Reviewed by GREG KING Director: Saul Dibb Stars: Sam Claflin, Asa Butterfield, Paul Bettany, Toby Jones, Tom Sturridge, Stephen Graham, Rupert Wickham. A timely release sees this powerful and moving drama about the horrors of war, the senseless slaughter of a generation of young men, and the futility of it all, reach our screens to commemorate the centenary of the end of WWI, “the war to end all wars.” Journey’s End is an unflinchingly honest and raw look at the awful conditions of life in the trenches for the soldiers, and immerses audiences in the mud, the Continue reading
JEWISH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2018 – interview with Eddie Tamir
posted by Leave a Comment
by GREG KING The Jewish International Film Festival is screening in Sydney and Melbourne. In Melbourne the festival screens at the Classic Cinema in Elsternwick, the Lido in Hawthorn and the Cameo in Belgrave. It runs until November 21, and will screen some 80 features and documentaries. The opening night film was the critically acclaimed bittersweet road movie The Interpreter. Closing the festival is The Unorthodox, a comedy inspired by the founding of Israel’s Shas party. Director Lisa D’Apolito will be in attendance during the festival ton introduce her Continue reading
JIRGA
posted by Leave a Comment
Reviewed by GREG KING Director: Benjamin Gilmour Stars: Sam Smith, Sher Alam Miskeen Ustad, Mohammad Mosam, Kefeyat Lag Humani. This low budget drama is the sophomore feature film from Australian writer/director Benjamin Gilmour, and follows his 2007 drama Son Of A Lion, which was set in post 9/11 Pakistan. Gilmour is familiar with the region and has chosen to set his new film in Afghanistan. Jirga deals with an Australian soldier who returns to the region several years later on a personal mission of redemption. Years earlier during a raid on a village, Mike Continue reading
JIRGA – interview with Benjamin Gilmour and Sam Smith
posted by Leave a Comment
by GREG KING Jirga is a new Australian drama that was filmed in Pakistan by filmmaker Benjamin Gilmour. It stars Sam Smith in his feature film debut as former Australian soldier, Mike Wheeler, who returns to Afghanistan after several years, seeking redemption from the family of a civilian man he killed during the war. Greg chatted with the writer/director Benjamin Gilmour and star Sam Smith about the origins of the film, shooting in Pakistan, the challenges they faced, especially when the original financing fell through following death Continue reading
JOHNNY ENGLISH STRIKES AGAIN
posted by Leave a Comment
Reviewed by GREG KING Director: David Kerr Stars: Rowan Atkinson, Ben Miller, Emma Thompson, Olga Kurylenko, Jake Lacy, Charles Dance, Michael Gambon. It has been fifteen years since rubbery faced comic Rowan Atkinson (of Mr Bean and Blackadder fame) donned his licence to kill as bumbling and clueless secret agent Johnny English, a cross between James Bond, Maxwell Smart, Inspector Clouseau and Inspector Gadget. The character was initially created for a series of credit card commercials, but proved popular enough to earn his own spin off feature film. Now Continue reading
