We return, once again, to the problem of the mediocre movie. They’re simply a pain: disappointing to watch, difficult to recommend, and – for the poor film critic – challenging to review. My own general rule is to write about … Continue reading REVIEW: Black Water: Abyss (2020)
Maude (Adelaide Clemens) is an Australian medical student living in Germany. A year ago her twin sister Cleo disappeared from her home in Adelaide. While their family has moved on – even holding a funeral with an empty casket – … Continue reading REVIEW: Rabbit (2017)
Ren (Jessica De Gouw) is the designer of OtherLife, a liquid substance that can be dropped onto the eyeball and re-program the human brain. As the release date for its recreational use fast approaches, Ren spends an increasing amount of … Continue reading REVIEW: OtherLife (2017)
We can argue the relative merits of adapting true events into fictional entertainment forever, and it is unlikely that we would ever reach a consensus. When we argue over adaptations of true events that involve death, tragedy, and murder, the … Continue reading REVIEW: Nitram (2021)
Australian cinema has tackled the experience of its Aboriginal peoples for many decades, however in recent years there has been a particular increase in such films – as well as a commensurate improvement in quality. There have been excellent films … Continue reading REVIEW: High Ground (2020)
Following the death of his mother, 13 year-old Fin (Ed Oxenbould) has retreated into a fantasy world of butterflies and other insects. Meanwhile his father Al (Ewen Leslie) drowns his sorrows in a sea of one-night stands and ill-advised short-term … Continue reading REVIEW: The Butterfly Tree (2017)
Here is a film almost impossible to review. Romper Stomper (1992) is an Australian film drama directed by Geoffrey Wright, and stars Russell Crowe, Jacqueline McKenzie, and Daniel Pollock. It focuses on a gang of skinheads – violent neo-nazis who maraud inner-city … Continue reading REVIEW: Romper Stomper (1992)
Rolf de Heer’s 1991 film drama Dingo opens on one of the boldest and most striking scenes in the history of Australian cinema. Children play on the street of an isolated Western Australian town, way out in the middle of the bush. … Continue reading REVIEW: Dingo (1991)
With Hollywood keeping its biggest films out of cinemas until the coronavirus pandemic moves on, it has been an odd heyday for most countries in allowing local features the chance to flourish. Robert Connolly’s haunting crime drama The Dry is a case … Continue reading REVIEW: The Dry (2020)
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this review names and references people who have died. The Last Wave is a 1977 supernatural thriller co-written and directed by Australian filmmaker Peter Weir. It followed his internationally acclaimed 1975 film Picnic … Continue reading REVIEW: The Last Wave (1977)
FictionMachine 