Emma Stone

It speaks to just how truly bizarre Yorgos Lanthimos‘s filmography is if his latest, Bugonia – an English language remake of the 2003 South Korean black comedy sci-fi outing, Save the Green Planet! – is considered one of his most accessible.  Yes, there’s a certain comedic universality to the film’s premise – that of a…

From writer-director Ari Aster comes a modern Western and paranoid thriller set in the American Southwest during the tumultuous summer of 2020. Isolated and sheltered in place, in a global pandemic, a nation under pressure found itself sifting reality through the haze of social media and lost its collective mind. A “true conversation starter” (you…

Forgoing the surrealism that largely laced his previous films (Hereditary, Midsommar, Beau Is Afraid), Ari Aster‘s Eddington is, arguably, his most straightforward film to date.  It’s also likely to be his most divisive. Set in the heat of the pandemic – May 2020, to be exact – the film’s lead focal character, Sherriff Joe Cross…

As Yorgos Lanthimos built up his profile with more mainstream-inclined audiences over the years – blending his unique storytelling vision with noticeable, A-list talent – the filmmaker viscerally tells them to essentially f*ck off with Kinds of Kindness, a 164-minute blackly comic, absurdist, and boundary-pushing surrealist drama that makes his previous oddity, last year’s award-winning…

As Yorgos Lanthimos built up his profile with more mainstream-inclined audiences over the years – blending his unique storytelling vision with noticeable, A-list talent – the filmmaker viscerally tells them to essentially f*ck off with Kinds of Kindness, a 164-minute blackly comic, absurdist, and boundary-pushing surrealist drama that makes his previous oddity, last year’s award-winning…

In a year that was ruled by Barbenheimer and mortally wounded the once-unstoppable superhero genre, 2023 definitely saw audiences shift their minds (and money) towards more original content.  Perhaps an indication as to where the industry should place its focus, The AU’s best of list similarly echoes the sentiment that bigger doesn’t always mean better,…

Like his previous works that celebrate their fantastical, absurdist nature with a certain gravitas, Yorgos Lanthimos grounds Poor Things, an undeniably wild, oft-offensive, sexually liberated black comedy, with a stirring sense of emotion and topical commentary. In 19th century London – or what such a time period looks like within Lanthimos’ vivid imagination – the eccentric…

Like his previous works that celebrate their fantastical, absurdist nature with a certain gravitas, Yorgos Lanthimos grounds Poor Things, an undeniably wild, oft-offensive, sexually liberated black comedy, with a stirring sense of emotion and topical commentary. In 19th century London – or what such a time period looks like within Lanthimos’ vivid imagination – the…

The Brisbane International Film Festival (BIFF), presented by MINI, has announced its 2023 program with an incredible line-up of Queensland and Australian premiere features, with Taika Waititi’s Next Goal Wins, starring Michael Fassbender, serving as the Australian premiere and Closing Night event. BIFF’s program is further brimming with Queensland premieres from highly acclaimed and visionary…

Two exciting new UK films have just been added to the Adelaide Film Festival Program for 2023, Poor Things and Saltburn. Poor Things is by director Yorgos Lanthimos (The Lobster, The Favorite), generating Oscar buzz after its premiere at Venice Film Festival this year. The Australian premiere is to be screened in Adelaide this October….

Disney’s Cruella follows the early days of one of cinema’s most notorious –and notoriously fashionable –villains. The film releases on Blu-Ray and digital August 18th and we have 5 copies up for grabs! Set in 1970s London amidst the punk rock revolution, Cruella follows a young grifter named Estella (Oscar® winner Emma Stone), a clever and creative girl…

Cruella tells the story of the titular villain (played by Emma Stone) back in her early days before she became the monstrous, despicable fashion icon/dog-killer we know today. Known formerly as Estella, we briefly follow her childhood in 1964 as she revels in her rebellious streak as she punches her way through school both physically…

Academy Award® Winner Emma Stone brings the legacy of the wicked Cruella de Vil to life in the new trailer for Cruella, ahead of its Australian release in both theatres and Disney+ with Premier Access* on May 28th, 2021. Set in 1970s London amidst the punk rock revolution, Cruella follows a young grifter named Estella (Stone),…

Given that it’s been 7 years since the first Croods movie was released, the original target audience are all likely scattered across primary and high school now.  But displaying the sense that it honestly doesn’t care about this statistic, The Croods: A New Age delights all the same, and very much presents itself as its…

To coincide with the US release of the hotly anticipated sequel The Croods: A New Age (set for a North American date of November 25th), our own Peter Gray caught up with the film’s director, Joel Crawford, to discuss the coup of reuniting the original cast and furthering the emotional aspect of the original story….

Absurdist cinema is not for everyone. The directorial work of master of the bizarre Yorgos Lanthimos likely hasn’t sat well with most audiences. By the same token, period films aren’t exactly most people’s cup of tea either. When presented with an absurdist period piece directed by Lanthimos, one may have some trepidation. Leave your apprehension…

With series like House of Cards and Orange is the New Black, Netflix has cemented themselves as a platform that regularly delivers exciting original formats to binge watch. Well known for giving their writers and directors plenty of creative space to develop new material, series like like Black Mirror and Stranger Things have flourished. And now we have the thrilling Maniac, which playfully exhausts…

Despite its 1973 setting, Battle of the Sexes is very much a film for the now with Billie Jean King’s story appearing just as relevant today as it did back then.  Stances on sexuality and the pay parity between genders as depicted here is likely to strike a chord with many an audience member, but…

Fox Searchlight has unveiled an international trailer for their highly anticipated tennis drama Battle of the Sexes. Led by Steve Carell as chauvinistic ex-tennis champion Bobby Riggs and Emma Stone portraying feminist icon Billie Jean King, the film centres on the real-life showdown between the pair in the historical 1973 tennis match. As well as…

It’s almost set in Stone (pun not intended) of who will be raking in the Golden Men at the Oscars later this month, as La La Land continued to dominate internationally at the BAFTAs last night, taking home five films including the top award of the night, Best Film, Leading Actress for Emma Stone, Best…

A few weeks ago The Iris posted about a new musical from Whiplash director Damien Chazelle. This week, a new trailer for La La Land was released, giving us a a good taste of the anticipated film. It seems the film is attracting attention from industry insiders ahead of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), with organisers suggesting…

From Academy Award nominated writer and director, Damien Chazelle (Whiplash), comes La La Land. A modern day take on the Hollywood musicals of old, it re-unites Crazy, Stupid, Love stars Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling. And today we have the first trailer for the film! Here’s a bit more about it: Set in the starry-eyed metropolis of Los…

What do you get when you make a Woody Allen film with Joaquin Phoenix, Emma Stone and Parker Posey in an unconventional awkward love triangle and throw in some existentialism? You get Irrational Man and the first trailer for it has arrived. Director Woody Allen has kept a tight lid on the script for this…

Aloha tells the story of skeptical military contractor, Brian Gilcrest’s (Bradley Cooper), who returns to Hawaii after losing himself to the “grey side” of the military. It is here he is given a fresh start with the military and is reunited with his ex girlfriend Tracy (Rachel McAdams) after 7 years of lost contact. With the company of…