Chris Singh is an Editor-At-Large at the AU review, loves writing about travel and hospitality, and is partial to a perfectly textured octopus. You can reach him on Instagram: @chrisdsingh.
East England county Norfolk is a drab, scrappy location for Guy Myhill’s The Goob and it’s got just the atmosphere necessary to tell a tale of one family’s disquieting struggle with abuse and oppression that runs alongside the portrayal of a young boy’s – the family’s youngest – need for identity and a stable role…
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New in films that unexpectedly leave you completely satisfied and slightly breathless: Victoria, a two-hour, one-shot, action-drama from Director Sebastian Schipper. It’s a film that takes you all over the late-night streets of Berlin as the sun slowly creeps up and the fallout from a chance encounter continues to get more and more intense until…
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Cartel Land is the documentary that award-winning filmmaker Matthew Heineman risked his life for, and the danger he thrust himself into is communicated shockingly well in this 98 minute look at cartels and vigilante militias both north and south of the U.S./Mexico border. Heineman has a blockbuster flair for this work, which is why it’s…
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I often watch an episode of Game of Thrones more than once, and happily re-watch scenes over and over again. But there is one particular scene in “The Dance of Dragons” I won’t be watching again, not because it was boring or mishandled, but because it was emotionally draining and incredibly depressing, even if it…
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Jennifer Peedom’s Sherpa is worthy of praise for maintaining it’s focus when it could have easily been lost in the majestic and overwhelming beauty of Mount Everest. The team behind this documentary explore the increasingly strained relationship between the international climbing community and the Sherpas who make such climbs possible, effectively capturing the anxiety that…
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Those classed as ‘Hood Films’ really made an impact on commercial cinema back in the 90’s. Classics like Boyz n the Hood, Menace II Society, and Juice were met with critical acclaim and appealed to both a crowd that likes intelligent, well-written cinema rife with thoughtful social commentary, and a crowd that just wants an…
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Gabriel Ripstein’s 600 Miles is a straight shooter unconcerned with excess narrative baggage, clocking in at 85 minutes with a minimal gun trafficking plot that relies on talented actors and raw cinematography to place this project as a worthy debut feature for the Mexican filmmaker. Veteran Tim Roth brings a solid performance to the film,…
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Netflix has acquired the rights to distribute War Machine, the satirical comedy about the war in Afghanistan from Animal Kingdom Director David Michôd. With the superstar lead taken by none other than Brad Pitt, this proves a very big acquisition for the streaming service and could change the way Hollywood approaches them and similar streaming…
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“There will be no subtitles, dialogue, or voiceover” is our introduction to The Tribe, a surprisingly shocking film about a state boarding deaf-school in Kiev, with it’s own seedy underbelly of crime and Lord of the Flies type brutality. Director Miroslav Slaboshpitsky delves into the miserable and calmly observes the bleak, dog-eat-dog world that is…
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Kim Farrant’s Strangerland has a magical and mythical quality to it, making full use of the Australian outback with rich, rocky-red landscape shots that swallow the film’s characters in expansive, ambitious cinematography. But while visually impressive, Strangerland’s flaws lie in a commitment to ambiguity, presenting itself as one thing and then veering off into another…
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Over 86 minutes, this chilling documentary details how a (very) small, quiet town in North Dakota slowly transformed into a breeding ground for hatred and paranoia over the course of a few months. It’s easy to watch Welcome to Leith as a highly effective thriller, forgetting that the events going down in the film actually…
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As far as burgers go, Jimmy “The Burger Lord” Hurlston, also known as the man behind Jimmy’s Burgers, just may be the most experienced and well-traveled guy in history. He has spent years trekking all over the world tackling one of the most famous food creations of all time, attempting to eat, record, and review…
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This is not the first time Thomas Hardy’s Far From the Madding Crowd has been adapted, but it’s certainly the finest interpretation out there. The Victorian-era story is based around heroine Bathsheba Everdene (Carey Mulligan) and the fierce commitment she has to maintaining her own independence after inheriting a large farming estate from her uncle….
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Game of Thrones upped the ante in “Hardhome”, bucking the trend of Episode 9 being the big action-packed set by giving us a ferocious, layered, and brilliantly executed big battle in the episode’s last half. That isn’t only why “Hardhome” is the best Season 5 episode yet though, every other story line during the first…
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In just a couple of days Sydneysiders will be able to watch Jaws on Manly Wharf. Could anything be more perfect? The Steven Spielberg classic will be the first of many classic shown at Manly Wharf Hotel as the seaside venue transforms into a cinema every Monday until the end of September. While Jaws launches…
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While pacing was surprisingly rapid in the half of “The Gift”, the episode served us up some big, although fairly quiet, developments. Similarly to last weeks “Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken” focus was on the smaller character moments here, with storylines leaping forward involving Sansa, Tyrion, Cersei, and Sam. Let’s start with the more negligible part of…
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After what seems like a ridiculously long wait, NBC are finally gearing up for the start of the third season of the acclaimed TV adaptation of Hannibal. The show, which has been lauded for it’s clever writing, stylish violence and superb acting, seems to be using season two’s sinister ending to start anew, also drawing…
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While not exactly a shot-for-shot re-make, Gil Kenan’s version of classic supernatural-horrorPoltergeist sticks fairly close to the original, at least when it charges into the brunt of the action. The 1982 original, from horror masterminds Tobe Hooper and Steven Spielberg, has been cemented into popular culture so the story should be familiar to most. You…
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Peter Dinklage who portrays Game of Thrones’ Tyrion Lannister has picked up a mic and gotten all emotional to promote NBC’s Red Rose Day and the Game of Thrones musical written by Coldplay. Dinklage uses his deep vocals to re-open old wounds and reminds us that George RR Martin is pretty much a fictional serial…
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Westeros is not somewhere I’d ever like to live. It’s dark, brutal, and defeating, full of liars, manipulative Littlefingers, and selfish Queens who do not put the same amount of value in life as we (most of us) do in the real world. If you’re looking for justice, you’ve come to the wrong place. George…
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So you’ve got your SFF Flexipass but you’re having a hard time choosing between all the hundreds of films that are part of the 62nd Sydney Film Festival. Not to worry, there are many necessary guides out there – like this one – to help you sift through the often overwhelming amount of choices here….
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Today the complete line-up of films that will be picking at our hearts and minds during the 62nd Sydney Film Festival has been announced. Once again, those responsible for curating this comprehensive line-up have reached all across the globe to bring us an incredibly diverse and intriguing line-up full of premieres, classics, future classics, and…
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Following the release of the very well-received Surface Pro 3 last year, Microsoft continue to remain consistent as they add to their Surface family with the Surface 3 laptop-tablet hybrid. It’s certainly the megabrand’s most valuable hybrid to date, with price-point, power and performance admirably balanced with consumer convenience in mind.
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The bloodiest Season 5 episode yet, “Sons of the Harpy” was packed full of important happenings, especially showcasing chaotic power plays from two of the seasons newest threats. The dark, sinful corners of King’s Landing weren’t safe from the uprising the pious Sparrows brought with them, letting loose the Faith Militant (knights/warriors committed to enforcing…
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It would be hard to deny Unfriended as an imaginative and innovative film; Director Levan Gabriadze takes an initially uninspiring concept and makes it work with admirable attention to detail and a genuine sense of tension. However, in the film’s pursuit of as much realism as possible, the viewer is left unable to escape from…
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Independently-produced horror film The Gallows is almost ready to be released through Warner Bros as indicated by the curious first trailer, which was was recently released in Australia. The film is from Blumhouse Productions, the same powerhouse behind hits like Insidious, Paranormal Activity, and Sinister. Twenty years after an accident during a small town high…
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Set to open at the official Sydney Film Festival Festival Hub in Town Hall is a special video exhibition staged by Sydney Contemporary. The Sydney Contemporary Video Exhibition will open at the hub on Thursday 4th June and run for the duration of the festival (until 14th June), showcasing works from 12 video artists from…
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Gentle giant Terry Crews has enjoyed a big profile in hollywood since his appearance in 2004 comedy White Chicks, but none of his subsequent roles have produced a scene as memorable as the one where he sits in a car, all buff and masculine, and lip syncs to Vanessa Carlton’s “1000 Miles”. Recently, Crews got…
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Between trying to give Tom Brady a handjob and suing the government, Seth MacFarlane’s Ted and Mark Whalberg’s John promise a worthy sequel in Ted 2. Universal Pictures have just dropped another trailer ahead of the June release date, and this time it leaves little doubt to whether or not this will be as raunchy…
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Now that we have passed the first two episodes and caught up with the working storylines for this season “High Sparrow” was perfectly placed to shake things up a bit, and it did so with a very eventful episode that gave us one very satisfying death, one very shocking betrothal, one new and important character,…
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