But when a mysterious incident disrupts life on the farm, the sheep realise they must become the detectives. As they follow the clues and investigate human suspects, they prove that even sheep can be brilliant crime-solvers.

Starring Hugh Jackman, Nicholas Braun, Nicholas Galitzine, Molly Gordon, with Hong Chau and Emma Thompson, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bryan Cranston, Chris O’Dowd, Regina Hall, Patrick Stewart, Bella Ramsey, Brett Goldstein, Rhys Darby, The Sheep Detectives will be released in Aussie cinemas May 7!
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The story is almost entirely built around the strange life of Zsa-zsa Korda (Benicio Del Toro) and he features in nearly every scene. He is a rich and powerful industrialist with a bent moral compass. Through a lifetime of questionable dealings with friends and foes alike, he has acquired a large number of enemies whose attempts to assassinate him drive the film’s comic overview.

Most of these attempts happen while in flight so it’s a given you wouldn’t want to find yourself in an aeroplane with him. After so many attempts on his life, he considers his mortality and seeks an heir. He ignores his nine sons and names his only daughter Liesl (Mia Threapleton), who happens to be a nun to be his sole heir. After spending most of their lives completely apart, their reunion underlines most of the plot points. Michael Cera as the mysterious Bjørn Lund also features prominently.

With Anderson’s ever-growing filmography, most fans develop favourites and rate any new work against them. In that respect, The Phoenician Scheme fits solidly in the middle. In the Wes World, it’s a comforting addition and while it offers few outright surprises, it still takes a unique look at family dynamics and the acceptance of the quirks that underline almost every clan. It’s a worthy addition to an eclectic canon.
Rob Hudson
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Starring Benicio del Toro as Zsa-zsa Korda, one of the richest men in Europe; Mia Threapleton as Liesl, his daughter/a nun; Michael Cera as Bjorn, their tutor.

With Riz Ahmed, Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Mathieu Amalric, Richard Ayoade, Jeffrey Wright, Scarlett Johansson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Rupert Friend, Hope Davis.
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This time the main subject is not being afraid of change and overcoming a comfortable existence to find your better self. Visually the film contains almost everything the ever-advancing craft is capable of with fantastic use of colour and wonderful set design. Being based in the East adds another element of the exotic and this is used to the fullest.

This is the most character-based outing of the series and relies heavily on the appeal of its two main voice actors Jack Black and Awkwafina. Black does tone down some of his more over-the-top tendencies but you still need to dig his shtick to get the most out of the film. Awkwafina also stays very much in her established persona. The rest of the cast features heavy hitters like Bryan Cranston, Ian McShane and Dustin Hoffman.

The term craft returns to mind as you experience Kung Fu Panda 4 and that is not meant as a slight. The amount of effort and the utilization of the many skill sets behind this project are very impressive indeed. As for the story, it’s consistent if not spectacular and finds a comfortable medium that will engage the adults as well as the younger ones. My favourite little one loved it.
Rob Hudson
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After three death-defying adventures defeating world-class villains with his unmatched courage and mad martial arts skills, Po, the Dragon Warrior (Golden Globe nominee Jack Black), is called upon by destiny to … give it a rest already. More specifically, he’s tapped to become the Spiritual Leader of the Valley of Peace.

That poses a couple of obvious problems. First, Po knows as much about spiritual leadership as he does about the paleo diet, and second, he needs to quickly find and train a new Dragon Warrior before he can assume his new lofty position.

Even worse, there’s been a recent sighting of a wicked, powerful sorceress, Chameleon (Oscar® winner Viola Davis), a tiny lizard who can shapeshift into any creature, large or small. And Chameleon has her greedy, beady little eyes on Po’s Staff of Wisdom, which would give her the power to re-summon all the master villains whom Po has vanquished to the spirit realm.

So, Po’s going to need some help. He finds it (kinda?) in the form of crafty, quick-witted thief Zhen (Golden Globe winner Awkwafina), a corsac fox who really gets under Po’s fur but whose skills will prove invaluable. In their quest to protect the Valley of Peace from Chameleon’s reptilian claws, this comedic odd-couple duo will have to work together. In the process, Po will discover that heroes can be found in the most unexpected places.

The film features the voice talent of returning stars Academy Award® winner Dustin Hoffman as Kung Fu master, Shifu; James Hong (Everything Everywhere All at Once) as Po’s adoptive father, Mr. Ping; Academy Award® nominee Bryan Cranston as Po’s birth father, Li, and Emmy Award nominee Ian McShane as Tai Lung, Shifu’s former student and arch-nemesis. Oscar® winner Ke Huy Quan (Everything Everywhere All at Once) joins the ensemble as a new character, Han, the leader of the Den of Thieves.

Kung Fu Panda 4 is directed by Mike Mitchell (DreamWorks Animation’s Trolls, Shrek Forever After) and produced by Rebecca Huntley (DreamWorks Animation’s The Bad Guys). The film’s co-director is Stephanie Ma Stine (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power). In 2008, the Academy Award®-nominated 2008 inaugural chapter, Kung Fu Panda, became DreamWorks Animation’s highest-grossing original animated film and launched a franchise that has earned more than $1.8 billion at the global box-office.
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With his new spy yarn Argylle, Vaughn returns to the fold with all those idiosyncrasies intact. It’s a tale of world domination delivered with a sly wink and an ever-changing landscape of who is good and who is bad and what their true intentions are proven to be. Kind of like John le Carré on acid, really strong acid.

Bryce Dallas Howard plays Elly Conway, a novelist who has penned a series of books based on a spy called Argylle. When she is rescued from an attack on a train by Aidan (Sam Rockwell) her real life and the contents of her books blur together most entertainingly. It keeps her character and you the audience member guessing what craziness will happen next until the very last frame.

This is unlike almost any other entrant to the spy genre. Its extravagant abuse of colour and plot marks it as something infectious and fun. If the world really is going to hell in a handbasket, one would hope that the perpetrator of this impending doom would have an aesthetic and sense of whimsey to match that of Vaughn’s.
Rob Hudson
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After three death-defying adventures defeating world-class villains with his unmatched courage and mad martial arts skills, Po, the Dragon Warrior (Golden Globe nominee Jack Black), is called upon by destiny to … give it a rest already. More specifically, he’s tapped to become the Spiritual Leader of the Valley of Peace.

That poses a couple of obvious problems. First, Po knows as much about spiritual leadership as he does about the paleo diet, and second, he needs to quickly find and train a new Dragon Warrior before he can assume his new lofty position.

Even worse, there’s been a recent sighting of a wicked, powerful sorceress, Chameleon (Oscar® winner Viola Davis), a tiny lizard who can shapeshift into any creature, large or small. And Chameleon has her greedy, beady little eyes on Po’s Staff of Wisdom, which would give her the power to re-summon all the master villains whom Po has vanquished to the spirit realm.

So, Po’s going to need some help. He finds it (kinda?) in the form of crafty, quick-witted thief Zhen (Golden Globe winner Awkwafina), a corsac fox who really gets under Po’s fur but whose skills will prove invaluable. In their quest to protect the Valley of Peace from Chameleon’s reptilian claws, this comedic odd-couple duo will have to work together. In the process, Po will discover that heroes can be found in the most unexpected places.

The film features the voice talent of returning stars Academy Award® winner Dustin Hoffman as Kung Fu master, Shifu; James Hong (Everything Everywhere All at Once) as Po’s adoptive father, Mr. Ping; Academy Award® nominee Bryan Cranston as Po’s birth father, Li, and Emmy Award nominee Ian McShane as Tai Lung, Shifu’s former student and arch-nemesis. Oscar® winner Ke Huy Quan (Everything Everywhere All at Once) joins the ensemble as a new character, Han, the leader of the Den of Thieves.

Kung Fu Panda 4 is directed by Mike Mitchell (DreamWorks Animation’s Trolls, Shrek Forever After) and produced by Rebecca Huntley (DreamWorks Animation’s The Bad Guys). The film’s co-director is Stephanie Ma Stine (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power). In 2008, the Academy Award®-nominated 2008 inaugural chapter, Kung Fu Panda, became DreamWorks Animation’s highest-grossing original animated film and launched a franchise that has earned more than $1.8 billion at the global box-office.
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From the twisted mind of Matthew Vaughn (Kingsman franchise, Kick-Ass) comes Argylle, a razor-witted, reality-bending, globe-encircling spy thriller.

Bryce Dallas Howard (Jurassic World franchise) is Elly Conway, the reclusive author of a series of best-selling espionage novels, whose idea of bliss is a night at home with her computer and her cat, Alfie. But when the plots of Elly’s fictional books—which center on secret agent Argylle and his mission to unravel a global spy syndicate—begin to mirror the covert actions of a real-life spy organization, quiet evenings at home become a thing of the past.

Accompanied by Aiden (Oscar® winner Sam Rockwell), a cat-allergic spy, Elly (carrying Alfie in her backpack) races across the world to stay one step ahead of the killers as the line between Elly’s fictional world and her real one begins to blur.

The top-flight ensemble cast features Henry Cavill (The Witcher), John Cena (Fast X), Oscar® winner Ariana DeBose (West Side Story), Grammy winning pop superstar Dua Lipa (Barbie), Emmy winner and Oscar® nominee Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad), Emmy winner and comedy icon Catherine O’Hara (Schitt’s Creek), Sofia Boutella (Kingsman: The Secret Service), and the legendary Samuel L. Jackson. Alfie is played by Chip, the real-life cat of supermodel Claudia Vaughn (née Schiffer).

Argylle is directed and produced by Matthew Vaughn, from a screenplay by Jason Fuchs (I Still See You). The film is produced by Matthew Vaughn, Adam Bohling (Kingsman franchise), Jason Fuchs, and David Reid (Kingsman franchise). The executive producers are Adam Fishbach, Zygi Kamasa, Carlos Peres and Claudia Vaughn.

Apple Original Films presents, in association with MARV, a Cloudy production. Argylle is distributed by Universal Pictures.
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That idiosyncratic nature plays out in the look of the sets and costumes, the colour palette and lighting, the dialogue and performance of the actors and the whimsical nature of the stories they tell. Seldom laugh-out-loud funny, the humour is too dexterous for that, this is the kind of mirth that builds most in remembrance.

Trying to reduce Asteroid City to a mere synopsis does it a disservice as it is a work filled with subtext, subversion and subliminal cues that emerge in retrospection. Anderson’s movies almost always grow in stature the more you think about them. They are uniquely memorable.

It’s those memories that power avid fan’s desire to have so many of his works on high rotation at home. Asteroid City will have the power to be either the most or least favourite of his films and that distinction will only come into focus after many visits to his deep well of weirdness.
Rob Hudson
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From the beautiful mind of Wes Anderson, starring an all-star cast comes ASTEROID CITY, a wonderfully colourful and hilarious cosmic tale about a family and their travel to a remote American town aptly titled Asteroid City.

The itinerary of a Junior Stargazer/Space Cadet convention (organized to bring together students and parents from across the country for fellowship and scholarly competition) is spectacularly disrupted by world-changing events.

“…it’s beautiful to look at, surreal, nostalgic and funny in a weird, distanced way.” – San Francisco Chronicle

“Wes Anderson returns with one of his most dazzling, rich and playfully self-reflexive films to date.” – Little White Lies

“Asteroid City, the latest from Wes Anderson, is a true achievement from one of America’s most unique cinematic voices.” – Chicago Reader
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