With such documentary series as Cheer and America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders (both on Netflix) in the last few years reflecting a far more competitive mentality to the sport of cheerleading, a movie like Backspot feels like its release is suitably timed to capitalise on the fact that this is a sport far removed from…
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Even though something like The Problem with People is a film that very much plays by a certain rulebook, you can’t help but still feel the charm of Chris Cottam‘s dramedy across its breezy 100 minutes. Co-written by Paul Reiser, the Mad About You alum layers a certain American view to the Irish countryside that…
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Hopefully a film that won’t just become infamous for its lack of being seen – after it previewed one single screening at 2022’s Toronto International Film Festival it was withdrawn due to “rights issues” – The People’s Joker is a bold, bonkers debut feature from Vera Drew that reimagines the mythology of a slew of…
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In the same way that it was quite the baffling result that 2019’s Joker “laughed” its way to a billion dollar haul at the box office, Joker: Folie à Deux and all its “Fuck you” energy to WB fandom and mainstream appeal is a strikingly anti-audience effort that deserves praise for being so bold with its…
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Thanks to polished cinematography, bloody, brutal violence, and another fierce performance from Samara Weaving that furthers her chokehold on horror at large, Azrael transcends any tropes it may flirt with and forges through as a strong example within the post-apocalyptic subsect of the genre. A visceral survivalist actioner with biblical undertones, the Azrael of the title…
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Operating as a double entendre for both the literal titular roadside placement and the relationships within Jason Buxton‘s tense drama, Sharp Corner lays focus on the vehicular and emotional torture put forth by a series of fatal crashes that take place on a suburban front lawn that kisses the edge of a tight curvature on…
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When it comes to depicting real-life violence on screen, Australian director Justin Kurzel has an enviable history of such. His 2011 debut, Snowtown, was a harrowing re-enactment of the South Australian body-in-a-barrel murders that plagued the 90s for close to a decade. In 2021 he represented the 1996 Port Arthur Massacre through the psychologically taxing…
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Between such culture-defining videos as “The Boy Is Mine” by Brandy and Monica, Eminem and Rihanna’s “Love the Way You Lie”, Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood”, and, arguably, the piste de résistance that is “Toxic” by Britney Spears, Joseph Kahn has solidified himself as a music video director that transcends mere lyrical inspiration. As a film…
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Though there is a high-concept present in the narrative forming of My Old Ass – shroom induced time travel could be the easiest elevator pitch summary (so, a high-concept if ever there was one) – Megan Park‘s deliriously sweet, always charming, oft-hilarious venture is, at its core, an uncomplicated affair that simply wants to make…
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A vision wholly unrealised is the biggest downfall against Hold Your Breath. With its gothic horror temperament, dustbowl 1930s Oklahoma landscape and an emotionally anchored performance from Sarah Paulson at its core, Karrie Crouse and Will Joines‘ isolating, atmospheric thriller has the potential, but unfortunately not the power needed to convey its core themes. The…
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So often across cinematic history has it been proven that fact is stranger than fiction, and in the case of Ron Howard‘s Eden, the crazier humanity proves themselves to be, the more seeped in reality their stories are. And it’s what makes Eden – arguably Howard’s most exciting project in over a decade – all…
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Towards the end of the new Australian musical The Deb there’s an uplifting song-and-dance sequence to a ditty titled “Pretty Strong”, and that’s an acceptable enough term to describe Rebel Wilson‘s directorial debut. The comedienne makes for a serviceable presence behind the camera as she injects an infectiousness and often-home-grown-specific humour into the proceedings of…
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Following its premiere at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Jury Prize and its female ensemble (Zoe Saldaña, Karla Sofía Gascón and Selena Gomez) won the Best Actress award, there was considerable hype surrounding the TIFF presence of Emilia Pérez, a Spanish-language, crime thriller-cum-musical that was recently crowned the runner-up in the…
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Whether you loved him or hated him as part of Take That or on his own accord as a brash soloist, Robbie Williams, particularly in the 1990s, was a figure you couldn’t escape. Similar to the cultural impact of Geri Halliwell exiting the Spice Girls or Zayn Malik bidding adieu to One Direction, Williams’ exit…
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As much as Halina Reijn‘s Babygirl is an erotic thriller about the power play dynamic of a high-strung female CEO and the young, confident intern who infiltrates her deepest sexual desires, the Bodies, Bodies, Bodies filmmaker ultimately has created a film about the power of communication. Communication in its most carnal form is what draws…
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Described as his most personal work yet, Luca Guadagnino‘s Queer is an adaptation of William S. Burrough‘s 1985 novel of the same name; though published in the 80s, it was written between 1951 and 1953. Guadagnino has made a career out of telling vastly opposing stories with each of his productions – Call Me By…
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Screening so soon after The Substance doesn’t bode well for something like Shell, Max Minghella‘s campy, body horror ode to trashy escapist 90s cinema that similarly explores the world of ageing in Hollywood and how far someone will go to maintain perfection. With both films screening within a week of each other at this year’s…
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For almost 50 years, Saturday Night Live has been an institution of (primarily) American culture. Every weekend it invites audiences to surrender to the thrill of live television, where anything could go wrong at any given moment, amongst a staple of regular segments and musical performances. Its structure has shifted over time, but the core…
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Author Stephen King and filmmaker Mike Flanagan have made careers predominantly out of their affinity for horror. With The Life of Chuck, they have decidedly pivoted and leaned into another of their shared strengths; broadcasting emotional stories. The result, however schmaltzy it may threaten to be, is a beautiful, weird celebration of life and all…
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Just call her M3GAN Fox. One of the few movies in the last few years of Megan Fox‘s career that actually earned acclaim was the 2021 home invasion thriller Til Death. It is a lo-fi VOD affair that has probably gone largely unnoticed, but it has a fun elevator pitch premise – that of Fox…
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A film that speaks volumes in its silences just as much as it does its audible dialogue, Generations of Men, a powerful new short inspired by Judith Wright‘s book of the same name, is just as much a testament to the strength and resilience of women during colonial times as it is a reminder of…
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Based on the beloved novel by Craig Silvey, Runt is an effortlessly likeable Australian family venture that overcomes any of its cheesiness thanks to an ensemble committed to the cause of providing old-fashioned entertainment There’s some topical themes at bay here under the surface – drought-stricken farmers, real estate corruption – but Silvey’s script never…
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In the last few years Hugh Grant has truly taken pleasure in playing against the grain of expectation he laid upon himself after a career of inhabiting predominantly likeable characters. Arguably starting with his wonderfully committed camp turn as the villainous Phoenix Buchanan in Paddington 2 in 2017, Grant has been on an incline of…
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It’s too easy to claim that writer/director Sean Baker makes inaccessible films due to the fact that so many of his narratives centre around the society underrepresented, chief among them being sex workers. As we saw in such previous works as Tangerine and Red Rocket, Baker seeks to remove such a stigma around pornography performers, prostitutes…
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Despite the fact that the recently released trailer made Nightbitch look more like a quirky comedy – think a female-drive, R-rated take on Tim Allen’s The Shaggy Dog – I can attest that Marielle Heller‘s take on Rachel Yoder‘s seemingly unadaptable 2021 novel of the same name is far from the laughable ridiculousness some may…
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Given that the trailer for We Live in Time very much informs audiences that it will be a tale of potential emotional manipulation, with the Nick Payne-penned script basing itself around a family dealing with late-stage cancer, it proves worth the screentime as Brooklyn director John Crowley breathes a certain life into proceedings, aware that…
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Given the imaginative manner he has expressed in his previous work, it makes sense that Nacho Vigalondo (Colossal) would create something like Daniela Forever, a romantic science-fiction tale that adds layer upon layer of artistry to itself that it practically (and unfortunately) comes undone. A little Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, a little Inception,…
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At the centre of Gia Coppola‘s The Last Showgirl is Shelley (Pamela Anderson), a 57-year old (though she’ll initially tell you otherwise) Vegas all-girl revue performer whose 30+ years in the Razzle Dazzle show are coming to an abrupt end. But just as Shelley’s tenure is closing, and the uncertainty of life sets in, Anderson’s…
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Not to be confused with Denzel Washington’s 2010 runaway train thriller – or the lesser known 2004 outing from Wesley Snipes – Unstoppable, which marks the directorial debut of editor William Goldenberg, whose credits include such titles as Coyote Ugly, Miami Vice and Air, is a by-the-numbers sports drama that lives by its inspirational hook. …
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Much like how his 2018 psychological thriller Unsane was elevated by it being shot entirely on an iPhone 7 Plus, Steven Soderbergh is implementing another technological gimmick of sorts in Presence, a ghost story that’s filmed entirely from the point of view of the haunting figure lurking within the walls of a sprawling suburban residence….
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