In the current times when the AI influence in the visual arts has never been more prevalent, the old adage “seeing is believing” has never had less relevance. Amid this, round three of the Now You See Me franchise has hit our screens. The Horsemen have returned this time, and with a few new members. Their nemesis comes from the shady world of diamond cartels. 

The opposition is led by Veronika Vanderberg, a South African who runs a diamond company started by her late Nazi father. Their profits now come from laundering money for the criminal elites. She is played with an evil glee by Rosamund Pike. When she gets ready to auction the world’s largest diamond, the group springs into action.

Having broken up over ten years ago after their last big caper, the Four Horsemen are spurred back into action by the individual receipt of a mysterious tarot card. The three newbies arrive via a deep fake show featuring the artificial likenesses of the original four. They are soon integrated into the team and now have a common cause.

As is the case with all the Now You See Me films, you can never believe what transpires on screen until the final reveal, and this approach is fun for all the armchair detectives out there. Your ability to read between the lines and second-guess the actions of all of the cast members will reinforce your fun. Some motives you will see, many you won’t.
Rob Hudson
www.facebook.com/roadshow/

The Four Horsemen return along with a new generation of illusionists performing mind-melding twists, turns, surprises, and magic unlike anything ever captured on film.

NOW YOU SEE ME NOW YOU DON’T stars Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Isla Fisher, Justice Smith, Dominic Sessa, Ariana Greenblatt, Rosamund Pike and Morgan Freeman.

Now You See Me: Now You Don’t is coming to Australian cinemas on November 13, 2025!
www.facebook.com/roadshow/

The story is completely bonkers as it involves stitching a dog’s head to a human cop’s body to create a super cop. The only problem is they forgot to inform the budding Doctor Frankenstein of the particulars and the title character can only communicate via barking.

If the dog is the good guy, you have to know the baddie will be a cat and in this case, it’s Petey voiced by Pete Davidson. This malevolent feline is a perfect fit for the slacker ethic that Davidson does so well. It makes for an arch enemy that resides more in the comic vein than the outright evil category.

With its individual look and irreverence towards the stock standard ethos of “If it’s got animated animals it must be super cute and cuddly”, Dog Man impresses with an identity that is far from typical for films of this genre. There is much to enjoy for kids of all ages.
Rob Hudson
www.facebook.com/UniversalPicturesAU/

From DreamWorks Animation—creators of the beloved blockbuster franchises Kung Fu Panda, How to Train Your Dragon and The Boss Baby—comes the canine-crime-fighting film adaptation of Dav Pilkey’s New York Times bestselling literary phenomenon: Dog Man.

When a faithful police dog and his human police officer owner are injured together on the job, a harebrained but life-saving surgery fuses the two of them together and Dog Man is born. Dog Man is sworn to protect and serve—and fetch, sit and roll over.

As Dog Man embraces his new identity and strives to impress his Chief (Lil Rel Howery, Get Out, Free Guy), he must stop the pretty evil plots of feline supervillain Petey the Cat (Pete Davidson; Saturday Night Live, The King of Staten Island). Petey’s latest plan is to clone himself, creating the kitten Lil Petey, to double his ability to do crime stuff. Things get complicated, though, when Lil Petey forges an unexpected bond with Dog Man.

When Lil Petey falls into the clutches of a common enemy, Dog Man and Petey reluctantly join forces in an action-packed race against time to rescue the young kitten. In the process, they discover the power of family (and kittens!) to bring even the most hostile foes together.

Dog Man also stars Isla Fisher (Wedding Crashers, Rango) as TV reporter Sarah Hatoff; Poppy Liu (Hacks, The Afterparty) as Petey’s assistant, Butler; Emmy nominee Stephen Root (Barry, King of the Hill) as Grampa; Billy Boyd (the Lord of the Rings franchise, Seed of Chucky) as Sarah’s cameraman, Seamus; and Emmy and Golden Globe winner Ricky Gervais (The Office, Extras) as Flippy the fish.

Dog Man is directed by Emmy winner Peter Hastings (The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants, Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness), whose credits include the groundbreaking animated series Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain. The film is produced by Karen Foster (Spirit Untamed), who served as co-producer on DreamWorks Animation’s How to Train Your Dragon.

Launched in 2016 by Dav Pilkey—the #1 global bestselling author and award-winning illustrator of the Captain Underpants books—the Dog Man Scholastic series now includes 12 books. The series has more than 60 million copies in print and has been translated into 45 languages. Cat Kid Comic Club, a spin-off of Dog Man launched in 2020, has also topped bestseller lists around the world. The most recent Dog Man book, Dog Man: Twenty Thousand Fleas Under the Sea, was overall the #1 bestselling children’s book in the U.S. in 2023, across all children’s formats and ages. Pilkey’s newest book in the Dog Man Series, Dog Man: Big Jim Begins, is set to release on December 3, 2024.

DreamWorks Animation’s Dog Man will be distributed by Universal Pictures.
www.facebook.com/UniversalPicturesAU/

Reggie (Will Ferrell), Bug (Jamie Foxx), Hunter (Randall Park) and Maggie (Isla Fisher) are the canines in question and they prove there are consequences to miss-treating man’s best buddy. Just ask that human dropkick Doug (Will Forte) who ends up paying a very heavy price for his bad behaviour.

Director Josh Greenbaum gets the raunch just right and keeps the profanity flowing. One would also hope that Jamie Foxx gets paid for every f-bomb he drops because that would make him a very rich man. The rest of the voice actors add their individual touch to what is in essence a road movie that tugs at the heartstrings and makes some valid points about the mistreatment of man’s best friend.

With most of the world quite literally going to the dogs these days, there are few outlets with the redemptive value to make up for the mess. One way that has always worked is spending quality time with the domestic breed of your choice. Their pure affection and love is quite redemptive but after seeing Strays one has to wonder what is actually going on between those floppy ears.
Rob Hudson
www.facebook.com/UniversalPicturesAU/

When Reggie (Will Ferrell), a naïve, relentlessly optimistic Border Terrier, is abandoned on the mean city streets by his lowlife owner, Doug (Will Forte; The Last Man on Earth, Nebraska), Reggie is certain that his beloved owner would never leave him on purpose.

But once Reggie falls in with a fast-talking, foul-mouthed Boston Terrier named Bug (Oscar® winner Jamie Foxx), a stray who loves his freedom and believes that owners are for suckers, Reggie finally realizes he was in a toxic relationship and begins to see Doug for the heartless sleazeball that he is.

Determined to seek revenge, Reggie, Bug and Bug’s pals—Maggie (Isla Fisher; Now You See Me, Wedding Crashers), a smart Australian Shepherd who has been sidelined by her owner’s new puppy, and Hunter (Randall Park; Always Be My Maybe, Aquaman), an anxious Great Dane who’s stressed out by his work as an emotional support animal—together hatch a plan and embark on an epic adventure to help Reggie find his way home … and make Doug pay by biting off the appendage he loves the most. (Hint: It’s not his foot).

A subversion of the dog movies we know and love, Strays, directed by Josh Greenbaum (Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar) and written by Dan Perrault (Players, American Vandal), is a hilarious, R-rated, live-action comedy about the complications of love, the importance of great friendships, and the unexpected virtues of couch humping.
www.facebook.com/UniversalPicturesAU/

When Reggie (Will Ferrell), a naïve, relentlessly optimistic Border Terrier, is abandoned on the mean city streets by his lowlife owner, Doug (Will Forte; The Last Man on Earth, Nebraska), Reggie is certain that his beloved owner would never leave him on purpose.

But once Reggie falls in with a fast-talking, foul-mouthed Boston Terrier named Bug (Oscar® winner Jamie Foxx), a stray who loves his freedom and believes that owners are for suckers, Reggie finally realizes he was in a toxic relationship and begins to see Doug for the heartless sleazeball that he is.

Determined to seek revenge, Reggie, Bug and Bug’s pals—Maggie (Isla Fisher; Now You See Me, Wedding Crashers), a smart Australian Shepherd who has been sidelined by her owner’s new puppy, and Hunter (Randall Park; Always Be My Maybe, Aquaman), an anxious Great Dane who’s stressed out by his work as an emotional support animal—together hatch a plan and embark on an epic adventure to help Reggie find his way home … and make Doug pay by biting off the appendage he loves the most. (Hint: It’s not his foot).

A subversion of the dog movies we know and love, Strays, directed by Josh Greenbaum (Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar) and written by Dan Perrault (Players, American Vandal), is a hilarious, R-rated, live-action comedy about the complications of love, the importance of great friendships, and the unexpected virtues of couch humping.

Featuring a powerhouse comedic supporting cast—including Grammy winner Josh Gad (Beauty and the Beast), Harvey Guillén (Puss in Boots: The Last Wish), Emmy nominee Rob Riggle (The Hangover), Brett Gelman (Stranger Things), Jamie Demetriou (The Afterparty), and Emmy nominee Sofia Vergara (Modern Family)—Strays is produced by Picturestart founder and CEO Erik Feig (Luckiest Girl Alive, Cha Cha Real Smooth), by Louis Leterrier (director Fast X, The Clash of the Titans), by Dan Perrault (Players, American Vandal) and by Lord Miller partners Phil Lord and Chris Miller (Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part) and Lord Miller President of Film Aditya Sood (The Martian, Cocaine Bear).

The film is executive produced by Jessica Switch, Nikki Baida and Julia Hammer.
www.facebook.com/UniversalPicturesAU/

His picture-perfect new wife Ruth is doing her best to keep him focussed so they can fulfil her dream of leaving London for Hollywood. Charles’ quest for inspiration leads him to invite the eccentric mystic Madame Acarti (Judi Dench) to perform a séance in his home.

He gets more than he bargained for when Madame Acarti inadvertently summons the spirit of his first wife: the brilliant and fiery Elvira. Ready to pick up her life right where she left off, Elvira is shocked to discover the prim and proper Ruth is now married to her husband and running her household.

Charles finds himself stuck between his two wives and their increasingly over-the-top attempts to outdo one another in this lethally hilarious comedy.

Blithe Spirit will be released later this year.
www.facebook.com/transmissionfilms

Greed tells the story of self-made British billionaire Sir Richard McCreadie (Steve Coogan), whose retail empire is in crisis. For 30 years he has ruled the world of retail fashion – bringing the high street to the catwalk and the catwalk to the high street – but after a damaging public inquiry, his image is tarnished.

To save his reputation, he decides to bounce back with a highly publicised and extravagant party celebrating his 60th birthday on the Greek island of Mykonos. A satire on the grotesque inequality of wealth in the fashion industry, the film sees McCreadie’s rise and fall through the eyes of his biographer, Nick (David Mitchell).
www.facebook.com/SonyPicturesAUS

With a strong cast of both comedians and actors, the film ramps up the crazy to such dizzy heights, it’s an absolute riot to watch. Under the umbrella of a kid’s game gone wild is an examination on what it means to be an adult holding on to both childhood friends and also that sense of youth that is so sad to see dissipate.

A lot of the comic set ups are far from unique but they are delivered with such a sense of fun and energy, it’s near impossible to not get drawn in. And just when you start to see the film as only a comedy, it delivers a message of the importance of friendship that is quite touching.

The real people the story is based on have keep their game of Tag active for 23 years and if they enjoyed even a fraction of the adolescent insanity that the film portrays, it was time well spent. Also make sure to stay for all of the end credits because the film goes out with some big laughs.

Rob Hudson
www.facebook.com/tagthemovie