Another stellar Australian film is released this week, let’s hope local audiences get behind homegrown productions and go see The Infinite Man.

Also released ahead of the Australian September school holidays is the YA film The Maze Runner.

The Infinite Man

Director: Hugh Sullivan
Cast: Josh McConville, Hannah Marshall, Alex Dimitriades
Duration: 85 mins
Rating: MA15+ – Strong sex scenes
Release Date: September 18, 2014

Why you should see it: Stephen A. Russell for thelowdownunder says: “The Infinite Man boasts a great deal of heart, snappy brains and a boot-load full of quirky humour too, knocking Richard Curtis’ similarly themed rom com About Time outta the multiverse. Essentially a two-hander, Josh McConville stars as Dean, the amiably handsome but decidedly bumbling and more than a little desperate boyfriend of Packed to the Rafters star Hannah Marshall’s utterly unimpressed, and by fairly so, Lana. She’s had just about enough of his haphazard attempts at romance, so when the dag drags her to the first spot they ever took a holiday together for their anniversary and the motel turns out to be abandoned and somewhat run down, she decides to dump him. Now for the whacky plot twist. It turns out Dean has invented a time travel device that looks suspiciously like a rugby head protector with thread spindles stuck all over it. In an effort to save their failing relationship, he decides to jump backwards and fiddle with the timeline so she stands with her man instead.”

The Maze Runner

Director: Wes Ball
Cast: Dylan O’Brien, Kaya Scodelario, Will Poulter, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Aml Ameen
Duration: 113 mins
Rating: M – Violence, science fiction themes and sustained threat
Release Date: September 18, 2014

Why you should see it: A young adult film packed with dark, gritty action, The Maze Runner is not for the faint-hearted. This is an edge-of-your seat flick about a group of boys imprisoned in the centre of a deadly maze – and with no memory of their pasts except for their Christian names. When the latest monthly newcomer Thomas arrives, things take a dramatic turn for the worse for the boys of ‘The Glade’, the patch of land they inhabit. They are forced to accept that there may be a life outside their hell if Thomas can find a way through the maze that surrounds them. But there is much more to Thomas than meets they eye; he has some memory of his past, and when a female prisoner, Teresa, arrives (Skins’ Kaya Scoledario) and utters his names, things get frenzied. Standout performances from lead Dylan O’Brien and his on-screen nemesis, The Chronicle of Narnia’s Will Poulter.

Sin City: A Dame To Kill For

Director: Frank Miller, Robert Rodriguez
Cast: Jessica Alba, Bruce Willis, Mickey Rourke, Rosario Dawson, Jaime King, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Juno Temple, Eva Green, Ray Liotta, Jamie Chung, Jeremy Piven, Christopher Meloni, Lady Gaga, Josh Brolin
Rating: CTC
Release Date: September 18, 2014

Why you should see it: Stephen A. Russell for thelowdownunder says: “In many ways, it’s hard to review Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez’ belated pulp noir sequel, Sin City: A Dame To Kill For with a straight face. A group of hard-boiled archetypes dialled up to absurdity, ridiculous notions of masculinity go backhand in beautiful face with great dollops of misogyny, soaked in blood, tears and whiskey. The Bechdel test does not apply here folks; it wouldn’t be seen dead in this neck of the woods.”