Movies
Charlotte Rampling on the value of 'cracking up'
STEPHANIE BUNBURY Charlotte Rampling says her Oscar-nominated turn in 45 Years taught her the value of suffering - something she's had plenty of in real life, too.
Latest reviews All the latest movie reviews
Brooklyn
PAUL BYRNES Very few cinematic tales exist on the joys and pain of being a migrant, Brooklyn rates as one of the best.
From Vegas to Macau III
PHILIPPA HAWKER At one stage the filmmakers give us more than a dozen dancing robots – just because they could, presumably.
Zoolander 2
JAKE WILSON The film has a lot on its plate, especially given its need to replicate just about every memorable moment from its predecessor.
Deadpool
PAUL BYRNES Ryan Reynolds is a wise-cracking, head-kicking, self-healing mutant in a red suit with two samurai-style crossed swords on his back.
All movie stories
Zootopia shows the high-risk, high-reward world of Hollywood animation
Kyle Stock 2:29pm Animated movies can be immensely profitable and many studios are trying to catch a piece of the market, but they also cost a lot to make so if they flop, they flop hard.
Is Harrison Ford too old to play big screen adventurer Indiana Jones?
MICHAEL IDATO 12:38pm Ford will return to the character despite being older than Sean Connery when he played Indiana's father in The Last Crusade.
Harrison Ford, 73, to return as Indiana Jones in a new sequel with Steven Spielberg
Anousha Sakoui 5:08am Walt Disney Co. said it's making a fifth Indiana Jones movie with director Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford returning in the title role as the adventurous archaeologist.
Could Ridley Scott be shooting three new Alien movies in Australia?
GARRY MADDOX 4:24pm At this stage it's just a rumour among the crew: Ridley Scott is not shooting just one movie but three new Alien instalments in Australia from next month.
Force Awakens director JJ Abrams dreading film being watched on cellphones
Jon Herskovitz With Star Wars: The Force Awakens coming out soon on iTunes, the director of the box-office smash said on Monday it was a "nightmare" to think of people watching the big-screen sci-fi adventure on a cellphone.
The J.J. Abrams brand name is in clover
Michael Cavna Even when he's just a producer, as on 10 Cloverfield Lane, the filmmaker's name has reached a near Spielbergian recognition level.
Mexican actress Kate del Castillo tells of motivation behind that Sean Penn meeting with El Chapo
Kate del Castillo adds fuel to rumours of an Oliver Stone movie about the drug lord's life.
Jack Black on Kung Fu Panda 3: 'It's the art of having fun'
SARAH THOMAS On paper, it's admittedly a strange concept: a talking panda who practises kung fu whose adopted father is a goose who runs a noodle restaurant.
Shortcuts: Victoria, In Praise of Parker Posey, Scare Campaign
CRAIG MATHIESON VICTORIA ★★★½ MA, 138 minutes. Cinema Nova, now playing.
Are dogs or cats better actors?
PAUL BYRNES There's a very good reason why dogs have had a long history in movies, writes Paul Byrnes.
Bryan Cranston talks kung fu pandas, Breaking Bad and the TV reunion he'd love to star in
MICHAEL IDATO Screen roles are like relationships, says Bryan Cranston – they don't always end on your terms.
How filmmaker Jennifer Peedom captured Everest's darkest day
GARRY MADDOX In 2014, Jennifer Peedom went to Nepal to make a documentary about the Sherpas who act as mountain guides. Then a devastating avalanche forced her to change focus.
Female action movies signal Hollywood has discovered its feminine side
PAUL BYRNES If the trend towards strong female action heroes continues, Hollywood could be profoundly changed.
'It's shocking': indie star Parker Posey laments the film world's new boys' club
JAKE WILSON She's been called the greatest character actor of recent times. So why is Parker Posey so disheartened?
Our pick of what's on the small screen: Looney Tunes, The Intern, Il Contratto
Various New game The Witness is a beautiful puzzle and Nancy Meyers gets it right again with The Intern.
Movies: Our pick of what's on including Blade Runner, Woodstock and The Iron Giant
JAKE WILSON Harrison Ford is at his best in Ridley Scott's classic Blade Runner.
The Daughter: how tragedy turned Simon Stone into one of our most promising directors
GARRY MADDOX Behind the scenes of the new Australian film The Daughter, an atmospheric drama starring Geoffrey Rush, Miranda Otto and Ewen Leslie.
Five things we learnt from the new Captain America: Civil War trailer
Clayton Barnett Just when your x-ray vision was focused on DC's Batman v Superman, Marvel's rival superhero smackdown just threw down the gauntlet with a new Captain America: Civil War trailer.
Star Wars' Daisy Ridley for new Lara Croft role?
Is Daisy Ridley the actress to launch the Tomb Raider heroine on a new action-adventure?
'Fat schmo' John Goodman finds his dark side in 10 Cloverfield Lane
Darryn King John Goodman has given his everyman "regular fat schmo" appeal a sinister twist in JJ Abrams latest sci-fi thriller, 10 Cloverfield Lane.
Why Sacha Baron Cohen wanted Grimsby to be his Jason Bourne movie
JENNY COONEY CARRILLO Sacha Baron Cohen agrees he gets away with a lot on screen. "Sometimes I'm standing there thinking, 'I can't believe that some idiot has actually given me money to make these scenes'."
Mark Strong gets inside an elephant with Sacha Baron Cohen in Grimsby
PHILIPPA HAWKER Comic improvisation is a challenge for English actor Mark Strong.
Second Wachowski filmmaker comes out as a transgender woman
The Matrix filmmaker Lilly Wachowski, formerly known as Andy, came out as a transgender woman on Tuesday in a candid post entitled "Sex change shocker - Wachowski brothers now sisters!!!," four years after her sister Lana Wachowski revealed she was a transgender woman.
Hunt for elusive night bird on screen at the National Film and Sound Archive in Canberra
Cris kennedy A bird that's presumed to be extinct sparked a filmmaker's quest around the world.
Alan Rickman's perfect voice drones one last time in final movie, Eye in the Sky
KARL QUINN The face is drawn but the voice is unmistakable, as Alan Rickman plays a military commander in his final film, Eye in the Sky.
Zootopia brings sharp topical satire to Disney animation
Rebecca Keegan "Zootopia" uses its animal world to examine ideas such as bias along with jokes and a caper.
Harry Potter's JK Rowling releases new Fantastic Beasts stories
NICK GALVIN The wands of wizarding fans around the world are quivering with excitement as they eagerly await the latest magical instalment from the fertile and apparently inexhaustible mind of JK Rowling.
Film Short Cuts: 'Australia's Spotlight' takes on landmark sexual abuse case
GARRY MADDOX A film about a landmark sexual abuse case for damages against an Anglican school is shooting in Queensland with an impressive cast headed by Rachel Griffiths, Jack Thompson, Aden Young and Jacqueline McKenzie.
Scriptwriters battle Screenrights for 'tens of millions of dollars' in royalties
GARRY MADDOX The Australian Writers' Guild is taking legal action against a federal government authorised royalty collection agency in the federal court.
Film tourism on trend with movie fans
Lea Sibbel Seeing places in films or on television can draw people to them.
Film reviews in brief: The Decline of Western Civilization, Ball of Fire and Gods of Egypt
CRAIG MATHIESON The Decline of Western Civilization series of films are a ground-level primer on three distinct eras within the Los Angeles music scene.
The meteoric rise of Elizabeth Debicki: from drama school to Gatsby and le Carre
STEPHANIE BUNBURY Inside the 'extremely fast' rise of Australian actress Elizabeth Debicki.
Hail, Steve Reeves, a muscle-bound inspiration from Hercules to Sly Stallone
PAUL BYRNES When actors' muscles do the talking, movie-makers and audiences listen.
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot and Hollywood's latest problem with whitewashing
Ann Hornaday The movie industry's structural racism appears to be as intractable as ever, with a new film accused of whitewashing.
Top picks for games, free-to-air TV and DVDs including Far Cry Primal
Various Highlights include an excellent game set in a prehistoric times and a very funny travel show.
Columns
Mel Gibson to judge at Tropfest and more Australian film news in Short Cuts
Around Australian film this week.
Are dogs or cats better actors?
There's a very good reason why dogs have had a long history in movies, writes Paul Byrnes.
Trailers
Room
Based on the best-selling novel by Emma Donoghue. A woman and her 5-year-old son are trapped inside a small space.
45 Years
As their 45th wedding anniversary approaches, a woman learns that her husband was once engaged to someone else.
The Danish Girl
Transgender artist Lili Elbe and talented wife Gerda Wegener lead a remarkable married life in 1920s Copenhagen.
Dirty Grandpa
Zac Efron and Robert De Niro star as an unlikely related duo setting out on a party-fueled road trip.
Anomalisa
From Charlie Kaufman, writer of Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, comes Anomalisa. A stop-motion film about a man crippled by the mundanity of his life.
Trumbo
Screenwriter Dalton Trumbo's successful career in 1940s Hollywood is jeopardised when he is blacklisted for his political beliefs.
Miracles From Heaven
A family fights for a cure for their daughter, only to be mystified when it arrives.
Keanu
New film from comedy duo Key and Peele. Two friends hatch a plot to retrieve their stolen kitten by posing as drug dealers for a street gang.
The Big Short
A look inside the lives of the men involved in a worldwide economic breakdown - and won bets on it.
Looking For Grace
When rebellious teenager Grace takes off, her exasperated parents enlist the help of a close-to-retirement detective and begin the long drive to the West Australian wheatbelt to try to find her.
Nasty Baby
Nasty Baby centres on a Brooklyn couple, Freddy and his boyfriend Mo, who are trying to have a baby with the help of their best friend, Polly.
The Daughter
A man returns to his hometown after a long departure and discovers the costs of uncovering deeply-buried family secrets. The Daughter opens in Australian cinemas on March 3, 2016.
A Month of Sundays
One night Frank Mollard gets a phone call from his mother. Nothing out of the ordinary. Apart from the fact that she died the year before.
