Yorkshireman Michael Parkinson (28th March, 1935 – 16th August, 2023) was a remarkably adept television presenter, broadcaster, journalist and author. Those old enough will recognise him as the long-standing presenter of Parkinson, the one-on-one, interview-based TV program, as well as its Australian offshoot. It was a badge of honour among celebrities to appear on the…
The narrative feature Tenzing charts the emotional background to the historic ascent of Mount Everest by Nepalese-Indian Sherpa Tenzing Norgay on 29th May, 1953. Standing beside him on the summit – New Zealander Edmund Hillary. Based on true events, aspects have been dramatised and amalgam characters created. The film positions Norgay (Genden Phuntsok as an…
When does television cross the line? That is the central question raised in the hallucinogenic first narrative feature for acclaimed documentary filmmaker Lance Oppenheimer. The focus is on the real life “gotcha” NBC TV reality program To Catch A Predator, which ran from November 2004 to December 2007. Its host was ambitious Chris Hansen, a…
The weather. We talk about it frequently. “Gorgeous day.” “Isn’t it blowy.” “It’s raining cats and dogs.” And on it goes. In movie terms, we often associate it with Hollywood blockbusters – think Titanic (1997), The Poseidon Adventure (1972), Twister (1996) and the like. But now, along comes a tense, dramatic war film in which…
Martin McDonagh makes extraordinary films (In Bruges, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, The Banshees of Inisherin), and this one is no exception. The darkly comedic, political satire Wild Horse Nine has Oscar nominations written all over it. In the first instance, I speak of the writing and direction, but then there is a series of…
In the wake of not one but two personal tragedies, on 15th October, 2025 American mountaineer and skier Jim Morrison created history on Mount Everest. Before Morrison’s monumental achievement, only five others had ascended the world’s highest peak via the most direct route on the north side, the last in 1991. As if that wasn’t…
Quirky and bittersweet comes this dystopian, AI, science fantasy about an obsolete, empathetic companion robot. Her name is Klara (Jenna Ortega) and she is happy, smiling and enthusiastic. She has a predilection to bend one knee while standing. Klara is obsessed by the sun, convinced it is all powerful – God-like, if you will –…
There is teaching a troublesome kid and then there is TEACHING a troublesome kid. Maria Spencer’s (Saoirse Ronan) life would be so much more satisfying without having to allow for Danny’s (Eddie Waller) violent and disruptive ways. Seemingly permanently angry and uncooperative, he is the ultimate primary school horror child. As the film opens, on…
A feel good, comedic, period drama, Just an Illusion concerns the trials and tribulations of a French family of four. The year is 1985 and we are in suburban Paris Navigating first love can be challenging, especially when you are 12 years old and part of a family that rarely agrees on anything. That is…
Inspired by fact, The Social Reckoning is one of my movies of the year. Based on the 2021 Facebook Files leak by whistleblower Frances Haugen (Mikey Madison) and the reporting of Wall Street Journal investigative journalist Jeff Horwitz (Jeremy Allen White), it is intoxicating. In fact, it is mighty scary and thrilling at the same…
