Film & TV

Presence; Steven Soderbergh’s haunting POV drama favours style over substance: TIFF 2024 Review

Much like how his 2018 psychological thriller Unsane was elevated by it being shot entirely on an iPhone 7 Plus, Steven Soderbergh is implementing another technological gimmick of sorts in Presence, a ghost story that’s filmed entirely from the point of view of the haunting figure lurking within the walls of a sprawling suburban residence….

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The Substance; Coralie Fargeat’s meditation on the standards of today’s beauty indulges in bloody, black humour and body horror: TIFF 2024 Review

The idea of wanting to be younger and create a more perfect aesthetic version of one’s self is a thought many (if not all) of us have conjured at one point or another.  And so often do the two go hand-in-hand, despite the fact that being younger and looking better aren’t always reliant on the…

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Film Review: Bonnard, Pierre And Marthe is as much a love story as it is a character study

Behind every great man is a great woman. Especially if that man is as shrouded in mystery and as reclusive as post-impressionist French painter and printmaker Pierre Bonnard. Bonnard, Pierre & Marthe is as much a character study as it is a love story about the decade-spanning romance between famed painter Pierre Bonnard (Vincent Macaigne)…

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Adelaide Film Festival announce four movies ahead of full program

Four movies and other events have been teased out ahead of the full Adelaide Film Festival announcement coming on September 17th. Cannes Film Festival 2024 Palme d’Or Award winner, Anora, reimagines Pretty Woman as a tragicomedy and cements director Sean Baker as someone to watch. It screens at the AFF on Thursday October 24th. Screening…

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SXSW Sydney announces exciting screen program for 2024 addition

SXSW Sydney (October 14th – 20th, 2024) is back for its second year, and its bringing a bold and inspiring mix of local and international features, showcasing the best across drama, horror, comedy and documentaries for its Screen Program. The lineup includes the Australian premiere of Lucy Lawless‘s directorial debut, Never Look Away, a documentary about…

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Win a family pass (Admit 4) to the new Australian comedy Runt

Thanks to StudioCanal Australia and Think Tank Communications, we have 5 family passes (Admit 4) to giveaway to see the new Australian comedy Runt, starring Celeste Barber, Jai Courtney, Matt Day and Jack Thompson, in Australian theatres from September 19th, 2024 (with Queensland starting from September 12th). Based on Craig Silvey’s best-selling novel, this delightful…

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Film Review: Stream is disgustingly endearing in spite of missed narrative potential

At over 2 hours long, with performances that are predominantly uninspired, and a script that doesn’t delve beyond setting up a narrative solely to off its variety of stock-standard characters, Michael Leavy‘s slasher Stream leaves a lot to be desired.  In the same breath, it’s so gloriously gory and committed to not taking itself seriously…

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Film Review: Thelma is a hilarious, and unlikely, love letter to the action genre

Though it leans into the action/thriller genre with a supreme wink, Thelma, Josh Margolin‘s frequently hilarious, always poignant ode to his own grandmother (and, clearly, a love of the action genre), is never spoofing the films it so evidently is earning its laughs from; and it’s that sweetness and keen sense of reinvention that helps…

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Interview: Josh Margolin on honouring his grandmother in action love letter Thelma and the stunt work of June Squibb

Thelma Post is a 93-year-old grandmother who loses $10,000 to a con artist on the phone. With help from a friend and his motorized scooter, she soon embarks on a treacherous journey across Los Angeles to reclaim what was taken from her. Not the most likely action narrative, but it’s the perfect genre entry for…

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Film Review: Hinckley: I Shot the President is a topical documentary that’s at once informative and entertaining

On July 13th, 2024, Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old loner from Pennsylvania, attempted to assassinate former U.S. President – and current Presidential nominee – Donald Trump.  Failing in his intended mission by only wounding Trump, though he did fatally strike one rally attendee before being killed by the Secret Service Counter Sniper Team, the still-unexplained…

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Interview: Kneecap director Rich Peppiatt on collaborating with the Irish band to tell their story and the importance of preserving indigenous languages

There are 80,000 native Irish speakers in Ireland. 6,000 live in Northern Ireland. Three of them became a rap group called Kneecap. From up-and-coming British director Rich Peppiatt, Kneecap is the real-life story of how this anarchic Belfast trio became the unlikely figureheads of a civil rights movement to save their mother tongue. The film won the Audience…

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Film Review: Kneecap is riotous and confronting as it bridges the gap between politics and crowd-pleasing

A far deeper, more important film than many may be expecting from what is being sold on the surface, Rich Peppiatt‘s Kneecap speaks to the importance of language preservation within the fictionalised biopic framing of its titular rap group. There’s an undeniable energy to Peppiatt’s direction as he throws an array of substances at the…

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Film Review: The Blind Sea is an inspiring documentary that celebrates the tenacity of the human spirit

The ocean is already a wild, unbridled space for those of us that can see its dangerous beauty.  Such intensity would only be exacerbated when removing the sense of sight, but for Australian surfing athlete Matt Formston it’s his reality, and one that he’s more than willing to exist within. Formston’s impressive athleticism and against-the-odds…

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Interview: Neil McGregor on uncovering history for his provocative documentary John Hinckley: I Shot the President

In March 1981, John Hinckley shot U.S. President Ronald Reagan in a failed assassination attempt driven by a dangerous obsession with the Martin Scorsese film Taxi Driver and actress Jodie Foster.  The attack shocked the world and forever changed American history.  Found not guilty by reason of insanity, John spent thirty-five years in a psychiatric…

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Win tickets to see the return of Michael Keaton in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

The ghost with the most is back! To celebrate the release of Tim Burton‘s ghoulish sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, in Australian theatres from September 5th, 2024, starring Michael Keaton, Catherine O’Hara, Winona Ryder, Willem Dafoe, Monica Bellucci, Justin Theroux and Jenna Ortega, thanks to Warner Bros. Pictures Australia we have 5 digital double passes (Admit 2)…

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Adelaide Film Festival teases the first six movies for their 2024 season

The Adelaide Film Festival runs between 23th October and 3rd November and will feature the movie The Correspondent. The opening night gala marks the world premier of this gripping movie. Directed by Kriv Stenders, The Correspondent stars Richard Roxburgh as Australian war correspondent Peter Greste who was arrested and jailed in Cairo, Egypt in 2013,…

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The Lord of the Rings: The War of Rohirrim trailer returns audiences to Peter Jackson’s groundbreaking Middle Earth through the eyes of legendary anime director Kenji Kamiyama.

New Line Cinema’s original anime feature The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim returns audiences to the epic world brought to life in Peter Jackson‘s The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, based on the revered books by J.R.R. Tolkien, through the eyes of legendary anime director Kenji Kamiyama. Set 183 years before…

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Win tickets to the new Irish comedy Kneecap starring Michael Fassbender

Thanks to Madman Entertainment, we have 10 double in-season passes (Admit 2) to giveaway to the wild Irish language comedy Kneecap, a real-life story of how the titular anarchic Belfast trio became the unlikely figureheads of a civil rights movement to save their mother tongue. The film won the Audience Award at Sundance this year…

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Interview: Director Karl R. Hearne and star Dale Dickey on revenge drama The G; “We did something that’s original and different.”

Written and directed by Karl R. Hearne, The G, which focuses on a mysterious older woman seeking revenge on the corrupt legal guardian who destroyed her life, is a unique take on the classic revenge thriller. Inspired by this real-life grandmother and lead by renowned character actress Dale Dickey (Winter’s Bone, Iron Man 3, Leave…

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Film Review: The G is a taut revenge thriller dominated by Dale Dickey

Between The Beekeeper, Thelma and now The G, older women haven’t had the greatest luck in cinema when it comes to scams of some sort as of late  Whilst financial abuse via a scam phone call collective was at the centre of the formers – which resulted in Jason Statham and June Squibb, respectively, trolling…

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Film Review: Blink Twice is an incisive thriller that truly announces Zoë Kravitz as a filmmaker to watch

A narrative throughline present in Zoë Kravitz‘s daring debut directorial feature is that “Forgetting is a gift.”  Given the trauma and suffering many of the characters are holding onto in Blink Twice, it would appear a wise coping mechanism, but Kravitz’s script – written alongside one of her High Fidelity television scribes, E.T. Feigenbaum –…

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Film Review: Touch is a tender, reflective drama exploring a romance unknown

It’s never the easiest realisation to have when it comes to facing one’s own mortality, but if any situation over the last few years pushed such a mentality to the forefront, it was the pandemic.  Whether it was wrapped up in regrettable decisions, the roads not travelled, or the relationships we formed or lost, life…

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Interview: Baltasar Kormákur on directing the time-spanning romance of Touch; “It’s never too late to fix a relationship.”

The last time our Peter Gray spoke with director Baltasar Kormákur it was when he was placing Idris Elba in the biting line of a ferocious lion in 2022’s underrated survivalist actioner Beast. For his latest turn behind the camera, the Icelandic filmmaker couldn’t be further from the dangerous throws of South Africa with his tender…

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Interview: Ashley Zukerman on the challenging themes of his new film In Vitro and how his career has altered after Succession

Like many farmers tending to land and livestock around the country, Layla and Jack live an isolated existence. While their son is away at boarding school, Jack experiments with biotechnology to breed cattle, and Layla quietly laments her child’s absence and her strained relationship with her husband. When Jack is injured during a storm-induced blackout…

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Film Review: Alien: Romulus is an atmospheric blend of old-school respect and new-school brazen

Whilst Alien: Romulus is the seventh in the line of Alien features – ninth if you count the Alien Vs Predator movies (and it’s okay if you don’t, because…choices) – Fede Alvarez‘s nasty, carnivorous entry is a stand-alone sequel placed between Ridley Scott’s defining original, 1979’s Alien, and James Cameron’s continuation, 1986’s Aliens; Alvarez and…

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Film Review: Jackpot!; John Cena and Awkwafina make the most of mild action-comedy

For the global press conference for Jackpot!, director Paul Feig mentioned that he ultimately took on the film because it was the “Jackie Chan movie (he) always wanted to make.”  And it’s in that spirit that this comedic actioner is best viewed, where the two genres co-exist as one and the same and the silliness…

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Interview: Director Paul Feig and the cast of Jackpot!, John Cena, Awkwafina and Simu Liu, on their wild new comedy

In the near future, a ‘Grand Lottery’ has been newly established in California – the catch: kill the winner before sundown to legally claim their multi-billion dollar jackpot. When Katie Kim (Awkwafina) moves to Los Angeles, she mistakenly finds herself with the winning ticket. Desperate to survive the hordes of jackpot hunters, she reluctantly joins forces with amateur…

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Interview: Celia Pacquola on the return of Thank God You’re Here; “Everyone accepts that what they are about to do is brave and silly and very scary, and none of us want to do it.”

After a 14 year hiatus, Australian improv series Thank God You’re Here was rejuvenated in 2023 for a whole new generation to bask in the unpredictable comedy stylings of some of Australia’s (and the world’s) most loved comedians. Hosted by national treasure Celia Pacquola, the series is back in 2024 for a brand new round…

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All the Disney film and television announcements from D23 2024

If there’s one way to follow-up that Robert Downey Jr. announcement at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con last month – if you haven’t heard, the newly-minted Oscar winner is returning to the MCU as Victor Von Doom – it’s by announcing all the films and television series coming our way possible from the House of…

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Win tickets to see Zoë Kravitz’s Blink Twice starring Channing Tatum

Are you having a good time? Thanks to Warner Bros. Pictures Australia you could be! To celebrate the release of Zoë Kravitz‘s directorial debut, Blink Twice, only in Australian theatres from August 22nd, 2024, starring Channing Tatum, Naomi Ackie, Christian Slater, Simon Rex, Adria Arjona, Kyle MacLachlan, Geena Davis and Alia Shawkat, we have 5…

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