Back To The Outback (2021) - Movie Review

It’s been a while since we’ve heard from the talking animal set. I know that this sub-genre is something of a regular punching bag on this blog, but something I feel the need to point out is that that reputation doesn’t come from any real disdain for the sub-genre itself, or kids’ entertainment, or animals in general. It’s just that there are a lot of films that come out every year that feature talking animals, and most of them are made quickly and on-the-cheap to create disposable fluff because anthropomorphic animals are easy for kids and kids-at-heart to latch onto. I mean, I grew up in the era of PS2 platform mascots; I get the appeal. And yeah, this latest iteration is as light as light entertainment, but… something feels different about this one.

Mystify: Michael Hutchence (2019) - Movie Review

In terms of the archetypal rock star, the one that women want, men want to be, and everyone else starts learning their tastes quickly in response to, I can’t think of a better example of Australia’s own crop in that regard than one Michael Hutchence, AKA the lead singer of INXS. And in this tell-all documentary directed and co-edited by Richard Lowenstein, who put together the group’s best-remembered music videos, the narrative of Michael’s life is wrapped around that image.

Swinging Safari (2018) - Movie Review

The plot: In 1970’s Australia, on a beach-side cul-de-sac, a 200-ton whale has beached itself. As budding filmmaker Jeff (Atticus Robb) and his young friends marvel at what has just happened, their parents begin to make their own lives even more complicated by engaging in a swinger’s party. While Jeff keeps himself occupied with his home movies and trying to keep on the right side of the adults in the neighbourhood, he is forced to learn certain lessons about his home, his culture, his sexuality and his place in the world.

San Andreas (2015) - Movie Review

Even though there are a lot of easy parallels to be drawn between wrestling and any other form of televised fiction, it’s kind of surprising how badly the transition from wrestler to full-fledged actor goes for most people. Usually, it consists of a lot of straight-to-DVD action fodder that still keeps the actors in their ultraviolent comfort zones, with only a handful making it to cinemas and even less of that sample being successful; not every film can be the Expendables, after all. But even with all that in mind, Dwayne Johnson, Actor Formally Known As The Rock, has experienced an track record that is far beyond his peers, The Tooth Fairy notwithstanding.

Ever since I first saw him act proper in the surprisingly good Get Smart remake, I immediately got why this is: He is one of the few that has successfully managed to translate his on-stage charisma to the big screen, using it to sell whatever dialogue and/or premise he is handed. Hell, as bad as The Tooth Fairy was, Dwayne by no means half-arsed it. So, when he was cast as the lead in the latest addition to the natural disaster genre, usually wrought with enough inaccuracies to make anyone question the film’s reality, it came across as ideal casting to help sell the film. But did it ultimately work out? This is San Andreas… and no, as much as I wish he was, Wu Zi Mu is nowhere to be found in this film.