Film & TV

What to Watch: The Iris’ Weekly TV Picks (2nd – 4th March 2015)

Some interesting things to catch on your TV box in the next couple of days, including documentaries, chat shows and some new and old films, Kimberley brings us our picks …   Monday 2nd March 2015 The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon – ABC 2 – 7:52pm AEST Australian acting talent Margot Robbie joins Jimmy…

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Official Trailer for upcoming film “Love & Mercy” Follows the life of The Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson

The official trailer for Love & Mercy has just been released and it’s sure to pull some heartstrings! Set against The Beach Boys’ iconic catalogue of music, the story follows the life of singer, songwriter and music legend Brian Wilson from successful highs in the band to devastating lows in his personal life. Wilson’s character…

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See Die Antwoord in Behind The Scenes Footage of New Film Chappie

As if they weren’t already busy enough, South African rap-rave group Die Antwoord have managed to squeeze time in between touring Europe and preparing for Future Music Festival to make an appearance in Sony’s upcoming release Chappie. The movie is based in a time where crime is patrolled by an oppressive mechanised police force and…

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Official Trailer for upcoming film "Love & Mercy" Follows the life of The Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson

The official trailer for Love & Mercy has just been released and it’s sure to pull some heartstrings! Set against The Beach Boys’ iconic catalogue of music, the story follows the life of singer, songwriter and music legend Brian Wilson from successful highs in the band to devastating lows in his personal life.

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TV Review: The Mindy Project Season 3 Episode 17 “Danny Castellano is my Nutritionist” (USA, 2015)

Just like Danny and Mindy’s relationship opened the show up to a whole new avenue of humour, Mindy’s pregnancy is doing exactly the same thing. Mindy is definitely pregnant (I keep waiting for the writers to say “PSYCH!” and make it all one big fever dream), and she’s suffering from very bad morning sickness, having…

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See Die Antwoord in Behind The Scenes Footage of New Film ‘Chappie’

As if they weren’t already busy enough, South African rap-rave group Die Antwoord have managed to squeeze time in between touring Europe and preparing for Future Music Festival to make an appearance in Sony’s upcoming release Chappie.

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TV Review: Girls Season 4, Episode 6 “Close Up” (USA, 2015)

It’s evident from the first scene in “Close Up” that Adam hasn’t been with someone like Mimi-Rose Howard before. He cooks her brunch in her expansive loft apartment, tucking her in as she sleeps that little bit longer than him. She’s successful, self-assured, independent and not needy in the slightest – in short, Mimi-Rose is the complete opposite…

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DVD Review: Mom The Complete First Season (USA, 2014)

As the first episode of Mom begins, titular parent Christy (Anna Faris) – a waitress at a middle-to-high-end restaurant – is crying to her customers, battling tears as she reads the night’s specials and suffering through having to sing “Happy Birthday” to elderly patrons. Although the studio audience would have you believe it’s one of the…

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Film Review: A Most Violent Year (USA, 2015)

The menacing atmosphere of New York in the city’s most violent year, 1981, is portrayed in J.C Chandor’s A Most Violent Year with stunning – almost creepy – realism, giving us a gritty crime drama that could have easily been mistaken for an 80’s classic. While not quite as gripping as Godfather, this film has…

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DVD Review: Tammy (M) (USA, 2014)

Melissa McCarthy is Tammy and she is having a bad day. On her way to work, she hits a deer and wrecks her car. Because she is late, her boss Keith (Falcone) fires her. She arrives home to find her husband Greg (Faxon) having a romantic meal with neighbour Missi (Collette). She leaves Greg to…

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What to Watch: The Iris’ Weekly TV Picks (26th – 28th February 2015)

Thursday 26th February Please Like Me – ABC – 10.40pm AEST In this episode, Patrick moves out. Tom eats Josh’s truffled mac and cheese, so Josh barricades him in his room all day. Arnold reveals something personal to Josh. Dad forces Josh to find a job.   Friday 27th February The Brit Awards 2015 –…

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Film Review: The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (USA & UK, 2015)

The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel once again takes the audience on a journey through India with our favourite set of English retirees. The sequel to the 2012 sleeper hit brings together the same ensemble cast as previously, as well as some new additions. The film is helmed by the same team which included writer,…

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Box Office Report: Fifty Shades of Grey ties up the #1 spot… again

In a week that saw just the one major new release… more on that later… Fifty Shades of Grey remains the nation’s #1 movie, bringing in close to $4 million over the past weekend. This is almost double its 2 nearest rivals, the James Bond-esque Kingsman: The Secret Service which brought in a respectable $2.2…

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TV Review: The Walking Dead Season 5 Episode 11 “The Distance” (USA, 2014)

Rick and his group have come a very long way since they abandoned their temporary digs at the prison; everything since then has been dark – very dark. Loss, mistrust, and tension have plagued the group every step of the way and we have watched as these characters that have been developed so well, that…

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The full list of winners at the 87th Academy Awards

What a year in film 2014 has been; we’ve seen some highly creative, innovative cinematic achievements come our way, some really big actor comebacks, powerful soundtracks, innovative designs, and more. Going into the 87th Academy Awards, people who fancied themselves able to predict winners, found their hobby cut out of them; there hasn’t been a…

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Exclusive Interview: Founder Monica Zanetti talks about The Projects Short Film Festival

Ahead of this week’s returning short film festival The Project, Alexandra Koster caught up with the festival’s founder Monica Zanetti to find out more it…. What made you want to create The Projects Short Film Festival? Being a filmmaker myself and going through the submission process for festivals, it became very clear that there simply…

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Who will win and who should win at the 87th Annual Academy Awards?

We’re now less than 24 hours away from the 87th Annual Academy Awards in Hollywood – the glitzy and usually entertaining affair that sees Hollywood pat itself on the back for its year on the silver screen in front of millions of viewers. Once again in Australia, Channel Nine will be live screening the ceremony…

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What to Watch: The Iris’ Weekly TV Picks (23rd – 25th February 2015)

Ah, the weekend is just about over, but that doesn’t mean your entertainment has to end. Here’s a look at our picks for the best TV on Australian Free-To-Air for the first half of your work week. Monday February 23rd The 87th Annual Academy Awards, LIVE on Nine from 12.30pm – Repeated on Gem, 8:30pm AEDT Tune…

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Comedy DVD Review: Scott Dooley “Debut” (Australia, 2015)

Scott Dooley’s Debut is a “Stand-up comedy film”. It’s not strictly a recorded version of his live show nor is it an in-depth documentary of his travels. In Debut Dools offers us an account of his life spent on the road, performing stand-up and doing promo spots and above all, making people laugh. Dools’ debut…

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Does Being Snubbed by an Oscar Really Matter?

The snubbing of Selma in the Best Director category has brought outrage to black and feminist communities around the world, reigniting the idea that these minorities are still under constant scrutiny from the world of film. Still, it stands that no black woman has ever been nominated for a Best Director Oscar, a fact that…

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TV Review: Danger 5 Season 2, Episode 7 (Australia, 2015)

The final episode of Danger 5 has all come down to this – the international super team has timewarped to a future world completely overrun by Hitler, called (what else?) Hitlerland. Danger 5’s first reaction is one of panic and horror. After a bloody display in the Hitler Hat fast food joint, Holly and the…

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Get a first glimpse at the action of Neill Blomkamp’s Chappie in this new clip.

The police droid that is destined to become Chappie, the robot given consciousness by way of artificial intelligence, is involved in a gunfire-fuelled raid in this new clip. The anticipated film is released in Australian cinemas on March 12th and is directed by Neill Blomkamp (District 9, Elysium). The film stars Hugh Jackman, Sharlto Copley,…

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Official trailer for Will Smith film Focus indicates a return to form for the acclaimed actor

Hollywood megastar Will Smith is more reliable than not, with a track record of big, successful films like Independence Day and Ali. Some flops have thrown him off course along the way but his latest role in the film Focus is looking to shake the skepticism he is sometimes approached with, promising a big return…

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New Netflix series Bloodline gets an exciting official trailer

Ahead of online service Netflix launching in Australia and New Zealand soon, a trailer has been released for one of the big TV series we will be getting and things are looking very promising. Aussie Ben Mendelsohn looks to be at his best as the plays the black sheep and eldest son of a contemporary…

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Film Review: Rosewater (USA, 2014)

You may remember that The Daily Show‘s Jon Stewart fell away from our TV screens for several months over the Summer of 2013 as he worked on his directorial debut, Rosewater (released in Australian cinemas today). It was during this time that John Oliver took over Stewart’s show, which ended up seeing him get his…

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Interview: Isaac Hempstead-Wright (Bran Stark) talks about Season Four of Game of Thrones

With the fourth season of Game of Thrones released of DVD and Blu-Ray in Australia yesterday, we’re bringing you a series of interview with the cast of the show, as they reflect on the latest series of the big budget, highly acclaimed production. Next up we have Bran Stark – played by Isaac Hempstead-Wright – who was in…

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TV Review: The Mindy Project Season 3, Episode 16 “Lahiri Family Values” (USA, 2015)

This episode seemed more filler than most Mindy Project episodes we’ve seen lately, but sometimes filler is a necessary evil. We can’t have pregnancy bombshells and tearful goodbyes in every episode, can we? Mindy heads back to San Francisco after revealing her pregnancy to Danny, who agrees to quit Shulman and Associates to move to…

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TV Review: The Walking Dead Season 5 Episode 10 “Them” (USA, 2015)

How longer can the group sustain themselves while on the road? And is there a point? With two big losses recently and a metaphorical storm surrounding them, that was the big question of “Them”. After the art-driven direction of last week’s excellent (and depressing) episode we were given something which very much resembles 2009 film…

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Interview: Liam Cunningham (Davos Seaworth) talks about Season Four of Game of Thrones

With the fourth season of Game of Thrones releasing of DVD and Blu-Ray in Australia today, we’re bringing you a series of interview with the cast of the show, as they reflect on the latest series of the big budget, highly acclaimed production. Next up we have Davos Seaworth – played by Liam Cunningham – who was…

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Interview: Thomas Brodie-Sangster (Jojen Reed) talks about Season Four of Game of Thrones

With the fourth season of Game of Thrones releasing of DVD and Blu-Ray in Australia today, we’re bringing you a series of interview with the cast of the show, as they reflect on the latest series of the big budget, highly acclaimed production. Next up we have Davos Seaworth – played by Liam Cunningham – who was…

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