Written by actor Damien Hill (Neighbours) and directed by Paul Ireland, Pawno is a gritty ensemble-driven slice of life drama and also a love letter to the suburb of Footscray and its multicultural nature and colourful inhabitants. It revolves around a seedy and cluttered pawn shop located in Barkly Street and the motley character who…
One attends The Underpants with some trepidation. The title alone could be a turnoff for some as it’s not a garment widely discussed in finer circles. But then you discover the masterful Hollywood comic Steve Martin has adapted and etched his own style of wit into a German play from early last century called Die Hose, written…
America in 1968 was a volatile and turbulent place. The country was still deeply embroiled in an unpopular and unwinnable war in Vietnam, and back home there were race riots and both Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy were assassinated. And there were the presidential conventions in which both the Democratic Party and the Republicans…
A film for selective tastes, this is a slow moving Chinese love story concerning joy and sadness, separation and reunion. Lu Yanshi (Chen Daoming) and Feng Wanyu (Gong Li) are a devoted couple forced to separate when Lu is arrested and sent to a labor camp as a political prisoner. Released during the last days…
UK based Trust Fund is led by Bristol songwriter Ellis Jones which has typically built his records by a friend committee of musicians. You might think this could disturb the production but Seems Unfair is Jones’ second release this year as their debut No One’s Coming For Us came out in February. What is great…
After taking on vampires (What We Do in the Shadows) and superheroes (Thor: Ragnarok), hugely talented NZ director Taika Waititi takes on Nazis in Jojo Rabbit. But unlike the breezy charm of those films, this time Waititi goes to some very dark places. Jojo Rabbit is a cautionary tale about the dangers of “drinking the…
Balloon tells the true story of two East German families’ escape to the West a decade before the Wall was torn down. It’s a tense and dramatic film, with moments of melodrama. We’re in the summer of 1979. The Strelzyks and Wetzels have been working on an audacious plan for more than two years. They…
A superb performance from Sally Field makes this a movie that many will find enchanting. In Hello, My Name is Doris, Field (Norma Rae, Places in the Heart) plays a role that reinforces just how good an actor she is (after all, she did win two Oscars). Doris Miller (Field ) is a classic outsider,…
Stick five strangers together in a room for a week and see what comes out the other end. Are they themselves or acting out some fantasy to form a shield of protection or anonymity? If the latter, how long before the shield is lowered? Intolerance, disinterest and antagonism are par for the course in Malthouse’s…
Some books you don’t want to end … except you do, because you’re dying to know what happened. Missing, Presumed is one of those books. Here’s the blurb: Detective Sergeant Manon Bradshaw soothes her insomnia with the din of the police radio she keeps by her bed. After another bad date, it takes the crackling voices…
