This is theatre of the absurd, where you can try in vain to make sense of what you are seeing. Suffice to say that it is commentary on man’s inhumanity to man, on selfishness and tragedy and loss. It is the brainchild of director and screenwriter Roy Andersson, a Swede who with it…
For Conrad Valmont (Jason Bateman) this was apparently the longest and most painful week. For me this was the longest and most painful movie experience. Anyway I have a strong dislike for a voice-over that begins with “This is …” followed by the name of the main character. This is usually already a bad omen….
Frackman sounds like he should be a new addition to the Marvel stable of superheroes. But Dayne Pratzky is no superhero – rather he is just an average farmer from Queensland with little interest in politics or geopolitics until he became an accidental activist through his campaign against global energy companies who wanted to sink…
In the present fetid political climate, maybe, overheated by the media in its rush to find ‘villains’ and ‘victims’, to entertain our appetites for the moral humiliation of others, with the official exposure and investigation of child abuse in Australian schools and institutions, Melvyn Morrow’s new play, VICE – Private School Scandal, attempts to bring…
Slick and digitally savvy, this is a horror thriller for the social media generation. Unfriended follows what happens when a seemingly innocent online prank spirals out of control. The film unfolds over a teenager’s computer screen as she and her friends are stalked by an unseen figure. This entity seeks vengeance for a shaming video…
Psychiatry and religion are two crutches that people turn to in times of trouble, seeking help, spiritual guidance and comfort. But these twin sources of help are also double-edged swords and have often been exploited for darker purposes. With religion, the dark side is often the suicide cults with their brainwashing, manipulation and the ability…
This simple, low budget New Zealand and Australian co-production is a two-handed romantic drama that is reminiscent of the Before trilogy from Richard Linklater. It basically follows a couple as they wander through the streets of Christchurch while they try to work out where their relationship stands. Charlie (Dustin Clare, from TV series Spartacus) left…
Inspired by true events, this fantasy adventure tells the story of a young woman’s extraordinary journey from Japan to Minnesota, in search of a mythical fortune. The titular Kumiko (Rinko Kikuchi from Babel) lives a shy and solitary life in a cramped Tokyo apartment shared only by her beloved pet rabbit Bunzo. She is 29…
