Going the Distance (Review)

In the cinema of Hollywood, finding a film that is not about love presents a real challenge. We’ve had so-called “true love” (The Notebook) and the twisted “I’m so in love with you, I want to eat you” love (Twilight). We’ve had love based on “intense experiences” (Speed), the “oops, we’ve made a baby” love (Knocked Up). Most prolifically, we’ve had gun love (anything with Arnie). But in thinking about love [...]

Boy [2010] (Review)

Before it won the Audience Award at both the Melbourne and Sydney film festivals, Taika Waititi’s Boy became the highest grossing New Zealand film of all time. For good reason, too; this captivating coming-of-age drama tackles sobering themes with comedic sensibility, masterfully balancing big laughs and big heart without compromising either.

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 [...]

Toy Story 3 (Review)

Please, spare me your feigned surprise when I declare that Toy Story 3 is beyond brilliant. We’re dealing with Disney Pixar here — that seemingly infallible animation studio behind masterstrokes such as Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc. and Wall-E — so I know you already guessed as much.  It’s got to the point now that there isn’t a single superlative left in the English language that hasn’t been copiously used to describe Pixar’s films. After all, there’s [...]

The Stoning of Soraya M. (Review)

Have you ever seen a film that immediately had you mesmerised? That was my experience with The Stoning of Soraya M., an incredible true story of an innocent woman’s persecution in Iran.

Adapted from the bestselling book of the same name by French-Iranian journalist Freidoune Sahebjam, director Cyrus Nowrasteh (The Day Reagan Was Shot) has crafted a near-flawless film that sheds light on a very serious issue of injustice that is still occurring in the world today.

Exit Through the Gift Shop (Review)

He may wear hoodie, wield a can of spray paint and use any wall he pleases as a canvas, but British street art legend Banksy — an alias he uses to protect his top-secret identity — is well on his way to joining the ranks of Picasso, Duchamp and Warhol.  Just try telling that to the police…

As with all trailblazing artistic movements, street art has sparked hot debate as to its legitimacy, many considering it [...]