My experience of the fantasy game Dungeons and Dragons is limited to playing it for about 20 minutes 40 years ago. Suffice to say I’m not an expert on its intricacies and can only vaguely suggest how much has been woven into the new cinema adaptation, Dungeons And Dragons: Honour Among Thieves. Whether or not the film has obsessive fidelity
Read moreThis week on ‘Built For Speed’ we take a look at two intriguing films, the vivid and disturbing thriller, ‘Pearl’ and the Australian romantic drama, ‘Of An Age’. We’ll also play a feast of fine tunes with new Aussie material, post-punk favourites, classic rock and some of the artists featured in the recent SBS doco ‘Women Who Rock’. Don’t forget
Read moreThe first Shazam film, which provided the origin story for teen nerd Billy Batson’s magical transformation into the eponymous, red-suited superhero, surprised many viewers by turning one of the sillier DC stories into a mostly fun, amusing, energetic if juvenile action fantasy. Lead Zachari Levi, who looks oddly like Boz Scaggs, did about as good a job as we could
Read moreYes, it’s another Scream film, the latest in the satirical slasher series that began in 1996. Is it just a cynical cash in on 90’s nostalgia, the latest attempt to milk a few bucks from franchise-loyal fans or a legitimate horror/ comedy with an least a spark of life left in it. We might ask ourselves these questions but the
Read moreThe new British film Living, has followed quite a quite remarkable cultural pathway before arriving on our screens. Directed by a South African, Oliver Hermanus, it’s an adaption of Akira Kurosawa’s 1952 film Ikiru which was itself based on Tolstoy’s novella The Death of Ivan Ilyich. Despite a fairly slender plot and some pretty obvious religious references, Living slowly seduces
Read moreWhile the film is set in 1955, the issues explored in the often-confronting civil rights drama Till resonate powerfully today. This is the true story of African American woman Mamie Till-Mobley (Danielle Deadwyler) who sought justice for her 14-year-old son Emmett (Jalyn Hall) who was abducted and killed while visiting cousins In Mississippi. The film begins in fairly sedate and
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