Tag Archives: general

In Cinemas – 22 October, 2026

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It’s a massive, massive, MASSIVE week of premiere’s in Australian cinemas – so big that I need to whittle down each entry to…CINEMA IN A SENTENCE!

Clayface – A body-horror take on the semi-obsucre, actor turned shapeshifting Batman villain from filmmakers James Watkins and Mike Flanagan starring Tom Rhys Harries, this may be an interesting turn for comic book movies.

The Uprising – Andrew Garfield stars as maybe Robin Hood in this period tale of peasant uprisings in the reign of Richard II, with steady-handed Paul Greengrass in the director’s chair.

Wildwood – The brilliant Laika Studios commands a ridiculously talented ensemble of voices for this stop-motion adaptation of the 2011 children’s fantasy novel about children being swept into a magical forest.

Klara and the Sun – Another adaptation of a dystopian sci-fi novel, Taika Waititi helms this meditation on life, death, humanity, pollution and the world starring Jenna Ortega as a childlike robot.

Ali G: Who Iz I? – Britain’s most notorious provocateur, Sacha Baron Cohen, returns to the character that launched him as the one-time inappropriate talk-show host must face the challenge of being a responsible man.

Possible Love – This Korean Romance explores the lives and relationships of four stranger after a chance encounter brings them together.

Always Your, Never Mine – By contrast, this Filipino Romance explores a relationship marked by years of encounters that never seem to open up into the chance for love.

Fallen Angels – If you’re into theater or just adore Rose Byrne, you may catch this filmed production of the Noel Coward play in a limited release.

Rose of Nevada – A late release from last year, this UK indie mystery stars George MacKay and Callum Turner as fishermen in a remote Cornish village who witness the return of a legendary ship…three decades after she disappeared at sea.

Now Showing – 2 July, 2026

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You’ve woken to find a rare day to yourself and though ‘I’m going to go to the movies. I wonder what’s on?’ Wonder no more, for here is what you’ll find on Aussie screens this week!

Animal Farm – Many will have fond (?) memories of watching the 1954 animated adaptation of the George Orwell novella in English class – which was pretty faithful so it was not necessary to read the book. This animated feature, directed by Andy Serkis (yes, that’s Gollum), should probably come with the credit “Inspired by” moreso than “based on” with some significant liberties taken and original characters inserted into the Russian-Cummunist allegory. The cast includes Seth Rogen, Glenn Close, Woody Harrelson, Kieran Culkin, Steve Buscemi and Kathleen Turner. Expect the humor to be more pronounced, far less dog mauling and an attempt at a happy ending.

100 Nights of Hero – This fairy tales for grown-ups was actually released overseas last year, but you can find it playing some of the arthouse/independent cinemas. Adapted from Isabel Greenbergs book (which is her retelling of One Thousand and One Nights) by director Julia Jackman, the plot follows Cherry (Maika Monroe of Longlegs), a young wife who has been abandoned for 100 nights by her odious husband (Nicolas Galtzine) as a test of her faithfulness. Her maid, Hero (Emma Corrin) offer comfort though the stories she tells, and the women form a transformative bond. A rumination on gender politics, this won’t appeal to everyone, but it looks gorgeous.

Heel – Another delayed release, this UK film from Polish director Jan Komasa (Warsaw 44) is a black-as-they-come comedy, about a couple who abduct and imprison a teenage delinquent in the hopes of rehabilitating him. Stephen Graham (Adolescence) and Andrea Riseborough (Mandy) bring real life and vibrancy to the screen as the unhinged couple, while Anson Boon (1917) is a hoot as the antisocial Tommy. If the film’s working, you’ll be chuckling while you’re feeling offended.

The Birthday Trip – In a similar vein, three young couples book a weekend farm stay only to wind up at each others throats in this offering from Australian filmmaker James Robert Woods. His first feature, this satire on social class is all about simmering tensions bursting out in uncomfortable hilarity as the planned birthday celebration falls apart. A lot rides on the chemistry and performances of the cast, some of whom may be familiar faces from Australian TV. Keep your eyes open as this film does the rounds in the coming year.

The Cinéquarium – 24 June 2026

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If you’ve woken up and your screen fell on the ground and randomly opened to this page and you’ve got some space in the day and were thinking ‘Maybe I could catch a movie’…this is what’s new this week (in Australia at least).

Supergirl – James Gunn’s Superman (2025) was a surprisingly solid hit last year, so there’s a bit riding on this – the first real follow up in the “DC Universe” franchise – from Dumb Money (2023) director Craig Gillespie. Kara Zor-El (or Supergirl, played by Milly Alcock of House of the Dragon) heads out for an intergalactic birthday bender with the scene-stealing secret weapon of the previous film: Krypto the superdog. The super-powered party-gal ends up facing off against assorted alien jerks that get on her nerves, including a rebranded Jason Momoa as perhaps DC Comics most ridiculous superhero-adjacent character, Lobo (which is not at all pejorative and is honestly perfect casting). With a screenplay by Ana Nogueira (her first major film project) and overseen by Gunn as the creative head of the franchise, expect this one to be a fairly good time for the university aged crowd.

Minions & Monsters – Hitting just before the school holidays is the next installment in the Despicable Me franchise, focusing on the titular jaundiced, gibbering, goggle-adorned, helpfully inept and ever-loyal cash-machines. Set in 1920’s Hollywood the Minions find themselves making a monster movie, only to unleash an all too real terror into the world. With voice talent including Zoey Deutch, Bobby Moynihan, Cristoph Waltz, Allison Janney, Jesse Eisenberg, Jeff Bridges, Phil LaMarr, Trey Parker in a rare non South Park role and apparently George Lucas (…!), regular series director Pierre Coffin (also the voice of the Minions) and Patrick Delage are on hand to bring this one to the box office. The kids are guaran-damn-teed to find it hilarious.

Jackass: Best and Last – It’s astonishing how endearing a group of friends that became rich and famous by repeatedly attacking one another’s testicles have become. The progenitor of pretty much all prank shows whether live, televised or streamed, Jackass was a generational touchstone when it first came to screens, then dumbfounded critics when their cinematic efforts proved to be not only profitable with juvenile audiences, but actually possessed of artistic merit (exemplified in Jackass: Forever). The boys are promising that this will be the last time they will do exceptionally stupid and dangerous stunts for entertainment, and director Jeff Tremaine has undoubtedly covered the entire ordeal in excruciating detail, but expect a touch of melancholy and rumination on the realities of growing old, and the loss of the ability to withstand a cattle prod to the rectum.

Dear You – For those of the indie/arthouse/international film crowd, this Chinese family drama comes from filmmaker Hongchun Lan (who co-wrote the screenplay) and features a cast of largely first time performers. Something of a culturally significant project, the dialogue is entirely in a regional dialect, Teochew (rather than more globally accessible Mandarin or Cantonese), as the unfolding narrative ponders how ex-patriots remain connected to the places that they may have fled. Facing financial ruin, a young man sets out to find his grandfather, who had for some time sent letters with support money for the family (Qiaopi) after fleeing to Thailand to escape military conscription. Unburdened by famous faces, these are the kind of films that can be deeply transportive experiences.

Existentialism

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Today’s entry to make you smile runs a slight risk of delving too deep into angst, but hopefully it will be a gift that keeps on giving.

How many of you remember Garfield? For me, that fat ol’ cat with the penchant for lasagne was a staple of my comics diet as a youngster. I’ve not revisited the character at all in the way I have with Calvin & Hobbes or the Peanuts gang…but recently I’ve discovered that the comic is actually at its best when Garfield isn’t in it.

Several years ago Dan Walsh created this webcomic simply by curating the old Garfield strips by Jim Davis, and editing out the title character. What we are left with is hilarious and harrowing, as Jon Arbuckle (Garfield’s owner) goes through his day-to-day without a communicative feline to bounce his ideas off. He faces existence alone, and is revealed to be more than a little batty from the isolation.

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You can find Garfield Minus Garfield here.

For those curious, Jim Davis is familiar with Garfield Minus Garfield…and apparently loves it. You can read his thoughts on it here.

Fighting the End of the World

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We’ve reached the end of the first week in which Esoteric Fish have attempted to lighten your mood a little. It was a little rough – we’ve lost some wonderful creators in these past weeks, along with the devastation caused by our collective microbial adversary.

But as we sign off for the weekend, we leave you all with our best wishes, our prayers for health and safety, and above all, a strategy that could save us all.

At least…maybe it could have saved this franchise.

Stuart Gordon, Gone Beyond – 24th March, 2020

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We bid a very fond farewell this week to Stuart Gordon – visionary director; subversive social commentator; cheeky bugger. In what is proving to be a crushing week for my creative spirit, Gordon has passed away at the age of 72. While he was not a household name the likes of Spielberg or Kubrick, to fans of genre cinema – most especially horror – he stands out among his peers as being one of the most unique filmmakers of the 80’s and 90’s. Whatever else one might say about him, his voice was truly his own.

There’s something of a rite of passage for movie guys of a certain generation – it comes about when one progresses from the point of being fascinated by the VHS covers in the genre sections of their local video store (ask your parents kids), to finally watching the movies themselves. When I was a kid our family would make weekly trips to the bargain video barn, and while my brother and sister searched and made their choices, I would slip away to the horror section, and gaze upon the terrifying, but engrossing, cover art. I would never dream of actually watching one, mind – I was way too intimidated. I was fascinated at their existence though. Many of those cover images are indelibly burned into my mind,  but none moreso than-

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Stuart Gordon’s Re-Animator, based on a short story by H.P. Lovecraft, is an entry point for many into the magnificent fusion of horror and comedy. It is Gordon’s first and most widely known film, but is really indicative of his output as a whole. It is a film that combines genuine heart, biting satire, laugh-out-loud humour and gross-out horror sequences. It is bizarre, upsetting, tense, ridiculous, funny, awful, disgusting and at points in phenomenally bad taste…and I love every second of it.

While best known as a horror director, Gordon actually had a diverse output on screen and on stage, directing plays which may have been his greater passion. Gordon is responsible for bonkers sci-fi schlock Robot Jox, but also for a staple of my childhood, Honey I Shrunk The Kids.

Gordon scared me hysterical, and I loved him for it. Vale Stuart, I doubt we’ll see another like you.

We encourage you to read more of Stuart Gordon, who was a bizarre inspiration, but a great one.

Vale, Albert Uderzo – March 24th, 2020

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There’s not a single person I went to high school with – nor anyone who was a student anywhere at the same time as me – who is unfamiliar with the work of Albert Uderzo, though it is entirely possible they might not quite register the name. Collaborating with his long time creative partner, René Goscinny, they delivered to my generation the most constant source of entertainment on every school property, always located prominently on a display stand of the library.

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The Asterix series.

These timeless comics were a magnificent bridge between generations, nationalities and sub-cultures. Parents happily endorsed their kids reading the adventures of the diminutive resident of the unnamed village resisting Roman occupation and his rotund but kindhearted companion, Obelix. As a comic book reader and collector in general, I lost count of the number of conversations that went something like:

They: What are you reading?
Me: A comic.
They: Oh. I’ve never been into comics. I really like Asterix though.

Asterix was a common ground for so many people in life – a truly remarkable legacy that any artist would dream of being a part. Goscinny, who wrote the series, passed away in 1977, leaving Uderzo as the sole creator until 2008.
I first learned to draw by copying Uderzo’s characters; when I was too sick to go to school, Asterix books were my constant companions; I once dressed up as Asterix for a primary school book parade.

Albert Uderzo made an impact on my life I will never forget.

Still the Greatest Man on the Internet

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It has occurred to me today that some of you may have some difficulty in remembering how to smile. I hereby turn you over to our Master and Sage.

Happy Thursday.

Max Von Sydow – Five Farewells: Citizen X

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For the longest time, Max Von Sydow was one of those perennial “faces” in film. You know, the ones who show up and make you go “Hey! That’s the guy from…” I’m speaking of my personal experience of course. As such, he was never someone that I was particularly looking for when I picked out movies at the video store, or took recommendations from one of my High School French teachers. For the life of me I can’t remember how we got into something of a contest – recommending movies to each other that had not seen theatrical release in Australia. The goal was to go obscure, but still give a hook to convince one another that the movie was actually worth watching. Continue reading →

It’s time to play some music…

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If you have stumbled across this today, seeking some sense of relief from anxiety or fear regarding the world at this moment in time,

then please, even for just a moment, allow me to share that which never fails to make me smile.

Ladies and Gentlemen…Fozzie and Rowlf.

Hope that brightened your day…even just a little.

Be blessed.