A spoof on mercenary Hollywood producers, The Comeback Trail delighted me. It features three of the biggest stars in the business. It’s Hollywood, 1974. Max Barber (Robert De Niro) is a producer whose lack of success in churning out D-grade dirges precedes him. Barber works in partnership with his nephew, Walter Creason (Zach Braff), although…
A little late for Halloween maybe, but Freaky will definitely scratch that comedy-horror itch. Co-writer and director Christopher Landon builds on the success of his Happy Death Day films with this enjoyable romp – even if he doesn’t really bring anything new to the table. While the Happy Death Day series riffed on Groundhog Day,…
Presented by Palace, the British Film Festival will screen from 10 November in Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra and Byron Bay at reduced capacity and late November in Melbourne, when restrictions permit. The British Film Festival celebrates the finest filmmakers and acting talent British cinema has to offer and the 2020 program features some of…
It’s Halloween, so we’re checking out a little spooky action with the Netflix movie, Vampires vs The Bronx. This fun excursion into the supernatural won’t test your brain, but never wears out its welcome. Director Osmany “Oz” Rodriguez has an impressive CV in television, notably on A. P. Bio and Saturday Night Live. And he…
While a largely enjoyable romp, The Mystery of Henri Pick becomes too convoluted for its own good. Henri Pick made pizzas for a living in France’s Brittany region. No one could have guessed was a gifted author (so much so that he could juxtapose Russian novelist Alexander Pushkin with the last throes of a relationship)?…
A mind-numbing comedy for senior citizens, Never Too Late relies on fanciful nonsense to move the story forward. A voice-over by Jacqui Weaver as Norma McCarthy sets the scene. Norma once met a handsome soldier Jack Bronson (played as an elderly gent by James Cromwell) the day before he shipped out to Vietnam. If he’d…
In Curtis Vowell’s comedy Baby Done, outdoorsy Zoe (Rose Matafeo) works as an arborist, alongside her boyfriend Tim (Matthew Lewis). Theirs is a happy union. All their coupled-up friends seem to be having babies, but the thought of being tied down makes Zoe shudder. And then she discovers she’s pregnant. Shellshocked Zoe doesn’t tell Tim…
Miranda July is a force of nature. The multi-talented writer (for both page and screen), artist, musician and actor can seemingly turn her hand to anything. But with everything on her plate, her film output has been a little sporadic. But she’s come roaring back with Kajillionaire, a film that will almost certainly please her…
I don’t often get excited about politics. I mean, look at the state of political discourse in this country! But when I see what’s going on in America, I sometimes think maybe we don’t have it so bad. The abyss that is current US politics obviously interests (maybe appals is a better word) late-night talk…
In New York, a crotchety, chain-smoking Chinese-American grandmother gets lucky after leaving a casino … and then all hell breaks loose. Sasie Sealy’s black comedy, Lucky Grandma, places granny in the middle of a turf war between rival gangs. It all starts when Lei Lei the Fortune Teller (Wai Ching Ho) tells Grandma (Tsai Chin)…
