In Paul Greenrass’ new film, News of the World, a veteran of the Civil War travels across the country reading the news from papers he collects. Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd (Tom Hanks) shares stories of disasters, politics and gossip for audiences in every town he visits. He’s mainly talking to people who are illiterate or…
A group of resistance fighters try to defend the planet against an invading alien force. We’ve seen this sort of thing before on the screen, with films like 1996’s Independence Day, 2010’s Skyline, and in 2011 with Battle Los Angeles, based on a video game. But we’ve never really seen it from an Australian perspective…
Just stop for a moment and consider that Australia’s national holiday is the only one in the world that celebrates the imposition of colonialism. What that means for those who were here first is often the subject of spirited debate. In an age of 24-hour news cycles and social media echo chambers, the real issues…
A story of aspiration and achievement, the documentary Dawn Raid is a ripper. Dawn Raid Entertainment became an institution in New Zealand in the late ‘90s and noughties. Co-founded by a couple of young big guys from South Auckland who met at business school – but only completed about a year – and didn’t have…
A by-the-numbers revenge thriller, The Marksman centres around a Mexican cartel taking retribution against the family of a man who stole from them. That man – Uncle Carlos (Alfredo Quiroz) – knows he’s toast. With the cartel on his tail, he puts in a hurried call to his niece Rosa (Teresa Ruiz), telling her to…
Only The Animals surprised me. This remarkably well-constructed French mystery-thriller is three stories in one. Alice Farange (Laure Calamy) is in a loveless marriage in rural France. She’s having an affair with a strange loner named Joseph Bonnefille (Damien Bonnard), who barely tolerates her. Then Bonnefille seemingly callously ditches her giving no reason. There’s a…
This uplifting feelgood drama is based on the true story of Sam Bloom (played here by Naomi Watts), a fun loving and active mother of three boys who was left paralysed following an accident during a holiday in Thailand. Unable to feel anything from the waist down and stuck in a wheelchair Sam descended into…
We take our hearing for granted – until we can’t. Sound of Metal charts a deeply personal journey for a young man who’s going deaf. Heavily tattooed drummer Ruben (Riz Ahmed) has had a troubled past. Although four years clean, he previously took all manner of drugs, although his poison of choice was heroin. Then…
The creature-feature Shadow in the Cloud pays bizarre tribute to the bravery of the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force during World War II. It is 8 August 1943 and Flight Officer Maude Garrett (Chloe Grace Moretz) arrives at Auckland Allied Air Base. Her arm is in a sling, and she’s carting a brown leather bag. A…
“You don’t stop playing games because you get older; you get older because you stop playing” was the raison d’etre behind the 2018 film Tag, in which a group of grown men, obsessed with the childhood game of tag, had turned it into a more physical competition that consumed their lives. A similar ethos drives…
