With its remake of 80’s teen flick Footloose, Hollywood continues to plunder the riches of Gen X nostalgia and Gen Y’s love of ironic retro cool. The original 1984 film launched Kevin Bacon to stardom as a romantic lead only to see him subsequently playing sleazeballs and paedophiles. Careful not to tinker with a previously successful formula, the filmmakers have created
Read moreExploding in a fountain of gore at a cinema near you is the third version of sci fi horror classic The Thing. This version, directed by Matthijs Heijningen and starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Joel Edgerton is actually a prequel to the 1982 John Carpenter film. Without dropping spoilers, fans of the ’82 film will be pleased to know that
Read moreThe tense new Australian thriller The Hunter bears comparison with the George Clooney film from last year, The American. Both movies have an austere yet engrossing atmosphere and feature professional hit men as a stranger-in-a-strange-land pursuing their quarry while they are themselves pursued. In The Hunter, though, the prey is a little out of the ordinary. Willem Defoe plays an
Read moreThis week on Built for Speed it’s back to the 80’s, well not quite. We review two remakes of iconic 80’s movies: Footloose and The Thing. There’s also new music from Wilco from their epic album The Whole Love, Royal Headache and Urge Overkill. Desperate to know which gigs to see in the upcoming week? Don’t worry we’ll tell you what’s out there.
Read moreThis week on Built for Speed we review The Hunter a film that features the unusual pairing of Willem Dafoe and the Tasmanian Tiger. We also look at IMAX doco Tornado Alley 3D. After our retrospective on REM last week we return to more recent releases with new music by Royal Headache and many more. There’s also our regular TV
Read moreThis odd combination of quirky rom com and what briefly seems like darker American Beauty style suburban drama is probably a vehicle for star Steve Carell to transition from comedy into more serious roles. Unfortunately, this uneasy mix of comedy and drama doesn’t entirely work. While it is certainly genial, few of the gags are funny and the drama lacks
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