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...
In cinemas from today (23rd), Cat Person is part cautionary tale and part mirror for participants in the modern dating scene. A serviceable psychological thriller and drama that sticks with you after viewing. It’s not shocking or surprising, the events playing out on screen are mostly predictable as they are humorous. It is the pondering and attempting to understand individual character motivation...
Francis Lawrence (Catching Fire, Mockingjay films) continues to realise Suzanne Collin’s Panem and the aristocratic machinations of that fictional, dystopian future. Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes acts as a prequel to the much loved Hunger Games saga, following an adolescent Corolianas Snow (Tom Blyth- Billy the Kid) as he comes into this world an already downtrodden and bitter individual, with mu...
Universal Pictures and Warner Bros present Saltburn; the latest feature from Writer/Director and Academy Award winner Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman). After receiving critical acclaim from film festivals all around the globe, Saltburn is hoping to shock audiences with its gothic thrills and twisted chills. Set against the backdrop of the mid-2000s, Saltburn tells the tale of Oliver (Barry ...
In Australian cinemas from today, The Dive poses the question; How far would you push yourself to save another life? Pretty far, as it turns out. Directed by Maximillian Erlenwein on a low budget of $15 million, The Dive is a curious flick. A German/English remake of a Norwegian diving flick sporting the same premise. A pair of somewhat estranged sisters meet up for their ritual dive, a passion in...
October fifth heralds the return of the legendary Exorcist. Can David Gordon Green and Danny McBride deliver an installment that lives up to the intensity of Exorcist and Exorcist III?? Or, are we stuck with another dreary entry in the hit and miss nature of this franchise? Unfortunately, it’s the latter. Some spoiler information will follow, so please skip to the last paragraph if you wish to rem...
Retribution is an ordinary action movie that takes no risk, offering little reward. The film is produced by Studio Canal, directed by Nimród Antal, starring Liam Neeson. This review will be short, thankfully, much like the one hour and thirty-minute runtime of this flick. Retribution isn’t the worst action movie, but it’s safe to say it’s the second-worst action movie of 2023. I&...
Finishing off The Equalizer trilogy is the appropriately titled The Equalizer 3. With all the best talent behind the camera returning, including director Antoine Fuqua and writer Richard Wenk, as well as the franchise’s iconic lead – Denzel Washington – Sony Pictures is hoping to conclude this franchise with the series best and go out with a bang! After leaving his past as a government...
Other young and aspiring horror film directors would be forgiven for wanting to pack it in on viewing Danny & Michael Philippou’s Talk to Me. It’s a masterclass in contemporary horror cinema featuring fresh, visceral storytelling and inspiring cinematography. Talk to Me is going to be tough to top in a year that’s already seen the hugely successful Evil Dead Rise. The RackaRacka lads trade the...
Tom Cruise is back on screen seeking the improbable – convincing an audience that he’s still top of his game at an over ripe sixty-one years old. In cinemas from today, Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One (sheesh what a handful) proves just that, putting other action hero franchise films from this year in the corner. Mi7.1 has thrilling action sequences, but is bogged down by long-win...
Hitting Australian cinemas a couple months shy of another anticipated Meg movie, The Black Demon falls short of mediocrity with a blend of pulpy mythological horror and environmental awareness. Directed by Adrian Grünberg (Rambo: Last Blood) and starring Josh Lucas (trading Red Dog for a Megalodon shark) The Black Demon tells the story of Paul Sturges (Lucas), who brings his family along for a wor...
Vin Diesel seems to be the only one taking himself and this franchise way too seriously in the latest instalment of GI JOE cross xXx meets We’re The Millers. So strap in wheel heads, Vinny Diesel (Babylon AD) and his urban fashion conscious team of international intrigue and espionage are back with Fast X, the latest instalment of the aforementioned man’s tedious vanity project. To say that ...
