Showing all posts about film

Paul Kelly’s song How to Make Gravy to become a movie

9 May 2022

I don’t know how many songs end up being adapted to film, but Australian musician Paul Kelly’s 1996 composition How to Make Gravy, looks like it’ll join their ranks, after Australian film production company Speech & Drama Pictures acquired the song’s film rights.

Written from the perspective of a prisoner named Joe writing home to his brother Dan at Christmas time, the song has gathered momentum year on year as more people discover the plainspoken but emotionally profound work.

But will it be a case of the song is better than the movie? Let’s hope not…

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Mothering Sunday, a film by Eva Husson

4 May 2022

Mothering Sunday, trailer, by French film director Eva Husson, based on the 2016 novel of same name by English author Graham Swift, is a tale of secret love playing out on an unseasonably balmy March day, on an English country estate, in 1924.

The events of Graham Swift’s novel take place over the course of one day — the holiday Mothering Sunday. Maid Jane Fairchild (Odessa Young) has the day off, as her employers, Mr. and Mrs. Niven (Colin Firth and Olivia Colman) are attending an event to celebrate the engagement of their neighbours’ son, Paul (Josh O’Connor). Jane is an orphan, so has no mother to spend the day with — but she does have Paul, with whom she’s been having a years-long secret affair. The story unfolds as they spend their final day together as lovers.

Mothering Sunday opens in Australian cinemas on Thursday 2 June 2022.

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Martin Eden, a film by Pietro Marcello

3 May 2022

Martin Eden, portrayed by Italian actor Luca Marinelli in the 2019 film of the same name, trailer, directed by Pietro Marcello, is a barely literate sailor who decides he wants to become a writer.

Inspiration comes in the form of Elena Orsini (Jessica Cressy), the daughter of a well-off Neapolitan family, after a chance set of circumstances bring them together. Determined to become “worthy” of her hand in marriage, he devotes the next two years to self-education, while writing as much as he can.

But writing is not an occupation for the faint-hearted, and as the rejection letters pile up, he begins to wonder if he’s doing the right thing. But Martin Eden, loosely based on Jack London’s semiautobiographical 1909 novel, is perhaps a warning to be careful what you wish for.

You might attain what it is you aspire to, but at what cost? And might you lose sight of what it was you really wanted in the first place?

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Hello, Bookstore a documentary by A.b. Zax

30 April 2022

The COVID-19 pandemic was a challenging time for many people, particularly small businesses. Brick and mortar retailers, independent bookshops among them, struggled with lockdowns that kept customers away. Numerous operations were threatened with closure, and not all survived.

Hello, Bookstore, trailer, a documentary by American filmmaker A.b. Zax, looks at the impact of the pandemic on The Bookstore, in Lenox, a town in the American state of Massachusetts, which has been owned by Matthew Tannenbaum for over forty years.

In the shadow of the pandemic, a small town rallies to protect a beloved local bookstore in its hour of need. A landmark in Lenox, Massachusetts, The Bookstore is a magical, beatnik gem thanks to its owner, Matt Tannenbaum, whose passion for stories runs deep. Presiding at The Bookstore for over forty years, Matt is a true bard of the Berkshires and his shop is the kind of place to get lost in. This intimate portrait of The Bookstore and the family at its heart offers a journey through good times, hard times and the stories hidden on the shelves.

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A sequel for The Batman has been announced

28 April 2022

No surprises there, news of a follow up to The Batman. Robert Pattinson will reprise his role as Batman/Bruce Wayne, and Matt Reeves will return to direct.

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We’re All Going to the World’s Fair, by Jane Schoenbrun

27 April 2022

We’re All Going to the World’s Fair, trailer, by American filmmaker Jane Schoenbrun, promises to take viewers down a couple of bottomless rabbit-holes…

Late on a cold night somewhere in the U.S., teenage Casey sits alone in her attic bedroom, scrolling the internet under the glow-in-the-dark stars and black-light posters that blanket the ceiling. She has finally decided to take the World’s Fair Challenge, an online role-playing horror game, and embrace the uncertainty it promises. After the initiation, she documents the changes that may or may not be happening to her, adding her experiences to the shuffle of online clips available for the world to see. As she begins to lose herself between dream and reality, a mysterious figure reaches out, claiming to see something special in her uploads.

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Deutsche Bank Fellowship for First Nations Film Creatives

21 April 2022

Submissions for the 2022 Deutsche Bank Fellowship for First Nations Film Creatives are open until Friday 29 April 2022. The fellowship is open to Australian based Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander film creatives in any discipline within the local film and television industry.

Now in its second year, the Deutsche Bank Fellowship is a grant for Australian First Nations film creatives launched by Sydney Film Festival and Deutsche Bank in 2021. The winning Fellow in 2022 will be awarded a $20,000 grant to further develop their skills through international placement or other professional development.

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Keep Stepping, a documentary by Luke Cornish

19 April 2022

Keep Stepping, trailer, by Sydney based documentary maker Luke Cornish, which has its world premiere at the 2022 Sydney Film Festival, explores the world of competitive street dancing in Australia.

On Sydney’s urban fringe, two young women battle for a better life in the underground world of competitive street dance. Patricia, Romanian-born and hanging out for a visa, is a breakdancer. Gabi, of Chilean-Samoan heritage, pops with power. Both dream of escaping the rough hand they’ve been dealt. Will a win at Australia’s biggest dance competition Destructive Steps – in which 60 contestants compete in the preliminary rounds – be their golden ticket? Or will the external pressures of financial hardship and volatile relationships stop them from even reaching the dancefloor?

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A trailer for Conversations with Friends TV series

14 April 2022

A trailer for Conversations with Friends, a television series produced by BBC Three and Hulu, based on the 2017 novel of the same name, by Irish author Sally Rooney.

Conversations with Friends follows Frances, a 21 year old college student, as she navigates a series of relationships that force her to confront her own vulnerabilities for the first time. Frances is observant, cerebral and sharp. Her ex-girlfriend, now best friend, Bobbi is self-assured, outspoken and compelling.

Though they broke up three years ago, Frances and Bobbi are virtually inseparable and perform spoken word poetry together in Dublin. It’s at one of their shows that they meet Melissa, an older writer, who is fascinated by the pair. Bobbi and Frances start to spend time with Melissa and her husband, Nick, a handsome but reserved actor.

While Melissa and Bobbi flirt with each other openly, Nick and Frances embark on an intense secret affair that is surprising to them both. Soon the affair begins to test the bond between Frances and Bobbi, forcing Frances to reconsider her sense of self, and the friendship she holds so dear.

It won’t be news to fans of Sally Rooney, but the series goes to air on Sunday 15 May 2022.

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Boiling Point, a film by Philip Barantini

11 April 2022

I once had a housemate who worked as a chef. When he wasn’t on the job — which didn’t seem to be often — he refused to cook. At all. A solitary jar of vegemite, and a loaf of bread, were the only foodstuffs to be found on his shelf in the pantry of the kitchen. Before moving in, another housemate warned me not to expect culinary feasts to be served.

Perhaps Boiling Point, trailer, the new drama feature from Britsh filmmaker Philip Barantini, goes someway to explaining my former housemate’s reluctance to go near a kitchen outside of working hours. Who’d want to be thinking about their pressure-cooker like workplace environment when they weren’t on duty?

On the busiest night of the year at one of the hottest restaurants in London, charismatic, commanding head chef Andy Jones balances along a knife’s edge as multiple personal and professional crises threaten to destroy everything he’s worked for. A surprise visit from a health and safety inspector sets the staff on edge as the overbooked hotspot begins to fill with guests. Jones alternately berates and cajoles his diverse staff, trying his best to diffuse tensions between management and his crew, while catering to the ridiculous demands of customers.

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