Film

Although I am a fan of all film genres, I have an affinity for the human-fantasy friendship trope. Whether it’s between a human and a horse (War Horse), a human and a robot (The Iron Giant), a human and a mutant super-pig (Okja) or a human and a Totoro (My Neighbour Totoro), a strong bond…

When Kingsman: The Secret Service debuted in 2015, it became a critical darling and surprise commercial hit due to strong word of mouth, and a truly original and exciting approach to the spy (and in many respects, the superhero / comic book) genre. Funny, irreverent and wholly memorable, it stands apart as one of the…

America has long been a country divided, afflicted by the separation between white and black men and it still continues to this day. I Am Not Your Negro is a unique documentary that is an analysis of the civil rights movements of the 50’s and 60’s right through to the current Black Lives Matter movement….

Stop me if you’ve heard this before: A loose cannon who doesn’t play by the rules, but dammit if he doesn’t get the job done, is recruited by the CIA to assist in taking out some “very bad people who plan on doing some very bad things“… American Assassin is not the type of film…

After some pretty dismal weeks in earnings at the box office, cinemas nationwide are welcoming this week’s no. 1 film, the remake of Stephen King’s classic novel (and reason why so many kids in the 80s hated clowns), It.  Opening on  548 screens nationally, it made a phenomenal $7.46m in its opening weekend, and was the biggest…

Where does one even begin to describe the demented deliciousness that is mother!?  Despite the film’s rather studio-heavy calibre of talent on board, Darren Aronofsky‘s latest cinematic insanity is anything but an audience-friendly affair.  The mysterious marketing campaign has wound up viewer interest (and rightfully so), and I would wager many will be entering theatres…

Dame Judi Dench has played Queen Victoria before in Mrs Brown, which showed the grieving monarch’s relationship with John Brown. In Victoria & Abdul Dench reprises her previous role and plays the Queen when the latter is a tad older and wiser. It also focuses on the monarch’s unlikely friendship with an Indian servant. The…

Patti Cake$ is the kind of movie that could have gone horribly wrong. The story of an overweight, white (trash) suburban girl gunning for glory in the hip-hop scene isn’t the most accessible story, nor is it culturally appropriate. Thanks to the wit of writer/director/composer Geremy Jasper though, Patti Cake$ disarms any of these potential…

Whilst not exactly top-notch cinematic fare, the Ryan Reynolds/Samuel L. Jackson action film The Hitman’s Bodyguard shot to no. 1 in its premiere week at the box office, earning $2.33m in the process. It beat out last week’s no. 1, American Made, which now sits at no. 2 on the box office ladder.  In its second week in cinemas, it made $1.52m…

In the early part of a person’s life, there is always that one scary story, whether it takes the form of a book, a campfire tale or a film, that will inherently scar a person for life when experienced. In my case (and that of many others), that story is Stephen King‘s IT.

In We Need To Talk About Kevin writer Lionel Shriver explored the idea of a mother grappling with her son’s heinous act. In The Dinner, four parents deal with the ramifications of a shocking crime perpetuated by their boys. They have to decide how far they will go in order to protect their teenage sons….

After an impressive two weeks in the top spot, horror film Annabelle: Creation was ousted from its prime position by the new Tom Cruise action/comedy American Made.  The filmed debuted in cinemas by earning $2.13m in its opening weekend, while Annabelle: Creation pulled in a not-too-shabby $911k.  Our reviewer called this week’s no. 1 film a “a welcome return to…

Director Malcolm D. Lee is a filmmaker whose work has been quite the mixed bag. While he has strong pieces of work like the action/comedy cult hit Undercover Brother, The Best Man films and the criminally underseen coming-of-age Roll Bounce, he also has terrible pieces of work (which is one way to put it) like Welcome…

Like fellow Danish filmmakers Lars von Trier and Nicholas Winding Refn, Ole Bornedal made the leap from his homeland to Hollywood, though he opted for more an entertaining stance on his career as opposed to the heavy artistry his peers practiced; Bornedal was behind the rather unspectacular 2012 haunted house pic The Possession, whilst von…

As easy as it is to liken God’s Own Country to the similarly themed Brokeback Mountain, doing so is only ultimately stripping Francis Lee‘s film of its own identity.  A moody and haunting emotional journey for its protagonists, God’s Own Country is a slow burning, though rewarding drama propelled by a duo of strong performances…

Sometimes it’s not always necessary for a film to be unique or spectacular or innovative for it to be enjoyable. Sometimes all we need is for it to be fun and ridiculous and easily digestible for it to provide that escapism. The Hitman’s Bodyguard brings together two particular Hollywood actors who have their own distinct…

It’s a mad, mad, mad, mad world. The events depicted in Ali’s Wedding, the new Australian film and Muslim rom-com are based on true events. Unfortunately. This comedy is a funny and vibrant look at life in Australia for a family of Middle Eastern immigrants and like Looking For Alibrandi, The Family Law and Acropolis…

Audiences are still into creepy dead-eyed children’s toys, so Annabelle: Creation stays in the no.1  spot for the 2nd week in a row.  Earning $1.52m this week, it has also made $4.58m since its theatrical debut in theatres. New to the box office this week is the Matthew McConaughey and Idris Elba sci-fi The Dark Tower.  Based on the Stephen…

Offsetting its grand, sprawling Australian outback locale with a dark, often uncomfortably intimate story that crosscuts between altering timelines, Killing Ground is an assured, at times unapologetic, debut feature from writer/director Damien Power. Taut, tightly wound and brutal without resorting to exploitation, the film initially focuses on sprightly couple Ian (Ian Meadows) and Sam (Harriet…

It’s not often that an art-house thriller comes together so perfectly to create an unsettling horror capable of antagonising your thoughts even after you’ve walked out the cinema doors. But that is exactly what The Killing of a Sacred Deer does, the fifth feature film of Greek auteur Yorgos Lanthimos. As a darkly comic rendition…

If Forrest Gump where a female, Canadian folk artist you would get Maudie. This film is a biopic about the late artist, Maud Lewis who was born a “little different” and whose story is one that is likely to charm some theatregoers. This movie is ultimately a rather romanticised view of her creative and impoverished…

Looks like audiences are down for creepy possessed dolls! In its debut weekend in cinemas, Annabelle: Creation, the prequel to the Annabelle storyline from 2014, shot straight to no. 1 and earned $2.28m in the process.  It generated a screen average of $9,903 across its 231 screens nationally. Annabelle: Creation beat out last week’s no. 1 to push it…

Simultaneously stepping away from the action brands they’re both primarily recognised for, there’s a sense of material re-engagement for director Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Edge of Tomorrow) and star Tom Cruise with American Made.  Telling a story that’s less reliant on aesthetic spectacle and star power, Gary Spinelli’s account of…

Full disclosure, I have not read any of the Stephen King The Dark Tower series of books. As somebody who is unaware of the source material, I was going into the film adaptation of The Dark Tower with the simple expectation of wanting to enjoy a film, to be transported to another place, be invested…

Hampstead is a film that is based on a true story. But you get the sense that it’s a glossy, feel-good version of reality. The film is a pleasant rom-com that is a nice way to wile away 102 minutes so long as you don’t expect any surprises or social realism. The film is directed…

It’s been a few years since director Steven Soderbergh had a feature film on the big screen but with Logan Lucky he makes a welcome return in this rollicking comedy-heist. It would be easy to boil this down to a red-neck dirty overalls wearing, whiskey swigging, pick-up truck driving version of Soderbergh’s own hit Ocean’s…

Directed by Todd Haynes (Carol), Wonderstruck focuses on the lives of two kids in two different time periods, who both set off on their own very personal New York adventures. Ben (Oakes Fegley) longs to know the identity of his father as it may provide some insight into his own life and mindset. Rose (Millicent…

Blur may have sung about “girls who are boys who like boys to be girls,” but it was writer, Virginia Woolf who got there first. Her short novel, Orlando is about a young, aristocratic man who wakes up one day and discovers he’s become a woman. It was a novel that was written by Woolf…

Ever since his resounding success with the Harry Potter franchise Daniel Radcliffe has continued to push the boundaries of his acting career with fantastic and varied performances in both Swiss Army Man and Imperium. Now Radcliffe has completed one of his most physically demanding roles yet portraying Yossi Ghinsberg, an Israeli adventurer who became stranded…

Albert Namatjira remains one of Australia’s most revered artists. At the time of his death, his collection exceeded two thousand individual paintings, a perceptive catalogue of the landscapes that form the barren heart of Australia’s central regions. Yet his significance far extends his body of work. In 1957 Albert became the first Aboriginal person to…