Each year, more than 15 thousand movie lovers, film-makers an entertainment professionals embark on the event, in search of the hot new talent and upcomers in the industry.

The festival boasts an impressive record of producing 37 Academy Award nominated films, including 12 Oscar winners.

This time around, we’re being told the talent pool is bigger and better than ever before, and stretching even further across the globe.

No Australian has ever taken out a major award at the event, but this year we have a few hopefuls, including Melbourne director/actor David Coussins.

On the back of the Tropfest success that came with his film One Night Stand (finalist), Coussins joins the likes of Jessica Beil, Eva Mendes and Hillary Swank in having his work screened during the event.

Since moving to America at the start of the year, the 26 year old has gone from strength to strength in the industry.

We’ll be seeing him soon on our small screens as a star of the upcoming ABC comedy Woodley, but word is, we may also see him in some upcoming US productions.

Coussins has met with three top agents since arriving, and is likely to sign with one of them before the end of the year.

However, the 26 year old is playing down the news, and says his main focus is to continue to work on improving where he can.

“My main motivation in moving over here was just to get a feel of how things work in Hollywood, and learn as much as i can,” Coussins said.

“If i end up getting signed and things work out, then great, but the real goal for me is to take everything in and slowly work my way into he industry.”

You’ll be able to check out his film, One Night Stand, at the LA International Short Film Festival, from July 16 – 26.

Suckerpunch is the latest offering from Zack Snyder, director of 300 and Watchmen. If you’ve seen either of them, then you know what to expect: Things exploding in slow motion. Whizzing bullets just missing the derrière of a young girl, yet coyly lifting the hem of her skirt as it flies by. Which is also in slow motion. Such things are what adolescent dreams are made of.

So, to the plot, to speak of: Suckerpunch tells the story of a young girl, Babydoll (Emily Browning) locked away in a 1950s mental institution against her will. While she is physically imprisoned, her mind is free to roam, and roam it does, in an incredible dreamscape populated by dragons, samurai, WW II trenches, and more.

But Babydoll is not a passive dreamer. She wants to make a break for freedom, and convinces four other girls – the outspoken Rocket (Jena Malone), the street-smart Blondie (Vanessa Hudgens), the fiercely loyal Amber (Jamie Chung) and the reluctant Sweet Pea (Abbie Cornish)—to band together and try to escape their terrible fate at the hands of their captors, Blue (Oscar Isaac), Madam Gorski (Carla Gugino) and the High Roller (Jon Hamm).

Can they make their way through this explodey, high octane nightmare to emerge at the other end? You’ll just have to go along and find out, as Sucker punch is released 24th March in most cinemas Australia-wide.

Visit the website at: http://suckerpunchmovie.warnerbros.com

Tropfest 2011 gets underway across Australia February 20th with more than 150,000 people expected to turn up at live sites across the nation.

Those in the know say this year will produce some of the greatest films in the history of the event with the talent pool exceeding what we have seen in the past.

One of the shortlisted films in this year’s competition is One Night Stand – directed, written, and produced by Melbourne local David Coussins.

The basic plot of the film is fairly simple: a young man, Joel (David Coussins) wakes in bed only to realise he’s lying next to an unknown female bed-mate, Caitlin (Rhona Rees).

The exact details of what happened the night before appear to be fairly sketchy, but as far as Joel is concerned, the quicker he gets out of there, the better.

Unfortunately for Joel, Caitlin has taken a liking to him and doesn’t let him go too easy.

Any attempts for a quick getaway are thwarted by the love sick Caitlin, who shows all the characteristics of a female obsessed stalker.

To say what happens next would spoil or the fun but it’s safe to say that anything that could go wrong, does go wrong for Joel.

The film is edited with fine precision and continues to provide laugh after laugh at a zip line pace.

David Coussins is hilarious in the lead role and conveys the perfect amount of awkwardness and fear to make the audience cringe in sympathy throughout the film.

You know you have a talented comedic actor on board when he’s able to provide some of the biggest laughs in the film by facial expressions alone.

Rhona Rees is also hilarious as Caitlin – playing out the obsessive one night stand  that every young man fears to a tee.

One Night Stand proves that as far as short comedies are concerned, the simpler, the better!

When it comes to Laugh Out Loud moments, One Night Stand wins hands down, and if is anything to go by, this years Tropfest looks to be a winner.

Rating: 4.5/5

Tropfest 2011 kicks off February 20th and live sites all around Australia

Live Festival Sites:
Sydney – The Domain
Melbourne – Federation Square
Hobart – Salamanca Square
Canberra – Commonwealth Park
Adelaide – Glenelg Bay
Surfers Paradise – Cirlce on Cavill
Perth – Princess May Park, Fremantle

And live on Movie Extra Channel from 7pm.

His only company is his best friend Leonard (David Bradley).

When Leonard is murdered by a gang of thugs, Harry feels compelled to act and is forced to dispense his own brand of justice.

Check out the trailer for your own opinion.

Directed by Albert and Alan Hughes, the movie is based around a lone hero must fight his way across the wasteland of post-apocalyptic USA to protect a sacred book that holds the key to saving the future of humanity.

A real fantasy film that has some pretty impressive graphics and special effects.

Washington has s stellar performance and the movie seems to drag along quite smoothly for its majority.

The main character, as you may have guessed is Eli, and he fights to save the world.

Does he do it in the end??

Well, you’ll have to watch to find out!

In the meantime, here is a sneak look at the trailer.

The Book of Eli is out now at most cinemas across the country.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKfZrbS79To

How to be a Sex Star follows the journey of a man called Nathan Hill.

He is an average looking guy, average in almost all fields of life except for when it comes to picking up girls.

He is a Casanova whose chief occupation is the picking up women.

In the movie, if you could call it that, he juggles five different girls over a series of hilarious dates, all while trying to maintain his reputation by sleeping with the hottest girl in the city.

Now if you have read the book ‘The Game’, this is a movie for you.

It delves into he world of pick up artists, and the mind of females and how to ‘score’.

Bet’s are, if you took your other half to the cinemas with you to watch it, she would either walk out in a fuss, demanding you to go with her, or actually get into it while smirking at all the lines she swears would never work on her.

With equal parts of entertainment, information and controversies, SexStar finally reveals the truth about the games men play to pick up women.

The movie should be out May 1 in cinemas around Australia.

Keep your eye out for it and make sure you find a secret way to watch it!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=A65ILuP2G74

Ronnie is sent to spend the summer with her estranged father in a crappy beach town in North Carolina.

Her father, a former concert pianist and teacher, is living a quiet life, immersed in creating a work of art that will become the centerpiece of the local church.

Within the story however, Ronnie falls in love for the first time and among many things, eventfully reconciles with her father.

A typical lovey dovey Hollywood film, but one many people would enjoy.

See for yourself!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=joCwQ2pjfjw

In short the film I about answering the age old question that is, ‘can an average, out of shape normal looking guy get the hot blonde bombshell everyone is craving for?’.

The movie introduces viewers to Kirk, an average Joe, who can’t believe his luck.

Though he’s stuck in a seemingly dead-end job as an airport security agent, against all odds Molly, a successful and amazingly gorgeous babe falls for him.

Kirk is left jaw dropped! So are his friends, his family too and even his ex-girlfriend.

But now Kirk has to figure out how to make the relationship work, and how to battle with the feelings that Molly is too good for him.”

The film stars Jay Baruchel, Krysten Ritter, Lindsay Sloane and is directed by Jim Field Smith.

One of the best scenes in the flick is when Kirk attempts to shave his private parts to impress Molly, and it’s full on LOL laughing.

But apart from that, there are very few real gold moments in the movie and it falls well short of the mark it had hoped to have achieved.

In summary, She’s Out of my League is out of my league of great movies and gets a six out of ten.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWG1I7lwac0

Yep, that’s right……

After the success of the television series over the past decade, the show proved to be just as successful in their premiere feature film.

Recently it had been announced we will soon get a second installment of the movie, and now we are finding out it could be three!!!!

Kim Cattrall, who plays man-eater character of Samantha Jones in the series has hinted that another big screen installment could happen if the script is right.

“We’ll call time when there are no stories left to tell and that’s really the writer Michael Patrick King’s call,” she said.

“The great thing about the Sex and the City series was that we didn’t stay too long.
The fact that we’ve had this second life is amazing. But I’d hate for people to think,
‘Oh my god, there’s another one out there’.’”

For now, however, we will focus solely on the follow up to the first film, and get excited about its release date, which is coming up soon.

The 53-year-old actress is currently working on Roman Polanski’s new movie The Ghost and also mentioned how exciting working on the set was.

“It’s riotous, crazy, a romp – and in these difficult times people want to have fun,” she said.

“It was really fascinating to take these four strong independent women from a completely different society and plop them into that world. And all of the storylines that happen from that are extraordinary.

“There was one particular day where I spent almost 12 hours on a camel in the Sahara. This second one I can tell you I’ve never had so much fun in my life.”

Crowe stars as the legendary figure known by all generations and one that has been the centre of numerous films in the past.

This, the 2010 version of Robin Hood sees the main character travel to Nottingham, a town suffering from the corruption of a despotic sheriff and crippling taxation, where he falls for the spirited widow Lady Marian  (Cate Blanchett).

She is skeptical of the identity and motivations of the man. Hoping to earn the hand of Maid Marian and salvage the village, Robin assembles a brutal gang who work together to take from the rich, and give to the poor.

Together, they begin preying on the rich upper class civilians to even out the injustices made by the town  sheriff.

With their country weakened from decades of war, embattled from the ineffective rule of the new king and vulnerable to insurgencies from within and threats from afar, Robin and his men heed a call to ever greater adventure.

This unlikeliest of heroes and his allies set off to protect their country from slipping into bloody civil war and return glory to England once more.

For more information on the movie, head to www.robinhoodthemovie.com

Robin Hood will be released on May 14 in most cinemas around Australia.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSqL9ygBCck