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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 11 June 2025

On 20 June 1975, almost 50 years to the day, Jaws was first released on over 400 screens in the United States.  It propelled the career of a young Steven Spielberg, it became the highest grossing movie of the year, and it intensified our fear of sharks.  A new generation of filmmakers have since put their own spin on this niche genre, sometimes dramatic and sometimes comedic, but no other shark film has achieved such a cultural breakthrough.

The latest director to “dip his toes in the water” is Australian Sean Byrne (The Loved Ones) with Dangerous Animals, shot here on the Gold Coast.  Jai Courtney (Terminator Genisys) stars as Tucker, a scruffy boat operator who runs a small shark cage diving business for tourists.  I’m reminded of the Latin phrase “caveat emptor” or, in English, “let the buyer beware”.  Customers should be reading Google reviews because Tucker is not someone you want to deal with.

Put simply, he’s a psychopath.  He kidnaps young people, often loners and backpackers, and dangles them from a crane at the back of his boat.  He adds a splash of blood in the water and then waits for hungry sharks to sink their sharp teeth into fresh meat.  It gets worse.  Tucker films the killings with an old VHS camcorder and unemotively rewatches the tapes while sitting inside his cabin eating breakfast.  You’d think cops might have caught on at some point but meh, it’s a minor plot quibble.

Tucker’s latest target is Zephyr (Harrison), an American on holidays in Australia to enjoy our wonderful surfing conditions.  She wakes up to find herself handcuffed to a metal bedframe in the boat’s hull and once the reality of situation sets in, Zephyr knows she has only has 24 hours to outsmart Tucker and escape.  Someone with a role to play is Moses (Heuston), a young, inquisitive Aussie she had a romantic fling with just prior to the abduction.

When the film is good, it’s very good.  First-time writer Nick Lepard has crafted a workable script filled with tense moments while Jai Courtney enhances the material with his unsettling performance.  You’ll be left wondering how Zephyr will extricate herself from life-threatening peril and you’ll feel the anxiety as she tries to keep her plans from the observant Tucker.  Coming in at a taught 98 minutes, the movie should also be praised for avoiding a long-winded set-up and getting straight to the suspense.

On the flipside, when the film is bad, yeah, it’s bad.  It’s laughable to see Zephyr and Moses having calm discussions, with a splash of romance, when realising they’re likely to die.  There are a few too many convenient plot points where a heroic character is seconds away from freedom but comes unstuck (one on a beach is particularly annoying).  Acknowledging the film was made on a shoestring budget, the visual effects and camera trickery are also too obvious.

Jaws playfully used the tagline “don’t go in the water” while Dangerous Animals flips that on its head by saying “you’re safter in the water.”  It’s an entertaining horror ride that reminds us that humans can be scarier than any shark.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 28 May 2025

He’s been in the business for three decades and Wes Anderson shows no signs of altering the style which has made him one of Hollywood’s most distinguishable directors.  He’s known for quirky characters, a dry sense of humour, colourful costumes, symmetrical sets, and a fast-panning camera.  The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou is my favourite Anderson flick but you could arguably pick anything from his extensive catalogue and enjoy yourself (unless offbeat comedies aren’t your thing).

The Phoenician Scheme stars Oscar winner Benecio del Toro (Traffic) as Zsa-Zsa Korda, an uber-wealthy entrepreneur who is despised/envied (take your pick) for his success.  He’s dodged numerous assassination attempts, and the movie opens with him comically surviving another plane crash.  Korda knows he’ll die “sooner rather than later” and so he’s appointed his only daughter (Threapleton), currently training to be a Catholic nun, as sole heir to his lucrative business empire.

The bulk of the film is spent following the pair as they travel across the fictious country of Phoenicia and woo business partners for a series of transformational infrastructure projects that will generate a 150-year income stream.  A boardroom full of conniving rivals have undermined Korda’s venture by increasing the price of steel rivets and so it’s a question of which co-investors will fund the cash flow “gap” to ensure the projects proceed as intended.

It’s a fast-moving, joke-filled narrative and, like most Anderson outings, multiple viewings will be required to fully grasp the humour and creative flourishes.  I’m not sure every scene works (Scarlett Johansson is underutilised) but there’s enough insane nuttiness to keep you smiling – from Tom Hanks and Bryan Cranston playing basketball through to a band of guerillas shooting up a stylish nightclub.  It’s a great cast with a deadpan del Toro leading from the front as the film’s unflinching protagonist.

The Phoenician Scheme is shallower than other Anderson works when it comes to heart and emotion.  Others have tackled darker, meatier issues including questionable parenting (The Royal Tenenbaums), nostalgia (The Grand Budapest Hotel), and young love (Moonrise Kingdom).  The movie fleetingly delves into themes such as family, colonization, religion, and the afterlife but not to an extent that will question your views on the world.  Anderson’s emphasis here is farcical comedy as opposed to drama.  That doesn’t make it a bad movie (my thumbs are still up) but it’s not as memorable as I’d have hoped.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 01 June 2025

Was this screenplay created using artificial intelligence?  Karate Kid: Legends is as clichéd and cheesy as anything we have seen all year.  It’s centred on Li Fong (Wang), an English-speaking teenager who, after his mother accepts a new job, has moved from his home in Beijing to the hustle and bustle of New York City.  Li loves kung fu but, after his older brother was tragically killed in a fight-gone-wrong, mum has laid down the law and said he cannot fight under any circumstances.

That changes when Li walks into a neighbourhood pizza shop and befriends the owner, Victor (Jackson), and his hardworking daughter, Mia (Stanley).  The 40-something-year-old Victor owes money to violent goons (times are tough in the pizza industry) and so, as a former boxer, he decides to get back in the ring and win the cash needed to save his business.  He weirdly asks the inexperienced Li to help him train for the one-off fight.

This gets Li’s own competitive juices flowing and so he enters something – an annual kung fu tournament with a winner-takes-all cash prize of $50,000 (yet the number of entrants is bizarrely low).  Li’s skills are underwhelming, to say the least, and so he enlists the services of his great uncle (Chan) and the veteran Daniel LaRusso (Macchio) as part of his own preparation.  Despite their age, they magically teach him everything within a week… and it’s off to the tournament we go!  Oh, and did I mention that Li has fallen in love with Mia and will have to fight her ex-boyfriend at the competition?

The rushed nature to several subplots makes the script even worse and yet, the film is (kind of) redeemed by a fun lead performance from newcomer Ben Wang (American Born Chinese).  He infuses Li with likeable charm and hence, he becomes an easy character to applaud in his quest to find love and success.  Saving the best scene for last, a kung fu clash at sunset atop a Manhattan high rise, also works in the movie’s favour.

If you are wondering where this fits into the Karate Kid universe, it serves as a follow-on to the successful television series Cobra Kai, running from 2018 to 2025, which itself was a spin-off set three decades after the events of The Karate Kid which first premiered in 1984.  The original earned an Oscar nomination for star Pat Morita and while this new instalment will satisfy families looking for easy-to-digest entertainment, you will not be hearing its name at next year’s Oscars ceremony.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 27 May 2025

Australian brothers Danny and Michael Philippou found fame in 2023 when their debut feature, Talk to Me, grossed close to $100 million USD at the international box-office.  It also won 8 AACTA Awards including a deserved statuette for best picture of the year.  Horror flicks can be formulaic, especially when it comes to big-budget, franchise stuff, but the Philippou brothers crafted an imaginative movie where the refreshing focus was on characters as opposed to gimmicky frights.  If you haven’t seen it, put it on top of your “must watch” list.

I’m pleased to report their next outing, Bring Her Back, is even better.  They’re continuing with the horror genre, but this is an original screenplay unconnected with Talk to Me.  It’s centred on two siblings, Andy (Barratt) and Piper (Wong), who been placed in a temporary home after a tragic event.  Their new foster mum is Laura (Hawkins) and within seconds of meeting her, audiences will know she’s an odd human.  It’s a testament to the versatile talent of Oscar nominee Sally Hawkins (Blue Jasmine), who we’re accustomed to seeing in “friendlier” roles, that she can create such an unsettling character so quickly.

It’s unwise to reveal too many plot points as I’d prefer crowds to experience the film with as little background information as possible.  I have much respect for the Philippou brothers and co-writer Bill Hinzman for the way they’ve produced a movie which induces anxiety from start to finish.  From an introduction involving a bathroom shower, through to sequence involving a muddy puddle, there were many times where I raised my eyebrows in surprise and thought “wow, they actually went there.”

Bring Her Back gives off a similar vibe to Ari Aster’s Hereditary in the way it blends realistic family drama with the wild supernatural.  It reminds us that emotional manipulation is just as scary as any physical weapon.  I cared genuinely about Andy and Piper and was deeply invested in their fate (they aren’t dispensable like a hackneyed slasher film).  Australian newcomer Sora Wong, who is vision impaired in real life, and English actor Billy Barratt (Responsible Child) are to be praised for the breadth they bring to their respective characters.

Enhanced by the striking cinematography of Aaron McLisky, Bring Her Back is not a movie you’ll soon forget – because of both its disturbing content and its directorial brilliance.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 01 June 2025

Described as the “First Lady of the American theatre”, the fictitious Lillian Hall (Lange) is one of the all-time greats.  She’s performed in 206 plays across 49 years, she’s won countless awards, and she’s recognised by the public when walking the streets of New York City.  Her latest production is in a revival of Anton Chevkov’s The Cherry Orchard.  Under the guidance of young director David Flemming (Williams), the cast and crew are in full rehearsal mode as they prepare to open in front of sold-out crowds.

The premise makes for an interesting character study.  Hall has become the central figure of a universe that everyone else revolves around.  She’s a diva who likes her ego stroked but, at the same time, she’s a somewhat private woman who likes maintaining an aura of mysteriousness.  She’s become so accustomed to being a revered celebrity that it’s almost impossible to discern who is the “real” Lillian Hall as opposed to the person who charms audiences and the media.

We watch as several people interact with Hall and try to see through her tough exterior.  Her grown daughter (Rabe) wants to spend more time with her mother, sometimes for questionable reasons, but Hall is more devoted to work than family.  Her long-time assistant (Bates) has become a close confidante but the line between friend and employee is blurry.  The young director of the current show (Williams) struggles to critique his leading actress given her experience vastly exceeds his own.

The film’s dramatic elements are elevated when, after flubbing a few lines, Hall sees a doctor and is diagnosed with a form of dementia.  Denial is her first instinct but once reality kicks in, she must confront an uncertain future.  The artistic endeavour that has brought fame and fortune is about to ripped away in a cruel manner.  The most pressing short-term issue is The Cherry Orchard itself.  Can Hall find a way to get through the current show and “go out on top” without risking her reputation?

A few plot points are superfluous (like Pierce Brosnan as her chatty next-door neighbour) but The Great Lillian Hall draws you in thanks to a great lead performance from Oscar winner Jessica Lange (Blue Sky) who captures the many facets of a complex character.  Kathy Bates (Misery) blends comedy and tragedy in a Kathy Bates-type role, while Cindy Hogan (American Underdog) steals every scene as a no-nonsense producer who realises the show is in strife.

80-year-old director Michael Cristofer, who has a long history as an actor and playwright in the theatre, keeps the film moving at a brisk pace by weaving “making of” interviews within the material.  Cristofer understands the subject and it’s another reason why The Great Lillian Hall is an engaging watch.