Placeholder Content Image

I watched some 40 films at this year’s Sydney Film Festival. Here are my top five picks – and one hilarious flop

<div class="theconversation-article-body"><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ari-mattes-97857">Ari Mattes</a>, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-notre-dame-australia-852">University of Notre Dame Australia</a></em></p> <p>This year’s <a href="https://www.sff.org.au/">Sydney Film Festival’s</a> rich offerings of films more than compensated for the minor technical issues that led to some screenings being interrupted.</p> <p>Out of the 40-odd films I saw, here are my top five, along with some notable mentions and three disappointments (including a genuine <em>dud</em>).</p> <h2>1. The Girl with the Needle</h2> <p>Cowritten and directed by Swedish filmmaker Magnus von Horn, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Girl_with_the_Needle">The Girl with the Needle</a> is loosely based on the story of notorious early-20th century serial killer Dagmar Overbye.</p> <p>But this is no procedural true crime film, painstakingly attempting to recreate crimes with historical accuracy. It’s a stylish Danish nightmare dazzling with cinematic acrobatics right from the opening sequence, in which black and white faces hideously morph, looking at the viewer like deranged figures from a hellish circus. It is, indeed, one of the most terrifying films I’ve seen.</p> <p>The narrative follows the struggles of new mother Karoline (Vic Carmen Sonne) as she gives her baby to Dagmar’s informal adoption agency and begins working with her as a wet nurse, unaware of what’s really going on.</p> <p>Sonne is as self-assured as ever – and none of the actors put a foot wrong here. Seasoned Danish film star Trine Dyrholm is exceptional in bringing nuance to what could have become a caricaturishly evil role as Dagmar. And Besir Zeciri endows Peter, a war-wounded veteran who can only find employment in a circus freakshow, with an unexpected warmth and tenderness.</p> <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VlyW-z1xbO4?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></figure> <p>The Girl with the Needle features some of the most distressing sequences one could find in a commercial film. Its meticulously rendered shades of German expressionism never distract from its smorgasbord of horrors, offering an almost unbearably bleak vision of the world in the aftermath of the Great War. If only all films were this good!</p> <h2>2. Dying</h2> <p>I’d normally suppress a yawn if you told me I had to sit through a three-hour social realist drama about the everyday difficulties of a bourgeois German conductor and his family. Yet writer-director Matthias Glasner’s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dying_(2024_film)">Dying</a> is a near perfect film (no surprise it won <a href="https://www.screendaily.com/news/matthias-glasners-dying-wins-german-lola-for-best-film/5193046.article">four prizes</a> at the German Film Awards).</p> <p>The film is complex and engrossing – deeply sad in places and hysterical in others – formally controlled, but underpinned by an anarchic sensibility. It is life-affirming without any skerrick of sentimentality.</p> <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kagVqEfPxFw?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></figure> <p>Lars Eidinger is astonishingly good as maestro Tom, who is trying to keep his career on track as his family life crumbles around him. He is matched by Lilith Stangenberg, mesmerising as his unhinged sister Ellen. Robert Gwisdek is equally exceptional as the highly strung composer and friend Bernard, while Corinna Harfouch anchors the film’s first section as Tom’s far from maternal mother, Lissy.</p> <p>At one point, Ingmar Bergman’s 1982 period film <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanny_and_Alexander">Fanny and Alexander</a> is playing on the TV (Tom watches it every Christmas). Even though Dying feels like a contemporary film committed to interrogating the difficulties of being in the modern world, there’s something of late Bergman here as it unfolds across its epic length.</p> <p>It is a three-hour film about middle-class life, but like a great 19th-century novel, it never feels long. The fact that nothing particularly extraordinary happens is testament to how well-made the film is.</p> <h2>3. Kill</h2> <p>Director Nikhil Nagesh Bhat’s Indian action film <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/kill_2023_2">Kill</a> is cheesy, sentimental and at first seems remarkably silly.</p> <p>Commando Amrit, played by beefy TV star Lakshya, is travelling to New Delhi by train with his buddy, fellow commando Viresh (Abhishek Chauhan). His true love Tulika (Tanya Maniktala) is also on board and has recently become engaged to another man through an arrangement by her wealthy father, Baldev Singh Thakur (Harsh Chhaya), who happens to own the train company. When a group of 30-plus bandits led by the charming but ice-cold Fani (Raghav Juyal) move to rob the train, Amrit must defend Tulika, her family and the rest of the passengers.</p> <p>When the title card appears 40 minutes into the film, suddenly emblazoned on the screen, it seems like a distracting quirk at first. But it begins to make sense as the train rolls on. All of the violence and bone-crushing action of the first section is mere preamble, leading to a point of transition from an extremely violent but fun action film, to a much darker – and bloodier – revenge film.</p> <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/da7lKeeS67c?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></figure> <p>Kill is an exceptionally well-wrought genre film. The kinetic and balletic action recalls the golden era of Hong Kong action cinema, but with hammers, daggers and sickles instead of guns and the frenetic staging of hand-to-hand combat instead of poetic slow-motion footage. It is also a great example of a film being more than the sum of its parts. No element is perfect, yet they come together to transcend these limitations, its flow reaching sublime levels by the end.</p> <p>There’s also an undercurrent of sadness throughout. We see an India of haves and have-nots, of families of bandits struggling to survive and of the supreme violence sustaining the social and political order. As Fani says to Amrit near the end: “Who kills like this? I killed four of your people. You finished off 40 of my family. You’re not a protector. You’re a monster. A fucking monster.” The title says it all.</p> <h2>4. Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story</h2> <p>Biographical films about celebrities inevitably feel gossipy. Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui’s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super/Man:_The_Christopher_Reeve_Story">Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story</a> is no exception. But it is so well made (and well-resourced, one would imagine, as it’s produced by DC) that it moves beyond its tabloid-like qualities.</p> <p>Interviews with Reeve’s friends and colleagues, including Susan Sarandon, Glenn Close and Jeff Daniels, are interspersed with home footage shot by Reeve and his family throughout his career and during his recovery from the near-fatal riding accident that left him paralysed and breathing through a respirator for the rest of his life.</p> <p>Reeve’s close friendship with “brother” Robin Williams assumes central importance, with the film implying the two men were so emotionally dependent on each other that Williams would probably still be alive if Reeve hadn’t died in 2004.</p> <p>But the most interesting parts of the film involve carefully assembled archival footage looking at how Reeve’s decision to play Superman negatively impacted his career and personal life. He never starred in another profitable film, and his father and colleagues such as William Hurt loathed his decision to play a comic book character.</p> <p>This is counterpointed with his post-accident career as a director and disability advocate. Interviews with Reeve’s children add a genuinely tragic sense of pathos to this slick, well-made and emotionally exhausting “true Hollywood” story. It’s everything one could want from such a documentary.</p> <h2>5. Kneecap</h2> <p>Cowriter-director Rich Peppiatt’s Kneecap is a riotous, irreverent biopic following the career of Belfast drug-dealers Móglaí Bap and Mo Chara as they team up with high school music teacher DJ Próvai to become the first Irish-language rap group, Kneecap.</p> <p>The real <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-66408560">Kneecappers</a> cowrote the film and play themselves and, given none of them are actors, do so remarkably well. They’re joined by Irish heavyweights Josie Walker, playing the detective who has it in for them, and Michael Fassbender, playing Móglaí’s father, an old-school Irish radical who has been on the run for the past few decades.</p> <p>The film depicts their hedonistic drug use and anarchic disregard for the law in the context of their radical political motivation to speak Irish against the colonial English. And while it may be a bit cartoonish in its presentation of Belfast’s history and the struggle to keep Gaelic alive, it is a music biopic after all.</p> <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FFYfp-hKxZQ?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></figure> <p>Kneecap is violent, coarse and laced with infectiously good humour – a genuinely fun film, buoyed by its charismatic stars and lively style. Only the most stringent moralist wouldn’t enjoy this one!</p> <h2>Notable mentions</h2> <p>It’s extremely difficult to pick a top five when 15 or so of the films I saw were standouts. And this is testament to the quality of the festival’s selection.</p> <p>It was a pleasure watching heavyweight Sean Penn go head-to-head with Dakota Johnson in writer-director Christy Hall’s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daddio_(film)">Daddio</a>, even if the story takes an uninteresting turn in the final third. Despite the banality of the premise – a New York cabbie chats with a passenger – and the inanity of some of the dialogue, this romantic ode to urban life in all its alienated, fluoro-lit techno glory is so well crafted that we happily go along for the ride.</p> <p>Equally affective is the melancholic and beautifully performed <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puan_(film)">Puan</a>, a restrained comedy set in a University faculty in Buenos Aires. Puan could easily make my top five, as could André Téchiné’s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_New_Friends_(film)">My New Friends</a>), an offbeat French melodrama starring Isabelle Huppert as a disillusioned police officer who becomes friends with an anti-cop activist in the suburbs.</p> <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cnz-6h60tkk?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></figure> <h2>Poor performers</h2> <p>Of the lot, I only found three films disappointing.</p> <p>The first, Among the Wolves, is a Belgian-French documentary in which a photographer and illustrator lie waiting in a tiny, makeshift building to encounter wild wolves. While some of the footage is striking, the film is let down by its scientific inaccuracy, such as references to the “alpha male” wolf – a term and concept that has <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/science/elements/the-myth-of-the-alpha-wolf">long been discredited</a>. Such innacuracy is a cardinal sin for a documentary, which is supposed to inform the viewer.</p> <p>Though critically acclaimed, Hollywood horror film The Substance – a story of an ageing entertainer who turns to a mysterious substance to stay young (with unsurprisingly horrific ramifications) – feels neither new nor particularly interesting. And while it’s great to see Demi Moore and Dennis Quaid back on the big screen, their caricaturish characters make the whole thing seem like a boring joke: an inflated short film that is both irritatingly silly and painfully didactic.</p> <p>But rarely does a film so resolutely reaffirm a sense of the absurd hubris of humans as Francis Ford Coppola’s self-financed mega-flop, Megalopolis. This cartoonish, incoherent mess set in a dystopian version of the United States, “New Rome”, is howlingly bad in places.</p> <p>Imagine the worst parts of The Hunger Games and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064940/">Fellini Satyricon</a> (1969) crossed with Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead and you begin to get a sense of the kind of self-indulgent, heavy-handed nonsense that is Megalopolis.</p> <p>Side-splittingly funny moments come courtesy of bad dialogue (“Utopias become dystopias,” actor Giancarlo Esposito says at one point with a straight face). And stilted acting by Adam Driver and Aubrey Plaza had the (remaining) audience in stitches. Megalopolis is like one of the great fiascos from days gone by – the 21st century’s Heaven’s Gate – and there is definitely something delightful about the existence of this <a href="https://variety.com/2022/film/news/francis-ford-coppola-funding-120-million-dollars-megalopolis-1235184765/">US$120 million</a> (roughly A$180 million) flop.</p> <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1FQzWD5xVKQ?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></figure> <p>But as a dud, Megalopolis is the outlier. And in a year following Barbie, Oppenheimer, Napoleon and Poor Things (talk about heavy-handed cinema), much of the menu of this year’s Sydney Film Festival once again proves there are still good filmmakers out there making good films.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/232706/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p> <p><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ari-mattes-97857"><em>Ari Mattes</em></a><em>, Lecturer in Communications and Media, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-notre-dame-australia-852">University of Notre Dame Australia</a></em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/i-watched-some-40-films-at-this-years-sydney-film-festival-here-are-my-top-five-picks-and-one-hilarious-flop-232706">original article</a>.</em></p> <p><em>Image: IMDB</em></p> </div>

Movies

Placeholder Content Image

Marcia Hines returns as Australian Idol fans cry foul over upset win

<p>The <em>Australian Idol </em>2024 grand finale left viewers stunned and divided as Dylan Wright emerged victorious, leaving many fans feeling that Amy Reeves had been unjustly denied the crown.</p> <p>The electrifying finale aired on Monday evening, showcasing the talents of Denvah Baker-Moller, Dylan Wright and Amy Reeves as they vied for the coveted title. However, it was Wright who clinched the top spot, much to the disappointment of numerous fans who had rallied behind Reeves.</p> <p>Throughout the season, Wright had consistently impressed both judges and audiences alike with his remarkable performances. His emotional reaction upon winning the <span style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;">recording contract with Sony Music Entertainment Australia and a $100,000 cash prize </span><span style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;">was palpable: “I’m about to cry!" he told the cheering crowd. "So, thanks!”</span></p> <p>The finale kicked off with hosts Ricki Lee and Scott Tweedie addressing the absence of judge Marcia Hines, who <a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/health/caring/marcia-hines-rushed-to-hospital" target="_blank" rel="noopener">had been hospitalised</a> due to health issues potentially related to her Type 1 diabetes. The void left by Hines was temporarily filled by guest judge Guy Sebastian, <a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/health/caring/guy-sebastian-reveals-what-happened-when-marcia-hines-collapsed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">who stepped in</a> to ensure the show's continuity.</p> <p>Despite her absence, Hines' spirit remained present as she conveyed her apologies via Instagram, assuring fans of her eagerness to return. “I feel fine,” she said on Monday night's show in response to Ricki Lee and Scott Tweedie<span style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;">. “I want to thank everybody who reached out towards me, you know. I do appreciate it. And you guys need to know – I couldn’t have missed this for the world. I couldn’t have.”</span></p> <p>Hines admitted to having had stitches after collapsing backstage, and briefly lifted her hair to show the stitches on her forehead. “It is all good," she explained. "I’m good. I go back to the hospital tonight,” she added jokingly.</p> <p>As the finalists delivered their last performances, Reeves' rendition of Jessie J's "Bang Bang" stood out, earning praise from judge Kyle Sandilands and igniting a wave of support from viewers. However, despite her standout performance, it was Wright who ultimately clinched the title after a tense battle with Reeves.</p> <p>The decision sparked a flurry of reactions on social media, with many expressing disbelief and frustration over Reeves' loss. Some fans proclaimed Reeves as the most deserving contestant in <em>Idol</em> history. “Call the police!" they wrote. "A robbery has taken place on #AustralianIdol. Amy has been absolutely shafted. Easily the best performer in idol history.”</p> <p>Amidst the chorus of disappointment, there were voices of congratulations for Wright, acknowledging his talent and triumph in the competition. Despite the divided opinions, one thing remained certain – the passion and fervour of <em>Australian Idol</em> fans, who eagerly await the next chapter in the musical journeys of all the finalists.</p> <p><em>Images: Channel Seven</em></p>

TV

Placeholder Content Image

Keanu Reeves mourns the sudden death of John Wick co-star

<p>Keanu Reeves is mourning the loss of good friend and John Wick co-star Lance Reddick, who passed away suddenly aged 60.</p> <p>“We are deeply saddened and heartbroken at the loss of our beloved friend and colleague Lance Reddick,” Reeves, 58, and director Chad Stahelski said in a joint statement to<em> Variety</em>.</p> <p>“He was the consummate professional and a joy to work with. Our love and prayers are with his wife Stephanie, his children, family and friends.”</p> <p>Reeves and Stahelski have shared they will dedicate <em>John Wick: Chapter 4</em>, which will be released in cinemas on March 23, to Reddick’s “loving memory”.</p> <p>“We will miss him dearly,” they said, <em>Page Six</em> reported.</p> <p>Reddick’s wife, Stephanie, whom he married in 2011, shared a message on his Instagram for his 139,000 followers.</p> <p>“Lance was taken from us far too soon,” she said. “Thank you for all your overwhelming love, support and beautiful stories shared on these platforms over the last day. I see your messages and can’t begin to express how grateful I am to have them.”</p> <p>“And to the thousands of Destiny players who played in special tribute to Lance, thank you,” she added. “Lance loved you as much as he loved the game.”</p> <p>Reddick, perhaps best known for his role in the crime series <em>The Wire</em>, also played Commander Zavala in the <em>Destiny</em> franchise.</p> <p>Representatives for the actor confirmed his death in a statement to People, saying that he “passed away suddenly this morning from natural causes”.</p> <p>“Lance was best known for his roles in <em>The Wire</em>, <em>Bosch</em>, Netflix’s <em>Resident Evil</em> and the <em>John Wick</em> films,” his reps added. “He is survived by his wife, Stephanie Reddick, and children, Yvonne Nicole Reddick and Christopher Reddick.</p> <p>“Lance will be greatly missed. Please respect his family’s privacy at this time.”</p> <p>Reddick’s body was discovered by police at his home in Studio City, California, according to TMZ.</p> <p>Wendell Pierce, who co-starred with Reddick on the hit HBO show <em>The Wire</em>, mourned the loss of a “man of great strength and grace” on Twitter.</p> <p>“As talented a musician as he was an actor,” he tweeted. “The epitome of class. An [sic] sudden unexpected sharp painful grief for our artistic family. An unimaginable suffering for his personal family and loved ones. Godspeed my friend. You made your mark here. RIP.”</p> <p>Ben Stiller, who worked alongside Reddick’s late mother, Anne Meara, in the play <em>Afterplay</em>, also took to Twitter to honour the actor.</p> <p>“Lance Reddick was an [sic] beautiful and compelling actor,” he tweeted. “And a beautiful person … He was exquisite in that and all he did. Nothing is lost.”</p> <p>In December 2021, the late actor praised his working relationship with Reeves, describing him as “someone who’s very generous as an actor and then all about the work”.</p> <p>“On one hand I feel like I don’t know him very well, but on the other, I just adore that guy,” he had told Vulture. “He’s such a wonderful human being.”</p> <p><em>Image credit: Getty</em></p>

Caring

Placeholder Content Image

Keanu Reeves attacked for still being alive

<p dir="ltr">Matthew Perry has backtracked on his insensitive comments questioning why beloved Hollywood actor Keanu Reeves is still alive. </p> <p dir="ltr">In his memoir <em>Friends, Lovers And The Big Terrible Thing</em>, the <em>Friends</em> star questioned why his friend River Phoenix died but Reeves didn’t.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Why is it that the original thinkers like River Phoenix and Heath Ledger die, but Keanu Reeves still walks among us?” he wrote. </p> <p dir="ltr">Perry was discussing his friendship with River Phoenix - who is also friends with Reeves - and about the heartache he had when he overdosed on drugs in 1993 at the age of 23.</p> <p dir="ltr">He called Phoenix his “closest friend of that era” before attacking Reeves for still being alive. </p> <p dir="ltr">Social media was in uproar at his comments with many questioning why Perry would wish death upon anyone. </p> <p dir="ltr">“In a world full of Matthew Perry’s… be a Keanu Reeves,” someone wrote. </p> <p dir="ltr">“Of all the people in Hollywood, there’s absolutely no reason to come for Keanu Reeves who even after personal tragedy has remained, by accounts, generous and kind. He just makes movies and comics, treats his cast and crew right, and minds his own business,” another wrote.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Imagine coming for Keanu Reeves like that. Might as well let the internet know you think all kittens should be drowned at birth. Good luck out there, man,” someone else commented.</p> <p dir="ltr">Perry eventually came out and apologised and explained he was “actually a big fan” of Keanu Reeves. </p> <p dir="ltr">“I'm actually a big fan of Keanu,” he said. </p> <p dir="ltr">“I just chose a random name, my mistake. I apologize. I should have used my own name instead.”</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Images: Getty</em></p>

Caring

Placeholder Content Image

Keanu Reeves “gatecrashes” wedding

<p dir="ltr">The last thing anyone would want is for their wedding to be gatecrashed by an unexpected guest. </p> <p dir="ltr">This happened to James and Nikki Roadnight when they were exchanging their vows…but the guest was in fact someone they wanted there.</p> <p dir="ltr">The couple from the UK were celebrating their marriage when James ran into John Wick star Keanu Reeves at the Fawsley Hall where the reception was being held. </p> <p dir="ltr">James invited the Hollywood heartthrob to the wedding and join the guests for a drink if he wanted to. </p> <p dir="ltr">"My husband saw him in the bar area and told him he'd just got married and invited Keanu to come over to say hello and have a drink with us if he wanted to,” Nikki told <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/keanu-reeves-unexpected-appearance-uk-wedding-reception-1736831" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Newsweek</a>. </p> <p dir="ltr">"He was very friendly and said he would later on. We didn't know if he would or not but it was cool that my husband had spoken to him!"</p> <p dir="ltr">About an hour later, hotel staff approached Nikki and told her there was a “special guest” who wanted to speak to her and she was then introduced to Keanu Reeves.</p> <p dir="ltr">"It was all very exciting and I went to say hi and introduce myself, and I offered him a drink but he declined that and said he'd just had a long flight so wouldn't stay long but he was so kind and friendly and congratulated us on our wedding," she said.</p> <p dir="ltr">"He was kind enough to do some pictures and our wedding photographer was able to capture some too! Then he took the time to speak to some of our guests and have more photos done!"</p> <p dir="ltr">The huge Keanu Reeves fans were ecstatic that their day was blessed with the actor’s presence. </p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Images: Facebook</em></p>

Relationships

Placeholder Content Image

Fourth John Wick film longest in the series

<p dir="ltr">The fourth installment of the <em>John Wick</em> series is set to be the longest out of the previous three films.  </p> <p dir="ltr">Director Chad Stahelski said the action-thriller featuring favourite Keanu Reeves will run for at least 2 hours and 11 minutes to the 131 minutes (an hour and a half) for John Wick: Parabellum.</p> <p dir="ltr">The news comes just weeks after a <a href="https://oversixty.com.au/entertainment/movies/first-look-of-keanu-reeves-in-fourth-john-wick-installment" target="_blank" rel="noopener">teaser trailer dropped</a>, giving avid fans a glimpse of what to expect in the new movie. </p> <p dir="ltr">Stahelski has also confirmed that they are well on the way to finishing editing the new film which is due for release on March 24, 2023. </p> <p dir="ltr">"We're on the final stretch for picture lock, and then we have our VFX music. But this is the furthest along I've ever been, this much in post,” he said in an interview with <a href="https://collider.com/john-wick-4-runtime-director-chad-stahelski-comments/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Collider</a>. </p> <p dir="ltr">“We love the music that we've got so far. We still have Tyler Bates doing the composition on some of the bigger sequences.</p> <p dir="ltr">“VFX are going to be coming in throughout the rest of the year. But we're dangerously close.</p> <p dir="ltr">"In our edit, as far as our picture lock goes, we're within a few minutes of locking. Our sequences are done. The movie is essentially done. </p> <p dir="ltr">“There's probably another few weeks of tweaking overall, then we lock picture, and we're about music, sound and the effects."</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">You wanted him back. He’s back. Watch the first sneak peek for <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/JW4?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#JW4</a> – in theaters March 2023. <a href="https://t.co/3T0rMxLj5P">pic.twitter.com/3T0rMxLj5P</a></p> <p>— John Wick (@JohnWickMovie) <a href="https://twitter.com/JohnWickMovie/status/1550888472134705152?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 23, 2022</a></p></blockquote> <p dir="ltr">The fourth installment will see the bounty for Wick’s head soar as he takes his fight against the High Table global.</p> <p dir="ltr">Wick also seeks out some of the most powerful players in the underworld, from New York to Paris to Osaka to Berlin.</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>John Wick: Chapter 4</em> will be out in cinemas on March 24, 2023. </p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Images: Twitter</em></p>

Movies

Placeholder Content Image

First look of Keanu Reeves in fourth John Wick installment

<p dir="ltr">The first trailer of <em>John Wick: Chapter 4</em> has finally been released.</p> <p dir="ltr">Hollywood heartthrob Keanu Reeves returns as John Wick in the fourth chapter of the series which is due for release on March 24, 2023.</p> <p dir="ltr">“You wanted him back. He’s back. Watch the first sneak peek for #JW4 – in theaters March 2023,” the movie’s official Twitter account wrote along with the trailer. </p> <p dir="ltr">The fourth installment will see the bounty for Wick’s head soar as he takes his fight against the High Table global.</p> <p dir="ltr">Wick also seeks out some of the most powerful players in the underworld, from New York to Paris to Osaka to Berlin.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">You wanted him back. He’s back. Watch the first sneak peek for <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/JW4?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#JW4</a> – in theaters March 2023. <a href="https://t.co/3T0rMxLj5P">pic.twitter.com/3T0rMxLj5P</a></p> <p>— John Wick (@JohnWickMovie) <a href="https://twitter.com/JohnWickMovie/status/1550888472134705152?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 23, 2022</a></p></blockquote> <p dir="ltr">Prior to the teaser trailer release, an official still from the film was shared on social media. </p> <p dir="ltr">It shows Reeves' Wick surrounded by candles and praying - possibly reflecting on the crazy life he’s led since his wife died and dog brutally killed. </p> <p dir="ltr">Watch this space! </p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Images: Twitter</em></p>

Movies

Placeholder Content Image

Keanu Reeves' sweet airport encounter goes viral

<p>Keanu Reeves has made a young man's day with a heart-warming interaction at New York's JFK airport, in a moment which has since gone viral online. </p> <p>Often known as the nicest guy in Hollywood, the 57-year-old actor was spotted having a passionate exchange with a young fan while waiting to collect his luggage after a long flight from London on the weekend of July 4th. </p> <p>The interaction was captured by <span style="font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; background-color: #ffffff;">TV producer Andrew Kimmel, as he documented how the boy asked Reeves a </span><span style="background-color: #ffffff;"><span style="font-family: Source Sans Pro, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 17px;">torrent of questions which were received in an astonishingly positive manner. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; background-color: #ffffff;">"Keanu Reeves was on my flight from London to NYC today. A young boy asked for an autograph at bag</span>gage &amp; then began to fire off a series of rapid-fire questions. Keanu happily responded to every single one," tweeted Kimmel.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">Kid: Why were you in London?</p> <p>KR: Filming a documentary.</p> <p>Kid: I saw online you were at the Grand Prix (pronouncing the x)</p> <p>KR: Yes, the Grand Prix (in a French accent, without correcting him). F1! Race cars!</p> <p>Kid: Do you drive?</p> <p>KR: Not F1, but I like riding motorcycles.</p> <p>— Andrew Kimmel (@andrewkimmel) <a href="https://twitter.com/andrewkimmel/status/1544101130921250816?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 4, 2022</a></p></blockquote> <p>The precocious child hit him with a serious of rapid fire questions: "Why were you in London?"..."Do you live in New York?"..."How long are you staying?"..."Which Broadway show are you going to?"</p> <p>Keanu responded to every one, with the patience of a saint. </p> <p>When the child began running out of questions, Keanu took an interest in the boy and started grilling him about his own holiday. </p> <p>He asked the boy, "Why were you in Europe? What galleries did you go to in Paris? What was your favourite?"</p> <p>Kimmel, who had been a fly on the wall for the exchange, was so impressed by the good-naturedness of the movie star he felt he had to share the moment.</p> <p>"The man could not have been nicer, especially after an international flight," Kimmel tweeted. "I thought I'd share this because the dude is a class act and little moments like this can make such a big difference in people's lives."</p> <p>Adding to the evidence of the actor's superhuman tolerance, Reeves agreed to a selfie with Kimmel, which he added to the twitter thread.</p> <p>"I mean… had to. Have a happy 4th everyone!" said Kimmel. "We need more Keanus!"</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images / Twitter</em></p>

Travel Trouble

Placeholder Content Image

Keanu Reeves donates his Matrix salary to cancer research

<p>Hollywood's nicest guy Keanu Reeves has reportedly donated 70% of his salary from <em>The Matrix</em> to cancer research. </p> <p>The 57-year-old Canadian actor made $14 million for the 1999 sci-fi hit film, before earning another $49 million after its impressive release at the box office. </p> <p>According to <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.ladbible.com/entertainment/latest-keanu-reeves-donated-70-of-his-matrix-salary-to-leukaemia-research-20211228" target="_blank">Lad Bible</a>, Keanu gave approximately $44 million of those earnings to leukaemia research, after his sister Kim was diagnosed with blood cancer in 1991. </p> <p>Kim, who is now 55-years-old battled the condition for 10 years before entering remission, as Keanu put his career on hold - which included the back-to-back <em>Matrix</em> sequels - to take care of her. </p> <p>He later started his own cancer fund, but didn't make it known to the public for several years. </p> <p>“I have a private foundation that’s been running for five or six years, and it helps aid a couple of children’s hospitals and cancer research,” Reeves told Ladies Home Journal in 2009.</p> <p>“I don’t like to attach my name to it, I just let the foundation do what it does.”</p> <p>The foundation provides critical funding for research into cancer, while also supporting both children's wards and kids' hospitals. </p> <p>This is not the first time Keanu Reeves has parted with his impressive movie salary to help others, as he has previously given up to $125 million to save at-risk jobs so people could stay employed. </p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p>

Movies

Placeholder Content Image

Christopher Reeve’s grown up son hopes his parents are proud of him

<p>The son of the late actor Christopher Reeve has written an emotional letter to his 13-year-old self about the “lowest point” in his life.</p> <p>Will Reeve, 26, wrote his vulnerable thoughts for <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/note-to-self-will-reeve/"><strong><u>CBS</u></strong></a>’s series ‘Note to Self: Inspiring Words From Inspiring People’.</p> <p>The sports journalist lost both of his parents at a young age after his famous dad died in 2004 and his mum, Dana Reeve, died less than two years later from lung cancer.</p> <p>Will told his younger self that in all his life, there is “no obstacle greater” than learning to move through life without his parents.</p> <p>While he admits that he still doesn’t have it all figured out, he said that his focus is to live a life that will make his parents proud.</p> <p>Read his full letter here:</p> <p><em>Dear Will,</em></p> <p><em>I've got good news and bad news. I'll start with the bad, because you always need to know exactly what's going on, no matter what. That won't change, by the way. The bad news is: You're at the lowest point of your life. You're in a hospital room in New York City, and you've just said your final goodbye to Mom.</em></p> <p><em>You're 13. She's 44. Lung cancer. Never smoked. Gone, just like Dad, who died a year-and-a-half ago, which at the time was the lowest you had been. Now you're at a new bottom and you're terrified and confused and just so sad.</em></p> <p><em>But! Here's the good news: this is the low point. There's nowhere to go but up, and that's exactly where you're headed.</em></p> <p><em>You will always remember the good stuff. Dad in the driveway teaching you how to ride a bike just by telling you what to do, you trusting him so fully that you just do it. Mom's singing voice filling the air with sweetness at home and in the car to school.</em></p> <p><em>How lucky are you that in her final moments, when she finally had to accept that she was dying, Mom knew where to put you? She signed you over to the Pucci's, your next-door neighbors, your second family and now your adoptive family. You'll move in with them and love them as fiercely and fully as they love you.</em></p> <p><em>There will be times when you will feel lost. You will feel insecure, less about the braces and bad haircut you have now and more about the choices you make, the direction of your career, missteps in relationships and social settings, but don't worry.</em></p> <p><em>You'll keep playing sports and singing in musicals and you'll get good grades and make great friends and you'll feel encouraged, supported and loved.</em></p> <p><em>You love to write and it will be essential at your dream job, reporting and anchoring at ESPN, where you promised mom and dad you would work one day. When you get that call, you'll want to call them and tell them the great news and of course, you can't, but you know that they already know.</em></p> <p><em>To millions of people, they embody love and loyalty, commitment and courage, perseverance and hope. You'll make them proud by honoring your family name, not by using it for special treatment but by living a life worthy of its legacy.</em></p> <p><em>Some days, like when you join the board of the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, you'll feel like you're doing a great job. Other times, like when your work-play balance gets a little too skewed toward fun, or you're lazy or rude or selfish, you'll feel nothing but shame.</em></p> <p><em>It sounds simple and clichéd, but just be you. Because you are what will make mom and dad most proud. Every moment you spent with them, they were preparing you for a life without them. You have their values and Mom's eyes and Dad's smile.</em></p> <p><em>I want you to know that we do not have all of this figured out. But you know that in the years ahead, you will face no obstacle greater than the one you are starting to overcome right now, and no matter which way your journey leads, mom and dad will be there with you every step of the way. How lucky are you?</em></p> <p><em>Sincerely, Will</em></p>

Movies

Placeholder Content Image

Late actor Christopher Reeve's son is the spitting image of his father

<p><span>The son of late actor Christopher Reeve has made an appearance at an event in New York and fans were shocked over his resemblance to his dad.</span></p> <p><span>Twenty-five-year-old Will made an appearance at the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation Gala in New York on Thursday.</span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span><img width="500" height="413" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7264816/1_500x413.jpg" alt="1 (49)"/><br /></span></p> <p><span>Also attending the charity event included Will’s half-brother Matthew, 37, and actress Glenn Close, who was a presenter during the night.</span></p> <p><span>Will was all smiles at the fundraiser for the foundation, which is a non-profit organisation aimed to improve the quality of life for people living with paralysis.</span></p> <p><span>Actor Jerry O’Connell, who hosted the event, told </span><em><span>PEOPLE</span></em><span>, “I first got involved because I met Will Reeve, who’s Christopher Reeve’s son, and I was just so taken with what a well-mannered young man he was. Last year he said, ‘Would you come host this evening that we have?’ And I have to tell you, I honestly didn’t know much about the foundation.”</span></p> <p><span>Will not only looks like his father but is also pursuing acting.</span></p> <p><span>Will appeared alongside Glenn Close in the 1997 TV Movie </span><em><span>In The Gloaming</span></em><span> and appeared in </span><em><span>The Brooke Ellison Story</span></em><span>.</span></p> <p><span>Will was 3 years old when his father was left paralysed in 1995 and was just 11 when he died in 2004. Two years later, his mother Dana died of lung cancer at 44.</span></p> <p><span>What do you think of Will's resemblance to his famous father? Tell us in the comments below. </span></p>

Movies

Our Partners