Film

Whilst it’s always best to go into films with zero expectations, plot synopses and narrative outlines at least provide an idea of what audiences can expect from a storytelling perspective – however loose the product itself wants to determine as such.  For New Strains, there was the idea of this being sold as a romantic…

In many ways, Killers of the Flower Moon is a celebration of everything we love about Martin Scorsese, whether it’s the flawed gangster charm of Goodfellas or the arresting psychological nuances of Taxi Driver. Though with a budget of between $200-250 million for this epic crime western, you cannot fault this film on being a…

The type of film surrounding a character we know we shouldn’t like, Jennifer Cram‘s Sick Girl manages to overcome its central figure’s questionable morals by never asking its audience to forgive her. The “sick girl” in question is Wren Pepper (Nina Dobrev, great), a slacker, party girl-type who’s never grown up in the same manner…

The act of (or is it the art of) lip-syncing is one that practically goes part and parcel within the realms of pop music.  Some artists do so because their studio vocals can’t possibly be emulated live.  Others rely on such due to demanding dance routines.  And then there are those that, well, can’t sing…

Hopefully a film that won’t just become infamous for its lack of being seen – after it previewed one single screening at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival it was withdrawn due to “rights issues” – The People’s Joker is a bold, bonkers debut feature from Vera Drew that reimagines the mythology of a slew…

Inspired by Hotel Coolgardie, Pete Gleeson’s shock 2016 documentary about two female Finnish backpackers and their work experience at a predominantly male-frequented pub, The Royal Hotel similarly shines a light on the the disturbing, toxic nature that can spawn from a small, isolated town that exploits Australia’s “drinking culture” mentality. An ironic title that will…

Flitting between two separate timelines as it details a forbidden, youthful romance and the remnants of such a memory, Olivier Peyon‘s tender Lie With Me is a poignant journey, laced with beauty and unavoidable crispness despite its emotionally messy mentality. In the present day, Stéphane Belcourt (Guillaume de Tonquédec) is a famous author who has…

The world premiere of Baz Luhrmann’s Faraway Downs, an inspiring epic adventure and reimagined extended version of his 2008 film Australia, will be presented by the celebrated filmmaker in person, on closing night of the inaugural SXSW Sydney Screen Festival on October 21st, 2023. The film, told in six chapters, will premiere all at once…

Adelaide Film Festival (AFF) announced today the 30 participants selected to take part in AFF EXPAND Lab 2023. This intensive five-day Lab brings together some of Australia’s most creative and inventive artists, filmmakers and XR and VR practitioners in a development and commissioning process to foster new ideas for moving image artworks. The national call for Expressions of…

Australians in Film (AiF), the Los Angeles based artist development organization, and their new presenting partner, Screen Australia, have just announced that they are adding two stand out conference sessions to the Festival line-up for SXSW Sydney 2023. Thursday 19th October: “A Spotlight on Blossom Films” Go inside the workings of Blossom Films with Australian screen…

  When the insertion of the number 4 in a film’s fourth outing as a substitute for the letter A is the smartest thing it’s able to execute, you know you aren’t in for the smoothest of operations. In a year where we’ve seen certain action sequels prove that there’s ample gas in the tank…

After a Black Friday riot ends in tragedy, a mysterious Thanksgiving-inspired killer terrorizes Plymouth, Massachusetts – the birthplace of the holiday. Picking off residents one by one, what begins as random revenge killings are soon revealed to be part of a larger, sinister holiday plan. Will the town uncover the killer and survive the holidays…or…

Given the big swings he took with his take on the Halloween series – the foul cries from fans were deafening at times – it stands to reason that writer/director David Gordon Green‘s tackling of such a classic genre piece as The Exorcist won’t be done by the books or to the liking of purists….

In 1970s Korea, when both art and dreams are censored, a film director dreams of a masterpiece. After delighting audiences at both this year’s Cannes Film Festival and Sydney Film Festival, Cobweb is spinning its way into Australian cinemas from October 5th (you can read our review here). To coincide with the release, Peter Gray…

50 years ago this December, the most terrifying horror film in history landed on screens, shocking audiences around the world. Now, a new chapter begins. From Blumhouse and director David Gordon Green, who shattered the status quo with their resurrection of the Halloween franchise, comes The Exorcist: Believer. Ahead of the film’s much discussed release…

Though it may be a little haphazardly put together, there’s still a heft of intrigue and amusing genre blending in Kim Jee-woon‘s Cobweb, a blurring of reality and fantasy that places the magic of celluloid at the centre. Set in the 1970s, the film builds itself around Kim (Song Kang-ho), a director who has failed…

Whilst it commits to the kill from an on-screen carnage perspective, Nahnatchka Kahn‘s Totally Killer has a bit more of a Disney Channel Original vibe going for it in terms of its heart and structure; and that’s in no way meant as a diss against what’s ultimately a very digestible, oft witty slasher. In 2023,…

The story of two generations of warring families in Sydney’s West, Suka is a violent love story…with a twist.  Brought together by fate, but pulled apart by family, this genre-bending romantic action film marks the feature debut of Australian filmmaker Heidi Lee Douglas. Ahead of the film’s release this week on DVD and Digital, Peter…

Between No Hard Feelings, Joy Ride, and Bottoms, female-fronted comedy has had an admirable run in 2023, managing to balance crude humour with a sense of earnestness.  The Re-Education of Molly Singer, sadly, doesn’t continue that trend. With a narrative hook that isn’t too displaced from the aforementioned No Hard Feelings, whilst also owing a…

Despite the fact that 2010’s 7th Saw entry was subtitled The Final Chapter, the little horror series that could has continued to soldier on with an additional 3 sequels, proving that positive financial returns will always take priority over creativity. Now, that’s not to say that The Final Chapter itself wasn’t somewhat creative – its…

Unless you’re a Spielberg or a Cameron, it seems increasingly difficult to launch an original, high-concept, sizeably budgeted film with major studio backing.  So, in that regard hats must go off to director Gareth Edwards for getting The Creator off the ground and into multiplexes; extra points for doing so with a film centred on…

You just can’t keep a good serial killer down, can you?!? The puppet master better known as Jigsaw has terrorised audiences – and on-screen body parts – for almost two decades now as part of the lucrative Saw film series, the little Aussie horror movie that could that birthed a billion dollar franchise. Despite the…

There was something darkly, deliciously special about the way writer/director Emma Seligman and actress Rachel Sennott announced themselves with 2020’s Shiva Baby.  A claustrophobic black comedy that indulged in a spiralling, horrific temperament, their collaboration set a certain precedent for the boundary-pushing, topical humour that’s furthered in Bottoms, a wild, oft-violent, sexually liberated high-school comedy…

With its ludicrous potential built right into its title, Slotherhouse nabs your attention immediately with its narrative hook.  A mammal as notoriously slow as a sloth surely can’t be fast enough to kill predatorial animals, let alone a house full of sorority girls, right?  It’s just so bombastically ridiculous that it could absolutely work as…

There’s something rather amusing about the fact that even though Liam Neeson has a vast career of playing everything from a Jedi master to historical figures, it’s the not-always-an-average-man-with-a-certain-set-of-skills archetype that he’s become synonymous with.  Ever since Taken proved that the then-56-year-old was a force to be reckoned with, the now 71-year-old has settled into…

The Brisbane International Film Festival (BIFF), presented by MINI, has announced its 2023 program with an incredible line-up of Queensland and Australian premiere features, with Taika Waititi’s Next Goal Wins, starring Michael Fassbender, serving as the Australian premiere and Closing Night event. BIFF’s program is further brimming with Queensland premieres from highly acclaimed and visionary…

Thanks to StudioCanal we have 5 double in-season passes (Admit 2) to see Saw X, the eye-popping new entry in the hit Saw franchise. John Kramer (Tobin Bell) is back. The most chilling instalment of the SAW franchise yet explores the untold chapter of Jigsaw’s most personal game. Set between the events of SAW I and II, a sick…

Though it isn’t based on a true story, Miles Joris-Peyrafitte‘s drama The Good Mother has an air of “real world” grit to it.  Of course, once the film commits to a certain narrative twist around the 1-hour mark it feels less organic, but its down-trodden location of Albany, New York, and the fact that its…

Two exciting new UK films have just been added to the Adelaide Film Festival Program for 2023, Poor Things and Saltburn. Poor Things is by director Yorgos Lanthimos (The Lobster, The Favorite), generating Oscar buzz after its premiere at Venice Film Festival this year. The Australian premiere is to be screened in Adelaide this October….

As a filmmaker Nimród Antal has effortlessly aligned himself within the action-thriller genre space.  Whether he’s terrorising Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale in the snuff-film horror Vacancy, or  exercising the limits of predator and prey in the science-fiction sequel Predators, the Hungarian director knows his way around a thrilling set-piece; something that came in handy…