Magic Mike’s Last Dance
Cast: Channing Tatum, Salma Hayek, Caitlin Gerard, Kevin Nash, Adam Rodriguez
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Rating: M
Synopsis
Mike (Channing Tatum) takes to the stage again, following a business deal that went bust, leaving him broke and taking bartender gigs in Florida. Mike heads to London with a wealthy socialite who lures him with an offer he can’t refuse.
Reviews
Magic Mike’s Last Dance has a fittingly “Hollywood Ending” for Mike. Audience will conveniently forget that the last two films ended up with him getting the girl. This time, he is getting a woman – filled with flaws and inconsistencies. Arguably, Max is getting the better end of the bargain but if it makes Mike happy, then more power to him.
FilmInk.com.au
It’s a strange and apt appetiser for the third film in the Magic Mike series, a franchise of Steven Soderbergh dramedies that has become increasingly vocal about its attempt to appease the elusive female gaze.
Flicks.com.au
Knock at the Cabin
Cast: Dave Bautista, Jonathan Groff, Rupert Grint, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Ben Aldridge, Abby Quinn, Kristen Cui
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Rating: M
Synopsis
While vacationing, a girl and her parents are taken hostage by armed strangers who demand that the family make a choice to avert the apocalypse.
Reviews
It’s not some popcorn movie that gives you a cheap thrill for two hours and you continue with your day. The storyline of Knock At The Cabin stays with you and prompts discussion. Perhaps that’s a sign of a good movie? I did enjoy it, I just didn’t love it.
Wall of Sound
If you’re after a quick and to-the-point thriller, I can definitely recommend Knock at the Cabin. It’s clear that M Night’s new model of self-financing these high-concept small-scale Twilight Zone thrillers is doing the trick, so good on him, and I legitimately cannot wait for what he does next.
Fresh 92.7
What’s Love Got to Do With It
Cast: Lily James, Emma Thompson, Shazad Latif, Oliver Chris, Shabana Azmi, Nosheen Phoenix
Director: Shekhar Kapur
Rating: M
Synopsis
A filmmaker decides to document her best friend’s journey toward arranged marriage.
Reviews
A likeable, relaxed effort that delves just deep enough to elevate itself beyond genre simplicities without entirely investigating the obviously-interesting narrative at its core, What’s Love Got To Do With It? is a suitably winning product that – thankfully for the dreamers – answers its own question with enough charm and vigour.
The AU Review
What’s Love Got to Do with It? is lovely, nice and just a little bit different. That’s really all we need to ask for in a romantic comedy.
Canberra Times
Babylon
Cast: Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Jean Smart, Olivia Wilde, J.C. Currais, Diego Calva, Jimmy Ortega
Director: Damien Chazelle
Rating: MA 15+
Synopsis
A tale of outsized ambition and outrageous excess, it traces the rise and fall of multiple characters during an era of unbridled decadence and depravity in early Hollywood.
Reviews
See it for the spectacle, for the nostalgia of the Golden Age of Hollywood, and because there still needs to be a place for films that both frustrate and entertain us in equal measures. The excessive antics of Hollywood are something we’ve never been able to look away from, and Babylon not only leans into this thirst, it pretty much drowns you in it.
Mamamia.com.au
Movie buffs will enjoy the clever nods to past Hollywood movies. From the outset, you know you’re in for something special when the elephant on screen gives you flashbacks of the iconic scenes from Peter Sellers, The Party. While you can’t miss the Singing In the Rain homage, look out for other references like Casablanca, and the Hitchcock-ian suspense piece. Having clicked onto these gems you’ll want to start at the beginning to see what you missed the first time through.
So Perth
The Wandering Earth II
Cast: Andy Lau, Zina Blahusova, Jing Wu, Clara Lee, Zhi Wang, Matias Lorieri, Liya Tong
Director: Frant Gwo
Rating: M
Synopsis
Humankind builds enormous engines to propel the planet to a new solar system as the sun is rapidly burning out.
Reviews
The Wandering Earth 2, perhaps inevitable after the first film’s box office bonanza ($700m against a $50m budget), is a lesser effort. It still offers striking images, stirring drama, and some dizzying sci-fi concepts, but lacks its predecessor’s conceptual focus.
Celluloid & Whiskey
With jaw-dropping visual effects and an ambitious story of global proportions The Wandering Earth 2 is a must-see for all sci-fi fans. Director Frank Gwo and his team have managed to make a follow up which not only lives up to the original but surpasses it in many ways.
Lilithia Reviews
Spoiler Alert
Cast: Jim Parsons, Ben Aldridge, Josh Pais, Allegra Heart, Jeffery Self, Braxton Fannin
Director: Michael Showalter
Rating: M
Synopsis
The story of Michael Ausiello (Jim Parsons) and Kit Cowan’s (Ben Aldridge) relationship, which takes a tragic turn when Cowan is diagnosed with terminal cancer.
Reviews
Don’t let the film’s titular tongue-in-cheek reference to the inevitable conclusion put you off seeing Spoiler Alert – you won’t be prepared for how it makes you feel. It’s important to note that yes, on face value, this could be seen as just another story about a gay couple, but it is much more than that. Parsons and Aldridge are believable partners in love and loss, navigating the complexities of acceptance and the unexpected moments in life.
Popcorn Podcast
Combining heart and humour, Spoiler Alert is an emotional and affecting journey. The harsh reality of the story gives it extra bite and power. Director Michael Showalter (The Big Sick) ensures the film is imbued with pathos. Writers David Marshall Grant and Dan Savage craft a thoughtful script from (the real) Michael Ausiello’s best-selling memoir Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies.
The Blurb
The Son
Cast: Hugh Jackman, Vanessa Kirby, Zen McGrath, Laura Dern, Felix Goddard, Shin-Fei Chen
Director: Florian Zeller
Rating: M
Synopsis
Peter (Hugh Jackman) has his busy life with new partner Beth (Vanessa Kirby) and their baby thrown into disarray when his ex-wife Kate (Laura Dern) turns up with their teenage son, Nicholas (Zen McGrath).
Reviews
The impact of the film’s final moments is enough to confirm Jackman’s status as one of the most adaptable and intelligent actors at work on the screen.
Sydney Morning Herald
This is a film where one learns how ‘not’ to be a good father when everything is going wrong, and the film’s harrowing conclusion is genuinely unsettling. The film should spark excellent discussion of mental health issues in its wide sweep across parenting and teenage torment.
Australian Catholics
Winnie the Pooh Blood and Honey
Cast: Craig David Dowsett, Chris Cordell, Natasha Rose Mills, Maria Taylor, Natasha Tosini
Director: Rhys Frake-Waterfield
Rating: R 18+
Synopsis
After Christopher Robin abandons them for college, Pooh and Piglet embark on a bloody rampage as they search for a new source of food.
Reviews
Atmospherically, Blood and Honey is good enough to feel like a decently produced genre outing, steeped in visual conventions but with a genuine sense of the foreboding—which is never easy to pull off, no matter the budget. The plot—essentially just a series of Pooh and Piglet-speared violent incidents—is so mechanical it barely has time for any human messages, which is why, at this late point in the review, I’ve barely mentioned most of the human characters.
Flicks.com.au
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
Cast: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas, Michelle Pfeiffer, Jonathan Majors
Director: Peyton Reed
Rating: M
Synopsis
Scott Lang and Hope Van Dyne, along with Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne, explore the Quantum Realm, where they interact with strange creatures and embark on an adventure that goes beyond the limits of what they thought was possible.
Reviews
At 124 minutes, ‘Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania’ feels a little long, but passes the time amiably enough. Director Peyton Reed has taken this hero out of his comfort zone and stepped up the spectacle and stakes, while retaining elements of humour that made this part of the MCU such a delight. Yet, like a lot of MCU films, it feels like a missed opportunity to explore these characters more before rushing to the next entry.
Scenestr.com.au
Ant-Man films have always been exceptional at building a joyful and wholesome family story, and that continues here. Scott and Cassie’s father-daughter relationship is the heart of the film. Newton and Rudd manage to ground the film with their relatable dynamic and also provide genuine comedic moments.
Kotaku Australia
Titanic (3D Re-release)
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Billy Zane, Kathy Bates, Frances Fisher, Gloria Stuart, Bill Paxton, Bernard Hill
Director: James Cameron
Rating: M
Synopsis
James Cameron’s multi-Academy Award-winning Titanic will be re-released to theaters in 3D, in remastered version in celebration of its 25th anniversary.
Reviews
Once Rose’s flashback commences, the scenes set aboard the ship are the strongest, packed with sumptuous, sunlit rooms and glorious, bold-hued costumes, chandeliers and sparkling champagne. There is a sense of spaciousness to the rooms and proximity to the characters, as if we could reach out and brush their skin, that the 3D version enables. It is worth the cost of admission.
Flicks.com.au
Like the ship itself, the film Titanic is a relic of a different time. Revisiting it can make you wonder why you never noticed the holes in it in the first place.
ABC
