Film

A portmanteau of June and nineteenth, Juneteenth is an American-specific holiday predominantly observed by African Americans celebrating the emancipation of those who had been enslaved in the United States.  The importance of this day serves as the backbone for Channing Godfrey Peoples‘ Miss Juneteenth, though it never hits as hard as one might expect, offering…

There’s a certain unique devotion that the sci-fi genre attracts that sets it apart from other thematic classifications within the realms of cinema.  And given just how much effort Invasion Planet Earth managed in order to be finished and released – 20 years of production, seven crowdfunding campaigns, and hours of pro-bono work from filmmaker…

With so much talent involved it’s a real shame that Dirt Music is unable to chart above underwhelming mediocrity, framing its narrative around a far more interesting back-story that is only sporadically hinted at. Based on the best-selling novel by Australian scribe Tim Winton, and adapted for the screen by Jack Thorne (Enola Holmes, TV’s…

Writer/director Suzanne Lindon stars as Suzanne, a 16-year old student who is starting to feel a sense of ennui as she trudges through her daily routine of high school adolescence. Her mingling with her friends is becoming tedious and boring – evident in an amusingly awkward party sequence – and her outside life feels constrained…

Queer cinema has come through quite well over these past few years. We have had great examples like Call Me By Your Name, Love, Simon and Moonlight; foreign entries like BPM (Beats Per Minute), the Oscar-winning A Fantastic Woman and BAFTA-winning The Handmaiden and hidden indie gems like Princess Cyd, Beach Rats and God’s Own Country. All of these films have had critical acclaim and they…

Trigger warning: Sexual abuse One of the reasons why cinema is so well received is that it can figuratively transport you into another world. In addition to that, it can be a way of wish fulfilment. Who wouldn’t want to be a kick-ass hero? Who would not want to be in a fairy tale romance?…

Trigger warning: Sexual abuse and some coarse language Before we start off this review, let’s point out the elephant in the room. The film was co-written by Max Landis, who is now known for the various accusations of emotional and sexual abuse from eight separate women. Since then, lead actress Chloe Grace Moretz has said…

Given how authentic this “based on real events” tale proves to be, it’s safe to assume that writer/director/actor Matthew Fifer is baring a healthy portion of his soul and experiences in Cicada.  Likely to ring true with queer audiences – especially gay men – the film tackles uncomfortable subjects and presents promiscuous sex in an…

In 2020, a movie detailing the drag scene and the straight Texan mother who comes to embrace it following the death of her queer son should be something worth remembering.  Even more so when said mother is portrayed by a seasoned performer like Jacki Weaver.  Sadly, as well-intentioned as Stage Mother is, it’s a forgettable…

Whenever one thinks of animation studios, the main ones one would think of would be either Disney and Pixar from the West and Studio Ghibli overseas. Then on the lesser known side, there would be studios like Laika and Aardman studios. But there is one that is even more obscure and that is called the…

The filmography of playwright/director Kornel Mundruczo is quite interesting from a first glimpse. The standout feature is the fact that his works are usually political parables disguised as genre fare. His last two films White God and Jupiter’s Moon delved into the horror/sci-fi genre but were more about the examination of the inner workings of…

Penguin Bloom follows the story of the Bloom family, a happy and adventurous troupe who are led on many treks by the outgoing matriarch Sam (Naomi Watts). All appears well as they are holidaying in Thailand until a once-in-a-lifetime accident occurs; leaving Sam paralysed and confined to a wheelchair.  Seen as a shadow of her former…

  News coming out of the House of Mouse has been coming pretty thick and fast as we near closer and closer to the end of the year. So we’re going to distil down some of the key things to keep a lookout for as we edge closer to 2021. We’ve picked out a handful…

Whilst Yuval Adler‘s The Secrets We Keep has quite a nasty temperament, it’s a testament to his and Ryan Covington‘s script that it never overindulges in its wince-worthy material. Set in a post-WWII America where the horrors of Nazi camps and prisoner brutality are a distant though still painful memory, Maja (Noomi Rapace), a Romani…

Rachel Sennott stars as Danielle, a young bisexual Jewish woman, traipsing through life going through a phase of self-defeat as she essentially performs sex work for money; all under the guise of sexual empowerment excused by her gender studies degree. The mindset of Danielle is set up in a succinctly and hilariously tired fashion as she has sex with her…

Prior to COVID-19 taking a hold of the industry in a capacity the world was unprepared for, Trolls World Tour was primed for a first quarter release – hell, Sydney was even planning a premiere with director Walt Dohrn and star Anna Kendrick in attendance – ready to capitalise on the somewhat-unexpected success of the…

There are genre conventions that we see all the time in film that whenever they show up, we cannot help but smile at the sight of it. One of them is seeing the hero succeed in their journey; another is seeing the protagonist triumph over oppression and adversity and another is seeing a zombie getting…

When news of the latest project by writer/director Marie-Castille Mention-Scharr was announced, this reviewer was intrigued yet quite trepidacious [sic]. The premise of the story itself is inspiring but the casting of the titular role can be seen as quite problematic. The major reason for being is because of the lack of proper representation for…

In America 1964, the audience is introduced with its four main players. Renowned boxer Cassius Clay (Eli Goree) had just defeated Sonny Liston to become heavyweight champion of the world; Muslim minister and human rights activist Malcolm X (Kingsley Ben-Adir) is still fighting for the cause for Black people; pop musician Sam Cooke (Leslie Odom…

Jessica Barden stars as Ruth Avery, a high school student who lives in Jackson, Ohio with her older brother Blaze (Gus Halper). She is intelligent and resilient but due to her living conditions, she is looked down upon by people at school to the point that she has to resort to stealing books (i.e. Madame…

  As the trailer for Christopher Landon‘s body-swap horror-comedy Freaky premieres across the globe, The AU Review’s Peter Gray was fortunate enough to chat with the director, touching on the casting of Vince Vaughn and Kathryn Newton, his love of the horror genre, and if we can expect a third Happy Death Day. After seeing…

“We’re back to, as Elvis liked to say, ‘taking care of business’”. And with that statement, Oscar-nominated director Baz Luhrmann once again controls the reins of Elvis, a musical drama detailing the life and music of the iconic Elvis Presley. After an unexpected delay in filming due to the unprecedented world events, cameras will roll…

This year’s annual Queer Screen Film Festival, the little sister to February’s Mardi Gras Film Festival, will be held entirely online, allowing for anyone across the country to join the celebration. Running across 11 days from Thursday 17 September to Sunday 27 September, this year’s program features over 40 feature films, documentaries and shorts. With…

As someone who was a kid when the first two Bill & Ted films were released (Excellent Adventure in 1989, Bogus Journey in 1991), and watched them on a regular basis throughout my childhood, I’m very much in the target demographic for the unexpected sequel that is Bill & Ted Face the Music.  As 1980’s-leaning…

Zoey Deutch is a star, and as her infectious enthusiasm and penchant for live-wire-fuelled comedy proves in Buffaloed, the world is simply waiting to catch up to her.  In the same manner as someone like Anna Kendrick, Deutch does so much with so little, going-for-broke with a fearlessness that often elevates both the material she’s…

The New Mutants was going to be Fox’s attempt at re-invigorating the X-Men franchise, or at least, it probably was before it got bogged in production issues and a merger with Disney. The film, now released some two years later, gets dropped into cinemas whilst a pandemic is happening, which is probably a metaphor for…

There’s been a bit of radio silence on the 007 front ever since No Time To Die was one of the first major studio releases to react to the coronavirus pandemic and shifted its original April release to November 2020.  Now that the film’s local November 12th date seems locked and loaded, the promotional trail…

Given that the character of Hua Mulan has long been one depicted in poetry, novels, and film for almost as long as she has been a Chinese folklore figure, it’s wiser to view Mulan as another variation of her story, rather than a direct remake of Disney’s 1998 animated favourite. Whereas recent Disney live-action overhauls…

We’re twenty minutes into Hu Guan‘s epic The Eight Hundred before the credits cease on screen.  Then the film informs us that we are on Day 1 of what is to be a four-day siege – not to mention a further 2 hours in its running time. The titular Eight Hundred refers to the 400…

Welcome to “the new normal”! United Cinemas at Sydney’s Circular Quay hosted Australia’s first socially distance Red Carpet movie premiere with the screening of Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster TENET. Imogen Anthony walked the Red Carpet with local celebrities from Married At First Sight, Love Island and The Bachelor. Nathan Atkins was there to capture the guests.