|
69%
|
The Croods (2013)
|
"Dreamworks have done far more than simply dust off The Flintstones 2.0; The Croods may not yet be a household name, but with their personal brand of buffoonery and heart, you'll be wanting an introduction. "
|
Alice Tynan
|
|
85%
|
Side Effects (2013)
|
"A neat little noir, that comes with an added dose of social smack down as Soderbergh takes a swing at Big Pharma and the casual medicalisation of Western culture."
|
Alice Tynan
|
|
92%
|
Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
|
"Silver Linings Playbook puts the "fun" in "dysfunction." And sure, that sounds glib, but actually, it's a rather extraordinary achievement. Especially when you're skirting on the edges of sanity. "
|
Alice Tynan
|
|
38%
|
The Guilt Trip (2012)
|
"Some actors you'd pay to watch read the phonebook; turns out it's worth paying to see Streisand eat a steak. "
|
Alice Tynan
|
|
86%
|
Wreck-it Ralph (2012)
|
"Anyone who grew up within a controller cable length of a gaming console will need to see this film."
|
Alice Tynan
|
|
65%
|
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)
|
"Setting aside technological considerations, The Hobbit is nothing short of a joyous homecoming."
|
Alice Tynan
|
|
51%
|
Savages (2012)
|
"This film goes about as deep and dark as a summer high. Sure there are flashes of mexploitation fun, but ultimately it's just way too mellow, man."
|
Alice Tynan
|
|
47%
|
Bait (2012)
|
"Calling Bait 3D a crap film would be a compliment. "
|
Anthony Morris
|
|
94%
|
Moonrise Kingdom (2012)
|
"Summer lovin' just got a whole more stylish thanks to Wes Anderson."
|
Alice Tynan
|
|
80%
|
Magic Mike (2012)
|
"Magic Mike isn't going for heart like The Fully Monty; it's going for titillation, with a small side of post-GFC commentary if you care to look. "
|
Alice Tynan
|
|
87%
|
The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
|
"The Dark Knight Rises not only realistically tackles the physical and emotional ravages and consequences of a being Batman, but also makes the entire three-film story scintillatingly cyclical."
|
Paul Verhoeven
|
|
73%
|
The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)
|
"This is a well made superhero film at a time when well-made superhero films aren't exactly hard to find; your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man's neighbourhood is starting to get pretty crowded. "
|
Anthony Morris
|
|
78%
|
Brave (2012)
|
"In the end it feels that destiny has passed by not just our heroine, but her vehicle too. "
|
Alyx Gorman
|
|
80%
|
Get the Gringo (2012)
|
"Gibson embraces the crazy and turns Get the Gringo into some good ol pulpy fun."
|
Alice Tynan
|
|
74%
|
Prometheus (2012)
|
"The film is utterly gorgeous to look at. Every exterior and interior shot looks like a painting, rendered in thick, velvety strokes. The CGI is entirely seamless, and, indeed, minimal considering the subject matter."
|
Paul Verhoeven
|
|
62%
|
Café de Flore (2012)
|
"Vallee tells the stories in an impressionistic way; Antoine's side of things occasionally verges on Tree of Life territory."
|
Anthony Morris
|
|
83%
|
Wish You Were Here (2013)
|
"Australian films rarely have difficultly looking good, and this one makes both Sydney and Cambodia look gorgeous and yet slightly menacing."
|
Anthony Morris
|
|
14%
|
Ecstasy (2012)
|
"Ecstasy proved itself to be resoundingly more soporific than serotonin enhancing. "
|
Alice Tynan
|
|
93%
|
Marvel's The Avengers (2012)
|
"The Avengers is one of the greatest superhero films ever made. It's smart, fast, unrelenting fun. An instant, nuanced classic."
|
Paul Verhoeven
|
|
78%
|
A Dangerous Method (2011)
|
"A Dangerous Method is masterful filmmaking on all levels, but alas, it also leaves you dreaming that Fassbender and Mortensen will return to these roles in a more focused story on the fathers of psychoanalysis. "
|
Alice Tynan
|
|
26%
|
Wrath of the Titans (2012)
|
"Those who didn't sleep through their mythology classes might recall that Helius was in fact the son of Hyperion. But, you know, Greek mythology? Whatevs, bro! Have another Tecate! "
|
Clem Bastow
|
|
50%
|
Mirror Mirror (2012)
|
"Mirror Mirror isn't the kind of classic that wins big awards or lavish praise. It's just a really sweet, charming film, and we can never have enough of those."
|
Anthony Morris
|
|
85%
|
The Hunger Games (2012)
|
"Ross has successfully dissected and expanded the book and produced something that works as a film -- so long as you're not too precious about its origins."
|
Ariel Katz
|
|
50%
|
The Rum Diary (2011)
|
"After all the promise of a perfect cocktail, The Rum Diary quickly becomes like being the only sober person at a party where everyone else is absolutely trashed."
|
Alice Tynan
|
|
85%
|
21 Jump Street (2012)
|
"You'd expect at 21 Jump Street remake to suck, and this film, for all its obviousness in delivery, doesn't."
|
Alyx Gorman
|
|
59%
|
Any Questions for Ben? ()
|
"It's a slick, lightweight feel-good film about a bunch of characters who happen to be sharing their glamorous, hard-partying lifestyle with you for a couple of hours."
|
Anthony Morris
|
|
30%
|
The Vow (2012)
|
"The film may be entirely unafraid of predictability, but it's sweet, shiny and well acted; essentially it delivers exactly what it says on the box."
|
Alice Tynan
|
|
17%
|
A Few Best Men ()
|
"Achieves is perhaps the first steps toward a different sort of wedding-related film in the Australian landscape: not one trying to compete with a cult classic, but one that's just looking to let its hair down and have a good time."
|
Ariel Katz
|
|
98%
|
The Artist (2011)
|
"It's a deliriously, wondrously, unspeakably fabulous film. "
|
Alice Tynan
|
|
85%
|
The Ides of March (2011)
|
"As a portrait of power, hubris and the systematic corruption of integrity, The Ides of March makes for compelling viewing. It's well-crafted, wonderfully scored and solidly acted across the board."
|
Alice Tynan
|
|
24%
|
Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 (2011)
|
"It's based on a series of truly idiotic novels which, whilst works of an evil marketing genius, are artistic pollutants. Try and avoid getting dragged along to this one."
|
Paul Verhoeven
|
|
74%
|
Burning Man (2012)
|
"Teplitzky's expressionist handling of all those wonderful contradictions is what makes Burning Man a resounding triumph."
|
Clem Bastow
|
|
99%
|
This Is Not a Film (2012)
|
"Equally at home with fiction and non-fiction genres and a filmmaker consistently interested in blurring those demarcations, Panahi's latest effort has a deceptively unstructured and spontaneous quality underpinned by a clear intellectual agenda."
|
Rose Capp
|
|
36%
|
In Time (2011)
|
"At this point in his career, writer/director/producer Niccol seems to be amusing himself -- indeed he's admitted as much in terms of the winks and nods to Gattaca that he's peppered the film with. "
|
Clem Bastow
|
|
71%
|
Hanna (2011)
|
"[Joe] Wright is a natural successor to the late Anthony Minghella, able to deftly mix visual panache with small-scale emotion."
|
Clem Bastow
|
|
23%
|
The Smurfs (2011)
|
"The film indulges in a level of product placement not seen since the glory days of Mac & Me."
|
Clem Bastow
|
|
93%
|
Take Shelter (2011)
|
"Those who've never understood [anxiety] could do to see Take Shelter as a total immersion virtual reality experience."
|
Clem Bastow
|
|
58%
|
Red State (2011)
|
"It's Kevin Smith, though, which means that "all over the shop" is par for the course, and the shop that Red State wanders all over is, for the most part, compelling. "
|
Clem Bastow
|
|
79%
|
Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
|
"As the delightfully over-the-top Red Skull, Hugo Weaving has the most fun playing a noseless villain since Ralph Fiennes lopped his off as Voldemort."
|
Clem Bastow
|
|
44%
|
Cowboys & Aliens (2011)
|
"No amount of gee-whiz techno-wizardry or nifty pop-cultural juxtapositions can save Cowboys & Aliens from two terrible truths: it has a dud script, and a dud director. "
|
Clem Bastow
|
|
85%
|
Contagion (2011)
|
"It's Purell for the disaster movie movement. You may find yourself wishing for a little more grime and viscera. "
|
Clem Bastow
|
|
36%
|
The Thing (2011)
|
"Relying almost entirely on special effects for the few scares it does have, it's the kind of uninspired remake that kills franchises stone dead."
|
Anthony Morris
|
|
23%
|
What's Your Number? (2011)
|
"The film isn't great, but Faris is."
|
Ariel Katz
|
|
26%
|
The Cup (2012)
|
"It won't stop the nation, but it will while away a Saturday afternoon. "
|
Clem Bastow
|
|
60%
|
Real Steel (2011)
|
"Whatever your age, if you've ever crashed two toy robots together you won't want to miss this."
|
Anthony Morris
|
|
70%
|
The Hunter (2012)
|
"There is an elegiac quality to The Hunter that makes it intoxicating in spite of its faults."
|
Clem Bastow
|
|
78%
|
Crazy, Stupid, Love. (2011)
|
"Stone and Gosling are great together; anyone want to put them together in a rom-com spin-off, you've sold one ticket right here."
|
Anthony Morris
|
|
4%
|
Abduction (2011)
|
"We may never know if Abduction is satire or misfire, but I spent the entire film wracked by gales of choking laughter. "
|
Clem Bastow
|
|
58%
|
The Eye of the Storm (2012)
|
"A frank, funny and immensely satisfying adaptation of White's novel and a welcome return to the screen for one of Australia's most accomplished directors."
|
Rose Capp
|
|
90%
|
Face to Face (2013)
|
"For a film that is still mostly just people in a room talking -- and more importantly, for a low-budget Australian drama, a category that often rings alarm bells -- Face to Face impresses in just about every way."
|
Anthony Morris
|
78%
33%
100%
85%
45%
40%
