Film & TV

It’s safe to say that the anxious and impatient fans of the world’s currently most popular anthology series can rest at ease with the arrival of Season Four of American Horror Story. This Season, Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk have brought their devoted fans ‘Freak Show’. Like its previous season, Freak Show appears to be…

Do a quick Google search on the sleepy French village of Bugarach and you’ll find that its economy “is based on agriculture and tourism”. Sounds pretty quaint and quiet, right? You’d be right to think so. In Sergi Cameron and Ventura Durall’s documentary, also called Bugarach, the town looks like the set of Chocolat. When word…

Monday You Only Live Twice, GO! 9:30 pm AEST The 1967 instalment of the James Bonds series stars the suave Sean Connery as the famous 007 agent. A typically Cold War era film, Bond and the Japanese secret service must work together to prevent World War III breaking out between Russia and America, after one of…

After the excitement of the last two stellar episodes of Bones, this week feels a bit like a return to routine. Everyone is concerned about Booth, especially Brennan, and the emotional drama of the episode centres around his loss of faith due to all the recent traumas. However, back to business, a murder must be…

AMC’s The Walking Dead has really grown into something much more than what many initially thought it would be. Based on Robert Kirkman’s graphic novels, the series has gone from a six-episode Season 1 to the most in-demand, involving show on TV. It’s done this with a consistent, potent mix of high-end drama, genuinely terrifying…

Director Jason Reitman (Juno, Up in the Air) is hitting Twitter tomorrow morning to do a live Q&A session to promote his upcoming drama Men, Women & Children. The Q&A will take place at 5:45AM AEDT tomorrow morning (Saturday October 11). This is an awesome opportunity for anyone with questions about the film-making process to get…

Today Universal Pictures has announced that the World Premiere of one of 2015’s most anticipated films, Unbroken, will be hosted in Sydney by Director/Producer Angelina Jolie and cast members Jack O’Connell and Miyavi. Unbroken saw Angelina Jolie spend six months in Australia late last year during filming so it makes sense that she return to…

By Nazia Hafiz Cheerleading’s become more than some spirited encouragement from a bunch of pretty young things, waving their pom poms at football sidelines. Founders of the art form come sport, Varsity, have transformed cheerleading into the highly disciplined and competitive exercise it is today, and just to prove a point, have released a no…

The nominations for the 2014 Screen Music Awards have just been announced, and they feature a selection of the best music from Australia’s best television programs, documentaries and feature films. The awards are staged jointly by APRA AMCOS and the AGSC (Australian Guild of Screen Composers), and “celebrate those quiet achievers of the Australian music…

Thursday Riding Giants, SBS 2, 9:25 pm AEST From its Hawaiian beginnings to its transformation into a global recreational phenomenon, Stacy Peralta’s Riding Giants is a dynamic, awe-inspiring documentary that looks at the origins of surf culture and the alluring power of the “big wave”. Friday Friday Night Crack Up, ABC, 7:31 pm AEST Part of…

Now this is the kind of relationship stuff we need to see in the early days of The Mindy Project’s third season. This awkward, ‘getting to know you’ stuff that all couples face, it’s what fleshes out the central relationship and makes Danny and Mindy into a believable, solid couple. “I Slipped” is proof that…

It’s hard to believe that AMC’s The Walking Dead began with a modest six-episode season and nowhere near the amount of anticipation that bubbles beneath it today. The survival-horror series has become one of the biggest and fastest success stories in recent television memory, benefiting from the perfect blend of mindless entertainment and rich, deep…

Australian audiences turned out in droves over the weekend to see David Fincher’s hugely anticipated adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s best-selling novel Gone Girl. The mystery drama took in almost $4.7 million, which is a massive haul for a film of its kind. It truly is that rare kind of blockbuster that challenges its audiences’ minds while entertaining them. The opening…

Russian Resurrection is the largest and most distinguished annual Russian film festival outside of Russia and is now in its 11th year. The festival will launch its 2014 season around the country on October 30, as well as in New Zealand for the first time ever. Russian Resurrection celebrates the finest of Russia’s film industry,…

When Laura Palmer uttered the phrase “I will see you again in 25 years” I don’t think many people would have taken her too seriously. It seems we should be less cynical, because the mind-warping Twin Peaks will return to television in 2016, 25 years after the second season ended following a cancellation. Showtime has…

By Jessica Shields If anything can be said about Kevin Smith, it’s that he’s a man of his word. Smith and long-time collaborator Scott Mosier stoner-rambled their way through an episode of their podcast, Smodcast, in which they dissected a fake Gumtree ad about a rent-free room for let in Brighton, UK. The only conditions…

After resurrecting the genre with the incredible Gladiator in 2000 and returning to it with Kingdom of Heaven in 2005, director Ridley Scott is about to give us another of his huge historical epics. Exodus: Gods and Kings is Scott’s take on the biblical story of Moses from the book of Exodus. Most of us are familiar with the story, and…

Christopher Nolan’s first non-Batman film since the critically and commercially acclaimed Inception hits cinemas in one month. Just let that sink in. We will be watching a new original Christopher Nolan film in a matter of weeks. That film is Interstellar, and it is shaping up to be something pretty spectacular. Plot details are incredibly scarce at the…

Monday Diaries of a Broken Mind, ABC 2, 10:04pm AEST This bold and thought-provoking documentary follows the journeys of twenty-five young people growing up with mental health issues in the UK. Using hand-held cameras to tell their stories from their own unique perspectives, the documentary is an intimate insight into their struggles. Tuesday Jamie’s Comfort…

by Kimberley Veart After last week’s shocking twist, it’s time to say goodbye to Sweets. As promised by Bones producer Stephen Nathan, the death is handled respectfully and Sweets is still very much a part of this episode as the Jeffersonian team, together with a bitter Booth and the new Agent Aubrey, work desperately to…

By Alexandra Donald Just when you thought the vampire genre was dead and buried, six feet under – along comes riotous undead mockumentary What We Do In The Shadows. Chronicling the misadventures of four vampire flatmates in a Wellington share house, I sat down for a chat with co-director, writer and star Taika Waititi and co-star…

There have been plenty of movies made about the infamous character of Dracula, most of which centre around his blood-sucking, bat shape shifting, and supernatural ways. There have been less films made that focus on his beginnings and how he came to be this villainous monster, and even less that have some grain of truth…

The handsome, throwback supernatural-horror that made The Conjuring such a big hit last year was expected to translate well into spin-off Annabelle, with the ground work laid nice and smooth from the doll’s appearance in the critically acclaimed James Wan film. What Wan did with The Conjuring last year was nothing short of incredible, with…

Based off the acclaimed webisode series written and directed by Kit Williamson, Eastsiders, follows the ups and downs of gay couple Cal and Thom’s relationship, which has been rocked by Thom’s recent infidelity. The dark comedy set and filmed in Silverlake California chooses to shy away from the couple’s orientation as a major plot driver,…

Thursday Wil Anderson Presents Just For Laughs 2014, Ch. 7, 9 pm AEST With homegrown humorist Wil Anderson hosting and big name comedians such as Seth Rogen, Dave Hughes and Chevy Chase set to star, this year’s Just For Laughs festival is bound to be just as funny as ever. Madam Secretary, Ch. 10, 9…

Writing a review for Gone Girl without spoiling the film in some way feels nearly impossible. So before I continue, I’d like to take this moment to issue a public service announcement: if you have neither read the book, nor seen the film, do not read this review. Do not read any reviews. Just run,…

Liam Neeson is returning to the role that made him an action star with the third Taken film, now awkwardly titled Tak3n, hitting cinemas early next year. Since the brilliant original film was a surprise hit in 2008, Neeson has experienced a career resurgence that has seen him frequently kicking the asses of men half his age. But despite his…

I was wondering how long it would take for one of Mindy’s ex-boyfriends to come back into the picture and stir things up, and even though we’re only three episodes into the new season, it’s charming lawyer Cliff (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia star Glenn Howerton) that we have the pleasure of seeing again. Mindy…

Billy Kent’s latest offering HairBrained, is a take on the college admission coming-of-age tale. It stars Brendan Fraser as self-confessed ‘late bloomer’, Leo Searly and Alex Wolff (from Nickelodeon’s Naked Brothers Band) as child prodigy Eli Pettifog. The title refers to Eli’s extraordinary mass of hair that he claims, “protects his brain.” It is a…

For those fans of the excellent British television series Black Mirror, exciting news has emerged surrounding any new episodes! The show, which has earned acclaim for its standalone drama format, with its modern Twilight Zone bent, has had a Christmas Special commissioned due to be broadcast on UK free-to-air station, Channel 4. The feature length special is described…