Film & TV

eSports Documentary and Live Gaming Event acoming to Australian cinemas!

ESports fans rejoice: ESL and BY Experience have jointly announced their plans to capture a exclusive series of live gaming events, which will include specially produced content that will give audiences a thrilling insight into the inner machination of the esports world. The ESPORTS IN CINEMA series will kick off for two nights only on…

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Gerald Butler returns as Mike Banning in the first trailer for London Has Fallen

Another sequel is set to hit screens this Summer, with the follow up to 2013’s Olympus Has Fallen arriving in the form of London Has Fallen – and this week the first trailer was released. The trailer sees star Gerald Butler return as secret service head Mike Banning, and Morgan Freeman is back as the US President,…

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Massive lineup revealed for the AICE Israeli Film Festival 2015

This August 17th to 30th, the AICE israeli Film Festival 2015 will be screening their mix of colourful, powerful and controversial films in four cities at Palace Cinemas in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and Perth. This year, the festival is premiering a jam packed program of documentaries, feature films, and shorts in six unique categories; Blast from the Past, Queer Spot,…

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The Iris’ 15 Best Films of 2015 (So Far)

Join us as we count down the 15 best films of 2015… so far! Looking back at the best films released between January and June 2015. It’s been a strong year, starting off with a fantastic Oscar season in January and leading us through to the start of Blockbuster season. So far, 2015 has been one…

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Win a double pass to see 13 Minutes (Elser) in Australian cinemas

From the same director of the Oscar-nominated film Downfall, comes 13 Minutes, a film based on true events that could have changed world history. Georg Elser was a carpenter from a small town in Germany, who could have saved millions of human lives – if only he had had 13 more minutes. With 13 more…

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Film Review: Interstella 5555 (France, 2003) – Special ACMI Screening

Interstella 5555 is the result of a collaboration between french House duo Daft Punk with Anime legend Leiji Matsumoto, and director Kazuhisa Takenouchi. It’s hard to define what makes this eclectic, feature length animated album collaboration so engrossing. Is it the melodramatic narrative with visuals that hit the House beats again and again? The satisfying…

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Seven things we learnt at the Magic Mike XXL Australian Arena Premiere in Sydney*

*Some facts may or may not be said in jest Monday. July 6th. 2015. The magic begins. After a surprisingly well choreographed, and I might I add scintillating, dance routine from an all-male Aussie troupe dubbed the ‘Magic Mike XXL Aussie Dancers, the men of the hour – one Mr Channing Tatum and a Mr…

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Get your first taste of Amy Poehler’s new Hulu series Difficult People

Amy Poehler is a busy woman at the moment. Though Park and Rec is now behind her (*sob*), she’s dominating the cinema with her lead role in Disney Pixar’s new film Inside Out, she’s the executive producer of one of the most talked about series right now Broad City – and now she’s bringing us…

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Catherine Deneuve to take centre stage at the inaugural Alliance Française Classic Film Festival in Sydney

Sydney is set to host the inaugural Alliance Française Classic Film Festival from 3 to 6 September, 2015. Proudly presented by the Alliance Française de Sydney in association with StudioCanal, Event Cinemas George Street and Hayden Orpheum Cremorne, this celebration of vintage cinema will focus upon a talent, actor or director who has made an indelible contribution…

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Michael Fassbender’s turn in Steve Jobs looking a heck of a lot better than Kutcher’s effort…

Though he may have looked the part, the rushed job that was Jobs – starring Aston Kutcher in the lead role – was far from a critical or box office hit. But there has always been another major Steve Jobs film in the pipeline and today we got the first taste of it. Directed by…

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The new Netflix prequel series for Wet Hot American Summer may have assembled the best cast of all time.

July 31 is the date to mark in your calendars, when Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp, a limited 8-episode series, is coming to Netflix. The series is serving as an prequel to the 2001 cult classic movie set at Camp Firewood. Here’s the blurb about it from Netflix: An all-star cast delivers…

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Exclusive Interview: Ondi Timoner – Director of Brand: The Second Coming – opens up on working with Russell at the Sydney Film Festival

Last month, director Ondi Timoner – perhaps best known for her incredible documentary DIG!, among many others – was in Sydney to premiere her new documentary Brand: A Second Coming at the Sydney Film Festival. Larry Heath had the opportunity to talk to Ondi about the film, about collaborating with Russell, his controversial no-show at SXSW…

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Review: NT Live presents Man and Superman (UK, 2015)

Man and Super Man, distributed by the National Theatre, is spectacular epic with torrential dialogue and entertaining albeit reverential musings on the human condition. Written in 1903 by Bernard Shaw and then subsequently deemed “unstageable”, this seemingly untameable three hour epic has been breathed to life with the patient, clever and guiding adaptation of Sam…

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Blu-Ray Review: Cinderella (Rated G – USA, 2015)

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…

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Exclusive Interview: Laurence R. Harvey talks Human Centipede 3

Whatever your thoughts on the Human Centipede film series, you’re going to be hard-pressed finding a horror movie as unique and extreme in concept as Tom Six’s trilogy. From the first film, bound to become a cult horror in 2010, to what is said to be the final entry in the series, Human Centipede III,…

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Don’t judge a TV show by its pilot: Five series that only get better with time.

Habitual TV show obsessives have often run into a problem when a new show just doesn’t cut it in it’s first 2 or 3 episodes. We’re left asking ourselves ‘is it worth it?’, either choosing to place faith in the shows creators and wait for things to ‘get better’ or giving up on it and…

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Film Review: Terminator Genisys (Rated M – USA, 2015)

Yes, Terminator Genisys is a robotic movie in more ways than one, often confusing as it appears to be a prequel, a sequel, and a reboot, often all at once. Alan Taylor, the director behind Thor: The Dark World, gives us an inconsistent new entry into this iconic sci-fi film franchise, taking contrived stabs at…

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Prequel film Blue Dog set for release in 2016

Exciting news for fans of the 2011 film Red Dog! There will be a prequel film to the movie titled Blue Dog which will explore the early events leading up to Red Dog’s discovery. The film is set to be released next year. Red Dog, was a hit for everybody in 2011, directed by Kriv Stenders, it proved…

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Five popular Aussie dramas set to return on ABC!

Lovers of Australian television drama will be rewarded as ABC TV have announced that popular series Janet King, Rake, Jack Irish, The Code and The Doctor Blake Mysteries will be returning to our small screens. Marta Dusseldorp will be undertaking a role in the second series of Janet King; in the fourth series of Rake, Richard…

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A new SBS On Demand launches with 4000 hours of content free to everyone

Amidst a competitive world of new streaming services, SBS this week has relaunched its On Demand platform, which originally hit the internets back in 2011, primarily as a catch up service. But now, with over 4000 hours of documentaries, drama and movies free to all Australians on 22 platforms, SBS On Demand has set itself up to…

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The first trailer for Rocky VII aka Creed has landed!

The Rocky saga is set to continue as the first trailer for the 7th film in the series debuted this morning. Directed by Ryan Coogler, Creed explores a new chapter in the Rocky story and stars Academy Award nominee Sylvester Stallone returning to his iconic role. The film also reunites Coogler with his Fruitvale Station star Michael B. Jordan, starring as…

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Australian Box Office Report: The talking teddy bear is unable to stop the dinosaurs

Foul mouthed teddy bears are no match for towering dinosaurs it would seem as Ted 2 comes up short in its opening week. While Seth Macfarlane and Mark Wahlberg’s comedy sequel earned itself $4.2 million over the weekend, it was unable to knock the box office king off its perch. Jurassic World spent its 3rd…

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Get excited for Terminator: Genisys with a pile of new Video Featurettes

Well, today’s the day. The new installment in the Terminator series has arrived. And to get you all excited about what to expect in Genisys, we at The Iris are excited to show off a few new video featurettes: In the first clip, Emilia Clarke, Jai Courtney, Jason Clarke and J.K. Simmons talk about Arnold Schwarzenegger’s return…

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Seven Films (and One Special Screening) not to miss in Australian cinemas this July!

July has arrived! And with it are a string of the American blockbusters that usually come with it. But, that won’t stop the variety, with documentaries about famous musicians, a take on the later years of Sherlock Holmes and the return of an Anime classic amongst the films we’re excited to see on the big…

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What To Watch: The Iris’ Weekly TV Picks (1st – 7th July 2015)

Simon Anicich takes a look ahead at the TV calendars on free-to-air and on Foxtel to bring us his picks of the best viewing on TV this week. Read on for a mix of sports, soaps and daily shows… Wednesday 1st July 2015 Julia Zemiro’s Home Delivery ABC – 9:00pm AEST If you’ve ever found yourself…

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New trailer and poster reveal the adaptation of Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods

Directed by Ken Kwapis and starring the incomparable Robert Redford, Nick Nolte and Emma Thompson, last week the Australian trailer and poster for A Walk in the Woods were released. The film is a comedy based on the book of the same name by travel writer Bill Bryson.

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The full inaugural program of the Queensland Film Festival has been announced

From July 24 to 26, the inaugural Queensland Film Festival will present Brisbane with a stimulating series of movie masterpieces and thoughtful discussion panels. The festival will take place across three Brisbane venues: New Farm Cinemas, the Institute of Modern Art, and the University of Queensland Art Museum. This past week, the entire program was revealed.

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Watch as Terminator Genisys transforms the iconic entrance at Sydney’s Luna Park

For the first time in its history, the iconic face that welcomes guests into Sydney’s historic Luna Park was lit up by projections over the weekend, promoting the upcoming release of Terminator Genisys. The projections were created by renowned projection designer Peter Milne from The Electric Canvas.

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Maverick set to return to the big screen in Top Gun 2.

A sequel to 1986’s Top Gun has been long rumoured – and news first came to light back in 2010 that the process to bring Tom Cruise’s career defining role back to the big screen had started. Now, some five years later, it seems that everything is on track to bring Maverick back to screens…

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