This movie held the prestigious position of closing the 2010 Canberra International Film Festival to a full and captivated audience – and deservedly so. Writer-director Gareth Edwards has done a magnificent job working on a shoestring budget with a fresh young cast (McNairy and Able), a hand held camera and some absolutely stunning computer graphics.

The setting is the Mexico/US border where alien life forms from a crashed NASA probe have flourished and created a vast and expanding INFECTED ZONE. Military intervention to control the spread of the aliens appears to have been futile and destruction is everywhere. Against this backdrop, photographer Andrew Kaulder (who is on the fringe of the action and waiting for an award winning image) gets a call from his office and is told to get his boss’s daughter Samantha and return her to the safety of the United States. He finds her and so begins this amazing ‘road movie’.

Andrew and Samantha try to return to the US by avoiding the INFECTED ZONE using air, rail and sea but fate and human greed conspire and they are dragged deep into the INFECTED ZONE. As they are forced to use every ounce of their collective wits and cunning to find a way through, a flicker of romance ignites between them.

Will they make it to the safety of the US border? Is the US still safe? Yes, all the ingredients for a great night out at the movies are here – make sure you are in the audience for this unique cinema experience where the Monsters can be mesmerisingly beautiful.

Bah Humbug! I’ve always been a bit of Scrooge, so when this film reared its scary head at Canberra’s International Film Festival last year, I was very keen to check it out. I love Nordic films by the way. I love how they seem more real, with real looking people in them. I love their childish innocence and at the same time the underlying darkness, contrasted by their calming white landscapes. It comes from having done student exchange in Sweden I suppose – but enough about me.

An archaeological dig of Korvatunturi mountain, which the lead scientist of the excavation proclaims as being ’the largest burial mound in the world!’, is hastened with Christmas fast approaching. Without the knowledge of the nearby townsfolk, the excavation uncovers an ancient grave. As the families of the nearby town start preparing for Christmas, their reindeer are mysteriously killed and soon their children start disappearing. Pietari (Tommila), a young boy who lives with his father, starts to piece together the truth about the dig and who is responsible for the mysterious occurrences.

Based on the short film Rare Exports Inc by Jalmari and Juuso Helander, director Helander playfully re-works the children’s story into this skillfully crafted film, crammed full of light-hearted dark humour. It’s truly lots of fun!