April
Peter Greste’s biopic gets journalists like few others
The film captures the drama of the Al Jazeera correspondent’s arrest and imprisonment in Egypt, but is also unsparing about the stubbornness the profession can breed.
March
How Crocodile Dundee became an icon, especially for its investors
A new documentary on Australia’s highest-grossing film lacks bite, but boasts interesting detail about the investors it enriched – including late wicketkeeper Rod Marsh.
Disney’s Snow White is not too woke – and it’s better than Wicked
This flashpoint of the culture wars avoids being the disaster many feared (or hoped for).
Dodgy side of Gold Coast is back on screen in Spit
In this sequel to 2003’s Gettin’ Square, David Wenham revives his small-time crim Johnny Spiteri – the character who gifted cinema the thong chase.
February
This sensitive Aussie prison movie escapes the cliches
“Inside” stars Guy Pearce, who shows his inner mongrel in a tense, genre-defying local jail flick.
Bridget Jones hits her 50s, and the franchise is back in form
The fourth movie about the serial singleton is easily the best, with Renee Zellweger now delightfully at ease with her character.
You don’t see ghosts, but what the ghost sees, in this thriller
Ever-inventive director Steven Soderbergh has turned the horror genre on its head in his new movie, ‘Presence’.
January
You’ll submit to Nicole Kidman in Babygirl
The 57-year-old has taken a risk on that rarest of things – a 21st century movie that unabashedly explores sex, and its power dynamics.
Bob Dylan’s an unlovable man making undeniable music in new biopic
The makers of A Complete Unknown gave up trying to make the singer-songwriter sympathetic, and let his music – and a bravura turn from Timothée Chalamet – provide the heart.
Magic Beach the movie is the opposite of Pixar and Disney
This film of the beloved book feels like an antidote to the hypercharged Hollywood animations that have come to dominate our children’s screens.
Paddington in Peru loses the magic of the first films
In this third instalment, the bear travels “home” – and the franchise’s feel-good, pro-immigration spirit vanishes.
December 2024
Not enough tang in this Christmas gravy movie
The film version of Paul Kelly’s seasonal anthem, How to Make Gravy, has its moments but borrows too many ingredients from the very Australian genre of sozzled social realism.
November 2024
Hugh Grant is a charming, bashful serial killer in Heretic
The English actor has come a long way from Bridget Jones in this preposterous, yet mostly fun horror film.
Gladiator II is a dumber, prettier rerun of the original
Paul Mescal is no Russell Crowe, but to paraphrase old Maximus from the first Gladiator: you will still be entertained by its sequel.
October 2024
Final Venom film is trilogy’s least biting
The anti-hero of Spider-Man’s world is mostly just the enemy of entertainment in the $180 million-budget Venom: The Last Dance.
In ‘Smile 2’, a grin becomes a very bad thing
The “smile curse” from Parker Finn’s 2022 horror hit is going around again, this time in the hothouse world of a pop star.
When Superman became a real-life hero
A new documentary on Superman actor Christopher Reeve, who became a quadriplegic after a 1995 accident, packs an emotional punch.
Impractical Joker sequel will split the fans
Part musical, part prison saga, part courtroom drama, this ambitious follow-up to the 2019 hit about Batman’s nemesis may struggle to recoup its $300m budget.
No wonder Coppola had to pay for Megalopolis with his own money
This Roman orgy of a film, 40 years in the making, warns of end of days for America – but more likely just means the end of the director’s career.
September 2024
Margot Robbie’s ‘My Old Ass’ is a bummer
This lame coming-of-age story, produced by the megastar, is no Barbie. Meanwhile, 85-year-old Ian McKellen hams it up megalomaniacally in The Critic.