From Will Packer, the blockbuster producer of Girls Trip, the Ride Along franchise, and ten movies that have opened No. 1 at the U.S. box office—including Night School, This Christmas and Think Like a Man—comes a delicious romantic comedy about one little lie, one large Italian villa, and two people getting lost in the sauce of love.

Halle Bailey (The Little Mermaid, The Color Purple) stars as Anna, a young woman who has abandoned her dreams of becoming a chef and is now drifting through her twenties with a series of bad choices. When Anna loses her house-sitting job (and housing) in one fell swoop, a chance encounter with Matteo—a handsome Italian who happens to have a villa sitting empty in Tuscany—will inspire her to jet off for Italy, against the advice of her always-honest bestie, Claire (Home Before Dark’s Aziza Scott).

But Anna’s plan to crash at Matteo’s villa, without permission, just for one night, falls apart when Matteo’s mother, Gabriella (Italian film icon Isabella Ferrari) shows up at the house unexpectedly. In a panic, Anna allows Gabriella to believe that she is Matteo’s fiancée.

That little lie becomes a big problem, though, when Matteo’s cousin, Michael (Regé-Jean Page; Bridgerton, Black Bag) shows up, and Anna discovers that the heat between them may ignite a fire that will transform her life.

The film’s international cast includes Lorenzo de Moor (The Legend Hunters) as Matteo, Marco Calvani (The Four Seasons) as an Italian taxi driver who befriends Anna and Academy Award® nominee Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding) as Anna’s house-sitting client, Mrs. Dunn.

You, Me & Tuscany is directed by acclaimed filmmaker Kat Coiro (Marry Me, Matlock), from a screenplay by Ryan Engle (Rampage, Beast), based on an original idea by Ryan Engle and Kristin Engle. The film is produced by Will Packer (Girls Trip, Ride Along films) and Johanna Byer (Point Blank, executive producer Praise This) for Will Packer Productions. The executive producers are Ryan Engle and Kristin Engle.
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Together, they spark a hilarious campus-wide frenzy that tests their own hearts and ambitions along the way.

Starring Angourie Rice and Spike Fearn, Finding Emily is coming to cinemas May 21
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We follow Catherine Earnshaw (Charlotte Mellington as the child and Margot Robbie as the adult) and Heathcliff (Owen Cooper and Jacob Elordi) from their early life under the destructive rule of Cathy’s father, Mr Earnshaw (Martin Clunes). He becomes the guardian of Heathcliff. Their life together is filled with hardship caused by the family patriarch’s drinking and gambling. This drives the two to live in a fantasy world and to become very close.

The themes of what women of that time had to do to carve out a fulfilling life in a system stacked against them, and finding that true love isn’t always enough, underpins the direction of the film. This is also exacerbated by those who surround the couple who think they know best and are looking after the best interests of their loved ones. This myopic view succeeds in accomplishing just the opposite.

For die-hard fans of the original novel, Earnshaw’s assertive cinematic take will require some acclamation. One might think she used the book more as a doorstop than a literary reference. With there being so many different versions out there already, with numerous feature films (16 and counting), television movies, and mini-series, a bold and differing take from an iconoclastic artist with a unique vision is a more than welcome addition to the canon.
Rob Hudson
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There was before you and there was during you. For some reason, I never thought there would be an after you. 

The literary phenomenon from #1 New York Times bestselling author Colleen Hoover becomes a transformative feature film about motherhood, forgiveness and the power of love to overcome even the worst mistake.

After a perfect outing with her boyfriend, Kenna (Maika Monroe; The Hand that Rocks the Cradle, Longlegs) makes an unbearable mistake that sends her to prison. Seven years later, Kenna returns to her hometown in Wyoming, hoping to rebuild her life and earn the chance to reunite with her young daughter, Diem, whom she has never known.

When Diem’s custodial grandparents adamantly refuse Kenna’s attempts to see her daughter, Kenna discovers unexpected compassion, and then something truer and deeper, with former NFL player and local bar owner Ledger (Tyriq Withers; HIM, I Know What You Did Last Summer). As their secret romance develops, so do the dangers for both of them, leading Kenna toward heartbreak and, ultimately, the hope for a second chance.

The film’s cast includes screen legends Lauren Graham (Gilmore Girls, Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist) and three-time Emmy winner Bradley Whitford (Get Out, The Handmaid’s Tale) as Diem’s grandparents, Grace and Patrick; Rudy Pankow (Outer Banks, Uncharted) as Scotty, Diem’s father; and Grammy winner and country music sensation Lainey Wilson (Yellowstone) as Kenna’s friend and coworker, Amy.

The supporting cast includes Jennifer Robertson (Schitt’s Creek) as Kenna’s landlord; Zoe Kosovic (The Smashing Machine) as Kenna’s daughter; Hilary Jardine (Holidazed) and Nicholas Duvernay (The White Lotus) as Ledger’s bar team; and, in her screen debut, Monika Myers as Kenna’s neighbor, Lady Diana.

Leading an all-female filmmaking team, Vanessa Caswill (Love at First Sight, Little Women mini-series) directs Reminders of Him from a screenplay by Colleen Hoover and Lauren Levine, based on Hoover’s novel. The film is produced by Colleen Hoover (exec producer It Ends with Us, Regretting You), Lauren Levine (Bridge to Terabithia, exec producer, Confess series) and Gina Matthews (Isn’t it Romantic, 13 Going on 30), and is executive produced by Robin Mulcahy Fisichella. Universal Pictures presents a Heartbones Entertainment and Little Engine production: Reminders of Him.

First published in 2022, Reminders of Him has sold more than 6 million copies in the United States and has been translated into 45 languages. Hoover is the bestselling author of numerous blockbuster novels, including It Ends with Us, It Starts with Us, Layla, Heart Bones, Confess and Verity.
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After being a film reviewer for many years, the surprise quotient unfortunately diminishes, so saying A Big Bold Beautiful Journey was a pleasant discovery is an understatement. This love story turns convention on its head in such an inviting manner that it makes you search your own life for parallel experiences. 

David (Colin Farrell) presents himself as a solitary being, suffering in quiet solitude while going it alone. Through the strangest of circumstances, he finds himself driving solo to a wedding in a rented Saturn automobile (an American brand that only lasted twenty-five years before becoming defunct). At the wedding, he meets Sarah (Margot Robbie), an outwardly bold person with hidden damage of her own.

Through another outlandish circumstance, the two end up travelling together, guided by the most personal of GPS devices. This adventure leads them to a series of doors that, once traversed, reveal moments from their past. The revelations within these worlds recast their thoughts and feelings about key moments in their lives. These moments become epiphanies.

The sign of a well-told story where humanism is at its core are those moments that arise from self-examination. Can I relate to this in a private and or personal manner? Does A Big Bold Beautiful Journey affect one in this way? It certainly did this over-experienced reviewer.
Rob Hudson
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Thanks to Sony Pictures Australia we have double in-season tickets to giveaway to A Big Bold Beautiful Journey!

Some doors bring you to your past. Some doors lead you to your future. And some doors change everything.

Sarah (Margot Robbie) and David (Colin Farrell) are single strangers who meet at a mutual friend’s wedding and soon, through a surprising twist of fate, find themselves on A Big Bold Beautiful Journey – a funny, fantastical, sweeping adventure together where they get to re-live important moments from their respective pasts, illuminating how they got to where they are in the present…and possibly getting a chance to alter their futures.

Starring Margot Robbie, Colin Farrell with Kevin Kline and Phoebe Waller-Bridge, A Big Bold Beautiful Journey will be released in Aussie cinemas September 18!
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Sarah (Margot Robbie) and David (Colin Farrell) are single strangers who meet at a mutual friend’s wedding and soon, through a surprising twist of fate, find themselves on A Big Bold Beautiful Journey – a funny, fantastical, sweeping adventure together where they get to re-live important moments from their respective pasts, illuminating how they got to where they are in the present…and possibly getting a chance to alter their futures.

Starring Margot Robbie, Colin Farrell with Kevin Kline and Phoebe Waller-Bridge, A Big Bold Beautiful Journey will be released in Aussie cinemas September 18!
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A chance meeting with charming neurosurgeon Ryle Kincaid (Justin Baldoni) sparks an intense connection, but as the two fall deeply in love, Lily begins to see sides of Ryle that remind her of her parents’ relationship.

When Lily’s first love, Atlas Corrigan (Brandon Sklenar), suddenly re-enters her life, her relationship with Ryle is upended, and Lily realises she must learn to rely on her own strength to make an impossible choice for her future.

Starring Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni, Jenny Slate, Hasan Minhaj, Amy Morton and Brandon Sklenar, It Ends With Us will be released in Aussie cinemas August 8!
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Intentional or not, this film’s use of local scenery is hilarious. This romance film makes some very odd choices to play for an American audience and as a result of that has created some very funny moments. Ostensibly setting the film in Florida provokes many internal laughs as you go from an office view of the Brisbane River to stock footage of the high-rise buildings of that sunny American state.

The storyline of having one of the character’s family owning a vineyard that is a short drive from the city and showing scenes from what looks like the the rolling hills of the Sirromet Winery is also rather humorous as the state of Florida with its year-round hot climate doesn’t bring to mind the growing of grapes nor does its flat landscape. Elsewhere there are identifiable settings from the South City Square and Brisbane CBD.

This romance genre comes with a few caveats, it seemingly means the film must be easily digestible and unchallenging in the extreme and One Perfect Match is certainly that. Where the real fun happens is in identifying all our local landmarks and finding them a million miles away from that retirement capital of the United States. For that alone, if you live in Brisbane, give it a go.
Rob Hudson
www.jaggientertainment.com/

Ansa (Alma Pöysti) works at a supermarket, where the job is so badly paid that she takes home expired sandwiches for dinner. Holappa (Jussi Vatanen) is a metalworker, labouring in a job so hazardous he’s sure it will kill him, so he drinks through the day, and then again at night. Meanwhile, the radio constantly carries news about the nearby war in Ukraine.

One evening, against his will, Holappa is dragged to a karaoke bar by a friend. “Tough guys don’t sing”, he says. But karaoke night is also a night for romance, and when Holappa meets the shy Ansa, there’s an immediate spark. But life being what it is, a variety of obstacles conspire to get in the way…

With his trademark deadpan humour, minimalist dialogue and retro aesthetic, Kaurismäki’s latest delight showcases his unrivalled mastery for depicting down-on-their-luck characters in all their complexity, and finding humour and optimism in the unlikeliest of circumstances. In a time of economic disparity, war and uncertainty, FALLEN LEAVES is a valuable reminder of the importance of love and connection; once again Finland’s most-beloved director has delivered, in spades.
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