Monopoly now has its own localised version for one of the most picturesque parts of Australia, Victoria’s stunning Yarra Valley. Local businesses have gotten together to support a new iteration of the classic board game, which is the most played in the world. In fact, according to the Australian licensee, more than 250 million copies…
Sometimes trailers can be misleading; but sometimes they’re spot on. Like the trailer for Robin Hood, for example. Its trailer made it look, well, dreadful. And it was completely accurate. Director Otto Bathurst has jerry-rigged a kinetic mess of a movie. Tightly choreographed fight scenes and a thumping score reminded me Guy Ritchie’s more bombastic…
As little films go, Alfonso Gomez-Rejon’s Me and Earl and the Dying Girl has pretty much swept all before it. After winning both the Grand Jury Prize and the audience award at Sundance, this charming and touching coming-of-age tale has proceeded to win over filmgoers around the globe (including taking out the audience award at…
DC Comics has often played second fiddle to Marvel when it comes to box office success, but perhaps the tide is turning. First we had Wonder Woman, then Aquaman and now Shazam! It plays on the idea that we all have a superhero inside of us. In Billy Batson’s (Asher Angel) case, by shouting out…
It’s Halloween, so we’re checking out a little spooky action with the Netflix movie, Vampires vs The Bronx. This fun excursion into the supernatural won’t test your brain, but never wears out its welcome. Director Osmany “Oz” Rodriguez has an impressive CV in television, notably on A. P. Bio and Saturday Night Live. And he…
The supremely talented Washington family come together to keep the legacy of the late August Wilson alive with The Piano Lesson. And in the process, they’ve created one of the most extraordinary films of the year. The Piano Lesson is the third in patriarch Denzel Washington’s ambitious ongoing project to produce films of all Wilson’s…
An entertaining psychological thriller, Drop involves menacing trolling in the most unlikely of circumstances. Violet (Meghann Fahy) is a widow and psychologist with a five-year-old son, Toby (Jacob Robinson). She is still traumatised by the domestic violence she experienced, to which Toby was privy. Since her husband died, she hasn’t been on a date, but…
The beat goes on, as does girl power. Dein Perry’s Tap Dogs blended live music with creative tap dancing the likes of which we hadn’t seen before and it was electrifying. That kicked off a quarter of a century ago. A few years earlier a British idea saw everyday objects such as rubbish bin lids, brooms, matchboxes…
The Beekeeper is a wild ride – ultra-violent, over-the-top nonsense. But – dare I admit it – also a guilty pleasure. Some of the dialogue is horrendous. The scene that gets the plot going is extremely wooden. Plausibility is never in question because it simply doesn’t exist. And yet the choreographed action, with one man…
The history of the cinema is littered by well-intentioned but ill-thought-out attempts to bring stage plays to the big screen. The inherent contradiction between the theatre – where dialogue is the focus – and the cinema – where the emphasis is on visuals – sometimes does both the play and the movie in question a…
