What a top actor, Robert De Niro. Most of the films in which he played the lead, became film classics. Memorable roles that will still impress in decades to come. From Taxi Driver to Goodfellas. From The Deer Hunter to Casino. Unforgettable masterpieces. The only thing De Niro should have avoided in all these years…
The straightforward plot of Baltasar Kormakur’s Beast sees big game poachers wipe out a pride of lions, only for one to get away and go rogue. To elaborate, Dr Nate Samuels (Idris Elba) has taken his two daughters from New York to visit his old friend Martin Battles (Sharlto Copley) in South Africa. Tension is…
Dreaming of an Italian getaway? Want to go to Naples in particular? Then you’ll want to catch Paolo Sorrentino’s gorgeous but enigmatic new film, Parthenope (pronounced Par-then-o-pay). This sweeping story about the city and its residents hits many of Sorrentino’s trademark beats. And while it can be puzzling at times, I found myself falling into…
This second instalment of the action science fiction thriller picks up where The Maze Runner left off. As the Gladers are unloaded from the chopper that flew them away from the maze, the helicopter doors fly open and masked soldiers whisk them into an underground bunker. The bunker is run by the duplicitous Janson (Aidan…
Faith is put under the spotlight in Jodi Gallagher’s immersive new work Prophet. Is it the story of Christianity? There are certainly elements of it in there. I am thinking of Jesus and one of his disciplines in particular. This journey started with Gallagher writing about Jewish mystic Sabbatai Zevi and his prophet, theologian Nathan of Gaza. Mind…
Canadian author J.M. Miro’s Ordinary Monsters, a gaslamp fantasy with powered children at a secret school, an implacable enemy and an inimical other-world has plenty of obvious antecedents. But Miro has managed to spin these familiar elements into an enjoyable, tense and sometimes surprising narrative. A glowing blue baby is rescued from a train carriage…
The Mafia Only Kills in Summer was one of the big hits of the recent Italian Film Festival, and it now gains a limited cinema release. This is a quirky mix of coming of age tale, political satire and black comedy. The film is set against the backdrop of Palermo in the 70s and 80s,…
Who were the big winners from The Verdi Gala Concert at Hamer Hall? We – the audience – as we were left in awe of the raw emotion on display from the moment that conductor supreme Alexander Briger lifted his baton. Orchestra Victoria was in peak form from the opening overture – urgent and powerful….
Carrying shades of Sicario and Payback, Mel Gibson returns to the big screen in the action-thriller Blood Father as Link, an ex-con who has done all manner of bad things, but is now wanting to turn his life around. With an ex-wife who doesn’t want to talk to him and a daughter he’s lost touch…
The success of the original Knives Out took many by surprise. On the surface a twisty “drawing room” mystery (though in reality much more), the film was a runaway success, prompting Netflix to sign director Rian Johnson up to at least two more films featuring the enigmatic detective Benoit Blanc. Now the first of them…
