Film & TV

We watched the first episode of the second season of True Detective yesterday, and here are five of our first impressions from the initial watching: 1. The opening credits are much more slick and smooth, as is the aesthetic in True Detective so far, comparatively speaking. There’s that harshness of Louisiana from season 1 that’s sorely…

Start stocking up on your supply of tissues now, as the first trailer for new documentary He Named Me Malala has been released online and it looks like a real tearjerker. Directed by acclaimed documentarian David Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth, Waiting for Superman), He Named Me Malala is an intimate portrait of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Malala Yousafzai, who…

Stop what you’re doing, for here’s the first look at the official Episode VII (2015) toys. For any other movie that would mean a whole lot of nothing, but because this is Star Wars, the grand-daddy of toy collectibles among grown men, it matters a great deal. That’s why photos of little plastic Stormtroopers, six…

Australia’s rock and roll history will be explored in the upcoming two part documentary, Blood and Thunder: The Sound of Alberts. The documentary surrounds the Australian rock and roll industry in the 1960s and 70s, and the two families that dominated the rock scene: the Alberts and the Youngs. Part one, Blood, explores music producer…

Adding to the massive list of sequels and reboots that are hitting our cinemas this year, is a sequel to Sony Pictures Animation’s Hotel Transylvania, which will be released in Australian cinemas on November 26th. Directed by Genndy Tartakovsky (who also directed the original film), the film stars the voices of Adam Sandler, Andy Samberg, Selena Gomez, Kevin…

With just over a week until doors open at Oz Comic-Con Melbourne, Keisha Castle-Hughes, best known for her role in Whale Rider and recently introduced into the epic TV series Game of Thrones is one of three late additions to the event. Paul Blackthorne and Rila Fukushima from the hit TV show Arrow have also been added to the event. The…

One of the hottest names in comedy right now, Amy Schumer (Inside Amy Schumer), is set to come to Australia introduce her first feature film, Trainwreck, alongside co-star and fellow comedian Bill Hader (Saturday Night Live). The film, which has so far been received positively at screenings – including at SXSW in Austin, Texas – is Produced…

You had us at Bill Murray. But the synopsis for the film makes it all the better: “A washed-up music producer finds one last shot at redemption with a golden-voiced young girl in Afghanistan.” Not bad, eh? And with Kate Hudson amongst the cast, there’s a bit of a bizarro Almost Famous vibe about it…

Dreamworks is making good on its promise to bring us a third film in the hugely successful Kung Fu Panda series, with the first trailer for the film starring Jack Black seeing the light of day earlier today – though the film itself won’t be released until late March 2016. But, as is typical of…

  When we were first introduced to the inmates of Litchfield Penitentiary in the 2013 debut season of Orange is the New Black, it was quite clear that we were supposed to be introduced to this new environment through the show’s protagonist, Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling). The upper-class NYC dweller’s transportation to a world completely different to…

A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step and so too does a journey of 1770 kilometres and one through a path of self-discovery. The latter is also known as Wild or a film that has been adapted from Cheryl Strayed’s best-selling memoir from 2012. One things for certain, this journey is…

Today, over 25 locations internationally are showcasing the “3-Finger Salute” from The Hunger Games series. Promoting the upcoming release of Mockingjay: Part Two, the posters can be seen at Times Square in New York, Westfield Centre in London, Colonne di San Lorenzo in Milan, Novy Arbat Avenue in Moscow as well as at locations around…

Over the last two weeks, our Sydney Film Festival review team have covered some 40 films at the festival, the reviews of which you can look back at HERE. After much debate and discussion, we’re now counting down our favourite films of the festival: FICTION FEATURE FILMS: 6. Love & Mercy is a powerful and tragic…

When Ryan Gosling premiered his Directorial debut Lost River to a packed house at Cannes last year, it’s fair to say the odds were stacked against him. He couldn’t have picked harsher critics to premiere his film to. This is a crowd who have rarely been fans of Actors turned Directors. Do you remember The Brave – Johnny…

I’m ending my Sydney Film Festival coverage looking at a short film that was a perfect end to the run of incredible cinema at the 62nd annual event. Sari Braithwaite’s Smut Hounds was a nine minute film, screening before the French film Metamorphoses, detailing the festival’s role in bringing the conversation of censorship to the…

What a year! The constant shuffle at the top continues but hey, this one was always bound to happen. It was 22 years ago when Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park became a financial and critical success.  And now with new director Colin Trevorrow and star Chris Pratt, the franchise has done it again with Jurassic World. Earning…

From one of the most creative minds working in cinema today, Pete Docter, comes his third feature length film for Disney/Pixar. First, there were the monsters living in our closets in 2001’s Monsters Inc.. Then, in 2009 he brought us the tale of a man, a house, some balloons and a Boy Scout in Up; a…

Did you miss out on grabbing tickets to this year’s hilarious 11th Annual Sydney Comedy Festival? Well no need to worry, you can catch up with all the laughs whilst chilling in the best seat in the house (your own lounge) on The Comedy Channel, when they air the four part series The Best of…

  If you’re a big fan of all things Australian cinema, get excited, as The Australian Shortfilm Creativity Awards (AUSSCA’s) are coming soon to a screen near you! Marketed as a ‘crowd-powered short film tournament’, the event is set to be distributed by AUSCEN (Australian Cinema & Television Network), and will be publicly exhibited in…

Fans can’t get enough dinosaur action, it seems, as the franchise Jurassic Park returned with its fourth installment over the weekend with the highly anticipated Jurassic World. It’s been a long time coming and it seems that the wait for Universal executives has paid off. The film just broke all box office records in North…

Given my past experiences with the horrific disease, I’m one person that finds the deus ex machina of cancer unbearable. It is often done tastelessly, depicting it’s sufferers as people without autonomy or regarded with the self-respect that they deserve – cancer patients are people, not pawns that should be used to explain a protagonist…

To celebrate the release of Orange is the New Black Season Two on Blu-ray & DVD last month, the team at Australia’s favourite gelataria Gelato Messina developed a limited edition gelato creation which was served up on a prison-style cafeteria tray. The Limited Edition creation was available for sale at Gelato Messina’s Darlinghurst Dessert Bar (243 Victoria St,…

Once named “the director of the decade” from the late, iconic film critic Roger Ebert (who, in turn, has this film dedicated to him), Ramin Bahrani’s new film 99 Homes is a self-described “humanist thriller”, which takes us into the realities of the American housing crisis, out of which tragedy and corruption has emerged. Set…

Britain’s worst actor Steven Toast (Matt Berry) is back, in the second season of the hilarious comedy Toast of London. Series two sees Toast moving on to a range of new exploits and acting roles following the surprise success afforded to him by Michael Ball, aided by his eccentric agent Jane Plough (Doon Mackichan) and…

With a premise encompassing the lives of eight individuals who find themselves connected by a strange psychic bond, Sense8 often feels like a bunch of different shows blended together. Depending on the character, the show can feel like a techno-thriller, mobster drama, romantic melodrama or sprawling science fiction mystery. Even back when I wrote-up my…

Last week the first trailer for Everest was released and it revisits the story of Into Thin Air that was both a published book and a 1997 tele-movie as well as the recent book release The Storms. The film stars Josh Brolin, Jake Gyllenhall, Australia’s Sam Worthington and Keira Knightley and directed by Baltasar Kormakur….

Once again, Game of Thrones reminds us that the series owes us – and our feelings – nothing (no “fan favourite”, no “hero” to root for – nothing), and the showrunners are still committed, despite all the book differences this season, to showing what an inventive, murderous author George RR Martin is by staying faithful…

It is only in 1970s Canada where an over-abundance of hippies, draft-dodgers, Buddhists, vegans, nudists, musicians, writers and tree-huggers could meet and create an organisation like Greenpeace. The documentary, How To Change The World looks at the origins of this grassroots, activist movement and shows how it became the enduring institution it is today. The…

The Price of Fame (La rançon de la gloire) has an interesting-enough hook. It is based on some true events that occurred in the seventies when two desperate crooks decided to steal the body of the legendary, Charlie Chaplin and hold it to ransom. The film is ultimately a letdown that is plagued by problems…

The final weekend of the Sydney Film Festival was jam packed with major events around the city. Here are some photos from the premieres of the iPhone film Tangerine, the new documentary Brand: A Second Coming – both who had the filmmakers in attendance – as well as the nominees at the Dendy Awards for Australian Short Films….