films and cinemas

HOT Spots Summer Edition 2010 and Summer Serve

January 24, 2010 ⋅ Post a comment

It’s summer. The sun doesn’t go down till 9pm. Everyone is feeling relaxed and refreshed. So why not spend some time discovering, or rediscovering, the great things Melbourne offers in summer? If browsing through MEL: HOT OR NOT doesn’t provide you with enough inspiration, pick up Hot Spots Summer Edition 2010, a cute booklet produced [...]

HOT: The Road

January 21, 2010 ⋅ Post a comment

Today we have a guest post from our regular movie reviewer, Yalin, on the highly anticipated movie, The Road. Thanks Yalin! If you’d like to become a guest-blogger too, just send me an email. What distinguishes The Road (based on Cormac McCarthy‘s novel) from other post-apocalyptic films is John Hillcoat’s focus on the realistic issues [...]

HOT: Up in the Air, Classic Cinema, 9 Gordon St, Elsternwick

January 15, 2010 ⋅ 2 comments

Up in the Air does the almost impossible – it makes redundancy humorous. Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) is a corporate downsizing gun-for-hire who flies around the country firing employees for bosses who are too cowardly to do the dirty work themselves. He’s a smooth operator, full of pretend concern and oft-repeated platitudes but with just [...]

NOT: It’s Complicated

January 14, 2010 ⋅ Post a comment

Today, another guest post from our film reviewer Yalin. Thanks! If you’d like to become a guest-blogger too, just send me an email. I am a little confused with It’s Complicated, Nancy Meyers’ latest film. It’s blessed with great acting from Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin, but the overall feeling is fake and [...]

HOT: The Men Who Stare at Goats

December 26, 2009 ⋅ One comment

Say hi to my new guest blogger Yalin! Born and bred in Istanbul, matured (mostly) in the US and now London-based, Yalin is going to giving us the northern hemisphere scoop on upcoming movies before they’re released in Australia. Yalin’s a movie buff who used to write long term papers during university on the characters [...]

NOT: The Lovely Bones

December 25, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

Today’s guest post is another review from our resident film guru, Yalin. Thanks Yalin! Jackson’s latest outing The Lovely Bones is definitely not an epic film, which has been his forte. By contrast, it is a decidedly small drama with an ensemble cast that’s as good as it gets. On top of that, Jackson’s signature [...]

HOT: Ponyo, Ford Fiesta Moonlight Cinema, Royal Botanic Gardens, Birdwood Avenue, South Yarra

December 19, 2009 ⋅ 2 comments

Over the years, RM and I have been to Moonlight Cinema many times together – as friends, as friends-dating-other-people, as kinda-a-bit-more-than-friends and as boyfriend-girlfriend. It holds a special place in both of our memories of Melbourne, and I wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d proposed on a picnic rug at Breakfast At Tiffany’s (a sure [...]

HOT: Nowhere Boy, Cinema Nova, 380 Lygon St, Carlton

December 18, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

Poor John Lennon. Nowhere Boy is an engaging biopic directed by conceptual artist Sam Taylor-Wood about the turbulent teenage years of the Beatles’ life in post-war Liverpool. From age five he’s brought up by his strict and stern Aunt Mimi and kindly Uncle George and then he discovers that after all these years his mother [...]

HOT: In Search of Beethoven, Cinema Nova, 380 Lygon St, Carlton

December 16, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

Who would have thought that a documentary about Beethoven would be so popular? We tried to get tickets to sold-out sessions of In Search of Beethoven twice before we finally managed to get seats. First things first – I am a great admirer of Beethoven. I love his passionate wildness, the musical innovations he developed [...]

HOT Alert: Week of 7 December 2009

December 6, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

You know those crazy spinning Frankenstein heads? That’s what I feel like right now. It’s definitely the silly season! In the diary this week: Preview of new French hit film ‘French Kissers’ at Palace Como on Tuesday 8 December; Aesop shopping night at their QV store on Wednesday 9 December. Join them for some wine [...]