Film

Cartel Land is the documentary that award-winning filmmaker Matthew Heineman risked his life for, and the danger he thrust himself into is communicated shockingly well in this 98 minute look at cartels and vigilante militias both north and south of the U.S./Mexico border. Heineman has a blockbuster flair for this work, which is why it’s…

When veteran, Iranian filmmaker, Jafar Panahi was jailed in 2010 and banned from making films this made him even more determined to carry on doing just that. In this time he has made not one but three movies, the most recent being Tehran Taxi. This one sees fiction dressed up as a documentary and it…

It’s been 22 years since Jurassic Park, and long have us fans of that very first film waited for a sequel that was worthy and lo we finally have it in Jurassic World. We can now safely relegate those other two films into extinction and rest assured that this is now an honourable contender for…

The world of music biopic is always a tricky affair. Trying to balance enough rock and roll fantasy and/or exaggeration with reality to create an engaging but honest story about an iconic musician can often serve itself up as a disappointment (De-Lovely and Beyond the Sea are two that immediately come to mind). Focusing on…

I’ve often been intrigued by the idea of what would happen if you flip a movie on its head. Market it as one thing and then turn it into something completely different. Something that surprises. Something that gets people talking. Imagine, for instance, if Hostel (2005) had been marketed as a raunchy teen comedy? The idea…

Jennifer Peedom’s Sherpa is worthy of praise for maintaining it’s focus when it could have easily been lost in the majestic and overwhelming beauty of Mount Everest. The team behind this documentary explore the increasingly strained relationship between the international climbing community and the Sherpas who make such climbs possible, effectively capturing the anxiety that…

Get on Up was the entrée, a biopic on the inimitable, James Brown. But Oscar-winner, Alex Gibney’s documentary, Mr. Dynamite: The Rise of James Brown is the more substantial, main course. For over two hours the audience is treated to a film that is full of music and flamboyance, from old performances on stage and…

The names Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp may not mean much to you unless you know that they were the unlikely managers of The Who during the sixties and early seventies. The pair are a rather odd couple and they’re also the subject of a documentary by James D. Cooper. The result is a vibrant…

Those classed as ‘Hood Films’ really made an impact on commercial cinema back in the 90’s. Classics like Boyz n the Hood, Menace II Society, and Juice were met with critical acclaim and appealed to both a crowd that likes intelligent, well-written cinema rife with thoughtful social commentary, and a crowd that just wants an…

Mysteries and detective stories have long been popular in literature, arts, films, with the story of Sherlock Holmes long enduring time and remake after reboot after re-imagining. In Mr Holmes we take a look at the world’s greatest detective in his twilight years long since retired but still troubled by one unsolved case. Sherlock Holmes…

Gabriel Ripstein’s 600 Miles is a straight shooter unconcerned with excess narrative baggage, clocking in at 85 minutes with a minimal gun trafficking plot that relies on talented actors and raw cinematography to place this project as a worthy debut feature for the Mexican filmmaker. Veteran Tim Roth brings a solid performance to the film,…

Before the National Lampoon lent their name to some terrible straight-to-video films they were ground-breaking. This comedy institution started as a spin-off magazine; graduated to books, radio and stage revues; and eventually yielded cult comedy films worthy of inclusion in Hollywood. Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story of the National Lampoon is a funny and…

“There will be no subtitles, dialogue, or voiceover” is our introduction to The Tribe, a surprisingly shocking film about a state boarding deaf-school in Kiev, with it’s own seedy underbelly of crime and Lord of the Flies type brutality. Director Miroslav Slaboshpitsky delves into the miserable and calmly observes the bleak, dog-eat-dog world that is…

  The gifted Thomas Salvador directs and stars in Vincent (2014), a French film that tells the story of a man named Vincent who develops extraordinary superpowers when he comes in contact with water. With his recently discovered ability, Vincent spends much of his time in the water, taking in the awe and wonder that comes with developing…

Kim Farrant’s Strangerland has a magical and mythical quality to it, making full use of the Australian outback with rich, rocky-red landscape shots that swallow the film’s characters in expansive, ambitious cinematography. But while visually impressive, Strangerland’s flaws lie in a commitment to ambiguity, presenting itself as one thing and then veering off into another…

Being an adult is hard. Relationships are hard. Making new friends is hard. Exercising and eating right is hard. Having big dreams is hard. But what we really want is the result. The thing at the end of all that hard work that makes it worthwhile. Sometimes getting to that point can be a little…

Every mention of Lily Tomlin is preceded by “the incomparable” because it’s a universal truth, but the famed American comedian has been a rare sight on the big screen in recent years, featuring primarily in supporting roles in TV series like Web Therapy and Malibu Country. Thankfully that drought is over, with not only her…

Station to Station isn’t so much a feature film as it is a travelling art experiment, the execution of a concept born years prior that is now travelling the globe. The film documents a train as it travelled from the Atlantic (we presume Union Station in NYC) to the Pacific (we presume Union Station in…

On the surface Last Cab To Darwin is not just a film about euthanasia, but a film about the people you meet on the greatest journey you take of all, living the one single life you have. A road movie that’s a drama with heart and emotion at its core and a cast of genuine…

Over 86 minutes, this chilling documentary details how a (very) small, quiet town in North Dakota slowly transformed into a breeding ground for hatred and paranoia over the course of a few months. It’s easy to watch Welcome to Leith as a highly effective thriller, forgetting that the events going down in the film actually…

Madame Bovary is a pleasant film but it’s an unnecessary adaption. The iconic novel by Gustave Flaubert has been adapted multiple times for film and television over the past few years. But what distinguishes this latest offering is that it is the first one to be directed by a female (Sophie Barthes (Cold Souls)). Here,…

The Daughter is the second Australian film screening at the Sydney Film Festival this year to be adapted from a play (or, more accurately in this case, “inspired by”) that originally appeared at the Belvoir St Theatre in Sydney – that being Simon Stone’s 2011 adaptation of Ibsen’s The Wild Duck (the other, Cowell’s Ruben…

Isabella Patterson’s arrival into the lives of a group of people in New York City brings about a chain reaction akin to a relationship shit-storm in Peter Bogdanovich’s new film, She’s Funny That Way, now showing as part of this year’s Sydney Film Festival. Originally written 15 years ago, it is now seeing the light…

For singer songwriter and musician Amy Winehouse the last couple of years of her life were fodder for tabloids and the entertainment news machine monster. You may not have been a fan of her music but you were familiar with her and her drug-fuelled antics. But sometimes what gets overlooked when her name is brought…

Slow West is the story of a young, wide-eyed Jay Cavendish (Kodi Smit-McPhee) who undertakes a journey to find his ‘true love’, Rose (Caren Pistorius). Silas Selleck (Michael Fassbender) soon enters the picture, vowing to help him survive his journey for a small fee. Unbeknownst to Jay, a bounty has been placed on the heads…

At the height of Entourage’s TV fame, the world was a different place. We hadn’t yet been exposed to the juggernaut that was to become the Kardashian’s reality TV popularity, and, if truth be told, we were still watching bloody The Hills for our reality TV fix. There were still remnants of Paris Hilton floating…

Note: This review contains some spoilers of the film and the original play. “How brave of you to stop drinking alcohol in this alcoholic country” – Zoya (Abbey Lee) With a penchant for young girls, alcohol and most of life’s vices (as well as a “me before you” attitude), Ruben Guthrie isn’t a particularly likeable guy….

This is not the first time Thomas Hardy’s Far From the Madding Crowd has been adapted, but it’s certainly the finest interpretation out there. The Victorian-era story is based around heroine Bathsheba Everdene (Carey Mulligan) and the fierce commitment she has to maintaining her own independence after inheriting a large farming estate from her uncle….

Aloha tells the story of skeptical military contractor, Brian Gilcrest’s (Bradley Cooper), who returns to Hawaii after losing himself to the “grey side” of the military. It is here he is given a fresh start with the military and is reunited with his ex girlfriend Tracy (Rachel McAdams) after 7 years of lost contact. With the company of…

Few films of recent years have had ingredients for wonder so specific as Birdman. Michael Keaton portraying a washed up, former comic book star trying to revitalise his career in an inventive script co-written and directed by the man who brought us Biutiful; the potential for amazement is through the roof and somehow, the film…