★★★☆☆ French director Olivier Assayas makes his Netflix debut with Wasp Network, a tale of spies, politics and refugees in a mid-1990s Cuba and Florida which is as undecided on its tone as it is on its politics. Rene Gonzalez (Edgar Ramirez) seems to have a perfect life. His wife Continue Reading
★★★★☆ As the public allegations against Harvey Weinstein mounted in 2017, #MeToo became a viral campaign exposing the culture of sexual assault not just in Hollywood, but throughout the entertainment industry. In December of that year, former music mogul Drew Dixon came forward with her own allegations against music producer Continue Reading
★★★★☆ Despite its bland paperback title, French writer-director Stéphane Demoustier proves hasty assumptions wrong with his gripping, thoughtful third feature, courtroom drama The Girl With a Bracelet. On the night before her trial, 18-year-old Lise Bataille (Melissa Guers) stands accused of murdering her best friend, Flora. In her first role, Continue Reading
★★★★★ Most filmmakers who venture into the heritage industry of an English period drama make sure the detail shines on the screen: beautiful linen collars, worsted cloaks, authentic lacework. Chuck in a restored 18th century cottage or country estate and you’re transporting audiences back in time with ease. Director Thomas Continue Reading
It’s been over a decade since British indie director Thomas Clay had a new film set for release. After 2008’s Soi Cowboy, Clay spent time researching the English interregnum: exploring its political and social upheavals to find an untold story buried within a less frequently mined period of history. The Continue Reading
★★★☆☆ To many artists, from Morrissey to Victor Fleming, Joan of Arc has proved a rich canvas to reflect upon female suffrage. The aim, whether a song or film, is to interpolate the viewer into her story against the oppressive forces of the French and English monarchy during medieval times. Continue Reading
★★★☆☆ A charming, if an insistently odd musical representation of Joan of Arc’s early years, Bruno Dumont’s latest offering Jeannette: The Childhood of Joan of Arc is a compelling blend of juvenile dissatisfaction and Catholic anxiety – minus the humdrum historical accuracy. Jeannette is instead a psychological portrait of the Continue Reading
Throughout Hollywood history, there’s been a lot of characters who love a flutter in one form or another. Whether slick professionals, hopeless addicts, or a mixture of the two, their stories can make for hard watching at times – in keeping with the visceral nature of their chosen pastime. These Continue Reading
★★★☆☆ Magical realism is the order of the day in Christophe Honoré’s surreal, high concept sex dramedy On a Magical Night. After her husband, Richard (Benjamin Biolay), catches her cheating, Maria’s (Chiara Mastroianni) past physically manifests in the form of her old lovers, leading both Richard and Maria to reflect Continue Reading
Poker scenes have been cropping up in movies and on TV since the industries began. The game is incredibly versatile, depicting everything from a fun evening with friends, the glamour of casinos, and heightened tension over games where the price of losing isn’t worth thinking about. It’s the secretive nature Continue Reading
★★★★★ Four surviving members of a squad calling themselves the ‘5 Bloods’ return to Vietnam to recover their fallen brother’s remains and retrieve a sizeable bounty of lost gold bullion into the bargain. Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods is not only his best recent film, but also one of the Continue Reading
Although bingo was initially a popular game in retirement villages and community centres, it is gradually becoming the favourite of young men and women in the online bingo game community. Because of its growing popularity among young people, many online gaming platforms have included bingo games on their list. For Continue Reading
★★★★☆ In the febrile context of the #BlackLivesMatter protests arrives The Australian Dream, Daniel Gordon’s study of the appalling treatment of Aboriginal AFL star Adam Goodes by racist fans. The ensuing controversy exposed the structural racism at the heart of Australian society and is a timely exemplar of the endemic racism Continue Reading
When it was founded in 1997, Netflix first started as a DVD rental-by-mail service. But it is now one of the largest media streaming services worldwide. After realising the potential of video streaming technology in 2007, the company decided to shift to the video-on-demand subscription model. Since then, the revenue Continue Reading
★★★☆☆ Canadian director Atom Egoyan’s Guest of Honour is an intriguing, but misshapen and sometimes bizarre family melodrama. After her father Jim’s (David Thewlis) death, Veronica (Laysla De Oliveira) reflects on the key traumatic moments of their fraught relationship. Messy, convoluted, tiring: adjectives that describe Veronica’s near 30-year relationship with Continue Reading
