When British author E.J. James released his erotic romance novel Fifty Shades of Grey in 2011, it titillated an excited throng of readers. The frenzy returned four years later with the release of the Sam Taylor-Johnson’s Hollywood film, starring Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan. The subject was, of course, the unusual relationship between a young…
According to the reliable IMDb, The President’s Wife (released elsewhere as Bernadette) marks the 142nd screen appearance of the legendary Catherine Deneuve. Her career stretches back to the French New Wave of the 1960s, and includes some of the seminal films of Jacques Demy. She’s appeared in films by Roman Polanski, François Truffaut, Jean-Pierre Melville…
The moral dilemma. Juicy. Delicious. Ideal for the stage. It is at the heart of Only Child, a new play from Leah Annetta. Divorced, uptight Veronika (Sarah Hallam) runs a wedding planning business. She lives with her mother Barbara (Michele Stayner) and her high achieving, 18-year-old daughter Anika (Alessandra Alessio). Anika, in her final year…
Deadpool & Wolverine isn’t so much a movie that breaks the fourth wall, as one where the fourth wall doesn’t even exist. Shawn Levy’s (Free Guy) meta-meta take on a superhero cross-over delivers ample fan service, and lifts the veil on how the Disney-Marvel empire will work in the future. Like several of the more…
Delightful feel-good entertainment, Mr Blake at Your Service is a fun-filled romantic romp. Andrew Blake (John Malkovich) is a successful English businessman who is pining the loss of his wife of more than 40 years. Diane, a French woman, was the love of his life. They met at a beautiful French chateau when they were…
The Moon landing is a cultural touchstone in the US, so much so that it’s the topic of several big-name movies including Hidden Figures and First Man. Almost as pervasive as the event itself is the myth that someone (in some tellings, Stanley Kubrick) shot the whole thing on a sound stage. Now the two…
The artistic links between France and Japan run (perhaps surprisingly) deep. The French Impressionists were obsessed with Japanese woodblock prints, for example. In the 1950s, while French filmmakers and audiences embraced Japanese cinema, with Akira Kurosawa’s Rashomon (1950) and Kinugasa Teinosuke’s Gate of Hell (1954) featured at the Cannes Film Festival; while Alain Resnais’ seminal…
One of the most lauded plays of the 20th century, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is a high stakes cat and mouse game. Husband and wife adopt a take no prisoners’ attitude to the unfolding conflict. Before this is over, both will be metaphorically beaten up, as will their unwitting younger guests who become part of the…
– The Fabulous Four – Only in cinemas from 1 August 2024 We have 10 double in-season passes thanks to Transmission Films. *(Tickets valid in Australia only)* Watch the trailer HERE If three’s a crowd, four’s a party! THE FABULOUS FOUR is an uproarious comedy about a group of life-long friends (Susan Sarandon, Megan Mullally,…
– Mr Blake at Your Service – Only in cinemas from 18 July 2024 We have 10 double in-season passes thanks to Rialto Distribution. *(Tickets valid in Australia only)* Watch the trailer HERE In an unexpected twist of fate, a widowed British businessman (John Malkovich) takes a job as a butler of a manor house…
