Frank Marshall is one of the film industry’s most prolific producers. Having founded Amblin Entertainment in 1981 with Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, he has been at the forefront of blockbuster studio making for the past four decades; Back to the Future, Jurassic Park, and The Bourne Identity just some of the franchises he’s contributed […]
Read More
The musician documentary is one that can easily be an exhausting experience. Any form of relative success and cultural impact often results in a film being made about whichever artist, and the ones worthy of the subject’s talent are few and far between. This is what makes The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a […]
Read More
Originally scheduled for release in 2017 (what a simpler time that was), The War with Grandpa is finally seeing the light of day – in the middle of a global pandemic, no less. Whether it be a case of Tenet-like confidence, knowing self-sabotage, or a strategic move to claim its monetary underperformance is solely on […]
Read More
Fresh from its triumphant world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, Roderick MacKay‘s acclaimed debut feature The Furnace will have its Australian premiere during the Lotterywest film season in the lead up to the Perth Festival (5th – 28th February, 2021). Starring Australian screen legend David Wenham, rising star Jay Ryan (It: Chapter Two), and […]
Read More
To coincide with the US release of the hotly anticipated sequel The Croods: A New Age (set for a North American date of November 25th), our own Peter Gray caught up with the film’s director, Joel Crawford, to discuss the coup of reuniting the original cast and furthering the emotional aspect of the original story. […]
Read More
Despite Kevin Costner and Diane Lane perfecting the kindly rural American in Man of Steel, in no way should they be confused with the kindly rural Americans they embody in Let Him Go. Superman’s parents they are not in Thomas Bezucha‘s slow-burn thriller, a 1960’s set, western-slanted revenge piece that takes a little longer than […]
Read More
With the landscape of cinema seemingly forever changed, thanks to a certain pandemic, streaming services have become the new go-to for major studios to offload certain staple titles in a parallel act opposing the alternative of simply delaying the release. The latest title to find a new home outside of the theatre is Coming 2 […]
Read More
Likely to appeal to the Nicholas Sparks crowd, All My Life is a particularly sweet (almost too much so for its own good) true story-inspired tearjerker that, in many ways, gets away with being so cookie cutter because – as we are informed in the opening monologue – we only remember the most beautiful and tragic […]
Read More
Most films that play with infinite time loops as their narrative hook inevitably find themselves compared to 1993’s much-loved Groundhog Day. And though such films since then have broken the mould as much as they can regarding the premise on hand – the Tom Cruise actioner Edge of Tomorrow and the horror/comedy Happy Death Day […]
Read More
Coming off of such aggressive roles in features as Dragged Across Concrete and Brawl In Cell Block 99, the thought of Vince Vaughn flailing his arms and strutting with the poise of a flustered teenage girl is one that’s all the more appealing when you view it in its actuality. And it’s the hulking 6’5 […]
Read More
Christopher Landon‘s self-described “batshit crazy” body-swap horror movie Freaky is getting ready to be unleashed in Australian cinemas this week, and to coincide with its impending release The AU Review’s Peter Gray was fortunate enough to chat with the film’s lead actress, Kathryn Newton. After the Big Little Lies alum noted that making scary movies […]
Read More
Australian playwright Andrew Bovell‘s award-winning theatre production Things I Know To Be True has been acquired by Amazon Studios and Nicole Kidman‘s production banner Blossom Films. Set to premiere exclusively on Amazon Prime Video across 240 countries and territories worldwide, Kidman will topline the series set around the the resilience of an enduring marriage and […]
Read More
Written and directed by an openly gay man and fronted by a quartet of women – one of whom a woman of colour – 1996’s supernatural teen horror film The Craft was, in retrospect, ahead of its time. 2 years before witchcraft would become weekly viewing on the television series Charmed, and over a decade […]
Read More
On the eve of the release of The Craft: Legacy, writer/director Zoe Lister-Jones spoke to Peter Gray regarding the distinct feminine energy brought to the narrative, how inclusivity was an important factor, and the authenticity adhered to in her portrayal of witchcraft. When I first heard about The Craft: Legacy I assumed it was a […]
Read More
Despite being a reimagined take on the 2015 Icelandic drama of the same name, Rams feels distinctly Australian. The brotherly rivalry between its lead characters – symbolised by their opposing sheep flocks – offset by the wonderfully captured Western Australian backdrop gives Jeremy Sims‘ occasionally amusing drama a homegrown identity, despite the fact that it’s […]
Read More
With the imminent release of Rams set for Australian audiences, director Jeremy Sims has been discussing the film and what brought him to reinterpret the original Icelandic drama. Our own Peter Gray chatted with Sims, learning of his approach to directing, how he has found the film’s reception so far, and why he had to […]
Read More
Whilst the novelty of the original Borat film has indeed worn off, this surprise sequel showcases creator Sacha Baron Cohen‘s twisted mindframe still has a place in an America, a country that sadly has only deteriorated since he last held up his own dirty mirror to their mentality. A few weeks ago none of us […]
Read More
As her critically acclaimed film Kajillionaire arrives in Australian theatres (read our review here), writer/director Miranda July spoke to our own Peter Gray about what drew her to create such a distinctive film, how star Evan Rachel Wood imprinted on the material, and the irony of releasing such a thematically anxious film in 2020. Kajillionaire […]
Read More
Given how many lightweight actioners Liam Neeson has aligned himself with in the last decade or so, you’d be forgiven for not being able to differentiate them from one another given how they have all basically bled into each other. There’s nothing inherently wrong with this late-in-the-game career change for the gruff Irish actor – […]
Read More
We have ten double passes to give away to the upcoming release of the Australian comedy Rams, starring Sam Neill, Michael Caton, and Miranda Richardson. In remote Western Australia, two estranged brothers, Colin (Sam Neill) and Les (Michael Caton), are at war. Raising separate flocks of sheep descended from their family’s prized bloodline, the two […]
Read More
When you realise that ageing grifters Robert and Teresa Dyne (Richard Jenkins and Debra Winger) named their daughter Old Dolio (Evan Rachel Wood) after a lottery-winning homeless man, you immediately learn everything you need to know about the swindling couple. They thought the name would secure them inheritance of some sort, but instead they live […]
Read More
After his standout turn opposite Jake Gyllenhaal in 2014’s disturbing neo-noir thriller Nightcrawler, Riz Ahmed seemed destined for greatness on the big screen. And thankfully, after years of slumming it in supporting roles in Hollywood blockbusters that have all wavered in their quality (Jason Bourne, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Venom), he’s finally been […]
Read More
As evident in fellow AU critic Harris Dang’s TIFF review of Shadow in the Cloud, this film’s connection to disgraced screenwriter Max Landis is understandably a hot-button subject. Whilst I won’t go into the necessary detail, I’m certainly not making light of the allegations brought towards him, but given the fact that co-writer/director Roseanne Liang […]
Read More
Without so much as letting us settle into our seats, The Boy Behind the Door announces itself as a relentless piece of cinema within seconds of its starting time. This is harrowing, unbearably suspenseful storytelling, with first time directors David Charbonier and Justin Powell plunging headfirst into thrilling territory, seemingly unafraid to tackle upsetting material […]
Read More
If there’s anyone who would be secure enough to make a film based around politics, Jon Stewart would arguably be one of the most well suited. Whilst not quite as politically savvy as one might expect, given his penchant for satire, Irresistible is nonetheless a sly, consistently witty affair that wisely doesn’t exactly choose a […]
Read More
A portmanteau of June and nineteenth, Juneteenth is an American-specific holiday predominantly observed by African Americans celebrating the emancipation of those who had been enslaved in the United States. The importance of this day serves as the backbone for Channing Godfrey Peoples‘ Miss Juneteenth, though it never hits as hard as one might expect, offering […]
Read More
There’s a certain unique devotion that the sci-fi genre attracts that sets it apart from other thematic classifications within the realms of cinema. And given just how much effort Invasion Planet Earth managed in order to be finished and released – 20 years of production, seven crowdfunding campaigns, and hours of pro-bono work from filmmaker […]
Read More
With so much talent involved it’s a real shame that Dirt Music is unable to chart above underwhelming mediocrity, framing its narrative around a far more interesting back-story that is only sporadically hinted at. Based on the best-selling novel by Australian scribe Tim Winton, and adapted for the screen by Jack Thorne (Enola Holmes, TV’s […]
Read More
Given how authentic this “based on real events” tale proves to be, it’s safe to assume that writer/director/actor Matthew Fifer is baring a healthy portion of his soul and experiences in Cicada. Likely to ring true with queer audiences – especially gay men – the film tackles uncomfortable subjects and presents promiscuous sex in an […]
Read More
In 2020, a movie detailing the drag scene and the straight Texan mother who comes to embrace it following the death of her queer son should be something worth remembering. Even more so when said mother is portrayed by a seasoned performer like Jacki Weaver. Sadly, as well-intentioned as Stage Mother is, it’s a forgettable […]
Read More
