Elizabeth Banks (Pitch Perfect 2) returns to the directing chair, four years after her less than stellar Charlie’s Angels reboot. This time, it’s to tell the (I can’t believe I’m typing this) true story of Cocaine Bear – a black bear who ingests pounds of cocaine in a national forest in Georgia, sending it on a hilariously drug-fueled, murderous rampage. I thought Cocaine Bear would ju...
Joel Edgerton and Sean Harris are not as they appear in Thomas M. Wright’s quietly terrifying sophomore feature, The Stranger. Based on one of the better-known true crimes of early 2000s Australia (and if you’ve managed to avoid the trailer or synopsis, the a-ha moment packs a subtle punch), the film follows two men and the apparent roles they play in an abduction and murder case that went unsolve...
See Nicolas Cage nail the Nouveau Shamanic acting technique in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent as Nick Cage, an enigmatic former star who plays Russian roulette with roles because it reminds him he’s alive (and he owes 600k to the hotel he’s been inhabiting throughout his divorce). Whether your favourite Age of Cage is his 90s action superstardom, his more meaningful outings from the likes...
Michael Bay first became known as an award-winning director of music videos and advertisements. His initial feature film BAD BOYS (1995) gave audiences a clear idea of the kind of filmmaker he is. Bay is a visual stylist who loves slow motion, close-ups of the human face and a constantly moving camera; all these are in evidence in his latest feature AMBULANCE (2022). The movie is a remake and an a...
Much as when Spider-Man finally turned up in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Matt Reeves’ The Batman smartly eschews retreading the caped crusader’s origin story, assuming correctly that after 80 years, almost everyone turning up for a Batman movie understands the lay of the land. We know who Bruce Wayne (Robert Pattinson) is, and why he dresses up as a bat to fight crime in the oppressive urban he...
In the spring of 2015, I wasn’t exactly doing a lot with my life. Working part-time in a minimum wage job I began a second Bachelor of Arts, because one round of unemployment wasn’t enough. I had just wrapped up my seventh rewatch of Sex and the City and was in search of another text through which to live vicariously as a sad twenty-something with no social plans on a Saturday night. It was the mo...
British super spy, James Bond is back. NO TIME TO DIE is the 25th film of the Bond franchise produced by Eon Productions. Planning began back in 2016. The story follows on from SPECTRE (2015), however its beginnings thread back to CASINO ROYALE (2006). This is the final episode in the five-film arc of the Daniel Craig iteration of the Bond character. The story begins with Bond travelling through I...
“Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in” – Silvio Dante (in his beloved Michael Corleone bit) accurately describing what all Sopranos fans were thinking upon seeing the trailer for The Many Saints of Newark, the new film from Alan Taylor (director of the original series.) After many Covid-related reschedules it’s finally here and refreshingly, in theatres. Sopranos creator...
NITRAM is a tough film to watch. It’s excellent. Possibly too excellent. I think if I wasn’t Australian, if I didn’t remember the 1996 Port Arthur Massacre, it would be just a brilliant true-crime film. But I do, and so there’s an element of misery I bring into the cinema with me. The Port Arthur Massacre ended with 35 people dead, and 23 people injured. It led to a complete overhaul of Australia’...
After stumbling out of the block in 2016, the deeply unsatisfying identity crisis victim Suicide Squad left plenty to be desired. Had it not been for the impressive box office receipts, we may not have seen the continued adventures of a group of violent criminals forced to team up to save the world (well, at least for another 5 to 10 years when the dust had settled and DC felt comfortable re-booti...
Cipher enlists the help of Jakob, Dom’s younger brother to take revenge on Dom and his team.
When I first heard a Cruella origin story was in the pipeline, I was admittedly intrigued. “You think you can make me ‘understand’ an evil puppy killer, Disney?” I declared to anyone who would listen – which was no-one – “Goodluck!” So has Disney succeeded at humanising one of the most unforgivable Disney villains? Has this flick done for Cruella d...
