Picking up where the first chapter left off, Venom: Let There Be Carnage highlights the difficulty of experiencing life with a foreign body fighting for control for your body and mind. The forced partnership is played mostly for laughs as this modern day odd couple get drawn into the twisted world of serial killer Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson).

Harrelson has not been this over the top since playing Mickey Knox in Natural Born Killers. His partner in crime Frances Barrison, is played by the almost unrecognisable Naomie Harris. Through circumstance Kasady gets to host an alien of his own and this leads to a titanic battle between well, almost every cast member.

This major skirmish exists almost completely in the world of computer generated imagery and some of the visual effects are quite impressive and more than a little repulsive. It’s a good thing the visuals are so striking as there is an almost complete absence of story and plot line. This film exists solely for the thrill of the battle and the humour of the leads. Laughs and a kick ass battle rule the day.

Rob Hudson
www.facebook.com/SonyPicturesAUS

Tom Hardy returns to the big screen as the lethal protector Venom, one of MARVEL’s greatest and most complex characters.

Directed by Andy Serkis, the film also stars Michelle Williams, Naomie Harris and Woody Harrelson, in the role of the villain Cletus Kasady/Carnage.

www.facebook.com/SonyPicturesAUS

Venom: Let There Be Carnage will be released in Australian cinemas September 16!
www.facebook.com/SonyPicturesAUS

The film starts out with a boat ride that would be helped by a shot of Dramamine as U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels (DiCaprio) and his partner Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo) are sent to a hospital for the criminally insane located on an isolated island to investigate the disappearance of one of its patients. This sets off a chain of events that will push the already unstable Marshal to and over the edge.

The movie’s trailer to the contrary, the film is more of a psychological thriller than an outright horror story and from the first frame on things seems strange and edgy. The first strains of the film score are also abrasive and over stated as if the filmmaker wants you to not get comfortable. The events that unravel from there redefine the main characters and the viewer needs to pay attention.

If this film’s ultimate success is dependent on return patronage, it’s got the bases covered because a twist in the film’s ending will have you wanting to see the film again to examine all the clues that lead up to it. Scorsese has had an uneven run with his last few films and while Shutter Island is no classic, it’s still a lot of fun and takes some detecting from the audience to fully enjoy.

Rob Hudson
www.facebook.com/ParamountPicturesAU

The basic story revolves around an orphanage in India that is in danger of going broke and the actions needed to keep it afloat. These efforts are filtered through a number of family secrets and coloured by how people deal with grief and betrayal. Things unfold layer by layer by layer.

The stats of the new version look promising with a cast that includes heavyweights like Julianne Moore, Michelle Williams and Billy Crudup. The location for securing the needed funding has been changed to New York City and this emphasises the different worlds by contrasting Western opulence with the simplicity of India.

It’s in the human interaction when things go astray. The acting in this really lets it down. Moore is unusually shrill and over the top and Williams is disengaged and flat. There are a few scenes that work and engenders real pathos but they are sadly in the minority. Unfortunately mark this one down as lost in translation.

Rob Hudson
www.facebook.com/RialtoDistributionAU

After the Wedding | Trailer from Rialto Distribution on Vimeo.

As if driven by an inescapable force, Isabel (Michelle Williams) has devoted her life to running an orphanage in a Calcutta slum. With funds running dry, a potential donor, who requires she travel from India to New York, to deliver a presentation in-person, contacts Isabel. At first balking at the demand of an uncommitted philanthropist, she relents, and travels to a city she deliberately hasn’t returned to in over two decades.

Once in New York, Isabel lands uncomfortably in the sites of the orphanage’s possible benefactor, Theresa Young (Julianne Moore), a multi-millionaire media mogul. From the glittering skyscraper where she runs her successful business, to the glorious Oyster Bay estate, where she lives happily with her artist husband, Oscar Carlson (Billy Crudup), 21-year-old daughter, Grace (Abby Quinn), and eight-year-old twins, Theo and Otto, Theresa’s life couldn’t appear to be more perfect. But appearances are only skin deep, and Isabel and Theresa have more in common than meets the eye.

While Isabel thinks she’ll soon be returning to her beloved orphanage, Theresa has other plans. She insists Isabel attend Grace’s wedding at the family’s estate. The joyful event becomes a catalyst for a revelation that upends the lives of both women, and the people who love them most.

With the same quiet depth and intensity found in Ordinary People and Terms of Endearment, After the Wedding celebrates the complex, transformative power of the most primal of human connections, as well as the ever-expanding definition of what makes a family.

Based on the Academy Award nominated film by Susanne Bier, After the Wedding stars: Academy Award winner Julianne Moore (Bel Canto, Gloria), Academy Award nominee Michelle Williams (Venom, I Feel Pretty), Billy Crudup (Where’d You Go, Bernadette), Abby Quinn (Bumblebee, Good Girls Get High), and Alex Esola (Orange is the New Black, The Young Pope).

After the Wedding is releasing in Australian cinemas October 24, 2019.

To enter this great competition simply fallout the form below. Please note – these tickets are for a specific event only and can not be exchanged or refunded. The winners will need to be available on October 16 at 6:30pm in Brisbane to be able to attend this event at Palace James Street.

www.facebook.com/RialtoDistributionAU

After the Wedding Competition

Name *

Name

Email *

Email

Address *

Address

Captcha

After the Wedding | Trailer from Rialto Distribution on Vimeo.

Competition will be drawn October 11 2019, winners will be notified by mail.

For those unfamiliar with the Venom storyline, Hardy’s character, that of reporter Eddie Brock gets inhabited by an alien creature that not so much combines with his human DNA as forms a full blown bromance. The voices in his head urge him on to feats outside his human abilities.

This duality is played mostly for laughs and the film is quite funny in obvious and unintentional ways. It’s also more comfortable with humour than action. Some of the action sequences are so CGI intensive you loose sight of what you are actual looking at.

Silly in the extreme and funny is large parts, Venom is a welcome addition to the comic side of the Marvel Comic Universe. Now that we’ve gotten past the origin story limitations, it will be fun to see what they do with the character next.

Rob Hudson
www.facebook.com/VenomMovie

Starring Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed, Scott Haze and Reid Scott, Venom will be released in Australian cinemas October 4!
www.facebook.com/VenomMovie

Venom stars Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed, Scott Haze and Reid Scott and will  be in cinemas October 4 2018!
www.venom.movie

The film is a maddening journey of comic bullseyes and structural mishaps that strain the interest and believability of the project. Seeing the film in a full cinema on a Sunday afternoon and being one of only four males in the room was only one of the more unusual circumstances. The other being the almost complete lack of laughter from the audience, even in the very funny moments the film provides. You would think that those that arrive to see a Amy Schumer film would be well versed in what to expect. This audience seemed intent on not enjoying themselves.

The idea behind the storyline (that of beauty being contained within and not just a manifestation of appearance) is one told often and more effectively elsewhere but the film does have some funny moments and did provide a modicum of entertainment. It seems a shame the gathered masses were so intent and not sharing the collective fun.

The film falls into one of those niches that become a reality when a comedian crates a strong persona and people with money rush in to attempt to ride the coat tales. With a stronger director and sharper script I Feel Pretty would have provided a more solid foundation to what is a funny and talented comedian.

Rob Hudson
www.facebook.com/IFeelPrettyMovieAU