Richard Hartley

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Why do this spring’s blockbusters feel so smug?

From action thrillers to sci-fi flicks, a deluge of recent releases are riddled with self-satisfied smarm

Deathstalker review – ludicrously enjoyable revisit of 80s swords-and-sorcery silliness

Inventive creature design, goopy practical effects and a metal guitar soundtrack make this reworking of a Roger Corman fantasy a treat for one’s inner child

Bone Keeper review – there’s a critter in the caves in serviceable Brit horror

An unconvincing group of friends is briskly picked off one-by-one while searching for a beastie that hitched a ride to Earth on a meteorite

Let’s get metaphysical! Existentialist cinema is back, if anyone cares

The philosophy was embraced by film noir, the French New Wave and modern hitmen questioning life’s purpose. Now dust off your turtlenecks, for Sirāt and a new version of Albert Camus’ The Stranger look set to make ennui on-trend again

What’s new to streaming in Australia in April: Half Man, The Audacity and Beef returns

Plus: Charlize Theron survives the bush in Apex, Elizabeth Banks shrinks in The Miniature Wife and Mark Wahlberg creates a global scandal in Balls Up

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie review – bland screensaver of a movie that’s actually worse than AI

At this point, it’s trite to say that a bad film feels as if it’s been AI generated, but this simplistic sequel is next-level – it’s nothing more than an Easter holiday cash grab

Smiley Face: finally, a stoner comedy for the girls who get overstimulated at the supermarket

Gregg Araki’s comedy-of-errors film stars Anna Faris trying to complete everyday tasks in an astronomical state of high. It’s downright terrifying

From the phone to the plex: why TV shows are turning into movies

A successful cinema release for the new Peaky Blinders movie provided marketing opportunities that could lead to a reverse in the stream-first model

The Drama review – Zendaya and Robert Pattinson’s controversial wedding film delivers on its promise

A woman’s confession on the eve of her nuptials causes uproar in this insouciantly offensive provocation from the director of Dream Scenario

Ghost Killer review – fantastic karate chopping and gunslinging in in supernatural action-comedy

Top notch choreography features heavily in tale of a student who is inhabited by an assassin’s spirit determined to wreak revenge

Two Women review – sex comedy remake is French-Canadian answer to Confessions of a Window Cleaner

This tale of a pair of women who tire of their partners and arrange sex with strangers is not sexy enough for erotica and not real enough to be drama

James McAvoy: ‘I’ve been “that Scottish person”, reduced to a noise that comes out of my mouth’

He went from a Glasgow council estate to Hollywood fame. Now, in his directorial debut, the X-Men star is challenging stereotypes about his homeland via the remarkable tale of a real-life hip-hop hoax

Corey Feldman speaks out about Rob Reiner Oscars tribute snub: ‘Like a family reunion I wasn’t invited to’

Stand By Me co-stars Wil Wheaton and Jerry O’Connell joined Billy Crystal and a dozen other stars on stage at the Academy Awards to pay tribute to the film’s director

McCartney: The Hunt for the Lost Bass review – amiable tale of how Macca’s Höfner was finally found

Dogged detective work tracked down the instrument that had vanished more than 50 years ago, but the true story behind its theft injects a note of sadness

Mary Beth Hurt, star of Interiors and The World According to Garp, dies aged 79

The actor, who was nominated for three Tony awards, made her film debut in Woody Allen’s Interiors and worked into the 2010s including in films made by her second husband, Paul Schrader

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About

  • About Richard Hartley
  • Richard Hartley’s Work
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Film & Tech News

  • AI summaries of Tripadvisor hotel reviews downplay serious complaints, investigation finds
  • New Zealand finally gets a Google Maps tool that correctly pronounces Māori placenames
  • Rapid spread of AI may worsen global inequality, UN warns
  • People in the US: share your views on Trump’s earnings in his second term
  • Best TV shows and movies streaming in Australia this month
  • No console-flation: how the thirst for AI chips is sending games console prices soaring
  • The Guilty review – Russell Tovey is commanding in cop thriller that fills you with dread
  • Alarm bells over conflict of interest as filing shows Trump raked in $2bn in 2025
  • Anthropic says US has lifted export controls on Fable and Mythos AI models after security fears
  • Spielberg’s Disclosure Day is making some wonder: will we have real disclosure soon?
  • Shrinks on the verge of a nervous breakdown: how horror movies came for therapists
  • Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie review – two goofballs in search of a gig roll back the years
  • The best theatre to stream this month: all rise for Rosamund Pike’s Inter Alia
  • ‘Get away from there – run!’ The stunning film about love blossoming amid the carnage of Aleppo
  • Enola Holmes 3 review – Netflix mystery franchise is starting to lose steam
  • Frequent AI chatbot users more likely to believe anti-vaccine myths, poll finds
  • Citizen Vigilante review – Armie Hammer returns to obliterate the imaginary woke piñata of Europe-stan
  • Minions & Monsters review – a smart premise descends into more of the same
  • Blake Lively files to receive $8m in legal fees from Justin Baldoni and his studio
  • Silicon Valley donations make Colorado Democratic primary one of state’s most expensive
  • ‘I’m not a quitter!’ Rubén Blades, the salsa supremo who acted with Jack Nicholson, inspired Bad Bunny – and served as Panama’s tourism minister
  • The Three Musketeers: D’Artagnan brings genuine thrills – and a massive budget – to a well-trodden tale
  • UK watchdog plans to break Apple and Google’s ‘effective duopoly’ on mobile app stores
  • Spider-Man’s web of lies: what would actually happen if you were bitten by a radioactive spider?
  • Why is Elon Musk boosting an anti-immigrant film loved by the far right?
  • Number of billionaires globally soars by 13% amid AI shares boom
  • Rocky week for AI as shares slump but no sign of crash – yet
  • Supergirl: doggy distress, frontier justice and a new direction for superhero movies – discuss with spoilers
  • UK ‘minded’ to intervene in Paramount’s $110bn takeover of Warner Bros Discovery
  • Michael Byrne obituary

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