Films are rarely as ideally timed as The Coach. Fresh off the Russian team’s stellar rise to the upper echelons of the FIFA World Cup tally board to the thrill and against the expectations of […]
Author: Glen Falkenstein
Glen produces film, theatre and television news, reviews and commentary for a number of outlets, covering Festivals, interviews and events.
Glen lives in Sydney where he enjoys making short films.
Tweets @GlenFalkenstein
SGT. STUBBY: AN AMERICAN HERO
Australians will likely know the tale of Simpson and his donkey – staples of the World War who famously ferried injured soldiers to safety. Perhaps better known to American audiences is Sgt. Stubby, a terrier […]
JOURNEY’S END
War epics more often than not revolve around the key or decisive battles, the grand, sweeping calls to arms or the impact, whatever it may be, of victory and defeat. Not this one. Centred on […]
TRANSMILITARY
Documentaries can recount, expound or explain so much – but it’s always better when they’re right there. Chronicling the struggles and campaign by members of the transgender community who have enlisted in the US Armed […]
FIRST MAN
What is this movie about? It’s one of the first questions this author asks themselves whenever commencing a piece, though this one has me a little puzzled. Ostensibly it’s about Neil Armstrong and the years, […]
HALLOWEEN
It would have been so easy to rehash, remake, give us two hours of fan-service or just re-release the original and walk away with a tidy profit. It would also have been a non-event; instead, […]
BAD TIMES AT THE EL ROYALE
Bad Times at the El Royale indeed. The bare premise, one of the only threads laid bare in some very cagey promotion, is one of those ideas with the most abounding potential. A hotel, half […]
UFO
Speculative, notional sci-fi, usually the domain of more abstract offerings, aren’t often melded with kids flicks. Thankfully, there were a few gutsy earthlings willing to give it a go. For UFO is above all a […]
STAR
Have you ever noticed how many flicks have a passing, momentary or even not insignificant shot of the starry sky overlaid with dialogue, anticipation, or perhaps nothing at all? Have you taken those scenes for […]
A STAR IS BORN
Most movies are made by movie stars for people who are not movie stars. Most movies. Now the third American remake of a story with more than one iconic interpretation, characters in Bradley Cooper’s version, […]
BLIND MAN DEATH STARE – FILMONIK MELBOURNE
Produced as part of Filmonik Kabaret 2018 in Bakehouse Studios, Melbourne
SF3 GALA 2018 SHOWS WHAT YOU CAN DO WITH AN IPHONE OR SAMSUNG
“Smartphone filmmaking has come a long way – thank you for supporting the democratisation of filmmaking” SF3 SmartFone Flick Fest co-founders Angela Blake and Alison Crew welcomed the Festival’s largest-ever crowd to last night’s Gala, […]
A SIMPLE FAVOR
A Simple Favor is a lot of things. It’s a thriller, a mystery and a comedy but, importantly, it is not a parody. Watching this, and you really should stop reading this (spoiler-free) review (but […]
MANDY
Nicolas Cage: The Movie is here. That’s right, internet; you spoke, and the film Gods heard you. For this is not a film about a couple (Cage and Andrea Riseborough) and their quiet sojourn in […]
THE GREEN FOG
If you’re an Alfred Hitchcock fan, you’ve probably noticed that Vertigo has gone up in the public’s estimation. Jumping from #61 to #9 on the American Film Institute’s latest Top 100 list, the film is […]
THE BILL MURRAY STORIES: LIFE LESSONS LEARNT FROM A MYTHICAL MAN
“If we’re kind and polite, the world will be right.” There’s a reason Paddington 2 has been a monster success, and it’s the same reason why The Bill Murray Stories will resonate stronger than it might have in years […]
‘POWER MERI’ WORLD PREMIERE TO TAKE PLACE AT PASIFIKA FILM FESTIVAL
“At a time when women’s sport in Australia is enjoying unprecedented growth, exposure and opportunity, I hope the film will inspire women and girls in Australia to follow their dreams in sport or in life.” […]
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE X 6
This is the best Mission Impossible film since the first one and that’s now the fourth time you’ve heard that. Going against the grain in more ways than one, super-agent Ethan Hunt’s escapades are not […]
MAMMA MIA! HERE WE GO AGAIN
There’s a lot to be said for a film with absolutely no pretence. Scratch that – there’s a lot to be said for TWO films with absolutely no pretence which know their audience and what […]
SKYSCRAPER
It’s hard not to watch this movie and think of another, better movie. Die Hard, The Towering Inferno, Mission Impossible IV – take your pick; everything here has been done before and done better. Except […]
SICARIO 2: DAY OF THE SOLDADO
Taylor Sheridan, and everyone involved, are better than this. Picking up some time after the now saga’s phenomenal 2015 entry, the cartels are still that big a priority for the US Government, their on-screen semi-surrogate […]
JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM
Fallen Kingdom has one of those great endings, it just makes you wait for it. The Malibu Stacey’s hat of movies, this by and large paint-by-numbers rehash of 2015’s Jurassic World almost, almost gives us […]
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