Under the Shadow

Posted 3:59pm Monday 8th August 2016 by Alex Campbell-Hunt

Rating: A- Playing at Rialto Friday, August 12 - 8:30pm Wednesday, August - 17 4:15pm Under The Shadow is set in Tehran during the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s, and follows a family trying to survive two terrifying things: the constant threat of bombing, and the sudden presence of Read more...

Tanna

Posted 4:05pm Monday 8th August 2016 by Shaun Swain

Rating: A Playing at Rialto: Wednesday, August 10 - 11:30am When dealing with a cast of men and women of vastly varying ages, none of whom have ever acted, you run insurmountable risk. So in directing one of the only remaining traditional tribes, Bentley Dean and Martin Butler face Read more...

The China Syndrome

Posted 12:20pm Sunday 7th August 2016 by Alex Campbell-Hunt

Rating: A Going through a phase of watching ‘70s movies, as you do, I tracked The China Syndrome down after reading Roger Ebert’s effusive praise of it. The film was released at a time when nuclear power plants were a relatively new thing, and people were a bit apprehensive about Read more...

Long Way North

Posted 4:09pm Monday 8th August 2016 by Anonymous Bird

Rating: A Playing at The Regent: Sunday, August 21 - 1:15pm Long Way North is a beautifully animated fictional historical film set in 19th century Russia. The story follows Sasha, a resilient and determined 15-year-old young woman. Sasha’s beloved explorer grandfather has gone Read more...

Batman: The Killing Joke

Posted 1:06pm Sunday 31st July 2016 by Anonymous Bird

Rating: B- (bad for Laura) This animated film adaptation of Alan Moore’s Batman: The Killing Joke accurately depicts the story from the original one shot comic. The first half begins with a prequel (not from the comic) about Barbara Gordon, Batgirl and the daughter of commissioner Gordon. Read more...

Sing Street

Posted 1:09pm Sunday 31st July 2016 by Lisa Blakie

Rating: B+ Summing it up in one sentence, Sing Street follows the story of Cosmo, a teenager living in Dublin in the ‘80s, who is motivated to start a band in the hopes of impressing a girl named Raphina. Yes, there are songs in this movie and they’re pretty good, so it’s Read more...

A Month Of Sundays

Posted 1:11pm Sunday 31st July 2016 by Alex Campbell-Hunt

Rating: B+ Australia seems to be quite good at producing heartwarming comedies, and when I went along to this one I was expecting something in the same vein as The Castle or The Dish. In the end, it felt more like a Wes Anderson production, in that it is artfully shot and could be described as Read more...

High Fidelity

Posted 1:14pm Sunday 31st July 2016 by Nita Sullivan

Rating: A- The film High Fidelity, based on British author Nick Hornby’s bestselling novel, is perhaps a good example of the way some film adaptations are not always better than their literary beginnings. Despite this, the film does an admirable job of harnessing Hornby’s humour and Read more...

Labyrinth of Lies

Posted 12:58pm Sunday 24th July 2016 by Shaun Swain

Rating: A- “I want these lies, and this silence to end.” A succinct summary of the driving motivation behind an issue almost too big for this two hour film. I say “almost” with admiration and respect for director Giulio Ricciarelli, who manages to imbue this German Read more...

The BFG

Posted 1:01pm Sunday 24th July 2016 by Alex Campbell-Hunt

Rating: C+ The BFG was my favourite childhood book by Roald Dahl, and as far as my distant memories of the book go, the movie does it justice story-wise. So why is the movie so dull? I’m really not sure, but here are some observations.  I didn’t find myself caring about either Read more...