Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, Government secrets, a scandalous true story and indomitable journalism. You could easily think this Pentagon Papers retrospective is a lock for Best Picture. It isn’t. The Post, based […]
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
THE GREATEST SHOWMAN
The Greatest Showman isn’t even trying to be believable, and that’s the point. A hodgepodge of real life, fictions and glorifying showmanship that would make P.T. Barnum proud, this kid’s musical-biopic (yes, it’s for the […]
BRIGHT
Bright is not the best film of 2017. Contrary to what you might have heard, it’s not one of the worst ones either. First and foremost, Bright has, for lack of a better word, a […]
CALL ME BY YOUR NAME
Every once in a while a film comes along that reminds you how good cinema can be. You may be hearing a lot about Call Me By Your Name now and in the future, whether […]
DARKEST HOUR
Gary Oldman wants an Oscar and that’s the only reason to watch this film. Recalling Winston Churchill’s ascendance as Prime Minister and the tense days immediately preceding Operation Dynamo and events better realised in the […]
REBEL IN THE RYE
With literary biopics back in vogue, a treatment of the departed J.D. Salinger and his seminal, sole novel was inevitable. Invariably, these flicks champion one or more strands of their subject’s life, extrapolating them over […]
DOWNSIZING
Great ideas don’t always work. Alexander Payne’s Downsizing was one of the most anticipated films of an already packed year. An original conceit debuting to early plaudits, if formidable, rendered too grandly here derails this […]
STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI
No series has to factor with a greater weight of expectations than Star Wars. It shows. Having to reckon with its predecessors’ legacy to deliver, like its forbears, something both original and dependently familiar here […]
B GHOST STORY
Produced as part of Sydney’s Kino Kabaret 2017
THE SINNER
Every good murder mystery needs something that makes it just that bit different, and ever so often exceptional. Deserving of its place in the long line of shrewder, mind-bending whodunnits, The Sinner is actually anything […]
BORG VS MCENROE
Finally, a sports movie that’s actually about sport. Invariably, football, rugby, Olympian and yes, tennis movies, including Battle of the Sexes, use their competitive backdrop to tell a larger story. Whether it be overcoming adversity, […]
THE KILLING OF A SACRED DEER
The second best Cannes psychological drama starring Colin Farrell and Nicole Kidman to be released in the past five months, both fans and detractors of Yorgos Lanthimos should know what to expect. Obliquely visited upon […]
PROFESSOR MARSTON AND THE WONDER WOMEN
There are three stories here, and as much as this film might blur the boundaries they are very, very different. Professor Marston and the Wonder Women, as the title might suggest, relates to the creator […]
THE DISASTER ARTIST
Get ready for the film about ‘the worst movie ever made’ that wants to be the Best Picture of the year. If you haven’t seen the participatory crowd-favourite phenomenon that is The Room (what are […]
LUCKY
The last film yet released starring the late, prolific Harry Dean Stanton, this is one for the fans, and fans alone. The elderly Lucky (Stanton) lives his days routinely, hopping amongst the locales of his […]
JUSTICE LEAGUE
Who let this happen? Who, no doubt having seen Dawn of Justice, surmised that those behind Watchmen and Man of Steel, rather than, say, any of their more dexterous contemporaries, were the ones to raise […]
THE MAD MAX MUSEUM YOU HAVE TO VISIT
“It was down to the fact that there wasn’t really anything here that really paid homage to what was the biggest film Australia had ever made, the film that put the place on the map.” […]
THINGS YOU CAN EXPECT FROM MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS
Kenneth Branagh casting himself as the lead in his own movie; Close-ups of Kenneth Branagh; Lots of close-ups of Kenneth Branagh; A moustache that alone merited this movie being made in 3D; A moustache-guard (to […]
WINDA FILM FESTIVAL ARTISTIC DIRECTOR PAULINE CLAGUE ON CELEBRATING INDIGENOUS CINEMA
Now in it’s second year, the WINDA Film Festival, dedicated to showcasing the work of Indigenous filmmakers around the world, is set to kick off in Sydney this November. WINDA Artistic Director Pauline Clague sat […]
DETROIT
Sometimes, less is more. Kathryn Bigelow’s drama revolving around the 1967 Detroit riots and one infamous incident involving Police Officers and several locals had very grand ambitions. Attempting a three act structure to depict the […]
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE BRITISH FILM FESTIVAL
“We are bringing to audiences the best and most high profile British films available and I know that this is our strongest line up yet.” British Film Festival Director Kim Petalas will be showcasing 20 […]
HOW TO TALK TO GIRLS AT PARTIES
One of the latest to hit Aussie shores from Cannes, Neil Gaiman fans won’t be the only ones left wanting. The prolific writer somehow only a marginal fixture in Hollywood, How to Talk to Girls […]
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