The Queensland premiere of The Water Diviner was introduced not by director and star Russell Crowe – Brisbane is no Sydney, after all – but by Des Power, an Order of Australia member peripherally tied to proceedings via his role as creative director of the Gallipoli Chamber Orchestra. In sombre tones, he told the audience…
Musicals and I have never really been on the same wavelength. As a child I can vividly recall watching Disney classics like Sleeping Beauty or Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and sinking in my seat when the inevitable musical numbers began. That antipathy remains, decades later. The first film I was assigned to review…
If you’re looking for some holiday binge-watching to satiate your Game of Thrones addiction, Netflix have their fingers crossed you’ll turn to Marco Polo. The series–originally intended for Starz before Netflix and the Weinstein Company swooped in–uses its thirteenth century setting to present a historical drama that’s been widely compared to Game of Thrones. The…
Ghost in the Shell: Arise is a perfectly good anime series. Its four hour-long episodes – the first two having just been released on Australian Blu-Ray – navigate labyrinthine cyberpunk narratives layered with themes of identity and our perceptions of reality. This philosophical density is leavened by the show’s kinetic, deftly-directed action sequences and sharp…
It’s not hard to notice the similarities between God Help the Girl and We Are the Best! Each centres on a trio of solipsistic if sympathetic youngsters who combine to express their innermost feelings through the medium of music, forming a band together. Each film is essentially plotless, focusing more on mood and character than…
The title of The Imitation Game refers to Alan Turing’s method of determining whether a machine is capable of demonstrating human intelligence – more commonly referred to as “the Turing test.” Turing’s achievements go far beyond a simple artificial intelligence experiment, and those achievements are chronicled in this biopic from Norwegian director Mortem Tyldum. The…
Ignoring its truncated introduction – which dispatches Smaug, introduces Sauron and earns Cate Blanchett a paycheque – The Battle of the Five Armies is the most coherent chapter of The Hobbit. It’s also the least satisfactory, despite its character arcs and narrative consistency. I was entertained throughout, but that’s more a reflection of my fondness…
I watched Grave of the Fireflies expecting a masterpiece. I’d never seen the film before, but its reputation preceded it – as Studio Ghibli’s second film (released simultaneously with the magnificent My Neighbour Totoro) and as a tear-jerking war drama. Based on the non-fiction novel by Nosaka Akiyuki, it tells the tale of teenage boy…
The recent Golden Globe nominations had their fair share of surprises – Quvehzhané Wallis for Annie? Robert Duvall, really? – but perhaps its most interesting raft of nominees is found in the Best Foreign Language Film category. Alongside favourites like Ida and Force Majeure, Israeli drama Gett, the Trial of Viviane Amsalem muscled out serious…
Have you ever wondered what you’d get if you asked Walt Disney to make a James Bond film? Well, wonder no more. The Castle of Cagliostro centres on Lupin the Third, a gentleman thief inspired in equal part by Bond and fictional French burglar Arsène Lupin. It’s fair to say that, in retrospect, the ever-whimsical…
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