TV & Streaming

Aussie thriller The Drover’s Wife joins SXSW Film Festival as full lineup revealed

The 2021 SXSW Film Festival has revealed its full line up for its 28th edition for SXSW Online, running March 16th-20th, 2021.  The previously announced Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil, a hard-hitting documentary covering the personal and professional life of the pop star, including her fatal near-overdose, will serve as the festival’s opener, whilst…

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Disney+ confirm Star pricing and launch details for Australia

With more than 150 TV series, almost 450 movies, and 4 original creations straight outta the gate, Disney+‘s latest expansion is set to double the streaming services offerings from the end of February. Covering more general entertainment than the Disney, Star Wars, and Marvel focused content we’ve seen so far, Star is promising a lot…

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TV Review: The Sister elevates a standard premise with a supernatural element

A nonlinear storyline, a dash of supernatural suggestion, and committed performances across the board, The Sister switches enough of the standard murder-mystery thriller concept for it to earn viewer interest over the course of its four sharp episodes. Within minutes of Neil Cross‘s screenplay unfolding on the screen – the writer adapting from his own…

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Lady Whistledown delivers an announcement: Bridgerton Season 2 is coming!

Prepare for another social season.  Bridgerton, the romantic, scandalous, and quick-witted series that became one of Netflix’s most-watched shows of all time, will be returning for a second salacious season, as stated by the society papers of Lady Whistledown. “Dearest readers, The ton are abuzz with the latest gossip, and so it is my honour…

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First Impressions: Marvel’s WandaVision on Disney+ marches to the beat of its own bold, sitcom-celebrating drum

Given that 2020 was unable to give us the Marvel titles we had originally anticipated thanks to a certain pandemic – both Black Widow and Eternals were set for release – WandaVision has somewhat of an extra layer of pressure added to it, now that it is officially both the first taste of the MCU…

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The Mandalorian Season 2 Episode 8 leaves us on an unexpected different cliffhanger of sorts

In this high stakes season finale, Mando must try to rescue Grogu from the clutches of Moff Gideon. It won’t be easy and the odds are stacked against him. Can he manage to get the kid back safely or will he and his team be defeated? Beware spoilers ahead in this episode review. Din Djarin…

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First Impressions: The Expanse Season 5 reaffirms why it’s one of the best sci-fi shows ever

If you’re a fan of science-fiction, you’d be hard pressed to find a show that’s more faithful to the genre than The Expanse. Originally a novel series written by James S. A. Corey, the series is set in the far future where humanity has colonized various parts of the solar system. The series predominantly focuses…

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The Mandalorian Season 2 Episode 7 has a character take a surprising turn

The penultimate episode to season 2 has a few surprises but is nowhere near as outlandish as some of the previous episodes.  Beware of spoilers in the review ahead. Working at a prison scrapyard smashing up larger pieces of old Empire ships into smaller pieces, a prison droid approaches Mayfeld (Bill Burr) and orders him…

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The Mandalorian Season 2 Episode 6 has surprising reveals and raises the stakes

As we edge ever closer to the season finale of The Mandalorian it’s becoming apparent that the back half of this season has really upped the ante. We shift focus back to the quest at hand and knowing full well that a certain villainous ominous character is looming. Spoilers ahead if you have not seen…

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The Mandalorian Season 2 Episode 5 sees an animated fan favourite go live action

The latest episode of The Mandalorian sees creator / writer / director Dave Filoni not only get to bring a treasured animated character from 2D into live action 3D but simultaneously cement himself as a creative force to be reckoned with. Spoilers ahead with our episode review.  Mando (Pedro Pascal) and the Child have finally…

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The Mandalorian Season 2 Episode 4 has a big reveal that closes some canon gaps

We’ve now reached the halfway point of The Mandalorian Season 2 and interestingly this episode decides to return us to the planet where it all began. As we delve into this review, beware of spoilers.  The Razor Crest is in dire need of repairs and despite Mando (Pedro Pascal) wanting to find Ahsoka Tano he…

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Film Review: Palm Springs delights in pushing the limits of its comedically fantastical premise

Most films that play with infinite time loops as their narrative hook inevitably find themselves compared to 1993’s much-loved Groundhog Day.  And though such films since then have broken the mould as much as they can regarding the premise on hand – the Tom Cruise actioner Edge of Tomorrow and the horror/comedy Happy Death Day…

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The Mandalorian Season 2 Episode 3 has betrayals and double-crosses on sea and in sky

Mando’s quest continues in this episode as we finally reach Trask. This time around he is once again finding both himself and The Child in jeopardy. However there are plenty of other shenanigans going on in the galaxy and Mando once again ends up bartered into helping out. Spoilers ahead so proceed with caution. After…

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The Mandalorian Season 2 Episode 2 opts for sci-fi scares

Fans of The Mandalorian will now be settling in for a week to week drop of episodes now that Disney Plus has regained everybody’s attention. In the latest episode of Mando and the Child, the show throws a variety of things into the mix but the most prominent of all is it ramps up the…

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The Mandalorian Season 2 opener “The Marshal” leans into western themes and fan service

. Fans of The Mandalorian need wait no longer, the highly anticipated first episode of Season 2 is now available on Disney Plus. The return of the show comes amid a turbulent year for big studios and will be a welcome addition to Disney’s arsenal since they have had to shuffle some of their releases…

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Nicole Kidman to star and executive produce adaptation of award-winning play Things I Know To Be True for Amazon

Australian playwright Andrew Bovell‘s award-winning theatre production Things I Know To Be True has been acquired by Amazon Studios and Nicole Kidman‘s production banner Blossom Films. Set to premiere exclusively on Amazon Prime Video across 240 countries and territories worldwide, Kidman will topline the series set around the the resilience of an enduring marriage and…

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Assassin's Creed

Netflix announces Assassin’s Creed live action series

Netflix has announced a new live action original series based on Assassin’s Creed. It will work with game publisher Ubisoft to create AC shows across live action, animation, and anime, Deadline reports. Executive producers Jason Altman and Danielle Krenik from Ubisoft Film & Television currently oversee the project. It is on the hunt for a…

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Is The Walking Dead: The World Beyond worth watching?

There’s a scene in the second episode of The Walking Dead: The World Beyond where our four teenage protagonists are hiding from “empties” (walkers, zombies) in a treehouse, chewing through the short time by playing Monopoly and passing a bowling ball around while bellowing “Big Moe” – the ball’s given name. It’s amongst the most…

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Disney and Disney+ are gearing up for your attention in the last months of 2020

  News coming out of the House of Mouse has been coming pretty thick and fast as we near closer and closer to the end of the year. So we’re going to distil down some of the key things to keep a lookout for as we edge closer to 2021. We’ve picked out a handful…

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TV Review: Amazon Prime Video’s The Boys Season 2 is just as foul and bombastic as its predecessor

For the majority of the first episode of this second season helping of The Boys, Karl Urban‘s mouthy, unpredictable Billy Butcher is largely absent.  And it’s with his absence from the titular crew – which also consists of Jack Quaid‘s Hughie, Laz Alonso‘s Mother’s Milk, Tomer Kapon‘s Frenchie, and Karen Fukuhara‘s Kimiko – that the…

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Will fans of The Boys be satisfied by Season Two?

Amazon Prime Video decided to take a leap last year into the superhero genre with The Boys, an adaptation of the comic book series by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. The series is set in a universe where superheroes are capitalized and monetized by the shady corporation Vought International, and led by the unstable and…

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Win a DVD set of the complete series of Schitt’s Creek

Out this week through Acorn Media, you can now enjoy the entire hilarious Canadian series Schitt’s Creek thanks to a jam packed 12 disc DVD box set. That’s no less than 80 episodes across 6 seasons, from the award winning, critically acclaimed and much loved show that stars Eugene Levy and Catherine O’Hara (who in…

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TV Review: Amazon Prime Video’s World’s Toughest Race: Eco-Challenge Fiji takes a more grounded, inspiring approach to the reality TV format

“671 kilometers of jungles, rivers, ocean, and swamp.  And it is…brutal” So says World’s Toughest Race host (and producer) Bear Grylls to an accumulative 66 teams as they gather patiently to learn just what they’re in for over the course of the next 11 days.  And if there’s anyone who knows the extremities of the…

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Mobile-first entertainment platform QUIBI launches in Australia

Quick bites.  Big stories. Designed specifically to engage the masses in the smallest of time frames, Quibi produces fresh, original content in bite-sized portions so you’re entertained at any given second. After successfully launching across the US, where their short-form, mobile-specific content proved a viable alternative to the predominant lounge-room streaming of Netflix and Amazon Prime…

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Is Season 2 of The Umbrella Academy on Netflix worth watching?

There’s something weird, wacky and wonderful about a series that doesn’t pull its punches. The Umbrella Academy introduced us to a misfit family of people adopted and brought together for their special powers to try and stop the end of the world. Season 2 which has just landed on Netflix has us following the Hargreeves…

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First Impressions: Amazon Prime Video’s Alex Rider embraces spy genre tropes and overcomes them with rugged soul

Briefly branding Alex Pettyfer “hot property” off the film’s expected anticipation, and somehow managing to ensemble a cast of such weight as Ewan McGregor, Alicia Silverstone, Bill Nighy and Mickey Rourke, the Alex Rider name was an intended film series that floundered on arrival with the release of Stormbreaker back in 2006. Underperforming in its…

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What To Watch: Amazon Prime Video’s unmissable new additions this August

Let the social distancing binge viewing continue! Winter may be over, but staying on the couch seems like the most reasonable seasonal activity as Amazon Prime Video promises to overload its devoted audience with one helluva line-up. Harley and Katniss and Neo, oh my! Kicking off the month with a bang is everyone’s favourite anti-heroine…

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Is Stan Original Relic worth watching?

Prior to watching Natalie Erika James’ Relic, I’d read constant comparisons to Hereditary and The Babadook. The former has too strong a grasp on literal malevolence to align in any way with James’ debut feature, but The Babadook certainly shares a great deal with this Australian-made indie-horror, given both are rooted in German expressionism and…

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Film Review: Dogs Don’t Wear Pants: In case Fifty Shades was too safe for you…

In case the filmic version of Fifty Shades of Grey was ultimately a little too safe in its actuality compared to the near-porn mentality of E.L. James’s novel, J-P Valkeapää‘s striking Dogs Don’t Wear Pants stands as something of a reparative.  And as much as the bold, dark comedy intends to shock its audience, this remains…

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Interview: Irish actor Michael Smiley on his macabre new role in Acorn TV’s Dead Still

After an enormously successful launch in the United States and Canada, Acorn TV has arrived in Australia and New Zealand.  A predominantly British-centric service that showcases the best drama the UK has to offer, one of the instantly accessible series on the “Netflix for Anglophiles” is Dead Still.  Set in 1880’s Ireland, the comedically macabre…

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