In 2012 entertainment sites lit up with the news that several Los Angeles teenagers had burgled approximately $3 million worth of cash and merchandise from the homes of celebrities including Paris Hilton, Orlando Bloom and Lindsay Lohan. Aptly named The Bling Ring, the group became headline news as details of their almost year long spree became public. Now, after many of them served prison sentences for their crimes, some have gone on to become reality television stars, which makes them interesting subjects to make a “true crimes” film about.
And who better to make a film about angsty teenagers obsessed with celebrity culture than Sofia Coppola. Ever sympathetic to historical baddies and outcasts, Coppola uses the opportunity to shine a light back on us, and the sick obsessive behaviours of western civilisation. What drives people’s obsession with celebrity so far that they would rob somebody’s house in order to get close to them? How can somebody be so delusional that they would ask “what did [Lindsay] say?” in an interview with the police and not be phased by the idiocy of the question at all?
Marc (Israel Broussard) has severe anxiety troubles and has been kicked out of school for having too many absences. Now the new guy at alternative school Indian Hill, Marc begins to idolise fellow fashion fiend Rebecca (Katie Chang) and would do anything to stay in favour with her. High on drugs after a party the pair steal wallets from unlocked cars in the area and thus begins their burglary spree. The pair, obsessed with celebrity culture, decide to see if Paris Hilton’s house (the address for which they found on the internet) would be locked while she was at a party out of town (which they discovered from TMZ). They go to the house and when they find the key under the doormat they decide to go inside and have a look around. Marc is anxious the whole time but Rebecca is cool as a cucumber. They get away with taking just a few things on several occasions and start to accrue a small gang.
Broussard is adorable and unassuming as the seemingly innocent, just-going-along-with-it Marc, whose testimony throughout gives some insight into the psychology of the group throughout. Chang is effervescent and irresistibly brash as the ring-leader, confidently moving from celebrity house to exclusive night club to teen house party and owning every scene. Emma Watson is comedy genius as the delusional home schooled LA flake Nicki, but Chang is the real star.
You wouldn’t know that the cast (bar Watson) are all new-comers, and despite the meaningless slow-motion montages and pretentious, wanky voice-overs about inane subjects, the film manages to be a sort of fly on the wall portrayal of a generation obsessed with celebrity and whose only ambitions are to have a reality show and the wardrobe of Lindsay Lohan. Young audiences will love this, older audiences will either hate it or be depressed by the subject matter, possibly weeping for the future leaders.
3.5 blergs
An edited version of this review was originally published on filmblerg.com
Thursday, August 8, 2013
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
The Way Way Back (2012)
The directing debut of acting and Oscar winning screen-writing duo Jim Rash and Nat Faxon, The Way Way Back is a charming coming of age film perfectly timed for the American Summer Vacation. Duncan (Liam James) is an awkward teenage who is being taken on an awkward holiday with his mum Pam (Toni Collette) and her new boyfriend Trent (Steve Carell). He would prefer to be with his dad, but he’s setting up a new life with his much younger new wife, so Duncan is instead being whisked off to the beach by sleazy Trent, where he tries to occupy himself for as long as possible during the daylight hours so as not to spend time at the family home. While in town one day he meets Owen (Sam Rockwell), the enigmatic owner of the local water park. Duncan decides to go and check the park out one day, and seeing that the boy is a little lost and in need of a friend, Owen hires him and takes him under his fatherly wing.
Meanwhile the girl next door (Anna Sophia Robb), also a child of divorce, takes an interest in the quiet, mysterious Duncan. There’s the usual family drama’s that occur throughout, and a lot of antics at the water park; this is a text book summer vacation movie, but with a difference. Carell is menacing as the creepy step dad, and his usual comical performance is replaced by something a little sinister. Sam Rockwell is brilliantly enigmatic as the inspiring, unassuming father figure who just wants to have a little fun, Allison Janney delivers her usual flare as the drunk next door neighbour and Psych regular Liam James, though he seems to take a while to warm into the role, delivers a nuanced performance as the awkward teenager on an epic journey of self-discovery.
Jim Rash gives a great cameo as the hypochondriac and morbidly depressed swimming supplies booth operator, and Nat Faxon is the cheeky slide operator Roddy. The Way, Way Back is a fun, light comedy, uniquely charming and thoroughly enjoyable. Go and see this film.
4 stars
An edited version of this review was originally published at FilmBlerg
Meanwhile the girl next door (Anna Sophia Robb), also a child of divorce, takes an interest in the quiet, mysterious Duncan. There’s the usual family drama’s that occur throughout, and a lot of antics at the water park; this is a text book summer vacation movie, but with a difference. Carell is menacing as the creepy step dad, and his usual comical performance is replaced by something a little sinister. Sam Rockwell is brilliantly enigmatic as the inspiring, unassuming father figure who just wants to have a little fun, Allison Janney delivers her usual flare as the drunk next door neighbour and Psych regular Liam James, though he seems to take a while to warm into the role, delivers a nuanced performance as the awkward teenager on an epic journey of self-discovery.
Jim Rash gives a great cameo as the hypochondriac and morbidly depressed swimming supplies booth operator, and Nat Faxon is the cheeky slide operator Roddy. The Way, Way Back is a fun, light comedy, uniquely charming and thoroughly enjoyable. Go and see this film.
4 stars
An edited version of this review was originally published at FilmBlerg
Monday, July 22, 2013
Greetings From Tim Buckley (2012)
Hot off the heels of the big reveal on Gossip Girl, Penn Badgley stars as the troubled rocker Jeff Buckley in the biopic of his rise to fame. Focusing on his involvement in the 1991 tribute concert held for his estranged father, Greetings From Tim Buckley depicts the troubled relationship between the two, and the struggles of the younger to break free of the shackles of his infamous lothario father.
The film doesn’t sugar coat the fact that Jeff was abandoned by his father, but it also shows a young Tim Buckley (played tenderly and innocently by new-comer Ben Rosenfield) struggling to balance the limelight and the harsh light of day. Tim was an influential musician, people are constantly telling Jeff how much they loved his fathers music and how alike they look, but he also seemed to be a pretentious twat who met his son twice in his whole life.
The music of Tim Buckley is the major focus in the film, with flashbacks to Tim in his hey-day, and rehearsals for the concert happening throughout the film, the connection between the two is profound, and the tension it causes is paramount to the beauty and tragedy of both performers. Badgley handles himself amazingly, performing many of the numbers in the film, including the moving solo at the conclusion of the film. However, supporting roles were underdeveloped and under-used, such as the beautiful and mysterious love interest Allie (Imogen Poots), who helps Jeff a great deal in dealing with his emotions, but whose motivations are never really clear.
While the two performers at the centre of this film are legendary and their lives were both cut tragically short, the film feels pretentious and preaching the destructive rocker life-style a little hard. The performances are great, the music is wonderful, the subject matter is incredibly interesting but not handled with the greatest care, particularly one disturbing scene of Jeff crying alone in his hotel room at the end of the film which feels as if it has randomly been slapped in there for some underwhelming, unreferenced character development.
All in all Greetings From Tim Buckley is an interesting biopic about two interesting figures in musical history and weird connection between the veritable strangers.
3 stars
An edited version of this review was originally published at FilmBlerg
The film doesn’t sugar coat the fact that Jeff was abandoned by his father, but it also shows a young Tim Buckley (played tenderly and innocently by new-comer Ben Rosenfield) struggling to balance the limelight and the harsh light of day. Tim was an influential musician, people are constantly telling Jeff how much they loved his fathers music and how alike they look, but he also seemed to be a pretentious twat who met his son twice in his whole life.
The music of Tim Buckley is the major focus in the film, with flashbacks to Tim in his hey-day, and rehearsals for the concert happening throughout the film, the connection between the two is profound, and the tension it causes is paramount to the beauty and tragedy of both performers. Badgley handles himself amazingly, performing many of the numbers in the film, including the moving solo at the conclusion of the film. However, supporting roles were underdeveloped and under-used, such as the beautiful and mysterious love interest Allie (Imogen Poots), who helps Jeff a great deal in dealing with his emotions, but whose motivations are never really clear.
While the two performers at the centre of this film are legendary and their lives were both cut tragically short, the film feels pretentious and preaching the destructive rocker life-style a little hard. The performances are great, the music is wonderful, the subject matter is incredibly interesting but not handled with the greatest care, particularly one disturbing scene of Jeff crying alone in his hotel room at the end of the film which feels as if it has randomly been slapped in there for some underwhelming, unreferenced character development.
All in all Greetings From Tim Buckley is an interesting biopic about two interesting figures in musical history and weird connection between the veritable strangers.
3 stars
An edited version of this review was originally published at FilmBlerg
Sunday, July 21, 2013
The World's End (2013)
It has been more than 10 years since Nick Frost, Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright teamed up to make Shaun Of The Dead, thus beginning the aptly named “Cornetto Trilogy”, and finally, the trilogy comes to a close with The World’s End. Sticking with the genre-spoof theme, The World’s End is an end of the world science-fiction film where a group of old school mates are coaxed back to their home town in order to finish a pub crawl they couldn’t quite complete in their teen years, but the locals are a bit weird.
There are some twists and turns and the plot thickens to a point, but it didn’t quite go far enough. The beautiful thing about the science-fiction genre is that you can take it anywhere you want it to go, and if you’re spoofing it, you can make up any old excuse for anything that happens, but unlike Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead, the focus wasn’t on the genre stereotypes, but on the development of the characters. Simon Pegg plays Gary King, a perpetual teenager whose life did not get any better after high school. He’s a dick, basically, who never quite redeems himself, or makes up for the shit he’s done to his friends.
As representatives for Earth go, he wouldn’t be first choice, but he is in the right place at the right time to put in his two cents worth, and messing up everything. There are some stellar moments, such as identical twins who have been destroyed by Gary King only to come back to life with rotating legs for arms, but for the most part the films feels like it is perpetually ramping up to something exciting that never happens. There’s no ridiculous high speed car chase/shoot out, no major realisation in the pathetic main character who should have so much potential (besides chaos and alcoholism), it’s just a few awesome fight sequences, a little bit of dilly dallying about what to call the alien invaders, some reminiscing and a ridiculous ending that is way off centre and seemingly just slapped on the end like a final chapter that was never published with the original.
Pre-final sequence, the film is enjoyable, the supporting cast are on-key, Nick Frost is a bang-on lovable loon, Martin Freeman is a great up-tight loser who is constantly attached to his blue-tooth head piece, and there are notable guest appearances from Cornetto Trilogy regulars such as Bill Nighy and David Bradley. So grab a Cornetto, lower your expectations, and enjoy the finale of the trilogy.
3 stars
An edited version of this review was originally published at FilmBlerg
There are some twists and turns and the plot thickens to a point, but it didn’t quite go far enough. The beautiful thing about the science-fiction genre is that you can take it anywhere you want it to go, and if you’re spoofing it, you can make up any old excuse for anything that happens, but unlike Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead, the focus wasn’t on the genre stereotypes, but on the development of the characters. Simon Pegg plays Gary King, a perpetual teenager whose life did not get any better after high school. He’s a dick, basically, who never quite redeems himself, or makes up for the shit he’s done to his friends.
As representatives for Earth go, he wouldn’t be first choice, but he is in the right place at the right time to put in his two cents worth, and messing up everything. There are some stellar moments, such as identical twins who have been destroyed by Gary King only to come back to life with rotating legs for arms, but for the most part the films feels like it is perpetually ramping up to something exciting that never happens. There’s no ridiculous high speed car chase/shoot out, no major realisation in the pathetic main character who should have so much potential (besides chaos and alcoholism), it’s just a few awesome fight sequences, a little bit of dilly dallying about what to call the alien invaders, some reminiscing and a ridiculous ending that is way off centre and seemingly just slapped on the end like a final chapter that was never published with the original.
Pre-final sequence, the film is enjoyable, the supporting cast are on-key, Nick Frost is a bang-on lovable loon, Martin Freeman is a great up-tight loser who is constantly attached to his blue-tooth head piece, and there are notable guest appearances from Cornetto Trilogy regulars such as Bill Nighy and David Bradley. So grab a Cornetto, lower your expectations, and enjoy the finale of the trilogy.
3 stars
An edited version of this review was originally published at FilmBlerg
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
The Big Lebowski Second Annual Bash at The Astor
The Big Lebowski is a classic piece of black comedy from iconic filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen, it’s been around for 15 years and has built up quite a fan base in that time. The film inspires dress ups and avid participation from audiences at special screenings, several of which have happened around the world since the inaugural event last year at the Astor theatre in St Kilda. There were White Russian’s aplenty and excitement was building as we were called into the cinema to begin proceedings.
First came a bit of trivia about the film with small prizes, a costume competition, the men’s category of which was won by Neville, a man who had come all the way from Perth for the event, for his 70th birthday, who’s sons came dressed as the band Autobahn. All this made no sense to a first timer who saved their first viewing of the film for a special occasion, and I was ready for the film to begin.
“The Dude” Lebowski (Jeff Bridges) is mistaken for the millionaire Lebowski by a couple of thugs looking for a debt to be settled. The Dude decides to go see his counterpart for compensation after the thugs urinate on his rug and finds himself running money to some shady characters on the millionaire Lebowski’s behalf. What should have been a one off job with a big payout turns into much more trouble when The Dude’s buddy Walter (John Goodman) gets involved.
Endlessly quotable, over the top and ridiculous, The Big Lebowski is simply put, a comedy classic, and the event is a must for lovers of the film to dress up, drink milk kahlua and vodka, and have a good old time with some fellow nuts. Jeff Bridges is classic as The Dude, effortlessly cool, and amazingly chill in a multitude of ridiculous situations, Julianne Moore is incredibly sexy as the bohemian, jilted daughter of the millionaire Lebowski and Steve Buscemi is so cute as a young, clueless Donnie – The Dude and Walters bowling buddy. John Turturro makes a classic cameo as Jesus the weird, offensive bowling creep who likes to clean his balls.
Lactose intolerant people may not need to worry about getting involved in the White Russian action next year as I went to a convenience store and bought my own soy, that’s how great this event is, you just want to get involved. Plus after the film you can get a burger from the in n out burger downstairs. It’s probably not the best way to see the film for the first time, but it certainly makes it memorable.
Film: 4.5 stars, Event: 5 stars
An edited version of this review was originally published at FilmBlerg
First came a bit of trivia about the film with small prizes, a costume competition, the men’s category of which was won by Neville, a man who had come all the way from Perth for the event, for his 70th birthday, who’s sons came dressed as the band Autobahn. All this made no sense to a first timer who saved their first viewing of the film for a special occasion, and I was ready for the film to begin.
“The Dude” Lebowski (Jeff Bridges) is mistaken for the millionaire Lebowski by a couple of thugs looking for a debt to be settled. The Dude decides to go see his counterpart for compensation after the thugs urinate on his rug and finds himself running money to some shady characters on the millionaire Lebowski’s behalf. What should have been a one off job with a big payout turns into much more trouble when The Dude’s buddy Walter (John Goodman) gets involved.
Endlessly quotable, over the top and ridiculous, The Big Lebowski is simply put, a comedy classic, and the event is a must for lovers of the film to dress up, drink milk kahlua and vodka, and have a good old time with some fellow nuts. Jeff Bridges is classic as The Dude, effortlessly cool, and amazingly chill in a multitude of ridiculous situations, Julianne Moore is incredibly sexy as the bohemian, jilted daughter of the millionaire Lebowski and Steve Buscemi is so cute as a young, clueless Donnie – The Dude and Walters bowling buddy. John Turturro makes a classic cameo as Jesus the weird, offensive bowling creep who likes to clean his balls.
Lactose intolerant people may not need to worry about getting involved in the White Russian action next year as I went to a convenience store and bought my own soy, that’s how great this event is, you just want to get involved. Plus after the film you can get a burger from the in n out burger downstairs. It’s probably not the best way to see the film for the first time, but it certainly makes it memorable.
Film: 4.5 stars, Event: 5 stars
An edited version of this review was originally published at FilmBlerg
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Pacific Rim (2013)
Beginning with voice over narration explaining who the big aliens (Kaiju) are, where they came from, what they did to the Earth and why the human race had to build giant robots (Jaeger) to fight them, Guillermo del Toro‘s Pacific Rim is set up for the lowest common denominator. But the action of the film does not occur in the details of the intergalactic war, or the effects it’s having on the human race (like a good sci-fi would), but instead in the relationships of the people who program the Jaeger’s and the team who are planning an attack on the portal that is bringing the alien menace to our shores, located somewhere below the Pacific Ocean.
The Jaeger are very complicated pieces of machinery whose psychological interfaces cannot be handled by a single human brain. So the pilots of these mega-structures are instead a team of two, who surf the drift (head space and memories of two beings basically sharing one brain space), each operating a hemisphere of the robot. It’s all sci-fi mumbo jumbo that basically means the pilots need chemistry and are usually related. Raleigh (Charlie Hunnam) and Yancy (Diego Klattenhoff) are brothers, pilots, and rock-stars. They have no marketable skills in the real world, but in post apocalyptic aliens vs giant robots world, their ability to hold their own in a fight makes them super human rock-stars.
But when Yancy is killed and the Kaiju start to predict the movements and fighting methods of the Jaeger, Raleigh is pulled off construction of the giant wall he is building, join with a new partner, and join the plot to blow up the portal between the two worlds. There’s some mushy love story crap and a mysterious back-story thrown in, and Charlie Hunnam (known to me as hot British Lloyd from Undeclared) is pretty buff without his shirt on, so I see the appeal. But the real stars of the show are Charlie Day as Dr Newton the Kaiju groupie and Burn Gorman as Gottlieb, the numbers man. The chemistry between the two and their little side story is hilarious. Ron Perlman makes a pretty awesome cameo as well.
If you like action films where you don’t have to think about anything, sci-fi where every little anomaly of story is explained with some sci-fi bull-shit, actors trying to work with accents they clearly can’t pull off (British pretending to be American, American pretending to be Australian) and the ridiculous notion that the human race has the technology to build giant robots that can compete with mega-aliens in hand to hand combat, but can’t build a huge gun that can destroy them without crushing the Sydney Opera house, then this film is for you. The visuals are spectacular, if a little disorienting in 3D, the choreography of the fight scenes is masterful, and the film is just damned hilarious. A thrill ride that will take your mind off things for over 2 hours.
3 stars
An edited version of this review was originally published at FilmBlerg
The Jaeger are very complicated pieces of machinery whose psychological interfaces cannot be handled by a single human brain. So the pilots of these mega-structures are instead a team of two, who surf the drift (head space and memories of two beings basically sharing one brain space), each operating a hemisphere of the robot. It’s all sci-fi mumbo jumbo that basically means the pilots need chemistry and are usually related. Raleigh (Charlie Hunnam) and Yancy (Diego Klattenhoff) are brothers, pilots, and rock-stars. They have no marketable skills in the real world, but in post apocalyptic aliens vs giant robots world, their ability to hold their own in a fight makes them super human rock-stars.
But when Yancy is killed and the Kaiju start to predict the movements and fighting methods of the Jaeger, Raleigh is pulled off construction of the giant wall he is building, join with a new partner, and join the plot to blow up the portal between the two worlds. There’s some mushy love story crap and a mysterious back-story thrown in, and Charlie Hunnam (known to me as hot British Lloyd from Undeclared) is pretty buff without his shirt on, so I see the appeal. But the real stars of the show are Charlie Day as Dr Newton the Kaiju groupie and Burn Gorman as Gottlieb, the numbers man. The chemistry between the two and their little side story is hilarious. Ron Perlman makes a pretty awesome cameo as well.
If you like action films where you don’t have to think about anything, sci-fi where every little anomaly of story is explained with some sci-fi bull-shit, actors trying to work with accents they clearly can’t pull off (British pretending to be American, American pretending to be Australian) and the ridiculous notion that the human race has the technology to build giant robots that can compete with mega-aliens in hand to hand combat, but can’t build a huge gun that can destroy them without crushing the Sydney Opera house, then this film is for you. The visuals are spectacular, if a little disorienting in 3D, the choreography of the fight scenes is masterful, and the film is just damned hilarious. A thrill ride that will take your mind off things for over 2 hours.
3 stars
An edited version of this review was originally published at FilmBlerg
The Lone Ranger (2013)
For a producer, Jerry Bruckheimer sure does leave his mark on pictures. The Lone Ranger is a classic wild west tale, much as the Pirates of the Caribbean series is a classic pirates-on-the-high-seas franchise, and it has all the action, and violence, you would expect from a wild west, with a little humour thrown in for good measure.
Tonto (Johnny Depp) is a very, very old man when we first meet him in a display at a carnival that’s just been set up on the banks of the San Francisco Bay, an impossibly old man, an a legend of the great wild west. Mistaking a young boy in a cowboy get up for his buddy The Lone Ranger, Tonto begins to recount the story of how he met and teamed up with the masked outlaw. Though the story is told to a small child and is produced by Disney, this is by no means a picture fit for children, unless your children enjoy a bit of throat slitting or human heart eating.
John Reid (Armie Hammer) is a law man, returning to his home town in the wild west after nine years in the city learning law. An honourable man, John has been away from the harsh countryside for too long, and feels uncomfortable with a gun in his hand, a fact not lost on the trigger happy bandits that run rife in the old west. Fearing he has become a little soft around the edges, he joins his brother on a trek into the desert to track down notorious Indian killer Butch Cavendish (William Fitchner). They are betrayed by their tracker and all shot down, but when Tonto tries to burry John a spirit horse (easily the best character in the film) appears to bring him back from the great beyond, and so begins the adventures of Tonto and The Lone Ranger.
Depp exudes his usual quirkiness as the Comanche with a lot of strange rules and habits, and it works well with Hammer’s uptight, do-no-wrong Texas ranger. Though in the beginning Hammer feels uncomfortable in a comical role, he soon warms into it, and a fine, dashing, honourable outlaw he makes too.
The star of the show is really the spirit horse who appears whenever, and where ever they need him. Plus the big, grand finale action sequence-train-chase-shoot-out scene set to Rossini’s “William Tell Overture” is superb, action packed, funny, grandiose, I can’t express how much of a thrill ride this film was.
Director Gore Verbinski’s classic piece of rollicking good times wild west action adventure makes for a pretty decent day out, coming in a just over two and half hours, you will not regret seeing this film.
3.5 stars
An edited version of this review was originally published at FilmBlerg
Tonto (Johnny Depp) is a very, very old man when we first meet him in a display at a carnival that’s just been set up on the banks of the San Francisco Bay, an impossibly old man, an a legend of the great wild west. Mistaking a young boy in a cowboy get up for his buddy The Lone Ranger, Tonto begins to recount the story of how he met and teamed up with the masked outlaw. Though the story is told to a small child and is produced by Disney, this is by no means a picture fit for children, unless your children enjoy a bit of throat slitting or human heart eating.
John Reid (Armie Hammer) is a law man, returning to his home town in the wild west after nine years in the city learning law. An honourable man, John has been away from the harsh countryside for too long, and feels uncomfortable with a gun in his hand, a fact not lost on the trigger happy bandits that run rife in the old west. Fearing he has become a little soft around the edges, he joins his brother on a trek into the desert to track down notorious Indian killer Butch Cavendish (William Fitchner). They are betrayed by their tracker and all shot down, but when Tonto tries to burry John a spirit horse (easily the best character in the film) appears to bring him back from the great beyond, and so begins the adventures of Tonto and The Lone Ranger.
Depp exudes his usual quirkiness as the Comanche with a lot of strange rules and habits, and it works well with Hammer’s uptight, do-no-wrong Texas ranger. Though in the beginning Hammer feels uncomfortable in a comical role, he soon warms into it, and a fine, dashing, honourable outlaw he makes too.
The star of the show is really the spirit horse who appears whenever, and where ever they need him. Plus the big, grand finale action sequence-train-chase-shoot-out scene set to Rossini’s “William Tell Overture” is superb, action packed, funny, grandiose, I can’t express how much of a thrill ride this film was.
Director Gore Verbinski’s classic piece of rollicking good times wild west action adventure makes for a pretty decent day out, coming in a just over two and half hours, you will not regret seeing this film.
3.5 stars
An edited version of this review was originally published at FilmBlerg
Trying to start fresh
So I finally bought a mac, OMG!!! I'm so happy right now. I got it super cheap because my discount card finally came at work, and apple's were on sale, and I had $220 worth of gift cards that I got for signing up to the store credit card, which I shall soon cancel now that I have a computer. Long story short, I love my computer and won't HATE turning my computer on and will therefore start blogging again.
So, what's changed. I'm a bra fitter by day, film reviewer by night. I get free tickets to films now, so I'm going to post my reviews here as well (as I see many more films than I review officially). Let's begin with the most recent shall we...
Monday, January 23, 2012
Movies I've already seen this year
First week of the year saw the boy and I (would like to take this opportunity to illicit how hilarious I think it is that this is how I always refer to my boy online and have recently started reading "intimate adventures of a London call girl" and the boy is how she refers to her boy, so it's more universal than I thought and makes our little dates as relayed to myself in my brain less cute) at greater union watching Sherlock Holmes 2: A Game of Shadows, where we learned that Cinebuzz members can no longer redeem their points at the cinema, they have to be claimed online which meant we paid full price to see the film and it was pretty average. I don't mean it was bad at all, it was just sort of so so. I have read a lot of Sherlock Holmes stories since the tv show aired last year and I feel I know the character pretty well and I have become increasingly aware and annoyed at how the films merely use the character as a story telling toll as opposed to making Sherlock Holmes films. I'm all for poetic license when adapting books to film or tv, but seriously, Sherlock Holmes is a classic literary character and despite the filmmaking prowess of Guy Ritchie I am disappointed by the recent films. Sherlock the tv series on the other hand, I cannot wait for. Come on channel nine, hurry up.
The following week we were back at GU to see Tin Tin which I thought was pretty spectacular. I didn't think he spent quite enough time being knocked out and rescued by snowy, but I really enjoyed it. I liked the way the The Crab with the Golden Claws story was mixed in with The Secret of the Unicorn story to drag it out to movie length, as opposed to fleshing it out with entirely new content. The graphics were spectacular and I can't wait for another adventure, hopefully featuring professor calculus, for as annoying as he is, he's a great character.
The next week we went to the sun theatre in yarraville with the intention of seeing Young Adult but it was sold out so we went to see the descendants instead. I talked about this film breifly before but just wanted up add that it was a nice film neatly balancing drama and comedy to great effect. Enjoyable but like I say, of it cleans up at the Oscars I will lose my faith in the academy.
The next day we cashed in our points to go see the muppets. It was good old puppety fun and musical madness. It was great to see all the old characters back together again plus some hilarious celebrity cameos. I loved it from a nostalgic view point, will be enjoyable for fans of obvious jokes and of course, fans of the muppets.
That brings us up to speed briefly, I'm still getting used to my iPhone and don't want to blab on too much.
The following week we were back at GU to see Tin Tin which I thought was pretty spectacular. I didn't think he spent quite enough time being knocked out and rescued by snowy, but I really enjoyed it. I liked the way the The Crab with the Golden Claws story was mixed in with The Secret of the Unicorn story to drag it out to movie length, as opposed to fleshing it out with entirely new content. The graphics were spectacular and I can't wait for another adventure, hopefully featuring professor calculus, for as annoying as he is, he's a great character.
The next week we went to the sun theatre in yarraville with the intention of seeing Young Adult but it was sold out so we went to see the descendants instead. I talked about this film breifly before but just wanted up add that it was a nice film neatly balancing drama and comedy to great effect. Enjoyable but like I say, of it cleans up at the Oscars I will lose my faith in the academy.
The next day we cashed in our points to go see the muppets. It was good old puppety fun and musical madness. It was great to see all the old characters back together again plus some hilarious celebrity cameos. I loved it from a nostalgic view point, will be enjoyable for fans of obvious jokes and of course, fans of the muppets.
That brings us up to speed briefly, I'm still getting used to my iPhone and don't want to blab on too much.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
I've been really lazy
I don't have an excuse, I've just been working and living and watching Poirot. I bought the complete series, there are 11 seasons and some episodes are 2 hours long. So I thought I'd start by saying Stephan, what is going on? The Grand Moff appears to be losing his touch. The last half of Doctor Who season six was odd, like Moffat had a million ideas he wanted to get out if his system but didn't quite know how to execute them. I have more unanswered questions and some of them are still hanging around since last year, such as, why did the TARDIS explode, what does Amy have to do with it all, aside from being River Song's mother? But the thing that bugged me most pf all this year was the christmas episode, it had so much potential and was so amazingly shit. I mean no offensive because as you may have read on this blog previously, I love the Grand Moff, and I love Doctor Who. But that episode was terrible and you can't disagree unless you're stupid or you thought the Russell T Davies series were good in a not ironic way. Anyway, maybe he's expending all his energy on Sherlock, which I'm annoyed hasn't landed in oz yet, but only time will tell. I thought Tin Tin was good, so that's one thing.
On another note, went to see The Decendants at the sun on Monday, and now that we've seen it I'm confident to say "will everyone please stop going on about George Clooney's performance". He was good but I don't think it was particularly note worthy. Certainly not an Oscar winning role, not the way I imagine Dominic Cooper's role in The Devils Double will be. Can't wait for that to come out. I also think it's about time Gary Oldman get some kudos, he is a bloody good character actor and should be recognised for that. Time will tell though I guess.
It feels nice to be blogging again, I recently acquired an iPhone so I think I'll be blogging a little more regularly.
On another note, went to see The Decendants at the sun on Monday, and now that we've seen it I'm confident to say "will everyone please stop going on about George Clooney's performance". He was good but I don't think it was particularly note worthy. Certainly not an Oscar winning role, not the way I imagine Dominic Cooper's role in The Devils Double will be. Can't wait for that to come out. I also think it's about time Gary Oldman get some kudos, he is a bloody good character actor and should be recognised for that. Time will tell though I guess.
It feels nice to be blogging again, I recently acquired an iPhone so I think I'll be blogging a little more regularly.
Monday, September 19, 2011
Blog Lovin'
I haven't blogged for a while so I thought I'd start with giving some blog loving to this awesome film clip made by some cool cats from my home-town.
These guys are cool and make a myriad of things from film clips to children's TV shows (fingers crossed). I'm doing a shameless plug here for y'all to be fans of the guys on FB and spread the word so that all cool people can have cool film clips like this. (And so they can pollute young childrens' minds with stop motion mayhem.)
They're called Oh Yeah Wow, BTW.
These guys are cool and make a myriad of things from film clips to children's TV shows (fingers crossed). I'm doing a shameless plug here for y'all to be fans of the guys on FB and spread the word so that all cool people can have cool film clips like this. (And so they can pollute young childrens' minds with stop motion mayhem.)
They're called Oh Yeah Wow, BTW.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Day Twelve
Today I had the early session free again so I went online and booked in Under The Hawthorne Tree, a beautifully realised Chinese film featured in the Next Gen program, which meant I shared the cinema with a few school groups. I thought they would be disruptive on account of being on an excursion to see a film with subtitles but they were all surprisingly well behaved. The film told the tale of a young girl growing up in the 1970s Cultural Revolution of China which meant she and some of her fellow students had to leave the city and move to the country for some time for their re-education. There she met and fell in love with a handsome geology student, but due to her delicate position in the eyes of the empire she must tread carefully the line between love and duty. This film tells the most beautifully innocent love story set against the backdrop of political paranoia and social upheaval and I was captivated by the gravity of the situation and the humble nature of the story. This was the first film of the festival that had me truly weeping and my sleeves were quite sodden afterward.
But I had time to settle in before the next film which was at ACMI 2 again, a quirky and delightfully absurd American comedy called Natural Selection. Linda is a long suffering Christian housewife whose husband has suddenly suffered a stroke. While he is lying comatose in the hospital she discovers that he has been donating sperm to a bank every week for years whilst never allowing himself to be "lead into temptation" by her due to her sin of having an abortion. In her disillusionment she is lead to believe that her husband wishes for her to track down one of his children, thus begins one of the weirdest road-to-self-discovery movies I have ever seen. I can see why the audience at SXSW voted so vigorously for this film it was simply delightfully absurd. It was also quite funny, which is always good when seeing a comedy.
I ran off next to Greater Union for a film I couldn't remember anything about and after a short discussion with one of the vollies (the lovely Simon who showed me the ropes way back in '09) I was reminded that I was in for a "controversial" and "unsettling" viewing. Teamed with this absurdity was the sweet Belgian short Swimsuit 46, the story of a poor little chubby girl who only wants to swim her best at an upcoming competition but is being held back by her horrible family. She needs a new swimsuit because hers is in disarray, which means new goggles that don't leak are not on the cards. The girl works her heart out saving up for her goggles by washing cars and doing household chores and when she has enough her brother steals it. This film was too short for me to really feel anything substantial toward the characters or the events but it was a quaint story and peaceful prelude to the feature.
The program notes for She Monkeys were incredibly misleading. The film was odd and at times menacing but I did not know what was going on or why. The lead actress was remarkable stoic with seemingly no expression or care for unfolding events which made it extremely difficult to understand her actions. Her little sister was bizarrely delightful and extremely odd. I could not predict where the film was heading and then suddenly, it ended. Given the still provided and the program notes calling this film "claustrophobic" and a "deeply unsettling exploration of the jumbled parameters of teen sexuality", even going so far as to use the phrase "taboo breaking", I thought I was in for some real shlock and horror, confusion of teen sexuality and the intensity of desire in the mind of the adolescent but it was not like that at all. Disappointing.
Last up for the day was the light hearted comedy Our Idiot Brother, the tale of well-meaning man-child Ned, played endearingly by the wonderful Paul Rudd, whose good natured view of the world leads him to trouble. His family are a bunch of self absorbed misfits who plot and scheme, and patronise him for trying to do the right thing and only see the good in people, but he is the one who ultimately fixes their lives leading to a fuller and happier life for all. This film is a charming comedy with truly hilarious moments and wonderful cameos from the likes of Zooey Deschanel, Emily Mortimer and Steve Coogan. The dynamics between the cast members was great and they delivered a lovely message in the end.
Pick of the day
Under the Hawthorne Tree was just beautiful and sweet beyond comprehension and I absolutely loved it.
Surprise of the Day
Our Idiot Brother. I can't generally see how Hollywood blockbuster types fit into the schematics of the film festival but this one was fun and the packed screening made the experience more enjoyable.
Film total so far
46
Monday, August 1, 2011
Day Eleven
I had the first slot of the day free so I booked in Buck purely based on the fact that it was at the Forum and I like the Forum. It was an interesting documentary about the man known as "the Horse Whisperer" but I guess you have to be a horse person to really get into this film. It is pretty dull if you do not like horses. The film spent a lot of time on his early life as a lasso jumper who was forced into the spotlight along with his brother by their physically abusive father, also a lot of time on his life as a professional horse whisperer running workshops for people with troubled horses but didn't spend too much time on how he went from a victim of severe domestic abuse to a celebrated folk hero and that's the part of the story I would have been really interested in. If you like horses you will probably like this but I didn't.
Across the road to ACMI for my second session of the day which was Polisse, the latest feature from French filmmaking star Maïwenn (the blue lady with the weird hair in The Fifth Element). This film is disturbingly based on actual case files and follows the many experiences of the Juvenile Protection Unit in Paris. Some of the crimes portrayed were so horrendous and the criminals unnervingly remorseless. The tension between the case workers was truly unimaginable and built to intense conclusions. The film was very fly on the wall and while at times humorous did make me want to visit Paris less given the kind of intolerable crap these poor people had to deal with on a daily basis. A greatly disturbing film.
Still at ACMI I settled into a central position for The Hungry Tide, a simple documentary following the selfless journey of Maria Tiimon, a Kiribati woman living in Sydney and working tirelessly to save her Island home of Kiribati which is slowly sinking under the rising tide caused by the melting ice caps as a direct result of global warming. Spreading the message one group of school children at a time Maria takes her country’s message to the Copenhagen Climate Conference but to no avail. The damage being done to this country is unmistakable but the world powers cannot commit to cutting carbon emissions. It felt a lot like a produced for TV doco because it was and while the message was one that should reach all people it felt out of place at a film festival alongside films by world renowned filmmakers. Was a very boring film.
I was too tired to see my last film and really needed food so I left that Monday at that.
Pick of the day
Polisse. A disturbing film but very cinematic and beautiful.
Surprise of the day
My lack of enthusiasm to seeing all my sessions despite having no illnesses or pressing engagements.
Film total so far
41
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Day Ten
I stayed in ACMI 2 all day today and had a pretty cruisie, lazy day.
First up was the sweet short film The Accordion from the amazingly resilient Jafar Panahi who, in 2010, was jailed in Iran for six years and forbidden from making films for 20 years. The Accordion was a beautiful, subtly political film that shows a world so politically intolerant and foreign to me that I cannot comprehend how an innocent mistake by a child can lead an adult to steal that child's livelihood. A simple tale with a simple message and a complex tapestry of social injustice and resolve.
Following that lovely film was the amazingly powerful Mohammad Rasoulof film Good Bye. Arrested just before the films completion the film was finished underground and won the filmmaker a Best Director gong at Cannes this year. The film is a beautifully realised drama telling the painful story of an intelligent, well educated Iranian woman who is trapped in a life of uncertainty, persecution and the feeling of being a foreigner in her own country. Her husband has fled their home after publishing uncompromising articles in a newspaper that has since been shut down, leaving his wife behind in the predicament of being pregnant and unable to do anything. She is trapped in a world where women are not even allowed to see a doctor alone without written permission from a male partner of guardian, a world where she earns a living decorating cardboard boxes with wrapping paper, and where the only chance of escape is to break the law. Good Bye is Beautiful, subtle and utterly heartbreaking. I had tears in my eyes at the end and felt so exhausted with empathy at the end of the screening that I contemplated going home and having a sleep.
But I didn't, and the seat to my left that was filled in the previous session by Miff-Blog-a-Thon blogger Thomas Caldwell was filled by his lovely wife Sarah and we enjoyed the moving portrait Life In Movement of former Sydney Dance Company Director Tanja Liedtke whose life was painfully cut short in 2007 after a horrible early morning accident. Liedtke was quite a character and documented her creative processes thoroughly, this film is the painstaking amalgamation of clips from the vaults of her personal videos with interviews with her company and footage of the troupe preparing to reprise her most celebrated piece in a tribute tour of the world. This is an incredible portrait of a committed artist and the creative process lovingly told through the eyes of those closest to her. It was truly stunning and all artists and performers should see this film.
Those of us left in the cinema for Martha Marcy May Marlene had to leave before the screening due to a film test that may have spoiled the film. We were the first let back in however and I picked a great spot in the middle of the row half way down the cinema where the leg room is generous and the viewing is good. Pre-screening I met a fellow cinephile and MIFF member Jansen and we discussed our previous viewings before being warned by an official that security guards wearing night vision goggles would be surveying the crowd for anyone using electronic devices. This put an unnerving edge on the screening of a film documenting the emotional journey of a girl who has been lured into and brainwashed by a cult. I can see how this film would disappoint people however I found it to be a very affecting portrayal of the madness of life in a cult and how in affects a person after they leave. Elizabeth Olsen (sibling of the famous twins) was truly remarkable as the emotionally dysfunctional Martha who disappeared from her family for many years. Persuaded into a cult that is self sufficient and seems wholesome enough to begin with she adopts the pseudonym Marcy May after the cults leader bestows the name upon her. We pick up at a point in the story where Martha has run away and has called her sister from the nearby town. Cult members follow her and threaten and coax her to come back to the farm. The film cuts then between Martha trying to recover from the ordeal at her sisters house and flashbacks to her time at the cult. This film is a terrifying look into a world I could never comprehend or understand and was truly terrifying.
Film of the day
Good Bye was just absolutely perfect and I was so affected by it that I was still thinking about it at the end of the day.
Surprise of the day
I first read about Martha Marcy May Marlene a while back on geeky blog Bleeding Cool, where I normally go for Doctor Who news and expected something quite different. Given the thematic content of the film however I was surprised by how tenderly the film was handled.
Film total so far
38
First up was the sweet short film The Accordion from the amazingly resilient Jafar Panahi who, in 2010, was jailed in Iran for six years and forbidden from making films for 20 years. The Accordion was a beautiful, subtly political film that shows a world so politically intolerant and foreign to me that I cannot comprehend how an innocent mistake by a child can lead an adult to steal that child's livelihood. A simple tale with a simple message and a complex tapestry of social injustice and resolve.
Following that lovely film was the amazingly powerful Mohammad Rasoulof film Good Bye. Arrested just before the films completion the film was finished underground and won the filmmaker a Best Director gong at Cannes this year. The film is a beautifully realised drama telling the painful story of an intelligent, well educated Iranian woman who is trapped in a life of uncertainty, persecution and the feeling of being a foreigner in her own country. Her husband has fled their home after publishing uncompromising articles in a newspaper that has since been shut down, leaving his wife behind in the predicament of being pregnant and unable to do anything. She is trapped in a world where women are not even allowed to see a doctor alone without written permission from a male partner of guardian, a world where she earns a living decorating cardboard boxes with wrapping paper, and where the only chance of escape is to break the law. Good Bye is Beautiful, subtle and utterly heartbreaking. I had tears in my eyes at the end and felt so exhausted with empathy at the end of the screening that I contemplated going home and having a sleep.
But I didn't, and the seat to my left that was filled in the previous session by Miff-Blog-a-Thon blogger Thomas Caldwell was filled by his lovely wife Sarah and we enjoyed the moving portrait Life In Movement of former Sydney Dance Company Director Tanja Liedtke whose life was painfully cut short in 2007 after a horrible early morning accident. Liedtke was quite a character and documented her creative processes thoroughly, this film is the painstaking amalgamation of clips from the vaults of her personal videos with interviews with her company and footage of the troupe preparing to reprise her most celebrated piece in a tribute tour of the world. This is an incredible portrait of a committed artist and the creative process lovingly told through the eyes of those closest to her. It was truly stunning and all artists and performers should see this film.
Those of us left in the cinema for Martha Marcy May Marlene had to leave before the screening due to a film test that may have spoiled the film. We were the first let back in however and I picked a great spot in the middle of the row half way down the cinema where the leg room is generous and the viewing is good. Pre-screening I met a fellow cinephile and MIFF member Jansen and we discussed our previous viewings before being warned by an official that security guards wearing night vision goggles would be surveying the crowd for anyone using electronic devices. This put an unnerving edge on the screening of a film documenting the emotional journey of a girl who has been lured into and brainwashed by a cult. I can see how this film would disappoint people however I found it to be a very affecting portrayal of the madness of life in a cult and how in affects a person after they leave. Elizabeth Olsen (sibling of the famous twins) was truly remarkable as the emotionally dysfunctional Martha who disappeared from her family for many years. Persuaded into a cult that is self sufficient and seems wholesome enough to begin with she adopts the pseudonym Marcy May after the cults leader bestows the name upon her. We pick up at a point in the story where Martha has run away and has called her sister from the nearby town. Cult members follow her and threaten and coax her to come back to the farm. The film cuts then between Martha trying to recover from the ordeal at her sisters house and flashbacks to her time at the cult. This film is a terrifying look into a world I could never comprehend or understand and was truly terrifying.
Film of the day
Good Bye was just absolutely perfect and I was so affected by it that I was still thinking about it at the end of the day.
Surprise of the day
I first read about Martha Marcy May Marlene a while back on geeky blog Bleeding Cool, where I normally go for Doctor Who news and expected something quite different. Given the thematic content of the film however I was surprised by how tenderly the film was handled.
Film total so far
38
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Day Nine
Had a short day today, only three films, and the first of them was the documentary Pool Party which mixed live musical performances with interviews and historical footage, telling the story of the McCarren Pool in Williamsberg, one of the biggest pools in the world. It holds, at capacity, 6,800 bathers and was built in a public service frenzy in 1939. It became abandoned for quite some time but after a visionary choreographer saw the potential of the space it was redeveloped and has been hosting free live music events starring some of the neighbourhoods best artists such as The Beastie Boys, Sonic Youth, The Breeders and Yo La Tengo, throughout the summer. It was an amazing history lesson of the Williamsberg area as well as an inspiring story of a small groups commitment to celebrating the culture of the area whilst entertaining the locals. One aspect of the film I found particularly intriguing was the case put forward that areas that are particularly run down and therefore cheap to live in, that then become infested with creative types suddenly become expensive and trendy areas to live with high rise million dollar apartments since the commencement of these parties being erected and a multi million dollar plan by the current New York government to redevelop the pool back into a pool for the rich locals to enjoy. I suddenly feel I've been taught something significant.
I had to get back to the office and welcome the second platform acting team back inside and therefore missed the short preceding Sodankyla Forever - The Century Of Cinema, and quite a bit of the film but I did catch a number of the interviews featured in this documentary which was basically just a huge collection of cinemas finest talking to film circles (I assume at the Midnight Sun Film Festival which filmmaker and film historian Peter von Bagh Directs) talking about films. I walked in as they were all discussing the significance of war films and seeing as I had to sit at the front and the angle from the front makes me feel a bit sick, I slept through quite a lot of it. What I did see was very comprehensive and quite intriguing. This felt like the love child of von Bagh and I wouldn't mind actually seeing it in full at some stage.
Finally for the day was the incredibly moving Autoluminescent: Rowland S. Howard, the documentary celebrating the life and art of the incendiary Rowland S. Howard. Lovingly compiled interviews with his nearest and dearest woven with intermittent readings of his unpublished novel. I don't want to say too much because this film really needs to be seen by anyone who loves music, art or film. I was moved to tears post film when Howard's long time lover Genevieve McGuckin could barely speak post film through her tears, it was a lovely portrait of a troubled soul with an incredible talent and unnerving style. I want to be really post punk so much more now. Went home to put on something cool before heading to the after party. I think I freaked out Richard Lowenstein; I kept staring at him waiting for a moment between conversations with others, to go and tell him how wonderful I thought it was, and how much I love He Died With A Felafel In His Hand and Dogs in Space, but I never got the chance. I did have a nice DnM with Genevieve and got a little kiss on the cheek from Mick Harvey after I told him I liked his Serge Gainsbourg album and he told me I was cool.
Pick of the Day
Definitely Autolumiscent, it was such a beautiful film and was also incredibly inspiring.
Surprise of the Day
Pool Party was surprisingly educational. I was expecting a collection of live performances from the artists but it was so much more.
Film total so far
34
Friday, July 29, 2011
Day Eight
A quick trip home to get some fresh (and more colourful, I have been wearing lot's of black) clothes and to see my mummy and back in time for a cosy 4.45pm session at Kino.
Curling was weird and I felt a little sick afterward. The film began veeeery slowly and felt like it was heading somewhere but just as I was worrying that there was a second theatre being used at Kino and I might miss the start of my next film, it ended. So many developments in the plot were left not only unresolved, but unattended to. It had me thinking of The Room, the way things like Lisa's mum getting cancer pop up and get a mild reaction and then are not mentioned again, but far less brilliantly terrible, just actually terrible. I felt nothing for these bizarre disjointed characters and a bit freaked out about ever going to Canada.
There wasn't another theatre at Kino so I jumped into a centre seat and bumped into some friends before settling down for Life 2.0, the documentary exploring the nature of gaming addiction through three vastly different experiences of people using Second Life. One of the stories involved a couple who met on Second Life and began a first life affair that destroyed both their marriages and had far more real world consequences than either seemed to realise. The second story was that of a virtual entrepreneur making and selling virtual wares on the site and making a very comfortable living which is stolen from her resulting in a real world lawsuit that blurs the lines between real and unreal worlds. The final story is of a young man who destroys his relationship with his fiance when his obsession with the site becomes hazardous and the revelation that his avatar is an 11 year-old girl brings unresolved issues to a head. The films also looks at the virtual reality from the perspective of the creators and what they aimed to achieve when creating Linden. While I enjoyed the film I think it may have benefited from a professional psychologists point of view exploring why people are so drawn to the escapism of alternate realities. Second Life seems really dangerous to me in its almost cult like ability to seduce and capture people and totally warp their worlds. On the other hand the positive relationships that develop through it are truly remarkable. This is a brilliant cautionary tale for addictive personalities and an enthralling portrait of escapism in the age of technology, and the blurred line between authenticity and artificiality.
I rushed off then to ACMI to see the wildly audacious and thoroughly Australian produced documentary of the underground sensation Shut Up Little Man. In 1987 two young graduates Eddie and Mitch moved into a dilapidated apartment in the heart of San Francisco, unbeknowns to them their neighbours were two aging alcoholics, a homophobic southerner and a real queen, who proceeded to scream and yell profanities at one another disturbing the sleep of the two young boys. After a scary encounter with the men Eddie and Mitch proceeded to record the arguments of the two men and after including snippets on mixtapes they had made for their friends and having parties where friends would come over and listen to the old men bickering, their recordings became an underground sensation. They compiled hours of material and started releasing tapes with popular zines and soon the obsession progressed into comics, plays and finally a war between various different groups vying for the rights to make a film. This film follows all of this madness through interviews with Mitch and Eddie and comic artists, zine editors, playwrights, and film producers all embroiled in the phenomenon. Pre-internet viral mania, absolutely incredible. This is an outrageous story and a wonderful film, "when" this gets a release you must see it.
Finally was Super which I thankfully had my late night movie buddy Alex to watch with. This film stars Rainn Wilson of The Office as a bumbling nowhere man whose wife is lured away from him by her ancient drug addiction by none other than Kevin Bacon (eating eggs, brilliant). He forms an unlikely friendship with comic book nerd Ellen Page and creates his own super hero to fight the crime in his city and take down the Bacon and get his wife back. This film seems on the outside to be pretty Hollywood but went off on some pretty fucked up tangents. Ellen Page was completely off the chain. This film was unexpected, funny, weird and had the most excellent guest appearance from Nathan Fillion whose appearance in the film made me (and only me) burst into hysteric laughter until I composed myself, whispered that it was him to Alex and a wave of whispers followed by laughter flowed through the cinema. Unexpectedly good, will possibly be a cult hit.
Pick of the day
Shut Up Little Man was just such an outrageous story of obsession, cult success and pre-internet virality. Bizarre and wonderful.
Surprise of the day
Super. I wasn't expecting much but I was surprised, shocked and quite disturbed.
Film total so far
31
Curling was weird and I felt a little sick afterward. The film began veeeery slowly and felt like it was heading somewhere but just as I was worrying that there was a second theatre being used at Kino and I might miss the start of my next film, it ended. So many developments in the plot were left not only unresolved, but unattended to. It had me thinking of The Room, the way things like Lisa's mum getting cancer pop up and get a mild reaction and then are not mentioned again, but far less brilliantly terrible, just actually terrible. I felt nothing for these bizarre disjointed characters and a bit freaked out about ever going to Canada.
There wasn't another theatre at Kino so I jumped into a centre seat and bumped into some friends before settling down for Life 2.0, the documentary exploring the nature of gaming addiction through three vastly different experiences of people using Second Life. One of the stories involved a couple who met on Second Life and began a first life affair that destroyed both their marriages and had far more real world consequences than either seemed to realise. The second story was that of a virtual entrepreneur making and selling virtual wares on the site and making a very comfortable living which is stolen from her resulting in a real world lawsuit that blurs the lines between real and unreal worlds. The final story is of a young man who destroys his relationship with his fiance when his obsession with the site becomes hazardous and the revelation that his avatar is an 11 year-old girl brings unresolved issues to a head. The films also looks at the virtual reality from the perspective of the creators and what they aimed to achieve when creating Linden. While I enjoyed the film I think it may have benefited from a professional psychologists point of view exploring why people are so drawn to the escapism of alternate realities. Second Life seems really dangerous to me in its almost cult like ability to seduce and capture people and totally warp their worlds. On the other hand the positive relationships that develop through it are truly remarkable. This is a brilliant cautionary tale for addictive personalities and an enthralling portrait of escapism in the age of technology, and the blurred line between authenticity and artificiality.
I rushed off then to ACMI to see the wildly audacious and thoroughly Australian produced documentary of the underground sensation Shut Up Little Man. In 1987 two young graduates Eddie and Mitch moved into a dilapidated apartment in the heart of San Francisco, unbeknowns to them their neighbours were two aging alcoholics, a homophobic southerner and a real queen, who proceeded to scream and yell profanities at one another disturbing the sleep of the two young boys. After a scary encounter with the men Eddie and Mitch proceeded to record the arguments of the two men and after including snippets on mixtapes they had made for their friends and having parties where friends would come over and listen to the old men bickering, their recordings became an underground sensation. They compiled hours of material and started releasing tapes with popular zines and soon the obsession progressed into comics, plays and finally a war between various different groups vying for the rights to make a film. This film follows all of this madness through interviews with Mitch and Eddie and comic artists, zine editors, playwrights, and film producers all embroiled in the phenomenon. Pre-internet viral mania, absolutely incredible. This is an outrageous story and a wonderful film, "when" this gets a release you must see it.
Finally was Super which I thankfully had my late night movie buddy Alex to watch with. This film stars Rainn Wilson of The Office as a bumbling nowhere man whose wife is lured away from him by her ancient drug addiction by none other than Kevin Bacon (eating eggs, brilliant). He forms an unlikely friendship with comic book nerd Ellen Page and creates his own super hero to fight the crime in his city and take down the Bacon and get his wife back. This film seems on the outside to be pretty Hollywood but went off on some pretty fucked up tangents. Ellen Page was completely off the chain. This film was unexpected, funny, weird and had the most excellent guest appearance from Nathan Fillion whose appearance in the film made me (and only me) burst into hysteric laughter until I composed myself, whispered that it was him to Alex and a wave of whispers followed by laughter flowed through the cinema. Unexpectedly good, will possibly be a cult hit.
Pick of the day
Shut Up Little Man was just such an outrageous story of obsession, cult success and pre-internet virality. Bizarre and wonderful.
Surprise of the day
Super. I wasn't expecting much but I was surprised, shocked and quite disturbed.
Film total so far
31
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Day Seven
I didn't get out of bed in time to see my first film and then I moved into an apartment on Southbank so I missed the next one as well, so the fist film of the day wasn't until 6.30pm.
Tiny Furniture is the latest from filmmaking wunderkind and my new favourite gal Lena Dunham. The film begins when Aura arrives back at her New York home after finishing her studies at film school, her younger, gorgeous, smart, successful still in high school sister has taken over her room and she is feeling the pressure of getting a job and working out what she wants to do with her life. She has also recently been dumped and when seeking the companionship of a youtube sensation Aura is reunited with her childhood friend Charlotte whose life philosophy is to live as much as she can until her father no longer wants to support her and she is forced to do something. This film is wonderfully complex, honest and completely familiar to me (also a recent film school graduate back in the family home trying to find some direction in life). At the same time I felt a little like this film was trying a little too hard to be "cool", but I absolutely loved Charlotte, played beautifully by the gorgeous Jemima Kirke.
I jumped into the queue with my friend and boyfriend for the much anticipated debut feature from The IT Crowd star Richard Ayoade Submarine. Josh showed me the trailer for this film a bit over a year ago and I have been waiting with bated breath for it to arrive on our shores ever since, for if you watch the trailer you will be enticed by the quirkiness that makes up the kind of film I like to see. Oliver is a confident lovable loser who knows who he is, what he wants and how to get it, or so he thinks. This is a beautifully wonderful piece of cinema and literary adaptation. The characters are genuinely disconnected, bizarrely wonderful and awe-inspiring. The issues of the film screamed honesty and although it was quaint and quirky it was also full of perfectly imperfect people and relationships without the perfect ending, it was just unapologetic and true, which I didn't expect but which I loved. I wish I was as sure of myself as Oliver although I think he spends far too much of his time living inside his head and not in the real world. I can't wait for it to come out so I can see it again.
Pick of the day
Submarine, need I say more?
Surprise of the day
Tiny Furniture was surprisingly good. I have had Lena Dunham at the back of my mind since glancing her name in a "one to watch" article in Vanity Fair and I was pleasantly surprised when I finally got to see her work.
Film total so far
27
Tiny Furniture is the latest from filmmaking wunderkind and my new favourite gal Lena Dunham. The film begins when Aura arrives back at her New York home after finishing her studies at film school, her younger, gorgeous, smart, successful still in high school sister has taken over her room and she is feeling the pressure of getting a job and working out what she wants to do with her life. She has also recently been dumped and when seeking the companionship of a youtube sensation Aura is reunited with her childhood friend Charlotte whose life philosophy is to live as much as she can until her father no longer wants to support her and she is forced to do something. This film is wonderfully complex, honest and completely familiar to me (also a recent film school graduate back in the family home trying to find some direction in life). At the same time I felt a little like this film was trying a little too hard to be "cool", but I absolutely loved Charlotte, played beautifully by the gorgeous Jemima Kirke.
I jumped into the queue with my friend and boyfriend for the much anticipated debut feature from The IT Crowd star Richard Ayoade Submarine. Josh showed me the trailer for this film a bit over a year ago and I have been waiting with bated breath for it to arrive on our shores ever since, for if you watch the trailer you will be enticed by the quirkiness that makes up the kind of film I like to see. Oliver is a confident lovable loser who knows who he is, what he wants and how to get it, or so he thinks. This is a beautifully wonderful piece of cinema and literary adaptation. The characters are genuinely disconnected, bizarrely wonderful and awe-inspiring. The issues of the film screamed honesty and although it was quaint and quirky it was also full of perfectly imperfect people and relationships without the perfect ending, it was just unapologetic and true, which I didn't expect but which I loved. I wish I was as sure of myself as Oliver although I think he spends far too much of his time living inside his head and not in the real world. I can't wait for it to come out so I can see it again.
Pick of the day
Submarine, need I say more?
Surprise of the day
Tiny Furniture was surprisingly good. I have had Lena Dunham at the back of my mind since glancing her name in a "one to watch" article in Vanity Fair and I was pleasantly surprised when I finally got to see her work.
Film total so far
27
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Day Six
First up today was the heartbreaking documentary Project Nim about the monkey brought up like a human and taught to use sign language. Nim is an absolutely adorable monkey and full of energy and personality, ripped away from his mother at birth and bought up in the house of a liberal hippy with lot's of children and a professor husband. Initially the film is a blending of quaint home movies of Nim's "childhood" and interviews with his "family". Nim's life was documented with amazing comprehension and filmmakers had a treasure trove of stock footage to tell Nim's story. The interviews were fantastic and the characters that emerged through these discussions were compelling. The film was composed chronologically so as each individual interview came to an end and the interviewee left Nim's life for good, for one reason or another, the camera panned away from them and lead into the next stage of his life, which I really loved as it made it a lot easier to keep track of all of the people coming and going from his life. The film became quite disturbing and incredibly sad. A fantastically heartbreaking tale of animal cruelty and a devastating warning for people who work with animals about how receptive and aware they are.
My next session was accidentally The Guard so in the morning I looked at the other films in the time slot and decided to see the Israeli film The Matchmaker, and I absolutely loved. The matchmaker is the incredibly sweet and moving coming of age story following the adventures of crime novel aficionado and 16-year-old Arik when in the summer of 1968 he is hired by a childhood friend of his father, Yankele, to spy on potential love matches at his matchmaking agency. When his best friends beautiful cousin comes to stay, love is in the air and his life becomes a lot like the plots of his favourite Dashiell Hammett books as he and his friends work to understand what Yankele actually does for a living and also understand what he and Arik's father went through in the Holocaust. The music and costumes are brilliant, I loved it.
Next up was the documentary Tabloid, exploring the bizarre life of Joyce McKinney, the "Mormon sex in chains" girl embroiled in a bizarre mystery in the late '70s. She is quite the character and I can see how this story captivated the attention of the British public so fervently. Some words I used in my post film notes were; insane, very dry, hilarious, twisted, unbelievable and utterly engaging. I don't want to say too much because although this story was huge in Britain at the time it never really got here, so part of the joy of the film is not knowing what is coming next. Errol Morris is an inventive story teller, presenting each perspective of the film but managing to make an uproarious tongue in cheek film that is incredibly enjoyable. McKinney is a lively, vivacious character and I was left thinking how nobody could write a person and a story so delicious as this.
In the same cinema again I picked the perfect spot to sit and saved a seat for my friend. I like watching all the people pile into the cinema, seeing how diverse the crowds flocking to the film festival are, and there were quite a variety of Melbournian film buffs coming to see the latest from Miranda July, The Future. I am not an avid follower of the bizarre career of Miranda July but I have seen Me and You and Everyone We Know and although it was weird and left me in an odd mood, in a weird way I enjoyed it. This one however felt completely unfinished, not as a film but as a script. The plot was bizarre and disconnected with intermittent voice overs from the perspective of a cat the leads were supposed to adopt. It did have some redeeming elements, such as the cat, but ended in an unresolved and unbelievable way (within the context of the film). I thought it was going in one particular direction and then went completely off the rails and I was left wanting more. If it had have gone where I'd thought I might feel differently but I actually hated it.
Pick of the day
The Matchmaker was just so beautiful and lovely and quaint and I absolutely loved it despite it being one of the "kids films". One of my favourite films from a previous film festival was Son of Rambow and that was a kids film too. Maybe I'm not as mature as I think.
Surprise of the day
Tabloid was just so outrageous beyond belief and was an absolute joy to watch, especially with such a receptive audience.
Film total so far
25
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Day Five
Got out of bed in time to see my first one today, although I kind of wish I hadn't.
The Piano in a Factory was a sweet but unfocused tale of a working class man so desperate to hold on to his child after his messy divorce from his self absorbed wife that he asks his friends to help him make a piano so she can practice. Complete with non-sequitor musical sequences and shots that made little to no sense, panning away from the action mid sentence to focus on nothing in particular, not even anything beautiful, just nothing. But the film was very sweet, quite simple, lovely, but unfocused. An odd film for the beginning of the day that I found hard to pay attention to constantly, but at the heart of it the story was lovely.
I had a free space next so in the morning I booked in the Elvis/Ann-Margret 60s classic Viva Las Vegas as I have never seen the whole film start to finish and I really wanted to see some Ann-Margret big screen style. This film is a guilty pleasure of mine. OK, so I'm not even guilty about it, I LOVE THIS FILM! I love films with singing and dancing and gorgeous red heads outshining Elvis in his own film. If you haven't seen Viva Las Vegas, then shame on you. I haven't seen too many Elvis films but this one is great. Director George Sidney was already an old hand at musicals when he directed to two (secret) love birds in this rambunctious adventure, so you know you're in capable hands. Go and see this film. And fall in love with Ann-Margret. I dare you not to.
Next up I went an settled in for a double up at Kino, two doco's from the same era back to back, beginning with Bobby Fischer Against The World. Bobby Fischer became the undisputed king of chess after battling Russian and world champion Boris Spassky in Iceland. At the height of the Cold War this tournament was important for both the Russian's and the American's, and as stock footage of news updates showed, the outcome was so integral to the American people that the announcement of Bobby winning was the number one story on the news that day, even bigger than the Watergate scandal. The film was amazingly insightful and I had never heard of this guy before, but he was such a powerful figure of the 60s and 70s and the filmmakers had found so much footage. The latter part of the film focused on his eventual fall from grace and I found what they tried to fill the film with was inventive, as he was pretty underground and there was little footage to use. The world of chess baffles me and this film did wonders in explaining the mindset of people that excel in it.
I got a great middle back spot for Magic Trip and I absolutely loved it. The film was the result of Ken Kesey and his friends getting on a trippy looking bus, taking hallucinogenic drugs and driving across America to the World's Fair in New York in the 60s and film everything that happened along the way. Interviews with the people involved explaining, or trying to explain, what was happening on the screen gave a world of perspective to the experience. When they arrive in New York City they party with Allen Ginsberg; recordings of him reading his beat poetry give the film a real "things I love" vibe. I understand the Bono rolling into NY on a bus, ranting about freedom and acid and driving the cast of Across the Universe out to the mansion of weird, sterile, institutional East Coast acid heads and leaving some people behind now; that part of the film was meant to be these guys (although I don't see Bono as Ken, Kesey is much more charismatic and far less pretentious). I absolutely loved this film, including the insane ramblings of the real Dean Moriarty (I hated On The Road). If this gets a release I highly recommending seeing it, it is a fun filled journey and a great hour and a half of escapism.
Pick of the day
Magic Trip, it was just so much fun. In the notes I wrote right after the screening I wrote "love it love it love it".
Surprise of the day
Bobby Fischer Against The World was super surprising, I had no idea that someone who grows up in Brooklyn with a Jewish mother and a Jewish biological father could become such an anti-Semite.
Film total so far
21
The Piano in a Factory was a sweet but unfocused tale of a working class man so desperate to hold on to his child after his messy divorce from his self absorbed wife that he asks his friends to help him make a piano so she can practice. Complete with non-sequitor musical sequences and shots that made little to no sense, panning away from the action mid sentence to focus on nothing in particular, not even anything beautiful, just nothing. But the film was very sweet, quite simple, lovely, but unfocused. An odd film for the beginning of the day that I found hard to pay attention to constantly, but at the heart of it the story was lovely.
I had a free space next so in the morning I booked in the Elvis/Ann-Margret 60s classic Viva Las Vegas as I have never seen the whole film start to finish and I really wanted to see some Ann-Margret big screen style. This film is a guilty pleasure of mine. OK, so I'm not even guilty about it, I LOVE THIS FILM! I love films with singing and dancing and gorgeous red heads outshining Elvis in his own film. If you haven't seen Viva Las Vegas, then shame on you. I haven't seen too many Elvis films but this one is great. Director George Sidney was already an old hand at musicals when he directed to two (secret) love birds in this rambunctious adventure, so you know you're in capable hands. Go and see this film. And fall in love with Ann-Margret. I dare you not to.
Next up I went an settled in for a double up at Kino, two doco's from the same era back to back, beginning with Bobby Fischer Against The World. Bobby Fischer became the undisputed king of chess after battling Russian and world champion Boris Spassky in Iceland. At the height of the Cold War this tournament was important for both the Russian's and the American's, and as stock footage of news updates showed, the outcome was so integral to the American people that the announcement of Bobby winning was the number one story on the news that day, even bigger than the Watergate scandal. The film was amazingly insightful and I had never heard of this guy before, but he was such a powerful figure of the 60s and 70s and the filmmakers had found so much footage. The latter part of the film focused on his eventual fall from grace and I found what they tried to fill the film with was inventive, as he was pretty underground and there was little footage to use. The world of chess baffles me and this film did wonders in explaining the mindset of people that excel in it.
I got a great middle back spot for Magic Trip and I absolutely loved it. The film was the result of Ken Kesey and his friends getting on a trippy looking bus, taking hallucinogenic drugs and driving across America to the World's Fair in New York in the 60s and film everything that happened along the way. Interviews with the people involved explaining, or trying to explain, what was happening on the screen gave a world of perspective to the experience. When they arrive in New York City they party with Allen Ginsberg; recordings of him reading his beat poetry give the film a real "things I love" vibe. I understand the Bono rolling into NY on a bus, ranting about freedom and acid and driving the cast of Across the Universe out to the mansion of weird, sterile, institutional East Coast acid heads and leaving some people behind now; that part of the film was meant to be these guys (although I don't see Bono as Ken, Kesey is much more charismatic and far less pretentious). I absolutely loved this film, including the insane ramblings of the real Dean Moriarty (I hated On The Road). If this gets a release I highly recommending seeing it, it is a fun filled journey and a great hour and a half of escapism.
Pick of the day
Magic Trip, it was just so much fun. In the notes I wrote right after the screening I wrote "love it love it love it".
Surprise of the day
Bobby Fischer Against The World was super surprising, I had no idea that someone who grows up in Brooklyn with a Jewish mother and a Jewish biological father could become such an anti-Semite.
Film total so far
21
Monday, July 25, 2011
Day Four
Today I decided to sleep in a bit, sitting in a perpetually dark room all day starts to get to you after a while, so I missed my first film which meant that I didn't have a film until 6.30 and could only fit two in for the day, and they were both Australian.
First up was 33 Postcards which I booked in purely based on the fact that I saw very few Australian films at last year's festival and I wanted to remedy that, and also it starred Guy Pierce and I love me a bit a Guy. The film was a sweetly dark tale of the nature of redemption and what, if anything, can you do to make up for crimes committed. A co-production between Australia and Japan the screening was attended by star Guy Pierce, who gave an outstanding performance. The film was a beautiful tale of the simplicity of human connection and the complicity of love. The films director was supposed to come to the screening too but was stuck in a hospital bed in New York after tripping down some stairs and breaking her neck. She sent an email through however thanking the film festival and apologising that the only thing that would keep her from coming did. The film was pleasantly surprising and just simply wonderful.
I can't say the same of the next film. Swerve was preceded by a rousing speech from some of the films stars and the director, leading me to believe we were in for an action packed outback thriller along the same lines as Wake in Fright or Road Games but instead what I viewed was a shambolic mess of plot, terrible acting and more and more ridiculous outcomes to simple problems. The characters were terrible, the premise was fine enough but the plot just completely lost it in the middle. I liked the twist at the end but that didn't make up for everything that happening in between. The film would have done well to take itself a little less seriously, but after the directors introduction it actually became embarrassing and I would have loved nothing more than to just leave. The film was laughable but with cast and crew in attendance it didn't seem appropriate. There is no more perfect word to describe this film with than 'lame'. A friend of mine attended a different screening without the intro and enjoyed it thoroughly as the audience was in bouts of rapturous laughter the whole time. If you see this film please do not take it seriously.
Pick of the day
33 Postcards was the best of the two, as you can tell. It is a beautiful film and definitely worth while.
Surprise of the day
My not being able to get out of bed. What a lazy git I am, and I think that the film I missed would have been really good.
Film total so far
17
First up was 33 Postcards which I booked in purely based on the fact that I saw very few Australian films at last year's festival and I wanted to remedy that, and also it starred Guy Pierce and I love me a bit a Guy. The film was a sweetly dark tale of the nature of redemption and what, if anything, can you do to make up for crimes committed. A co-production between Australia and Japan the screening was attended by star Guy Pierce, who gave an outstanding performance. The film was a beautiful tale of the simplicity of human connection and the complicity of love. The films director was supposed to come to the screening too but was stuck in a hospital bed in New York after tripping down some stairs and breaking her neck. She sent an email through however thanking the film festival and apologising that the only thing that would keep her from coming did. The film was pleasantly surprising and just simply wonderful.
I can't say the same of the next film. Swerve was preceded by a rousing speech from some of the films stars and the director, leading me to believe we were in for an action packed outback thriller along the same lines as Wake in Fright or Road Games but instead what I viewed was a shambolic mess of plot, terrible acting and more and more ridiculous outcomes to simple problems. The characters were terrible, the premise was fine enough but the plot just completely lost it in the middle. I liked the twist at the end but that didn't make up for everything that happening in between. The film would have done well to take itself a little less seriously, but after the directors introduction it actually became embarrassing and I would have loved nothing more than to just leave. The film was laughable but with cast and crew in attendance it didn't seem appropriate. There is no more perfect word to describe this film with than 'lame'. A friend of mine attended a different screening without the intro and enjoyed it thoroughly as the audience was in bouts of rapturous laughter the whole time. If you see this film please do not take it seriously.
Pick of the day
33 Postcards was the best of the two, as you can tell. It is a beautiful film and definitely worth while.
Surprise of the day
My not being able to get out of bed. What a lazy git I am, and I think that the film I missed would have been really good.
Film total so far
17
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