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After announcing themselves as a queer filmmaking collective that weren’t afraid to take risks with both the horror genre they clearly adore and certain dynamics within their own community with their campy, giallo-inspired slasher Death Drop Gorgeous (now streaming on Shudder), Monster Makeup, LLC have more proven they aren’t a flash in the pan – […]
Read MoreTrue-crime docu-drama SPEEDWAY is based on the unsolved murders that claimed the lives of four teens working in a burger restaurant in 1978. The town of Speedway is the location of the famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway. This feature debut from Adelaide’s Luke Rynderman and co-director Adam Kamien tries to piece together the 40-year-old cold case […]
Read MoreHousekeeping for Beginners is set in a chaotic family home in Macedonia. However, this is no ordinary household. Dita lives with her girlfriend and her two daughters, tiny troublemaker Mia and rebellious teen Vanesa. The house is a sort of drop-in centre for the queer and homeless, with Toni, who tends to pick up younger guys […]
Read MoreHen (Saoirse Ronan) and Junior (Paul Mescal) are farming a remote piece of land that has been in his family for generations. The land is under drought, and globally the environment is struggling. In the middle of the night, an uninvited government agent (Aaron Pierre) shows up at their door with a surprise. Junior has […]
Read MoreThere was something darkly, deliciously special about the way writer/director Emma Seligman and actress Rachel Sennott announced themselves with 2020’s Shiva Baby. A claustrophobic black comedy that indulged in a spiralling, horrific temperament, their collaboration set a certain precedent for the boundary-pushing, topical humour that’s furthered in Bottoms, a wild, oft-violent, sexually liberated high-school comedy […]
Read MoreFrom the humblest of beginnings, where Australia’s ABC network weren’t sure on investing in their talent, to multi-million selling music artists that sold out Madison Square Garden and can count the likes of Jerry Seinfeld, John Travolta, and Sarah Jessica Parker as fans, The Wiggles defied the expectations of many to form a global brand […]
Read MoreYou have to take your hat off for director Tommy Stovall and writer John Spare for navigating Condition of Return in a manner that I don’t think even the savviest of viewers would predict. As a whole it may not always adhere to a certain cohesion as it flits between a dramatic thriller detailing the […]
Read MoreWhilst it’s always best to go into films with zero expectations, plot synopses and narrative outlines at least provide an idea of what audiences can expect from a storytelling perspective – however loose the product itself wants to determine as such. For New Strains, there was the idea of this being sold as a romantic […]
Read MoreIn many ways, Killers of the Flower Moon is a celebration of everything we love about Martin Scorsese, whether it’s the flawed gangster charm of Goodfellas or the arresting psychological nuances of Taxi Driver. Though with a budget of between $200-250 million for this epic crime western, you cannot fault this film on being a […]
Read MoreThe type of film surrounding a character we know we shouldn’t like, Jennifer Cram‘s Sick Girl manages to overcome its central figure’s questionable morals by never asking its audience to forgive her. The “sick girl” in question is Wren Pepper (Nina Dobrev, great), a slacker, party girl-type who’s never grown up in the same manner […]
Read MoreThe act of (or is it the art of) lip-syncing is one that practically goes part and parcel within the realms of pop music. Some artists do so because their studio vocals can’t possibly be emulated live. Others rely on such due to demanding dance routines. And then there are those that, well, can’t sing […]
Read MoreHopefully a film that won’t just become infamous for its lack of being seen – after it previewed one single screening at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival it was withdrawn due to “rights issues” – The People’s Joker is a bold, bonkers debut feature from Vera Drew that reimagines the mythology of a slew […]
Read MoreInspired by Hotel Coolgardie, Pete Gleeson’s shock 2016 documentary about two female Finnish backpackers and their work experience at a predominantly male-frequented pub, The Royal Hotel similarly shines a light on the the disturbing, toxic nature that can spawn from a small, isolated town that exploits Australia’s “drinking culture” mentality. An ironic title that will […]
Read MoreFlitting between two separate timelines as it details a forbidden, youthful romance and the remnants of such a memory, Olivier Peyon‘s tender Lie With Me is a poignant journey, laced with beauty and unavoidable crispness despite its emotionally messy mentality. In the present day, Stéphane Belcourt (Guillaume de Tonquédec) is a famous author who has […]
Read MoreThe world premiere of Baz Luhrmann’s Faraway Downs, an inspiring epic adventure and reimagined extended version of his 2008 film Australia, will be presented by the celebrated filmmaker in person, on closing night of the inaugural SXSW Sydney Screen Festival on October 21st, 2023. The film, told in six chapters, will premiere all at once […]
Read MoreAdelaide Film Festival (AFF) announced today the 30 participants selected to take part in AFF EXPAND Lab 2023. This intensive five-day Lab brings together some of Australia’s most creative and inventive artists, filmmakers and XR and VR practitioners in a development and commissioning process to foster new ideas for moving image artworks. The national call for Expressions of […]
Read MoreAustralians in Film (AiF), the Los Angeles based artist development organization, and their new presenting partner, Screen Australia, have just announced that they are adding two stand out conference sessions to the Festival line-up for SXSW Sydney 2023. Thursday 19th October: “A Spotlight on Blossom Films” Go inside the workings of Blossom Films with Australian screen […]
Read MoreWhen the insertion of the number 4 in a film’s fourth outing as a substitute for the letter A is the smartest thing it’s able to execute, you know you aren’t in for the smoothest of operations. In a year where we’ve seen certain action sequels prove that there’s ample gas in the tank […]
Read MoreAfter a Black Friday riot ends in tragedy, a mysterious Thanksgiving-inspired killer terrorizes Plymouth, Massachusetts – the birthplace of the holiday. Picking off residents one by one, what begins as random revenge killings are soon revealed to be part of a larger, sinister holiday plan. Will the town uncover the killer and survive the holidays…or […]
Read MoreGiven the big swings he took with his take on the Halloween series – the foul cries from fans were deafening at times – it stands to reason that writer/director David Gordon Green‘s tackling of such a classic genre piece as The Exorcist won’t be done by the books or to the liking of purists. […]
Read MoreIn 1970s Korea, when both art and dreams are censored, a film director dreams of a masterpiece. After delighting audiences at both this year’s Cannes Film Festival and Sydney Film Festival, Cobweb is spinning its way into Australian cinemas from October 5th (you can read our review here). To coincide with the release, Peter Gray […]
Read More50 years ago this December, the most terrifying horror film in history landed on screens, shocking audiences around the world. Now, a new chapter begins. From Blumhouse and director David Gordon Green, who shattered the status quo with their resurrection of the Halloween franchise, comes The Exorcist: Believer. Ahead of the film’s much discussed release […]
Read MoreThough it may be a little haphazardly put together, there’s still a heft of intrigue and amusing genre blending in Kim Jee-woon‘s Cobweb, a blurring of reality and fantasy that places the magic of celluloid at the centre. Set in the 1970s, the film builds itself around Kim (Song Kang-ho), a director who has failed […]
Read MoreWhilst it commits to the kill from an on-screen carnage perspective, Nahnatchka Kahn‘s Totally Killer has a bit more of a Disney Channel Original vibe going for it in terms of its heart and structure; and that’s in no way meant as a diss against what’s ultimately a very digestible, oft witty slasher. In 2023, […]
Read MoreThe story of two generations of warring families in Sydney’s West, Suka is a violent love story…with a twist. Brought together by fate, but pulled apart by family, this genre-bending romantic action film marks the feature debut of Australian filmmaker Heidi Lee Douglas. Ahead of the film’s release this week on DVD and Digital, Peter […]
Read MoreBetween No Hard Feelings, Joy Ride, and Bottoms, female-fronted comedy has had an admirable run in 2023, managing to balance crude humour with a sense of earnestness. The Re-Education of Molly Singer, sadly, doesn’t continue that trend. With a narrative hook that isn’t too displaced from the aforementioned No Hard Feelings, whilst also owing a […]
Read MoreDespite the fact that 2010’s 7th Saw entry was subtitled The Final Chapter, the little horror series that could has continued to soldier on with an additional 3 sequels, proving that positive financial returns will always take priority over creativity. Now, that’s not to say that The Final Chapter itself wasn’t somewhat creative – its […]
Read MoreUnless you’re a Spielberg or a Cameron, it seems increasingly difficult to launch an original, high-concept, sizeably budgeted film with major studio backing. So, in that regard hats must go off to director Gareth Edwards for getting The Creator off the ground and into multiplexes; extra points for doing so with a film centred on […]
Read MoreYou just can’t keep a good serial killer down, can you?!? The puppet master better known as Jigsaw has terrorised audiences – and on-screen body parts – for almost two decades now as part of the lucrative Saw film series, the little Aussie horror movie that could that birthed a billion dollar franchise. Despite the […]
Read MoreThere was something darkly, deliciously special about the way writer/director Emma Seligman and actress Rachel Sennott announced themselves with 2020’s Shiva Baby. A claustrophobic black comedy that indulged in a spiralling, horrific temperament, their collaboration set a certain precedent for the boundary-pushing, topical humour that’s furthered in Bottoms, a wild, oft-violent, sexually liberated high-school comedy […]
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