Author: Peter Gray

As his topical documentary A Sexplanation arrives for digital download in Australia (you can read our review here), creator Alex Liu spoke with our own Peter Gray about exploring the hardships of addressing such a controversial subject as sex education, how his own coming out was the catalyst for the film, and the surprising reaction…

The end of two eras comes to a close this week as Jurassic World: Dominion roars into theatres, finalising both the original Jurassic Park and World trilogies that have seen dinosaurs roam the Earth for close to three decades. Ahead of the film’s release, Peter Gray was invited to the global press conference to speak…

As much as A Sexplanation is a documentary aimed at bettering the sexual education of (primarily) Americans, at its core is writer/director/star Alex Liu – the most charming of presences – and his own sexual shame. He’s an out gay man with both a supportive friend group and family (the latter of which appear quite…

Within the first few minutes of the third season of The Boys, the profane-laced dialogue (no one drops a “C-bomb” like Karl Urban), bold nudity (if you think there’s a lack of male frontal shots in mainstream media, feast your eyes here), and bloodied-red body horror (there’s that R18+ rating certified) more than announces that…

Whilst some of us attempted newfound interests or ambitious endeavours throughout the early stages of the pandemic – when going outside was thought as something of a novel luxury – British popstar Charli XCX one-upped us all, joining Bo Burnham (Inside) and the creators of Zoom-set slasher Host by utilsing her time and stored creativity…

As an actor, Sean Patrick Flanery has amassed more than 100 credits over a three decade-long career.  Best known for his work in such acclaimed titles as Powder, The Boondock Saints, and the upcoming season of Amazon’s The Boys, Flanery is now turning his attention behind the camera for Frank & Penelope, a road movie-cum-cult…

Though there’s a certain erotic elegance to Mothering Sunday, Eva Husson‘s slow-burning adaptation of Graham Swift‘s 2016 novella is a film that, whilst impeccably acted, moves with a lack of urgency that keeps it from entirely earning the affectation it seeks to conjure. Predominantly set in 1924, the title refers to a Sunday in March…

Thanks to Transmission Films, we have 5 double in-seasons passes (Admit 2) to see Colin Firth, Olivia Colman, Josh O’Connor and Odessa Young in the drama Mothering Sunday, set for release in cinemas from June 2nd, 2022. The events of Graham Swift’s novel take place over the course of one day – the holiday Mothering…

Streaming on AMC+, 61st Street is a propulsive thriller coursing through the dark heart of the infamous Chicago criminal justice system as police and prosecutors investigate a deadly drug bust that threatens to unravel the police department’s code of silence. To coincide with the show streaming, Peter Gray spoke with star Tosin Cole, discussing the…

From the endangerment of Mark Wahlberg’s family in Contraband to the singular distress of Shailene Woodley’s nautical nightmare in Adrift, Baltasar Kormákur is a director no stranger to the utilisation of squeezing the most out of his genre films and placing his players in grave danger. For his latest effort, the Icelandic filmmaker is heading…

Whilst it’s perfectly understandable for audiences to attend a comedy show under the assumption they’ll be humorously entertained, the moments of seriousness and self-reflection are often what stay with you.  Such is the case with Poncho Orange: Keep It Up!, the latest one-man-show from melting pot oddball clown Dani Cabs, a 60-minute journey into his…

We bow to thee, Tom Cruise: Saviour of cinema! A film you’ll be best served believing its near-impossible hype, Top Gun: Maverick is not only the type of sequel that surpasses its predecessor in every form imaginable, it’s the perfect encompassment of why cinema matters. Over 30 years in the making, Maverick reunites Cruise with…

The self-proclaimed love child of Salvador Dali and the Mighty Boosh, Australian comedian Dani Cabs has created a larger-than-life alter ego in Poncho Orange, a Latino-lovin’ buffoon, liquifying the English language so that you can slurp its runny honey, gooey goodness down into your internals and be transported into his world of play, love, and……

Whilst it makes sense that fans of the Bob’s Burgers television series will get more out of The Bob’s Burgers Movie, the uninitiated are likely to experience enough genuine joy from this weird, though consistently amusing musical comedy that straddles the line successfully between delightful and lightly demented. As summer break approaches, the titular Bob…

As Top Gun: Maverick gears up to take flight in cinemas this week, it only makes sense that Tom Cruise‘s other death-defying stunt-fuelled title make its presence known too. Following a brief, but buzzed aplenty trailer leak, the first official look at Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning – Part One has arrived to, once again,…

The Boys are back! Following the release earlier this week of the head-poppingly diabolical official trailer and key art of the highly anticipated third season of The Boys, Prime Video today announced the cast of the series will be travelling Down Under this June. Cast members including Jack Quaid, Jessie T. Usher, Chace Crawford, and Karen…

The notion of Disney and The Lonely Island collaborating is one that I imagine many failed to place on their 2022 movie bingo card.  The comedy team – they of “I’m on a Boat” and “I Just Had Sex” fame – have rightfully added a little of their grown-up twist to the reimagining (of sorts)…

Though its title may suggest it’s a comedy of somewhat raunchy proportions, Renée Webster‘s assured debut feature film How to Please a Woman is a far more accessible, rather delightful dramedy that furthers the female view in a male-dominated industry. Filmed in Western Australia (and looking particularly stunning in the process), Webster’s film centres around…

The Walt Disney Company in Australia & New Zealand has today announced its first wave of local content commissions and acquisitions for Disney+ with nine Australian originals launching in 2022/23. Announced at an event held at Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art, the slate of local and sure to be loved content includes three Scripted drama…

Based on Sergey Fetisov‘s memoir, Firebird – appropriately screening this week in relation to International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia – is an achingly romantic, though still not entirely ground-breaking tale of forbidden love set in a time when same-sex affairs were met with severe punishment. In the midst of 1977 Cold War in…

A staple of the Australian cinema and televisual landscape for 30 years, Erik Thomson is an AFI and Silver Logie award winning actor known for his work in All Saints, Packed to the Rafters, and 800 Words. On May 19th, he will be seen romancing Sally Phillips in the comedy How to Please a Woman,…

Thanks to Madman Films, we have 10 double in-seasons passes (Admit 2) to see Sally Phillips, Erik Thomson, Cameron Daddo and Tasma Walton in the new Australian comedy How to Please a Woman, set for release in cinemas from May 19th, 2022. Gina is not feeling fabulous. She has lost her job and feels stuck and frustrated…

One of those true story tales that is so intricately outrageous it couldn’t possibly be fiction, Operation Mincemeat details a WWII espionage plot that centres itself around a heightened take on the classic Trojan Horse malware that so successfully aided the Greeks in their invasion of Troy. There’s a background story to the titular operation…

When Stephen King published Firestarter in 1980 it was celebrated for its complex, character driven storyline, accolades that shouldn’t have really come as a surprise given the impressive body of work he had achieved in the 6 short years he was a published novelist; 1974’s Carrie was his first release. With that and The Shining…

Set to ignite Australian cinemas from May 12th (and, appropriately, Friday the 13th in the United States in both theatres and on Peacock), Firestarter, Stephen King‘s classic novel about a pyrokinetic young girl on the run from a government agency hoping to control her for their own benefit, will earn new life through director Keith…

Have you ever wanted to hear an explicit rap about the incestual ways of ancient Greek figures set to the tune of “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”? Or how about The Little Mermaid‘s “Under the Sea” as a spoken word piece, all the while its performer is donned in a mermaid tail being glistened by…

Having played to sold out festival sessions across Australia, the female-focused dramedy How to Please a Woman is looking to continue its crowd-pleasing success when it opens nationally in Australian cinemas on May 19th. Ahead of its release, Peter Gray spoke with the film’s writer and director, Renée Webster, about its rapturous reception so far,…

Returning to Australia fresh off the back of his lead role in the Atomic Saloon Show at The Venetian in Las Vegas, Damien Warren-Smith’s latest show sees him transform into an overzealous idiot attempting to perform all of Greek Mythology in less than 60 minutes in order to save his Hellenic homeland from economic ruin. The show –…

Primarily known for his television work on such series as Outlander and A Discovery of Witches, Scottish actor Steven Cree is trading in the fantastical for the fearful, headlining the twisted horror film The Twin alongside Discovery… co-star Teresa Palmer. Cree stars as a husband who relocates with his wife to the other side of…

Thanks to Transmission, we have 5 double in-seasons passes (Admit 2) to see Colin Firth and Matthew Macfadyen in the historical war drama Operation Mincemeat, set for release in cinemas from May 12th, 2022. Set in 1943, the film follows two brilliant intelligence officers, Ewen Montagu (Firth) and Charles Cholmondeley (Macfadyen) who conceived a plan…