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TOMORROW, WHEN THE WAR BEGAN

September 1st 2010 00:29
Director: Stuart Beattie
Stars: Caitlin Stasey, Rachel Hurd-Wood, Deniz Akdeniz, Lincoln Lewis, Phoebe Tonkin, Chris Pang, Ashleigh Cummings
PARAMOUNT
BASED on the first in a series of acclaimed novels by John Marsden, Tomorrow, When the War Began explores what might happen if Australia was invaded and occupied by a hostile foreign power.
At the heart of the action are seven teenagers, who leave a fictional country town called Wirrawee to go camping in a beautiful remote area incongruously known as ‘Hell’. While they’re there, forming and furthering romances and generally having fun, they see a large number of military aircraft fly overhead. While they acknowledge it as odd, they don’t think too much of it…until they arrive back in Wirrawee and find the place deserted.
Worried about their families, the kids split up into three groups and discover that the townsfolk are being held captive at the local showground by a ruthless, unidentified army. Led by the pragmatic Homer (Akdeniz) and resilient Ellie (Stasey), the friends decide to fight back and wage a guerrilla war against the heavily armed invaders.
Filmed entirely in New South Wales, primarily in Raymond Terrace and the Blue Mountains, Tomorrow, When the War Began is one of the best Australian movies to emerge in recent years. While it’s obviously aimed at teens and young adults – just like the book – the action sequences are as good as you’ll see in any Hollywood blockbuster and the performances are engaging, particularly from Caitlin Stasey and Deniz Akdeniz.
With six more novels in the series, the film-makers hope Tomorrow… will become an international Twilight-like phenomenon, and the potential is certainly there.
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THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ALICE CREED

August 1st 2010 00:57
Director: J. Blakeson
Stars: Gemma Arterton, Martin Compston, Eddie Marsan
ICON
IN her first really meaty dramatic role, English babe Gemma Arterton (St. Trinian’s, Quantum of Solace, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time) plays rich girl Alice Creed, who is kidnapped by a couple of ex-cons (Compston and Marsan) and held for ransom in a heavily fortified apartment somewhere in Britain.
Everything goes according to plan initially, but as the crims’ complex relationship is revealed, mistrust starts to seep in and the whole enterprise is soon compromised. The action rarely moves from the claustrophobic confines of the apartment, which adds to the ever-increasing tension, and a series of twists and turns keep the viewer guessing.
While the acting is solid throughout, none of the characters are very likable and it’s hard to care what happens to any of them. However, the movie succeeds in breathing new life into the tired kidnap thriller genre, and for that the film-makers should be commended.
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GET HIM TO THE GREEK

June 10th 2010 06:39
Director: Nicholas Stoller
Stars: Russell Brand, Jonah Hill, Rose Byrne, Sean 'P. Diddy' Combs, Elisabeth Moss
UNIVERSAL
BASICALLY a spin-off flick from excellent 2008 comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Get Him to the Greek sees Russell Brand reprise his role as fictitious English rock star Aldous Snow, and revolves around his attempt at a comeback after a disastrous album has all but ruined his career.
Charged with ferrying Snow from London to LA’s Greek Theatre for a special anniversary concert is mild-mannered record label executive Aaron Green (Hill), but it soon becomes clear that the drug-addled party animal is not going to be easy to deal with. Adding to his stress, Green is having relationship troubles with his live-in girlfriend (Moss) and his lunatic boss (played superbly by P. Diddy) won’t leave him alone.
The film quickly becomes a fairly standard road-trip jaunt – and there is some unnecessary sentimentality – but the wild situations Green finds himself in are genuinely entertaining, and there are some top-drawer one-liners to keep you laughing. Aussie hottie Rose Byrne does an excellent job as Snow’s ex, a raunchy British pop star in the mould of Posh Spice, and there are more celebrity cameos than you can shake Lars Ulrich’s drumsticks at.

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BENEATH HILL 60

April 15th 2010 05:34
Director: Jeremy Sims
Stars: Brendan Cowell, Steve Le Marquand, Harrison Gilbertson, Bella Heathcote, Jacqueline McKenzie
Paramount
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The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

February 24th 2010 02:09
BASED on the acclaimed novel by late Swedish author Stieg Larsson, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a cleverly constructed murder mystery that keeps the viewer guessing.
While waiting to serve a dubious prison sentence for libel against a powerful businessman, investigative journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) is contacted by Henrik Vanger (Sven-Bertil Taube), the patriarch of a wealthy industrialist family. Impressed by Blomkvist’s tenacity, Vanger employs the disgraced journo to try and solve the 40-year-old disappearance of his favourite niece. Vanger is convinced one of his unsavoury relatives – three of which were Nazis – murdered her on the family’s private island, but the girl’s body was never found. When Blomkvist enlists the help of a wild, tattooed computer hacker named Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace), everything starts to fall into place, and a much larger conspiracy begins to reveal itself, putting the pair in mortal danger.
The film includes some intense – and disturbing – sexual scenes involving the troubled Salander, but they’re just background to the intriguing whodunit at the heart of the thriller


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NOWHERE BOY

January 14th 2010 22:34
NATURALLY, the life of John Lennon after he became one of the most famous people on Earth is well documented, but his tumultuous childhood has rarely been investigated in film, and that’s where Nowhere Boy comes in.
Brought up by his austere aunt Mimi (Kristin Scott Thomas) in dreary, post-war Liverpool, the young John (Aaron Johnson) is a bit wild, a trait he shares with his manic-depressive mother, Julia (Anne-Marie Duff). A fervent interest in the revolutionary music coming out of America coincides with John’s desire to get to know his estranged mum, and she teaches him to play the banjo, although the relationship is far from normal. After starting a skiffle band with school friends, other musicians from the area gravitate towards John, including a small kid named Paul McCartney (Thomas Sangster), who encourages him to write his own songs.
It’s always interesting to see icons from a fresh perspective, and artist-turned-director Sam Taylor Wood has done well to present an engaging story without making it a gratuitous fan flick. In fact, the ‘B’ word isn’t mentioned once. Imagine that


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DORIAN GRAY

November 20th 2009 04:39
THIS year marks the 155th anniversary of the birth of Oscar Wilde, and it’s a powerful testament to the man that his work still stands up today. This latest retelling of the Irish author’s 1890 novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, will no doubt introduce a new generation to Wilde, which can only be a good thing.
The 19th movie version of the classic gothic horror story stars newcomer Ben Barnes (The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian) as Dorian, a naive young man who moves to London after inheriting a fortune. He quickly makes friends with a respected society artist (Ben Chaplin), who asks if he can paint his portrait. Dorian agrees, and in the meanwhile he encounters the decadent Lord Henry Wotton (Colin Firth), who introduces him to the hedonistic pleasures of the city and encourages him to live for the moment. After admiring the finished portrait, Dorian says he would do anything to ensure the picture ages instead of himself – even sell his soul. He gets his wish, and the portrait begins to rot in proportion to the depraved things that he does.
While Barnes is slightly wooden as Dorian, Firth is excellent as the caddish Lord Henry, and the extravagant period production is worthy of the material


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VAN DIEMEN'S LAND

October 30th 2009 05:26
IN 1822, eight desperate convicts escaped from the harshest penal colony in the world on the remote west coast of Tasmania. Based on the shocking confessions of an Irish thief named Alexander Pearce, Van Diemen’s Land details the men’s arduous journey, and explores the darker side of human nature.
Stark cinematography and a haunting score give the film an ominous feel right away, and it never lets up. It’s an impressive directorial debut from Jonathan auf der Heide, and the acting from the ensemble cast is terrific. Oscar Redding (who co-wrote the script with auf der Heide) delivers an impressive, slow-burning performance as Pearce and Arthur Angel is frightening as the cold and calculating Robert Greenhill.
Van Diemen’s Land probably won’t do much for Tasmanian tourism – unless dark, forbidding forests are your kinda thing – but it’s a fascinating story from Australia's blood-stained past that raises interesting moral questions about how far people will go in order to survive


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PAPER HEART

October 20th 2009 05:57
PURPORTING to be making a documentary on the nature of love, stand-up comedian Charlyne Yi travels across the US interviewing real people about romance. Along the way, she meets Hollywood star Michael Cera (Superbad, Juno) and the quirky pair start dating, even though Yi is convinced she will never fall in love.
Paper Heart is an interesting experiment in combining fantasy and reality. Yi and Cera were actually in a relationship during the making of the film, and while director Nicholas Jasenovec is a major character in the movie, he’s actually played by an actor (an excellent performance from Jake M. Johnson). Trying to figure out what’s real and what’s not is half the fun.
The obviously genuine interviews with happily married couples, divorcees and even an Elvis-impersonating Las Vegas minister are fascinating, and it’s impossible not to be drawn in. Paper Heart is unique and almost indefinable, much like its subject matter


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ANVIL! The Story of Anvil

September 3rd 2009 01:09
ANVIL is the biggest rock band you’ve never heard of. Formed in Toronto, Canada in 1978 by best friends Steve 'Lips' Kudlow and Robb Reiner, they influenced the likes of Slayer, Metallica and Anthrax, but fame and fortune somehow eluded them.
However, Kudlow and Reiner never gave up, and this engrossing doco follows the 50 year olds as they prepare to release their 18th album. Along the way, they must endure a disastrous European tour, financial troubles, and a commercial music industry that wants nothing to do with them. The film includes interviews with Lars Ulrich (Metallica), Scott Ian (Anthrax), Slash (Guns n’ Roses), and a host of other heavy-metal heavyweights.
A very human tale about the importance of perseverance and following your dreams, Anvil! is equal parts hilarious, sad and inspirational. Rock on


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