‘Why would I give up a career as a Hollywood hack to make this film?’
When director Phillip Noyce left Los Angeles’ bright lights to come home and make Rabbit-Proof Fence, he came armed with a secret weapon he said would guarantee its success.
Film
Mystery end of one of Hollywood’s enduring stars, Gene Hackman and his wife
While police investigate the unsettling circumstances surrounding the death of Gene Hackman and wife Betsy Arakawa, tributes roll in for one of the most celebrated actors of the past 60 years.
Gene Hackman: a character actor with few peers
After flunking out of drama school, the Oscar-winning actor learnt his skills from the school of life, with his cinematic career taking off at 40 and seeing him star in films such as The French Connection and Mississippi Burning.
Hackman’s life in 10 great movie roles
The Times’s film critic recalls an actor who showed great versatility, from his early tough guys to his later comic roles, and picks standout films from his illustrious career | TOP 10
Detectives now believe deaths of Hackman, wife ‘suspicious’
Prescription pills were found scattered on the bathroom floor and one of the couple’s three dogs was dead at their home in Santa Fe.
Anora’s ‘woah’ factor a woman of strength
Mikey Madison was a surprise winner at the BAFTAs for Anora, and the movie might pull off an even bigger shock on Oscars night.
The stars in Jesse Plemons’ rise
The American actor, who makes a habit of working with Hollywood greats, talks about his new role with Robert de Niro in Netflix series Zero Day.
David Wenham’s new film is all spit, sadly no polish
I don’t like writing negative reviews, particularly of independent Australian films … but at the same time I have to call it as I see it.
Conceived inside, born inside and back behind bars
Striking debut feature Inside is a coming-of-age story about a young man torn between two fatally flawed father figures.
Chinese film marvel trounces Star Wars
Animated hit Ne Zha 2 offers its Chinese audience a Marvel-like hero in dark times.
SAG Awards 2025: Chalamet and Conclave score shock wins
At the 2025 Screen Actors Guild Awards, Timothée Chalamet and Edward Berger’s Vatican thriller delivered surprise victories, upending the predictions for Best Actor and Best Ensemble.
Amazon MGM gains creative control of James Bond franchise from Broccoli family
Jeff Bezos’s studio will now control who plays 007 and when the next film goes into production.
Theo James battles Satanic monkey in playfully gory horror-comedy
American writer-director Oz Perkins flexes his imaginative muscles to deliver outlandish means of awful death such as decapitation and dismemberment … but it’s how they happen that is unusual.
Keiran Culkin deserves an Oscar for this performance
The actor best known for Succession is annoying but excellent in this funny film about a pair of Jewish cousins on a pilgrimage to visit the childhood home of their Holocaust survivor grandmother.
Barry Keoghan plays man-child with three kids in this social drama
The actor is a single dad about to wed a woman he has known for three months. Not everyone is happy about the news in this tender film with laugh-out-loud moments.
‘You are not a victim’: Spacey hits back at Pearce’s claims he was ‘targeted’
In a fiery video posted to his X account, the Oscar-winning actor rebuked Pearce’s claims that he had made untoward advances on him in 1997 while filming L.A. Confidential.
Four young Australian filmmakers you should know about
Our next generation of directors is telling homegrown stories for global audiences, capturing the beauty of our landscape for the screen.
Scandals and surprises: Conclave and The Brutalist top the BAFTAs
Edward Berger’s palpal thriller and Brady Corbet’s sweeping melodrama take the top honours, but the evening’s true drama lies in the off-screen controversies.
Inside the repressive Iranian regime via one loving, well-off family
Mohammad Rasoulof, who has served jail time for making films that violate Iran’s censorship laws, fled his homeland ahead of the release of this film, which is well worth a watch.
Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy — charming and crackingly funny
Now widowed and in her fifties, Bridget Jones navigates love, loss, and ‘labial lockdown’. Hugh Grant steals scenes, Emma Thompson delivers comic gold, and wet-shirted romance lives on.
It was brutal, but Guy Pearce got lucky
The actor, nominated for an Oscar and a BAFTA for his scene-stealing turn in The Brutalist, talks money, Neighbours and why he was terrible in Memento.
‘Can we show someone being shot on live television?’
Journalists who witnessed the terrorist attack on the 1972 Munich Olympics tell the story in the tense thriller September 5.
Appetite for disruption: Boy Swallows the AACTA awards
The critically adored Netflix adaptation of the Trent Dalton’s best-selling debut novel has dominated Australia’s film and television awards.
World away from Bond
The James Bond star gives a raw performance in Queer, based on the semi-autobiographical novella by William S. Burroughs.
Netflix abandons Oscar hope over offensive posts
Netflix has dropped Oscar hopeful Karla Sofia Gascon, the star of Emilia Perez, from its high-profile Oscars campaign over her offensive social media posts.
Role in voice ‘No’ campaign led to cancellations: Mundine
Warren Mundine claims his appearances at the AACTA festival have been cancelled as a direct result of his role in the campaign against the Indigenous voice to parliament.
Baldoni, Lively lawyers face off in $646m ‘It Ends With Us’ case
Hollywood power couple Lively and Ryan Reynolds are being targeted by Baldoni, Lively’s co-star on the Colleen Hoover adaptation, after she sued Baldoni and alleged sexual harassment.
Reloaded: the golden age of crime inspiring a new era of TV
Spies, detectives and villains have been lifted from the page to inspire some riveting contemporary television adaptations. One in particular is a must-watch masterpiece.
Garfield, Pugh in a sobbingly good love story
A chef diagnosed with ovarian cancer is torn between making her mark and spending time with her family.
The high price of the art of resistance
Protest is much more than just a theme for the rising film industry in Iran.
Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/film/page/2