Movies

As an articulation of hopes and expectations go, it is hard to go past The American Dream. As an idea at least; in practice, of course, as with any headily idealistic thought given voice by people, it is often deeply and unequally flawed in its delivery, more akin to a Continue Reading

We are accustomed when sit down to watch a disaster movie to the fact that spectacle, horrific, viscerally terrible spectacle, will win out over emotional nuance and robust, multi-dimensional characterisation almost every time. It’s part of the deal from filmmakers of this genre – we give you a ringside seat Continue Reading

Quirky and heartfelt are two qualities I value most highly in a film. If you can offer both these wonderful things, and throw in some great visuals and stunning good performances, I am home and hosed. That’s why these three films appeal. They have a certain offbeat sense of self, Continue Reading

There is utterly beguiling about falling into a cinematic story, letting its long and winding narrative settled over you, immerse you and take you deep into its storytelling wonder. Given the fact that the pandemic continues to wreak havoc in ways big and small across the globe, we need this Continue Reading

If you were to be given a description of the basic premise of Penguin Bloom in broad, top level brushstrokes, you could well be forgiven for thinking that it’s another in a long line on sweetly inspirational, sentimentality run amuck cinematic stories that tug mightily at the heartstrings, rip your Continue Reading

The far, far past was a dangerous time for humanity. What with carnivorous, hyper-coloured kangaroo/armadillo hybrids, jagged ice trees that surge from the ground with no warning, landscapes that range from deserty and rocky to dangerously giant bug-filled and earnest post-cave dwelling hipsters, there was a lot that could go Continue Reading

Films, by and large, and this is by no means a hard and fast rule, either fall into two distinct camps – those you watch and those you experience. High Ground, a superlatively affecting Australian film, directed by Stephen Maxwell Johnson to a screenplay by Chris Anastassiades (from a story Continue Reading

In an idealised world, pursuing your dreams is a thing of ethereal perfection, a waftingly hopeful sensation that is equal parts sigh-inducing wonder and a tenacity to succeed that always pays off and is never less than astoundingly and soul-enrichingly triumphant. Alas, we beings with feet of dream-hollowing clay do Continue Reading