The Jam Report

REVIEW – ‘The Odyssey’ is an ambitious adaptation that finds the humanity beneath the mythology Posted at 02:00h in Reviews Stories don’t survive for nearly three thousand years on spectacle alone. Monsters may seize the imagination, gods may command awe, and wars may provide the grandeur required to fill enormous screens, but mythology endures because something recognisably human lies beneath it. At the centre of Homer’s Odyssey is not a cyclops, a witch, a goddess, or even the fate of a kingdom.

REVIEW – ‘Evil Dead Burn’ is savage, stylish, and spectacularly gruesome Posted at 11:30h in Reviews Horror has always been at its best when it commits wholeheartedly to its own madness. Audiences can sense hesitation. They know when filmmakers pull punches or soften the edges in pursuit of broader appeal. The Evil Dead franchise has survived for more than four decades because it has never been interested in restraint.

REVIEW – ‘Moana’ struggles to justify why this journey needed to be remade Posted at 09:28h in Featured, Reviews Some films become timeless almost immediately. They arrive, captivate audiences, and settle into popular culture so effortlessly that they scarcely feel as though they have ever left. Disney’s animated Moana is one of those rare modern classics. Released just ten years ago, it remains one of the studio’s most beloved recent achievements.

REVIEW – ‘Supergirl’ has all the right ingredients but never quite takes flight Posted at 06:57h in Reviews Last year, Superman felt like a breath of fresh air. James Gunn’s vibrant reintroduction of the Man of Steel captured something that had been missing from superhero cinema for a while. It had heart. It had sincerity. It had a sense of wonder. Most importantly, it had personality. Walking out of that film, it was impossible not to be excited about what the new DC Universe might have in store.

REVIEW – ‘Minions & Monsters’ is an unexpectedly lovely ode to movie-making Posted at 10:01h in Reviews Something unexpected happens about halfway through Minions & Monsters. Between the banana jokes, the slapstick chaos, and the endless stream of Minion gibberish, you begin to realise that somebody involved in this thing genuinely loves movies. Not just modern blockbusters or the art of merchandising little yellow mascots, but cinema itself. Silent comedies. Universal monster movies.

SYDNEY FILM FESTIVAL – ‘Fjord’ is challenging, maddening, and gripping in equal measure Posted at 13:15h in Reviews Fjord opens with “Amazing Grace” drifting gently across a piano, a hymn so often associated with sorrow, surrender, and spiritual release. Mihai Gheorghiu (Sebastian Stan) hears something else in it. To him, the melody is delightful, not melancholy, a small exchange that immediately establishes the uneasy worldview of Cristian Mungiu’s latest film. Beauty and discomfort coexist here.

SYDNEY FILM FESTIVAL REVIEW – ‘La Bola Negra’ is a sweeping, deeply passionate ode to queer history Posted at 11:21h in Reviews A trumpet can carry across battlefields. A half-finished play can outlive its creator. A memory can survive long after the people who made it have vanished. La Bola Negra understands these truths with a staggering amount of passion, crafting a film that feels less like a conventional historical drama and more like an act of resurrection.

REVIEW – ‘Toy Story 5’ proves these beloved characters still have stories worth telling Posted at 02:01h in Reviews Toy Story 5 arrives carrying the weight of a question Pixar has been answering for almost three decades: what else is left to say about these toys? After the emotional finality of Toy Story 3 and the more divisive existential searching of Toy Story 4, another return to Bonnie’s room could have easily felt unnecessary. Woody had already said goodbye.

SYDNEY FILM FESTIVAL REVIEW – ‘Coward’ is a haunting blend of love, art, and survival Posted at 16:03h in Reviews War films often focus on what violence destroys, but Coward is far more interested in what tenderness can preserve. Set against the brutal backdrop of the First World War, Lukas Dhont’s exquisite new film understands that survival is not merely a matter of staying alive.

SYDNEY FILM FESTIVAL REVIEW – ‘I Want Your Sex’ is a terrifically subversive portrait of modern sexuality Posted at 21:17h in Reviews Some films spend so much time worrying about whether audiences will find them offensive that they forget to be fun. Others mistake provocation for substance, throwing sex and shock at the screen without having much to say beyond “Look how naughty we are.” Gregg Araki’s I Want Your Sex somehow manages to avoid both traps.