Cactus, or, more correctly, cacti, evoke images of desert landscapes, of life hanging on despite harsh conditions. Cactus, in this instance, refers to the great Australian colloquialism, meaning to be well and truly stuffed. Well and truly stuffed is Eli (David Lyons) who has been kidnapped by the mysterious John Kelly (Travis McMahon) from his […]
I’m not sure of the collective noun for clichés. An overuse? A groan? Whatever it might be, Street Kings has them. And the cliché contagion is not just confined to characters and dialogue. The performances are decidedly infected, as is the score. Cliches are everywhere: from plot to shot.
Take Keanu Reeves as Tom Ludlow; […]
Prom Night is a fairly tedious and orthodox teen slasher film, no doubt eeking out a few box-office dollars on the big-screen before targeting its intended market on DVD. A remake of the 1980 film of the same name, it’s competently rendered by director Nelson McCormick using all the standard horror tricks – many used […]
Nominated for an Academy Award for best screenplay, Lars and the Real Girl is an outrageously tender and funny film that stitches up the line between black humour and poignancy with the delicate precision of a skilled surgeon. If you need the slightest reason to feel good, laugh, cry and restore your faith in the […]
Whilst the judges were deliberating about the winners at this year’s Tropfest finals, John Polson – Tropfest’s founder and Creative Director - screened an extract from the first feature film to be produced under the Tropfest banner. It was a beautiful scene of two boys – one aboriginal and one white - setting up a […]
The internet – as we all know – has changed our lives, and increasingly it has become an interactive, collaborative experience. It’s possible to create art and music with others, perform scientific experiments, or live an entirely other life. But there’s always been a darker, exploitative side to the cyber-world, and it’s this that Untraceable […]
It’s a long way from New Castle Delaware – a tiny river town on the eastern side of the USA - to Newcastle, NSW, on Australia’s eastern seaboard. Yet it’s a journey that has paid off for writer/director Dan Castle, who is counting down the days to New York’s prestigious TriBeCa Film Festival which opens […]
Walls feature prominently in veteran director Alain Resnais latest film Couers. They close in on an engaged couple Nicole (Laura Morante) and Dan (Lambert Wilson) and so they start looking for a bigger apartment. They pose a problem for their estate agent Thierry (Andre Dussollier), who has a thing for his co-worker Charlotte (Sabine Azéma) […]
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