This co-production from Brazil, Uruguay and Holland is a slice of life drama set against the backdrop of the rodeo circuit, and gives us some insights into this little known macho world of the Vaquejada, a world populated by nomadic rodeo riders. Unlike the bigger and better known rodeos of America where cowboys riding bucking…
Ex Machina was a compelling science fiction thriller concerning artificial intelligence. Morgan – which is in the same sphere – starts with promise. A corporate troubleshooter, Lee Weathers (Kate Mara) is sent to a remote, top-secret location, where an A.I. experiment has been underway with a skeleton crew for seven years. But something has gone…
With the lucrative Harry Potter franchise done and dusted, author J K Rowling has expanded on her Potterverse with this stand alone tale set some seven decades before the adventures of the boy wizard. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them serves as the launching pad for a new post-Potter franchise set against the world…
A Life in the Theatre, by David Mamet, is an early play (1977) and considerably out of the usual area and style of his more well known genre – of the ‘Mamet-speak’ with macho, foulmouthed men squabbling over the way to make money; epitomised in his famous Pulitzer Prize winning, Glengarry Glen Ross, of 1984,…
This new film from three time Oscar winning director Ang Lee is a bit of a disappointment given his impressive resume that includes Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, the heartbreaking gay romance Brokeback Mountain, and the visually impressive Life of Pi. Based on the acclaimed 2012 novel written by Ben Fountain, and adapted by first time…
Based on fact comes The Fencer, a story about a man trying to escape his past. Fleeing from Stalin’s secret police in the early 1950s, an ambitious young fencer finds himself teaching small town children in a godforsaken Estonian coastal village. Endel Nelis (Mart Avandi) arrives in Haapsalu having fled from Leningrad. His riding instructions…
Stunning, finely rendered and detailed animation in the Japanese anime style is the hallmark of Your Name, a youth fantasy written and directed by Makoto Shinkai, who also wrote a novel of the same name. It concerns a mysterious connection between two pupils – strangers – living different lives in disparate parts of Japan. Mitsuha…
Australia’s bushranger history is rich material for filmmakers. Ned Kelly’s rebellious spirit is embedded in our national psyche and he still hogs much of the limelight from that period. There have been two major films exploring Kelly’s life, and we’ve had a number of other films about famous bushrangers and that whole period of history,…
Without fear of contradiction, you could safely say that The Family Fang is different to any other clans you have come across. You see, the parents are on a lifelong artistic quest, which may – and probably will – cost them their children. Let me explain … Though they live on opposite sides of the…
Rarely does a superbly staged and executed film have the impact I, Daniel Blake had on me. The 59-year-old titular character (played by Dave Johns) has worked as a carpenter most of his life in Newcastle in the UK. He is a man who enjoys and takes pride in what he does. He is honest,…
