Is there any point in reviewing this movie? If you liked Zoolander, you’re going to watch it eventually and you’re going to know that, as a sequel, it’s never going to be as good as the original. If you didn’t like Zoolander, then you’d probably choose to undergo a tax audit rather than sit through another one. I have to admit it was seeing Benedict Cumberbatch in the trailer as an eyebrowless, gender non-specific fashion model that got me there. And in that respect, I was not disappointed. Continue reading
Category Archives: Reviews
Valentine’s Day (2010)
StandardToday we watched one of my favourite romantic comedies just because it was Valentine’s Day. It’s not up there with Love Actually but it has a similar sensibility, it shows us that love has many forms and doesn’t always work out as we planned, it just does it in a slightly cheesy Hollywood style. It still makes me feel good though when I watch it. Continue reading
Spotlight (2015)
StandardSpotlight is based on true events, when the Boston Globe uncovered evidence that the Catholic church had known of child sexual assault by priests and covered it up by shifting priests from parish to parish. Marty Baron (Liev Schreiber), a new editor at the Globe around 2001, insisted that a small story about a lawsuit pertaining to a priest accused of sexual assault be further investigated after the court documents were ordered to be sealed. What becomes apparent is the extent of the cover up and the reticence of a community that is staunchly Catholic to acknowledge the problem. Continue reading
Manuscripts Don’t Burn (2013)
StandardEvery now and then I watch a film that packs such an emotional punch that I am left feeling devastated as the credits roll. In the past year, there have been a few – The Lobster, Dogtooth, Magical Girl, Rhino Season and The Past are some that come to mind – and last night Manuscripts Don’t Burn was added to that list. That three of these films are from Iran is not coincidental, I think. Manuscripts Don’t Burn is a riveting and unvarnished indictment of the politics of today’s Iran. Continue reading
Movies to watch when you find out your boyfriend is a liar
StandardNo, this isn’t from my personal experience, I talked with a lovely 18-year-old yesterday whose first love has turned out to be less than deserving of her. It got me thinking about what films are good therapy for young women when they feel betrayed by someone they love. Films that have kick-ass women who you’d really like to be friends with, women who are allowed the power to stand up for themselves. Films that show that love is a diverse and wonderful thing and that you have a lifetime of opportunities to find people who will treat you well. Here are my current top five. Continue reading
Ex Machina (2014)
StandardMy friend Jo gave me a link to an article the other day about the ‘elaborately justified misogyny’ of Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight (The Conversation: The Hateful Eight and Daisy Domergue). It got me thinking about the roles of women in mainstream films and the line between marginalisation and misogyny. It was with this frame of mind that I watched Ex Machina. Continue reading
Bill (2015)
StandardIf you have kids and you live in Melbourne, take them to this film at ACMI in Federation Square. Made by the Horrible Histories guys, it’s very loosely-based on the story of William Shakespeare. If you know Horrible Histories, you’ll know what I mean. There are puns aplenty, multiple parts played by five or so actors and lots of quick visual and verbal jokes, some just for the grown ups. The humour is distinctly British, my favourite kind, and reminds me of Blackadder in its irreverence and dry subversion of English history. Continue reading
The Danish Girl (2015)
StandardOh goodness me. Another film inspired by a true story. This one couldn’t be more different from The Revenant in style and sensibility, although I reckon it might also be playing to the Academy Award crowd. Eddie Redmayne plays Einar Wegener, a Danish artist in the 1920s who was the first publicly-known person to undergo gender reassignment when he became Lili Elbe. The Danish Girl focuses on him/her and Gerda, Einar’s wife and fellow artist. The story is…nice, palatable, inoffensive. Transgender packaged up neatly for a heterosexual world. Continue reading
The Revenant (2015)
StandardI have mixed feelings about this movie, a visceral and epic story of survival in the frigid wilds of 19th century South Dakota. Hollywood and ‘inspired by a true story’ make me wary. Usually it means notions of heroism have been cranked up to 11 and drama has been fabricated to keep us 21st century viewers engaged. Add Leonardo DiCaprio and, at nearly three hours long, you know this has Academy Award intentions. But. This is directed by Alejandro Iñárritu, the Mexican director of Babel, 21 Grams, Amores Perros and Birdman, so it will never be ordinary. Continue reading
All is Lost (2013)
StandardAll is Lost is the Robert Redford film where he is the only cast member and there is no dialogue. This is all I knew about this film and it was enough to make me want to watch it. Peripheral anecdotes had seemed positive, along the lines of surprise at how watchable the film was, even without dialogue. Redford plays a sailor who seems to be in his sixties or seventies (Redford is 77 but not surprisingly has fewer lines and grey hairs than you would expect) who is sailing alone on a rather nice yacht. An unexpected accident happens that damages his yacht and from then, we see him struggle from one mishap to another as his situation becomes more serious. Continue reading
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