Movies

  Being both a blockbuster and a sequel should have, by the usual standards of slapdash Hollywood out to make a quick buck, left Dawn of the Planet of the Apes a doubly-cursed, slathering mess of incoherent plotting, poorly-expressed ideas and sub-standard acting. And yet, thanks to a nuanced, well-paced Continue Reading

  There is an arresting poetic beauty and authenticity to Charlie’s Country, Rolf de Heer’s latest feature film with legendary actor David Gulpilil, that is starkly evident from the silent second to opening shot of the movie in which an introspective Charlie sits in his humpy, lost in mumbling introspection, Continue Reading

SNAPSHOT An atmospheric ghost story with truths to tell about friendship, families and loneliness. Anna lives with foster parents, a misfit with no friends, always on the outside of things. Then she is sent to Norfolk to stay with old Mr and Mrs Pegg, where she runs wild on the Continue Reading

  Films that set out to tackle the big issues of life such as death, revenge, sexual abuse, estrangement, love and salvation to name but a handful, often tread a thankless and perilous path. They either run the risk of coming across as insufferably pretentious, too far above the day Continue Reading

  SNAPSHOT Maggie (McCarthy), a single mother, moves into a new home in Brooklyn with her 12-year old son, Oliver (Lieberher). Forced to work long hours, she has no choice but to leave Oliver in the care of their new neighbor, Vincent (Murray), a retired curmudgeon with a penchant for Continue Reading

  Frank, Lenny Abrahamson’s eccentric but pleasingly bleak portrait of life in an indie band, is a stark reminder that just because something looks broken, doesn’t necessarily mean it is. It’s a lesson that it takes aspiring keyboardist and songwriter, Jon (Domhnall Gleeson), who we meet as he’s walking home Continue Reading

  SNAPSHOT Snowpiercer based on the French graphic novel “Le Transperceneige,” is set in a future where, after a failed experiment to stop global warming, an Ice Age kills off all life on the planet except for the inhabitants of the Snow Piercer, a train that travels around the globe Continue Reading

  SNAPSHOT In the span of a single day, the town of Silverton is ravaged by an unprecedented onslaught of tornadoes. The entire town is at the mercy of the erratic and deadly cyclones, even as storm trackers predict the worst is yet to come. Most people seek shelter, while Continue Reading

  How much do I love The Wil Wheaton Project? Quite a bit, and I would like it a whole lot more if syfy Australia could find a way to begin screening it in Down Under. Until that happens though, I will be content with these gems that keep dropping Continue Reading