Like any good fright, Don’t Breathe came from out of nowhere. The surprise smash, made for under $10 million, knocked Suicide Squad from the top spot at this weekend’s box office, proving that however much you hype […]
Tag: reviews
BEN-HUR
Expectations are a nasty business. The best-selling nineteenth-century novel, based on, of all things, the best-selling book of all time, the Bible, was turned into a stage-play that ran for over two decades, before being […]
SUICIDE SQUAD
Animals’ classic hit opens with the line ‘There is a house in New Orleans, they call the rising sun.’ Suicide Squad too opens with the line, and the song, zooming in on of all things […]
FEAR ITSELF
A film that goes bump in the night, Fear Itself is an excellent, extensive, feature visual essay on the cogs and spurs that go into making any good horror flick. Presented with deliberately unnerving narration, […]
CHRISTINE
Reviewing a film like Christine presents an endearing conundrum for any critic, here going to the very core of the film. Christine is based on an infamous live-TV event in the 1970’s that occurred on […]
SUNTAN
Switching gears midway through a film isn’t always a bad thing. Kostis (Makis Papadimitriou) arrives at his new home and passing holiday destination for many – a beautiful Greek Island, surviving with 800 residents in […]
FRANK & LOLA
Michael Shannon, leagues ahead of even this exultantly talented cast, nails it again in Matthew Ross’ new romantic thriller. Frank (Michael Shannon) loves Lola (Imogen Poots). Frank is a struggling chef. Lola is a struggling […]
BEWARE THE SLENDERMAN
Who is, Slenderman? Imprinted on the popular consciousness after years of online obscurity, the highly-publicized stabbing of a 12-year-old in Waukesha, Wisconsin, reportedly to appease the Slenderman, brought the little known pocket of digital folklore harshly […]
LOUIS THEROUX: MY SCIENTOLOGY MOVIE
What do you do when the group you’re trying to expose, as would be expected, don’t play ball? Make a film to spite them. Louis Theroux’s My Scientology Movie takes a bunch of frustrated documentarians, […]
JASON BOURNE
When The Maltese Falcon became a hit, the studio soon followed with a slew of trailers for similar films with footage from the then recent smash, trading almost purely off nostalgia to plug flicks that so desperately […]
IN THE HEART OF THE SEA
Films are supposed to transport us to another place, another time. Few recent efforts have done it better than this one. In the Heart of the Sea is based on the non-fiction book of the […]
CRUSHED
Thriller, family drama and murder mystery, Ellia (Sarah Bishop) returns to her family’s vineyard in rural Australia after her father is crushed by a barrel, only to learn that members of her family are prime […]
SPY
Please welcome Salty’s new Kernel, Glen Falkenstein, a writer I met at a screening for the folks at Roadshow Films, he sat next to me while we were treated to a high tea while watching […]
San Andreas
“it’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when” San Andreas has taught us what to do whenever disaster strikes – search for higher ground, stay there, and wait for The Rock. […]
Anarchy
A top cast can’t save a bad idea. Here’s the proof. Director Michael Almereyda (Hamlet, Nadja) transplants Cymbeline, one of Shakespeare’s lesser-known and least popular plays, onto a modern day war between a bikie gang, […]
A Royal Night Out
A Royal Night Out is British, royalist fanfare at its most trifling and frivolous, in large part undeniably enjoyable. The title ‘A Royal Affair’ being taken, A Royal Night Out is the latest in a long line […]
Woman in Gold
A lot of things jump to mind when a film flashes “based on a true story” – either they’re attempting to tug at the heartstrings, or they’re trying to establish that the story is in […]
Mad Men Finale
A show that epitomises the current television golden age has just come to a fitting conclusion. Mad Men finished this week after 8 tumultuous years for Don Draper (John Hamm), his children and anyone who […]
Mad Max is back and he’s kinda mad…furious even…
There is no watching this film passively. Mad Max: Fury Road is a merciless onslaught on your eyes, ears and any sense of calm or complacency you may have had before deciding to see it. […]
Avengers: Age of Ultron – The Good, the Bad and The Ugly
In his review of Avengers: Age of Ultron, Glen Falkenstein finds equal measures of “The Good, Bad and Ugly”, but overall finds it a whimsical, technically-accomplished, deeply-flawed enthralling beast. There is no question the Avengers […]
Focus – When star power can’t shine a light
Focus tries to lift a lot of its game from con-artist cinematic classics like Ocean’s Eleven and The Sting…unfortunately, it still couldn’t convince Glen Falkenstein that it was a decent film. Will Smith can […]
Festival Report: Irish Film Festival, Sydney
The inaugural Irish Film Festival took place in Sydney 26 – 29 March 2015 with several Australian premieres. Glen Falkenstein sat down with the festival’s director, Dr Enda Murray, on the closing night to go […]
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