Wanting to dip your toes into arthouse cinema, or are you a seasoned veteran looking for something that's out of this world bonkers? Look no further, because from April 21st until May 6th, Fantastic Film Festival Australia is back in town, and it's as bold and beautiful as ever.

At its core the narrative is great on paper: the idea of taking traditionally villainous criminals and attempting to redeem them is ripe with potential, potential reaped by films like last year’s The Suicide Squad, and even Dreamworks’ own Megamind, but it’s the tropes it ends up using to get there that make it feel like it’s largely re-treading familiar ground.

Reflecting on the way one watches this film is as equally important to the viewing experience as what the film contains. And much like its release strategy, the film refuses to make a splash. Rather, its ambience reflects a still and drifting mist that has a soulful and regenerative impact.  

Koyaanisqatsi is a word used by the Hopi peoples of northeast Arizona which literally translates to “corrupted/chaotic life”, though the film prefers to define it as “life out of balance”, among other similar interpretations.

Equal parts The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Boogie Nights, [X] follows a film crew as they stay at an elderly couple’s farm to shoot a pornographic film, unknown to the couple themselves. 

It is a treat to be able to see a movie like this. For such a seemingly introverted artist, like Courtney Barnett, to agree to a project that is so personal, makes this film a must watch for fans. However, Anonymous Club has something for everyone as we get to witness relatable day-to-day struggles from the perspective of a successful international musician.

The Book of Love follows an English writer, Henry Copper (Sam Claflin) whose book is translated by into Spanish by translator Maria Rodriguez (Verónica Echegui), who completely rewrites his novel into an erotic romance. 

Hari builds a convincing case: the odds are against us. Almost every digital platform we now rely on is deliberately engineered to steal our attention for as many hours of the day as possible. There is no incentive for this to change.

Studio 666 was released in late February this year. The story revolves around the band trying to find the inspiration to record their tenth studio album. Unfortunately, this inspiration arrives from a possessed tape, which leads to the usual shenanigans you expect from any horror movie.

The premise of Animal is unapologetically bloody from its first passage. After witnessing a former lover commit suicide - a public, gruesome performance seemingly intended to permanently mark her with the tragedy - Joan drives out of New York to a sweltering rented house on the outskirts of Los Angeles.

Tandem review of The Souvenir - a semi-biographical drama directed by Joanna Hogg and starring Honor Swinton Byrne - and its sequel The Souvenir Part II.

The critic game is a dirty business. Us movie reviewer types are bought off, blackmailing, career-ending mafiosos behind the scenes. Watching Lost Illusions, the wall was shattered, and the gig was up.

In Friends and Strangers, we meet two Sydneysiders, Ray and Alice (played by Fergus Wilson and Emma Diazwanders respectively), new friends that have both had recent breakups and are approaching their 30s.

Phantasmagoria is a story of untreated grief and trauma, and the attempts we continually make to ‘place’ these feelings within ourselves. 

The latest gaming entry in the Uncharted franchise is six years old, the movie itself having been caught in development hell since 2008. The finished product is another addition to the library of OK movies based on better games.

This isn’t the typical war movie, like Dunkirk or 1917 where we see men fighting in the trenches. The fight between the Bosnian and Serbian armies is never shown, we never see even a drop of blood, instead, we see the harsh reality of war and the impact it has on everyone, most importantly, the innocent, through the eyes of the affected civilians.

Romeo and Juliet is above all a dramatic tragedy. The characters are dramatic, the plot is dramatic, the ending is perhaps the most dramatic ending to any story ever told. Drama is seeped into every moment of this story, and if this is to be accurately conveyed, ballet is the only appropriate vehicle. 

What the film succeeds at that I didn’t quite expect, is how thoroughly entertaining and engaging it remains throughout its 127 minute runtime. Given its reputation, I thought it’d be rather one-note with its kitchen sink drama, but the deeply rich characters and their maniacal tendencies lent to a plot that is truly hard to predict.

The self-referential nature of writing is presented in Bergman Island with its fusion of real life and metafictional narrative.

The live-action Batman films now span 56 years and 7 different actors – each is a product of its time, and each builds on growing familiarity with the character gained by the mass audience. What Matt Reeves, director of Thursday’s new The Batman, has been able to do with that history is take advantage of it, and iterate. The results are very exciting.