Cirrus@Austlit

'The gags might be a tad silly and the storytelling slightly contrived, but it’s hard to resist the charm of hapless scoundrel Johnny ‘Spit’ Spitieri'

'This soupy Christmas drama based on Paul Kelly’s song tips into corny sentimentalism – and comes dangerously close to suggesting that gravy is actually magic.'

'The 85-year-old critic has finished his huge history of Australian cinema from 1990 to 2020 – which involved rewatching 650 films. So which beloved classic has he changed his mind about?' 

'Jon Bell’s bold and daring film about a mother who is stalked by a child-stealing bogeyman is a little underdeveloped'

'A Northern Territory cattle station is the majestic setting for the power jostling and fraught family dynamics of Netflix’s new Australian drama'

'Based on its star’s novel of the same name, the series about recovery and redemption is affecting, poetic and anything but cheesy'

'The key challenge for the Australian version of this much-loved sitcom was to bring something new to the table. Amazingly, no one seems to have tried' 

'Dylan River’s highly addictive show, following a teenager on the run across the outback in the 1980s, has real oomph and chutzpah'  (Introduction)

'Radha Mitchell gives a resonant performance in an otherwise lacklustre series, which presents a sanitised vision of 1979 Perth'

'Jackie van Beek and Hannah Diviney star in Natalie Bailey’s feature debut, which explores a thorny taboo with gallows humour'

'Stan’s new series ostensibly tackles racism, justice and police ethics. It ends up wildly farfetched, with a plot too knotty for its own good'

'The web of deception woven by David Wenham’s shady Joe Burt sets pulses racing in this slow-building TV series inspired by Stephanie Wood’s memoir'

'This viscerally cockamamie comedy maintains enjoyable momentum, even when gun-toting puppet birds begin to attack' 

'After the first season of Harriet Dyer and Patrick Brammall’s comedy took off, the lovebirds return to win back their hapless pooch. It’s sizzling TV'

'Tanzyn Crawford and Cliff Curtis are great as a father and daughter who must raise $26,000 by whatever means necessary' 

'Netflix’s reboot of the 90s classic ramps up the colour and sensationalism. It’s all high and no heart' 

'A central performance from Levi Miller isn’t enough to lift a run-of-the-mill war film that struggles to maintain dramatic interest'