Reviews

As someone who hasn’t played the video game upon which this film is based, and is only vaguely familiar with its plot outline, I’m coming into David F. Sandberg‘s adaptation with horror movie eyes.  And in that regard, the Lights Out director – returning to the genre that made him a name after dipping his…

It’s been nearly 10 years since Ben Affleck debuted as Christian Wolff, aka The Accountant, in the same-name actioner that Gavin O’Connor pushed to a sizeable box office haul ($155m) despite tepid-ish reviews.  That being said, average reviews have never stopped a sequel from being brought to fruition before, and the creation O’Connor, Affleck and…

As much as Warfare is detailing a true story during the events of the Iraq War in 2006, Ray Mendoza and Alex Garland‘s panic-attack of a movie goes beyond merely being “based on true events.”  Instead, it’s noting itself as a film based on “the memory of the people who lived it.” With that, the…

Having already carved out a sense of the absurd regarding the legal system with their work on the TV series Rake, star Richard Roxburgh and writer Peter Duncan take on a far more serious aspect of such risibility in The Correspondent through the incarceration of Australian journalist Peter Greste and the dubious charges of terrorism…

A sweet film with a talented cast and an evident love for the aspiring creative, The Comic Shop is well-meaning in its temperament, but a little less confident in its execution as it injects a dramatic streak that doesn’t flow with its initial personality. The titular comic shop is Mike’s World, a small venture that…

However far fetched Drop proves to be with its wild, pulling-the-wool-over-our-eyes premise, director Christopher Landon (Happy Death Day, Freaky) and screenwriters Jillian Jacobs (Fantasy Island) and Chris Roach (Non-Stop) maintain a sense of unpredictable fun across the film’s tight 95 minutes as it presents a cat-and-mouse thriller ripe for the digital age. After opening with…

Delivering his first essentially original screenplay since his 2013 breakout Fruitvale Station, filmmaker Ryan Coogler basks in the glory of a post-Creed/Black Panther space with the liberating Sinners, a gory, horny, relevant reflection on Black culture and artistry. Set in 1930s Mississippi in the midst of Prohibition, Coogler’s gradually escalating gonzo horror effort finds its…

In the same manner as to how Netflix’s Bridgerton blends its English Regency with a modernised mentality, Jonathan Hammond‘s Fireflies in the Dusk takes that notion and dials it to 11, enhancing its sense of absurdity and random humour to create a truly witty, daft comedy in the process. The short film’s comedic temperament is…

Between last month’s spy thriller Black Bag and this week’s release, The Amateur, adult audiences are finally finding reason to go to the theatres again.  To enjoy smart, almost understated genre features that delight in dialogue and a forward narrative over the spectacle of tentpole cinema feels almost archaic in this day and age, so…

Movies about unicorns have a certain fantastical nature to them, so it makes sense that Death of a Unicorn adopts such a mentality – albeit with a serious case of nastiness and surprising class commentary. A blackly comic creature feature with an evident love for the back catalogue of Steven Spielberg and James Cameron –…

An exploration of identity and creativity set against the backdrop of the largely unexplored realm of classic Latin jazz, Becoming Vera is a quiet, reflective drama that finds its comforting centre in the performance of Raquel Lebish as the titular Vera. As the film closes out, writer/director Sergio Vizuete states that “23,000 children age out…

Playing with a character that’s as if Clark Kent didn’t entirely realise the pros of having superhuman strength, or, perhaps, a more reluctant John Wick, Novocaine – No Pain (which is the title being pushed here in Australia for the otherwise known as Novocaine, presumably off the notion that local audiences aren’t entirely aware of…

As someone who has never played Minecraft the game, and is only vaguely familiar with its building premise, to say there was a major detachment – and perhaps an unenthusiasm – towards A Minecraft Movie would be an understatement.  But in that uninitiated mentality is perhaps the perfect embodiment to review such a film as…

If there’s one thing about our Nicole Kidman, it’s that she’s going to work! Fresh off three of last year’s buzziest shows (Expats, Lioness and The Perfect Couple) and a criminally Oscar-oversighted performance in the erotic drama Babygirl, the perennially busy actress/producer is at the centre of another twisted thriller of sorts in Prime Video’s…

At this point you know what you’re going to get with a Jason Statham vehicle, and when it’s one penned by Sylvester Stallone and directed by David Ayer (who, in addition to such actioners as Suicide Squad and End of Watch, was behind last year’s Statham surprise The Beekeeper), you shouldn’t be remotely taken aback…

As someone who grew up with the Looney Tunes, there’s certainly a sense of nostalgic warmth when watching something as unapologetically wacky (and 2D) as Looney Tunes: The Day the Earth Blew Up. Nostalgia only takes you so far though, and as much as The Day the Earth Blew Up is a bombastically entertaining cartoon…

Given that he’s experienced his own health problems over the last few years, it would seem Paul Schrader is a man reflecting on his own mortality if Oh, Canada is anything to go by, the filmmaker’s fourth effort in almost as many years. Reuniting with his own American Gigolo, Richard Gere, Oh, Canada centres around…

It’s a shame that there’s been so much controversy surrounding Snow White, the latest Disney classic to get the live-action treatment, as Marc Webb‘s harmless musical is hardly strong or memorable enough to warrant the reaction it’s detractors have already decided it deserves. Sure, lead star Rachel Zegler didn’t help matters with her comments on…

Whilst his previous film – 2017’s crowd-pleasing Patti Cake$ – had a scrappiness to it, it beamed with a personality larger than its budget.  For O’Dessa, director Geremy Jasper delights in supreme maximalism, as his post-apocalyptic musical-romance hybrid projects its bigness through both its visuals and its central thematic of how love can transform one’s…

Robert De Niro and the role of a gangster have so often gone hand-in-hand that there’s an immediate sense of ease in entering The Alto Knights, with the feeling that, if nothing else, audiences can rest assured that the legendary actor will deliver a worthy performance. De Niro is ultimately the main reason to see…

This delightful reimagining of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest is an absolute treat! Just over 130 years since the play first debuted at the St James’s Theatre in London, select cinemas across Australia are screening the play, filmed live at The National Theatre in London. The story follows Jack Worthing, played by the…

That feeling of being a teenage music fan taps into an obsession that is both incredibly singular, yet universally known.  Specific music and, in many cases, the artist behind such can imprint so intimately on one’s psyche, and it’s that worship that forms the core of Emma Higgins‘ debut feature, Sweetness. Granted, Higgins laces this…

Whilst Black Bag sets itself up as a spy thriller in slightly the same vein as the (former) Brangelina vehicle Mr. & Mrs. Smith, with the two supremely charming (and, let’s face it, beautiful) leads dancing around the question of whether or not two spies in a marriage can stay truthful to one another, director…

At the centre of Hard Truths, the latest tragicomedy from writer/director Mike Leigh, is a woman who seemingly seeks conflict in each of her interactions, making her personal relationships challenging in the process. The woman – the embodiment of someone who tests patience and will, but still earns enough love from those that she hasn’t…

Whilst the 2003 Australian crime comedy Gettin’ Square has its loyal fans and critical acclaim to its name, it severely underwhelmed at the Australian box office upon its release, leading the very existence of Spit to be quite an anomaly in itself.  A two decades-on sequel to a flop genre flick is not the usual…

In some ways it’s unfair for Mickey 17 to use director Bong Joon Ho‘s Oscar-winning Parasite in its marketing, as this bonkers sci-fi effort is quite far removed from that aforementioned satirical thriller, and may lure audiences into a false sense of security. Of course, being a Bong picture, satire is still utilised, but waiting…

When it comes to the tried and tested buddy comedy, chemistry is key.  Keke Palmer, arguably one of the most mega-wattage charm possessors currently working, and R&B music starlet SZA prove quite the dynamic duo in One of Them Days, an extremely spirited genre vehicle that they continually elevate when it occasionally gives in to…

Whilst it’s been two decades since French director Florent-Emilio Siri dipped his toe in the action genre with the 2005 Bruce Willis vehicle Hostage, it’s evident he hasn’t lost any flair for such, with his relentless Elyas touching on topical themes whilst proving rousing as an exaggerated vehicle in the same vein of a Liam Neeson…

In Anthony Bourdain’s travel & food series, Parts Unknown, he goes to Portugal to join his boss’s traditional pig-slaughter feast; it’s a beloved event in much of Europe. In the morning, they have the whole family come around – a good thirty or forty people – before six strong men hold the pig and slit…

Whilst there were many movie-goers that may have been surprised at hearing Fernanda Torres‘s name being called at this year’s Golden Globes as the recipient of the Best Actress in a Motion Picture (Drama) over the likes of Nicole Kidman’s acclaimed turn in Babygirl and Angelina Jolie’s seeming front-runner presence in Maria, once I’m Still…