diogenes-858-449167 Reviews

Jai Bhim (2021)

Masterful and Engrossing Storytelling.

[9/10 · 13 December 2022]

In simplest terms, Jai Bhim can be likened to 'To Kill A Mockingbird'.

It is a shocking, moving, heart rending and poetic tale, told with patience and courage. The execution of the tale is epic in proportion, and the ground which must be covered to achieve this is carefully, successfully plotted for us, the viewer. That it is based on the determined work of a living person, who strove to have justice reach the poorest of the poor in India, makes this achievement in cinema and storytelling, hugely satisfying. It's a damn good story and piece of film making from a movie industry which is showing itself equal to any in the world.

Amsterdam (2022)

Luxurious Cinema

[8/10 · 16 October 2022]

While Amsterdam isn't perfect it is certainly masterful. It luxuriates in period style and ensemble acting. The obviousness of the cast and cameos is part of the incongruous story telling, and David O. Russell nails it.

Russell's homage to film noir, droll comedy and '30s style intrigue is the point of the film, not the drama of the story or plot.

He offers us intimate portraits and performances with a cast at the peak of its craft and cinematic powers.

This banquet is the real entertainment of Amsterdam.

Russell's bleeding of high contrast natural light into many scenes adds a further homage to the period, and the translucent lighting of Hollywood black and white film making.

Of the many freedoms Russell pursues in the making and the messages of this film, it is the film making itself which is a comment on anti facism. For those who resent the fact that this movie doesn't spoon feed, think of it as if you're watching 'Knives Out' without the painting by numbers.

And, if you're interested in the inspiration for Christian Bale's glass eyed Bert Berendsen, take a look at any work by (Columbo) Peter Falk.

In fact, I believe Bale chooses to invoke Falk as a personal and entertaining homage to a fine and underrated American actor.

The Souvenir: Part II (2021)

Required Viewing for Teachers of Film

[8/10 · 16 February 2022]

Joanna Hogg's script constructs life at an eighties London film school, and captures the era to the T.

I was an actor working with Melbourne, Swinburne RMIT film students at that same time. The parallel's between Joanna's story here and the general, dystopian horror Swinburne film students operated under, are uncanny.

Despite myself, and as well made as this film is, I have to say it will probably only appeal to a niche audience. It is beautifully cast and executed, and worth watching for numerous reason, but overtly entertaining it isn't.

In me, it re-triggered a level of ire toward the hack and snake instructors who nested in eighties film schools. People whose creative instinct, if they ever had one, had long left their being, to be replaced by an unerring, subtle undermining of student confidence, and a bald faced, polite dishonesty they measured would ensure them the longest teaching tenure.

You'll see a bit of that in this film.

What I didn't see in ' The Souvenir' was any intimation of the effects of that long term poison on the development and wellbeing of would be film makers. It was nice to see Richard Ayoade on screen. He is sadly, accurately brilliant as the auteur from hell.

Apocalypse Cult (2014)

Disarmingly Good

[8/10 · 27 September 2021]

I've never mentioned the casting director in a review before, but huge props to Jessica Miller for her casting of Apocalypse Cult. It is close to perfect. Coupled with Trigg's masterful direction of the mystery horror genre, it's one hell of a trip.

On it's surface, Trigg's film examines the nature and behaviour of people caught up in the cult of personality. It's something, as adults, we like to think we're familiar with.

But, Apocalypse Cult is reality story telling that is unusually capable on one hand, and wretchedly confronting on the other. The acting is so unaffected as to have had me wondering if I wasn't watching a true documentary,then for some reason made into a film.

This is Trigg's genius. He begins by using non-actor local citizens to set up the story.

When me meet the apparently benign members of the 'devoted family', we're lulled into such a sense of security it's easy to laugh at and pity them.

The twist is that what they're capable of takes us on an emotional journey we weren't expecting, despite ourselves.

I can't praise Trigg (and I suspect a lot of Jessica Miller input as a real life TV journo) enough for his direction, pacing and execution of this tale. He manages to sidestep the usual pitfalls associated with this type of film making, keeping it relaxed, while at the same time suspenseful and gripping to the last frame. While I wouldn't have ended with the same creative choice, it works. And given the quality of what preceded it, I won't quibble.

Props further to the whole 'devoted family'. The performances were disarmingly good. They worked so well with Trigg in making their characters believable. I'm still astounded at what they achieved. This is a film I'll be thinking about for sometime to come.

Much Ado About Nothing (1993)

Much Ado About Nothing

[3/10 · 8 February 2020]

Perhaps a simple, but important definition I learned at drama school can be applied to understand the failings of this piece of cinema. Theatre is about life. Film is lifelike. Putting Shakespeare on film is an intricate problem and proposition that very few film makers succeed in doing.

Director, Kenneth Branagh, and his stellar cast, can't veil the fact they haven't addressed the above premise in attempting Much Ado. Film is unforgiving of even honest contrivances in an actor's performance, and this is Much Ado's burgeoning failure throughout. Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet, and Polanski's Macbeth manage to skirt the death knell of this problem is by using relatively unknown actors. Branagh's Much Ado can't do this. Every scene is peppered with movie stars, whose dazzling white teeth alone (kudos to Keaton's teeth for being the exception) deny our suspending disbelief to enter and be transported into the world of the characters. What might have seemed like a valid idea to Branagh at the time, results in movie stars, not characters inhabiting the story. Michael Keaton's Dogberry comes closest to making a fist of it, allowing himself to transform into the character, but his exaggerated deliberation and pauses which work on stage eventually fall flat when delivered on film. His good character impulse work becomes the focus, but fails to have a context for it to spring from in the natural world we're observing around him. As for Ben Elton playing his sidekick, Verges, the less said about him the better.

Quite simply, the theatricality which underpins Shakespeare's storytelling isn't supported in this modern use of film storytelling. It takes a clever director to find the compromise that will work for the audience - that is, allow them to suspend disbelief at the language and intrinsic staginess of theatre storytelling being put on film before them. Zeffirelli and Polanski used period culture, costume and location to establish a sense of theatricality for the time. It was enough to help the audience suspend disbelief, and even at times enhanced the purpose of the language. It allowed Shakespeare to be done on film without jarring conflicts for the audience.

Branagh doesn't come to terms with the period his characters inhabit, so the locations he has them play provide little support for their performances. The actors can't fill the void this problem creates. For many scenes, the result is much like watching actors populate a diorama. All the jawing of the language, and training in doing Shakespeare the actors demonstrate, only serves to highten the lack in authenticity for what the audience are seeing.

Danger Close (2019)

They Were Just Boys

[8/10 · 8 February 2020]

A lot more soldiers have been killed in single battles in other wars, but not boys from a nation so young as ours was in Vietnam, August 1966. Director Kriv Stenders honed his craft in 20 years of Australian television before tackling the sticky subject of our involvement in the Vietnam war, for the big screen. The story he chose, the battle of Long Tan, eptiomises the mess Vietnam was for anti-communist allied military.

Our small number of troops had no fighting experience in the terrain and climate of south east asia. Our government instated conscription to find the troop numbers it was tasked with sending, in support of the U.S., New Zealand, and a handful of developing anti-communist asian countries. North Vietnam (communist Viet Cong) were well equipped by the U.S.S.R. and China, and knew their battle ground well. This battle of Long Tan story isn't a turning point in the war. It is a frightening reality of how close fragile human beings are to catastrophe when battlefield circumstances quickly change.

Stenders executes the story with a firm, professional hand from the outset. Ben Nott's camera work thoroughly enhances the atmosphere, character development and storyline. Visual and special effects were seriously well embedded in the action. Production values are excellent throughout. Sound and editing also deserve a special mention. While I felt he stunts got off to a slow start, once the director and cameraman found their stride, the impact of the firefights was ferocious and all too believable. This was no mean feat. A good two thirds of this movie is from the POV of young conscripts, pinned under heavy fire, surviving and surrounded by exploding artillery. Stenders manages to keep us sufficiently connected to the characters amid this deadly chaos, without resorting to usual battlefield cliche's. The result is gripping, and at times heartbreaking. And, much to Stenders credit, there isn't a wasted frame.

There are a lot of good performances rung in in this movie. Travis Fimmel nails his Majory Harry Smith role and captures the screen. This fella can act, and he knows what he gives the camera. He imbues each scene with appropriate weight and intensity. Richard Roxburgh is at the peak of his film acting powers in this one. He could have made his antagonistic Brigadier Jackson into a two dimensional character and gotten away with it. But he, too, shows his craft. He provides us solid glimpses of Jackson's conflict and humanity, trapped beneath the institution of his command.

I've said this in other reviews, and it holds true for this one. The supporting cast is uniformly good. I'm leaving many names out here that should be included, but just peruse the cast list for those not mentioned. They all equally deserve to be. Daniel Webber as the fresh faced Private Large, Nicholas Hamilton's Private Grimes,Mojean Aria's Second Lieutenant Gordon Sharp, Stephen Peacocke, Luke Bracey, Myles Pollard and Uli Latukefu, who stole scenes amid firing field artillery, show how well directed this movie is, and how much this story meant to the actors. That there was room in this film to lend the enemy a more human face is a small criticism given what is acheived. The battle of Long Tan was a frightening punctuation point in our history. While Stender's film reveals itself a study of courage under fire, it has taken Australia decades to fully understand the cost of sending these19, 20, 21 year old conscripts into battle. I hope we learn from history, this lesson is never to be repeated.

Boy Erased (2018)

Needing a Powerful Resonance

[6/10 · 24 February 2019]

Boy Erased is a welcome film addition to the LBGQT issues genre. Lead actor, Lucas Hedges holds this thing together with a capacity and selflessness beyond his years. In fact, without Hedges' strength of focus, this film might struggle. Nicole Kidman does an honest if typical Kidman turn as his devoted mother. Russell Crowe phones in his performance as Lucas' zealous, church pastor father. Director Joel Edgerton makes a fist of his religious conversion therapist character, Victor Sykes, though the script allows this character to become two dimensional as the Sykes character development strays into cliche's. Instead of having us scour our memories and thoughts to identify where we've crossed paths with the Sykes' pathology in our lives, writer and director succumb a measure, and craft us a character to pass judgement on.

As dramatic as he is, Sykes as a pivotal character is one of the film's disappointments. The issue and insidiousness of gay conversion therapy still existing today, its being rooted deep in the normalcy of the mainstream, is somewhat lost through Syke's lack of subtlety.

Not that Edgerton doesn't execute Syke's behaviour well, it's just that in a film dealing with these delicate issues, his tending toward a pantomime villain dumbs down what you're trying to stimulate the audience to think about.

On a very positive note, the lesser supporting cast were uniformly terrific. What Edgerton didn't get from his stars, his young, hungry support actors poured forth like seasoned veterans. Edgerton can direct, but his direction in Boy Erased doesn't clearly show us what moved him to tell the story. Fortunately, Lucas Hedges' performance as Jared Eamons does show us.

Destroyer (2018)

Eventually, Unconvincing Tale.

[5/10 · 15 February 2019]

Nicole Kidman appears to be trying to gain some street cred as wasted,edgy detective, Erin Bell. What Charlize Theron delivers in spades to these roles, Kidman lacks thel power and believable physical commitment to the necessary transformation.It's an admirable effort,but she doesn't quite have the tools. Her choices, her look, her acting are as distracting as they are convincing. The effect is the same as if Olivia Newton-John were to suddenly pop up as a detective on CSI. There'd be a credibitlity problem. Add to that the numerous closeups of her character's bizarre looking make up and Nicole's 50 kg frame, she resembles a rather comical zombie, not a force to reckon with the low lifes that populate 'Destroyer'. Supporting cast is commendable, the story meanders a bit, but as Nicole's movie, for all the effort she does make, she and the movie don't nail it.

Blue Night (2018)

Very Disappointing

[2/10 · 10 November 2018]

I've seen Sarah Jessica Parker do some good work. Unfortunately, Blue Night doesn't qualify. The, ahem, stars of this movie suffer the fate that great empires suffer in their decline. They fall victim to indulging their own comfort and importance, while ignoring the effort and craft that first brought them success. The five lead actors, JSP, Zellweger, Baker, Bisset, Kinney in Blue Night set a weak tone for eachother (props to Bisset for trying) and everything else that follows. In what should be a gripping, gritty emotionally tense drama these high profile performers lack anything near the craft to do the job.

Sarah Jessica Parker is Carrie Bradshaw, still. Flung into a story well out of her emotional depth, SJP is supposed to be feted New York singer, Vivienne, who discovers she has a terminal brain tumor. You know what the emotional hook of this drama is, for us the viewer? That she doesn't tell anyone. But that doesn't stop everyone she encounters from being infected with the ennui of her reaction to her situation. I can only imagine director, Fabian Constant, previously a TV movie documentary director, didn't have a clue about how the story and performances were coming off the screen.

And, even in our suspending disbelief, the gulf between Ms Jessica Parker as a career singer and a laudable singing artist, is laughable. Even weird, eclectic New York wouldn't bother with her performance for a minute. While the plot makes an effort to achieve something, the storyline trails weakly along until I gave up expecting anything good. There are so many soulful pauses between characters we care little or nothing about, it is about as stimulating as warm milk before bedtime.

In the hands of an actress who has built skills based on dedication to her craft, like Meryl Streep or Annette Bening, this would have been a tour de force. In the hands of a TV and Movie star who, when faced with the dramatic arc and challenges of her character, and a weak director, falls back on girly schtick that made her broadly popular on TV, it is pap. Blue Night ends up an animated Hall Mark card with disproportionately decent production values. Having said that, undemanding Sarah Jessica Parker fans will love it. They may even think it's good for them as an excuse for another night on the couch with that tub of Ben and Jerry's.

Alistair1918 (2015)

Wasted Opportunity

[3/10 · 21 July 2018]

When you undertake to tell a story about a time traveler, you can't then ignore the central tenet and drama of your story in exchange for modern, cultural detritus. Unfortunately, the makers of Alistair 1918 never come close to getting to grips with their subject matter in any believable way which supports the drama of what we're told has happened.

This story fails to convince us that they're dealing with anything resembling the consequences of time travel, for themselves or the man who is the film's focus. Mostly, the cast and Alistair wander around Los Angeles with a (handheld) camera pointed at their quaint English accented subject, unphased by the enormity of his situation or the consequences of what they'd have us believe they're dealing with. The actors do their best with poorly conceived material that lets them down at nearly every turn. The director lacks imagination in solving the many story and plot problems.

The introduction of a French time travel scientist who is suddenly able to solve the problem of controlling time travel, merely because the story has her meet Alistair, shows just how clumsily conceived the writing and this project was. Alistair 1918 was a challenge that the script and story developers had neither the imagination nor skill to tackle in a meaningful way. Instead of providing a climax that we can at least suspend our disbelief for, the script collapses into horrible cliche's. It's about as convincing as a Days of Our Lives storyline, and offers scientific solutions and effects that make Dr Who look like genuine quantum physics. I mean, he (the time traveler) stands in a bucket of water to return to 1918. Horrible. Just horrible.

Who Is America? (2018)

Hilarious, Sobering Indictment

[10/10 · 17 July 2018]

AS you'd expect, interviewer Baron Cohen opens the door and we see how hard and fast his subjects are willing to cast themselves down into the depths of self inflicted, depraved stupidity. We are not watching Baron Cohen fool anyone. We're watching how quickly and consumately these entitled Americans are ready to fool themselves. The gut wrenchingly funny means and manner of this achievement really serves as a reminder of what entitlement has done to these people. In the current US political environment, to also call it sobering is an understatement.

To Keep the Light (2016)

Academic

[5/10 · 20 March 2018]

Watching To Keep The Light reminded me of the experience of instructed learning I received at school as a child. Neither particularly pleasant or unpleasant, it was a mundane, narrative exploration of people and facts, punctuated with dramatic sounding events and conclusions. This was my experience of this film. I'm pleased for writer, director, producer and lead actor, Erica Fae, that her academic profile impressed enough people to fund To Keep The Light. It will undoubtedly grant her long tenure in teaching.

Unfortunately, her skills as a virtuoso don't extend to a moving portraiture as an actor. And as a director of this piece, Ingemar Bergman she is not.

She is a measured script writer, clearly an excellent networker, but despite surrounding herself with cinema professionals she turns in a term paper aimed at achieving a safe B grade. Cinema is about reaching for the stars, sometimes while keeping your feet on the ground. The experience of the images/ background should be visceral and real, and the narrative a journey where the dramatic arc is compelling for the characters and audience. The background does its job in To Keep The Light, but as textured and atmospheric as the lighthouse and scenery is, it's no substitute for a story and characters that immerse you. Effective cinema moves us, provokes responses and opinions, to discover something mattered. Nothing matters if the point of the movie isn't the storytelling, but honoring the academic underlay.

My experience was disappointment at (mainly Erica's) unmoving performance and a lack of life or vibrancy in her character. Her acting was, at best, representative, not responsive. And, it were as if she coopted the medium of film to celebrate her love of research and historical facts. Her choosing to put it in cinematic form was a bit like choosing interpretive dance to sing a song.

That's to say, I couldn't see what moved Erica to do all this. Perhaps her strength in, and love of historical research just doesn't translate into breathing life into a story. In all, a cinematic gesture referring to women lighthouse keepers, ends up being subjugated by the pedagogic bent of its creator.

Australia Day (2017)

Powerful Resonance

[8/10 · 15 February 2018]

The majority of us (Australians) live in cities and towns where these stories occur. We see the product of Australia Day simmering around us, in differing forms, every day. This movie takes us beneath the surface. We're allowed to follow those people we've taken for granted, dismissed, buffered ourselves against or plain ignored because we can. As sober entertainment and something worth watching, the results are a thing to be proud of.

Stephen M Irwin and Kriv Stenders get the basics right with the writing and direction, and it shows in this movie becoming greater than the sum of its parts. Story telling and performances are solid in that benefit.

Excellent casting, awesome technical and camera unit work pull us into the lives and drama of our everyday victims and protagonists. Uniformly good writing, direction and excellent performances allow us to genuinely care about the strangers lives we're watching, Brian Brown captures the quiet desperation of an older, Australian man caught between a rock and a hard place, trying to do the right thing. Plaudits to the cameraman on his closeups of Brown. The Australian landscape and Brown's face are now synonymous. The people and drama in Australia day will resonate strongly with many Australians. It entertains and confronts us with truths we're usually able to walk past. Foreign audience will enjoy it as something casting a believable, strong reflection on Australian people, and the Australian enigma.

Macbeth (I) (2015)

Shakespeare Would Approve

[8/10 · 24 January 2016]

Director Justin Kurzel and Michael Fassbender's Macbeth won me over in the second half of this film. The first half reminded me why so few of Shakespeare's plays are tackled on film - being a chore to understand who's who and what's going on, and with the audience trying to come to grips with the language, the entertainment side of things can disappear into a black hole. If you don't know something about the play and characters beforehand, you've got to concentrate hard to know who's talking to who, and what they're talking about.

Then comes the language. Unfortunately, Shakespeare's cleverly coined phrases and metaphors, meter and poetic imagery isn't easy on the ear for two hours at a time. But don't let that stop you enjoying what else is going on.

The good thing is, Shakespeare wrote to entertain the masses as well as the hoi polloi, so his something-for-everyone storytelling talent transcends many of our limitations in watching it. Not many film makers take the Shakespeare challenge on, and those that do often suffer the consequences. After a somewhat ignominious start, Kurzel's Macbeth gathers momentum. It does an excellent job of transporting it's audience into a rarified entertainment atmosphere. From the time of MacDuff's gruesome discovery of King Duncan's bloody body, Fassbender is allowed to nail the sense and sensibilities of the language, allowing us to piece together a digestible picture of his Macbeth.

Prior to this, the mix of language and film imagery struggles for coherency. The heightened imagery of the language, at odds with the naturalistic scenes and film performance of the actors, threatens to make Shakespeare appear (to the uninitiated) to be a story telling charlatan. What Shakespeare structures in his writing to make work on stage is left floundering against the vast panorama of nature, visual selection of the camera, and actors acting naturally. Kurzel has tried to edit the play and story to accommodate this. In the first half, I felt that creates more problems than solutions for the audience. Having performed in this play (MacDuff & Duncan) professionally, I knew what was meant to be going on but, as I said, coherent revelation and story telling wasn't coming off the screen.

Anyone who has worked with Shakespeare's text soon learns the major lesson is to trust Shakespeare. Kurzel inadvertently makes the mistake of trying to compromise for the medium he's working in. The result is that the glue that is Shakepeare's language has nothing to stick to. Shakespeare pots his characters and works his scenes in a fashion so as the language becomes part of the storytelling. Film, along with being a visual medium, is a naturalistic form. It's not friendly or synonymous to theatrical, poetic device, which Shakespeare's characters and language stem from. In this case, the coherent story doesn't really get going until Macbeth and Lady Macbeth's introspections allow us to focus on the language and with that, the chance to piece things together.

Something rather unusual happens then. Time stretches as we're consciously drawn into the character's bind, by the language. After his first half story modifications and '300' like production values, Kurzel doesn't muck around with Shakespeare's set pieces in the second half. And it is this allowing of the intended theatrical device and structure in the story telling which lets the language do its job. Fassbender knew exactly what this opportunity was about, and his second half performance shows it.

Fassbender passes the test of acting craft in not only handling the language, he surrenders to letting Shakespeare do the work. Marion Cotillard, as Lady Macbeth, does a commendable job opposite Fassbender but, while handling the language, seems to understate Lady Macbeth's dramatic descent into madness under the eye of the camera. This is a pity for such a talented actress, and a short coming on the part of Justin Kurzel's direction. I found myself zoning out at those times that I should have been having a strong reaction to her suffering her fate. And again with David Thelewis's rather staid King Duncan. Kurzel hardly sets the circumstance for him to be seen as benevolent and thoroughly beloved by his subjects. Our feelings toward the 'deep damnation of his taking off' (murder) by Macbeth becomes almost extraneous when it should be emotionally pivotal for us. Visually, the effort in setting scenes is thorough and quite glorious. This despite the fact that medieval Scotland was a dour existence. Coupled with religious and occult practices and superstitions, frequent battles and skirmishes with invaders and neighbours, the rotten weather alone depicted in this film would be enough to make you appreciate a short life. Kurzel and a dedicated cast and crew, and Shakespeare, do salvage gripping entertainment from the jaws of early troubles. Then, the storytelling and characters stand well in their own right. I think Shakespeare would approve of the audience getting into this one.

The Water Diviner (2014)

Epic First Effort

[7/10 · 19 March 2015]

Water Diviner, Russ's directorial debut, is a demanding, complex story about an Australian man whose journey is fraught with the consequences of a hard life and the trials of letting his sons go to war. Diviner's production values are top notch. The cinematography excellent. The largely consistent script could so have used a couple more tightening drafts. Having said that, it's possible Russ changed things on set, on instinct and on the fly, as writer Andrew Knight and Andrew Anastasios's work on this story is obvious and usually impeccable.

I've nothing against romantic elements creeping into a story, but Russ allows too many emotional colors and sentimental textures to bleed together in this story telling. Dramatic peaks suffer from that sentimentality, which shows Russ's inexperience as a director. Some of the dialogue, meant to be innocent or naive, also indulges sentimentality. It's interesting to see these chinks and flaws appear in Russ's judgment in his story telling. Those criticisms aren't to detract from his major achievement in producing an entertaining and watchable romantic war drama. To give Russell his full due, directing and acting in a film epic of this nature was no mean feat. Russ and his crew have done an excellent job. It's just that where Russ's judgement is flawed, so is the film. Had Director Russ allowed himself a mentoring assistant, someone with proved chops in the Directorial story telling department, I have no doubt I would be standing and applauding The Water Diviner. I salvage that kudos and bestow it upon the awesome performance of Yilmaz Erdogan. He gave this story the touch of gravitas and authenticity it needed to be satisfying.

I look forward to supporting Russ's next effort. That he's known to us as Russ, it goes without saying how much he's loved like a brother in Australia and New Zealand for his achievements already.

Horrible Bosses 2 (2014)

Bulls-eye

[9/10 · 13 February 2015]

Horrible Bosses II is funnier than the original film.

That's unusual for a sequel, but what a relief. Along with an excellent cast, Bateman, Day and Sudeikis made this sequel for all the right reasons. Every few minutes I was laughing out loud. This well executed, politically incorrect caper movie hits the comedy bulls-eye. Jason Bateman has so paid his actor's dues since having to take such schlock roles as Ray in Will Smith's 2008 'Hancock'.

As in his absolute 2013 gem, Bad Words, Bateman nails the comic timing along with his ensemble buddies, Charlie Day and Jason Sudeikis. These are three comedy actors at the top of their game. Their riffing is exquisitely funny and relentless. It's done without falling into indulgences so often seen from their contemporaries.

And Day's stressed, high pitched voice, like the story, is naturally hilarious. What I also liked is the fact that this story takes enough risks to allow ideas to be resolved in unpredictable and unexpected ways. Big thumbs up to Director Seth Gordon and the writers for giving us a genuinely, sustainedly funny film.

Hector and the Search for Happiness (2014)

Ho Hum

[5/10 · 1 February 2015]

In 2012 Simon Pegg's 'The Fear of Everything' was released. I watched it in a bored, disappointed fashion, through to the end. 'Hector and the Search for Happiness' is a similar movie, though it's more thoughtful about not alienating its audience quite so much. I guess you'd call 'Hector' a romantic adventure comedy, but in the vein of Walter Mitty. There's nothing terribly real happening on screen, despite the quirky, comic reactions of Pegg to supposedly real relationships and situations.

Pegg is endearing as Hector, but that's not enough to sustain comedy, or an audience's interest in his journey. Rosamund Pike is an actress out of her time. Born twenty years earlier, she would be being mentioned in the same breath as Streep and Blanchette. Here, as in 'Gone Girl', her obvious, burgeoning talent is processed into a barefaced stereotype, so much so that I most remember her for her eyebrows causing her to resemble a surprised grasshopper most of the time. The fact that I had too much time to consider that about the beautiful Rosamund tells you that this movie, despite appearing to have all the moves, lacked being engaging in any memorable sense.

The Little Death (2014)

Mediocre

[4/10 · 1 February 2015]

The ideas behind The Little Death aren't bad. Paying one of the few compliments it will get from me, those ideas remind me of the work of Pedro Almodovar. As far as casting goes, Josh Lawson has brought together some accomplished and capable talent from the Australian entertainment industry. There's no weak link within their performances, so where does this film become groan inducing, rather than laugh inducing? Why is it uncomfortable to watch when it could be enlightening?

The answer is in its execution. It fails to resonate at an interesting or believable level. The script has all the components to be entertaining, but the treatment lacks simple, raw regard for the truth of the subject matter. The character types are identifiable, quirky, but despite some impassioned, truthful performances, it is types the actors end up playing, not people.

This speaks to Josh Lawson's inexperience as a director. You can't shake an audience's sensibilities, nor get them to laugh, by being clever. Lawson has taken a safe route when he needed to take risks. The result is that any genuine edginess from the characters and storyline is homogenized. Extreme moments that should be funny become dismaying. Stock pieces fall flat.

The Little Death isn't the worst Australian film I've seen, but it does share the worst trait. It manages to snatch mediocrity from the jaws of success.

Lucy (I) (2014)

Awesome

[9/10 · 6 November 2014]

Wow, I really like Scarlett Johansson on screen now. My first persuasion that she was a good actress came in The Prestige (2006) and Woody Allen's 'Match Point (2005)' and 'Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)' and even the bizarre noire 'Under the Skin (2013)'.

In terms of completely capturing my imagination, it'll be hard for her to top her role as Lucy, in Luc Besson's current science fiction masterpiece of the same name. The fact is there's not much about Scarlett's features or symmetry that I'd call beautiful - she has a funny nose, which goes off in a different direction to her mouth, and on the big screen all that is exaggerated just enough to keep you wondering if she's beautiful or interesting, but in the package with her acting, she's phenomenal.

In terms of holding your attention, Scarlett doesn't miss a beat and, I'm sorry Angelina Jolie, but she leaves what you do on screen, for dead. She's a movie maker's dream. She's one of the few females who can not only carry a movie, but she makes interesting choices and takes risks with those choices. This is one woman who is not going to die wondering if she left any of her talent and ability off screen. No sir. It's all up there in minute, focused and interesting detail.

And for mine, in short, what Luc Besson achieves with Lucy as a revenge movie, is what Tarantino couldn't achieve in two volumes of Kill Bill. I'm a big science fiction movie fan, but it's been a long time since I've had anything satisfy my movie-going instincts on nearly every level.

Tim Burton's Mars Attacks was the last, and that was in 1996. This movie, Lucy, is in a class almost of it's own. Perhaps once or twice there were script elements which reminded me of Brad Cooper's 'Limitless', but they were few and fleeting, given the execution, believability and outstanding effects of Lucy. I'm not going to go into the story. If you've wondered whether or not you really like Scarlett Johansson, this should make your mind up. And if you like a thrilling ride/sci-fi/revenge flick this is up there with the best of them. Scarlett's performance is worth the entry price alone.

The Face of Love (2013)

Almost a Minor Classic

[7/10 · 26 October 2014]

The Face of Love, a drama directed by Ari Posen, also appears to be a psychological thriller. It's successful in part, and it's compelling during its 92 minutes. Posen's choice of Annette Bening for Nikki Lostrom - a recent widow trying to pull the strings of her life back together - is inspired, and a performance worth the DVD price.

Her intricate, emotional portrait as Nikki Lostrom allows the film a resonance it would, otherwise, never achieve. And this, not because the story and other actors aren't good. It is, and they are.

The complex level of emotional states between characters is crucial to the film's narrative. The action is the familiar and mundane elements of their day to day life in LA. On this canvas Nikki's husband Garret/ Tom Young (Ed Harris), Roger Stillman (Robin Williams) and Nikki's daughter, Summer (nicely played by Jesse Weixler) are unwittingly drawn into circumstances Nikki faces, this woman whose grand personal deception damages each of their lives.

The crux of Nikki's story - subtle emotional shifts in desiring to touch a world she'd known, allow our sitting on the edge of emotional catastrophes, and are a testament to Bening in her prime. She is so good at giving us access to simple and raw emotional information. And she's looking great on screen. Her ardent transparency in the close ups, is exquisite and unassuming. Here, Bening's fine art sensibility as an actress is on display. I remain averse to taking much Hollywood fare and personnel seriously. Hollywood studios do what they do well. And there's usually too much obvious punctuation in their symphony, too much starch and corn syrup in their product. As a piece of film making, The Face of Love gets the balance of these ingredients right - slices of contemporary American life without laboring on the familiar. Here, it uses those as a vehicle for an effecting emotional journey.

This is where I found the rub. There are some films that I love Ed Harris in. He's a capable & experienced film actor. But he's not for the role of husband, Garret, in this story. He makes a decent fist of the role, but in one of the first shots of him from behind, while we're shown Bening gazing adoringly at him, the character captured on screen is his baldness. There's no other way around it. Yes, yes, scold me that ' Love is blind', and it may well be for Bening's character, but the audience aren't blind, nor in love with Garret. They see what's up there on the screen - a man, bald as a coot, barely as tall as Bening, who, despite convincing displays of sincerity and kindness, in no way physically meets the obsessive attachment projected throughout by Bening.

If the act of your passing (death) is going to drive a woman into a spiral of longing so great that it warps the fabric of time, as in this story, then as that object of her longing, you need to show us the goods. Nikki, shown to us to be an exquisite, humane, capable, sensitive being in her own right is meant to have grown into utter union with this husband. We must see the beauty or uniqueness in him that attracted her. And it's right for us to believe that nothing or no one is ever to again come close to fulfilling that role in her life. Particularly not the simpering neighbor, Roger Stillman, played unlikeably well by the late Robin Williams.

For all his experience, Ed Harris is not the leading man for this role. Physically, the pattern and nature of his baldness, in close up, is a character in its own right. That's not to disparage Mr Harris, but to state fact of its appearance on screen, and the power of it's distraction to this role.

Harris' is a hard bitten face. It looks as if it's spent most of it's time being chiseled by the elements. Admire it as a wonder of creation, but topped with his immaculate baldness and lack of height, you have a mismatch for what the role needs. To surmount this distraction. Mr Harris needs to show us a truly affecting transparency in his character, as Bening does emphatically, for this story to work. We greatly need to see what makes him tick, and significantly, what it is about him that Bening totally surrenders into.

At times, Mr Harris gestures toward finding that, but again, (and this is a director shortcoming) front, back and side, mid and close up shots of this severely bald man, amid being adored by his on screen wife, detract repeatedly, and are an anomaly.

The Face of Love might have transcended script limitations and its occasional self conscious direction with a better choice of male lead. I do wonder where the script doctor was. A bit more attention to the process of script and story, this had the makings of a minor classic and an Academy nomination for Bening. Maybe getting things of this caliber made now in Hollywood is much harder. In any case, the film nearly breaks free of it's earthly bonds to morph into the stratosphere of thrilling possibility, and falls tantalisingly short. It is impressive. Despite not fulfilling it's thriller potential (Hitchcock would have LOVED this story) and my sigh of 'oh, what might have been' , I recognise it is something I will watch several more times, if only because Bening is so damned good.

Celtic Woman: Believe (2012)

Bah and Humbug

[1/10 · 26 July 2013]

This show was meant to reflect something of Celtic music culture, but its extravagant, mainly awful production put paid to what little authenticity it may have begun with. The previous reviewer was accurate with their description of the singers being Barby dolls brought to life. Their singing gestures, ball gowns and choreography belonged to the corny era of musical comedy of 100 years ago. I don't know who these women are, but what they did here gives bands like Clannad (Enya) and The Corrs a bad name.

What mostly offended my senses and greatly annoyed me was that everything these women sang was clearly LIP SYNCHED. Of course their middle American audience loved every minute of this type of dumbed down concert.

Killer Elite (2011)

A Waste of Owen, Statham and DeNiro

[3/10 · 18 July 2012]

Killer Elite begins with a bang and quickly trails off into a convoluted story interspersed with violence. I'm still reeling that director Gary McKendry was handed a gift-horse the calibre of Black Caviar, in the form of his lead cast - DeNiro, Jason Statham and Clive Owen. These are men at the height of their screen action powers and presence. Yet McKendry manages to snatch banality from the jaws of cutting edge entertainment in his handling of Killer Elite. The script of this action thriller ends up playing like a gritty episode of Downton Abbey. Why McKendry didn't simply refuse to shoot the script until it made more sense, remains a mystery.

As for his use of the three stars, my four year old son knows what to do with his lead action figures. Bang them together incessantly. See and test what they're made of, and enjoy their awesome collisions. Mr McKendry doesn't understand this. He puts his action powerhouses on a double-decker bus narrative, stopping at all pedestrian chapters of the book.

One of the worst stops is the scene where Danny (Statham) takes some time out from the killing and mayhem to pay his girl a romantic visit on her farm. Here's Danny wandering up the paddock, his bag over one shoulder, while his girl tugs hay bales from the back of her range rover until she spots him and they have a hug and a smooch. A nookie and a cuppa later, Danny's put on his killer sneer and is back trying to save Hunter (DeNiro) from the baddies, whoever they are ( I gave up trying to follow it). Danny's romantic sojourn with his girl might have been a nice respite for him, but it was a mind numbing distraction from the action we'd been trying to follow. Trying being the operative word, and I certainly hope Mr DeNiro's character had his sudoku puzzle to pass the time while he waited for Danny's return to the action.

Clive Owen puts in a solid, admirable performance as Spike, the opposing private militia leader, as do Statham and DeNiro as special ops buddies. If it wasn't for this trio, the film would quickly sink into a clunky, confusing morass. Part of the problem is the difficulty many of the other actors, particularly the Australians, had in getting their characters to come off the screen. McKendry didn't give them the goods as a director. Ben Mendelsohn's dubious Scottish accent was a distraction from what his character was about. Statham's love interest, Yvonne Strahovski, gave her most winning smiles and happy happy joy joy reactions but failed to give any weight, or independent life, to her character, Anne. Her scenes with Statham resembled out-takes of the Aussie TV series, McLeod's Daughters. In her big scene with DeNiro she just didn't appear to know what to do. Aden Young as Meir held his own and was a screen presence to at least be interested in. Matthew Nable, though he didn't have a lot to do, was effective and convincing as Pennock. Lachlan Hume made a mess of the opportunity to nail his character Harris. His attempt at a Welsh accent too often provided unintentional laughs. Hume's talent needed some clear, firm directing, and he didn't get it. The final two nails in the Killer Elite performance coffin was the makeup of the major bad guy, Sheik Amr (Rodney Afif), and the approach of Firass Dirani as Bakhait, the Sheik's son.

Afif's Sheik looked like an escapee from a binned Disney movie. The type of villain you'd meet in a Bing Crosby - Bob Hope film. Each time he appeared on screen I couldn't take him seriously. Dirani showed his awesome ability and potential in Underbelly, The Straits and particularly The Combination. His performance in Killer Elite is all over the place. McKendry's not given him any useful direction to rectify it. What a huge waste. It's unfortunate, but it's this lack of direction that gradually makes the film so uneven, it drains interest. McKendry seems to have directed this by numbers and hoped things would turn out alright. How he landed a 70 million dollar film, with three of the biggest stars in Hollywood as leads, in his first ever feature film as a director, I'll never know. Statham, Owen and DeNiro must've been paid well. While so much else in this film sinks by comparison, they at least earn their money.

Tricky Business (2012)

Nothing To See Here

[3/10 · 14 May 2012]

This Aussie PI genre show has all the hallmarks of being a Home and Away spin off. And the cast is so dazzlingly white I was tempted to reach for my sunglasses 15 minutes in. Don't get me wrong. These are good, professional actors. The familiar, generic types you get on Aussie made TV shows. And the technical production values are good. In fact they prop up the whole thing. The big problem is the makers of Tricky Business know we love icecream and position the show to be our new fat reduced treat. You want icecream? the show screams at us. We got low fat VANILLA for you here, and with all the sugar brain-dead TV consumers are used to! Tricky Business is so self consciously vanilla, I bet they'll introduce the token ethnic/ coloured character before the end of the second episode. Any takers? I could tell you about the script and story so far, but I'd be repeating years of white TV character culture, and plot lines you already know. Some reading this may feel my tone and criticism is a bit harsh. You're right. It's how I respond to cynical efforts like Tricky Business. A show whose air of sophistication meekly cloaks a product choc full of preservatives, artificial colouring and flavouring. A product a halfwit wouldn't choose from the supermarket shelf, but something to be mindlessly consumed because it's served over the airwaves. First and last episode of this show for me.

For those to whom sitting in front of the TV isn't a never ending fast food moment, and you'd like to see how this TV genre does work Aussie style, go to your local video shop and rent the Good Guys, Bad Guys series from the late '90's. Marcus Graham, Alison Whyte and Travis McMahon reveal how characters and the genre is done with class, wit and humour. A genuine treat that wont rot your teeth.

Catfish (2010)

Entertaining & A Thriller

[8/10 · 25 January 2012]

I saw this on DVD this afternoon. At first, I thought I'd made a bad choice of movie. I checked the DVD cover, realised it was a documentary, so I somewhat begrudgingly stuck with it.

The young men making the film are bright eyed and bushy tailed in a non affected kind of way. I watched a bit more, still unsure how long I would last. The initial camera work is youtubey, and there's little ready narrative to latch onto. Don't let that put you off. Opening scenes spend a lot of time in the filmmaker's office/studio where the lads speak rather off handedly about this Facebook connection brother Nev has made with a Michigan girl who's sending him paintings. This moves to his making contact with other members of the Michigan family, Nev speaking with them by phone. We share the filmmaker's surprise and growing intrigue at developments in this relationship and the continuing arrival of paintings. Nev reads for the camera the correspondence with the mother, older daughter and of the wonderful success young painting daughter, Abby, is experiencing in the family's hometown. Nev begins more intimate phone texting with the older daughter, Megan, who sends him songs to serenade their mutual affection. It's on her sending him quite accomplished songs on request, Nev gets an uncomfortable itch he needs to scratch. He searches the songs on Youtube, discovers Megan isn't the musician or singer of those songs, and the rest is history of a type you won't have experienced before. Here, I really begin liking this documentary. For the story to continue the only way forward is to unravel the mystery. So they do.

The film makers seize the opportunity to take us to Michigan and a surprise visit to Angela, Megan and Abby. What is revealed is shocking, but what transpires is a genuine triumph for the viewer, made possible by the even handedness and whole heartedness of the film makers, particularly Nev. I'm rarely convinced or moved by attempts at absolution in film (Amadeus excepted). Catfish achieves this and more, without artifice. Highly recommended.

Three Blind Mice (2008)

Shape of Things to Come

[7/10 · 30 December 2011]

This was the evening movie last night, and I admit missing the first half hour, but I'm glad I caught the rest of it. I was entertained AND engaged by a well paced, well written and directed, and to my great relief, well acted piece of film making.

Someone who can direct a decent film performance out of the otherwise talented Brendan Cowell and Bob Franklin must be doing something right. What director/writer Matthew Newton really gets right is the cadence of the storytelling. The tale of these three sailors' final night in Sydney, before their posting to the Gulf, skips along with energy and assuredness. The script reflects Newton's excellent ear for dialogue, and his direction sees the actors free to really work their performances in an entertaining and believable way. It helps that he's picked a fairly rocking cast too.

Newton knows the story he wants to tell, how it should come off the screen, and he nails it in nearly every scene. It's the sign of someone who's genuinely comfortable with the language of film - it isn't bogged down with technicality, only using that to unleash creativity in taking us on the journey. That's quite an achievement in this age of film formula force feeding. It says to me Newton knows his stuff well enough to crack a mold without causing audience upheaval. That he's gathered together this stellar cast is also testament to those actor's belief in the quality of his communication.

For the performances, I give special mention to Barry Otto and Heather Mitchell as the in-laws to be. Newton gives them several wonderful scenes and they reward us with their consummate acting skill. I hold Mitchell's talent on stage and in film on par with Cate Blanchett. Pity she doesn't get the roles.

But all these accolades reflect on the combined talents of Matthew Newton. He's got an almost impossible task to comeback from epic, public disaster here. I was a big detractor until tonight. But he's clearly paid his dues in his craft. Whether that's enough to keep his head above water in this country is another thing. Three Blind Mice is very good, and I'm looking forward to seeing his next contribution to a sadly lacklustre industry here.