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…
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…
A cavalcade of big Aussie names has lined up to voice a quintessential Aussie animated adventure for the kids. Ryan Kwanten is Blinky Bill, Toni Collette voices a pair of gossipy emus called Sheryl and Beryl, David Wenham is a manic frill-necked lizard and Deborah Mailman Blinky’s kind, sensible mum. Richard Roxburgh has a vocal…
Based upon the successful memoir and stage play of the same name, this is a true story of a 15-year love affair between two people who met at school. It is Australia in the ‘70s and Tim Conigrave, a budding actor at an all-boys Catholic school, has fallen big time for the captain of the…
There has been a lot of buzz surrounding this fascinating but unusual coming of age documentary on the festival circuit since it won the grand jury prize at Sundance earlier this year. The film looks at six brothers from the Angulo family, who have basically been raised isolated from society. Along with their intellectually disabled…
As local films like Storm Boy, Babe, Happy Feet and Red Dog have shown, the formula for making a successful family friendly film seems pretty simple. All you need is a cute, mischievous animal – preferably a dog – after all, dogs have been the main character in some great films over the years, from…
We haven’t seen much from former film historian and critic turned director Peter Bogdanovich on the big screen for a long time, as he has spent much of the past two decades concentrating on tv movies and directing the odd music video and an occasional episode of The Sopranos. Bogdanovich was an auteur who made…
Is there anything that Meryl Streep cannot do? At an age when most actresses find it hard to land meaty roles or substantial character parts, Streep is a chameleon who seems to still be going strong, playing a variety of diverse and challenging roles. A case in point is her new film in which she…
I’ve had this book on my shelf for a while but after a run of books focusing on the Nazi regime, I held off reading it until I was ready. When I finally picked up the novel, I discovered a quirky character tale that lingered with me. Here’s the blurb: Aged 105, Rose has endured more…
I’ve never particularly been interested in climbing a mountain, and after seeing this dramatic feature about a tragic attempt to climb Mt Everest in 1996, I have even less interest. Although paradoxically many who watch the film may somehow be inspired to take up the challenge. Since Edmund Hillary conquered Mt Everest in 1953, replicating…
