Sunday, February 23, 2014

Film Review Round Up 23rd Feb 2014

A fabulous indie production is out this week: Nebraska. I know there will be some that will wonder why it’s loved so much but I think the majority will see what I see. It’s a quiet piece but it says so much in that space. Action fans will be happy for Lone Survivor and there are a couple of others I just didn’t love: Le Weekend and Winter’s Tale.  But it’s a good mix for film fans.  For Perth folk, starting on Monday at Somerville is a little gem of an Australian ghost documentary that really suits the outdoor environment. Get along there while the weather is so warm and wonderful.

(My movie Pick of the week)

Nebraska ★★★★★ 

Opens in Australia: 20th February 2014
USA: 24th January 2014    UK: 6th December 2013 
Other Countries: Release Information
Perth, Australia:         See at Luna Cinemas


MY THOUGHTS
This film is Smart and Smarter. It’s a road trip tale of a Father and a son who come to understand each other just a little more on a journey. But that is director Alexander Payne’s nuance; his characters don’t enjoy a wide arc of discovery. But, isn’t that more true to life than the revelations that most films offer with characters wildly altered in their viewpoint. Most people don’t change; they just become more accepting or a touch wiser.
Payne’s masterpiece Nebraska is witty, fun and so deep that a week later I’m still thinking on it. It’s been nominated for six academy awards including best picture, director and screenplay, and deservedly so. It’s a pity that Matthew McConaughey is so damn good in The Dallas Buyer’s Club or I’d give the best actor award to Bruce Dern. See it, revel in it. Screenplays and characters don’t get much better than this.
   
STUDIO BLURB
Director Alexander Payne (Sideways, The Descendants) takes the helm for this black and white road trip drama starring Bruce Dern as a tempestuous Missouri father who's convinced he's won a million dollar magazine sweepstakes, and Will Forte as the son who grudgingly agrees to drive him to Nebraska to claim his winnings. Bob Odenkirk and Stacy Keach costar. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Winter’s Tale ★★
Opens in Australia: 13th February 2014
USA: 14th February 2014    UK: 21st February 2014
Other Countries:          Release Information

MY THOUGHTS
The tag line for this is “Believe in miracles this Valentine’s day.” I think the producers are hoping for a miracle:  that this dull, unimaginative, half-finished romance, fantasy drama misshapen mess will recover its productions costs.  I fear there will be no miracles.  Russell Crowe does a good job playing a demon, actually. Will Smith is terrible as Satan (that guy really just reads his lines) and someone in production decided if we turn the music up loud, often, and make the sound effects even louder, then it will cover up that we don’t have much of a story.  It poses questions on the interconnection of lives through time and then provides no answers. Fail.
I believe it’s from a 1983 book. I am sure the book is better. And this better be the last Colin Farrell film where he wears suspenders, or he’s going to be typecast. No miracle here, unless you’re an insomniac it may help.

STUDIO BLURB
Set in a mythic New York City and spanning more than a century, "Winter's Tale" is a story of miracles, crossed destinies, and the age-old battle between good and evil. Peter Lake (Farrell) is a master thief, who never expected to have his own heart stolen by the beautiful Beverly Penn (Brown Findlay).  But their love is star-crossed: she burns with a deadly form of consumption, and Peter has been marked for a much more violent death by his one-time mentor, the demonic Pearly Soames (Crowe).  Peter desperately tries to save his one true love, across time, against the forces of darkness, even as Pearly does everything in his power to take him down—winner take all and loser be damned. What Peter needs is a miracle, but only time will tell if he can find one. (c) Warner Bros

Le Weekend★★½  

Opens in Australia: 20th February 2014
USA: 14th March 2014    UK: 11th October 2013 
Other Countries:          Release Information
Perth, Australia:         See at Luna Cinemas


MY THOUGHTS
I like the acting in this and the concept.  And there are a couple of monologues and dialogues delivered by Jim Broadbent and Lindsey Duncan that are sublimely brilliant. But that doesn’t make up for it being a really weird film that can’t decide what it wants to be.
A comedy? No, it’s not that funny. A romance? No, decidedly anti-romance. Commentary on relationships? Only if you’re a cynic. Not only that, it has a real mood of misery and hopelessness.  See it at your own risk. I think it’s better to wait for the DVD where you’ll be able to turn it off after you’ve decided you’ve had enough of it, which was around the thirty minute mark for me. I almost walked out, but my penchant for sitting in the middle of a row meant I’d disturb everyone, so I stayed. Now I need a le weekend away to recover.
   
STUDIO BLURB
In Mr. Michell's magically buoyant and bittersweet film, Jim Broadbent and Lindsay Duncan play a long-married couple who revisit Paris for a long weekend for the first time since their honeymoon, in hopes of rekindling their relationship-or, perhaps, to bring it to an end. Diffident, wistful Nick (Broadbent) and demanding, take-charge Meg (Duncan) careen from harmony to disharmony to resignation and back again as they take stock and grapple with love, loss, regret and, disappointment, in their own very English way. When Meg and Nick run into their insufferably successful old friend Morgan, an American academic superstar with a fancy Parisian address played with pure delight by Jeff Goldblum, their squabbles rise to a register that's both emotionally rich and very funny. (c) Music Box

LONE SURVIVOR ★★★★

Opens in Australia: 20th February 2014
USA: 10th January 2014    UK: 31st January 2014
Other Countries:          Release Information
Perth, Australia:         See at Luna Cinemas


OUR THOUGHTS
This film is based on The New York Times bestselling memoir novel of the same name. It’s action from the get-go telling the hellish tale of four Navy SEALs on a mission to take out several valuable al-Qaeda operatives in the mountains of Afghanistan.
The 2005 “Operation Redwing” goes horribly wrong when the men are discovered and upon trying to escape end up surrounded and pursued by Taliban who seem to have an endless supply of ammunition and armaments.  The SEALS are outnumbered, outgunned and in unfamiliar territory. Mark Wahlberg stars as Marcus Luttrell, the author of the first-person memoir.  His fellow team members, (portrayed by Taylor Kitsch, Emile Hirsch and Ben Foster) display incredible skill and courage as they fight to outwit their pursuers and survive. 
Action fans this is the film for you. Some of the scenes will have you cringing with the violence and the pain the men are feeling as they scramble all over the mountain.  There were multiple groans from our audience of reviewers as bodies tumbled down embankments. My only complaint is that the title gives away the ending (no letters please, I know that’s the title of the book—just sayin’).  As a military thrillers go, it’s one of the best, due to breakneck pacing by Director Peter Berg (Battleship, Hancock, Friday Night Lights) and a compelling performance by Wahlberg.

STUDIO BLURB
Based on The New York Times bestselling true story of heroism, courage and survival, Lone Survivor tells the incredible tale of four Navy SEALs on a covert mission to neutralize a high-level al-Qaeda operative. When they are ambushed by the enemy in the mountains of Afghanistan, they face an impossible moral decision, the small band is isolated from help and surrounded by a much larger force of Taliban ready for war.  As they confront unthinkable odds together, the four men find reserves of strength and resilience as they stay in the fight to the finish.
Mark Wahlberg stars as Marcus Luttrell, the author of the first-person memoir “Lone Survivor,” whose book has become a motivational resource for its lessons on how the power of the human spirit is tested when we are pushed beyond our mental and physical limits.  Starring alongside Wahlberg as the other members of the SEAL team are Taylor Kitsch, Emile Hirsch and Ben Foster.
Lone Survivor is written and directed by Peter Berg, who again crafts a striking portrait of the unbreakable bonds between men that he first explored in Friday Night Lights. 

LOTTERY WEST FILMS

The Darkside ★★★ ½ Australia
Somerville:                  24th Feb-2nd March 8pm, doors open 6pm
Join Warwick Thornton for an introduction and Q&A on Mon 24 Feb.

OUR THOUGHTS
They told us that The Darkside was scary. My pal who doesn’t do scary well was freaking out. In the end it wasn’t really frightening but it was very interesting. It’s a documentary of modern ghost stories from our indigenous culture in Australia.  The tales are told directly to the camera as they would have been told in the true manner of storytelling, by voice.  Well-known actors tell the stories as if they are the real people just talking to the camera with striking cinematography around them.
What lowered its star ranking for me and was a gripe for many of the reviewers who were at the small screening were the totally unnecessary subtitles. I hope that was just on our print because it doesn’t need them, and it’s very distracting. 
Some of the stories are ho-hum, however some just drag you in and you are totally immersed despite none of them being portrayed visually except for the actor speaking. The more I think about this endeavor, the more I like it. It’s experimental and different and surprisingly immersive. Best place that you could ever see it, is at the outdoor venue of Somerville or Joondalup Pines. Treat yourself.

STUDIO BLURB

Ghost stories abound in Australia’s Indigenous culture, and The Darkside invites you fireside to hear these haunting perspectives on the afterlife. Director Warwick Thornton (Samson & Delilah) has assembled a collection of touching and absurd ghost tales from across the country, and by harnessing the story telling talents of some of Australia’s most cherished actors (including Aaron Pedersen, Deborah Mailman and Claudia Karvan), presents a mesmerising showcase of life-defining moments, that speak of family and how we cope with change.


Sunday, February 9, 2014

Weekly Film Round-up 9th February 2014

THIS WEEK'S PREVIEWS

An grand debate over Robocop ensued this week, and I suffered through another wimpy, silly romance.  And I probably wouldn't have named Robocop as my movie pick of the week, but there were only two films that I managed to see for this week. Some of the film previews clashed and I missed others. Life gets in the way sometimes. But it was definitely better than Labor Day.

(My movie Pick of the week)
 Robocop ★★★ ½   

Opens in Australia: 6th February 2014
USA: 12th February 2014    UK: 5th Feburary 2014 
Other Countries: Release Information


OUR THOUGHTS
     Well I was harangued and told I had *&+?#@ taste in film and to hang up my reviewer’s hat up at a preview screening this week by one of the other reviewers who hated this film.  So began quite the argument between a few of us before we went in to see Cuban Fury (the publicist asked me to mention that and to get over Robocop—Cuban Fury is very good).  There’s nothing like a debate between critics. You won’t see punches thrown but you will hear a lot of director’s and screenwriter’s names hurled into the arena, and references to the purity of the origin story.
     However I am sticking to my guns. Yes, I loved the 1987 film and must have seen it about half a dozen times. And, yes, this one’s violence is toned down from the original to score it an M rating. But, the 2014 Robocop has a lot to like. Samuel L. Jackson plays his role as an activist television commentator with the perfect flavour. Michael Keaton as the president of OmniCorp is just a treat.  Where have you been Mr. Keaton? We’ve missed you. There’s a good mix of politics, commentary, cornball humor, and action, as well as a very creepy, icky, inner body scene.
     My critic-colleague would disagree with me, but there was enough action to move the film along and it diverges from the original enough to feel fresh for those who know the origin story well. If you are a sci-fi geek, this is a no-brainer. And a no-body-er, too.
   
STUDIO BLURB
In RoboCop, the year is 2028 and multinational conglomerate OmniCorp is at the center of robot technology. Overseas, their drones have been used by the military for years - and it's meant billions for OmniCorp's bottom line. Now OmniCorp wants to bring their controversial technology to the home front, and they see a golden opportunity to do it. When Alex Murphy (Joel Kinnaman) - a loving husband, father and good cop doing his best to stem the tide of crime and corruption in Detroit is critically injured, OmniCorp sees their chance to build a part-man, part-robot police officer. OmniCorp envisions a RoboCop in every city and even more billions for their shareholders, but they never counted on one thing: there is still a man inside the machine.

Labor Day ★★
Opens in Australia: 6th February 2014
USA: 31st January 2014    UK: 28th March 2014
Perth, Australia:         See at Luna Cinemas
Other Countries:          Release Information

MY THOUGHTS
First up I am a romantic. I loved About Time last year. I wept in The Notebook. And Notting Hill and Pretty Woman I have seen too many times to count.  So that is not the reason that I found Labor Day insipid and lacking.
The reason I didn’t enjoy it is because in technical terms, it was a ridiculous premise. Maybe the book by Joyce Maynard is better and she pulls the concept off, but the film for me is no peach pie I am afraid (if you’ve seen the film you will understand my reference).  I just don't buy that a woman who isn’t that bad looking or mean in spirit (come on, you can’t make Kate Winslett look totally dowdy) would be that desperate that she would fall in love with her kidnapper, an escaped criminal, in two days. COME ONE, people!!!
What’s worse is that the escaped criminal who has supposedly been doing time for years for the murder of his wife still retains enough humanity that he bakes, cleans and is kind and considerate of children and physically challenged minors. Prison just doesn’t do that to you.
Kate Winslett and Josh Brolin do a great job of acting through what must have been some embarrassing scenes to make. The peach pie baking scene has scarred me. Not to the degree that Cameron Diaz’s romantic scene with a Ferrari in The Counsellor did, but enough that I won’t eat peach or apple pie for a while. Very yuk!
However I will warn you that Safe Haven, last year’s romantic dud that I despised, was enjoyed by many despite my proclamations that it was a load of “?&$#. So if you enjoyed Safe Haven you will probably enjoy this, and please just ignore me. And my colleague who didn’t like Robocop said he “dug” this.
My suggestion though is please rent out Bridges Over Madison County which had so much more heart. This is a very poor cousin to it.

STUDIO BLURB
"Labor Day" centers on 13-year-old Henry Wheeler, who struggles to be the man of his house and care for his reclusive mother Adele while confronting all the pangs of adolescence. On a back-to-school shopping trip, Henry and his mother encounter Frank Chambers, a man both intimidating and clearly in need of help, who convinces them to take him into their home and later is revealed to be an escaped convict. The events of this long Labor Day weekend will shape them for the rest of their lives.

LOTTERY WEST FILMS

I missed the screening of this, but Perth cinema lovers for you here’s this week’s Lotterywest film.  Do treat yourself and enjoy the beautiful setting at Somerville or Joondalup Pines.  A hint: arrive at least an hour early to get a good seat and enjoy the partaking of wine and nibbles, and the ambiance.

The Broken Circle Breakdown

Belgium

Somerville:                  10–16 Feb, 8pm, doors open 6pm
Joondalup Pines:        18–23 Feb, 8pm, doors open 7pm

DIRECTOR FELIX VAN GROENINGEN 111min, MA

English, Flemish with English subtitles
A sure-fire, tear-jerking, audience pleaser that wears its heart resolutely on its sleeve. SCREEN INTERNATIONAL

Elise and Didier fall in love at first sight, despite their differences. They build a home, start a family, then watch as dreams are shattered by the unstoppable effects of their daughter Maybelle’s illness. Immersed in the moody world of bluegrass music, this is a tribute to love, loss and music; and the bittersweet necessity of all three.

Label Europa Cinemas Award & Audience Award Berlinale 2013
Best Actress & Best Screenplay Tribeca Film Festival 2013
Audience Award

To see The Broken Circle Breakdown in the Great Southern click here.



What have you seen this week? Did you find our comments helpful or do you disagree? Share your thoughts with us.

Sunday, February 2, 2014

Film Review Roundup 2nd Feb 2014

Terrific films reviewed this week and a particularly great film for Perth film lovers to catch at the Lotterywest film festival.  This is the awards season so two of these films, The Dallas Buyers Club and 12 Years A Slave are nominated everywhere.  There’s also poor little Grudge Match which you would do well to sidestep. It packs no punch I am afraid.

(My movie Pick of the week)
The Dallas Buyers Club ★★★★ ½   
Opens in Australia: 13th February 2014
USA: 22nd November 2013    UK: 2nd Feburary 2014 
Other Countries: Release Information

MY THOUGHTS
Who will win the Academy award for best actor this year? Matthew McConaughey. That’s who. I thought Leo was a shoe in for the award in The Wolf of Wall Street, or Chiwetel Ejiofor in 12 Years a Slave but now that I have seen this, I know they won’t win.  Not only did McConaughey shed 40lbs for this role and is unrecognizable, he turns in an incredible performance.
Woodroof is not a sympathetic character. He’s a bigot, a womanizer, a drug addict and looks like he needs a good bath, but as McConaughey said in an interview you can empathize with his character even though you don’t like him. But that’s only because McConaughey plays him so well that you feel that way. Jared Leto who also lost a crazy amount of weight to play the transsexual sidekick to Woodroof is also tearing up the awards.  He should win best supporting actor, too
Go see this film and be appalled yet again at the ridiculous bureaucracy of government departments as they allow people to die rather than find ways to save them purely because they love their red tape.
This is a great film that took a long time to come to the screen.  Go see it for an incredible story and to see actors at the top of their game.

STUDIO BLURB
Matthew McConaughey stars in DALLAS BUYERS CLUB as real-life Texas cowboy Ron Woodroof, whose free-wheeling life was overturned in 1985 when he was diagnosed as HIV-positive and given 30 days to live. These were the early days of the AIDS epidemic, and the U.S. was divided over how to combat the virus. Ron, now shunned and ostracized by many of his old friends, and bereft of government-approved effective medicines, decided to take matters in his own hands, tracking down alternative treatments from all over the world by means both legal and illegal. Bypassing the establishment, the entrepreneurial Woodroof joined forces with an unlikely band of renegades and outcasts - who he once would have shunned - and established a hugely successful "buyers' club." Their shared struggle for dignity and acceptance is a uniquely American story of the transformative power of resilience. (c) Focus Features

All is Lost ★★★★ ½   
LOTTERYWEST FILMS
Somerville 3-8th Feb, 8pm   Joondalup Pines 11-16th Feb, 8pm

Opens in Australia wide:      6th March, 2014 
Other Countries:                   Release Information
Perth, Australia:                  See at Luna Cinemas


MY THOUGHTS
This is an impressive solo performance from Robert Redford. The physicality of his performance, of a lone man versing the ocean and the elements, belies his 76 years.  Also impressive is that this is only the second film for director and screenwriter, J.C. Chandor. Add this film to his Oscar nominated, “Margin Call,” and he becomes a filmmaker to watch.
It’s an absorbing, hugely smart story that will have you thinking “what next?” for this poor guy lost at sea.  The tension and dread are palpable. It may be a simple concept that we have seen before, but with the skills of Redford and Chandor it is elevated to a thrilling adventure classic.
And if you are a lucky Perth resident, do get yourself along to the Lotterywest Films. It will be there for the next two weeks. This is one you should not miss.

STUDIO BLURB
Deep into a solo voyage in the Indian Ocean, an unnamed man (Redford) wakes to find his 39-foot yacht taking on water after a collision with a shipping container left floating on the high seas. With his navigation equipment and radio disabled, the man sails unknowingly into the path of a violent storm. Despite his success in patching the breached hull, his mariner's intuition and a strength that belies his age, the man barely survives the tempest. Using only a sextant and nautical maps to chart his progress, he is forced to rely on ocean currents to carry him into a shipping lane in hopes of hailing a passing vessel. But with the sun unrelenting, sharks circling and his meager supplies dwindling, the ever-resourceful sailor soon finds himself staring his mortality in the face.

Grudge Match ★★
Opens in Australia: 30th January 2014
USA: 25th December 2013    UK: 24th January 2014 
Other Countries: Release Information

MY THOUGHTS
No, no, no. That’s what Stallone should have said when De Niro approached him to do this. Then he should have punched him in the nose and been done with it.  Terrible idea when you don’t have a good script and you cast Kim Basinger in a key role. Was she always such a terrible actress? These iconic characters that we know these actors for, from the Rocky series and Raging Bull are nowhere to be seen in this film. But I bet the cynical producers thought film lovers would come along and pay their money to rekindle the nostalgia. There are better films at the moment to spend your money and time on.  However if you do want a limp, unfunny comedy with old actors in it and bad dialogue, please be my guest.

STUDIO BLURB
Robert De Niro and Sylvester Stallone star as old boxing rivals who come out of retirement for one final match. On their first encounter in decades, their long-festering feud erupts into an unintentionally hilarious melee that instantly goes viral. The sudden social media frenzy transforms their local grudge match into a must-see HBO event. Now, if they can just survive the training, they may actually live to fight again. -- (C) Warner Bros.

12 Years a Slave ★★★★★
Opens in Australia wide:      30th January, 2014 
Other Countries:                   Release Information
Perth, Australia:         See at Luna Cinemas

MY THOUGHTS
As predicted this film is everywhere at the Academy awards. I will be surprised if it doesn’t win. It’s the type of film the Academy likes.
Having seen it twice now I believe it is the most authentic film I’ve ever seen on slavery in the U.S. south, and that may be because it is based on an 1800’s memoir by Solomon Northup.  Thus it makes it a very difficult film to watch at times. While I had heard the violence was graphic I actually didn’t find that the case. What is graphic and probably more horrific is the absolute belief by the land owners and those involved in the slave trade that these people were chattel. There is no reticence in displaying this on screen and that was the hard part to stomach.  Some scenes involving a mother being separated from her children are so heart-wrenching they hurt.
It’s a beautifully made film. Some visuals are artlike in their framing. Everything means something, even just the burning of a letter and the camera holding on the image until the last ember has burnt itself out before the screen fades to black. It’s just beautiful imagery.
Chiwetel Ejiofor as Solomon and Michael Fassbender as the cruel slave owner Edwin Epps give everything to their roles, alongside a multitude of amazing performances from the other actors. Nice little appearance by Brad Pitt and Paul Giamatti, too.
It’s a fascinating, ugly, amazing, shouldn’t-be-missed piece of cinema.

STUDIO BLURB
MORE THAN A POWERFUL ELEGY, 12 YEARS A SLAVE IS A MESMERIZING TRIUMPH OF ART AND POLEMICS.    Indiewire
12 Years A Slave is Steve McQueen’s fiercely powerful rendering of the memoirs of Solomon Northup. A free man in New York in the 1840s, Northup was tricked, kidnapped and sold into slavery in the Deep South. At the inhumane hands of plantation owners, he faces a monumental struggle for survival. Vivid and nuanced, 12 Years A Slave is one of the most widely lauded and hotly anticipated films of the year.


What have you seen this week? Did you find our comments helpful or do you disagree? Share your thoughts with us.