Film & TV

Sarah Blasko, Jed Kurzel, Briggs and more nominated for the 2017 APRA Screen Music Awards

Nominees for the 2017 Screen Music Awards have been announced by APRA AMCOS and the Australian Guild of Screen Composers, and will be recognised at the official ceremony being held at Melbourne Recital Centre on Sunday Monday 13 November. The awards celebrate the achievements in music composition for documentaries, short films, children’s television, advertising, film…

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Film Review: Netflix’s The Babysitter (USA, 2017) delights in being supremely distasteful

Beginning its streaming season on the rather appropriate date of Friday the 13th, Netflix’s nasty, bloodied The Babysitter proves a suitable entree for the feast that is the Halloween film season. Playing with the conventions of an 80’s style slasher whilst simultaneously maintaining an air of modern self-referential wit, McG‘s splatter comedy is a quick…

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Film Review: Happy Death Day (USA, 2017) survives on the strength of its sense of humour

As varying subsets of the horror genre have forged ahead in 2017 as some of the year’s biggest successes (Split, Get Out and It remain three of the most fruitful ventures), it only makes sense that the slasher genre attempt the resurgence it so desperately deserves. It simply isn’t enough however to let a film…

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Film Review: The Mountain Between Us (USA, 2017) is a romantic survival tale submerged in cheese

WARNING: This review may contain heavy traces of cheese. Before I start off this review, let me just make this one thing clear. I do like romantic films. This year alone, we have great films like Their Finest, The Big Sick, Our God’s Country and Call Me By Your Name. As much as I cannot…

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Cunard British Film Festival Review: Breathe (UK, 2017) is a love letter from one Cavendish to another

Breathe is a love letter from producer, Jonathan Cavendish to his inspiring parents. The film is a bio-pic that chronicles the enduring love that this couple shared for each other as well as their refusal to give up in the face of a devastating disease. This story is an important one that is a testament…

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Stan releases brand new teaser trailer for Wolf Creek season two

The Stan original series Wolf Creek has gotten a chilling new teaser for its six-part series that will release exclusively on Stan this Summer. After a hugely successful first season, Actor John Jarratt (Wolf Creek, Django Unchained) will once again fill the boots of terrifying outback killer Mick Taylor. The teaser shows us tourists riding…

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This is Desmondo Ray! wins best animated series in Los Angeles

This is Desmondo Ray!, a six-part web series has won the award for Best Animated Series at the International Academy of Web Television Awards in Los Angeles. Described as the Emmy’s for web series, there is no doubt this is a prestigious award. Created and directed by Australian filmmaker, Steve Baker, the series has also…

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Is a Bob’s Burgers movie such a good idea?

At a time when most animated programmes are crass, cruel or just plain depressing, it’s heartening to know that a show like Bob’s Burgers appears on our screens. The colourful hand-drawn sitcom follows the inane adventures of Bob Belcher (voice of H. Jon Benjamin) as he and his family try to operate their fast-food restaurant…

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Greek Film Festival Review: Amerika Square (Greece, 2016) scales the political polarity in Greece to a single housing block

Until the day when Pixel Buds are so finessed that we no longer need those streaming lines of text, subtitles will be (for most of us) our one entry to foreign films. It’s rare though for subtitles to impact the film in any other way, but in Yannis Sakaridis’s Amerika Square, those flashing words do…

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Win a double pass to see Ingrid Goes West starring Aubrey Plaza in cinemas

An indie hit in the US and on the international Festival circuit, Ingrid Goes West stars Aubrey Plaza as Ingrid Thorburn an unhinged social media stalker who sets her sights on Taylor Sloane (Elizabeth Olsen) an Instagram-famous “influencer” whose perfectly curated, boho-chic lifestyle becomes Ingrid’s latest obsession. When Ingrid moves to LA and manages to…

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Australian Box Office Report: Blade Runner 2049 cuts through to top spot

While its numbers weren’t quite as strong in the US as was expected, Blade Runner 2049, the follow-up to Ridley Scott‘s 1982 film, sits comfortably in  its opening week in Australia at no. 1, earning $4.52m, with a screen average of $9,093 across 498 screens.  It’s a fan favourite for both cinema-goers and critics alike – we’ve already…

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Win a copy of the Nordic-noir thriller series Valkyrien on DVD

Ravn, a respected physician, is desperately seeking a cure for his dying wife, Vilma. When the hospital stops her treatment, Ravn continues working in secret. He is aided by the corrupt civil defence man Leif, a doomsday prepper and former patient of his. Deep underground, Ravn and Leif open an illegal clinic for treating off-the-grid…

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Greek Film Festival Review: Afterlov (Greece, 2016) is a quirky film that dissects the concept of a break-up

If a relationship break-up has ever left you questioning, “Why?” or “What’s next?” then Afterlov is the film for you. This Greek dramedy sees its main protagonist grappling with these questions to the point of obsession. So what is this leading man to do but confront these things as well as his ex. The only…

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Pacific Rim: Uprising reveals its first action-packed trailer

The Pacific Rim franchise is back with Pacific Rim: Uprising, which has recently released its first official trailer. For those of you that don’t know, Pacific Rim takes place in a world where alien giants have risen from the oceans, and our only defence against them are huge robots powered by human pilots. It was…

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Stranger Things‘ second season to hold Australian Premiere event at the Sydney Opera House

Netflix original series Stranger Things will premiere its first episode  of its highly anticipated second season at an exclusive event at the Sydney Opera House on October 27 for fans of the show. It will air the same time as the global LA premiere and a number of hours before Australian audiences can access the…

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Our first impressions from the Star Wars Battlefront II beta

This week we had the chance to explore the open beta version of Star Wars Battlefront II, which featured a limited range of maps and modes to explore, as well as new characters, weapons and a whole lot of loot. Chief among the modes present was the ultra fun Strike Mode, which allowed players to…

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Sonos reveal first voice-enabled speaker: Sonos One

Although numerous rumours these past few months haven’t exactly allowed Sonos the element of surprise here, the famed electronics company best known for their high quality speakers have now officially announced that their newest product will be a smart speaker with support for multiple voice-activated services. Dubbed Sonos One the device, which launches around the…

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Feature: In Star Trek Discovery, I still don’t know who the villains are

People are talking about how Discovery is a fresh take on the Star Trek formula, and I’d have to agree, though whether it’s better than the others remains to be seen. Taking place ten years before The Original Series (TOS, to fans), and settled snugly within the prime timeline, Discovery has been planted in fertile…

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Win a copy of A Family Man on DVD

Dane Jensen is a hard-driven headhunter at a cut-throat Chicago job placement firm. When his boss announces his retirement and pits Dane against an equally driven rival in a battle for control of the company, Dane gears up for the professional battle of his life. But when he learns his 10-year-old son is diagnosed with…

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Win a double pass to see Wayne’s World In The House in Sydney

You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. You’ll hurl in Wayne’s World next week as the folks at Event Cinemas George St bring it In The House! Mike Myers and Dana Carvey bring us some of our favourite cult-classic duos of all time – Wayne and Garth! Wayne’s World is One world. One party time. Excellent. You can…

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Feature: Blade Runner 2049‘s prophetic nature and win for neo-noir film

Blade Runner 2049 has arrived at an odd time. Back when the original was released, 2019 seemed eons away, and the ravaged, rain-soaked cyberpunk Los Angeles seemed entirely within reach. The Cold War was at its height, and the Three Mile Island incident had highlighted just how easy it would be for America to succumb…

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Film Review: Blade Runner 2049 (USA, 2017) is an instant classic

When the original Blade Runner was first released in cinemas in 1982, it made waves for its stunning cinematography and special effects, moody and now iconic soundtrack from Vangelis, and its truly innovative adaptation of a short story from sci-fi writer Philip K Dick; the rare instance where a film has outdone its source material….

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Australian Box Office Report: Kingsman: The Golden Circle tops the ladder for the second week

School holiday cinema viewing has been kind to Kingsman: The Golden Circle, where it sat at no. 1 for the second straight week, following its strong debut last week.  This weekend, it made $3.60m, and has already made $12.08m to date nationally.   Another strong school holiday performer was The Emoji Movie.  This week it made $2.18m, bumping it up from…

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Film Review: Stanley Tucci’s Final Portrait (USA, 2017) is filled with effortless charm

We meet Alberto Giacometti (Geoffrey Rush) in a state of supreme boredom – another day, another exhibition. With his hair sticking up, and a cigarette hanging eternally from his lips, he looks like a crumpled echidna whose snout is on fire, but who cares. It’s James Lord (Armie Hammer) who bothers to bring us this…

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Film Review: The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) (USA, 2017) Boasts Outstanding Performances From An All Star Cast

Acclaimed writer/director Noah Baumbach is back with his latest character centric story focusing on a dysfunctional family who put their quarrels aside to come together and celebrate their ageing father’s artistic work. The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected), a drama/comedy, boasts an all-star cast from Emma Thompson to veteran actor Dustin Hoffman and comedic giants…

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Paramount and Bad Robot to adapt the hit Japanese anime Your Name

Paramount Pictures and Bad Robot have announced that they have won the rights to adapt the popular Japanese animated film Your Name for the silver screen. The two companies will work with Toho Co., Ltd, the producers of the original animated film. Toho will then handle the release of the film within Japan. J.J. Abrams…

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Gilmore Girls creators sign multi-year deal with Amazon Studios

Amazon Prime Video recently announced that critically-acclaimed talents Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino (Gilmore Girls) have entered a multi-year deal to develop projects exclusively with Amazon Studios. Sherman-Palladino and Palladino will develop television projects that will add to their unprecedented two-season green light of upcoming Amazon Original Series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, which debuts this…

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Film Review: Wakefield (USA, 2016) is a dull character study about a mad man

Wakefield is a long, drawn-out rendering of a short story. It shows one man’s descent into madness and how he becomes a voyeur of his own family. The film is a dramatic one and while the central idea seems original enough, it’s something that was better in the written format than in a full-length, feature…

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Interview: Catrin Stewart talks Doctor Who and pushing diversity representation boundaries and meeting fans at Oz Comic Con

Australian television fans would probably recognise Catrin Stewart from her most notable role as Jenny Flint on Doctor Who. The character of Flint began as a maid to Madame Vastra (Neve McIntosh), a Silurian lizard woman who also is a bit of a Sherlock Holmes-type, along with her trusty Sontaran assistant Strax (Dan Starkey). However…

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Five Things We Learned From Doctor Who‘s Jenna Coleman at Oz Comic Con Sydney

Over the weekend the ICC Sydney Convention Centre at Darling Harbour played host to Oz Comic Con Sydney. This would be the first time the pop culture event would be held in the brand new convention centre so it seemed only fitting that for this event we’d be graced by a very special guest in…

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