Things no one will say about Charlie Kaufman’s new film, I’m Thinking of Ending Things: “Aww, that was sweet”; “What a cliched Hollywood ending”; “That movie made total sense”. Kaufman’s latest excursion into weirdness is almost Bergman-esque in its inscrutability. Indeed, it shares more than a little DNA with Bergman’s classic Persona (1966). But as…
What should and does one do if one’s loving husband/father turns into a wild animal – I mean literally a wild animal? In a nutshell, that is Wolf Man. It is 1995 and we are in remote woodland in Central Oregon. Former military man and single father Grady Lovell (Sam Jaeger) is bringing up his…
Sometimes we get two films released around the same time with the same basic concept (eg: Deep Impact and Armageddon both films concerning a giant meteor headed for Earth; or Dante’s Peak and Volcano, both dealing with destructive volcanic eruptions). Another case in point is the new horror film Baghead. A quick skim of the…
In the vein of Black Hawk Down (2001), 13 Hours is a war thriller based upon fact dealing with events in Libya leading up to and on 11 September 2012 – the eleventh anniversary of 9/11. Directed by Michael Bay, it focuses upon a crack security team of six who fight to defend the American…
Sex, drugs and disco? The popular New York disco Studio 54, run by entrepreneur Steve Rubell, epitomised the hedonistic lifestyle of the late 70s. Rubell’s aim was to create a place where ordinary, but good looking people, could mix with celebrities for a party that would never end. He created a place where the rich…
Vivarium is a descent into madness. It did my head in. Tom (Jesse Eisenberg) and Gemma (Imogen Poots) are a happy couple. They’re considering buying a house together. One day they wander into a shop displaying cardboard models of the same perfectly manicured home. A strange real estate salesman – Martin (Jonathan Aris) – implores…
The full programme for the 2024 ST. ALi Italian Film Festival has been announced, with this year’s event featuring a stunning selection of box office hits and award-winning films plus family fun and anniversary celebrations. Sydney will be the first to experience la dolce vita from September 18 with Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne, Byron Bay, Ballina,…
Lee Child’s Jack Reacher series of books has sold more than 100 million copies worldwide and the Tom Cruise-led film based on his ninth novel made more than $250 million at the box office, so another was just a matter of “when”, not “if”. Jack Reacher: Never Go Back is a cinematic take on Child’s…
Many comics seem to be insecure, unhappy, lonely. They turn to comedy as a way of dealing with their emotional pain, and they often use humour as a defence mechanism. And this the plight of the heroine in Funny Cow. This unapologetically bleak tale follows a damaged woman trying to make it in the male-dominated…
This Spanish/Argentinian co-production stars Penelope Cruz and Antonio Banderas and was one of the hits at the recent Spanish Film Festival. There have been many films that have explored the filmmaking process, from Singin’ In the Rain through to The Player (Robert Altman’s star-studded two-finger salute to Hollywood) and the Coen brothers’ recent Hail, Caesar….
