X Men: Days of Future Past focuses heavily on the concept of time travel , and in a similar fashion to the penultimate season of Lost, approaches it with a sense of playful irreverence as we are given something much lighter than the previous X Men installment (First Class). Mystique plays a central role in…
In the privileged valleys of north-west California, the next generation are figuring their shit out. Based on James Franco’s linked short story collection of the same name, Palo Alto is the directorial debut of Gia Coppola. The premise will be familiar to anyone versed in the disaffected-slacker-coming-of-age genre: boys do stupid things, with pyrotechnics, alcohol and/or…
It’s Halloween, and the dance floor has been rolled out, the alcohol has been mixed and the candy bought: it’s time for Kevulie IX – Kevin (Christopher J Domig) and Julie’s (Lucy Walters) annual Halloween party. Their best friends, Jesse (Gregory Perri) and Jen (Amelia Martin), have been married for ten years and are on…
Instantly recognisable, the gigantic monster that is Godzilla has stalked remakes of the original Ishiro Honda classic for 60 years now, and while results have varied, the tale remains a classic. Gojira was originally conceived as a response to the tragedies which devastated Hiroshima, Negasaki, and Bikini Atoll, serving as a metaphor for the destruction…
There was a recent study which found that newborns often cry during the night because they’re trying to prevent their parents from reproducing again. This is the same sort of environment that the light comedy, Sex After Kids with tag line, “By any means necessary” comes from. This film explores sexuality and the social issues…
Woody Allen stars in this rather strange sex-fuelled love story, harking back to his prime with his classic awkwardness as he tries to navigate the fact that he is now actually a pimp. Yes, a pimp. A pimp who encourages his florist friend – playing by the brilliant John Turturro (who also directed and wrote…
Sure, some may find it easy to dismiss Bad Neighbours as just another comedy driven by Seth Rogen’s awkward humour – nothing we haven’t seen before. However, what really makes this film work – and possibly places it as one of the finest comedies of the past few years – is the on-screen chemistry Rogen…
This documentary is essential viewing for budding filmmakers and young creatives alike. A quiet, patient film by Gabe Klinger, it explores the friendship and work of filmmakers Richard Linklater and James Benning. Combining filmed discussions between the pair over a few days together in Texas and extensive archival footage, Double Play: James Benning and Richard…
British/Irish biopic Jimi: All Is By My Side tells the story of celebrated guitarist Jimi Hendrix, from humble beginnings jamming in the deserted Cheetah Club in New York City through to the development of the Jimi Hendrix Experience across Europe and his performance on 4 June 1967, at the Saville Theatre, London. The film is not your…
An offbeat philosophy class that posits class divisions as natural laws, Frequencies is a delightfully bizarre speculative romance that’s as big on ideas as it is small in scale. Undoubtedly the most unique love story you’ll see in cinemas this year, it plays somewhat like Shane Carruth directing Just My Luck – which turns out to be a winning…
Monty Python alum Terry Gilliam has always stood out for his eccentric and distinctive style of filmmaking; always full of imagination, his films take you on an unusual, yet mostly enjoyable journey. His latest effort, The Zero Theorem, is no exception. In dystopian London, where everyone dresses like Lady Gaga and you’re asked to worship…
The Next Black is a fashion documentary that doesn’t look at what’s in style now; nor does it examine what will be fashionable in a year’s time. Instead, it looks around the corner at what is coming next by interviewing the pioneers and innovators within the industry who are using technology and new ideas to…
Belle and Sebastian is a remake of the much-loved 1960s French TV series in which a six-year-old boy befriends a wild mountain dog on the pastoral slopes of the French Alps. Since this version incorporates an additional story of Jewish fugitives attempting to cross the border into neutral Switzerland, the film comes off like a…
It’s a film which has been mostly panned by critics, but Wally Pfister’s directorial debut, the Johnny Depp-fronted Transcendence doesn’t fail to at least keep engagement consistent until the very end. Although clunky at times, and full of half-excellent performances, the film finds it’s feet in cinematography, speaking highly for Pfister’s unquestionable talent. Though visuals…
Anyone who’s chuckled madly at the 4 minute animated slices of goodness that make-up Minuscule, will no doubt be welling with excitement at the thought of a full length feature delving into this charming insect world. French creators Hélène Giraud and Thomas Szabo have taken the plunge, writing and directing a film crammed with action…
In Victoria, the Healesville Wildlife Sanctuary has been conducting its Bird Rehabilitation Program at nearby Won Wron Correctional Centre for nearly two decades. One morning, whilst reading The Age, director Craig Monahan stumbled upon an article about the facility; it’s been ten long years since he read that article, and in that time, Healing has…
Raising a disobedient 7 year-old child while working shifts at a nursing home and maintaining what remains of your home after your husband is gone – killed in a car crash on the way to the hospital to deliver your unborn child – is pretty damn tough. This is what Amelia faces (Essie Davis) with…
If Jon Favreau’s film, Chef were a food it would be garlic. It’s a product adored by some, hated by others and is not rare. This light comedy with hints of drama does hit the mark, in some respects. But on other points it is a half-baked, lukewarm pie that will underwhelm fans of his…
On the surface, the promise of Daddy I’m a Zombie’s Tim Burton animation style and horror/comedy sensibilities is appealing. Given the rising popularity of animated films within the genre (such as Coraline and Paranorman), there was hope that this Spanish feature might solidly deliver the same type of visual enchantment. Unfortunately it’s unpolished production, puzzling…
The name, Belle brings to mind a beautiful, English rose. But Dido Elizabeth Belle, the real-life woman and beauty at the heart of Amma Asante’s second feature is a little more complicated than that. The illegitimate, mixed-race daughter of a Royal Navy Admiral is sent to live with her distant, aristocratic family at their estate,…
“And then man created time, and spent eternity trying to outrun it” From this opening piece of text set before a cascading cosmic landscape, it’s quite clear that Three Poems is no run of the mill short film. The debut effort from writer director Jake Houston Harris is exactly what it says it is- three…
As one of four Australian feature films at this year’s SXSW, The Infinite Man also had the pleasure of being one of the festival’s opening night presentations. The low budget film out of South Australia is the debut feature from Adelaide director Hugh Sullivan (watch our interview HERE), and in the spirit of films like…
Paul McCartney: Lives Kisses and BBC Electric Proms: Paul McCartney see the former Beatle performing songs, having fun and getting nostalgic. They also show two very different sides of Macca. The former sees him taking a leaf out of his parents’ songbook and doing covers of the easy-listening tunes that featured on his Kisses On…
Grassroots is the ‘most of this is true’ story of Grant Cogswell’s politically inexperienced and rather kooky attempt to run for Seattle City Council in 2001. Based off the novel Zioncheck for President written by his level headed buddy and campaign manager Phil Campbell, focus is cast on the lively political power struggle between the…
When people think of John, Paul, George and Ringo, a name that doesn’t immediately spring to mind is Freda Kelly. But this humble, Liverpudlian woman was the group’s secretary; manager, Brian Epstein’s assistant; and the head of their fan club for 11 years. Good Ol’ Freda is a quaint little documentary about an inspiring woman…
When audiences flocked to watch the Johnny Cash biopic, Walk The Line, they did not learn much about his one-time manager, Saul Holiff and they probably didn’t mind. But the pair had a troublesome relationship which started off with the two arguing and becoming enemies (and their association ended in a similar fashion) plus they…
Give a good-hearted frat boy a bunch of super powers and you have Andrew Garfield’s Peter Parker/Spider-Man. The characterisation of the timeless superhero as an off-the-wall, overconfident, but overall decent young man is in stark contrast to the awkward, mild-mannered Peter Parker we saw from Tobey Maguire and automatically puts this current franchise ahead of…
The film, Chinese Puzzle (Casse-tête chinois) could be re-named “Xavier’s Travels” or “It’s Complicated”. The French film and final instalment in director and writer, Cédric Klapisch’s trilogy puts middle-aged life and all of its vagaries and difficulties under the microscope. In some ways the John Lennon quote, “Life is what happens to you while you’re…
Ralph Fiennes takes the director’s helm a second time and reinforces his versatility portraying infamous writer Charles Dickens, in Abi Morgan’s beautifully scripted tale The Invisible Woman, an account of Dickens secret affair with young Ellen Turnen, a woman whose existence nearly faded from the pages of history. Period pieces have a misconception as appealing…
The Muppets are returning to the big screen with Muppets: Most Wanted, a sequel to 2011’s critical and box office smash The Muppets, or, as it’s humorously put in the film’s brilliantly meta opening number – the seventh sequel since their original film in 1979. But who’s counting, right? The film stars the Muppet gang…
