It’s time to acknowledge cinema’s top five female performances (plus five honorable mentions) of 2011. Kirsten Dunst in Melancholia makes the list, writes Luke Buckmaster.
Film
First look at ABC’s The Slap — and it’s a winner
Last night Luke Buckmaster saw the first two episodes of ABC’s highly anticipated adaptation of Christos Tsiolkas’s The Slap. The show is likely to become a huge critical and popular success, says Buckmaster.
Win a double pass to see POM Wonderful Presents the Greatest Movie Ever Sold
To mark the Australian theatrical release of director Morgan Spurlock’s new ‘docbluster’ POM Wonderful Presents: the Greatest Movie Ever Sold, Cinetology gives readers the chance to win a double pass.
Morgan Spurlock’s latest, inside the NYT and more: MIFF Day 9 and 10
Having now watched and reviewed 40 films in 10 days, Luke Buckmaster is now deep within the belly of the Melbourne International Film Festival beast. He examines the six films he’s seen in the last 48 hours.
Day 6 of MIFF: one clever chimp, Israeli dramedy, tabloid shenanigans and hipster futurism
It’s Day 6 of the Melbourne International Film Festival and the tired and bedraggled state of Crikey blogger Luke Buckmaster caused an embarrassing encounter in one cinema foyer.
Stoking Russian crime, viva Las Elvis, check mate: MIFF Day 5
Just five days in and Luke Buckmaster has already seen over 20 films as part of his quest to watch 60 films in 17 days for the Melbourne International Film Festival. An Elvis classic was amongst yesterday’s offerings…
film reviews Face to Face: all eyes on a great new Australian film
Finally we have proof that a David Williamson play can still provide the foundation for a great Australian film and that a new great Australian film, Face to Face, is indeed upon us, writes Luke Buckmaster.
Fairies, a hissing microphone, red onion tart canapes and fine company
Bleary-eyed Luke Buckmaster reviews the opening night of the Melbourne International Film Festival, from the lesser-quality cinema for the pleb guests to the brilliant film The Fairy, which opened the festival.
Reel film festival dreams: bureaucratic bungles now showing at SFF
Concerns have been raised about the Sydney Film Festival and the relatively glacial pace of its board in seeking a new artistic director. It highlights the general ineptitude of bureaucracy and the various boards that oversee its parts, reports Matthew Clayfield.
Daily Proposition: Relive the Disney magic in person
Disney has clocked up an impressive run of 50 animated feature films and the Australian Centre for the Moving Image in Melbourne is celebrating the achievement with a new exhibition, Dreams Come True. Matt Smith went along.
Daily Proposition: Spend a night with Wong Kar Wai
Elegant women in elegant dresses, their dark hair pinned into perfect chignons. Men with slicked-back hair smoke thin cigarettes. Sultry glances are cast across hotel hallways. It must be a Wong Kar Wai film. Alexandra Patrikios watches the back-catalogue.
Curtains close on cinema viewers?
TV audiences are up but cinema tickets are down. Could cinemas reliance on tent-pole films and excessive market research be killing audiences love of cinema? asks TV blogger Dan Barrett.
Bend it like a heavily-edited Beckham
And the honour of the first Western film ever shown in censorship-loving North Korea goes to…envelope please… Bend it like Beckham! Sure, it was edited from 112 minutes down to just 60, but no other film can claim that title.
Pomeranz: Don’t mix business with art
While wannabe sports stars gets thousands in government support and sponsorship, young Australian film makers struggle to make a living in Australia and that talent heads overseas, writes film critic Margaret Pomeranz.
Why do grown men weep in Toy Story 3?
How come adults can watch a film about cartoon toys aimed at children and be reduced to crying messes? Ironically, people can apparently connect more emotionally with the characters because they are animated.
great read 
The sinking fortunes of quicksand
Quicksand used to be a standard popular culture disaster cliché, up there with deadly bombs with a ticking timer, but it’s recently sunk out of fashion. Why?
graph pr0n INFOGRAPHIC: A Back to the Future timeline
This is one for the film geeks. Designer Sean Mort created a timeline of all three Back to the Future films. Now you’ll never get confused where Marty McFly is again.
PHOTO GALLERY: The mystery of the reoccurring newspaper prop
Film geeks noticed that the same newspaper kept popping up in film and television from the last few decades. Is it an inside joke for propmasters or just that its the easiest prop newspaper around?
Are film writers just frustrated film makers?
Like how all literary critics must be frustrated authors, is the myth that all film writers really want to be film makers actually true? Film writer Luke Buckmaster explains his story as he examines his vile hate mail.
The 10 best films of 2009
A round-up of the top 10 best — and a few of the worst (*cough* Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel *cough*) — cinematic masterpieces of 2009.
Capitalism cage match: Jeff Sparrow
Michael Moore aims his new movie Capitalism: A Love Story simultaneously at the head and the heart. Therein lies its biggest problem, writes Jeff Sparrow.
Capitalism cage match: Chris Berg
Michael Moore’s Capitalism: A Love Story “takes aim” at the capitalist system, as a few dozen supportive reviewers have mindlessly written. But that’s a tough metaphor to uphold. It’s easy to aim when you don’t care what you hit. Moore is interested in Big-C Capitalism. So after a few stories of families having their homes […]
False praise for that lunatic and bastard Bob Plasto
Filmmakers Leonard Lee and David Millikan recall what it was like working with the late Bob Plasto. Perhaps not as glowing as other reviews of the filmmaker.
Film review: The Boat That Rocked
The cast crackle with energy but Richard Curtis’s grasp of comedy struggles and the plot is hit and miss.
Green Lantern to be shot in Sydney’s Fox Studios
The next big budget Hollywood movie to be filmed in Sydney’s Fox Studios will be the long anticipated superhero flick Green Lantern.
