Jason Di Rosso is RN's film critic, host of the weekly film show The Final Cut and reviewer across a range of RN.
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The Ghost in the Shell remake pays homage to the original but lacks a fully developed personality of its own.
Topics: arts-and-entertainment, film-movies, japan, hong-kong
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| UpdatedLand of Mine, a Danish war film that veers into thriller territory, leaves a deep impression with its mix of tension and tragedy.
Topics: film-movies, arts-and-entertainment, film, art-house, denmark
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| UpdatedTaking inspiration from the zero-gravity cinematography of Gravity but clearly most influenced by Alien, Life works best when it's a claustrophobic thriller.
Topics: film-movies, arts-and-entertainment, science-fiction-films, actor, united-states
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| UpdatedIt went under the radar at this year's Oscars, but this powerful film about racism in America conveys tenderness and understanding with few words.
Topics: film-movies, arts-and-entertainment, romance-films, biography-film, united-states
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The new King Kong movie is thrilling, funny and occasionally sublime — and beats Hacksaw Ridge as an effective depiction of war.
Topics: horror-films, film-movies, arts-and-entertainment, united-states
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Hugh Jackman's X-Men swansong Logan reminds us that comic book franchises can aspire to deeper emotions and more complex relationships.
Topics: arts-and-entertainment, film-movies, united-states
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The Trainspotting sequel reunites director Danny Boyle with his original cast 20 years later and has a powerfully melancholy undertow.
Topics: film-movies, arts-and-entertainment, scotland, united-kingdom
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| UpdatedWho will win, who should win and who could cause the biggest upset at this year's Academy Awards?
Topics: film-movies, arts-and-entertainment, art-house, academy-awards-oscars, united-states
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A lifelong obsession with Catholicism is one of the main themes in Martin Scorsese's latest film, as he continues what he calls a search for the spiritual human condition.
Topics: film-movies, arts-and-entertainment, religion-and-beliefs, catholic, united-states, taiwan, japan
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| UpdatedOf all the films nominated for Best Picture at this year's Oscars, Manchester by the Sea is the most gruelling to sit through.
Topics: film-movies, arts-and-entertainment, united-states
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| UpdatedMoonlight's sophisticated depiction of conflicted masculinity deserves to beat La La Land for Best Picture at the Academy Awards.
Topics: film-movies, arts-and-entertainment, united-states
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| UpdatedIn a remarkable year in film, critic Jason Di Rosso picks out his five favourites, including a mainstream blockbuster and a few indie surprises.
Topics: comedy-film, film-movies, arts-and-entertainment, documentary, australia
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| UpdatedOffice Christmas Party begins as a middle finger to top-down management culture and economic rationalism, but it ends rather differently.
Topics: comedy-film, film-movies, arts-and-entertainment, christmas, united-states
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| UpdatedThe Legend of Ben Hall is a rich, if flawed, portrait of a haunted man and a romantic tribute to the Australian bush as a mirage of freedom.
Topics: biography-film, film-movies, arts-and-entertainment, history, community-and-society, nsw, australia
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| UpdatedThe Founder is hardly an excoriating takedown of the McDonald's origin story, but it is a film concerned with how the American dream has its shadowy lining.
Topics: biography-film, film-movies, arts-and-entertainment, united-states
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The first film to imagine the Harry Potter universe without Harry Potter is a dark allegory of fear and xenophobia in America.
Topics: film-movies, arts-and-entertainment, fantasy-films
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As much a philosophical rumination as a thriller about alien hardware, the ever-dependable Amy Adams can't save Arrival from some ponderous sci-fi noodling.
Topics: science-fiction-films, film-movies, arts-and-entertainment, united-states
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| UpdatedFor a romantic weepy, The Light Between Oceans doesn't do a terrible job of telling a story of grief, love and a dreadful mistake.
Topics: romance-films, film-movies, arts-and-entertainment, albany-6330, wa, australia, new-zealand
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Mel Gibson's return to directing sees him bring to the screen one of the bloodiest battles of World War II, focusing on the story of an unlikely war hero.
Topics: arts-and-entertainment, film-movies, drama, world-war-2, history, community-and-society, united-states, japan
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| UpdatedElle is an imaginative film, unafraid of pushing the normal boundaries of its apparent genre. Elle's ambition, however, doesn't quite sustain it to the end.
Topics: thriller-films, film-movies, arts-and-entertainment, france, netherlands
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| UpdatedBoys in the Trees feels like an urban legend told at a slumber party — earnest and creepy with a plot twist you see coming — but first-time writer/director Nicholas Verso's delight is palpable.
Topics: horror-films, film-movies, arts-and-entertainment, adelaide-5000, sa, australia
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Joe Cinque's Consolation is a film that isn't afraid to ask difficult questions about the line between good and evil, the nature of mental illness and the failings of community.
Topics: film-movies, crime-fiction, arts-and-entertainment, canberra-2600
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| UpdatedThe cinematic adaptation of The Girl on the Train almost falls off the tracks, but Blunt's performance remains a reason to see it.
Topics: film-movies, film, arts-and-entertainment, director, actor, united-states
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| UpdatedThe remake of The Magnificent Seven is a streamlined film that's too eager to spell itself out.
Topics: film-movies, western-films, film, arts-and-entertainment, director, actor
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| UpdatedAs the film awards season kicked off this week with the Golden Globes, Jason Di Rosso wonders why Australia's cultural diversity is rarely reflected in our home grown cinema.