Israeli actress Gal Gadot imposes herself on screen in a rare outing for Hollywood – a big budget superhero movie featuring a female in the lead role. It is hard to believe it has taken this long for Wonder Woman to make it to the big screen in her own right. In comic book form she…
A penniless wheeler and dealer gets in with the big boys and finds himself caught up way over his head. That, in a nutshell, is what the cleverly conceived and executed mind-bender Norman is all about. Norman Oppenheimer (Richard Gere) lives a lonely life in the margins of New York City power and money. He is a would-be…
Based on a true story, the Australian courtroom drama Don’t Tell shares a common theme with the Oscar winning drama Spotlight. Both films deal with themes of sexual abuse, cover ups, abuse of power, truth, justice and the courage to fight against injustice. While Spotlight depicted the Boston Globe’s investigation into allegations of sexual abuse within…
Pablo Neruda was the pen-name (and later legal name) of Chilean poet, diplomat and politician Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto, who lived from July 12, 1904 to September 23, 1973. In 1971, he won the Nobel Prize for Literature. Lyrical, poetic and steeped in politics, Neruda is what I would term a “festival” film; one for purists. It’s…
Woody Harrelson stars in the title role as Wilson, a lonely, eccentric misanthrope who reunites with his long estranged wife Pippi (Laura Dern). He gets a shot at happiness when he learns he has a teenage daughter, Claire (Isabella Amara), he’s never met. The script has been written by Daniel Clowes, based upon his graphic novel…
Pirates just want to have fun! Dead Men Tell No Tales is the fifth instalment in the successful film franchise originally based on the Pirates Of The Caribbean theme ride at Disneyland, and the series has so far grossed over $3.7 billion at the box office, making it one of the most successful film franchises…
Guy Ritchie (The Man from U.N.C.L.E.) puts his own take – a gritty, modern edge – to the classic Excalibur myth and the story of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table in King Arthur: Legend of the Sword. Arthur is not yet king, instead a ruffian, a thoroughly reluctant hero compelled to discover…
John Wick, the ultra-violent 2014 action flick that starred Keanu Reeves as a cool, taciturn, ruthlessly efficient and seemingly invincible assassin, was something of a guilty pleasure and a surprise hit at the box office. So now we get this sequel, which once again takes us into this shadowy world of assassins and their strange…
The contrast between the haves and have-nots is starkly evident in The Viceroy’s House, a historical drama based on fact. When the English wanted out of India, the country was deeply divided along religious and cultural lines. Indians were literally killing each other and the man tasked with orchestrating a smooth handover was the highly regarded Louis…
On 22 January 2008 one of Australia’s brightest shining lights in the entertainment business was snuffed out far too prematurely. A subsequent Oscar winner, the actor, director, musician, photographer, artist and chess guru Heath Ledger passed away at the age of 28. Medical reports indicated his death was accidental, the result of the abuse of prescribed medications. He…
