Interstellar (2014)

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Ah Matthew McConaughey, have I ever really loved any film you’ve been in? You’re often a charmer but it’s a smug, chauvinistic sort of charm, especially in those dreadful romcoms you did back ten years or more ago. Mud was okay but I’ve just scrolled through your filmography on IMDb and the answer, really, is no. So why did I bother with Interstellar? I had a vague impression that it was interesting and, being about space, I thought it might interest my Starship Troopers-loving husband whilst also engaging our brains. It did neither. Continue reading →

Virtual Reality: Collisions (2015)

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Image via collisionsvr.com

Virtual Reality is cool. Not technically great yet but it is impossible not to be personally and emotionally engaged with a genuine story when you are suddenly within arm’s reach of the story teller. Collisions is a small and resounding tale, a conversation with Nyarri Nyarri Morgan, a Martu man director Lynette Wallworth met in the Pilbara. Continue reading →

Embrace of the Serpent (El Abrazo de la Serpiente) (2015)

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Image via embraceoftheserpent.oscilloscope.net

I recommend seeing a film you know nothing about on a Sunday morning. I was the only person in one of Nova’s subterranean cinemas for this black and white Colombian journey into the Amazon and a history of cultural decimation. There are two overlapping stories, both of white scientists on a search for a rare healing plant, guided through the jungle by loner Karamakate and separated by 30 years. Continue reading →

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016)

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Image via indiewire.com

“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains.” And so begins Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. I had low hopes for this film as it came and went at the cinema within a few weeks, never a good sign. It combines two excellent genres though – Austen and horror – and was much, much better than I’d hoped. Regardless of it’s occasional flaws in logic and pacing, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies reimagines a classic where women are socially powerless and makes them warriors. Continue reading →

Sound and Fury (Khashm Va Hayahoo) (2016)

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sound-and-furyI love film festivals. The weekend I chose to be in Melbourne, the Iranian Film festival just happened to be on. As my loyal readers will know, I have a penchant for Iranian films – Rhino Season, Manuscripts Don’t Burn, Crimson Gold, The Past, A Separation, Radio Dreams, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night. And at festivals you end up seeing films you know nothing about, that will probably never get a release in Australia. A risk, yes, but a risk worth taking for this surprising film that I chose only because of its time slot and the beautiful B&W image above. Continue reading →

Exit light, enter night

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Tonight I walked out of my flat into the ever-present dusk of a Melbourne night. The day had turned cold and I had returned home, chilled, to armour myself against the wind. I stepped out, limbs warm and looked up to see a colony of bats drifting haphazardly across the grey, a fitting moment for the night before Halloween. Melbourne has been a swarm of costumed revellers, day of the dead skulls and glitter, zombies with mouths sewn shut, ladies ready for the races with hats as wide as Saturn’s rings. Continue reading →

Heart of a Dog (2015)

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A missed MIFF film, thanks be to ACMI for screening some MIFF gems well before they might get a Nova season (or not). Heart of a Dog is Laurie Anderson’s rumination on death, wrapped loosely around stories of her dog Lolabelle. It is spoken word and a moving montage of illustrations, painterly home movies and text, seeming to skitter from one thought to another. Continue reading →

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (2016)

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A warning: if you’ve read the book this film is based on, you are likely to be outraged at the liberties taken with the plot. Well my 13 year old daughter, although prewarned by her older sister, spent a good half hour afterwards detailing the inconsistencies. Being blissfully ignorant, I quite enjoyed this Tim Burton fantasy of children with special peculiarities and the adults who try to protect and exploit them. Continue reading →

The Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016)

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The what-a-people? Full of memorable, quotable lines that are all the funnier for being in a Kiwi accent, there is nothing really to dislike about this sweet New Zealand comic drama by Taika Waititi, director of What We Do in the Shadows and Boy, two of my favourite Kiwi films. You’ll recognise Taika as he also often features in his films – Viago in Shadows, Alamein in Boy and the minister in Wilderpeople. Continue reading →

The films I missed

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You might think that seeing 61 films was enough but I have a list of films from MIFF that I missed and still want to see. Some I am just curious about, others I heard good reviews from friends or through the MIFF social media feeds. Some are in release now – Tickled, Sunset Song, I am Not a Serial Killer – and some are coming up in the next few months at the Nova – The Eagle Huntress, Ella. I’m sure that there will be quite a few that don’t get a release but I’ll keep an eye out for them. Continue reading →