Seeing any film at the Chauvel cinema, Paddington in Sydney is like stepping into an intimate experience. The service is friendly and personalised, and the cinema itself exudes a kind of chilled-out classy atmos; before your chosen film starts, you can order a beer or glass of wine to enjoy out on the balcony, or…
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 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 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 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 MoreThis week’s episode brought the whole gang back together with the arrival of Coach (Damon Wayans Jr), and, let’s be honest, was anyone really expecting that plot? Strip clubs, crying, getting drunk (we probably expected those last two), and Taye Diggs saying ‘rubber baby buggy bumpers’. All signs of a great episode. It was nice…
Read MoreHomeland is back for another year. I will be chronicling the journeys of Carrie, Saul and Brody throughout the third season of the best show currently on television. Spoilers within so don’t read before viewing the episodes! Previously on Homeland… So the whole ‘Saul betraying Carrie and having her put in a mental institution’ scenario…
Read MoreAccompanied by the news this week that the show will live to see a season two, Thursday’s Masters of Sex brings us just one episode shy of the freshman season’s halfway mark. The show has fast established itself as the new kid on the cable drama block and here’s what we’ve seen so far….
Read MoreHomeland is back for another year. I will be chronicling the journeys of Carrie, Saul and Brody throughout the third season of the best show currently on television. Spoilers within so don’t read before viewing the episode! Previously on Homeland… Saul has betrayed Carrie by ratting her out to the government. After taking her story…
Read MoreYou’ve probably heard of the name ‘Sleepy Hollow’, you might be familiar with the original ‘The Legend of Sleepy Hollow’ story by Washington Irving, or maybe the Tim Burton horror film that featured Johnny Depp rings a bell? It’s a fairly popular and remade work of fiction and this time it gets a modern twist…
Read MoreNow screening at IMAX Darling Harbour in Sydney, Hidden Universe 3D sets quite a few milestones for the Australian film industry. Most notably, the shortform IMAX production marks the first time an IMAX 3D film has been produced and directed by an Australian team. It was suitable, therefore, to premiere the film in a special screening at…
Read MoreWhile electronic music is doing supremely well in Australia at the moment, we can’t say that it’s always been this way. We can only dream of regularly having warehouse parties and living up to techno hotspots Paris and Berlin. With links to the underground and drug scene, it’s no surprise that the mysterious depths of…
Read MoreWhatcha Wearin’? is a movie that was shown as part of KOFFIA 2013. This movie dealt with more mature themes, which made it really stand out to couples and very close best friends. The opening to the movie was interesting, fun and engaging. The organizers of KOFFIA set the night as “pajama night’ where the idea was…
Read MoreIn an unspecific time in an unspecified part of Israel, Amram Mufradi (David Tassa) is on a mission. It is his dying father’s last wish to hear ‘The Ballad of a Weeping Spring’, a song written by his band, the Turquoise Ensemble, 20 years before, but as yet unperformed due to a tragedy that has echoed through…
Read MoreWith horror films these days, it’s difficult to avoid either the “torture-porn” sort of films – Saw, Hostel etc. – or the “found footage” stylings of the surprisingly never-ending Paramormal Activity series. But for those who hold the genre close to their heart, it’s hard not to look back to films like The Excorcist or The Amityville Horror and crave a more “classic” style…
Read MoreGuillermo Del Toro’s gargantuan Pacific Rim is every bit as fun as its trailer promised us. Forget the snotty, negative stigma that often surrounds overblown sci-fi/action films; this one makes up for any perceived lack of brains with so much brawn that you won’t be able to help yourself high-fiving and cheering whenever a destruction-driven battle scene pops…
Read MoreSydney film-maker Shae-Lee Shackleford has put together a short film called The Anti-Social Network which pokes a bit of fun but also manages to highlight a growing trend in social media addiction and its impact on people’s lives. Our story follows Lucas whose life is consumed by Facebook, played by Sam Mcmillan. From waking in the morning with his phone…
Read MoreAfter an epic three weeks, seven cities and twenty-four films, the 16th Spanish Film Festival came to a close on Wednesday night at the Verona Cinema in Paddington. The celebrations were low-key cool; guests were treated to enormous and delicious goblets of Sangria as part of a pre-screening gathering at the cinema bar, where Spanish…
Read MoreMichel Gondry has always been one of my favourite directors. His ability to take dreamlike concepts and turn them into something visually tangible has always been his strength, and a unifying quality between all his productions – be they feature length, short or music video format. Though perhaps we won’t consider The Green Hornet in amongst this…
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