Of all the filmic things I write about on this little corner of the internet, I look forward to sharing my thoughts on year’s best movie posters the most. I just adore good graphic design, almost as much as I adore good movies. Heck, I’m the guy who’ll flick through a magazine just to look at the composition of the ads, shaking my head in awe at the inventive ways [...]

So you think a job where you’re required to watch lots of movies is a breeze. Well… you’re right! It’s a pretty good gig, no question. Or at least it is most of the time. You see, moviegoers such as yourself have the option – the right — to not see a movie. I suppose we critics do too, but we’re often left feeling guilty about enacting that right. And [...]

It’s 2012 now, in case you didn’t notice, so before the world comes to an end and Roland Emmerich can say “I told you so!”, I think it’s best we reflect on the year that was.

Speaking for myself here – and not for Tom Clift, whose list is also below — 2011 was one of those years where the average quality of movies was quite high, [...]

I’m sure most critics will agree that writing an end of year list is a frustrating and unnecessarily difficult process. You’d think the 5-star grading system this site employs would make the task easy, but it doesn’t; an action blockbuster I gave four stars doesn’t necessarily mean it’s better than that gritty urban drama I gave three-and-a-half. And then comes the issue of ordering; what makes film B not quite [...]

If you’re like me, then you probably have a bit of a love/hate relationship with Christmas. Present-giving and copious amounts of food? Definitely the highlights. Not so wonderful, are the endless crowds and modern pop or rap interpretations of Christmas carols. Similarly, for every genuinely funny or heartwarming Christmas film release, there’s undoubtedly a Jingle All the Way or Christmas With the Cranks or anything starring Tim Allen. So, in this season [...]

The poster is likely to be the first thing moviegoers will see of an upcoming film, so it’s vital that they make a good first impression. A great poster possesses many qualities; they’re visually arresting, they’re in sync with the mood and themes of the film and, most importantly, they increase your anticipation for the movie. Few posters fit this bill each year, which is why it’s important to acknowledge [...]

It seems silly to post a year-end list before the year is actually over, yet a number of film commentators were gleefully posting their top ten films of 2009 during the first week of December. How dare they choose their favourite films before seeing Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squekquel! Not to mention Avatar, which amazingly is the only film to make both mine and Katina’s top 10 lists this year. That said, Australian films were given strong representation by us both, which is a testament to the quality films being produced in this country…but ultimatley ones that don’t have wide appeal, or the marketing budget to widen their appeal. But that’s another discussion all together, so let’s cut the chatter and just get to the lists.

Before you sink your teeth into the movies of 2010, here are three interesting and entertaining ‘under-the-radar’ films (in Australia, at least) you may not have seen in 2009.
Before you sink your teeth into the movies arriving in 2010, here are three interesting and entertaining ‘under-the-radar’ films (in Australia, at least) you may not have seen in 2009.

1. Good

Good is a startlingly seductive and deeply disturbing film by director Vicente Amorim. Starring Vigo Mortensen and Jason Isaacs, the story follows John Halder (Mortensen), a likeable if slightly eccentric professor in Germany in the 1930s and the unsettling course his life begins to take as the Nazis rise to power. The movie, especially early on, is fun, charming, drenched in warm colours, and ultimately beguiling, as Halder is all too easily swept up by events he deems out of his control. The acting is natural and wonderfully understated, and it is all the more biting for it as the comfortable ease of the film’s beginning is quickly unravelled into something wholly darker and psychologically confronting. By the film’s end, I was left deeply unsettled, horrified and more than a little taken aback at this portrayal of just how effortlessly ‘a good man’, and indeed a whole nation, can fall so very far, without even realising it.