Film & TV

Gang culture and it’s devastating effects are never far away from the front pages of London’s newspapers. 2008 was one of the worst years for gang-related violence. The murder of Shakilus Townsend was arguably the most shocking. Honeytrap, which is based around this murder, follows Layla (Jessica Sula), the girl who would ultimately lead this young man to…

If you can imagine the Disney fairy tale animated film of the same name brought to the screen in all its resplendent glory as live action, then Kenneth Branagh’s version certainly fulfils that. A consistently visually bold film even though it does lack a sense of originality or uniqueness in the story. Regardless it’s still…

Monday 30th March 2015 Three Kings – Go! – 10:00pm AEST David O. Russell’s Three Kings is a comedic adventure that takes places as four American soldiers set out to steal gold in the aftermath of the Persian Gulf War. George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, Spike Jonze and Ice Cube star in this fresh, unique film…

Some of the most celebrated films are returning to the big screen at Event Cinemas George St, with their In The House Program! Hosted by Channel 7’s Jason ‘Jabba’ Davis, and Quinny from Supanova Pop Culture Expo, the program features a line up that includes Blade Runner, Mad Max 2 and The Fifth Element. A…

Earlier today, a certain cat won the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Award for “Aussie/Kiwi’s Favourite Animal”. Before he won, we asked the infamous Tardar Sauce aka Grumpy Cat a few questions about things that are pretty unimpressive like movies, awards, and living in a world of celebrities. Yes, that’s right… we had the chance to do…

Watch Arnold Schwarzenegger, Emilia Clarke and J.K. Simmons in new footage for Terminator Genisys When John Connor (Jason Clarke), leader of the human resistance, sends Sgt. Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney) back to 1984 to protect Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke) and safeguard the future, an unexpected turn of events creates a fractured timeline. Now, Sgt. Reese…

Jake Gyllenhaal has bulked up in an epic physical transformation to play boxer Billy “The Great” Hope in Antoine Fuqua’s fighter drama SOUTHPAW. Directed by Antoine Fuqua (“Training Day” and “The Equaliser”), SOUTHPAW follows the battles of a boxer (Gyllenhaal) who fights his way to the top, only to find his life falling apart around…

The first teaser trailer for the next James Bond film, SPECTRE has just been released – and it’s a doozy. The film appears to pick up soon after the disintergration of Skyfall, depicting ruins of the bombed out headquarters still smouldering. Moneypenny (Naomie Harris) also has a surprise for Bond (Daniel Craig) – a piece…

A crude comedy starring Will Ferrell and Kevin Hart, fraught with cliche stereotypes and offensive humour. This is going to be the description a lot of people who watch Get Hard will jump to, but – assuming they are offended by one of the many exaggerated stereotypes in the film – they will probably throw…

Annual Ideas festival, TEDxSydney has unveiled its 2015 Film program, giving Australians access to a wide variety of bold, thought-provoking and inspirational film debuts. You saw it here first! One of the most celebrated TEDx events in the world, TEDxSydney will take place on Thursday, 21 May 2015 at the Sydney Opera House in front…

To celebrate the official launch of Netflix in Australia we were lucky enough to pop along to the red carpet event at the Museum of Contemporary Art the other night. Attending the event was a stack of celebrities, most of whom all feature on programs we’ll get to see on the streaming service provider. We…

Will we or won’t we? The Mindy Project’s fourth season has yet to be given the go ahead by US network Fox, but here’s hoping that we’ll see Mindy again – if for no other reason than I want to finally meet Mindy’s parents! I find it a little hard to believe that Danny’s never met Mindy’s…

There have been rumblings for months about The X-Files and whether the cult hit 90’s TV series would be making a comeback. Well, Fox (the network, not the character) has made it official. On their website Fox made a bold statement “The next mind-bending chapter is coming!” and stated that six episodes have been confirmed…

Loved TV series Entourage has always been a hot spot for celebrity cameos, and it’s looking like the film won’t be any different. With everyone from Kid Cudi and T.I to Liam Neeson and Kelsey Grammar set to appear in the film, Entourage is beginning to look like a whole heap of fun. Main cast…

After just finishing up after seven seasons on NBC’s Parks and Recreation, Aubrey Plaza certainly hasn’t slowed down. Not only does she star in another SXSW film, Fresno, she also stars as Susan in writer/director Hal Hartley‘s film Ned Rifle. The AU Review spoke to the film’s star and writer/director about religion, Kickstarter, and all…

Having worked on housing estates in London for over a decade, Rebecca Johnson is no stranger to the world portrayed in her feature film, Honeytrap. Starring Skins actress Jessica Sula as Layla, a young girl who has recently arrived in London from Trinidad, Honeytrap examines one young woman’s determination to maintain her new-found power in…

“Family is what you make of it”. This sentiment, by Twinsters co-director Ryan Miyamoto, is somewhat of a mantra for reunited twins Anias Bordier and Samantha Futerman. The two women were both born in South Korea and adopted to two different families on two different continents. They found each other over social media, and have…

  For nearly 40 years, Tower Records stood as the largest and most successful record store chain in the world, regularly raking in the millions of dollars in profit per year. In 1999, they managed to pull in a staggering $1 billion dollars. Five years later, they went suddenly bankrupt. It was an astonishing rise…

“No one else had done it, so I figured…well I’ll do it!” Colin Hanks laughs, then adds: “he said naively.” Standing on the red carpet moments before the premiere of his documentary on fallen powerhouse record chain Tower records, All Things Must Pass, Hanks is characteristically calm, dressed down in a bright red checked shirt…

Last year’s Divergent introduced us to Beatrice (later known as Tris) Prior (Shailene Woodley) and Four (Theo James) in a post-“war” Chicago split into factions which are organised around the different character traits of its citizens. You can read our Divergent review here. Still hot on the heels of the YA post-apocalyptic phenomena, Insurgent hits our screens as the much-anticipated part…

Doug Sahm lived and breathed Texas music. But he was also largely unknown outside of that particular American state. Until now. The documentary film, Sir Doug and the Genuine Texas Cosmic Groove looks at the chameleon musician and gets at the heart of all of his layers of complexity. Sahm was a charismatic bloke who…

UnReal is a TV series that will appeal to fans of Frontline or Ben Elton’s Chart Throb or Dead Famous books. The series looks at the chaotic world of filming a fictional reality dating program. It’s an insightful and honest account of the depths of manipulation that are employed by a reality show’s production staff…

Love Has No Age should be renamed “Love Has No Boundaries”. The documentary short is a blissful romance story spanning over four decades. It’s also a beautifully-shot film and a warm slice of pure joy. The film is directed by Eli Born who has previously directed music videos for the likes of: Jack White, Iggy…

A film about The Dull Men’s Club doesn’t scream “entertaining” but Born to Be Mild is the exact opposite of everything you think it is. The documentary short revels in celebrating the ordinary and mundane. And it’s packaged in such a warm and optimistic style and along with an upbeat soundtrack, this means it is…

17th Century France brings to mind a number of words, opulence, beauty, indulgence, but it was also when the Palace of Versailles and its gardens blossomed under the reign of Louix XIV and the design and construction of André Le Nôtre. But in this film with some slight tweaks on the truth, we meet Sabine…

Following the success of their iview comedy binge, which racked up over 2.6 million views across the summer period, the ABC is proud to announce Binge on the Best Australian Drama, set to kick off on April 1st. Throughout the month, you can look forward to watching some of the best Aussie drama the ABC has to offer….

The 2015 Spanish Film Festival has launched its full program, and its becoming clear that you’re a film aficionado of the Mediterranean kind you’ll be in for a real treat. Taking place exclusively at Palace Cinemas across Australia, the festival will feature 38 feature films and runs from April 21 until May 20. Highlights include special guest Elena…

Following the teaser which came out earlier this week, Paramount Pictures have released the first full-length trailer for Mission: Impossible-Rogue Nation, and boy does it look like a doozy. Continuing the exploits of super spy Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise), the film sees “Ethan and team take on their most impossible mission yet, eradicating the Syndicate, an International rogue organisation,…

In my review for the first Girls episode of this season, I said that if the rest of the season was as good as that episode and back in the realm of season one form, that I would eat my words and stop hating on Lena Dunham’s show. Here we are, nine episodes later, and here I…

With Netflix finally launching in Australia and New Zealand today, all eyes are on the online entertainment service and it’s promising potential to shake up what we know of Australian subscription television/streaming. Already the service has attracted praise for their very reasonable price point and humongous collection of new and classic films, series, documentaries, and…