With nine consecutive number 1 albums to his credit, Jimmy Barnes is one of Australia’s most popular recording artists. But there’s more to Barnes than merely being the front man of Cold Chisel, one of the country’s best rock bands, or a successful solo artist. Much of it may surprise even his fans. This painfully…
You can see the raw emotion; feel it; you can almost taste it in the reflective and haunting drama Leave No Trace. Some films mark the breakthrough role for an actor. I’m thinking, for instance, of Winter’s Bone for Jennifer Lawrence.That’s the case here for New Zealander Thomasin McKenzie, who is stupendous as a dutiful…
The Melbourne-shot drama West of Sunshine is an exploration of a troubled father-son dynamic. The film follows the plight of Jim (Damian Hill), an inveterate and hapless gambler who’s trying to pay of a $15,000 loan to a ruthless loan shark (Tony Nikolakopoulos). He has until five o’clock to pay off the debt or there will…
In 2016 we had the graphic animated comedy Sausage Party. Some absolutely hated it, while others regarded it a work of raunchy comic genius. Well, here we go again; as puppetry interplays with live action in The Happytime Murders. The film is many things: a murder mystery, a buddy cop story, a tale of diversity…
Four lifelong friends (represented as women in their 60s) have their lives turned upside down when their book club – of four – tackles the infamous E.L. James’ novel Fifty Shades of Grey. Diane (Diane Keaton) is recently widowed after 40 years of marriage. Successful and single-minded business woman Vivian (Jane Fonda) enjoys her men…
A cast of non-professional autistic actors does a mighty job breathing life into an unconventional love story in Keep the Change. We meet wealthy David (Brandon Polansky) on his first day at Connections, a community for adults with autism. The other attendees confirm he doesn’t belong there … at least that’s the way David feels…
Although it’s almost as long as a reception, C’est la Vie will put a smile on your face. This lighthearted French comedy looks at weddings from a harried wedding planners’ perspective. Max (Jean-Pierre Bacri) has been a planner for 30 years. Having organised hundreds of events, he’s close to throwing in the towel. Today however,…
A calm movie from time to time is something I welcome. Not a flashy, action film where you’ll get nervous because the scenes follow each other at a rapid pace and stroboscopic effects get you a cutting headache. Submergence undoubtedly belongs to the calm movie category. So, no nauseating headache. No disorientation. You’ll certainly not…
Steven Spielberg must be wondering why, 43 years on, the legacy of Jaws would be such mush as The Meg. Quite frankly, I was horrified for all the wrong reasons. A deep-sea submersible has been attacked by a massive creature. It now lies disabled at the bottom of the deepest part of the Pacific Ocean…
From The Hunger Games to Divergent, dystopian films aimed at tweens have made serious coin; so why wouldn’t producers keep pouring money into them? They follow a familiar storyline where youngsters are outcasts. And so to the latest incarnation, The Darkest Minds. Based on the popular YA novel by Alexandra Bracken, The Darkest Minds starts…
