Height. I need height. As a 34-year-old man with rapidly thinning hair, I’ve never paid too much attention to the need for a good quality hairdryer. I’ve always been hesitant about throwing consistent billows of heat onto my already brittle hair, so it’s one of the things that most people used that I’ve never really…
This is a spoiler-free review of the first three episodes of Peacemaker. The show premieres on Binge January 13. The Suicide Squad went down as one of 2021’s best comic book movies. The soft reboot helmed by James Gunn won over critics and audiences with its hyperviolent scenes and adult tone. Gunn further expands the…
The best-known mattress in a box brand in Australia, Koala, released three new versions of their popular mattress last year, with the entry-level option simply dubbed the “New Koala Mattress”. This was in addition to the Calm-As, which was a winner at the Product of the Year 2021 awards, and the high-end SoulMate, of which…
The Tender Bar is very much the type of film we’ve seen before, and, unfortunately for George Clooney‘s well-meaning dramedy, it’s been done better than what this narrative ultimately presents. A coming-of-age story where the protagonist overcomes his or her personal and professional struggles to achieve ultimate success, all the while guided by a wise…
At a time when sequels are delighting in a certain sense of nostalgia – looking no further than the latest iterations of Spider-Man, The Matrix, Ghostbusters, and the forthcoming Scream as immediate examples – you have to at least hand it to director Matthew Vaughn for opting out of such a proven trend for The…
Whatever creepiness, kookiness and all together ookiness that has been evoked by previous incarnations of The Addams Family is sadly nowhere to be seen in this safe-playing sequel, one that manages to bury any of the morbid humour and likeability we’d expect from the usually reliable pens of Dan Hernandez (Pokemon: Detective Pikachu), Benji Samit…
We’re a week in 2022 and it’s already looking like it’s going to be a year for escapism. Case numbers and rising, people are finding themselves in iso. So why not ride it out with a good book? Once again, the AU Books Team are looking ahead and picking out some choice cuts of the…
Writer/director Conrad Vernon and the animated genre go hand-in-hand. As both a voice actor and a director, the former storyboard artist has left his stamp on such films as Shrek 2, Monsters vs. Aliens, and Sausage Party. After the success of 2019’s animated update of The Addams Family, Vernon found himself back to the drawing…
House of Gucci is the second 2021 film from acclaimed filmmaker Ridley Scott. The first was the medieval drama The Last Duel, which was about a true story involving a woman who was fighting for her voice to be heard after being sexually abused in a tyrannically and patriarchal society. The second is about a…
For someone who’s receiving unanimous praise and deserved award chatter about his latest performance, Simon Rex is an actor that’s keeping things remarkably cool. Humbled by the reception he’s earning for his role in Sean Baker’s acclaimed comedy Red Rocket as a washed-up former porn star looking to get back on his feet, Rex is…
When we are first introduced to Red Rocket‘s lead subject – washed-up porn star Mikey (Simon Rex) – writer/director Sean Baker frames him in such a manner that alludes to him being one of those scrappy anti-heroes whose undeniable charm is enough for us to forgive his indiscretions. And indeed, Mikey is that (in a…
Beyond the City’s second day continued the party in Melbourne to see out 2021. The second day had a heavier focus on bands on the main stage while the dance stage was a non-stop party throughout the day and early evening. Lime Cordiale and Ball Park Music were two of the biggest drawcards throughout the…
Despite his prolific status within comedy, chances are you’re likely to recognise Nick Kroll‘s voice before seeing him in person. Biding his time between family fare – just this last month he was heard as Gunter in the animated Sing 2 – and more adult aimed comedy – if you’ve laughed at either Coach Steve,…
The Tragedy of Macbeth is the latest film from Joel Coen of the Coen Brothers; best known for their works that are singular in vision, unique in meshing genres and humorous in their own idiosyncrasies. For his latest film, he is working solo for what is the umpteenth adaptation of the titular Shakespearean play. Many…
After a long eighteen months away, Beyond the Valley returned in a new way; Beyond the City with the two-day event kicking off in style at Melbourne’s Sidney Myer Music Bowl to celebrate the ringing in 2022. With international acts out this year, it meant that BTC was able to highlight some of Australia’s growing…
Clayton Watson may be most familiar to audiences as he appears above, but the actor, best known as Kid from the Matrix sequels Reloaded and Revolutions, is so much more. Returning to Sydney to attend the preview screening of The Matrix Resurrections (you can read our review here), Watson engaged with our own Peter Gray…
New year. New cinema. 2022 is here (can you even believe?) and the multiplexes are doing their darndest to make you forget what’s going on in the real world with a heft of escapism entertainment. Between a killer sequel, A-list horror, Oscar bait dramas, and female-fronted action, the first taste of the new year promises…
Clayton Watson, ‘The Kid’ in The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions attended the red carpet screening of The Matrix Resurrection at United Cinemas Opera Quays along with local celebrities Nasser Sultan, Emma Roche, Kamahl and others last night. Nathan Atkins was there to bring us these photos.
There’s a lot of DNA shared between Jason Reitman‘s Ghostbusters: Afterlife and the 1984 original that his father, Ivan Reitman, helmed to fruition. But it’s not just a familial bond that links the respective films, with several portions of the film’s plot and its character line-up clearly based off what came those near-four decades prior. …
The last episode of The Wheel of Time season one was released on the 24th of December, capping off the agonisingly slow weekly wait (who decided to re-introduce that?) for new episodes of the epic fantasy series. For the uninitiated, the show is based on the well-known novels by Robert Jordan – although fans of…
Many of us have probably never contemplated a world where restaurants didn’t exist. The French film, Delicious traces the origins of those humble establishments with a heart-warming story involving French nobility. The result is a visual feast that will warm the cockles and sate the appetite just like a fine Christmas dinner. Éric Besnard directs…
Set in 1973 San Fernando Valley, California. Licorice Pizza tells the story of Gary Valentine (Cooper Hoffman), a TV show actor and high schooler who is smitten with the school photographer/volunteer Alana Kane (Alana Haim). The two are aware of the elephant in the room in terms of them being together; being the vast 10-year…
Although most headphones on the market – especially those concerned with noise-cancelling – sport a closed-back design, there are some out there that get by just fine with the opposite. We’re talking a closed-back design, which has its own advantages and disadvantages, putting the focus almost entirely on audio performance and not much else. Brooklyn-based…
A shortlisted title for Best International Feature at next year’s Academy Awards and currently sitting 100% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, The Worst Person in the World is undoubtedly one of this year’s most celebrated films. After a successful run at film festivals across the globe, it arrives in Australian cinemas on Boxing Day. To coincide…
As much as The Worst Person in the World adheres to many of the standard ingredients of the “romantic comedy”, to refer to Joachim Trier‘s as one would be doing it a massive disservice. Detailed over 12 chapters (and both a prologue and epilogue), the film gives us a look into a certain period of…
Since exploding over the internet with his isolation cooking videos in early 2020, Sydney comedian, musician, YouTuber and now award-winning, bestselling author Nat’s What I Reckon has been riding the wave of success with style. The swearing tattooed rocker has been creating content for almost a decade, uploading tongue-in-cheek criticisms of cultural norms and societal…
Are you ready for another trip down the rabbit hole? The Matrix Resurrections (you can read our review here) is returning such iconic characters as Neo and Trinity to the technological fray, with visionary director Lana Wachowski further suspending her audience’s perception of reality. With such intricate and expansive design sprawled across the screen, Wachowski…
As world-famous designers and founders of acclaimed brand Rodarte, sisters Kate and Laura Mulleavy have been at the forefront of fashion since the label’s inception. Not just content dominating their own avenue, the sisters have branched out into the world of film, both as designers creating pieces for the Oscar-winning Black Swan and as directors…
Few movies from 1999 can boast as much as The Matrix. A groundbreaking effort, both in terms of its special effects and its allegoric mentality, The Wachowski‘s post-apocalyptic, philosophical action film pushed the boundaries of modern cinema, exceeding audience expectation in the process. Maintaining a cultural relevance in the decades since essentially allows such a…
Nearly 20 years after it was released, The Matrix still remains a culturally relevant blueprint for which other genre films are based on. Breaking boundaries and expectations in the decades since, with such bold efforts as Cloud Atlas and Jupiter Ascending, director Lana Wachowski has returned to the very IP that launched a phenomenon with…
