Review

Film Review: Jon Hamm’s hilariously deadpan performance makes Confess, Fletch a comedy worth investigating

The idea of a Fletch remake/reboot/sequel has long been discussed for almost three decades now.  The obvious suggestions of Jason Lee and Jason Sudeikis were thrown around for contention to follow in Chevy Chase’s comedic footsteps during its production, but after consistent stop/starts it has fallen to Jon Hamm to pick up the mantle and…

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Film Review: The Wonder overcomes any pretention thanks to Florence Pugh’s utter conviction

When The Wonder first begins there’s a rather pretentious and, ultimately, unrewarding additive that runs the risk of undoing all that will follow.  Niamh Algar‘s soothing vocal tone greets us as our eyes glaze over a constructed film set.  Algar informs us that we are indeed watching a film, but the players involve believe in…

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Call Jane softens its serious subject matter with an entertaining enthusiasm: Brisbane International Film Festival Review

There’s a scene in the first third of Call Jane that I can only imagine would infuriate the female audiences in attendance.  Abortion is not a subject I have any real right to comment on – I am pro choice, for what it’s worth – but, in 2022, it’s almost insulting that sequences taking place…

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Film Review: Sissy is campy and gory without undermining its dangerous thematics

Whether we like them (or follow them) or not, influencers – sorry, “content creators” – are a cultural mainstay in our society that often extends beyond the environment of social media.  In Australian horror effort Sissy, co-writers/directors Hannah Barlow and Kane Senes seem all too aware of the faux importance influencers place upon themselves, a…

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Triangle of Sadness is a wicked and subtlety-free satire that takes aim at the wealthy: Brisbane International Film Festival Review

The rich eat, but then suffer mercilessly in Ruben Östlund’s Triangle of Sadness, a wicked, at-times horrifically and humorously gross, satire that takes aim at the wealthy in a manner that is deliciously void of any subtlety. Divided into three chapters – all linked by a young, glamorous couple – the film promises one observation…

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Resurrection; Rebecca Hall grounds grim examination of motherhood: Brisbane International Film Festival Review

Whilst Resurrection never deviates from its grim examination of motherhood, Andrew Semans‘ gripping, ultimately bonkers thriller refuses to stay on the course you expect it to. Portraying very much the type of Rebecca Hall-encapsulated character that Rebecca Hall effortlessly portrays, the actress here, strong-willed and properly presented, is Margaret, a pharmaceutical company representative who offsets…

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Incredible But True manages a grounding logic to its inexplicable nature: Brisbane International Film Festival Review

The type of filmmaker who’s able to create stories so bombastically silly that they are somewhat brilliant, Quentin Dupieux once again expresses straight-faced frivolity in Incredible But True, a tightly-paced (a lean 74 minutes) twilight-zoned comedy that, somehow, is one of his more level-headed features in spite of its ludicrous plot. Said ludicrous plot revolves around Alain (Alain…

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Mass is an agonising drama that asks punishing questions and reveals troubled answers: Brisbane International Film Festival Review

An agonising drama if ever there was one, Mass details the type of conversation that instantly makes you feel sickeningly uncomfortable.  And then to watch it unfold in a suffocating location for 110 minutes is a test of endurance that audiences may be unprepared for. The tragedy at the centre of the conversation is one…

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Armageddon Time expresses both a defiance and a pretentiousness in its storytelling: Brisbane International Film Festival Review

Turning the lens on himself to explore his own childhood in both a nostalgic and informative manner to almost act as a type of assessment on how he came to be where he is today, James Gray‘s Armageddon Time is a reflective, personal drama that immediately announces its almost hostile personality through its title alone….

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The Banshees of Inisherin is a beautiful, desolate film, and the best you’ll see this year: Brisbane International Film Festival Review

Though he certainly didn’t lose any of his sense of comfort by travelling across the Atlantic for his last film – 2017’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri – there’s a sense of grandeur in writer/director Martin McDonagh returning to his homeland for The Banshees of Inisherin, an impossibly funny and, at times, heartbreakingly bleak dramedy…

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New Tales from the Borderlands Review: New Crew, New Vault

Upon its relatively recent reveal, New Tales from the Borderlands immediately drew me in with its familiar visuals and charm, what with the original Tales from the Borderlands being my favourite Telltale game to date. Developer Gearbox Software has picked up the franchise with confidence, retaining much of the wit and charm via general humour and likable…

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Film Review: The Woman King overcomes any conventionality with its fierce female spirit

Black is beautiful, and never has it felt more apt a saying than when viewing Gina Prince-Bythewood‘s stunning historical actioner The Woman King. Inspired by true events, The Woman King centres itself around an all-female unit of warriors known as Agojie, who protected the African kingdom of Dahomey during the 17th to 19th centuries; the…

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Bayonetta 3 Review: The Witch is BACK!

Developer Platinum Games returns with an undoubtedly ambitious follow up to 2014’s otherwise stellar Bayonetta 2. Now exclusively on the Nintendo Switch system, the franchise feels settled into its skin this time around – delivering huge action and an epic multiverse-inspired tale featuring the most unpredictable story both the series and studio have delivered to…

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Film Review: Terrifier 2 is a hyper-nasty, extended horror treat for fans of the original’s gruesome nature

Going into a film like Terrifier 2, audiences can’t help but be versed in the news surrounding the film that has largely focused on just how spectacularly gory this thing is and the fact that such splatter has caused American cinemagoers, who have pushed the micro-budgeted horror film to rope in over 5 times its…

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Film Review: Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris is an exercise in kindness and couture

It doesn’t seem to matter what time of year it is, there’s always room for a movie like Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris to warm our hearts and prove simple, undemanding counter programming to the usual loud blockbusters, or, in 2022’s case, creepy horror films, that are often occupying the multiplexes. An exercise in kindness…

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Film Review: The Good Nurse overcomes any true crime narrative mechanisms with a strong, honest core

There’s something incredibly refreshing about The Good Nurse in that its true-crime temperament isn’t marred by overt manipulation – as so many of such adapted tales can be. Jessica Chastain (as typically great and committed as expected) is Amy, the titular good nurse, a single mother who is hiding her own ailment as she dedicates…

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Gotham Knights Review: The Tale of the Bat Squad

Gotham Knights shines a much needed light on the accompanying sidekicks that Batman has either trained, raised or worked with. From the likes of multiple Robins both past and present, including Nightwing and the Red Hood, there’s much to be told and explored within the confines of these characters in video game form. As a…

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Film Review: Bros thrives on finding the truth within its comedy

Despite being directed and produced by straight men – Nicholas Stoller (Forgetting Sarah Marshall) and Judd Apatow (Bridesmaids), respectively – Bros still very much has a queer beating heart, thanks to lead actor and writer Billy Eichner‘s distinctive voice and perspective being laced over the film’s personality; It’s 2022 and the queer stereotype needs to…

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Film Review: The Grand Bolero is an erotically charged drama that adopts a melodramatic reality in its storytelling

Who would’ve thought that organ playing could be so sexually intoxicating? Such is the allure of the instrument or, more correctly, the repairing of, that runs through the veins of Gabriele Fabbro‘s debut feature, The Grand Bolero, a relationship drama that shifts its power dynamic from one of status to sexual in nature over the…

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D-Link M32 AX3200 Mesh Router System Review: King of the Mighty Mesh Mountain

We’ve taken a few of D-Link’s Eagle Pro AI routers for a spin, including the R15 AX1500 router and the G415 AX1500 4G router, with positive opinions in mind. As we return to the Eagle Pro AI range with the 3-pack M32 AX3200 mesh router system, it’s admittedly hard to argue with the results. Be…

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Where Aussie audiences can watch Terrifier 2 this Halloween

It’s the horror movie so gory that audiences in the US have reportedly fainted and vomited at countless sessions.  Now, it’s Australia’s turn! A surprise box office success and sequel to 2016’s breakthrough cult horror hit Terrifier, Terrifer 2 continues the demented reign of Art the Clown, here resurrected by a sinister entity and returning…

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Film Review: Black Adam; Dwayne Johnson dominates an otherwise shaky action spectacle

Given his imposing stature, it makes sense that all the 196 centimetres of chiselled muscle that make up Dwayne Johnson would be put to good use within the superhero genre.  But just why has it taken so long for the artist formerly billed as The Rock to don a skin-tight suit and get to saving…

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A Plague Tale: Requiem Review: Revenge of the Rats

I had reviewed A Plague Tale: Innocence when it released back in 2019, making for one of the most surprising and underrated games of that year. So it’s safe to say that A Plague Tale: Requiem had me excited to dive back into 14th century France to experience the continuation of this story based on…

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Film Review: Muru educates and entertains as it forms a response to cultural racism

When looking at the treatment of indigenous populations the world over, it would be safe to say that any “crime” they have committed is simply existing.  Largely white populations, who have so often taken away the rights and lands that they inhabited originally, hope that apologies and acknowledgements are enough to reconcile their behaviour, but…

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Film Review: Barbarian elevates its simple premise with dark humour and unsettling terror

The premise for Barbarian is almost insultingly simple that its ultimate outcome feels all the more revelatory, thanks to writer/director Zach Cregger expanding on his narrative familiarity with intrigue, dark humour and unsettling terror. A film that has two distinct halves but manages to still feel cohesive in spite of its shift, Barbarian initially sets up…

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Film Review: Halloween Ends brings the iconic horror franchise to a close in the most unexpected manner

Despite the fact that last year’s Halloween Kills drove the chant home that “Evil Dies Tonight”, the contrary proved more accurate as the series’ central figure quite brazenly refused to go down with the bloody beatings he was afforded towards the climactic moments of David Gordon Green‘s divisive sequel. Said figure, Michael Myers, has been…

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Oppo Reno 8 Pro Review: A solid mid-range alternative

Oppo’s Reno phones have always proven competitive within the mid-range smartphone market. Compared to the likes of the Samsung A Series and even iPhone SE models, the Reno range has always seemed to pack in a multitude of progressive features and solid value that many enjoy as their daily drivers. Enter the Reno Pro 8….

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Film Review: Amsterdam‘s star wattage can’t blindingly distract from its convoluted assemblage

Maybe you can try a little too hard sometimes? David O. Russell is no stranger to big swings, both from a narrative point of view and in his casting.  And here have been times that such an effort has paid off, with Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle standing as (arguably) his most accessible titles. …

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Film Review: Don’t Worry Darling, Florence Pugh’s magnetic performance saves ambitious thriller

You’d be forgiven for knowing more about Don’t Worry Darling‘s on-set drama and supposed promotional tension than the film itself at this point.  It feels redundant to mention the specifics of such because, ultimately, it has very little bearing on the film’s quality itself; though there is a certain irony in director Olivia Wilde having…

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Film Review: Hocus Pocus 2 is campy, nonsensical, and bathed in a self-aware musicality

Like so many of the House of Mouse’s IPs, Hocus Pocus has been conjured once more.  Disney weren’t entirely sure they had a success on their hands some 30 years ago with the release of the original film – what with the studio releasing a Halloween-themed family film in July, for starters – and were…

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