Four Stars

Film Review: The Lego Batman Movie (USA/AUS 2017) is hilariously self-aware of the superhero genre

Three years after we were wowed and bamboozled by The Lego Movie and that damn “Everything Is Awesome” song has now finally gotten out of our heads, it’s time to revisit one of its popular characters in his own standalone film. The Lego Batman Movie takes our dark, broody and narcissistic Dark Knight and puts…

Read More

SXSW Film Review: A Bad Idea Gone Wrong (USA, 2017) steals all the right notes

A Bad Idea Gone Wrong is Jason Headley’s full feature length debut and I must say, Headley gives a simple concept a fantastic tune up. With this Comedy/Drama, two down on their luck thieves, Marlon (Matt Jones) and Leo (Will Rogers) land their next heist opportunity, a fancy mansion home while the owners are away….

Read More

Film Review: Beauty And The Beast (USA, 2017) has breathtaking moments of grandiose cinematic bliss

A story that originated in 1740 now considered one of the most beloved and beautiful of fairytales that has been remade/rebooted/retold a countless number of times, Beauty And The Beast is considered a tale as old as time. Of late Disney has been having a bit of a renaissance if you will, remaking number of…

Read More

AF French Film Festival Review: Monsieur Chocolat (France, 2016) is an emotional ride that leaves you in deep contemplation

Breathtaking and magical, Monsieur Chocolat (directed by Roschdy Zem) is one to watch if you want to experience a Parisian night. Immerse yourself in the world of 19th-century French circus and follow the biopic story of Chocolat (Omar Sy). He journeys from a performer acting as the “cannibal” to a more respected position as a…

Read More

Film Review: Loving (USA, 2016) is a study in the true power of love

Loving is a film that shares a few things in common with A United Kingdom. They are both based on true stories and at the centre of each film you have a married, interracial couple who just want to live together as husband wife and leave the politics out of the bedroom. Loving is a…

Read More

SXSW Film Review: The Most Hated Woman in America (USA, 2017) is Netflix at its best

There’s no doubt about it, Netflix are on a path to global domination. With a slew of well received original TV programming to their name already, the streaming giant have now turned their attention to taking on the film industry and the Hollywood studio system. The exceptional biopic The Most Hated Woman in America is…

Read More

SXSW Film Review: The Light of the Moon (USA, 2017) is more than a victim’s story, but a tale of human complexity

Bonnie is young and worldly, holds a job as an architect and lives in NYC. She has good friends, a pretty good social life and is in a stable relationship with a man who is equally as upwardly mobile, enjoying the same perks as anyone with a career in a city able to hold the…

Read More

TV Review: FX’s Feud: Bette and Joan is a delicious TV affair

As eloquently described by Catherine Zeta Jones‘s portrayal of two-time Academy Award winning actress Olivia de Havilland, feuds are never about hate…they are about pain.  And in the first season of Ryan Murphy‘s latest anthology series Feud, pain is running rampant for both Joan Crawford (Jessica Lange) and Bette Davis (Susan Sarandon), two legendary actresses…

Read More

TV Review: The Walking Dead Season 7 Episode 13 “Bury Me Here” puts Morgan in the spotlight

It’s no secret that The Walking Dead is beginning to lose momentum. Seven seasons in and it seems the monolithic survival-horror series keeps tripping over itself more often than not, with inconsistency now a defining trait. Unlike Game of Thrones which takes a vignette approach to it’s larger cast, TWD often features stretched bottle episodes…

Read More

SXSW Film Review: Flesh and Blood (USA, 2017) is a harrowing look into the life of a fractured man and his family

It’s hard not to feel a large sense of relief after reaching the end of Mark Webber‘s latest directorial piece that is Flesh and Blood. Not because the film was a tough watch (which in a way, it is), but rather because you are given the chance to leave the cinema and return to what…

Read More

SXSW Film Review: Inheritance (USA, 2017) is a powerful piece on finding closure and oneself

When Mara (Jessica Kaye) returns to her childhood home of Belize bringing her lover Aaron (Daniel Ahearn) with the hope to reconnect with her estranged father and brother who live there. After landing, she is met with the heart-breaking news that her father has just passed away, shortly before his 70th birthday. Mara is distraught but does…

Read More

SXSW Film Review: Rat Film (USA, 2016) provides engaging commentary on the urban history of Baltimore

From writer, photographer and filmmaker Theo Anthony, Rat Film is a documentary that hooks you in and deserves a pedestal. The feature-length film focuses on rats and their lives as a way to explore Baltimore’s urban history and how humans interact with their world. It is clever yet confronting to see rats up close and…

Read More

Film Review: Kong: Skull Island (USA, 2017) proves that the simplest pleasures can be the most spectacular

Monster movies were my jam back when I was a kid. Just seeing two colossal creatures beating each other with whatever environment they are in at their disposal was such an incredible delight. With fantastic examples like the various Godzilla films, King Kong films, Mighty Peking Man, The Host (2006) and War of the Gargantuas,…

Read More

TV Review: In its pilot, BBC First’s The Moonstone re-invents the period drama

A diamond is a girl’s best friend, but according to The Moonstone, it’s a curse. If anything, it warns against steal any treasure, let alone a sacred one. The BBC have delivered another refreshing and breathtaking miniseries here, an adaptation of Wilkie Collins’ underrated classic, considered to be the first detective novel. The Moonstone follows…

Read More

Film Review: David Stratton: A Cinematic Life (Australia, 2017) is a love letter to the doyen of Australian cinema & our illustrious film industry

David Stratton is the doyen of Australian cinema. He is a respected film critic who has watched in excess of 25,000 films, peed on Fellini and entertained Australians for decades through his movie reviews with sparring partner Margaret Pomeranz. David Stratton: A Cinematic Life is a documentary about his life and brilliant career and is…

Read More

TV Review: The Walking Dead Season 7 Episode 11 “Hostiles and Calamities” is a must-watch isolated episode

Tell me. Did you ever think that Eugene could carry an entire episode? Because he just did. Josh McDermitt absolutely knocked it out of the park in what can only be described as The Walking Dead’s funniest episode to date. That is, until it wasn’t. Hostiles and Calamities takes us back a few weeks (or however long…

Read More

TV Review: Netflix’s Santa Clarita Diet Season One (USA, 2017)

Now’s your chance to sit back, grab some food and drink, and start the diet. The Santa Clarita Diet! Just over a year ago I would have told you it was silly to even fathom a show’s entire season coming out in one day. It made no sense to me back then, how could they…

Read More

Film Review: Buoyed by a masterful script and terrific performances, Manchester By The Sea (USA, 2016) is a powerful film

Written and directed by Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester By The Sea arrives in Australian cinemas this week, a year after it was the hit of Sundance and not long after it garnered an impressive six Oscar nominations. These accolades include surprise acting nods to Michelle Williams and Lucas Hedges, alongside Casey Affleck, who has already taken…

Read More

Film Review: Split (USA, 2017) is a stunning return to form for M. Night Shyamalan

There is plenty of real world evidence to suggest that, to a degree, our thoughts and feelings can in some way re-wire our brain. Neuroplasticity is a relatively young field, but an infinitely fascinating one nonetheless; discoveries are being made everyday, many on how our brain evolves for better or for worse and how we…

Read More

Film Review: Lion (Australia/USA/UK, 2016) is a beautiful, emotional journey

Based on the true story of Saroo Brierley and his book A Long Way Home, this week’s anticipated release Lion takes its audience on the beautiful, emotional journey of Saroo; lost in India as a young child, raised in Tasmania, forever desperate to find his way back home. Starring Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire) as the…

Read More

TV Review: Sherlock “The Lying Detective” Season 4 Episode 2

Last week’s episode ‘The Six Thatchers’ (Series 4 Episode 1) received some mixed reviews in the media. Some were praising, others were less positive. The Guardian’s review even resulted in co-creator and the episode’s writer Mark Gatiss rebutting their critique in verse. The episode for most felt like a step away from the format we’ve…

Read More

Film Review: Natalie Portman delivers a searing, Oscar-worthy performance in Jackie (USA, 2016)

Jacqueline Kennedy (Onassis) has been depicted on the silver and small screens before but Jackie is the first film to really capture the complex nature of this remarkable woman. The film is not strictly a biopic in that it only focuses on a number of key events in Kennedy’s life prior to and in the…

Read More

DVD Review: The Confirmation (USA, 2016) is a learning experience, for cast and audiences alike

The Confirmation plays out like a Sherlock Holmes tale set in a scarce stretch of rural America, with weekend dad Walt (Clive Owen) and his precocious son Anthony (Jaeden Lieberher) spending a murky 24 hours chasing down a stolen tool kit. In the directorial debut from Nebraska writer Bob Nelson, the role of Sherlock and…

Read More

DVD Review: Rosehaven Series One (Australia, 2016) is a funny comedy misadventure about two unlikely friends

Rosehaven is a comedy show that finds the funny in lots of things. It’s a fish-out-of-water comedy, a buddy comedy and a sitcom set in rural Australia. This eight-part series debuted on the ABC in 2016 and it was a hit with audiences. This is because it’s a funny show about two rather unlikely friends…

Read More

Film Review: Paterson (USA, 2016) may be the most Jarmuschian film yet

Paterson is the new film from acclaimed auteur (and Iggy Pop fan) Jim Jarmusch. A man who enjoys character studies that are never rushed for the sake of plot progression, existing in some semblance of real time, watching a Jarmusch film involves a lot of patience on behalf of the viewer. If you’re a fan of…

Read More

TV Review: Ash vs Evil Dead Season 2, Episode 10 “Second Coming” (USA, 2016) is a worthy finale

We’ve fought colons together, laughed at psychotic hand puppets, fought corrupted cars and traveled back in time. This, ladies and gentleman is Ash vs The Evil Dead. And while that list of outrageous incidents may raise an eyebrow when presented out of context, it really is just another day at the office for Ash, Kelly,…

Read More

Film Review: Netflix’s Obama biopic Barry (MA15+) (USA, 2016) is at once thoughtful, intelligent and entertaining

The kind of film that benefits from its titular character being portrayed as less of an impression and more as a fully realised character, Barry is at once thoughtful, intelligent and particularly entertaining. Though he is introduced to us as Barry, we’re all aware of the Barack Obama he ultimately will become (so to speak),…

Read More

Monster Fest Film Review: The Hollow Point (USA, 2016) is a perfect blend of suspense-filled drama and action

Spanish Director Gonzalo Lopez Gallego has only helmed a handful of Hollywood films in his career. The Hollow Point is proof though that given a solid cast, a taut narrative and all the tools necessary to create some gritty action sequences, the man can hang with the best of his American cohorts. The Hollow Point…

Read More

Monster Fest Film Review: Dead Hands Dig Deep (USA, 2016) is a must-watch, harrowing memoir of a tortured soul

I love that Dead Hands Dig Deep is part of Monster Fest. I love that there wasn’t a caveat placed on it that only allowed serial killers and torture porn. The debut feature from filmmaker Jai Love is no less horrific just because it’s a documentary. On the contrary, it’s a bleak look at the…

Read More

Film Review: War On Everyone (UK, 2016) shines a hilarious light on the worst of humanity

Pausing from his planned trilogy of films with Brendan Gleeson – which has already seen the release of the brilliant The Guard (2011) and Calvary (2014) – English/Irish director John Michael McDonagh makes his debut outside of Ireland with the incredibly black comedy War on Everyone, starring Alexander Skarsgård and Michael Peña – who are…

Read More