11 Sep

Renée! Renée! Renée! Does Judy! Judy! Judy! You'd be hard-pressed to find a better project for an absent Hollywood star to make her triumphant comeback than by tackling the most ambitious role of her career. In a twist of meta-laced irony, it's a character Renée Zellweger can clearly identify with. Chewed up and spat out by the industry that made her a household name, Zellweger obviously connects with a thing or two about the experiences of the legendary Judy Garland. In a heartbreaking look at the troubled final days of the Hollywood...

09:12 / Awards Season / Reviews
2 Likes
10 Sep

There is one golden rule of comedy; either everything is fair game or nothing is. But there are those who consider there to be a few exceptions to this rule (which, in itself, is the definition of an oxymoron). To some, the Nazism movement of the late 1930s seems to be off-limits when it comes to comedy, despite the fact Adolf Hitler has been satirised for decades by The Three Stooges, Walt Disney, Looney Tunes, Mel Brooks, and, perhaps most famously, Charlie Chaplin. By expertly satirising something, you remove...

09:46 / Awards Season / Reviews
4 Likes
09 Sep

If there was one inclusion on the Toronto Film Festival schedule this year that stood out as an intriguing addition, it was undoubtedly Hustlers; a film which, on its surface, appears like something more at home in a summer blockbuster season than amongst a litany of awards season hopefuls. With its ensemble female cast stacked with big names of both the film and music world and a narrative centred on the exploits of a group of strippers, you may be expecting a film devoid of any substance. You'd be...

13:57 / Awards Season / Reviews
3 Likes
08 Sep

Most of us were likely begrudgingly subjected to reading the work of Charles Dickens in our school years. And cinema sure has mined most of his bibliography since the dawn of the medium. His semi-autobiographical work David Copperfield has itself been adapted numerous times over the years, most notably MGM's big-budget 1935 adaptation, which scored three Oscar noms including Best Picture. It begs the question of why offer up yet another incarnation of this classic tale. Enter writer/director Armando Iannucci to serve up one of the year's most delightful treats...

07:42 / Awards Season / Reviews
5 Likes
05 Sep

Everybody loves a clown. After 2017's It shockingly became the highest-grossing horror film of all time, we all knew a sequel wouldn't be far away, particularly after the words "Chapter One" flashed on-screen during the closing credits. With its 1980s nostalgia, a winning ensemble cast of youngsters, and a menacing performance from Bill Skarsgard, the film deserved every dollar it raked in at the box office. Just two years later, it's time to head back to Derry where Pennywise the Dancing Clown (Skarsgard) is set to unleash a whole...

23:06 / Reviews
4 Likes
04 Sep

Almost 20 years ago, a plucky little seven-year-old Latina girl named Dora debuted on Nickelodeon, determined to teach kids about riddles, puzzles, and, most importantly, the Spanish language. As we're in the age of cinematic remakes of cherished television shows, it was all but assured Dora would make her way to the big screen at some point. While the existence of the live-action remake Dora and the Lost City of Gold is far from a shock, the resulting film is one of the most pleasantly surprising experiences of...

02:24 / Reviews
3 Likes
29 Aug

Picture this: a trio of wives find themselves in a bind after their mobster husbands leave them in the lurch, forcing them to take over the nefarious criminal activities to pay the bills. You don't have to picture it because we already saw this narrative in 2018 with Steve McQueen's shamefully Oscar-ignored Widows. Yet, less than a year later, here we are to do it all again with The Kitchen; a film which suffers terribly by unfortunate comparison to McQueen's masterwork. Lacking the deep characterisation, thrilling plot, and sharp...

00:19 / Reviews
3 Likes
17 Aug

When a film begins with the title-card "based on an actual lie," you know you're in for an intriguing piece of cinema. Such is the case with The Farewell; writer/director Lulu Wang's sublime autobiographical sophomore film, inspired by the true story of a rather shocking deception she was forced to perform out of familial obligation. An authentic and touching look at the cultural divide between two wildly different civilisations, The Farewell offers an insight into a traditional practice many will be unfamiliar with. And perhaps rather startled by. But...

21:12 / Reviews
2 Likes
14 Aug

Movies centred on a lovable canine are inherently designed to be emotionally manipulative, particularly on dog-loving audience members. If you've ever been blessed to know the unconditional love dogs provide and consequently experienced the gutwrenching pain of having to say goodbye to your beloved pooch, any film with an adorable hound at its helm will always hit you right in the feels. As you've likely already guessed, this film critic falls into that category, having been lucky enough to have faithful dogs by my side throughout my entire life....

23:23 / Reviews
1 Like
08 Aug

Despite the fact Australian troops have played a role in every major conflict of the 20th century, war movies are hardly synonymous with our local film industry. You could almost count every Australian war film with just two hands. While American cinema has exhaustively covered their disastrous Vietnam War, the tales of the 60,000 Australian troops who served in the combat have barely been touched. In the annals of Australia's military history, 1966's Battle of Long Tan is a moment that's given little coverage, spurned by the shameful fact...

23:29 / Reviews
0 Likes