It all starts with a submerged storyline and while you feel an undercurrent of skulduggery nothing obvious rises to the surface for quite some time. It might even be a tad tardy for those who desire overdriven onscreen action from the go as the genre is often known for those big loud openers. Soderbergh is such an established auteur and he plays to his strengths here including his usual star-studded cast.

You get several James Bond alumni like Pierce Brosnan (the man himself) and Naomie Harris (Moneypenny) as well as Regé-Jean Page (Bridgerton) and another Skarsgår brother, in this case Gustaf. They are all given some delectable dialogue to deliver and they do it so well. These are some very detailed performances and the acting momentum provides David Koepp’s screenplay with a glorious sheen.

This is a film for the hardcore fan of the thinking man’s spy yarn and you need to invest in it to get maximum enjoyment. Bullets might not fly with regularity but the performances provide plenty of sparks and when things do ratchet up and reach the inevitable crescendo the action is more than sufficient to prove completely satisfying.
Rob Hudson
www.facebook.com/UniversalPicturesAU/

Starring Cate Blanchett, Michael Fassbender, Marisa Abela, Tom Burke, Naomie Harris, Regé-Jean Page and Pierce Brosnan, Black Bag is coming to Aussie cinemas March 13, 2024!
www.facebook.com/UniversalPicturesAU/

Winner of the Audience Award at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, this subversive, sexy, and unfiltered music biopic hits all the right notes.

Based on the origin story of the riotous and ground-breaking Irish-language rap trio KNEECAP, the film stars the band’s Mo Chara, Móglaí Bap and DJ Próvaí in their acting debuts alongside Academy Award nominee Michael Fassbender with Simone Kirby, Jessica Reynolds, Fionnuala Flaherty, and Josie Walker.

Set in west Belfast in 2019, it chronicles how fate brings the trio together and how they then go on to “change the sound of Irish music forever”.

KNEECAP – Próvaí Preview
Wednesday, August 21 @ 6:30pm
Dendy Cinemas Coorparoo
www.coorparoo.dendy.com.au

The sex addiction angle is given main focus and this has led to the film being in the crosshairs of both film censors and the more conservative reviewers. The press generated about its raunchy nature is well founded but the end result of so much disconnect sex is just tedium. The more sexual contact Brandon has, the less he feels and the harder it is for the viewer to feel engaged.

The acting is of a high calibre and seeing Carey Mulligan step outside her usual coming of age antics is eye opening. Her take on Brandon’s damaged sister; Sissy Sullivan is consistently engaging if not slightly predictable. In the third act Brandon also seems on the cusp of a personal revelation, even with the cliché scene of self-loathing (the almost obligatory bar fight) but the change is so subtle as to be almost nonexistent.

Even with the excellent acting, it’s a story that has been told many times before and the challenge of trying to relate to the actions on screen becomes less satisfying as the film progresses. It’s a good conversation starter but the conversation soon turns to other things.

Rob Hudson
www.facebook.com/transmissionfilms

Screenplay writer Aaron Sorkin’s influence can be felt in more than just the words in the film as the Sorkinisms just keep piling up. The famous walk and talk shot is used throughout, as is the uber intelligent and quick witted conversational style. The brain pool on display is never short of exceptional as are the acting chops.

Michael Fassbender as Jobs is fantastic as is Kate Winslet as Job’s right hand woman Joanna Hoffman. Winslet’s take on Hoffman with her strange accent and speaking cadence really brings alive one of the few people in Job’s life that had the measure of the man and his intellect.

For the army of Apple sycophants, this film will present some challenges as Jobs is presented as a deeply flawed human being. The representation here is that he is so driven that he is almost unaware that his humanity is slipping away. In real life those who knew the man can attest to his mellowing out and placing more importance on his family in the later phase of his life. That’s good because the period that this film focuses on makes it feel like it just wasn’t that much fun being Steve Jobs.

Rob Hudson
www.facebook.com/UniversalPicturesAU

Michael Fassbender does double duty this time out and his android character poses most of the film’s questions on life and the meaning of. Non existentialists need not fear for those with less interest in large degrees of depth, there is still plenty of inventive gore and enough scare tactics to keep most audience members on edge.

Picking up where Prometheus left off, Alien: Covenant works well as a stand alone film as it doesn’t add all that much to the alien mythology. Most audiences will already have a large degree of familiarity with the ongoing storyline so that helps to streamline things this time out.

Atmospheric, creepy and dark, Alien: Covenant is not easy viewing (for those that don’t like horror) but it does provide a right old fright night for those that do.

Rob Hudson
www.facebook.com/20thCenturyStudiosAUNZ

We also see Sophie Turner, she of Game Of Thrones fame, take on the role of Jean Grey who becomes Phoenix. We first meet Jean as a little girl who has no real clue about the extent of her mutant powers. When she discovers their true power, it leads to a traumatic and tragic event that becomes a life changing event.

The origin side of the story takes its time to develop but in the film’s last reel, the crazy ramps up to considerable heights. There is a battle between an alien life force and almost the entire roster of X-Men and it is spectacular. Each of the X-Men’s powers are tested to the fullest and often times they come up short.

The underlining theme of this film as with many others in the franchise is the importance of family and not necessarily the one you are born with. It’s a valid inclusion The film in parts is amazing to look at but feels more like a charter of a bigger storyline than a self standing movie. Time will tell where the X-Men franchise goes from here.

Rob Hudson
www.facebook.com/xmenmovies

Once she returns home, this force not only makes her infinitely more powerful, but far more unstable. Wrestling with this entity inside her, Jean unleashes her powers in ways she can neither comprehend nor contain.

With Jean spiralling out of  control, and hurting the ones she loves most, she begins to unravel the very fabric that holds the X-Men together. Now, with this family falling apart, they must find a way to unite — not only to save Jean’s soul, but to save our very planet from aliens who wish to weaponize this force and rule the galaxy.

Staring James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Sophie Turner, Tye Sheridan, Alexandra Shipp, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Evan Peters, and Jessica Chastain, Dark Phoenix is in Australian cinemas February 7, 2019!
www.facebook.com/xmenmovies

When an elite crime squad’s lead detective (Fassbender) investigates the disappearance of a victim on the first snow of winter, he fears an elusive serial killer may be active again. With the help of a brilliant recruit (Ferguson), the cop must connect decades-old cold cases to the brutal new one if he hopes to outwit this unthinkable evil before the next snowfall.

THE SNOWMAN is in Cinemas October 19.
www.thesnowman.com.au

Competition will be drawn 17 October 2017, winners will be notified by mail.

When an elite crime squad’s lead detective (Fassbender) investigates the disappearance of a victim on the first snow of winter, he fears an elusive serial killer may be active again.

With the help of a brilliant recruit (Ferguson), the cop must connect decades-old cold cases to the brutal new one if he hopes to outwit this unthinkable evil before the next snowfall.

The Snowman is in Cinemas October 9 2017.
www.facebook.com/thesnowmanmovie