Film & TV

“Please look after this bear”. This is what the tag that is initially around Paddington’s neck says but it is also applicable to this movie adaptation. The film is a re-telling of Michael Bond’s stories that has been carefully updated to a modern setting. This means it’s a charming tale that doesn’t compromise on quality…

Love is Now is ultimately a testament to DSLR film making, with striking photography and some superb production coming together to ensure the film never dips below a certain visual standard, playing out as something photographers the world over will herald as a marvel achievement. Backed by Nikon Australia, the film succeeds at capturing the…

Treasure hunting TV series Black Sails has enjoyed a successful first season this year, with the Michael Bay-produced show filling the need for a pirate-themed television show in the current landscape of popular fantastical TV. Anchor Bay Entertainment has now delivered the Starz Originals series on home release, following the show’s premiere season on Foxtel’s…

Bones is at the top of its game with its 199th episode, so the expectations are high for next week’s Hitchcock inspired 200th show. This week was both sweet and fun and introduced some new dynamics to the show that are going to be interesting to explore over the season. In this episode, the Jeffersonian…

Monday Castle, Ch. 7, 9.30pm AEST Tune in to Castle for a tense hour of television as Det. Kate Beckett (Stana Katic) and mystery writer Richard Castle (Nathan Fillon) work to unravel the motives of a gunman holding their colleague Esposito (Jon Huertas), and others, hostage on a subway. It promises to be one of…

Ridley Scott’s latest shot at epic storytelling Exodus: Gods and Kings as is as grand as one would expect, making full use of cutting edge visual effects and immersive, atmospheric set pieces to ensure the film is never dull to look. In terms of plot, the other side of the coin is balanced much better…

This past week saw legendary West Coast emcee Ice Cube return to Sydney on his current Australian tour for the first of two shows at the famed Enmore Theatre. Fans were not only treated to a set list of some of Cube’s best tracks, but they also became some of the first in the world…

What a great way to start the new year. Families can now enjoy the fourth annual Little Darlings Night Owls Kids Film Festival which will be held in Sydney’s Darling Quarter from Friday January 9 to Sunday January 25 2015. The Festival will bring a program jam-packed with films for kids, families and the young…

“The Hanging Tree”, the breakout track from The Hunger Games Mockingjay – Part 1 has debuted at #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart with the soundtrack debuting in the Top 20 on the Billboard Top 200 Chart and score for the film debuting in the Top 40. In its first week, “The Hanging Tree”…

Get ready for those quotable, robotic one-liners because Arnold Schwarzenegger is back on the big screen for the upcoming reboot of the Terminator film series. Terminator: Genisys will be the first film in what is apparently going to be a trilogy reworking the iconic franchise. The impressive cast line up also includes Australian actors Jai Courtney…

Thursday 12 Drinks of Christmas, SBS, 8:30 pm AEST If your favourite thing about the festive season is the consumption of alcohol, then this program is for you! In this BBC special, brothers-in-law Alexander Armstrong and Giles Coren search for the best festive drinks, testing out egg nog, mulled wine and other holiday favourites. Friday…

By Amy Nancarrow With the news last week that Adam Pally will be leaving The Mindy Project in the New Year, I was hoping that Mindy would use him immensely during his last few episodes as series regular. Thankfully my prayers were answered, as not only were we treated to a lot of Peter, but…

  It hasn’t even been that long since the Supanova Pop Culture Expo packed up their temp base at Brisbane’s Convention and Exhibition Centre and bid farewell to their Supa-Star guests, but they’re not slowing the momentum down, today revealing the first crop of guests for their 2015 expos in Melbourne and on the Gold Coast! Fans…

Less of a battle and more of a profound statement, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1, decimates its closest competitor, taking in over $5.5 million in its second week. Interstellar remains at a solid number 2, making over $1.5 million and Lets Be Cops drops to 3rd spot, taking just under $500,000. New release Nightcrawler…

Classic anime series Sailor Moon will soon be the recipient of a small resurgence after its acquisition by Madman Entertainment. The ever-popular series will be released in Australia on DVD, Blu-Ray and  Digital Platforms. The set will include all 200 episodes of the series, 3 feature films and the previously unreleased series Sailor Moon S, Sailor Moon Super S…

Supanova is back again to give fans the chance to meet their heroes. Meredith McLean got to speak with one such hero touring for Supanova this year. Optimus Prime, who has been voiced by Peter Cullen for three decades. He shared his experiences over the past 30 years as well as his own relationship with…

Monday Who Do You Think You Are? Gem, 8:30pm AEST Jim Parsons features on Who Do You Think You Are? The show traces the genealogy of Parsons’ family and this episode reveals the childhood and family history of the Big Bang Theory star. The Ring, Ch. 11, 9.30pm AEST Naomi Watts and Martin Henderson star…

You don’t bring a knife to a gun fight, not in The Walking Dead and not anywhere (unless it’s a katana and you are Michonne). This seems like an obvious survival rule to someone who has been built up as an increasingly capable survivor, but good decisions don’t always make for good TV do they?…

Director J.J Abrams has allowed us a small peek into the upcoming Star Wars: Episode XII – The Force Awakens, giving us a nice little trip of nostalgia as well as giving us the impression that next year’s latest installment in the iconic film series will be bigger and more epic than ever before. For…

It will be a sad goodbye to a very long-running Australian program as At the Movies with beloved film critics Margaret Pomeranz and David Stratton bring their 28-year show to a close. From SBS to ABC, they have been the most trusted and most respected of film critics and so their final episode is guaranteed…

Serena is an adaptation of a Ron Rash novel that at times is considered even too strange to be fiction. This period drama starts off as a sumptuous, romantic tale set in North Carolina during the Depression. It is a slow burn to begin with but in the final act it turns into a bizarre…

Sad news today, Mindy fans – Adam Pally will be leaving the series in early 2015 (although apparently he will be making guest appearances as time permits). I can’t tell you how sad this makes me, as even if he’s only in the episode for a couple of minutes – as in this week’s offering…

SBS 2’s The Feed has aired the full version of “Broadcast Battleground” as part of their final episode of 2014. Capping off a year of news done a bit differently, the increasingly impressive program has managed to convince the country’s top news broadcasters from rival channels to, well, kill each other. In a totally real…

A couple of decades ago, equality was an issue that many people struggled to achieve in society. Imagine people of today fighting over racial differences? Sadly, this still happens but nothing compared to before. With the recent release of Studiocanal’s trailer of American drama film,  Selma (directed by Ava DuVernay), viewers will find a sense of empathy towards…

Thursday Muriel’s Wedding, GEM, 9:10 pm AEST From the horrendous fashion to Muriel’s laughable obsession with ABBA, Muriel’s Wedding offers a hilarious yet equally bleak perspective on life in Australia in the 90s. Whilst Muriel herself may be “terrible” (according to her sister), this movie certainly is not. Stacey Dooley in the USA, SBS 2, 9:30 pm…

Museum of Sydney, as part of Sydney Living Museums (which looks after a group of 12 of the most important historic houses, gardens and museums), will showcase a number of film events which will kick off before the end of this year, focusing on documentaries both old and new. The concept has been curated by…

The inaugural Brisbane Asia Pacific Film Festival (BAPFF) is a 16 day event screening more than 80 films from across the region. The new program includes multi-award winning features and documentaries, highlights from the festival circuit, and a curated showcase of the best films from the Asia Pacific region. The festival’s program champions the big…

In the last decade society has experienced an enormous upheaval with technology and the effect of that on people and their social relationships has also changed drastically. In Men, Women & Children we take a stark look at the interactions between parents and their kids and how the digital age is both a help and…

  Robert Knepper has got a devilish charm about him. Spending last weekend in Adelaide at the Supanova Pop Culture Expo, the American actor has been meeting many fans of his extensive body of work, whether it be Prison Break, Heroes, Mob City or more recently, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part One. Though I remember him mainly as T-Bag…

  The last time Rupert Young and I spoke, we had our time together cut short by an odd phone operator. The Merlin star, currently in Australia for the Supanova Pop Culture Expo, and I went round two in Adelaide over the weekend, the day after he fielded fans’ questions at his Q&A and multiple photo and signing sessions on…