Despite the unlikely duo closing in, the crime ring pushes past their limits, putting everything on the line for their beliefs – and their most ambitious heist yet.

Starring Nicholas Hoult, Zoë Kravitz, Anna Sawai, Rhenzy Feliz, Christian Slater, with Pete Davidson and John C. Reilly, How To Rob A Bank will be released in Aussie cinemas September 3!
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The cast is chock full of Hollywood A-Listers including a man of the moment, Tom Hiddleston, the always popular Samuel L. Jackson (in a bad guy role) and even an attempt at some form of indie cred with Brie Larson, here getting her best Lara Croft on following her star turn in Room. The other A-Lister is that big bad monkey man, who this time out is big but not so bad.

The locations are exotic and the sets are stunning and the emergence of the big guy is played to full dramatic effect. Setting his early arrival amidst the shadows plays well to building the impact of his full reveal. It’s an interesting approach as it gives the film a pacing that engages until the final act as opposed to showing all early and leaving the audience nowhere to go.

The story is a very familiar one and it’s a nod to the filmmaker’s nous that they are so successful at breathing new life into a story so frequently told. Popcorn movies are big and often times bold but few of this ilk work as well as Kong: Skull Island.

Rob Hudson
www.facebook.com/roadshow

And all this for a superhero team that not many people know, and the first Marvel film not to feature one of the Silver Age group of characters created by Stan Lee.

The Guardians are a bunch of undesirables who find themselves fighting together to prevent one of the Infinity Stones from reaching Thanos. If that all sounds a little crazy, then welcome to the Marvel Universe (not just Earth, or Asgard, or wherever it is that Agent Coulson buys his suits) where universe destroying gems and intergalactic, death obsessed super villains are the norm. The preposterous synopsis hides an entertaining film.

The Guardians are in the vein of Blake’s 7 or, for the people born after the 70’s boom of more realist and thoroughly depressing science fiction or even the crew of Serenity, except they are substantially less human. Chris Pratt is Star-Lord (possibly human, maybe more), Zoe Saldana is the green Gamora (known in the comics as ‘the deadliest woman in the whole galaxy’), professional wrestler Dave Bautista is Drax the Destroyer (more than just muscle), Bradley Cooper lends his voice to Rocket (a gun toting raccoon), and the wooden acting of Vin Diesel is put to good use as he voices an anthropomorphic tree called Groot (Vin’s never been better). The big bad, Thanos (Josh Brolin moving from DC to Marvel), is seen little, leaving his minions Lee Pace (as Ronan, the least interesting aspect of the film) and Karen Gillan (as the slightly more interesting Nebula) to do the dirty work. Better villainy comes from Michael Rooker (doing what he does best as Yondu Udonta).

Director and co-writer James Gunn has a history in irreverent comedy. His early work includes Tromeo and Juliet (for the legendary Troma Entertainment) and The Specials (who as a team of less than exemplary superheroes, not the band, may have been something of a dry-run for this film). He also wrote the Scooby Doo movies, but don’t hold that against him, and that experience has helped him create a PG film from a comic that is generally anything but.

The questions I have already seen on social media include “Is it better than Star Wars” and “Is it better than The Avengers”. The answer, quite obviously, rather depends how much you like those films. Like the two films in question, Guardians has brilliant dialogue and interplay between characters hesitantly working together, coupled with enough action scenes to satisfy the teenage boy in all of us. See the film for yourself and decide which is better. I am certainly looking forward to seeing Guardians again, at my earliest convenience, and that is the best recommendation I can give it.

Fabulous Sebastian
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This bittersweet tale is set in the latter part of their careers as they tour England after World War II. It shows two men that were creative partners for most of their adult lives but never really communicated in words or deeds their true feelings for each other.

Steve Coogan as Stan Laurel and John C. Reilly as Oliver Hardy are absolutely convincing in their roles. They are outstanding in showing the physical comedy side of their art with its strict timing and understatement and the human pathos of a generation that found great difficulty in communicating emotions.

This film connects with its audience with superlative performances and a touching story of two men sharing their true feelings before it’s too late. Even if you have no real knowledge of who Laurel & Hardy are, the cinematic experience is still meaningful and affecting.

Rob Hudson
www.StanAndOllie.com.au

Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly star as Laurel and Hardy, the world’s most famous comedy duo, attempt to reignite their film careers as they embark on what becomes their swan song – a gruelling theatre tour of post-war Britain.

Directed by Jon S. Baird (Filth) and starring Steve Coogan (Philomena), John C. Reilly (Chicago), Danny Huston (American Horror Story), Shirley Henderson (Happy Valley) and Nina Arianda (Florence Foster Jenkins)

NOMINATED FOR 1 GOLDEN GLOBE:
Best Actor, Motion Picture Musical or Comedy (John C. Reilly)

Stan and Ollie is in Australian cinemas February 21, 2019!
www.StanAndOllie.com.au

To enter this great competition just fill out the entry form below.

Competition will be drawn 18 February 2019, winners will be notified by mail.

If you follow these simple instructions to the letter, then by halfway through the film you will be so drunk, the second half will produce some good time laughs. Because make no mistake, this is one hot mess of a movie. The sets are appealing as are the costumes and the signage and newspaper headlines shown throughout are very funny. The parts are all there.

Casting wise, it also looks good as both Will Ferrell as Sherlock Holmes and John C. Reilly as Doctor Watson have a decent track record together. They have both been in some funny films together. Casting Ralph Fiennes as the mysterious criminal mastermind Moriarty also looks promising.

Having said all that however, the film wildly misses the target and very few of the comic ideas hit home. The film is oddly efficient in how often the humour goes astray but as the basis for one of the world’s most intoxicating drinking games, it is spectacular.

Rob Hudson
www.facebook.com/HolmesAndWatsonMovie

Ralph (John C. Reilly) and his BFF Vanellope (Sarah Silverman) go on a mission to save Vanellope’s old school video game and this involves a trip into the idiosyncrasies of the Internet. The journey is filled with great visual representations of some of the web’s oddest elements.

The film is unafraid of presenting things that are quite dark (for a kid’s film) even including a visit to the dark web and a scary visual representation of a computer virus. It doesn’t undersell its youth audience members and there are a few adult jokes thrown in for good measure.

Translating web crazy into family friendly visuals is handled with skill and imagination. As is taking advantage of the Disney playbook of characters including a very funny bit about the brand’s princesses. The six-year wait since Wreck-It Ralph kicked things off in 2012 has been well worth the wait.

Rob Hudson
www.facebook.com/WreckItRalph

Starring Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, Rebecca Hall, Rob Brydon, Kelly Macdonald and Ralph Fiennes, Holmes & Watson is in Australian cinemas Boxing Day!
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Homes & Watson is in Australian cinemas this Boxing Day!
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Video game bad guy Ralph (voice of John C. Reilly) and fellow misfit Vanellope von Schweetz (voice of Sarah Silverman) must risk it all by traveling to the world wide web in search of a replacement part to save Vanellope’s video game, Sugar Rush.

In way over their heads, Ralph and Vanellope rely on the citizens of the internet—the netizens—to help navigate their way, including a webite entrepreneur named Yesss (voice of Taraji P. Henson), who is the head algorithm and the heart and soul of trend-making site “BuzzzTube.”

Directed by Rich Moore (“Zootopia,” “Wreck-It Ralph”) and Phil Johnston (co-writer “Wreck-It Ralph,” “Cedar Rapids,” co-writer “Zootopia,”), and produced by Clark Spencer (“Zootopia,” “Wreck-It Ralph,” “Bolt”), “Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-Ralph 2” hits theaters on Dec. 26, 2018!
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