Today
Naughty and nice: seven Christmas films for a cooler Yule
Whether you love a sappy classic or a darker take on the festive season, here are some of our favourites to help you escape some viewing nightmares before Christmas.
Yesterday
‘Wonka’ is a banquet for Timothée Chalamet fans
Director Paul King and script-writer Simon Farnaby have produced a prequel to ‘Charlie And The Chocolate Factory’ that imagines an origin story for Willy Wonka.
- John McDonald
This Month
This film looks set for a best actor nomination at the 2024 Oscars
Maestro’s patchwork narrative will polarise its audiences, but it perfectly echoes the personality of its subject, Leonard Bernstein.
- John McDonald
This film offers an answer for rich countries’ crises
At 87 years old, a famous director wants his audience to think the unthinkable and rediscover a shared core of humanity in “The Old Oak”.
- John McDonald
November
Ridley Scott’s Napoleon is a magnificent, flawed epic
Cramming his vast, complex life into one film is madness, so the best approach is to forget about the facts and marvel at the sheer effrontery of the fiction.
- John McDonald
Why the latest Hunger Games is better without Katniss
This prequel that explains both the gladiatorial contest and the complicated past of Coriolanus Snow is arguably the best in the series.
- John McDonald
- Opinion
- Opinion
Why we’re still in love with the toxic myth of the ‘Great Man’
The theory that history is defined by alpha males feels unfashionable and offensive – but we can’t let it go.
- Antony Beevor
A dark tale of sexuality amid the incalculably rich upper classes
There is plenty that is lurid and grotesque in Saltburn, a film focused on a posh English family. But the big plot developments are telegraphed well in advance.
- John McDonald
The new film that begs the question: When will this thing ever end?
Australian director Garth Davis’ latest offering is long on talk and short on action. You may find yourself looking at your watch.
- John McDonald
In this film, money and sex feed crime
“The Origin of Evil” tells how a scheming grifter inserts herself into a wealthy and amoral clan with dark secrets.
- John McDonald
October
‘Dumb Money’ is a miraculous one-off fairy tale
Australian director Craig Gillespie weaves a human-interest story out of a tangle of encounters that usually take place at one remove.
- John McDonald
- Opinion
- Film
Scorsese’s new film about oil and greed is one of his greatest ever
“Killers of the Flower Moon” is a movie of weighty moral force by Martin Scorsese, a director who is in command of the medium.
- John McDonald
- Opinion
- Opinion
When your fiancée gets that Wall Street hedge fund job you wanted
New Netflix film Fair Play is a gripping battle of the sexes set in a toxic, misogynist corporate world where power and sex are inextricably linked currencies.
- Jake Coyle
‘Lie With Me’ is a tale of infatuation and loss
This same-sex love story is told in a manner that encourages a universal empathy.
- John McDonald
‘Exorcist: Believer’ is no vulgar slasher flick, it’s a serious movie
This horror feature attempts to say something profound about good and evil, love and faith. But ultimately, it creeps around the edges of these big topics.
- John McDonald
September
The robots are coming (again)!
British director Gareth Edwards has created a puzzling vision of the future.
- John McDonald
This film that will charm anyone who is willing to be charmed
A constant sense of humour doesn’t detract from the underlying drama of an immature father striving to reconnect with a child for whom he is a virtual stranger.
- John McDonald
This quirky debut feature was a film festival hit
French movie Everybody Loves Jeanne, a story about a career flop and how to survive it, is an appealing mix of comedy and weirdness.
- John McDonald
This minimalist romance has been a surprising international hit
We can all wonder what life might have been like had we stayed with X, or never met Y, so Korean/US drama Past Lives is notable for what it leaves out.
- John McDonald
August
This film tried to criticise Gudinski, but ended up praising him
Paul Goldman’s documentary is not just a portrait of Michael Gudinski, but of 50 years of the Australian music industry.
- John McDonald
