Film & TV

Heart Of A Lion (Leijonasydän) is a Finnish drama that asks the question, “Should you be ruled your head or by your heart?” It’s an age-old conflict and yet, this film manages to deal with this along with two sensitive and timely topics (racism and nationalism). Directed by Dome Karukoski, Heart Of A Lion is…

Michael Bay’s typical grandiosity has spilled over into the classic tale of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; it would be a cause for concern if the first official trailer didn’t make the film seem so incredibly fun. Detailed and very polished, the modern take on the anthropomorphic fantasy looks to be a visual feast for…

The Iris’ Larry Heath sat down with Director Christopher Houghton, Producer Julie Byrne and Actors Matt Day and Leeanna Walsman of the 2014 Australian film Touch ahead of its Sydney Film Festival Premiere.. In the first part of our interview with the cast and crew of the film, we discuss how the SA FilmLab made…

There is always this uncomfortable inner-conflict when I finish watching a Happy Madison production (otherwise known as ‘another Adam Sandler movie’), like I just witnessed something profoundly confusing and I don’t know whether to love it or to hate it. Nowadays, it seems most critics are quick to jump on the ‘hate side’ too often,…

Documentary Keep On Keepin’ On is rather naive in the way it was made. Director Alan Hicks and his cinematographer Adam Hart had never really worked on any similar projects before, so they just kept on shooting until they could piece together a film. It took five years for them to make Keep On Keepin’…

Michael Bay has managed to somewhat redeem himself with Transformers: Age of Extinction with a too long but well worth it rollercoaster ride. Just remember, it’s Hollywood, it’s Bay, it’s not really supposed to make sense and you’re really going to watch the giant robots and cars and see things blow up. Firstly, lower your…

The late, French fashion designer, Yves Saint Laurent will be the subject of two different biopics this year. The first is the eponymously-titled one from actor-turned-director, Jalil Lespert and is perhaps the most authentic film, as it had the full support of Saint Laurent’s lover and business partner. Pierre Bergé lent original outfits, designs, and…

We may be on the opposite side of the world, but that doesn’t mean that Australia can’t enjoy the Scandinavian Film Festival, which will be premiering across the country in July. The inaugural festival is being presented by Palace Cinemas and the will be screened exclusively in their locations across the country. Attendees will be…

American actress Yvette Nicole Brown is the latest guest to join the massive Oz Comic-Con lineup for Melbourne this July! Brown, known for her role as Shirley on the NBC hit Community, also has a strong fan base with younger television viewers from her days on Drake & Josh. Brown’s addition to the Oz Comic-Con…

Hossein Amini, writer and director of the new film adaptation The Two Faces of January (in Cinemas now) sits down with The Iris’ Larry Heath to talk about the film’s Sydney Film Festival Premiere, his feature film debut, taking on the adaptation of the much loved book, bringing together the amazing cast and they reflect…

For all the sadness and terrifying places that Ester Martin Bergsmark’s latest film takes us there is so much triumph and disclosure on the journey. After all the suffering we feel for the characters in this film it tears you apart. If Something Must Break doesn’t break you, you are either an incredible, strong soul…

“Build it and they will come” or, how two film-obsessed brothers went from nothing to create a full length feature film. “Australia makes such great genre films” says Kiah Roache-Turner “films like Mad Max and Undead did it so well, and after seeing them you’re left waiting, thinking ‘when is someone gonna do another film…

This is massive news. Ever since JJ Abrams was announced as the director of Disney’s Star Wars: Episode VII, most people assumed that Abrams would stick around for Episode VIII and IX, which are scheduled for release in 2017 and 2019 respectively. But according to Deadline, Disney is currently in the process of closing a deal for Rian Johnson to…

The Iris brings you to the World Premiere of the new Transformers film, Age of Extinction, which took place in Hong Kong on Thursday night. The cast and crew hit the red carpet and also attended a press conference for the film’s release. You can see the gallery here: [print_gllr id=3720] Photos courtesy of Getty…

An incredibly insightful and deep look into something so very positive and important. This is how I would describe my chat with Alan Hicks, an Australian drummer and surfer who moved to New York at the age of 18 before happening to fall under the wing of one of the most prominent figures in jazz…

The Iris meets the Director and Producer of the Sydney Film Festival 2014 premiere Australian Documentary Tender – Lynette Wallworth and Kath Shelper, respectively. We discuss the film, its future screening on ABC TV, the subject matter (the community of Port Kembla coming together to set up a non-profit funeral business) and the music of…

It’s been five years since we last saw Robert Downey Jr in an entirely dramatic role, when he appeared in the critically panned The Soloist. While he is now best known for the role of Tony Stark in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it is easy to forget that Downey Jr is one of the most…

Publicity for the upcoming sequel The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 is starting to heat up, and the first lot of teaser posters are quite incredible. Lionsgate really don’t need to put this much effort in to promote Mockingjay Part 1. Each Hunger Games movie so far has been a mammoth hit and audiences around…

As glowing reviews continue to pour in for Locke – and in particular, Tom Hardy’s stunning performance – The Iris caught up with the film’s co-producer Guy Heeley for some more insight into the unique process from which this film was made. The entire thing took a little over a week to shoot, a set…

Director Brendan Muldowney has crafted something both beguiling and disturbing with film Love Eternal; he has done so in a way that adds a layer of beauty on top of something which would unnerve a lot of viewers. Muldowney loosely based this film on the novel Loving the Dead by Japanese author Kei Oishi, who…

George Takei is a master of social media. His Facebook page has 7.1 million likes. That’s pretty much the population of Switzerland. He has 1.2 million followers on Twitter and uncounted millions of fans from his Star Trek days. How has he achieved such a following? He did it with his charm, his humour, his…

“How will a little girl, a low-level thug, a business woman become the most dangerous villains around?” Simple answer. They all got their start in this city.” In the new teaser trailer for the upcoming FOX show, Gotham, viewers are given the first glimpses of the villains of the series. Included in the trailer are…

2014 has insofar been somewhat of an artistic renaissance for Australian film. So far this year we’ve seen successful cinema releases of 52 Tuesdays, Tracks, The Babadook, and Healing. Sophie Hyde (52 Tuesdays) won Best Director at Sundance; David Gulpilil (Charlie’s Country) won Best Actor at Cannes. Seventeen Australian films are getting a release in…

Members of the media were wowed at Event Cinemas in Sydney today with a twenty-minute screening of the upcoming The Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. This was the first time that the reel had been seen outside of the WETA Workshop offices, and was nothing short of incredible. This sneak peak was followed…

Adaptations of the novels of Nicholas Sparks have been a mainstay of romantic cinema ever since A Walk to Remember and The Notebook warmed and broke everyone’s hearts in the early 2000’s. Since then a new Sparks adaptation has hit the big screen every couple of years, including Dear John, Safe Haven and The Lucky One. The…

It’s the penultimate episode of Fargo and there are so many questions remaining unanswered that we could potentially fill up an entire additional season. Yet in Noah Hawley’s script we trust, and somehow he’s going to give us all the answers, if not in this instalment, then at least in the finale. Once again we’re…

Peedu Ojamaa once had the world’s greatest job. He was the founder and boss of the only commercial film studio in the Soviet Union at a time when the iron curtain ruled and there was a strictly planned economy. Advertisements were unnecessary as there was a shortage of goods due to government controls, but these…

Up until the mid-to late- twentieth century the Indian Act in Canada imposed various forms of control over its Native Indian citizens, most notably in the form of Residential Schools, which all Indian children under fifteen were forced to attend, and the Caucasian ‘Indian Agents’ that ran them. These rules are at the centre of…

When it was first announced a few years ago that Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill would be starring in a comedy reboot of the popular 1980’s TV series 21 Jump Street, sceptics around the world raised their eyebrows. To put it bluntly, it sounded like a stupid idea. No one was really holding out for a…

The Iris’ Larry Heath talks to Michael Altman about the career of his father, director Robert Altman, as well as his own. Filmed during Sydney Film Festival in June 2014, where Michael presented a retrospective of his father’s illustrious career. ———- This content has recently been ported from its original home on The Iris and…