Clueless turns 25 this year. The film, a loose adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma, is a cult classic that has spawned books, a TV series, a musical and countless fashion tributes.
New Australian film Wild Butterfly is a story of stigma and discrimination directed towards people who use drugs. And a reminder of what can happen when trauma and drug use are played for click bait.
A new film uses pastiche to explore the whimsical world of cartoonist Michael Leunig - but the man himself gives little away and the film skates over his curlier controversies.
Jojo’s allegiances in the film are split between an imagined friends and a real hideaway.
Fox Searchlight
A Disney Hitler comedy by the director of Hunt for the Wilderpeople tests the line between funny and Führer.
Marianne Ihlen: she remains stuck in the role of the beautiful ingénue, the part-time lover, in Nick Broomfield’s documentary.
Copyright Nick Broomfield
Nick Broomfield’s latest documentary explores the romance between Leonard Cohen and Marianne Ihlen. But the film fails to confront the harder truths of the license taken by, and conceded to, creative men.
Finke desert racers travel at more than 160 kilometres an hour, risking life and limb.
Madman Films
The new Netflix film Two Popes focuses on the different outlooks of Popes Benedict and Francis.
Grant, one of the men interviewed in Happy Sad Man. Each of the five men the film focusses on is extremely articulate in describing his experiences with mental illness.
Photo: Shannon Glasson
A new film examines the life and tragic death of a concert pianist once hailed as our nation’s brightest prodigy - and a former PM’s accusations of neglect by cultural leaders.
This is a film about farmyards; single dads; a wedding; a funeral; horses - falling off them and getting back on - all leading to a fast climax and a no-nonsense denouement.
Phoenix Raei plays an Iranian refugee forced to join a fight club in a detention centre in the film Below.
Melbourne International Film Festival
In the film Below, a fight club is set up in a fictional, remote immigration detention centre. However the film’s shock tactics often feel manufactured, and risk exploiting the refugee crisis as mere backdrop.
Adam Goodes in The Australian Dream: in the film he talks of finding an identity in football and with The Sydney Swans.
Melbourne International Film Festival
A flawless French film, a Macedonian parable and a documentary following alt-right strategist Steve Bannon are three of the stand out films from this year’s festival.