Michael Robotham’s latest thriller, Close Your Eyes, is a brilliant nail biter that’s up there with the best in the contemporary field. Robotham has established himself as one of Australia’s top crime writers, and with this new release, he’s not jumping down from that pedestal any time soon. Set in the UK, the story begins when a mother…
Another week, another reboot of a defunct film franchise. This time it is The Transporter series, which was first created by Luc Besson in 2002. Besson is the French filmmaker who makes kinetically exciting, fast paced but formulaic Euro thrillers and vapid Hollywood-style action movies like Lucy, Kiss Of The Dragon, etc. But it’s been…
This is the type of noir-inspired film that Australian filmmakers do really well when they tackle the genre. Written by first time writer James McFarland Kill Me Three Times is a vicious and offbeat black comedy take on the noir genre with a high body count. McFarland uses a non linear narrative structure reminiscent of…
If you’re a crime fiction fan, especially of the hard-edged variety, and you haven’t read anything by Tony Cavanaugh yet, let me suggest you rectify that quick-smart. I was introduced to Cavanaugh’s writing with The Train Rider last year, and while I found it “a disturbing read” with “violent, sickening crime”, it was still a cracker. His latest…
Denis Villeneuve (Prisoners, Incendies) has proven himself to be a director with few peers. Now he is at it again, with tough and gritty filmmaking at its finest. In Mexico, Sicario means hitman. When Arizona FBI agent and kidnap response team leader Kate Macer (Emily Blunt) uncovers a Mexican house of death, her shocking find…
Is Liam Neeson becoming the new Charles Bronson, a staple of the routine, shoot-em-up vengeance vehicle? With films like Taken and its sequels, Neeson has become the action hero du jour, and he manages to acquit himself well in these testosterone heavy roles. He has a solid and dependable presence, and he always delivers the…
– With a bullet hole through your neck, numbskull of yours never looked so fine. – Rest in peace Daddy numbskull. – Ta ta Daddy ya sick bundle of shit. – Bye bye Daddy you misery heap of shit. […] – Girls, I think your father is dead. – I knocked his knees out. –…
If there’s something Travolta remained loyal to, then surely it’s his distinctive, sad look. Ever since I saw him the first time appearing in Saturday Night Fever (ages ago), he uses that sad expression. It always looks as if he’s going to burst out in tears. And the movie The Forger is substantively perfect for…
I’ve never seen the TV series Dexter so the marketing pitch “Fans of Dexter will love Normal” doesn’t do much for me. I’m guessing it will for Dexter fans. All I knew to expect was an anti-hero who looks normal to outsiders, but believes it’s normal to hurt people … which most of us would…
The multi-award winning Marshland was one of the highlights of the recent Spanish Film Festival. This is a rather grim and dark police thriller set in a rural area of Andalucia in the south of Spain. It takes place in 1980, which was a time of great transition for Spain as it moved from the…
