Napoleon  ★★★½ VETERAN director Ridley Scott has a typically blunt answer to critics who have called out historical issues in his latest epic Napoleon. “Were you there? No, so shut the fuck up.” Similarly in answer to the complaints from many French critics in particular, the Brit has replied: “So […]

Napoleon according to Scott

Friday the 13th Part 2 ★★★ CONTRARY to what you might think, Friday the 13th killer Jason Voorhees did not start his decades-long cinematic reign of terror in the 1980 original film. Spoiler alert here for a 43-year-old film – Jason’s mum Pamela was the initial villain who tore her way through […]

Jason takes over from Mum

The Royal Hotel ★★★★ EVERY Australian has experienced a hotel like the one portrayed in the powerful The Royal Hotel. Basic, isolated and full of predominantly male clientele, it can become an alcohol-fuelled environment dangerous at times for anyone, let alone young, single women. Kitty Green’s film expertly and dispassionately […]

We’ve all been to a Royal Hotel

Bottoms ★★★½ SATIRE is one of the most difficult forms of comedy. And when it’s as disguised as is the case with the 2023 American release Bottoms, it can be missed or, worse still, misunderstood. The humour in Bottoms appears quite broad on the surface but, look underneath and there […]

Bottoms more than what it’s cracked up to be

The Wrath of Becky ★★ IN 2020 a vicious little movie called Becky garnered attention. It was a home invasion horror in which an inventive teenage girl with a mean streak fought against a bunch of neo-Nazis intent on finding something at her family’s holiday house in a forest. It […]

More comic Becky loses appeal

Thanksgiving ★★★ I’M HAPPY for Eli Roth. After 20 years of trying, the much-maligned horror director has another box-office hit. Roth first came to the attention with Cabin Fever in 2002 and then hit it big with 2005’s Hostel. In the ensuing years he has produced some decent stuff, such […]

Long wait since trailer mostly worth it

Saw ★★★★ THE best way to bring your idea for a film to the attention of studios is to film it yourself. You don’t need a million dollars and 90 minutes. But will need a few thousand to hire cameras, lights and a location and maybe a couple of committed, […]

Aussie ingenuity leads to franchise

Fingernails ★½ FINGERNAILS is one of the stupidest films I’ve seen in years. The premise of this 2023 American science fiction romantic drama is ridiculous. That would be fine if the film worked as a comedy or satire, but it’s not intended to be. I’m really not sure what Greek director […]

Like fingernails on a chalkboard

The Wicker Man ★★★★ WHAT a year for horror 1973 was. At the same time as William Friedkin’s The Exorcist was unleashed on the public, on the other side of the Atlantic a little film called The Wicker Man also arrived. While Friedkin’s film was horrifying, Robin Hardy’s supernatural horror was […]

Wicker Man’s legacy continues

Nyad ★★★ WHO would have thought a film about long distance swimming would create so much controversy. Nyad is an American biographical sports drama film that tells the story of Diana Nyad’s determination to swim the ocean from Cuba to Florida non-stop. Apart from being a feat for any swimmer […]

Swimmer biopic goes the distance

One Life ★★★ GUILLERMO del Toro has allegedly said he would gladly transfer a few years of his own life to Martin Scorsese so the latter could keep making films. I wouldn’t do the same for Anthony Hopkins, but I do hope he never retires. After 50-odd years he is […]

One life in service of many

The Dive ★★½ SEEN many German/Maltese thrillers lately? The unlikely film production allies are behind the 2023 release The Dive. A remake of a 2020 Norwegian film, Breaking Surface, it’s a two-hander set in and around the ocean. May and Drew are two childhood friends on a European holiday who go […]

Two-hander has its moments