Remember Mr and Mrs Smith, when Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie played a pair of married assassins working for different sides? Screenwriter Michael LeSieur had that in his head while he was writing the screenplay for Keeping Up with the Joneses, a rather daft spy comedy. An ordinary suburban couple, Jeff and Karen Gaffney (Zach Galifianakis…
Boys in the Trees is another local coming of age story that joins a growing number of recent Australian films exploring familiar themes of the pain of growing up, friendship, angst, romance, the loss of innocence, memory. However, this one is suffused with a surreal quality, quirky touches and an unsettling supernatural element. It has…
The original Ouija, released in 2014, cost some $5 million to produce and ended up grossing some $100 million at the box office, so it’s no wonder that production company BlumHouse went back to the well for a second helping. But as the title suggests, Ouija: Origin of Evil is more of a prequel than…
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…
Razor sharp writing by Joanna Murray-Smith (featuring acerbic put downs), and bravura acting performances, are features of the brilliant two-hander Switzerland. The focus is the best-selling author of The Talented Mr Ripley, Patricia Highsmith, who is living as a recluse in the Swiss alps. She finds solace in her seclusion, her cats, her booze and…
A rich, harrowing and deeply evocative story has been superbly translated into captivating musical theatre in this Australasian premiere production of The Color Purple – The Musical. It charts the life of Celie Johnson (played by Jayme-Lee Hanekom – Disney’s The Lion King), a battered and downtrodden African-American woman from when she was a 14-year-old…
For better or worse, there’s only one Woody Allen. The master of that dry, self-deprecating New York wit is back with Café Society, a film that strikes me as possibly one of his most personal — as it serves as a kind of love letter to two things Allen clearly cares deeply about – old movies…
“All writers are procrastinators,” laughs filmmaker Nicholas Verso, the director of a new Australian coming of age drama Boys In The Trees. We’re sitting on the outdoor rooftop bar of QT, the newest boutique hotel/bar in Melbourne, built on the site of what was once the Russell Street Cinemas. It seems a fitting location to…
– BBC First British Film Festival – Only in cinemas from 25 October 2016 We have 10 double in-season passes thanks to Palace Cinemas. *(Tickets valid in Australia only)* Visit the official website HERE The fourth edition of the BBC First British Film Festival features a spread of international award-winners, crowd favourites, and Australian premieres….
Inanely silly, slapstick comedic and fun, it is hard to believe that Masterminds is based upon a true story and wasn’t simply a late night, tall-tale concoction. It follows the riotous misadventures of unlikely anti-hero David Ghantt (Zach Galifianakis) as he pulls off one of the largest robberies in U.S. history. He is painted as…
