Comedies featuring strong women can be funny and risqué like Bridesmaids or patchy and disappointing such as Like a Boss. Best friends forever Mia (Tiffany Haddish) and Mel (Rose Byrne) are both happily single. They live together and one even puts toothpaste on the other’s toothbrush. They run their own small cosmetics company – a…
An intense and claustrophobic alien creature feature that fails to reach any great heights, Underwater takes its sweet time to bite. More than 10 kilometres below the ocean’s surface, something has awakened. The crew of the Kepler mining operation understood there would be hardships on their mission. Thirty days confined to the narrow corridors and…
A sad and angry man is rescued by a most unlikely source in the moving A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood. For more than three decades (1968 to 2001) Fred Rogers was the most beloved figure on US television. He imparted words of kindness and wisdom to millions of children on PBS’ long-running program Mister…
It’s been a while between drinks (Bad Boys II came out in 2003, five years after the original), but Will Smith and Martin Lawrence still have unmistakable chemistry. With a high-octane script, plenty of action, and no shortage of good humour, Bad Boys for Life is an unexpected winner. Unexpected because I approached it with…
Now that Robert Downey Jr has said farewell to Iron Man and the whole Marvel Cinematic Universe he is obviously looking for another potentially lucrative franchise. And he may have found one in the adventures of Dr Dolittle, the Victorian era veterinarian with the unique ability to communicate with animals of all shapes and sizes….
Talk about disgraceful conduct and an attitude of entitlement when it comes to being a man calling the shots among women trying to make a name for themselves and get ahead in their careers. That is the story of Fox News chief Roger Ailes (John Lithgow), as told in some gory detail in Bombshell. The…
A transparent, highly predictable script underpins a sweet-natured coming of age tale pitched at younger teens. Fifteen-year-old Jack Hooper (William Lodder) and his widowed mother Christie (Frances O’Connor) move to a small town in Western Australia a few years after the death of his father/her husband. She opens a fruit and vegetable shop and he…
Deeply entrenched racism is at the centre of a drama in which the result is never in doubt and the journey is designed to provoke outrage. First up, there is the political issue of a civilised society condemning felons to death. Regardless of your position on that, it is difficult to feel too much sympathy…
Irish hatred of the British propels a fantastical take on the life and times of bushranger Ned Kelly. Part lyrical, part punk rock, this is a liberal interpretation of a man who became famous in his own lifetime. I tell you, his mother was a real piece of work, according to how she is represented…
Shaun the Sheep (2015) was one of the funniest animations – in fact movies per se – that I have seen, so I was mighty keen to see the sequel. It has a lot in it to satisfy children, but not so much adults – as the first one did. Set in the quiet township…
