There’s something special about watching a great horror movie in the cinema. Sitting in the dark with a room full of strangers. Sharing the nervous silence of anticipation — and embarrassed laughs, when that noise turns out to just be a cat. And, of course, those beautiful moments when someone just can’t resist letting out a terrified scream.…
Looking back at The Fast and the Furious (in case you’re puzzled by the title, that’s the first one, made in 2001) from 2015, the film looks a lot like a stepping stone. An unassuming genre picture that shared more than a bit in common with the preceding year’s Gone in Sixty Seconds remake, its…
District 9 director Neil Blomkamp kicked up a fuss yesterday when it was reported that his upcoming Alien sequel would break continuity from the last two films of the franchise, Alien3 and Alien: Resurrection. Blomkamp has since stepped back from that assertion – “I’m not trying to undo Alien 3 or Alien: Resurrection, I just…
This morning I woke up, stumbled out of bed, then checked Twitter, because apparently that’s where my priorities are directed nowadays. I discovered that Film Twitter – that is, the loose collection of cinephiles and critics that populate Twitterdom – had set its sights on what sounded like a monumentally misjudged takedown of Best Picture…
In a couple weeks, Queensland heads to the polls to elect their State Government for the next few years. In the interests of preserving my mental health, I’ve avoided following the campaign too carefully. But as far as I can ascertain, it boils down to a choice between two decidedly unpalatable potential premiers: Campbell Newman,…
Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) stands amidst the twisted wreckage of girders and the licks of flame wrought by the preceding spectacular action sequence. “Screw it, it’s Christmas,” he shrugs, and his legion of Iron Man suits explode overhead, striking fireworks illuminating the yuletide sky. Those wandering into Iron Man 3 last year – and…
If you want to talk about the experience of the average moviegoer in 2014, you need to talk about blockbusters. Boyhood might be the recipient of cascades of praise from critics and award bodies alike at the moment, and stands a solid chance of picking up the Best Picture at the Academy Awards. And yet,…
Hong Sang-soo’s Hill of Freedom begins with a language teacher, Kwon (Young-hwa Seo) collecting a parcel of letters from an ex-lover named Mori (Ryô Kase). She begins to read – learning that Mori has travelled from Japan to Korea to visit her – but after only reading a fraction of his story, she is overcome…
Over at FilmInk, I took Josh Lawson’s comments regarding Australian film (and its pereceived lack of diversity/quality) while promoting his new comedy The Little Death as an opportunity to discuss our country’s persistent cultural cringe when it comes to cinema while highlighting some great Aussie films that don’t tend to attract the spotlight. Check out…
What is there to say about Kim Kardashian: Hollywood? If you’re anything like me, you’ve had a celebrity riding around in your pocket for the last month or so, jangling alongside your car keys and loose change. My celebrity is named Eve; she’s an A-list up-and-comer with just shy of 100 million Twitter followers, a…
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