School holidays are once again upon us, and there are plenty of options for some family friendly films to enjoy with Harold and the Purple Crayon, the Australian film Runt, and the animated origin story of Transformers One. However, easily the best of the bunch is the superb animated The Wild Robot, which has been…
Captivating imagery and insights into a brilliant but troubled mind come from one of Australia’s foremost contemporary artists and is wife of 27 years in this evocative documentary. Brett Whiteley is an Australian cultural icon. Nearly a quarter century after his death, you could argue there has never been anyone in the history of Australian art quite…
In the mid to late 70s, Neil Young had a particularly productive period in his songwriting, it was shortly after the release of the grief-ridden Tonight’s the Night, and Zuma, which featured “Cortez, the Killer,” and his too brief exploration with Stephen Stills that produced one album, Long May You Run. David Briggs, often Young’s…
This grim but atmospheric drama about guilt, grief, redemption and revenge, and dysfunctional families marks the feature film directorial debut for Grant Scicluna, whose short film The Wilding has been racking up awards at film festivals around the globe. The film centres around James (played by Reef Ireland, from Scicluna’s The Wilding), who has been…
Mad About the Boy has been released to coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of Noel Coward’s death. This well-researched, revealing and entertaining documentary profiles Coward, the debonair “quintessential” English man and prolific writer, songwriter, actor and film director known for his quick wit and flamboyant style. The film celebrates Coward’s prodigious life and career; and…
Four disparate individuals enter a twilight zone. No, that’s not the starting point for a gag. In fact, far from it. Rather, it is the beginning of what could turn out to be a long journey back. Each of the quartet – strangers to one another – has attempted to take their own life by different methods…
Speed-the-Plow, by David Mamet was written in 1988 and starred Madonna in its first outing. It concerns two lowly-runged ‘goers’ in the Hollywood hierarchy trying to get further up the ladder with the power to ‘green light’ the production of films. Charlie Fox (Lachy Hulme) brings to his ambitious friend/ally, the corporation favoured Bobby Gould…
Non-indigenous Australians have often had a rather fraught relationship with the landscape of this continent. On one hand, its “boundless plains” offered a sense of opportunity; a chance to control the environment. But the land is also sometimes perceived as a wild place that can never be controlled. This led to a pervading sense of…
After taking on vampires (What We Do in the Shadows) and superheroes (Thor: Ragnarok), hugely talented NZ director Taika Waititi takes on Nazis in Jojo Rabbit. But unlike the breezy charm of those films, this time Waititi goes to some very dark places. Jojo Rabbit is a cautionary tale about the dangers of “drinking the…
“The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education”: Albert Einstein In Matamoros, Mexico, an idealistic teacher by the name of Sergio Jaurez Correa arrives at Jose Urbina Lopez Elementary School. It’s 2012 in a neighbourhood where poverty is entrenched, crime is rampant and corruption omnipotent. In many cases, due to basic survival…
