Film

Film Review: The Happytime Murders (USA, 2018) could spark your interest if vulgar and unkempt comedy is your thing

Before Melissa McCarthy’s involvement essentially fast-tracked The Happytime Murders into production, the dark comedy had languished in development limbo for the good part of decade with both Cameron Diaz and Katherine Heigl attached at various moments as potential headliners.  With the final product now upon us, McCarthy’s penchant for vanity-free comedy feels like the most…

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Take your first look at Liu Yifei in the live-action adaptation of Disney’s Mulan

Production has officially begun on Disney’s live-action adaptation of the 1998 animated classic coming of age story, Mulan. This marks yet another live-action adaptation for Disney, which found massive success in the recently adapted Beauty and the Beast. The film will shoot in various locations in New Zealand and China and will open in cinemas…

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Red Carpet Photo Gallery: Aussie NRL/AFL Film Chasing Comets‘ Sydney Premiere

Aussie Chasing Comets stars Dan Ewing, Stan Walker, Rhys Muldoon, Beau Ryan, Kat Hoyos and George Houvardas and Producer/Writer, Jason Stevens walked the red carpet of the the former NRL star’s highly-anticipated NRL/AFL comedy drama, which is in cinemas now. Nathan Atkins hit the premiere and brought us back these photos:

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Film Review: Book Club (USA, 2018) is 50 Shades of Disappointment

You can imagine the meeting. “We need a film for the grey-dollar à la Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.” “How about a story involving a book club? Older women like those.” “Sure, but let’s make it into a rom-com.” “We need to include sex because that sells.” “But they might be a bit old for Sex…

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Interview: KIN‘s Aussie directors Jonathan & Josh Baker talk about working with Mogwai and paying homage to James Cameron

In cinemas next week, the new film KIN will hit cinemas in Australia and the USA; continuing the trend of underdog sci-fi that has returned to popularity thanks to Stranger Things (the producers of which also produced this project). The film is the debut feature from NYC-based Aussie directors Jonathan and Josh Baker, whose short film…

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Win a copy of original Netflix series Narcos Season 3 on DVD

After two seasons chasing the notorious Cali Cartel leader Pablo Escobar the DEA finally caught up with him. The rules have changed and now they’re after his successors. With Escobar out of the way business is booming for the cartel, on their way to becoming the biggest cocaine trafficker in history. Follow Agent Pena’s (Pedro…

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Five things we learned about Breath from its Blu-Ray Release

The coming-of-age story, Breath is based on the acclaimed, Tim Winton novel of the same name. It is about two adolescent boys named Pikelet and Loonie who learn to surf thanks to a chance meeting with a former professional named Sando (Simon Baker). The film has just been released on Blu-ray and features several hours…

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DVD Review: Why Australia needs more shows like Mystery Road

The secret’s out about the excellent drama/thriller series, Mystery Road. It’s actually a gripping, Australian detective story that sees the character, Jay Swan reprised from Ivan Sen’s films, Mystery Road and Goldstone. This time around the crime takes place in the small outback town of Patterson where the locals are elusive and tight-lipped about what…

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MIFF Review: Mandy (USA, 2018) stars Nicolas Cage on a rage-filled revenge quest

Mandy is a crazy two-hour LSD trip led by a totally unhinged Nicolas Cage performance. The film follows Red (Cage) and Mandy (Andrea Riseborough) who live a peaceful life in the Pacific Northwest, that is until a religious cult barge in and rob Red of the love of his life, sending the man on a…

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Film Review: The Darkest Minds (USA, 2018) is not a dark enough YA Dystopia

6 years after The Hunger Games lead the charge of YA dystopia book to film adaptations, a new contender has appeared in an attempt to revive the genre. Adapted from the Alexandra Brooks’ series of the same name, The Darkest Minds combines young adult fiction dystopia with superpowers. When a disease wipes out 90% of…

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Film Review: BlacKkKlansman (USA, 2018) – Spike Lee channels frustration for one of his finest films to date

Spike Lee is quite clearly fired up as he scatters sharp, defiant dialogue all through BlacKKKlansman, his first feature film since 2015’s good-but-uneven Chi-Raq and without a doubt one of his best works to date. That is no overstatement either, with Lee directing a big middle finger to the racism both explicit and implicit, by…

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Film Review: The Meg (USA, 2018) is your expected dose of “Shark Versus Statham”

You don’t really need to know much about The Meg aside from that it is entertaining enough to justify it’s spot on the box office. That’s the most we could ask from a movie about a gigantic prehistoric shark unwittingly released from the depths of the ocean by hapless scientists who are stationed over the…

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Win a double pass to see sci-fi crime thriller Kin in cinemas

From the producers of Stranger Things, and Arrival comes Kin a gripping crime thriller with a sci-fi twist. Chased by a vengeful criminal and a gang of otherworldly soldiers,​ a recently released ex-con and his adopted teenage brother are forced to go on the run after finding a futuristic super-weapon of mysterious origin as their only…

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Film Review: Superfly (USA, 2018) is an entertaining, overindulgent mess

Director X has already built a reputation for his stylish and inventive music videos, churned out over two decades with an impressive portfolio that overflows with mega-successful acts like Drake and Justin Bieber as well as beloved hip hop titans like Ice Cube and JAY-Z. It was only a matter of time before he crossed…

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Win a double pass to see Book Club starring Diane Keaton and Jane Fonda in cinemas

The feel-good film Book Club stars Diane Keaton as Diane, recently widowed after 40 years of marriage, Jane Fonda as Vivian, who enjoys her men with no strings attached, Candice Bergen as Sharon, who’s been working through a decades long divorce, and Mary Steenburgen as Carol, whose marriage has hit a bit of a slump…

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Star-studded cast adorns Disney’s The Nutcracker And The Four Realms trailer

As we edge ever closer to the end of the year, the Christmas film releases are starting to come to the fore, and The Nutcracker And The Four Realm is leading the pack. Today, Disney has dropped its first full trailer for the star-studded release. The impressive cast includes Mackenzie Foy, Keira Knightley, Morgan Freeman, Helen…

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Blu-Ray Review: I Feel Pretty (USA, 2018) is light on substance, but with the best of intentions

The average woman is said to criticise herself around eight times each day. It is in this headspace and society that a rom-com like I Feel Pretty exists. The film had the best of intentions and tries to tackle some complex topics like how hard we women can be on ourselves and the feelings of…

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Film Review: The Spy Who Dumped Me (USA, 2018) is wholly committed to not taking itself too seriously

Whilst no one is going to go out of their way to suggest The Spy Who Dumped Me is here to reinvent the wheel in its chosen hybrid genres, Susanna Fogel’s kinetic spy caper does a bloody good job at delivering on its advertised packaging.  An action-comedy that proves both consistently amusing and alarmingly crazed…

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Win a copy of Bent, starring Sofia Vergara and Karl Urban, on Blu-Ray

Based on JP O’Donnell’s ‘Gallagher’ novels, and directed by Bobby Moresco the action-packed crime thriller Bent was recently released on DVD and Blu-ray. Here’s a bit more about the film: Upon his release from prison, disgraced former detective Danny Gallagher (Karl Urban) makes a plan to seek revenge for a drug bust that went horribly…

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Film Review: On Chesil Beach (UK, 2018) is a deep & measured look at misunderstandings in life & love

On Chesil Beach may be a boy-meets-girl story but this one doesn’t play as you would typically expect. The film is an adaption of an Ian McEwan novella and is a heart-wrenching, domestic drama. Set in 1962 in the period between the lifting of the ban on Lady Chatterley’s Lover and the release of The…

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Hugo Weaving to star in a contemporary big screen take on Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure

Screen Australia has announced that celebrated Australian actor Hugo Weaving (Lord of the Rings, The Matrix) will star in M4M, a contemporary take on Shakespeare’s play Measure for Measure. Set within Melbourne’s commission flats, M4M tells the unlikely love story of a Muslim woman Jaiwara and a local loner musician Claudio. While their relationship develops, local…

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Virgin Australia to offer 64kg baggage allowance for filmmakers through SPA partnership

Screen Producers Australia (SPA) has announced they are now partnering with airline Virgin Australia in order to create a new offers and opportunities for Associate Members, now allowing a whopping 64kg of checked baggage per member, when traveling domestically within Australia. This partnership hopes to address the ongoing issues that crew members and productions alike…

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MIFF Review: You Were Never Really Here (USA, 2018) is a gripping psychological thriller led by a captivating Joaquin Phoenix

You Were Never Really Here is a gripping psychological thriller, and a dark and disturbing character study with Joaquin Phoenix putting in a thrilling lead performance. The film follows Joe (Phoenix), a veteran living with PTSD, who spends his time finding and rescuing missing girls. On this job, however, he stumbles into a larger conspiracy…

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Film Review: Summer 1993 (Spain, 2017) is an illuminating and nuanced look at the mindset of a child in mourning

It is perfectly reasonable to believe that the majority of the world sees cinema as a temporary reprieve of the burdens of the outside world. We all see enjoyably bombastic things that would never occur in real-life like dragons, magic, aliens, sea creatures; features that are proven to provide examples of powerful cinema. But on…

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Film Review: Knock (France, 2017) fails to embrace the dark satirical properties of its source material

Based on the oft-adapted French satire Knock by writer and poet Jules Romains, this name-same feature fails to embrace the dark satirical properties of its source material and instead plays out all too predictably and implausible. At the centre of the film is a suitably charismatic turn from the reliable Omar Sy, and had Knock…

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Film Review: Mission: Impossible – Fallout (USA, 2018) toys with the expected and presents itself as a fresh product

Up to this point each Mission: Impossible film has operated on their own mechanisms.  The 1996 Brian De Palma-directed original felt like an organic extension of the 1960’s television series it drew its inspiration from; the 2000-released sequel was an orgy of unsubtle combat buoyed by the favoured-slow motion of Hong Kong filmmaker Jon Woo;…

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Film Review: Funny Cow (UK, 2018) sees Maxine Peake delivers heart and humour

I’m going to throw out a hot take – It’s tough to be a woman in comedy these days. Late night talk shows and weekly round ups are still dominated by male comics, you try to put out a new-take on an old concept with an all-female cast and unearth the wrath of legions of…

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Film Review: Whitney (UK/USA, 2018) is a bittersweet love letter celebrating the enigmatic star’s rise & tragic downfall

Whitney may not be the most necessary film but it’s certainly an entertaining one. This documentary comes hot on the heels of Whitney: Can I Be Me, but where this latest offering differs is in its unprecedented access to Whitney Houston’s family and friends. The result is an intimate and bittersweet portrait of her meteoric…

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Film Review: Her Sound, Her Story (Australia, 2018) is an eye-opening look at women in Australian music

In the nineties, The Go-Betweens’ Lindy Morrison made the documentary, Australian Women In Rock & Pop Music- Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves. Fast forward to 2018 and the film Her Sound, Her Story documents many of the same issues that are still relevant. Gender disparity in the music industry is a pervasive issue with…

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