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.

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 are presented in such a hyperbole-free manner that it places the focus on the kind of nuances that happen in a real person’s life. You can’t help but be drawn in.

Too many films end up being just entertainment fodder but then there are the projects that aim a little higher and leave behind a lasting impression. Goodrich fills your thoughts with a rich concoction of human emotions, life-affirming endeavours and reconnections. Kudos to all involved in this wonderful film.
Rob Hudson
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What starts as an examination of a lonely under-appreciated housewife named Sue Buttons played by the always interesting Allison Janney soon turns into something very different. Sue feels so powerless that when an opportunity to become the centre of attention comes her way, she will leave common sense and morality far behind.

The comments on the media and its way of manipulating viewers’ emotions are razor-sharp but they are buried deep in the heart of a screwball comedy. A work that feels so unfocused at times and so random that you marvel at its lack of cohesion. Releasing you from a sense of expectation becomes its charm.

Breaking News In Yuba County will split audiences and requires a very dark sense of humour to get on its wavelength. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. With the ever-expanding number of takes on the comic genre, this crowded field needs a dark gem to challenge what’s considered funny. This is a work that will take time to find its audience.

Rob Hudson
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In an effort to prolong her newfound fame, she stumbles into hilarious hijinks as her world turns upside down, dodging a wanna-be mobster (Awkwafina), a relentless local policewoman (Regina Hall), her half-sister (Mila Kunis) a local news reporter desperate for a story, and her husband’s dead-beat brother (Jimmi Simpson), who all set out to uncover the truth behind the disappearance.

Directed by Tate Taylor and written by Amanda Idoko, Breaking News in Yuba County is a dark and twisted comedy that explores the outrageous lengths some will go to in order to garner some much-desired attention.
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I’ve read director Darren Aronofsky sees this as a companion piece to his 2008 film, The Wrestler and it’s easy to see why. Both are an examination on the extremes one will go to for their art. However in this case he ramps things up visually and thematically into a full-scale assault on the senses. This film engenders absolutely no passive feelings.

The demand Aronofsky places on the audience is a mirror of the demands he placed on his cast members and the two main actors turn in outstanding performances. Portman’s excellence is not a great surprise (once she tackles a script worthy of her talents) but Mila Kunis is a revelation. Who though the TV actor could so effectively throw off the shackles of being cute and become so dangerous?

Even though it’s early in the new year, what better way to add that first entry to your best of list than Black Swan. It’s an experience that will resonate for a long time.

Rob Hudson
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The surprises continue with the acting with Mark Wahlberg proving himself particularly adept at this style of raunchy comedy and his rapid-fire white-trash name recital is one of the film’s most laugh out loud moments. Ted, the CGI created teddy bear voiced by MacFarlane himself also defies simple categorization by being both offensive and inviting at the same time.

Elsewhere taste is stretched to the absolute limit and this nothing off limits approach is refreshing in its disregard to political correctness. Those with knowledge of MacFarlane’s television work will have an idea of what’s coming but even that collective work is only the starting point for Ted.

Ted is clever, funny, stupid, offensive (especially if you’re Susan Boyle) and will make you laugh weather you like it or not.

Rob Hudson
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June has created an imaginary place called Wonder Park. It’s a place she and her mother (Jennifer Garner) share together. When her mother becomes ill, the script is unafraid to go to a dark place to give the storyline some dynamic range.

The drama this creates informs the first half of the film. In the second half, through circumstance, June finds herself alone in the woods, where she actually finds a dilapidated version of the fun park. She sets out on a path to bring it back to its full glory.

During this quest, June learns to come to terms with the sadness her mother’s illness has created. This lesson is subtly told while the screen pops with wild flights of fancy and brilliant colours that explode off the screen. The film doesn’t try to impart excessive slices of real life and lives comfortably in the world of imagination.

Rob Hudson
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June soon discovers the park came from her imagination and she’s the only one who can fix it, so she bands together with the animals to save this magical place and bring back the wonder in Wonderland.

Wonder Park stars Jennifer Garner, Matthew Broderick, John Oliver, Mila Kunis, Norbert Leo Butz, Brianna Denski, Ken Hudson Campbell with Fitzy & Wip and is in Australian cinemas this April school holidays!

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Wonder Park stars Jennifer Garner, Matthew Broderick, John Oliver, Mila Kunis, Norbert Leo Butz, Brianna Denski, Ken Hudson Campbell with Ryan Fitzgerald and Michael Wipfli – and is in Australian cinemas April School Holidays!
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Inhabiting the bumbling role that morphs into the super spy, both Mila Kunis and Kate McKinnon do the role justice. They have good chemistry together and Kunis’s straight role balances out nicely with McKinnon’s hyper crazy. The men this time are only there as eye candy and Sam Heughan (hot Jamie from Outlander) plays the role well and doesn’t even have to show his butt.

The story that drives the film is thin but as a platform for the girls to do their comic thing, it’s sufficient. While the violence is over the top and the plot lines have holes big enough to drive a truck through, this does little to dampen the fun.

As a spy yarn, The Spy Who Dumped Me in almost completely nonsensical, as a comedy, it often times strikes the target with suitable impact. That the ladies are the driving force in the film only makes it that much more interesting.
Rob Hudson
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Surprising even themselves, the duo jump into action, on the run throughout Europe from assassins and a suspicious-but-charming British agent, as they hatch a plan to save the world.

THE SPY WHO DUMPED ME is directed by Susanna Fogel and stars Mila Kunis, Kate McKinnon, Justin Theroux, Gillian Anderson, Hasan Minhaj, Ivanna Sakhno, and Sam Heughan.

THE SPY WHO DUMPED ME releases in Australian and New Zealand cinemas on August 9, 2018!
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