Many cinemagoers might have feared that Hercules would be yet another moronic, CGI-drenched video game-like action fest. Despite the fact that it is mostly composed of sword-swinging battle scenes and that it stars former pro-wrestler Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in the title role, this vaguely post-modern take on the Hercules legend is surprisingly enjoyable. In a plot that resembles Seven
Read moreFollowing The Tracker and Ten Canoes, Rolf de Heer’s Charlie’s Country completes a film trilogy that intelligently and confrontingly examines the experience of indigenous Australians. David Gulpilil plays the title character, a man in his early 60’s eking out an existence in a government run indigenous town camp. Once a celebrated dancer who performed at the opening of the Sydney
Read moreMrs Brown’s Boys D’Movie is the big-screen adaptation of the surprisingly successful TV sit-com Mrs Brown’s Boys a gleeful yet rarely funny throwback to the broad British working class sit-coms of the 1970’s. I grew up with shows like On the Buses, Benny Hill, Dick Emery, Love Thy Neighbour and Mind Your Language so I have some nostalgic affection for
Read moreThe ever-controversial Roman Polanski is back with his latest film Venus in Fur. This film which depicts an audition for a play which is based on another play which is based on a novel and which also toys with perceptions of Polanski himself, takes the concept of a meta-movie to a bizarre new level. Not surprisingly, it’s hard to tell
Read moreRise of The Planet of The Apes from 2011 achieved the rare feat of rebooting a franchise in a fresh, intelligent and exciting fashion. Essentially a remake of the fourth film in the original series, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, the thoughtful, inventive and moving Rise revealed how lab apes, exposed to an experimental Alzheimer’s treatment, developed higher
Read moreThere’s a good chance that people who have never set foot on a skateboard will have heard of American champion Tony Hawk. Few outside the skating world, however, would be aware of Tas and Ben Pappas two Australian skateboard champion brothers who, throughout a tumultuous career, regularly defeated Hawk with Tas becoming world number one in the mid 1990’s. The
Read more