Set in the city of Beaverton, we are introduced to Mabel Tanaka (voiced by Piper Curda as a teenager and Lila Liu as a child), who spends her youth with her kind Grandmother (Karen Huie). Through her influence, Mabel learns to love the land and relate to the fauna of the area, especially a colony of beavers. It is an idyllic upbringing and leaves a lasting impression.

After losing her Gran, she is adrift until she is given a cause by the actions of the town’s mayor, Jerry Generazzo (Jon Hamm). He plans to destroy her favourite habitat to build a freeway overpass. After he drains the pond and drives out all the wildlife, the heartbroken teenager is given a cause to pursue and a galvanising purpose. This involves Mabel taking over the operation of a robot beaver and becoming part of the colony.

The message of the value of indigenous life forms is presented in an entertaining and less obtrusive way than most films of this ilk. Humour is used successfully and often to give the work a less strident tone. Mabel’s heritage is also used in a subtle and accessible way. The film’s success derives from a broadminded approach that puts entertainment first yet weaves in a message of value without the usual insolent approach.
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“We have assembled a legendary cast for ‘Hoppers,’ and the voice talent really gave the film all they had. Be it uproarious humour, heartfelt emotion or crazy animal noises, they delivered beyond our expectations,” stated director Daniel Chong and producer Nicole Paradis Grindle.

The trailer provides a closer look at the animated comedy adventure which introduces Mabel, an animal lover who seizes an opportunity to use a new technology to ‘hop’ her consciousness into a life-like robotic beaver and communicate directly with animals. Using the technology, Mabel uncovers mysteries within the animal world that are beyond anything she could have imagined.

“Hoppers” features the voice of Bobby Moynihan as King George, an undeniably optimistic, kind and larger-than-life beaver who is the leader of the pond and king of the mammals. Jon Hamm voices Mayor Jerry, a politician running for re-election in Beaverton. Under his shiny, perfectly coiffed hair and matching public persona, Jerry is losing his cool over the one thing he can’t control: Mabel.

“Hoppers” is directed by Daniel Chong (“We Bare Bears”), produced by Nicole Paradis Grindle (“Incredibles 2”) and features an original score by composer Mark Mothersbaugh (“Thor: Ragnarok”). Coming to cinemas this March.
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In the first-ever fully CG-animated Transformers movie, TRANSFORMERS ONE features a star-studded voice cast, including Chris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree Henry, Scarlett Johansson, Keegan-Michael Key, Steve Buscemi, with Laurence Fishburne, and Jon Hamm.
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Chris Hemsworth is Orion Pax / Optimus Prime in Transformers One.

Transformers One is the untold origin story of Optimus Prime and Megatron, better known as sworn enemies, but once were friends bonded like brothers who changed the fate of Cybertron forever.

In the first-ever fully CG-animated Transformers movie, Transformers One features a star-studded voice cast, including Chris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree Henry, Scarlett Johansson, Keegan-Michael Key, Steve Buscemi, with Laurence Fishburne, and Jon Hamm.
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This satirical look at the soul-crushing nature of corporate business and the way it turns humans into automatons is mostly focused through the eyes, ears and thoughts of Orson (Hamm). He is a man like few you’ve ever met in the cinematic universe. Filled to the brim with odd eccentricities and social awkwardness, Orson exists in a world almost entirely of his own making.

His creative thinking is mired in a morass of reality and internal dialogue and obscures the truth of almost everything you witness on screen. The story being told almost exclusively in voice-over helps to tilt the vision even further. The digs are subtle and director Joachim Back succeeds in keeping you off-kilter while he envelopes you in his dystopia and almost monochromatic world.

Almost too subtle for most viewers, Corner Office delivers its critique in such an understated way, that it will require you to become an active participant. You will need to find your own thoughts on the subject, a task made easier by the pace. Its mix of the banal and thought-provoking enjoy such gaps as to always give you the chance to make up your own mind. It’s challenging but worth the effort.

Corner Office is available now on DVD and Digital platforms, including Apple TV, Prime Video and Google Play.
Rob Hudson
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This long-awaited origin story of how the most iconic characters in the TRANSFORMERS universe, Orion Pax and D-16, went from brothers-in-arms to become sworn enemies, Optimus Prime and Megatron, debuted its trailer on Friday April 19. The launch kicked off at 11:00pm AEST, Thursday April 18, with a live-streamed countdown showing the journey into space.

After one hour, the craft reached its peak at 125,000 feet above the Earth, revealing the trailer with a custom introduction video from our stars: Chris Hemsworth and Brian Tyree Henry. The event was streamed from @TransformersMovie social accounts, The Paramount Pictures YouTube channel and co-streamed by Chris Hemsworth on Instagram.

TRANSFORMERS ONE is the untold origin story of Optimus Prime and Megatron, better known as sworn enemies, but once were friends bonded like brothers who changed the fate of Cybertron forever. In the first-ever fully CG-animated Transformers movie, TRANSFORMERS ONE features a star-studded voice cast, including Chris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree Henry, Scarlett Johansson, Keegan-Michael Key, Steve Buscemi, with Laurence Fishburne, and Jon Hamm.
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Starting with an almost word for word recreation of the original film, when the first musical number arrives it reminds you that this version is something new. The voices behind those songs are average at best but this does well to sell the illusion that these are high-school kids not professional singers. The lyrical content is also believable.

For a work with mean in the title, this version is decidedly kinder and even more gentle. The personal conflicts are toned down and it is much more inclusive. This is highlighted by a student body far more representative of the day and an interface with social media much less destructive. It still shows the inherent dangers but doesn’t hit you over head with it.

Is the new Mean Girls just a retro blast from the past or is it a valid reinterpretation of the previous work? For those that see this question as important, that misses the point. This film was made for fans of the original as well as trying to allure a new generation of hearts and minds to a work that just wants to entertain and maybe plant a seed or two of the acceptance tree.
Rob Hudson
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When he finds himself training a detachment of TOPGUN graduates for a specialized mission the likes of which no living pilot has ever seen, Maverick encounters Lt. Bradley Bradshaw (Miles Teller), call sign: “Rooster,” the son of Maverick’s late friend and Radar Intercept Officer Lt. Nick Bradshaw, aka “Goose.”

Facing an uncertain future and confronting the ghosts of his past, Maverick is drawn into a confrontation with his own deepest fears, culminating in a mission that demands the ultimate sacrifice from those who will be chosen to fly it.

Top Gun: Maverick will be released in Australian cinemas from May 26!

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The film stars Don Cheadle, Benicio Del Toro, David Harbour, with Ray Liotta, Jon Hamm, Amy Seimetz, Brendan Fraser, Kieran Culkin, Noah Jupe, Craig muMs Grant, Julia Fox, Frankie Shaw, and Bill Duke.

Curt Goynes (Cheadle) is down on his luck. Recently released from prison, Curt is dogged by a missing “code book” and his questionable history in the underbelly of Detroit’s African-American crime syndicate. Approached by a shady go-between known only as Jones (Fraser) to do a babysitting job on the family of a low-level auto executive, Matt Wertz (Harbour), Curt sees an opportunity to climb out of the hole he’s in. But it’s not that simple. Turns out, it’s a three-man job as Jones recruits two more petty criminals, Ronald Russo (Del Toro) and Charley Barnes (Culkin) to sit with Matt’s wife, Mary (Seimetz), and two kids (Jupe, Holt) in their middle-class neighborhood while Matt plays the unlucky pawn for Jones’s mysterious boss.

Everything that can go wrong does go wrong, leading Curt and Ronald through a maze of Detroit’s midcentury criminal elite vying for interest in an ever-growing scheme of complexity and danger involving competing figures of the local crime world, like Frank Capelli (Liotta), his wife Vanessa (Fox) and Aldrick Watkins (Duke), who is often mentioned but rarely seen. Their activity draws the attention of the State Police, in particular Detective Joe Finney (Hamm), who throws yet another monkey wrench in the works as he navigates the deceptions on both sides of the law, blurring the line between them.

All of this over a piece of paper. Locked in a safe. But not the safe where it’s supposed to be. And the information on this document clearly has implications for a much broader conspiracy that entangles the myriad paper chasers in a web of double-crossing, deceit and shifting loyalties as everyone attempts to get in on the action in hopes of a mounting, monumental payday. And just like every high stakes game, there are winners and losers on both sides.

Soderbergh directed the film from a screenplay written by Ed Solomon and produced by Casey Silver, both of whom he collaborated with on his HBO series Mosaic. Julie M. Anderson executive produced.

The director’s creative team behind the scenes included Oscar-winning production designer Hannah Beachler (Black Panther) and costume designer Marci Rodgers (BlacKkKlansman), with music by David Holmes (Baby Driver, TV’s Killing Eve).

No Sudden Move will be released in Australian cinemas August 26!
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Anthony and Rosemary are star-crossed lovers, whose families are caught up in a feud over a holy contested patch of land that separates their two farms.

Anthony (Dornan) always seems to be out in the fields working, worn down by his father’s constant belittling. But what really stings is his father’s threat to bequeath the family farm to his American cousin Adam. Rosemary (Blunt) at first seems to hold a grudge for having been shamed by Anthony in childhood, but the sparks between them would keep a bonfire blazing through the night. Her mother Aoife strives to unite the families before it is too late.

Just when we think Anthony will pluck up the courage to face up to his repressed feelings, cousin Adam (Hamm) steps in with a plan to sweep Rosemary off her feet, romancing her over a magical 24 hours in Manhattan. But true love is never defeated!

Wild Mountain Thyme – in cinemas February 4!

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