Your Monster Movie Review
Laura Franco (Melissa Barrera) is an actor/singer/dancer working her trade in the live theatre world. Her boyfriend Jacob Sullivan (Edmund Donovan) is an aspiring playwright. Together they are working on a play that puts women front and centre. When Laura gets cancer, Jacob supports her at first but then chooses the selfish route and abandons her in her time of need.
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When she gets to leave the hospital after a surgery, she returns to her now-empty mother’s home. She ...
Wicked Movie Review
Most will be familiar with the tie-in with The Wizard Of Oz as it’s set in the Land of Oz before events that take place in the original movie. It tells the life and death story (in two parts) of the Wicked Witch of the West, Elphaba, played by Tony Award-winning singer/actor/songwriter Cynthia Erivo. Pop princess Ariana Grande plays her frienemie Glinda in a role that provides most of the film’s comic moments.
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Being loosely based on the 1995 novel of the same ...
Goodrich Movie Review
The knocks keep adding up and Andy is forced to reprioritise his life. His previous efforts were full of focus on his business and its successes with little left for his wife and children. He soon begins to realise his absenteeism has deprived himself and those around him of the joys that can happen in everyday life.
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This is all a fairly standard setup, script-wise but what happens as things unfold is anything but by the numbers. Situations and their end results ...
Gladiator II Movie Review
The story circles back on itself and tells a tale not unlike the Russell Crowe-led version. We are introduced to Lucius (Paul Mescal) an honourable man very much in love with his wife. When the Romans attack his province he and his wife turn out to be warriors and travel to the coast to ward off the boat-bound invaders. The attack is led by Marcus Acacius (Pedro Pascal).
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During the battle, Lucius suffers a horrible loss and vows revenge on Marcus Acacius. He is ...
Piper Movie Review
Elizabeth “Oh Behave” Hurley stars as Liz Haines, a teacher who moves to Hamelin, Germany with her daughter Mia (Mia Jenkins) to take up a post at a local school. Once settling in the small Saxon town, strange things start to happen. It seems Mia has to pay for her mother’s transgressions. The details of which will be revealed as the story develops.
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Casting Hurley as the main adult in the cast brings with it a few preconceived notions. She really is limited ...
2024 Russell Hobbs British Film Festival – Blitz Movie Review
Even though The Blitz lasted a little over eight months, the indiscriminate nature of the bombs that fell on London during that time struck terror into the hearts of its citizens. The bombs indiscriminately killed men, women and children and the UK government began a program to send the children (sans parents) to points North for their safety.
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Young George played by newcomer Elliott Heffernan is a precocious child from a mixed-race couple. The now single-parent ...
A Little Something Extra Movie Review
The premise of two criminal types escaping apprehension after a bout of robbery by stowing away on a bus headed to a summer camp has been done before quite a few times. The difference this time is the bus is filled with young adults with disabilities. To say that they have colourful personalities is to undersell how engaging they actually are. Their quirks and the love they show towards each other is transcendent.
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The crooks, in this case, a father and son find ...
Brisbane International Film Festival – Aquarius: Dreamers, tree-huggers and radical ratbags Movie Review
The festival was created with the help of the National Union of Australian University Students and Nimbin was their third edition after events in Sydney and Melbourne. It was, however, the first event under the Aquarius moniker. Its stated intent was to celebrate alternative thinking and sustainable lifestyles and lasted for ten days. It is credited for starting Australia's hippie movement.
This doco tells the story through archival footage and interviews with event organisers, perform...
Saturday Night Movie Review
It has been said that if you remember anything about the seventies, you weren’t actually there but as a teenager staring at the television set with disbelief as the original live broadcast burned itself into my brain cells, the memories are still vivid. The characters that made up the cast had such strong on-screen personalities and the comic routines were so outrageous for their time. The moral pendulum that swings in both directions time after time was actually being influenced by a TV ...
Brisbane International Film Festival – Teaches of Peaches Movie Review
The documentary Teaches of Peaches tells this story in her own words and the words of friends mixed with archival live footage and well-known video clips. Her journey has been a fascinating one and her bravery in not following expectations shows a true punk rock spirit. Few in the music business have been this courageous or immune to the expectations of others.
Her concerts are such a joyous communal experience because they are so inclusive. Looking out into her audience will defy your ...
