Tye Sheridan

Film Review: The Card Counter deals a hand that benefits the house more than the player

Kenny Rogers so famously told us “You gotta know when to fold ’em”, and in The Card Counter writer/director Paul Schrader seems unsure as to which hand he wants to confidently play.  It’s not that this film is poorly made, nor is his commitment to the representation of desolation anything other than pure, but it’s…

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The Card Counter is a bleak and repetitive effort mildly saved by the presence of Oscar Isaac: Sydney Film Festival Review

Kenny Rogers so famously told us “You gotta know when to fold ’em”, and in The Card Counter writer/director Paul Schrader seems unsure as to which hand he wants to confidently play.  It’s not that this film is poorly made, nor is his commitment to the representation of desolation anything other than pure, but it’s…

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The Card Counter is unsure of which narrative hand it wants to play: Brisbane International Film Festival review

Kenny Rogers so famously told us “You gotta know when to fold ’em”, and in The Card Counter writer/director Paul Schrader seems unsure as to which hand he wants to confidently play.  It’s not that this film is poorly made, nor is his commitment to the representation of desolation anything other than pure, but it’s…

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Film Review: Voyagers sacrifices its macabre energy for a melodramatic personality

Marketed as “Lord of the Flies in space”, Voyagers – whilst occasionally leaning in to that description – is a confused genre effort that feels like a more reflective, psychological film has been edited down to a tween crowd who may appreciate its melodramatic personality. Written and directed by Neil Burger, his first original script…

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Interview: Neil Burger on directing his space-set thriller Voyagers

Neil Burger‘s 30-year career as a filmmaker has taken the director on a varied journey.  From his beginnings as a music video director and faux documentarian, Burger became a staple name in mainstream cinema thanks to such commercial and critical successes as The Illusionist, Limitless, and Divergent. Now working off his first original script in…

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Film Review: Ready Player One (USA, 2018) is bursting at the seams with escapist nostalgic fantasy

So some full disclosure here, I have not read the book upon which Ready Player One written by Ernest Cline is adapted from. So henceforth this review is based solely on my viewing of the film and my experience with pop culture in general. There seems to be a fairly general consensus that a lot…

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Film Review: Detour (UK, 2016) tells its simple story with a violent edge and an air of unpredictability

Having made something of an underground name for himself in the horror genre with such European productions as Creep, Triangle, and Black Death, British filmmaker Christopher Smith opted out for a brief moment to helm some TV work and an out-of-character holiday-themed comedy; Get Santa with Jim Broadbent and Warwick Davis, for those playing along…

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Film Review: X-Men: Apocalypse (M 15+) (USA, 2016)

X-Men: Apocalypse delivers the super fights, the superhero costumes, the supervillain and the super team. But was this latest X-Men film so special that, if it was a person, it would be enrolled at Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters? Yes and no. Mild spoilers ahead. Set in 1983, 10 years after the previous Days of…

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