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!
www.facebook.com/SonyPicturesAUS/

Molly was once a Olympic caliber athlete who rose to infamy after being arrested by the FBI for running illegal high-stakes poker games. The movie jumps from flash back views of Molly’s earlier life to present day scenes of the goings on between lawyers, their clients (in this case Molly) and government prosecutors.

The story is told with enough salient details that even those with no previous knowledge of the actual case can easily get ensnared in the infectious details. As with most of Sorkin’s work there is a moral agenda and with the current state of exposure of corrupt male practices, having a female character this strong is a welcome edition to the lexicon of today.

Few female roles have been written with so much character strength that don’t fall into the cliche of posturing relying on sex. It’s hopefully subsidises the start of a new direction. Any film that can win one over with this much reliance on voiceover to drive the story along gets extra points as that story telling technique is one of my least favourite.

Rob Hudson
www.facebook.com/MollysGameMovie

Starring Jessica Chastain and Idris Elba, Molly’s Game tells the thrilling true story of Molly Bloom, the mastermind behind a glamourous, underground poker empire whose players included the rich, famous and most powerful men in America.

In a career-best performance, Chastain portrays Molly as she transforms herself into the “poker princess”, running high-stakes games in LA and New York. But Molly’s world comes crashing down when the FBI come after her, suspecting ties to the Russian mob.

Academy Award winning writer Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network) delivers a quick-witted, fiery directorial debut with this riveting portrait of a smart, talented young woman who gambled everything, won big, then lost it all.

Based on the best-selling memoir, MOLLY’S GAME and starring Jessica Chastain, Idris Elba, Kevin Costner, Michael Cera and Chris O’Dowd – Molly’s Game is IN CINEMAS JANUARY 25!
www.mollysgame.com.au

Competition will be drawn 23 January 2018, winners will be notified by Mail. Tickets are limited for the holiday season.

It follows the last few days and mysterious death of the artist Vincent Van Gogh and is told in an almost police procedural manner. Where the film really soars though is in its visual presentation. Over 100 artists have created a hand painted animated look done in the appropriate impressionistic style and it makes every frame a visual work of art.

As the story evolves, there are a multitude of descriptions of the Dutch painter’s last few days and it is left up to the audience to make their own mind up as to the validity of the deferent scenarios. The look is sumptuous and the story involving.

It will be shown a few more times during the festival and should not be missed.
Rob Hudson

Brisbane International Film Festival Loving Vincent screenings:
PALACE CENTRO
Thursday, August 24 – 10:30 am

PALACE BARRACKS
Sunday, August 20  – 1:30 pm
Thursday, August 31 – 10:30 am
Sunday, September 3 – 5:45 pm
www.biff.net.au

Unafraid to unsettle his young target audience (if only just a bit), Burton keeps the creepiness quotient on a low boil while interspersing the proceedings with enough lightness to keep things on the sweet dreams side of nightmares. My 9 year-old was fine with it and, indeed, loved it. Think Coraline-level macabre but perhaps a touch more grisly.

It pays to keep your wits about you in order to follow the film’s mild time-bending eccentricities but, if you keep up, it’s not hard to follow. There are some minor continuity issues in the editing but if you follow the broad strokes it’s easy to fill in the obvious blanks yourself.

Eva Green is all regimented grace and beauty as the titular Miss Peregrine; guardian and mentor to her flock of children with peculiar abilities, protecting them from a bullish world intolerant of those who do not comply with the norm. Asa Butterfield (Hugo, Ender’s Game) does well as Jake, the tender boy with no apparent peculiarity, tasked with saving them all from the evil Barron (Samuel L. Jackson), who means to sacrifice them all for the sake of his own immortality. The rest of the young cast also hold their own. There is also a welcome surprise in the impressive array of seasoned actors filling out the secondary roles that include Judi Dench, Rupert Everett, Allison Janney, Chris O’Dowd and Terence Stamp.

Following on from last year’s Big Eyes, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is a positive sign that Burton’s quality trend is on the up once more.

Stuart Jamieson
www.foxmovies.com

The film places a bit too much emphasis on the viewer having a working knowledge of the actual story as it introduces important characters with little or no explanation. For the uninitiated, this leads to a bit of confusion. For those familiar with the story, it’s effective film making that doesn’t slow down the pace with unneeded explanations or back-stories.

Ben Foster does a good job as Armstrong even though he doesn’t look that much like him (the archive race footage comprised of mostly side and rear views is effective, the face on shots not so much). Foster does however excel at capturing Armstrong’s cruelty, viciousness and dishonesty.

For those that followed the cheating saga with a keen interest, The Program is a rewarding cinema experience. For those that have little previous knowledge, please take someone along that knows the story. A little knowledge goes a long way in the enjoyment of this entertaining film.

Rob Hudson
www.theprogrammovie.com