Film & TV

The Jewish International Film Festival announces a stellar Australian line-up, opening with critically acclaimed Biopic Denial

The Jewish International Film Festival (JIFF) has announced it 2016 Australian line-up, featuring 66 international premiere features and 19 documentaries alongside it’s opening and closing films, critically acclaimed Biopic Denial, and provocative documentary The Last Laugh. The festival will also screen the Israeli drama, Sand Storm, winner of Best Film and Best Director at the…

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Lowdown and Australian Price guide revealed for the Asus ZenBook 3, Transformer 3 Pro and ZenBook Flip

Asus have launched a new line of slim Laptops designed for an on-the-go lifestyle. The Iris has the low down on each product and how much it will set you back. ZenBook 3 UX390UA  The ZenBook 3 is made for professionals, and comes in Royal Blue and Rose Gold designed for ‘luxury’. The ultra-portable device…

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Annette Bening, Greta Gerwig and Elle Fanning star in 20th Century Women; first trailer released

The first trailer for 20th Century Women,  a film about life and love set in Santa Barbara at the end of the 70’s, has been officially released. The film is about a single mother named Dorthea (played by Annette Bening), who is struggling to raise her teenage son, Jamie. She enlists the help of two…

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IMAX to offer exclusive sneak peek footage of Doctor Strange in two Australian cinemas

Marvel Studios and IMAX have teamed up together and will be offering 15-minutes of exclusive footage on upcoming and highly-anticipated superhero film Doctor Strange (directed by Scott Derrickson). On October 11th at 6:30PM, two cinema locations across Australia will be showing this footage in 3D. These will be in IMAX 3D at IMAX Melbourne in Victoria…

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New Lego Dimensions Battle Arena trailer shows off new game modes and characters

Lego Dimensions Battle Arena, a multiplayer-focused expansion for Lego Dimensions, has officially been announced and a trailer has been revealed. Parents be warned though: this is going to cost you a lot of money. The latest expansion for the Lego Dimension franchise is a local multiplayer split-screen combat-arena style game featuring all of the current characters, and some new, from…

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Foxtel’s Showcase to fast track HBO newest titles Westworld,Divorce and Quarry

With Foxtel earning the title ‘Home of HBO’, showcasing popular favourites like Game of Thrones, the TV network have managed to free up some time slots for exclusive HBO TV titles, Westworld, Divorce and Quarry. Making its premiere, Westworld  will be broadcasted on Mondays from October 3 at 12PM (same time as the U.S). In…

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The most expensive series ever produced, Netflix’s The Crown, releases first trailer

Netflix has revealed the first trailer for their new original series The Crown, which has become the most expensive series ever produced. The first season of the ten-part series has had a production cost of about US$130 million , which is roughly about AU$169 million. The Crown has exceeded the cost of Game of Thrones and Rome with a per-episode cost of…

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Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them‘s final trailer has all the magic and fantasy you could ever dream of

Making its debut to the world wide web just yesterday, Warner Bros. Pictures launched the final trailer of highly-anticipated fantasy-drama, Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them. Based on the book written by J.K Rowling, the film starring Eddie Redmayne entails a visual encapsulation of the book, filled with magical elements and eye-catching aesthetics on wizardry…

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Fans of The Lion King don’t seem impressed Disney are doing a live action remake with Jon Favreau

So Disney today announced that they’re undertaking a “re-imagining” of the all-time best-ever family film The Lion King. And it nearly broke Twitter. https://twitter.com/alexistheory/status/781159071055540228 https://twitter.com/thezakroeshow/status/781158919733403649 https://twitter.com/yeahcate/status/781158853408882688 https://twitter.com/RageNineteen/status/781146603352621056 Boy, that escalated quickly. Fresh from the triumph that was The Jungle Book, Disney will again team up with Jon Favreau for The Lion King remake. Whilst there won’t be any human characters…

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New comedy project set to star Mindy Kaling and Emma Thompson

As reported by Variety, Mindy Kaling and Emma Thompson are set to star in a new film about the career of a venerated late-night talk show host. Kaling, who wrote the script, is hot property at the moment. Emma Thompson will play the talk show host, who apparently hires her first female writer (Kaling) right before she is…

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First Impressions: Marvel’s Luke Cage (USA, 2016) may be the best Defenders series yet

Netflix are certainly not playing it safe with Luke Cage, their third collaboration with Marvel, nor are they tripping over themselves as they retread through the same universe as Daredevil and Jessica Jones. No, this one has all the ambition and polish of the other two but with the aim to make much more a…

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Our first impressions of “Home”, Ash vs Evil Dead‘s much anticipated second season return

Well, it seems that evil doesn’t stay dormant for long. Season 2 of Ash vs Evil Dead is almost here and we got a look at the very first episode, and it’s just as good as anything the first season had to offer. Now that Ruby and Ash’s deal is in effect – allowing Ruby to rule the underworld…

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Australian Box Office Report: The Secret Life of Pets returns to the top of the litter

After falling into 2nd place on the box office ladder, The Secret Life of Pets is back on top again, making $3.41 million this week.  It also earned the the weekend’s best screen average with $6,987 from its 489 screens, and, with school holidays now upon this, this film should continue to perform well. Bridget Jones’s Baby, earning $2.81 million this…

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Holly Marie Combs, Eoin Macken, Cheez TV – Supanova names new guests for Adelaide & Brisbane!

Buckle up, Supanova fans. The Adelaide and Brisbane events in November have just gotten bigger with the addition of some new guests! Already featuring the likes of Nathan Fillion and Lucy Hale, the pop culture expo has added  Holly Marie Combs, Eoin Macken, Cheez TV legends Jade Gatt and Ryan Lappin to both events happening over two weekends in November. Tickets are on sale for…

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Blu-Ray Review: X-Men Apocalypse (M) (USA, 2016) drops a packed single disc release

X-Men: Apocalypse delivers the super fights, the superhero costumes, the supervillain and the super team. But was this latest X-Men film so special that, if it was a person, it would be enrolled at Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters? Yes and no. Mild spoilers ahead. Set in 1983, 10 years after the previous Days of…

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Director Billy O’Brien talks about his new film I Am Not A Serial Killer (In Cinemas Thursday)

Out on Thursday, the new film I Am Not A Serial Killer has been a hit of festivals around the world throughout the year, including at the Sydney Underground Film Festival. This Thursday the film will enjoy a limited cinematic release around the country. We caught up with the film’s director Billy O’Brien to talk…

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Seven reasons HBO’s blockbuster new series Westworld will be TV’s next big addiction

From the mind of the late Michael Crichton (Jurassic Park, Andromena Strain) and based on the 1973 film of the same name comes Westworld. Westworld is about a futuristic theme park populated by artificial beings to make the guests feel as if they are back in the Wild West and it’s HBO’s latest entry to add…

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Director of Overtime, Manhattan Short finalist Craig Foster, on creating a werewolf film

In the lead-up to Sydney’s Manhattan Shorts screening, Australian Director Craig Foster of horror-comedy Overtime talks about the processes involved in creating a werewolf film. The day-in-the-life style werewolf short Overtime was one of only ten films chosen from around the world as a finalist in the Manhattan Short film festival. The short film, which…

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The Iris’ Weekly Australian TV Picks: 27 September – 3 October

From the return of Marvel to new Aussie drama, here are seven shows and a movie you can’t miss on TV this week: Tuesday, 27th September Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, 7Flix, 8:30pm AEST Daisy is on a mission to solve a series of killings after she left S.H.I.E.L.D. Wednesday, 28th September Doctor Doctor, Ch 9, 8:40pm…

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Roman Polanski’s best coming to ACMI and Palace Cinemas nationwide

Acclaimed French-Polish director, Holocaust survivor and controversial figure Roman Polanski has a history of Academy Award winning films and cult classics. Come November ACMI and Palace Cinemas will be honouring Polanski’s extensive oeuvre by bringing ten of his best works to cinemas in Melbourne, Canberra, Brisbane and Sydney. Roman: 10 X Polanski will set out…

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Film Review: The Magnificent Seven (USA, 2016) is not hard to enjoy

John Sturges’ 1960 American Western has been polished and updated with a culturally diverse – for the sake of being culturally diverse – cast and a keen eye on box office glory. Antoine Fuqua’s updated version of The Magnificent Seven is a successful outing in this sense, roping in the likes of a sullen Denzel…

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SUFF Review: Trash Fire (USA, 2016) is more fire than trash

Richard Bates Jr. is a film-maker that I’ve admired ever since I saw his first film, the wonderfully acidic and biting Excision. It successfully melded horror elements with a heavy dollop of dark comedy set within a grounded story.  Add in a wonderfully talented cast with career-best performances from Traci Lords and AnnaLynne McCord, and…

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Chelsey Crisp offers a fresh perspective of “being in the biz”; talks In-Lawfully Yours & Fresh Off The Boat

After years of striving to reach her dream, Chelsey Crisp has finally found herself in a really good place – as the lead of the new movie In-Lawfully Yours while starring in ABC’s Fresh Off The Boat. This actress has been through it all and paved the way for a longstanding career. Crisp’s insider perspective into LA and…

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The cast of Stranger Things, Leonardo DiCaprio and more to be a part of South by South Lawn at the White House

Academy Award winning Actor Leonardo DiCaprio, The Lumineers, The Duffer Brothers and the cast of Stranger Things are coming to the White House lawn on the 3rd of October for President Barack Obama’s South by South Lawn (SXSL) Festival. The festival calls on every American to discover ways to make positive differences in the country….

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Martin Freeman is in South Australia right now filming a zombie thriller based on a Tropfest short

Martin Freeman, best known for his work in Sherlock, Fargo and The Hobbit, is currently in Australia bringing to life a heart-wrenching zombie thriller. Cargo is based on a Tropfest short which garnered well over 10 million views online, and tells a harrowing tale of family love. Martin Freeman plays Andy, a father who has…

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Watchdog 2 welcomes you to DedSec with its brand new story trailer

Ubisoft has released the newest trailer for Watchdog 2 inviting you to the Dedsec hacking team. Featuring new protagonist Marcus Holloway, the second season in the popular open world game will bring you to the other side of the conflict to take down a familiar Corporation. The Blume Corporation is back, with the new and…

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Warhammer 40,000: Eternal Crusade has finally launched on PC

Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe and Behaviour Interactive have finally announced Warhammer 40,000: Eternal Crusade‘s official launch on PC, after initially being released in Early Access. The Games Workshop’s MMO will thrust gamers into a vicious battle between four factions, the Eldar, Chaos Space Marines, Orks and Space Marines. Players will work together to engage in battles and…

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BlizzCon has announced the team that will represent Australia in the 2016 Overwatch World Cup

BlizzCon has announced Australia’s team of six Overwatch representatives that have been chosen to battle it out on the Overwatch World Cup stage. After taking part in qualifiers over the past month, Australia’s team will be joining over fifty countries and regions who will be competing in the Overwatch World Cup. Overwatch is a team-based…

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Palace to open a 15 screen cinema at historic Pentridge Prison site

Palace has confirmed it will open a 15 screen cinema complex at historic Pentridge Prison site in Coburg, Melbourne. The development is a part of the Shayher Group’s planned $2 million spend to reactivate the heritage building and restore the former jail’s towers. Her Majesty’s Prison Pentridge was first established in 1851 until it closed…

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Peter Capaldi will appear in the premiere of brand new Doctor Who spin off series Class on ABC2

ABC2 have partnered with BBC to release the Doctor Who spin off series Class, written by award-winning author Patrick Ness (The Knife of Never Letting Go, A Monster Calls). The twelfth and current Doctor, played by Peter Capaldi, will make an appearance in the first episode of the double debut. Katherine Kelly (Mr Selfridge, Coronation Street)…

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