Film & TV

The Big Bang Theory‘s Simon Helberg makes his directorial debut alongside his wife Jocelyn Towne in the film We’ll Never Have Paris. We talk to the co-directors about the film, which Helberg also wrote and stars in, as it premiered at SXSW in Austin, Texas last month. ———- This content has recently been ported from…

We interviewed director Andy Landen about his film Sequoia at the SXSW Film Festival last month. We talk about how he got involved in the project, the soundtrack featuring one of the members of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, working with Aly Michalka and Dustin Milligan, filming in the famous National Park and more!…

The Iris had the opportunity to sit down with New Zealand actress Melanie Lynskey (Heavenly Creatures , The Perks of Being a Wallflower), Maggie Grace (Lost) and Jason Ritter (Parenthood) at SXSW last month to talk about their roles in the film We’ll Never Have Paris, which premiered at the festival. Watch the full chat…

Balancing work with family life can be difficult, regardless of what industry you happen to be working in. I find that entertainment and the arts can be awfully tricky, however. It’s been nice to see partners and families of Oz Comic Con guests be a part of their trip over – sometimes I think about…

Few show-runners are as tight lipped about their forthcoming seasons as Matthew Weiner is with Mad Men. For this reason, a certain amount of wild guessing is required… yet as is so often the case, this can lead to over analysis and needless extrapolation of minor plot points (let’s not forget the Megan Draper is…

Robin Dunne is quick to break the ice when we meet in the established ‘media room’ (read: hotel room) for the Oz Comic Con Adelaide press day. “I was told I could lie in bed for this interview, is that okay?” The Canadian actor, who stars alongside fellow Oz Comic Con guest Amanda Tapping in…

“Here’s the thing. Mostly, what makes these trips for me, is the people. You just walk around this city and you get to know how lovely people are and how welcoming and open they are.” It’s the general consensus I’ve been getting from Oz Comic Con guests who have been discussing the vibe of the…

Corin Nemec is one of the Oz Comic Con guests who, when I told friends I would be interviewing him, there were some swoons to follow. The American actor, known to many as Jonas Quinn on Stargate: SG-1 and also as the Winchester brothers’ cousin Christian on Supernatural, Nemec has been a favourite of the…

The Muppets are returning to the big screen with Muppets: Most Wanted, a sequel to 2011’s critical and box office smash The Muppets, or, as it’s humorously put in the film’s brilliantly meta opening number – the seventh sequel since their original film in 1979. But who’s counting, right? The film stars the Muppet gang…

Divergent is the latest in a line of post-apocalyptic teen dramas that have been churned through cinema since the ever-popular Twilight and Hunger Games franchises. Adapted from the novels by Veronica Roth through the eyes of director Neil Burger, Divergent plays around with some similarity to The Hunger Games via a post-“war” Chicago that is…

Stylistically, Wes Anderson remains one of the most exciting directors in the business, constantly infusing imagination into each and every one of his whimsical masterpieces. In many ways, The Grand Budapest Hotel supplants his classic works likes Fantastic Mr Fox and The Darjeeling Limited to shine as Anderson’s greatest film to date. 100 minutes just…

Stunning, visceral immersion into one of the world’s most important and historically rich cities is exactly what one will get when they settle into the IMAX to watch Jerusalem 3D. This documentary is a virtual visit to the gorgeous land and infinitely intriguing architecture, taking you through everything from the vibrant marketplaces to the historical…

In a move that will excite many but surprise few, HBO have announced that their flagship series Game of Thrones has officially been renewed for two more seasons. The announcement comes on the heels of the hugely successful fourth season premiere this week. The episode gave Game of Thrones its highest-ever ratings (6.6 million), and…

Aside from J.D and Turk on Scrubs, who would be your favourite character? It’s a hard question, as with the medical comedy, there is something to love about each one of the characters who work and operate in some way at Sacred Heart. Two such characters would have to be Ted and The Todd. In…

One of our favourite films of this year’s SXSW Film Festival was an low budget, high concept Adelaide film called The Infinite Man. The clever narrative revolves around one man’s quest to relive the perfect day by way of a time machine. We took some time to catch up with the film’s director Hugh Sullivan…

While he was at SXSW, we caught up with New Zealand born director Florian Habicht to talk about his new film Pulp, a documentary about the band of the same name, and their farewell performance at home in Sheffield. And now the film has been announced to premiere in Australia at the Sydney Film Festival!…

The Iris meets Nicholas McCarthy, director of the horror film Home at SXSW 2014 to talk about the film, how it compares to his debut The Pact, what inspired him to make the sorts of films he does and much more… ———- This content has recently been ported from its original home on The Iris…

From where we left off last time Frank Underwood had finally made it right into the middle of the television frame as Vice President of the United States. But I’m sure viewers’ doubt he will rest at that stop. There is plenty more games of cat and mouse for Frank Underwood and steely eyed wife,…

This was a HUGE weekend at the Australian box office, with a very tight race between Marvel’s latest superhero offeringCaptain America: The Winter Soldier and worldwide hit The LEGO Movie. The Winter Soldier, which stars Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson and Samuel L. Jackson, took the top spot with just over $6 million, while The LEGO Movie came in very strong…

Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! is a documentary film, travel guide and labour of love about The Beatles. In the course of an hour the director and presenter, Fabrice Ziolkowski visits the places in Liverpool and London that were important to the Fab Four. He also does this during International Beatle Week and he discovers that the…

Oz ComicCon took over the Adelaide Showgrounds this past weekend, giving geeks ample opportunities to indulge in Q&A sessions with voice artists, actors and animation artists, as well as spending up big on the multitude of stalls selling merchandise, prosthetics, clothing and more. Of course, Adelaide won out over the Perth event in a huge…

After the phenomenal critical and commercial success of 2012’s Skyfall, the pressure is certainly on for the next Bond film, currently referred to as Bond 24, to live up to the high standards set by its predecessor. Skyfall director Sam Mendes will return for the next film, as will star Daniel Craig, accompanied by new…

Being led up to the hotel room where I’m to interview Amanda Tapping, I’m told shortly beforehand that I’m the only journalist she’s sitting down with today. ‘No pressure,’ I tell myself. This is only a woman who has been idolised by many sci-fi fans across the globe for over a decade to the point…

It’s finally back! The long and torturous wait between seasons is a testament to how deeply involved the world has become in the Game of Thrones universe. The series’ fourth season kicked off with the mostly excellent ‘Two Swords,’ doing a nice job of making sure we’re up to speed while also setting up some…

It’s been zombies on the brain of late (pun intended), last year was a good year for undead horror flicks with Hollywood churning out some doozies (World War Z, Warm Bodies, Contracted). This genre is tricky, because it’s been overworked so many times, but looking back on the releases above it’s clear to see something’s…

The Iris had the opportunity to sit down with Aly Michalka and Dustin Milligan, the stars of the indie film Sequoia at SXSW to talk about the film. The go into detail about what it was like filming in Sequoia, dealing with the heavier subject material in the story and much more… Part One: Part…

Taken straight from the film’s official website, Above All Else is an intimate portrait of a group of landowners and activists in East Texas who tried to stop construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, a $7 billion dollar project slated to carry tar sands oil from Canada to refineries on the Texas Gulf Coast. Risking…

The programming for the 7th annual Canadian Music Week Film Fest has been announced. The festival will run from May 8th to 10th at Toronto’s The Royal Cinema and will showcase a mix of premieres, special screenings, retro rarities and limited engagements. The particular focus this year is to pay homage to musical legends and their long-lasting influence on…

The Iris takes you behind-the-scenes of the SBS 2 Australian series “The Feed” in this exclusive three part series. In part one, we document one of the new season’s most popular segments: The Chin Wag with Lee Lin Chin. Filming every Monday, we take you behind-the-scenes, filming this parody “Celebrity Gossip” segment with Lee Lin…

Following its release in Australia on DVD last month, Nazia caught up with writer/director Andrew Semans to chat about his debut feature film Nancy, Please. They talk about the low budget, the challenges of working with squirrels and more… How did you come up with this deceivingly simple concept and are you happy with it’s execution?…