Film & TV

Travelling Film Festival announces February 2017 programs in Alice Springs, Darwin and Katherine

The Travelling Film Festival (the longest one of its kind) showcases Australian and international features, documentaries and short films which screen in areas that have limited theatrical screening opportunities. With a number of destinations already confirmed, TFF have now added Darwin, Alice Springs and Katherine to their list of stops in February. First up Darwin…

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Christmas comes early as Blade Runner 2049 releases its first teaser trailer

Just in time for the holidays, the announcement trailer for the sequel of the 1982 classic Blade Runner has been released. Titled Blade Runner 2049, the next installment is set 30 years after the original film and will see Harrison Ford reprise one of his defying roles as Rick Decard, with Ryan Gosling join the series as a police officer…

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Zach Braff puts Freeman, Arkin and Caine to work in new Going in Style trailer

Scrubs star Zach Braff newest film on the other side of the camera is a humorous heist romp starring some veterans in the acting game. When friends Willy (Morgan Freeman), Joe (Michael Caine) and Albert (Alan Arkin) have their pensions cut, the trio put in motion a plan to rob a bank. The film is a…

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Justice for Down Under: Aquaman to be filmed in Australia in 2017

Following the ever-expanding DC Extended Universe, the feature film debut of Aquaman, starring Jason Momoa (Game of Thrones, Stargate: Atlantis) is set to be directed by our own James Wan (The Conjuring, Saw, Furious 7) and will be filmed on the Gold Coast. AusFilm reports Aquaman will be filmed at the Village Roadshow Studios during the first…

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Film Review: Netflix’s Obama biopic Barry (MA15+) (USA, 2016) is at once thoughtful, intelligent and entertaining

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),…

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Win a Rogue One: A Star Wars Story prize pack

In cinemas now is the first of the Star Wars standalone films, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, an all-new epic adventure. In a time of conflict, a group of unlikely heroes band together on a mission to steal the plans to the Death Star, the Empire’s ultimate weapon of destruction. This key event in…

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Win a copy of Robert Redford’s The American West on DVD

The American West is a factual docudrama that recently aired on Foxtel’s History Channel, which catapults you into a violent world of cowboys, Native Americans, outlaws and gunslingers. The ground runs red with the blood of their stories, from Jesse James to Billy the Kid. These men were the first to live the American dream,…

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Jemaine Clement talks playing a giant crab in Moana, channelling David Bowie and Maori myths (EXCLUSIVE)

Arriving into Australian cinemas on Boxing Day is Disney’s brand new animated feature Moana and this will be the first time the studio is exploring the culture and myths of the South Pacific region, particularly that of the Polynesian people. In the film an ancient curse that is causing the crops to fail and fish…

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What We Learned Surviving The Writers’ Room At Bingefest

On paper, Bingefest’s Writers’ Room handily emerged as parhaps the most uncertain-yet-unmissable event on the weekend’s lineup (that doesn’t involve Shia LeBouf). Bringing together Community-creator Dan Harmon, Please Like Me’s Josh Thomas and Rosehaven co-creators Luke McGregor and Celia Pacquola under the guidance of Gretel Killeen to develop a concept for a TV show sounds…

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Bingeing With The Best: Talking TV With The AV Club’s Laura Browning

“There is an unreasonable amount of TV” was exactly the right declaration to open The AV Club‘s “All The TV You Should Have Watched By Now” panel at Sydney’s inaugural BingeFest. Over the course of the following session, the three representatives from the popular online TV criticism website pitched a member of the audience on why…

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Unpacking “Binge-Worthy Journalism” With Julie Snyder At BingeFest 2016

The true crime genre has experienced a really extraordinary revival following the arrival of the hugely-popular podcast Serial. However, two years later, the only question bigger than whether Adnan is guilty or not is whether or not Serial might actually eclipse the rest of podcasting as a medium when it comes to raw popularity. Sarah originally…

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Everything You Missed At The Harambe Memorial Service

The cavalcade of emotional, digital, political and cultural disasters that have hit the internet in 2016 ended up being so numerous that it’s hard to look back and take stock of things. Still, someone’s got to do it. At least, that was the idea behind Bingefest’s Harambe Memorial Service. After all,  if you’re going to…

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British composer Joby Talbot on bringing Illumination’s new animated film Sing to life (EXCLUSIVE)

It’s not often you wonder about a composer after you watch a film, but British composer Joby Talbot is certainly the sort to warrant that reaction. Joby has helped bring the Minion-crazy animators over at Illumination Entertainment their new film Sing to the big screen with his crafted musical genius. Previously, Joby Talbot’s works have…

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Opetaia Foa’i talks Disney’s Moana & helping to bring Polynesian culture to life onscreen (EXCLUSIVE)

This Boxing Day, Australian audiences will be introduced to Disney’s latest heroine in Moana. The first ever Polynesian princess has already caused much conversation even before the film saw its recent premiere in the United States – while there was obvious excitement surrounding this new territory being tread when it came to exploring Polynesian cultures on…

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Parramatta Park to host outdoor film screenings you’ll be able to watch from a bed

Next March, Mov’In Bed will be hosting a unique outdoor cinema experience, giving people the chance to lie comfortably in bed while watching their favourite films on the big screen. This is the second season of the program, and it will be held at The Crescent, located at the heart of Parramatta Park, west of…

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Monster Fest Film Review: Dearest Sister (Laos, 2016) has an identity crisis

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…

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Film Review: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (M, USA, 2016) is action packed and ruthless

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…

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The first full length trailer of Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk arrives, and it’s beautiful

The first full length trailer of Christopher Nolan‘s upcoming film Dunkirk was released today, giving Nolan fans a taste of what the filmmaker has done this time round. Known for his work in The Dark Knight and Interstellar, Nolan reveals a sharp and heart-thumping introduction to Dunkirk. The title has been shot using a mixture of IMAX® and…

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Red Bull TV to stream highlights of BINGEFEST from the Sydney Opera House

From Monday 19 December, fans who are unable to attend this year’s BINGEFEST at the Sydney Opera House can tune in to Red Bull TV and stream some highlights from the event. This program (titled The Best of BINGEFEST) will be hosted by Marc Fennell and Ash London and it will feature some of the…

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We reflect on Harambe and the memes of 2016 with Dan Ilic and Superwog ahead of BINGEFEST

Bingefest is set to take over the Sydney Opera House for an epic 24 hours this weekend, and part of this will be The Harambe Memorial Service: 2016’s Viral Hits, where Australia’s best, brightest and funniest internet stars will bring you the definitive story of what went down on the Internet in 2016 – from…

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Australian Box Office Report: Fantastic Beasts weaves its magic for the fourth consecutive week

It seems there’s no stopping Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them, which topped the Box Office chart again for the fourth week in a row, hauling in $2.21 million.  It’s tipped to be 2016’s sixth highest grossing film.  Only Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Finding Dory  managed to take the no. 1 spot four weeks in a…

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Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn to lead the charge in Gotham City Sirens

If like me, you were a fan of Harley Quinn and in particular Margot Robbie’s portrayal of her in Suicide Squad earlier this year. Then get excited because she will be reprising that character for a newly announced DC film showcasing the top female villains. Gotham City Sirens will be DC’s attempt at flipping the…

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Win a copy of Bridget Jones’s Baby on DVD

Oscar winners Renee Zellweger and Colin Firth reprise their roles for the much-anticipated third installment of the Bridget Jones’s Franchise, Bridget Jones’s Baby. After breaking up with Mark Darcy (Colin Firth), Bridget Jones (Renée Zellweger) decides to focus on her successful career and close-knit group of friends. Fortysomething and once again single, Bridget’s love life…

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Monster Fest announces 2017 dates after successful run in Melbourne

After a *monster* year for Australia’s genre film festival Monster Fest, the event is slated to make a bigger and better return to Melbourne next year, making all your gory, scary and eye-opening dreams come true. The festival is to be held on November 22-26, 2017, with the return of The Swinburne University Media and Communication Monster Academy,…

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TV Review: The Walking Dead Season 7 Mid-Season Finale “Hearts Still Beating” brings hope back to the show

As the front-end of The Walking Dead’s average seventh season comes to an end we get another glimmer of hope on the horizon, but those small sparks are still overshadowed by a script that leans a bit too heavily on Jefferey Dean Morgan, overindulging in Negan’s affable sociopath shtick. The showrunners are so confident in…

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The debut trailer for The Fate of the Furious is here and it is pure insanity

Don’t roll your eyes. On the contrary, the Fast and the Furious films exist now for sheer enjoyment, to hell with asinine plots and OTT action. Just bask in the ridiculousness as we get our first look at the eighth film in the adrenaline fueled series. The whole gang is back but this time they’re…

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Village Cinemas to introduce in-seat food & beverage delivery in cinemas

Village Cinemas will introduce in seat delivery of food & beverage within its VPremium cinemas this Thursday. This will be the first time in-cinema food & beverage ordering has been introduced in non gold class style cinemas in Australia. Guests will be able to order hot food and alcohol, plus cinema classics like popcorn and…

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Netflix unveils their latest mind-bending series The OA in brand new trailer

Netflix continues to churn out their unique content with original series The OA, which launches this Friday. The mysterious drama is the work of visionaries Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij (Sound of My Voice, The East), who created and wrote the eight chapter series together. The show begins with a missing blind girl in her…

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Foxtel confirm return date for second half of The Walking Dead’s seventh season

AMC sure do love splitting their most successful shows up, axing seasons in two with months between blocks. It’s a trend that they’ve been going at for a few years now and The Walking Dead’s seventh season is no exception, having just finished their traditional 8-episode block before taking a break. Australians will be happy…

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The Iris’ Weekly Australian TV Picks: 13 – 19 December

The festive season is approaching, so our picks for this week are a little festive, from a comedy to a classic, sit back and enjoy them. Tuesday, 13th December Jane the Virgin, Fox8, 8:30pm AEST Jane’s life spirals down when she discovers that Michael has been shot. Wednesday, 14th December The Yearly with Charlie Pickering,…

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