News

MGM+ new original fantasy-adventure comedy, The Portable Door will debut exclusively on MGM+ and coming exclusively to the U.S. market in April. The comedy stars multi-time Golden Globe nominee Sam Neill and Patrick Gibson, joining two-time Academy Award winner Christoph Waltz and Sophie Wilde. The award-winning Jeffrey Walker directed the film, which is adapted by Leon Ford (Griff the Invisible) from Tom Holt’s popular seven-book fantasy series.

The movie centers on Paul Carpenter (Gibson) and Sophie Pettingel (Wilde), lowly, put-upon interns who begin working at the mysterious London firm J.W. Wells & Co., and become increasingly aware that their employers are anything but conventional. Charismatic villains Humphrey Wells (Waltz), the CEO of the company, and middle manager Dennis Tanner (Neill) are disrupting the...

Sam Neill, Christoph Waltz and Patrick Gibson will head the cast of “The Portable Door,” a fantasy adventure film adapted from the series of novels by Patrick Holt.

The film is now shooting in Queensland, Australia, with Jeffrey Walker directing from a script by Leon Ford (“Griff the Invisible”).

The story sees two lowly, put-upon interns at a mysterious London firm, J.W. Wells & Co., become steadily aware that their employers are anything but conventional. The charismatic villains who run the company are disrupting the world of magic by bringing modern corporate strategy to ancient magical practices.

The film is a Jim Henson Company and Story Bridge Films production and is produced by Blanca Lista from Henson and Todd Fellman from Story Bridge.

Sales agent Arclight Films is handling worldwide rights for all territories outside of North America, Australia and New Zealand. Sky will release the film as a Sky Original in the U.

Production in Tasmania scheduled for spring 2020.

WaZabi Films co-founders Anick Poirier and Lorne Price continue to assemble a prestige slate and on the eve of Venice and Toronto have boarded sales on zombie thriller Devil Inside to star Australian talents Rachael Taylor and Ryan Kwanten.

Jonathan auf der Heide will direct, while David Ngo produces, and Bryce Menzies (Hotel Mumbai) and Clement Dunn (Ghost Hunters) are the executive producers. Oscar-winning New South Wales-based prosthetics and effects aces Odd Studio, which has worked on Mad Max: Fury Road and Alien: Covenant among many others, has also come on board.

The elevated...

Kate Mulvany (Photo credit: Getty Images)

Kate Mulvany is making her Us TV series debut in The Hunt, which follows a group of Nazi hunters living in New York City in 1977 and is inspired by real events.

Jordan Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions and Sonar Entertainment are producing the 10-part thriller created by David Weil for Amazon Prime Video.

The Fighting Season, Secret City and The Great Gatsby star is playing Sister Harriet, one of the members of The Hunters who set out on a bloody quest to prevent hundreds of high-ranking Nazi officials from creating a Fourth Reich in the Us.

Logan Lerman plays Jonah Heidelbaum, whose grandmother is killed by a mysterious intruder in their apartment. As he tries to track down the killer he becomes swept up with The Hunters. In his TV series debut Al Pacino plays the Nazi hunter who mentors Jonah.

The cast includes Lena Olin,...

Exclusive: The cast for Amazon Prime Video’s vengeance-driven Nazi-hunting series executive produced by Academy Award winner Jordan Peele continues to grow with Kate Mulvany joining as a series regular and James Le Gros, Ebony Obsidian, Caleb Emery, Henry Hunter Hall and Jeannie Berlin boarding in key recurring roles. They join an already robust cast including Al Pacino, Logan Lerman, Jerrika Hinton, Josh Radnor as well as Lena Olin, Carol Kane, Saul Rubinek, Tiffany Boone, Louis Ozawa Changchien, Greg Austin and Dylan Baker.

The Hunt, created by David Weil, follows a diverse band of Nazi hunters living in 1977 New York City. The Hunters, as they’re known, have discovered that hundreds of high-ranking Nazi officials are living among us and conspiring to create a Fourth Reich in the U.S. The eclectic team of Hunters will set out on a bloody quest to bring the Nazis to justice and thwart their new genocidal plans.

The Bleeding Steel team.

Film production spend in Sydney was worth around $50 million in the last year, according to the City of Sydney.

In 2015—16, the City of Sydney.s film liaison team approved more than 1,300 film and photo shoots across Sydney, including 31 major TV drama series and feature films..

City of Sydney CEO, Monica Barone, said the city has streamlined the application process, making filming in the city easier and cementing Sydney.s lead over other Australian cities as a top film location.

.With China set to overtake the Us as the biggest movie market, we can expect an increase in the number of Asian film productions in Sydney. This puts the spotlight on the best our city has to offer, attracting interest, tourists and investment that supports jobs and the local economy," said Barone.

.Our dedicated film liaison officer provides valuable assistance to producers in scouting and securing filming locations,...

Sales agent Fortissimo Films has filed for bankruptcy.

As first reported by Variety, the company filed for bankruptcy yesterday in Amsterdam, shuttering its offices in Hong Kong, London, Amsterdam and Beijing..

The sales agent began in 1991, founded by Wouter Barendrecht and Helen Loveridge. Michael Werner joined the company four years later and led it from 2009, becoming a partner in the company and producing films such as.Shortbus.and.Mysterious Skin.

Fortissimo specialised in the Asia-Pacific region and was increasingly run out of Hong Kong.

The company's library has over 300 titles, including Scorsese's Shine a Light, Wong Kar Wai.s Chungking Express, Morgan Spurlock.s Super Size Me, Sydney Pollack.s Sketches Of Frank Gehry,.Andrew Jarecki.s Capturing The Friedmans and the film that made a star of Jennifer Lawrence, Debra Granik's Winter's Bone.

Australian titles include Sue Brooks' Looking for Grace and Leon Ford's Griff the Invisible.

Pawno, the debut film of director Paul Ireland which premiered at last year's Miff, will open in cinemas nationally on April 21..

Set in Footscray, Melbourne, the film's cast includes Pawno screenwriter Damian Hill, John Brumpton (Romper Stomper), Kerry Armstrong (Lantana), Tony Rickards (Holding The Man), Maeve Dermody (Griff the Invisible) and Mark Coles Smith (Last Cab to Darwin).

Brumpton plays Les Underwood, the proprietor of an old pawnbroker's shop..

Produced by Paul Ireland and Damian Hills. production company Toothless Pictures, the privately financed feature was shot in Barkly Street, Footscray..

The soundtrack features Tom Waits, Vance Joy, hip-hop group Astronomy Class and Chris Saray..

After premiering it Miff, Pawno premiered internationally at the Black Nights Festival in Tallinn, Estonia.

It has also screened at the Singapore Film Festival and Cinefest Oz in Western Australia.

Pawno is the first feature film to be distributed by the new production and distribution company Mind Blowing World,...

No critic is infallible. It’s an open secret that few of them will admit, but would be remiss to deny. As valuable a resource as the informed film critic can provide when appraising a motion picture, we’re prone to the same random prejudices and peccadillos as anyone else. Sure, professionalism dictates that we diligently strive to check them at the door, but few of even the very best films are recognized as classics on first sight, and any number of random factors – including real-life experience – can skew our perception as we weigh the many factors that lead to a film’s ultimate success or failure.

Citizen Kane (1941), The Wizard of Oz (1939), and Blade Runner (1982) were all panned by critics upon initial release, yet today they’re rightfully considered classics. So what stuck in Pauline Kael’s craw when she turned up her nose at The Graduate, and who...

Casting is underway for The Daughter, a movie which theatre director Simon Stone is adapting from his radical re-imagining of Henrik Ibsen.s The Wild Duck.

Producers Jan Chapman and Nicole O.Donohue are collaborating with Stone, who made his screen debut directing Robyn Nevin, Richard Roxburgh and Cate Blanchett in a segment of Tim Winton.s The Turning.

Shooting is due to start in September. Screen Nsw funded development of the project. Scripted by Stone and Chris Ryan "after Ibsen," the stage production of his 1884 play is set in contemporary rural Australia.

The Belvoir production had rave reviews, typified by Fairfax Media.s Cameron Woodhead who said, .Go see this production of The Wild Duck. Theatre of such delicacy and distillation is vanishingly rare. The ensemble performance is magnificent, the writing effortlessly overheard, the design possesses a chiselled power, and the direction confirms Simon Stone as one of our...

Aaron Pedersen and Mark Leonard Winter have been added to the cast of The Fear of Darkness, writer-director Chris Fitchett.s supernatural thriller which starts shooting on March 6 on the Gold Coast.

They join the already announced cast of Maeve Dermody, Penelope Mitchell and Damien Garvey.

Mitchell (Hemlock Grove, The Vampire Diaries) will play Skye Williams, a patient in a psychiatric clinic who is accused of a gruesome murder. Dermody (Serangoon Road, Griff the Invisible) is Dr Sarah Faithfull, an empathetic psychiatrist who believes there is more to the case.

Pedersen, who played the lead in Ivan Sen.s Mystery Road and is a regular in the ABC Jack Irish telemovies,. will portray Dr Nicholas Trengrove, a criminal psychologist who tries desperately to ensure that those around him stay grounded and not surrender to any imagined horrors in the dark.

Winter, who appears in Craig Monahan.s upcoming drama Healing...

Maeve Dermody, Penelope Mitchell and Damien Garvey have been cast in The Fear of Darkness, a supernatural thriller from writer-director Chris Fitchett which starts shooting March 6 on the Gold Coast.

Dermody (Serangoon Road, Griff the Invisible) will play a brilliant young psychiatrist who is forced to confront the dark creature that dwells deep within her when she investigates the disappearance of a female university student.

Mitchell, who was a regular in the Us TV series Hemlock Grove and appears in The Vampire Diaries, plays a patient in a psychiatric clinic who is accused of a gruesome crime.

Damien Garvey (Rake, Network Ten.s upcoming Secrets & Lies) will portray a cop who investigates the disappearance. Casting of two other key roles is due to be confirmed shortly.

The project was developed through Screen Queensland.s low budget feature film initiative. The producer is Mark Overett (Iron Sky, Separation City,. Unfinished Sky...

Big screen adaptations of popular novels by Irishman Michael Scott and Englishman Tom Holt are to be produced in Australia. Mario Andreacchio bought the rights to The Alchemyst, the first in the series of Scott.s six fantasy novels entitled The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel. Andreacchio will serve as one of the producers on the $75 million film along with Los Angeles-based Greg Coote and other partners who are yet to be revealed. Todd Fellman (Bait, Mental, A Few Best Men) will produce a family film adapted from Holt.s novel The Portable Door for the Jim Henson Co. Both projects came to light on Tuesday at the session Working with the USA- The Eagle & The Kangaroo: Co-financing Across the Pacific at the Screen Forever conference. Coote told the session Andreacchio bought the rights and brought the project to him. He said it would be an Australian production, thus qualifying for the 40% producer offset,...

First shown at Sdcc this year, "Truth In Journalism" has made its way online. A little over a year ago, Thomas Jane and friends shocked Comic-Con by premiering a very cool short film based on The Punisher titled Dirty Laundry. Directed by Phil Joanou, scripted by Chad St. John, and produced by Adi Shankar, the short was a slow burn that eventually erupted into bloody and brutal violence. [Today], producer Adi Shankar is releasing his next short film titled Truth in Journalism, and it stars Ryan Kwanten (Griff the Invisible). Written and directed by Joe Lynch (Wrong Turn II, Knights of Badassdom), the film is sure to excite comic book fans. "The great part of my job is that I get to be an 'administrator of truth.' Crime occurs every 13 seconds in this city. You know we have these statistics? Because guys like me are out on the streets, collecting...

Cast of Jungleboys’ A Moody Christmas

Australian production company Jungleboys will establish a full-time development and research team to work across both broadcast projects and on its online comedy channel Jungleboys.tv.

The move marks the latest step by Jungleboys to move beyond its advertising roots. The production company is also behind sitcom A Moody Christmas, currently airing ABC1.

Jungleboys is is one of four production companies and four feature film producers to receive a government grant from Screen Australia as part of the agency’s 2012 Enterprise Program, which will help implement the team.

Jason Burrows, founder and executive producer of Jungleboys told Mumbrella: ”While we have a business model for advertising, in the past we’ve developed long form ideas ad-hoc. This will give us the chance to create a long form business model. We’ve also talked about having a full-time developer on Jungleboys.tv and we’re constantly looking for new talent.

Has an Australian filmmaker finally cracked the rarely attempted romantic comedy genre? Colin Delaney visits the set of Not Suitable for Children to find out if Oscar nominated, first time feature director Peter Templeman’s flick about testicular cancer has the balls to make it big at the box office.

A mismatched collection of twenty somethings loiter in front of a large old house in Eveleigh, south of Sydney’s Cbd. Goths, surfers, hipsters and stoners make up the group. Inside it’s shoulder-to-shoulder with revellers filling hallways and stairwells. The event is not just thrown together either – flashing lights and disco balls suggest the members of this household take their parties seriously. And the amount of drugs and alcohol circulating certainly deem the environment unsuitable for children.

Encore is on the set of Oscar-nominated Peter Templeman’s feature film debut Not Suitable For Children, starring Ryan Kwanten (True Blood,...

The writer/director and producer duo of an Australian short film which screened in competition at the 2005 Venice Film Festival are looking to create a feature version of the story.

Leon Ford, writer and director of Griff the Invisible, told Encore he and producer Nicole O’Donohue are currently shopping a feature version of their short The Mechanicals at various international film markets.

Ford said: “We started in Cinemart in Rotterdam and we went to Ifm in New York, where we had great responses. Also Nicole was in Cannes recently. It’s just about keeping up a presence.”

The duo have secured international sales agents Paris and New York-based Memento Films, who worked with Cate Shortland on Lore.

The Mechanicals is about factory workers who secretively work within the walls of houses, operating everyday appliances.

O’Donohue produced Griff the Invisible as well as Ford’s short Katoomba and Nash Edgerton’s Spider.

ABC’s catch-up TV platform iview has picked up its first exclusive series in a bid to drive its new mobile platform.

Monday Bites, created, written and directed by a team of comedians including Griff The Invisible director Leon Ford is scheduled to deliver two minute comedy sketches to the ABC’s platform every Monday morning from 6am.

Ford said: “We’ve made 12 episodes and iview will screen it exclusively. Because they’re launching their mobile app they wanted something to screen, so it will screen every Monday morning. The original idea is to give people something to watch every Monday as a pick me up on their way to work.”

The team will also produce and upload extra content to YouTube and Facebook. Ford, who has also been writing for Ten’s Offspring and Nine’s House Husbands, said: “We’ll also make extra bites, 20 seconds sketches and blooper reels to go on YouTube.

There have been a litany of independent superhero movies made since Bryan Singer reignited the genre with 2000's X-Men. Special, Super, Defendor, Griff the Invisible, Paper Man...the list goes on. And while everyone knows that Christopher Nolan changed the game by grounding his Batman films with a feeling of realism, there's a new superhero movie on the way that's actually based on a real-life costumed crusader. Deadline reports that former Marvel Comics hero The Human Fly is getting his own movie, based on the exploits of a stuntman who performed death-defying feats to raise money for charity events. More below! The comic had a brief 19-issue run in the late 70s, tapping into the zeitgeist led by Evel Knievel and featuring the costumed hero occasionally interacting with Marvel heroes like Spider-Man and Daredevil. The comics were based on the life of stuntman Rick Rojatt, though Deadline claims the movie...

Each week within this column we strive to pair the latest in theatrical releases to worthwhile titles currently available on Netflix Instant Watch. This week we offer alternatives to Dark Shadows, God Bless America and Hick.

Tim Burton brings the peculiar tale of the Collins clan to the big screen. Johnny Depp stars as Barnabas Collins, a long-imprisoned vampire unleashed on the 1970s, where he discovers a colorful batch of dysfunctional descendants. Michelle Pfeiffer and Helena Bonham Carter co-star.

Prefer camp with your macabre?

Dark Shadows (1966) Check out the cult classic that started it all. Originally conceived as a moody melodrama, this groundbreaking gothic soap found success following the introduction of tormented vampire Barnabas Collins (Jonathan Frid). From there the Collins family regularly crosses the paths of ghosts, werewolves, and witches. Oh my.

Edward Scissorhands (1990) Or revisit Burton and Depp’s first collaboration, the tale of a modern Frankenstein’s monster with scissors for hands.

If you're not one of the... every single person in America going to see The Avengers (or even if you are!), there's plenty of new (or re-added) material on the Instant Netflix service to keep you busy this weekend. Let's take a look at a charming Australian normal dude superhero movie and a '90s direct to video action flick by a guy who directed a movie about one of The Avengers.

Read more on Your Netflix Instant Weekend: Griff The Invisible, Brain Smasher… A Love Story, and more...

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Screen Australia has invested $5.6 million across four TV projects, including a comedy series for Nine, an ABC telemovie and two shows for Network Ten.

Nine's House Husbands tells the story of four modern Australian families through the eyes of stay at home dads. The ten-part series is produced by Sue Seeary and Drew Proffitt and will be directed by Geoff Bennett and Shirley Barrett. The show's stable of seven writers includes Griff the Invisible screenwriter Leon Ford.

After being commissioned by the ABC last October, Essential Media & Entertainment's adaptation of Peter Temple's novel The Broken Shore has also received funding. The adaptation is written by Andrew Knight, directed by Jeffrey Walker and produced by Ian Collie. It follows big-city detective Joe Cashin as he discovers that all may not be as it appears in a quiet coastal town.

FremantleMedia is producing Mr & Mrs Murder for Ten. The 13-part series...

Another week, another Monday. So it’s time for the rundown of DVDs and Blu-ray’s hitting stores online and offline this week. It’s another packed week, with plenty of movies waiting to take you money, so let us breakdown the new releases and highlight what you should – and shouldn’t – be buying from today, April 16th 2012.

Pick Of The Week

Recoil (DVD/Blu-ray)

A cop turns vigilante after his family is murdered, exacting vengeance on the killers – and then on all criminals who have slipped through the system. Recoil Review

And the rest…

The Ledge (DVD/Blu-ray)

An affair with a neighbour’s wife (Liv Tyler) ends badly when Gavin (Charlie Hunnam) is forced onto a high rise ledge and given one hour to jump by a jealous husband (Patrick Wilson). A cop (Terrence Howard) is looking to save both their lives but will he have enough time?...

This Year's superhero releases are not all about rising, avenging or web-spinning. Don't forget Griff The Invisible, which materialises on Blu-ray and DVD in the UK on April 16.

By day, Griff is just a shy, socially inept office worker, easily bullied and ignored. By night, he turns into a dark-suited vigilante to go fighting crimes and righting wrongs.

Unaware of this dual identity, his brother Tim (Patrick Brammall) is concerned about his behaviour and while trying to get him to socialise more, Griff meets the beautiful but obsessive scientist Melody (Maeve Dermody), who has discovered a way of walking through walls.

It's a dynamic team-up that unexpectedly unleashes new-found powers that will transform all their lives.

A quirky caped comedy that blends superheroics with romance, Griff The Invisible is the feature film debut of Leon Ford, a former actor who has appeared in The Pacific and Hex.

Shot on location in Sydney,...

Two Australian short films, both about the journey of a young boy, have won prizes at the Berlin Film Festival including the Crystal Bear, best short film Award.

The win marks the third year in a row an Australian has won the award.

Julian, written and directed by Matthew Moore was awarded the prestigious Crystal Bear Award for best short film in Generation Kplus at the festival.

The 13 minute film, about the day in a life of a nine-year-old was produced by Matthew Moore and Robert Jago, with executive producers Ian Darling, Mark Kilmurry, Phillip Verity, Joel Moss, Tara O’Sullivan, Lisa Mann and Katrina Moore.

Of Julian, the Berlin jury said: ““A sophisticated film which accompanies a misunderstood boy on his way to popularity with wit and lightness of touch. The fantastic actor displays his phenomenal talent in portraying the smart protagonist – and surprises us in the process. Really great cinema!

It seems controversy leads to awards. The two big winners at last night.s inaugural Aacta Awards were thriller feature film Snowtown and TV drama series The Slap. Both renowned for their controversial nature, the film and TV series netted four and five gongs respectively.

Snowtown, about Australian serial killer John Bunting who befriends a 16-year-old, was honoured in the Best Direction (Justin Kurzel), Best Adapted Screenplay (Shaun Grant), Best Actor (Daniel Henshall) and Best Supporting Actress (Louise Harris) categories.

The last two awards were particularly impressive as neither actor had appeared in a feature film before. While Henshall had previously acted in such shows as Out of the Blue, it was Harris. first ever acting role.

The four gongs awarded last night at the Sydney Opera House brings the film.s tally to an impressive six Aacta Awards after receiving Best Editing (Veronika Jenet Ase) and Best Sound (Frank Lipson Mpse,...

Director Stephan Elliott took the opportunity to deliver a serve to film critic Jim Schembri at the inaugural Aacta awards at the Sydney Opera House last night. Elliott bit back at Schembri’s review of A Few Best Men, which branded the film ‘unreleasable’. Despite Schembri’s review, the film opened with solid box office takings last weekend. In a lengthy rant, Elliott slammed Schembri for “personal attacks” within the review of the film as he lashed out at people unwilling to support the Australian film industry. Elliott told the audience that his tirade would be removed from Channel Nine’s delayed broadcast of the awards as producers had flagged this, along with several other categories, to be excluded prior to the show.

The Aacta ceremony, delivered minus a host, saw box office champion Red Dog take home the best film award but the biggest success of the night was...

Channel Ten has announced the cast for upcoming miniseries Brothers In Arms about the infamous .Milperra Massacre.. Leading the cast on the six-part series, from the producers of Underbelly, is Callan Mulvey (Rush), Matt Nable (Killer Elite), Maeve Dermody (Griff The Invisible) and Susie Porter (The Jesters). Other cast members on the series . originally titled Bikie Wars: Brothers In Arms . include Anthony Hayes (The Slap), Todd Lasance (cloudstreet), Luke Ford (Red Dog), Damian Walshe-Howling (Terra Nova, The Reef), Nathaniel Dean (Wild Boys), Jeremy Lindsay Taylor (Underbelly: Razor) and Luke Hemsworth (Tangle). Ten will be hoping for a similar reaction to Nine.s Underbelly franchise, also created by Screentime, when it goes to air next year....

The Invisible War Trailer. Kirby Dick‘s The Invisible War (2012) movie plot synopsis: “The Invisible War is a groundbreaking investigative documentary about one of our country’s most shameful and best kept secrets: the epidemic of rape within our Us military. Today, a female soldier in Iraq and Afghanistan is more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire with the number of assaults in the last decade alone in the hundreds of thousands.

Focusing on the powerfully emotional stories of several young women, the film reveals the systemic cover up of the crimes against them and follows their struggles to rebuild their lives and fight for justice. The Invisible War features hard-hitting interviews with high-ranking military officials and members of Congress that reveal the perfect storm conditions that exist for rape in the military, its history of cover-up, and what can be done to bring about much needed change.

The Hunter has lead the Aacta Awards with 14 nominations including best film.

The film, by Daniel Nettheim, is also up for best direction, adapted screenplay, cinematography, sound, production design, costume, original music score, and visual effects. Meanwhile, Willem Dafoe, Frances O’Connor, Sam Neill and Morgana Davies are all up for acting awards.

The film has currently made just over $1m at the local box office.

It’s the first year for the re-launched AACTAs, formerly the AFI awards.

The technical awards will be given out at a luncheon on 15 January at the Sydney Opera House, with an evening ceremony for the more ‘public-friendly’ awards held at the Opera House on 31 January.

Running against The Hunter for best film is Red Dog, Mad Bastards, The Eye of the Storm, Snowtown and Oranges and Sunshine.

The Eye of the Storm, was second in the nominations race with 12, of which six are...

Ryan Kwanten may be best known for his sexy (and often shirtless) role on "True Blood," but he's also the star of "Griff the Invisible," now available on DVD and Blu-Ray. Ryan plays the lead in the comedy drama, an office worker by day and superhero by night. It's a different look and role for the Aussie heartthrob. Toofab sat down with the soon-to-be 35-year-old to talk about the role. Check out five facts you probably didn’t know about Ryan below! toofab: If you could be a superhero who would you be? Kwanten: The modern day Batman . I like the tortured soul that lives within him that drives him. toofab: If you could have one super power what would it be? Kwanten: To bring my imagination to life. toofab: Would you rather be a superhero or a vampire? Kwanten: Superhero because it’s unlimited. A vampire is limited to...

Everything old is new again as two of the week’s best DVD releases are for films that are decades old including Giorgio Moroder’s 1984 redo of Fritz Lang’s classic Metropolis with music by Freddy Mercury, Loverboy and other 80s superstars. But don’t fret, there are also some solid new films to check out this week including Bellflower, Griff the Invisible, The Warring States and more. As always, if you see something you like, click on the image to buy it. Three Colors: Blue White Red (Criterion) Krzysztof Kieslowski’s thematic trilogy looks at France’s motto: Liberty, Equality, Fraternity. Blue stars Juliette Binoche as a woman who suffers a terrible loss and attempts to free herself from life and its responsibilities with a kind of slow-motion suicide, but she instead finds true freedom through healing. Red features Irene Jacob as a young woman whose solitude is slowly shattered by unexpected friendships. And...

When he's not playing the sexually charged and naive Jason Stackhouse in "True Blood," actor Ryan Kwanten likes to challenge himself by playing the complete opposite.

In the sweet Australian dramedy "Griff the Invisible," now available on Blu-ray and DVD, Kwanten portrays a mild-mannered worker bee named Griff, who by day is bullied at the office, but by night transforms into a vigilante superhero -- or at least that's what Griff imagines happens to him.

It's another fairly light week when it comes to new releases on DVD and Blu-ray as other studios are giving Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 a wide berth. The only real major release is the Tom Hanks / Julia Roberts summer stinker Larry Crowne, but there are some intriguing indie releases including Mike Mills' Beginners (which I've heard great things about), Evan Glodell's somewhat divisive Bellflower, and the superhero dramedy Griff the Invisible starring Ryan Kwanten. Criterion is also issuing a new version of Krzysztof Kieslowski's Three Colors Trilogy on both DVD and Blu-ray, and there's a new 50th Anniversary Edition of West Side Story plus the 564th edition of Sam Raimi's Evil Dead II. What will you be buying or renting this week? Check out the full list of new releases after the jump. Amazon.com Widgets

For More Daily Movie Goodness, Visit Filmjunk.

In August, I raved a bit about Griff the Invisible, a charming independent film about man who dreams of being a superhero. The movie opened and closed without much attention, which is shame because it dared to think big on a tiny budget. Fortunately, though, the film is coming out this week on DVD and is well worth your attention.

This Australian film was written and directed by Leon Ford, who did some commentary on camera with the 50th Anniversary DC Universe poster seen over his shoulder, a testament to his affection for the super-hero. His movie had plenty of heart, anchored by a dynamite performance by Ryan Kwanten.

Fantasy and reality is approached by Griff, a lonely salaryman and Melody (Maeve Dermody), a scientist challenging the laws of physics. They make an unlikely, but thoroughly charming couple of misfits, falling in love.

Shot on 16mm for atmosphere, the film...

DVD Links: DVD News | Release Dates | New Dvds | Reviews | RSS Feed

In this week's "Even More" section there is a link to a Tom Cruise Blu-ray Collection, which includes Collateral, Days of Thunder, Minority Report, Top Gun and War of the Worlds for only $34.99. It's a good price and worth a look either for you or perhaps as a Christmas present for someone else. However, until November 17 you can buy it at Fry's for only $19.99! Get on it!

Also, I have two Criterion titles I'm recommending this week, but instead of using the Buy Now links next to each you may want to head over to Barnes and Noble where their 50% off sale is still on for I believe another week. Unless I am mistaken it ends on November 21. So, get to shopping!

Three Colors Trilogy (Criterion Collection) I received Criterion's Blu-ray edition of Krzysztof Kieslowski's Troi couleurs (Three...

A number of real-life superhero flicks came out in a short space of time, and they were all a little off in their own way. Kick-Ass started well but quickly devolved into an adolescent fantasy. Super did almost the opposite, becoming harshly realistic about its growing psychosis. Griff the Invisible, the Australian cousin to these movies, tries to walk an uneasy line between the fantasy/reality poles. Instead of harsh reality or giddy fantasy, Griff, like its main character, is merely delusional. This is an important point to make, I think, since if you see someone wearing tights and a big G on their chest on the street at night, they're pretty much guaranteed to be off their rocker. Delusion is an important part of the superhero genre, and the undercurrent beneath all comic books is that of a child who refuses to grow up.

Read more...

Back in August, I told you about Griff the Invisible, a small indie film about a would-be super-hero feature the terrific Ryan Kwanten. The movie opened and closed in the blink of an eye, probably while you were on line to see Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and you missed out.

Vivendi Entertainment is releasing the film on Blu-ray and DVD on November 15 so you get a second chance at catching this charming film.

Better, we have been given three DVDs to give away. Here’s what you need to do in order to win:

By 11:59 p.m., Saturday November 12, tell us what super-power you most desire and how you would use it to fight for truth and justice. The final decision of the ComicMix judges will be final.

In case you missed it, here’s the trailer.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Synopsis

Griff...

Two agents from elite talent agency Shanahan Management have parted ways with the company and opened their own agency, taking several high profile clients along with them. Lee-Anne Higgins and Natasha Harrison left Shanahan last week and have opened United Management with former Rgm and Alchemy Artists agent, Trish McAskill. At the time of writing, 15 former Shanahan clients were listed on casting website Showcast as belonging to United Management. Actors that have migrated to the new agency include Asher Keddie (Offspring, Paper Giants), Maeve Dermody (Griff the Invisible), Pia Miranda, (Surviving Georgia, Looking for Alibrandi), Anthony Hayes (The Slap, Killing Time), Rodger Corser (Rush, The Cup) and Dan Wyllie (Burning Man, The Hunter). When contacted, Shanahan confirmed...

I didn’t see this coming, but I don’t mind because I enjoyed the first two flicks. Read the press release below.

Los Angeles, CA – October 31, 2011 – It was announced today that The Indomina Group, the fast-growing U.S. and Dominican Republic based producer and distributor of film, TV and trans-media content, and leading proponent of ‘fanboy’ cinema is resurrecting the popular “Cabin Fever” franchise and will produce and distribute at least two more feature films. The announcement was made by Indomina Group Vice Chairman and CEO Jasbinder Singh Mann.

The Indomina Group has optioned the rights for two new “Cabin Fever” installments, which will be “Cabin Fever: Patient Zero” and “Cabin Fever: Outbreak.” The films will be shot back to back in the Dominican Republic in early Spring of 2012.

Jake Wade Wall (“The Hitcher,” “When Strangers Call”) has signed on to pen the screenplay for “Cabin Fever: Patient Zero.

The Indomina Group who, according to their press release are: “the fast-growing U.S. and Dominican Republic based producer and distributor of film, TV and trans-media content, and leading proponent of ‘fanboy’ cinema” is resurrecting the Cabin Fever franchise with two more feature films - Cabin Fever: Patient Zero and Cabin Fever: Outbreak. The films will be shot back to back in the Dominican Republic in early Spring of 2012.

From the press release:

Jake Wade Wall (“The Hitcher,” “When Strangers Call”) has signed on to pen the screenplay for “Cabin Fever: Patient Zero.” When a cruise ship in the Caribbean collides with an abandoned research vessel, a deadly virus is unleashed. Passengers must find a way to survive before the flesh eating disease consumes them all.

“Cabin Fever: Outbereak” is being written by Adam and Deborah Marcus (“Leatherface 3D,” “I Walked With a Zombie”). In this...

One of the more popular genres of film today is that of the comic book. It seem that every few months there is another movie based on a comic book coming out, and almost weekly there are 2 or 3 movies being announced. Of this genre, one of the more popular sub genres is the “made at home” super hero. Kick-Ass, Defendor, Griff the Invisible and James Gunn’s Super are recent entries into this sub genre. While these movies didn’t rake in the money at the box office, they have a cult following and are very popular among the fans. The newest entry into this sub genre is Boy Wonder. Of these movies, Boy Wonder might be the most interesting film of the bunch.

Boy Wonder tells the story of Sean Donovan (Caleb Steinmeyer making his feature film debut) who, when he was only a boy of about 7 or 8, saw...

Snowtown and The Eye of the Storm are the latest in a new wave of Australian films that rely less on rugged exteriors and more on contained emotional drama

From a controversial horror featuring a sadistic bushranger, to a Melbourne-set gangster saga, to a raucous documentary on 70s Ozploitation flicks, you'd have to have your head buried in the outback to have not noticed the sterling work going on in Australian cinema. And in case you thought Wolf Creek, Animal Kingdom and Not Quite Hollywood were some sort of fleeting mirage, check out the impressive directorial debuts from Patrick Hughes (the suspenseful neo-western Red Hill), Leon Ford (Griff the Invisible – a remarkable romantic ode to superhero flicks) or Ben C Lucas (Wasted on the Young – a nightmarish social networking thriller). They're all evidence of fine Aussie film-making talent that proves you don't need special effects nor mega bucks to make intelligent,...

The critically-lauded “Griff the Invisible,” the film that charmed audiences at the the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival and the 2011 Berlin International Film Festival and starring Ryan Kwanten and rising star (and two-time Australian Film Institute nominee for Best Supporting Actress) Maeve Dermody, will be out on DVD, Blu-ray and digital download November 15. The film will be priced at $29.95 (Blu-ray) and $19.97 (DVD). Bonus features include a behind-the-scenes featurette, “Anatomy of a Scene” features, deleted scenes, the video diary “Appear Calm: Diary of a First-Time Director,” the music video “Don’t Give Yourself Away” by The Shadow Bureau, and more. Here’s the synopsis of “Griff the Invisible”: “Griff...

Oh, “Kick Ass”, what have you done? Following on the heels of that movie, along with similarly themed films of regular Joes putting on a costume and battling the criminal element (to varying degrees of success both onscreen and at the box office), comes Jason Trost’s “Vs”. The film is pretty under the radar, much like its fellow genre brethren “Super”, “Defendor”, and Australia’s “Griff the Invisible”. The film is set to make its world premiere at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival on October 20-27th, so if you’re in the neighborhood, give it a looksee. Four Super Heroes find themselves abducted by their Arch Nemesis and are forced to compete in a series of challenges in order to save an abandoned town full of kidnapped innocent civilians. The trailer is pretty slick, but this may be a case of a slick trailer hiding a lack...

When superhero comedy Kick-Ass was released last year I don’t think anybody thought it would spawn (or at least be the first of a movement) it’s own sub-genre of movies. But spawn it has with Defendor, Super, the upcoming Griff the Invisible, even TV show Castle offering their own take on the ordinary joe pulls on a costume story. Now stepping up to the plate is independent movie Vs.

Reported by Aint It Cool News, the film is written, directed and produced by relative newcomer Jason Trost. Described as ‘Kick-Ass meets Saw’, the movie centers around four young super-heroes, including Trost and Lucas Till (Havok in X-Men: First Class, also serving as co-producer) who are forced into a series of deadly challenges by their arch-nemesis Rickshaw, played by James Remar (best known for his role as Harry Morgan in Dexter).

The trailer can be seen below.

I think the movie looks very promising.

Brendan Cowell (Love My Way, Beneath Hill 60), Ella Scott Lynch (Crownies) and Toby Schmitz (Griff the Invisible, Lbf) will headline a cast for Cockatoo Island’s In The Raw screenplay presentation of psychological thriller Metamorphosis.

The In The Raw presentations help give filmmakers a better understanding on how the film will read while an industry panel give feedback.

Allanah Zitserman, creative director of Cockatoo Island Film Festival, said “Metamorphosis is a new psychological thriller and that the script reading will present a unique opportunity for audiences and the industry panel (including established film directors Samantha Lang and Elissa Down) to provide valuable feedback regarding its development.”

The film is written by Kris Wyld (East West 101, White Collar Blue, Wildside) and will be produced by David Elfick (Rabbit Proof Fence, Newsfront).

The event is Monday 26 September at 6pm at Aftrs Theatre, 130 Bent St, The Entertainment Quarter, Moore Park.

Admission...

The Australian Griff The Invisible follows Kick-ass and Super in the growing subgenre of self-reflective superhero spoofs in which a powerless guy straps on a crime-fighting suit to escape the dark clouds in his life, but unlike those two films, it isn’t much fun. Griff opens with Griff, a generic Super-hero wearing a generic Batman-like muscles-and-abs suit battling a group of generic nasties. This sequence is so unimaginatively presented that we’re surprised to find out, as the film unfolds, that it’s all in Griff’s head (or at least most of it is – I think). Griff does own a rubber suit that he dresses up in to go out at night and he seems to be serious about developing an invisibility cloak. By day Griff is a loser, a dweeby, dreamy cubicle-dweller who’s abused by his officemates, especially Tony (Toby Schmitz), a bully who’s more fun than Griff.

Super

DVD I Blu-ray

Director: James Gunn

Writer: James Gunn

Starring: Rainn Wilson, Ellen Page, Liv Tyler, Kevin Bacon, Michael Rooker, Nathan Fillion, Gregg Henry, Sean Gunn

IFC Films

Release Date: August 9, 2011

Just recently I reviewed a little indie flick called Griff the Invisible, one of three fairly recent movies about normal everyday folks creating and becoming their own superheros. The other two are 2010's Kick–Ass, and director James Gunn's Super.

At the time, I said that the three movies shouldn't be compared (having a basic understanding of Super but not having seen it yet), and now, having seen all three, this is confirmed: all three are unique in their own special ways, and all three are very much worth seeing.

Super tells the story of Frank D'Arbo (Rainn Wilson), a lowly and rather pathetic man who works as a cook at a local diner. [...]...

Vera Farmiga's Higher Ground "admirably tries, on a minuscule budget, to evoke the spirit of American cinema from 35 years ago: the age of Sissy Spacek and Shelley Duvall, an era much more hospitable to serious roles for women than the current one." Melissa Anderson in the Voice: "As reported in a New York Times Magazine cover story on the actress in 2006 (three years before her Oscar-nominated performance in Up in the Air), Farmiga has expressed her disgust with the roles offered her by setting scripts on fire: 'I stack up all those crass female characters, all those utterly ordinary women, all those hundreds and hundreds of parts that have no substance or meaning and turn them into a blazing pyre.' It's a shame, then, that Higher Ground never really ignites."

Farmiga plays "Corinne, a Midwest rural woman who embraces a hippie-inflected but paternalistic evangelical community with her high...