Is there anything that Meryl Streep cannot do? At an age when most actresses find it hard to land meaty roles or substantial character parts, Streep is a chameleon who seems to still be going strong, playing a variety of diverse and challenging roles. A case in point is her new film in which she…
Based upon the successful memoir and stage play of the same name, this is a true story of a 15-year love affair between two people who met at school. It is Australia in the ‘70s and Tim Conigrave, a budding actor at an all-boys Catholic school, has fallen big time for the captain of the…
Joel Edgerton (The Great Gatsby) makes his directorial debut, has written and stars in this thought-provoking psychological thriller. It asks the question, what if someone you wronged long ago re-emerged in your life through a chance encounter? Simon (Jason Bateman) and Robyn (Rebecca Hall) are a married couple whose lives are going pretty much as…
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…
Dynamic young artist-driven theatre company Mad March Hare (A Moment on the Lips) return to this year’s Sydney Fringe with a beautiful, breathtaking drama about one girl’s craving for family and home… and the lengths she will go to achieve them. Claudia Barrie gives a tour-de-force solo performance in award-winning Dark Vanilla Jungle – a…
In 2000, a film with a modest budget and a cast of up-and-coming young actors began production of a franchise that would last 15 years. Inspired in part by a Vibe magazine article on street-racing clubs, the action-thriller chronicled the exploits of a crew deep in the underground racing scene of East Los Angeles. They…
We haven’t seen much from former film historian and critic turned director Peter Bogdanovich on the big screen for a long time, as he has spent much of the past two decades concentrating on tv movies and directing the odd music video and an occasional episode of The Sopranos. Bogdanovich was an auteur who made…
“I think it’s wonderful that this film is being released at a time when, at last there is clearly a majority of people in the country who believe in the rights of same sex marriages to exist,” says director Neil Armfield. He is talking about his screen adaptation of Holding The Man, Timothy Conigrave’s moving…
I unashamedly love the way Woody Allen weaves such colourful and engaging stories on screen and also generates some great acting performances. This one concerns an alcohol-riddled, womanising, professor of philosophy called Abe (Joaquin Phoenix), held in the highest regard for his academic achievements, but who has lost all meaning in his life. That is…
With backing from Forest Whitaker and Pharrell Williams (the man responsible for the huge global hit “Happy”), this is one of the season’s hot new movies. It was a critical hit and audience favourite at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, and an official selection at this year’s Cannes International Film Festival Directors’ Fortnight. DOPE centres…
