Film & TV

What to watch: The Iris’ Weekly TV Picks (2nd September-8th September)

Need to catch a TV break and don’t know what to watch? Simon takes us through his top picks on must-see shows and films for the week. Click through to see what’s showing for your entertainment needs. Wednesday 2nd September, 2015 Sammy J and Randy in Ricketts Lane-ABC iView-Streaming 24/7 In what is both an…

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Vikings star Clive Standen to raid Australian shores for Oz Comic-Con

Australian Vikings fans are in for a treat this month with Clive Standen, who portrays legendary Norse warrior Rollo Lothbrok in the acclaimed historical drama, set to raid our shores as part of Oz Comic-Con. Standen will be attending both Brisbane and Sydney events and fans will have the opportunity to get up close and…

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Mad Max: Fury Road named best film of the year by international critics

This year, at the San Sebastian Film Festival in Spain, Australia action blockbuster Mad Max: Fury Road will be awarded the very prestigious Grand Prix of the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI), meaning that a panel of 493 of the world’s top critics have named it the best film of the year. In a…

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DVD/Blu-Ray Review: Star Leaf (USA, 2015)

It’s hard to know where to start with a movie like Star Leaf. It’s exactly not a work of great great cinematic importance but it’s not really trying to be. The film’s aspirations are humble ones – it wants to be fun, light and kind of forgettable – and for the most part it hits…

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Narcos leads the pack in a slew of new additions to Netflix Australia this week

The first season of Netflix’s new original series Narcos premiered on Friday (read our first impressions here), and today a slew of new films have been added to Netflix Australia’s repertoire. Available from later today will be the following films, a mix of family friendly, Oscar winners and cult favourites: 

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Vikings actors Travis Fimmel and Alexander Ludwig mingle with fans at The Big Viking Picnic

Australian actor Travis Fimmel (Vikings, Warcraft) attended The Big Viking Picnic held at Grove Gardens in Kells, Co. Meath in Ireland over the weekend, an event that came about due to his association with children’s cancer charity, Aoibheann’s Pink Tie.

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You can totally fly on a Star Wars themed commercial airline now.

File this under “is this real life?” because something that shouldn’t be real, just became a reality. Japanese carrier All Nippon Airlines (ANA) have announced that they’re turning several of their aircraft into Star Wars themed battle cruisers passenger jets, in advance of the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens this December. The brand partnership is part…

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TV Review: Fear the Walking Dead Season 1 Episode 2 “So Close, Yet So Far” (USA, 2015)

Fear the Walking Dead continues to, very slowly, take shape with the second episode of the spin-off series, and it’s much of the same we got in the pilot only with a bit more punch behind it. There’s still that almost lethargic pace behind one splintered family’s perspective of a city unknowingly flung into chaos,…

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Win a double pass to see Highlander at “In The House” this Friday!

IN THE HOUSE has returned to Sydney’s Event Cinemas on George Street for its third season, and the classic film Highlander is kicking things off. The series of classic films, returning to the big screen for one night only, runs every other Friday at the cinema and Season Three will also see the likes of The…

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Narcos: Our Impressions Of Netflix’s New Crime Drama

At first glance, a lot of the shows that Netflix picks up seem to be positioned to check boxes on their roster. “People like Game of Thrones, maybe they’ll go for Marco Polo?”, ”Superheroes are big on TV right now, how about Daredevil?” and so on. Following in that mould, Narcos seems like it’s supposed…

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TV Review: Hannibal Season 3 (USA, 2015)

The third season of Bryan Fuller’s Hannibal sees the crime-procedural-turned-art-film bloom into a full-on romance drama – and the results are nothing short of glorious to behold. The season’s opening arc concerns itself with the international manhunt for Hannibal kicked off by the end of Season 2. Later episodes tackle the long-awaited arrival of Francis…

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Film Review: Holding The Man (Australia, 2015)

In the mid-90’s, Timothy Conigrave published his bestselling memoir, titled Holding the Man, 10 days before his death. It was a story so intimate and full of warmth that it continued to resonate with Australian audiences over the years. Tommy Murphy adapated it into an award-winning stage production in 2006, and now Director Neil Armfield…

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Film Review: Ricki and the Flash (USA, 2015)

Usually when imagining a career in rock n’ roll and a band called “Ricki And The Flash” you wouldn’t imagine it to involve a handful of old timers in a shabby Californian bar with a 60 something year old lead lady whose only ever record produced is stored in her ex-husband’s rubbermaid. And yet, this…

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AMC’s The Walking Dead plan special ‘Zombies on a Plane’ stand-alone story

Already details are starting to emerge for the second season of Fear the Walking Dead, and AMC have just dropped a huge announcement to Entertainment Weekly about their lead-up plans. The network and the world of The Walking Dead will produce a 30-minute special episode (likely split into chapters) which tracks a walker outbreak on…

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The five best episodes from the first five seasons of FX’s Archer

We’re a bit excited that the first five seasons of Archer are finally on Netflix in Australia, after making quite a name for itself on the US version of the popular streaming platform. So excited, that many here at The Iris are not doing their work and instead having a binge of entire seasons of the…

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Win a double weekend pass to Oz Comic-Con in Brisbane and Sydney!

After the huge success of the inaugural Oz Comic-Con Brisbane and Sydney events in 2014, and a recent sell-out show for Oz Comic-Con Melbourne, Australia’s best-loved pop culture extravaganza jets back to Brisbane and Sydney this September. Taking over the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre on 19th and 20th September and the Sydney Exhibition Centre…

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New Green Band trailer and poster released for Scout’s Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse

In our first green band look at the upcoming zombie invasion comedy, Scouts’s Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse, we see Tye Sheridan star as the socially-awkard boy scout. Along with his two childhood friends, the three struggle to manoeuvre through usual hardships of puberty and girls,  but it isn’t until their small town gets invaded by the undead that their scout’s…

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Controversial Kurt Cobain docudrama Soaked in Bleach to get an Australian DVD release

Released in US cinemas earlier this year, Soaked in Bleach will be coming to Australian audiences on DVD through Shock Entertainment on October 7th.

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Dates revealed for the 2015 Japanese Film Festival in Australia

The Japanese Film Festival dates for 2015 have been announced. Movies will be screened in Canberra, Brisbane, Perth,Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne from 14 October to 6 September. If you’d like to go, Hello Asia! has all the details below.

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Nintendo Expands 2015 Line-Up With New Amiibos and Software Bundles

Nintendo has announced its end of year line-up with a vast array of games, bundles and software for the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS. Featuring Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda, Star Fox and Animal Crossing, Nintendo has a great list of upcoming releases featuring their most popular franchises. Upcoming game releases for the Wii U…

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Box Office Report: Vacation checks in at the top

A couple of fresh titles have taken up the top two spots this week as a new batch of films enter the top 10. National Lampoon’s reboot Vacation has taken up number 1 after a $1.6 million opening last week. It did $14 million in its opening weekend in the US making it the most successful opening of…

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What To Watch: The Iris’ Weekly TV Picks (26th August-1st September)

Need to catch a TV break and don’t know what to watch? Simon takes us through his top picks on must-see shows and films for the week. Click through to see what’s showing for your entertainment needs…. Wednesday 26th August 2015 Aquarius-Seven-8.30pm AEST With the onslaught of period pieces and biopics on our televisions in…

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Xbox Announces Forza Partnership With V8 Supercars Australia

Xbox has announced a partnership with V8 Supercars Australia to bring 10 cars from the current V8 Supercar series into the upcoming Forza Motorsport 6 game with 2015 liveries. The newest game in the Forza franchise launches in September, and is exclusive to Xbox One. The game has a range of new features, such as…

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Warner Bros. Releases TV Commercial for Upcoming Mad Max Game

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment has released a TV spot showcasing the chaotic, action-packed open-world game, Mad Max, based on the film franchise of the same name. The game is set in the savage post-apocalyptic Wasteland where cars are the key to survival. Players take on the role of Mad Max, a lone warrior and reluctant…

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TV Review: Fear the Walking Dead Season 1 Episode 1 “Pilot” (USA, 2015)

With the monstrous success of The Walking Dead it does seem like a good idea to rewind the story a little bit and check out the origin of the zombie/walker outbreak that, as we’ve seen, completely destroys society and threatens to drag humility with it. Robert Kirkman’s hit comic series and eventual AMC megashow became…

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Film Review: Vacation (MA15+, USA, 2015)

Given that at some point everything that is old becomes new again, it makes sense that the National Lampoon Vacation series would be on the reboot agenda. A surprisingly durable series that has spanned over three decades, the latest in line acts as a semi-reboot-come-sequel with enough sly nods to pay tribute to the original without…

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Film Review: The Gift (Australia, USA, 2015)

Joel Edgerton has already proved himself indispensable to Australian cinema, particularly with Animal Kingdom and The Rover, both films with an atmosphere and scope much larger than The Gift. For his directorial debut, Edgerton, who plays Gordon “Gordo” Moseley, brings a much more insular focus in both character and environment and it helps him deliver…

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Australian Movie & Comic Expo unveils a star studded line up and much more for 2015 event

Victoria’s biggest movie and comic event is back for 2015.  Returning to the  Melbourne Showground on the 18th and the 19th of October, this year’s Australian Movie and Comic Expo (AMC, formerly known as the Armageddon Australia) is giving fans chances to meet and greet local and international guests from hit movies, TV shows and comics and enjoy some fun, nerdy and family…

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IMAX feature favourites to return to the world’s biggest screen in Sydney.

IMAX Darling Harbour has announced it will be bringing some of their favourite feature films back to their big (nay, biggest) screen for limited “Blast From The Past” run*. IMAX Darling Harbour will be screening: Gravity 3D on 27 August & 5 September Mad Max Fury Road 3D on 29 August & 3 September Interstellar on 10 September &…

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