Film & TV

Film Review: Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is a heartfelt, overwhelming send-off for Cruise and co.

It’s time to say goodbye.  For now. Billed as the final entrant in the near-three-decade long Mission: Impossible series (which would ironically indicate these missions are, in fact, possible), Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning goes out with the expected balance of spectacle and emotion that the majority of these films have adhered to –…

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Film Review: Hurry Up Tomorrow; The Weeknd self-celebrates himself in wholly misguided vanity project

Whilst I had heard all the discourse around his performance (among other things) in the much maligned HBO drama series The Idol, it was not a show I particularly wanted to seek out – even out of curiosity.  So, with that, I came into Hurry Up Tomorrow free from any of that baggage, here merely…

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Interview: Kellan Lutz on leading the action charge in Desert Dawn, career advice and aspirations, and stepping out of his comfort zone

The action genre and Kellan Lutz go hand-in-hand at this point. Whilst the actor started out his career across a variety of comedy features (Stick It), horror efforts (the remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street) and teen-aimed television (90210), and he may best be known as Emmett Cullen from the Twilight film series, it’s…

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Interview: Director Marianne Elliott on moving from the Broadway stage to a cinema screen with The Salt Path; “I feel changed in that I’m more aware of the importance of nature.”

The Salt Path is the profound true story of husband and wife Raynor and Moth Winn (played by Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs, respectively), and their 630-mile trek along the beautiful but rugged Cornish, Devon and Dorset coastline. After being forcibly removed from their home, they make the desperate decision to walk in the hope…

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Series Review: Overcompensating is everything you want in a queer coming of age story…and more

Known for his beloved comedy shorts online, Benito Skinner quickly rose to fame in 2020 with his hilarious celebrity impressions, skits, and original characters. The sense of humour he brought during such (and I hate to say it) unprecedented times made Benny Drama an iconic internet hall of famer, and it doesn’t look like he’ll…

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Film Review: Final Destination Bloodlines; bloody, nasty sequel delights in its comedic cruelty

In 2000, at a time when the horror genre was thriving in its teen slasher subsect, Final Destination dared to shake up the formula just enough to earn a prominent place in the annals of horror franchise fame.  It took the at-the-time trend of casting prominent “teen” faces – largely off a successful television series…

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Interview: Final Destination Bloodlines directors Adam Stein and Zach Lipovsky on crafting death and surprising audiences

The newest chapter in New Line Cinema’s bloody successful franchise takes audiences back to the very beginning of Death’s twisted sense of justice with Final Destination Bloodlines. Returning audiences to death’s twisted, often blackly comic design are directors Adam Stein and Zach Lipovsky, who knew that after over a decade since the last Final Destination…

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Interview: Director Timo Tjahjanto and producer Kelly McCormick on expanding action and Bob Odenkirk’s return in Nobody 2

Proving that it’s sometimes the unlikeliest figures that are the most fatally capable, Bob Odenkirk emerged as an action star in his own violent right in 2021’s Nobody, which starred the Better Call Saul alum as Hutch Mansell, a mild-mannered family man who returns to his former life of an assassin after he and his family…

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Win a Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning prize pack to celebrate the film’s release

Every choice, every mission, has all led to this. To celebrate the release of Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, with thanks to Paramount Pictures Australia and Superdream, we are giving away prize packs for five lucky fans, including a double in-season pass (Admit 2), a key-ring and a branded jumper. For your chance to…

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Interview: Peter Andre and director Fredi Nwaka on their new crime comedy Jafaican

Returning to the Gold Coast, it was more than an overwhelming homecoming for musician Peter Andre ahead of the premiere screening of his new film, Jafaican, as part of this year’s Gold Coast Film Festival. Described as “not your average heist movie”, Fredi Nwaka‘s crime comedy focuses on Gazza (played by Andre), a small-time crook,…

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Win tickets to the new horror sequel Final Destination Bloodlines

Thanks to Warner Bros. Pictures Australia we have 5 double digital in-season passes (Admit 2) to giveaway to Final Destination Bloodlines, the anticipated new sequel in the long-running horror franchise, in Australian theatres from May 15th, 2025. Plagued by a violent recurring nightmare, college student Stefanie heads home to track down the one person who…

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Film Review: Sharp Corner; tense, metaphorical thriller deconstructs masculinity and mislaid heroism

Operating as a double entendre for both the literal titular roadside placement and the relationships within Jason Buxton‘s tense drama, Sharp Corner lays focus on the vehicular and emotional torture put forth by a series of fatal crashes that take place on a suburban front lawn that kisses the edge of a tight curvature on…

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Interview: Ed Westwick on his sadistic new thriller DarkGame, committing to an unnerving tone, and the new generational reaction to Gossip Girl

A dark twisted thriller in the same vein as Se7en and Untraceable, DarkGame is an unsettling feature surrounding a determined detective (Ed Westwick) in a race against time to stop a sadistic game show on the dark web, where captives are forced to compete for their lives and the losers are executed via live broadcast.  For…

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Film Review: Shadow Force; Kerry Washington and Omar Sy charm their way through enjoyable, if predictable, actioner

Having helmed such actioners as Smokin’ Aces, The A-Team, The Grey, and Boss Level, as well as writing credits on the Death Wish remake and Bad Boys For Life, director Joe Carnahan is no stranger to the genre and the excessive cheese it can give way to.  For his latest effort, Shadow Force, he’s working…

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Film Review: The Wedding Banquet is a tender, emotional reimagining of Ang Lee’s rebellious original

Directed by a then-rising Ang Lee, 1993’s The Wedding Banquet‘s tackling of themes around queerness, immigration and cultural identity marked something of a silent rebellion in cinema.  It was a film that paved the way for furthered LGBTQIA+ stories to be told, and in Andrew Ahn‘s reimagining, Lee’s original story is expanded upon, allowing a…

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Interview: Andrew Ahn on remaking Ang Lee’s The Wedding Banquet and exploring queer identity on screen

A reimagining of Ang Lee’s acclaimed 1993 romantic comedy, The Wedding Banquet is a joyful, exuberant, fresh take on the genre, featuring a hilarious cast of multigenerational talent, headlined by Lily Gladstone and Bowen Yang. Frustrated with his commitment-phobic boyfriend Chris, Min makes a proposal: a green-card marriage with their friend Angela in exchange for…

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Interview: Sydney Film Festival director Nashen Moodley on this year’s program; “There should be no barriers to coming.”

As this year’s Sydney Film Festival program goes live (read all about it here), with 201 films from 70 countries on the bill, including 17 World Premieres, 6 international premieres and 137 Australian Premieres, bringing together hundreds of new international and local stories, festival director Nashen Moodley spoke with our Peter Gray about his vision,…

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Sydney Film Festival announces full 2025 program

The 72nd Sydney Film Festival (June 4th – 15th, 2025) program has officially launched, with Festival Director Nashen Moodley unveiling an exceptional line-up, including 15 films direct from the Cannes Film Festival, including Jafar Panahi’s It Was Just an Accident and Kelly Reichardt’s 1970s-set art heist drama The Mastermind. Other major highlights include The Life…

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Interview: Lincoln Lewis on his dark new role in Hagar’s Hut, acting inspirations, and dream feature projects

Hagar’s Hut embarks on a journey through the complexities of psychological trauma and that of the lines it often blurs between reality and fantasy as it follows Skye, a young girl fleeing from the clutches of abuse inflicted upon her by her psychiatrists, who seeks solace in the untamed wilderness. There, she encounters Xan, a…

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Film Review: Clown in a Cornfield subverts slasher genre tropes as much as it embraces them

Having already dipped his toe in the comedy/horror field with both Little Evil and Tucker & Dale vs. Evil, writer/director Eli Craig dives confidently headfirst into the cornfield for a meta slasher of sorts that subverts expectation as much as it plays into tropes of the genre.  With a title like Clown in a Cornfield,…

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Interview: Director Eli Craig on the metaphors and mayhem of his slasher flick Clown in a Cornfield

Looking for a fresh start, Quinn and her father move to the quiet town of Kettle Springs. They soon learn the fractured community has fallen on hard times after losing a treasured factory to a fire. As the locals bicker amongst themselves and tensions boil over, a sinister, grinning clown emerges from the cornfields to…

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Interview: Robert Connolly on being this year’s Gold Coast Film Festival Chauvel Award recipient; “Festivals should be an opportunity for people to broaden their understanding of cinema.”

Established in 1993, in honour of two of Australia’s most significant filmmakers, Charles and Elsa Chauvel, the Chauvel Award acknowledges significant contribution to the Australian Screen Industry. In recognition of the incredible Charles and Elsa Chauvel, the Gold Coast Film Festival proudly honours those Australian screen industry legends, who shape Australian cinema in their own…

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Interview: Jamie Chung on her reflective new drama I’m Beginning to See the Light; “It’s all about new beginnings, and finding your way out of a hole and trying to find the joy in life again.”

Ezra, a once-famous trumpeter, now struggles to keep his career afloat, performing for scraps at the local small jazz club. After his family is killed in a horrific car crash, Ezra stumbles upon a lighthouse and is mistaken for the keeper by one of the workers. Drawn by the power of the lighthouse, he decides…

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Series Review: The Four Seasons; Tina Fey’s new Netflix outing is a more dramatic affair than expected

Despite being created by Tina Fey, whose previous television ventures have adhered to a more satirical, exaggerated mentality (see 30 Rock and The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt), her Netflix offering, The Four Seasons, is considerably more grounded and dramatic.  Sure, there’s genuine bouts of humour peppered across the 8 episodes, but audiences expecting raucous laughter best…

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Film Review: Another Simple Favour is a twisted, delicious black comedy that savours its melodramatic flair

Whilst it shouldn’t have taken as long as 7 years for us to be gifted a sequel to 2018’s comedic thriller A Simple Favour – a quirky piece that played out like Gone Girl rinsed through the cycle of a soap opera – director Paul Feig (Bridesmaids, Spy) and writers Jessica Sharzer (who also penned…

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Dwayne “The Oscar Winner” Johnson? First look trailer for UFC drama The Smashing Machine would suggest so

Dwayne Johnson has had a lot of iterations as a performer: The Rock, franchise Viagra, unlikely hit singer, television personality, Tequila connoisseur, United Football League owner…and now, possible Oscar winner? Transforming himself to embody Mark Kerr, an American former wrestler and mixed martial artist, Johnson is looking to prove his detractors wrong in The Smashing Machine, a filmic…

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Nicole Kidman and her Nine Perfect Strangers are back for Season 2 in first look trailer

Following the star-studded intrigue of its first season (you can read our review here), Prime Video’s Nine Perfect Strangers has finally returned for a second helping of a gloriously accented (and wigged) Nicole Kidman and her questionable methods of therapy in the first look trailer for the anticipated new seasons. In the latest episodes, nine…

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Interview: Jane Larkin on transitioning from athletics to art with her debut feature film The Edge; “We need to know what makes us great and take that journey together.”

In The Edge, the dramatic feature film from debut filmmaker Jane Larkin (a former Australian representative sprinter), three young women (Larkin, Japanese paralympic swimmer Mei Ichinose and First Nations powerlifter Lily Riley) navigate life, love, education, and controversy while deeply embedded in the world of elite sport. The film is an honest and gritty portrayal…

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Film Review: Thunderbolts*; Have these anti-heroes finally saved the MCU?

Not unlike its DC counterpart the Suicide Squad, Marvel have assembled an anti-hero-minded crew of degenerates to lead the charge for the greater good in Thunderbolts*, one of the MCU’s strongest efforts in a recent phase of mostly underwhelming, middle-ground entries that have all largely failed to live up to the expectations of a post-Endgame…

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Interview: Everything we learned from Kevin Feige, Florence Pugh and the cast of Marvel’s Thunderbolts*

Marvel are being careful with who they assemble with Thunderbolts*, an unconventional team of anti-heroes who, after finding themselves ensnared in a death trap set by Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, must embark on a dangerous mission that will force them to confront the darkest corners of their past. As the Thunderbolts – Yelena Belova, Bucky…

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