Film & TV

Sydney Film Festival Review: Station to Station (USA, 2014)

Station to Station isn’t so much a feature film as it is a travelling art experiment, the execution of a concept born years prior that is now travelling the globe. The film documents a train as it travelled from the Atlantic (we presume Union Station in NYC) to the Pacific (we presume Union Station in…

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Sydney Film Festival Review: Last Cab To Darwin (Australia, 2015)

On the surface Last Cab To Darwin is not just a film about euthanasia, but a film about the people you meet on the greatest journey you take of all, living the one single life you have. A road movie that’s a drama with heart and emotion at its core and a cast of genuine…

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Sydney Film Festival Review: Welcome to Leith (USA, 2014)

Over 86 minutes, this chilling documentary details how a (very) small, quiet town in North Dakota slowly transformed into a breeding ground for hatred and paranoia over the course of a few months. It’s easy to watch Welcome to Leith as a highly effective thriller, forgetting that the events going down in the film actually…

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Exclusive Interview: Jim Murphy, director of Pixar’s Lava, discusses the short film’s origins, and more

Jim Murphy, director of Pixar’s newest short film Lava sat down with us at SXSW to talk about the beauty of showing shorts before features, how he approached creating the film, pitching ideas to Pixar, and more. The film will be premiering in Australia later this month, playing before Inside Out, which premieres on June…

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Our ten favourite Dinosaurs from the history of cinema and TV…

With Jurassic World returning us to the iconic cinematic series next Thursday, June 11th, and The Good Dinosaur releasing in November through the masters at Pixar, the prehistoric creatures are getting some pretty high exposure on the big screen this year. But dinosaurs have been a feature of cinema since the days of silent cinema…

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Studio Ghibli given the spotlight at The Golden Age Cinema & Bar in Sydney

The Golden Age Cinema & Bar in Sydney will play host to a program of Studio Ghibli favourites, including several screenings of the newest Ghibli film When Marnie Was There. The film is an adaptation of Joan G. Robinson‘s 1968 British novel of the same name. The film follows Anna Sasaki, an orphan in foster…

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Sydney Film Festival Review: Madame Bovary (USA, Germany & Belgium, 2014)

Madame Bovary is a pleasant film but it’s an unnecessary adaption. The iconic novel by Gustave Flaubert has been adapted multiple times for film and television over the past few years. But what distinguishes this latest offering is that it is the first one to be directed by a female (Sophie Barthes (Cold Souls)). Here,…

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Sydney Film Festival Review: The Daughter (Australia, 2015)

The Daughter is the second Australian film screening at the Sydney Film Festival this year to be adapted from a play (or, more accurately in this case, “inspired by”) that originally appeared at the Belvoir St Theatre in Sydney – that being Simon Stone’s 2011 adaptation of Ibsen’s The Wild Duck (the other, Cowell’s Ruben…

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Sydney Film Festival Review: She’s Funny That Way (USA, 2015)

Isabella Patterson’s arrival into the lives of a group of people in New York City brings about a chain reaction akin to a relationship shit-storm in Peter Bogdanovich’s new film, She’s Funny That Way, now showing as part of this year’s Sydney Film Festival. Originally written 15 years ago, it is now seeing the light…

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Sydney Film Festival Review: AMY (UK, 2015)

For singer songwriter and musician Amy Winehouse the last couple of years of her life were fodder for tabloids and the entertainment news machine monster. You may not have been a fan of her music but you were familiar with her and her drug-fuelled antics. But sometimes what gets overlooked when her name is brought…

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Sydney Film Festival Review: Slow West (USA, 2015)

Slow West is the story of a young, wide-eyed Jay Cavendish (Kodi Smit-McPhee) who undertakes a journey to find his ‘true love’, Rose (Caren Pistorius). Silas Selleck (Michael Fassbender) soon enters the picture, vowing to help him survive his journey for a small fee. Unbeknownst to Jay, a bounty has been placed on the heads…

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Box Office Report: San Andreas has a cracking opening weekend

In its opening weekend, San Andreas has rocketed to the top of the box office earning $3.2 million. The blockbuster disaster movie is Dwayne Johnson and Brad Peytons second collaboration since Journey 2: The Mysterious Island and despite some ho-hum reviews (check ours out here), that ever reliable promise of jaw dropping visual FX has…

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Werner Film Productions’ enacts a “Call for Concepts” for The Story Lab

Werner Film Productions (WFP) today announced a call for writers to submit original new television concepts for its development initiative, The Story Lab. Funded by Screen Australia’s Enterprise Stories, The Story Lab is an initiative of WFP’s two-time Emmy Nominated, AFI and multi-Logie award winning television producer Joanna Werner. WFP aims to take risks through The Story Lab and to cultivate…

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

At the height of Entourage’s TV fame, the world was a different place. We hadn’t yet been exposed to the juggernaut that was to become the Kardashian’s reality TV popularity, and, if truth be told, we were still watching bloody The Hills for our reality TV fix. There were still remnants of Paris Hilton floating…

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The Iris Interview: James Marsh, Director of The Theory of Everything on deleted scenes, Eddie Redymane’s performance and more

  With the release of Academy award-winning The Theory of Everything on Blu-ray and DVD from June 11th, we wanted to revisit what we loved about the critically-acclaimed film, and discover what to expect from the DVD and Blu-ray features. Here, we interview award-winning director James Marsh who provides an insight into making the film, including discussing some…

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Channing Tatum and Joe Manganiello set to come to Sydney for the Magic Mike XXL Arena Premiere

Magic Mike XXL picks up three years after Mike bowed out of the stripper life at the top of his game. The sequel finds the remaining Kings of Tampa likewise ready to throw in the towel. But they want to do it their way: burning down the house in one last blow-out performance in Myrtle Beach, and…

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Sydney Film Festival Review: Ruben Guthrie (Australia, 2015)

Note: This review contains some spoilers of the film and the original play. “How brave of you to stop drinking alcohol in this alcoholic country” – Zoya (Abbey Lee) With a penchant for young girls, alcohol and most of life’s vices (as well as a “me before you” attitude), Ruben Guthrie isn’t a particularly likeable guy….

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Sydney Film Festival Review: Far From the Madding Crowd (UK, 2015)

This is not the first time Thomas Hardy’s Far From the Madding Crowd has been adapted, but it’s certainly the finest interpretation out there. The Victorian-era story is based around heroine Bathsheba Everdene (Carey Mulligan) and the fierce commitment she has to maintaining her own independence after inheriting a large farming estate from her uncle….

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Alan Hicks wins David and Joan Williams Fellowship

Filmmaker Alan Hicks has been announced as the winner of the David and Joan Williams Documentary Fellowship for 2015. Hicks has been awarded $50,000 to aid his future projects. The David and Joan Williams Fellowship is the most substantial fellowship awarded annually to Australian documentary filmmakers. “The Williams Fellowship is all about encouraging theatrical documentary…

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NSW Emerging Filmmakers Fund Open

The NSW Emerging Filmmakers Fund is now open for applications, with $90,000 available to filmmakers to create their projects. The program, a combined effort of Metro Screen and Screen NSW, aims to provide new filmmakers with support and funding to complete short from projects. Three applicants will be provided with $30,000 each to execute their…

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Film Review: Aloha (PG) (USA, 2015)

Aloha tells the story of skeptical military contractor, Brian Gilcrest’s (Bradley Cooper), who returns to Hawaii after losing himself to the “grey side” of the military. It is here he is given a fresh start with the military and is reunited with his ex girlfriend Tracy (Rachel McAdams) after 7 years of lost contact. With the company of…

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TV Review: Game of Thrones Season 5 Episode 8 “Hardhome” (USA, 2015)

Game of Thrones upped the ante in “Hardhome”, bucking the trend of Episode 9 being the big action-packed set by giving us a ferocious, layered, and brilliantly executed big battle in the episode’s last half. That isn’t only why “Hardhome” is the best Season 5 episode yet though, every other story line during the first…

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Julia Zemiro’s Home Delivery is heading back on the road.

Aussie comedian Julia Zemiro has packed her bags and headed back out on the road for another round of her popular series Julia Zemiro’s Home Delivery, which returns to our screens this Wednesday on ABC1 at 9pm. If you’re new to the series, it features Zemiro as she visits leading figures from the world of…

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Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) announces first glance selection for 2015!

Get excited Melburnites, for the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) has unleashed the First Glance selection for its 64th year, which includes an exciting program of experimental film and audiovisual artistry in Vertical Cinema; the Centrepiece Gala screening of Holding the Man; a David Gulpilil retrospective; and a new principal partnership with Metro Trains Melbourne….

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Three new films announced for Sydney Film Festival 2015!

In exciting news for film fans, Sydney Film Festival (SFF) Director Nashen Moodley has announced that “two new documentaries, Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine and Among the Believers; along with one new feature, The Assassin, direct from Cannes, will be added to the Sydney Film Festival program”. Renowned documentarian and SFF guest Alex…

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Metro Screen announce free events for Sydney Film Festival 2015

Independent filmmakers hub Metro Screen have announced they are partnering with the Sydney Film Festival (SFF) to present two free events at the festival aimed at emerging filmmakers who both run and have a strong passion for film festivals and the role they have to play in the cultural dynamics of the city. Hosted by…

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Bruce Campbell to attend Melbourne’s Oz Comic-Con

Evil Dead cult hero Bruce Campbell is the latest star to be signed on for Melbourne’s Oz Comic-Con in late June. Campbell is a director, voice-over artist and actor, who has also starred in Burn Notice, Xena: Warrior Princess, andCloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. Campbell will attend the convention on Saturday, 27 June, and…

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Where The Force Is Taking Us: *Beep Beep Boop Beep Beep Beep*

Last month’s Episode VII splash on Vanity Fair revealed a bunch of new Star Wars characters, including Adam Driver as a de-masked Kylo Renn. Now starwars.com has an exclusive photo of Andy Serkis in his role as Supreme Leader Snoke. It’s been published as part of an interview with renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz, who discusses…

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The premiere of Women He’s Undressed at the re-opening of the Astor Theatre

Renowned for screening quality cinema, Palace Cinemas are an all-Australian family-owned business. They have a great reputation for high-quality programming, showing the best in local and international cinema. Re-opening on Sunday June 7 2015, The Astor Theatre, now a part of the Palace family, is set to flourish again. This is the last single screen…

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EXHIBITION ON SCREEN: The Impressionists and the Man who Made Them set to screen in Australia

Exhibition on Screen is bringing The Impressionists and the Man who Made Them to Australian cinemas for a strictly limited time. Based on the Inventing Impressionism exhibition, which recently opened at the National Gallery London (in collaboration with the Musée du Luxembourg, Musée d’Orsay and Philadelphia Museum of Art), EXHIBITION ON SCREEN: The Impressionists and the…

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