Following an impressive international tour, independent comedy/drama Fwends (fun use of Gen-Z spelling) is now streaming. Old friends, Jessie and Em, reunite for a weekend, and circumstances force them to pull an all-nighter, wandering the streets and suburbs of Melbourne. When I first started going to Melbourne on my own, my idea of the city’s […]
FWENDS (2025) – review Read More »
Five months before Kurt Russell had to ‘Escape from New York’, down south, Kim Basinger was trying to escape from Texas in the blue-collar drama, Hard Country, which was released on Blu-ray even further south in Australia back on February 25th. It’s about a small-town girl, a story not unfamiliar, with ambitions to get the
70s Hangover – HARD COUNTRY (1981) – review Read More »
Up until I first saw the trailer for High Road to China many years ago, I wasn’t very enlightened to genre clones, but this post-Raiders of the Lost Ark classic couldn’t be more obvious, and it’s available now on Blu-ray from Imprint Films. Produced by legendary Hong Kong-based production company Golden Harvest, this continent-hopping adventure
Blu-ray Review: HIGH ROAD TO CHINA (1983) Read More »
Earlier this month, the inaugural Gippsland International Film Festival was held over three days at three separate locations across West Gippsland, Victoria. Presenting a diverse selection of short films, this event was a passion project for local filmmakers, Alana Auden and Edward Yates. I was able to attend the fifth and final session inside the
Shorts at Rokeby Hall – Gippsland International Film Festival Read More »
My fascination with cathedrals was born from an early memory of watching Anthony Hopkins play Quasimodo on television, that and Tim Burton’s Batman. I’m not a particularly spiritual person, but the buildings always make me feel removed from the outside world, due to a profound sense of peace upon entering. That same comforting feeling came
Class Act – THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME – review Read More »
With a demand for movies at a runtime of 90 minutes or less, due to what might be the most inconvenient work shift ever, of 1 pm to 9 pm, Dolly came at the perfect time. Directed by and co-written by Rod Blackhurst (Night Swim and Amanda Knox), this harrowing new release follows a young woman
DOLLY (2025) – review Read More »
The first adaptation of Tony Hillerman’s Leaphorn & Chee book series came in 1991 as The Dark Winds, which was later described as a “false start” by executive producer Robert Redford. The classic movie star clashed creatively with documentary filmmaker Errol Morris during what would be the director’s fiction debut, but he ultimately left before
DARK WINDS (Season 1 to 3) – review Read More »
Werewolves were certainly in vogue during 1981, with four feature films rooted in lycanthrope lore released during that year. Prolific filmmaker, Larry Cohen, plays the transformative subgenre entirely for laughs with his relentless comedy, Full Moon High, which is available now on Blu-ray in the UK from Eureka Entertainment When a high school football player,
“I’m not the Wookiee!” FULL MOON HIGH (1981) – review Read More »
Many people might struggle to recall their first encounter or introduction to a religious figure, but I vividly remember mine. It was the medieval fantasy Ladyhawke that acquainted me with the corrupt Bishop of Aquila, played immaculately by the late John Wood. However, a more shining example of the Catholic faith comes through Antonia Bird’s
Blu-ray Review: PRIEST (1994) Read More »
What do you get when you have a cast of predominantly white actors and a 44-gallon drum of spray-tan? That’s right, Robert Aldrich’s classic western, Apache, starring Burt Lancaster as the titular figure, which was among the Blu-ray titles that capped off 2025 for Eureka Entertainment. There’s a hilarious line in The Three Amigos when
Uh… “APACHE” (1954) – review Read More »