An effort ten years in the making, the struggle has been real bringing-to-life a sequel to the delightful 2009 zom-rom-com Zombieland.
When we last saw Princess Aurora (Elle Fanning) and her fairy godmother Maleficent (Angelina Jolie), they had completed their fairy-tale arc and were destined to live happily ever after on the beautiful Moors. However, in the years since our last visit to the magical Disney kingdom, evil and mistrust have returned to the land. Maleficent’s redeeming role in waking Aurora from her curse has been forgotten and she has been rebranded as the Mistress of Evil. Maleficent has once again retreated from civilisation, spending her time hunting human trespassers on the Moors.
At one point in the late 90s, Will Smith was one of the biggest actors on the planet. The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air went on one of the greatest four-film streaks of all time, starring in Bad Boys (1995), Independence Day (1996), Men In Black (1997) and Enemy of the State (1998). On top of that, he also released his debut chart-topping solo album ‘Big Willie Style’, spawning the hits “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It” and “Miami”. Then he made Wild Wild West (1999).
Alvin Schwartz’s ‘Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark’ made waves in the 80s, introducing a generation of teens to spooky urban myths, legends and classic campfire stories. The twisted stories, which were banned by The American Library Association in the 1990s, are now making their debut on the big screen under the talented direction of Norwegian André Øvredal.
There’s been much talk about Jim Jarmusch’s latest flick The Dead Don’t Die. A horror-comedy featuring an incredible cast of Jarmusch regulars and newcomers, the film begins with an interesting premise before slowly drifting to a weird and ultimately unfulfilling ending.
It’s the Brad Pitt show in Ad Astra; the superstar actor taking audiences along on an introspective journey into deep space to find his estranged father.
This decade’s answer to Superbad (2007), Good Boys is everything you would expect out of a child-led film produced by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. It’s crude and it’s crass but it’s also sweetly innocent and hopeful.
Can you say “the Dora film is a wildly imaginative, well-produced and clever film?” Sí, that’s correct!
Downton Abbey fans rejoice – our favourite, immaculately dressed Crawley family and their cohort of hard-working servants are back and they’ve been expecting us.
In a year where dragons, Lego, toys and pets have had their run with animated sequels, who’d have thought that The Angry Birds Movie 2 – a sequel to the 2016 adaptation of the popular video game – would take the cake as the most joyous animated comedy of 2019.
For a movie based on “an actual lie”, Lulu Wang’s family drama The Farewell ruminates long and hard on the stark truths of loss, grief, family and well-intentioned deception.
After rescuing the President of the United States of America from a hostage situation in action blockbuster Olympus Has Fallen (2013), then saving him again from terrorists in London Has Fallen (2016), Secret Service agent Mike Banning is back a third time in Angel Has Fallen to uncover a conspiracy that could bring about his downfall.
Amazing Grace was filmed over two days in 1972 in a church in Los Angeles, and it has taken almost half a century for this piece of music history to see the light of day.
Every Australian knows who Adam Goodes is – even this NSW native who has only ever watched one game of AFL in her life. Goodes’ name and image were splashed across the nation’s tabloids for years during his career with the Sydney Swans – all because he took a stand against the racist abuse he experienced from spectators while playing AFL at a professional level.
American writer and director Ari Aster announced himself last year with the release of Hereditary. An absorbing, yet unsettling horror in the vein of 70s classics The Exorcist (1973) and Don’t Look Now (1973), his debut was a critical and commercial hit and one of the best films of 2018. A year on and Aster delivers his much-anticipated follow-up, the folk horror, Midsommar.
Don’t expect much of a plot in this one, however, Tarantino devotees and/or film purists will find a lot to adore in the acclaimed director’s latest, Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood.
