Year: 2014

“Australia – Ten Years After the Collapse” This is as explicit an explanation as David Michôd gives in terms of explaining where we find ourselves in his second full length feature, The Rover. Following on from the remarkable Animal Kingdom, this could not be more a different film. In place of a multitude of characters,…

When renegade director Anna Broinowski decided to make a film to stop a planned gas mine near her Sydney home she sought help… from North Korea? Anna gained unprecedented access to the North Korean film industry and got hot tips from Kim Jong Il’s propaganda protégés. The story makes Vice Mag’s little North Korean ditty…

Director David Michôd has been in high demand ever since the stunning Animal Kingdom was unleashed in 2010. So it’s pretty much a given that his 2014 follow up The Rover be met with the same ecstatic enthusiasm with which AK was received. With positive reviews pouring in from every corner in response to to…

Since premiering at Sundance earlier this year, Lenny Abrahamson’s new film Frank has become one of the most talked about films of the festival circuit, lighting up cinemas with its iconic papier-mâché head from SXSW all the way to Sydney Film Festival, where it had its Australian premiere this weekend; the place where Abrahamson’s What…

In Lake August, screening as part of the Sydney Film Festival, what little drama occurs is almost completely subsumed by the landscapes of the film. A young man, Ah Li, drifts across a remote corner of rural China, smoking and drinking beer, but mostly just standing there, for almost two hours in a film comprised…

It’s hard to believe it’s been four years since we last saw Angelina Jolie on the big screen (the tepid 2010 thriller The Tourist sitting as her most recent live action affair) and in the time waiting to see her as the titular Maleficent we’ve been teased and taunted with imagery greatness, leading us to believe that…

the AU review chats to Queensland based singer/songwriter Sue-Anne Stewart about her shows at Canadian Music Week, surfing on the Sunshine Coast, and her process of writing a song (“I don’t even know where they come from most of the time”).

Larry Heath interviews Simon Jones from Sydney indie rockers The Holidays. In part one, we discuss their current single, “Tongue Talk” (off the new record Real Feel, out now) and the creation of their retro music video – “we kind of wanted to just have a bit of fun with it, but show the artifice…

the AU review presents up-and-coming Sunshine Coast singer/songwriter Ayla performing her single “Wish I Was” live and acoustic for the AU sessions.

the AU review interviews Sydney hip-hop outfit Mind Over Matter to talk about their new album This Way to Elsewhere the introduction of DJ Enterprise into their group, we look ahead to future material, touring and much more! Their new record This Way to Elsewhere is available now. Mind Over Matter Tour Dates Sat 11…

Much like ‘Blackwater’ from Season 2 “The Watchers on the Wall” was big, cinematic, and focused on just one of the many poly-rhythmic arcs dancing around Westeros. While this season has remained consistently exciting throughout, some story lines have been relatively muffled and haven’t been as fleshed-out as they have been in earlier seasons; Jon…

It was a busy Queen’s Birthday long weekend at the Australian box office, with the top six films all making over $1 million each. There was something for everyone at the movies this past weekend, and audiences spread the love over a diverse range of films. In a cinematic showdown between two vastly different films,…

“Today is gonna be a good day. Because, today is ideal day to commit suicide.” The tagline for Yuichi Suita’s short film is both poignant and funny in an absolutely guilt-inducing way. It’s also telling of how viewers are likely to feel throughout the seven-minute film. We watch the un-named and silent protagonist as she…

The Iris’ Larry Heath talks to Kitty Green, director of Ukraine Is Not A Brothel, about the conception and creation of the documentary, the Ukrainian protest movement, and her goal of creating a new level of intimacy within the film – “I was conscious of making it quite cinematic… I really wanted to get that…

Pulp are a band of the people. So it should come as no surprise that the film about their last concert performance in their Sheffield hometown is at times more about their fans and the locals then the self-deprecating group itself. Florian Habicht’s (Love Story) documentary, Pulp: A Film About Life, Death & Supermarkets plays…

Supanova is set to light fires in the bellies of pop culture fanatics in Sydney this weekend and to be honest, it’s one of the strongest guest line ups they’ve pulled yet. Actors from highly successful series’ including Game of Thrones, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, The Walking Dead and more are set to spend their weekend…

Paula Malcomson plays Abby Donovan, the wife of the lead character and namesake of the series Ray Donovan, which will see its first season released on DVD in Australia this week. The acclaimed Showtime series follows Ray, a professional “fixer” for the rich and famous of Los Angeles, and the ongoing dramas that surround him thanks…

Agnès Varda – the Grand Dame of French New Wave Cinema – has lived one rich and vibrant life. And in Les plages d’Agnès (The Beaches of Agnès) this is captured perfectly. The film is a strange documentary that is helmed by the doyenne art house director and lovable eccentric, as she candidly takes us…

It can be a bit frustrating to read about all of the awesome films that are screening at film festivals over the world if you are unable to get to any of them, and it’s a feeling that most film fans would have felt at one time or another. It’s great to hear then, that just…

Perth locals Runner played their second and final launch show for their debut album Cloud Kingdom in the intimate confines of the Astor Lounge on Friday night. Opening the show was the as ever ethereal Rabbit Island, performing as a duo, with Jake Webb on guitar duties alongside Amber Fresh. Whilst there were a few…

The 61st Sydney Film Festival has been dazzling the city so far with an excellent curated line-up of films. Due to popular demand, the 12-day event has announced additional screenings of three SOLD OUT sessions; all of which are on sale now. Fela Kuti documentary Finding Fela!, Australian documentary China’s 3Dreams, and Palo Alto will…

Headliners brought the house or more likely, the park, down on Day Two of Governor’s Ball Music Festival on Randall’s Island. Day One’s trend of almost perfect weather and relatively smooth logistics continued, aside from some struggling queues at the water filling station, thanks to intense sunshine and a policy of demanding pre-purchased water be…

John Donne once famously wrote that “a man is not an island”, referencing the many connections that seep into even the most insular of spaces and tug at certain sides of our human psyche even at times when we are physically alone. It’s a sentiment which rings entirely true in Locke, a truly fascinating minimal…

American buffalo are so physically and culturally linked to North America that it is difficult to imagine them living in any other country. So wouldn’t it be interesting to see them roaming the harsh, wet plains of Scotland? This is the basis for Maurice O’Brien’s short documentary Buffalo Dreams, which sees the struggles of buffalo…

This beautiful documentary offers an insight into the daily life of the National Gallery in London. Unfolding over three hours, Frederick Wiseman with his characteristic unobtrusive touch allows conversations and activities to unfold in real time, giving the viewer the ability to observe in true ‘fly-on-the-wall’ style. The impressive collection housed by the gallery is…

Kim Churchill’s national tour made it to Fremantle on Thursday night, with a packed out mid-week show at Mojos, the second of three shows in Western Australia. Impressively and a little surprisingly roughly 80-90% of the crowd were already milling about outside the venue before the doors had even been opened, guaranteeing a great atmosphere…

After the 2013 festival is most remembered for the rivers of mud, the 2014 Governor’s Ball launched with the perfect weather for New York’s premier summer festival. With an eclectic lineup on Friday including indie and electronic favorites combined with headlining draws from years gone by, the crowds thronged on Randall’s Island and frolicked in…

In life we are more often than not reactive creatures, responding to our environment and those around us. Sometimes the unlikeliest of people and the most random of circumstances can shape our lives, in both good and bad ways. Based on the novel by Larry Brown and directed by David Gordon Green, Joe is the…