With far less stripping and far fewer banger tracks than one would expect for a movie about stripping, I declare Magic Mike’s Last Dance an official flop.

Do you remember that feeling you'd get when you were a child, trying to go to the toilet but terrified of the dark hallway that led from your bedroom to the bathroom?

Christopher Fieldus aka the drag chanteuse Ms CeCe Rockefeller rounds off the end of this year’s ever-growing Melbourne Midsummer Festival with their cabaretica Devastating Beauty.

A symphony of cinema, bubbling with dark and subtly thrilling emotions, elevated by an incredible lead performance and anchored by adept direction.

However blunt its approach may be (and perhaps that obtuseness is key to something like this working for many audiences), The Whale succeeds on its emotional front, conveying a broader message of understanding and sympathy before judgement.

Vicky Krieps delivers her most achingly beautiful performance yet, as Empress Elizabeth of Austria, a figure endowed with all the spirit and boundless curiosity of woman, yet forced to undermine and erase herself amongst a culture, time and country that has little use for such traits in women. 

Rocketing off at a Scorsese-Esque pace, money changes hands, morals are compromised, and men get covered in explosive elephant diarrhoea, which sums Chazelle’s 3-hour epic up quite well as it is striking, explorative, inspired, and at times flat-out-hilarious. 

While there is much to talk about for this film’s context, Nakahira keeps the narrative in focus with contemporary editing and exciting cinematography so that Crazed Fruit can shine.

Say it with me: M3GAN is hip. M3GAN is happening. M3GAN is the moment.

For Spielberg, the world makes sense through the dreamlike lens of filmmaking. The Fabelmans manages to conjure cinematic spectacle out of family drama with embracive character studies and an unyielding recount of bittersweet youth.

The true purpose of this kind of movie is to shock, and shock it does.

Summer of Soul is undoubtedly a stunning blend of art and rebellion not likely to ever be seen again on our screens.

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio is a breath of fresh air in the animated feature landscape.

Mustang follows the story of five young girls growing up in rural Turkey, as they navigate their youth and the looming social expectations of marriage and purity.

While detractors of the first film will likely not be persuaded by Avatar 2: Aquatic Boogaloo's flashy 3D gimmicks, those on the fence or otherwise still in love with the first film […] will be pleasantly surprised to hear that not only was The Way of Water worth the wait, but it also surpasses the heights of the first film.

Maybe skip the popcorn for this one, but make sure you climb aboard for one of the best films of the year.

What are you expecting from a Sony rendition of a decades old kid’s cartoon strip about a singing crocodile, adapted for the big screens for 2022 with Shawn Mendes taking the lead as the titular Lyle, the crocodile?

Don’t expect a barrel of laughs or a feckin’ good time, but McDonagh’s latest is a powerful dark comedy that’ll have you thinking about your own mental state long after you leave the cinema.

The Lost King can pretend like it’s focusing on Richard, but the truth is they could change the title to The Lost Queen, and nobody would bat an eye.

Moja Vesna rewards those with the patience to dig into the details.