Author: Alexandra Koster

Sydney Film Festival Review: Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (USA, 2015)

Given my past experiences with the horrific disease, I’m one person that finds the deus ex machina of cancer unbearable. It is often done tastelessly, depicting it’s sufferers as people without autonomy or regarded with the self-respect that they deserve – cancer patients are people, not pawns that should be used to explain a protagonist…

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Sydney Film Festival Review: A Pigeon Sat On A Branch And Reflected On Existence (Sweden, 2015)

To even try and explain a Roy Andersson movie is a mission in itself; his signature absurdist and surreal style is often laced with dark comedy, providing an introspective view into humanity. A Pigeon Sat on a Branch and Reflected on Existence is the third instalment from Andersson’s Living Trilogy –  films about “being a human being” – following…

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Sydney Film Festival Review: Vincent (France, 2015)

  The gifted Thomas Salvador directs and stars in Vincent (2014), a French film that tells the story of a man named Vincent who develops extraordinary superpowers when he comes in contact with water. With his recently discovered ability, Vincent spends much of his time in the water, taking in the awe and wonder that comes with developing…

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Sydney Film Festival Review: Slow West (USA, 2015)

Slow West is the story of a young, wide-eyed Jay Cavendish (Kodi Smit-McPhee) who undertakes a journey to find his ‘true love’, Rose (Caren Pistorius). Silas Selleck (Michael Fassbender) soon enters the picture, vowing to help him survive his journey for a small fee. Unbeknownst to Jay, a bounty has been placed on the heads…

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Australian film The Daughter to premiere at Sydney Film Festival

The upcoming Sydney Film Festival will play host to the premiere of Australian feature film The Daughter. Starring Sam Neill, Miranda Otto, Paul Schneider and Geoffery Rush, The Daughter follows Christian (Schneider), who returns to his hometown, reunites with his childhood friend, and discovers family secrets that could tear everyone’s lives apart. The Daughter is…

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Live Review: Fight Club with Popcorn Therapy

Curious Cartel is a relatively new film experience, and on Saturday I got to see what all the fuss was about surrounding their new event Popcorn Therapy. Here’s the jist of Popcorn Therapy – a secret screening of a secret film is held somewhere in a secret location within Sydney… secretly. You know nothing of the…

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Film Review: Boychoir (USA, 2014)

The illegitimate child of an alcoholic mother and an absent father preoccupied with his pre-existing family, youngster Stet (Garrett Wareing) spends most of his time in detention, acting out. However, he has tremendous musical talent, in which Ms. Steel (Debra Winger) recognises, and organises for him to audition for the ‘Boychoir’, fronted by the great…

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New Trailer for Revolution Released!

Revolution Wants to Make a Difference. Environmental activism is in director, biologist, and conservationist Rob Stewart‘s blood. With his first film, Sharkwater, Stewart aimed to draw attention to the practice of shark finning, and ended up igniting a movement that led to policy changes around the world. His new film, Revolution, aims to do much…

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ABC Announces New Current Affairs Program, AUSTRALIA WIDE

– Words by Simon Anicich  In exciting news for fans of Aunty, the ABC has announced the launch of a new current affairs program, Australia Wide. The weekly show will air Saturday nights at 9.30pm AEDT, with an encore performance 10.30am AEDT airing on ABC Sunday mornings. The show aims to look at things that effect all Australians,…

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First Look Images Released For The Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials!

Four first look images have just been released for The Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials. To say that we’re excited is a gross understatement. In this next chapter of the epic Maze Runner saga, Thomas (Dylan O’Brien) and his fellow Gladers face their greatest challenge yet: searching for clues about the mysterious and powerful organization known…

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Teaser trailer for new James Bond adventure SPECTRE released!

The first teaser trailer for the next James Bond film, SPECTRE has just been released – and it’s a doozy. The film appears to pick up soon after the disintergration of Skyfall, depicting ruins of the bombed out headquarters still smouldering. Moneypenny (Naomie Harris) also has a surprise for Bond (Daniel Craig) – a piece…

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New Terminator: Genisys reveals a whole new type of Terminator

Watch Arnold Schwarzenegger, Emilia Clarke and J.K. Simmons in new footage for Terminator Genisys When John Connor (Jason Clarke), leader of the human resistance, sends Sgt. Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney) back to 1984 to protect Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke) and safeguard the future, an unexpected turn of events creates a fractured timeline. Now, Sgt. Reese…

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A transformed Jake Gyllenhaal reveals himself in new Southpaw trailer

Jake Gyllenhaal has bulked up in an epic physical transformation to play boxer Billy “The Great” Hope in Antoine Fuqua’s fighter drama SOUTHPAW. Directed by Antoine Fuqua (“Training Day” and “The Equaliser”), SOUTHPAW follows the battles of a boxer (Gyllenhaal) who fights his way to the top, only to find his life falling apart around…

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TEDxSydney Announces Film Program for 2015 featuring a host of promising Australian filmmakers

Annual Ideas festival, TEDxSydney has unveiled its 2015 Film program, giving Australians access to a wide variety of bold, thought-provoking and inspirational film debuts. You saw it here first! One of the most celebrated TEDx events in the world, TEDxSydney will take place on Thursday, 21 May 2015 at the Sydney Opera House in front…

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Box Office Report: New Releases Insurgent and Home Take Over Top Spots

This week we’re seeing the appearances of several films that opened this week, pushing old favourites like The Theory Of Everything and American Sniper officially out of the top ten. Topping the charts was the latest instalment of The Divergent Series, Insurgent, grossing $4.1 million. This dystopic action film is sure to please any thrill…

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SXSW Film Festival Announces 2015 Audience Award Winners

The South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference and Festival announced the Audience Award winners from the Narrative Feature Competition, Documentary Feature Competition, Headliners, Narrative Spotlight, Documentary Spotlight, Visions, Midnighters, Episodic, 24 Beats Per Second, SXGlobal, Festival Favourites and Design Award categories. Among the winners was Australia’s own Josh Lawson for his film The Little Death….

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Teaser Trailer For Mission Impossible – Rogue Nation Released!

Tom Cruise is back, baby. This time it’s in the form of a fifth instalment to the Mission Impossible franchise – Mission Impossible – Rogue Nation. The film stars Tom Cruise reprising the iconic role of Ethan Hunt, who was first introduced to moviegoers in 1996. Returning to the franchise are Simon Pegg as Benji,…

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SXSW Film Festival Announces 2015 Jury And Special Awards!

Finally, after months of preparation, the ultimate winners of South by Southwest were finally announced this week. The Jury and Special Award-winners of the 2015 South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference and Festival were announced at the Festival’s Awards Ceremony at the historic Paramount Theatre. The awards were hosted by Saturday Night Live’s Vanessa Bayer, who…

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SXSW Film Review: Petting Zoo (USA, 2015)

To the untrained eye, Petting Zoo presents itself as your typical coming-of-age story told through the perspective of a pregnant teenager – a trope that has been documented countless times in today’s cinema. However, this film explores the issue of teenage pregnancy through an impoverished Texan youth, delivering a perspective that is separated entirely from…

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President Obama Reads “Mean Tweets” on Jimmy Kimmel Live”

It’s important to remember that Presidents are people too. From time to time, Jimmy Kimmel gives celebrities a chance to read some of the mean things people tweet about them. And tonight, he extended that same courtesy to America’s Commander in Chief. Please enjoy the all President Obama edition of “Mean Tweets.” ———- This content…

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Box Office Report: The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel gets #1 for the second time

The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel has done it for the second week in a row (it obviously has something to do with the name) and has scored the top spot, grossing $3,867,615. Following ridiculously closely behind is Australia’s own Margot Robbie and Hollywood superstar Will Smith, who have stolen the hearts of local audiences…

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Cinephiles get excited – there’s an exclusive club based in Sydney that you can join!

Brendan Cowell, Shaun Gladwell and Nashen Moodley have just launched ‘The Film Crowd’, a place where enthusiastic film supporters gather at Sydney Film Festival talks over drinks. Being part of the ‘Crowd’ is all about engaging with film, gaining a unique insider perspective, meeting film industry and like-minded people in a social environment, extending your…

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Spectrum Now Announces Exclusive Show with Jeffrey Tambor of Transparent

The Sydney Morning Herald Spectrum Now, presented by ANZ, has revealed that award-winning US actor Jeffrey Tambor will be joining festival Creative Director Richard Roxburgh in conversation about his latest TV show Transparent, his career and life. Tambor recently won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy…

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Our Top 5 Parks and Recreation Episodes Ever

Yes, we’re still in tears over the last episode of one of our favourite comedies, NBC’s Parks and Recreation. I’ve been desperately trying to ignore the fact that I will never be seeing my favourite crew in action again – so instead, I’ve been rewatching every episode to repress this post-Parks depression. In the spirit…

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2015 Gold Coast Film Festival announced!

The 13th annual Gold Coast Film Festival will screen 43 films from 15 countries and includes one world premiere, 10 Australian premieres and 10 Queensland premieres this April 9 – 19. The Gold Coast’s biggest film event will host the World Premiere of locally produced thriller, Fear of Darkness (Saturday April 11) as well as…

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A Hayao Miyazaki collection boxset will be available to get your paws on soon!

In celebration of one of the greatest filmmakers of this generation, Madman have just announced that as of April 15 2015, you’ll be able to get your paws on The Collected Works of Hayao Miyazaki. The boxset will encompass all 11 feature-length works of Hayao Miyazaki, world renowned artist, auteur and founding member of the…

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Here’s everything we know about the new Alien film so far…

Neill Blomkamp will be directing While little is known about the plot at this point, we are aware that Neill Blomkamp will be directing the film. Blomkamp is well known for his film, District 9. He intends for the new project to be a sequel to James Cameron’s 1986 classic ALIENS, placing it as the…

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STK’s Supper Suite Event Announced during SXSW!

The Supper Suite by STK presented by David Manning’s A-List Communications is set to hit up SXSW this month in Austin, Texas. This year’s events include dinners and cocktail receptions celebrating official SXSW films: Hello, My Name Is Doris, starring Sally Field, Max Greenfield, Beth Behrs, Wendi Mclendon-Covey, Stephen Root, Elizabeth Reaser, Jack Antonoff, Natasha Lyonne,…

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Official trailer for EX MACHINA is finally here to feast your eyes on…

Alex Garland, writer of 28 Days Later and Sunshine, makes his directorial debut with the stylish and cerebral thriller, EX MACHINA. Caleb Smith (Domhnall Gleeson), a programmer at an internet-search giant, wins a competition to spend a week at the private mountain estate of the company’s brilliant and reclusive CEO, Nathan Bateman (Oscar Isaac). Upon…

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Foo Fighters unleash Sonic Highways DVD

Foo Fighters have announced the release of a Sonic Highways DVD – featuring additional footage and extended interviews from their HBO original series. If you’re a fan of the Foos’ Sonic Highways TV show, then you’re day is about to get better. The band have just confirmed that they’ll be unveiling the programme through a…

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