Film & TV

Only South Park right? In a stupidly funny video just released, Ubisoft have lampooned those commercials for new technologies – especially the Oculus Rift – with their take, the Nosulus Rift. And as you might expect, it lets you smell farts in the upcoming South Park game, The Fractured But Whole. We’re talking about a South…

All too often, the scene of refugees fleeing from the religious violence of Afghanistan and the Taliban is a common image to appear on our television screens and the news publications that slips into our Facebook feeds. The documentary filmmaker, Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami, uncovers a more distressing cultural issue ingrained within Afghani traditions of the…

The second season of Showtime drama Billions will arrive on television screens in February 2017. The critically-acclaimed series, which is currently shooting in the New York summer, will see the return of Paul Giamatti as Chuck Rhoades and Damian Lewis as Bobby Axelrod. Rhoades is a US Attorney who continues to battle for ultimate power…

Blake Lively finds herself in her own little Castaway-slash-All Is Lost-slash-Life of Pi type role with The Shallows, Director Jaume Collet-Serra placing a lot of faith in the young actress, who to this point is best known for her role on Gossip Girl. The purpose is to basically place Lively’s character, Nancy, as an injured…

The first official Metal Gear game since Hideo Kojima left Konami has been announced, and it’s a four-player co-op game with zombies. Ok, what?

Music streaming service Spotify is now requesting the company of gamers of all ages. They’ve just released a gaming channel that incorporates all styles of gaming music, from classic 80’s mono-tunes and retro synth themes, to modern day masterpieces played by popular orchestras. 

The Australian Film Television and Radio School has announced a partnership with Virgin Australia that will see its aircraft screens adorned with the best short films to come out of the school. The initiative will take the title, the ‘Best of the Fest’ program and will feature a selection of AFTRS films that have screened…

There are more and more big names starting to be linked with the Mary Poppins sequel, with the latest reporting Meryl Streep and Ben Wishaw are in talks to join the project. Whether the millennials will recognise it or not, a sequel to the 1964 Mary Poppins is a graceful moment for American cinema. The…

National Theatre Live‘s London performance of Hamlet, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, will return to the big screen across Australia in September. Originally recorded in 2015, the Shakespearian classic will show in cinemas for a limited time only. The production was directed by Lyndsey Turner (Posh, Chimerica) and produced by Sonia Friedman Productions. The production also stars  Barry…

The provocative Australian documentary The Animal Condition is set for a national cinematic release beginning this week via new Cinema-On-Demand platform, Fan-Force. The documentary follows four NIDA graduates who take an investigative road trip around Australia after coming across online activist videos of suffering farm animals one night. Unafraid to ask questions, the filmmaker’s show…

The 24 films that are in competition for the 6th AACTA Awards presented by Presto have been revealed. The list includes the likes of Mel Gibson‘s upcoming war film Hacksaw Ridge starring Andrew Garfield,  Nicholas Verso‘s feature debut Boys In The Trees and Alex Proyas‘ epic fantasy Gods Of Eygpt. The eligible films include a diverse range of established…

Proving to be the master of quiet filmmaking, Kelly Reichardt has established quite a name for herself within the independent cinematic industry. With slow-burning, patient films like Old Joy and Wendy and Lucy, her newest picture follows the style of her preceding work. Certain Women, an adaptation of short stories by Maile Meloy, shows Reichardt…

Here’s this week’s TV picks that would give you a break from Rio. Tuesday Ballers, Showcase, 8:30pm AEST Spencer attempts to mentor Travis under his wings while avoiding his past that’s haunting him. Wednesday Gone Girl, Ch10, 9:00pm AEST Based on the bestselling thriller, Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) becomes entangled with the disappearance of his…

Mel Gibson returns to the big screen with shades of Sicario and Payback in what’s being called an “edge-of-your-seat action thriller”. Scripted by Straight Outta Compton’s Andrea Berloff and The Town’s Peter Craig (based on his novel), Blood Father is brought to the screen by the team behind The Prophet and Rust & Bone and…

Tickled is an explosive new documentary, set to release nationally to Australian cinemas on August 18th. Directed by and starring popular NZ journalist and TV personality David Farrier, Tickled premiered to rave reviews at Sundance Film Festival and Melbourne International Film Festival this year. It even scored a perfect FIVE STARS with our reviewer. The…

The word “epic” is thrown around far too often these days, especially in this Marvel vs DC comic book universe we now occupy. It takes a new Star Wars trailer to pop up and reminds us the high bar that “epic” has been set at. And at the end of last week, we enjoyed this…

There’s a Game of Thrones conference coming to Australia, and the dates have just been revealed. Called ThronesCon, and promising to bring us actresses and actors from the celebrated series, the event will premiere in Melbourne next May. Presented by Australian Fandom Conventions, who have delivered fan-orientated events around the country over the last decade,…

Seemingly about the fun, bizarre world of an adult sub-culture called ‘Competitive Endurance Tickling’, comes a documentary that takes fast steps sideways, trips down some steep, morbidly dark stairs and leads viewers into the world of abuse, identity theft and cyber bullying. Like so many great documentaries before it, you walk away from Tickled wanting…

Set in a childcare centre called Big Oak, Little Acorns is a new Australian comedy series that will be available exclusively through YouTube from 1st September. The series will be told in nine parts, running in bite-size 3-5 minute episodes. Written and directed by Maria Theodorakis and Trudy Hellier, Little Acorns shows adults behaving like…

Tim Burton’s new film, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, is based on the best-selling novel of the same name. And this week we’ve been given a bit more insight into the anticipated movie, with a featurette being released, seeing Director Tim Burton take us inside the story’s most peculiar world. Watch the featurette here:…

Seth Rogen has always been associated with stoner humour and raunchy comedy, but in the case of Sausage Party, he takes it to a whole new level. With animated films that have anthropomorphised objects like toys (i.e. the Toy Story films) and cars (i.e. Cars), Rogen had the idea to anthropomorphise consumer products while retaining…

Little Men begins with Jake Jardine (Theo Taplitz) sitting quietly amidst anarchic scenes in a teacher-less classroom. Later that day, home from school, he takes a call from an old friend of his grandfather who, assuming that Jake knows more than he does, clumsily inquires about arrangements for Jake’s grandfather’s funeral. The juxtaposition of these…

Sydney’s biggest showcase of cult and alternative films, the Sydney Underground Film Festival (SUFF), is back for its 10th year with a lineup of over 100 daring, experimental and controversial films. The festival will run over four big days, with screenings to include various Australian premieres alongside a collection of retrospective screenings, and special masterclasses….

Io-Interactive announces the release date and location for episode four of Hitman. The new mission, “Club 47,” will take place in the Himmapan luxury hotel and resort, located on the Chao Phraya River outside of Bangkok. Though, you aren’t there to just to take in the scenery. You’ve got work to do and this wouldn’t…

Capcom is celebrating the 10th Anniversary of the Dead Rising series by re-releasing Dead Rising, Dead Rising 2, and Dead Rising 2: Off the Record, for digital download on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.  The original Dead Rising game will also be available on Steam as a digital download.

Billy Bob Thornton and his foul mouth are back for Bad Santa 2 – and this week we got our first taste of the film with the release of its first trailer. In the film, Billy Bob returns as Willie, the R-rated Santa, with his equally filthy elf accomplice, Tony Cox as Marcus. In the…

Baz Luhrmann, over a decade worth of planning, and a whopping $120 million dollar budget sit behind The Get Down, an upcoming Netflix Original that boldly tackles the origins (and fundamentals) of Hip Hop with the Australian director’s characteristically fanciful touch. The result is a surprisingly unique, compelling series that marches to the beat of…

Warner Bros confirmed this week that October will be the start date for Ocean’s Eight, the female-led spin-off of the successful Ocean’s franchise. Production is set to begin in New York with many actors having their roles confirmed, Deadline Hollywood has reported. When the project was first announced, acaresses such as Sandra Bullock and Cate Blanchett…

CBS has announced that Star Trek: Discovery will have a female lead, Variety confirmed. CBS Television Studios, who are producing the latest series, are still in the process of casting the lead role. Variety confirmed that the female lead will “not necessarily be a captain.” Though no one has been official cast in the role,…

If you’ve ever stumbled upon the Narnia book series as a child, you came to love the characters, the storyline and the wild adventures it would take you on as you read page-to-page of every line C.S Lewis has ever written. Between the years of 2005 and 2010, the theatrical adaptations of the Narnia franchise…