History

Fackham Hall Review

Grab your chamber pot m’lady! Jim O’Hanlon (TV’s The Bill & Coronation Street) and Jimmy Carr (8 out of 10 cats) do Downton Abbey, in the absurdly funny British send up, Fackham Hall. If you enjoy The Naked Gun, you know what to expect here. Rapid fire visual and speech gags about cocks, turds, incest, norks, molestation and finger food. Set against the backdrop of ailing 1930’s aristocracy. T...

Blue Moon Review

People love to hear a success story. However, people seem equally taken by the tale of a falling star or the tragedy of a hero who fails. You could say we’re looking for pointers to prevent our own destruction or ensure our salvation. American writer, Lorenz Hart knew this absolutely in his marrow and he demonstrated it at a professional level. From 1920 to 1943 he worked with celebrated composer ...

I’m Still Here Review

Walter Salles’ I’m Still Here (Ainda Estou Aqui) isn’t just a film; it’s an emotional gut-punch, a reckoning with Brazil’s unhealed wounds through the eyes of a family that refused to be erased. This deeply personal and politically charged story earned a ten-minute standing ovation and the Best Screenplay award at Venice, and I’m not surprised. Salles’ long-standing connection with the Paiva...

Saturday Night Review

Directed by Jason Reitman, Saturday Night is a high energy and manic paced film. Perfectly capturing backstage chaos, 90 minutes before the premier of a show that nobody believes in. Everybody except producer Lorne Michaels, played by Gabe LaBelle (The Fablemans), and the clock is ticking. Saturday Night Live is an institution. Even if comedy is not your thing or you were born thirty years later, ...

Comandante Review

Pierfrancesco Favino (Nostalgia, The Traitor) stars in writer-director Edoardo De Angelis’ (Indivisible, The Voice of Hope) Comandante. A dramatic account of events in the Atlantic sea during World War II. Titular Italian submarine Comandante Cappellini sinks the Belgian ship Kabalo, and Cappellini’s commander Salvatore Todaro disobeys standing orders and rescues the Kabalo’s crew. Com...

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. ...

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...

Napoleon Review

For anyone not following cinema news over the last year, Napoleon is the latest film by Sir Ridley Scott (Gladiator, The Dualists), starring Joaquin Phoenix, (Joker, 8mm) as the titular emperor and Vanessa Kirby (The Crown) as Empress Josephine. Written by David Scarpa (All the Money in the World), the theatrical version of this sprawling eighteenth century epic follows Bonaparte’s journey as lowl...

Oppenheimer Review

The second half of “Barbenheimer” is upon us. Rounding out the cinematic event that has everyone talking, Universal Studios releases Christopher Nolan’s (The Dark Knight) latest blockbuster – Oppenheimer. Based on the true story of J. Robert Oppenheimer – Father of the Atomic Bomb. Oppenheimer tells the true story of J. Robert Oppenheimer, a brilliant American theoretical physicist who...

Babylon Review

Like the elephant in the opening scene that relaxes its sphincter and covers one of its handlers in liquid filth, Damien Chazelle puckers up and explodes all over his audience for three hours in Babylon, a love/hate letter to debaucherous early Hollywood that’s as ambitious as it is unbalanced. This polarising epic is drawing 5-star reviews from some and 1-star from others, seemingly depending on ...

Emily Review

My love for this movie “resembles the eternal rocks beneath: a source of little visible delight, but necessary”, to quote Emily Brontë’s most famous work Wuthering Heights. Emily, directed by Andrew Dominik, spins us a creative interpretation of the titular author’s short life and the deeply personal motivations behind her most famous work. Emily, portrayed by Emma Mackey (Maeve in Sex Education) ...

The Woman King Review

In cinemas from this week, The Woman King stars Viola Davis (The Suicide Squad) as General Nanisca, John Boyega (Star Wars The Force Awakens) as King Ghezo, Thuso Mbedu (The Underground Railroad) as Nawi and Lashana Lynch (Captain Marvel) as Izogie. Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood (The Old Guard) and written by Dana Stevens, The Woman King takes the historically murky backdrop of 1823 Dahomey, W...

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