It’s one of history’s great rivalries. The intriguing story of Elizabeth I and her cousin Mary Stuart certainly has all the elements of a great movie – war, intrigue, family ties and treachery. But while Josie Rourke’s feminist retelling of the tale in Mary Queen of Scots hits the high points, it strays from the…
In Glass, filmmaker M Night Shyamalan brings together the central characters from 1999’s Unbreakable and 2016’s Split for a climactic showdown that brings this unofficial trilogy to a close. At the end of Split, Shyamalan did include a post-credits sting hinting that the film was a part of the Unbreakable universe. But he had to…
Arthurian legends get a PG makeover in The Kid Who Would be King. It’s a bit like King Arthur meets The Lost Boys with a splash of Stand by Me thrown in. The result is a rollicking kids-own adventure, with enough to keep adults at least engaged. The idea of a group of kids banding together…
She’s intelligent, outspoken and attractive. She also happens to be a songstress with a large and loyal following; and an immigrant with a fascinating history. Against the odds, she’s made it to the top, but still she never fails to court controversy. Matangi/Maya/M.I.A. paints a picture of the artist known as M.I.A.; who shook the…
“Like” and “you know” – two of the most overused phrases in the English language. They irritate me; and the former is thrashed in the opening scene of Eighth Grade. I had a teenage daughter (now over that hump, thank goodness), so I know what overuse of language sounds like. In this case, they’re spoken…
Although a story about Vikings making friends with dragons seems very “high concept”, the How to Train Your Dragon franchise has been a big success. I mean, not MCU-style success, but it’s more than held its own in the world of animated movie franchises. The films have raked in more than $1 billion – nothing…
After a reasonable year in 2017, the movies went one better in 2018. The year may – when the history is written – mark a watershed moment. This was the year when movies (percolating a cultural shift that’s been happening for a while now) realised it wasn’t all about doing the same thing over and…
The original Mary Poppins, which came out in 1964, was a near-perfect blend of fantasy and music. Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke tripped the light fantastic and showed us how a family film should be. Fifty-five years on the world is a vastly different place. Expectations have changed. Technology has morphed. Children expect sophistication….
My list of the worst films of 2018 has just had a late addition with Holmes & Watson, an execrable and terribly unfunny piece of nonsense that will have Sir Arthur Conan Doyle spinning in his grave. This dire comedy about the world’s greatest detective and his devoted assistant Dr John Watson reunites Will Ferrell…
– Green Book – Only in cinemas from 24 January 2019 We have 10 double in-season passes thanks to eOne Films. *(Tickets valid in Australia only)* Watch the trailer HERE Award winning actors Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali star in Green Book, a film inspired by a true friendship. In need of a driver for…
