For Pene Pati, opera has never just been about perfect notes or standing ovations. Despite becoming one of the world’s most celebrated tenors and earning comparisons to Luciano Pavarotti, the Samoan-born New Zealander remains driven by something far more personal: family, community and the hope that his journey might inspire someone else to believe their…
Opera has long been associated with grandeur, but Tenor: My Name Is Pati reminds us that every soaring performance begins somewhere far more intimate. Charting the remarkable journey of Samoan-born New Zealand brothers Pene and Amitai Pati – from singing in church as children in South Auckland to commanding some of Europe’s most prestigious opera…
Some documentaries introduce remarkable people. Others reveal why they became remarkable in the first place. Rebecca Tansley‘s Tenor: My Name Is Pati manages both, crafting a deeply moving portrait of internationally acclaimed Samoan tenor Pene Pati that celebrates not just an extraordinary voice, but the family, culture and unwavering sense of service that continue to…
As global politics becomes increasingly shaped by disinformation, media manipulation and the battle to control public narratives, Olivier Assayas‘ latest film, The Wizard of the Kremlin, arrives with unsettling relevance. Adapted from Giuliano da Empoli’s bestselling novel, the political drama charts the rise of Vladimir Putin through the eyes of the enigmatic strategist who helps…
Based on Josh Malerman’s acclaimed novel “Incidents Around the House,” Other Mommy is the latest collaboration between horror powerhouse James Wan and director Rob Savage follows young Bela, whose seemingly ordinary family life is disrupted by a sinister entity that looks exactly like her mother. Starring Jessica Chastain in a remarkable dual role, the film…
The Toronto International Film Festival has officially kicked its 2026 line-up into high gear, unveiling its Gala and Special Presentations slate – and if the opening announcement hinted at an awards-heavy year, this latest wave confirms TIFF is once again pulling together one of the year’s most exciting collections of international cinema. Following the previously…
After debuting exclusively for CinemaCon audiences earlier this year, the trailer for Avengers: Doomsday is now available for everyone, delivering an epic first look at the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s most ambitious crossover since Avengers: Endgame. Years of multiverse storytelling are set to collide as heroes from across the MCU unite against a terrifying new threat:…
Andy Serkis has spent much of his career exploring what power does to those who wield it. From Gollum’s all-consuming obsession in The Lord of the Rings to Caesar’s reluctant leadership in Planet of the Apes, his work has repeatedly examined the fine line between idealism and tyranny. Now, the acclaimed filmmaker turns his attention…
Gal Gadot swaps superheroes for a desperate fight to save her son in the first trailer for The Runner, an upcoming psychological thriller that transforms a routine morning jog into a relentless race against time. Directed as a high-stakes survival story, The Runner follows Maia Marten (Gadot), a successful London lawyer whose carefully controlled life…
The 2026 Toronto International Film Festival has expanded its Special Presentations line-up, unveiling another five films set to screen as part of this year’s festival. The latest additions continue TIFF’s tradition of showcasing some of the year’s most anticipated premieres, with new works from acclaimed filmmakers Rachel Morrison, Bassam Tariq, Benjamín Naishtat, Ben Shirinian, and…
For all the technological leaps cinema has made over the last century, Christopher Nolan continues to prove that nothing rivals the tangible. The weight of real bodies. The unpredictability of crashing waves. The texture of weathered stone. The immensity of landscapes that actually exist. The Odyssey is perhaps the purest expression yet of Nolan’s filmmaking…
After years of scaling buildings, hanging off aircraft and pushing the limits of practical stunt work, Tom Cruise looks set to remind audiences why he remains one of Hollywood’s finest character actors in Digger, the latest film from Academy Award-winning filmmaker Alejandro G. Iñárritu. Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures have unveiled the first look…
Christopher Nolan‘s mind-bending thriller Memento is set to receive a unique new interpretation this August, with King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard drummer Michael “Cavs” Cavanagh performing an entirely original live score to accompany the film in Sydney. Taking place for one night only at City Recital Hall on Saturday, August 29th, the latest instalment…
Ten years after audiences first sailed beyond the reef with Moana, Lin-Manuel Miranda has returned to one of the defining works of his career – not because the songs needed rewriting, but because the story deserved to be experienced in an entirely new way. The Pulitzer Prize, Tony, Emmy and Grammy-winning songwriter, who penned the…
Few modern Disney films have resonated with audiences quite like Moana. Nearly a decade after the animated original became a global phenomenon, the beloved adventure returns to cinemas in an expansive live-action adaptation that honours its roots while charting a course of its own. Directed by Emmy and Tony Award winner Thomas Kail (Hamilton), Disney’s…
The Melbourne International Film Festival has unveiled its full 2026 program, with more than 300 screen works set to play across cinemas, special events, XR experiences, regional Victoria and MIFF Online. Running from August 6th to 23rd, with MIFF Online available nationally from August 14th – 30th, the 74th edition of the festival will open…
Across Booksmart, Don’t Worry Darling and now The Invite, Olivia Wilde has shown an unmistakable fascination with characters reaching a point of rupture. Her films may differ wildly in tone and genre, but they all orbit a similar question: what happens when people begin to challenge the life they have accepted as normal? With The…
A dinner party where everyone decides to be honest. Is there anything more dangerous? That deceptively simple premise powers The Invite, Olivia Wilde‘s sharply observed adaptation of Cesc Gay’s The People Upstairs, and what initially resembles an awkward comedy of manners gradually evolves into something richer, sadder and surprisingly profound. Restricting itself almost entirely to…
Saccharine arrives with one of the strongest horror premises of the year. In an era where Ozempic, body positivity, calorie counting and algorithm-fuelled beauty standards dominate everyday conversation, a ghost story built around weight-loss pills made from human ashes feels both deliciously grotesque and eerily timely. It’s exactly the sort of concept that seems tailor-made…
For more than four decades, the Evil Dead franchise has survived by refusing to stand still. Every new filmmaker handed the Book of the Dead has found a different way to unleash hell, from Sam Raimi’s manic inventiveness to Fede Álvarez’s unrelenting brutality and Lee Cronin’s apartment-block nightmare. With Evil Dead Burn, French filmmaker Sébastien…
Disney’s live-action Moana arrives with the kind of built-in affection most remakes would envy. The 2016 animated original was vibrant, heartfelt and visually intoxicating, a film that made every drop of water and grain of sand feel alive. It was familiar in structure, yes, but it owned its optimism with such sincerity that its message…
The road to the Toronto International Film Festival has officially begun, with the first three films unveiled for TIFF’s 51st edition and Academy Award-winning filmmaker Siân Heder set to open this year’s celebration of cinema. Heder’s Being Heumann, based on the life of pioneering disability rights activist Judy Heumann and starring Ruth Madeley, has been…
Thanks to Shudder and NIXCo, we have 5 Blu-ray copies of The Mortuary Assistant, the new horror film from the producers of Terrifier, based on the best-selling video game, to giveaway for our devoted (and physical media-friendly) readers. Newly certified mortician Rebecca Owens is hired to embalm the dead at River Fields Mortuary, working under…
For more than four decades, the Evil Dead franchise has revelled in pushing the boundaries of horror, blending relentless gore, pitch-black humour and unforgettable Deadite mayhem. But with Evil Dead Burn, director Sébastien Vaniček adds another layer to the carnage, grounding its blood-soaked terror in the raw emotions of a family already splintered by grief…
There are countless documentaries that ask audiences to feel outrage. Acropolis Cats & Other Wondrous Animals, the latest film from award-winning Australian documentarian Mary Zournazi, instead asks something far more radical: that we choose tenderness. Beginning among the stray cats of Athens before expanding across Greece, Australia and beyond, the film explores the fragile bond…
Horror has long explored the monsters lurking in the shadows, but Lockbox is far more interested in the fears that live inside us. Beginning as a quiet meditation on grief before gradually unfolding into something far more unsettling, the film follows Ellen (Carla Gugino) as she retreats to a rural town after the death of…
You can’t help but see how fitting the notion of a proud homemade production is when it comes to Hamilton House. A film about struggling artists desperately trying to create something extraordinary from almost nothing mirrors the circumstances of its own creation, writer-director Jordan Rowe never shies away from that parallel. Rather than disguising its…
Thanks to Sony Pictures Australia, we have 5 double in-season passes (Admit 2) to see the scorching horror sequel Evil Dead Burn, only in Australian cinemas from July 9th, 2026. Evil Dead Burn unleashes the franchise’s most savage and terrifying ride to date, blazing onto big screens with an all-new chapter of carnage and demonic…
The full program has been unveiled for the 2026 edition of Regionality Sunshine Coast, with Academy Award-winning filmmaker Chai Vasarhelyi set to headline the one-day documentary and factual industry event. Presented by AIDC and Screen Queensland, with the support of Sunshine Coast Council and in association with the Sunshine Coast Screen Collective, the event returns…
For more than two decades, Australian producer, writer and director Jeff Purser has worked across both commercial hits and critically acclaimed cinema, helping bring stories as varied as Fat Pizza and Cedar Boys to the screen. With a career spanning film, television and streaming, Purser has seen the industry evolve through changing technologies, audience habits…
