The Lost City of Z turns out to be a kind of boy’s own adventure story. Based on author David Grann’s non-fiction bestseller, the film follows British explorer Lieutenant-Colonel Percy Fawcett (Charlie Hunnam). Fawcett journeys into the Amazon in 1906 where he discovers evidence of a previously unknown, advanced civilisation that once inhabited the region. His…
“A broken bird and a scarecrow. An artist and a fish-peddler. A mismatched pair. Two souls existing on the fringes of society who find one another and change each other in the course of their lives together.” So says director Aisling Walsh (The Daisy Chain) about the two outsiders who form the nucleus of Maudie….
Killing Ground is part of a long tradition of Australian cinema, which delves into our sense of unease in our own backyard. When young urbanites Ian (Ian Meadows) and Sam (Tiarnie Coupland) go camping, they arrive at their isolated destination to discover a tent already set up, but no sign of its owners. With the other campers at…
Intense and compelling, The King’s Choice is a historical drama is based around Norway’s entry into World War II. Inspired by a book of the same name by Alf R. Jacobsen, it concerns three dramatic days in April 1940. The King of Norway is presented with a monstrous ultimatum from Nazi Germany: surrender or die….
If you’re scared of sharks, 47 Metres Down isn’t the film for you. It isn’t Jaws, but cut from the same cloth … the same well of fear. Two sisters are holidaying together in Mexico. The conservative elder sibling, Lisa (Mandy Moore), has been dumped by her boyfriend. Devastated and hurting, Lisa fails to tell her sibling, Kate…
The Murlocs are part of the current wave of Australian psychedelia that keeps rolling on. The group has that 60’s swag of the 13th Floor Elevators and the bounce of the nice guys next door like The Association. Not experiencing the 60’s for some of us music fans feels like a total missed opportunity, so…
So far as US network television is concerned, The Good Wife ticked a lot of boxes. The legal drama scored a host of awards and, it’s fair to say, was missed by many when it finished in 2016. If you’re one of those, you may want to tune into The Good Fight, now showing on…
The Making of Christina by Meredith Jaffe is the first I’ve read by this author, but will not be the last. She’s taken the story of an intense, all-consuming affair to a confronting, evocative level. Here’s the blurb: Interior designer Christina Clemente is caught off guard by an intense affair with her charismatic client, Jackson…
Wickedly clever with lots of droll humour, Logan Lucky is a rare treat. Divorced and desperate for money, unemployed West Virginia coal miner Jimmy Logan (Channing Tatum) hatches a wildly elaborate scheme. He plans to rob the Charlotte Motor Speedway in neighbouring North Carolina during a NASCAR race. He convinces his one-armed brother Clyde (Adam Driver),…
A man who lived the kind of life he wanted inspires the feel-good Hampstead. The setting for the film is breathtaking. Hampstead in London is famous for its beautiful and much-loved heath – a piece of quiet countryside in a vast metropolis. Living on the edge of the heath is American widow Emily Walters (Diane Keaton). Since her…
