|
5/5
|
97%
|
Gravity (2013) |
"
If I found a lamp, and a genie came out and granted me three wishes, I'd use one to raise Kubrick so I could take him to Gravity ... No element is out of place, no intention unrealized ... unity of time, place and character ... a work of the highest art."
—
ABC Radio (Australia)
Posted Oct 6, 2013
|
|
5/5
|
85%
|
Upstream Color (2013) |
"
Carruth's second feature proudly follows his debut Primer (2004) in its audacity, intellect and astonishing originality. Carruth does not make films for fools, but nor does he try and fool anyone; if you're willing to look, it's all there."
—
ABC Radio (Australia)
Posted Aug 18, 2013
|
|
5/5
|
96%
|
Argo (2012) |
"
The whole thing is paced like a whip, and the third act may literally be the most suspenseful piece of film I've ever seen - and yes, I have seen Rear Window. Recommended without any reservation for every and any cinemagoer."
—
ABC Radio (Australia)
Posted Dec 4, 2012
|
|
5/5
|
72%
|
Wish You Were Here (2013) |
"
It confidently embraces a fractured narrative that ranges across time and between two countries without ever being confusing or obfuscating... Wish You Were Here is deeply excellent on every level it chooses to operate."
—
ABC Radio (Australia)
Posted May 3, 2012
|
|
5/5
|
99%
|
A Separation (2011) |
"
It's fast paced, exciting, thrilling, edgy, moving, engaging, and - in its portrait of a justice system almost radically alien to the one I live under - absolutely fascinating. "
—
ABC Radio (Australia)
Posted Mar 11, 2012
|
|
5/5
|
77%
|
In A Better World (2011) |
"
In A Better World won this year's Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film -- the most obviously deserving award of the night. Completely, unquestionably recommended."
—
ABC Radio (Australia)
Posted Mar 30, 2011
|
|
4.5/5
|
100%
|
Red Obsession (2013) |
"
As much an examination of contemporary Chinese character, ambition and taste as it is of the Chateaux and wines of Bordeaux ... globe-trotting, hugely informative and thoroughly entertaining ... crafted with as much care as the wines we see onscreen."
—
ABC Radio (Australia)
Posted Aug 13, 2013
|
|
4.5/5
|
95%
|
We Steal Secrets: The Story Of Wikileaks (2013) |
"
If you're looking for a really comprehensive, clear, evenhanded and thoroughly entertaining examination of, well, the story of WikiLeaks, master documentarian Alex Gibney has gone to the trouble of providing you with one."
—
ABC Radio (Australia)
Posted Jul 3, 2013
|
|
4.5/5
|
95%
|
The Hunt (2013) |
"
To call The Hunt gripping would be like calling Annie Hall funny. It is, but it's also so much more than that."
—
ABC Radio (Australia)
Posted Apr 28, 2013
|
|
4.5/5
|
93%
|
Looper (2012) |
"
Intelligent, extremely imaginative, visually stunning and constantly surprising, this is filmmaking of the highest order from Rian Johnson."
—
ABC Radio (Australia)
Posted Dec 4, 2012
|
|
4.5/5
|
92%
|
Skyfall (2012) |
"
I have no compulsion whatsoever in declaring Skyfall, in terms of cinematography, the best looking Bond film ever ... Action movies simply don't look like this - but ... this is no ordinary action movie."
—
ABC Radio (Australia)
Posted Dec 4, 2012
|
|
4.5/5
|
81%
|
Red Dog (2012) |
"
I was immensely moved by "Red Dog", and I can't picture a movie-goer who won't be. It's wonderful."
—
ABC Radio (Australia)
Posted Aug 11, 2011
|
|
4.5/5
|
86%
|
The Snowtown Murders (2012) |
"
Definitely, and defiantly, Australia's Next Great Film, and the scariest it has ever produced."
—
ABC Radio (Australia)
Posted May 20, 2011
|
|
4/5
|
84%
|
Blue Caprice (2013) |
"
Would be a moving and sweet depiction of the growing bond between a father and his adopted son if it weren't actually about mass murder."
—
ABC Radio (Australia)
Posted Sep 20, 2013
|
|
4/5
|
93%
|
The Gatekeepers (2013) |
"
Dror Moreh's documentary is remarkable not for stylistic innovation but for the very fact it exists."
—
ABC Radio (Australia)
Posted Sep 8, 2013
|
|
4/5
|
68%
|
Elysium (2013) |
"
A bloody good movie, a ripping yarn, a dark dystopian future sci-fi, full of action, astonishing imagery, a superb score (Ryan Amon), great performances (with one exception) and such an assured sense of style that I was continually bowled over."
—
ABC Radio (Australia)
Posted Aug 12, 2013
|
|
4/5
|
69%
|
Fast & Furious 6 (2013) |
"
This franchise puts it all on the screen. It's completely ludicrous, totally bonkers, and that's why you're there."
—
ABC Radio (Australia)
Posted Jun 5, 2013
|
|
4/5
|
93%
|
No (2013) |
"
It's not easy material but it's truly fascinating, and expertly done."
—
ABC Radio (Australia)
Posted Apr 20, 2013
|
|
4/5
|
82%
|
De rouille et d'os (Rust and Bone) (2012) |
"
The film achieves what all dramatic films should strive for: complete audience empathy for the main characters. I cared for these two so deeply, and the many, many moments of quiet triumph gave me rushes of joy. A beautiful triumph of precision."
—
ABC Radio (Australia)
Posted Apr 2, 2013
|
|
4/5
|
98%
|
Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence In The House Of God (2012) |
"
Before you say you can't take another feature length documentary about sexual abuse committed by Catholic priests, know that Alex Gibney's examination of the subject is both fresh and revelatory."
—
ABC Radio (Australia)
Posted Mar 28, 2013
|
|
4/5
|
78%
|
A Late Quartet (2012) |
"
Christopher Walken, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener, Imogen Poots and Ukrainian actor Mark Ivanir all give pitch-perfect performances, grounding the heavy emotion in realism and understatement."
—
ABC Radio (Australia)
Posted Mar 25, 2013
|
|
4/5
|
85%
|
End of Watch (2012) |
"
The street characters are played by a remarkable panoply of real-life types who speak in a thrilling, totally believable patois."
—
ABC Radio (Australia)
Posted Dec 4, 2012
|
|
4/5
|
86%
|
Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012) |
"
This movie has to be seen to be believed, and to be believed, it simply has to be seen."
—
ABC Radio (Australia)
Posted Dec 4, 2012
|
|
4/5
|
75%
|
Killing Them Softly (2012) |
"
A masterclass in precise, auteurist cinema ... Short, sharp, talky, lean, and almost completely inhabited by men, Killing The Softly is cerebral, nasty, and hugely entertaining."
—
ABC Radio (Australia)
Posted Dec 4, 2012
|
|
4/5
|
88%
|
The Dark Knight Rises (2012) |
"
Nolan is skirting brave ground applying Batman to what is essentially a 9/11 story, re-framed as an act of domestic terrorism, but he stays on the audience's side by never treating the terror as sensationalistic ... An extremely satisfying conclusion."
—
ABC Radio (Australia)
Posted Jul 19, 2012
|
|
4/5
|
89%
|
A Royal Affair (2012) |
"
This gorgeously mounted, exquisitely acted slice of Danish history is, in this age of political polarisation, strangely and depressingly topical. I was certainly enlightened by the history here, which encompasses a Royal Tale of intrigue and passion."
—
ABC Radio (Australia)
Posted Jun 25, 2012
|
|
4/5
|
47%
|
Snow White and the Huntsman (2012) |
"
You could literally cast Harold Pinter's The Homecoming AND The Caretaker with these eight men and run them side by side on the West End to packed houses for years."
—
ABC Radio (Australia)
Posted Jun 23, 2012
|
|
4/5
|
93%
|
King of Devil's Island (2011) |
"
The true events on which the film are based are wonderfully stranger than fiction, and by the end of the film I was deeply moved and thrilled by what I had seen."
—
ABC Radio (Australia)
Posted May 6, 2012
|
|
4/5
|
79%
|
The Grey (2012) |
"
The Grey features some astonishing sequences, spectacular cinematography, excellent performances and heartfelt ruminations on mortality, faith, masculinity, hope, family and existence. It also has really really cool wolves."
—
ABC Radio (Australia)
Posted Feb 27, 2012
|
|
4/5
|
79%
|
Shame (2011) |
"
It is hard not to use an excess of superlatives for Shame, and it is impossible to avoid the chestnut "it won't be for everybody". It's dark, even brutal, and it makes you examine parts of your own psyche that you might not love to dwell on."
—
ABC Radio (Australia)
Posted Feb 27, 2012
|
|
4/5
|
96%
|
The Muppets (2011) |
"
The new muppet movie, written by Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller, is a total delight. Any fears that the muppets may have been unwisely thrust into something that is outside of their inherent character can be safely allayed."
—
ABC Radio (Australia)
Posted Dec 22, 2011
|
|
4/5
|
99%
|
Bill Cunningham New York (2011) |
"
Don't worry if you've never heard of Bill Cunningham. This delightful documentary is all about getting to know the man - and he's a major, fascinating character."
—
ABC Radio (Australia)
Posted Dec 14, 2011
|
|
4/5
|
90%
|
Attack the Block (2011) |
"
Fighting aliens with these diverse, street-smart, slang-slinging little criminals is all the more fun for fighting them in the Block: a fantastic funhouse of a battlefield, providing plenty of room for extremely witty and well-shot action sequences. "
—
ABC Radio (Australia)
Posted Dec 4, 2011
|
|
4/5
|
82%
|
Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) |
"
If the concept of the film doesn't interest you, I reckon you should take a punt: you'll be very nicely surprised at just how good it is."
—
ABC Radio (Australia)
Posted Aug 11, 2011
|
|
4/5
|
72%
|
Hanna (2011) |
"
The entire thing - the whole weight of the movie - rests on the remarkable abilities of Saoirse Ronan ... she's an exceptional actor. She's one of a kind."
—
ABC Radio (Australia)
Posted Aug 3, 2011
|
|
4/5
|
96%
|
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 (2011) |
"
This is a massive, tentpole, franchise movie with impeccable good taste -- its most essential, surprising and exhilarating ingredient."
—
ABC Radio (Australia)
Posted Jul 20, 2011
|
|
4/5
|
82%
|
Super 8 (2011) |
"
If Super 8 isn't as moving as ET, as mysterious as Close Encounters, or as exciting as Raiders, it has heart, humour and sheer storytelling panache in spades."
—
ABC Radio (Australia)
Posted Jun 22, 2011
|
|
4/5
|
88%
|
Cane Toads: The Conquest (2012) |
"
[Lewis'] art is all his own: no-one else shoots ugly amphibious imported pests in 3D quite like him."
—
ABC Radio (Australia)
Posted Jun 22, 2011
|
|
4/5
|
48%
|
Sleeping Beauty (2011) |
"
Sleeping Beauty is some kind of masterpiece ... enormously rich, complex, and great food for thought."
—
ABC Radio (Australia)
Posted Jun 22, 2011
|
|
2 1/2
|
87%
|
X-Men: First Class (2011) |
"
January Jones ... in a James-Bond-style white catsuit, probably sums up the tone of the film as it should have been the whole way through. "
—
ABC Radio (Australia)
Posted Jun 22, 2011
|
|
3.5/5
|
100%
|
The Rocket (2013) |
"
A true original, depicting a culture rarely filmed, observed with a respectful but never overly reverential eye."
—
ABC Radio (Australia)
Posted Aug 29, 2013
|
|
3.5/5
|
69%
|
Greetings From Tim Buckley (2013) |
"
It's a quiet movie of small rewards, made by a whole lot of talented people taking a risk and pulling it off with humble aplomb."
—
ABC Radio (Australia)
Posted Aug 28, 2013
|
|
3.5/5
|
88%
|
What Maisie Knew (2013) |
"
If anything, Maisie as a character is a little too indefatigable; once in a while, you'd love her to throw a huge screaming tantrum and let her wretched parents know just what children they're being."
—
ABC Radio (Australia)
Posted Aug 18, 2013
|
|
3.5/5
|
95%
|
Behind the Candelabra (2013) |
"
The production design is terrific, revelling not just in period detail but in all of Liberace's excesses, and, typically, Soderbergh's camera and use of music are never anything other than top notch."
—
ABC Radio (Australia)
Posted Jul 25, 2013
|
|
3.5/5
|
79%
|
Reality (2013) |
"
It is a brutal, frank, painful and highly meticulous look at an ordinary man undergoing a very modern crisis amidst a very simple life."
—
ABC Radio (Australia)
Posted Jul 16, 2013
|
|
3.5/5
|
84%
|
This Is the End (2013) |
"
This is the End is one of the most fun movies I've seen in ages. It's a silly extravaganza, a huge bunch of nonsense, but, boy, it's entertaining ... This film is one big in-joke, but it's a very good one."
—
ABC Radio (Australia)
Posted Jul 16, 2013
|
|
3.5/5
|
92%
|
Farewell, My Queen (2012) |
"
It's kind of the Rosencrantz and Gulidenstern Are Dead approach to history, observing it from the perspective of a "minor character", and it works ... it's a fascinating glimpse of a moment in history from, essentially, a safe bystander."
—
ABC Radio (Australia)
Posted Jun 5, 2013
|
|
3.5/5
|
93%
|
Frances Ha (2013) |
"
The film boldly - and ultimately successfully - vastly favors character definition over plot, and favors character detail over laughs - although the second half (much more than the first) is very funny."
—
ABC Radio (Australia)
Posted May 21, 2013
|
|
3.5/5
|
100%
|
This Ain't California (2013) |
"
Even knowing the artifice, it's an excellent and extremely enjoyable film. Indeed, knowing the artifice, it's way more impressive ... However true it isn't, it's a lovely evocation of what might have been."
—
ABC Radio (Australia)
Posted Apr 30, 2013
|
|
3.5/5
|
37%
|
Hyde Park on Hudson (2012) |
"
A delightful piece of historical speculation grounded in historical details and personal recollections that have continually been coming to light over the last seventy years ... Murray is terrific in the part - charming, at ease and cunning as a fox."
—
ABC Radio (Australia)
Posted Apr 2, 2013
|
