James Ross

SFF & Chill: 12 Films to Binge at Sydney Film Festival

A Kenyan LGBQTI love story, a Kiwi black comedy and a music doco about M.I.A… Here’s your go-to cheat sheet of what to watch and where, across all 12 days of Sydney Film Festival.

Big Screen: Isle of Dogs

For a movie about animated mutts, Wes Anderson’s latest creation is surprisingly human.

Big Screen: The Square

Directed by Ruben Östlund, the 2017 winner of the film industry’s most celebrated award is so art-house it’s literally set in a museum.

Big Screen: Lady Bird

A semi-autobiographical love letter to her hometown, Lady Bird sees Greta Gerwig reveal herself as an exciting new cinematic voice.

Big Screen: Sweet Country

Since his debut ‘Samson & Delilah’, Warwick Thornton has channelled his energy into films that are proudly, powerfully Aboriginal. His latest is a potent reminder of our conflicted past.

Big Screen: Mary & The Witch’s Flower

There was a hole left in the film industry after Miyazaki quit as Studio Ghibli’s director. Who will step up to fill the void? James Ross reviews the latest offering from the legendary creator’s protégé, Hiromasa Yonebayashi.

Big Screen: The Last Jedi

Seen the latest Star Wars release yet? Our resident film buff James Ross talks blockbuster film-making in the modern era.

Big Screen: The Killing Of A Sacred Deer

Part modern myth, part horror story and part absurdist comedy, ‘The Killing of a Sacred Deer’ is like a car crash in slow motion, unsettling to watch but bizarrely fascinating.

Big Screen: Detroit

It starts like a fever dream, then narrows in on a single motel during the city’s 1976 race riots. Challenging, and at times confusing, ‘Detroit’ places you right in the thick of it.

How to Stay Underground at the Sydney Underground Festival

There’s more to the Festival than films that keep you awake at night. There are also beautiful experiments with documentary footage, blacker-than-black comedies, and ingenious dramas – assembled into a dawn-till-dusk line-up which turns the Factory Theatre into a second home for cult-film cinephiles.