The power, the glory and the horrors associated with one of the world’s most prestigious marques is on show in Ferrari. The primary focus is on its controlling founder, Enzo Ferrari. Born in Modena, Italy in 1898, Enzo would go on to become a racing car driver, before retiring at the age of 33. He…
Goosebumps! That is what I had while watching and listening to three of Australia’s preeminent musical theatre performers on stage with the Aussie Pops Orchestra. The occasion was one of three New Year’s Eve & The Night Before Gala Concerts at Hamer Hall (included amongst them was a matinee). Complete with a 60-piece orchestra, the mastery of their…
Opposites attract, repel, and attract again in the French comedy Two Tickets to Greece. In 1989, brash teenager Magalie and conservative Blandine were besties at school. An argument over a boy saw an end to that and Magalie moved away. Now, three decades on and two years after her husband left her, radiology technician Blandine…
A fun-filled, animated adventure, Migration focuses on a family of four wild ducks, also known as mallards. This is a delightful, humorous film, with much to commend it. The story is from Mike White (who wrote the screenplay) and Benjamin Renner (who directed the film, alongside Guylo Homsy). The father of this ducky brood is…
James Hawes’ One Life is an emotional, heart-felt journey, jumping between the onset of World War II and the late 1980s. The film opens in December 1938. Nicholas “Nicky” Winton is a mild-mannered British stockbroker headed for a week in Prague. Increasingly, refugees have fled there to try to outrun the growing Nazi presence in…
Make a wish and have it instantly granted – if only it were that easy. While the enticing idea forms the basis of the Disney animated feature Wish, things of course aren’t quite that straightforward. Magnifico (the voice of Chris Pine) has studied the magic of the world, and soon becomes a mighty sorcerer and…
Just who isn’t corrupt? That seems to be the question asked in the action-thriller The Bricklayer. The CIA is in the firing line, literally and figuratively. Someone is blackmailing the agency by assassinating foreign journalists and making it look like the CIA is responsible. That someone appears to be Radek (Clifton Collins Jr.), formerly on…
Think old-fashioned midday movie or a Mills and Boon novel and your head will be in the right space for One True Loves. Since school days, Sam (Simu Liu) has been into Emma (Phillipa Soo). But Emma always had the hots for swimming champion Jesse (Luke Bracey). As it turned out, Jesse swept Emma off…
The youngest generation possibly hasn’t experienced either Gene Wilder or Johnny Depp’s Willy Wonka, dating back 52 years and 18 years respectively. So, now they have their own Wonka and the singing, dancing Timothee Chalamet makes a good fist of it in the title role. Willy Wonka is charming and effusive as the magic man…
Magic Mike or Santa? Honestly, there are times you can’t tell the difference in this sexually promiscuous, irreverent Christmas revue that provides no shortage of fun. It upends everything you thought you knew about the festive season and keeps the laughs coming. A traditional Christmas carol behind curtains gives way to smut and innuendo, which the enthusiastic…
