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A Prayer Before Dawn – movie review

The intensely brutal prison drama A Prayer Before Dawn is like Kickboxer meets Midnight Express. This unflinching, hard-hitting and gritty and harrowing true story is set inside Thailand’s notorious Bang Kwang Central Prison, better known as the infamous Bangkok Hilton. Like Midnight Express, A Prayer Before Dawn is based on a real-life story. In this case,…

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Harmony – movie review

The new tween adventure Harmony is another walk down the dark side of fantasy. Harmony (Jessica Falkholt) is different … very different. She has the supernatural power to absorb others’ fear. Each person she touches literally loses their trepidation. She absorbs it as a black liquid that she later washes from her skin. So, healing…

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The Seagull – movie review

Friends and family gather for a weekend in the countryside in Michael Mayer’s version of Chekhov’s The Seagull. While everyone is caught up in passionately loving someone who loves somebody else, a tragicomedy unfolds about the eternal desire to live a purposeful life. Sorin (Brian Dennehy), a retired government employee, and his sister Irina (Annette…

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American Animals – movie review

How not to plan and execute a heist. Four totally clueless amateurs get involved in something they should never have attempted in American Animals. Frighteningly, it’s based on relatively recent reality. The story centres around unpredictable wild child Warren (Evan Peters) and aspiring artist Spencer (Barry Keoghan), two friends from the middle-class suburbs of Lexington,…

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Venom – movie review

Yet another superhero movie featuring a second-tier character from the Marvel stable. Or should that be a super-anti-hero, because Venom isn’t your usual superhero? We first met Venom in the Sam Raimi-helmed Spider-Man 3, when he was played by Topher Grace. And despite its origins with Spider-Man, Venom sits outside the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The…

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Jirga – movie review

This low budget drama is the sophomore feature film from Australian writer/director Benjamin Gilmour, and follows his 2007 drama Son of a Lion, set in post 9/11 Pakistan. Gilmour is familiar with the region and has chosen to set his new film in Afghanistan. Jirga deals with an Australian soldier who returns to the region…

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