In Review
Welcome to In Review! Check out the latest reviews across film, TV, theatre and so much more…
Film Review - The Crow
The best part of the screening was the little black cupcakes that were handed out outside the cinema afterwards, almost like a little treat for slugging through the disappointment that was this movie.
MIFF 2024 Film Review - Timestalker
Timestalker tells the story of a woman named Agnes who keeps falling in love with the wrong man in several different time periods, after being continuously reincarnated.
Film Review - The Watchers
There are whispers of a great movie in The Watchers, with Ishana’s directorial eye occasionally shining through the film’s middling aspects, however at present her directing style feels imitatively beholden to superficial notions of M. Night’s storytelling sensibilities, and I’d love for her to find her footing amidst the depths of the forest.
Fantastic Film Fest 2024 Review - The Vourdalak
If decapitated heads, Tumblr-edit-worthy quotations about the human condition, traditional Slavic folklore, and harrowing cinematography are your thing, then look no further than Le Vourdoulak.
Fantastic Film Fest 2024 Review - Divinity
In Divinity, writer-director Eddie Alcazar seems to have crafted a readymade cult object. A film completely furnished with textual references, grotesque violence, hyper-stylised visuals, and mixed media experimentation, seemingly destined to attract a small coterie of like-minded fans and repeat viewers. The only issue is that I can’t imagine anyone sitting through this twice.
Fantastic Film Fest 2024 Review - Mami Wata
Mami Wata truly has the ability to spellbind, yet keeps its feet rooted in a deeply nuanced point of interest: an ever-changing reckoning with modernity.
Film Review - La Chimera
A patchwork quilt of genres, Alice Rohrwacher’s La Chimera is a grimy and charismatic fairytale, and Josh O’Connor is its beating heart.
Film Review - Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
This is a fun movie. Longtime fans will probably love Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire the most, but at the end of the day, it won’t grab the imagination of any new audiences.
Film Review - Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person
Watch out Cullens, there's a new vampire family in town! Fans of Twilight (2008), Dark Shadows (2012), Submarine (2010), and Moonrise Kingdom (2012), get your fangs out and sink your teeth into this quirky vampire coming-of-age film.
Film Review - Dream Scenario
Insightful, fiendishly hysterical, and (albeit slightly overwhelmingly) emblematic, Dream Scenario is a surrealist delirium that moulds one of 2023’s most inventive premises into a deeply moving, melancholic parable on the perks and perils of sudden celebrity.
Film Review - The Boy and the Heron
Poignant and beautiful, The Boy and the Heron is both an interesting shift in theme and an excellent addition to Miyazaki’s extensive canon.
Film Review - Haunted Mansion
Offering up serviceable (if more than a tad messy) family fun, Haunted Mansion comes close to recapturing Disney's straight to home video glory, complete with a dance party finale.
Film Review - Elemental
Elemental shines is in its ability to gently guide you to realise the film’s crux yourself, and in the meantime, present you with vivid characters, fun antics and gorgeous animation along the way.
Film Review - The Little Mermaid
Rob Marshall’s The Little Mermaid truly feels like the culmination of Disney live-action remakes from the last few years. But this remake once again reminds us how unnecessary they are.
Film Review - Beau is Afraid
Beau Is Afraid is far from a perfect cinema-going experience, but it's nevertheless a fascinating and original one.
Feature - Fantastic Film Festival Australia 2023 Program Launch/D&D: Honour Among Thieves
Fantastic Film Festival Australia is back in town, promising cinema without restraints.
Film Review - Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio is a breath of fresh air in the animated feature landscape.
Film Review - Black Adam
Who are we, the audience, to deny the wishes of such a charismatic hunk of a star, with such incredible eyebrow posture? Grab your tickets folks, 'cos the Dwayne train is about to leave the station.
MIFF 2022 Film Review - Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon
Nobody seems to know who Mona is, why she has these powers, or where she came from.