Thoughts.
A selection of think pieces, analysis and op-eds
Better Man and Piece by Piece have revitalised the musician biopic
All of a sudden, not one but two musician biopics arrive that offer something genuinely different, freshening up a tired genre.
December 2024
What’s better: A Man on the Inside, or the film it’s based on?
I’d be amazed if one in a hundred people who’ve watched A Man on the Inside have seen the production it remakes.
November 2024
Hey Hollywood, can we take a break from hitman movies?
Knox Goes Away is the latest in an endless supply of hitman movies that insist their protagonists are special.
October 2024
Joker 2 is a box office flop. What’s next for comic book movies?
The financial failure of Joker: Folie à Deux is just the latest in a string of box office disappointments. The decline of comic book movies leaves Hollywood in a conundrum.
October 2024
Submerged is Apple Vision Pro’s first attempt to reinvent movies
Is Apple’s new short film Submerged, available on its Vision Pro headset, a vision of the future of entertainment? I dive in, weighing up the good and the bad.
October 2024
The Faceless Lady is classic haunted castle horror – told in 180 degree VR
The Eli Roth-produced horror series The Faceless Lady is strikingly different to anything else on the market—while also bogged down by an aura of same-old same-old.
May 2024
Grant Page dies aged 85: Australia’s most legendary stuntman was wild, bold and brilliant
Devilishly cheeky and highly intelligent, the Mad Max stuntman always put on a show – even when just driving you to the RSL.
March 2024
Fabulously retro, profoundly comforting: why a video store has been resurrected in Melbourne
Callum Preston’s Video Land is a full-scale simulation lined with aisles of nostalgic titles and curios. It’s one of seven installations all about joy.
March 2024
Is Australian TV in its golden era? The 2024 Aacta awards has a huge field of quality contenders
The past year has spoiled audiences with ambitious, gripping television. Some will be celebrated and plenty more will miss out.
February 2024
Richard Lewis: the Curb favourite and standup legend who never hid he was having a great time
Whether duking it out with Larry David or bringing the funnies alongside Jamie Lee Curtis, Lewis loved the banter and relished the comedy.
February 2024
From dystopian drama to heart-rending documentary: the 10 best Australian films of 2023
The punk horror of Talk to Me, the beauty of Shayda and the heartbreak of Man on Earth – it has been a cracker year.
December 2023
The 25 best blockbuster movies from the 1990s
Ah, the 90s: the era of slap bracelets, Tamagotchi, hypercolour t-shirts, and many spectacularly large and very expensive movies.
December 2023
The 50 best blockbuster movies so far this century
Here a blockbuster is defined as a movie with a production budget north of US$70 million.
November 2023
The strike against AI: what will the future of Hollywood look like?
Not long ago, just the idea of stories told by computers would’ve sounded far out.
August 2023
5 of the best action movie scenes on trains
Whenever we watch a new action scene involving a train, we witness cinema return to its origins.
July 2023
The one great thing about the Insidious movies
Part of the Further’s appeal is that, rather introducing entirely different settings, it’s a kind of double or simulacra of the physical world that shares spatial properties, repurposed into a kind of hellish half-reality.
July 2023
5 great movies that unfold in real-time
Inspired by the plane-based hostage drama Hijack, I revisit some of the greatest movies that unfold in real-time.
June 2023
Every Indiana Jones movie, ranked worst to best
With the arrival of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, the time has come to rank all five films, from worst to best.
June 2023
A review of Indiana Jones 25: the Nurse Who Stole His Back Pain Medication
I visited the year 2057 and discovered Harrison Ford is still playing the iconic archeologist.
June 2023
Strap in, because Deep Fake Neighbour Wars will lead us to an information apocalypse
It’s sad, and kind of pathetic, that one of the first narrative TV productions to integrate deepfakes as a core feature is so spectacularly not worth your time.
June 2023
Masterpieces and oddities: Cormac McCarthy’s bleak, bold and batty films
If The Road is McCarthy’s most famous novel, No Country for Old Men is the best-known and most revered adaptation of his work.
June 2023
The Spider-Verse movies propose a different language for superhero stories
Imagine how much more inventive the superhero trend might have been if the mind-boggling Spider-Verse movies had arrived earlier.
June 2023
What does Apple’s Vision Pro headset mean for the future of movies and TV?
Apple has high hopes for their new Vision Pro headset, but could its “mixed reality” tech really change the game when it comes to streaming stuff from home?
June 2023
Renfield is a rare, truly modern monster movie
Audiences from another time would’ve watched this film and thought: “what are they talking about?”
June 2023
Too real, too fake: the freaky fish and crazy dreamworld of The Little Mermaid
There is an unresolvable tension throughout the film: the desire to transform visually implausible things into photorealistic depictions.
May 2023
What can we learn from Netflix’s Queen Cleopatra controversy?
The furore over Cleopatra’s skin colour distracts us from her legacy, her achievements, her impact.
May 2023
Infinity Pool and the burgeoning genre of ‘eat the rich’ satire
What do rich bozos do for shits and giggles? This evergreen question underpins many films and TV shows that examine decadent follies of the uber-elite.
May 2023
Agent Elvis and three bizarre movie adventures featuring the King
Elvis Presley has recently reentered the zeitgeist, as the subject of two rootin’ tootin’ productions so loud and brash one almost feels nervous about watching them on a school night.
April 2023
The half-movie, half-video game Before Your Eyes uses your real blinking eyes to control the story
What if your eyes functioned like a remote controller? The strange and wonderful Before Your Eyes takes a novel approach to storytelling.
March 2023
Which is the better screenlife thriller: Searching or Missing?
Both films are compelling examples of visual storytelling, at once mundane but unusual.
March 2023
The truth goes to hell and back in MH370: The Plane That Disappeared
Netflix’s entertaining new series about the disappearance of MH370 feasts on conspiracy theories and tumbles down rabbit holes.
March 2023
Netflix horror series Red Rose cleverly explores the terror of tech-haunted teens
Combine Red Rose with corporeal tech-terror, such as Upgrade or Robocop, and you get a fusion of post-human inner and outer: the villain inside us; the villain around us.
February 2023
Remembering George T Miller: The Man from Snowy River alone is a huge contribution to Australian film
The director, who has died aged 79, was often referred to as the ‘other’ George Miller – but he should be venerated in his own right.
February 2023
Seinfeld AI parody Nothing, Forever destroys the sitcom — not that there’s anything wrong with that
An AI-generated parody Seinfeld series launches, a yada yada, the entertainment industry is never the same.
February 2023
The Whale is getting harpooned by critics — so we review 14 wildly wrong reviews
Many reviews of The Whale went beyond the pale: missing the point, misinterpreting the film, and making spurious or simply untrue observations.
February 2003
Margot Robbie in Babylon and 6 other great movie drug fiends
Margot Robbie’s unhinged amphetamine-charged energy makes or derails every one of her scenes, depending on your perspective.
February 2023
Is James Cameron brave enough to double down on Avatar’s important ecological message?
In a hyper partisan world, where these subjects are more important than ever, will James Cameron have the courage to continue the conversation?
December 2022
A love letter to Little Rodentia, Zootopia’s metropolis for small mammals
Finally, we can see more of Little Rodentia: a place I’d love to visit if I wasn’t so damn human-sized.
November 2022
5 unconventional police dramas to watch after The Stranger
Here’s five suggestions of films to watch for audiences looking for something different from a police drama.
October 2022
Forget the trashy trauma of Luckiest Girl Alive, and watch this Elisabeth Olsen movie instead
Netflix’s shrill and exploitative Luckiest Girl Alive pales in comparison to the cult recovery drama Martha Marcy May Marlene.
October 2022
Here’s the reason audiences and critics are divided over Netflix’s Dahmer series
The hugely popular Netflix series about serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer is getting very different responses from audiences and critics. Here’s why.
The underrated Samaritan begs the question: where are all the working class superheroes
Sylvester Stallone’s new movie suggests that even the poor, god forbid, can be superheroes.
September 2022
Both sides of the law: Joel Edgerton as cop and criminal on screen
From Bright to Felony to The Gift, I recap the best – and worst – cops and crims Joel Edgerton has played.
August 2022
Crimes of the Future + three more movies about eerily futuristic human bodies
The question begs: which other films showcase disturbing futuristic visions of the human body?
August 2022
‘It’s absolutely disgusting’: watching George Miller’s rarely seen first film
This short film stands apart from others in that it’s absolutely disgusting – the kind of incendiary early work one might expect from provocateurs like Lars von Trier or Harmony Korine.
August 2022
The Sandman’s duel with the devil + other great depictions of hell
It’s a little silly, although an episode of The Sandman unquestionably contains a memorable depiction of the afterlife. Where else might you go, for other depictions?
The thrillingly gory The Quarry blurs the line between video game and interactive movie
The Quarry is chocked to the gills with scary movie tropes and conventions, and offers a wildly visceral ride and a different approach to storytelling.
June 2022
How to make ‘How To Make Gravy’ into a movie
Paul Kelly’s classic Christmas tune is becoming a feature film – here are three ways it could turn out.
May 2022
From disaffected youth to self-sabotaging adults: Christos Tsiolkas’s characters on screen
‘Little Tornadoes’ is the latest stellar production involving the Australian author, whose canon is replete with nihilists and nogoodniks.
May 2022
Three great true crime productions to watch after The Staircase
The Staircase is collecting rave reviews—but there are other stunning true crime productions you should address, including three absolute bangers.
May 2022
Blaze, Lynch/Oz and Mystery Road: 10 films to see at the 2022 Sydney film festival
The festival’s first full program since 2019 includes a new fantasy from Del Kathryn Barton, an eight-part First Nations anthology, and a doco filmed in VR.
May 2022
With ‘Byron Baes’, Netflix continues a trashy race to the bottom
The streamer keeps marching into the reality TV space with this controversial Byron Bay-set series that’s heavy on vapidity and light on momentum
March 2022
Horror and humour: the best political satirists on Australian screens
From Shaun Micallef to Juice Media, here are the political satirists that will make election season bearable again.
March 2022
The 17 greatest Ozploitation movies – sorted
Down, dirty and explosively entertaining, the Ozploitation movement of the 70s and 80s produced some sensationally good films.
February 2022
From Loveland to Blueback: 10 Australian films to look out for in 2022
Hugo Weaving, Rose Byrne and Zac Efron star in some of this year’s big movie releases, with directors George Miller, Ivan Sen, Baz Luhrmann and Gracie Otto at the helm.
January 2022
From The Newsreader to Wakefield: the 10 best Australian TV shows of 2021
In a year that delivered a glut of superb homegrown drama, comedy, thrillers and documentaries to our television screens, here are the very best.
December 2022
From The Dry to My Name Is Gulpilil: the 10 best Australian films of 2021
It was a particularly strong year for documentaries, with five making this list – three of them exploring artists who have had a profound impact on Australian culture.
December 2021
Vale David Gulpilil: the inimitable actor who changed the movies
Gulpilil will live on through the light and shadow of the cinema, on to which he left a permanent and inimitable impression.
November 2021
John Farrow: the star Australian director who Hollywood forgot
A new documentary examines Mia Farrow’s father, a prolific film-maker from Marrickville with a backstory stranger than fiction.
November 2021
5 of the best TV shows inspired by Australian movies
From murder mysteries to schoolyard politics, here’s proof that TV spin-offs of beloved films aren’t always mere nostalgia-mongering.
October 2021
Life’s grim mysteries: 5 compelling Australian true crime productions
In recent years the Australian film and TV industry has produced several pedigree true crime films and shows.
September 2021
From Captain Invincible to Cleverman: the weird and wild history of Australian superheroes
They’re big business…in Hollywood. But did you know Australia also has a small but rich seam of compelling and bizarre superhero movies?
August 2021
Charlie Chaplin films are returning to cinemas – the perfect tonic for today
Re-released across two seasons for Australian and New Zealand audiences, Chaplin’s elegant crowdpleasers will rescue you from chaotic times.
July 2021
‘Irresistibly funny’: the 20 best shows to binge right now
Suffering through lockdown? Or just in the mood for a laugh? My editors and I compile a list of thoroughly bingeabe TV shows.
July 2021
‘Black Widow’: what kind of movie can we expect from director Cate Shortland?
The Aussie filmmaker loves colour and female characters that grapple with the patriarchy – elements she’ll hopefully bring to her MCU debut.
July 2021
Monsters Inc. is the Pixar franchise you never knew was a metaphor about climate change
While watching the Monsters Inc. spin-off series Monsters at Work, I suddenly realised what this franchise is really about.
June 2021
From BMX Bandits to The Secret Life of Us: 11 Australian classics new to Netflix
The latest isn’t always the greatest; these homegrown films and TV shows recently added to Netflix are all magnificent in one way or another.
June 2021
The 10 best Australian films and TV shows of 2021 – so far
COVID has scrambled cinema schedules some – but TV is going gangbusters. Here’s the best Aussie releases on the big and small screens so far this year.
June 2021
A complete guide to the twisted, crime-filled universe of Jack Irish
If you’ve never dived into the Jack Irish universe before, this nifty spoiler-free guide – written in the middle of the night in a scuzzy Melbourne laneway, as Irish would want – will bring you up to speed.
June 2021
From Melbourne beers to gun-wielding baddies: what will Jack Irish face in his final hurrah?
Has there ever been a gumshoe who looks as good in a cardigan as Guy Pearce in Jack Irish?
June 2021
The Mad Max films depict a world increasingly degraded. Furiosa will be far from comforting
As the gap closes between George Miller’s imagined dystopia and the real world wracked by climate crisis, the Mad Max films have never been more important.
May 2021
These ABC comedy shows are grappling with the cesspit of modern existence
Fisk, After Taste and Why Are You Like This explore our hyper-divisive modern era – from identity politics to allyship and ‘cancel culture’.
April 2021
Oscars 2021: where to watch the best picture nominees in Australia (and if you should)
Here’s my guide to every Best Picture Oscar nominee from 2021, ranked from worst to best.
April 2021
Why ‘Mad Max’ and ‘Bush Mechanics’ are the two greatest depictions of Australian car culture
An examination of how the two onscreen productions have helped shape our attitudes toward automobiles.
March 2021
Avengers directors the Russo brothers made the latest Fortnite intro – should we care?
The latest production from Anthony and Joe Russo—directors of Avengers: Endgame—is a cinematic video for the blockbuster game Fortnite.
March 2021
Australia in Colour: recolourised film ushers into existence a new kind of fiction
As the new series of SBS’s film revitalisation project airs, I consider the consequences of this trend in film-making.
March 2021
Best new streaming titles arriving in March
This month’s column includes my favourite 21st century film and a hellishly intense Australian documentary.
March 2021
How Zack Snyder can turn the Justice League #SnyderCut into a visually brilliant production
I embark on a crash-course in movie history to explain how this unusual project has an opportunity to become a game-changing production.
February 2021
5 classic Australian TV shows that should be rebooted
Imagine 21st century versions of ‘Round the Twist’ and ‘Don’t Forget Your Toothbrush’. Here are the Aussie series deep-pocketed streamers should revive next.
February 2021
A portal into other worlds: Melbourne’s Acmi reopens after $40m overhaul
From virtual reality and optical illusions to home videos projected into your palm, the reinvented Australian Centre for the Moving Image celebrates old and new.
February 2021
The best films of 2020
Countless words have been written about the dumpster fire of 2020, which has been a terrible year for cinemas—but a good one for movies.
December 2020
From Nitram to Penguin Bloom: Australian films to look out for in 2021
Jane Campion, Larissa Behrendt and Baz Luhrmann helm some of 2021’s big releases, with stars including Zac Efron, Naomi Watts and Elisabeth Moss
December 2020
From Mystery Road to The Secrets She Keeps: the 10 best Australian TV shows of 2020
The Australian television industry produced various notable productions throughout this unusual and uncomfortable year; here are the 10 best.
December 2020
From Relic to The Invisible Man: the best Australian films of 2020
The Australian film industry is more practised at being resilient than Hollywood, with homegrown productions battling for audiences at the best of times.
December 2020
Mad Max’s Hugh Keays-Byrne was an actor of visceral, wall-rattling force and underrated talent
A tribute to the actor who played Toecutter and Immortan Joe.
Richard Lowenstein: filmmaker, documentarian and connoisseur of shared house living
A look at the 61-year-old filmmaker’s hopefully far-from-finished career that spans feature films, documentaries and music videos.
November 2020
The most exciting Star Wars production in years isn’t a movie or a TV show
There is a core paradox to space simulators that is also a core paradox of virtual reality: that of constant movement—the feeling of being able to go anywhere—contrasted with the immobile state of the real-life participant.
November 2020
The 25 best action movies on Prime Video
From assassins to adventurers, superheroes, cops, spies and more—here are the 25 best action movies on Prime Video.
October 2020
How algorithms can help us understand films
I used special algorithms to examine the use of colour in Mad Max, Star Wars and more.
October 2020
From Dogs in Space to The Castle: exploring locked-down Melbourne through film
Which film best represents Melbourne in its current state? I pondered this one evening recently during what felt like the millionth week in lockdown…
September 2020
Every Peter Weir film, ranked in order of greatness
Has any Australian in history directed more great films than Peter Weir?
September 2020
Why does David Attenborough avoid the words ‘climate change’ in A Life On Our Planet?
Is this simply a matter of semantics—of potato versus potarto—or is there something else going on?
September 2020
Australia’s supernatural TV craze: the good, the bad and the great
Hungry Ghosts joins a recent trend of homegrown supernatural TV series, produced in the last handful of years by various local platforms and broadcasters.
August 2020
The 10 best movies so far in 2020
It feels morbidly appropriate that the best films released so far this year are a dark bunch.
July 2020
The best 25 comedy movies on Netflix Australia
Want something funny to watch? Here are my picks for best comedies.
June 2020
Was the 1920s the greatest decade in cinema history?
The era that began 100 years ago brought more change and produced more influential films than any other.
June 2020
A love letter to the cinema: it’s all about the energy in the room
The closure of cinemas across the nation has proven what we already knew: that home streaming can never replace going to the movies
April 2020
Wallace and Gromit and Shaun the Sheep: why I reach for them in dark times
Full of visual wit and narrative ingenuity, the tactile warmth and joie de vivre of these Aardman animations is soul-invigorating
April 2020
Top 50 action movies to stream on Netflix, Stan and Amazon Prime
To qualify for this list, the titles in question must first have been categorized as “action” by the respective platforms. Secondly, I needed to agree with their definition.
April 2020
Top 50 comedy movies to stream on Netflix, Stan and Amazon Prime
We all need a good laugh right now, that’s for sure. This list will keep you going for a while – running the gamut from good films to great ones/
March 2020
Revisiting two of Studio Ghibli’s great – and most overlooked – films
I revisit two of Ghibli’s lesser known efforts – Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind and Pom Poko – and finds them highly relevant to the present era.
January 2020
Cats, Sonic, Star Wars and the wild new era of the ‘never finished’ film
We are seeing a growing trend of films that are never “finished” – a trend that has alarming implications for the future of movie watching.
December 2019
Portrait of a Lady on Fire v Little Women: one is great, the other ain’t
These films have much in common, but their differences are more telling than their similarities.
December 2019
When our planet is under attack we have to stand up and fight back
What is crazier: dancing on a bridge to build political will for action on climate change, or continuing as if nothing is wrong?
September 2019
What Netflix’s magnificent The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance is really about
This magnificent show is powerful political statement about how human beings should respond to the climate crisis.
August 2019
Why The Wizard of Oz should be remade – and exactly how it should be done
What sort of maniac would suggest that The Wizard of Oz, one of the most influential movies of all time, should be remade? Hear me out.
July 2019
Richard Carter, ‘absolutely unforgettable’ great Australian character actor, dies
Carter was one of those actors whose name might not be instantly recognisable to the general public, but whose face certainly was.
July 2019
Sydney film festival 2019: 10 things to see and do
From Bill Murray battling the dead to Breaking Bad’s RJ Mitte talking about authenticity on screen, here’s our pick from this year’s program
May 2019
Now you’ve seen the Joker trailer, here’s the crazy film that inspired this iconic villain
Did you know the character of the Joker was inspired by a trippy 1928 German film called The Man Who Laughs?
April 2019
The politics of Netflix’s Bonnie and Clyde-hating police drama The Highwaymen
Netflix’s new period drama The Highwaymen applies conservative politics to the legend of Bonnie and Clyde, reframing it as a story about triumphant law enforcers. The film is ideologically interesting but also problematic.
April 2019
The Rock’s most under-appreciated movies
There’s lots of crap on his resume, though I dare say that not all the maulings have been entirely deserved.
March 2019
Hugh Jackman’s appearance on 7:30 highlights the problems of starry-eyed cultural journalism
I find it astonishing that a show like 7:30 can be so diligent in covering politics and so starry-eyed in covering culture.
March 2019
Steven Spielberg’s dumb crusade against Netflix is an insult to filmmaking
The veteran filmmaker has positioned himself as an enemy of Netflix, arguing that films made for streaming platforms should not be eligible for Academy Awards. He should know better.
March 2019
The wonderful VR film Lucid sends viewers tumbling through the dreamscape of an old lady’s imagination
Nothing to see here: just a stunning film that sends viewers into an ageing lady’s imagination and allows them to physically move through her world.
February 2019
The Clock comes to Melbourne: what the 24-hour concept film can do to your brain
The world’s most popular piece of concept art, by Christian Marclay, inspires thoughts of cities, community and death.
February 2018
From Stan & Ollie to Chaplin and Lenny: memorable films about legendary comedians
Stan & Ollie explores the late-career lives of the legendary comedy duo Laurel and Hardy. Here’s my reflections on the memorable approach taken by this film, and four others also about famous laugh-makers.
February 2019
From Miss Fisher to SeaChange: 10 Australian TV shows to look out for in 2019
From next gen Miss Fisher to the return of SeaChange and the induction of Rachel Griffiths as PM – here are 10 picks for Australian TV shows to look out for in 2019
February 2019
Fortnite Summer Smash: video game phenomenon takes on the Australian Open
A few hours before Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal’s Australian Open final last Sunday, a very different game is under way at Margaret Court arena.
January 2018
From Storm Boy to Breath: the 10 best Australian beach films
Australian beach films have celebrated everything from life, love and freedom to the flesh-piercing dangers of renegade umbrellas
January 2018
Huzzah! Two thrilling and intensely thoughtful superhero movies in cinemas at the same time
It’s not every week, every month or even every year that two super smart superhero movies play in cinemas at the same time. Tow a bow, Glass and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
January 2018
The best films of 2018
What a year! A lot of dreck arrived in cinemas in 2018, but the purpose of this article is to celebrate excellent achievements – and there were plenty to choose from.
December 2018
Every Netflix original film from 2018 reviewed
My decision to watch and review every Netflix original film released in 2018 was something I often came to view with intense regret. There was simply no getting around the Herculean task at hand.
December 2018
The 10 best Australian TV shows of 2018: a picnic, rush hour and outback noir
The public broadcasters dominate again, in a great year for the telling of marginalised stories.
December 2018
The 10 best Australian films of 2018: zombies and swingers and ghosts, oh my!
Bold and distinctive voices put forward uncompromising visions spanning many genres.
December 2018
Why Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse belongs to one of modern cinema’s most exciting movements
The sensational new Spider-Man movie is part of a hugely exciting movement in modern cinema – which has nothing to do with the superhero genre.
December 2018
Welcome to the jungle: experiencing the Amazon in psychedelic virtual reality
VR artist Lynette Wallworth returns with a film that brings the transcendental experience of Brazil’s Yawanawá people to life in vivid colour.
November 2018
Why Michael Moore is no longer an earth-rattling political force to be reckoned with
November 2018
A cinematic analysis of Red Dead Redemption 2, the blockbuster game deeply connected to film history
November 2018
I watched all four A Star is Born movies in a single day then dreamt about David Lynch
October 2018
I watched all four A Star is Born movies in a single day then dreamt about David Lynch
You could say the story has cultural longevity, or you could say each version of it evaporates from the popular consciousness.
October 2018
If you like Kidding, it’s time to experience the criminally underappreciated Death to Smoochy
This devilishly sharp and squirrely film – about good principals, bad decisions, the fickle nature of fame and commercial exploitation of children – has left virtually no cultural footprint. Why?
September 2018
Rediscovering The Crow director Alex Proyas’s dazzling ‘lost’ debut film
Spirits of the Air, Gremlins of the Clouds is a visually stunning reminder of Proyas’s fascinating early creative vision.
September 2018
I watched Nicolas Cage movies for 14 hours straight, and I’m sold
What kind of masochists would attend an all-night Nicolas Cage movie marathon? What kind of sadists would program seven of his films in a row?
August 2018
Has Barry Humphries morphed into one of his feral characters, or was he always feral?
The days when it is acceptable for a comedian to perform witless and morally objectionable material under the guise of being ‘in character’ are over.
July 2018
Eight things you probably don’t know about Mad Max: Fury Road
From an ending originally like Thelma and Louise to a character modelled off Alfred Hitchcock, here are eight things I reckon you don’t know about Mad Max: Fury Road.
July 2018
The Pure Necessity removes all humans from The Jungle Book – and it’s one of the strangest animated movies ever
One of the strangest animated movies ever made, in part because of its mind-bending ordinariness, and in part because it transforms a well-known property into something both extraordinary and unimaginative.
June 2018
Why Joaquin Phoenix is the greatest actor of his generation
The 43-year-old, Puerto Rico-born actor’s intensely focused and gravitas-oozing presence is unparalleled in contemporary American cinema.
May 2018
The Picnic at Hanging Rock TV series: six exquisite shots
Editors Anne Carter and Geoff Hitchins whip these images together in an often fast-paced and frenetic style. I decided to slow down the tempo, literally pausing the series to examine six great shots – one from each episode.
May 2018
I went to a Mamma Mia! Sing-Along screening. The audience were great, but the film was torture
Why had I put myself through this? The short answer is that I strongly believe a critic’s job is not just to pursue their own tastes, but to at least attempt to encapsulate the breadth of the cinematic experience.
May 2018
Sydney film festival 2018: top 10 picks to see this year
It’s that time of the year again for Sydney cinephiles: when memories of summer begin to fade and the idea of gorging on local and international cinema grows ever more appealing.
May 2018
Is Richard Linklater one of the best American film directors?
Is Linklater a believer that technique never trumps conviction? That philosophy seems to drive many of his films including the sublime Boyhood,
May 2018
Is comedy dying or have audiences got smarter?
We now expect comics to not just be funny, but also intelligent and ideologically sound. That is a mark of progress, not an indication of a reduced capacity to laugh at ourselves or each other.
May 2018
James Cameron and the economic catch-22 that has a sci-fi in a blockbusting stranglehold
When James Cameron condemns Hollywood for making too many sequels…Well, James, you know there are other stories to tell besides ones about lanky blue aliens running around in a forest, right?
May 2018
I watched a dodgy Nicolas Cage movie in virtual reality and this is what happened. Spoiler alert: it got weird
I am willing to bet you have not seen Nicolas Cage as I now have: on three gigantic, building-sized wide screens, stacked next to each other, simultaneously projecting scenes from his latest B movie
April 2018
Do I like Deadpool, or do I hate it with the fire of a thousand burning suns?
Deadpool is nowhere near as smart as it thinks it is; Miller mistakes attitude for intelligence. And yet the director audaciously fuses the personality of his protagonist with the movie’s form and structure.
April 2018
We need to talk about spoilers
The fleeting buzz received from plot reveals is too often, and too greatly prioritised over the long-lasting satisfaction gleaned from a great story well told.
April 2018
Five gobsmacking virtual reality films every movie buff should watch
It’s an exciting world out there, built, at least in part, on the language of the cinema.
April 2018
Lawrence Mooney’s bizarrely good Unofficial Malcolm Turnbull web series goes beyond political impersonation
The premise of Unofficial Malcolm Turnbull is that we are watching videos of an unhinged man, saying what he wants to say, and damned be the consequences.
April 2018
Ready Player One, Terrior Nullius, and the question of digital copyright laws in a virtual future
The future of pirating films might not be watching them; it might be experiencing them. The copyright lawyers of tomorrow have a nightmare on their hands.
March 2018
Why people of every age and gender should watch A Field Guide to Being a 12-Year-Old-Girl
A film as visually well crafted as this (which are rare, sadly) look simple at first blush, but are beautifully disciplined and innovative.
February 2018
The strange case of Peter Rabbit and the misguided fury over ‘allergy bullying’
You could argue this film sends a positive message: about cautiousness and self-care.
February 2018
Move over Wonder Woman, Black Panther has something to say
‘Death was better than bondage’ is one hell of a line to put in a movie that cost somewhere in the vicinity of $150 million.
February 2018
Are Hollywood movies becoming morbidly obese? Why ‘longer’ does not mean ‘better’
Just as America is the fattest nation on earth, it also manufactures an extraordinary amount of cinematic obesity.
February 2018
With Godless and Sweet Country, the western is alive and bristling with energy
Where the land used to feel clean, beautiful and ripe with possibility, in the new western the landscape is rotten.
January 2018
Crocodile Dundee was sexist, racist and homophobic. Let’s not bring that back
With a teaser trailer starring Danny McBride doing the rounds, here’s hoping any reboot would be nothing like the original.
January 2018
Dev Patel, Eddie Izzard and the director of The Babadook: 10 Australian films to watch in 2018
From Hotel Mumbai, which stars Patel, to Jennifer Kent’s next film, 2018 is looking good for Australian cinema
January 2018
10 new Australian TV shows to watch in 2018
From the return of Picnic at Hanging Rock to a Mystery Road spin-off, I pick 10 Australian TV shows to watch in 2018.
January 2018
The best reviewed scary movies of 2017: which ones lived up to the hype?
I put ten of the year’s best-reviewed scary movies to the test, finding a handful from each camp: five titles that live up to the hype and five that do not.
December 2017
The 10 best Australian TV shows of 2017
From exploring the experiences of minority groups, to Indigenous documentaries, Australian television was a joy to watch in 2017.
December 2017
From Mountain’s majesty to Lion’s roar: the best Australian films of 2017
Film-makers released a bunch of squeamishly effective scary movies in a year that was revitalised by first-timers.
December 2017
Blockbusters of 2017: the best and worst, and what they meant for cinema
I’ve compiled my thoughts on the best and worst of this year’s biggest movies, grouping them into the themes and messages I most remember them for.
December 2017
Going Full Mendo: the five greatest Ben Mendelsohn performances
It feels like Mendo’s transformation from a squeamishly good character actor, best-known for playing an assortment of creepy criminals, to an eating-puppies-for-breakfast uber villain has been gradual. Then, POW!
December 2017
Aactas 2017: do Australia’s biggest screen awards have a problem with populism?
There were notable snubs again this year and the most popular movie always wins. Still, quibbles aside, Lion is a great film.
December 2017
In the wake of Milo Yiannopoulos’ tour, do we really need another Romper Stomper?
Stan’s new series is coming whether we like it or not. But who really wants to watch a show told from the perspective of neo-Nazis and violent alt-righters?
December 2017
My strange and surreal encounter with Tommy Wiseau, creator of The Room
I had no idea what he was talking about, and increasingly felt that he had no idea what I was talking about either. Wiseau was infuriatingly elusive and the whole thing came and went like a very strange dream.
December 2017
Beyond weird and beyond creepy: why is Mel Gibson in Daddy’s Home 2?
What the hell is Mel Gibson doing in this movie? That is a question surely bouncing around the mind of anybody who has been assaulted by the trailer for Daddy’s Home 2, which is anybody who has watched the trailer for Daddy’s Home 2.
November 2017
Happy 30th bday, Predator: you kicked arse in the 80s – and you’re even better now
The elements that make Predator not only a roaring piece of entertainment, but a great work of art, have become more pronounced with time.
November 2017
From Mick Jagger to Heath Ledger: Australia’s bungled quest to make a great Ned Kelly film
With Justin Kurzel’s new movie in the works, will Australia’s favourite villain finally get the film treatment he deserves?
November 2017
Dear Hollywood: Jigsaw reminds us why we need more Final Destination movies
Black comedy – the blackest of black – notwithstanding, there is something genuinely unsettling at the core of the Final Destination films: the idea, or even the knowledge, that virtually anything can kill us at virtually any time.
November 2017
Five outrageous Australian sex comedies that paved the way for Swinging Safari
To celebrate the first look at Guy Pearce and Kylie Minogue’s new 70s-style comedy, here are some of the raunchy romps that made it possible.
November 2017
I went to see My Little Pony: The Movie and it nearly killed me
I resolve to follow my original plan: to go under the radar. Incognito. This will involve slinking into the cinema and sitting towards the back, preferably somewhere bathed in shadows.
November 2017
Warfare, wormholes and cosmic biceps – my day on the set of Thor: Ragnarok
Marvel’s offbeat blockbuster was forged in a giant multicoloured playground on Australia’s Gold Coast. We visited Chris Hemsworth and Cate Blanchett to talk workout routines and everyday heroism.
October 2017
Are Australian high schools bastardising Blade Runner?
The mongrel teachers who box in this discussion by insisting that Deckard is X and Batty is Y have disserviced a text with real philosophical backbone.
October 2017
Why aren’t we talking about The Queen and Zak Grieve?
It is a deeply compelling and at times superbly made true-crime series, available online ahead of a chunkier, stitched-together, 90-minute version to be screened on Foxtel later this month.
September 2017
Can virtual reality save the movie industry?
Bonnie and Clyde reshaped the movie industry. Fifty years later, we might be on the cusp of another revolution.
August 2017
You Are Here: are we overlooking Australia’s most vital documentary series in years?
Highly entertaining, unpretentious and hugely important, You Are Here is the kind of high-calibre television that deserves a much wider audience
August 2017
It’s time to scrap Australian Story
A news program without a meaningful perspective or ideology. Or, worse, an ideology that bends every week according to its subjects.
August 2017
Romper Stomper remake: a modern-day series about extremism? Exciting but problematic
In the forthcoming Stan series, the enemy of the far right has switched from Asian immigrants to Muslim Australia. But does the story have the moral nuance it needs to handle that?
August 2017
Melbourne international film festival 2017: 10 screenings not to miss
From magical Australian dramas to an overnight sci-fi marathon – here are 10 highlights from this year’s program.
July 2017
From The Katering Show to Fighting Isis: eight of the best Australian web series
The internet is teeming with video content and time is short, so which web series are most worth the effort? Here are my picks/
What Netflix’s controversial new show means for the future of Australian television
Perhaps we can be inspired by the show’s message about the importance of talking through things and tackling difficult issues head on.
July 2017
The Red Pill: I watched it, so you don’t have to
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I watched it, so you don’t have to.
June 2017
There’s only one option left for House of Cards: the end of the world
Most troubling of all for the House of Cards crew, Frank Underwood is now, quite simply, a more appealing choice of President than Donald Trump.
June 2017
David Lynch and Twin Peaks: everything has meaning and nothing has meaning
The big question is not whether David Lynch will gratify us with madness, but whether he will surprise us with sanity.
May 2017
David Stratton, before the crisis in arts journalism
If documentaries about Australian artists are rare – or rare-ish – documentaries about Australian arts critics are practically unheard of.
May 2017
What ‘Get Out’ says about the media echo chamber
Read through the oodles of fawning critiques and you will find a seemingly endless array of almost entirely white people reiterating the same points.
May 2017
The Pepsi ad: offensive and odious, but kind of perfect
Pepsi’s world is like our world: nothing is off-limits, everything is upside-down and traditional rules are breaking down.
April 2017
The evils of Rotten Tomatoes and the supposed death of film criticism
Film criticism is still a real art. Even if that art is rarely realised to anything near its full potential.
March 2017
The envelope wasn’t the only problem at the Oscars
In a politicised competition such as the Oscars, grubby political tactics come into play.
February 2017
Australians win Oscar for sound on Hacksaw Ridge in year that was already vintage
With Australia receiving a record 14 Academy Award nominations, 2017 was always going to be a special year at the Oscars.
February 2017
Oscars 2017: Tanna and Lion bring heart to Hollywood in landmark year for Australian film
After Mad Max: Fury Road smoked the 2016 Oscars, Australia has much to celebrate with this year’s contenders
February 2017
Midnight Oil may be coming back, but the power and the passion was sacrificed long ago
Peter Garrett’s evolution from long-term activist to politically expedient pragmatist is – or should have been – a one-way street.
February 2017
Tropfest saved itself financially, but can the film festival save its soul?
The world’s largest short film festival has a new lease on life, but will it learn from past mistakes?
February 2017
Bad people making good art: on Mel Gibson’s Hollywood redemption
Audiences often hold onto a flaky assumption that good people tend to make good art and bad people tend make bad art. And that consuming art morally improves us.
February 2017
Ozflix and chill: do we really need a streaming platform just for Australian films?
The world’s first streaming provider dedicated to Australian movies launched this week with commendable but questionable ambition
January 2017
Kylie Minogue and Guy Pearce reunite – and nine other Australian films to watch in 2017
From a Babadook follow-up, to documentaries about Michael Hutchence and JonBenét Ramsey, here are Australian films to look forward to.
January 2017
The best Australian films of 2016
There was much to like about Australian cinema in 2016, including a particularly strong lineup of documentaries.
December 2016
What does Ang Lee’s new film mean for the evolution of movie frame rates?
Now is a good time to take stock on how frame rates came into existence, what they mean for viewers and why big-time directors such as Lee seem intent to keep messing with the formula.
November 2016
Robin Williams, SMH’s appalling op-ed and ABC’s new suicide prevention TV show
After reading the essay I was reminded of an op-ed published by the Sydney Morning Herald soon after Williams’ death. I don’t know how to describe it without using words like “appalling”.
October 2016
Jumanji reboot accused of sexism, but the original holds up just fine
It was under-appreciated back in the day and time has been kind to it. Even the special effects still look pretty good.
September 2016
Why Mulholland Drive is the greatest film since 2000
Mulholland Drive is a brilliant commentary on Hollywood’s machinations, at least partly informed by its own woes
August 2016
John Howard’s lip-smacking debut as ABC presenter in Howard on Menzies: Building Modern Australia
Howard and his old adversary Kerry O’Brien finally brothers at arms, on the payroll as on-screen talent for Auntie.
August 2016
10 things to see at the 2016 Melbourne International Film Festival
Longtime devotees of the festival feel a mixture of nostalgia and horror when recalling the now-closed Greater Union complex on Russell Street, where before 2014 they congregated every year to sit on back-breaking seats.
July 2016
Why Labyrinth is so memorable
While the film was a commercial disappointment when it was first released, it has for decades remained a popular title on the bill at repertory cinemas around the world.
June 2016
TV’s death has not been exaggerated: The Briefcase, Channel 9 and a night of television apocalypse
Folk in TV land are very much cognisant that there are two big concurrent movements in television these days: the Golden Age of TV, which showcases some of the very best, and the scourge of reality TV, pimping out the very worst.
June 2016
Vale Paul Cox
Friends speak about the passion, big heart and hatred of injustice of the ‘father of independent cinema’.
June 2016
Three must-see WTF documentaries at the Sydney Film Festival
This year the festival sports a particularly healthy quota of fascinating WTF non-fiction films.
Dreamtime, dust masks and tons of fake hair: the making of Cleverman
With its futuristic set, 80% Indigenous cast and mythical hirsute characters, the new Australian TV series is infused with obvious allegories about xenophobia
Searing documentaries steal the show as Australian cinema rides a new wave
From Chasing Asylum to Sherpa, a new class of rabble-rousing, boredom-detonating Australian documentaries is buzzing with a sense of urgency.
Midnight Special and the wonderful, under-appreciated art of Jeff Nichols
Nichols is easily one of the most interesting filmmakers to have come out of America in the last decade; if the quality of his output continues he will likely rank among the best of his generation.
The Port Arthur movie: before the cameras start rolling, is it already gratuitous?
The fact a word like “clickbait” can so easily be used in the context of a project contemplating one of the darkest events in Australia’s recent past demonstrates that something has already gone very wrong.
April 2016
Straight to the pool room: top 10 films about the Australian dream
The housing market may not sound like the most stimulating territory for a story, but it has been the basis of some of Australia’s greatest films.
April 2016
Scorsese and the four elements of visual literary
Martin Scorsese is passionate about visual literacy, and has a masterful understanding of it.
April 2016
Johnny Depp and Amber Heard’s biosecurity thriller ends in lo-fi hostage video
What began as a tense international relations drama/dog movie fuelled by breakthrough performances from Pistol and Boo leaves the audience searching for answers.
April 2016
Smart phone, dumb people: Turn it off at the cinema
If you’re at the cinema and you use your phone, you deserve to have it taken off you and smashed into small pieces.
April 2016
Newsfront and beyond: Bob Ellis’s enduring impact on Australian theatre and film
Bob Ellis was one of Australia’s greatest curmudgeons – but he should also be celebrated as a screenwriter, playwright, director and, yes, a critic.
April 2016
What happened when I tried out vTime, the world’s first virtual reality social media network
I’m sitting on a large rock in a camping area, next to a fire, talking to two people I’ve never met before.
April 2016
‘The Screening Room’ throws down challenge to cinema
Describing Sean Parker as a futurist might be pushing it, but, like Napster, the underlining concept of The Screening Room is sound even if the market might not be ready for it.
March 2016
In defence of Grimsby: despite the elephant semen, Sacha Baron Cohen’s gross-out has a great message for kids
Not just a good message for young audiences coaxed into the cinema by the lure of lowbrow spectacle, but a great one: go to school and study hard and you can become as cool as James Bond.
March 2016
10 best Australian films made by first-time directors
Australian cinema is littered with examples of directors who launched their feature film careers with a hell of a bang.
March 2016
Mad Max: Fury Road’s massive Oscars win is a huge moment for Australian cinema
George Miller extraordinary action movie, which swept up the technical awards at the Oscars, is a reminder that Australians make great badass genre movies.
February 2016
#OscarsSoWhite is only the half of it: The amazing persistence of Hollywood whitewashing
For as long as Hollywood is dominated by white faces, the whitewashing will continue. And that will be a very long time indeed.
February 2016
The lasting legacy of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the film’s original release. In the five decades that have followed, it has had a huge impact on cinema and popular culture.
February 2016
Hollywood’s diversity problem: #OscarsSoWhite is just the tip of the iceberg
If audiences decide to vote with their feet and support more films made by and starring non-white people, they could potentially speak to Hollywood powerbrokers using the only language they care about: money.
January 2016
Hollywood in 2015: the nostalgia business model awakens
The biggest film successes of the year were all franchise moves in long-running series that exploited our fond memories of the originals better than ever. And we can expect much more of this to come.
December 2015
The 10 best Australian films of 2015
Long after the box office numbers have been forgotten the films themselves will be remembered.
December 2015
Top 10 films of 2015
December is a time for Christmas parties, splurging on presents, tolerating relatives and – for movie lovers – onslaughts of ‘best of the year’ lists.
December 2015
Dallas Buyers Club: is this the victory for film pirates we think it is?
Perhaps powerful lobby groups who have the ear of politicians can now say, “See, the courts don’t help us. We need the internet filter.
December 2015
New Screen Australia budget cuts: how the government’s deal with Hollywood treated us like mugs
Screen Australia has been stripped of $51.5 million since the last federal budget and its revenue from the government will continue to fall in years ahead.
December 2015
George Miller’s Mad Max triumphs at Aactas – but where’s the Baz-style ovation?
Miller is a superior film-maker to Luhrmann, just less experienced in the acquisition and distribution of industrial-sized quantities of glitter.
December 2015
How Disney’s freaky ‘FaceDirector’ technology could be a game-changer for actors
Disney’s experiments are getting kind of creepy, and it’s easy to imagine a future where acting will never quite be the same.
December 2015
Australian cinema’s lost wave: the renaissance nobody’s noticed
Since 2005, the Australian film industry has been making movies up there with any period in its history including the New Wave of the 70s and 80s. And nobody has noticed.
October 2015
The sad decline of Robert DeNiro, from an acting great to a walking punchline
The quality of the once great performer’s work has taken such a long and extraordinary dive southwards his career now very likely marks the steepest and saddest creative decline of any actor in Hollywood history.
October 2015
The Principal makes Dangerous Minds look like Kindergarten Cop
The Principal shifts into crime mystery/drama, a sort of upper crust CSI-into-the-classroom where suspects are gradually scrutinised and the plot begins to snake, curl and recalibrate.
October 2015
Scream the TV has arrived, and it’s a scathing commentary on social media
The writers have repurposed the slasher format as a vehicle for a bitterly cynical message about cyber bullying and addiction to online platforms and social media.
October 2015
Rick and Morty: finally, a TV show worthy of Douglas Adams
Finally, we have a television show worthy of the status as a spiritual companion piece to Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
September 2015
Everest: the mountaineering blockbuster that continues Hollywood’s shameful tradition of ignoring Sherpa people
The script emphasises the dangers, but fails to underscore that with a truly treacherous aesthetic environment. It also, of course, fails to recognise the Sherpa people in any remotely substantial way.
September 2015
Straight Outta Compton: the blockbuster racial relations movie where the boyz left the hood
Where Straight Outta Compton is slick and broad — a wide-spanning story with an upbeat tone — Boyz n the Hood is close-knit and emotionally detailed.
September 2015
Is Australia heading for its own ‘Golden Age’ of TV?
Australia hasn’t yet reached the “Golden Age” of quality TV like America has, but the uptake of video-on-demand services and willingness of these services to produce local content could be changing that.
September 2015
The Best Classic American Movies by Australian Directors
Over the years several Australian filmmakers have made bona fide classic American movies, the kind of pedigree pictures embraced by audiences and critics and remembered for decades.
September 2015
Wes Craven: professional scaremonger who rewrote his own horror rules
Craven was an innovator who feasted on breaking down barriers – between modern and postmodern, reality and dreamscapes, audience expectations and comfort zones.
August 2015
Dressing Hollywood: the costumes and films of Orry-Kelly
The Kiama-born expat migrated to Hollywood in the early 1930s and came to be regarded as one of the greatest costume designers of all time.
August 2015
The 10 weirdest superhero films
Hollywood’s superhero obsession has recently spawned some quirky comic-book adaptations, such as Ant-Man – but these are not the strangest in the genre.
August 2015
Freakish tie or divine intervention? Analysing this year’s AACTA results
If there is a lesson to be learnt from the 2015 AACTA hullaballoo, perhaps it is simply to take every announcement from an awards ceremony with a grain of salt.
August 2015
From Barry McKenzie to Priscilla: the evolution of the Aussie comedy hero
From ocker blokes to a dunny attendant via drag queens and an endearing dork, the zany characters in Australian films reflect evolving notions of national identity.
August 2015
Desperately seeking distribution: new Aussie hit thriller not available at home
Despite being one of the most striking examples of shoestring film-making the local industry has produced in recent years, The Suicide Theory was knocked back from both the Sydney Film Festival and the Melbourne International Film Festival.
July 2015
Let’s fight harder to keep first-time Australian film-makers at home
With talents like Snowtown’s Justin Kurzel and The Babadook’s Jennifer Kent getting snapped up overseas, the Australian film industry needs to find ways for debut film-makers to grow and improve at home.
July 2015
A film industry forever in growing pains: why Australian teen movies have been given short shrift
It is hard to disagree that the film industry could – and should – be giving the teen demographic more locally-made cinema content.
July 2015
Depression and anthropomorphised animals: why Bojack Horsman is one of the best shows on television
BoJack is one of the best things on television at the moment; a modern classic that fuses the story of a fading celebrity schlep with scathing satire of the American entertainment industry.
July 2015
Hollywood’s Australian invasion
A new wave of Aussie film-makers has swept Hollywood – but while they have found success abroad, many of their films were unappreciated at home.
July 2015
Netflix ups the ante in the battle against cinemas, and it’s good news for film buffs
The key word in this discussion — “choice” — strikes fear in the heart of exhibitor chains desperately trying to buck an inevitable trend towards what-you-want when-you-want-it cinema.
July 2015
Game of Thrones: smut has gone mainstream like never before, and political allegory isn’t far behind
No television program in history has exposed more audiences to more extreme visions — kinky and disgusting, with more of the latter than the former — than HBO’s Game of Thrones.
June 2015
The Adventures of Priscilla – five things you didn’t know about the Aussie hit
In 1993, a low-budget feature film crew drove from Sydney to Alice Springs with a truck full of sensational costumes and a pink and lavender bus now considered a fixture of Australian cinema.
June 2015
Binge watching, TV hype and the ABC’s Glitch experiment
Cross-platform strategies require cross-platform thinking and audience expectations change according to the medium. Like the show itself, the Glitch experiment will be a curious one to watch.
June 2015
Russell Brand in doco form: let’s hope this revolution doesn’t catch on
Dressing a serious film with a colourful presenter who has little to no credentials in the subject they are talking about undermines the messages at the heart of it.
June 2015
Hollywood, racism and why being white means you have to play white
Over the years an actor’s scope to play whoever they want has contracted, not expanded, and for good reason: being an actor does not grant anybody a free pass to fly in the face of cultural sensitivities.
June 2015
10 Australian films that shook the world
The Australian film industry has always battled for eyeballs in a market saturated with foreign content – but to say it has pulled off some coups along the way is something of an understatement.
June 2015
How an awful ‘new’ Adam West movie reminds of the internet’s potential for surprises
Fans of retro schlock horror movies have been dealt an unexpected treat with the sudden release online of a “new” B-grade horror movie starring Corey Feldman and Adam West.
May 2015
Australian film gender imbalance: shock statistics reveal what’s old is new again
Entrenched sexism in the entertainment business is not something we can relegate out of sight and out of mind to the misogynistic brats and coke-snorting yahoos in corporate Hollywood.
May 2015
The faux outrage around Struggle Street and the controversy that never was
Prior to broadcast, Struggle Street was mistaken as a vicious comedy ridiculing its poorly educated participants. We now know it is a serious work and not the sensational trash-fest we were informed it would be.
May 2015
Andrew Lesnie: ‘master of light’ finely tuned into both nature and people
With the cinematographer’s painterly eye and MacGyver-like skill for problem solving, no wonder Peter Jackson never let go of Lesnie once he found him.
April 2015
What American horror movie smash-hit It Follows can teach the Australian film industry
At the crossroads of old and new distribution models, these are strange times indeed for companies who are now forced to rethink their entire modus operandi.
April 2015
Reintroducing Road: the most dangerous movie ever made
“This strange footnote in cinema history — a disaster by all accounts and by every metric — is on the map again, and audiences with an affection for freaky films have something new (and old) to talk about.”
April 2015
Why 2015 will be a huge year for Australian films at the Australian box office — and why it doesn’t matter
“When are we going to stop pretending that box office performance is the most important metric to define success?”
April 2015
Sensational and respectful: Furious 7 is Hollywood’s strangest eulogy
“Looking at that car consumed with fire is a reminder that Paul Walker did in the movies what he couldn’t do in real life: leapt out of a moving vehicle just in the nick of time.”
March, 2015
Kimmy Schmidt, the future of Australian television and the death of TV ratings
“Who knows how long this new television golden age will last, or whether it will outlive the word “television” itself.”
March, 2015
Road test: a dip into the world of virtual reality
“Virtual reality entertainment will have repercussions for cast and crews. What will become of cinematographers when audiences can pan using their own heads?”
February 2015
The Oscars: would you like fries with that?
“Cinema chains are rarely discussed or thought of in the context of what they really are: fast food outlets, the screen used as bait to get people in the door.”
February 2015
Aactas 2015: The Water Diviner and The Babadook tie, but at least they’re Aussie
“Never has the Australian film industry seemed so confounded by the challenge of distinguishing great art from handsome mainstream product.”
January 2015
Now some good news about Australian film
For the time being let’s maintain the notion (or the fiction) that the most important factor in making Australian films is to get bums on seats rather than investing in preserving screen culture.
January 2015
Blockbusters biopics and auteurs: world cinema in 2015
“As one year ends another begins, and somehow Michael Bay is still a free man, sipping cocktails and roaming the streets.”
January 2015
The top ten films of 2014
“December is a time for many lists: Christmas lists, grocery lists, mental lists of relatives you see once a year and can barely remember the names of.”
December 2014
How Bill Murray won the internet
“Bill Murray feels like a refugee from a different era, a sad clown who survived where others faded from the limelight.”
December 2014
Why taking Grand Theft Auto off the shelf is like banning a Martin Scorsese movie
“Perhaps games like Grand Theft Auto V are helping audiences (particularly young ones) create an intellectual distance between themselves and the things they watch and interact with.”
December 2014
The Shia LaBeouf show: performance art so real it hurts
“If The Shia LaBeouf Show has a point, perhaps it’s that the impact of celebrity culture has never been more ubiquitous or more invasive.”
December 2014
Netflix arrives, and so farewell to the snarky video clerk
“We all knew it was coming. The video/DVD store experienced death by a million, trillion downloads.”
December 2014
The Serial phenomenon signals the arrival of the blockbuster podcast
“Serial presses the play button on binge listening. Perhaps, with it, the first wave of full-scale blockbuster podcasts.”
November 2014
Want sexism? Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters!
“Could an all-female version of this weird sleazy hit somehow become touted as a breakthrough for gender equality in Hollywood?”
October 2014
Cliff Hangers are back in fashion – and they’re to be continued
“Cliff hangers are essentially about putting characters in extremely dramatic circumstances then removing their ability to respond.”
September 2014
Long live the King and Queen of Oz film critics – Margaret and David
“Like every great dynasty, the kingdom of David and Margaret encourages space for future generations.”
September 2014
Into the Storm: disaster porn comes to disastrous found footage films
“So far Into the Storm has a worldwide box office gross of over US$110 million — not bad for a movie that looks like it was shot on an iPhone.”
September 2014
Hollywood and death: a tug of war between nostalgia and the ephemeral
“The cinematic art form revels in the kind of entertainment that can only come from a reluctance to let go — and a business model built on visions of the past.”
August 2014
Is Melbourne’s Astor cinema losing hope of a Hollywood ending?
“Venues such as this venerated southside cinema are the film world’s equivalent of endangered species.”
August 2014
Why Studio Ghibli is the most distinguished production company in history
“Perhaps Ghibli’s most resounding achievement is that it didn’t let the context around its films and the vagaries of consumer behaviour corrode the work itself.”
August 2014
Why the Australian film industry needs more sequels
“Criticism of sequels as a concept is too easily a form of elitism not necessarily in line with assessment of quality.”
June 2014
Transformers: Age of Extinction movie review (sort of)
“Bay delivered the goods, which is to say, having again stuffed everything he could into the frame, he delivered virtually nothing at all.”
June 2014
All hail Michael Fassbender
“With such a natural simmering energy, it would have easy — or at least obvious — for Fassbender to stake his claim in Hollywood as the go-to guy for angry and perverted people.”
May 2014
Sex, lies, truth: why Lars von Trier and Hollywood aren’t so different
“When I interviewed him in 2009, von Trier spoke at length about ‘the darkness,’ referring to large chunks of his time spent lying in bed staring at a blank wall.”
April 2014
The Oscars: Hollywood’s greatest deception
“Exhibitors live or die not on the strength of ticket sales but on selling heavily marked up products loaded with sugar and salt.”
March 2014
Philip Seymour Hoffman: what would his characters have thought of his death?
“Hoffman gave us the freaks, the reclusives, the oddballs, the eccentrics, the pitiful, the hope-deprived, the lost, desperate, lonely and wanting, and found a way to present wretched people in profoundly humane ways.”
February 2014
What White Night means – and why it matters
“When Andy Warhol stuck a can of soup in a museum, the point was made about context and perception: that an everyday item can be regarded as a work of art if it is placed in a certain environment.”
February 2014
Hollywood’s biggest con job: why the joke’s on the Golden Globes
“Red carpets, fancy clothes and scores of smiling celebrities disguise the grubby PR mongering at the heart of the organisation behind the Golden Globes.”
January 2014
Tropfest #fail: why they got it wrong
“Using ‘edgy’ humour to explore sensitive topics such as ethnicity and sexual orientation is risky business, and context can make the world of difference.”
December 2013
Carrie: do not rest in peace
“New versions of old films can act as cultural signposts — historical markers that highlight the legacy of the original work and allow cinephiles pause for thought.”
November 2013
All about efficiency: reviewing Verax, the world’s first Edward Snowden film
“Narrative efficiency is a subject ripe for discussion given Hollywood’s current culture of pumping out overlong bells and whistles blockbusters.”
July 2013
Vale James Gandolfini: the TV giant who gave us big cinema in small parts
“Gandolfini was a character actor who infused small parts with great impact.”
June 2013
Can a trailer spoil a movie? Putting it to the test with The Call
“The obvious inclination for an editor is to wrap together the best bits: the money shots, the zingers, the punchlines, the beautiful horizons.”
May 2013
Baz’s Great Gatastrophe? Via Skype, Luhrmann touches up shrouded Gatsby
“Could scenes from one of the biggest movie releases of the year and one of the most expensive literary adaptations of all time have been directed via Skype?”
April 2013
Zach Braff’s new role: the reverse Robin Hood who kickstarts a new culture of celebrity crowdsourcing
“Braff and the Veronica Mars crew have opened the gates for Hollywood to look at ventures such as Kickstarter as new streams of revenue.”
April 2013
Vale Roger Ebert: your greatest crime was loving movies too much
“Ebert’s approach to film analysis was conventional but thoughtful, and like every critic worth their weight in battered keyboards he could pile on the snark.”
April 2013
Pick a card, any card: reflections on magic in cinema and life as an amateur magician
“Magic itself is a special effect, a seemingly impossible feat brought to life before your eyes.”
March 2013
We’re off to see the lawyers, the wonderful lawyers of Oz. Because because because…?
“Hollywood executives who followed the yellow brick road found it ended in legal disputes and unprecedented laws.”
March 2013
Tropfest winner a cheat? What goes around comes around
“Once again the winning film at Tropfest has been accused of plagiarism. But this time, the story should never have run in the first place.”
February 2013
In defence of ‘the worst film ever’: why critics are wrong about Movie 43
“The absurdly disproportionate critical response to Movie 43 has brought to the fore one of the laziest strategies a film reviewer can deploy.”
February 2013
In Flight entertainment: exploring alcoholism in film and the ‘character’ of on-screen addiction
“In one outstanding sequence, Whitaker’s alcoholism almost literally comes knocking on his door.”
February 2013
Jolted into the fourth dimension: test driving 4D Dynamic Cinema
“Cinemas that deploy “fourth dimensional” novelties to spice up screenings are far from new.”
January 2013
The divinity of spectacle: on religion and Life of Pi
“If religion is the opiate for the masses, Hollywood ain’t the dealer.”
January 2013
Movies of the mind: When I used films to travel through time
“A recent viewing of a classic film led me to contemplate what experiences I associate with particular titles.”
December 2012
Lights, camera, smut: the year Hollywood got its rocks off
“It’s hardly a secret that in the movie business, sex sells. But this year Hollywood got its pants off — and took crazy kink to another level.”
November 2012
Moving mountains in Middle Earth: Hobbit lands with baggage
“The cost has been colossal, the profits likely to be greater. And the road to get here has been anything but smooth.”
November 2012
A handy tip for festival organisers: get your films banned
“This is not the first time the ACB have delivered a boon to publicity-hungry events and distributors.”
November 2012
Disney deal the last act in Lucas space opera
“There are other reasons why George Lucas’ biggest fans turned against him, and why nobody bemoaned his exit from the Star Wars galaxy.”
November 2012
Senses of Cinema: the electric energy of Dead End Drive-In
“The film’s lack of ‘unreal’ special effects coupled with an audacious narrative and setting forced innovation.”
September 2012
Why the death of Hollywood has been greatly exaggerated
“Social media platforms are yet to emerge as powerful exhibition outlets, but that time can’t be far away.”
September 2012
Swirling meaning and conspiratorial film interpretation: walking the crazy carpet of Room 237
“What separates a genius film reader from a rambling quack pointing at weird pictures and freeze-framing images of clouds?”
August 2012
No half measures: vale action director Tony Scott
“Like any director, Scott’s obituaries and death notices inevitably list the movies that have lingered longest in public recollection.”
August 2012
We don’t need no education: how cinematic classrooms have changed the curriculum
“Over the last decade or so a rash of high school-set films have fundamentally changed the curriculum.”
July 2012
How does Hollywood deal with real-life tragedy?
“Warner Bros. has avoided the kind of PR pitfalls committed by the National Rifle Association, which opted for tasteless tweets and weird newscasts.”
July 2012
Prometheus classification controversy: rating drops from MA to M, doors open for the kids
“I’m not sure what movie the Review Board watched, but the one I saw was unequivocally high impact.”
June 2012
Checking back in to 1408 — and visiting John Cusack as a Hunter S. Thompson incarnation who never left the hotel
“1408 explores the extreme dangers of acid benders, presenting a now poisoned bud of flower power far more twisted than the kind HST chewed on in the 70′s.”
April 2012
‘Lion don’t try to be a tiger’ — Bob Dylan and the compelling messiness of Masked and Anonymous
“It’s a messy and ambitious one-of-a-kind littered with dialogue that bounces back and forth like a verbal intellectual tennis match.”
April 2012
Old school v new school: would Spielberg’s Tintin have worked in live action?
“Employed alone, as Spielberg’s glossy globetrotting spectacle demonstrates, motion capture tends to look stiff and waxy, linked to a dilemma known as ‘uncanny valley’.”
January 2012
Human Centipede II: why banning violent films creates a new kind of monster
“The film industry has forever changed and will continue to move further and further away from the grasp of censors.”
December 2011
Vale Sarah Watt (1958 – 2011)
“Watt was a well-liked figure within the Australian film industry and will be deeply missed.”
November 2011
Prying open the Cult Vault: 12 straight hours of horror movie madness
“The credits end, we stumble outside and something resembling reality returns.”
October 2011
Dancing with metaphor: why Footloose is a commentary on the war on drugs
“Substitute dancing for drugs and, with the right kind of eyes, the film carries striking political and social observations.”
October 2011
Highbrow versus lowbrow cinema and lessons learnt from Sullivan’s Travels
“The breakdown between highbrow and lowbrow art — entirely subjective, of course, and utterly contentious — has sparked discussion in virtually every artistic medium over the years.”
September 2011
Why has Hollywood shied away from 9/11?
“Why has Hollywood, of all places, largely kept mum about one of the biggest moments in contemporary American history?”
September 2011
The acting Serkis: recognition — or lack thereof — of performance capture acting
“Look into Caesar’s face during Rise of the Planet of the Apes and you will see a strikingly combination of competing emotions.”
August 2011
The cinema of life: when a film triggers a memory and that memory becomes reality
“How well do my readers know me? How well do they think they know me?”
August 2011
Tapping into the zeitgeist: mental health initiatives on and off the screen
“Mental health has become a dominant theme in Australian films at a significant time for the sector and the wider political landscape.”
May 2011
Can a hand puppet save Mel Gibson?
“When the lights go down and the screen lights up audiences aren’t likely to cast aside his tumultuous off screen life.”
March 2011
Danger, Will Robinson! Digital product placement poised to infect TV programs and feature films
“How would you feel about watching the shower scene in Psycho with a tube of Decore lingering in the background?”
January 2011
From roar to meow: MGM lion to merge with Spyglass
“If the MGM debacle were turned into a movie, Icahn would probably be the villain.”
November 2010
Cops didn’t show, but maybe they should have: gay zombie porno sickens
“It’s hard to emerge from a film like LA Zombie feeling like anything other than a loser.”
August 2010
Vale Dennis Hopper: 1936 – 2010
“Hopper led a tumultuous career in Hollywood that spanned more than half a century, beginning alongside James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause.”
May 2010
Avatar – officially Australia’s highest grossing film of all time. But what about the font?
“I found an open letter to James Cameron written from, bizarrely, the perspective of the font itself.”
January 2010
Disney crowns its first African American princess
“The Big Mouse reportedly consulted African American individuals and organisations in an attempt to ensure Tiana’s character would not cause offence.”
December 2009
Paranormal Activity in the Twitterverse leads to box office blitz
“The remake idea was scrapped and Paramount Pictures took over distribution, releasing Paranormal Activity in a small number of exhibitors across the country.”
November 2009