Reviews

There is no way for Peter Berg’s Patriot’s Day to avoid being labelled as exploitative and “too soon”, if even just for the title. For the past few weeks critics have been piling onto the director’s dramatic retelling of the bombings which took place during the annual Boston Marathon in April of 2013, killing three…

When you take an idea like the story of a dreamer, and mash it together with a cautionary tale about the wolves of Wall Street and big business. With your lead character as that grizzled underdog type, and have it all based loosely on a true story the result you get is Gold. Set in…

Written and directed by Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester By The Sea arrives in Australian cinemas this week, a year after it was the hit of Sundance and not long after it garnered an impressive six Oscar nominations. These accolades include surprise acting nods to Michelle Williams and Lucas Hedges, alongside Casey Affleck, who has already taken…

National Theatre Live in conjunction with Sharmill Films are once again bringing Australian cinema-goers a chance to experience the magic of the theatre. This time with Harold Pinter’s acclaimed play No Man’s Land, starring the incomparable Sir Ian McKellen and Sir Patrick Stewart. After a successful hit run in Broadway USA, the play returns to…

“Kick some ass, get the girl, and try to look dope while doing it” That inane piece of dialogue is essentially what xXx: The Return of Xander Cage bases its existence on. Never a film that was going to be considered good, but at the very least could have been fun, this useless threequel comes…

If there’s one thing you can rely on in a Resident Evil movie, it certainly isn’t subtlety.  Resident Evil: The Final Chapter is what it says on the tin — the last film in Paul W. S. Anderson‘s increasingly bonkers series of action horror films adapted from the video game franchise of the same name. For fans keen…

Based on the 2012 novel by Dennis Lehane of the same name, Live By Night is set in the prohibition era across the 1920s and 1930s. The man at the centre of the story, Joe Coughlin, is played by Ben Affleck, who brought this adaptation to life. He directed, wrote and produced the film, which…

Two young African American males sit on a beach together, bathed in moonlight. One asks the other: “You cry?”. The other replies, “I cry so much sometimes, I feel like I’ma turn to drops,”. Ripped from the pages of the play Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue by Tarell Alvin McCraney, this scene for me perfectly…

There is plenty of real world evidence to suggest that, to a degree, our thoughts and feelings can in some way re-wire our brain. Neuroplasticity is a relatively young field, but an infinitely fascinating one nonetheless; discoveries are being made everyday, many on how our brain evolves for better or for worse and how we…

Based on the true story of Saroo Brierley and his book A Long Way Home, this week’s anticipated release Lion takes its audience on the beautiful, emotional journey of Saroo; lost in India as a young child, raised in Tasmania, forever desperate to find his way back home. Starring Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire) as the…

Jacqueline Kennedy (Onassis) has been depicted on the silver and small screens before but Jackie is the first film to really capture the complex nature of this remarkable woman. The film is not strictly a biopic in that it only focuses on a number of key events in Kennedy’s life prior to and in the…

With Christmas time comes awards season, and every so often a film comes along that attempts to tackle both markets – deliver a heartfelt drama set around the holidays that will bring people into the cinema after they’ve finished exchanging gifts; while voters cast the film on their award season ballot. Such a forced ploy…

During the parting moments of 2016, a year already marked by the deaths of so many luminaries and childhood favourites, actress Carrie Fisher suffered a cardiac arrest during a transatlantic flight, causing her death four days later on the 27th of December. Her mother, actress and performer Debbie Reynolds, passed the very next day, reportedly leaving with…

Teenage films have always been a cinematic staple for me. Whether they are quality films (like Heathers, Stand By Me), plain fun (Mean Girls, Easy A, Say Anything) or just plain silliness (Porky’s, American Pie), I’ve always found enjoyment in both entertainment value and nostalgia. But the past few years, the portrayal of teenagers in film…

Similar to how the recently released Allied arrived in cinemas preempted by an action-heavy advertising campaign that proved somewhat misleading, Passengers is far from the grand space opera many will be expecting.  Instead of a sci-fi outing that’s more brawn than brains, Morten Tyldum‘s intriguing film is surprisingly simple, personal, and (mostly) effective. As we…

Just as emotionally manipulative as the 2011 original Red Dog but less successful in its execution, Red Dog: True Blue looks to merely survive on a superficial level as the “aww shucks” cuteness of the titular canine appears to be the sole reasoning behind this sequel/prequel hybrid coming to fruition. The stunning harsh red dirt…

One lonely night in the mid-nineties, a struggling writer named Laura Albert telephones a psychologist, Dr Terrence Owens, pretending to be a younger man named Terminator. He has a lot to talk about; most notoriously his years as an underage truck-stop prostitute pimped out by his mother. Dr Owens thinks it would be healthy for…

The majority of videogame films are, for a lack of a better term, complete tosh. From catastrophes like Street Fighter, Super Mario Bros. and most of Uwe Boll‘s filmography to films that are close to viewer satisfaction like Final Fantasy VII – Advent Children and Ace Attorney, the reputation of videogame films is not something…

La La Land is the new film from offensively talented director Damien Chazelle, who last impressed with the Oscar winning film Whiplash, a story (in part) about the search for musical perfection in a young Jazz drummer. In La La Land, we remain in a musical world, as Chazelle takes us back to the classic Hollywood…

Paterson is the new film from acclaimed auteur (and Iggy Pop fan) Jim Jarmusch. A man who enjoys character studies that are never rushed for the sake of plot progression, existing in some semblance of real time, watching a Jarmusch film involves a lot of patience on behalf of the viewer. If you’re a fan of…

In the spirit of comedies like Father of the Bride and Meet the Parents, the new film Why Him? brings together some great actors for a mass consumption comedy about new additions to the family and the parents who struggle with their little girl (or boy) growing up. With these films in mind, there is…

Robert Zemeckis is a film-maker that has both enthralled and frustrated me. For the most part, his films can be exciting, fun and incredibly well-told; take the Back to the Future series, Cast Away or the classic Who Framed Roger Rabbit. But at his worst, his films can be corny and indulgent; What Lies Beneath,…

Stacking itself plentiful with a heft of pop songs ranging from the classic sounds of Lennon & McCartney to the modern screech of Lady GaGa, Sing is a jukebox musical of sorts that’s suitably bold and bright. Seemingly content not reaching for critical acclaim in the same vein as recent animated offerings like Zootopia, this…

Moana (Auli’i Cravalho) is the spirited daughter of a Polynesian chief, Chief Tui (Temuera Morrison). She’s loveable and affable and Chief Tui is pretty much training her up to be the next big kahuna in her village. Her father has warned her that their village and island paradise is the only safe place for her,…

The kind of film that benefits from its titular character being portrayed as less of an impression and more as a fully realised character, Barry is at once thoughtful, intelligent and particularly entertaining. Though he is introduced to us as Barry, we’re all aware of the Barack Obama he ultimately will become (so to speak),…

Laos director Mattie Do’s sophomore film Dearest Sister has an identity crisis. It just isn’t sure what story it wants to tell. And its an issue that is never repaired throughout its needless 100 minute running time. When Nok goes to stay with her blind and affluent sister Ana, the two begin fighting after Nok finds out…

The Star Wars saga is set to continue, this time with the first stand alone film in its ‘Anthology’ series. Singular films that will showcase interconnected stories or characters that basically provide an extended universe to our main trilogies. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is first out of the gates and has a lot…

Subplots run amok in Office Christmas Party, an overwraught holiday comedy that marks a return to the big screen for directors Josh Gordon and Will Speck, who are best known for the Will Ferrell and Jon Heder mishap Blades of Glory. Though unlike the 2007 sports comedy, the team’s latest feature doesn’t have the thick…

Similar to how director Ira Sachs‘ previous effort Love Is Strange commented on the increasing rate of renting in New York City, Little Men showcases how a simple financial squabble can become someone’s undoing. A relationship-based drama that survives mainly on the simplistic but natural performances of its cast, Little Men focuses on young Jake…

The best thing I can say about The Autopsy of Jane Doe, “Best International Feature” at this years Monster Fest, is that it is a welcome, fresh new take on the horror genre… until it isn’t. Jane Doe follows Tommy and his son Austin (Brian Cox & Emile Hirsch, respectively) who work in a family run morgue beneath their home….