Contemporary horror/fantasy author Clive Barker’s The History of the Devil focuses on the greatest trial in history. A deprived and lovelorn Satan is tired of living in hell and wants to go back to Heaven, but first he must undergo a trial for his time on Earth. Ambitious lawyers for the prosecution Tiana Varcoe (Lisa…
Manzanita is the common name for a kind of small evergreen tree endemic to California which has strong medicinal properties. It is a fitting title for the newest solo album from La Luz’s Shana Cleveland as the record displays a gorgeousness that will instantly change your state of mind in one setting. The lyrics, the…
Ten years on, the little family of four in Zombieland: Double Tap are still doing what worked well when the zombie apocalypse first occurred. The rules of survival haven’t changed, though they may have been added to over all the years that Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) and sisters Little Rock (Abigail Breslin) and…
Every detail was just perfect in the Finnish low-budget indie Euthanizer. From the first second this film intrigued me and managed to hold my full attention. Not only the magnificent acting of Matti Onnismaa and Hannamaija Nikander, as the bitter and sinister person Veijo and the strange figure Lotta whose sexual preference is also rather…
It might just be me, but I feel like I’ve seen a lot of films lately about overcoming past trauma. Noted actor Robyn Wright makes her directorial debut in Land, another entry in that canon. She demonstrates a strong aptitude for visual storytelling. But her distinctive style can’t hide the thinness of the script. As…
This is a reboot of a series starring Chris Evans, Jessica Evans and Julian McMahon, among others that kicked off in cinematic form only 10 years ago. Filmmakers did the same thing with Spider-Man in 2012, a decade after it first hit cinemas. So, here we have another contemporary re-imagining of Marvel’s original and longest-running…
The Christmas-New Year period in Australia is absolutely the best time to see movies. Now only is it usually hot (so spending some quality time in air-conditioned comfort makes a lot of sense) but with many people on holidays, there’s plenty of time to pick out what you want to see. Add to that the…
A photographer who suffers from PTSD befriends a hardworking Sudanese man with a secret traumatic past. Hearts and Bones is a heavy-hitting drama with a feel-good ending, but more of that later. Daniel Fisher (Hugo Weaving) is an acclaimed war photographer. His work means he leaves his long-term partner, Josie Avril (Haley McElhinney), a ballet…
First we had Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (released in 2012) and now this piffle. Written and directed by Burr Steers (Igby Goes Down), based upon the best- selling novel by Seth Grahame-Smith, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is a fresh twist on Jane Austen’s classic novel Pride and Prejudice. A mysterious plague has badly affected…
A lot of environmental documentaries are earnest and well intentioned, but they also tend to be a little dull and are often preaching to the converted. Which makes this fascinating, revealing and provocative warts and-all look at the origins of the environmentalist activist group Greenpeace all the more interesting when compared to most other environmental…
