Interview: Caitlin Stasey & Deniz Akdeniz of TOMORROW, WHEN THE WAR BEGAN

In the midst of all the explosions, car chases and shootouts that make Tomorrow, When the War Began one of the biggest Australian films in years are two emerging  Melbourne actors, Caitlin Stasey and Deniz Akdeniz.

Stasey, the 20-year-old actress who is best known as Rachel Kinski on TV’s Neighbours, stars as country teenager Ellie Linton in this adaptation of teen fiction author John Marsden’s best-selling novel. 21-year-old Akdeniz, who played Raff in Disney Channel’s As the Bell Rings, stars as Ellie’s rebellious close friend Homer. Along with five other mates,  the story follows Ellie and Homer as they go camping in the mountains for a week-long getaway. While they’re away, however, Australia is invaded by an unknown foreign force. It’s only when they return home and witness the devastation first-hand that they realise they must fight back if they want to live freely ever again.

While on a whirlwind national tour promoting the film last month, Stasey and Akdeniz sat down with me in their Adelaide hotel room to talk about Tomorrow, When the War Began. Slouched well into the sofa, the always-polite Stasey was [...]

Posted by Anders Wotzke on Sep 3, 2010
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Me and Orson Welles (Review)

If you’re a teenage superstar attached to a mammoth Hollywood franchise, there comes a time in your career when you must prove your worth as an actor and star in a low-key adult drama. Harry Potter’s boy wizard Daniel Radcliffe did it with the Aussie drama December Boys, Twilight’s vampiric heartthrob Rob Pattinson did it with the urban slow-burner Remember Me and now High School Musical’s immaculately chiseled Zac Efron [...]

By Anders Wotzke, Jul 26 2010
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Competition: Win preview tickets to THE SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP in Adelaide!

To celebrate the release of the new political drama The Special Relationship starring Michael Sheen and Dennis Quaid, Roadshow Films and Cut Print Review are giving ten of our South Australian readers the chance to win exclusive Admit 2 preview tickets to see the film before it opens nationally on August 5th!

The tickets will only be valid at participating cinemas between July 30th – August 1st, so check local session times to make sure it’s playing in your area [...]

By Anders Wotzke, Jul 23 2010
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Competition: Win tickets to SOUTH SOLITARY + Dendy ‘Heart’ DVD Collection

To celebrate the release of the new Australian romantic drama South Solitary starring Miranda and Barry Otto, Icon Film Distribution and Cut Print Review are giving you the chance to win a Dendy ‘Heart’ DVD collection and tickets to see the new film, which lands in Australian cinemas on July 29th. To be in the draw to win, simply fill out the entry form below.

The Major Prize includes:

- Death Defying Acts DVD
– Piano DVD

By Anders Wotzke, Jul 21 2010
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Inception (Review)

If I were to personify originality’s place in Hollywood over the last decade, it would be that of a famished drifter crawling on all fours through the desert, holding onto life with the faintest grip. Originality’s canteen ran dry not long after the stellar year of 1999 – notable for The Matrix, Arlington Road, Fight Club and The Sixth Sense – when Hollywood vultures producers realised they could lazily repackage novels, comics and old films at a fraction [...]

By Anders Wotzke, Jul 21 2010
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What if Twitter quotes were used on movie posters?

Oh Twitter. Thanks to you, now everyone can be a film critic. Yes, even @puppydog2222. She had no issues calling Twilight: Eclipse “the best movie ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”  Look out, Citizen Kane.

That’s the kind of hyperbolic praise few professional critics will ever bestow on a film, but it’s exactly what movie marketers want to hear, and more importantly, want YOU to hear. No one can deny that in the age of ’140 characters or less’ professional film criticism is [...]

By Anders Wotzke, Jul 19 2010
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The Runaways (Review)

If history is anything to go by, the biopic story of seventies all-girl band The Runaways has more meat on it than any filmmaker could dream to mine. Spice it up with kid actress Dakota Fanning’s need to prove she’s a grown-up prime fillet – as the cherry bomb herself, Cherie Currie- and Kristen Stewart’s first real chance to break free from The Twilight Saga phenomenon, spectators will find themselves on a surprisingly wild [...]

By Amy Killin, Jul 16 2010
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