Is This Thing On?

Official Australian release date: 5/2/26. Viewed: 26/1/26.
Director: Bradley Cooper
Actors: Will Arnett, Laura Dern, Andra Day, Bradley Cooper
Genre: Drama
Rating: M

‘Is This Thing On?’ is a simple indie family drama that follows Alex (Arnett) and Tess (Dern) as they separate, and the impact on their marriage, lives, parents Jan (Hinds) & Marilyn (Ebersole) and kids – Felix (Kane) & Jude (Knegten). Alex deals with this by inadvertently taking up stand-up comedy at New York open-mic nights, hence the title – although I’m not sure he actually says that specific line. Obviously he’s awkward and unpractised, but has plenty of recent life events to use as stories.

We get to see how Alex & Tess deal with their amicable split with their mutual friends, Christine (Day) & Balls (Cooper), plus Stephen (Hayes) & Geoffrey (Icenogle). They have relatively minor roles, but it’s fun to see Cooper as a director, and then getting to play an absent-minded stoner too. He uses lots of handheld camera, with lots of close-ups, which leads to an intimacy with Alex and Tess. Arnett is good and mostly-subdued, not an over-the-top caricature, pretty far removed from Gob.

It’s quite quick at 2 hours, and maybe has some unnecessary moments, but does a good job to show  a realistic relationship and the impact of decisions on friends and family. The cast is great, the  stand-up is OK and good to watch Alex progress. Ending and song choice are very strong.

Overall: Enjoyable human story

Gav’s Rating: 4 stars

Marty Supreme

Official Australian release date: 22/1/26. Viewed: 24/1/26.
Director: Josh Safdie
Actors: Timotheé Chalamet, Odessa A’zion, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kevin O’Leary
Genre: Drama / Biopic
Rating: M

‘Marty Supreme’ is a biopic that’s based on a real-life table tennis player, but sensationalised. Set in 1950s New York, we follow a 23-year-old Marty Mauser (Chalamet) as he chases his goal of being the best table tennis player in the USA and the world. This involves some sketchy ways to get the funds to play in tournaments, his driving force for most of the film.

Even though it’s about table tennis, there’s not too much actual time watching him play, compared to most sport biopics. Definitely feels like some is CGI, but you can tell Chalamet practiced quite a bit. We spend more time trying to decipher his family – mum Rebecca (Drescher) & uncle Murray (Sloman) are barely in it, and his relationship with Rachel (A’zion) is complicated, to say the least. He has some friends and helpers – Wally (Okonma) and Dion (Manley), but he does a convincing job of being so narcissistic to push most of them away.

The driving force is how his ambition and confidence lead to his involvement with actress Kay (Paltrow) and her husband Milton (O’Leary) and their role in assisting him in getting to Japan to play in the big tournament. Certainly some interesting moments throughout 2.5 hours! It probably could’ve been slightly shorter, but Chalamet makes Marty a whirlwind to watch, in all respects, and it’s easy to see why the film received a few Oscar nominations.

Overall: Engrossing exploration of one man’s excessive ambition

Gav’s Rating: 4 stars

 

The Housemaid

Official Australian release date: 26/12/25. Viewed: 11/1/26.
Director: Paul Feig
Actors: Sydney Sweeney, Amanda Seyfried, Brandon Sklenar, Indiana Elle
Genre: Drama / Thriller
Rating: MA

‘The Housemaid’ is a well-made suburban thriller. We follow Millie (Sweeney), as she gets a new job as a housemaid for an affluent upstate New York family, hired by the Winchesters – wife Nina (Seyfried), husband Andrew (Sklenar) and daughter Cece (Elle). We’re then drip-fed new info that changes our perspective one way or another throughout.

It starts a bit slow, where we mostly have Nina and Millie, and then things slowly start to not add up. Then we get more time with Andrew, and then a big final 30min or so that really pays off. Some pretty good acting and solid score. It’s similar-ish to Feig’s ‘A Simple Favour’, but probably better. It’s not as funny as ‘The Heat’ or ‘Bridesmaids’, but has a few laughs.

Some violence and gore, but not too much, and Sweeney gets her kit off, which is not too shabby. Semi-obvious twist, but the key is the great comeuppance at the end, and good set-up for future films.

Overall: Enjoyable thriller

Gav’s Rating: 3.5 stars