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Netflix drama Steve breathes new life into the ‘school of hard knocks’ genre

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Dr Luke Buckmaster @lukebuckmaster.bsky.social · 15h

The “school of hard knocks” drama must deliver students in need of help; a more interesting question is what to do with the teachers. Me on Netflix's excellent new film Steve

Cillian Murphy burns slow and bright in Steve, a bruising but cathartic portrait of care, chaos, and collapse inside an English reform school—now streaming on Netflix.

The Lost Bus is a terrifyingly immersive disaster movie

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Dr Luke Buckmaster @lukebuckmaster.bsky.social · 5d

Matthew McConaughey plays a school bus driver barrelling through hell-on-earth wildfire in The Lost Bus, a pulse-pounding disaster movie from director Paul Greengrass. Here's my review

Matthew McConaughey steers through an inferno in this pulse-pounding film, which showcases the intense, famously restless style of director Paul Greengrass.

Play Dirty is exactly what you want from a Shane Black action movie

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Dr Luke Buckmaster @lukebuckmaster.bsky.social · 7d

Mark Wahlberg sneaks, shoots, and connives in Shane Black’s twisty new heist thriller—an action flick that thrives on flipping expectations. My review

Mark Wahlberg sneaks, shoots, and connives in Shane Black’s twisty new heist thriller—an action flick that thrives on flipping expectations.

The time I accidentally pissed off Paul Thomas Anderson

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Dr Luke Buckmaster @lukebuckmaster.bsky.social · 8d

There’s the old saying “never meet your heroes.” But what about “never piss off your heroes”? Me on the time I upset one of my favourite directors www.flicks.com.au/features/the...

There’s the old saying “never meet your heroes.” But what about “never piss off your heroes”? Luke Buckmaster remembers the time he upset one of his favourite directors.

Spinal Tap’s geriatric comeback rocks harder than expected

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Dr Luke Buckmaster @lukebuckmaster.bsky.social · 12d

Did This Is Spinal Tap accidentally give us Donald Trump? Just kidding. Kind of. Here are my thoughts on their new movie—and the tangled extension cords of pop culture

Spinal Tap II: The End Continues reunites rock’s most pathetic legends – who are now older, slower, but more endearing than ever.

Kangaroo review – furry family feature is hard to hate

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Dr Luke Buckmaster @lukebuckmaster.bsky.social · 15d

Ah yes: the opportunistic city slicker who exits the fast lane and rediscovers the important things in life. My review of new Australian film Kangaroo

Made by the director of Looking for Alibrandi and co-written by Melina Marchetta, this children’s film gets a little cheesy – but it’s also full of very cute joeys

The electric energy of One Battle After Another

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Reposted by Dr Luke Buckmaster

Flicks @flicks.bsky.social · 16d

There’s an electric energy to Paul Thomas Anderson’s #OneBattleAfterAnother, says @lukebuckmaster.bsky.social, who calls it "an exhilaratingly well-made, teeth-gnashing action thriller that unfolds on the ground, close to the gutter"

Violent, funny, and unnervingly real, Paul Thomas Anderson’s exhilerating new film crafts a jittery vision of America unraveling.

go.weareflicks.co

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Dr Luke Buckmaster @lukebuckmaster.bsky.social · 16d

Critic like me simply must grumble about the glut of sequels and spin-offs clogging up our screens. But I’ll always have time for new adventures from outback sleuth Jay Swan.

Mystery Road: Origin season two review – outback sleuth Jay Swan’s latest outing is classily executed but a little hackneyed

It’s as though Mark Coles Smith has always played the role – the highest of compliments given that he’s filling Aaron Pedersen’s very big cowboy boots

The perilous prettiness of A Big Bold Beautiful Journey

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Dr Luke Buckmaster @lukebuckmaster.bsky.social · 18d

Every frame is like a painting in Kogonada’s beautiful romantic drama. But, do we really feel this work, or admire it from behind glass? My thoughts

Every frame is like a painting in Kogonada’s beautiful romantic drama. But, asks Luke Buckmaster, do we really feel this work or admire it from behind glass?

Australia 3D review – the world’s most majestic tourism ad

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Dr Luke Buckmaster @lukebuckmaster.bsky.social · 19d

The title "Australia 3D" brings to mind two equally terrifying possibilities. The first: a smorgasbord of stereotypical Australian images. The second: another version of a terrible Baz Luhrmann movie. Thank god this film is neither.

This Imax documentary features stunning landscapes and images of Australia’s varied fauna – that wouldn’t be out of place on the back of a plane seat

The terrible irony at the heart of KPop Demon Hunters

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Dr Luke Buckmaster @lukebuckmaster.bsky.social · 20d

The great irony about this film is that its characters save the world by using the devil’s music. I put my fingers in my ears and attempt to understand its phenomenal popularity

Flicks lead critic Luke Buckmaster puts his fingers in his ears and tries to comprehend the incredible success of KPop Demon Hunters, which is now Netflix’s most streamed movie.

AKA Charlie Sheen delivers what we want: pure, uncut debauchery

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Dr Luke Buckmaster @lukebuckmaster.bsky.social · 23d

The hollowness of AKA Charlie Sheen feels almost fitting - as if the show is conceding that in Hollywood, spectacle is its own reward. My review of Netflix's entertaining tell-all

From tiger blood to 18 hour nosebleeds, AKA Charlie Sheen serves unfiltered chaos and indulgence. It’s spectacle over substance, but very entertaining.

An island of other realities: the magic of Venice Immersive

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Reposted by Dr Luke Buckmaster

Flicks @flicks.bsky.social · 26d

Blurred reality and redefined storytelling - @lukebuckmaster.bsky.social travelled to Venice Immersive, a haven for virtual and mixed reality enthusiasts held annually as part of the Venice Film Festival.

Venice Immersive – recently visited by Flicks critic Luke Buckmaster – is part of the Venice Film Festival, devoted to virtual and mixed reality experiences. It showcases art that blurs reality and re...

go.weareflicks.co

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Dr Luke Buckmaster @lukebuckmaster.bsky.social · 27d

Blur is an amazing mixed reality and immersive theatre experience telling a cautionary tale about the dangers of genetic mutations. I experienced it at this year's Venice Immersive

Blur review (Venice Immersive)

This hybrid mixed reality and immersive theatre experience from co-directors Craig Quintero and Phoebe Greenberg is a cautionary tale about the dangers of genetic mutations and the human desire to tra...

Went Up the Hill review – icy ghost story feels a little empty

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Dr Luke Buckmaster @lukebuckmaster.bsky.social · 27d

My review of ghost movie Went Up the Hill - one of those stiff, formally austere productions that critics feel obliged to describe as “meditative” or “cerebral” www.theguardian.com/film/2025/se...

Dacre Montgomery and Vicky Krieps star as a pair of strangers tethered by a late mutual relative who begins to inhabit their bodies. It’s deadly serious – too serious

L'Ombre review (Venice Immersive)

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Dr Luke Buckmaster @lukebuckmaster.bsky.social · 28d

Are mixed reality headsets the future - or A future - of live theatre performances? The implications for set design, staging etc are massive. Read my piece on L'Ombre, a wild cross-reality musical I saw in Venice

L’ombre is an hour-long mixed reality dance experience combining a handful of live performers, and a percussionist, with countless virtual extras and all sorts of incandescent digital scaffolding. It’...

How the new The Running Man can improve on the original

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Dr Luke Buckmaster @lukebuckmaster.bsky.social · Sep 5

My passion for virtual reality brought me to Venice as a guest of the Venice Film Festival. I spent most of my time on a tiny island, which lies dormant until it becomes Venice Immersive - an entire island of virtual and mixed reality experiences. There's nothing else in the world like it.

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Dr Luke Buckmaster @lukebuckmaster.bsky.social · Sep 2

The original The Running Man is a messy, neon-soaked joyride, but its flaws give Edgar Wright’s upcoming remake plenty of room to improve.

The original The Running Man is a messy, neon-soaked joyride, but its flaws give Edgar Wright’s upcoming remake plenty of room to improve.

Touching the Sky review: vertiginous thrills, conquered physics

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Dr Luke Buckmaster @lukebuckmaster.bsky.social · Sep 1

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Dr Luke Buckmaster @lukebuckmaster.bsky.social · Sep 1

🤣 Yes, many things, but no films. The focus of my visit is the Venice Immersive section of the program. The curators invited me there as a special guest of the festival, after I launched The VR Critic. What they have done is incredible. An island dubbed Immersive Island, devoted to VR/AR

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Dr Luke Buckmaster @lukebuckmaster.bsky.social · Sep 1

I think it's much better than Free Solo. The camera is liberated; it soars like a bird. Please let me know what you think if you see it.

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Dr Luke Buckmaster @lukebuckmaster.bsky.social · Sep 1

My new buddie Ron Pearlman. Spent an evening hanging out with him at a small film party in Venice. Very approachable, lots of great stories. He told me "I want to die on set. After they call 'action', before they call 'cut'".

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Dr Luke Buckmaster @lukebuckmaster.bsky.social · Aug 31

There are insanely beautiful sights in Touching the Sky, a 360 documentary that follows athletes pursuing the ancient dream of human flight. My review

There are many insanely beautiful sights in Touching the Sky, an hour-long 360 documentary that follows athletes who use paragliding, wingsuits, speed riding and BASE jumping to whoosh through high al...

The World Came Flooding In VR review (Melbourne Int. Film Festival)

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Dr Luke Buckmaster @lukebuckmaster.bsky.social · Aug 27

Premiering at the Melbourne International Film Festival, this beautiful, melancholic VR experience uses objects to explore the stories of flood survivors

A beautiful, melancholic VR experience exploring survivors of flood-prone areas.