On 14th August 1936, the US eights rowing crew did something very special at the Berlin Olympics. The Boys in the Boat is their story. The eight, plus an alternate and a cox were drawn from working class men during the Depression era. The team was handpicked by well-meaning and decent University of Washington coach…
Paul Schrader’s nihilistic films have often explored troubled men and outsiders with a violent past who are seeking redemption for their past deeds. Narvel Roth (Joel Edgerton) is one such man, hiding from the demons of his past, making him a quintessential Schrader creation. Roth is the chief horticulturalist tending to Gracewood Gardens, the sprawling…
Australian filmmakers seem to be fascinated with true crime stories – films like Snowtown, Chopper, Nitram and the TV series Underbelly have all explored violence and the psychology of criminals. Based on the true story of the largest undercover police operation in Australia’s history, The Stranger is an extremely bleak and disturbing drama that’s also…
Watching Boy Erased is hard work. It’s a downbeat look at a religious doctrine absolutely committed to outlawing homosexuality. You pity the poor souls who face indoctrination aimed at exorcising what is regarded as a vile sin. Boy Erased tells the true story of Jared Eamons (Lucas Hedges), the son of a Baptist pastor in…
Harold is in for a few very bad days – and things aren’t likely to get better any time soon. Nash Edgerton directs his brother Joel in in Gringo. This over-the-top comedic crime caper has more twists and turns than a rollercoaster. Mild-mannered pharmaceutical company executive Harold Soyinka (David Oyelowo) has never questioned his boss’s…
Director Francis Lawrence re-teams with star Jennifer Lawrence (no relation) for Red Sparrow. But where their previous success were in the YA-friendly Hunger Games trilogy, this film is a far darker – and more adult – proposition. Lawrence (the director) has given his lead actor an intricately crafted spy thriller in which to strut her…
Much remains unanswered in the low-budget mystery-horror film, It Comes at Night. Award-winning filmmaker Trey Edward Shults follows his breakout debut Krishna with this psychological thriller. It centres on a teenage boy, Travis (Kelvin Harrison, Jr.), as he grapples with mounting terrors – both external and internal – in the aftermath of an unnamed cataclysm. Seventeen…
Joel Edgerton (The Great Gatsby) makes his directorial debut, has written and stars in this thought-provoking psychological thriller. It asks the question, what if someone you wronged long ago re-emerged in your life through a chance encounter? Simon (Jason Bateman) and Robyn (Rebecca Hall) are a married couple whose lives are going pretty much as…
