Author: Peter Gray

Whilst not always the most prevalent sport to celebrate cinematically, golf has had its share of theatrical engagement over the decades; more often than not linked heavily to the comedy genre, too. Caddyshack (1980), Happy Gilmore (1996) and Tin Cup (1996) have arguably courted the most humorous notice, whilst The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000)…

Once Taika Waititi reinvented the Marvel wheel with 2017’s wild Thor: Ragnarok, it made sense that the studio big-wigs would bestow further free licensing in the character’s shift towards a more humorous mentality. And whilst that’s all well and good – we certainly don’t want the character regressing in any manner – Thor: Love and…

Korean cinema has always been a hub of unmatched quality.  Whilst those that have enjoyed the fruits of labour over the decades aren’t remotely surprised at such a statement – and have been waiting for the world to catch up through viewings of I Saw the Devil and Oldboy – the recent successes of the…

George Clooney and Julia Roberts have reunited for the good of the romantic comedy.  In Ticket to Paradise, the Ocean’s Eleven pair play a duo of bitter exes who attempt to put their differences aside for the sake of their daughter, intending to derail her impeding nuptials to stop her from making the love-blinding mistake…

Scott Derrickson has always found a way to blend his horror sensibilities with a certain sense of emotion.  The Exorcism of Emily Rose incorporated the mentality of a legal drama to explore its themes of demonic possession; Deliver Us From Evil unearthed an other worldly entity amongst the trappings of a police-centred thriller; and Sinister…

Following its successful launch in Canberra earlier this year, the groundbreaking National Film and Sound Archive (NFSA) Australians & Hollywood exhibition will remain on show throughout 2023. The blockbuster exhibition, which celebrates Australia’s contemporary cinematic, acting and filmmaking success, opened in January and now its extended run will give Canberra and national audiences an expanded…

Watching the anti-heroine of Alice Seabright‘s thrilling series Chloe, Becky Green (Erin Doherty, an absolute star-making turn), as she scrolls through the social media lifestyle of the titular Chloe (Poppy Gilbert), a flame-haired femme with a seemingly enviable and lavish existence, the loneliness and self-loathing is palpable. It’s a feeling we’ve probably all experienced, noting…

Even though 2010’s Despicable Me was centred around Steve Carell‘s Eastern European reformed super-villain Gru, it was his hoard of indecipherable henchmen – his Minions – that stole the film from under his considerably rendered nose. They were funny without really trying to be, so it made perfect sense that subsequent films (Despicable Me birthed…

When you walk into a room to interview Catherine Martin, a production and costume designer with no less than four Academy Awards to her name (fun fact, she’s the most awarded Australian in Oscar history), you know you’ve chosen the correct shirt when it kicks off an enthusiastic conversation about its origins; to set the…

To say the excitement in the air was palpable when walking the hotel halls during the Australian press junket of Elvis would be describing it mildly.  As director Baz Luhrmann enthusiastically boasted about the late nights had in the lead-up to the film’s premiere, and Tom Hanks so endearingly noting the hotel as “groovy” as…

Arriving in Australian cinemas this week (you can read our review here) hot off its history-making reception at the Cannes Film Festival, Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis brings the life of the king of rock ‘n’ roll to the big screen in predictably lavish fashion. Talking with our own Peter Gray at the Australian premiere, the film’s…

Executive produced by George R.R. Martin and Robert Redford, Dark Winds is set in 1971 on a remote outpost of the Navajo Nation near Monument Valley, and follows Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn (Zahn McClarnon) of the Tribal Police as he is besieged by a series of seemingly unrelated crimes. The closer Leaphorn digs to the truth, the more he…

If Baz Luhrmann is a director whose gaudy, lavish, larger-than-life style has been an aesthetic you haven’t gelled with thus far, his “biopic” Elvis isn’t about to change your mind. The director of Moulin Rouge suitably shakes, rattles, rolls, razzles and dazzles over a sometimes-exhausting 159 minutes, kinetically pacing the king of rock ‘n’ roll’s…

It was only a matter of time before crypto currency became something of a talking point in films, and in Blowback, an incredibly generic heist actioner, it’s a point of interest for wronged pretty boy Cam Gigandet as he tries to get out alive from a plan that, wait for it, goes fatally wrong for…

Whilst I’m certainly not suggesting that Fire Island won’t earn some crossover appeal with straight audiences – hell, I even saw this movie with a straight guy – queer audiences are sure to wholeheartedly embrace Joel Kim Booster‘s deliciously funny, at times savage comedy in a manner that’s entirely personal and significantly unique compared to…

Indian representation in cinema has certainly hit a certain stride over the last few years in moving beyond the character stereotypes and Bollywood-framed imagery that Hollywood so often adhered to.  Filmmakers such as Gurinder Chadha and Mira Nair have been representing their native communities for over three decades with their various theatrical offerings – the…

There’s an interesting concept and potentially deep conversation regarding mental illness to be had with Roving Woman, but the execution presented sadly undoes any of the film’s potential, leaving Michal Chmielewski‘s drama a more aimless experience. The roving woman of the title is Sara (Lena Gora), who opens the film in a state of panic…

When Lightyear was first announced it understandably caused confusion as to how it aligned itself with the Toy Story films its character originated from.  Was it a spin-off, something that existed separately from the franchise? Or, did it perhaps focus on a real-life astronaut, suggesting that the Toy Story universe was set in a period…

The cultural phenomenon that is RuPaul’s Drag Race has made way for otherwise niche performers to breakthrough in a mainstream fashion.  Whilst it’s still more likely that queer audiences will recognise their presence in a stronger manner, it must be said that the program knows how to unearth the type of talent that deserves to…

A gaudy game of cat-and-mouse and pseudo-philosophical musings on sexual orientation and gender sit at the core of Amanda Kramer‘s Please Baby Please, a wild but, sadly, insufferable drama that’s more sleazy than it is stylish. Set in 1950’s New York, the film reveals its bizarre, sexualised tone in its early minutes when bohemian couple…

The type of filmmaker who’s able to create stories so bombastically silly that they are somewhat brilliant, Quentin Dupieux once again expresses straight-faced frivolity in Incredible But True, a tightly-paced (a lean 74 minutes) twilight-zoned comedy that, somehow, is one of his more level-headed features in spite of its ludicrous plot. Said ludicrous plot revolves…

Nobody quite does obscure like director Peter Strickland.  Finding that delicious balance between eccentric and perverse, Flux Gourmet – set over a month-long period in an institute for sonic caterers (yes, that’s a thing) – is perhaps his funniest yet, indulging in the mischief that comes with his unique blend of deadpan dialogue and a…

An incredibly topical drama that navigates its story with natural humour and heart, Sophie Galibert delicately treads the waters around the subject of unwanted pregnancy in her feature debut, Cherry. Initially adhering to a more comical temperament, Cherry centres on its titular character (Alex Trewhitt, a star-making turn), a driftless, 25-year-old Los Angelean, whose already…

Whilst there’s no surprise revealed in the fact that Emma Thompson truly deserves to be considered one of the greatest living actresses working today, it’s always appreciated when a performance solidifies such a statement.  And in the deliriously charming and strikingly emotional Good Luck To You, Leo Grande, Thompson turns in career-best work that leans…

Though it’s fair to be intrigued by the title of Alex Lehmann‘s Acidman and assume there’s perhaps something more sinister behind its moniker, the film is a quieter affair, looking at reclusion, mental health, and the power of a familial relationship. Lehmann himself has noted that the idea came from his own personal experience with…

The Boys hasn’t had to do much to announce itself as the dirty, profane, narcissistic, misogynistic, black sheep of the comic book world…but it doesn’t mean it won’t keep on trying. Following its three-episode premiere on Prime Video on June 3rd, cast members Jack Quaid (Hughie), Jessie T. Usher (A-Train), Chace Crawford (The Deep), Karen…

They say crime doesn’t pay, but whoever stated as such may want to have a chat with the titular criminal in John Patton Ford‘s scrappy, oft intense thriller, one that furthers Aubrey Plaza‘s hold on chaos personified characters in the off-kilter subsect of cinema. Plaza’s Emily is a former art student with a $70,000 debt…

Whether we like them (or follow them) or not, influencers – sorry, “content creators” – are a cultural mainstay in our society that often extends beyond the environment of social media.  In Australian horror effort Sissy, co-writers/directors Hannah Barlow and Kane Senes seem all too aware of the faux importance influencers place upon themselves, a…

To paraphrase the Queen Bee of 2004, Mean Girls‘ Regina George, “Stop trying to make dinosaurs happen!” Though the love for legacy sequels is at an all-time high thanks to the recent 1-2 hit of Top Gun: Maverick and Scream, the Jurassic Park/Jurassic World continuation fails to continue the trend, further removing itself from the…

Dwayne Johnson has been teasing his involvement in the DCEU as the infamous anti-hero Black Adam for the better part of 5 years, and now his passion project has finally come to fruition. Nearly 5,000 years after he was bestowed with the almighty powers of the Egyptian gods – and imprisoned just as quickly –…