Twenty years on and Independence Day Resurgence has the bombastic size, self effacing humour, and explosive badass sci-fi that's so fun that you don't mind that it's silly.

Blake Howard 6/22/16 Blake Howard 6/22/16

The Endless River (Oliver Hermanus - 2015) Movie Review [Sydney Film Festival]

South Africa is racial battleground. The wounds of the apartheid era and the institutional prejudice continue to affect the country.

Blake Howard 6/21/16 Blake Howard 6/21/16

Retirement Denial - Blood Father and Dirty Grandpa

There are flashes of pathos in this by the numbers, borderlands "careless actions by stupid daughter brings tough old bastard of a dad out of retirement" Blood Father, but they appear rarely & Dirty Grandpa is a film that almost makes you want to relegate the great De Niro to movie jail.

Blake Howard 6/21/16 Blake Howard 6/21/16

Down Under (Abe Forsythe - 2016) Movie Review [Sydney Film Festival]

Somehow a dark comedy about the Cronulla Riots, despite one's knee jerk rejection to that premise, is precisely what the Australian cinematic landscape needs.

Blake Howard 6/15/16 Blake Howard 6/15/16

Paterson (Jim Jarmusch - 2016) Movie Review [Sydney Film Festival]

Beneath this unassuming exterior is a beautiful tale of living a fulfilling existence.

Blake Howard 6/16/16 Blake Howard 6/16/16

Goldstone (Ivan Sen - 2016) Movie Review [Sydney Film Festival]

Ivan Sen and Aaron Pedersen's Jay Swan are the indigenous cinematic heroes we deserve.

Blake Howard 6/14/16 Blake Howard 6/14/16

It's Only the End of the World (Xavier Dolan - 2016) [Sydney Film Festival]

Those wanting to boo need not apply.

Blake Howard 6/14/16 Blake Howard 6/14/16

Demolition (Jean-Marc Vallée - 2015) Movie Review [Sydney Film Festival]

Leading man Jake Gyllenhaal continues his performance hot streak (Prisoners, Enemy, Nightcrawler, Southpaw) in director Jean-Marc Vallée's Demolition; a stirring ride towards necessary self destruction.

Blake Howard 6/13/16 Blake Howard 6/13/16

War on Everyone (John Michael McDonagh - 2016) [Sydney Film Festival]

John Michael McDonagh's (JMM) War on Everyone is a buddy cop parody that feels like Shane Black doing Bad Lieutenant.

Blake Howard 6/13/16 Blake Howard 6/13/16

High-Rise (Ben Wheatley - 2015) Movie Review [Sydney Film Festival]

Ben Wheatley is a filmmaker that rails against a passive viewing experience; forcing the audience to unpack and study every frame of the his constantly intriguing enigma.

Blake Howard 5/27/16 Blake Howard 5/27/16

The Jungle Book (Jon Favreau - 2016) Movie Review

Favreau's adaptation of The Jungle Book weaves the technical into the magical, and when it's at its best, the frightening.

Blake Howard 5/17/16 Blake Howard 5/17/16

The Hunt for the Wilderpeople (Taika Waititi - 2016) Movie Review

The Hunt for the Wilderpeople is the best film of 2016, so far; or as Ricky and Uncle Hect would say - "sh*t just got real."

Blake Howard 5/15/16 Blake Howard 5/15/16

Bad Neighbours 2 (Nicholas Stoller - 2016) Movie Review

Bad Neighbours 2 hits like a sledge hammer when it hits, but the contending priorities often leave it licking you like a warm breeze.

Blake Howard 5/15/16 Blake Howard 5/15/16

The Lobster (Yorgos Lanthimos - 2015) Movie Review

Welcome to The Lobster, a divinely weird satire of romantic conformity from Greek filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos. It's a recipe that's as weird as it is tragic, as philosophically sabre sharp as it is hilarious; this is a film that deserves your time.

Blake Howard 5/11/16 Blake Howard 5/11/16

BASTILLE DAY (James Watkins - 2016) Movie Review

Bastille Day reaches for the top of Nakatomi Plaza and takes a running swan dive out a window into the carpark.

Blake Howard 4/29/16 Blake Howard 4/29/16

CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR (2016) MOVIE REVIEW

Captain America: Civil War is very good, but the connective tissue between the powerful scenes, felt like chewy gristle in a great cut of steak.

Reviews