Note: This Review May Contain Spoilers How I Live Now is at once strange and intriguing. Set in the 21st century, How I Live Now tells the story of a young, American girl who is sent to live with her cousins in the English countryside, when a world war breaks out across the country. Daisy, the American, and…
Read MoreIt’s the final year of high school and Sutters life is falling apart. Dumped by his girlfriend, ditched by his friends and failing his way through class, he starts sliding quietly into alcoholism. When he meets the quiet, geeky Aimee she seems to offer him a path out of the murk, but Sutter may not…
Read More“I’m sorry. I know that means little at this point, but I am. I tried. I think you would all agree that I tried. To be true, to be strong, to be kind, to love, to be right. But I wasn’t.” With these few words, so begins All Is Lost, an incredible film about one man’s struggle…
Read MoreDarlene Love. Merry Clayton. Lisa Fischer. Claudia Lennear. Táta Vega. Judith Hill. Jo Lawry. Stevvi Alexander. The names of these women may not seem familiar, but I can guarantee that you have heard at least one, if not all of them sing. How? Because all of these women are backup singers, and among the most celebrated of…
Read MoreThe grandmaster of animation, Hayao Miyazaki, made the somewhat unexpected announcement of his retirement from filmmaking a few months back when his film The Wind Rises played at the Venice Film Festival. The film’s trailer has arrived, and after great reviews from the festival circuit I’m hoping it’s a great watch. The film tells the…
Read MoreThe Iris meets Steve Carrell on the red carpet of Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues in Sydney, Australia. We talk about his experiences in Australia and about how his character Brick Tamland handles having a new love interest (Kristen Wiig) in the film! Interview: Chris Singh Camera: Nathan Atkins Edit: Larry Heath Filmed at the…
Read MoreThe Iris presents the international trailer and Australian poster for the anticipated new film HER, released in Australian cinemas on January 16th, 2014. Directed by Spike Jonze, this original love story is garnering high praise from critics after showing at the New York and Rome Film Festivals. <iframe width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”//www.youtube.com/embed/GTtDo0-w4LQ?rel=0″ frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen></iframe> Starring Joaquin…
Read Morethe AU review’s The Iris meets David Koechner aka Champ Kind from Anchorman 2 on the red carpet at the Australian premiere in Sydney. We talk about the film – getting back into character, the script and the “one liners” and we ask: would you consider doing a third film? WHAMMY! ———- This content has…
Read MoreSeeing Only Lovers Left Alive at the Brisbane International Film Festival was the best kind of surprise. The title alone had piqued my interest, and the synopsis ensured that this would at least be an unusual film, if anything. But Only Lovers Left Alive completely and utterly stole my heart right from the first frame…
Read MoreTropfest has recently announced the 16 finalists who’s films will be screened across the nation when the world’s largest short film festival kicks off on Sunday December 8th. An eclectic assortment of films will be on show, ranging from thrillers and comedies to documentaries and dramas, which have all been inspired by the Festival’s signature…
Read MoreRon Burgundy, known to most as Ánchorman, has released his highly anticipated autobiography Let Me Off At The Top! My classy life and other musings. The book has coincided with the release of Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues which premiered in Australia last Sunday. Burgundy will reveal, in his own words, his most private thoughts,…
Read MoreThe Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) has announced the winners of the annual Screen IT competition, Australia’s largest competition for school-aged filmakers, animators and game makers. This year there were over 373 entries from all around Australia creating live-action films, computer games and animations to fit with this years theme, Connect. ACMI’s Screen Education Manager, Christine…
Read MoreAs everyone is talking about the new ABC series Ja’mie: Private School Girl at the moment, lets take a look back at Chris Lilley’s last project Summer Heights High. Set at an Australian public high school, Summer Heights High is a mockumentary starring Ja’mie King, Jonah Takalua and Mr. G – all played by funny man Chris Lilley. We all know…
Read MoreThree cheers for the return of Ferguson! Winston’s intense love of that cat remains a very amusing theme of this season and it was nice to have it brought to the forefront yet again. Winston also took on a bigger role in this episode, although he still seems the odd man out of the gang….
Read MoreAs BIFF winds down the movies certainly do not. The last screening of Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s Don Jon graced the Palace Cinemas last night and guests were greeted with champagne and a chance to be photographed. It was a nice touch to bring a little bit of Hollywood to Brisbane. Anticipation for Don Jon has been brimming…
Read MoreThe Australian box office saw the highly anticipated sequel The Hunger Games: Catching Fire claim the number one spot in Australia over the weekend, bringing in $12.475 million on 579 screens from Thursday 21st November to Sunday 24th November. The film took in $2.6 million on Friday alone, thanks to sold out midnight screenings around…
Read MoreAs with many European Art films, Blue Is The Warmest Colour requires patience. The film moves at a snail’s pace but this is only to increase the drama and tension at pivotal turning points in the narrative. That being said, Blue Is The Warmest Colour is a beautiful character study that, with its depiction and…
Read MoreFoxfire screened at Biff Wednesday night at Palace Cinemas. The film runs dangerously close to three hours but thankfully you won’t notice it until you step out of the theatre bleary-eyed onto the busy, buzzing barracks shopping complex. This isn’t the first time Foxfire has entered the minds of girls, women and people everywhere. The…
Read MoreChange is coming to Foxtel music Kicking off summer will be a new offering to the TV market as well as two refreshed MTV music channels. Get ready for SMOOTH, a television extension of the hugely popular smoothfm radio brand, launching Tuesday December 3, 2013 as the ultimate music destination to relax and escape. SMOOTH…
Read MoreAfter Marvel’s Thor dominated the Australian box office for two weeks – last weekend bringing in close to $6 million – this weekend Australians looked towards the comedic world of Jackass, helping land the reasonably well received comedy Bad Grandpa to the number one spot with $3.4 million. Thor continued to perform well, however, coming…
Read MoreOXV: The Manual is unlike any other film you’ve seen, it’s even coined a new genre: the ‘scientific-philosophical romance’. It breaks free from genre conventions to deliver a unique story that presents a new look on fate, determinism and freewill. The film may take a few viewings to fully grasp the rules of writer/director Darren…
Read MoreIt’s refreshing to see a war film that doesn’t concentrate on the ‘fighting’ aspect of war. Instead, The Railway Man, which opened the Brisbane International Film Festival, focuses on the effects of war such as post-traumatic stress disorder and its devastating nature for decades to come. Based on the autobiography by Eric Lomax, the film…
Read MoreFrom the man that brought you Trainspotting we have another gritty, intense depiction of debauchery, excessive drug and alcohol intake and the deterioration of the mind courtesy of the abuse of those substances. Climb aboard the rollercoaster and see if you can deduce what’s really going on in this mind-melding trip. Bruce Robertson ( James…
Read MoreAnd we’re back. It’s the sort of feeling you get the minute The Hunger Games: Catching Fire hits the screen, throwing you right back into Suzanne Collins’ hypnotising dystopic world of Panem, this time in a film helmed by Francis Lawrence (no relation to the film’s star). The sequel to the international hit film The…
Read MoreMost people would have heard of, or at least recognise actor Bryan Brown, he’s an iconic part of Australian film, prolific in the 70s and 80s. There’s no doubt he’s brilliant, but it’s his daughter Matilda Brown who’s come into her own acting, writing and producing, that deserves kudos for creating this gem of mini-series….
Read MoreWith Supanova winding down in Adelaide today, fans had scattered to catch the final panels for the weekend and take up final opportunities in snagging autographs and photos with their favourite guests. Sitting in on the Spartacus panel (one of the funniest of the weekend), I was interested in the popularity of the historic drama – in the case…
Read MoreIt’s been a few years since the last Jackass film; the hit and miss formula of ridiculous public stunts, aimed to shock and confuse bystanders is incredibly fun to watch at times, which is why the brand has always been entertaining. Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa threads this formula throughout an actual narrative, much like one…
Read MoreThe Complex is the latest horror offering from Director Hideo Nakata, who’s credited with directing the original versions of the Ring 1 & 2. To complement the release, a 12 episode drama titled Kuroyuri Danchi was aired prior, which follows events leading up to those that take place in the film. Although the film debuted…
Read MoreOne of the great things about Brisbane International Film Festival is not only the celebration of new films and innovations but also the celebration of old ones. Six Degrees of Separation is almost incidentally nostalgic of New York, the 90s and the fantasy of socialites. Though there’s been enough time to get informed, it’s obvious…
Read MoreViewers going in to see this documentary were warned that it was going to be grizzly. But none were prepared for the disturbing images this film produced. Most of which were re-enactments and fantasies, but they were all horrific and true. The Act of Killing focuses on a group of retired gangsters in Indonesia. In…
Read More