I TELL YOU WHAT I THINK
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The founding father of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud described love as a state of temporary psychosis. Arguably that definition applies to the central figure in Finding Emily, which is set in Manchester. Owen Brompton (Spike Fearn) works as a sound engineer at a student union bar at fictional Manchester City University. One raucous night he meets and immediately feels connected to a young woman dressed in a fairy outfit. She is a university student named Emily (Sadie Soveral

A slick Guy Ritchie (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels) actioner, the story involves the shadowy world of high finance. The formula goes like this: the risks may be great, but the rewards are even greater. The yarn unfolds through the eyes of an attractive, highly confident, young lawyer. Rachel Wild (Eliza Gonzalez) works between the moral and the immoral, the black and the white – in other words, in the grey. She is an expensive hired gun with access to a crack tea

What unadulterated, elongated malarkey! Do not waste your time or money on seeing what is unquestionably one of the greatest disappointments of the year. Don’t be drawn into seeing the film just because Anne Hathaway, who I usually really like in movies, is in it. It gets down to a pitiful script and direction by David Lowery (Ain’t Them Bodies Saints) that no amount of fulsome acting could possibly rescue. Mother Mary (Hathaway) is a world-famous music star. The stage

A woman psychologically tormented and traumatised by her husband is at the heart of the debut narrative feature for Australian filmmaker Jasmin Tarasin. Sarah Smilie (Maeve Dermody) feels trapped in a coercively controlling marriage. She lives in a beautiful home with her well-to-do husband, Jake (Alexander England), who is frequently away on business. And so is the case on her 40th birthday, which she spends with their 13-year-old son, Otis (Sonny McGee). Clearly all is

Can money buy your happiness? Perhaps not, because even if you are “into” the person that is into you, if they come from a poorer background, the voice at the back of your head must be working overtime. And, because you are human, it is asking, “are they only into you because of your wealth?” Well, Marianne Farrère (Isabelle Huppert) has plenty of currency to splash around – I am talking about hundreds of millions or, even, billions. So, she doesn’t even bother asking

Acclaimed Australian filmmaker Warwick Thornton’s latest movie, Wolfram is another disturbing representation of the country’s colonial past. It is set in the early 1930s in and around the fictional outback mining town of Henry (named after a grumpy cat Thorton used to have). It is a time of cruelty and exploitation to try to make it rich by mining Wolfram (an old term for Tungsten, which hardens steel). A couple of reprehensible types, the entitled and arrogant Casey (Er

A cute Babe-like (1995) whodunnit with some good humour and sight gags. That is what you are in for with The Sheep Detectives. Nothing to think about too deeply and some of the comedy hits the mark better than other attempts, but overall, it is a most enjoyable romp. George Hardy (Hugh Jackman), who lives in a long, silver caravan on his farm in the small village of Denbrook, is totally besotted with his flock of sheep. He fervently believes all are special and knows eac

A spirited, elderly woman who lives alone in Tangier in Morocco refuses to leave her home, even when prevailed upon to do so by her daughter. Calle Malaga is a dramatic, romance that features a delightful performance by Carmen Maura in the lead role as 79-year-old Maria Angeles Munoz. To Maria Angeles, home is where the heart is and that is in her comfortable apartment overlooking the hustle and bustle of market vendors. She knows them and they know her, because she has

It is a privilege to see great actors Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci together again two decades on. Here they are still carping and carrying on in their respective roles. Streep remains the hard-nosed boss Miranda Priestly, at fashion magazine Runway, that Hathaway, as her second assistant Andy Sachs, knew and feared. Since then, Sachs has moved on to become a highly regarded mainstream journalist. Only, at an awards ceremony where she is lau

Michael Jackson’s manipulative and physically and emotionally abusive father Joseph looms large in this glossy biopic on the rise of the global superstar. It charts the formation of Michael as the centrepiece of the Jackson Five, literally whipped into shape by strict disciplinarian Joe. The movie showcases the influence of agents, producers and record executives in the making of the Michael Jackson “brand”. In amongst the songs and videos that made Jackson a household na

Awkward and strained interpersonal relationships are explored by noted independent American filmmaker Jim Jarmusch, in what is termed a triptych . It is a word that defines a work of art divided into three. And so it is that less than a handful of key characters feature in each vignette and the camera’s intense glare focuses on the nature of their interactions. Jeff (Adam Driver) is driving his car in snow-laden New Jersey, with his sister Emily (Mayim Bialik) alongs

Fuze is a tense, high octane thriller. It centres on a daring bank robbery, carried out while the centre of London is in lockdown after an unexploded WWII bomb is unearthed on a construction site. Leading the team to try to defuse the ordinance is heroic Afghanistan veteran Major Will Tranter (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). Far from straight-forward in the first instance, the situation is complicated when he discovers a timed trigger. The police operation to clear the area is

A scary, compelling supernatural horror, Hokum involves a trip taken to Ireland by a successful US author – his first time visiting the country. Ohm Bauman (Adam Scott) is a loner, writing the bleak epilogue to a book about a conquistador and his son who are looking for buried treasure in the desert. While doing so, he begins seeing visions. He opens a box containing postcards, a photo and ashes of his father and mother. Next thing we know, he has hightailed it to a r

She is hard-nosed, vigorous, unrelenting – a sharpshooter. She is on a mission to protect her strong-willed daughter, who turns 16 the next day. That is the lot of Kris “Voodoo Child" Hendricks (Radha Mitchell), who has spent years hiding out on a remote Australian farm. And then their peaceful co-existence is shattered by the arrival of a stranger who purports to represent foreign interests that want to buy her property. Only that isn’t even close to the truth. He has

What a mess – a script that lurches one way, then the other, around and around, that simply ends up feeling tortuous. It is also oh so obvious. It feels forced – all the way. Sure, I can find praise for the choreographed dance numbers and the musicality, although I could also argue that the musical component was unnecessary. The story concerns narcissistic, self-confident, high school student, Maeve Barker (Charlotte MacInnes), a self-declared bolshy feminist. She is al

What is the worst thing you have ever done? The answer to that pointed question, on the cusp of a wedding, changes everything. British museum director Charlie Thompson (Robert Pattinson) is with his fiancé, bookstore clerk Emma Harwood (Zendaya). They are enjoying the company of his best mate Mike (Mamoudou Athie) and Mike’s wife, Rachel (Alana Haim), when Rachel prevails upon Mike to reveal his story. He reluctantly agrees to do so only if the other three also come clean abo

The Stranger is a mesmerising portrait of young man different to any other. We are in French controlled Algiers in 1938. It is where Meursault (Benjamin Voisin), who is in his early 30s, works as a clerk. He is quiet, unassuming, has little to say and lacks drive. One day he receives a telegram indicating that his mother has died. Without showing emotion, he attends her funeral, where he doesn’t shed a tear. The next day he goes to the local baths and is spotted by

This is the dramatic back story to the key character in one of the most iconic books written, namely Victor Hugo’s 1862 French historical novel Les Misérables. I speak of Jean Valjean (played magnificently by Grégory Gadebois). It is December 1815 and having spent 19 brutal years in prison for stealing a loaf of bread and repeatedly trying to escape, he emerges consumed by rage. Tired and hungry, having walked for days, he reports to the police in a quiet village in Prov

Mayhem abounds in this blood soaked, high octane, horror action comedy. As a young adult, Asia Reeves and her child sister, Maria are first seen in the pouring rain, having escaped from their violent father who imprisoned them. They enter a convenience store, where Asia tells Maria not to be scared, as they attempt to find their way to New York City. But moments later, their father is back in their lives, having tracked them down. Asia shoots him and flees. Their fath

Living in Paris, American/French psychiatrist Lilian Steiner’s (Jodie) life is spiralling. A patient she has seen for eight years, Pierre Hallan ( Noam Morgensztern ), who originally came to see her to quit smoking, abruptly cancels all future appointments. Pierre claims one visit to a hypnotist cured what Steiner couldn’t and he maintains that he is 40,000 Euros out of pocket because of her. That is his calculation of the cost of his visits to Steiner, plus that of ciga