Film & TV

Based on JP O’Donnell’s ‘Gallagher’ novels, and directed by Bobby Moresco the action-packed crime thriller Bent was recently released on DVD and Blu-ray. Here’s a bit more about the film: Upon his release from prison, disgraced former detective Danny Gallagher (Karl Urban) makes a plan to seek revenge for a drug bust that went horribly…

The Simpsons creator Matt Groening is back with Disenchantment, his first new animated series since Futurama dropped way back in 1999. Disenchantment is a medieval fantasy which follows the adventures of rebellious princess and self-proclaimed alcoholic Bean (Abbi Jacobson), her elf sidekick Elfo (Nat Faxon), and her trusty personal demon Luci (Eric Andre) through the kingdom…

On Chesil Beach may be a boy-meets-girl story but this one doesn’t play as you would typically expect. The film is an adaption of an Ian McEwan novella and is a heart-wrenching, domestic drama. Set in 1962 in the period between the lifting of the ban on Lady Chatterley’s Lover and the release of The…

Screen Australia has announced that celebrated Australian actor Hugo Weaving (Lord of the Rings, The Matrix) will star in M4M, a contemporary take on Shakespeare’s play Measure for Measure. Set within Melbourne’s commission flats, M4M tells the unlikely love story of a Muslim woman Jaiwara and a local loner musician Claudio. While their relationship develops, local…

Screen Producers Australia (SPA) has announced they are now partnering with airline Virgin Australia in order to create a new offers and opportunities for Associate Members, now allowing a whopping 64kg of checked baggage per member, when traveling domestically within Australia. This partnership hopes to address the ongoing issues that crew members and productions alike…

You Were Never Really Here is a gripping psychological thriller, and a dark and disturbing character study with Joaquin Phoenix putting in a thrilling lead performance. The film follows Joe (Phoenix), a veteran living with PTSD, who spends his time finding and rescuing missing girls. On this job, however, he stumbles into a larger conspiracy…

Three films have been selected as part of the 75th Venice International Film Festival program, which will run from 29 August to 8 September, 2018. The three films selected include Jennifer Kent’s (The Babadook) highly anticipated second feature film The Nightingale, alongside two virtual reality films The Unknown Patient and Awaneva. Director Jennifer Kent’s The Nightingale is…

Transmission Film has announced that actress Jane Fonda (Grace and Frankie, Barbarella) will attend the Australian premiere of her upcoming comedy Book Club. Starring alongside Diane Keaton (The Godfather), Mary Steenburgen  (Step Brothers) and Candice Bergen (Murphy Brown), Book Club centres around Diane, played by Keaton, widowed after 40 years of marriage. On the contrary, Vivian, played by…

Tomorrow, the Melbourne International Film Festival kicks off, running through to August 19th. As every year, there are hundreds of screenings – but here are just 8 we think are unmissable this year: Mandy When Red Miller (Cage) met Mandy (Andrea Riseborough) he instantly fell in love. Unfortunately, so did Jeremiah (Linus Roache). And when…

In this dramatic thriller, a veteran spy is sent undercover to smuggle a chemical weapons scientist and his family out of Damascus. Within days of arriving things start to go wrong; he’s being followed, his partner doesn’t show up, and a mysterious group of men are trying to kill him. Soon, this supposedly routine mission…

It is perfectly reasonable to believe that the majority of the world sees cinema as a temporary reprieve of the burdens of the outside world. We all see enjoyably bombastic things that would never occur in real-life like dragons, magic, aliens, sea creatures; features that are proven to provide examples of powerful cinema. But on…

The year is 2030, the world is a wasteland, and in a desperate attempt to restore society, the Government has created The Humanity Bureau – whose job is to assess and remove citizens deemed to be a burden on the system. When veteran Agent Noah Kross (Nicolas Cage) is sent to investigate the case of…

A Quiet Place is a taut and original thriller that follows a family who must navigate their lives in silence to avoid mysterious creatures that hunt by sound. Knowing that even the slightest whisper or footstep can bring death, Evelyn (Emily Blunt) and Lee (John Krasinski) are determined to find a way to protect their…

Based on the oft-adapted French satire Knock by writer and poet Jules Romains, this name-same feature fails to embrace the dark satirical properties of its source material and instead plays out all too predictably and implausible. At the centre of the film is a suitably charismatic turn from the reliable Omar Sy, and had Knock…

Up to this point each Mission: Impossible film has operated on their own mechanisms.  The 1996 Brian De Palma-directed original felt like an organic extension of the 1960’s television series it drew its inspiration from; the 2000-released sequel was an orgy of unsubtle combat buoyed by the favoured-slow motion of Hong Kong filmmaker Jon Woo;…

2K has finally unveiled all the details of the upcoming WWE 2K19 collector’s edition, and it’s a package fit for a 16-time WWE World Champion. Ric Flair is the newest honouree for the 2K series, representing the long and starry history of WWE and WCW.

The Goliath tier of 2K’s stellar <i>WWE SuperCard</i> is set to receive a giant boost with brand new special Throwback, Fusion and Hall of Fame tiered cards. These new sets include NXT’s Bobby Fish, Raw’s Mickie James and Alicia Fox, as well as Jinder Mahal and more.

We’re on the cusp of a major development in gaming, and an important step forward for consumer technology. Historically, those who live with disabilities are overlooked when it comes to designing pieces of modern technology, and this has been most apparent in gaming. As you can imagine, it must be difficult to navigate traditional video…

Screen Australia have announced they will be investing a whopping $17 million across 23 projects comprised of six films, ten television series and seven online productions. Highlights include a movie adaptation of Jane Harper’s international hit novel The Dry, to be directed by veteran filmmaker Robert Connolly. Graeme Mason, CEO of Screen Australia commented on the…

Famous Australian actor Joel Edgerton (Warrior), takes his talents to the directing chair, as the first trailer for his film Boy Erased is released. Edgerton will also write, produce and co-star. The film will focus on the trails and tribulations of homosexuality, as Jared, the son of a Baptist pastor in a small American town, comes…

ABC, Screen Australia and Film Victoria have announced that filming has begun on the second season of the comedy series Get Krack!n, created, written, produced by and starring Kate McCartney and Kate McLennan. As the follow-up to ‘The Kates’ classic first series hailed by critics as “the finest satire ever put to air on Australian…

Stronger is the second film to be released about the Boston Marathon bombing. While Patriot’s Day focused on the manhunt for the terrorists, Stronger is about the victims of the tragedy and one man’s story in particular. This film is ultimately an inspirational look at a man who was left a double amputee and how…

Attention filmmakers! Film submissions for the 2019 SXSW (South by Southwest) Film Festival are now open, providing both established and aspiring filmmakers alike to jump on board! Once again held in Austin, Texas, the 2019 Festival is set to take place from 8-17 March. The SXSW offers filmmakers a life changing opportunity, ranging from feature…

I’m going to throw out a hot take – It’s tough to be a woman in comedy these days. Late night talk shows and weekly round ups are still dominated by male comics, you try to put out a new-take on an old concept with an all-female cast and unearth the wrath of legions of…

With San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) wrapped up for this year, there’s no doubt each year’s conference rules the entertainment universe with its mind blowing announcements from films, TV shows and the latest and upcoming games. So without further ado, let’s recap some of the biggest announcements you may have missed this year. FILMS First off,…

Starring the brilliant Maxine Peake, Funny Cow charts the rise to stardom of a female comedienne through the 1970’s and 1980’s and is set against the backdrop of working men’s clubs and the stand-up comedy circuit in the North of England. From her troubled childhood to her turbulent adult relationships, Funny Cow uses the raw material…

The newest web series created by sisters Hannah and Eliza Reilly (Growing Up Graceful) will be known as Sheilas, and is set to premiere later next month and the 21st of August. The four-part series has been funded under Screen Australia’s Gender Matters, a celebration of brilliant and innovative storytelling celebrating the growth of female…

A lot of travel programs follow a tried and tested formula. There’s a charismatic host. Pleasant and idyllic locations. There are the ingredients you’d typically associate with a fun holiday. But the opposite is true for the new, eight-part Netflix series Dark Tourist – New Zealand’s first original series for the streaming platform. This program prides…

Whitney may not be the most necessary film but it’s certainly an entertaining one. This documentary comes hot on the heels of Whitney: Can I Be Me, but where this latest offering differs is in its unprecedented access to Whitney Houston’s family and friends. The result is an intimate and bittersweet portrait of her meteoric…

Screen Australia has announced it will be funding a total $2.9 million towards 10 Documentary Producer and Documentary Commissioned Programs. This announcement includes funding for a Black Saturday ABC feature, alongside a feature behind now retired AFL legend Adam Goodes. Liz Stevens, Senior Manager of Documentary at Screen Australia commented on the news, stating, “Documentary is…