There have been countless big screen adaptations of Shakespeare’s works and they’ve varied in quality from stunning (Roman Polanski’s Macbeth and Franco Zeffirelli’s The Taming of the Shrew) to hideous (the recent Kiwi caravan park version of Romeo and Juliet). Australian director Justin Kurzel’s adaptation of Macbeth falls somewhere in the middle, it’s an ambitious attempt to capture the raw
Read moreThe Wrecking Crew were a group of gun LA studio musicians who, often unknown to the public, played on many of the big pop music hits of the 50’s and 60’s. They provided much of the musical accompaniment to The Beach Boys, Frank Sinatra, Elvis, Sonny and Cher, The Byrds and perhaps most famously The Monkees. They also worked on
Read moreThere have been some bizarre casting choices in movies over the years, John Wayne as Mongol Warlord Genghis Khan in The Conqueror or Marlon Brando as a Japanese man in Tea House of the August Moon. It is unlikely, though, that we will ever see anything as jaw-droppingly weird as the casting of former Watergate burglar and FBI spook, G.
Read moreGuillermo del Toro is renowned for ornate gothic horror films in which sinewy monsters, representing the threat to the average person of political oppression and other ills, emerge from the perceived safety of the family home. His latest film Crimson Peak adopts a similar approach and delivers much of the mystery, the sense of unease and visual artistry of his
Read moreLegend has nothing to do with Ridley Scott’s 1986 fantasy film, instead it dramatises the rein of infamous London crime lord brothers Reggie and Ronny Kray. The film is based on the book The Profession of Violence: The Rise and Fall of the Kray Twins by John Pearson. Like the recent Whitey Bulger biopic, Black Mass, Legend is a flawed
Read moreThis week on ‘Built For Speed’ we celebrate that traditional Australian festival, Halloween. There’ll be plenty of spooky songs from the likes of Danzig, Roky Erickson, Deep Purple and many others. We also tell you whether two horror movies currently in our cinemas, Paranormal Activity: Ghost Dimension and The Last Witch Hunter will have you quaking in your boots or snoring in your
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