Review

Sand book review . There’s no doubt that Hugh Howey can really write. Anyone who breaks through from the clamour of the self-publication sector, as Howey famously did with the novellas that eventually made up his dystopic Woo l, arguably has to be a better storyteller than those boasting the …

Coming on like a feature-length Foster’s advert, Boyd Hickin’s genial man-com stars Stephen Curry as a sadsack Melbourne chap who lives in his mate’s garage and plays cricket with an enthusiasm bordering on mania. When his team, the Abbotsford Anglers, get a chance to tour India he jumps at it, …

Ray Doewood never asked for the power to read minds, he was fine with his mundane life as a hardhat tester. But when he’s ironically hit on the head on his way home one night, an alien fugitive decides Ray’s brain is the best place to take refuge. With a …

Troubled teen Emanuel (Kaya Scodelario) thinks she’s found the perfect surrogate when she begins babysitting for new neighbour Linda (Jessica Biel), the spitting image of her dead mother. Yet Linda has secrets of her own… Francesca Gregorini’s film stands or falls on a central mystery as silly as it is …

Groundhog Day (opens in new tab)-meets- Starship Troopers (opens in new tab)is the pitch for Doug Liman’s first foray into sci-fi since the disastrous 2008’s Jumper (opens in new tab)saw a would-be franchise unravel before it got going. Thankfully this smart, taut actioner is of the standard we usually expect …

Speak softly and carry a big stick–what a load of horseradish. Tropico 5 finally takes us to the big leagues, where guns, goats, and gold mines just don’t cut it. A true dictator casts his eye upon the horizon and never looks back, leveraging trade fleets, cutting-edge research, and diplomatic …

Mugen Souls Z is an uncomfortable foray into the candy-colored world of Lolita complexes. A follow-up to the 2012 JRPG Mugen Souls, Souls Z picks up right where its predecessor left off in almost every way, right down to troubling fixations. Unfortunately, Souls Z also takes on the first game’s …

John Turturro’s fifth film as director comes with a gilt-edged premise: Woody Allen as a would-be pimp, touting Turturro’s reluctant gigolo to horny Manhattan housewives (led by Sharon Stone). It’s tailor-made for Allen; not only is he as funny as he’s been in years, he and Turturro make a wonderful …

Dating from 1962, Ozu’s sublime final film (and one of his only two in colour) plays variations on his perennial themes of marriage and inter-generational tensions. Chisû Ryû, Ozu’s favourite actor, is the elderly widower who comes to wonder if he’s being selfish in relying on his unmarried daughter to …

Subtlety and restraint aren’t words you tend to associate with tentpole blockbusters, particularly not those featuring hulking great monsters. The latest incarnation of Toho’s iconic kaiju might be the tallest ever, clocking in at around 350ft, but the movie itself isn’t afraid to build to the stomping with baby-steps, favouring …