Film & TV

St Kilda Film Festival returns for a 10-day celebration of Australian cinema

The St Kilda Film Festival (SKFF) has proudly announced its 2025 program, marking the 41st year of Australia’s longest-running short-film festival with its most expansive program to date, running between June 5th – 15th, 2025. Proudly presented by City of Port Phillip, this year’s festival will screen over 150 films across 34 curated sessions, taking place…

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Film Review: Summer of 69 is a hilarious, heartfelt ode to 1980s sex comedies

Despite its raunchy, suggestive title – yeah, there’s a reason there’s no comma alluding to 69 being a year – Jillian Bell‘s directorial debut, Summer of 69, is actually a particularly sweet, coming-of-age comedy that injects more than enough heart into proceedings to offset its teen-sex-comedy mentality. Much like Superbad, Booksmart and Bottoms before it,…

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Series Review: Nine Perfect Strangers Season 2 commits to a darker, more emotional personality

If there’s one thing Nicole Kidman is going to commit wholeheartedly to in any of her multitude of projects, it’s that her character will indulge in a wig or an accent.  In the case of Nine Perfect Strangers, it’s both. Four years ago, hot off the success of her “Big Little Lies” being transformed into…

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Austin Butler is Caught Stealing in first trailer for Darren Aronofsky’s wild crime caper

Given the type of psychological warfare director Darren Aronofsky has unleashed into cinema across his career with the likes of Requiem for a Dream, Black Swan and mother!, a crime caper in the style of a Guy Ritchie joint is hardly the most expected turn.  But here we are with Caught Stealing, a black comedy…

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Film Review: Lilo & Stitch proves just how warm and refreshing some live-action updates can be

Whilst the poor reaction to Snow White has made Disney reevaluate their standing on live-action updates of their classic animated catalogue, Lilo & Stitch – obviously made before such a decision was made – arrives with an ironic freshness that proves just how warm and successful some reimaginings can be. By no means does this…

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Win tickets to the new horror film Bring Her Back from the directors of Talk To Me

Every ritual has a cost. Thanks to Sony Pictures Australia we have 5 double in-season passes (Admit 2) to see Bring Her Back, the new horror film from the directors of Talk To Me, Danny Philippou and Michael Philippou, A brother and sister uncover a terrifying ritual at the secluded home of their new foster…

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Series Review: Tucci In Italy reheats the tested format of the travel and cooking show to grand, charming effect

Furthering his effortless charisma and likeability, Stanley Tucci makes his lifestyle of Italian region hopping and delighting in their signature gastronomic feasts a real treat to behold. Usually having to endure other people – and rich people, at that – having the time of their (and our) lives isn’t the most enjoyable experience, and whilst…

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Film Review: Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is a heartfelt, overwhelming send-off for Cruise and co.

It’s time to say goodbye.  For now. Billed as the final entrant in the near-three-decade long Mission: Impossible series (which would ironically indicate these missions are, in fact, possible), Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning goes out with the expected balance of spectacle and emotion that the majority of these films have adhered to –…

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Film Review: Hurry Up Tomorrow; The Weeknd self-celebrates himself in wholly misguided vanity project

Whilst I had heard all the discourse around his performance (among other things) in the much maligned HBO drama series The Idol, it was not a show I particularly wanted to seek out – even out of curiosity.  So, with that, I came into Hurry Up Tomorrow free from any of that baggage, here merely…

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Interview: Kellan Lutz on leading the action charge in Desert Dawn, career advice and aspirations, and stepping out of his comfort zone

The action genre and Kellan Lutz go hand-in-hand at this point. Whilst the actor started out his career across a variety of comedy features (Stick It), horror efforts (the remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street) and teen-aimed television (90210), and he may best be known as Emmett Cullen from the Twilight film series, it’s…

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Interview: Director Marianne Elliott on moving from the Broadway stage to a cinema screen with The Salt Path; “I feel changed in that I’m more aware of the importance of nature.”

The Salt Path is the profound true story of husband and wife Raynor and Moth Winn (played by Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs, respectively), and their 630-mile trek along the beautiful but rugged Cornish, Devon and Dorset coastline. After being forcibly removed from their home, they make the desperate decision to walk in the hope…

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Series Review: Overcompensating is everything you want in a queer coming of age story…and more

Known for his beloved comedy shorts online, Benito Skinner quickly rose to fame in 2020 with his hilarious celebrity impressions, skits, and original characters. The sense of humour he brought during such (and I hate to say it) unprecedented times made Benny Drama an iconic internet hall of famer, and it doesn’t look like he’ll…

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Interview: Final Destination Bloodlines directors Adam Stein and Zach Lipovsky on crafting death and surprising audiences

The newest chapter in New Line Cinema’s bloody successful franchise takes audiences back to the very beginning of Death’s twisted sense of justice with Final Destination Bloodlines. Returning audiences to death’s twisted, often blackly comic design are directors Adam Stein and Zach Lipovsky, who knew that after over a decade since the last Final Destination…

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Interview: Director Timo Tjahjanto and producer Kelly McCormick on expanding action and Bob Odenkirk’s return in Nobody 2

Proving that it’s sometimes the unlikeliest figures that are the most fatally capable, Bob Odenkirk emerged as an action star in his own violent right in 2021’s Nobody, which starred the Better Call Saul alum as Hutch Mansell, a mild-mannered family man who returns to his former life of an assassin after he and his family…

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Win a Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning prize pack to celebrate the film’s release

Every choice, every mission, has all led to this. To celebrate the release of Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, with thanks to Paramount Pictures Australia and Superdream, we are giving away prize packs for five lucky fans, including a double in-season pass (Admit 2), a key-ring and a branded jumper. For your chance to…

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Interview: Peter Andre and director Fredi Nwaka on their new crime comedy Jafaican

Returning to the Gold Coast, it was more than an overwhelming homecoming for musician Peter Andre ahead of the premiere screening of his new film, Jafaican, as part of this year’s Gold Coast Film Festival. Described as “not your average heist movie”, Fredi Nwaka‘s crime comedy focuses on Gazza (played by Andre), a small-time crook,…

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Win tickets to the new horror sequel Final Destination Bloodlines

Thanks to Warner Bros. Pictures Australia we have 5 double digital in-season passes (Admit 2) to giveaway to Final Destination Bloodlines, the anticipated new sequel in the long-running horror franchise, in Australian theatres from May 15th, 2025. Plagued by a violent recurring nightmare, college student Stefanie heads home to track down the one person who…

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Film Review: Sharp Corner; tense, metaphorical thriller deconstructs masculinity and mislaid heroism

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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Interview: Ed Westwick on his sadistic new thriller DarkGame, committing to an unnerving tone, and the new generational reaction to Gossip Girl

A dark twisted thriller in the same vein as Se7en and Untraceable, DarkGame is an unsettling feature surrounding a determined detective (Ed Westwick) in a race against time to stop a sadistic game show on the dark web, where captives are forced to compete for their lives and the losers are executed via live broadcast.  For…

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Film Review: Shadow Force; Kerry Washington and Omar Sy charm their way through enjoyable, if predictable, actioner

Having helmed such actioners as Smokin’ Aces, The A-Team, The Grey, and Boss Level, as well as writing credits on the Death Wish remake and Bad Boys For Life, director Joe Carnahan is no stranger to the genre and the excessive cheese it can give way to.  For his latest effort, Shadow Force, he’s working…

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Film Review: The Wedding Banquet is a tender, emotional reimagining of Ang Lee’s rebellious original

Directed by a then-rising Ang Lee, 1993’s The Wedding Banquet‘s tackling of themes around queerness, immigration and cultural identity marked something of a silent rebellion in cinema.  It was a film that paved the way for furthered LGBTQIA+ stories to be told, and in Andrew Ahn‘s reimagining, Lee’s original story is expanded upon, allowing a…

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Interview: Andrew Ahn on remaking Ang Lee’s The Wedding Banquet and exploring queer identity on screen

A reimagining of Ang Lee’s acclaimed 1993 romantic comedy, The Wedding Banquet is a joyful, exuberant, fresh take on the genre, featuring a hilarious cast of multigenerational talent, headlined by Lily Gladstone and Bowen Yang. Frustrated with his commitment-phobic boyfriend Chris, Min makes a proposal: a green-card marriage with their friend Angela in exchange for…

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Interview: Sydney Film Festival director Nashen Moodley on this year’s program; “There should be no barriers to coming.”

As this year’s Sydney Film Festival program goes live (read all about it here), with 201 films from 70 countries on the bill, including 17 World Premieres, 6 international premieres and 137 Australian Premieres, bringing together hundreds of new international and local stories, festival director Nashen Moodley spoke with our Peter Gray about his vision,…

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Sydney Film Festival announces full 2025 program

The 72nd Sydney Film Festival (June 4th – 15th, 2025) program has officially launched, with Festival Director Nashen Moodley unveiling an exceptional line-up, including 15 films direct from the Cannes Film Festival, including Jafar Panahi’s It Was Just an Accident and Kelly Reichardt’s 1970s-set art heist drama The Mastermind. Other major highlights include The Life…

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Interview: Lincoln Lewis on his dark new role in Hagar’s Hut, acting inspirations, and dream feature projects

Hagar’s Hut embarks on a journey through the complexities of psychological trauma and that of the lines it often blurs between reality and fantasy as it follows Skye, a young girl fleeing from the clutches of abuse inflicted upon her by her psychiatrists, who seeks solace in the untamed wilderness. There, she encounters Xan, a…

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Film Review: Clown in a Cornfield subverts slasher genre tropes as much as it embraces them

Having already dipped his toe in the comedy/horror field with both Little Evil and Tucker & Dale vs. Evil, writer/director Eli Craig dives confidently headfirst into the cornfield for a meta slasher of sorts that subverts expectation as much as it plays into tropes of the genre.  With a title like Clown in a Cornfield,…

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Interview: Director Eli Craig on the metaphors and mayhem of his slasher flick Clown in a Cornfield

Looking for a fresh start, Quinn and her father move to the quiet town of Kettle Springs. They soon learn the fractured community has fallen on hard times after losing a treasured factory to a fire. As the locals bicker amongst themselves and tensions boil over, a sinister, grinning clown emerges from the cornfields to…

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Interview: Robert Connolly on being this year’s Gold Coast Film Festival Chauvel Award recipient; “Festivals should be an opportunity for people to broaden their understanding of cinema.”

Established in 1993, in honour of two of Australia’s most significant filmmakers, Charles and Elsa Chauvel, the Chauvel Award acknowledges significant contribution to the Australian Screen Industry. In recognition of the incredible Charles and Elsa Chauvel, the Gold Coast Film Festival proudly honours those Australian screen industry legends, who shape Australian cinema in their own…

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Interview: Jamie Chung on her reflective new drama I’m Beginning to See the Light; “It’s all about new beginnings, and finding your way out of a hole and trying to find the joy in life again.”

Ezra, a once-famous trumpeter, now struggles to keep his career afloat, performing for scraps at the local small jazz club. After his family is killed in a horrific car crash, Ezra stumbles upon a lighthouse and is mistaken for the keeper by one of the workers. Drawn by the power of the lighthouse, he decides…

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