Pitt plays James Belmont, a grizzled military veteran with as many mental scars as those that cover his body. His only companion is Odin, a German Shepherd who is himself a retired military combat dog. He too wears the scars of war with titanium teeth and a prosthetic leg. Odin also suffers from PTSD and has nightmares. Their bond is an unbreakable one forged in battle.

The story begins with Belmont and Odin flying a small aircraft to an incredibly beautiful and isolated river in the wilderness of Alaska. A small respite of their solitude is provided by the appearance of a mountain man character played by J. K. Simmons. His presence has an undertone of danger. When a storm rolls in, Belmont and Odin fly out. During this flight, Belmont suffers a heart attack and the plane crashes, thus beginning the survivalist journey back to civilisation.

The threats to life and limb during this journey are absolutely relentless and rivet your attention. Even though the task seems superhuman, things are kept in the realm of human ability. You grow to absolutely admire the bond between human and canine and the love and care that they feel for each other. You become incredibly invested in their outcome, and at the film’s end it takes you some time to return to normal. This is filmmaking at its most compelling.
Rob Hudson
www.facebook.com/ParamountPicturesAU/

Those wild gadgets would alway carry the Acme label, and the brand suffered from extreme quality-control issues. They never worked as advertised, and those products inform the story here. The film starts with a bit of industrial maleficence and then jumps to some Road Runner versus Coyote action. It looks magnificent on the big screen and sets the visual tone for what follows.

The mix of live action and cartoon characters has been done before (think Who Framed Roger Rabbit) but never in quite this fashion. Even the real actors chosen for the main roles (Will Forte and John Cena) have more than a bit of cartoon ethos in them. Forte as the lawyer who takes on the case against the big conglomerate Acme on behalf of Wile E. Coyote hits the right marks to give the fight a proper David and Goliath feel.

Drawing a parallel with the overabundance of power modern corporations now wield, the court scenes are especially topical. The satisfaction of the little guy coming out ahead is especially apparent when Wile E. captures the baddies with a great Rube Goldberg contraption. This film is surprisingly accessible for audiences of all ages and, looking for context in relation to events of today, has an underlying sense of subversion. Now the only thing missing is a breakfast bowl of rainbow coloured sugar.
Rob Hudson
www.facebook.com/PinnacleFilmsAU

The music press (and large numbers of conventional media outlets) were awash with tales of their bad boy behaviour and outsized use of alcohol and nose candy. Their tours were shambolic to say the least, and it was a crap shoot to find the brothers playing on stage or just fighting. When the wheels well and truly fell off the wagon and the band broke up, it didn’t really surprise anyone. That they stayed apart for fifteen years did.

The eventual reconciliation, when it occurred, made for the perfect storm to film the proceedings and turn it into a feature-length film, and now we have Don’t Look Back in Anger in cinemas. The film’s structure starts with the band (minus their lead singer) in a very large rehearsal space working out the songs and set list. When Noel finally arrives, he presents an ominous and negative presence. By the time the new concert footage begins, a change becomes very apparent.

It is not surprising that someone finally put together a tour offer so lucrative that it was accepted, but the revelation that actually occurs is how much passion it created with the modern audience. The scenes of fans driven to tears are plentiful and not just from an English speaking audience. This adulation forms the backbone of the film. The interviews and voice over behind a lot of the scenes also highlight the cooling of animosities between the two brothers. This transition makes this work hopeful. I’ll end with this Gallagher quote that puts things in perspective. “If you’re going to be a c*nt be a funny c*nt.”
Rob Hudson
www.facebook.com/DisneyAUNZ/

Also returning are Stockard Channing and Dianne Wiest as the elder Owens, and the youngsters are now played by Joey King and Maisie Williams. The story revolves around the family curse that means any family member who falls in love will see their partner die a horrible and early death. This is such a buzzkill that Sally (Bullock) has gone out of her way to keep the family secret (that they are witches) and the curse from her two daughters. She has also stopped her practice of magic.

The free-spirited sister Gillian (Kidman) has stuck to her guns and kept the practice of magic alive. Her extroverted and playful approach gives the film a lighter, more accessible feel, so when the danger arrives, it is in stark contrast and makes things feel more ominous. When Sally’s daughter Kylie (King) falls in love with Gideon (Xolo Maridueña), it sets off a chain of events that shakes the family to the core. It also leads to some continent-jumping and includes a trip to England.

For a film with magic in its name, the prestidigitations take a mostly back seat to the human activities and the emotions that they create. The main joy in the film is the on-screen camaraderie between the members of its cast, with Bullock and Kidman riffing off each other in a most pleasing way. The female sensibilities make it a work that women of all ages should enjoy, and there is enough of a male presence to satisfy other members of the audience as well. The story does take a bit of a back seat to the drive of the characters, but it’s a pleasing mix.
Rob Hudson
www.facebook.com/WarnerBrosAU/

Writer/director David Robert Mitchell continues his fascination with American suburbia with a Science Fiction yarn that involves dinosaurs and time portals. The story is also a bit of a throwback with its presentation of danger. As the Thunder Lizards and their ilk ramp up their occupational numbers, the violence inherent in their ways is played mostly for comic effect.

A-list actors Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor are given roles in which their lives are mired in the downward trajectory of an unhappy union. She is a frustrated writer, and he has problems with employment while secretly day drinking. They endure plain lives with an optimism that feels from another time. When their heroism emerges, it feels organic.

The End of Oak Street reminds one of a time in the cinema universe that would have felt right at home in the days of drive-ins and enjoying on-screen peril while rugged up in your jammies, drinking hot cocoa while being surrounded by your family members and enjoying every minute. It’s the kind of look back at a simpler time that will always feel welcoming.
Rob Hudson
www.facebook.com/WarnerBrosAU/

This latest chapter is the fourth Spidey film with Tom Holland in the lead, and he continues to give the character a more human ethos than just about any other superhero of note. He is affected by self-doubts and the sacrifices he had to make to keep his friends safe. This continues to lead him down the road to a fairly lonely existence. Brand New Day ultimately addresses that and gives more than a glimmer of hope.

The isolation he feels because of Dr Stephen Strange’s spell that was enacted in the previous chapter, No Way Home, is in full effect. None of his closest friends or even his lover MJ, played by real-world wife Zendaya, know him at all. His sense of duty is the only thing that keeps him going, as there is little else in his life to bring him joy. The sadness in his lodgings and his lifestyle is palpable.

There are so many moments that lit up the audience on the night; it makes one feel that they need a bit more background detail to engage fully. The cinematography is also a challenge with the almost constant shifts of both perspective and direction in its action scenes. This approach also necessitates a very large amount of CGI-created set design, which tends to distance you from the proceedings. Spider-Man: Brand New Day integrates more characters from the MCU than any chapter before, but it still keeps most of its outsider charm intact.
Rob Hudson
www.facebook.com/SonyPicturesAUS/

Most will be familiar with the heroic tale of the king of Ithaca, Odysseus, played by Matt Damon, and his journey home after fighting in the ten-year-long Trojan War; even those who are fuzzy on the fine details will remember the hollow horse. A blend of the harsh realities of the time mixed with a plethora of fantastical monsters and supernatural hazards leaves the film palette wide open for the imagination to run rampant. The current state of industrial technology also helps expand possibilities.

The sound design is also worthy of note, and if the cinema you choose can deliver the SPL needed to reach the intended decibels, you might want to bring earplugs; the volume level is that visceral. The relentless pace allows very little downtime, so make sure to secure plenty of snacks too. The first third of the film’s narrative follows Nolan’s preferred nonlinear timeline before settling into a more conventional arc until the end.

Technical notes aside, this is a work of colossal effort from both cast and crew. Nolan’s insistence on filming entirely with the overly large format IMAX cameras and shunning the use of green screen technology and subjecting the cast to real-world conditions restates the need for the force of will at play. This film asks much of its audience, and not just of their time, but it delivers an unrivalled cinematic experience. It does become a work for the ages.
Rob Hudson
www.facebook.com/UniversalPicturesAU/

Dwayne Johnson AKA the Rock, returns as the demigod Maui, and this time he arrives with a head full of luxurious locks! He and Catherine have an easy and very modern rapport, and their riffing off each other provides the film’s backbone of humour. Jemaine Clement continues to inhabit the visage of the giant monster coconut crab, Tamatoa, and the look is bedazzled and spectacularly over-the-top.

Even though this work is considered live action, the majority of the scenery is computer-generated, and it looks spectacular, as do the sea creatures. The Kakamora, those pint-sized, savage pirates, are more cute than threatening and remind one of the Ewoks from the Star Wars world. The monsters of the deep are mostly absent, and the most serious opposition comes from Te Kā, a fiery monster with a softer side.

There is no real departure from the storyline from the first film and fans of that work will feel right at home. The breaking out of the occasional song is less obtrusive than most and does little to dilute the film’s forward momentum. Sitting next to the little one was a lot of fun, and seeing her look of wonderment at the spectacle that was on screen was the highlight of the evening for me.
Rob Hudson
www.facebook.com/DisneyAUNZ/

The Australian connections run deep with this film as both director Craig Gillespie (I, Tonya and Cruella) and Supergirl herself, Milly Alcock (House Of The Dragon), are from the land down under. The Antipodes approach permeates the feel of the film, and this outsider attitude unfortunately misses as much as it hits. There are also some strange thematic choices that bleed some of the interest away.

They introduce Krypto the Superdog early, and his presence in one of the few light moments in what is a very dark film, but then relegate him to a circumstance that keeps him off-screen almost the entire film. Almost all the scenes are also set in a very low-light world, and the film looks quite dull. The innate humour between the loose at the seams Supergirl and her straight-laced cousin Superman (David Corenswet) is also an under-utilised element.

All is not lost, though, for fans of one of DC’s most overlooked characters, Lobo. This bounty hunter from the peaceful planet Czarnia (of whom he killed the entire population) is played with real swagger by Jason Momoa. He’s a bad guy you love to hate, and he chews up every scene he’s in with an exciting amount of ferocity. As an introduction of the Supergirl character to the rebooted universe, it only partially succeeds, but as a first seen film version of Lobo, it gets top marks.
Rob Hudson
www.facebook.com/WarnerBrosAU/

Starting with a wonderful animated homage to the groundbreaking work of Charles Chaplin, this sets things off in a unique way. Old-school fans will pick up on the references to films like Modern Times and The Great Dictator, while the rest of the audience will hopefully react with a smile. There is a purity of intent in giving a nod to the past that runs counter to most American animated output.

There is also risk in having the majority of the language being used sounding almost indecipherable, but as typoglycemia works on the written text, you are soon able to understand way more than you originally thought you could. Being set in the roaring twenties also opens things up as you catch the little yellow orbs through a mythical jaunt that lands them in Hollywood during its transition from the silent era to the town’s Golden Age.

The love and care for the medium shines through, and its wild swings of imagination make one think that there was very little influence of the dreaded test market screenings that often blight originality in this art form. It will be very interesting to see if this unique approach yields rewards in a genre that often rewards conservative filmmaking.
Rob Hudson
www.facebook.com/UniversalPicturesAU/