Sleeping Dogs, which stars Russell Crowe, Karen Gillan and Martin Csokas, attempts to update the 1940’s film noir crime thriller to the present day. This is a tricky undertaking as that brooding style of film making was a very subtle art. While first-time director Adam Cooper manages – at least for a while – to build satisfying layers of mystery,
Read moreUnhinged sounds like the title of a typical 80s video nasty designed to exploit fears of the mentally ill. While much slicker and a little more thoughtful than those VHS trash-fests, this tense and at times gruesomely violent road rage thriller occasionally veers into that same pulpy territory. The film establishes its threatening scenario in an unnerving opening credits sequence
Read moreAustralian cinema audiences embrace films that explore the Australian identity. This is evident in the success of films such as Picnic at Hanging Rock which examined Australian culture as the 20th century dawned and the nation began to define itself from mother England, The Castle, which affectionately satirised the Australian suburban identity and Peter Weir’s Gallipoli, which both celebrated and
Read moreNoah begins with a potted history of the Old Testament that is strikingly reminiscent of the opening scenes in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. That sequence sets the tone for the film, as this interpretation of the story of Noah, the Ark and the flood that wiped out humanity, plays like a Tolkien action-fantasy.
Read moreAdapted from Mark Helprin’s expansive 1983 novel and in no way connected to the similarly-named Shakespeare play, A Winter’s Tale offers a slightly more mature take on the teen lit obsessions of forbidden romantic passions and conflict between supernatural beings. Unfortunately, what could have been a thrilling fantasy adventure and moving story of romantic longing is neutered by a jumbled
Read moreLike the Al Pacino film City Hall, Broken City immerses us in the grubby world of New York politics. Unfortunately, this film also immerses us in a world of clichés, clunky dialogue, dull heroes and ridiculous villains. Mark Wahlberg plays disgraced New York cop Billy Taggart who, years after a questionable shooting, is now a struggling, debt-laden private eye. When
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