Reviews

You know what to expect from The Green Inferno the minute you find out that it comes from the gloriously twisted mind of Eli Roth. This is a man who brought us – among others – the hyper-violent Hostel franchise (at least the first two films; the third was a garbage rip off) and the…

Much like the books which the film is based upon, Wes Ball’s adaptation of The Maze Runner attempts to unwind an ambitious idea into a blockbuster entertaining enough to put itself forth as the next The Hunger Games. While it isn’t near enough as clever or impressive as it’s immediate comparison, the film places itself…

Alright, straight up, no word of a lie, Land of the Bears has got to be the cutest, most heart-warming, most excellent display of bears on screen outside an 87-point Buzzfeed post about cutesy bears. Why? Because it’s a beautifully shot documentary – that you can watch in 3D, thanks very much – about a…

Won’t somebody think of the children? This may be Helen Lovejoy’s catchphrase from The Simpsons but it could also be used to sum up the documentary, InRealLife. The film could have asked a series of timely and important questions about the Internet but instead it feels like heavy-handed and judgemental scare-mongering. The film is written…

If you’re a fan of amazing CGI effects, a rollicking soundtrack and Hollywood superstars lending their voices to bring a story to life, then The House of Magic, produced and directed by Ben Stassen, is probably not going to sit well with you.  If you’re after a simply story to help while away 80 odd…

Dusty Crophopper (voiced by Dane Cooke) has defied all odds, transforming himself from a small town crop duster to a global aerial racing champion. Planes: Fire & Rescue is the next exciting chapter to his story, following his training with the unsung heroes of Piston Peak’s fire and rescue unit. After a routine practice session…

Ai Weiwei is a fascinating figure, both as an artist and as one of China’s most influential and outspoken dissidents. Ai Weiwei: The Fake Case portrays the oppression and danger that Weiwei encounters as he continues his political activities. Andreas Johnsen’s quietly important documentary picks up where Alison Klayman’s 2012 Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry left…

The tale of anthropomorphic ninja turtles, raised and trained by an anthropomorphic rat sensei, has been ubiquitous in children’s lives since the 1980’s. There’s something about this ridiculous concept that has worked for years, with the lore of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles increasingly rich with video games, toys, comics, TV shows, and even pizza…

Have there been SIX Step Up movies already? It seems like only yesterday (like, 8 years ago) when Channing Tatum and his freakin’ abs danced their way onto the silver screen and into the hearts of many a hormonal human being. Step Up: All In is the sixth film in the franchise, and while there…

“I am a person”, says recluse Simon James, “I exist”. This simple sentence drives much of The Double, the new film from Richard Ayoade, famous for his role as Moss in British comedy series The IT Crowd. Ayoade has recently moved into the director’s chair, with feature debut Submarine and now 2013’s The Double, a…

The original Sin City got over so well with it’s highly stylised look that Sin City 2: A Dame to Kill For was pretty much guaranteed to be met with ecstatic fandom. But then it took too long to make. Nine years after the first Frank Miller adaptation of his comic books is a long…

There are two film genres that are notoriously hard to get just right – horror and comedy. So does that make a horror-comedy mash-up near impossible to perfect? Evidently not-so for Kiwi writer/director, Gerard Johnstone who nailed it on his first try with Housebound. The first horror film to (finally) present a practical reason for…

When we consume every day, household products we assume that the ingredients have all been tested and are safe for humans to use. But what if this assumption was wrong? The Human Experiment is a documentary that looks at the pervasive, hidden chemicals that are found in all of the things we commonly use- from…

It may be hard to believe but there was a point in history where the idea of the teenager didn’t exist. You were either a child or an adult, there was no other option. Teenage is a documentary that is directed by Matt Wolf and is adapted from the book, Teenage: The Prehistory of Youth…

Some reviews floating around are likening this tornado-obsessed film to Sharknado without the sharks, but all that seems a bit sensational when you actually sit down and watch through Steven Quale’s Into The Storm. While the acting is only a couple of notches above that in the shark-infested storm parody, there’s a semblance of a…

When you shop at a farmers’ market or eat at a restaurant that displays the food’s providence on the menu (and the ingredients are local and fresh), chances are the name Carlo Petrini doesn’t immediately spring to mind. But he is the man who is responsible for the rise in these things. Petrini is the…

With Boyhood, director Richard Linklater further asserts himself as one of the most innovative in the business, his body of work – which includes Before Sunrise and it’s sequels – already coated with more acclaim than most of his peers. He excels with minimalist plots, painting seemingly dull and everyday occurrences as happenings which are…

Flight of the Conchords’ Jemaine Clement has found himself with steady work since the series about a pair of quirky New Zealand musicians living in New York came to an end. It’s seen him garner roles in big budget films (Men in Black 3, Rio) and balance that with some projects of his own. Often,…

It’s not often that documentary filmmakers manage to capture their subject matter in an unobtrusive, fly-on-the-wall style manner. It’s even rarer for the filmmaker to achieve this while talking about sex, baby, and to show some explicit scenes of the deed without it all turning into sleazy voyeurism. But Love Hotel manages to achieve all…

Cloudstreet director Matthew Saville brings an honest, raw approach to Aussie crime drama Felony, illustrating the script by writer, producer and lead actor Joel Edgerton with flair and enough restraint to keep the film grounded in it’s tactile web of emotional quandary and brutal honesty. Opting for the quieter approach to the slow-burning thriller, the…

Have you ever noticed how the men and women in Woody Allen’s films somehow manage to resemble new-age replicas of Woody Allen and Diane Keaton? Take the way they walk, for instance: Hips thrust forward, shoulders slightly stooped, hands in pockets if they’re men, or arms dangling about if they’re women… It’s seriously noticeable. If…

Tsai Ming-Liang’s Stray Dogs is a film that begs a certain amount of prior knowledge before watching. Had I known that Tsai Ming-Liang is renowned for his lack of dialogue and still image composition, I probably would have been a little more adequately prepared for this 145 minute investment. Undeniably beautiful but a rather hard…

Unravel is a short film that lifts the veil on the recycled garment industry. It is produced and directed by Meghna Gupta and travels to the Northern Indian town of Panipat. It is here that over 100,000 tonnes of discarded clothes from the West wind up each year and are subsequently recycled. The film mainly…

The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window & Disappeared (Hundraåringen som klev ut genom fönstret och försvann) looks set to divide people. The reason for this is because your enjoyment of the film hinges on whether you warm to the centenarian lead character. Ultimately, this film is full of dark humour (which also won’t…

Death is often tragic. But it’s even sadder when a young person has died from their own hand. Korean film, Thread Of Lies (우아한 거짓말) deals with this taboo issue in a soft and tender way. It also slowly reveals the tragic set of circumstances surrounding the lead character’s passing and does so with a…

Listen Up Philip is relentless story telling based on relentless story tellers. Relentless seems an apt adjective to describe both the characters and the narrative, both of which rarely waiver from their over analytical tendencies and their inability to take a step back. With tongue firmly planted in cheek, Listen Up Philip documents the struggles…

Studio executives know the value of the phrase “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” That sort of thinking has led to countless terrible and lazy sequels because the film-makers know that audiences will turn up no matter what dribble they serve up onscreen. However, sometimes more of the same is a good thing. The…

Now an established action mega-franchise, The Expendables series has emerged as a behemoth of the genre simply by piling on the world’s most celebrated blockbuster stars, welding them together and putting together scripts decent enough to play on all their strengths, rather than their many weaknesses. If it’s anything action stars are known for, it’s…

In the bleak Icelandic countryside, Hera (Thora Bjorg Helga) lives with her brother Baldur and their parents on a dairy farm in a small, isolated community. After her brother dies in a tragic tractor accident, Hera immerses herself in the heavy metal culture that he loved so much. Throughout her teenage years, while her parents…

The Hundred-Foot Journey is the latest addition to the recent surge of food-related films (see: The Chef, The Trip To Italy, Julie & Julia, etc). This new film is a feel-good one which will no doubt curry favour with many members of the audience. But despite being a pleasant trip, the overall meal could use…