SPIT
Rating: M (Coarse language and drug references)
Duration: 102 mins
Director: Jonathan Teplitzky
Cast: David Wenham, Helen Thomson, David Field, David Roberts
Genre: Comedy, crime, drama
Opens: March 6th
Gettin’ Square is one of the greatest, funniest, driest crime caper comedies of all time. Lucky for us it’s Australian as well, and behold, a sequel to be blessedly thankful for! After 20 years on the run overseas, small-time, hopelessly inept ex-criminal Johnny Spitieri slips back into Australia on a false passport only to find himself locked up in an Immigration Detention Centre with a massive target on his back as old enemies come looking for him, determined to settle old scores. As he struggles to stay one step ahead, the resourceful Spit finds new friends in detention, teaching them his version of mateship, and what it means to be truly Australian.
BLACK BAG
Rating: CTC
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Cast: Cate Blanchett, Michael Fassbender, Regé-Jean Page
Genre: Thriller
Opens: March 13
Oh we love a good spy thriller, especially featuring “Our Cate” and the gorgeous, smouldering (I’m told) Fassbender, directed by Soderbergh, one of the greats of our generation. When his beloved wife Kathryn is suspected of betraying the nation, intelligence agent George Woodhouse faces the ultimate test – loyalty to his marriage or his country. A stylish tense tale that will have you guessing right up until the end – surely Cate can’t be the one?
OH, CANADA
Rating: CTC
Duration: 95 mins
Director: Paul Schrader
Cast: Richard Gere, Uma Thurman, Michael Imperioli, Jacob Elordi
Genre: Drama
Local heart throb and rising star Jacob Elordi scores the role of playing the young Richard Gere in this tale of age and reflection. Fiery but feeling his years and his illness, ailing filmmaker Leonard Fife (Gere) wants to tell his life story, unfiltered, before it’s too late. As the director of lauded documentary exposés, he has much to be proud of, but his avoidance of the Vietnam War draft and his past relationships harbour thorny truths. Finally choosing to reveal the truth and lies in his life and career, Leonard sits for an extended filmed interview with his former student Malcolm, charging ahead with candid stories about his younger self in the fractious 1960s and beyond. At Leonard’s insistence, his wife and indispensable partner, Emma, hears it all. Can’t wait to see Uma back on the big screen… been too long.
FLOW
Rating: G (Some scenes may scare very young children)
Duration: 85 mins
Director: Gints Zilbalodis
Genre: Animation, fantasy, adventure
Opens: March 20
A sublime cinematic experience. The world seems to be coming to an end, teeming with the vestiges of a human presence. Cat is a solitary animal, but as his home is devastated by a great flood, he finds refuge on a boat populated by various species, and will have to team up with them despite their differences. In the lonesome boat sailing through mystical overflowed landscapes, they navigate the challenges and dangers of adapting to this new world. A film like no other, in a Japanese Manga style of animation, this is a journey and lesson we all need to see.
THE RULE OF JENNY PEN
Rating: CTC
Duration: 103 mins
Director: James Ashcroft
Cast: Geoffrey Rush, Ian Mune, John Lithgow
Genre: Thriller
Opens: March 20
Finally – Geoffrey Rush, Oscar winner and one of our finest Thespians, returns to the screen in a psychological thriller alongside a twisted and nasty John Lithgow. Confined to a secluded rest home and trapped within his stroke-ridden body, a former Judge must stop an elderly psychopath who employs a child’s puppet to abuse the home’s residents with deadly consequences. And as movie making goes… if there’s a Puppet or Doll, it will be evil and scary!
