PIRANHA 3D (full article at The Guardian Australia)

Piranha (AKA Piranha 3D) has to be one of the trashiest, sleaziest and unashamedly fun creature features of the last 20 years. It is lewd, bloody, proudly lowbrow and long overdue some appreciation.

Lake Victoria is prepping for spring break, the annual influx of boisterous young people who hit the water to drink, party and cause a general nuisance. Local sheriff Julie Forester (Elisabeth Shue) and Deputy Fallon (Ving Rhames) are run ragged by the huge crowds, but Forester has to escort a team of seismologists, led by Adam Scott, to a remote part of the lake.

Meanwhile, Forester’s son Jake (Steven R McQueen) is shirking his babysitter responsibilities in favour of an incredibly fortunate, fantasy summer job: location scouting for seedy, gonzo pornographer Derrick (Jerry O’Connell). Jake befriends models Danni (Kelly Brook) and Crystal (Riley Steele), and invites his best friend Kelly (Jessica Szohr) along for a spot of day drinking.

This is when those seismologists discover that an earthquake has opened up an ancient, hidden lake, and within it a brood of unevolved, hungry piranhas who do not need an invitation to make fish food out of the townsfolk.

Read the full article at The Guardian Australia:

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/article/2024/sep/03/piranha-3d-where-to-watch-australia-netflix-stan

IMDB: Piranha 3D

THE G (full review at Screen Realm)

The G (for Grandmother) is a hard nosed crime story from writer / director Karl R. Hearne, that sees an elderly couple placed into a court ordered guardianship against their will. But the perpetrators soon discover dark secrets in their past that mean this was not the easy job they first thought.

Ann (Dale Dickey) is the primary carer for her bed-bound husband, looking after him at home with the weekly support of visits from her granddaughter (by marriage), Emma (Romane Denis). After a visit to the doctor, where Ann is admonished for some minor neglect of her husband’s hygiene, they are forcibly removed from their home in the middle of the night by a court-appointed guardian, Rivera (Bruce Ramsay). They are taken to a care facility, where Rivera and his assistant Ralph (Jonathan Koensgen), believing they have inheritance money squirrelled away, violently interrogate the couple.

Read the full review at Screen Realm:

https://screenrealm.com/the-g-movie-review-dale-dickey/

IMDB: The G

THE RAID (full article at The Guardian Australia)

In a little over a decade, The Raid has established itself as an action movie classic. The fierce Indonesian film raised eyebrows upon its release in 2011, thanks to its high levels of violence and the mind-boggling martial arts skill of its cast. Gaining fans far outside the reach of a cult movie, many of the stars of The Raid have gone on to appear in everything from Star Wars to Mortal Kombat to John Wick.

Read the full article at The Guardian Australia:

https://www.theguardian.com/film/article/2024/jun/26/a-stone-cold-masterpiece-the-raid-is-one-of-the-best-action-flicks-ever-made

IMDB: The Raid

ROAD HOUSE (full article at The Guardian Australia)

The best thing about the 2024 Road House remake is that the original movie has also returned to streaming services, and the best thing about the original is, well, everything. It has never been easier to reacquaint yourself with – in my opinion – one of the greatest movies of all time.

Patrick Swayze plays Dalton, a calm and spiritually collected bouncer hired to help turn around the fortunes of a dive bar: the Double Deuce, a joint full of violence, corruption and “the kinda place where they sweep up the eyeballs after closing”.

Read the full article at The Guardian Australia:

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/article/2024/may/29/so-80s-it-hurts-punch-ups-pro-wrestlers-and-patrick-swayze-mix-in-the-delightfully-absurd-road-house

IMDB: Road House

ON THE COUNT OF THREE (full article at The Guardian Australia)

On the Count of Three is a bleakly comedic drama crafted out of a morbid and not outwardly humorous situation – which makes for a unique movie that will not easily be pigeonholed.

Val (Jerrod Charmichael) and Kevin (Christopher Abbott) are childhood friends who are struggling with their mental health. Each has a suicide attempt behind them and Val springs Kevin from a hospital stay with the idea that the two best friends can do one final thing for each other: take part in a suicide pact.

Read the full article at The Guardian Australia:

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/apr/17/on-the-count-of-three-a-suicide-pact-comedy-thats-not-as-depressing-as-it-sounds

IMDB: On The Count of Three

MONKEY MAN (full review at Screen Realm)

With Monkey Man, his feature directorial debut, Dev Patel takes a classic revenge tale to the streets of Mumbai and reinvents himself as an action hero in the process.

Patel’s unnamed lead, referred to in the credits as Kid, but also under the pseudonym of Bobby, has been honing his skills and earning money in underground prize fights run by a man named Tiger (Sharlto Copley). The fighters take on animal personas and The Kid scraps under a monkey mask in deference to his favourite story from childhood – that of the Hindu monkey deity, Hanuman.

Read the full review at Screen Realm:

https://screenrealm.com/monkey-man-movie-review-dev-patel/

IMDB: Monkey Man

HOW TO BLOW UP A PIPELINE (full article at The Guardian Australia)

How to Blow Up a Pipeline is a twitchy, tension-racked thriller and an incendiary statement about global inaction on the climate crisis. Released in 2023 but with an almost nonexistent theatrical presence in Australia apart from festivals, this film – loosely based on Andreas Malm’s book of the same name – is angry, overlooked and provocative.

College student Xochitl (Ariela Barer) is compelled to drop out and pursue a life as an environmental activist following the death of her mother and the diagnosis of her best friend, Theo (Sasha Lane), with terminal leukaemia. Xochitl and Theo form a group with six others, among them Michael (Forrest Goodluck), a self-taught Native American explosives expert who’s furious at the destruction of North Dakota land. There is also Texan family man Dwayne (Jake Weary), who has been driven to extreme measures by the government’s forced acquisition of his home, through which the recently constructed titular pipeline runs.

Read the full article at The Guardian Australia:

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/mar/13/how-to-blow-up-a-pipeline-an-eco-thriller-australia-urgently-needs

IMDB: How To Blow Up A Pipeline