Can somebody really be so selfless? The documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbour? explores a remarkable figure I had previously heard nothing about. Fred Rogers led a singular life. He was a puppeteer, minister, musician and educator. He was also a father, husband and neighbour. The gently-spoken, cardigan-wearing minister dominated children’s television in the United…
From the outer reaches of space to the backwoods of Georgia, the hunt goes on in Shane Black’s reboot of the Predator series. Black, who directed Lethal Weapon and wrote Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, played the role of Hawkins in 1987’s original Predator. Here, he directs from a script he penned with Fred Dekker (RoboCop…
Michael Pearce’s feature film debut Beast explores the line between evil and misunderstanding. Moll Huntford (Jessie Buckley) was home-schooled by her domineering mother, Hilary (Geraldine James) after an incident at school more than a decade earlier. Now a tour guide on the Channel Island of Jersey, she can’t stand the constraints placed on her at…
The fast-paced and decidedly “now” thriller Searching employs social media in its full glory. It also marks the first time a mainstream Hollywood thriller has been headlined by an Asian-American actor. David Kim (John Cho), his late wife Pamela (Sara Sohn) and their daughter Margot (Michelle La) were a great team. But Pamela unexpectedly became sick and died from cancer….
Paul Feig steps away from broad comedy and onto the darker side with A Simple Favour. This pulpy thriller certainly has Feig’s fingerprints on it, but it’s easily his most expressive film in ages – maybe ever. Of course, the film invites comparisons with the David Fincher’s wonderful Gone Girl. But A Simple Favour is…
All work and no play makes Christopher Robin a dull boy. AA Milne’s world is brought to life in this combination of live action and animation. Christopher Robin (Ewan McGregor), the young boy who shared countless adventures with his stuffed animal friends in the Hundred Acre Wood, is now grown up. He lives in London…
The 6th Czech and Slovak Film Festival acknowledges the 50th anniversary of the Prague Spring as well as the centenary of the establishment of Czechoslovakia. This year the program focuses on some historic films from Czech filmmakers, including The Fireman’s Ball, Milos Forman’s final film in his native country before moving to the US. The…
Lee Alexander McQueen set the fashion world alight when he burst onto the scene. He was also deeply troubled through various periods of his life. The beautifully shot and illustrated McQueen is a sanitised version of that life. The youngest of six children, he was born in a working-class London neighbourhood in 1969. His family…
In 1987 Pat Cash won Wimbledon, but he didn’t win the Australian male athlete of the year award. Instead, that accolade went to Wayne Gardner. That was the year Gardner became the first Australian to win the 500cc Motorcycle World Championship. The documentary Wayne charts his story from humble roots in Wollongong to the top…
It’s not just the fact that defenseless young children are victims of unscrupulous people who use them in networks for pedophiles. The most disgusting aspect of this is that these circuits are visited by people who occupy important positions in daily life. Individuals who show a respectable and neat appearance to the outside world. But…
