Bringing to life a full-scale biopic of Napoleon Bonaparte has been something of an Ahab-like quest for film directors. Stanley Kubrick had a Napoleon film (at one point with Jack Nicholson as the French Emperor) in the works for many years before shelving it due to studio budget concerns. Russian director Sergei Bondarchuk tackled the subject with mixed results in
Read moreFor better or worse, documentary My Name is Alfred Hitchcock is not so much about the man and his personal history but the master of suspense’s filmmaking approach. To delve into this topic, Director Mark Cousins has made the slightly unusual decision to have British actor and impressionist Alistair McGowan impersonate Hitch as narrator. This is a little distracting at
Read moreAustralian cinema isn’t renowned for its science fiction films although Mad Max and Upgrade fans might disagree. Seemingly influenced by the likes of TV show Black Mirror, the latest Aussie sci fi film, Monolith makes for a topical and inventive, if limited, addition to the genre. Monolith is as much a psychological mystery thriller as a sci fi film as
Read moreThrough films like Air, Blackberry and now Dumb Money, an intriguing sub-genre has recently emerged in cinema: the maverick entrepreneur capitalist film. Through their depiction of quirky yet highly driven individuals, these movies both critique and celebrate the American obsession with the market and the pursuit of business success. The latest addition to this sub-genre, the fascinating, funny, cheekily inspiring,
Read moreAs a movie title, Five Nights at Freddy’s sounds more like a comedy-drama based in a nightclub rather than a horror film. Gamers, however, will know better as this is an adaptation of a massively popular supernatural/ slasher themed videogame. The film’s trailer suggested a Saw-style human rat trap torture porn film. There is a touch of that but possibly
Read moreMartin Scorsese has largely built his reputation and ravenous following as a filmmaker on contemporary stories of misfits seeking redemption and Italian American gangsters. Frequently, though, he’s stepped away from that milieu to explore historical subjects and biopics in films like The Age of Innocence, Gangs of New York and The Aviator. He hasn’t ventured into the western genre but
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