The question of the world’s ever-growing number of refugees is, indeed, one without an easy answer. So the heartfelt documentary Human Flow is welcome. And all the more so because it has the stamp of artist Ai Weiwei all over it. He travels across 23 countries plotting the plight of refugees because he sees the refugee…
This feelgood family film is aimed primarily at preteen girls and it explores some universal themes and delivers some positive messages about friendship, teamwork, following your dreams and overcoming adversity. But the central narrative about the triumph of the underdog is somewhat cliched and bland. Going For Gold shares a number of similarities with Raising…
It’s hard to believe it’s been 17 years since Angelina Jolie made the role of Lara Croft her own in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. Jolie was in her mid-twenties at that time. Now we see generational change, with 29-year-old Alicia Vikander stepping into the role. In Tomb Raider – an origin story – Lara is the fiercely independent…
Twenty-nine of Australia’s funny people get together – with five bands and lots of grog – to tell jokes. That’s That’s Not My Dog! in a nutshell. I am talking about the likes of Paul Hogan, Shane Jacobson, Jimeoin, Steve Vizard, Michala Banas, Fiona O’Louglin, Tim Ferguson, Lehmo, Ed Kavalee, Paul Fenech, Marty Fields, Hung Le and…
Director Fatih Akin breaks a compelling storyline into three chapters in the crime drama In the Fade. Out of nowhere, Katja’s (Diane Kruger) life falls apart when her husband Nuri (Numan Acar) and little son Rocco are killed in a bomb attack. Her friends and family try to give her the support she needs. Katja somehow…
Shocking imagery assaults the senses in Kangaroo: A Love-Hate Story. This documentary tackles the way we treat our national symbol. Is the kangaroo a saint or a sinner, a boon or a burden? Those questions are at the heart of the film. It clearly takes the side of those who suggest we’ve treated the marsupial…
James Marsh (The Theory of Everything) directs the true story of an audacious amateur sailor in The Mercy. The year is 1968 and the sailor is Donald Crowhurst (Colin Firth). With his business and home on the line, Crowhurst decides to leave his wife, Clare (Rachel Weisz), and their children behind to take on an epic…
Every American adult knows exactly where they were on the terrible morning of September 11, 2001. But until recently, only a handful knew about the extraordinary events that unfolded in the immediate aftermath. With the country still reeling, 12 members of the US Army’s elite Green Berets left their homes and loved ones to take on a…
Esoteric claptrap or a masterful and challenging work? There’ll be advocates on both sides with The Square, which won the Palme d’Or at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival. It’s slow moving and tortuously long. I defy anyone to neatly make sense of it all because there are undoubtedly obtuse elements. Underpinning it is the meaning of art….
Compelling performances drive Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool, a love story between an older woman and a young man. I’m not talking about just any older woman. But let me go back and explain. In late September 1981 Peter Turner received a phone call that would change his life forever. His former lover, Hollywood actress Gloria Grahame,…
