Whilst we’re finally experiencing the certain studio projects that the pandemic momentarily stalled from their original release dates, the last year has also made way for many made-during-COVID productions to seep through the schedule too. Two creatives who put their lockdown status to viable use were Charles Busch and Carl Andress, lifelong friends and collaborators…
Welcome to the post-biological world. We’re not there yet but we soon will be. Scientists, innovators, engineers and other experts foresee a time where humans could transcend immortality through technology. The answers lie in machine learning, artificial intelligence and robotics. It’s a place where we could download our memories to ensure our “essence” lives on…
Whilst C’mon C’mon is the type of film that ultimately holds you down to listen to what it has to say, Mike Mills constructs it in such a way that it’s a more emotional and gradual experience. There’s a texture in the way he presents his narrative, culminating in a manner that when stepped away…
Flee is the latest hybrid of both documentary and animation, giving it a similarity to the 2008 film Waltz with Bashir. They both involve storytelling of factual narratives through the medium of animation that stirs up the animation of audiences as the subjects recollect their experiences. In the case of Flee, the animation not only is…
There’s that old chestnut saying that truth is stranger than fiction, and it would appear that no one knows this more than writer/director Wes Hurley. An autobiographical tale of growing up queer in the USSR in the 1980’s, Potato Dreams of America is an often bizarre, occasionally sad, but completely unique feature that, however trite…
Whilst The Greenhouse isn’t always cohesive in its fantastical exploration of grief, Thomas Wilson-White‘s drama is nonetheless an impressive, ambitious debut that takes bold swings throughout its narrative, detailing how the coping mechanism regarding loss is always a uniquely and individually tailored experience. Still grieving the loss of one of her mother’s from years prior…
Only weeks ago Drive My Car would have been considered the best film you’ve never heard of. Now, with a deserving Best Picture Oscar nomination to its name, it’s hopeful that the same enthusiasm and appreciation that drove Parasite to glory two years ago can be transferred to this foreign-language gem. A Japanese drama that…
With the recent release of Marry Me reminding us that not all romantic comedies have to be relegated to the throw-away click-throughs of a streaming platform (I’m looking at you Netflix), I Want You Back decides to brazenly prove that a quality entrant to the genre can be released to a service – in this…
It’s almost hard to believe there was a time before Liam Neeson took an almost exclusive stance on the midrange-budgeted actioner where his character, usually an operative in some form or another, possessed enough of a skillset to inflict pain on an interchangeable villain. It’s been the actor’s go-to for almost 15 years, and whilst…
Prior to Jennifer Lopez becoming the global icon she’s considered today, her path as an actress was one that oft travelled in directions not expected. Sure, now we align her with romantic comedies such as The Wedding Planner, Maid In Manhattan and Second Act, but some 20-odd years ago, before she was synonymous with that…
Whilst most films set for release over the last two years were understandably shaken by the COVID-19 pandemic, Kenneth Branagh‘s Death on the Nile has been more than just a casualty of coronavirus. Though its initial late 2020 release was pulled due to the ongoing pandemic – and industry insiders spooked by Tenet‘s “underperformance” –…
For most people, the opening chords to Sesame Street theme song “Sunny Days” will bring back a surge of memories. Sesame Street recently celebrated its golden anniversary, and was a staple for many growing up. The revolutionary kids’ show has already inspired many documentaries, including Sesame Street: 50 Years of Sunny Days and the puppeteer-focused…
Known as the “master of disaster”, due to his penchant for predominantly large-scale destructive narratives, director Roland Emmerich has, once again, assembled an abundance of special effects, overt exposition, and stock standard human characters for his latest suspension of disbelief – Moonfall. Whilst his varied directorial career is littered with some genuine genre gems –…
Set in present-day Western Sydney, Here Out West starts off following the story of a grandmother, who is visiting her daughter who had just given birth. The grandmother is stuck with babysitting an 8-year old neighbour and they both make a trip to the hospital. However, the relationship between the grandmother and the daughter is…
They say that with ageing comes the idea of wisdom. Whoever stated such a bumper sticker statement though clearly hadn’t met the Jackass crew, a group of middle-aged men old enough to know better, but too famous to care. A reality slapstick comedy show that heavily relied on its shock value – garnered either through…
Given that the lockdowns that every country seemed to adhere to at some stage or another since COVID-19 plagued an unsuspecting public caused many to examine their own sense of self, it’s not surprising that something like Kenneth Branagh‘s Belfast would be born from such introspection. Written from his own perspective as a 9-year-old growing…
Multi-talent Lena Dunham is back into the realm of filmmaking after 11 years since her feature-film debut Tiny Furniture. For her latest film Sharp Stick, she writes, directs and appears in a supporting role in a story that invites discussion about sexual freedom, depiction and perceptions via gender, media, hypocrisy and empowerment. While the film…
A unique if uneven take of supernatural horror told through the veil of existentialism that is frustrating, beguiling and eventually emotionally rewarding. The film follows the story of a young woman who is kidnapped from her mother by a wolf-eateress, rendered mute and then turned into a shape-shifting demon. We see her inhabit various characters…
What make horror films successful is how it examines ideas that are truthful about the human condition with bloodcurdling, cinematic panache. In the case of Carlota Pereda’s feature-length film debut Piggy, she succeeds with flying colours. Adapted from her 2018 short film of the same name; Pereda has ample time to explore the horrors of…
Whilst Resurrection never deviates from its grim examination of motherhood, Andrew Semans‘ gripping, ultimately bonkers thriller refuses to stay on the course you expect it to. Portraying very much the type of Rebecca Hall-encapsulated character that Rebecca Hall effortlessly portrays, the actress here, strong-willed and properly presented, is Margaret, a pharmaceutical company representative who offsets…
They say crime doesn’t pay, but whoever stated as such may want to have a chat with the titular criminal in John Patton Ford‘s scrappy, oft intense thriller, one that furthers Aubrey Plaza‘s hold on chaos personified characters in the off-kilter subsect of cinema. Plaza’s Emily is a former art student with a $70,000 debt…
Hatching tells the story of Tinja (Siiri Solalinna), a 12-year old rising star gymnast who lives in the supposed perfect existence of domesticated suburbia; led by her image-perfectionist mother (Sophia Heikkilä), who runs a popular blog about exactly that. Tinja’s family also consists of her taciturn father (Jani Volanen) and her spoiled, irritable younger brother…
Maika tells the story of Hung (Truong Phu), an 8-year old boy who is grieving over the loss of his mother who had died almost a year ago due to a severe illness. One would think that this type of emotional baggage is bad enough. However, it not only rains but it pours. His best…
There’s something of a full circle moment experienced with Am I OK?, Tig Notaro and Stephanie Allynne‘s co-directorial feature debut. The real-life couple, who met on the set of a Sundance selection title (2013’s In A World…), return to the festival as married women detailing their own journey of self-discovery and acceptance with a film…
A film that’s likely to resonate with, or at least feel more familiar to American audiences, The Eyes of Tammy Faye does its best to clue in local Australian viewers as to just who was the larger-than-life personality Tammy Faye Bakker Messner. An only-in-America type tale, Tammy Faye’s small-time Minnesota upbringing, where she “found Jesus”…
With its mix of deadpan satire and high concept sci-fi – comparisons to Yorgos Lanthimos’ 2015 dystopian black comedy The Lobster feel imminent – Dual may be an off-putting experiment to many who can’t readily accept Riley Stearns‘ mentality. It certainly helps that the film is headlined by the wonderful Karen Gillan though, delivering two…
Cha Cha Real Smooth tells the story of 22-year old Andrew (writer/director Cooper Raiff), a recent college graduate who is stuck in his own purgatory before adulthood. Stuck in a dead-end job selling fast food and back living with his family including his mother (Leslie Mann), his step-father (Brad Garrett) and his younger brother David…
Set-in present-day Hollywood Hills, Something in the Dirt tells the story of two neighbours Levi and John (Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead), who both meet after Levi had recently moved into an apartment, following a large amount of predicaments. The two strike up a quick camaraderie as they exchange life stories, intimate secrets and their…
Alice tells the story of its titular character played by Keke Palmer, a slave who has spent her entire life enslaved in a rural Georgia plantation. Like many of her family members, she yearns for freedom. Her recently wedded husband Joseph (Gaius Charles) plots an escape for the entire plantation but the plan backfires due…
Set in 1950’s Britain, Living tells the story of Mr. Williams (Bill Nighy), a veteran civil servant who works every day in a meticulous and repetitive fashion in a government office while leading a group of colleagues to help him out. His work ethic and reputation are well known around the inner circle but the…
