Anthologization needs to make a comeback. In this era, franchises choose one of two paths: becoming overwhelmingly serialized, assembly line products that by design perpetually keep the wheels turning with ever-diminishing returns. Or, they get…
Sean Coates
Sean Coates
Sean is a recent film school graduate and aspiring film critic based in Melbourne, Australia. He is MovieBabble's unofficial and self-appointed Australian correspondent and you can read his musings on Australian cinema his monthly column, The Babble Down Under. Sean is also the creator/host of Another Bloody Movie Podcast.
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AnimationReviews
‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’ Clears the Very Low Bar for Video Game Movies by the Hair of its Moustache
by Sean Coatesby Sean CoatesIt’s been a long time between drinks for Mario and Luigi at the movies. The absolutely gonzo and bizarre 1993 live-action adaptation of the classic game was such a notorious critical and financial failure that…
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The Rocky franchise has left an indelible mark on cinema history. It created the blueprint for the modern sports movie that had audiences passionately cheering for the underdog and making them want to get up and…
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ComedyReviewsRomance
For a Dollar, Name the Best Romantic Comedy of 2022. Hint: It’s ‘Bros’
by Sean Coatesby Sean Coates“It wasn’t easy, but it’s worth it”. These words from co-writer and star of Bros, Billy Eichner, in his Q&A after its Melbourne premiere screening resonated with a thundering echo. Not just in terms of…
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ReviewsThriller
‘Don’t Worry Darling’: A Tired Retread Down Paranoid Roads Well Traveled
by Sean Coatesby Sean CoatesThey say all publicity is good publicity, and Olivia Wilde’s much-anticipated directorial follow-up to Booksmart has brought with it a cascading deluge of behind-the-scenes gossip. From conflicting reports on Shia LaBeouf’s departure from the project, Wilde’s affair…
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DocumentaryReviews
‘Moonage Daydream’: A Dizzying, Dazzling and Life-Affirming Musical Odyssey (MIFF 2022)
by Sean Coatesby Sean CoatesJanuary 9th, 1997. David Bowie stands before a massive crowd at Madison Square Garden at a special concert event for his 50th birthday and exclaims, “I don’t know where I am going from here, but…
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Action/AdventureReviews
‘The Northman’: A Fierce, Awe-Inspiring Spectacle
by Sean Coatesby Sean CoatesRegular MovieBabble readers must be growing tired of every review from yours truly opening with a sermon-esque pontification bemoaning the state of contemporary studio cinema, desperately trying to find some light at the end of…
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As a cynical film reviewer with a chronic case of cape fatigue frustrated and concerned with the current state of Hollywood cinema, it takes a lot for me to muster up any excitement for superhero…
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DramaReviews
Toronto International Film Festival 2021 Review: ‘Ahed’s Knee’
by Sean Coatesby Sean CoatesNadav Lapid’s Synonyms caused quite a stir when it unexpectedly took out the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival in 2019. The film loosely based on Lapid’s own life about an Israeli man who flees…
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ComedyReviews
Toronto International Film Festival 2021 Review: ‘Dug Dug’
by Sean Coatesby Sean CoatesUnder the bright glistening haze of blue and pink lights, Ritwek Pareek’s vibrant debut feature opens on 40-something drunkard Thakur Lal. His internal monologue spouts vague philosophical musings before mounting his motorcycle and going for…
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ReviewsScience Fiction
Toronto International Film Festival 2021 Review: ‘Encounter’
by Sean Coatesby Sean CoatesAfter a number of standout supporting roles over the last half a decade, Riz Ahmed‘s wiry unpredictability and genuine pathos he injects into his performances has seen him evolve into a leading man with an…
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FantasyReviews
Toronto International Film Festival 2021 Review: ‘Kicking Blood’
by Sean Coatesby Sean CoatesCinema has given us many incarnations and interpretations of the vampire mythos since F.W Murnau’s Nosferatu almost a century ago. We’ve seen them portrayed as everything from baroque aristocrats, mindless parasitic monsters, mysterious outsiders in…
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DocumentaryReviews
Melbourne International Film Festival 2021 Review: ‘Hopper/Welles’
by Sean Coatesby Sean CoatesIt was November of 1970. Dennis Hopper, hot off the success of his counterculture masterpiece Easy Rider and deep into post-production of his second feature, The Last Movie travels from Taos, New Mexico to Los Angeles…
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Streaming ReviewsStreaming Superhero
‘The Suicide Squad’: A Ridiculously Entertaining Course Correction
by Sean Coatesby Sean CoatesCast your minds back five years ago to August of 2016. After two successive movies of superhero allies fighting each other over clashing ideologies with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Captain America: Civil…
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ReviewsThriller
‘Those Who Wish Me Dead’ Is an Overreaching Mess of an Action Thriller
by Sean Coatesby Sean CoatesTaylor Sheridan emerged as an exciting new screenwriting talent in the mid-2010s. A long-time TV actor who appeared on shows like Sons of Anarchy and Veronica Mars, Sheridan’s first screenplay for 2015’s Sicario introduced the world to…
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Action/AdventureReviews
‘Mortal Kombat’ Is Far From a Flawless Victory, But a Little Win for Video Game Adaptations
by Sean Coatesby Sean CoatesAs far as I am concerned, there are three certainties in life; death, taxes, and film adaptations of video game franchises always being bitterly disappointing or just plain bad. Over the years, so many great…
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DramaReviews
‘Final Set’ Has Enthralling Drama, Both On and Off the Court
by Sean Coatesby Sean CoatesIt’s a tale as old as sport itself and one that is forever etched into sporting history; the comeback. Once successful athletes who are down and out that come from the clouds, like a phoenix…
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Action/AdventureReviews
Bob Odenkirk Gives ‘Nobody’ a Lot of Personality
by Sean Coatesby Sean CoatesOne of the most fascinatingly odd Hollywood trends of the past decade has been the remolding of the action genre. With superheroes and comic book characters becoming the popular action stars for the new generation,…
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Welcome to the second installment of The Babble Down Under. This month, I thought I’d change it up a little bit and not just review one film, but give a brief overview of the very…
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MusicalsReviews
‘Music’ Is Irresponsible, Embarrassing, Offensive, and Horrifically Out of Tune
by Sean Coatesby Sean CoatesI am autistic and I am tired. I was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome when I was 8 years old. Although I have always had a love of film, it was not until my late teens…
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Being an Australian writer for a US-based website, I have always strived to review and promote Australian cinema ever since I started at MovieBabble. And now, Our wonderful CEO has given me my own special…
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Another Bloody Movie PodcastPodcasts
An Interview with Paul Komadina, Director of ‘Abduction’
by Sean Coatesby Sean CoatesRecently screened online at North Bend Film Fest as part of Nightstream, Abduction is a new Australian science fiction short from director, Paul Komadina. The film follows a young woman that wakes up in a field after…
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Features
Nightstream – A Sneak Peak into a New Online Genre Film Festival
by Sean Coatesby Sean CoatesThe Global Film community has been hit hard by COVID-19. Productions stalled, cinemas closed, release dates postponed. Even as cinemas are now gradually starting to reopen, several safety and security concerns with physical exhibition still…
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Another Bloody Movie PodcastPodcasts
Fantasia Film Festival 2020: An Interview with Quinn Armstrong, Director of ‘Survival Skills’
by Sean Coatesby Sean CoatesQuinn Armstrong’s Survival Skills has proved to be an audience favorite at this year’s Fantasia Film Festival. A parody of police training videos of the 1980s, Armstrong’s film delves deeper into the outmoded teachings of these…
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Action/AdventureReviews
Fantasia Film Festival 2020 Review: ‘Crazy Samurai Musashi’
by Sean Coatesby Sean CoatesA renowned philosopher and swordsman of the early Edo period, the life of Miyamoto Musashi has been told onscreen countless times since the late 1920s. Most notably in Hiroshi Inagaki’s Samurai Trilogy, where the legendary…
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DocumentaryReviews
Fantasia Film Festival 2020 Review: ‘Feels Good, Man’
by Sean Coatesby Sean CoatesBack in 2005, American cartoonist Matt Furie created the popular webcomic, Boy’s Club. A re-creation of his halcyon days with his college roommates, Boy’s Club was composed of deadpan comic vignettes of 4 anthropomorphic humanoid…
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AnimationReviews
Fantasia Film Festival 2020 Review: ‘The Old Man Movie’
by Sean Coatesby Sean CoatesGenre festivals like Fantasia do incredible work in programming an eclectic variety of cinema that is proudly and unapologetically so far from the norm. Whether it’s films with bold and transgressive storytelling, films that are…
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Another Bloody Movie PodcastPodcasts
MIFF 2020: An Interview with Allison Chhorn, Director of ‘The Plastic House’
by Sean Coatesby Sean CoatesCambodian-Australian, Allison Chhorn is an artist of many talents. A skilled photographer, painter, composer, and filmmaker, Chhorn is a bold and intriguing new voice in Australia’s artistic landscape. Her latest experimental cinematic effort, The Plastic…
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There’s something about micro-budget, social realist, mumblecore adjacent independent films with an emphasis on naturalism and a kind empathy for deeply flawed and troubled characters that feels so invigorating. Canadian director, Kazik Radwanski’s deeply uncomfortable…
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DocumentaryReviews
2020 Melbourne Documentary Film Festival: Virtual Edition Mini-Reviews – Part 2
by Sean Coatesby Sean CoatesRead part 1 of our 2020 Melbourne Documentary Film Festival coverage here. The Wheels of Wonder Play is a very important aspect of every child’s development. It gets them moving, stimulates their imagination, and helps…