Actor Kodi Smit-McPhee (1996)

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 ...

Jane Campion’s film, The Power of the Dog (2021), is a reimagined Western drama based on Thomas Savage’s novel of the same name. Set in 1925 Montana, the story follows wealthy rancher brothers Phil and George Burbank as they encounter Rose Gordon, a widow and innkeeper, during a cattle drive. While George is drawn to Rose’s kindness, Phil disapproves of her and views her as someone after his brother’s money. He also belittles Rose’s teenage son Peter, whom he sees as weak and effeminate. After George and Rose marry and she moves in with them ...

X-Men: Dark Phoenix (2019), an American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics characters, serves as both a sequel to 2016’s X-Men: Apocalypse and the twelfth installment of the overall series. However, it also marks the final chapter in the prequel films. The story begins in 1975 when eight-year-old Jean Grey loses her parents in a fatal car accident, an event that triggers her telekinetic powers for the first time. She is then taken under Professor Charles Xavier’s wing at his School for Gifted Youngsters with the promise of learning how to control her mutant abilities. Jumping ahead to 1992, we find the X-Men called upon by the president to ...

The American superhero film, X-Men: Apocalypse (2016), was directed and produced by Bryan Singer and written by Simon Kinberg, with a story also contributed by Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris. In 3600 BCE, the powerful mutant En Sabah Nur ruled ancient Egypt before being buried alive. Centuries later, he is resurrected in 1983 with a belief that humanity has lost its way. To achieve his goal of destroying and rebuilding the world, he enlists four followers, including Ororo ...

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) is an American sci-fi action film directed by Matt Reeves. A decade after the deadly Simian Flu pandemic, the global human population has drastically decreased and only a small fraction are genetically immune. Human society collapsed as a result. Meanwhile, a group of apes with enhanced intelligence from the virus have settled in Muir Woods National Monument near San Francisco, led by Caesar and his lieutenants Maurice, Rocket, and Koba. Unknowingly, a team of humans led by Malcolm enter the apes’ territory in search of a hydroelectric dam to restore their community’s ...

ParaNorman (2012) is a stop-motion animated film from directors Sam Fell and Chris Butler, who also wrote the screenplay. The story takes place in Blithe Hollow, Massachusetts and follows 11-year-old Norman Babcock. Despite his ability to communicate with the dead, including his late grandmother and other ghosts in town, Norman is ostracized by his family and peers at school. However, he finds a friend in Neil Downe, who shares his experiences of being bullied. During rehearsals for a school play about the town’s witch trials, Norman and Neil are visited by Mr. ...

Let Me In (2010), a romantic horror film written and directed by Matt Reeves, is a remake of the 2008 Swedish film Let the Right One In. The original was based on John Ajvide Lindqvist’s novel of the same name. The story takes place in March 1983, in Los Alamos, New Mexico. A disfigured man is brought to the hospital where he becomes a suspect in a recent murder case. As an unnamed detective tries to question him, the man escapes through a window leaving behind a note that reads: ‘I’M SORY ABBY’. Prior to this incident, Owen, an unhappy ...

The Road (2009), an American post-apocalyptic film directed by John Hillcoat and written by Joe Penhall, is based on the 2006 novel of the same name by Cormac McCarthy. It follows a father and son as they struggle to survive in a world ravaged by an unspecified catastrophe that wiped out all plant and animal life. Together, they travel along a road towards the coast in search of safety, scrounging for resources and avoiding violent gangs of cannibals armed with guns. Years earlier, the man’s wife gives birth to their ...

The non-hosted anthology series, Nightmares and Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King (2006), originally aired on TNT in the summer of 2006. This eight-episode adaptation features a collection of short stories by King, primarily from the book of the same name. While most are from this specific collection, there are also some stories taken from other works written by King. Produced jointly between Australia and the US, the series was filmed entirely in Melbourne, Victoria. The episodes include Battleground (1) where a contract killer becomes the target of ...