Author: Peter Gray

That classic romantic comedy genre trope of big-city-girl-returns-to-small-home-town is one that, initially, writer/director Dave Franco and writer/star Alison Brie utilise to almost expected potential in Somebody I Used To Know, a more human dramedy than romcom romp that cements the notion that you can never truly go home again. People and places change, and no…

Do you ever wonder what happened to the one that got away? If you’re Alison Brie in Somebody I Used To Know, you might have lost them to Kiersey Clemons. In the new romantic comedy, co-written by Brie and her husband (and director) Dave Franco, workaholic TV producer Ally (Brie) faces a major professional setback,…

They say a dog is a man’s best friend, but what if the man is a total dirtbag? In that case, it might be time for some sweet revenge, doggy style. From Josh Greenbaum, the director of Barb and Star Go To Vista Del Mar, comes Strays, a wild, foul-mouthed comedy inspired by the likes…

When watching Mean Spirited I couldn’t help but wonder why Jeff Ryan isn’t a household name.  As a director he has worked within a duo of spaces that have well been tested – the mockumentary comedy and the found footage subsect of horror – but both this and his previous effort (YouthMin) prove he has…

The claustrophobic and emotional resonance Florian Zeller created with 2020’s The Father is unfortunately nowhere to be found in The Son, a prequel of sorts based off another of Zeller’s stage plays. A chamber piece on the subject of dementia that rightfully won Anthony Hopkins his second Best Actor Academy Award, The Father expressed subtlety…

In 2012’s Magic Mike, Channing Tatum‘s titular performer lamented that he didn’t want to be a “40 year old stripper”.  The irony isn’t lost some decade on where Tatum’s Mike, having seemingly failed at his planned custom furniture business, has to fall back on his expert set of skills.  And, as we would expect, the…

After talking to both director Michael Showalter and his (other) leading man, Ben Aldridge, it came time for Peter Gray to converse with Spoiler Alert’s Jim Parsons, where the two touched on the ease of queer stories now being told, his relationship with the inspirational figure behind the film, Michael Ausiello, and what it was…

Based on Michael Ausiello’s best-selling memoir “Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies,” Spoiler Alert is a heartwarming, funny and life-affirming story of how Michael’s relationship with his partner Kit is transformed and deepened when one of them falls ill. Bringing Michael’s story to life is director Michael Showalter, an alt-comedy auteur whose eclectic resume ranges from…

Spoiler alert: Ben Aldridge is having a moment! After coming out only three years ago via an Instagram post, and steadily working in television with memorable roles in Fleabag and Pennyworth, Aldridge seems like he’s no longer just on the cusp of fame, but fully fledged within it. After fending off Dave Bautista in M….

Telegraphed in both its title and opening sequence, Spoiler Alert braces its audience for an unhappy ending from the get-go.  But, as much as Michael Showalter‘s handkerchief-ready drama adheres to a familiar structure within the “terminal illness romance” genre – ala The Fault in Our Stars or Holding the Man – the film thankfully isn’t…

When a deal goes wrong between a corrupt governor and a ruthless drug lord, ex-special forces operative Doc (Frank Grillo) is caught in the crosshairs. Now, with his family in danger, Doc must take down the Mexican drug cartel and do whatever it takes to protect the one good thing in his life – his…

Darren Aronofsky has always been one to push the extremities of his characters’ limit throughout his career.  Whether it be physical or psychological, they have all suffered past their breaking point – often to their own demise – and The Whale similarly submits to this trend, looking at an eating addiction spurned from depression. From…

At the age of 16, Jessica Watson attempted solo global circumnavigation.  Departing in Sydney on October 18th, 2009, and returning on 15th May 2010, her incredible, untapped journey saw her cross the equator in the Pacific Ocean before crossing both the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. A Young Australian of the Year Award recipient and awarded…

If the horror genre has taught us anything it’s that cabins are never going to be the cosy, safe getaway that each inhabiting character tends to think it will be.  But even in the realms of the horror genre, Knock at the Cabin, the latest from genre auteur M. Night Shyamalan, has a few tricks…

  The combination of the dangerous uncertainty of M. Night Shyamalan’s narratives and Dave Bautista’s imposing stature is something very few of us would care to endure. Especially if it’s at the supposed end of the world! In the apocalyptic thriller Knock at the Cabin, Shyamalan invites his audience on an intense thrill-ride, detailing a…

Based on Paul G. Tremblay’s acclaimed 2018 novel “The Cabin at the End of the World”, Knock at the Cabin is the latest white-knuckle thriller from genre maestro M. Night Shyamalan. While vacationing at a remote cabin, a young girl and her parents are taken hostage by four armed strangers who demand that the family…

Director John Swab, a gritty aesthetic, and the gruff likeability of Frank Grillo have proven a welcome parcel over the last few years, and following on from both Body Brokers and Ida Red is Little Dixie, a formulaic but no-less investing thriller that exists in a rough, dirty reality. Though there’s plenty of genre tropes…

The horror genre and Skeet Ulrich go hand-in-hand.  Or do they? As Peter Gray spoke with the actor for his latest project Blood, a horror/thriller following Michelle Monaghan’s Jess, who moves her two children back to her childhood home where their lives quickly deteriorate into terror after the family dog bites her son, giving him…

Vampirism has often been utilised in genre features as a metaphor for an addiction of sorts.  In Brad Anderson‘s Blood, screenwriter Will Honley (Escape Room: Tournament of Champions) furthers not only the addiction thematic, but blends it with the notion of chronic illness, what that can do to the afflicted’s caretaker, and a mother’s instinct…

Whilst it’s fair to be tired of the “elevated horror” tag that so many genre pieces aim for nowadays, and the attachment of the-little-studio-that-could A24 only fans the fire, one needn’t worry with Talk To Me, an Australian-made horror effort that’s been acquired by the aforementioned studio for US distribution following wild reactions out of…

There’s complexity within the rather simplistic narrative of Other People’s Children, Rebecca Zlotowski‘s affecting French drama about a certain definition of motherhood. Headlined by a captivating Virginie Efira, last seen dominating Paul Verhoeven’s controversial Benedetta, Other People’s Children focuses on her Rachel, a 40-year-old teacher – single and childless – whose blossoming relationship with Ali…

When you have a film led by such reliable talent as Richard Gere, Diane Keaton, Susan Sarandon and William H. Macy, it’s understandable to believe that the hands you’re in will guide you to a safe destination.  And perhaps that’s the problem.  Maybe I Do is entirely too safe to make any lasting impression beyond…

There’s a lot to be said about mental health – and here, specifically, obsessive-compulsive disorder – within the short minutes of Just Right.  So much so that you can’t help but wish Camille Wormser‘s charmingly off-centred comedy was expanded to feature length, but, as it stands, it’s no less funny and affecting as a commentary…

It goes without saying that the topical interest in Kristen Roupenian’s 2017 short story “Cat Person”, which ran in The New Yorker, before going viral online, is ripe for a filmmaker to adapt and expand.  Unfortunately, director Susanna Fogel can’t quite secure a grip on proceedings, clumsily handling the film’s tone and undermining its central…

The wealthy whites and their easy skewering is a narrative mentality that we have been witness to in a variety of practices as of late.  But unlike The White Lotus and The Menu, two of the most recent examples of such a temperament, Brandon Cronenberg‘s Infinity Pool pushes further past being just a little wicked…

Nominated for her record eighth Academy Award for her latest role as Lydia Tár, Cate Blanchett‘s turn as the titular character in Todd Field’s Tár is a tour-de-force performance that speaks to the strive for perfection within the world of art and a female’s abuse of power. As the film releases nationally in Australia, Peter…

Tár, set in the international world of classical music, centers on Lydia Tár, widely considered one of the greatest living composer/conductors and first-ever female chief conductor of a major German orchestra. Enveloped by a career-best Cate Blanchett in her Golden Globe-winning (and now Oscar nominated) performance, Tár is brought to the screen by director Todd…

There’s a lot to digest within the 158 minutes of Todd Field‘s ambitious Tár, so much so that lead Cate Blanchett practically devours it whole and spits out a venomous toxicity in return.  It’s an, at-times, icy black comedy and a tragic character study melded within the cancel culture mentality and the #MeToo movement.  It…

How do you find lasting love in today’s world? For documentary-maker and dating app addict Zoe (Lily James), swiping right has only delivered an endless stream of Mr Wrongs, to her eccentric mother Cath’s (Emma Thompson) dismay. For Zoe’s childhood friend and neighbour Kaz (Shazad Latif), the answer is to follow his parents’ example and…

Don’t let the title fool you, What’s Love Got To Do With It? has nothing to do with Tina Turner.  Instead, the titular question is a rhetorical of sorts that documentary filmmaker Zoe (Lily James) ponders when she hears that her life-long best friend (Shazad Latif‘s Kaz) is interested in an arranged marriage, and subsequently…