Tag Archives: movies

Now Showing – 9 July, 2026

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Is today your ‘movie day’? Here’s what you can check out at the cinemas this week!

Moana – The Disney Live Action Adaptation Engine™ is still rolling, ‘updating’ the last officially crowned “Disney Princess” for her tenth anniversary. Directed by Thomas Kail (who oversaw the pretty spectacular Hamilton stage-film) the film is promising a Gus Van Sant’s Psycho level retread. Not only that but Dwayne Johnson himself live-prises his role as demi-god Maui, while Jemaine Clement once again voices Tamatoa. Relative newcomer Catherine Laga’aia takes the mantle of Moana, with welcome support from the legendary Rena Owen (Once Were Warriros) as Gramma Tala. Both the pig and the chicken are featured!

First Light – First-time Aussie Writer/Director James J. Robinson sees his debut come to screens this week. A co-production between Australia and The Philippines, the film features a Filipino cast portraying the members of a remote Luzon convent. Robinson has said that the project was both a way of connecting with his own Filipino heritage, as well as exploring issues surrounding his Catholic upbringing. The story of middle aged Sister Yolanda, who begins to struggle with her faith following a tragic occurrence, will likely resonate with those who have wrestled with their own doubt, faced the disappointing reality of institutions and lived in the shadow of colonialism.

Evil Dead Burn – This franchise is the gift that keeps on giving! While others wrangle with the disappointment of blockbuster debuts that can never be matched in sequels, the Evil Dead series have largely maintained a consistent level of quality because every one of them knows what to prioritise: Buckets and buckets of blood. The reigns have been handed to Sébastien Vaniček along with co-writer Florent Bernard and minimal supervision from OG Producer Rob Tapert and director Sam Raimi. Pitched as a “family reunion from hell”, this looks to be in keeping with the black humour and visceral thrills of previous installments. Groovy!

The Invite – Olivia Wilde helms this remake of the Spanish film The People Upstairs (2020), from a screenplay by Will McCormack and Rashida Jones. Something of a French Bedroom Farce, Wilde stars alongside Seth Rogen as a strained married couple who host their upstairs neighbours (Penélope Cruz and Edward Norton) for dinner. Not being adequately prepared to host, and unable to stop bickering is embarrassing enough, but as the evening progresses and everyone becomes far more candid, the cringe-humour escalates.

The Mandalorian and Grogu – Review

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Directed by Jon Favreau from a story and screenplay by Favreua, Dave Filoni & Noah Kloor, starring Pedro Pascal, Jeremy Allen White, Steve Blum, Sigourney Weaver with Paul Sun-Hyung Lee & Martin Scorcese.

The Mandaloiran and Grogu is at its best when the filmmakers are reveling in the pulpy, adventure serial roots that were the initial inspiration for this whole Star Wars thing in the first place – those moments when the Lone Wolf and Cub of the galaxy far, far away, overcome strange and unfamiliar worlds and monsters mostly by their wits, space magic and a jetpack.

and maybe a little help from the Babus

To be sure, the bulk of the latest Star Wars film is fun in the popcorn cinema sense: gunfights, explosions, chases, creatures, spaceships. Where the film struggles to fully enthrall are the elements that call attention to characters and history that has come before in the franchise. “Lore” is the word. The film does not collapse under the weight of these elements, remaining consistently entertaining, but when the cinematic language is nudging, asking “You remember this guy? Huh?” it may lose audience members who have not consumed the entire canon to date.

For the most part the film is accessible to people who have not seen the series of which it is a continuation. The title characters are broadly drawn, and barely need dialogue to make themselves known: The stoic, hard-edged mercenary with a deep tenderness for his ward, an unwaveringly loyal and gifted infant. Together they hunt villains to the lawful order of the universe. The details barely matter; a plot involving twin giant slug crime-lords offering up a wanted war-criminal in exchange for the rescue of their nephew also barely matters. It is a mechanism to propel the duo forward to the next set piece – some of which are not quite as engaging as others. There are sweet, quieter character moments that can genuinely tug at the heart, though those loaded with dialogue can make the eyes glaze over a little.

The performances are a little harder to quantify in this kind of picture. Pedro Pascal as ‘Mando’ has a compelling voice, and radiates pathos and menace with a look in the few moments when his face is shown. However the film credits an additional two performers for the role – Lateef Crowder as the stunt performer and Brendan Wayne as the ‘suit performer’. Grogu (Baby Yoda) is brought to life by a team of practical creature builders, puppeteers, digital effects animators and sound designers, and is arguably more compelling than his adoptive father. Jeremy Allen White (The Bear) lends vocal talent to the role of Rotta the Hutt, though the creature itself is a fully digital performance and the voice is modulated so as to be unrecognisable as the one time Boss. Most other characters appear for brief interactions only, with Weaver’s peacekeeper Colonel Ward assigning missions and handling exposition, but Martin Scorcese (yes…that one) drawing genuine smiles as a nervy alien informant.

“A theme park ride, buddy…it’s a theme park ride!”

The Mandalorian and Grogu is, ultimately, disposable. Like those Serials of yesteryear, which were never intended to be watched repeatedly, this film is a fun story that sits in the progression of a larger one, but won’t particularly reward a revisit.

On a personal note…

I am a bit of a recovering Star Wars tragic and I recently introduced my young son to the original films, on which he reflected “Good, but I wouldn’t watch it again.”

He did, however, come with me to watch this film, and immediately insisted that we watch the series together.

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 Bride!

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Written and directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal, starring Jessie Buckley, Christian Bale, Annette Benning, Penélope Cruz, Peter Sarsgaard

A recurring complaint in criticism is the lack of originality in cinemas. Whatever one’s overall feeling about Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride!, the uniqueness of the film is not in question.

Sold in the marketing as both adaptation of the 1818 novel Frankenstein (indeed, Gyllenhaal shares her screenwriting credit with author Mary Shelly) and remake of 1935’s Bride of Frankenstein (oft lauded as the greatest of all the “Universal Monster Movies”), in truth the film is neither. It is very much its own, unique, wild, almost indefinable monster. ‘Inspired by’ may be a more apt, if less marketable description of this: a historic, gothic-horror, crime, romance, road-trip, feminist, black dramedy musical.

Jessie Buckley stars as the title character – a woman brought back from the dead in 1936 at the behest of Christian Bale’s “Frank”, the original Frankenstein monster now pining for a companion who is like himself. This woman is also possessed (periodically) by the spirit of Mary Shelly herself, who narrates aspects of the film, and can influence others in her vicinity when the needs arises. Returned without memories of her own, this Bride sets out with Frank to build a life but must repeatedly contend with misogyny and abuse at the hands of men. As her (and Shelly’s) anger grows the couple hit the road on a Bonnie-and-Clyde type crime spree. Any effort to recap or summarise the story will, frankly, make it seem incomprehensible, and ultimately the film is less concerned with narrative than with atmosphere, attitude and vibe.

The Bride! is a melting pot of inspirations and ideas in which the connective tissue to the original sources can be found, but ultimately do not infuse the Big Ideas of the film, apart from the obvious “mad scientist brings corpse back to life through psuedo-science alchemy”. Gyllenhaal very clearly comments on the cultural landscape regarding abuse of women, and has found in Shelly’s work a launching pad for something of a cinematic primal scream. While these ideas and the attitude of the film along with some pretty great production design (the title character looks perfect in her ‘imperfections’) are all definitely interesting, they never really coalesce into a clear narrative. Put more simply, the movie certainly feels as though Gyllenhaal wants to “say something”, but any message gets lost in the chaos.

That chaos can be a great deal of fun. Buckley unhinges herself in the best possible way and is a magnetic presence on screen. Bale may once again be the MVP, committing completely and utterly to the pitiful and simultaneously monstrous…well, Monster, while continually directing his and the audiences attention to the object of his affections, The Bride. There is a gleeful sense of freedom in following the couple on their escalating crime spree which revels in crime-genre staples (the couple indulges in champagne, caviar and fur-coats) and when the musical numbers hit, once getting past the initial question “where did this come from?” they are energetic and fun.
With the exception of Benning’s absurdly/incredibly named Dr. Cornelia Euphronious who is a delight in her mad scientist role, and Jeannie Berlin as her live-in maid who has an amusingly cantakerous relationship with her employer (and perhaps partner?), none of the other characters are given room in the film to develop. While much time is given to soaking in the central pair’s “life to the full” montage, story beats that are supposed to be driving the narrative go unexplored and underexplained, leaving a sense that the film is just leaping from scene to scene. The conceit of Shelly as a possessing spirit/force and narrator/manipulator might have been intended to account for the “random” moments, but itself is poorly defined and creates confusion as to exactly who and what is driving the story and making decisions.

If this hits with an cult crowd in the years to come, more power to it. The appeal of a given film can be any number of factors, like aesthetics, music and even collections of moments that might not gel as a whole, but each make their own cumulative impact. The Bride! owes more to arthouse sensibilities than anything else, and while it might not be an enduring classic, it is insane and wonderful that a film like this came to screens in the year 2026.


On a personal note…

As I departed the cinema that night, the attendant asked me “How was it?”

After a beat to think, my answer was “…It’s my kind of weird.”

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.

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.

Max Von Sydow – Five Farewells: Flash Gordon

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So I’ve referenced the fact that, to me at least, Max Von Sydow was an actor who was for the longest time one of those faces that very recognisable, but just never registered in the way that Harrison Ford or Tom Cruise or Sam Jones did. Whether or not this is shared by anyone else, I long had the impression that Uncle Max was no simply a “face”, but he had always been and “old face”. I recognised him as an old man (or at least older) in the films that I remembered him from – and this is a point we’ll come back to in a later post.

The truth is, however, that he was not perpetually “70 or so” – he was once a young, strong man with a young, strong face, and the first time I realized this was when I finally saw

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Oh Son…that is the cover from a “Choose Your Own Adventure” book.

Flash Gordon

Year: 1980
Director: Mike Hodges
Writers: Lorenzo Semple, Jr. & Michael Allin
Starring: Sam J. Jones, Melody Anderson, Ornella Muti, Timothy Dalton, Mariangela Melato, Brian Blessed, Peter Wyngarde, Topol and…Max Von Sydow.
Based on characters created by Alex Raymond.

If you are unfamiliar with the 1980 film that defines “campy schlock”, you are most certainly familiar with it’s magnificent theme song by the legendary band Queen. It’s the one that goes *bu bu bu bu bu bom bom bom bom Bom Bom BOm BOm BOM BOM BOM* FLASH…AA-AAAAAAA, Saviour of the Un-I-Verse!”

I lack the necessary words to convey just how important it is that you go out and watch this movie immediately. Whatever the stories behind the making of this beautiful mess, watching it has felt a little like watching a massive prank being pulled on one man by his college-mates, plus a few professors. So many British thespians (plus Topol!) appear in this flick, and every one of them has stepped straight out of the River of Ham, and are having a marvelous time. The only guy “playing it straight” is the films lead, Sam J. Jones as Flash Gordon. The result is hilariously entertaining, as the titular hero rockets to the planet Mongo to prevent galactic tyrant Ming the Merciless (Sydow) from destroying the earth.

Sydow effortlessly dominates this movie, establishing as magnetic presence that fixes the audience to the screen every time he shows up. I mentioned that in his great career, Sydow showed up in a fair bit of sci-fi or horror schlock, but in most roles he’s playing with sense of serious grace, raising the standard of the film he’s in. Flash Gordon is that rare occasion when he gets in on the over-the-top glory with his performance.

Flash Gordon has more than earned its place in the cult classic vault, and Max Von Sydow is a big part of that.

Oh go on then…I’ll leave you with the song.

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.

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 →