Luke Harris
Luke is writing short stories, screenplays and film reviews when he's not at the day job or looking after the needs of his family. So one Powerball...
Mr Blake At Your Service! Review
Releasing today, mostly French production Mr Blake at Your Service! is an odd one. Starring John Malkovich (Red, Burn After Reading), this endearing and quirky comedy drama shirks genre tropes and fails to realise the stakes it takes an hour and fifty minutes to set up. In order to unpack this film a little some spoilers are ahead. Fair warning, it’s a little désordonné. Director Gilles Legardinie...
The Promised Land Review
Based on the 2020 novel The Captain and Ann Barbara, itself loosely based on historical events, The Promised Land brings the stoic and frequently brutal 1755 Nordic frontier to Aussie cinemas from June 20. Directed by Nikolaj Arcel with gorgeous cinematography by Rasmus Videbaek, starring a stone cold Mads Mikkelsen (Rogue One) as Ludvig Kahlen and Amanda Collin (Raised by Wolves) as Ann Barbara. ...
Bad Boys: Ride or Die Review
Between thirty to forty years ago, Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer dominated the summer blockbuster landscape with a long list of knockout action thrillers. Highlights featuring the likes of Beverly Hills Cop, Top Gun, Crimson Tide, Dangerous Minds, The Rock and Bad Boys. The two later films directed by then breakout auteur, Michael Bay (how the mighty have fallen). Flash forward to today and Ba...
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga Review
Strap in scavs! On May 23rd Aussie auteur George Miller once again fangs audiences across the post apocalyptic central Australian wasteland. Expanding the rebooted universe established with 2015’s Fury Road, Furiosa gives us the full life and times of the titular antiheroine. Well, the important bits anyway. Her rise from unwilling captive snatched away from goodness, to mute feral. To praetorian ...
Abigail Review
In cinemas now, director Matt Bettinelli-Olpin (Ready or Not, Scream 2022) brings us Abigail. A slick action horror date night movie that delivers comedy, thrills and copious pints of shiraz. After a group of professional criminals kidnap the daughter of a powerful underworld figure, they retreat to an isolated mansion, unaware that not all is as it seems. From the get go, this cast is having a lo...
Challengers Review
Tashi, an ambitious and former tennis prodigy is married to a champion (Art) on a losing streak. Her strategy for her husband’s redemption takes an unexpected turn when Mike faces off against former best friend Patrick, who is also Tashi’s former boyfriend. Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers brings a ménage à trois to the tennis court, bouncing fast paced romantic drama and comedy across th...
Civil War Review
Writer and Director Alex Garland (Men, Ex Machina) delivers a spectacular, confronting and all too plausible take on a fictional modern conflict gripping the United States of America. Civil War asks, What If? What if the corrupt President (Nick Offerman – The Last of Us) broke all the rules and attempted to create a dictatorship. Abolishing legal process, exempt from prosecution, disbanding ...
Late Night with the Devil Review
“In 1977 a live television broadcast goes horribly wrong, unleashing evil into the nation’s living rooms.” The premise for Late Night with the Devil is simple. Struggling late night television presenter Jack Delroy (David Dastmalchian – Suicide Squad, Dune Part One) attempts to boost ratings by invoking a demon live on late night TV. The execution is a little more complex and this is w...
Before Dawn Review
Inspired by historical war diaries, Jordan Prince-Wright’s West Australian film Before Dawn transports audiences to the harsh trenches of the Somme and beyond, 1916. Starring Levi Millar (Pan, A Wrinkle in Time) as Jim Collins, Travis Jeffrey (Danger Close, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes) as Thomas and Myles Pollard (The Turning, Drift) as Sgt Beaufort, Before Dawn swings hard and fast. Landing...
Baghead Review
February is spoken about as the cinematic dumping ground. With studios releasing films they have little confidence in during this period. Enter Baghead. A cookie cutter horror flick which brings nothing exciting or original to the genre. Directed by Alberto Corredor and based on his own short film from 2017, Baghead tells the story of Iris (Freya Allan, The Witcher). A downtrodden young artist who...
The Rooster Review
Writer/Director Mark Leonard Winter brings audiences his debut The Rooster. A contemporary psychological drama set amongst the backdrop of an isolated, Australian forest community. On opening, two things are obvious. One, The Rooster is a visual treat. Masterful shots showcase the gorgeous landscape of rural Victoria. Two, you’re either going to ignore or be frustrated by the often distracting and...
Uproar Review
Uproar brings us the fictional story of misfit Josh (Julian Dennison, Deadpool 2), set against the very real backdrop of New Zealand’s 1981 Rugby protests. Written and directed by Hamish Bennett (Bellbird) and Paul Middleditch (Terra Nova), Uproar is one not to miss. Beautifully shot, with heartbreaking subtext at every turn, driven by exceptional and powerful performances. There’s an undertone of...