Film & TV

Whilst the phenomenon of Barbenheimer brought many people back to the theatres, there are still certain audiences who aren’t venturing out beyond their living rooms to see the latest films.  And if you, like so many others, are curious as to just why this year’s Academy Award nominated Best Picture options were the 10 titles…

If her prominent post-Twilight work hasn’t convinced you to join the Kristen Stewart appreciation club, then may I suggest signing up in the wake of Love Lies Bleeding, a deliciously wild, brutal noir crime comedy that gleefully breaks your jaw in the process. And there’s a reason I specified a breaking jaw in that analogy,…

Whilst The Nut Farm undeniably goes for simple, perhaps obvious humour over the course of its brisk 80-ish minutes, audiences looking for clean(ish) humour and a sense of family fun should have an easy time digesting Arj Barker‘s absurd, well-intentioned comedy. Barker, an American comedian whose very much made Australia his second home over the…

The new Australian comedy The Nut Job details A failed US crypto trader who inherits a macadamia nut farm in Australia that’s under threat from some evil New Zealand frackers…so, you know, your average, relatable, Aussie battler story.  Right? Believe it or not, amongst the heightened comedy of the script, there’s a semi-autobiographical narrative in…

A psycho-thriller about a woman’s search for a missing monster hunter and her growing realisation that she is inescapably linked to the creature being pursued, Kryptic is sure to be one of SXSW’s most talked about projects. And it’s why Peter Gray had to speak to the film’s director, Kourtney Roy, and lead actress, Chloe…

Towards the beginning of the creepy and ambiguous Kryptic, a tour guide overseeing the Cedar Springs Women’s Walking Club explains what cryptozoology is.  “It means the study of the hidden,” he states as he details Barb Valentine, a cryptozoologist who went missing in the very same British Columbia hinterland the group is currently hiking through….

Men behaving badly is at the core of Annick Blanc‘s Hunting Daze, a surreal visualisation of toxic masculinity that refuses to ever pigeonhole itself into one category.  It’s horrific without ever devoting itself entirely to that genre.  It’s blackly funny, though never satirical.  And it’s always engaging, even if the extreme manner in which Blanc…

After losing everything in a cryptocurrency scam, a ragtag team of vigilante Redditors attempt to kidnap the kingpin who screwed them over. But when the home invasion takes a turn for the worst, they become victims in a sadistic game. Directed by Sundance-awarded Best Director Cutter Hodierne, Cold Wallet is a topically relevant genre blend of…

Though there’s an enjoyable “Robin Hood”-like mentality to the narrative of Cutter Hodierne‘s always watchable thriller Cold Wallet, this cryptocurrency-heavy tale takes a less jovial approach to the world of tech talk and monetary scams than last year’s similarly themed Dumb Money.  But, despite opting for a more intense, oft-violent approach, the emerging filmmaker has…

Nina, a young and headstrong exotic dancer, finds herself stranded in the far North. She convinces her recent customers, five men on a bachelor hunting trip, to put her up for a few days. In this masculine microsociety, by turns hilarious and philosophical, she starts to feel a sense of belonging she never has before. But…

Though there was a certain sense of the story coming to a natural close in 2016’s Kung Fu Panda 3, the powers that be at DreamWorks deemed another go-around with the loveable Po (once again voiced with vigour by Jack Black) necessary, and so families are gifted with the effortless joy that is Kung Fu…

After finding Oscar glory as a solo filmmaker – with arguably one of the more controversial Best Picture wins in the Academy’s history (see Green Book) – there’s a nice sense of coming back home in the case of Peter Farrelly helming Ricky Stanicky. Now, it does pale in comparison to the comedy works he…

Given that the promotional material for Imaginary has highlighted a certain stuffed teddy bear, one would be right in assuming that the film – boasting its from the studio that brought us Five Nights at Freddy’s and M3GAN – would be taking inspiration from those two successful properties.  Unfortunately, despite such promise, a committed turn…

This year marks the 35th edition of the Alliance Française French Film Festival, a significant milestone in their cinematic journey where 35 is not just a number – it is an emblem. From the days of 35mm film screenings to the marvels of today’s digital era, they have proudly showcased the very best of French…

Unfortunately we can’t always rely on technology.  But for Peter Gray, it seemed like there were more sinister forces at play when he attempted to chat to Imaginary director Jeff Wadlow about his latest scarer. After a duo of failed attempts to chat all things Imaginary – the Truth Or Dare filmmaker’s original horror film…

When three childhood best friends pull a prank gone wrong, they invent the imaginary “Ricky Stanicky” to get them out of trouble!  Twenty years after creating this ‘friend,’ Dean (Zac Efron), JT (Andrew Santino), and Wes (Jermaine Fowler) still use the non-existent Ricky as a handy alibi for their immature behaviour.  When their spouses and partners get…

There very easily could’ve been an air of farce and faux suspense about The Great Escaper.  A true story centring on Bernard Jordan (Michael Caine) – a near-90-year-old who staged a “great escape” from his retirement home in 2014 in order to join his fellow war veterans on a beach in Normandy to commemorate their…

In the summer of 2014, Bernard Jordan made global headlines.  He had staged a “great escape” from his care home to join fellow war veterans on a beach in Normandy, commemorating their fallen comrades at the D-Day Landings 70th anniversary.​  It was a story that captured the imagination of the world as Bernie embodied the…

Given the absolute majestic, expansive nature of Frank Herbert‘s 1965 novel, it makes sense as to why director Denis Villeneuve insisted that his story be told across a necessary 5 hour split.  No doubt using David Lynch’s ambitious failure as something of a cautionary tale – the auteur continually rejecting his association with his own…

After five years of hype and construction, no less than 54,000 m2 of LED on its exterior, and space for some 20,000 punters, the ambitious venue known simply as Sphere opened in Las Vegas last September, immediately becoming one of the world’s most recognisable structures. As the largest spherical building in the world, enjoying an…

“What is this fucking girl’s problem?” As Jennifer Lopez states in the opening moments of The Greatest Love Story Never Told, she’s highly aware of what the media has pondered about the multitude of marriages (4, to be precise) she’s partaken in over the course of her resilient career. And it’s that self-awareness and hopeful…

BLUSSH Romance Festival is the loving brainchild of uber film producer extraordinaire Kylie Pascoe and heavy culture consumer Sue-Anne Chapman. With a strong desire to bring together their loves of films and books under one festival umbrella, they hope, through the romance lens, to deliver a carefully curated program of stories and events for the…

From It to “It will hurt”, Bill Skarsgård is set to unleash a lot of pain if this first-look trailer for his wild new revenge flick Boy Kills World is anything to go by. Skarsgård stars as “Boy” who vows revenge after his family is murdered by Hilda Van Der Koy (Famke Janssen), the deranged…

Thanks to Warner Bros. Pictures Australia we have 5 double digital in-season passes (Admit 2) to see award-winning filmmaker Denis Villeneuve embark on the next chapter of Frank Herbert’s celebrated novel Dune with Dune: Part Two, in Australian theatres from February 29th, 2024, starring Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Dave…

They came. They saw. They conquered. Today, Prime Video announced that the Emmy-winning global hit drama series The Boys will premiere its fourth season on June 13, 2024.  The diabolical drama will return with three mind-blowing episodes on June 13, followed by a new episode each week, ending with the epic season finale on Thursday, July…

The opening imagery of Mark Leonard Winter‘s The Rooster is a nightmarish depiction of a body swinging in the wind.  It suggests a darker film than what transpires over the following 101 minutes, even though Winter’s script does indeed indulge in devastating themes. At the centre of The Rooster is Dan (Phoenix Raei, leaving no…

An idyllic family life juxtaposed with the genocidal holocaust horrors next door has made for one of the most gripping and intellectual cinematic gems in years.  The Zone of Interest is by far the most haunting and arresting depiction of Nazi family life and Holocaust bureaucracy you’ll get all year.  Directed by Jonathan Glazer, his…

If there was ever an indication as to how separately the Coen Brothers think when they’re left to their own devices, one only needs to look at what Ethan Coen has concocted with Drive-Away Dolls.  Miles apart from Joel Coen’s ahistorical thriller The Tragedy of Macbeth, Drive-Away Dolls, a collaboration with Ethan’s wife, Tricia Cooke,…

When the body of his oldest friend is found buried in a shallow grave, Dan, a small-town cop, seeks answers from a volatile Hermit who may have been the last person to see his friend alive. Such is the plotline for Mark Leonard Winter‘s intimate, psychological drama The Rooster, which is arriving in Australian theatres…

When the body of his oldest friend is found buried in a shallow grave, Dan, a small-town cop, seeks answers from a volatile Hermit who may have been the last person to see his friend alive. Such is the plotline for Mark Leonard Winter’s intimate, psychological drama The Rooster, which is arriving in Australian theatres…