Actor David Wenham (1965)

Elvis (2022) is a biographical drama film co-produced and directed by Baz Luhrmann, chronicling the life of American rock and roll singer and actor Elvis Presley. On his deathbed in 1997, Presley’s former manager Colonel Tom Parker reflects on their initial meeting and the rise to fame under his management. Growing up in poverty-stricken areas of Mississippi with a nurturing mother, Presley found solace in comic books and music, particularly African-American genres from Beale Street. It wasn’t until Parker, a self-proclaimed modern-day P. T. Barnum, heard ...

Pieces of Her (2022) is a thrilling drama series on Netflix, created by Charlotte Stoudt and based on the novel of the same name by Karin Slaughter. The story follows Andy, a 30-year-old woman who finds herself in the midst of a deadly shooting at a local diner. As she processes the events and her mother’s swift actions to eliminate the threat, Andy’s perception of their relationship changes. However, her mother’s past quickly catches up to them and Andy must flee as she seeks to uncover buried truths. Amidst a routine ...

Iron Fist (2017–2018), an American TV show produced by Marvel Television for Netflix, is based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name and created by Scott Buck. Set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it shares continuity with the franchise’s films and was the fourth in a series of Marvel shows on Netflix leading up to the crossover event The Defenders (2017). After being presumed dead for 15 years, Danny Rand returns to New York City. Upon his return, he faces doubts from childhood friends who now run his parents’ company about whether he is truly the rightful heir. Despite this, ...

The American swashbuckler fantasy film, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017), is directed by Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg. In the opening scene, young Henry Turner leaves his home in the dark of night on a rowboat, only to find himself pulled down to the bottom of the sea and inside the cursed ghost ship, the Flying Dutchman. He reunites with his cursed father, Captain Will Turner, and seeks out the fabled Trident of Poseidon to break his father’s curse. However, Will discourages him from this seemingly impossible task and sends him back to ...

The American epic film, 300: Rise of an Empire (2014), directed by Noam Murro and written by Zack Snyder and Kurt Johnstad, retells the story of the Battle of Marathon. During this battle, King Darius of Persia is killed by Themistocles of Athens. Witnessing his father’s death, Darius’s son Xerxes is advised to avoid war with the Greeks. However, Artemisia, Darius’s naval commander, convinces Xerxes to become a god and sends him on a journey through the desert. After bathing in a mystical liquid in a cave, ...

Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole (2010) is a 2010 3D computer-animated fantasy adventure film directed by Zack Snyder. Soren, a young barn owl, resides in Tyto Forest with his family, where he enjoys listening to his father’s tales of the ‘Guardians of Ga’Hoole’ – noble owls who battled against the malevolent Pure Ones. However, Soren’s older brother Kludd grows envious when they are taught how to fly and pushes him off a branch, causing them both to plummet to the ground. They are then taken captive by Jatt and Jutt, minions of the Pure Ones, and transported to St. ...

Baz Luhrmann’s epic adventure drama, Australia (2008), follows Lady Sarah Ashley as she travels to her husband’s faltering cattle station, Faraway Downs. It is 1939, just before the start of World War II, and Lady Sarah hopes to make her husband sell the station and save their marriage. However, upon arriving in Australia from England, she learns that her husband has been murdered by an Aboriginal elder known as ‘King George’. The vast Faraway Downs spans across Western Australia and the Northern Territory, reaching all the way to the Timor Sea. In order to secure control of the station for ...

300 (2006), an American epic historical war action film, is based on the 1998 comic book series of the same name by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley. Set in 480 B.C., it tells the story of Leonidas I, from his childhood to kingship, according to Spartan doctrine. The plot begins when a Persian herald arrives at Sparta, demanding ‘earth and water’ as a token of submission to King Xerxes. After being insulted by the herald, Queen Gorgo urges Leonidas to submit. However, he instead throws them both into a bottomless pit. Next, Leonidas visits the Ephors and presents ...

In the action horror film Van Helsing (2004), written and directed by Stephen Sommers, we are taken to 1887 Transylvania. There, Doctor Victor Frankenstein works with his assistant Igor and Count Dracula in creating a monster. However, when Frankenstein refuses to follow Dracula’s plans for the creature, he is killed by the vampire. Meanwhile, Igor stands by and watches without emotion. As a mob approaches the castle, the monster escapes to a windmill with Frankenstein’s body. The windmill is set on fire by the angry mob, seemingly killing the monster. One year later, Gabriel Van Helsing, a renowned monster ...

The epic high fantasy adventure film, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), was directed by Peter Jackson and written by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, and Jackson. Based on J. R. R. Tolkien’s third volume of the novel series, The Return of the King (1955), it follows the journey of Sméagol, a hobbit who becomes consumed by the power of the One Ring after murdering his cousin Déagol to obtain it. As ...

The film, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), directed by Peter Jackson and written by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Stephen Sinclair, and Jackson himself, is based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s second volume of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, titled The Two Towers. In one of his dreams, Frodo Baggins envisions Gandalf battling a Balrog in Moria, before ...