Film

Moana (Auli’i Cravalho) is the spirited daughter of a Polynesian chief, Chief Tui (Temuera Morrison). She’s loveable and affable and Chief Tui is pretty much training her up to be the next big kahuna in her village. Her father has warned her that their village and island paradise is the only safe place for her,…

The kind of film that benefits from its titular character being portrayed as less of an impression and more as a fully realised character, Barry is at once thoughtful, intelligent and particularly entertaining. Though he is introduced to us as Barry, we’re all aware of the Barack Obama he ultimately will become (so to speak),…

Laos director Mattie Do’s sophomore film Dearest Sister has an identity crisis. It just isn’t sure what story it wants to tell. And its an issue that is never repaired throughout its needless 100 minute running time. When Nok goes to stay with her blind and affluent sister Ana, the two begin fighting after Nok finds out…

The Star Wars saga is set to continue, this time with the first stand alone film in its ‘Anthology’ series. Singular films that will showcase interconnected stories or characters that basically provide an extended universe to our main trilogies. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is first out of the gates and has a lot…

It seems there’s no stopping Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them, which topped the Box Office chart again for the fourth week in a row, hauling in $2.21 million.  It’s tipped to be 2016’s sixth highest grossing film.  Only Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Finding Dory  managed to take the no. 1 spot four weeks in a…

Subplots run amok in Office Christmas Party, an overwraught holiday comedy that marks a return to the big screen for directors Josh Gordon and Will Speck, who are best known for the Will Ferrell and Jon Heder mishap Blades of Glory. Though unlike the 2007 sports comedy, the team’s latest feature doesn’t have the thick…

Similar to how director Ira Sachs‘ previous effort Love Is Strange commented on the increasing rate of renting in New York City, Little Men showcases how a simple financial squabble can become someone’s undoing. A relationship-based drama that survives mainly on the simplistic but natural performances of its cast, Little Men focuses on young Jake…

There must be an abundance of bottled good fortune (or Felix Felicis for the HP nerds) sent to the Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them cast and crew – as it’s remained at no. 1 at the box office for the 3rd week in a row, earning another $3.25 million, while its international tally crosses US$600m.  As the…

The best thing I can say about The Autopsy of Jane Doe, “Best International Feature” at this years Monster Fest, is that it is a welcome, fresh new take on the horror genre… until it isn’t. Jane Doe follows Tommy and his son Austin (Brian Cox & Emile Hirsch, respectively) who work in a family run morgue beneath their home….

Spanish Director Gonzalo Lopez Gallego has only helmed a handful of Hollywood films in his career. The Hollow Point is proof though that given a solid cast, a taut narrative and all the tools necessary to create some gritty action sequences, the man can hang with the best of his American cohorts. The Hollow Point…

The Underworld franchise has had its fair share of ups and downs. The first film is considered a fantasy horror thriller vampire/werewolf classic. Heralded for its BAMF female protagonist and thought out vampire/werewolf mythology story, the films that followed in its wake had a lot to live up to. The second film Underworld: Evolution raised…

For the second week in a row,  Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them roared ahead to no. 1 on the box office ladder, earning $5.44 million this week.  Although this film was dropped from 86 screens nationally, it still manager to garner a screen average of $8,761 from 622 screens. A surprise placing in not just the…

Sometimes when you review movies, you’ll occasionally take something that you had no clue existed, and upon watching it, you’ll only be left with more questions. The Greasy Strangler is one of those movies. It’s the type of film that you tell your friends to watch, if only to have someone to go to therapy…

I love that Dead Hands Dig Deep is part of Monster Fest. I love that there wasn’t a caveat placed on it that only allowed serial killers and torture porn. The debut feature from filmmaker Jai Love is no less horrific just because it’s a documentary. On the contrary, it’s a bleak look at the…

The Japanese Anime genre has a long history of producing masterpieces. Makoto Shinkai‘s Your Name is no exception. Ahead of its release in Australia, the film has enjoyed rave reviews around the world – and deservedly so. The film centres on Mitsuha (Mone Kamishiraishi) and Taki (Ryunosuke Kamiki), two people with nothing in common except…

Likely to come as a surprise to many that The Founder is less a success story regarding the origins of McDonalds, but more a tale on greed and the value of real estate, John Lee Hancock‘s engaging drama benefits from its stellar central performance from Michael Keaton, continuing the run he so assuredly began with…

It appears the Wizarding World beats the Marvel Universe, at the box office this week anyway.  Well and truly knocking last week’s no. 1 film, Doctor Strange, out of its top spot, is this week’s absolute cracker of a film, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.  It has done so well that it accounted for at least two…

Some people claim they don’t look for drama, that drama looks for them. In Anna’s case, drama’s reared its ugly head in her life in the form a breakup with older man John. She seeks solace and support in her best friend Jean, who lives across the English channel in Paris. Jean welcomes his London-based…

In Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them we are returned to the world of magic and wizards and witches but set in 1926 New York, USA well before our boy wonder Harry Potter was born. The film shifts the focus not only to a new protagonist but a brand new location which expands the…

Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange topped the box office ladder again this week, making it the third time in a row it’s been at the no. 1 spot.  Although faced with tough competition from two Amy Adams films, both debuting in the top five, the Marvel film still generated $2.57 million in ticket sales this week. The most successful of Adams’ new…

Pausing from his planned trilogy of films with Brendan Gleeson – which has already seen the release of the brilliant The Guard (2011) and Calvary (2014) – English/Irish director John Michael McDonagh makes his debut outside of Ireland with the incredibly black comedy War on Everyone, starring Alexander Skarsgård and Michael Peña – who are…

Mel Gibson’s new directorial effort Hacksaw Ridge is by far one of his most ambitious and surprising efforts in years. Not even his previous war film We Were Soldiers could reach the same heights as this; maybe because the subject matter is something more of a celebration of the true heroes of war, the Medics…

Miss Saigon has been a regular favourite among theatregoers and in the 25th anniversary film showing the 2014 West End production it’s easy to see why. The musical is a high-stakes love story set in and after the Vietnam War. It also boasts an excellent score that captures the full gamut of emotions and fragility…

Grounded by Amy Adams’ breathtaking performance, Arrival is a departure of sorts for director Denis Villeneuve, opting to showcase the lighter sound of humanity here as opposed to the more pessimistic tones he showcased with Prisoners and Sicario.  A film that feels both personal and grand, Arrival intertwines the beginnings and endings of time, creating…

Doctor Strange dominated the box office again for the second week in a row, taking in $3.70 million this week, despite only showing at 558 screens (it opened on 643 screens last week).  This makes it Marvel’s 14th consecutive #1 movie. In 2nd spot on the ladder is the Mel Gibson-directed Hacksaw Ridge, which premiered this week.  It…

Taking its outlandish concept and maintaining a balance of wit and intelligence, Gavin O’Connor illustrates a sense of faith for his audience with The Accountant, allowing the film to entertain them without pandering in the process.  With its sense of humour in check the film utilises Ben Affleck’s stone-cold gaze and considerable physique to the…

Better known as one of the world’s greatest fashion designers, Tom Ford proves himself every inch the competent filmmaker with Nocturnal Animals.  Verifying his debut feature A Single Man was no flash in the pan either, Ford juxtaposes a relationship drama feature with a violent revenge tale in such an effortless fashion you’d swear you…

I hate to admit that I do not really know a lot about classical film noir, despite watching many films in the neo-noir genre like Brick, Sin City and of course, Veronica Mars. But what I do know are some of the main tropes of film noir: the femme fatale, the dirty cop and the…

No surprises that yet another superhero from the Marvel universe will do so well at the box office, with Doctor Strange topping the ladder, earning $6.42 million at the box office in its premiere week. The Benedict Cumberbatch vehicle has performed so well, its earnings make up a little over half of what was made at the box…

Director Andrea Arnold is probably one of the most distinct British directors working today. Her visual eye, her ability to capture slice-of-life moments in a compellingly cinematic way, and especially her way of extracting fantastic performances out of non-actors. Her films like Fish Tank (2009) and Wuthering Heights (2011) are true examples of such. Her latest…