroness) discussed their history with the G.I. Joe brand,…

Knowing that one simply can’t just replace Tom Hanks – in whatever capacity – Disney+’s Turner & Hooch reboot tries the next best thing by honouring his character’s legacy, even if it is essentially a veiled attempt at replacement. For the uninitiated, Turner & Hooch was a sizeable success for Hanks in his more comedy-driven…

There’s nothing particularly original about The Resort.  In some manner hoping to be a type of The Shining-in-Hawaii set-up, Taylor Chien‘s supernatural scarer at least doesn’t tread on the expected genre trope of the found footage angle – something that this type of narrative could easily have adopted. A film that unfortunately lets itself down…

Earning a more fruitful reaction and reputation over the similarly themed Netflix offering Next In Fashion (which only lasted one season), Amazon’s Making The Cut took the winning Project Runway duo of Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn and altered their mentor mentality to look for a fashion brand rather than just a designer. There’s no…

Dubbed as “your favourite band’s favourite band”, Sparks are the Californian-bred, European-stylised glam rock duo you don’t know you love yet.  As their documentary, The Sparks Brothers (read our review here), continues to screen across select Australian cinemas, Peter Gray caught up with famed director Edgar Wright to discuss the making of the film, why…

There’s often a sense of nostalgia, awe, love, respect and intrigue that goes into watching a music documentary.  It’s learning about an artist we idolise, how they affected us upon that first listen, and a further understanding of their music.  When it comes to The Sparks Brothers, those are indeed all sentiments adhered to, but,…

The NSW Government have announced that the forthcoming Vivid Sydney has been rescheduled in the interest of community health and safety.  Originally planned between August 6th and 28th, Vivid is now set for celebration from 17th September through to October 9th, 2021. “We all want to see Sydney shine through the spectacular show of creativity…

Given how well she’s utilised her heart and her humour when leaning into the action heroine outfit – see the Guardians of the Galaxy and Jumanji franchises for reference – it makes sense that both additives be applied to Karen Gillan‘s latest genre effort, the delightfully named Gunpowder Milkshake. Initially she’s a little too cold-hearted…

Thanks to Random Space Media and Universal Sony Pictures Home Entertainment we have five exclusive Blu-ray copies of the acclaimed French Exit (you can read our review here) to giveaway. A widowed New York socialite and her aimless son move to Paris after she spends the last of her husband’s inheritance. For your chance to win…

With an incredibly vague premise that could read as pretentiously high-concept, Nine Days is the type of life-altering experience that, as cliched as it is to state, needs to be seen to be believed. A powerful piece of storytelling that announces writer/director Edson Oda as a major talent to keep tabs on, Nine Days centres…

Statistics regarding the prevalence of mental illness in men today have become a more commonly known factor as the walls of machoism continue to break down.  No longer a subject that goes undiscussed, the depression aspect of a man’s mental psyche is at the centre of Saul Abraham‘s striking short film, Enjoy. Following its screening…

As fans across the globe gear up for the anticipated final episode of Loki this week, Disney put our own Peter Gray in touch with the show’s lauded composer, Natalie Holt. After expressing his appreciation for her contribution to the Paddington score, Peter and Natalie discussed the audition process in securing her role, if any…

Celebrating its 69th edition, Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) has revealed its 2021 program, with an astonishing lineup of 283 international and Australian films and transformative screen experiences. Presenting 199 feature films, 84 shorts and 10XR experiences, the program includes 40 world premieres — the most in the festival’s history — and 154 Australian premieres,…

Whilst subtitling the film “A New Legacy” seems a bit too confident for the team behind this Space Jam sequel, it’s arguably not straying too far from the truth in relation to its selected talent.  Whilst the original film received a mixed reception upon its release in 1996, it made considerable bank and has, in…

The first episode of The White Lotus, the latest darkly comedic effort from the mind of Mike White (Enlightened), sets itself up as a more humorous Big Little Lies, offering a seasonal hook in the first few minutes that suggests the titular paradisal resort is anything but. A stoic Shane (Jake Lacy) sits at an…

No stranger to the world of CGI wizardry and starring alongside names of sizeable weight, Don Cheadle is utilising both his talent and knowledge for his latest big screen venture – Space Jam: A New Legacy – opposite Los Angeles Lakers MVP, LeBron James.  Talking with our own Peter Gray ahead of the anticipated sequel’s…

Eagerly awaited, though perhaps a few years too late, Marvel’s latest excursion of the bombastic kind – Black Widow – isn’t exactly reinventing the wheel.  That’s not necessarily a bad thing though as Cate Shortland‘s venture adopts a more grounded mentality (at least for the most part), playing as a type-of Bourne Identity actioner that…

  Thanks to StudioCanal we have five double passes to give away to the upcoming release of the action film Gunpowder Milkshake, starring Karen Gillan, Michelle Yeoh, Lena Headey, Angela Bassett and Carla Gugino, in Australian cinemas from July 15th, 2021. Sam (Karen Gillan) was only 12 years old when her mother Scarlet (Lena Headey), an elite…

Taking an activity that’s (arguably) something of a fad and morphing it for a theatrical narrative was a risk that evidently paid off for director Adam Robitel and screenwriters Bragi Schut and Maria Melnik with 2019’s Escape Room.  A psychological horror film that aimed for suspense over gore, its $150 million worldwide haul practically guaranteed…

After Escape Room became one of 2019’s biggest surprise box office successes, netting over $150 million worldwide on a $9 million budget, it was no surprise when it was announced that a second trip behind the locked doors would be heading our way; Escape Room: Tournament of Champions. Reuniting original director Adam Robitel and surviving…

Legends aren’t born.  They’re made. The prequel to the groundbreaking, award-winning HBO series The Sopranos, The Many Saints of Newark is set against the backdrop of the explosive 1967 Newark riots as it explores the rising tension between the Italian-American and African-American communities. Directed by Emmy winner Alan Taylor (TV’s Game of Thrones) and written…

Supported by Pixar but not specifically animated by them, Monsters At Work serves as a direct continuation of 2001’s Monsters, Inc., picking up in the hours after learning the laughter of children is a much more efficient way to energise their city over the nightmarish screams they used to evoke. Despite the sequel feel of…

Evil dies tonight. After slaughtering the box office in 2018, earning over $250 million at the global box office and setting a new record for the largest opening weekend in history for a horror film starring a woman – genre icon Jamie Lee Curtis – Halloween breathed new life into the four-decade long franchise. And…

Thanks to Rialto Distribution we have ten double passes to give away to the upcoming release of the action thriller The Misfits, in Australian cinemas from July 1st, 2021. After being recruited by a group of unconventional thieves, renowned criminal Richard Pace (Pierce Brosnan) finds himself caught up in an elaborate gold heist that promises to have…

As In The Heights prepares to dance its way on to the big screens here in Australia (you can read our review here), the cast and creators were on hand at a global press conference to discuss making the film, including director Jon M. Chu, creator Lin-Manuel Miranda and screenwriter Quiara Alegría Hudes. Our own…

As the Sydney Film Festival prepares to return to theatres for its 2021 season, running from the 18th-29th August, it has teased a line-up of art titles ahead of its official program launch. Set to screen alongside such already announced titles as Mads Mikkelsen‘s crime comedy Riders of Justice and The Kids, a revisit with…